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The Memorial Hall Recordings

by Mark Erelli

/
1.
There are seven sisters weeping Down by the old oxbow As the coffee colored river Swells with melting snow Soon a bittersweet new season Will turn the gray to green again And I'll have to find a way To say goodbye to you, my friend (Chorus) I'm gonna miss you this I know Though I'll be just another memory when I go Will you forgive me all my sins And gather me back in Like the prodigal son no more to roam Will you let me once again call you home The sky is open like a chalice All along the river road Where the patchwork field tobacco barns Shiver in the cold I could drink it in for hours And never take my fill I tell myself that I'll forget But I know I never will (Chorus) The wild birds take their passage Across the vernal sky Like an arrow loosed from God's own bow So swift and true they fly Lord, draw me from your quiver Take away my tears Shoot me o'er the seven sisters Somewhere far away from here
2.
I've been called every bad thing, some I can't name By judges and lawyers and folks I never met But my mother she called me Walker Jermaine She said go out boy and make your own way So I tried making boxes out in Nashua Yeah I tried laying traps up in Bar Harbor bay But none of it held me and I got way Yeah I got away good, just as gone as I could (Chorus) Every shuteye ain't sleep I know it's so Restless I ride in the linen Every goodbye ain't gone I know it's true I'm counting out days, leaving only a few I know it's not right to take what's not mine I'm sure it's not right, I know stealing's a crimeBut I know what it's like to see a life going down Like gravel in a grave, one grain at a time (Chorus) Well I been here so long I got stones for old friends And I tell 'em my secrets and that's where it ends The woman who named me, she's in the ground But her Walker Jermaine just cannot be found
3.
Darlin' when we me you said I was the one So I never thought the knot we tied would come undone But lately you've been acting kind of strange What's changed What's changed Not so long ago you couldn't get enough I've still got all of those bad habits that you used to love As far as I can tell I'm still the same What's changed What's changed You're getting over me Far too easily We had a love so strong But when I look into your eyes I see that you're already gone I've spent my whole life falling in and out of love And I swore this time I wasn't gonna fuck it up If there's a reason why you're leaving please explain What's changed What's changed Darlin' if you're really gonna say goodbye And there ain't nothing I can do or say to change your mind Just one piece of information in exchange What's changed What's changed What's changed What's changed
4.
Take what you want, see to it You dust all your memories away Cause I can't find the strength to do it Can't remember what should go or what should stay (Chorus) But it's a fine time of year to do it And it's a fine time of year to let me know Well it's a fine time of year To watch you disappear It's a fine time of year to let me go Well you got a way with unmarked boxes There's something there that you could call your own I can't find a pleasant way to put it So I'll just leave it in the closet and be gone (Chorus) Now there were times back in the day babe, we'd pull it all together Weather every storm that ever came our way Oh but now here you are, packing boxes and books and dishes All your wishes coming true for you today
5.
When the sun goes back And the first quail calls Follow the drinking gourd The old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd (Chorus) Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd The riverbed makes a mighty fine road Dead trees to show you the way And it's left foot, peg foot travelling on Follow the drinking gourd The river ends between two hills Follow the drinking gourd There's another river on the other side Follow the drinking gourd (Chorus) I thought I heard the angels say Follow the drinking gourd The stars in heaven gonna show you the way Follow the drinking gourd
6.
He was just a blue eyed Boston boy His voice was low with pain I'll do your bidding comrade mine If I ride back again But if you ride on and I should fall You'll do as much for me Mother at home is awaiting the news So write her tenderly She is waiting at home like a patient saint Her fond face pale with woe Her heart will be broken when I am dead I'll see her face no more Just then the order came to charge For a moment hand touched hand The answered "aye" and away they rode That brave and devoted band Straight way was the course to the top of the hill The rebels they shot with shot and shell Ploughed furrows of death through the toiling ranks And guarded them as the fell There soon came a horrible dying sound From the heights they could not gain And those that doom and death had spared Rose slowly back again But among the dead at the top of the hill Was the boy with the golden hair And the tall dark man that rode by his side Lay still beside him there There was no one to write to his blue eyed girl The words that her lover had said And mother at home is awaiting her son She'll only find he's dead While mother at home is awaiting her son She'll only find he's dead
7.
8.
Dear Magnolia, I lend you my ear Whisper your stories and secrets hidden here Of a South that rose, of a South that fell Your days of glory, your days of hell We'll weep together, praise to the Lord Raise up our voices and lay down our swords To the souls we've lost, to the souls we've found Though they never stop asking us Did you really have to take us down (Chorus) Heavy-headed blossoms Fragrant as they fall I have wandered through the door Of everything you stand for Heavy-headed blossoms Gracefully reveal That which I had always felt was missing Like the rolling dreams of a wagonless wheel Your sweet survival has given rise Unto your wisdom and yet you realize Though your arms are long, and your reach is wide Within your deepest scars There are some snakes still hiding So Dear Magnolia, I pledge my return To the hills between us on which fires still burn There we'll stand our ground 'til the moon above Comes shining through the smoke In the name of love
