A remarkable improvement over 1980's extremely spotty Smokin' the Dummy, 1983's Bloodlines often rises to the level of Terry Allen's 1979 masterpiece Lubbock (On Everything). The pantheistic hymn that opens and closes the album (the first in a simple and gorgeous voice and accordion setting, the last in a swelling choral version with a full band) sets a tone for the entire song cycle, one hinted at in the cover photo of a tattered painting of a lamb (a common Christ symbol) and explicated in the second track, the joyously heretical shaggy-dog story "Gimme a Ride to Heaven, Boy," in which Allen gives a lift to a hitchhiker who turns out to be Jesus, who promptly pulls a gun and takes off with his wheels ("The Lord moves in mysterious ways, and tonight my son, he's gonna use your car"). Throughout the rest of the album, Allen returns almost obsessively to the theme of religion's place in the modern world. "Ourland" sets images of the atrocities committed on both sides of the religious conflict in Northern Ireland to a bitterly ironic Celtic death march, while "Oh Hally Lou," the gospel-style theme song for a play by Allen's wife Jo Harvey Allen, questions Jesus' love for humanity. Tragicomic vignettes like "There Oughta Be a Law Against Sunny Southern California" and "Cantina Carlotta" (both remade from Allen's 1975 debut, Juarez) also touch on the same themes in more idiosyncratic ways. And for all its lyrical strength, Bloodlines is equally impressive musically. Reeling back the rock edge of Smokin' the Dummy without returning to the acoustic folk setting of most of Lubbock (On Everything), Bloodlines mixes country, rock, folk, and oddball jazz like Music From Big Pink-era Band without the "Americana" fetish. A satisfying and often fascinating album, Bloodlines is one of Allen's best.

TERRY ALLEN
BLOODLINES
(Fate 38122)
1983
Produced by Lloyd Maines

Recorded:
September/1982 - January/1983

1.
BLOODLINES
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Oh my mother she is a mountain and her breast it touch the sky
And my father he is a river running through her sweet by and by
[ organ ]
And my sister she is a songbird and she's singing in her flight
And my brother he is a moonbeam falling on her in the night
[ organ ]
There is a river run through the mountains under moonlight hear the song
Of the bloodlines gone long before me and ever after moving on
Ever after moving on
**********
2.
GIMME A RIDE TO HEAVEN BOY
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Well I's all caught up with myself on the highway at night
Drivin' like a bat outta hell when I beheld an amazing sight
It was a lonely apparition by the roadside standin' there
With his thumb out in the wilderness and a halo in his hair
He said gimme a ride to heaven boy I'll show you a paradise
Yeah gimme a ride to heaven boy my name is Jesus Christ

So I come screeching to a halt I said hop on in
He said thanks a lot for the lift forgive you of your sins
Yeah I just come from Jerusalem where things are going bad
Ah gimme a ride to heaven boy I need to talk to my dad
Yeah gimme a ride to heaven boy...

Well I didn't know what to do so I jammed her down in gear
Kinda kicked my feet beneath the seat I was trying to hide the beer
Ah but he just grinned and said my friend I know you must think it's odd
But you got nothin' to fear bout drinkin' a beer if you share it with the son of God
Yeah gimme a ride to heaven boy...
[ dobro ]
Well I saw good news in his baby blues so I stomped it on the floor
I said you have to show me how to get there I ain't been before
Well it's a hard place to find he said but I'll give you a little clue
It ain't somewhere up in the air sittin' right here inside with you

Then right in the middle of that perfect smile from his robes he pulled a gun
And stuck it up beside my head and said how's this for Kingdom Come
Well I pulled off scared but I heard him say as he left me beneath the stars
The Lord moves in mysterious ways and tonight my son he gonna use your car
Yeah gimme a ride to heaven boy...
Yeah gimme a ride to heaven boy...
[ dobro - piano ]
**********
3.
CANTINA CARLOTTA
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Well I drove down to El Paso on my business
Yeah I was just another executive workin' for the bank
When I crossed that border line I dropped my business
And I wound up for three days in the Juarez tank
Cantina Carlotta lady after I met you
Well I knew that I was ready to start something new
So I dropped my Brook Brothers suits and all my fancy painted ties
Oh just for one night with Carlotta and her painted eye
[ trumpet + vibes ]
When I got out of jail I went lookin' for Carlotta
Yeah I needed some more of that sweet Affectionada
But at the cantina they told me she's gone to Guadalahara
And when I asked if she'd be back they just said d'nada
Cantina Carlotta lady...
Yeah one night with Carlotta ah uno noches Carlotta and her painted eye
(Yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi)
**********
4.
OURLAND
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Ourland is my land her history is a calling me
From the shores of another land to ourland across the sea

Well I fancy a bomb inside my head a ticking for the men
And I'll put it in a little cafe and blow em' to hell again
And I fancy a pistol in my coat loaded for the kill
And we'll gun the ones who run outside I swear by God we will
Because ourland is my land...

