The Music of James Fry

cover art for More Original songs by James Fry

cover photograph: Arambol Beach, Goa, India.

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(52.8 MB zip)

More Original Songs

All songs written and performed by James Fry.

  • James Fry - Guitar, vocals, drums, harmonica, percussion
  • Tobias Meis - Double bass
  • Cam Cumming - Electric bass
  • Ian Avery - Cornet

Recorded by Cam Cumming (earbone@shaw.ca) at Earbone Studios, Victoria, BC

© 2009 A Magic Canvas Production

Track List

Click Individual Track Names to Listen Now
  1. Time to Say Goodbye - (lyrics)

    Come all you faithful, bring your vision and your tears
    The time is closing in and judgment drawing near
    Bring out your wounded and your poor and dispossessed
    Raise your voices with the cursed and the blessed

    Leave your worries and your troubles on the shelf
    Leave all your struggles far behind
    Don't make excuses 'cos we've heard them all before
    They've got your number. You're going under.
    And now it's time to say goodbye

    It's been a pleasure to have danced here for a while
    I've had an easier time than most
    And if I loved just once then once was just enough
    To feel the power of your love

    So don't feel badly, you were never meant to win
    The odds were stacked right from the start
    The card of fate was played and fortune called your bluff
    Don't blame the dealer. He'll never free ya.
    And now it's time to say goodbye

    So, come all you sinners, all you sacred and profane
    Lift up your voices above the thunder and the rain
    No one to save you, no one left to take the blame
    Too late for promises, too late to save the day

    So no hard feelings, it's just the way things go
    If there's a plan somewhere, then who are we to know?
    The light is fading and the sky is turning gray
    The curtains closing. The worlds unfolding.
    And now it's time to say goodbye

  2. Pages of History - (lyrics)

    Pages of history, plaster the walls
    The bigger the empire, the harder the fall
    I get a headache, making sense of it all
    Finally knowing that my hearts letting go

    Fragments of reason fall to the floor
    Shipwrecks of fools washing up on the shore
    Life is so simple but so hard to ignore
    It's so much safer keeping your heart in a drawer

    Lessons of acumen, lost in the fray
    Paying the piper, just a little too late
    Gone are the memories that determine our fate
    It's getting much clearer now that my heart can't escape

    Now that the bird has flown, up and away
    Excuses are useless and the truth's gone astray
    It's hard to imagine how the plan went so far astray
    But it's harder to deal with when your hearts in the way

  3. No One to Blame - (lyrics)

    Something is wrong with this picture.
    Something's gone wrong with the plan
    Directions been lost and some wires got crossed
    And our fingers are stuck in the dam
    Yeah, something got lost and the dream turned to dust
    And there's no one to blame but ourselves

    Everyone's making their movie
    Everyone's writing their script
    Everyone knows how a fairytale goes
    How the innocents plead at the hands of the witch
    We believe in the myth and our dream world persists
    While the truth goes marching along

    Don't follow the leaders, the leaders don't know
    They got lost in the woods, they got stuck in the snow
    And this folly continues and the lies never end
    But there's no one to blame but ourselves

    Now this world's cracking up under pressure
    Nobody's heeding the call
    And the pay phone is smashed and the markets have crashed
    And the sky is beginning to fall

    But when the hammer comes down, and the wheel hits the ground
    When the final bell rings and the fat lady sings
    When it comes to the end and the darkness descends

    We'll have no one to blame
    No one left to complain
    There'll be no one to blame but ourselves

  4. Home of the Brave - (lyrics)

    Liberty, come and stand in line with me
    Just marking time you see. In the home of the brave

    A warrior with steely eye defends me when I need to fly
    and raise myself above this lie.
    And the meaning of this mystery
    is lost inside this parody of living like we do.
    Like we choose to do. In the home of the brave

    Sacred land, what became of you my friend
    I saw you laughing and loving till the end.
    In the home of the brave

    In the home of the brave, I hear this message getting clear to me
    I see the turning of a century. I feel the turning of a tide

    Once upon a time there was man
    who said that we could win the war if we were strong and true.
    Once upon a time there was a people
    who believed there was a Timbuktu
    And there's lightning in the sky
    and the water flooding down below
    Coming down so much harder than you know
    Coming down like a whirlwind
    Coming down like a history book
    Going up like a flare

    Good for you is the song they sing us
    Good for me is the word they bring us
    So it goes with the wave of a hand like a page in history

    Sweet liberty, come and stand in line with me
    Just marking time you see. In the home of the brave.

