Jeff Finlin - The Tao of Motor Oil

Finlin's Way

I've liked Jeff Finlin ever since seeing him live supporting Steve Earle on the latter's 2003 Great Britain tour. He's a consummate story teller, evocative narratives sung in Finlin's distinctive vocals to guitar or piano melodies that grow in familiarity and meaning across listenings.

'East by West'

We got sage flats and kisses
Farm machinery
Sweat and work and blisses
Beyond our wild belief

We've got Kundalini kryas
Yodeling from within
East of where we're going
West of where we've been

We got dogs and tea a-brewing
From far across the sea
You can taste the hands of China girls
And the dreams that they release

We got sentimental hygiene
Children by the score
And the flowers dot the minefields
As the world it cries for more

Yes the garden it is growing
and our joy it has no end
East of where we're going
West of where we've been

Now there's a love as deep as an ocean
It's blue as western sky
And the wild wind there it keeps a-blowin'
Yes it's connecting you and I

We got a driving wheel come summer
No need to walk the line
And delusion it collapses
Beyond the thought of time

My heart it is exploding
And I carry it in my hand
East of where we're going
West of where we've been