Bar Jay Bar "Fourth of July" // Valley Sessions

Bar Jay Bar busks on a lonely street in Coal Village, on the NMSU Campus. He entertains the empty air with a tale about leaving home, feeling the truth of man’s greed, and returning to find himself as changed as the overgrown paths he once walked.

Recorded Live on January 7th, 2024

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Lyrics:

Drive me to Mama's, Lorena
I didn't make it last summer
As we planned
'Cause making it home by September
Was just too high a demand

I was hopping freight in Winnemucca
Somewhere around the ots of June
And time went by, and the 4th of July
Just came and went a little too soon

I'll bet the weeds are high this summer
Since Papa gave up on the farm
And bought some new ground
On the outskirts of town
And left us all singing his charms
I was thumbing for rides that August
When I ran out of trains I could trust
To send me on down to old Houston-town
To sweat out the tears and the rust

And I seen trouble all the while
And bad men cheat and lie
And thoughts that sing
And church bells ring
Them days are far behind

Well I made it back to the old plot
And I had me a look around
I called out for Mama on the front porch
But in reply, I heard not a sound
I drifted through the old farmhouse
And lifted the dust from the boards
I seen a refrigerator...
Hanging on the refrigerator door.

The pasture is silent my darling
The tractor lies still in the barn
A tree is lying on the old hen coop
A stiffness in my back and my arm
Gone are the days of September
Of April and June and of March
Darling I hope you remember
The simple life offers you no harm

'Cause you seen trouble all the while
And bad men cheat and lie
And thoughts that sing
And church bells ring
Them days are far behind

Written and Performed by
Bar Jay Bar

Recorded Live by
Michael Loyola
Tony Cruz

Mastered by
Tony Cruz

Directed & Created by
Ryan M. Robson

Assistant Directing by
Natalie Streander

Cinematography by
Aaron Walterscheid
Bardo Sanchez
Sigi Trevizo

Music Supervisor
Jenna Ivey

Assistant Camera by
Larenz White

Production Assistants
Maria Gonzalez
Bryan David Robles Guzmán
Mike Picante

Additional Photography by
Sai Elijah

Special Thanks:
Veronica Hisa
Austin Martin-Likes
City of Las Cruces
New Mexico State University