    In the home of the brave. In the home of the brave,
    I hear this message getting clear to me
    I can see right through your fantasy
    A message lost in ambiguity
    You know it happens oh so easily
    In the home of the brave.

  5. Like I Do - (lyrics)

    Someone may please you with a winning smile
    Might tell you something you don't know
    Someone may take you on a carpet ride
    Might show you somewhere new to go

    Someone might call you from a distant shore
    May turn your head, may see you through
    Someone may open up another door
    But nobody's gonna love you like I do

    Seasons may change, lives rearrange
    People will do the things they do
    I can not say, what makes love stay
    But I know that nothing works without you

    Some people say that life is mystery
    But it don't seem like that to me
    The simple truth is, when you look at me,
    Can't see the forest for the tree

    I know that reason can not qualify
    This bond that grows each day renewed
    And when the singing is all said and done
    Nobody's gonna love you like I do

    Some people say love goes away
    Some love burns bright then fades away
    I don't believe our love will leave
    I'm sure as anyone can be

    And in the end we reap the seed we sow
    The journeys end we can not see
    There's only one thing that I know for sure
    Nobody's ever gonna love you like I do

  6. Ode to Bukowski - (lyrics)

    Henry Chinaski blew the smog away
    Found a loophole, found another way
    No illusions to uncover, no excuses to explain

    Turned the tables, took the word apart
    Turned a broken dream to a work of art
    Drank a river to forget you, drank an ocean to remember

    And the spirit of Fante, and the memory of Hemmingway
    And the pounding of the typer in the middle of the night

    Henry Chinaski was born into this
    With an lion-heart and a iron fist
    Hear the screaming from the balcony
    Forever gambling on the muse

    Searching for the right word, reaching for the line
    And the pounding of the typer in the middle of the night

    Henry Chinaski waved the world away
    Locked the door, drew the window shade
    Took misfortune as a lover
    Raised a finger to the moon

    Dancing with the demons, looking for a fight
    Lying in the darkness, never learned to be polite
    Searching for the right word, waiting for the line
    And the pounding of the typer in the middle of the night.

  7. Sometimes - (lyrics)

    Sometimes, falling in the night time,
    Looking for the right time. Looking for needle in the sand
    It's impossible when you're walking on a fine line
    Almost blinded by the moon shine
    To know a Buddha from a hole in the wall

    And you tell me once again that your heart is in the right place
    But your mind is in the same place
    And you're thinking of yourself and no one else

    You catch your breath even though you know what's coming next
    I never know how you keep on keeping on

    And I know that you knew what I knew, all along
    That your shoes are on the wrong feet
    And you're walking with a limp with one eye closed

    We could talk about it all, bringing it together
    Or we can talk about the weather
    It don't mean nothing if you don't want to know

    Your up in arms but you don't know where to run and hide
    I see you smile but you never show the other side

    And now the world is watching you, tell me now what will you do
    Tell me how can you believe that it's all true
    So close your eyes and look at me, tell me now what do you see
    Outside of you and me, outside of a hope and a dream
    Outside in a bigger world, outside where a man can breathe
    Outside where a man can breathe

    You catch your breath even though you know what's coming next
    I never know how you keep on keeping on

  8. Hurricane Approaching - (lyrics)

    I heard a hurricane approaching, I could feel it on the wind
    A premonition of the future, intuition from within
    I saw a flaming sword above me and a hollow place below
    And a feeling of uncertainty engulfed my troubled soul

    I saw a river filled with rapids, foaming at the mouth
    I saw a drowning man below me and confusion all around
    And I called out for assistance but the words just disappeared
    And I called out for deliverance but it fell on deafened ears

    And I hoped that I was dreaming and I hoped it wasn't true
    And I'd wake up in the morning and be lying next to you

    And I pushed on through the morning light, I pushed on through the storm
    And the rain clouds filled with thunder and the thunder filled the dawn
    I heard a warning voice above me, calling out my name
    But I couldn't grasp the meaning, couldn't hear above the rain

    Then I made it to some high ground, I could see for miles around
    I saw black smoke rising up and I saw buildings coming down
    saw people running everywhere, calling in the flames
    And I recognized the faces and I recognized the names

    I got stuck in the delusion, surrounded by the sound
    Deserted by intention, I was lost among the crowd
    And a feeling of defenselessness gave strength to the idea
    That the fabric of illusion's the foundation of our fear

    There's a storm cloud full of thunder, rolling 'cross the land
    And the logic of the dream is not so hard to understand
    There's a line between what's real and not, a difference 'tween the two
    But the line is cast in shadow and the choice is down to you

  9. Dhamma Chant - (lyrics)

    Repeating chorus:

    Life of uncertainty, wheel of eternity, dodging the bullets of karma.
    Something inside of me, says what will be, will be. Better just leave it to Dhamma.

