Get all 22 Great Lake Swimmers releases available on Bandcamp and save 45%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Caught Light, One More Dance Around The Sun, In Pieces: An Acoustic Retrospective, 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, and 14 more.
1. |
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I know this place like the back of my hand
The way that it bends, and how to get back
Concessions and lines, rhythms and rhymes
Furrows and rows, rivers and roads
Push away under a dusty eye
I know my place in the shifting sand
One more dance around the sun
To know where to start again
One more dance around the sun
It’s an even trade, the night for the day
Breaking your back is how it gets paid
Back roads, pay loads, sweat through your clothes
Picking it up and putting it down
Looking for signals under ground
Might be buried, might need to keep digging for it
One more dance around the sun
To know where to start again
One more dance around the sun
One more dance around the sun
To find the light again
One more dance around the sun
If I could get to the edge of it
Turn it over and figure it out
Cut through the fog, cut through all of it
One more dance around the sun
To know where to start again
One more dance around the sun
One more dance around the sun
To find the light again
One more dance around the sun
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2. |
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
03:30
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This is getting desperate
And we haven’t seen the worst of it
It was going to be heaven
But pressure cracks from the weight
And the fog is rolling in
It’s hiding all the reasons
That we’ve given ourselves to be so
Wrong, wrong, wrong
And by the way, I can’t tune out the voices, and
I’m running low on choices, and
When I open my eyes again
It’s a break down or break away
I’m only telling you because
I know you won’t get it wrong
Wrong, wrong, wrong
And I can’t afford therapy
And I don’t expect your sympathy
I’m not trying to make you feel bad for me
But the truth is, I’m barely hanging on
I’m only telling you because
I know that you won’t get it wrong
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Nobody knows, not a single person knows
Not another human knows
How far it goes, or just how to get back
It’s not OK, feeling let down in every way
And I don’t know how else to say it
Wrong, wrong, wrong
And by the way, I can’t tune out the voices, and
I’m running low on choices, and
When I open my eyes again
It’s a break down or break away
I’m only telling you because
I know you won’t get it wrong
Wrong, wrong, wrong
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3. |
For You To Come Around
03:50
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I waited and waited for you to come around
Hanging in the air, planted on the ground
As others passed through from faraway places
I could see you in their eyes and their faces
I waited as another chair was added to the table
And supper was forever almost ready, I was able
And calendar pages flip like animated frames
An animated life in a cartoon world
I waited ‘til the peaches and the apples were in season
Waited for the sun to set so there would be a reason
Counting seven more nights, and seven more days
And seven more, then seven more, the numbers always stayed
And the voices in the speakers said “now I’m a believer”
Humming quietly along, I waited in a fever
And when winter finally came, I stamped my freezing boots
There was still no sign, no way to really know you
I even thought that I recognized you once
In a sea of mirrors, in a span of months
As I craned my neck in the overcrowded hall
There was still no sign, no sign of you at all
But I still carry all your bags with all the hands that I can lend
Though they’ve gotten so heavy they’re causing me to bend
And I can only venture guesses as to what could be inside
To travel such a distance with so much to hide
I guess some things just have to be endured to be believed
The weight of all the knowing, at first glance, hard to conceive
Waiting for the real to put fear back in its place
“Then I saw her face, then I saw her face”
Oh I waited and I waited for you to come around
Hanging in the air, planted on the ground
Waited ‘til the peaches and the apples were in season
Waited for the sun to set so there would be a reason
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4. |
Youth Not Wasted
04:11
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Found a photo of us from back in the day
All smiles, children on their way
Considered and caught in full living colour
Proof that we were here, proof that we were real
Youth not wasted, youth not wasted, on the young
Youth not wasted, never wasted, on the young
So many books on the shelf left unread
Never enough time to reach for them all
Stories and rhymes, and we will stay strangers
Pages of things that I had hoped to know
Youth not wasted, youth not wasted, on the young
Youth not wasted, never wasted, on the young
And it’s getting later now
The streetlights are starting to come on
All that living needs somewhere to go
Exploding out head-on into the great big world
Youth not wasted, youth not wasted, on the young
Youth not wasted, never wasted, on the young
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5. |
Endless Detours
04:10
