Get all 14 Atwater-Donnelly releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Boat You Row Atwater-Donnelly 2022, The World Is Old Tonight, Each Other's Story 2011, The Weaver's Bonny 2009, The Halfway Ground 2007, When Winter Calls 2005, The Blackest Crow 2004, And Then I'm Going Home 2001, and 6 more.
1. |
Each Other's Story
05:09
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I'd like to get to know you better
Right now it's speculation and wishful thinking
We assume so much
Until it's pretending we know [each other's story] {3X in last verse}
I've been - knowing
You've been - growing
1 -Today we're gonna say it all
What was it like when you were seven
Why in the world don't we banter informal
the boy that I knew
I don't like pretending we know each other's story
I've been - knowing
You've been - growing
2 -Today we're gonna change it all
It's many times I wonder
Is it gradual absorption or deliberate learning
As simple as that
When it grabs my attention, I know each other's story
I've been - knowing
You've been - growing
3- Do we even need to speak at all
I only want to know you better…
I've been - knowing
You've been - growing
1 -Today we're gonna say it all
2 -Today we're gonna change it all
3- Do we even need to speak at all
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2. |
I'm Too Busy
03:44
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The wind blows strong but gently
And snow covers the ground
And leaning on my windowsill
I see it coming down
I'd really love to linger
Watch my breath fog up the pane
But I've got laundry, and this report to do
And I really can't stay
Chorus: I'd like to have some spaces
Between my thoughts at times
Little blank pages or flat plains would be fine
I'd like a stretch machine to loosen up my brain
Blue sky between my ideas
Like a lean-to in the rain
I wish I had the time
To look long into your face
And reach beyond domestic chat
That takes up so much space
We have so little time
What with work, the kids, the house
That when we finally get to us
We're snoring on the couch...Chorus
I think about those coffee shops
Near Wickenden and Brook
Where people go to meet and talk
And some go to read books
And I would like to do that
And one day I'll find the time
To sit me down with a cup
And the luxury of my mind...Chorus
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3. |
Pity Undue
05:33
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There's hope in the gutter,
I certainly know
I've been there myself,
Downtrodden and low
We try to recover
But we land on our backs
And the rest of the family
Has slipped through the cracks
Well, somebody told me
That you're working for pay
But your health is declining
So you'll quit any day
They said you'd be leaving
Before you get old
And your bills total more
Than the house that you sold
Chorus: Oh, it's a pity undue,
The hardship that's fallen
On people like you
And oh, it's a pity to see
What little is accomplished
By people like me
Well, people don't worry
There's more to this life
Than struggling for honor
As mother and wife
You've nothing to prove
That you've not proven yet
The kettle is boiling; the table is set
Well, someday we'll show them,
If we all don't die first
That the world they're creating
Gets progressively worse
When they choose to exclude some
And keep others in check
Their mindless injustice
Will fall on their necks…Chorus
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4. |
Music Is My Lover
02:35
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My lover has no name
No body; no predictable game
Try and try as I might to grasp her ways
She eludes me everytime
Some days are smooth, harmonious and fine
And others; it's like I'm walking a line
Of frustration and discord and wheels off the track
All that I get, she takes right back
Chorus:
Cause my lover has no name
No body; no predictable game
Try and try as I might to grasp her ways
She eludes me every time
Instrumental
In my room the coffee cup's cool
Balls of paper strewn all around
It's an off day; she's lying so smug on the floor
The strings need changing and my fingers are sore…Chorus
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5. |
Parting Words
03:31
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It's the saddest thing; this I know
To leave me standing here
Your parting words will bring me woe
If I live a hundred years
OH…OH….OH…..OH
There's a wicked wind that follows you
And shake it though you try
You're ill-equipped and can't undo
The damage you deny
OH…OH….OH…..OH
And when my time on Earth is through
I'll still be by your side
This goodbye wish I'll send to you
That kindness be your guide
Still I'll always wonder what became of you
Repeat first verse
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6. |
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I'd like to tell you now
That everything's okay
The children are asleep in their beds
The downstairs lights are off
And both the doors are locked
The cars are safely parked for the night
Chorus: Another day, another life, another week
And we are in our bed so warm and clean
I put my hand on your hair and tell you that
Right now, right here, this time
Everything's all right
Setting my alarm, I think that these
are precious times when everything's okay
No loss, no hospital, no accident, no fight
No fire, no scare, no phone calls in the night…Chorus
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7. |
We Go Together
03:47
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Chorus: Wherever you go; that's where I go
Whenever we go; we go together
Wherever you are; that's where I am
Wherever we are; we are together
There are many years and roads behind me
Ask me and I'll tell what I recall
But only when we met did I find me
And sure as I can breathe, you're the best of all
Do you remember what you told me, darling
That if I ever left you- you'd want to come along
Well, like the chick-a-dees and the starlings
We'll share sunflower seeds and sing each other's songs…Chorus
I just knew that we would one day marry
You've been generous and thoughtful through the years
Your love for me is what I carry
To somehow help me manage to drive away my cares
Break=Chorus
If there was ever any doubt of our devotion
It vanished like the waning of the moon
If we continue in this state of motion
What we don't have yet will surely turn up soon.
