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Cracked, Flawed and Frayed

by Brightwire

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Bucky
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Bucky Pretty excited to dive into this full release. Based on the preview tracks as well as the previous albums available on bandcamp this band has just what I crave with the alternating vocal duties, alt/country tone, down-home harmony and outlaw twang. FFO Drive-By Truckers, Magnolia Mountain, Uncle Tupelo, etc...
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Our new album, Cracked, Flawed and Frayed on a 12" 180g black vinyl. Fancy! First pressing limited to 300 copies! Includes download of the album!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cracked, Flawed and Frayed via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Get our new album, Cracked, Flawed and Frayed on a 12" 180g black vinyl with a custom slipmat for your turntable! Pretty sweet, right?

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cracked, Flawed and Frayed via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 300 

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • To celebrate the new album being pressed to vinyl, we printed up these custom slipmats for your turntable!
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    Includes unlimited streaming of Cracked, Flawed and Frayed via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Once my dreams burned like the ember But I crushed them out to please everyone else Now it’s just a drag spent trying to remember Exactly when it was that I gave up on myself These days I’m lighting one off the other Pacing around and wondering if the truth I seek Might have got lost in all the words I've been too damn afraid to speak I'm about out of smokes Just ashes left of my time Can't keep on pretending I’ll ever be just fine One more drag left to think About the mess I left behind I just hope you'll learn to forgive me Somewhere down the line Those long lost nights of records and drinking With my old friends laughing and cigarettes They say life winds down as a trail of loses Well, losing those nights remains my deepest regret We’re just like smoke clouds left hanging Fading away but we’re always looking back On memories poisoned by nostalgia Got me feeling about as empty as this pack I'm about out of smokes Just ashes left of my time Can't keep on pretending I’ll ever be just fine One more drag left to think About the mess I left behind I just hope you'll learn to forgive me Somewhere down the line Now my fears burn like the ember But I’m trying like hell to crush them out for you Maybe earn a little forgiveness Before this ashtrays telling me my times about through
2.
Sally crushes pills with her boot heels on She’s never been the same with her old man gone Polyester silhouettes prance on the lawn all night Tuesday was a bust and tomorrow will be Something sordid in her diary Scratching pain in calligraphy she cries It’s another day gone by Trading the water for the wine And you don’t know why Drag your tears through the sunshine Shutters on the window make an awful sound She scatters to think with the wind blowing around And everybody in this town knows That lonely is a verb and sorrow is a state Forgotten are the words written too late Tattoos of love, they just lie It’s another day gone by Trading the water for the wine And you don’t know why Drag your tears through the sunshine Projector slides from the days of old Flow through her mind like fool’s gold But it’s the only thing she has that’s real It’s another day gone by Trading the water for the wine And you don’t know why Drag your tears through the sunshine
3.
I held her close and told her she was mine She just laughed and leaned in with a smile "I don't belong to anyone, boy But I think I could be happy here a while.” I know we're both broken But we're still a ways from falling apart So matching up our cracked edges Might be the best place to start. Yeah, it’d be the best place to start All these words we spoke left me at a loss Trying to break down these roles we've been shown I think this life's about finding where we belong Because love is something we share, not something we own Yeah, I think we're all broken But we're still a ways from falling apart So maybe matching up all these cracked edges Might mend all our broken hearts Yeah, let’s mend these broken hearts We like to hide in our shells Obscure the pain and say we're alone But the only way to heal these wounds Is to be brave and let the damage show Yeah, I know we're all broken But we're still a ways from falling apart And I believe all these cracked edges Make us exactly who we are Yeah, they make us exactly who we are
4.
