Get all 19 Great Lake Swimmers releases available on Bandcamp and save 45%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Uncertain Country (Acoustic) EP, Uncertain Country, The Legend Of Bobby Bird (Art Bergmann Cover), Live At The Redeemer 2007, When We Last Shook Hands: Cover Songs Volume 1, Live In Ottawa At The 27 Club 2019-10-03, Getting To The Heart Of It / Where Are You / Thursday, Getting To The Heart Of It, and 11 more.
1. |
Song For The Angels
05:19
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The echo to your yell, the ripple to your dive
The current under your wave
Electricity is part of me
I send it out to you
We were charged with the pounding pulse of a million years
And millions before us have trembled with their fears
I never saw you, never heard you
But I knew that you were there
Everywhere
I could feel you all around me
Well I know that I am just a grain of sand
Meeting water at the land
We could make our castles here
And sweep them all away
I know that I am just a drop of water
Frozen into ice
On the stormy earth, that gave us birth
Over and over, in cycles, lovely cycles
I never saw you, never heard you
But I knew that you were there
Everywhere
I could feel you all around me
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2. |
Let's Trade Skins
05:24
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But my heart is with you, and its many dark corners
And its rings of smoke, and its lighted hallways
And I wished you could know all the ghosts in my bones
They are weeping, they are screaming, they are inside my body
O let’s trade skins, I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
You could wear my shoes, I could have your hair
And think that it was fair
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
I’m gonna build you, I’m gonna heal you
I can feel every part of you that holds it together
And you always looked so happy when you were sleeping
Sleeping’s the only way sometimes to live in a perfect world
It’s party time, but quiet and sublime
Tonight there’s a party, a party of one
Like a wisp of smoke, solitary and thin
The heat’s coming off the fires we built
Stars were meant to shoot, and waves were meant to crash
I’m hypnotized by the flicker and saddened by the ash
And it’s complicated with desires and dreams
With stitches and battle scars, pulling apart at the seams
O let’s trade skins
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
You could wear my shoes
I could have your hair
And think that it was fair
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
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3. |
When It Flows
03:34
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When it flows from the fingers and turns to stone
It shatters with the touch, feel the air breathe it in
Turn the corner, take the bend
Give or take the bend
It’s a spiraling corkscrew path towards you
It’s a sinking twisted path from me to you
For a second I saw you so clearly, clearly
For a moment I knew you so dearly, dearly
I looked into your eyes and into your mind
You were laughing like a statue come to life
The subtle piano raindrops, the creaking of the buildings and their cellos
The wind was our violin, the sky was a symphonic mural of stars
Hiding behind perfectly placed clouds, because everything is the way it is
And everything is perfect in their imperfections
And everything is placed the best, and it is now and it is here
And tomorrow is another now waiting to happen
The roar of an action silences all the words
The cry of an accomplishment drowns the whimper of ten thousand words
And we live in our actions and our reactions
And we live in our actions and our reactions
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4. |
Various Stages
04:11
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I have seen you in various stages of undress
I have seen you through various states of madness
I have seen your refractions and I did not recognize you
I have seen you through various states of madness
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I am sorry I had nothing left for you
My mind was willing and my spirit was strong
But my lips were tired and tightened from singing along
And my eyelids are heavy as anchors thrown over
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I have seen you in the eyes of a hundred thousand other stranger faces
I have seen you in unlikely and unfamiliar places
I have seen you be reckless in matters of love
I have seen by degrees the boiling point come and go
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
What lies at the end of this long and dark twisted road
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I have seen you in various stages of undress
I have seen you through various states of madness
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5. |
Bodies And Minds
03:48
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O hold me
O holy
O golden
O grace
Down here in fear
Down where none can hear
Any whisper, any word
Don’t wanna, you wanna
No sudden moves
Singing sorry to you
And sorry to you
Sleep won’t come till I’m sorry to you
For my body and my mind
Sorry to you
And sorry to you
Sleep won’t come till I’m sorry to you
For my body and my mind
Don’t wanna, you wanna
No sudden moves
Don’t wanna, you wanna
You wanna see it through
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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6. |
To Leave It Behind
04:05
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When we were green, and young as shoots
The world took off beneath our boots
We were picked when we were green
With gentle words and modesty
And when we turned toward the light
Choirs screamed in their delight
O I am ripe and ready now
My heart is heavy, it’s going to fall
Out of my body
Unto love, unto love
My heart is heavy, it’s going to fall
Out of my body
I would have died without your gardens of eternal life
