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Chain Letters

by Big Harp

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jonser
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jonser be good to me.be good to me ...be a good new year ... Favorite track: You Can't Save 'Em All.
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1.
every rooftop unsteady on its studs every rolled ankle leaning on its crutch every old drunk stumblin backwards searchin for the wall every palm tree doubled over in the wind every man on the street lookin sallow and thin every broke leg racehorse chewin on the gates of his stall every yachtsman with a million in the bank afloat on the sea like a flake in a tank tyin his wrists to the wheel in the face of a squall you cant save em all you cant save em all you got to choose who you let fall way down in the mine behind them ivy'd walls they're cryin but lord, dont you know you cant save em all every old man folded in his chair talkin and laughin with nobody there pressin his lips to a phone that dont nobody call every shit car pullin back onto the road squealin its tires and gunnin for home leavin behind it some shit baby too new to crawl chorus every innocent head full of god down on her knees, surrendered and awed bobbin in front of the prophet that holds her in thrall chorus
2.
on streets, in bars they do what they do and they do it so hard man just watchin em makes me tired they got hearts like brush just waitin for some drunk to toss out a cigarett butt so they can all go up in flames together that guys on fire man, he's headed straight to the top he's a little bit younger than me and a little better lookin than i ever was that girl, she's on fire she's practiced her moves in the mirror, now she's lettin em fly they aint tuckin themselves in tonight first you're talkin like an asshole puffed up and brave from the lines then youre stretched out on the carpet soaked in three hours ago's wine singing be good to me be good to me be a good new year now i, i don't know just how they can smile with that steam rollin out of their noses kissin hard with the old year barely closed is it all some ruse like, hey man, that ain't champagne thats makeup to cover the bruise and hey, let's party, let's get loose and if you aint got anybody and you just dont know how little time and youre savin all your pennies tryin to scrape up a dime sing be good to me be good to me be a good new year now i'm starin at the numbers tryin to slow down the time but the wheels keep clickin over and theres no one to pin for the crime be good to me be good to me be a good new year
3.
some people are born strange as a fact of the blood some people are loose change pennies sinkin in the mud they say the devil made the world out of sand and clay and planted it with seeds that never sprung this world wants a big rain this world wants a flood white haired hunchin over his vows dreamin of the new bride who's gonna carry him over through a carved cross door to a home in the pine they say a man and a fire go out the same way cold ashes can't be stoked but even when the cedar log's vanished in the flames you can smell its bitter smoke
4.
Good News 02:48
gather round me all you bucks with antlers lowered and ears pricked up cause i got the good news been lifted up i seen the shape of what's to come ain't no dues ain't no debts ain't no shirt stained with sweat aint no chamber loaded up aint no bottom in that cup ain't no play nor work ain't no sky just dirt gather round me all you does bring your sorrows trials and woes let them fall just like dirt from an upraised spade in the yard of a church aint no play nor work ain't no sky just dirt
5.
there is no cage there is no bond there is no chain can hold you for long there is no end dead as it looks the road may vanish but you can run through the bush and if they bar all of the doors and leave you stampin your feet on the concrete floors you can run through the windows there is no vest plastic or steel no heavy door no sturdy keel there is no gun of any gauge no useless lover that can keep you safe and if you bar all of the doors and curl up easy on your hardwood floors they just come through the window
6.
see that michigan moonlight how it pours over the leaves thats the way my mind runs over my memories every brittle carcass shook loose from its bough and stripped of its summer colors looks like silver now leave it alone i'll carry it home it aint no trouble at all i was young and able i also was a fool i never met a table i wouldnt pull my chair up to oh rosa she was easy olive she was light now im old and faded honeys where are you tonight dont leave me alone who's gonna carry me home now it aint no trouble at all even on my best sunday my voice ringing ragged and full breakin here in sorrow then howlin a sinners doom yes even at the pulpit shinin in my deepest black in my heart i never bought into my act leave it alone i'll carry it home now it aint no trouble at all i was no believer still i really aint though i been known to quiver when i see those rollin saints lord of wooden benches lord of bended knees god of no defenses come on pull this off of me don't leave me alone come on and carry me home i know it aint no trouble at all
7.
o jesus, come and raise me like lazarus from dust to flesh i'm worn, i'm goin crazy i'll do whatever you suggest i'm inclined i'm inclined to throw my hands up i was born far from my home i looked but i couldnt find it i saddled up my days i fitted them with blinders i rode until they fell a-heavin in the meadow then i broke that ponys bones and i sucked away the marrow now im inclined im inclined to throw my hands up o jesus come on down and rescue me im tied to the world and i cant get free i never asked no one for anything now come on down here and rescue me o jesus, you little kitten you gutless little rainbow ive rent my garments ragged im holy as an angel i dont believe in mercy i never read the bible and i dont need no forgiveness i need bullets and a rifle but im inclined im inclined to throw my hands up
8.
take your pride throw it on the ground put on a shepherd's cap to replace your crown abandon your wingtips for a sturdier shoe you got a long way to go better lace up your boots there is only one place to go when you're a once high and mighty out shovelin coal you got to stand (stand outside) you got to stand (stand outside) you got to stand (stand outside) outside canossa in the snow take your meat feed it to the dogs take all your fine dishes dash them on the rocks human kindness is a skinny old cow but you've got no other milk to rely on now what can you do when your luck gets thin when you can pile all your riches on the head of a pin chorus there's a line behind your heels that you cant step back across youre a free man now and like all free men youve got to beg for the things youve lost you can walk all the way to the eastern coast, press on to the western shore but youll never, never, never be free 'til you beg at the foot of the door chorus when all your money all your fortunate bread flips over the rail with the six horse when he breaks to the left when youre down and your friends turn their backs when youre scroungin for tickets while they close down the track chorus
9.
once i had a wife, i had three children i left them in the rain outside a hilton it's been so many years i keep forgettin why, i guess i had to die to keep on livin and once i had a mother, one that bore me but i killed the boy she carried, now i'm only jack the strange, i'm pickin up whatever's thrown me oh lord, it's easy to be strange i'm livin now up north across the border i been workin these few months as a loader i got a woman, i suspect that i wont know her in a year, maybe i'll head south towards dakota nobody and no place is gonna keep me you ask me if it's hard i say it's easier by far i'm gonna keep my wheels beneath me oh lord, its easy to be strange
10.
call out your cavalry, strike up the band put on your most convincing air of command i know when i've been dealt a shitty hand call out your cavalry, strike up the band i'll wear any chains, i don't want to be free like a tiger born in a cage, i wouldn't know what to do with me i don't want to run to live to fight another day i'm ready to be the prisoner in your victory parade call out your cavalry, strike up the band your easy victory is close at hand i'll fight just hard enough to keep you looking grand call out your cavalry, strike up the band get your tallest hat, shine up your boots get a tailor to let out your ill-fitting generals suit i dont want to waste my time pretending i can win i'm throwin up my hands, i'm turnin myself in call out your cavalry, strike up the band put on your most convincing air of command i know when i've been dealt a shitty hand call out your cavalry, strike up the band measure out your beams, i'll look good on a cross hitch a yoke around my neck, let me haul your wagon boss i don't want to keep you from the crowds callin your name now take me to your market square, let them call out my fate

