1. |
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I got back yesterday, I took a drive through my hometown
Never noticed that stand of old growth, it's strip malls and condos now
They never thought to ask me but I guess I weren't around
I'll take a good look at what I love before they tear it down
Cause you can't stop progress anyhow
Maybe some things never change
Like sunset from the tower
Flooded bogs each October
The most humble pitch pine at billington sea
But what about me
What about me, what about me?
My friends are scattered by the wind to the corners of the land
It blows on a seaward ship, down wooster street, through the bridger canyon
When I get lonely on my own, I sure as hell miss them
The choices I have made and things that might have been with
A quarter of my life setting in
Maybe some things never change
Playing I - IV in the foyer
And at the farm stand in the summer
Standing in the pantry at 10 Fremont street
But what about me
What about me, what about me?
I think of
All the People and places, and the ones I've yet to find
If the mountains are as tall as the ones in my mind
I'll always say I love you, let's meet again sometime
Once I have lived a thousand lives
Til I have live a thousand lives
Maybe some things never change
Like sunset from the tower
Flooded bogs each October
The most humble pitch pine at billington sea
Playing I - IV in the foyer
The farm stand in the summer
Standing in the pantry at 10 Fremont street
But what about me
What about me, what about me?
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2. |
Carrot Day Massachusetts
03:10
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Two months since I wrote to you
About carrots planted on the 19th of June
About some hopes of mine; they didn’t come through
Like the squash and the tomatoes
My first crop of cukes was good
I gave them out around the neighborhood
I planted another because I could
But it seems like something got em
Sometimes it is like that
The bread don’t rise and the tire goes flat
And the bunnies eat the lettuce
Cause the coyotes got the cat
Still I’ll sow hope in spring
Comes each year, don’t cost a thing
Sometimes promises they manifest
Sometimes they come to nothing
Took the old fir decking from the porch
So the grandchildren don’t get splinters no more
Built a fence for the garden and Katy swore
It’s like the one at french laundry
My stated goal is healthy soil
Seaweed on top, years of toil
My garden will help save the world
But not from sequestered carbon
Sometimes it’s like that too
They can get their splinters somewhere new
Rabbits don’t eat arugula
But my swimming friends do
It’s why I sow hope in spring
Comes each year, don’t cost a thing
Sometimes promises they manifest
Sometimes they come to nothing
In California they’ve got sunny days
New England the sky’s still gray
I might like it better that way
Even if it comes to nothing
Two months since I wrote to you
Now December will be coming soon
I hope there’s frost kissed carrots in your garden too
Even if it comes to nothing
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3. |
Out West/Back East
04:33
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Out west the forest stands proud with giants
Millenia pass like minutes in between
Wise and scarred by fire, yet slowly pushing higher
Just like I imagined in my dream
Back east the woods are just as I had left them
Kind and humble as my oldest friend
Crimson leaves and pitch pine, flooded bogs and power lines
When will I walk with you again
I hope New England still treats you kind
And February don’t chill you to the core
I know California feels far away
I hope I find what I’m looking for
The home I’m from and the road in front
What we might have in store
But New England can’t hold me anymore
Out west the walls rise bold above the valley
And the desert spans forever ‘til the sky
Basking in the wonder, my ego, my soul asunder
Why don’t you come sit with me a while?
Back east the hills roll gentle o’er the river
Each season paints the fields another shade
Familiar and honest, work ethic and promise
Will it last or does the feeling fade?
I hope New England still treats you kind
And February don’t chill you to the core
I know California feels far away
I hope I find what I’m looking for
The home I’m from and the road in front
Strewn across the floor
New England can’t hold me anymore
My darling I can’t hold you anymore
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4. |
When I'm a cherry tree
02:28
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When I die, hope I’m a cherry tree
You can lie in the shade and admire my leaves
Chop me down and build a table out of me
When I die, hope I’m a cherry tree
When I die, hope I’m a running stream
You can follow me down and see where I lead
Cup your hands and take a drink
When I die, hope I’m a running stream
And if you write my obituary
Don’t fill it with plastic and concrete
Just write a song about something sweet,
Crumple it up and forget about me
When I die, hope I’m a summer breeze
So I can blow wherever I please
Right back to you til you’re right here with me
When I die, hope I’m a summer breeze
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5. |
23
04:17
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At 327 Summer with pigeons outside the window
At 64 Sever, Sunday morning wake up slow
How it feels to be across the sea, borne back by the tide, and
How it feels to be home again, back among the pines
I’ve driven down the road just to see how far south south can go
But I’ve never seen the desert sun break the day or midsummer Alaska snow
In days ahead and days behind
Meditative on my mind
Are the places I am from
And the ones I will be
On a Holly Hill afternoon pulling carrots after the freeze
On a four acre bog before the dawn with a crisp New England breeze
How it feels to gaze alone at the mountainside in wonder, and
How it feels next time I see my father and sister and mother
I’ve closed my eyes beneath the sky with the Milky Way overhead
But I still haven’t found how to reach far down and feel the mud on the riverbed
In days ahead and days behind
Meditative on my mind
Are the places I am from
And the ones I will be
In a dance we danced at midnight in the middle of the road
In a song we sang at sunrise to brace against the cold
How it feels from behind the lens, and on the other side
How it feels to set it down, and let go of the fight
I’m learning how to speak my truth and come to realize joy
But it’s about time I write a song that I can sing with my own voice
In days ahead and days behind
Meditative on my mind
Are the places I am from
And the ones I will be
So many places I am from
So many ones I will be
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Van William Harting Sacramento, California
you can take the boy out of new england
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