That you kept so well, kept so well
I could have lived without the fall into the tragedy
But I’m not Adam and you’re not Eve
They were brave enough to leave
When they were told
To leave it behind
To leave it behind, leave it behind
They were brave enough to leave
When they were told to leave it behind
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7. |
Falling Into The Sky
03:05
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Breathing this poison, alive but near death
Under the water and holding my breath
But we were made to drink in the earth
It’s rivers of gutters and mountains of worth
Fur and feathers, and leather and scales
They’ll tear you apart if they get the chance
Fur and feathers, and leather and scales
They’ll rip you apart, I swear that they will
Up in the rafters without any lift
Equal parts laughter, intention, and gift
It was an accident, there was no thought
With no concentration or steadiness there
Falling in, into the sky
Up from the earth, and into the sky
Lift off the ground, and hover awhile
Do you think you could fly
If you tried
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8. |
Imaginary Bars
02:23
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When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
I was in a prison with imaginary bars
I was riding shotgun in imaginary cars
One was filled with wind twisting through an iron mouth
And one was made of trees with no keys to shimmy out
When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
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9. |
I Saw You In The Wild
03:47
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I saw you in the wild, I saw you in the wild
I saw you in the wild, I knew you in the wild
You were nervous, you were furious, you were very sure-footed
With dreams and intentions, full of wonder and amazement
With a fire in your eyes, your were in your disguise
You were haunted, you were hollow, you could not see tomorrow
In the wild, I saw you in the wild
I saw you in the wild, I knew you in the wild
In the books and the trees, you were spreading your unease
And the hats all went off to you, they were trying to show respect to you
It was riddled with worry, we were all in a hurry
It was crystalized in lesser things, there was a fear in it and all it brings
In the wild, I saw you in the wild
I saw you in the wild, I knew you in the wild
And holding on to high ideals, and living incongruously
You were there among the leaves, and your needs were directing you
And the wilderness, it spoke to you, though it threatened to choke you
You were always aware, you could sense that I was there
In the wild, I saw you in the wild
I saw you in the wild, I knew you in the wild
I could tell by your look that you came from the book
And I read many times all your glorious lines
In the branches, with the sages, I turned all your pages
We were two sets of eyes, with two fires burning behind
In the wild, I saw you in the wild
I saw you in the wild, I knew you in the wild
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10. |
I Could Be Nothing
05:16
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It goes on forever along the shoreline
It never will end on the shores of mind
I travel all night ‘til the sleep takes me in
Where have I ended where do I begin
Sand blankets are littered with stones whipped across
Dead things in the water, forgotten or lost
The branches have surfaced and now they are lean
The trees have washed up here, stripped bare and washed clean
The waves kiss and gently caress on the shore
Kissing and winking and calling for more
The waves like wagging tongues do adore
And whisper there softly to the sand on the shore
You would be nothing without me
And I could be nothing
Said the waves to the sand
I could be nothing without you
Each one shifts and weakens a little
Neither aware just how much they are brittle
Each one shifts and weakens a bit
Allowing the other to live and exist
O water and patience, pressure and time
Cuts through the faces of rocks we have climbed
The army of kisses, the lake never tires
The kisses that can put out all of my fires
You would be nothing without me
And I could be nothing
Said the waves to the sand
I could be nothing without you
Without you
Would be nothing without me, and I could be nothing
Said the waves to the sand
I could be nothing without you
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11. |
Long Into The Evening
05:44
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It’s only human to wonder why
It’s only animal to do it
It’s only animal to run along the rocks
And move along instead of talk
It’s only human to wonder how
And how I wish I could talk to you now
And the words tumble out of your mouth
Like apples from a wild tree
And mine they spy out cautiously
Like a creature from its cave
Our able bodies and able minds
Are animals and things on vines
Greening fields and windy mines
In our sounds and movements
And the waves like lessons
Thrashing over me in waves of self doubt
And illusion
Like night’s intrusion
On the daylight of the strings
They gently let me play
I’ve got points of icicles
Piercing into me and I miss your warmth
And the sound of you voice
Like apples tumbling from a wild and windy tree
My body aches for you
And shakes for you
And sways for you
And dances with your little woman body
Long into the evening
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Great Lake Swimmers Toronto, Ontario
Tony Dekker’s music spans two decades as the lead singer and songwriter of Great Lake Swimmers. Over eight albums, multiple EPs, live shows and reissues, the Toronto-based group with a revolving cast of players has established itself as a beloved indie folk act in their native Canada and beyond. Great Lake Swimmers was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize and nominated twice for the Juno Awards. ... more
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