The Cotton Jones Basket Ride

By Suman Sinha | Published: March 18, 2010

The music of The Cotton Jones Basket Ride is described somewhere as bluesy psychedelic folk – a heavy label for what is essentially great music! It reminded me of The Grateful Dead a bit, but to give this band its due, their sound is their own. In the end, its just some beautiful tunes and we should all decide for ourselves whether we like them or we don’t!

There are two tracks below, performed live at KEXP (a nonprofit, public radio station in the US) – Where You Stop For A Minute and Gotta Cheer Up. Plus a video of I Am The Changer, live again. Now here’s the thing about this band, they write darn good songs with pretty solid lyrics and this song is a good example of that. Judge for yourself below.

I Am The Changer

Everything has turned around
I was standing by the passing train
Might’ve coughed in the rain
Dropped a dollar down the gutter drain
Everything has turned around
Been waiting for a little change
When finally it came
I just waited for another
Waited for another

You know I’m the changer
The rearranger
I’m always a stranger
And a liar, got a tongue on fire
I will cut it off
I will cut it off
When I do, I’m gonna let you know
Gonna gonna let you know

Everything has turned around
Now I’m sleeping in a garden bed
Try to clear my head
Sitting waitin’ to be fed
‘Cause everything has turned around
Two years above the burning grass
Let the hours pass
Always gonna catch the next one
Gonna catch the next one

You know I’m the waiter
The hesitator
I will get to it later
But I’m a liar, got a tongue on fire
I’ll cut it off
I’ll cut it off
You know I’m the changer
The rearranger
I’m always a stranger
I’m always a stranger
I’m always a stranger
And the liar got a tongue on fire
I’ll cut it off
I’ll cut it off
When I do, when I do
I’m gonna let you know

Everything’s gonna let you know
I’m a liar
Gonna cut it off
You know I’m a changer
The rearranger
I’m always a stranger
You know I’m a waiter
A hesitator
Gonna get to it later