1. |
This Great Unknown
03:06
|
|||
|
This wasting home
Was once your place of grace
Walls succumb to fearsome rains
Broken open window panes
This wasting home
These fragile stones
Are pressed of dust and clay
And etched here are your weathered names
Carved beside the years you’ve claimed
These fragile stones
These precious bones
Are all that may remain
And hallowed ground they’ll soon sustain
Give their part to seasons change
These precious bones
This great unknown
To which your grace is chained
Cannot be all, cannot replace
Your presence in this time and space
This great unknown
|
||||
2. |
Back Of The Van
03:44
|
|||
|
Kickin’ round, the back of the van
Shoulder to shoulder with the drunks in the band
Thinking maybe I should have stayed home instead
I should have stayed home to get my rest
‘Cause the morning after I needed my best
I had a meeting with the insurance man
About knocking on doors, and selling his plan
There were were on the old 16
Headed to places that we’d never seen
I was pretty sure we were headed for trouble
Like digging a hole without the use of a shovel
Kickin’ round, the back of the van
Shoulder to shoulder with the drunks in the band
Thinking maybe I should have stayed home instead
The highway hummed under balding tires
Music came from us midnight flyers
We sang Neil Young, Blue Rodeo, Derek and the Dominos
We rushed our way through Elton John, missed every other word in Long Time Gone
We were talking about misses, talking about kisses and the toll it’s taken on our midnight wishes.
Kickin’ round, the back of the van
Shoulder to shoulder with the drunks in the band
Thinking maybe I should have stayed home instead
The van took a turn up a logging road, it’s engine burned in overload
We rumbled to the top of a clear cut hill where we found ourselves a party at an old gin still
The campfire burned, the stones unturned, we got out of the van just a little concerned
Till we were kindly greeted by the insurance man who we’d see tomorrow about selling his plan
Kickin’ round, the back of the van
Shoulder to shoulder with the drunks in the band
Thinking maybe I should have stayed home instead
|
||||
3. |
Rusty Rails
02:48
|
|||
|
I’ve been riding these rails to near and far
Stopped in every station, every bar
I’ve been running away from a path I’ve been ashamed of
These rusty rails are leading me
I’m the man whose following the steel
And I might pass your way
Gone another day
Cause I’m the man whose following the steel
Born with idle hands and itchy feet
Can’t support the weight of all these years
I keep running away from
a debt I couldn’t pay but
These rusty rails have wiped it clean
Cause I’m the man whose following the steel
I’m the man whose following the steel
And I might pass your way, gone another day
I’m the man whose following the steel
I don't buy no tickets, pay no fare
Drank the last few dollars back somewhere
I’ve been washing away these
Sins I’ve got away with
These rusty rails they don’t judge me
Cause I’m the man whose following the steel
I’m the man whose following the steel
And I might pass your way, gone another day
I’m the man whose following the steel
|
||||
4. |
My Dear Old Friend
03:34
|
|||
|
My dear old friend
I’d like to talk to you again
It’s been so many years, I don’t know why
My dear old friend
I wonder how you’ve been
I haven’t made the time, I guess that’s why
My dear old friend
Where have you been, I hope you’ve moved to Carolina
And have a loving home to lay your head
How have you been, I hope you’ve met your Carolina
And have a loving wife to hold your hand
My dear old friend
It’s been so long,I fear I may have done you wrong
And left you high and dry on your own
With your demons on the shelf
In a town that serves for breakfast beer and wine
Where have you been, I hope you’ve moved to Carolina
And have a loving home to lay your head
How have you been, I hope you’ve met your Carolina
And have a loving wife to hold your hand
My dear old friend
When it’s cold and you’re smoking on the sidewalk
Do you sit or stand breathing in
When you reach into your pocket for a dollar
Is it to give unto another or make sure it’s still there
Where have you been, I hope you’ve moved to Carolina
And have a loving home to lay your head
How have you been, I hope you’ve met your Carolina
And have a loving wife to hold your hand
My dear old friend
|
||||
5. |
Local Hero
03:30
|
|||
|
Local hero, here’s to you
And all you do to lend a hand
Making time and changing lives
We’ll drink a toast to you tonight
So fill up them old fruit jars
Raise up wherever you are
Rye, whiskey or gin
Fill it to the rim
Raise up that old fruit jar
Feeding mouths of hungry souls
Just look his way, no need to ask
Come through the doorway anytime
Take this soup my friend, it’s yours
So fill up them old fruit jars
Raise it wherever you are
Rye, whiskey or gin
Fill it to the rim
Raise up that old fruit jar
Local hero, local hero, local hero, local hero, local hero
We’ll drink a toast to you today
So fill up them old fruit jars
Raise up wherever you are
Rye, whiskey or gin
Fill it to the rim
Raise up that old fruit jar
Local hero, local hero…..raise up them old fruit jars….
