1. |
All The Things
04:14
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I went back there today
Past the fields and the orchards where we once lay
To that place by the sea
To try to bring back all the things she said to me
She said, “these are the days you’ve got to hold on to
No matter how few or how far between
And I want you to remember me
As the person I wanted to be…”
Oh and how far have we gone to get here
Oh and how far can you see from this place
You were always the one who could bring
Some kind of truth to your feeling that everything counts for something
This is what she gave me
All the things she gave me
As the light fades I turn from the sea
And lift my eyes to that stone on the hill where she’ll always be
Still she whispers when I turn to go,
“There’s so much I still want you to know…”
She said, “all that you’ll have is your heart,
On the days when the world almost tears you apart
Please say that you will promise me
You’ll make your life everything you want it to be…”
Oh and how far away have you gone
Oh and how far can you see from that place
You were always the one who believed
That anyone who thinks they can’t determine their life is deceived
This is what she gave me
All the things she gave me.
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2. |
Seventeen
04:02
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We go out
Just to drive around in the night
And there’s nowhere else we’d rather be
And we talk so loud
In the back seats of our cars
With the windows down, and the radio
Late April afternoon, the bell rings at 2:49
We’re staring through the open windows at the spring sky
Nothing else inside this moment but the here and now
And we believe that we can be forever young somehow
Pushing through the double doors into the parking lot
The latest gossip is the only interest we’ve got
Who did what with who?...And when and where and how and why?
And if it’s all about you, just never let them see you cry
We run so fast
With all our best friends
It always seems
The night never ends
In frozen time
This burning fire
A light inside
That takes us higher
And so we drive
With no desire to look beyond
The headlights on the road
And we’ll never be old
We stop listening when they tell us
Everything is changing soon.
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3. |
Cold Front
03:04
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You say you want to move to this town
‘Cause of the pretty things you’ve been told
And I hate to go and bring you down
But it’s been known to get a little bit cold.
You better build yourself up inside
And remember who you were before
‘Cause no matter how you try and hide
The chill finds its way beneath your door.
You’ll feel it more every year
You’re not from around here
And who you are is somehow all wrong
They’ll make sure you know you don’t belong.
You say you want to move to this town
‘Cause of the pretty things you’ve been told.
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4. |
Down To The Ocean
02:53
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We walk down to the edge
Of the dark restless ocean
We lie still in the sand
Watch the waves come undone
See the sun falling fast
Into the dark blue horizon
Onshore breeze cools the beach
Something still just out of reach
You said “take my hand, come with me to the water
All we had, came from the sea
Lie with me beside the waves ‘til we go under
I still think of you and me…”
We walk down to the edge
Of the deep endless ocean
From the forests, through the valleys
Across the fields to the shore
Hear the tide racing in
Feel these waves deep inside
Sky of stars, sea of grace
We feel the ocean everyplace
You said “take me down this road back to the water
All we had, came from the sea
Run with me into the waves ‘til we go under
I still think of you and me…”
We go down to the ocean
Only footprints will remain
We went back to the ocean
Time and time again.
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5. |
Change Of Season
04:53
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Seasons change with whispered sounds
Golden afternoons of leaves coming down
On the quiet streets of our hometown
Autumn skies have clearer blues
Every evening fades in woodsmoke hues
With shades of the simple days we knew
Making sense of our lives
Seemed easier beneath those prairie harvest skies
Every Fall leads us here
Starting all over again in the real New Year
This cold air opens my eyes
In the wake of another hot summertime
And at all once I recall
I've always come back to life in the Fall
Autumn takes us back twelve years
To a time of endless new frontiers
Before our hopes gave way to our fears
But the winter came too fast
Suddenly our present became our past
Those golden autumn days couldn't last
Making sense of our lives
Feels easier beneath October harvest skies
Every Fall leads us here
Starting all over again in the real New Year
This cold air opens my eyes
In the wake of another hot summertime
And all at once I recall
I've always come back to life in the Fall
This cold air opens our eyes
In the wake of another hot summertime
We'll be okay after all
When we come back to life in the Fall
And the seasons change so fast
All at once your present becomes your past
Those golden autumn days never last.
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6. |
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This winding road that I drive
Only reveals what’s right in front of me
It’s this shifting view that makes me feel alive
And the forever-changing scenery
We all suffer sometimes but it will be okay
‘Cause there are miles beyond what we can see from here
And there’s a place in the trees just down the way
Where the road is about to disappear
Move on without your fears
Into the coming years
‘Cause nothing interferes
Where the road disappears
Where the road disappears
This journey is long, it’s true
When the highway turns into a straightaway
But in the mountains ahead it’s always something new
And you won’t think of tomorrow or yesterday
‘Cause you’ll be shifting gears
And nothing interferes
Every last distraction clears
Where the road disappears
Where the road disappears
Where the road disappears.
