Stardust Angels Ghosts

$9.99$49.95

Available in Digital, Vinyl, and CD.

Equal parts stardust angels & ghosts, featuring the single CHERRY, rock ballads, flutes and cellos and lyrical twists and turns.  Featuring FREEDOM BELLS, a classic contribution to the Americana repertoire.

SKU: nb-sag Category: Tag:
Name Artist Time
Far From Home
We got trumped, got a lump in my throat
So broken hearted I barely can cope
Ain’t never been so far from home
As I am right now

Well, Hillary came close, but no cigar
Bill put that one away with Monica
Ain’t never seen something come so close
Yet so far from home

It was Mueller time in Washington
Lone Star Beer in Houston
Ain’t never seen folks so divided
So far from home

It’s a hot summer of the human soul
So close yet so far from home
Just like a skipping stone
Things just keep slipping out of sight

Well, Shifty Schiff and the Orange Beast
Got us all in some cold sweat heat
Dancing to the impeachment beat
Rag and bone

While the Orange Beast danced the gig
Moscow Mitch fixed that gig
And all that noise was just everybody
Blowing their horn

It’s a hot summer of the human soul
So close yet so far from home
Just like a skipping stone
Things just keep slipping out of sight

Well, Bernie Bros and MAGA Hats
Got us running ‘round like political lab rats
Go right, turn left
Just want to get back home

Well, Bernie, ‘Lizbet, Pete, Amy and Joe
Daddy Warbucks the bloom’s off the rose
And the first one to cross the finish line
Was Sleepy Joe
And the first one to cross the finish line
Was Ole Sleepy Joe

It’s a hot summer of the human soul
So close yet so far from home
Just like a skipping stone
Things just keep,
Things just keep,
Slipping out of sight

Well, we got trumped got a lump in my throat
So broken hearted I barely can cope
Ain’t never been so far from home
As I am right now

My Better Angels come save me
Put me on the Cross and carry me
Over the river of tears
Back home
Nick Binkley 04:13
We Are Stardust
“Every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you” – Walt Whitman

We are stardust
Stardust becomes awareness
Squeezed from pond water
Dew drops of intelligence
We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
We’re all in this together

Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist
Russian, American, Iranian, North Korean
We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
We’re all in this together

Darfur, Baghdad, Jerusalem and Palestine
Human rights, democracy, women dying from HIV
We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
And we’re all in this together
We’re all in this together

We’re all in this together
We’re all in this together
For ever, and ever

Broken genes, tainted food
Dirty water can’t tell bad from good
Global warming, ice caps melting
Jungles burning and the planet choking
Mother Earth crying, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
And we’re all in this together

Wuhan, Milan, Kirkland and New York City
Corona lockdown, pandemic flu
Killer on the loose coming
For me and you
We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
And we’re all in this together
We’re all in this together

We’re all in this together
We’re all in this together
For ever, and ever

Stardust and tears from Heaven forever
Stardust and tears from Heaven forever
Stardust and tears from Heaven for-ev-er

Rich and poor, weak and strong
Doesn’t seem to matter anymore
If you’re right or wrong
Black lives shattered, what can’t you see
It’s nine twenty-nine
And I can’t breathe
We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
And we’re all in this together
We’re all in this together

We’re all in this together
We’re all in this together
For ever, and ever

We are stardust, tears from Heaven
You and me, I am you
We’re all in this together
Nick Binkley 05:53
Freedom Bells
He reached out for you
And he reached out for me
He asked us to listen
And try and see
Not in black or white
But the colors between
And to dare to hope
Let the truth be seen
Don’t you think it’s about time
The truth was redeemed?
When freedom bells
Rang tonight

He freed us from doubt
And he freed us from shame
He asked us to believe
In ourselves again
And a cry went out
All across this great Land
Heard from the mountain tops
“YES! WE CAN!”
When freedom bells
Rang tonight
When freedom bells
Rang tonight

Money and Power said,
“Wait your turn!”
Conventional wisdom said,
“You’ll never win!”
He just raised up his voice
And cried “YES! WE CAN!’
When freedom bells
Rang tonight

And the call went out far
And the call went out wide
Ordinary folks crossed
The great divide
With their hopes and their dreams
Some with tears in their eyes
To cast their fate
And the majority cried
“AYE!”
When freedom bells
Rang tonight
When freedom bells
Rang tonight

Money and Power said,
“Wait your turn!”
Conventional wisdom said,
“You’ll never win!”
He just raised up his voice
And cried “YES! WE CAN!”
When freedom bells
Rang tonight

It was signed and was sealed
With all of us inside
There was nothing to argue about
This time
And ODETTA sang
From Heaven on High
‘Let this light, little light ‘o mine shine”
On January twenty
Two-thousand and nine
When freedom bells
Rang tonight
When freedom bells
Rang tonight


