1. |
Field Notes
02:40
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Which way to the ocean?
cause I don't know if I might sink or if I'll swim
and I don't know what year it is or how much time's passed
since I took that little walk out of my skin.
And which way to your courtyard?
cause I can hear you singin in my head
but I don't care too much for courtship
still the air is so sweet...
But I ain't gettin any younger! So I ain't got no time to be cordial!
All I've got is sky and treetops
Well I always seem to forget
just how tall them mountains stand
just how long it takes to get here
when all I want is to bury my head in the sand
And oh! they speak of nations
but all I hear are lips a-flappin
and all I see are barbed-wire fences
slicing hideously across the land
and policemen with nondescript faces
holding guns against the doorways into places
(when all there is is sky and treetops)
And I ain't gettin any younger! ...
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2. |
Maps
05:03
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I covered my wall with maps
but none of them led me to you
and I took my sweet time forcin myself to relax
but my muscles they grow weary when they've got nothing to do
But before long I had gone blind
from projections of some distant time
with the sweat a-beadin on my brow
and the sun in my eye.
Well she slipped in through the kitchen door
and gathered what she could from the bathroom drawer
her shadow tossed fragmented on the floor
and that frantic wailing, "oh god! oh glory, the horror!"
And then every single line in sight did blur
and you wake up sweating, gasping next to her
while outside the darkness beckoned like a voice
and she said, "I'm sorry darling, but I don't think that I have much choice."
I covered my wall with maps
but none of them led me to you
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3. |
Milk & Honey
03:29
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She will never understand what it means to be a man.
And the will for not to stare when you see her standing there,
undressing by the window with the moonlight in her hair.
She is milk and she is honey.
Now why would she choose me? I can't promise marriage or a mortgage or a family
No all I have to give is my blind trust in dreams and that desperate determination just to live
with all the hopeless optimism of some fuckin kid
But she is milk and she is honey.
A backpack and two shoes, well there is nothing that I could ever lose
And though he sits there sulkin at his typewriter, he'd never think to write about her
With the ashtray fillin fast, I hope he sits there and feels real smug...
Cause she is milk and she is honey.
For those bare hips I would trade all the air I breathe.
But she will never understand what it means to not be a man.
She is milk and she is honey.
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4. |
Somnambule
04:27
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Oh the who and the what and the where
will just hang there suspended in the air
and the when and the how and the why
they will muster up some feelings until all spins awry
And at that moment the walls they start screaming
and I realize that I am not dreaming
No I don't think I've ever seen so many lights on in one place,
I don't think I've ever felt right sitting still
What I wouldn't give to see that look on your face,
to see the fog rising over the hill
And then I'm struck with the sudden realization
that this old weary life of circular contemplation
will take me nowhere, only drag me deeper towards longing
and that wicked bitterness, man it is appalling
Oh if only my books could speak
Cause I don't think I'll ever find that wholesome silence that I seek
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5. |
The Wayfarer
05:44
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You have absolutely no idea what it's like
to not even trust your own ceiling.
That day the filthy water poured right out through the heavens,
I thought that I'd lose everything but at least I still got my gut for feeling
(and thank the lord for that)
I will hang a picture in a frame,
not just some dirty canvas that I found on the side of the street
And I will toss my boots out the back door
cause even they're too weary for these feet
(but we still got such a long way to go!)
Well I keep seeing people that look just like you
when they're walking at a certain distance.
Then I figured out pretty quickly that you were a wayfarer,
and that's ok man I respect that, I understand
that you always choose the path of least resistance
just be careful cause that's what I did and look at me now...
You say you were born to be a wayfarer, that's what you say
you were born to be on the road,
or on the rails there with your load and on the seas and sleepin under trees...
you were born to be on the road
baby you were born to roam!
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6. |
Those Tired Words
04:11
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Well above those roofs
where we lay our blankets down
beneath the sliver of moon
and the glimmer of that silver crown
and it is not a crown that I did place upon your head
no it is not even made of anything tangible,
it is only weightlessness.
And all those flickering lights, they will swallow our eyes
they will make us forget all about the density of our minds
and as the light of the day it does creep
upon those rooftops bathed in sleep
I will be long gone.
And I've been meaning to tell you
that I don't think I was made for this
I am but comings-and-goings
but my bones are not those of dust
and my memories not of rust
and I don't know in whom I trust
anyways it's nice to know you're there.
And now it's probably worth mentioning
that I am not an apostle
and that awaiting the apocalypse,
I've never felt more responsible
those tired words, I see them form upon your lips,
you say, "to find truth is impossible"
but honey if you just let it slip
cause it is not even a question of getting a grip
so honey why don't you just let it slip?
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7. |
All a Part of the Plan
03:08
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If all of this is part of the plan
then what about that sad-eyed man
who left you with his heart in your hands?
And what about that house down the street
that burned down and became obsolete
just another pile of ashes for the city to eat?
And shiverin in the backseat
you sang quietly an old tune of highways
and I was glancin in the mirror at you sideways
when I realized that I'd known you all along
I fell asleep with the lights on again
oh confusion when the walls start to spin
it's like my head's under water and then...
But there is always the promise of breakfast
and that clean morning light streamin in relentless
and hot coffee to soothe the restless
and you with that gleam in your eye.
If all of this is part of the plan.
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8. |
An Afterthought
03:00
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Now you may choose not to believe me
but me I never meant to be
that ambiguous creature lurkin in the dark,
and though I may seem harmless in the light,
well I will eat your heart.
Oh mother, father, I need some direction,
cause my money's gone and I can't cope with rejection.
And it may sound silly in the light
but I don't think I was ever born to love.
Well as sure as day will break and night will fall
I will throw my body in the lake
and try and see the beauty of it all.
Oh my mind is full of overbearing notions,
so I wait upon the shore only to be swept out by the ocean.
And a cowboy's boots are hard to fill
when all you've got are stars to keep you company.
I think those were my most lonely days,
spent wayfaring and lacking of identity
but the world is full of shining eyes and maybe one day yours might find me.
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le Renard Montreal, Québec
le Renard is Isobel GF who plays with instruments and words.
(Artist photo by Estelle Grenier)
le Renard recommends:
Great tunes by great folks. Cutting edge and conducive to foot-tapping. Tyson and Steph were both instrumental in the production of "Buffalo Face"
go to album
People Like Us
by Elder Sister Plum
A lovely human and fellow wayfarer, Elder Sister Plum's thoughtful lyrics are sure to move you.
go to album
high walls (EP)
by cloudy shoes
This is another one of Isobel's projects; a collaboration with percussionist Ed Scrimger
go to albumIf you like le Renard, you may also like:
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
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
