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Tracks and Soundclips:
01 To the Dogs or Whoever (MP3)
02 Mind's Eye
03 Right Moves
04 The Temptation of Adam
05 Open Doors
06 Rumors
07 Edge of the World
08 Wait for Love
09 Real Long Distance
10 Next to the Last Romantic
11 Moons
12 Still Beating
13 Empty Hearts
14 Wait for Love (you know you will)
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The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
(2007 - Sony USA / Independent Ireland / V2 Europe)
Produced by Sam Kassirer. Recorded at The Great North Sound Society.
All tracks engineered by Brandon Eggelston except for Edge of the World, Wait for Love, and Moons engineered by Sam. Still Beating and Adam engineered by Brandon and Sam. Additional recording by Kris Smith at Q Division.
Mixed by Jacquire King at the LBT, except Wait for Love and Adam which were mixed by Sam, Brandon, and Jacquire; and Edge of the World, which was mixed by Sam and Jacquire.
Mastered by Jeff Lipton and Jessica Thompson at Peerless.
Performed by:
Zack Hickman double bass, electric bass, acoustic and electric guitar, baritone guitar, trombone, lap steel, background vocals
Liam Hurley drums and percussion
Sam Kassirer electric and acoustic pianos, organs, guitar, vibraphone, percussion
Josh Ritter vocals and guitars
With the Great North Sound Society Orchestra:
Tony Barba tenor sax, clarinet
Ariane Barbanell exclamations
Matt Douglas alto sax, baritone sax, bass clarinet, background vocals
Bill Fagley talking, vocals
Kirk Knuffke trumpet, flugelhorn
Joelle Lurie opera
Doug Rice background vocals, the runner
Sarah Whitney violins
Strings written and arranged by Sam Kassirer. Horns arranged by Sam Kassirer and Zack Hickman.
All songs written by Josh Ritter c/p Rural Songs (ASCAP)
To the Dogs or Whoever
Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with the deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of Arc
I love the way she looks in her underwear
I lose my page then the plot then the book then I swear
She makes the most of her time by loving me plenty
She knows thereıll come a day when we won t be getting any
The stain of the sepia the butcher Crimea
Through the wreck of a brass band I though I could see her
In a cakewalk she came through the dead and the lame
Just a little bird floating on a hurricane
I was flat on my back with my feet in the thorns
I was in between the apples and the chloroform
She came to me often I was sure I was dying
It was always hard to tell if she was laughing or crying
I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call
Joan never cared about the in-betweens
Combed her hair with a blade did the Maid of Orleans
Said Christ walked on water we can wade through the war
You donıt need to tell me who the fire is for
Oh bring me the love that can sweeten a sword
A boat that can love the rocks or the shore
The love of the iceberg reaching out for a wreck
Can you love me like the crosses love the nape of the neck?
Was it Casey Jones or Casey at the Bat
Who died out of pride and got famous for that
Killed by a swerve laid low by the curve
Do you ever think they ever thought they got what they deserved
Pity the bullet and pity the man
Who both find their place in the same sad plan
Who both are like the barrel going over the falls
Crying all the way down I never asked to be involved
I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call
General George began the day by taking pink little pills
Sent his men to the top of some hell of a hill
Through the whisper of trees came artillery breeze
He said I love the way the wind comes aıtickling my knees
Jane shot the apple right between the eyes
I was thinking of her when you came outside
Lemonade on your breath sun in your hair
Did I mention how I love you in your underwear?
Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with the deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of Arc
I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call
Mindıs Eye
Whatıs it take to make the dime drop?
All of these kids who think theyıre quick on the draw
Always shooting at outlaws
Iım busy keeping my Colt cocked
And Iım gonna know you when you finally come
Cause I got you in my mindıs eye
I got you in my mindıs eye
Iım gonna take up the Steinway
Waiting for the bullet that Iıll never see come
Iım gonna start me a new wave
Iım putting up with you lightweights
Calling me out to the middle of the street
Oh Iıve got you in my mindıs eye
I got you in my mindıs eye
I got you in my mindıs eye
My day might be coming yours is coming first
Iıll knock you outta your daylights
And when you come for me some night
You better bring a shovel and be expecting the worst
Cause I got you in my mindıs eye
I got you in my mindıs eye
Right Moves
All of a sudden now youıre back again
I thought you were happy with whoever or did you dream about me now and then
Did you look up at the stars and feel something for the constellations
All those lovers circling round their loves
Slings and arrows, dogs and lions, rivers separating touch from touch
The comedy of distance, the tragedy of separation
Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?
I said how is it that you come back to me?
You donıt need the stories of my scars or in the stars to tell you nothingıs free
I traded all the innocence I ever had for hesitation
I said wonıt you tell me where you been?
You put a finger to my lips and then you kissed me once and once again
The crickets all leapt up and met the moon with a standing ovation
Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?
I heard the night birds picking up the song
You threw your hair back and sang along
And I realized that I might lose you you might lose me
Drift apart in the night and never know why and not know how
I said what if we are like the Northern sky?
What if there are things that come between us that we canıt take back and we canıt make right?
You said I donıt know darlinı but Iım here with you
And weıre coming to the chorus now!
Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?