    Life is a carousel, torn between heav'n and hell, don't bet the farm on tomorrow. Make hay while there's still a sun, the future may never come. History is written in sorrow.

    Fortunes are won and lost, victory at any cost. Greed is the master of madness.
    Take more than you'll ever need, time is a fantasy, fanning the flames of our excess.

    Run on the wheel and then, jump through the hoop again. Do it for gold and for glory.
    Buy more than the other fools, more then you'll ever use. Better be safer than sorry.

    Up in the rarer air, life is a grand affair. Pastures a plenty await you.
    Sign on the bottom line, water turns into wine. Miracles shock and amaze you.

    So gather buds while ye may, tomorrow's another day, bringing new trouble and
    crisis Master the monkey-mind, and maybe you will find, life is still full of surprises.

  10. Dreaming of the Future - (lyrics)

    I was dreaming of a future, I was dreaming of a land
    Where freedom feeds the masses and the lion feeds the lamb
    Where the victims of oppression get to finally have a say
    But the image slowly faded and the night turned into day

    I was thinking about redemption, I was hoping for some more
    I was making my confession, I was running from the law
    I was planning for a miracle to save my worried soul
    But the thought soon passed and vanished, like a ferret down a hole

    I won't stop believing that this world will find a way
    And the shadows will be lifted like the sunrise lifts the day
    And I thought I saw an omen, and I thought I saw a sign
    That led me to conclusions that were hard to reconcile
    I saw a vision of tomorrow that I hoped I'd never see

    When I awoke the dream was over. Some things are never meant to be
    But I won't stop believing that this world will find a way
    And the shadows will be lifted like the sunrise lifts the day


cover art for James Fry Sings Bob Dylan by James Fry

cover painting: Virginia Smallfry

James Fry Sings Bob Dylan

All songs written by Bob Dylan.

  • James Fry - Guitar, vocals, harmonica

Recorded by Cam Cumming (earbone@shaw.ca) at Earbone Studios, Victoria, BC

© 2010 A Magic Canvas Production

Track List

Click Individual Track Names to Listen Now
  1. Emotionally Yours
  2. Only a Pawn in their Game
  3. Ring Them Bells
  4. 90 Miles an Hour
  5. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
  6. When Peace Returns (secular version)
  7. Big Girl Now
  8. To Ramona
  9. Chimes of Freedom
  10. One Too Many Mornings
  11. Forever Young
  12. Series of Dreams
  13. Bob Dylan's Dream
  14. Lilly of the West
  15. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
  16. Takes a Lot to Laugh, Takes a Train to Cry

cover art for Ballads by James Fry

cover photograph: Virginia on Arjuna Beach, Goa, India

Download Entire Album
(65.4MB .zip)

cover art for James Fry (self-titled)

cover painting by Virginia Smallfry

Download Entire Album
(47.7 MB zip)

James Fry

All songs written and performed by James Fry except:
"Oh Susannah" by Stephen Foster, and "90 Miles an Hour" by Bob Dylan.

  • James Fry - Guitar, vocals, piano, harmonica, percussion.
  • Sam Shoichet - Double bass.
  • Ray Rothschild - Drums.

Recorded at Kutting Edge Studios, BC.

CD cover art by Virginia SmallFry.

© 1996 A Magic Canvas Production

Track List

Click Individual Track Names to Listen Now
  1. Everything about You - (lyrics)

    Seems like about a century since you've been gone
    Loving arms, I feel them stronger now
    And I was always one for looking at the moon
    I see it like a painting in your room

    And it seems like everything around me these days, reminds me of you

    And all the times I've ever seen your face
    I never saw it clearer than I do today
    I could have sworn I saw you only yesterday
    Bending down and tying up your shoe

    And it seems like everything around me these days, reminds me of you

    I see your face most every place I go
    It's hard to look away
    And walking home at night your shining down from every street light
    I hope that your alive and well
    And I hope you feel the same

    So I'll continue looking harder at the world
    Looking for the part of you that's everywhere
    And though I know illusion's leading me astray
    Your memory is something I could never loose

