1. |
The Swell
03:36
|
|||
|
The world stopped spinning and it always seems to rain
Doing headstands on my heartstrings,
Doing nothing again
I opened up the window and everything came tumbling in
All the earth and all its problems
I couldn’t hear you through the din
I know we’re all afraid of dying
we’re all afraid of being well
And any chances to feel normal
Washed away in the swell
And it seems like everybody's dying and
There’s no one here to tell
They’re telling me that William wrote King Lear inside his home
And you said I was like a tempest
But a spring storm needs to roam
And the comfortable and cadent say they’re bored inside those walls
Far more than four of them,
They're singing songs without a cause
I know we’re all afraid of dying
we’re all afraid of being well
And any chances to feel normal
Washed away in the swell
And it seems like everybody's dying and
There’s no one here to tell
|
||||
2. |
Fixup
02:32
|
|||
|
I’m not what he needed
Not what anybody needed
And every day I think that I just want to be alone
Can you list them out, all the places I screwed up
Can you show me where to cut them now
and tie them up and throw them out
No of course
You can’t
I can’t, I can
Maybe I’ve been just so busy crying all my days away
So far up then so far down nobody knew how to keep my pace
I was a wind across the sand and now I’m just an east coast hurricane
And that tenderness shouldn’t have to come with a bite
I needed I needed I needed too much
I flounder I drown in this heart of mine
How do you deal with somebody just so awful and perfect at the same damn time
No of course
You can’t
I can’t I can
I can’t
At first I thought I had to get him back and
Then I thought I needed someone new and
Then I thought i’d lean on my friends or
move out to the middle of the blue
But nothing and nobody is gonna work on me
but me and I can’t ask you to give me steady ground
No of course you can’t
I can’t I can I can’t
|
||||
3. |
Warm from the Sun
03:38
|
|||
|
Wade into the water at night
While it’s still warm from the sun
Look into the black and hope
Things that bite are done
For the day
I wish for just one
More hour I could forget
About time
And I hope that when I
Look back at this
I’ll be somewhere better
And I can’t wait to see the other
Side of the road
If I make it there
Grass or no
And I can’t wait to see the other side of the road
If I make it there
Maybe grass will grow
Wade into the water at dawn
When it’s not yet warm from the sun
Look at my reflection and ask
What it is that I’ve become
fade into the darkness at night
With the hums and the lulls
Hop the fence in my dreams
It’s a field so endless and green
And I can’t wait to see the other side
of the road
when I make it past the trees I’ll know
I can’t wait to see the other side of the road
When I make it there
the grass will grow
|
||||
4. |
Carson
02:13
|
|||
|
He’s drinking whiskey and I’m drinking wine
He knows a few things about biding his time
But every drink's the same when you’re drinking alone
And I know how to stay still until I turn to stone
On the outside we know how to walk the walk
Don't look back, you might turn into a pillar of salt
But in his own time he gets lost in the past
on the inside we’ll be looking back
I moved dirt into my garden, it took the whole day
And I was happier than I had been in years
I smiled for the camera and I went home in tears
I think Carson understands
On the outside we know how to walk the walk
Don't look back, you might turn into a pillar of salt
But in his own time he gets lost in the past
on the inside we’ll be looking back
|
||||
5. |
Dark Vein Violets
01:35
|
|||
|
Push and pull the door
All at once
Learn it fast young
Learn it young
And know peace
For a while
Then know solitude
Partnership promises
An end to lonliness
But it never follows through
Not in lovers
Not in friends
No it never follows through
When you pray what do you say?