Do you remember what you told me, darling
That if I ever left you- you'd want to come along
Well, like the chick-a-dees and the starlings
We'll share sunflower seeds and sing each other's songs…Chorus
Tag:
Wherever we are; we-are together
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8. |
She Sits At Her Loom
03:40
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In the quiet of the cellar, in the farthest of rooms
She sits at her loom and she weaves
The mold and the laundry, they mingle a scent
As she sits at her loom and she weaves
Above and around, the family is stirring
She hears footsteps and voices as she weaves
The cotton, the linen, the wool and the silk
The feel to her fingers as she weaves
Blue, red, green, and brown, deep lavender and yellow
The look to her eyes as she weaves
The littlest is crying, the others are fighting
She hopes they can manage as she weaves
Big pot on the stove needs the burner turned low
The children need rides and she weaves
She winds up the warp and covers the loom
Shuts the door, turns around, and she leaves
As she climbs up the stairs, she thinks wool, she thinks color
She can't wait to come back to weave
In the quiet of the cellar, in the farthest of rooms
That's where you might find her
As she sits at her loom and she weaves
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9. |
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I try to say what's on my mind
To keep my head from burning
You're calling me on the telephone
Too much in the morning
You know I like to be alone
Read the morning news, and think
I came this far away to change
So move aside and let me try
These wings that I've been given
This is my time in open fields
I hope you understand
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10. |
Oh, What Do We Know?
03:31
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I'm told that we'll meet them on the other shore
Oh, what do we know?
Is waiting until then worth waiting for?
Oh, what do we know?
I disregarded good advice and fell in love
Oh, what do we know?
When confidence and friendship would've been enough
Oh, what do we know?
I wonder if it's possible to love too great
Oh, what do we know?
I know I'd rather love this way than love too late
Oh, what do we know?
It's seldom smart to get attached
(It's not supposed to end like that)
But if you do then you'll discover
What it means to be...one's lover
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11. |
S'il Vous Plaît
03:18
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S'il Vous Plaît, ecoutez ma chanson
Et vous compredrez
Il y a une femme dans ma ville
Elle est debout
Au coin de la rue
Dans le seuil d'une porte
D'une construction abandonee
Elle est jeune comme moi
Mais elle est folle
Elle porte des chiffons
Des sacs de plastique
Autour de ses pieds si gonfles
Et quand on la passé
On se demande
Pourquoi nous sommes tous ici
On voit ses yeux qui regardent
Attentivement, un monde insense
Pres du seuil d'une porte
D'une construction abandonee
En hiver elle a froid
Mais elle rejete tous les vetements
Que les gens dans la ville lui offrent
Parce qu'elle prefere porter
Ses propres vetements
Salles, dechires, insuffisants
Elle est morte aujourd'hui
Morte de froid
De faim, d'epuisment
De la manqué de l'amour and des amis
Et personne ne vienne
Quand elle est morte
Personne ne s'est soucie
Et quand je passe la porte
Vide au coin de la rue
Je me demande pourquoi
Je suis
S'il Vous Plaît
Avez-vous ecoutez ma chanson?
Maintenant vous comprenez
Translation
Please, listen to my song and you will understand
There is a woman in my town; she stands on the corner of the street
In the threshold of the door of an abandoned building
She's young like me, but she's crazy
She wears rags; plastic bags around her swollen feet
And when you pass her you ask yourself, 'why we are all here?'
See her eyes that watch attentively, a nonsense world
Near the threshold of the door of the abandoned building
In the winter she's cold but she refuses all the clothes
That the people in the neighborhood offer her
Because she prefers to wear her own clothes
Dirty, torn and insufficient
She died today; died of cold – of hunger, exhaustion
Of the lack of love and friends
And nobody came when she died; nobody seemed to care
And now when I pass that doorway
Empty on the corner of the street
I ask myself why I am
Please, did you listen to my song?
