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Your Reflection Will Kill You

by Todd Burge

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Thank you for picking up my TWO new albums! One was recorded a few weeks ago and the other a few decades ago. Simply put, the new one is an acoustic album, and the old one is a rock album. This is a long story and I’m hoping you’ll follow me online or better yet, go to one of my shows so I can tell you more about it, but for now…..

    Todd Burge (1986 The First Album) was recorded while I was still attending West Virginia University back in the mid-80s. I got signed to Hardway Records in California, they paid for me to record an album, the deal fell through and I didn’t own the recordings. As a result, it was never released. It bothered me for years as I loved the album. I was kindly sent the master tapes last year (31 years later!) by the owner of Hardway Records, Randall Arlett. Listening to what the 20-year-old me wrote and sang about is interesting and fun for me now. It’s almost like an out of the body and brain experience. Even back then I was writing personal songs as well as character based songs like Cavewoman, which is about a mouth breathing sexist. I’m proud of the 20-year-old me. This is a rock record and to me it represents a sonic segue between my two bands The Larries, and the much heavier 63 Eyes, who still play a bit to this day.

    The new album, Your Reflection Will Kill You is an all acoustic album that lyrically looks back on some facts and fiction that have brought me to where I am today. It is live, except for two vocal overdubs. To me, this is a concept recording. A “37-minute-long song” and I’d love for it to be listened to in that way. For years, I’ve admired the superb musicality of Ryan Kennedy and John Inghram, who are both well-known electric players from WV, but on occasion I would hear them playing acoustic, and it got me to dreaming about what we three might sound like together. Don Dixon came to my home studio with his mobile gear and captured it perfectly. He makes it all comfortable and real. Every musical action I have made or taken in over the last three decades was poured into this latest recording and now, I hand it over to you. Thank you again for supporting what I love to do.
    Sincerely,
    Todd 9/20/18 

    Includes unlimited streaming of Your Reflection Will Kill You via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 800 

      $11 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    TWO ALBUMS in one double CD package.
    1986 The First Album
    and
    Your Reflection Will Kill You (2018)

    Todd Burge (1986 The First Album) was recorded while I was still attending West Virginia University back in the mid-80s. I got signed to Hardway Records in California, they paid for me to record an album, the deal fell through and I didn’t own the recordings. As a result, it was never released. It bothered me for years as I loved the album. I was kindly sent the master tapes last year (31 years later!) by the owner of Hardway Records, Randall Arlett. Listening to what the 20-year-old me wrote and sang about is interesting and fun for me now. It’s almost like an out of the body and brain experience. Even back then I was writing personal songs as well as character based songs like Cavewoman, which is about a mouth breathing sexist. I’m proud of the 20-year-old me. This is a rock record and to me it represents a sonic segue between my two bands The Larries, and the much heavier 63 Eyes, who still play a bit to this day.

    The new album, Your Reflection Will Kill You is an all acoustic album that lyrically looks back on some facts and fiction that have brought me to where I am today. It is live, except for two vocal overdubs. To me, this is a concept recording. A “37-minute-long song” and I’d love for it to be listened to in that way. For years, I’ve admired the superb musicality of Ryan Kennedy and John Inghram, who are both well-known electric players from WV, but on occasion I would hear them playing acoustic, and it got me to dreaming about what we three might sound like together. Don Dixon came to my home studio with his mobile gear and captured it perfectly. He makes it all comfortable and real. Every musical action I have made or taken in over the last three decades was poured into this latest recording and now, I hand it over to you. Thank you again for supporting what I love to do.
    Sincerely,
    Todd 9/20/18 

    Includes unlimited streaming of Your Reflection Will Kill You via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 100 

      $11 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
Back To The Races My youth was a mess
 Every day was a test
 And I'd fail like a fool
 Who'd just daydream in school
 And now that I’m old
 I look back on my past
 Just me and my dad
 Makin’ the best with what we had

 Our two legs in one sack
 We tried to sync up like that
 But we’d mostly fall flat on our faces

