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. |
On My Way Back
02:59
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Getting back to town, it isn't as easy as it seems
When you've been up all night
With bad dreams
I dreamt that I was falling, in reverse in the air
Flying alone
Wasn’t malice, wasn’t fair
The smell of gasoline, from the handle and the cap
But I'm on my way back, I'm on my way back
On my way back
Maybe I'll just keep driving, when I get there
Go up north
and be in exile in the oaks
Exile in the firs, Exile in the birch
And stay until the winter won't let me go
Her good arms around me,
Her cold arms around me
It's not as easy as it seems
To drive away your dreams
But I'm on my way back
On my way back
The smell of gasoline
From the handle and the cap
Not as easy as it seems
To drive away your dreams
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2. |
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Somewhere near Thunder Bay, living halfway
While the rest slept in buckets and on benches in the back
I almost flew into you on the highway
We called close in the marble-lit milky way
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
And no blood escaped when the spell broke
And nothing was turned into anything else
Not any of the versions of yourself, or myself
Bush to the painted line, and back again
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
And I lived in your skin and its tame light
No names, but warm heat to your warm heat
I took a branch from you, and you leaf through me
Giving that new good life one more go-round
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
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3. |
Final Song
03:37
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When my race, on this earth, is run
When I take one final trip
When I fly into the horizon
When my body has lost its grip
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
When the spell is finally broken
And the magic has long gone
When I drift into the other side
When I’ve sung my final song
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
When my head rejects my body
When my arms don’t know my legs
And my fingers aren’t doing any good no more
And my mouth, spits only dregs
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
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4. |
Empty Arms
03:20
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A loner landed and made new land
Empty arms, starting over again
Held new words over old thundering ways
Then clear ice: raw, lifeless, and numb
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust, in empty arms
With tired tracks, it’s coming back
Pulled from pens, and out of boots
February says: this is all you get
Do something with it
As February fails and it won’t last
Do something with it
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust, in empty arms
With tired tracks, it’s coming back
Pulled from pens, and out of boots
And out of boots
Pick another song, one that’s not so sad
‘Cause the night is long and the warnings ignored
And you couldn’t be more you
Singing over under the fingernail moon
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust, in empty arms
With tired tracks, it’s coming back
Pulled from pens, and out of boots
And out of boots
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5. |
Prayer Of The Woods
03:15
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I am the heat of your hearth
On the cold winter nights
The friendly shade screening you
From the summer sun, as you journey on
I am the beam that holds your house
The board of your table
The bed on which you lie
And the timber that builds your boat
Those who pass by
Listen to my prayer:
“Harm me not, harm me not”
I am the handle of your hoe
The door of your homestead
The wood of your cradle
And the shell of your coffin
I am the bread of kindness
And the flower of beauty
Those who pass by
Listen to my prayer:
“Harm me not, harm me not”
“Harm me not, harm me not”
“Harm me not, harm me not”
“Harm me not, harm me not”
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6. |
Hearing Voices
03:28
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Out in the winter, when nature doesn’t care
Staying up late enough, when the birds start to sing
I can feel their spirit, and I can feel how they move
They’ll tell you their secrets if you tell them yours too
They’ll tell you all their secrets if you tell them yours too
And they’ll fly through heaven when their bodies are through
You tell me all your secrets and I tell you mine too
And we’ll fly through heaven when our bodies are through
Send me your wings now, it's almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Can’t see the mirror, when it’s more like a window
And before we’re shaken, I’ll dream enough for two
Send me your wings now, it's almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Send me your wings now, it's almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Sometimes I wonder if I hear the right voices
Catch the right signals, make the right choices
And work to be something that you can see through
The sky or a promise, from your point of view
Now it's up to love to solve me some how
Warm the winter morning and move in me, some how
Now it's up to love to prove me, right now
Warm the winter morning and move in me, some how
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7. |
Under A Magician's Sky
03:20
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Arms out of windows, the wind resists
Open palms, and closed fists
And we’re sailing like a river bird
Sails, antennas, wings and keels
A muted smile, a muted sunrise
The only lick of life in a broken sky
The only thing left, that you could let through
And blew through you, and it shone through you
You and me, like fresh graffiti
And maybe that bit of insanity
That ran those legs into extraordinary fields
Growing away, the only weapon left
Under a magician’s sky
This is how I think of you
Now, inhaling, locked in time
Uh huh, this is how I think of you
A broken oar, on the rocks overnight
Under a magician’s sky
Uh huh, this is how I think of you
This is how I think of you
Tell me all about it some time
Tell me about it some time
Tell me all about it some time
Tell me about it some time
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8. |
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Land of the glass pinecones
They only grow for the full moon
The farmers never gather them
The magic cones are heaven sent
Land of the glass pinecones
The seeds are made of rhinestones
The squirrels never scatter them
They know rhinestone seeds portend
Land of the glass pinecones
They smash in the grass when the wind blows
The splinters fly throughout the land
And pierce the eye of every man
Land of the glass pinecones
The eye now sees what the tree knows
The splinters burn but then we learn
The way we spend we have to bend
It’s all a part of nature’s plan
All a part of nature’s plan
Land of the glass pinecones
Land of the glass pinecones
Land of the glass pinecones
They only grow for the full moon
The farmers never gather them
The magic cones are heaven sent
Land of the glass pinecones
The seeds are made of rhinestones
The squirrels never scatter them
They know rhinestone seeds portend
Land of the glass pinecones
They smash in the grass when the wind blows
The splinters fly throughout the land
And pierce the eye of every man
Land of the glass pinecones
The eye now sees what the tree knows
The splinters burn but then we learn
The way we spend we have to bend
It’s all a part of nature’s plan
All a part of nature’s plan
Land of the glass pinecones
Land of the glass pinecones
Land of the glass pinecones
Land of the glass pinecones
My mind is golden inside, my mind is golden inside
My mind is golden inside, my mind is golden inside
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9. |
Talking In Your Sleep
03:46
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I heard you talking in your sleep again last night
Wayward waves from your tired mouth
I heard you dreaming out loud again last night
A sparrow stealing, and maneuvering
Only ever moving
Through that doorway unannounced
Like before, but with wilder dogs
Fumbling with long-distance short-wave radios
An empty cup with a bear in tow
A sign of the cross, a hunter’s bow
And I’m the sharp feathered arrow
You pull me close, and then let go
And all of those organs play out
One by one, ils disent, ‘bonne nuit’
Slight whispers in the giant bellows sighing
‘Uh-huh, I’m only a lung’
Some nights are better than others though
And some nights you never know
You really got me with that one though
Your sleepy hinges swinging, a cat’s paw
An empty cup with a bear in tow
A sign of the cross, a hunter’s bow
And I’m the sharp feathered arrow
You pull me close, and then let go
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10. |
Carefree Highway
04:38
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Picking up the pieces of my sweet shattered dream
I wonder how the old folks are tonight
Her name was Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face
She left me know knowing what to do
Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The morning after blues, from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you
Turning back the pages to the times I love best
I wonder if she’ll ever do the same
Now the thing that I call living is just being satisfied
With knowing I got no one left to blame
Carefree highway, got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The morning after blues, from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you
Searching through the fragments of my dream shattered sleep
I wonder if the years have closed her mind
I guess it must be wanderlust or trying to get free
For the good old faithful feeling we once knew
Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The morning after blues, from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you
Let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The morning after blues, from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you
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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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