Get all 6 Sad Brad Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Back Where I Belong (Live at the Almanack Arts Colony 2023), Change Your Life, Corona, Corona (Covid-19-2020), Sweet Dream, Magic, and Love is Not What You Need.
Excludes subscriber-only releases.
1. |
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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
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2. |
Magic
04:10
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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
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3. |
Sit Around
03:38
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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
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4. |
Believe My Mind
03:25
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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
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5. |
On the Beach
02:38
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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
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6. |
Begin to Grow
04:22
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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
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7. |
Written in the Heat
03:00
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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
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8. |
Take Me Home
04:00
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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
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9. |
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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?
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10. |
Reason to Be
04:23
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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
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11. |
Magic
03:04
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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
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12. |
Can't Wait
03:18
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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
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Sad Brad Smith Chicago, Illinois
Sad Brad Smith is a singer and songwriter from Highland Park, Illinois, whose 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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