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Birds and Stones 3:000:00/3:00
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Murmur 4:210:00/4:21
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Knee Deep 4:570:00/4:57
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Face in the Sun 3:060:00/3:06
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Say I Am You 4:560:00/4:56
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Walden 4:260:00/4:26
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0:00/9:25
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0:00/5:03
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Rockets 5:410:00/5:41
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0:00/5:03
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Lightning's Goodbye 3:360:00/3:36
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Already Home 2:560:00/2:56
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Wait for Your Spring 5:540:00/5:54
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Whisper in the Night 4:150:00/4:15
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Good Money After Bad 3:400:00/3:40
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Walden 4:260:00/4:26
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Night Over Water 3:580:00/3:58
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Clouds in the Water 4:110:00/4:11
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Falling In 3:570:00/3:57
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Somewhere New 3:490:00/3:49
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Released October 2013
CD and digital album for purchase at CD Baby
The long awaited second album from singer/songwriter Kelly Brightwell is a collection of songs from along the way -- from lover to wife to mother and back to herself again. Her sophomore effort finds the artist letting go of ghosts and expectations, reworking old stories and finding timeless truths. The album was recorded at 8 Ball Studio in Portland, OR and produced by local indie luminary Rob Stroup. Members of Rob's band, The Blame, contributed their considerable talents to the project, lending it a distinctive, rootsy feel. The result is a well worn-in sound that is at once classic and fresh, cozy and intriguing.
LYRICS
1. BIRDS AND STONES
The trouble with birds and stones:
You never catch ‘em, you just kill them one by one
You’re better off leaving well enough alone
The trouble with birds and stones
The trouble with words and bones:
The names don’t break us, we do it on our own
You’re better off leaving well enough alone
The trouble with words and bones
Why do even the smallest dreams need a bigger sky?
Why do we say the wrong things
And then we say goodbye?
The trouble with hearts and home:
You don’t think you’ll need ‘em ‘til you’re already gone
You’re better off leaving well enough alone
The trouble with hearts
Oh, the trouble with my heart... goodbye
2. WALDEN
Walden on the windowsill
Dog-eared and battered, whisper to me still
‘Cause I drove my life into a corner
But is it mean? Or sublime?
Or just thoroughly confused?
The sky is like aluminum today
And it’s hard to tell the days apart
so many names for gray
But I’m hopeful as a solar panel in this rain
So I patiently wait ‘til the sun comes out again
Mourning doves up on a telephone wire
Have no idea what’s under their toes
But they’ve got a view, and it’s just a little higher
Than the ordinary world down below
Empty iron table with no chair
What’s the use in offering when no one’s sitting there?
So I made a place for you my darling
And all the changes you wrought
‘Cause those changes brought me here
3. TREELINE
Trees up on the treeline
Branches in the lightning
Rumble of the thunder off the stone
I hear it echo in the valley
A river winding slow and lazy
‘Til the rain becomes a river of its own
I watch it all come down again
Sometimes I feel that kind of lonely
Know the storm is coming for me
And I brace myself against the mountainside
I get wild if I’m abandoned
Hold these elements for ransom
And wait to see a message in the sky
I watch it all come down again
When it all comes down,
The ground beneath my feet
Moves me even though
I see no way out
Letting go, so bittersweet
It all comes down again
So now it’s me up on the treeline
Lightning on the inside
Thunder underneath my skin, in my bones
I’ll be the echo in the valley
A river winding slow and lazy
‘Til the rain becomes a river of its own
You know the rain is just a river of its own
4. LIGHTNING’S GOODBYE
She’s so far away
She’s counting the miles; she’s counting the days
She’s waiting for saviors who never arrive
Thunder’s the sound of the lightning’s goodbye
Now she can’t feel the pain
She rides out to meet it; it’s her last hurricane
The storm rushes in and she closes her eyes
Thunder’s the sound of the lightning’s goodbye
In all of the noise, what you hear is her voice
And it’s singing, it’s singing
Like the bell of the world had been struck
And you heard it still ringing
It’s still ringing
You can’t change the rain
But it’s all we can talk about; it’s all we can’t say
Just notice the clouds as they’re crossing the sky
Thunder’s the sound of the lightning’s goodbye
It’s just the sound of the lightning
5. THE RAIN AND THE RADIO
Thought I was lost, took a wrong turn or two
Got confused at the crossroads
Thought my compass was true
Nearly missed the last exit, I couldn't make out the signs
Just the rain and the radio and the broken white lines
Sometimes it's just blind faith, baby
The storm that won't pass over
You don't know where you're going
Until you get there at last
I thought I'd be fine, we'd figure things out
I just needed some time and my heart's ready now
But my only companion is a ghost from the past
The song on the radio, the rain through the glass
I know it's my own fault, baby
I'm taking too long to get over
But losing you meant losing me meant losing it all
When I find my way back, I will not run
I'll open the gates, and I'll let in the flood
There are no second chances: you can't wait for the end
No starting over now: no, you just start again
And I guess it's a hard fate, baby
If you face it alone
But I know there's always the rain
And the radio
6. PRAIRIE FAIRY TALE
It certainly looks like rain
Blowing hard through the curtain, shut my window again
I didn’t mean to stray
Far from the green of your love
Will you rest in the shade of the old oak tree?