9.
Summer Night 03:48
You've traveled the river From end to end Never found a true love Anywhere you've been Never broke a heart That wouldn't mend On such a lovely summer night Hands in your pockets As the band begins Stand by the window A touch of locust in the wind This might be just one more town You'll say you've been in On such a lovely summer night You take your chances When you start to roam Waiting for slow dances Then you ask to walk her home And if she says, Please stay You'll say, I might On such a lovely summer night You hold her close, yeah Look her in the eye You make her laugh Then sing that one song to make her cry And maybe this is that one town Where there's no goodbye You take your chances When you start to roam Waiting for slow dances Then you ask to walk her home And if she says, Please stay You'll say, I might On such a lovely summer night On such a lovely summer night
10.
The devil's train is long and black It rides on rails of tears It's headed for destruction now With a drunken engineer Oh see the greatness of the crowd That waits beside the tracks They're leaving on that devil's train And never coming back (Chorus) Oh Lord please stop that devil's train Before it is too late And teach them how to bow their heads Before they seal their fate The devil's train will take you to A land of groans and pain You'll spend your days in sorrow if You ride that devil's train Oh listen to that whistle scream Like echoes from the blue The throttle's wide and spouting steam She's on her way to doom (Chorus) The devil's train is long and black It's beautiful to see It offers you temptation but It brings you misery So come and ride that glorious train Where happiness is free It's on its way to heaven now To spend eternity
11.
Ichabod 08:14
So fallen, so lost, the light withdrawn Which once he wore The glory from his gray hair gone Forevermore Revile him not, the Tempter hath A snare for all And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath Befit his fall Oh dumb be passion's stormy rage When he who might Have lighted up and led his age Falls back in night Scorn, would the angels laugh to mark A bright soul driven Fiend-goaded down the endless dark From hope and heaven Let not the land once proud of him Insult him now Nor brand with deeper shame his dim Dishonored brow But let its humbled sons instead From sea to lake A long lament, as for the dead In sadness make Of all we loved and honored Naught save power remains A fallen angel's pride of thought Still strong in chains All else is gone from those great eyes The soul has fled When faith is lost when honor dies The man is dead Then pay the reverence of old days To his dead fame Walk backward with averted gaze And hide the shame Credits:
12.
Little Torch 03:18
13.
Theresa 03:58
Down on this row there ain't much to do So I close my eyes and dream about you You and that guy I met once or twice That's alright honey I just hope he's treating you nice Things here ain't so bad, I've made some friends They make me laugh but I can't pretend When the night gets cold, and I get blue Honey I just wanna hold onto you (Chorus) Oh Theresa, Theresa my dear I stand accused and I'm guilty I fear We've lived our lives in a corner called Hell Now you're out there and I'm in this cell And if you can't be here by midnight If all of your connections fail Say a prayer for me, finger your rosary For I will have left this jail I will see the cell door open I will hear the tolling bells And if you can't be here by midnight Darling I'm wishing, I'm wishing you well Everyday I recall how I got to this place I woke up one night with a gun in my face I saw a badge, I saw blue That boy couldn't have been more than 22 I heard you scream, I grabbed his gun You broke free and he started to run Back of the head and it wasn't clean Meanest thing that I ever seen
14.
Goodbye 03:31
Darlin' it's the end for you and I We've both seen this coming for some time I could say I'm sorry But you'd not believe it You could say you'll change But honey I'd be dreaming To drag this on too long would be a crime There's hard words to be said and tears to cry The faster we begin The sooner we can end So help me find a way to say goodbye Parting's such sweet sorrow But there's always tomorrow Another chance that you'll get lucky Though the odds they're not so grand You'll find someone to love or even someone you can stand You and I we owe it to ourselves To put this sad affair back on the shelf Pull the shades down tightly And lock up as we leaveJust one more kiss goodbye Before we throw away the keys Darlin' lose that twinkle in your eye Take your hand remove it from my thigh 'Cause one more time will only lead to one more time and then Next thing you know we'll have to go through all of this again We already know how the story's gonna end So help me find a way to say goodbye

about

The Memorial Hall was built in 1884 to honor the men from Monson, Massachusetts who fought in the Civil War. Though it has its share of cobwebs and ghosts, its enduring natural acoustics breathe life into the barest whisper. As the Hall is composed of granite from the local quarry, so this album consists largely of tunes of New England origin. Songs can be polished to perfection in a conventional recording studio, but they may shine more perfectly than in real life. The goal of this album was simply to record life...cobwebs and all.

"(Captures) the feel of New England: the soggy, sullen days just before spring, the picture-perfect summer evenings and the chill of lonely autumn nights…an unforgettable portrait of the music, landscape and characters that define the Northeast. --The Hartford Courant

credits

released March 26, 2002

Produced by Lorne Entress

Mark Erelli - vocals, acoustic guitar
Sonny Barbato - accordion, Wurlitzer
Kevin Barry - acoustic guitar, 6 & 12-string electric guitar
Lorne Entress - drums, percussion, Celestaphone, reed organ, vocals
Jim Henry - mandolin, acoustic guitar & dobro
Jim Lamond - bass

With special guests:
Ben Demerath - vocals
Bruce MacKay - vocals

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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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