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For A Song

by Mark Erelli

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Only 300 copies available, folks. Once they're gone, they're gone! The record has one less song than the CD ("End Of The Day" is not on the vinyl edition). However, each LP comes with a download code that includes "End Of The Day."

    Includes unlimited streaming of For A Song via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 26 Mark Erelli releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lay Your Darkness Down, The Man I Am, You're Gonna Wanna Remember This, Jackpot, A Celebration of Leonard Cohen, Not Quite Christmas, Blindsided - Acoustic Selections, The Gig At The End Of The World, and 18 more. , and , .

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1.
Oklahoma 02:59
I am just a Yankee boy Born and bred in Boston Where there ain’t no wide open spaces to get lost in But out here that’s all there is And when the wind gets blowin’ It makes a certain sound, almost like the ocean There’s a new moon, and the latest country tunes Droning on the radio (Chorus) Oklahoma, Oklahoma I’m so far away from home And I’m feeling low and lonesome tonight As the wind howls in from across the great divide I know I’m only standing On a giant’s shoulders I ain’t getting no younger and this world keeps getting colder Sometimes I feel I’m barely on my way to where I’m bound Sometimes I wish I could lay this hammer down Hellfire and brimstone There’s some preacher droning on the radio (Chorus 2x) ------------------------ Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass, pump organ Deni Hlavinka – vocals
2.
For A Song 04:57
Weathered stones I fished out from some rushing mountain stream Yellowed books, with dog-eared pages Wildflowers pressed between Postcards from every place I laid me down to sleep Little souvenirs to remind you of me (Chorus) Oh the road is not your friend It’s just a means to an end How I wish I could take you along But I take it all on faith You’ll understand someday Why I did all I did while I was gone For a song I catch a glimpse A glint off something shining somewhere in the great unknown Like a beast I chase it over hills and mountains, valleys, rivers, til it’s cornered on a scrap of paper on a bedside table in some cheap motel where the highway drones Sometimes it feels like church, sometimes like I’m the last man on earth Just a voice howling out into the darkness Oh the road is not your friend It’s just a means to an end I’ll be home late, don’t wait up, just leave a light on But I take it all on faith You’ll understand someday Why I did all I did while I was gone For a song (Chorus) --------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic & baritone electric guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – piano, organ
3.
He used to putter around in his barn all day A tool for each job and each tool in its place Whistling along to a song on the radio While he poked through a Mason jar full of nuts and bolts Lawnmowers and vacuums, windows with the glass all cracked TV screens gone blank as cataracts He’d take ‘em all apart when he got ‘em up on his bench One by one, he’d bring ‘em back to life again (Chorus) He’s the fix-it man, he’s the fix-it man He can’t put it back together then it was never worth a damn Maybe he’s crazy for trying to save what’s already gone Or just an analog hero in a world full of zeroes and ones He used to have a wife but she passed a couple years ago Someone thought he had a daughter out in New Mexico Grew up in the Depression, it’s a lesson that he’ll never forget There’s nothing so broken ain’t life left in it yet (Chorus) Now your phone’s made in China And your car is made in Japan Child labor sewing clothes in Malaysia and Vietnam Hell it ain’t even broken and we’re going for the upgrade Nobody thinks twice ‘bout what we’re really throwing away (Chorus) It’s out with the old, in with the new It’s out with the old, in with the new Out with the old In with the new It’s just out with the old, in with the new ----------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Deni Hlavinka – vocals Sam Kassirer – organ, Wurlitzer Charlie Rose – pedal steel
4.
Wayside 02:54
Romeos and Cassanovas Lotharios with eyes that smolder They all left you with nothing but a cloud of smoke Now here I stand just a simple man With a ten buck supermarket bouquet in my hand I see you laughing but honey I ain’t no joke (Chorus) I wanna walk all the way with you I wanna prove my love is true All the others who tried fell by the wayside I wanna walk all the way Walk all the way with you With bruised hearts and spooked horses It’s best to tread lightly as a matter of course ‘Lest they slip the reins, jump the fences and bolt for the hills I’m nothing if not persistent, I’m stubborn but I’m kind And you can’t tell me anything if I’ve made up my mind So if you run I’m gonna chase you, honey you know I will (Chorus) From the chemical rush of a brand new love Straight through the valley of the shadow with nothing but a rind of moon above ‘Til mankind’s common kingdoms have all crumbled back to dust ‘Til ashes or even less is all that’s left of us (Chorus) ------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic & electric guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – organ
