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Magic

by Sad Brad Smith

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Plus, low-quality digital reproductions of hand drawn lyric sheet and liner notes by Brad!
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Its a CD. Front and Back cover art featuring photos and design by Ryan Bourque, with hand drawn lyrics and liner notes by Sad Brad Smith.

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1.
Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo I'm gonna give it all up Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo I'm gonna give it all up I'm gonna give it all up And I will be free Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo You're gonna blow yourself up Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo You're gonna blow yourself up You're gonna blow yourself up And you will be free To make war man must have a goal You can't do nothin' with a hollow bowl You gotta give it all up You feel too hot, now you feel too cold Better adjust the temperature of your soul You gotta give it all up And you will be free Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo I'm gonna give it all up Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo Yippie Yippi, Yippie Yippo I'm gonna give it all up I'm gonna give it all up And I will be free
2.
Magic 04:10
O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind He came in on the last train And not long after evening fell His kneecaps had on grass stains From kneeling over a wishing well To match the road he wore boots of gold And a rose pinned to his shirt With a headful of dreams that he was sold Not long after his birth O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind He had some kind of faith in some kind of hand That moved the pieces on the board But it did not look like an old man's And he never called him Lord There was a woman he had in mind He could almost see her face He knew she wouldn't be hard to find He'd come to the right place O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind Well, his boots got robbed and she never showed And his red knees began to ache And over time he acquired such a heavy load And this feeling he could not shake O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind O Lord, he's got that magic in his mind He wished for something better He wished for something better than this
3.
Sit Around 03:38
Take your time You can do it by yourself You read the signs They can't be read by someone else You cloned your mind And then put one on the shelf For another time When you might need your young mind's help To pick you up And set you down 'Cause all you do now Is sit around All you do is sit around All you do is sit around Lift your head And look up at the stars And show the dead Where the heavens really are Asleep in bed Your childhood calls you from afar It's eyes are red And it wears you like a scar Because it knows Now how it goes And we suppose You'll sit around Yeah we just know You'll sit around Yeah we know you'll sit around Occupying the time I spent by your side (I'm just a little boy) With memories of me as the old man who dies (I'm just a little boy) And if we never make it home We'll be okay And if we never make it home We'll be okay Yeah we know You'll sit around Yeah we know you'll sit around
4.
I can't believe my mind It gets taken all the time I can't believe my mind Don't I mean we when we say I? Who filled my heart with the wisdom To let the world go Who put my mind in prison Set to pounce and overthrow Who joined them in this body Not fit to house a fly And who can sort through the thousand thought streams Of a million varied I's Who decides which will be in power As I sleepily lift my head Who decides which one will flower And which one will wish me dead Who decides to spurn the lover And who mourns for what we had This one now, next time another Who responds when you say Brad Because I can't believe my mind It gets overtaken all the time I can't believe my mind Don't I mean we when we say I Let go Let go Let go Let go I am a clockwork orange I am the soft machine A slave to the thousand selves Who are making their play for me I pray for my will to gather Her restless children in And hand back over the reigns to me Of this person I'm living in Because I can't believe my mind It gets overtaken all the time I can't believe my mind Don't I mean we when we say I Let go Let go Let go Let go
5.
On the Beach 02:38
In youthful days we set the course Not knowing how the road would wind Our thoughts implied with so much force That we didn't realize we fell behind But we fell behind Talent seemed to overflow There was no place we couldn't go To us our dreams seemed good as done But you cannot do what has not been begun What has not been begun? The life you had in mind Is gonna come back in style All babies are born blind But only for a little while From too much love our hearts implode Strangled by life's heavy load Our dreams float up beyond our reach As we drag our sandy boats along the beach We're on the beach The life you had in mind Is gonna come back in style All babies are born blind But only for a little while A little while
6.
I don't want to begin Begin to grow Into a tree Covered with snow I want to stay soft I want to stay green I don't wanna be lost I wanna be seen And when that blanket of snow Finds me sleeping A white and brown colored palindrome The night time's for love Or am I dreaming Dreaming a way back home Seasons begin And seasons end Who once was your true love Is now just an old friend They move along And they move away Sometimes they'll think about you And then go on with their day And when that blanket of snow Finds you sleeping A white and brown colored palindrome Well, thank God for woe And Him for needing Needing us to never know But you cannot stand still No, you must move around Your toes won't grow no roots Connecting you to the ground And the temperature will drop As your body will rise Until your heart simply stops And snowflakes fall from your eyes And when that blanket of snow Finds me sleeping The street's a snow covered catacomb The night time's for love Or am I dreaming Dreaming of the ones I love
7.