Money and Power said,
“Wait your turn!”
Conventional wisdom said,
“You’ll never win!”
He just raised up his voice
And cried “YES! WE CAN!”
When freedom bells
Rang tonight
Nick Binkley 04:40
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched the kids on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain slappin’ on the ground
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the moon in a fading night

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
‘Cause time is short
And the music won’t last

Do you run through each day on the fly
When you say “How are ya!” Do you hear the reply?
When your day is done do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores racing through your head

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
‘Cause time is short
And the music won’t last

Have you ever told your child “We’ll do it tomorrow”
And in your haste not seen his sorrow
Ever lost touch let a good friendship die
You didn’t have time to call and say “Hi!”

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
‘Cause time is short
And the music won’t last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss have the fun of getting there
When you worry and hurry through your day
It’s like an unopened gift thrown away

Life is not a race
Try to take it a little slower
And hear the music
Before the song is over

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
‘Cause time is short
And the music won’t last
Nick Binkley 03:02
Brown Eyed Angel
You are my angel, my gentle friend
My brown eyed angel, heaven sent
You appeared in my life, covered my grief
Wounded and broken, down upon my knees

What would I do without you in my life
What would I do without you

Grief dims the soul, you can hardly breathe
All your skies turn dark, pain runs so deep
All your hopes and your dreams turn to dust
Stars kneel to weep
And the oceans all run dry
Tears roll down your cheeks

What would I do without you in my life
What would I do without you

You brought beauty to this barren landscape
Offered your hand in pleasure, took the pain away
Beauty and pleasure turned the lights back on
But they can’t shine forever without their sweet companion
Her moonlight is ancient, she’s called compassion

What would I do without you in my life
What would I do without you

Don’t think I could go on
Without you in my life
Don’t think I could go on
Without you in my life

Beauty and pleasure, partners in sin
Yeah, they sometimes sin together
Committed no crime
Where there’s sweet compassion
All makes life worthwhile
You are my angel, my gentle friend
My brown eyed angel, heaven sent

What would I do without you in my life
What would I do without you
What would I do without you
In my life
Nick Binkley 04:16
I Am A Ghost
I am a ghost and I am lost
Among the pines, by the pond
In the presence of Rosalee’s cross
Placed upon a block of granite rock
Foundation stone of Harvey’s House
Taken down to the old-growth studs
Weathered bones of wood and dust
A hundred years of standing alone
Flesh and blood that’s come and gone

I am a ghost in my own lost and found

Where did all the years blow by?
A hurricane of fire and ice
Devil Winds swept Southern skies
Where did time fly?
Where did time fly?

I am a ghost and I am lost
Suspended between the heavens and earth
Caught between the light and the dark
In the twilight of my life’s last dance
Where diamonds rust and memories haunt
Goblins trick-or-treating on Halloween night
A child seeking something sweet and tart
Before falling into sleep’s long arms
I put my head down just one last time

I am a ghost in my own lost and found

Where did all the years blow by?
A hurricane of fire and ice
Devil Winds swept Southern skies
Where did time fly?
Where did time fly?

Where did all the years blow by?
A Hurricane of fire and ice
Crimes of passion, golden alibis
Where did time fly?
Where did time fly?

I am a ghost in my own lost and found
Nick Binkley 04:27
Black On White
What goes up must come down
What goes around comes back around
I live up town, you live downtown
What goes up, must come back down

Black on white, white on black
Back to front, now front to back
Hot to cold, cold to hot
Fat to thin, now thin to fat

Aujourd’hui il fait si beau
Mais demain on sais il peut pleuvoir
Je suis si fous de toi
Mais j’ai peur que tu de fous de moi

Where’re you going tonight my love?

I wear my heart on my sleeve
So you can tell that I love you
Lay your cards on the table
Confess your heart you love me too

Today the skies are blue
But you know tomorrow it could rain
I’m so head-over-heels in love with you
I’m afraid you just don’t give a damn

Where’re you going tonight my love?

