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Live At The Redeemer 2007

by Great Lake Swimmers

/
1.
I was lost in the lakes And the shapes that your body makes That your body makes, that your body makes That your body makes And the mountains said I could find you here They whispered the snow and the leaves in my ear I traced my finger along your trails Your body was the map, I was lost in it Floating over your rocky spine The glaciers made you, and now you’re mine Floating over your rocky spine The glaciers made you, and now you’re mine I was moving across your frozen veneer The sky was dark but you were clear Could you feel my footsteps And would you shatter, would you shatter, would you And with your soft fingers between my claws Like purity against resolve I could tell, then and there, that we were formed from the clay And came from the rocks for the earth to display They told me to be careful up there Where the wind blows a venomous rage through your hair They told me to be careful up there Where the wind rages through your hair
2.
Backstage with the modern dancers She was stretching her arms Configuring her body While they were breathing, they were shouting She was concentrating on her breathing And didn’t seem to mind As I sat there on the couch And tuned my guitar And played a few chords Like roses growing their thorns Getting ready to perform With bare feet and painted faces They took their places On shivering legs beneath colourful gowns And out there on the wooden floors The sweat from their pores I’m writing a list Of songs I can sing by myself Backstage with the modern dancers Who feel it, like I do Like I feel it, like I feel it Backstage with the modern dancers Getting ready to go on She showed me her spin With a beauty lit from within And all of these things I don’t think they should be released
3.
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 in 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 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
4.
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
5.
There’s a mark on my hand put there by the land There’s a mark on my hand put there by the land Can’t you see it’s in me, can’t you see Can’t you see it’s in me, can’t you see There’s a mark on the land put there by my hand There’s a mark on the land put there by my hand
6.
Why are we fighting, why are we fighting Kicking and screaming, scratching and biting Keeping it going, wherever we’re going Generations are generating And what am I supposed to do But take good care, good care of you We have a lot of work to do Me and you, and you, and you Brothers and sisters are in my arms Brothers and sisters are up in arms Mothers and fathers, sons and the daughters Up in the army, the men and the ladies And we have a lot of work to do Me and you, and you and you Out of the money and into the storm Brothers and sisters are in my arms I am part of a large family I am part of a large family I am part of a large family And that’s enough for me Drop the axes, and recheck the facts, I said Brothers and sisters, telling the story Out of the money, into the storm I said my peace, I said I said my piece, I said peace, I said peace, I said I am part of a large family I am part of a large family I am part of a large family And that’s enough for me
7.
You look at me with uncertainty You look at me with urgency You look at me with a fear in your eyes Like you’re about to fall away But don’t be afraid to change your colours now I’ve known you all summer, and you rose above it all I see you hesitate to fall now But it’s a pretty good view from down here, too And when the wind takes you, it takes me, too When you change colours, I change mine, too Try not to think, and I will try, to When you let go, I will let go, too I knew you when you were green and strong You were like a feather on a wing, so long You know I will miss you when you are gone But don’t be afraid if you just can’t hang on ‘Cause when the wind takes you, it takes me, too When you change colours, I change mine, too Try not to think and I will try, too And when you let go, I will let go, too The cold air is pushing hard on you I know what you’re saying; I can feel it, too You’ll go through changes, and I’ll go through them too Don’t be afraid now, don’t be afraid ‘Cause when the wind takes you, it takes me, too When you change colours, I change mine, too Try not to think and I will try, too And when you let go, I will let go, too
8.
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
9.
There is a light in you I have fallen into There is a light in you I have fallen into Fallen in too Put all your weapons away I won’t fight you just to spite you Put all your weapons away And your mask, it’s falling anyway Falling away Stop, listen, feel Stop, listen, feel Stop, listen, feel Believe, believe And if love is a war I won’t have any more If this is what we call a war I won’t have it anymore Stop, listen, feel Stop, listen, feel Stop, listen, feel Believe, believe Put all your weapons away And end all your casual ties Put all your weapons away And end all your casual ties Casual ties Believe all your lives Believe in your lives Believe all your lives Believe in your lives
10.
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
11.
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
12.
One thing I’ll say for the less-traveled way It doesn’t have subtlety, but has twice the gravity Get in and go and be one with it now It turns inconsistently, and arcs in a symphony Make your mind sharp and beware of the holes But fall through them readily And slip through them steadily Watch your watch spiral in and out of control It’s beyond all that anyway And time is dead anyway Passenger song on the dark radio The wheel’s in your other hand And home’s in your other mind The lights on the screen then shut out by the door A forest there in the frames The eyes which are all the same Follow the path until it falls away I’ve heard it is dangerous But some say it’s glamorous Charge through the past and the future and now And come to it sparingly With what you are carrying Notes on the pages and notes in the bars Which isn’t without its scars But might make you see the stars Show me it’s holy then show me to bed I’m collapsing anyway The edges starting to fray Right you are right you are right you are right You left for the interstate Because you can hardly wait One thing I’ll say for the less-traveled way It doesn’t have subtlety, but has twice the gravity
13.
I’ve been looking in churches, and looking in bars I thought that I saw you in the oncoming cars But it was your reflection cast up by the light And into the sky of this dark city night And I looked for you up in the tallest of trees That swayed back and forth in the mid-autumn breeze But when the leaves reddened, and left too I knew then that it wasn’t you Where in the world are you now Where in the world are you now Oh where in the world are you Oh where in the world are you Where in the world are you now And I looked for you then in music and song And I thought I could find there But they were only notes pulled from the air Not the kind I could read, or breathe, if I dared Where in the world are you now Where in the world are you now Oh where in the world are you Oh where in the world are you Where in the world are you now
14.
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
15.
I became awake From a very dark place, a patchwork of fear, of poorly conceived ideas With a blister of water, the mark of working hands Ready to catch, or cut The senses aligned, the animal urgency, and voices picked up Flowing over the static, late, quiet Oh-lay tee hee I became awake Fingers are open, eyes they are open, the firing of images, an orchestra of scribbles The guts of an engine, the veins of a leaf, light onto paper, exposed A filament in a bulb, up above or in the ground Together we are magic, together we are dreaming, together we reach endlessly The centre of a seed, so full of possibilities Oh-lay tee hee I became awake I thought I was sleeping, but I was only forming a structure with no ceiling With words like a runway, a cloud of a person drifting away I was heavy, but now I am light I was heavy, but now I am light Oh-lay tee hee
16.
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

about

Album release show for 'Ongiara' at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, Ontario on April 14, 2007. Recorded live for the CBC.

credits

released May 7, 2021

Tony Dekker: vocals, guitar
Erik Arnesen: banjo, guitar, harmonium
Colin Huebert: drums
Mike Overton: upright bass
Bob Egan: pedal steel, dobro
Basia Bulat: backing vocals
Owen Pallett: violin

Recorded by Ron Skinner for the CBC at the Church of the Redeemer, Toronto, Ontario on April 14, 2007
Live sound mixed by Andy Magoffin, 2007
Re-mixed and mastered by Andy Magoffin at The House Of Miracles, 2021
Words and music by Tony Dekker

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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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