TONY DEKKER – PRAYER OF THE WOODS
Nettwerk & Weewerk Records
Released October 8, 2013
Track Listing:
1. On My Way Back
2. Somewhere Near Thunder Bay
3. Final Song
4. Empty Arms
5. Prayer Of The Woods
6. Hearing Voices
7. Under A Magician’s Sky
8. Land Of The Glass Pinecones
9. Talking In Your Sleep
10. Carefree Highway
On My Way Back
Getting back to town isn’t as easy as it seems
When you’ve been up all night with bad dreams
I dreamt that I was falling backwards into the air
Flying alone
Wasn’t malice, wasn’t fair
The smell of gasoline, from the handle and the cap
And I’m on my way back, on my way back
On my way back
Maybe I’ll just keep driving when I get there
Go up north, and be in exile in the oaks
Exile in the firs, exile in the birch
And stay until the winter won’t let me go
Her good arms around me, her cold arms around me
It’s not as easy as it seems to drive away your dreams
But I’m on my way back, on my way back
The smell of gasoline from the handle and the cap
Not as easy as it seems to drive away your dreams
Somewhere Near Thunder Bay
Somewhere near Thunder Bay, living halfway
While the rest slept in buckets and on benches in the back
I almost flew into you on the highway
We called close on the marble-lit milky-way
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
And no blood escaped when the spell broke
And nothing was turned into anything else
Not any of the versions of yourself, or myself
Bush to the painted line and back again
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
And I lived in your skin and its tame light
No names, but warm heat to your warm heat
I took a branch from you and you left through me
Giving that good new life one more go-round
I was dreaming of you
Way beyond any names
Everything frozen and slow
Somewhere near Thunder Bay
Final Song
When my race on this earth is run
When I take one final trip
When I fly into the horizon
When my body has lost its grip
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
When the spell is finally broken
And the magic has long gone
When I drift into the other side
When I’ve sung my final song
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
When my head rejects my body
When my arms don’t know my legs
And my fingers aren’t doing any good no more
And my mouth spits only dregs
Won’t you think of me in a good light
Won’t you think of me with a smile
Won’t you think of me by the water
Won’t you think of me once in a while
Empty Arms
A loner landed and made new land
Empty arms, starting over again
Held new words over old thundering ways
Then clear ice: raw, lifeless, and numb
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust in empty arms
With tired tracks it’s coming back
Pulled from pens and out of boots
February says: this is all you get
Do something with it
As February fails and it won’t last
Do something with it
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust in empty arms
With tired tracks it’s coming back
Pulled from pens and out of boots
Pick another song, one that’s not so sad
‘Cause the night is long and the warnings ignored
And you couldn’t be more you
Singing over under the fingernail moon
No motors yet, a buried dream
A deep exhaust in empty arms
With tired tracks it’s coming back
Pulled from pens and out of boots
Prayer Of The Woods
(Adapted, author anonymous)
I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights
The friendly shade screening you from the summer sun
As you journey on
I am the beam that holds your house
The board of your table
The bed on which you lie
And the timber that builds your boat
Those who pass by
Listen to my prayer: ‘Harm me not’
I am the handle of your hoe
The door of your homestead
The wood of your cradle
And the shell of your coffin
I am the bread of kindness
And the flower of beauty
Those who pass by
Listen to my prayer: ‘Harm me not’
Hearing Voices
Out in the winter, when nature doesn’t care
Staying up late enough, when the birds start to sing
I can feel their spirit, and I can feel how they move
They’ll tell you their secrets if you tell them yours too
They’ll tell you all their secrets if you tell them yours too
And they’ll fly through heaven when their bodies are through
You tell me all your secrets and I tell you mine too
And we’ll fly through heaven when our bodies are through
Send me your wings, now it’s almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Can’t see the mirror, when it’s more like a window
And before we’re shaken, I’ll dream enough for two
Send me your wings, now it’s almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Send me your wings, now it’s almost morning
The night had promise, but now it comes calling
Sometimes I wonder if I hear the right voices
Catch the right signals, and make the right choices
And work to be something that you can see through
The sky or a promise, from your point of view
Now it’s up to love to solve me some how
Warm the winter morning and move in me, some how
Now it’s up to love to prove me, right now
Warm the winter morning and move in me, some how
Under A Magician’s Sky
Arms out of the sides, the wind resists
Open palms and closed fists
And we’re sailing like a river bird
Sails, antennas, wings and keels
A muted smile, a muted sunrise
The only lick of life in a broken sky
The only thing left, that you could let through
And it blew through you, and it shone through you
You and me, like fresh graffiti
And maybe that bit of insanity
That ran those legs into extraordinary fields
Growing away, the only weapon left
Under a magician’s sky
This is how I think of you
Now, inhaling, and locked in time
Uh huh, this is how I think of you
A broken oar, on the rocks overnight
Under a magician’s sky
Uh huh, this is how I think of you
This is how I think of you
Tell me all about it some time
Tell me about it some time
Land Of The Glass Pinecones
(Gilbert/Maclachlan/Soucy, pub. Future Fish Inc.)
Talking In Your Sleep
I heard you talking in your sleep again last night
Wayward waves from your tired mouth
I heard you dreaming out loud again last night
A sparrow stealing and maneuvering
Only ever moving
Through that doorway unannounced
Like before, but with wilder dogs
Fumbling with long distance short wave radios
An empty cup with a bear in tow
A sign of the cross, a hunter’s bow
And I’m the sharp, feathered arrow
You pull me close, and then let go
And all of those organs play out
One by one, ils disent, ‘bonne nuit’
Slight whispers in the giant bellows sighing
‘Uh-huh, I’m only a lung’
Some nights are better than others though
And some nights you never know
You really got me with that one, though
Your sleepy hinges swinging, a cat’s paw
An empty cup with a bear in tow
A sign of the cross, a hunter’s bow
And I’m the sharp, feathered arrow
You pull me close, and then let go
Carefree Highway (Lightfoot, pub. Moose Music)
Recorded and mixed by Justin Nace (@justinshanenace) at St. Brendan’s Church in Rockport, Ontario, Canada, and The House Of Miracles in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Produced by Tony Dekker. Mastered by Andy Magoffin at The House Of Miracles. www.thetwominutemiracles.com
All words and music by Tony Dekker except for:
“Land Of The Glass Pinecones” (Gilbert/Maclachlan/Soucy, Future Fish Inc.)
“Carefree Highway” (Lightfoot, Moose Music)
“Prayer Of The Woods” adapted from traditional poem of forest preserves (author anonymous)
Music and arrangement by Tony Dekker.
Tony Dekker: vocals, guitars, mandolin, accordion, piano,
pump organ, Hammond B3, mellotron, harmonica, autoharp, percussion.
Artwork and layout by James Mejia. http://jamesmejia.com
Thank you to Tierney and all who made this record possible.
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