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. |
The Talking Wind
04:22
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I’ve been talking with the wind a lot
Throwing words out that I’ve kept too long
We breathe the same way when we’re drawn
I know I have a friend in it
Ah, your fingers weave above the trees
Ah, the talking wind, the turning leaves
As you left, a force to fly on
Left a fragment to be played upon
Fallen and grown new, the wind restored
It went right through
I stood in its way and became it
Ah, your fingers weave above the trees
Ah, the talking wind, the turning leaves
Ah, your shoulder blades among the waves
Ah, you fly away, and dissipate
The wind makes sound instead of words
And I think I understand
Neither needs to explain, in turn
It cries out, and I understand
Ah, your fingers weave above the trees
Ah, the talking wind, the turning leaves
Ah, your shoulder blades among the waves
Ah, you fly away, and dissipate
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2. |
In A Certain Light
03:23
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So little space in the degrees in between us
Moving so fast, hardly anybody notices
Into a constant and restless dream
It’s written on my hands, and this is what I mean
A strand of hair, a certain hue
These are my hands, they belong to you
And how to talk you into believing in yourself
And how to get ready for the change in the weather
And how to pack all of the things for the trip
And what will you do, what will you do when you get there
A single frame passing on a screen
These are my hands, and this is what I mean
Hiding there, in plain sight
I see you in a certain light
I couldn’t smile when I needed to
But you were there when I needed you
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3. |
Alone But Not Alone
03:17
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The wire is mended, awaiting the deep
Out on the water we will be set free
Ready to receive
There could be a great glow if the conditions are right
Shot through with light
Moving fast through the swell of the night
I am alone, but not alone
I am here, but hardly at all
I am alone, but not alone
I am here waiting for your call
I contemplate the measure of the sea
I think about the work ahead of me
And figure it must be its own reward
And you would be right to call me wide-eyed
Heart open wide
I am alone, but not alone
I am here, but hardly at all
I am alone, but not alone
I am here waiting for your call
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4. |
Falling Apart
04:36
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Driven to realign beyond recognition
Gone from a sore thumb to an apparition
Faces compelled to tell, trouble has known you well
How did it find you dear, how’d you get here
Falling apart, falling and failing
Falling apart
Bending from rapture to be taken with visions
Turning left, turning right, heavy decisions
How did you find the way, and how long did you stay
Are you ready to be clear, how’d you get here
Falling apart, falling and failing
Falling apart
Falling apart, falling and failing
Falling apart
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5. |
Side Effects
03:37
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Side effects
Side effects
They aren’t worth the help that you get
When you need all the help you can get
Friend in fair weather, you’re doing just fine
You are the one, and you’re there just in time
The imaginary hill you can’t help but climb
I don’t know who you are most of the time
An empire of fiction made of your little squares
No end to your summer, and no end to theirs
The only real fire, the only true fact
Every act is a move, every move is an act
Side effects
Side effects
They aren’t worth the help that you get
When you need all the help you can get
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6. |
The Real Work
04:51
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It passes my eyes and stuns my senses
The outside world flows through these fences
They let out more than they take in
They bleed me out and I can’t staunch them
My mouth lets out more than it takes in
It leads me out and I can’t help it
It is nothing but a muscle flexed
A swirling sea of now and next
And the world was upside down, inside out
This whole time
Going the wrong way, north was inverted
The directions, the plan, got me turned around
I was on the right path, but couldn’t feel the ground
And so started the test, retracing all the steps
When was the first strike, which dances were learned
In an ever-changing suit re-tailored with patches
Of a life blind and careless, popping stitches
Un-being, un-happening, becoming untangled
Dulling the edges, and scaling transitions
Faith is a pattern composed by the wind
All movement, one movement, it reaches everything
And the real work is to be it, believe it
With each new set of eyes and the visions they provide
Be the taste, the warmth, the measure and the glow
By embracing it all and then letting it all go
The real work is never done, and has no clear beginning
And shows no result, no losing, no winning
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7. |
Root Systems
03:20
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Born underwater in a month of fire
Born into hawthorn and tangled briar
A wild card from a hungry pack