And I fancy a knife inside my pants bone handled razor sharp
And we'll run the ones who survive the blast and cut them in the dark
And I fancy my hands behind the wheel and the wounded a laying down
And we'll punch the gas and run it fast and grind them in the ground
Because ourland is my land...
[ flute ]
And I fancy their windows under me squealing with delight
So we'll have our fun then when we're done we'll garrote 'em in the night
And we fancy their children a crying then but we will pat their heads
And sing them to sleep with a fireman's song then burn them in their beds
Cause ourland is my land...
Yeah ourland is my land...
[ fiddle - piano - flute ]
**********
5.
OH HALLY LOU
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Washed in the blood yeah washed in the blood
Washed in the blood blood of the lamb
Does Jesus love you does Jesus love you oh hally lou
Yeah oh hally lou oh hally lou oh hally lou does Jesus love you

Yeah washed in the blood...
Yeah oh hally lou oh hally lou oh hally lou does Jesus love you
Yeah oh hally lou oh hally lou oh hally lou does Jesus love you
**********
6.
OH WHAT A DANGEROUS LIFE
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Well they sit out by the hot tubs oh oh what a dangerous life
And talk about how they got their stuff oh oh what a dangerous life
They drink zombies on the sunnyside with lotion squirts and moans
Their precious bodies by the poolsides remodeled like their homes
On silicone successfulness (it's the new American-ness)
Yeah you better invest in this oh oh what a dangerous life
And Bissie's in her bathtub cleansing herself from the wrath of
Some personal Pasadena Pasadena Pasadena
But scrubbing on her white skin rubbing all them oils in
Will it make her feel any cleaner in Pasadena in Pasadena
Oh oh what a dangerous life (dangerous)
[ sax ]
Yeah they smoke a little marijuana ha oh what a dangerous life
Then they float on into the sauna ha oh what a dangerous life
Jacuzzis oozing on display and consciousness raising groans
Say I'm OK. you're OK As long as we stay stoned and stoned
On silicone successfulness (it's the new restless-ness)
Better get undressed for this oh oh what a dangerous life (dangerous)
And Bissie's in her bathtub...

Silicone successfulness it's the new restless-ness
Better get undressed for this silicone successfulness
It's the new sexless-ness won't be depressed with this oh oh
(Dangerous dangerous dangerous dangerous dangerous dangerous)
**********
7.
MANHATTAN BLUEBIRD
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Well if you never let them tight pants have a chance to hug your hips
Manhattan bluebird girl you never flown
And if you never read your name carved in leather with your fingertips
Manhattan bluebird girl you done yourself wrong
[ dobro - piano - sax ]
And if you never let that honky tonk juke boxsing for you
Manhattan bluebird girl you missed your song
[ sax ]
Manhattan bluebird girl you missed your song
**********
8.
THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW AGAINST SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Yeah I'm goin' back goin' home again well I'm goin' back to my own again
I'm goin' back ah to my home town
The one that put me out the one that laid me down

Well I wired up a car in East Fontana I was a headed for San Berdu
Ah midnight oil it was on the boil and boy I was a barrel'n through
Then I took a turn but I hit the curb and spun off the center lane
When I heard the crash well I stomped on the gas and I was barrel'n on again
I leave a few people dead but I got open road ahead
Well I leave a few people dead but I got open road yeah ahead

And I 'member the cop with his slicked-back hair when he told me to get outta here
And I 'member the judge with his gold plated mouth
He said go live in the north you gonna die down south you gonna die down south
Yeah I'm goin' back goin' home again...
[ guitar ]
I went flyin' through South San Berdu with my mind on East LA
Where my pachuco queen she's cookin' refried beans an she's waitin' for me today
Yeah stopped on off liquor store made everybody lay down on the floor
Took all their whiskey took their bread then shot out their lights just before I fled
I leave a few people dead but I got open road ahead
I leave a few people dead but I got open road ahead

I 'member the bitch whose black tongue lied when she told me she's dissatisfied
And I 'member her daddy big as a truck he said fuck with me boy if you wanna fuck
Yeah fuck with me boy if you want to fuck
Yeah I'm goin' back goin' home again...
[ guitar ]
Yeah there oughta be a law against sunny Southern California
Yeah there oughta be a law against puttin' the devil behind the wheel
And cause as long as you people are gonna sanction such an evil
Well I'm gonna turn your asphalt back into brimstone
Yeah you God damned bet I will
[ guitar ]
**********
9.
BLOODLINES II
(Terry Allen)
« © '83 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »

Oh my mother she is a mountain and her breast it touch the sky
And my father he is a river running through her sweet by and by
[ dobro ]
Oh my sister she is a songbird and she's singing in her flight
And my brother he is a moonbeam falling on her in the night
[ dobro ]
There is a river run through the mountains under moonlight hear the song
Of the bloodlines gone long before me and ever after moving on
Ever after moving on
[ dobro ]
**********