I wear my heart on my sleeve
So you can tell that I love you
Lay your cards on the table
Confess your heart you love me too

What goes up must come down
What goes around comes back around
I live uptown, you live downtown
What goes up, must come back down
Nick Binkley 03:10
J'can Girl
I’ve been alone for so long
I remember things that never happened
Forgotten things in life that did
And I’ve been working the stage
Like a circus tumbler
One moment soaring high, next on my head

You took my life in your hands
Turned sand into crystal
Made me the man I am today
I felt your heart beat next to mine
If I’m not mistaken
We sure got a lot of hay to make

You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
My J’Cain Girl
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
Prettiest flower in the whole wide world

I felt you hand reach out for mine
Under cover of the night
I remember the first time we touched
I kissed your lips, wet your garden
Took you for a ride in my limo slip-sliding
Up next your bumper doing the bad

You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
My J’Cain Girl
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
Prettiest flower in the whole wide world

I’ve been working the stage
Like a circus tumbler
One moment soaring high, next on my head
Been on the road for so long
Dreaming dreams of going home
Just me and my J’Cain Girl all alone

You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
My J’Cain Girl
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
Prettiest flower in the whole wide world

I’ve been alone for so long
I remember things that never happened
Forgotten things in life that did
And I’ve been working the stage
Like a circus tumbler
One moment soaring high, next on my head

You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
My J’Cain Girl
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
Prettiest flower in the whole wide world
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
My J’Cain Girl
You are my Jamaican maiden, m’lady
Only girl for me in the whole wide world
Nick Binkley 03:36
Out of My Mind
Woke up this morning
You were on my mind
Found I’d been dreaming
You were by my side

Down by the seashore
Skipping stones
Lost in a daydream
You had come back home

Just me and some driftwood
Thought I saw you there
Swimming with the Selkies
In the cold, cold glassy Sound

Said I would join you
In the cold blue deep
A promise is a promise
I swore that I would keep

Then my heart started racing
In double time
Head spinning crazy
Out of my mind

Out of my mind
Out of my mind
I thought that you
Were out of my mind

Water so damned cold
You can hardly breathe
Felt your warm body near me
So I breathed in deep

Then my heart started racing
In double time
Head spinning crazy
Out of my mind

Out of my mind
Out of my mind
I thought that you
Were out of my mind

Woke up this morning
You were on my mind
Found I’d been dreaming
You were still my bride
Nick Binkley 03:29
Cherry
Cherry I love you, Cherry I do
Cherry I love you, Cherry I love you.

Love is my shepherd, I shall not want
Love that’s forever, can’t go wrong
Daydreams and night dreams, a love so true,
Oh, Cherry! I love you

Cherry I love you, Cherry I do
Cherry I love you, Cherry I love you.

Songbirds and blackbirds baked in a pie
I felt your heart beat, so close to mine
We’re lovers, we’re stargazers, I think you’re cool
Oh, Cherry! I love you

Cherry I love you, Cherry I do
Cherry I love you, Cherry I love you.

Do you remember the song that I sang
Started out softly, ended with a bang!
What did you feel when I held you so tight?
Did you feel the earth quake? Knock out the lights?

Cherry I love you, Cherry I do
Cherry I love you, Cherry I love you.
Cherry I love you, Cherry I do
Cherry I love you, Cherry I love you.
Nick Binkley 02:00
Broad Day Night
It’s more than a heartache
Sitting alone in the shadows
Of my lover’s room
Holding on to the dream-maker
Looking for a little danger
On the dark side of the moon

Have you ever
Walked down Broadway
In broad day night?
What a sight! What a sight!

See all the foxes
In their neon stockings
Sparkle and shine
Rapping and laughing
Snapping their fingers in time
It’s broad day light
In the middle of the night
Let Time Square add a little flare
To your life!
Let Time Square add a little flare
To your life!

Oh, have you ever
Walked down Broadway
In broad day night?
What a sight! What a sight!

Fawn face poets prance
Morning stars dance
Rainbows chase
Winding their way
Down the alleys of your mind
Drag Queen mascara
Turns to stubble
As fantasy fades in New York City
At dawn
As fantasy fades in New York City
At dawn

Have you ever
Walked down Broadway
In broad day night?
What a sight! What a sight!

Have you ever
Walked down Broadway
In the middle of the night?
It’s broad day light
At mid-night
Let Time Square add a little flare
To your life!
Let time Square add a little flare
To your life!
Let Time Square add a little flare
To your life!
Nick Binkley 03:17
Brown Eyed Angel Bonus
Nick Binkley 04:19

Track 1: Far From Home

I started writing the song immediately after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.  The first line of the first verse laments, “We got trumped…”  and telegraphs what to expect in the rest of the tune.  It’s a bit tongue in cheek ala Tom Lehrer, the singer-songwriter and political satirist from the 1960s, but hits on Trump’s name calling, its deadening effect on civil discourse, and his singular taste for chaos and psychodrama, all reaping the whirlwind. Every day, with each new social media post by him, was like a fingernail down the chalkboard, another brick through a glass window. I continued writing the song through his impeachment and into the 2020 election.  It finishes with a plea to our better angels. And today, we are still yet far, far from home.