 Then go back back back to the races. In a three legged race
 The winner takes all
 And the losers are left
 With a sack made of burlap
 There’s no time to nap
 So condition yourself
 And if you win you can fight
 As to which one of you, gets the prize
 But dad and I…
We…… were one
 Close peas in our pod
 Who had gotten the nod
 From the god of good losers

 And went back back back to the races

 Now dad is long gone
 And with the two legs I’m on
 I’ve got to find me a way
 To go alone in this race I’ve gone from kickin’ a can
 To so close to the bucket
T hat I look back on this life
 And I just say AHHH …………. I know this place As I go back, back, back to the races 
I go I go
Back back back to the races
2.
Your Reflection Will Kill You Your reflection will kill you Knock you right off your feet You might see the light But the light Might bring Dis-ease Dis-ease in your sunshine Dis-ease in your head Un-easy does it, don’t reflect Yourself So dead Don’t make that face As you look like your dad On his lesser days When he was nothing but angry Your repeated story Gets old and worn It’s faded glory And it will never be born again It will never be born again And it will never be born again And it will never be born again Your reflection will kill you (X3)
3.
That Sorry Guy From West Virginia Whoever said “beauty is in everything” Whoever said “beauty is in truth" Lied like some ugly rug Who had some dirt or nasty bug to cover up Cover up There once was this guy from West Virginia Who looked a lot like a younger version of me He did some things that should stay hidden He did so many things, his kids should never see Never see And if he ever crossed your path If he’s ever done you some sort of wrong There’s a good chance he’s just forgotten As the wrong stuff was done to you, so long, ago Long ago long ago long ago Boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo So I’ve heard it from a pretty reliable source That he is on his last leg And if he had enough life in him He’d-say I’m sorry ‘n you’d not even have to ask, or beg Ask or beg... So believe me when I tell you That he has sent me here in his stead To message you in person To convey, the regret, in his heart and in his head To message you in person And convey, the regret, in his heart and in his head
4.
Don’t Water My Whiskey Down
Todd Burge I’ve told my kids the story
 Of my family history
 Now I’ll never get back What they once thought of me
 Up to now it’s all
 been made up make believe
 That I’ve told so many times
 I’ve started to believe (it too)