Talk it on out, we’ve got all the time we need Made my mistakes but I always did love you It pains me to think about life without you But I can’t help feeling we may be through You can say the problems are all my doing You can say my actions split us apart I’ll take the blame for all the anger Just promise we can try to make us a brand new start You’re damn right, I took you for granted Just figured that you’d always be around Never thought to think it’d all go southbound Was too busy driving myself right into the ground You can say the problems are all my doing You can say my actions split us apart I’ll take the blame for all the anger Just promise we can try to make us a brand new start Talk all you want, we’ve got all the time in the world And I don’t think I could live without your smile I’m willing to admit that I’m the reason I haven’t seen you do it in quite a while You can say the problems are all my doing You can say my actions split us apart I’ll take the blame for all the anger Just promise we can try to make us a brand new start
5.
In the wake of these lives we’ve lived And the scars we’ve made The past comes calling with debts left unpaid No time for facing yourself or coming clean You gotta run like hell because Those memories, they get mean I’m burning out until the memories fade Lighting that candle at both ends and gaining speed Yeah, I’m burning out until the memories fade Running until those ghosts give up on me These exit wounds, they still remain, A souvenir you left Thoughts my mind just won’t lay to rest Drop that hammer down, let’s pick up the pace Because all this noise in my head It’s more than I can face I’m burning out until the memories fade Lighting that candle at both ends and gaining speed Yeah, I’m burning out until the memories fade Running until those ghosts give up on me In the dark, silhouetted scars They all come crashing down so fast The fear, the grief, the anxiety I’m running until it’s lost in the past Yeah, I’m running until it’s lost in the past I’m burning out until the memories fade Lighting that candle at both ends and gaining speed Yeah, I’m burning out until the memories fade Running until those ghosts give up on me
6.
I catch myself looking in your eyes Wanting to say all I feel Hoping we might find some peace In the things we can't heal And I hope I don't let you down In the ways I let down myself Sometimes it's just too damn hard To admit you need some help I'm trying to be everything you need But I never learned to be fake So I stand before you, dear Cracked, flawed and fray Hoping my love is something you might take Hoping my love...is something I might take I get lost in your smile Like a little boy out in the world We men like to act so strong But I'd be lost without you, girl They say there's art in lonely I'm quite sure they're right I'd kill that muse, my dear To be in your arms tonight I'm trying to be everything you need But I never learned to be fake So I stand before you, dear Cracked, flawed and fray Hoping my love is something you might take Hoping my love...is something I might take I catch myself looking in your eyes Wanting to say all I feel Hoping we might find some peace In the things we can't heal
7.
Still Here 03:03
I remember you face in the pale moonlight The way it shined like a beacon in the night Life stories crossing those lips so sweet The world seemed to disappear underneath our feet Before the bills, they got in the way And all those harsh words we have to say My how these days turn into years But I'm so glad we're still here One in diapers and another on the way Never saw my teens ending this way Love notes, eviction letters hanging from the door Were we going to make it, who's quite sure When young love yields to reality's pain It's hard to get by, even harder to stay sane Grandfather said, "Son, just give it five years." "It take a little time before you get into the clear" When the bills, they get in the way And all those harsh words you had to say My how these days turn into years But I'm so glad we're still here There are some times I'm glad we left behind Making our ends meet on the welfare line We've lived the worst, now we're living the best A little room to breathe, but no time to rest Yeah, the bills, they got in the way And all those harsh words we had to say My how these days turn into years But I'm so glad we're still here
8.
Save Myself 03:07
I wish we had happened some other way Without such a price to pay Leading to this Beyond all the hurt words and lashing out You make known your every doubt I know you can’t resist You revel in pain, you built your own cage You go down in flames, alone and afraid What made me decide that you needed my help Couldn’t stand on your own But how I thought you could fly You made me feel needed like nobody else And now I can see that’s not enough to get by No, I’m not the one who withheld Tell me why can’t I just save myself I was blinded by freedom I should have know it wasn’t sustainable Not at that speed Now the man you are just doesn’t fit my plan I’m tired of pretending that there’s any kind of hope That I can keep up this pace, make myself stay That you will ever feel safe, that you’ll ever be sane And I had to decide that I need my own help I stood on my own, lately I’m learning to fly So many signs I pretended weren’t signs The lessons you taught me, I learned them time after time I’m not the one who withheld Tell me why can’t I just save myself No, I’m not the one who withheld Tell me why can’t I just save myself