Track 2:  We Are Stardust

The title track of the album.  An Ode to our universal connectedness.   In high school, I had a wonderful biology teacher, Dr. Raymond Alf.  He was also a self-taught paleontologist who would conduct weekend fossil hunts in the Barstow desert of Southern California, just a couple hours from Claremont where the school was.  He was a scientist, but also God-fearing.  In the desert at dawn, he would wake us boys with shouts of “Laudate Deum!” Praise be to God!  He also preached the miracle of evolution in our classroom.  He was both an evolutionist and a creationist, believing all living things here on earth began with the Big Bang and its aftermath but under the divine providence of God.  I remember a lecture about “pond water.”  Swampy, warm pond water was the petri dish of life, he would say.  And from that petri dish of swampy water, the first protozoa emerged eventually developing into invertebrates and then vertebrates and ultimately into homo sapiens.  A couple years ago, I had a flash of insight:  Could it be that the purpose of human existence, “dew drops of intelligence,” here in our little corner of the Milky Way, was the universe’s way of becoming aware of itself?

WE ARE STARDUST is inspired by Dr Alf’s perorations on the beginnings of life and God’s purpose for humans and the universe, but also inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem, Song of Myself in his Leaves of Grass collection of poems.  The song begins as an ode in spoken word, with a quote from Song of Myself, “… from every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you…” which is followed by my lyrics, “…we are stardust…stardust becomes awareness squeezed from pond water, dew drops of intelligence… you and me, I am you, and we’re all in this together.” I continued composing the song during the pandemic and through the Black Lives Matter protests.  Notwithstanding all our divisions, all our man-made and natural disasters, our common origin, in a brew of swampy pond water, a billion years ago under the gaze and guiding hand of God, as Dr. Alf would put it – “dew drops of intelligence” were spawned.  From stardust to stardust and everything in between.

Track 3:  Freedom Bells

A Paean to the Obama victory in 2008I wrote FREEDOM BELLS following the election of Obama.  It is a paean to his cathartic effect on America and Americans of all stripes and walks of life.  His ascension to the White House restored faith in ourselves and faith in American democracy to correct course and to reveal our better angels.

Track 4:   Slow Dance

The lyrics are reputedly written by an anonymous teen suffering from terminal cancer.  The poem came across my computer screen without attribution.  I tried to track down the author but without success, hence the “Anonymous” designation for “Words By.” I then composed the music as a singer-songwriter ballad.  The song is a “Cri du Coeur” to slow down, stop, look, and listen – “before the music ends.” At my age, the sentiment hit home.  The recording is also the last time Doug Lunn played bass on one of my songs.  He died shortly after, he also from cancer.

Track 5:  Brown Eyed Angel

My dear Sam came into my life shortly after the tragic loss of my late wife and the mother of my two children.  Sam “covered my grief” and “brought beauty to this barren landscape.”  She is my “gentle friend, heaven sent.” 

Track 6:  I Am A Ghost

I wrote this song on Orcas Island.  Our family property goes back over 80 years and there are lots of “ghosts” – people (“flesh and blood, come and gone”), special places and trees and ponds and Harvey’s House.  Harvey’s House is named after Harvey Pinkerton, the property’s caretaker for 50 years.  He died in that house; and it may be my preferred final resting place too.

Track 7 & 8:  Black On White and J’can Girl 

I originally wrote these two songs as country ballads.  One evening hanging out with Toots Hibbert (“Toots and the Maytals”), he suggested rearranging the tunes – as reggae songs.  He mentioned that he grew up listening to country music beamed into the Caribbean from super stations in Jacksonville, Fl and drew inspiration for “story-telling,” influencing his reggae songwriting.  Toots produced the songs at his Reggae Center recording studio in Kingston and played all instruments except for bass, which was played by his son, Hopeton.  Both songs are written about Sam, my Jamaican “brown eyed angel,” my “J’can flower.”

Track 9:  Out of My Mind  

A singer-songwriter ballad inspired after awaking from a dream.  Out of sight does not mean out of mind.  Confirming our dreamlife is rich and contextual, full of surprise tailings and remembrances.

Track 10:  Cherry  

A nursery rhyme, a 1950’s Brill Building pop tune.  Fun and lighthearted with overtures of the Everly Brothers. The album’s first music video and streamed single.

Track 11:  Broad Day Night 

“Have you ever walked down Broadway in broad day night?” A psychedelic dreamscape and awe inspired by Times Square lit up at midnight.

Track 12:  Brown Eyed Angel (Bonus track)  

After having composed the tune in C, I was noodling on the guitar one day, experimenting with singing the lyrics in D.  This track is a second musical arrangement with Steve Dudas on guitar accompanying my vocal – just his electric guitar and vocal.  I don’t think I have ever seen the same lyrics of a song twice on an album, in two different musical arrangements.  It’s the first time it has ever happened for me, so I thought I would share it with the listener and record both for the album.

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