5.
Look Up 04:39
All day long they shuffle through Sneakers, sandals, high heel shoes Scraps of paper, wads of gum My work here is never done They exit now in single file I sweep the floors and scrub the tiles Til dying echoes quiet the room And leave me leaning on my broom Above me now the fall of man But it all depends on where you stand Is He letting go or reaching out for Adam’s hand (Chorus) Look up, look up There are angels flying low enough to see Look up, oh look up Four long years I’ve bent my back Painting every plaster crack The hand of God and Adam’s sin Rain down in brush drops thick and thin I ache with shame and head for home Through the darkened streets of Rome The night girls calling out to me And drunkards praying on their knees Above me now the canopy The stars in all their majesty Remind me of the master I will never be (Chorus) High above the blessed and cursed Like ants they scurry on the Earth Debauchery and daily chores Always hungry, wanting more I’ve sent them plague and flood and fire Tried so hard to stay inspired And somehow solve the mystery Of what they ever saw in me If I could only kneel before The man who sweeps the chapel floor Show him he’s as holy as the angels Maybe more (Chorus) ------------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, nylon string guitar Paula Cole – vocals Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Charlie Rose – pedal steel
6.
Trees grow tall Leaves fall Flowers wither and die The music stops The curtains drop The river rolls on by The monarchs go To Mexico How do they know the way Each question leads To more mysteries At the end of the day Thunder booms Clouds hide the moon No sign of heaven’s blue dome It’s just as dark And raining just as hard When I wake up far from home A lonesome serenade Whining down the grade Reminds me I can never stay Another trial, another test Miles before I rest At the end of the day I’ve left a wake of broken hearts I don’t even know where to start I’m lost in the forest of regrets Following the crumbs Trying to undo all I’ve done Somehow I can’t retrace my steps Naked as a bone Don’t leave me here all alone With this hollow heart of clay Ain’t everyone devout When the sand is running out At the end of the day Campfire towns Smouldering on the ground With their embers all aglow You’re somewhere down there I guess The moonlight on your breast Blue as the newfallen snow I do what I do You do too That’s just the price that we pay Stronger for our scars And wiser by far At the end of the day -------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – Wurlitzer Charlie Rose – pedal steel
7.
Hourglass 02:34
When I was a boy I dreamt I’d be an astronaut or President Tie a blanket ‘round my neck and then pretend I could fly up to the moon and back again I’ve been a seeker, I’ve been a scientist None of that prepared me for this There’s no secret, ain’t no master plan I only wanna be your man Oh lover, there were others before you Each one tried to teach me something new But it never took and hearts broke every time Truth be told usually just mine Some men wanna make their mark on all mankind Me I only wanna change your mind I can see you have your doubts but I know I can I only wanna be your man I only wanna be your man If you’re the ocean just let me be the wave If you’re the gambler let me your ace of spades If you’re the hourglass, make me a grain of sand Falling head over heels again and again I only wanna be your man I only wanna be your man --------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, nylon string guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, glockenspiel Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – vibraphone
8.
Netherlands 04:55
Worn down brick and cobblestone Laid out in herringbone in the square Old man sitting on a milk crate Playing squeezebox for spare change People pass by like he’s not there Oh but all his Old World waltzes seem to be In a minor key To a haunted man lost in the Netherlands Sidewalk bar on a Sunday night Watching girls in skirts on bikes come and go Here’s a round for the one with the jonquil hair And another for the things I might have dared when I was younger If I’d only known Oh tonight it seems like every memory Is in a minor key To a haunted man lost in the Netherlands From a stained glass window pane Of an old church black with acid rain comes a light Candles flicker at the Virgin’s feet And I want so badly to believe that someone Has got my back tonight Oh but all my prayers they fall so hollowly No one answers me And I’m gone again Lost in the Netherlands -------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – piano, organ Charlie Rose – pedal steel