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I had a vision in the middle of the night
Lost in the thicket of an endless flight
That the only way out was to find a way through
Endless detours following you
Didn’t have the words to put it all down
The wolves had taken all of my best ones
But the ink from the river was about to catch light
And start a new world with a new set of lines
Endless detours in the grey
Getting lost for a minute
Endless detours
Like wet paint that’s about to touch down
Braiding it together and sweeping it around
The sun rolling up like an opening eye
A cadmium yellow yolk in the sky
Endless detours in the grey
Getting lost for a minute
Endless detours on the way
Make a turn and blaze
Away, away, away, away
It’s made of guts and it cuts through clay
A tangled wire that can’t run straight
A spirit moving before our eyes
Running like an animal, free and wild
Endless detours in the grey
Getting lost for a minute
Endless detours on the way
Make a turn and blaze
Away, away, away, away
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6. |
Running Out Of Time
03:01
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It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
So busy running that we’re running behind
The reason is the reason that we’re losing our minds
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
Shoulder to the arm and the wrist to the thumb
All of that shouldering can never be done
Big detonations of the colour and light
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
I see the past and the future and whole lot of doubt
A hard way in and a harder way out
A mountain in the distance and it’s ready to climb
But it’s getting late and we’re running out of time
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
It’s time – not for profit
It’s time – not for greed
It’s time – without borders
It’s time – out of love
It’s getting late and we’re running out of time
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7. |
Caught Light
05:32
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What a rush, in the air
Falling from one frame to another
To feel the wind, and pull the cord
Weightless and descending
Now in the tall grass, under a broken sky
I wonder if they’ll ever come looking
With a set of lines, and a plume of silk
Am I really being honest with myself
Caught light, caught light
Held on tight, for a while
Warm when the engine was running
I did what I could with what I had
Between hard places and disappointment
But it’s getting late, and I’m too far in
In the strange and unfamiliar
Way off course, and all around
Are reflections, of reflections, of reflections, of
Caught light, caught light
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8. |
A Distant Star
04:11
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By the time you get this
I might be long gone
My letter travelled the space ways
From the wild beyond
A pinpoint in the night sky
You see me burn
Off in the corner of a cosmic puzzle
Of little or no concern
I am a distant star
Far from where you are
Pulling strings on this old guitar
A distant star
Blowing up on the surface
And burning underneath it
If I went supernova
If I really felt the heat
But I would rather be in the distance
Burning at my own speed
Than fit into a constellation
That doesn’t give a damn about me
I am a distant star
Far from where you are
Pulling strings on this old guitar
A distant star
And I’ll keep shining
It’s the only thing I know how to do
Off in a faraway orbit
Shining just for you
I am a distant star
Far from where you are
Pulling strings on this old guitar
A distant star
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9. |
The Fledgling Jay
03:30
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It happened fast and sudden
How could there be a reason
Fallen from a bough, it was life or death
A mother cried, with all her breath
Fly away with all your might
Fly from the darkness to the light
At a distance on the ground
From the willow came the sound
Then gone from view, they moved askew
And without a lift, and left adrift
Fly away with all your might
Fly from the darkness to the light
Back into sight and stunning
A hawk with clutching talons
To break the odds, mother bravely diving
But lightning struck, the trinity was tangled
It happened fast and bluntly
How could there be a lesson
But blessed is the mother jay
And those that clutch the prey
Blessed in the talons
The one carried away
Fly away with all your might
Fly from the darkness to the light
To the light, to the light, to the light
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10. |
All The Best
03:44
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Did you get my last message
‘Cause I’ve been trying to find you
It’s been a real bad winter
Everything has frozen through
The kids are getting older
And it scares me every day
And I can’t help but wonder
If it’s all gonna be ok
All the best, all the best
Anyway, when you get a chance
Maybe you could get back to me
Let me know that you’re alive
And if you’re still out in BC
I’ve been thinking lots about what you said
The last time we spoke
About how we got all the punchlines
Now we just need the jokes
All the best, all the best
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Great Lake Swimmers Toronto, Ontario
Tony Dekker’s music spans over 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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