    And it seems like everything around me these days, reminds me of you
    Yeah, it seems like everything around me these days, reminds me of you

  2. Ode to Tom - (lyrics)

    Hey Thomas what ya drinking, won't you have this one on me
    I been thinking about something here and I'm sure that you'll agree
    That a song is just a shadow of what you really mean
    And a whiskey and a bar stool is all you need to set the scene

    And there's a glow from my cigarette, while the smoke does a pirouette
    And the dance is so slow that it's sad
    And the moon acts as overseer and adds to the atmosphere
    And says have you ever been had

    Sing me another slow one, singing it just for me
    Singing for the melodies of all the songs that ever set me free

    Now this feeling of solitude move uneasily around the room
    And falls like a shroud around your head
    Got no time for definitions here, it's a lawless lullaby
    It's just hungry and has to be fed

    Sing me another slow one, singing it just for me
    Singing for the melodies of all the songs that ever set me free

    And every fallen angel has a chance to be a star
    Sing me another slow one, singing it just for me
    Singing for the melodies of all the songs that ever set me free

  3. In the Limbo - (lyrics)

    Somewhere in the wilderness, a coyote calls my name
    He's calling with a meaning unto me
    And every time I hear that sound in the desert of my heart
    I know that I must face this enemy

    Find a way to fight, this shadow of desire
    Higher than a kite, harder than a rock and blacker than the night
    This beast of hopelessness is gonna take your life
    Can leave you hanging there between the dying and alive. In the limbo.

    And somewhere on the road that stretches out to Avalon
    You can shoot the moon or you can loose to the guillotine
    No matter what you thinking for, if your heart aint there
    then your knocking on the wrong door
    Leaves you with a feeling that's gonna sink you like a stone

    And I'm walking with the lion and the lamb, living with the tears of Abraham
    Don't know if I'm walking on my own

    And this message ringing out so loud, coming down from me to you
    From Istanbul all the way down to Xanadu
    You can see it as the morning light, you can read it like the sky
    Wish upon a falling star, whatever gets you through

    Find a way to fight, this shadow of desire
    Higher than a kite, harder than a rock and blacker than the night
    This beast of hopelessness is gonna take your life
    Can leave you hanging there between the dying and alive. In the limbo.

    Even in the darkest night, the coyote calls again
    He's calling with a voice that rises high above your hideaway
    He's singing of a mountain top where angels stop to lead the way
    Sets you on a road that takes you farther than you've ever known

    And I'm walking with the lion and the lamb, living with the tears of Abraham
    And I don't know if I'm walking on my own
    In the limbo.

  4. Stowaway - (lyrics)

    Go ahead and sing. You won't change an inch of it
    I'm stronger than that, I'm stronger than you
    And I know your ways, ‘cos I'm familiar with every part of it
    And I won't turn my back, and I won't go away
    And I feel the strength of your grip, sliding away from me, waving good-bye

    So don't make me no stowaway, don't you drive me to stay away
    Can you hear me, I know that you do
    Can you see me, I'm watching you
    This aint no way to behave, I've been through it before

    And you talk a peerless line, but I aint got much time for it
    You're talking to yourself, so no one can hear
    If you listen to the words, I'm not sure that you'll even believe in it
    Cos words fly away, never mean what they say
    And you walk with such a perilous gait
    I walk that way too, but you walk alone

    So don't go where the road is worn
    Don't sleep out in a thunder storm
    I can see though the light does fade
    I can see through your barricade
    I don't mean to imply that the hand is deceiving this eye
    And I wish you well, though you're living here in the thick of it
    I live out on the edge, I fit in between
    So go along your merry way, the possibilities are infinite
    You can choose to explain or sing in the rain
    And I believe that the moment will come
    unexpected, and loosen the words from your tongue
    So don't forget that what's done is done
    recognize when your song is sung
    Have to go where your story leads
    Got to play in your symphony
    And I bid you farewell until next you suspect that I'm near. I'll be your stowaway here

  5. Singing High - (lyrics)

    Like leaves in June falling from the trees
    Like sunshine on a cold and a restless sea
    And the way you made me smile,
    like you know that you could do
    And the things you tried to reach for, when I said I couldn't give more
    And you were green and gold and yellow, and I was blue

    I'm singing high, singing low
    I'm singing high, singing low
    Singing slow, singing everywhere I go

    It's a funny situation, the kind that really tends to make them
    Come and get you in the morning when you're through
    You can strive for absolution or you can live in this illusion
    Cos there's really nothing more that I can do