The Temptation of Adam
If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm
I said on the first occasion that I met Marie
We were crawling through the hatch that was the missile silo door
And I donıt think that she really thought that much of me
I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the Bomb
She just came along and started to ignore me
But as we waited for the Big One I started singing her my songs
And I think she started feeling something for me
We passed the time with crosswords that she thought to bring inside
What five letters spell ³apocalypse² she asked me
I won her over saying ³W.W.I.I.I.²
She smiled and we both knew that sheıd misjudged me
Oh Marie it was so easy to fall in love with you
It felt almost like a home of sorts or something
And you would keep the warhead missile silo good as new
And Iıd watch you with my thumb above the button
Then one night you found me in my army issue cot
And you told me of your flash of inspiration
You said fusion was the broken heart thatıs lonelyıs only thought
And all night long you drove me wild with your equations
Oh Marie do you remember all the time we used to take
Weıd make our love and then ransack the rations
I think about you leaving now and the avalanche cascades
And my eyes get washed away in chain reactions
Oh Marie if you would stay then we could stick pins in the map
Of all the places where you thought that love would be found
But I would only need one pin to show where my heartıs at
In a top secret location three hundred feet under the ground
We could hold each other close and stay up every night
Looking up into the dark like itıs the night sky
And pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead
And carve our name in hearts into the warhead
Oh Marie thereıs something tells me things just wonıt work out above
That our love would live a half-life on the surface
So at night while you are sleeping I hold you closer just because
As our time grows short I get a little nervous
I think about the Big One, W.W.I.I.I.
Would we ever really care the world had ended
You could hold me here forever like youıre holding me tonight
I look at that great big red button and Iım tempted
Open Doors
I thought I heard you pulling up outside
Itıs just the wind whisperinı through the pines
I havenıt seen who Iım looking for
Just empty shadows in my open door
The empty closet where you hung your clothes
The empty hooks where you hung your coat
The cellar steps or the kitchen floor
They donıt catch shadows like an open door
Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess Iım gonna have to guess again
I find myself hoping for a storm
Each silver lining is a crown of thorns
I find myself hoping for the rain
You donıt see shadows on a cloudy day
Go to the corner where the ghosts hang out
Theyıll all agree with what Iım talking about
Theyıd haunt your halls and walk through walls before
Theyıd ever set foot in an open door
Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess Iım gonna have to guess again
Iım saving nickels and Iım saving dimes
Iım gonna kiss you where the sun donıt shine
And all those shadows gonna kiss them too
Just as long as they come in with you
Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess Iım gonna have to guess again
Rumors
Serenade me with rocks, love
No lullabies through the locks, love
I locked myself in with the band
But the musicıs never loud enough
Decibels in the belfry
Hey what the hell if it helps me
I put a whip to the kick drum
But the musicıs never loud enough
So youıre gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
My orchestra is gigantic
This thing could sink the Titanic
And the string sectionıs screaming
Like horses in a barn burning up
He plays pianos with fistfuls
Of broken Belvedere crystal
And heıs trying to forget you
But the musicıs never loud enough
So youıre gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
Heıs impaling the front row
Fighting fires with arrows
And heıll act like he forgot you
But the musicıs never loud enough
So youıre gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
Wait for Love
I got someone on my mind
And she donıt make me wait the way you do
But time
Oh she holds me all the time
And she donıt make me wait the way you do
Wait for love
Sometimes babe we all have to wait for love
I got someone on my mind
And she holds me pretty much the way you do
But time
She holds me all the time
And she donıt make me wait the way you do
Wait for love
Sometimes babe we all have to wait for love
Real Long Distance
Youıre a real mean mama but you got a lot of time for me
And I know it ainıt common to find your kinda love for free
Itıs a drag and a sigh and thatıs not all
Iım calling real long distance itıs a real long distance call
Telephone ringing mama please donıt you leave it alone
Donıt leave no breaks in the line itıs the only thing thatıs tied to home
Itıs a drag and a sigh and thatıs not all
This is real long distance itıs a real long distance call
Woo!
Next to the Last True Romantic
Heıs riding the plains living up to his name
As the next to the last true romantic
He knows that his story is tragic
But he canıt rest
Til heıs next
To you
All the girls know his fame the men curse his name
And they talk about him like heıs magic
But heıs the next to the last true romantic
And he canıt rest
Til heıs next
To you
Heıs stolen hearts like theyıre horses
And horses when hearts canıt be found
He keeps riding from one horse to one horse to one horse towns
(It gets him down)
He knowıs heıs a fool to get caught up with you
But heıs the next to the last true romantic
He canıt let go of love once heıs had it
And he canıt rest
Til heıs next
To you
Thereıs always whiskey and women and women and whiskey around
He canıt tell which is worse to be dying of thirst or to drown
(It gets him down)
So he smiles through the pain he pinch Estelle he dance with Jane
Sometimes even he donıt know how he stands it
But heıs the next to the last true romantic
And he canıt rest
Til heıs next
To you
Moons
There are planets you donıt know
And there are moons that you donıt see
Invisibles between the rings of Mars and Mercury
The harbors that they built for the ships to set me free
And sometimes when itıs all too much
I know theyıll come for me
Come for me
Still Beating
I know the dog days of the summer
Have you ten-to-one out-numbered
Seems like everybody up and left and theyıre not coming back
The shadow that youıre standing onıs still here sometimes thatıs all that you can ask
And your heartıs still beating
Youıre not the fastest draw in town now
How many times you been shot down now?
Seems like everybody else could see the things you never did
But if you could yourself youıd probably never have made it through the things you did
With your heart still beating
I know the dog days of the summer
Have you ten-to-one out-numbered
It seems like everybody else saw trouble sneaking up behind
Left you half dead in the street but that just means youıre half alive
And your heartıs still beating
Empty Hearts
So save all of your light
For those who canıt sleep at night
And who canıt even sing to their shadows
Oh they ride into town
And they throw the shots down
And they save the last round for the windows
Singing donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
Iım inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing to the dogs or whoever
Singing donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
Thereıs a friend that I have
And for her Iıll go back
You see all of these empties that Iım holding
Theyıre too much for a man
Empty arms, empty hands
And sheıll know me by the sound of my hoping
Singing donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Donıt let me into this year with an empty heart
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