Get all 7 Chris Darby releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Love Or The Wilds, Here You Are, Live at The Yurt at Dancing Cow Farm, Instructional Songs For Quality Living, Cabin Songs, 2013 Independent Chicago Songwriter Festival, and Road Songs.
1. |
The Wilderness
02:26
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We were alone in the wilderness
The day the reckoning came
And we were all afraid
Of what was to come
But nothing came, or so you said
For I did not have the eyes to see
Or the mind to think or the tongue to weep
Or anything really
And I looked upon the waterfall
As the only evidence of god
As the only evidence of evidence
I thought it was all a fraud
I tell you now, it wasn’t like that
But you wouldn’t believe me then
Your mind stood naked and angry
And I was your fountain pen
And we went down, down, down
Till we hit the ground
Where we used the names of those we’ve loved to carry on.
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2. |
Time
03:46
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Time is an ancient song whispering through branches
Every day throughout the night the world bends around us
Raise a glass and it will die, watch her meter dance and fly
The universe decays in time
Time is the song we sing of mystery and wonder
Dark in her offering, bright in all her plunder
Older than the world itself, prisoner of matter
This is the tale we tell
Day by Day
Feel the hours slip away
This is the weight of time
She will catch us unaware sure as storms and thunder
Stars will fall beneath her feet as she passes over
She will watch us come and go like fireflies in summer
This is the way of time
So how will you spend your days knowing they’re soon over
When will you realize that time is not your lover
She has a way of weaving lies to make you feel immortal
These are brief and vain
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3. |
Darkest Days
04:22
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And you, you were the field
You were the forest, you were for real
You were the song I sang when no one was around
And you, you were for real
You were the one I saw concealed
You were the one I searched for, forever in the dark
But then you were caught by the wolves, the tools of the world
Pestle and soil. You were the one who found the future after all
And you, you were the fruit, you were the first one that I knew
You waved goodbye, and that finally broke my heart
Now nobody knows where the darkest days go
But they know that the future is here
And nobody knows where the waterfall rolls
But they know that the ocean is near
You’ll be alone, you’ll be alone, on the darkest days
You’ll be alone, you’ll be alone, on your darkest days
You’ll be alone, so far from home, on the darkest days
You’ve ever seen
And you, you were the eye, the eye of the storm, hurried and warm
Headed for shore, with destruction in your wake
And I, I tried my best, to batten the hatch
Close all the windows, remember the latch
Then fall to the floor and watch our dreams decay
And I, waited till dawn, to sound the alarm, close off my heart
Watch as you leave, then lock those maps away
And the storm went on its way, but it took you away
Tangled and grey
You were alone when you found your darkest day.
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4. |
Fire And Wind
03:42
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Take me down that road where we once belonged
Down the dusty fog of common cause
If you have a minute to be alone
Come sit with me by the fire
Watch the embers crackle shadows burning long
Hear the wolves howling at the distant dawn
You said all these things were written down in stone
At the very dawn of time
I was young and I was strong and I was brave
I thought everything was just a game
I thought you and me was always gonna stay
One and the same for all time
But you and me now have fallen on our words
Hinged on obtuse thoughts of absent absolutes
Say nothing to no one what you heard
Leave the wind dancing at your back
Then take that long road to god knows where
Just know that I will always be there
In your heart and mind and soul, your every prayer
I will haunt your distant dreams
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5. |
And So We Danced
06:20
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Where do you go, when all the scales fall away
When you start to repeat the cycle, will you try to avoid that day
Why do you go, to be alone with someone else
I never ever saw that as a thing that you espoused
Please sit down.
You know how I said everything would be fine
I don’t think I knew what that meant.
I don’t think I knew that all these things were on your mind
And so we danced
And so we tried to hold each other, the way that we did then
After we fell apart, from all these things we’d saved
And even the fall was fine I thought, before everything, everything was rearranged
So lie. Don’t say a thing.
It’s all the same dissimilar, wanting everything.
So you said. We were both the same, both afraid, both utterly unprepared
So you retreated
But you didn’t realize it was staring you right in front of you
You could have had it all. We could have been free
The way that we planned, the way that we thought we could see
When we were young, just some time ago.
Might as well be the setting sun.
Might as well be. For everything we are
Everything we have become. We’re still not the setting stars
Or the day that has just begun
Until then, there’s nothing that can be done
If you go any further forward you’ll burn out faster than the falling sun
I knew you well. I knew your soul.
I hope you dance. I hope you fly to great heights
But I have no faith in you.