about

Chris Senseney and Stefanie Drootin-Senseney (The Good Life, Bright Eyes, She & Him) formed Big Harp in December 2010, after a three-year whirlwind that saw the two meet, have a baby, move halfway across the country, get married, move halfway across the country again, and have another baby. Their debut album, White Hat, was a collection of intimate, low-key folk-rock laced with subtle irony and dark humor that earned them comparisons to songwriters like Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt. Built on a foundation of crackling fuzz bass and angular electric guitars and keyboards, Chain Letters moves away from the rustic, pastoral sound of Big Harp's debut and plays like a series of character sketches centered around escape and surrender, and the blurred borders where the two become indistinguishable.

From the pained apathy of "You Can't Save 'Em All" to the cracked parade march of "Call Out the Cavalry, Strike Up the Band," Chain Letters finds the band enveloping and exploding their literate songs with fuzzed-out, needle-sharp textures. "We really built the songs around Stef's fuzz bass," says Chris. "It was kind of funny -- we were sitting around in a bedroom playing really loud with no drums, just kind of trusting that it was going to make sense once we put it all together. Hopefully we landed closer to mid-'70's Iggy Pop than Leonard Cohen this time. Really I'd like it to sound like Leonard Cohen fronting The Pixies. It doesn't though. Maybe a little. You tell us."

The album was recorded at Omaha's ARC studios with engineer Ben Brodin and partly at the band's Los Angeles home. Chain Letters was mixed by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, M Ward, First Aid Kit).

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released January 22, 2013

2013 Saddle Creek

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Big Harp Los Angeles, California

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