9.
Pick up the phone or leave a message Just let me know if you're still there I never say what I oughta But it doesn't mean I don't care Love ain’t about sunshine and rainbows Nor just happiness being found It’s knowing at my darkest That you’ll still be around You keep looking for answers But the truth never reveals a saint Don’t give a damn about redemption Because I can’t be something I ain’t The past never held our perfection Just a blind eye to all our wrongs Been sugarcoating disasters From the moment we said so long You keep looking for answers But the truth never reveals a saint Don’t give a damn about redemption Because I can’t be something I ain’t Forget what we were Because that time will never come again We might find some forgiveness But first we gotta pay for all the sins You keep looking for answers But the truth never reveals a saint Don’t give a damn about redemption Because I can’t be something I ain’t
10.
Smoke rises up from the dying fire Read a passage from the book of John I’d rather die than call you a liar But I’ve been waiting far too long We spilled blood and tasted hunger Felt the flies circle around our souls Not much more could go asunder Not much more that we could hold In the morning, we’ll be baptized The healing waters of the Sabine See the world through a savior’s eyes Fool ourselves by coming clean Restless dreams, they come with terrors Sights the eyes won’t soon forget Faces of guilt, not much clearer Than in the glow of our cigarettes The wrath of Judges comes again To strengthen the shepherd’s hand Are the sins of all us men The worst that we could understand In the morning, we’ll be baptized The healing waters of the Sabine See the world through a savior’s eyes Fool ourselves by coming clean A lonesome wind blows across the land above The sun holds the earth to the flame Take the life with the hand that held a dove Wash the knife clean without shame Because, in the morning, we’ll be baptized The healing waters of the Sabine See the world through a savior’s eyes Fool ourselves by coming clean
11.
Woke up this morning to face The things I’ve done and the places that I’ve been On the fall down, you know, I lost more than my fair share of friends I don’t owe you a damn thing But I just gotta let you know That I’m getting the help that I need And it’s about time I let you go And I don’t expect you to write back But I just gotta let you see I’m doing what I must And don’t you worry over me When the triggers hit You know it fills my head so full of doubt Fighting these demons, you know they say It’s going to be a lifelong bout But I got nothing but time to kill 30 days until I get out There’s so much I could make right Best not sit around and pout And I don’t expect you to write back But I just gotta let you see I’m doing what I must And don’t you worry over me Some days it feels like I’ve got This whole world crashing in my head Looking through the past years I can’t believe I didn’t end up dead And I just take it one day at a time Realize this thing is bigger than me Some days it adds up against you And it feels like fighting against the sea And I don’t expect you to write back But I just gotta let you see I’m doing what I must And don’t you worry over me

credits

released March 11, 2021

Samuel Barker: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Bass, Washboard, Tambourine and Drums
Kimberly Barker: Vocals, Organ, Harmonica and Tambourine
Michael Helfenstein: Dobro and Electric Steel
John Stoll: Electric Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Harmonica, Theremin and Upright Bass
Liz Sloan McGovern (of The Urban Pioneers): Fiddle/Violin

Recorded at Bear Cave Studios (Baytown, TX) by Brightwire
Mixed & Mastered by Grifters & Shills (John & Rebecca Stoll)
Artwork by Daniel Torres

All songs written by Brightwire except:
"Tears Through the Sunshine" and "The Righteous Hand" written with Ben Hall
"Save Myself" written with Susan Garlington Parsons

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Brightwire Houston, Texas

Brightwire is an Americana band born from a household of musicians and hailing from southeast Texas. Combining elements of folk, rock, country, punk and whatever else they happen to get interested in, they weave tales of lives lived in our world today. For them, music is about inclusion and letting others know they are not alone in their struggles. ... more

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