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. |
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O wake me please when this is over
O when the ice has melted away
I will be the same but older
And maybe twice the bear that I thought I was
Where have you been and what have you done
I’ve been under the ground
Eating prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up and spending it all
On moving pictures, silent films
Moving pictures, silent films
Or is this the dream I’ve been saving
O where the heart beats slower and slower, to almost nothing
Almost nothing
I took it for love or at least something beautiful
Out there in the spotlight
But turned around suddenly, turned around squinting
And saw that it was headlights
And then the truth, the truth was unbearable
O and imminent
Bearing down on these two shadow animals
Caught painting a dotted line
Caught painting a dotted line
Where have you been and what have you done
I’ve been under the ground
Eating prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up and spending it all
On moving pictures, silent films
Moving pictures, silent films
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2. |
The Man With No Skin
05:26
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If I could crawl into a shell, then I wouldn’t mind the weight
Things are heavy enough already
And I hate to think that the best that I can do is not care at all
And I hate to think that I don’t care at all
Take a step forward, don’t be afraid
Take a step backward, don’t be afraid
So go on, and so look back
Stuck inside a heavy shell
Try to walk and not be pushed
And the man with no skin, they would not let him in
Would not let him sign up
‘Cause nobody wants to see a beating heart
Or a lung, or a brain
Used to get so wrapped up, used to get all caught up
Now I find myself feeling disillusioned and emotionless
Like it’s been betrayed, and this world let me down
In a big way
And now I feel like a dump ape, picking at fleas, picking at fleas
It’s hard to walk with broken legs
It gets hard to breathe without lungs
It’s hard to love the world without a heart
What else should I cut out, where do I start
It’s time to grow a second skin to keep the insides in
‘Cause this one is obviously not thick enough
It’s time to grow a second skin to keep the insides in
Or maybe get some armor and a mask
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3. |
Moving, Shaking
05:22
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I can’t write, I can’t sing, I can’t play
My insides have been broken
My inspiration has flown away
And it’s hard to see all the little things
There’s a universe in a crack in the wall
Or an ant crawling across a broken tile
But it’s hard to see all the little things
When the big things get in the way
I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t think straight
I did not know it could be like this
Some things are better off being left alone
There are things that are best left unknown
Oh hands, don’t fail me now
They’re the only things I have left
Oh fingers, don’t let me down know
They’re the only things that I’ve got
Oh world come, come crashing down now
Oh hands don’t fail me now
Oh let me become deaf and mute to this
Oh hands don’t fail me now
I’m carrying my life in a cardboard box
I carry a bag on my back
I’m carrying my life in a cardboard box
I carry a bag on my back
Oh hands, don’t fail me now
They’re the only things that I’ve got
Oh fingers, don’t let me down know
Oh hands don’t fail me now
Oh animals fall down around me
Oh hands don’t fail me now
Oh fingers, don’t let me down know
Oh hands don’t fail me now
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4. |
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Merge, a vessel, a harbour, a perfect union of gift and reception
Each an eye on the same face, of loss and gain
Fly into the mouth of the ground, six feet under
Thanks to some failure
Fly into the mouth of the ground, six feet under
One for the light, and one for the dark
Taste each other for a moment and combine
Polarized, share the same air
O lay it down, O lay it bare
Speechless, naked as a fiery sunset
Eternal but fleeting, destroyed but complete
In perfect cacophony, rising like vapour
Solid and liquid, awkward, intrepid
Stolen but paid for
Legs and knees, and ankles and toes
When it burns, and oh, when it flows
Legs and knees, and ankles and toes
When it burns, and oh, when it flows
Gathered and strewn, from this altitude
To some other moon, wearing false armor
And useless shields that fail to exist
Crying out into the streets, that are always prepared for the cry
Prepared for the worst, crying out loud but the noise is absorbed
They are transfixed, but untransformed
A stark accommodating echo, into these hard-pressed streets
Into these well-traveled streets
Into these hard-pressed streets
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5. |
I Will Never See The Sun
03:35
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I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
Hey you look like royalty, weren’t you born with muddy feet
Hoarse, in high tops, totally lost, those two streets will never meet
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
So the map says you are here, waltzing through the garbage piles
Sweating like a weather’s vein, coughing thunder, sneezing rain
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
There’s a rag just up the street, eats his history to keep warm
Got some blankets, got some bags, screams confessions, shouts in vain
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
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6. |
This Is Not Like Home
03:45
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In from the oceans they came, a vision, a shirt, and a name
But these lands, they are wild, and these hands, they are tame