Now you understand.
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12. |
Forgiveness
04:50
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He never told her he loved her
Leastwise while I was around
Well he seldom spoke, but his message was clear
And besides he could hardly be found
And he held the privilege of power,
While she circumvented his will
Each day a challenge, and a chance to gain ground
Never quite conquering still
Chorus: There's a hole in his heart,
where love should have been
And I don't think it'll ever be filled
There's a hole in his heart,
where love could have been, instilled
Look all around you; your destiny taunts you
You never had even the slightest of chances
Had you foreseen what would be your lean portion
Could you have even improved circumstances
It's mostly behind you now; see the result
You're standing within while he wanders without.
And he never asked for forgiveness
Though I'm sure he wishes he did
Cause there's a hole in his heart
Where love should have been
When I was his loyal young kid…Chorus
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13. |
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Well on a good day, you can see very far,
Just drive up high and get out of your car.
On 77 or 460, just look and the view then look at me
Chorus:
Oh the hills of West Virginia are green and lush,
And I go to hear the music
One small mountain after another, pushes out of the earth
They're falling over each other, like children, except look over there
It must be an apparition, in the distance, a mesa
Strip mining has left one hill naked, and oddly flat...Chorus
When I go to West Virginia, I don't say much
Years ago my people owned mines in the Pocahontas coal field
Well you might say now what's all the fuss
And why do I say I don't say much
But I wouldn't call parts of two states a "field"…Chorus
Instrumental
Now the stripped land, the faces, the sickness,
The unemployment tell me too much
And all that happened all of those years was before my time…Chorus
I was raised well in a New England town,
And educated at expensive schools
Our lives were warmly heated
By the coal transported by ship from West Virginia
By the coal transported by ship from West Virginia
By the coal transported by ship from West Virginia
And on a good day, you can see very far,
Just drive up high and get out of your car.
On 77 or 460, just look at the view then look at me
Look and the view then look at me,
Look and the view then look at me
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14. |
In the Springtime
05:27
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It's hard when all your friends are gone
You've lived so late and for so long
It's hard to only have the young
for friends and consolation
Here in my soft, white downy chair
I think of my house and my land out there
I remember the pebble roads
We had horses before the cars came
And in the Springtime I'll be ninety-one
I've lived so long; my work is done
I've seen so much;
I's time to move on
This land has been in the family
for seven generations
I was twenty in the first World War
In town we had a single store
And now it seems I've lived so long
I've seen four wars and a son die young
Kids raised in front of the TV
Computers at the bank
In the Springtime I'll be ninety-one
I've lived so long; my work is done
I've seen so much;
I's time to move on
Instrumental
Now, I see myself in this shadowy room
The winter sun will be setting soon
I'm smaller than I used to be
And my face no longer looks like me
I have so little energy
To do the things I've always loved
I'm alone in this old house
The young are too busy
In the Springtime I'll be ninety-one
I've lived so long; my work is done
I've seen so much;
I's time to move on
It's hard when all your friends are gone
You've lived so late and for so long
It's hard to only have the young
for friends and consolation
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15. |
Beginning With You
03:23
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Peace will come later, at best
Find yourself comfort, and rest for awhile
As you empty your pockets again with a smile
With hope that you'll manage to win the world over
Believing in miracles time and again
And you sit back and hope that the world will keep changing
But it never changes, just people do
Follow your vision, my friend
Look to the future and then realize
As you tug on your heartstrings and tears fill your eyes
Compassion will carry us over the hard times
And miracles find us while we're asleep
And we'll wake up together with hope in our pockets
And wonder what took us so long to believe
Peace will come later, at best
Find yourself comfort, and rest for awhile
As you empty your pockets again with a smile
With hope that you'll manage to win the world over
Believing in miracles time and again
And we'll wake up together with hope in our pockets
And wonder what took us so long to believe
And you sit back and hope that the world will keep changing
But it never changes, just people do
Beginning with you
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16. |
The Melt
04:53
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It's as if the sun is running
on the ice and snow
That have turned dirty and old
There are newspapers and cans
stuck into the banks
And the water is drifting away
It's trying to escape
I'm frightened to see
what the melt will show
After the long cover
of filth and despair
But the rising February sun
Is here to begin
the jubilant dance of Spring
It's as if the sun is running
on the ice and snow
That have turned dirty and old
There are newspapers and cans
stuck into the banks
And the light will shine on the faces
Of the half-rotted people
who are hidden
Like the dirt and the litter
Under the frozen layers of city snow
But the rising February sun
Is here to begin the jubilant dance of Spring
Instrumental
Oh, the rising February sun
Is here to begin the jubilant dance of Spring
The rising February sun
Is here to begin the jubilant dance of Spring
The rising February sun
Is here to begin the jubilant dance of Spring...
