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Burn the Tapes

by Norma MacDonald

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1.
Company 03:06
No I won’t cry, you know it’s not like me Pull up a chair, pour me another drink At the edge of the water, at the edge of the world Thought I’d always be your small town city girl But time gets rolling, and what will be will be But I sure do miss your company We dangled our legs over the edge A silent, secret, sacred life long pledge At these dizzy moments, at these dizzy heights Every pack was empty come daylight But time gets rolling, and what will be will be But I sure do miss your company We’ll pretend it’s end of summer blues We’ll be alright and I’ll see you soon
2.
I’m never lost for something to say I’m bold as a gull and blue as a jay A sky that turns from sun to gray I’m bold as a gull and blue as a jay And oh, can I take you home Can I stay with you til the morning And why oh why does this feeling die And these lonesome blue some a-callin’ Well darling I’m not made of stone Spent too many cold nights alone I’m over before I begin A soft heart with hard feelings And oh, can I take you home Can I stay with you til the morning And why oh why does this feeling die And these lonesome blue some a-callin’
3.
Strangers on a train to a town you never knew Watching for the greenest oceans of the fields And you want to take it all and try to pin it down And you want to sing the notes that ring without a sound But you can’t carry it around Talking in a voice like an old cathedral bell Waiting for a chance to pour your heart not made of stone And you want to wear it like a jewel in your crown And you want to shout from mountains all you’ve lost is found But you can’t carry it around Dreaming on a plane over water black as night Someday you’ll paint portraits of castles in the dirt But you won’t let this moment kick you when you’re down ‘Cause you’ve loosened the chains an inch that held you bound And you can’t carry it around
4.
Old Song 04:16
Heaven knows I’d take the blame for you For every lonesome streetlight you shot out Nothing’s really been the same for you Since you put your faith in someone who walked out But there’s something I been trying to say Please don’t take it the wrong way It’s an old song you’ve been playing too long So why not try to lead with something new It’s an old song you’ve been playing too long It’s time you put to bed That tunes been in your head And wake up easy singing something new Heaven knows your kind of circumstance Keeps kicking at your heart night after night But my darling I think it’s time we danced To something a little more upbeat tonight I’m not saying you should burn the tapes I’m just saying let’s see what difference that it makes It’s an old song you’ve been playing too long So why not try to lead with something new It’s an old song you’ve been playing too long It’s time you put to bed That tunes been in your head And wake up easy singing something new
5.
It could take a while til the night grows dark And we stumble on the remnants of what’s really on our minds All the hand-me-downs, the spirits and their callings So let’s just wait a while before we say goodnight The midnight sky still glows and theirs words in the distance And things that can’t be said against the hours of the day But you and I both know there’s no sense in arriving So let’s just wait a while before we say goodnight Like some bandit lost in darkness seeking shelter at your door, From the shipwrecks and the sailors, from the dockyards in the morning The lonely and the bored and the sufferers of wonder You can watch them come and go like specks across the sky But you and I are here and nothing’s really lasting So let’s just wait a while before we say goodnight The boot heels on the road upon the snow that’s falling I could slip away to where the dead and I belong But there’s still a song to write and I’d rather not be walking So let’s just wait a while before we say goodnight
6.
Daysleeper 02:52
I've become a daysleeper, a cracked and rusted gatekeeper And you've become a hedge better, a worn and faded old sweater Baby I’m sorry I didn't mean to let it go Baby I’m sorry, oh I still love you so I was once a head turner, a ready spark a barn burner You were my first and last chancer, a steady hand, a slow dancer Baby I’m sorry I didn’t mean to let it go Baby I’m sorry, oh I still love you so Baby I’m sorry that this room has grown so cold Baby I’m sorry, oh I still love you so Time’s an indelicate machine, can make you hard can make you mean Can bury your love in the ground, but it can bring it back around Baby I’m sorry I didn’t mean to let it go Baby I’m sorry, oh I still love you so Baby I’m sorry I spun my tracks down in the road Baby I’m sorry, oh I still love you so I've become a daysleeper, a cracked and rusted gatekeeper But time has helped me see better, that you’re my favourite old sweater.
7.
My heart is heavy like old books in a trunk That I read back in high school While my friends got drunk Been dragging behind me since I was a kid I should’ve left some behind me Oh but I never did My heart is aching like that tooth I lost After that misunderstanding In the church parking lot Oh how I pushed it, how I worked it loose But some things they hold rooted Sometimes there’s no use Are you too late to lighten my load I got stones in my pockets From these holes in the road Shoulder this weight and settle my mind Nothing good ever comes easy But I know you tried My heart is lonely like a child in the woods Surviving on kindness from wild animals Scared of the daylight, still so free in the night My heart is just hoping you’ll make it alright Are you too late to lighten my load I got stones in my pockets From these holes in the road Shoulder this weight and settle my mind Nothing good ever comes easy But I know you tried
8.
I’ve been saving pennies for some time Waiting my turn, standing in line I worked so hard I thought I’d go insane Then you came along and said my name Maybe you’re lost Maybe you’re found maybe you pulled your own roots right out of the ground Maybe you’re right Maybe it’s best To live your life just showing up like you’re some accidental guest Nothing comes from nothing so we’re told But if it’s nothing you want, the I guess you’re gold Closed your eyes and jumped out of the boat Why sink or swim when you can float Maybe you’re lost Maybe you’re found maybe you pulled your own roots right out of the ground Maybe you’re right Maybe it’s best To live your life just showing up like you’re some accidental guest
9.
To Nebraska 04:00
All the things I swear I would've asked ya But instead I kept it all inside Down the basement listening to Nebraska As the winter ‘round us slowly died It made you feel alright, it made you feel better It made you feel someday instead of never It made you feel nothing ever goes too far As you lie there looking at the stars The cold wind’s blowing, my heart’s on fire Pay attention to the signs of warning That’s what they told me from the start Everything looks clearer in the morning As the cold hard light fills up the dark It made you feel alright, it made you feel better It made you feel someday instead of never It made you feel nothing ever goes too far As you lie there looking at the stars The cold wind’s blowing, my heart’s on fire Quietly the pieces come together Though I know I’m still missing a few All these subtle changes in the weather Make me wonder if you ever knew It made you feel alright, it made you feel better It made you feel someday instead of never It made you feel nothing ever goes too far And now I don’t know where you are The cold wind’s blowing, my heart’s on fire
10.
I’m going back somehow Through the forests where I used to hide Where the grasses they have grown so high They can’t see how fast we’re running I’m saving up my words To use as currency against the wind When it tries to blow us back again You know it always tries to blow us back Back in the day we used to say You can’t stand still if it’s not in your bones And we were right And chased the lights But I never thought it’s be so hard to get back home I know I’ve been somewhere Places that I never dreamed I’d go Silent rivers never seen the snow But we never were the wiser And now the years take hold And I need you to remind me To erase or to define me Take me to that lonesome hillside by the sea Back in the day we used to say You can’t stand still if it’s not in your bones And we were right And chased the lights But I never thought it’s be so hard to get back home And you defended this ideal While I raged against the setting of the sun Now that I finally know how it feels Take the bullets from your gun and say that I’m the only one