Hug me before you go
Not because life is short
Because it’s fragile
|
||||
6. |
All You Zombies
05:02
|
|||
|
You called our first kiss a mistake
Said sorry right after
You didn’t mean it That way
That’s what you said
That was way back when And this is now
And here we are apart
I wonder if you were right then somehow
With what you said
Nobody ever broke your heart
And for your sake I hope they never do
I’m sure it aches for me sometimes but we both know it’s not the same
You did a shit job at leaving but
It’s all you know how to do
You said that you’d write better on your own
You said that’s how it usually goes
I guess we’re both the fuel for all these songs
Just like you said
I thought we’d be the isbell and the shires of our age
we'd be younger and maybe better off
But he recovered and he didn’t leave
That’s what he says
Nobody ever broke your heart
And for your sake I hope they never do
I’m sure it aches for me sometimes but we both know it’s not the same
You did a shit job at leaving but
It’s all you know how to do
And you were right
All those times
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
When you see a crow on the highway
say hello for me
And when you pick up your guitar
Write a little song
I want to hear what’s like
Down where seabiscuit died
You’ll be headed off to Nashville and I’ll be right here
I spend a lot of time alone
You know you’re there for most of it
I’ll make doubles of meals
And try on your heels
You left behind
Fuck Graceland that’s where I am
But won’t you see Beale street for me
You like to drive
Good thing you're landlocked and loaded
To say goodbye
to Nashville and I stayed right here
One day I’ll set off for Scotland
Or maybe just Maine
Either way I hope you love it down where it don’t rain
You’ll be headed off to Nashville a
And I’ll be right here
|
||||
8. |
Boneless Chicken Dinner
01:59
|
|||
9. |
Scrape Song (Stripped)
03:43
|
|||
|
I wake up and my bones are weary
From all this dreaming of you
But I guess that old cut’s healing up alright
A Band-aid couldn’t fix the way
The ache tried to pervade but
It sure teaches a deep scrape how to scab
the cells that made up my skin two years ago
Are not the same now as they were then
Oh they didn’t know what lay in store
Their whole short lives ahead in store
Our whole short-lived love lay ahead in store
Thank you, I learned how to be good
Thank you, I learned how to be cruel
Thank you, I learned how to live
I learned how to live
The scab will disappear
The scar will fade to white
The scar will fade to white
and I will live
|
||||
10. |
Divine
03:44
|
|||
|
you were an angel, my saving grace
a wolf in disguise with a cherubim face
You were the light at the end of the line
you were an angel, you were divine
all I could see when I looked was your smile
the way your life turned into mine
And that’s how I wanted it to be
roses over my eyes, couldn’t see
well you donned your wings and I wept
And your halo grew brighter with secrets you kept
and I was messing up all the time, all my lines
every drink, every distance was mine
You said I was an angel, I was holy to you
I don’t know if you ever thought that was true
everything good in you laid in my hands
maybe everything bad killed our plans
Maybe nobody’s divine
But maybe I wasn’t alright
Yeah you donned your wings and I wept
And your halo grew brighter with secrets you kept
and I was messing up all the time, all my lines
Every drink, every distance was mine
every drink and every distance wasn’t mine
You still weigh so heavy on my mind
No use pointing fingers at angels
No use pointing fingers at all
|
||||
11. |
Meet Me at the Ice Wall
02:44
|
|||
|
I suppose I’ll see you
In my dreams tonight
I think I believe you
When you tell me it’ll be alright
The only time I see you
Is when I fall asleep
But maybe I won’t miss you
here’s a promise that I’ll try to keep
So won’t you walk along and I’ll walk the other way
You know the world is round maybe our paths will cross one day
And when you drink in that peace of mind you finally found
I think I’ll be finding footing on my piece of solid ground
Here I go again starting over
Here I go again trying to breathe
Well don’t you go forgetting about me
I’ll wish you well and I’ll see you in my dreams
So won’t you walk along and I’ll walk the other way
You know the world is round maybe our paths will cross one day
And when you drink in that peace of mind you finally found
I think I’ll be finding footing on my piece of solid ground
|
||||
12. |
Classic (for John)
04:26
|
|||
|
I didn’t know you as well as I should have done
but the whole world's heart broke today
We all tried to fall asleep just knowing you were gone
At least we know that now you’re resting easy
I found you a lot later than I should have done
I guess that I should say you were a gift
From a love that I've since lost; he played your records on the road
And god knows I listened to them when he left
I know everyone is calling you a classic
And I won’t pretend that I knew every song
But you were there for me through love and pain
just dancing off that stage
And I swear I’ll do you right now that you’re gone
I visited fort sumner a few years ago
I don’t know if I knew your name back then
Stood at Billy’s resting place and felt the wind blow
Can you tell me now if god up there has a plan?