    I'm singing high, singing low
    I'm singing high, singing low
    Singing slow, singing everywhere I go

    Now something in my heart of hearts says I never should have kissed you
    Cos I know that was the worst thing I could ever do
    But I know now looking back in retrospect I was the mirror
    that you were looking through just to see yourself in me

    I was singing high, singing low
    Singing high, singing low
    Singing slow, singing everywhere I go

  6. Hopelessly Involved - (lyrics)

    Every man he needs direction and a road to travel on
    And a post to put your name on, on the road to Babylon
    And it's hard to see the learning, with one eye on the goal
    You may be two steps from surrender, but you're hopelessly involved

    You turn your head, but you're hopelessly involved
    And you turn away so slowly, but you're hopelessly involved

    And a man decides his actions and he's choosing this or then
    There's no reconciliation between the writer and the pen
    And I don't see no contradiction in this or any other world
    Let the feelings fuel the actions they're speaking louder than the words

    I know a place where you're feeling lighter than a bird
    I see you're face in the perfect and absurd
    I see you turn away into the cold
    But you turn away so slowly cos you're hopelessly involved
    And you turn away so slowly, cos you're hopelessly involved

    There's a method in the madness, there's a purpose in the plan
    And the spring is old and over and the summer she just began
    And you may see yourself in armour, covered head to toe in steel
    In an ocean like this mirror, you got nothing to conceal

    And a man aint nothing more than a part of the masterpiece
    And he paints himself with a frowning face on the Mona Lisa
    Hopelessly entrapped in all he knows, hopelessly involved

    Yeah a man he needs direction and a road to travel on
    And a post to put your name on, on the road to Babylon
    I still don't see no contradiction in this or any other world
    Let the feelings fuel the actions they're speaking louder than the words

    I know a place where you're feeling lighter than a bird
    I see you're face in the perfect and absurd
    I see you turn away into the cold
    But you turn away so slowly cos you're hopelessly involved
    And you turn away so slowly, cos you're hopelessly involved

  7. Oh Susannah
  8. Song of Sixpence - (lyrics)

    Hear that birds are singing, filling up the sky
    See you're like a rock and all the world is passing by
    And if I told you in a whisper there were other things to see
    You would see that there is no one else that you have to try and be

    Tell you that you're everything and say that night was day
    And I can hear you coming for me from a thousand miles away
    I carry water for the jailer and I'm working every day
    You're never gonna see no sunrise coming when you're standing in the way

    Would you say that I'd gone crazy. Would you say I'd gone astray
    If I told you you were freedom, And I said you were the way, said you were the way
    Sing a song of sixpence to me, sing it loud and clear
    Sing it when your lover goes and leaves you and then sing it when he's near
    Cos the world don't stop for nothing, won't be broken or subdued
    And the river runs relentless to it's ocean rendezvous

    Would you say that I'd gone crazy. Would you say I'd gone astray
    If I told you you were freedom, and I said you were the way, said you were the way

  9. 90 Miles an Hour
  10. Fortune Smiled - (lyrics)

    Fortune smiled upon a man, perchance to be
    involved with fate
    Whose fickle hand did beckon and cajole him with a drunken gate
    He took the lead and danced a zealous jig at frantic pace
    Then stopped and turned, exhausted, searching for the comfort of familiar face

    To no avail did this intention help to soothe
    a wrinkled brow
    Which hung in empty space above this one and only fatted cow
    A fortune hunter doomed to face a troubled and ungainly foe
    He walked in resolution and was carried by the undertow

    In summer where the leaf and bloom are open
    to the sun and moon
    A man sits waiting, watching in a hallowed unencumbered room
    A message to the finer mind is lost and wavers from its mark
    The music fills a deafened ear and fails to move a hardened hear


cover art for Electronic Tracks by James Fry

Electronic Tracks

These are electronic remixes of my original songs recorded by Cam Cumming of Earbone Studios. (earbone@shaw.ca) Victoria, BC

© 2009 A Magic Canvas Production

Track List

Click Individual Track Names to Listen Now
  1. Like I Do - Song and vocals by James Fry.
    Remix by Cam Cumming
  2. Hopelessly Involved - Song and vocals by James Fry.
    Remix by Cam Cumming
  3. SmallFry Tech - Created by Cam Cumming. Vocal stuttering by James Fry.

©2009 SmallFry Enterprises. All rights reserved.