Will you wait in the tall grass for me?
In the dress that you made for our last masquerade
In this prairie fairy tale
The sound of a lonesome train
It’s beyond the horizon, but I hear its refrain
Your voice in my dream
Disappears like the steam and moves on
The clothes are still on the line
Just the way that you left them when they hung out to dry
They’ve been out there so long
They’ll be threadbare and gone in the breeze
7. BETWEEN US
Martin’s meditating in my bed
He’s so quiet, he’s so still
With his eyes closed and his lips parted
For my enlightenment
He’ll wait, he’ll wait
Until a breath is all there is between us
Martin’s got a scar across his head
And I trace it with my fingers
Like a halo on this angel, fallen
So far from where he’s been
You know, I try to tell him I’m a flower in the mud
And some things are better left unsaid
Some things you shouldn’t touch
But he just smiles and waits for me to open up
Martin puts his heart into my hands
He wraps it like a present
Or a future in the Promised Land
And I know where I stand
Cause he'll wait
Until a breath is all there is
Between us
8. MURMUR
The murmur you make in your sleep, when it’s late
Sounds like you’re speaking in tongues
But the moment you wake and remember your name
Those words disappear in the sun
It’s clear in the daylight; I know who you are
But who is the stranger
Who sleeps next to me in the dark?
There’s never a trace, not a clue on your face
To make me believe that you know
All the things that you say, or the love you betray
It’s only a mask that you show
But after the light’s out, before the night ends
You turn to me recklessly
Wake me and take me again
Should I be ashamed? Should I carry the blame?
Since I seem to remind you of her
Your secret is safe, and I would not erase
Those dreams or the person you were
What we do in darkness, I keep to myself
‘Cause I love you better, my sweet--
When you’re somebody else
9. CLOUDS IN THE WATER
It’s a blank slate, a new place, a slant of northern light
Landfall, then St. Paul on the skyline
The city takes me so often by surprise
A question, reflection, dancing in her eyes
I’m looking over and over
I’m walking down by the river
I see the clouds in the water
It’s what you’d expect from a mirror
I go headfirst, and it’s hard work to drive a wedge between
What’s aching and waking up to some forgotten dream
A deep snow, the cracks show underneath the ice
And I’m waiting for my spring, I need some good advice
I want to live at the beginning of something
Instead of at the end of everything that ever came before
Just coming back again
It was a dry spell ‘til the sky fell to pieces on the ground
And I picked up the good stuff, I tried to settle down
But you just want what you want:
There’s no other reason why
Don’t blame me for leaving -- I never said good-bye
10. SOMEWHERE NEW
Sweethearts and cities don’t sleep until dawn
The streets are all empty and the neon is gone...
Like secrets we whispered in broken down bars
In alleys, in taxis, in backseats of cars
I knew when I saw you I’d never look back
The trains were like thunder, we kissed under the tracks
We’ll all settle down in time
Look away from the scene of the crime...
Now we leave out of habit and dwell in the past
Searching for something ‘til we’re nowhere at last
Take this for granted, we’ll lose what we found
The heart of this city on the outskirts of town
We’ll all settle down in time
Turn away from the scene of the crime
I don’t want to go there alone
‘Cause I can’t make it home without you
I’ll go somewhere new
So meet me by highways, by headlights and rust
By streetlamps and skyscrapers, buildings and dust
‘Cause we’ll all settle down in time
Move away from the scene of the crime
I don’t want to go there alone
‘Cause I’ll never be home without you
I’ll go somewhere new
11. ALREADY HOME
Give me your mean stony heart
The taste of your crumbling when the avalanche starts
Give me the gravel that’s kept us apart
And I’ll walk that dirt road, baby
I’ll walk you all the way home
Give me your dry broken dreams
And the way that they rustle since they lost their green
Give me a pile I can toss to the breeze
And we’ll play like we’re children
Just like we used to back home
Give me the smoke and the fire
When the sirens are sounding and it’s down to the wire
Give me your heat so I know your desire
And we’ll burn ‘til we’re embers
Remember we’re already home
Remember you’re already home