this time
another try
sparrow mountain
resistance
grown through
autumn rivulets
nowhere
egypt
shine
the wanderer
wish
The debut album from The People.
released 26 June 2015
Samantha Rise Roberson - vocals
Charles Lane - guitars, keys, saxophone, flute, background vocals
Dan Hanrahan - guitars
Mark Przybylowski - bass, cello
Gabriel Globus-Hoenich - percussion
Carlos Santiago - violin
Chris Aschman - trumpet
Doug Raus - Co-Producer, engineer, mixer
Hani Zahra - Co-Producer
Recorded: January-May 2015
Woodbrook Studios, Pennsauken NJ
Hani Zahra Studios, Brooklyn NY
Mastered: Jeff Hiatt at Turtle Studios, Philadelphia PA
this time
When I was a little one, when I was a little one
I burned my hands
On my birthday candles
It hurt a little bit, took a little bit
Of my skin away
Charred my wishes too
Can you take me back? Can you take me back?
To that place I know
When Momma wiped my tears
Will you take me there? Won’t you take me there?
I need to see it
Still is there for real
The ether in the bathroom, smelling like a candle
Burning in the water,
Mandy took a tumble, dropped her little bottle,
Burning in the water
Took a little longer, just a little longer, it took a little longer
To get high, high enough this time
A picture of his best friend, who also is his girlfriend,
Resting on the mantle
Tighter on his arm now, needle in his left hand,
Resting on the mantle
Took a little longer, just a little longer, it took a little longer
To get high, high enough this time
Sheila keeps him waiting, still she makes a wish though,
Kneeling in the bathroom
Lord, make me something else, pretty skinny something else,
Kneeling in the bathroom
Took a little longer, just a little longer, it took a little longer
To get high, high enough this time
Can’t you feel me breathing, underneath your arms, babe,
Still as early morning
Paradise will greet you, it’s living all around you,
Still as early morning
It takes a little longer, just a little longer, it takes a little longer
To get high, high enough this time
Don’t you know you’re something beautiful?
Don’t you know?
Another Try
Never was a dreamer
I knew, by you
Told me not to follow nothing
I knew was true
Never was a pleader
You drew, for two
Took us ‘round the bend in silence
Can you see me drowning slowly?
Couldn’t get a word in, darling
Wasn’t worth a try
Don’t know if I can take it, if I make it out alive
See that I, give love another try
Can you hear me calling?
I tried to reach your ears
Sold me to the pavement’s power
I tried, sunshine
It’s you that’s really falling
Down walls of discontent
Daisy chains around you broken
Do you know what independence is?
Sparrow Mountain
I could see the sparrow flying
Down onto the forest floor
There she would sit and sing my confusion away
Open wide my fastened door
My fastened door
It has taken
Taken me down
The hours passed from days to weeks
And the aching never withdrew
The one I thought I would become was
Someone lanced through and through
Lanced through and through
For I am nothing
Nothing am I
I’d like to believe in what they call second chances
But I wouldn’t dare to give me one
I swear I’ll believe it when I start to bereave it
This holy mess I leave undone
I saw seven apples falling softly
Rest upon the sodden ground
All were rotten, browned from the inside out
Fruitless and fell without a sound
Without a sound
But I am sightless
Mine eyes are lame
And so am I
So take your chance and leave me now
Before I stumble further still
The weakness of my dirge will take you nowhere
My soul will feed until it filled
Until it’s filled
Oh Sparrow Mountain
I now run
To you
It’s these words, words, words
I’ve blown away
I can’t recall
I lose them all
These wicked words
Resistance
I hold the fire
Into the heart of the mountain
Onto the edges of tomorrow
I hold the fire
Hold down the glow
With the might of your brothers
With the stories of your mothers
Hold down the glow
Oh, penurious resist!