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7. |
Fireflies
03:43
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I’m waiting for the night
To bring you back to me
I know I’ll be all right
You’re everything I need
I’ve been looking for your face
Everywhere I go
Only you can fill this space
You’re the truest thing I know
So I’ll keep on waiting here
And watch the stars appear
‘Cause only in the darkness you come to me
But are you real
Or is it just a deal
We’ve made with fate
Fireflies and moonlit pines
The lake sublime and still
If I could I’d bring you here
Solely by my will
So I’ll just keep on waiting here
Watching the hours disappear
‘Cause somewhere in the darkness you’ll come to me
But are you real
Or is it just a deal
We’ve made with fate
And then I see you
Emerging from the dark
And you’re running for me
And the fire shows through my heart
The sky is breaking
With the lightning overhead
We’ve been alone for so long
Let’s live the dream instead
I’m waiting for the night
To bring you back to me
I know I’ll be all right
You’re everything I need…
You’re everything I need.
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8. |
Storm Warning
03:38
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On a night like this
Back in your hometown
On your father’s front steps
With trees all around
Could have sworn when I came
Other people were here
Now it’s just you and me
And the walls disappear.
It gets hard to believe
In the world where I live
When everywhere that I go
Real people are so elusive
But if you say what you mean
And you mean what you say
You could make me forget
About yesterday.
But somehow I never learn
From the red morning skies
Always turning to black
Inside ever-hardening eyes
All your eloquent words
So quickly faded away
With no attempt to explain
And all I have left
Is yesterday.
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9. |
TransCanada
03:24
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She came from Tofino on the West Coast of the land
Vancouver Island
And he came from the furthest windy city in the East
St. John’s Newfoundland
They met right in the middle
At somebody’s wedding
They don’t even remember who it was
She was a legendary surfer on the waves
Of the wild Pacific
And he was a fisherman who’d learned his father’s trade
On the rough Atlantic
They met in Manitoba
At somebody’s wedding
They won’t ever remember who it was
It was love at first sight
But they both missed their oceans dearly
They knew this one night would be all there was
Next day she said “think of me when you’re out on the sea,
And I’ll think of you…”
And he said “guess we’ll always keep the Prairies in our hearts”
Boy was he right…
Cause when they flew away
In opposite directions
They knew their love was all they’d ever need
So when they got back home
They set out on the highway
That would lead back to where it all began…
TransCanada
Stretching out beneath the northern skies
From coast to coast
Through misty forests and wide open spaces
Across the great heartland tonight
She drove through the Rocky Mountain passes to the plains:
Big skies and wheat fields
And he drove clear across Quebec and straight through Thunder Bay:
Great Lakes country
They met back in the middle
And they had a wedding
This time they will remember whose it was
There they settled
Two thousand miles away from either ocean…
Sometimes we sacrifice these things for love.
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10. |
Low Tide
03:35
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Starfish comes in on a full moon tide
Riding high, feeling fine, like summertime
Thinking that his life’s been how it should be
For a while
Suddenly the sea recedes into the dark
Leaving the starfish high and dry
Left to wonder how things fell apart,
How to stay alive,
And cling to hope somehow…
Nowhere to go but up
Nowhere to go but up
Got nowhere left to go but up,
Says the tide.
This is the lowest I have ever felt
The starfish thinks, and cries
I’m all alone here in this empty place
I don’t belong…
So much unrealized inside me
I could be so much more than this
Just need one wave to come and set me free
With the rush
Of hope replacing fear
Nothing to do but rise
Nothing to do but rise
Got nothing left to do but rise,
Says the tide.
The starfish thinks of how it used to be
When every current went his way
Never imagined ending up like this:
Giving up
But as the light returns across the sky
There’s a tiny change too small to see
Scared to believe it, but he can’t deny
This sound he knows
The tide is racing in…
Nothing to do but rise
Nothing to do but rise
Got nothing left to do but rise,
Says the tide.
Nowhere to go but up
Nowhere to go but up
Got nowhere left to go but up,
Says the tide.
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11. |
Last Call
04:34
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I remember wishing
Those nights would never end
And I remember feeling
I’d never have such friends again
I remember knowing
Nothing gold can stay
Without really realizing
There’d come a time when I’d be looking back this way.
I remember laughing
In all our favorite bars downtown
And I remember talking
To all the pretty girls we found
I remember drinking
Yeah, sometimes all night long
And I remember thinking
When it feels right, it can never be wrong.
We’ll say goodbye
We’ll say goodnight
Just for a while,
When the lights come up.
So we all departed
Thinking somehow it all could last
But we all committed
To all the Other Things so fast
And our lives got started
And we were all too busy then
One day we’d have more time to stay connected…
We’re still wondering when.
The crowd thins out
The band is done
Last Call comes so fast…
We said goodbye
We said goodnight
It’s been a while
Since the lights came up.
I remember believing
Those days would never end.
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James Parr Seattle, Washington
James Parr has been writing, recording, & performing music all his life.
Drawing
inspiration from the natural world, James writes about loss, nostalgia, beginnings & endings, and the winding path of life. With an acoustic foundation, the songs are layered with texture, ambience and atmosphere.
James also performs covers to suit all audiences and settings, across multiple genres and decades.
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