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The Odds of It All

by Ships at a Distance

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1.
Leaving 04:01
I'm leaving, I can't stay There's more than what's right here I need something new so lend an open ear. I'm leaving, I can't stay and I hope that you will come with me to this place that in my mind only can I see. I'm leaving, I can't stay and I think I can safely say that if you should choose to stay behind there is no doubt in my mind that we will both be changed for good or bad I cannot say but I hope that's not the case, I'm leaving, I cannot stay. I'm leaving, I can't stay, so look into my eyes. Don't forget this face, but you don't need to memorize. I'm leaving I can't stay and I hope to be back someday, but it will be a long, long time so listen to this rhyme. I'm leaving, I can't stay and I think I can safely say that if you should choose to stay behind there is no doubt in my mind that we will both be changed for good or bad I cannot say but I hope that's not the case, I'm leaving, I cannot stay. I'm leaving, I can't stay, I'm wandering down this road, I hope it takes me where I, where I need to go. I'm leaving, I can't stay and I have no map, I have nothing to say how to make this lap. I'll go ahead and turn around and plant my feet right on the ground until I am so lost that I will never be found. I'm leaving, I can't stay and I think I can safely say that if you should choose to stay behind there is no doubt in my mind that we will both be changed for good or bad I cannot say but I hope that's not the case, I'm leaving, I cannot stay.
2.
Specter 03:51
Someone's creeping in the attic, Someone's rifling through the drawers, Someone's hiding in the closet, Someone's sleeping in the floors. I hear you breaking all the dishes, I hear you scraping off paint, I see you digging up flowers, I see you letting in the rain. You are the ghost that lives in my head, making all that racket even though you've been dead. Yes you are the specter that won't go away. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay. For five long years you haunted this home and wore my fingers down to skin and bone. One day I found your coffin outside my door and you hit the road, I don't see your face much anymore. You are the ghost that lives in my head, making all that racket even though you've been dead. Yes you are the specter that won't go away. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay. I filled your coffin up with letters, and put you under my bed, but I should've known better than to leave you hiding there, just waiting to say: BOO You are the ghost that lives in my head, making all that racket even though you've been dead. Yes you are the specter that won't go away. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay. Tie me up, hold me down, swing me sideways, keep me at bay.
3.
Graceland 03:04
The Mississippi delta was shining like a national guitar, and I'm following the river down the highway to the cradle of the Civil War. I'm going to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, I'm going to Graceland. She came back to tell me she's gone. As if I didn't know that, as if I didn't know my own bed. As if I'd never noticed, the way she brushes her hair from her forehead. And she says losing love is like a window to your heart. Everybody sees you're blown apart, everybody sees the wind blow. I'm going to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, I'm going to Graceland. There's a girl from New York City, she calls herself the human trampoline. And sometimes when I'm falling, flying, tumbling in turmoil I say "Oh, so is this what you mean?" She means we're bouncing into Graceland. And I say losing love is like a window to your heart. Everybody sees you're blown apart, everybody sees the wind blow. I'm going to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, I'm going to Graceland.
4.
Crunch, crunch, my feet in the street, it's a long way to Meknes, and I'm walking in the dark. Don't know, the wind it'll blow, fall out through the sleet and the snow, and I don't know where to start. And I've been thinking. And I've been dreaming. Dreaming of sailing across the sea, see if you'd follow me, if not I'll just leave you be. Bout time, rhythm and rhyme, play your song at the drop of a dime, but you won't sing along. Follow me to the root of the tree; carve your name for the world to see; They'll know where we belong. And I've been dreaming. And I've been thinking. Thinking of writing a song for you, see what you would do, I don't think you want me to. Well break my back, cut me some slack, you are the stone that they said would not crack. Oh, won't you crack for me? Jump and scream, splash in the stream, you're the Little River and I am the Dream that's floating on the breeze. And I've been thinking. And I've been drinking. Drinking the memory of your freckled skin, thinking of how things might have been, dreaming of I don't know when. And if I could find you I know what I'd say, I'd wait for forever and a day, if you would just look my way.
5.
Coagulate 03:52
Articulate, coagulate the blood into a solid state. Agitate and aggravate our hearts until you are too late. Complicate and escalate, it will all disintegrate. Then we'll contemplate and find a way that we can separate. Give the colors meaning with the words caught in my mouth I can feel it bleeding, they are trying to get out. Don't you listen to me, I don't like to hear my words so I'll keep reading Rumi, and he'll keep my soul gold and pure. It's too late, too late, cannot articulate. It's too late, too late, can't articulate this feeling. Take what your heart wants to hold. Burn the fear that leaves you frozen. They will never make you whole. There's no need to keep what you don't own. It's too late, too late, cannot articulate. It's too late, too late, can't articulate this feeling.