|
||||
6. |
Georgian Bay
04:31
|
|||
|
Sometimes I stray that long Georgian Bay
I lose myself in the white and the blue
I lose myself in the colours of you
And I can scoop up bucketfuls of pretty stones
And toss them all day without feeling alone
It's the strength of you ways to which I have grown
I left that book jacket buried in the sand
When I felt things get so out of hand
Now it’s all just blowing where it can
In the way the waves move across this land
Sometimes I wish that I could just drift
And roll with the waves sunup ‘till sundown
And haul up my boat to head into town
I left that book jacket buried in the sand
When I felt things get so out of hand
Now it’s all just blowing where it can
In the way the waves move across this land
|
||||
7. |
Fresh Tracks
02:58
|
|||
|
Two shots rang out in the dark
Ain’t no one heard a thing
Two shots rang out in the dark
Ain't no one heard a thing
Two cars set on fire ablaze
Ain’t no one seen a thing
Two cars set on fire ablaze
Ain’t no one seen a thing
Fresh tracks to the Jackson’s farm
Ain’t no one lead away
Fresh tracks to the Jackson’s farm
Ain’t no one lead away
Stock piles of guns and kerosene
Ain’t no one knew a thing
Stock piles of guns and kerosene
Ain’t no one knew a thing
|
||||
8. |
Go Home
04:22
|
|||
|
We cut our trees to lumber, we're not needed here no more
Take your hat down from rafters, leave your lunch pail on the floor
Go home to your darlin’ and hold her through the night
Tell her about the white pines and the drunken campfire fights
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Go home to your baby, and bounce her on your knee
Let her place those little hands on your eyes and on your cheeks
Go home to your son, and tell him your tall tales
Tell him about the black flies and the axes and the nails
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Go home to your momma, look in her dying eyes
Sing her songs from yesteryear to hear her harmonize
Go home to your village and shake your neighbour's hand
Tell him that you’ll work with him to harvest his land
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Oh lost graveyard, how did you come to be
So long and overgrown, forgotten by the years
Go home to your momma
Go home to your pa
Go home and hug your children
Go home and hug them all
Go home to your doctor
Go home to your priest
Go home to your neighbour
Go home and tend your fields
Go home….
|
||||
9. |
Schemes and Fools Gold
03:53
|
|||
|
I’ve played this stage a thousand times on many quiet nights
I’ll be a dreamer until I die, my songs are made of gold
My dreams they’ll never grow old before I do
My songs are made of gold
My dreams they’ll never grow old before I do
I’ve played this fool a million times, I’ve got that one down cold
I’ll be a skeemer until I die, my songs are fools gold
My lines are borrowed and stolen the way I do
My songs are fools gold, the lines are borrowed and stolen the way I do
The more I think about them, the more I’m almost sure
The more I think about them
My dreams never grow old
My dreams never grow old
When everything around me is fading
And all the late nights are taking their toll
It’s my dreams that’ll raise me and keep me going
It’s my dreams that’ll raise me and keep me going
May your songs be made of gold
May your dreams they never grow old before you do
|
||||
10. |
Beat-Up Shack
04:35
|
|||
|
I keep telling everyone that I’m going to be ok
Don’t you worry about me, I’ve got a place to live and mouths to feed
I made a pile of bad mistakes, it’s my stock and trade
I’d do them over again, yeah, and I got no regrets
If it ain’t worth living, whoa then it ain’t worth living
No use hiding under the sheets
I keep telling everyone that I’m alright
The only thing I’ll ever be is just alright
I had to take a second job stacking up wood at the lumber yard
Just to make ends meet, just to make ends meet
An aching mind and an aching back and all I got to show is a beat-up shack
There’s a fire and a bed to sleep, we got enough to eat
Cause if it ain’t worth leaving whoa, then it aint worth leaving
There’s no use hiding under the sheets
I keep telling everyone that I’m alright
The only thing I’ll ever be is just alright
|
||||
11. |
Kathleen McBride
03:25
|
|||
|
Kathleen McBride with her arms hung by her side
And her eyes fixed on the water of the bay
The teardrops in her eye catch the moonlight from the sky
And pining is like you’ve never heard
She wore a blue dress with the hemn held up to her breast
And her hair was long as the night
From tip to tip she walked through the mud and up the locks
Searching for he who was gone
Oh did he fall (did he fall)
Did he drown (did he drown)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
Was it murder (was it murder)
Was it fever (was it fever)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
In November she’d decide, oh that poor Kathleen McBride
That he who was gone was never coming back
But she was sure he’d never leave, knowing how she’d greive
So she climbed the largest willow and she wept.
Oh did he fall (did he fall)
Did he drown (did he drown)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
Was it murder (was it murder)
Was it fever (was it fever)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
One night she shed her dress of blue, and climbed the damn to get a better view
Of the water that took him from her
With emptiness in her eye and the moonlight in the sky
She jumped and screamed “I’m coming after you”
Oh, did he fall (did he fall)
Did he drown (did he drown)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
Was it murder (was it murder)
Was it fever (was it fever)
Or did he up and leave for a better life in town
|
||||
Gentlemen of the Woods Ottawa, Ontario
Our latest release, This Great Unknown, is a collection of songs that weaves together a lifetime of moments, memories and wishes. It unintentionally became a journal of reflection, nostalgia and what comes next. We hope you like it!
If you like Gentlemen of the Woods, you may also like:
A vibrant vision of "Central Americana" from the Costa Rica-based artist, blending heartland devotionals with playful Tropicália grooves.
go to album
Meet Me at the River
by Dawn Landes
On “Meet Me By the River,” Dawn Landes’s self-described “Nashville record,” buoyant country melodies settle deep into lush instrumentation.
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden
Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime.
go to album
Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?
by Kara Jackson
The folk musician's debut album asks existential questions about life.
go to album
Introspective pop songs with transcendent melodies offer a joyful meditation on staying present in a world that often moves too fast.
go to album
Caught Up On A Feeling
by Veronica Stanton
Stunningly beautiful orchestral folk songs with just a hint of country, delivered with heart-on-sleeve immediacy.
go to album
Crafting powerful songs about commitment and love, the Nashville singer-songwriter channels and subverts ’70s country and folk tropes.
go to album