So we depart. A day or two. We leave this place.
We leave ourselves on a fallen star.
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6. |
Intermission
03:35
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7. |
Long Ago And Far Away
05:35
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Our home lies beneath the winter
You told me under desert skies
We must be strong and show no weakness
When our nation goes to die
All the moles have gone in hiding
All the bridges have washed out
This was a century of building
No one wrote about
We were lost, lost, lost
When we made gods of every one
Lost, lost, lost
Inside the all consuming plan
You must learn to give up everything
You ever thought you would gain
There is no glory in the slaughter
There is only blood and pain
You will learn these lessons slowly
You’ll slowly rise with the sun
You’ll pass through gales of restitution
You’ll turn your collar to the wind
Where you’ll be lost, lost, lost
Just a ray in sunset lands
Lost, lost, lost
Erased by your demands
Will you meet me on the highway
Contemplate where we have been
I’ve walked this road a thousand times
I’ve never found where I belong
I thought that you were singing for me
That shows how far I have to go
These maps are all since torn and faded
I’m heading east to see the snow
Where I’ll be lost, lost, lost
In an old boxcar by the bay
Lost, lost, lost
I’ll search the remains of the day
Long ago and far away
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8. |
IOU
04:15
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I owe you everything
Sun and moon and winter in the spring
I owe you ties that bind
Everywhere to wander, free of flight
It’s not the world you seek
Even though you think it’s still in style
This is the world you need
Hanging from a thread of concrete tile
I owe you everything
We lost our all our innocence trying
Playing games with trust
Falling through the stories of this house
It’s not the world you see
The fault is ours and ours only
The fragile colors turn
And everywhere you go the autumn burns
I owe you everything
You told me late one winter night
That even if I run
You will still be with me all the time
Forget everything. Forget everything we ever knew
Someday bells will ring
Steel our hearts against the world
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9. |
Groundswell
07:28
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Hear the distant groundswell here us fight it out
You wanted to believe in what we are now
Hear the distant thunder that will never go away
Inside the fallow fields, beside the homeless trains
No one will be with you on the day that you are free
So stand up straight and take care please
I know you haven’t noticed, but this river is a song
Of everything ill do to get by, and get along
Once you are gone
So wash your face, and dry your hands
This is what we are now. The decision is intact
We had them all believing that we were a song
Now the melody’s gone flat, and the words are all wrong
Be careful of the river she’ll sneak up on you
Stop whatever you are doing. Plant the seeds in the soil
And if you do not tend to them, they cannot tend to you
And your holy water will mean nothing
How’s the rain gonna fall if the sun keeps shining?
If the world stops turning when you go away
How’s the rain gonna fall and heal the river
If there’s no more breathing.
If there’s no more grey.
What are we all to do?
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10. |
And I Miss You
04:28
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And I miss you
Mostly the subtle things
Like the way we danced to forgotten words that one evening
And I miss you
To where you are, from where I am
Won’t you stop by our old place and stay for the weekend?
And I miss you
Like everything could be
Possible with you and me
And I miss you
Like no one else exists
Like the words have lost their meaning and the axis went amiss
And I miss you
Like the flood misses the shore
Against the levee, struck with water, un-impregnable
And I miss you
Like the forest for the trees
Like a songbird misses songs when she forgets how to sing
And I miss you
And not just the subtle things
Like the way we drove to Canada, on a whim
And I miss you
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11. |
At Sea
05:07
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The ocean breeze sings me a song tonight
The bluest waves will roll me to sleep
Over water, over water, and over light
These soft winds will roll me to sleep
When everything is lonely I’m at peace
Forgive me now forgive me, for I may never leave
I’ll stay on this ship and we will sail
Away, away, away into the pale
The ocean breeze sings me a song tonight
These gentle waves will roll me to sleep
And out here at sea these stars will be my guide
These soft winds will roll me to sleep
Well I was a weary captains son
And I woke upon the water in the end
No duties left and nothing to defend
Now I am just a lonely ocean song
The ocean breeze sings me a song tonight
The gentle waves will roll me to sleep
And I may sing forever these sad songs of my life
These softest winds will roll me to sleep
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Chris Darby
Chris Darby is a folk musician whose true home is anywhere his music takes him. Though his singing sometimes reaches the ferocious roar of a territorial lion and other times sinks to the gentle whisper of a wise sage, his vocal style embodies a rare emotional honesty which captures the full range and depth of his life experience. Sign up for the Newsletter here- www.eepurl.com/Lgoz5 ... more
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