9.
Magic 03:15
Now it’s another new bank And you’d never know to look But over there is where I used to buy my comic books I’d read ‘em ‘neath the covers til the flashlight batteries died Then I dreamed I was a hero With the strength of 20 men I’d battle my arch enemies til the sun come up again On an ordinary mortal, anything but cool Pretending he could fly as he rode his bike to school Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now I don’t remember growing up It just kind of happened Somehow it all worked out but not like I imagined Most days I never notice but sometimes it keeps me up all night I can’t go back to the garden Now I know that it’s done With computer and green screens, zeroes and ones But somewhere in the cellar I’ve got those comics in a box I always meant to sell ‘em, I guess I just forgot Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now Looking for the magic (2x) And a reason to believe somehow He was bored with his dinosaurs All his blocks and balls I was just trying to keep him from climbing the walls I brought the box up from the basement and spread them all out on the floor He was too young to read so he looked at the pictures His smile grew wide and his eyes got bigger And I know mine did the same as I lifted him up high With a blanket ‘round his neck pretending he could fly Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now Looking for the magic (2x) Looking for the magic now Looking for the magic (2x) And I feel it coming back around -------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, 6 & 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Sam Kassirer – organ, Wurlitzer Charlie Rose – banjo
10.
I’m drunk, and I’m drowsy And I would go to sleep But for breaking this circle of the company I keep So let me lean on your shoulder You can lean against mine While we wait for the bottle to come round one more time My mind is a-buzzing Like the june bugs at the window My heart’s all a-flutter, like the moths round the flame My soul is half crazy Like the loons on the water Can’t you hear ‘em, don’t it sound like they’re calling our name (Chorus) So won’t you fill up the night With your fiddle and bow With your mandolin trills and that silver banjo One more last tune before I say goodnight Won’t you make it a moonlit lullaby Won’t you make it a moonlit lullaby There’s a sliver of silver Going down in the pines And the first blush of morning ain’t too far behind Oh I’m leaving tomorrow But I won’t shed no tears I know just where I’ll find you this time next year (Chorus) Won’t you make it Moonlit ---------------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass Deni Hlavinka – vocals Sam Kassirer – piano Charlie Rose – pedal steel The Moonlit Choir: Deni Hlavinka, Charlie Rose, Polly Mathewson & Mark Erelli
11.
French King 05:11
Driving home on the Mohawk Trail last night My thoughts aimless as the dry leaves in my headlights When I saw a state trooper running out onto the French King Bridge Flashlight sweeping the darkness over the edge On a fair day you can see the Green Mountains turn blue Standing on the French King watching the river roll through But on a moonless night the black wind howls and moans And the river moves like a serpent a hundred feet below (Chorus) Roll on river Restless for the sea Take this valley wash it clean Who can say where a soul will find peace Who will keep the river from the sea I thought of a shepherd, his flock bedded down for the night And the eyes of the wolves, moving just beyond the fire light And my own little child asleep in his bed As I drove on into the darkness up ahead (Chorus) ------------------- Mark Erelli – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica Paula Cole – vocals Marco Giovino – drums, percussion Zachariah Hickman – upright bass, arco bass Sam Kassirer – piano Charlie Rose – pedal steel

credits

released April 8, 2016

Mark Erelli – vocals, 6 & 12-string acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, electric & baritone electric guitar, harmonica, glockenspiel

With
Paula Cole – vocals (5,11)
Marco Giovino – drums, percussion
Zachariah Hickman – upright bass, arco bass (11), pump organ
Deni Hlavinka – vocals (1,3,10)
Sam Kassirer – piano, organ, Wurlitzer, vibraphone
Charlie Rose – banjo, pedal steel

The Moonlit Choir: Deni Hlavinka, Charlie Rose, Polly Mathewson & Mark Erelli

All songs written by Mark Erelli ©2016 Hillbilly Pilgrim Music (ASCAP), except:
Look Up – written by Mark Erelli & Dinty Child (Mermine Music/SESAC)
French King – written by Mark Erelli & Jeffrey Foucault (Blueblade Music/ASCAP) admin. By Domino Music Publishing USA (ASCAP)

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Mark Erelli Boston, Massachusetts

"You know those artists who release a great first record and then have enormous trouble following it up with anything as interesting? Yeah, that’s not Mark Erelli." -Red Line Roots

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