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Under the Stars

from Un​-​Settling by Runaway John

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about

This song is about a homeless guy named Francis. I met him whilst busking on Grafton Street in Dublin, in the spring of 2014. First, he stole money from my bag, then we became “friends” and he stopped stealing and started asking for money every time I happened to be busking there. I gave him a few coins every time I could, although I knew that he was spending them on alcohol and drugs. “Come on, man, please spare me 6 euros. I need to take my medicine…” or “hey man, write a song about me, would ya?” His mother died recently and his brother hanged himself in St. Stephen’s Green Park. He also had a baby daughter of which he would show me pictures of her on his old, broken phone. I haven’t seen him since January 2015, I don’t know what happened to him, though the burden of losing his mother and brother seemed to have brought him down a lot…

lyrics

Hey, buddy, won’t you sing me a song?
I’ll just sit here alone and listen, he said
My heart is empty, my bottle is full
Clothes are dirty, I stink like a mule
Don’t stop, please, carry on singing

La, la, la, lie, lie, lie,
Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie

These streets are aching and my body’s filled with scars
But this damn medicine will help me sleep
Under the stars

Buddy, won’t you spare me some change?
It might sound strange, but I’ll give it back to you
You know I will
You know, my brother went down to the park
It was right before dark, he tied a rope up so high
I couldn’t reach him in time

La, la, la, lie, lie, lie,
Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie

These streets are aching and my body’s filled with scars
But this damn medicine will help me sleep
Under the stars

Under the stars I see my daughter
Crying in my arms
With morning comes silence
Oh, this world, feels so numb

These streets are aching and my body’s filled with scars
But this damn medicine will help me sleep
Under the stars

Hey, buddy, won’t you sing me a song?
I’ll just sit here alone and listen, he said

credits

from Un​-​Settling, released September 15, 2015

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Runaway John Dublin, Ireland

Romanian-born singer-songwriter who currently lives in Dublin, Ireland, where he is known for entertaining people with his music on Grafton Street and in various venues across town. His songs are warm, heartfelt indie-folk compositions, which he performs vocally, accompanied by his acoustic guitar. He has independently released his debut album “Un-Settling”, which he financed in 2015. ... more

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