 So don’t, water my whiskey down Freedom is a hoax
 It rode here on a boat
 Like a huddled-up mass
 That screwed up the winning pass 
In the championship game
 Where no one knows your name
 But aren’t we all to blame
 As we all called the play So, don’t, water my whiskey down 
If whiskey was a river
 And I was a duck
 I’d sink down to the bottom
 And never come back up
 I’d swim with the fishes 
 Way too wasted to speak
 And tell them all my secrets Let my soul spring a leak So, don’t, water my whiskey down Way up in the hills
 Where I come from
 There’s fire in the water
 That’ll keep you feelin’ dumb
 Stop all the thinkin’ 
And keep ya feelin’ sick
 Place you in a stink
 That you’ll never think straight in again… Don't water my whiskey down By Todd Burge (C)Bunj Jam BMI
5.
Comic Book Sleeve by Todd Burge So you say you read my memoir That I have yet to write down About the tragic life Of a wannabee clown Wanted to be funny And have the crowd laugh with me Instead of looking in the stands While they point and laugh at me Please judge me By my cover But love me from the inside out Of my mind My book draws a blank Almost each and every day I tried to take a pen And write about a certain day Way back when we were kids And I got the best of you…… Got the worst of me And at that second we were through You can judge me….. So let’s draw some conclusions As this all needs an end It seems that all is broken What was once badly bent It needs a happy ending Roll it over, poke a fork A comic sleeve To cover the book No one gets to read
6.
Down at the Mill Down at the Mill We’ve got holes in our stories (x2) You’ll never hear the whole truth As we grind it in our stony spin It’s rock against rock Roll against roll Down at the ol’ mill Down at the mill Down at the mill Each heir-looms a dark tale (x2) It’s a daily grind to set my mind free So I focus on my made up story The tales we pass down Are finely ground Down at the mill
7.
Droppin’ Meat Deep in the valley, eighty miles from our home Sits the family cabin with twelve beds and a buck stove There’s a deer head on the wall Beside the bear, beside the elk They didn’t see it coming, didn’t know to ask for help A freezer in the cellar, holds frozen calls of the wild Thaw it, cook it, and it’ll energize us all Pap and uncle, the cousins and me Are locked and loaded to the T The whole nine yards is beggin’ To be popped off in the trees Rise and shine, rise and shine It’s killin’ time When you look them in the eye You’ll see the love of this green earth And a reflection of the you That you once were back at birth So I sit here in Pap’s tree stand Makin’ things a bit unfair An’ my frozen toes, n’ runnin’ nose Makes me wish I was back there There at work Bitchin’ ‘bout my boss Having a laugh, at his expense While wishin’ I was in some tree Dreamin’ ‘bout Droppin’ meat
8.
I’ll never make it out of here alive But I’ll kick and scream and fool myself With the lie that I’ll survive But, I’ll never make it out of here alive I look for some Distraction To pick me up Above the real action The good times combined Make up a small fraction Of what’s really real With this living deal Chorus The wool was pulled Over my eyes And a sheepish grin’s Been settin’ in Truth be told No one really ever knows What will begin After we’re old Chorus
9.
Born Again 03:43
Born Again A new morn Is like being born But the weight of a day Can snuff All life away Hey Hey Hey Yeah, The weight of a day, can snuff all life away Had a dream I was in the womb Listening to my mother’s tune But a bump in the night Had me comin’ to A bump in the night Brought on the light of truth You must die a little bit Before you’re born again Yeah, you’re broken down but then You’ll be born again When I read the good book I was way too young I started out smart But I ended up dumb The words went in But they never did come out They got all mixed up And never fell out of my mouth Chorus Now half of my heroes are dead and gone The other half forgot what side they’re on Life goes on But the dead, they do too I’ll try to be your hero If you’ll try to be mine too Chorus
10.

about

The new album, Your Reflection Will Kill You is an all acoustic album that lyrically looks back on some facts and fiction that have brought me to where I am today. It is live, except for two vocal overdubs. To me, this is a concept recording. A “37-minute-long song” and I’d love for it to be listened to in that way. For years, I’ve admired the superb musicality of Ryan Kennedy and John Inghram, who are both well-known electric players here in West Virginia, but on occasion I would hear them playing acoustic, and it got me to dreaming about what we three might sound like together. Don Dixon (REM, Joan Baez, James McMurtry) came to my home studio with his mobile gear and captured it perfectly. He makes it all comfortable and real. Every musical action I have made or taken in over the last three decades was poured into this latest recording and now, I hand it over to you. Thank you again for supporting what I love to do.
Sincerely,
Todd 9/20/18 

credits

released November 16, 2018

Todd Burge - Your Reflection Will Kill You (2018)
Todd Burge – Vocals, steel string guitar, harmonica, ukulele
John Inghram – Upright bass and backing vocals

Ryan Kennedy – Nylon string guitar and backing vocals

Don Dixon – Additional backing vocals

Recorded live on location by Don Dixon

at Bunj Jam Music, Parkersburg WV Aug 16th & 17th 2018

Mixed by Don Dixon at SPA

Produced by Todd Burge
Mastered by David K. Shipley
At Foxwood Mastering - Nashville TN

All songs by Todd Burge ©2018 Bunj Jam BMI

Except Born Again by Todd Burge & Laura Belcher 
©2018 Bunj Jam BMI

Cover art by Michael Arthur

Color pic with John, Ryan, Todd & Don 
by Richard Anderson Productions 
Color pic on CD (of trio live) by Michelle Waters
Black and white 1980s pic by Perry Kirk
Thanks to Richard Anderson

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Todd Burge Parkersburg

If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginia’s Todd Burge has written about it. A born ponderer and observer of life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs. ... more

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