6.
I'll be your crutch, I'll be your cane. Give me your problems give me your pain. And if your world comes tumbling down, and there's no end in sight, just call me and I'll find you and I'll try to make it right. I'll be your lock, I'll be your key. You know you can always count on me. And if you're lost inside your head, and you wish that you were dead, just call me and I'll show you this great life that you have led. I'll be your staff, I'll be your shield. I'll help you stand, I'll help you heal. And if they leave you all alone, and you're miles away from home, just call me and I'll find you and we'll make it on our own. And if you're lost inside your head, and you wish that you were dead, just call me and I'll show you this great life that you have led.
7.
Shade Grown 04:32
Stop your worrying for now, I'll stay here while I can. We can search through the stars, lay our heads by the sand. Tell me all the things you know, tell me all the things you think. I want to hear you talk, I want to hear you sing. Walk with me through the field, run with me through the wood. Let's carve our names in the tree just to prove that we could. Talk with me, sing with me, you say you don't know where to start. Darling know I don't care, hold my hand, hold my heart. I'll teach you how to swim, read with you in the sun, sit with you when light grows dim, talk about the only One. Let's scream our fears to the night, scream our pride to the day. I'll do anything it takes, just don't push me away. Do you see what I see? Do you know what I know? Do you feel what I feel? This love, shade grown. Connect the dots in the sky, bleed your passion to roam, While you're out chasing sands, I'll stay here on my own. Do you see what I see? Do you know what I know? Do you feel what I feel? This love, shade grown. Connect the dots in the sky, bleed your passion to roam, While you're out chasing sands, I'll stay here on my own. Do you see what I see? Do you know what I know? Do you fear what I fear? This love, shade grown. Connect the dots in the sky, bleed your passion to roam, While you're out chasing sands, I'll stay here on my own.
8.
Down by the river we homelessly slept, there we sat and there we wept. Our hearts ached for our home of the past that steeps in blood and dust and soot and ash. Useless our songs dangle from the willows, beneath the branch where our captors' pride billows. They cry out with tongue in cheek: "Sing us the songs you used to sing!" But how could we sing out hearts' song in a foreign land? If I forget my home then cursed be my hand. And curse my faithless tongue within my mouth if I forget my broken, battered home to the south. If my love for Jerusalem is not higher than the clouds? Oh God, do not forget, the day of your people's fall, as they cursed and stabbed and tore and screamed: "Tear down the wall!" Down to the foundations, down they tore the wall. Oh Daughter Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, happy will be those who send you to the void. And happy will be those who, with reddened rocks, make you understand everything that we have lost. Oh, you must understand everything that we have lost.
9.
Wind & Waves 04:04
Oh me, oh life, of the questions oft' recurring. Oh me, oh life, oh fool that I am. Oh me, oh life, of the struggles borne around me. What good amid these? Oh me, oh life. Foolish time looks on in jest, mocking aims afloat at sea. The Watcher's dreams, loaned and lost- Wind and waves will mother me. Oh me, oh life, of the questions oft' recurring. Oh me, oh life, oh fool that I am. Oh me, oh life, of the struggles borne around me. What good amid these? Oh me, oh life. Forgive my doubting heart; forgive my wandering eyes; accept these filthy hands, the dark corners of my mind. Wind and waves will mother me Wind and waves will mother me Wind and waves will mother me Oh me, oh life, of the questions oft' recurring. Oh me, oh life, oh fool that I am. Oh me, oh life, of the struggles borne around me. What good amid these? Oh me, oh life.
10.
Way down on the eastern side, where the steam boats roll, you'll find me on the morning tide, just shoveling coal. My lungs are a mineshaft, but my mind is a sail, so I'll fly like an arrow or I'll dive like a whale. Roll on mama, roll on fast, roll on mama, you know it ain't meant to last. Down by the furnace, it's the wind that I crave. But this dust-breathing dragon has made me his slave. The Sirens are singing, and they're calling my name. The men here are wild, but the ocean is tame. Roll on mama, roll on fast, roll on mama, you know it ain't meant to last. Dive in, dive in, now don't pity me, I can float, I can swim, it's the fish that are free.

credits

released October 31, 2015

Ben Hardie: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, bass, harmonica, percussion

Hannah Nelson: vocals, piano, percussion

Spencer Ayscue: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, keys, percussion


The Odds of It All was engineered and mixed by Stuart Johnson-Kwochka of Great Owl Studios.


All songs written and recorded by Ships at a Distance, except "Graceland", originally written by Paul Simon, copyright 1986.

Album artwork by Kseniya Kuprovska.

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Ships at a Distance Davidson, North Carolina

Ships at a Distance is a North Carolina folk trio with one foot in Appalachia and one foot in the city.

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