A number on the front, a pattern on the back
Dirt in the furrows, patient and thick
Time curls at the turn of a pick
And life gathers in the wake of the plow
The line offers what the field will allow
The root system stares down
Shoots defy and point up
Unreeling in an act of spite
Oh I had a feeling that they might
I had a feeling that they might
The root system stares down
Shoots defy and point up
Unreeling in an act of spite
Oh I had a feeling that they might
I had a feeling that they might
Arms like axes at a great expense
Hymns in the pastures, and penitence
The sweet glove on the agrarian hand
Carving prayers into a chaotic land
The root system stares down
Shoots defy and point up
Unreeling in an act of spite
Oh I had a feeling that they might
I had a feeling that they might
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8. |
Unmaking The Bed
03:57
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Casting off the trap of sleep
Waking into waves and frames
Pulling off the night, slow, like tape
Unmaking the bed, the waves, the wake
Rising and falling, rising and falling
Rising and falling, unmaking the bed
Who will wake up clean, leaning in
Who will feel the night and know it
Channeling the light, waking, glowing
Unmaking the bed, the waves, the wake
Rising and falling, rising and falling
Rising and falling, unmaking the bed
A levitating chest, the lapsed hours
And a rolling wheeze, a sweet sigh
As it trickles in, the mind floats
Unmaking the bed, the waves, the wake
Rising and falling, rising and falling
Rising and falling, unmaking the bed
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9. |
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I have visions of a different world
To restart, begin again, at the root
And reinvent love in a different place
And move at a different pace
Love is our only weapon, our only defense
For the ballad of bullets, and uncommon sense
Affection is the sharpest blade
A psychic kiss across the waves
And there could be a different world
When the rattler slips from his old coat
There could be a different world
A new light on a new skin
Oh I have visions of a different world
To restart, begin again, at the root
And reinvent love in a different place
And move at a different pace
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10. |
Holding Nothing Back
03:51
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A bird in flight, a burden lifted
A flood of light, holding nothing back
When we are in time we make the day light
To turn and fold, holding you close is all that I can do
So I give all my love to you
I saw you in my dreams
Now I see you for real
The sun rising slow, throwing wild light
Upon itself, though it took some time
It doesn’t end with you, the waves radiating through
The ones we draw, holding nothing back
So I give all my love to you
I saw you in my dreams
Now I see you for real
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11. |
Mouth Of Flames
04:09
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The house drew a mouth of flames
That could not wait to hold it and burn
And I was inside, I saw it turn
Bright cats clawing up the darkening walls
Ruthless and hunting all of their flaws
I was inside, I saw it all
I took what I could from the deafening blaze
But I could only take so much
One thing goes while another thing stays
Some too heavy, but none that you can reach
The things that I lost I will always remember
The things that I lost I will never forget
The things that I lost left behind no reminder
The things that I lost, and the things I’ll lose yet
The open white beam of youth is gone
The letters, the songs, and the stories are gone
The misguided fears, and the illusions are gone
And what I was saying
Has lost its breath, and the air is gone
The things that I took I hold close to my body
The things that I took I hold close to my chest
The things that I took cannot leave any longer
The things that I took are the things I love best
The silent focus of a deep diving prayer
The rational roads, with uneven scars
The sweet silent joy of a deep woods commune
I left the stars, but I took the moon
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12. |
The Open Sea
06:23
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In the tangle, in the blindness
In the spiral, in the wind
You are the bridge, the key
The way across, and in
Far past the barriers
I almost had the sense
On fire, I knew you there
Sharpened an awareness
To a point that has effect
The light switched on
Where the lines intersect
Flowing at every angle
Everywhere, at once
On fire, I knew you there
How do I get to you
And where can the truth be seen
In the tangle, in the blindness
In the distance, in between:
Between the terminal and the open sea
Between sudden ends and infinity
Between the darkened veil and ecstasy
Between the open air and boundaries
Between the constant ground and the distant shore
Between the promise of less and needing more
Between the limitless and unopened doors
Between edacious mouths declaring war
Between the desperate and endless love
Between the buried past and the sky above
Between the bitter end and life begun
Between penitence and oblivion
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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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