Around his grave were other quiet sleepers in the dust
And one headstone sat with gentle little script
It said "no pain no grief no anxious fears
Just guard our loved ones sleeping here”
and somehow that makes it better in the rough
I know everyone is calling you a classic
And I won’t pretend that I knew every song
But you were there for me through love and pain
just dancing off that stage
And I swear I’ll do you right now that you’re gone
John, I’m sorry that I didn’t know you better
But I know you wouldn’t be mad at me for that
You would laugh it off like everything else
2 million crinkles around those eyes
Heaven knows you wouldn’t have wanted us to cry
God knows you wouldn't have wanted us to cry\
I know everyone is calling you a classic
And I won’t pretend that I knew every song
But you were there for me through love and pain
just dancing off that stage
And I swear I’ll do you right now that you’re gone
|
||||
13. |
Fruit Flies
02:22
|
|||
|
When you look in the mirror do you see my eyes
Wasn’t it so funny we looked exactly alike
spending my moments catching fruit flies
and I wish I had a jar I can’t stand to see them die
I get this feeling like I’m reading something page after page
But when I put it down I can’t remember what it said
I wonder if inside me you still take up any space
I’m on the floor surrounded by the fractions that I’ve made
when i look at my reflection am I seeing your eyes
Was it just a flaw the way we looked exactly alike
Spending my mornings looking for the fruit flies
I wish they hadn’t left and I wish they wouldn’t die
|
||||
14. |
Salt Song
03:49
|
|||
|
I get these headaches in the morning
and my mouth tastes sickly sweet
I finally understand what you meant when you were hungry
but you didn’t want to eat
I can’t remember if I knew you in past life
but I might just see you in the next
I know you don’t believe in that
It's the way they bubble up
if anybody says your name
the memories are sentiment
But the things that weigh me down
crumbling up Inside my head
Rolling down the hill, that’s the sediment
Of what we used to be
but we try to be the salt of the earth
You and me
working with the sediment
You and me
and the sediment
And the salt
And the moving on
|
||||
15. |
Elegy
05:46
|
|||
|
sometimes I think we’re becoming our mothers
but you always wanted to be just like your dad
Sometimes I find myself missing you
When I’m up too late and thoughts are getting bad
Six months alone, almost 3 since we spoke
By this time next month I’ll be driving home
But for now I’m on night walks with Grace
Watching the bats slice the clouds past my face
I know you don’t care but I
Stopped counting the side walk lines
You don’t have to yell about those
sweet western sunsets any more
I have big skies of my own over here
on the Eastern shore
I've been looking at that drawing you did
of the place we were supposed to live
It’s got a front porch, a big windmill,
a tractor and a tire swing
I don’t know when I started looking forward to
getting old, to getting old
I wrote a love song to the mountains
but I got stuck in the cold
Six months alone, almost 3 since we spoke
This time next month I’ll be driving home
Lost half my friends in lockdown and
Another half when you left
But I’m doing fine in case you haven’t checked
And I haven’t had a drink since May but I
don’t think you were keeping that promise anyways
It's another one about you, I don’t even have to try
I wonder when I’ll run this well dry
I know you don’t care but I stopped
counting the sidewalk lines
I don’t know if you noticed that about me anyways
Finding things I could control if I couldn’t get you to stay
But you can have this if you wanted to know
if everything stayed the same
It did, but I know it’s proof that we all have to change
Step on a crack, I would break my own back
|
||||
Highway State Baltimore, Maryland
Ghost folk duo Highway State consists of ex-emo sisters Grace and Le.
If you like Highway State, you may also like:
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
The Creature That I Call Myself
by Julie Arsenault
featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 21, 2015
go to album
I Need to Start a Garden
by Haley Heynderickx
featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 10, 2018
go to album
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
The Toronto-based sextet make moody, cinematic sounding music that blends psych-folk and post-rock.
go to album
Will I Still Bloom?
by Half Dream
Heartland indie rock that’s like Angel Olsen at her fuzziest fronting a gnarlier Mazzy Star.
go to album
Introspective pop songs with transcendent melodies offer a joyful meditation on staying present in a world that often moves too fast.
go to album