Don’t forget your own, a wilderness wish that gets buried in snow
Call it home, it’s lumber and stone, trapped, stranded and free
This is not like home, this is not like home
When you feel alone in a world that’s not your own
Not at all, not at all
Not at all, not at all
Not at all, not at all
Awake at the break of the day
It’s work and it brings in the pay
There’s a lonely dirt road leading back through the trees
There’s a wagon that takes them away
Don’t forget your own, the wilderness wish that gets buried in snow
Call it home, it’s lumber and stone, trapped, stranded and free
This is not like home, this is not like home
This is not like home, this is not like home
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7. |
The Animals Of The World
05:31
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Watching the night animal, bellying close to the ground
I was walking in the dark, it was following some feral scent
Like I was, crossing the road, like I was
Following those streets to their destinations
And the animals of the world
And the animals of the world
Find theirs
And when the wind stops, we all stop, and we are silent
And in the end, we all will bend, we will break away
From the outset, we are moths around a porch-light
We’re coloured in jars, or pinned to a wall
Dried out and displayed, tired out and dismayed
From riding on the winds, or biding the tides
Riding the winds, or biding the tides
Flying with the sun or perched in a row
I was at the window sill
They were unaware, like I was
A moment there, and then gone, like I was
Looking for a place to rest
And the animals of the world
And the animals of the world
Find theirs
And when the wind stops, we all stop, and we are silent
And in the end, we all will bend, we will break away
From the outset, we are moths around a porch-light
We’re coloured in jars, or pinned to a wall
Dried out and displayed, tired out and dismayed
From riding on the wheels, or biding the streets
Riding the wheels, or biding the streets
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8. |
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As I sit here on this curb, in the middle of the night
With my guitar in my hands, playing a lonely midnight song
A stranger approaches me and says, “why do you play”
And I answer him
“This parking lot and whatever lies in its dark corners
Or down its dark alleyways, is my audience
And this song is for this night
And all that comes with it, and all that belongs to it
“I play for the stars, and the immobile cars
The stray cats and telephone lines
And the old dumpster bins
They will all receive me, they will not turn me away
They will listen with kind ears, they will listen with kind ears”
And I shiver in the cool air
And my guitar echoes against the backs of sleeping buildings
And my faithful night still listens
And my faithful night still listens
I play for the stars, and the immobile cars
The stray cats and telephone lines
And the old dumpster bins
They will all receive me, they will not turn me away
They will listen with kind ears, they will listen with kind ears
O listen with kind ears
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9. |
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First day, I was lost at sea, I had nothing to eat
But I thought home was near
I found myself in an unfamiliar place
My first night on an unfamiliar tide
Second day, I woke up, had almost forgotten
I had never thought to try on different coloured robes, and
I was face down in the
In the sand, and I was
Lucky to be alive, lucky to have survived
And on the third day, I was weak so I
Collapsed on the beach, and I died of hunger
And when they found me, they saw how much that
I had changed, I had
I had changed, I had
I have changed, I have
I have changed, I have
I have changed, I have
I have changed, I have
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10. |
Great Lake Swimmers
06:45
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The currents want to pull you down
The bottom is empty, invisible
Where is the shore, O I can’t see it anymore
Feeling so tired, have to keep floating
The bottom is so far, the shore is so far away
The finish line is out of sight, I won’t give up without a fight
It’s such a long swim
The waves are coming at full force
And even though I thrash about, it only makes it worse
I only get more tired
Have I gotten out so far, I don't know where the boat docks are
And the moon just laughs at me, a sickle in a cotton veil
Will I make it though this gale
It’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
I was standing on a pier, wasn’t very far from here
Nothing but the water sounds, and if I had it in a glass
I would drink it down and laugh, I would laugh and drink it down
The water is so pure tonight, it brings you life yet it makes you drown
The fish must be laughing
I have seen the boats of steel, and I have used a fishing reel
I am bobbing like a cork in this never-ending dark
I am soaked from toe to chin, I will not let the water in
Is there any use at all to fight against this heavy tide
Will it take me in its stride
It’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
I was sitting in the sand, waves were tumbling with the wind
They pulled him out, they pulled him in
The stretcher brought him back again
The sirens let the swimmers know, not to wrestle undertows
It’s such a long swim
Now there is no sign of land, the breakers are behind me now
Splashing in a hopeless flow, far above the muddy sand
Will I dry off on the rocks, will I ever see the docks
The beacons must have all burned out
I am flooded with this doubt
It’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
It’s such a long swim, it’s such a long swim
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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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