I was thinking about that letter That you wrote to me You wrote it in the summer You wrote it in the heat Now I'm thinking about the heartache I'm thinking about the door I'm thinking about the ocean I'm thinking about the shore There is no explanation For these feelings that we feel Its hard to fight the temptation That what we feel is real I was thinking about that letter That you wrote to me You wrote it in the summer You wrote it in the heat
8.
Take Me Home 04:00
Don't ride a wild horse if you can't tame her She'll never take you anywhere you wanna go If you ain't got room for an elephant don't make friends with the elephant trainer There's no use planting seeds you don't want to grow In the shadow of our love lies another one We are the giant tree blocking up the sun Someday someone will come and cut us down Leave light for the flowers that are dying in the ground Come Spirit cheerily to me in the flesh With the step of your soft shoe cut through this daily mess You can deal with Man's desire, these heavy chains around his chest Take my place for a moment, Spirit, for a moment let me rest And take me home Take me home Marry the demons for they love you best Without them nothing beautiful would ever be expressed Pressed deep to the bottom, shine a light across the floor There's no stars in the ocean, there'll be no end to the war Spinning like a marble on a pane of glass You find what can only happen once has already come to pass You place your hand on the table clothe and grip it with your fingers The plates have all been cleared but the taste of breakfast lingers Don't ride a wild horse if you can't tame her She'll never take you anywhere you wanna go If you ain't got room for an elephant don't make friends with the elephant trainer There's no use planting seeds you don't want to grow, So Take me home Take me home
9.
The A/C just turned on Across the street It hasn't been this hot here in a long time I'm sitting on my stoop Unable to sleep While the night pulls its hot fist Through the cold shackles of my mind You see, my mind is on big things Things too big to see While my poor body is left sweating out here in the small My thoughts are racing darkly Far past the words I speak While the A/C pulls hot air through my neighbor's wall I don't know what their names are We're not friendly I don't know with what books they line their shelves But I wonder if they're happy Or if they're tired of their lives Like I sometimes tire of myself But I know I should be grateful For the appearance of the dove And pull not this face of dread at anything so dear But I believe its only to a soldier Dying in a dream of blood That this bird as symbol does appear Well, dreams sometimes come true When you feel your soul most spent And you feel suddenly that your life may well be blessed But what are you gonna do now That you're feeling so content Without that gift, the struggle, the blessing of the oppressed Its easy to press onward When the end is there in sight That home across the road is now so near But what if you still feel empty And your heart knows only night Even after the beloved dream finally appears?
10.
Reason to Be 04:23
You were my reason to be so uneven You were my reason to be so unwell You were my reason to be a genius You were my reason to be as far as I could tell Look at all the pretty people waiting in line to be free (They're not that pretty, though, no, not as pretty as me) Look at all the pretty people waiting in line just to see Their reason to be You were the light in my tomb from whom I hid my thoughts You were the whisper of doom for whom all wars are fought You were the light and the way, you were the darkness, too You were the night and the day, and I was in love with you Look at all the sickly people crawling in time to the sea (Are they that sick, though? No, how sick can they be?) Look at all the sickly people crawling like slime through the streets To lay at your feet Because I couldn't shake the feeling You would not let me get across Stuck between this vague notion of duty And an overwhelming sense of loss You were my reason to be so temperamental You were my reason to be so sweet and so kind You were my reason to be, you were my temple You were my reason to be, lord, once upon a time Once upon a time
11.
Magic 03:04
There was a dream I was having Where the people's faces changed And you were navigating To get back to me again I was dreaming of you love As a gift to us on Earth As if sent down from above To give our lives their worth But the world does not contain that kind of magic No, the world does not contain that kind of magic
12.
Can't Wait 03:18
I can't wait to get better Wrap up these old woes, sew my Life back together To the way it was when I was Young at heart and confident Had tons of time to spend, well? How well was it spent? Its gonna be great Its gonna be fun And I'm not the only one who's looking forward to it Its too late To look behind you Don't turn around, use now the Future to remind you Let the dead stay dead under the ground Don't let 'em find you There's a light inside your heart The sight of which would blind you Its gonna be great Its gonna be fun And I'm not the only one who's looking forward to it

about

The first collection of new songs by Sad Brad Smith in four years, Magic finds Brad leaving the bedroom for the studio. Joined by his live band (David Golan, Marc Stevens, Anthony Del Bosque, and Stephen Ptacek), and with special appearances by Greg Hirte (Mucca Pazza) and Mike Racky (Umphry's McGee), this stunning follow up to Brad's lo-fi debut, Love Is Not What You Need, marks new territory for the midwestern misanthrope.

credits

released May 20, 2014

Produced by Bradley Grant Smith
Mixed by Matt DeWine
Engineered by Matt DeWine, Bradley Grant Smith, and Erik Rassmusen
Mastering by Roger Seibel for MAE Mastering

Cover Photo and Design by Ryan Bourque

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about

Sad Brad Smith Chicago, Illinois

Sad Brad Smith is a singer and songwriter from Highland Park, Illinois, who’s song "Help Yourself," struck a chord after being featured in the Oscar-nominated film, Up in the Air, starring Amal Clooney's husband. Three albums followed as well as the original score for the 2021 SXSW Jury Award-nominated film, OUR FATHER, (streaming now on Amazon Prime). Several new albums are anticipated in 2024. ... more

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