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17. |
Problem With Words
04:16
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I'm going to sing you this song
Even though I don't know all the words
That never stopped me before
Even so, I don't know all the words
You won't be laughing when it is done
And you won't be joking or poking at fun
But I'm going to sing you this song
Until my sorrow is gone
Until my sorrow is gone
I'm going to write you some prose
Even though you won't know that I do
That never stopped me before
Even so, you won't know that I do
You won't consider the words that I write
And you won't be tactful or act so polite
But I'm going to write you some prose
Until my pining is through
Until my pining is through
Sing me a song
I don't care if you know all the words
Read me your prose
I'm aware of your problem with words
You were the reason that living was fun
And you gave me hope when I knew there was none
So I'll always be close at hand
Until your sorrow is gone
Until your pining is through
I'm going to sing you this song
(Sing me a song)
Even though I don't know all the words
(I don't care if you know all the words)
That never stopped me before
(Read me your prose)
Even so, I don't know all the words
(I'm aware of your problem with words)
You won't be laughing when it is done
(You were the reason that living was fun)
And you won't be joking or poking at fun
(And you gave me hope when I knew there was none)
But I'm going to sing you this song
(So I'll always be close at hand)
Until my sorrow is gone
(Until your sorrow is gone)
Until my pining is through
(Until your pining is through)
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18. |
Silver Foxes
03:38
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It's lonely out here on this cold Autumn night
The leaves rush around me in a fearful flight
There used to be a lot of us roaming these hills
Our silvery tails illuminate still
And in the moonlight we search for the remaining few
Too scared to stay still
We run through the dewy fields
We run through the dewy fields
Instrumental
It's lonely out here on this cold Autumn night
The leaves rush around me in a fearful flight
There used to be a lot of us roaming these hills
Our silvery tails illuminate still
And in the moonlight we search for the remaining few
Too scared to stay still
We run through the dewy fields
We run through the dewy fields
We run through the dewy fields...
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19. |
Quiet Sky
03:48
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Such a perfect day, in a perfect month
Such a blue, blue sky
It's my favorite time of the year
What a lovely place, what a lovely garden
Such a blue and quiet sky
The pumpkins are ready and they're lying on their sides
When a week had passed, he said, "You must get dressed.
"The best thing we can do, is go on with our work."
And so he took his rake, and he headed for the garden
He said, "The harvest won't wait and there's still beauty everywhere."
Such a perfect day, in a perfect month
Such a strange and quiet sky
The pumpkins are ready and they're lying on their sides
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20. |
Our Generation
02:54
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Sorry; we don't have complete lyrics for this one.
Keep checking back though; I might be able to remember them all in the future.
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Atwater-Donnelly Warren, Rhode Island
Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly, present delightful programs of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old-time gospel songs, dance tunes, and original works, blending gorgeous harmonies with guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks, and Appalachian clog dancing and French Canadian footwork. ... more
If you like Each Other's Story 2011, you may also like:
This album speaks to the continuum of African diasporic culture that is central to the vibrant canon of Americana folk music.
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Sweet Old Religion
by Pharis & Jason Romero
Sweet harmonies & strummed melodies; the duo delve into decades-old folk, jazz, and country to find a timeless kind of love and connection.
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Would the Light Hold Me
by Oceanique
Celtic-inspired instrumentation, delicate harmonies, and reflective lyrics abound on the sisterly indie-folk duo's debut album.
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Scottish harpist and singer Rachel Newton brings an innovative, intensely emotional touch to traditional music on this dreamy LP.
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Wealth of Sorrow
by Cahalen Morrison
Bright and skipping songs that foreground the sound of the banjo and fingerstyle guitar in music that feels timeless.
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Mind, Man, Medicine
by The Secret Sisters
The Alabama duo's fifth album exults in dusty Americana, showcasing rich vocal harmonies alongside blissful folk instrumentation.
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Little Green
by Cara Beth Satalino
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom.
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