This is my power
To be brave until the morning
Unafraid without a warning
This is my power
I can see the weight you bear
Running ‘cross the meadow there
Shadows trip a light for us
Fantastic thoughtless true enough
Grown Through
With my head held down, it’s really very simple
To say no more
And though my soul sings aloud, I feel it has been drowned
In something more than this
My insides come undone, it’s true
That I’m more hopeless than I knew
So taken by surprise, that I can’t realize
My troubles are few
But that feels like a lie, grown through
The roots holding me to you
I sold my virtue in Tennessee, and the judge came down on me
And I said no more
My youth goes like fading faces, that leaves my memory
As time passes on
Because my failures come in threes, you see, it’s true
That I’m more hopeless than I knew
Try to right
The wrongs in sight
Change my night
From darkness to light
Nowhere
The lakefront cracks and falls
The frost of the morning calls
In whispers it cools me, cools me, cools me
Always seems to be leaving
Wily, feral, deceiving
I’ve been told that it holds and holds and holds
The warmer I get to you
The colder becomes the view
It seems so high, so high, so high
But then you keep calling me back
You lift in me what I lack
The water surrounds, surrounds, surrounds me
Do you want to go somewhere?
I’ve been thinking about nowhere
You know it stretches for miles and miles and miles
Drops of Saturday’s sunshine
Took me up to the red line
Said I couldn’t pass, no no, no no, no no
Then your hand on my shoulder
I felt a little bit bolder
The lines they waned and waned and waned
You cradled my hand, then
In the right direction
And together we bounded, on and on
Take me uptown to the lights and dancing
I just got back and I want romancing
Drink a little light on a Saturday night
And you won’t need a wake up call next morning
Egypt
Once in Cairo, as a matter of turf
The Get Back Kids put a man in the Earth
Took him down there, to the Dug Hill Road,
And laid him down to die there in the cold
I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so hard, don’t ever let me go
See I met the man once, not much bigger than a boy
And he told me of the time he was buried alive in southern Illinois
I said, ‘Please, help me,
I’ve spent seventeen days underground
Then I came around, and I got free’
He said, ‘I survived there, never being found,
On the will to see it through, where I’m bound
‘Everyday I grew weaker, and weaker still,
And day by day my fear grew into will
‘I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so good, I’ll never let you go
‘A week’s ration of water, all they gave me to employ,
But for that, I’d still be buried down in Illinois
He said, ‘It was hot, there, never being found,
Screaming all you can, never making a sound
‘Black as black there, swallows up your mind,
Into a darkness so deep, you’ll never find
‘I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so bad, that it never lets me go
‘See I’m trying to live now, though not bigger than a boy
To undo the damage done in southern Illinois’
Shine
Come away
Western eyes
In your dreams
You realize
We’re all swimming
In a darkened bin
Concentrically
Endlessly
Wake me up
Drop a line
Tell me now
You’re doing fine
Because I can’t forget
The day we met
The lines we drew
Encased in blue
The wind in the grass and the salt in the ocean
Sang a merry refrain
They held each other in the arms of their mother
As the bells of summertime rang
The golden sun took and carried the light
Over to the town
The salty breezes and laughter of the children
Together made this sound:
Shine on me!
Shine on!
So I’ll wait
In my head
See a road
To a where it’s led
Hit me now
In my eyes
Sucker punch me
In my thighs
Passing pain
Through our veins
Lingers on
Somewhat strange
The Wanderer
The wanderer settled down
Drank from the river
Laid upon the ground
Dreamt of seven crooked figures
Staring into orange
Hand in hand
He said, “Save my body, save my life
Save my weathered soul tonight”
The wanderer walked along
The fallen leaves of autumn
The forest sang a song
Spirits wild and full of wonder
Bowed their heads in silence
Protectors in their land
They said, “Fear not then and fear not now
Fear what you never said aloud”
The wanderer came to a fire
Crackling in the twilight
Naked as he was
The thump thump thumping of his heartbeat
Pounded out the rhythm
And calmly he stepped forth
I said, “Take my body, take my life
Take my fears away tonight”
I’m all alone
Hands come crashing down on me
They loose the space beneath my feet
And if my body breaks, you’ll see
I’ve finally found where I must be
Wish
I look back, petals fell
On my own, mostly
Years are gone, dewy spring
Back to one, trust me
Tried to save, two for two
The lies I gave, I lost you
Try to give, the past away
Simple, not holy
Rose’s thorn, prick my skin
Settle down, poison
Tried to save, two for two
The lies I gave, I lost you
Just hold on my darling
I can see you falling
Rustled sheets, skin on skin
Sultry eyes, calming
Twisted tongue, second guess
Comfort from belonging
Carry me, back to sleep
Take me there, I beg you
Wake up my head, my head is still pounding
Wake up my head, my head
The sun!