credits

released June 8, 2015

Musicians:

Norma MacDonald- acoustic guitar, electric guitar on 5, vocals
Adam Fine- electric and upright bass
Benn Ross- drums, percussion
Phil Sedore- cello on 3&9, lap steel on 7, accordion on 10, bg vocals on 4&8
Dale Murray- pedal steel on 1&9, electric guitar on 4&7, acoustic guitar on 8
Matt Myer- piano on 3&7, organ and trumpet on 5
Dan MacCormack- banjo on 2&4, mandolin on 10
Charles Austin- electric guitar on 4&8
Erin Costelo- accordion on 8
Andrew Sneddon- dobro on 6
Gabe Minnikin- duet vocals on 7, bg vocals on 2&4
Kim Harris- bg vocals on 1,2,3,4&9
Gabrielle Papillon- bg vocals on 1,3&9
Carmel Mikol- bg vocals on 2&4

Produced by Norma MacDonald

Engineered by Phil Sedore at Mountian Road Studio, Upper Musquodoboit, NS
Additional recording by Charles Austin, The Echo Chamber, Halifax, NS

Mixed and mastered by Phil Sedore

Photos and graphic design by Corey Isenor

All songs by Norma MacDonald (SOCAN 2015) *except 5- words by Ronok Sarkar, music by Norma MacDonald

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Norma MacDonald Halifax, Nova Scotia

The opening chords of In Waves set the record spinning in January, but the mood is wholly autumnal: lush, then resolute. A harvest and a hope.

On her sixth album, Norma MacDonald explores new songwriting tactics, reimagines old demos, and conducts sound experimentations that expand her folk and country influences into 60s pop, Motown harmonies, and jangly early millennium indie-rock.
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