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-- Lyrics --
Here
Where the grass is the tallest
Lilacs all done with their blooming
Keeping your eyes closed to see it
Here
In the garden we wanted
In a dream we might not know it
Walking through, minding the old fence
On the edge of an ocean
We won’t look back
And if we don’t, we won’t be lost
I won’t look back
And if I don’t, I know I won’t be lost
Even when daylight was shortest
You were still calling me darling
Lilacs were all overgrown then
Here in the garden we wanted
In a year or two if we find ourselves
Walking through, minding the old fence
There, where the grass is the tallest
We won’t look back, we won’t be lost
We won’t look back and if we don’t we won’t be lost
Oh don’t look back, and if you don’t you won’t be lost
I won’t look back, I know I won’t
I know I won’t be lost
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-- Lyrics --
Saw all the pictures
Read all your darkest thoughts
While you were waiting
Ready to brush me off
We could be friendly
We could be out of touch
We could be famous
Or even infamous, if you want
Come back or not but call it off
Come back or don’t but turn me down
Don’t waste my time pretending love is somewhere else
Come back or not but call it off
Come back or don’t but turn around
Stop wasting time pretending love is somewhere else
We should’ve been easy
But how can I close my eyes
You have new friends now
I didn’t recognize
For every time you’d say I ask for too much
You spend another day trying to be infamous and turn around
Come back or not but call it off
Come back or don’t but tell me now
Don’t waste my time pretending love is somewhere else
Come back or don’t but call it off
Come back alone or tell me now
Don’t waste my time pretending love is somewhere else
Somewhere else Somewhere else Somewhere - Somewhere else
Come back or not but call it off
Come back or don’t but turn me down
Don’t waste my time pretending love is somewhere else
Come back or not but call it off
Come back or don’t but tell me now
Don’t waste my time pretending at all
Come back alone or call it off
You’re gonna kill the both of us
Come back alone of call it off
Don’t waste my time pretending at all
Come back or don’t but call it off
Are you already somewhere else?
Somewhere else
Somewhere else
Somewhere - Somewhere else
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3. |
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-- Lyrics --
Under that burning ether that falls
Down on these walls, burning my arms
I’ve been alarmed of what is said by you
For every word I could undo
I’ve been uncrossed and
I’ve been untrue
I’ve been the thorn, I’ve been the heart
But the heart of my own
Burn it down low
The light in your verse and the shadow between
The way that I was when I used to know
If I go, what do I hold?
Ah the maid or the mother I’ll be
If only the loom and a thread were whole
It is work to be dancing out here
If tomorrow I’m mending the empty bones
There are roses that come without seeking
There are the ones that I have to sew
In your verses that I am repeating
The way that I was when I used to know
I wrote on these walls a simple charm to keep the wolves at bay
Gave all my heart, the strength of my arms, to hold you close and safe
Oh I kept my eyes closed, I never know where the shadows are these days
I stood in the room of a house divided but it washed away from me
It washed away from me
Oh, how it washed away from me
It washed away to take my own
Burn it down low
The light in your verse
And the shadow between the way that I was when I used to know If I go, what do I hold?
Ah, the maid or the mother I’ll be
If only the loom and the thread were whole
There are roses that come without seeking
They are the ones that I have to sew
In your verses that I am repeating
The way that I was when I used to know
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4. |
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-- Lyrics --
There is no one who will take me by that shore
Close to the smoke, far from the fires of your harbour
And if I am awake this time I’ll know
All over your eyes a storm is rolling over, rolling over, rolling over
You can take away the divine, my dear, and comb your hair
And I won’t mind at all
Even though the thought’s behind,
I came just to remind you I love you so I love you so
There is no one who will take me by that shore
But the waves rushing down
The waves rushing down on your shoulders
And if I am awake this time I’ll know
All over your eyes a storm is nearly over, nearly over
And you can take away the divine my dear
And comb your hair
I won’t mind at all
Even though the thought’s behind, I came just to remind you I love you so I love you so
I love you so
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5. |
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-- Lyrics --
If you go tomorrow I will dream
I was a daughter running through these brand new silver streets
Turned into dusty roads that we both wandered on
We prayed to perfect Avalon
We wished for anyone to take us home
And if you want to build this house with me
Oh, what a story
This is how they’ll all remember me:
We were the lucky ones who would survive the flood
With muddy flowers in our blood
Pretending that we don’t know where we’ve been
What a pretty fall
We fell asleep
But we couldn’t hear the little words
We swam in the rivers
We sang with the birds
We gave our hearts before we knew what they were
What a pretty fall
We didn’t even know
We sang out with the birds
We gave away our hearts before we knew What they were
What they were
What they were
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6. |
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-- Lyrics --
Call this all my awful luck
Skies they opened wide for us
Oh what a heavy rain it was that covered all of you
The wind has changed, my boy
I never knew a voice like yours
But I know just what good it was , that lie you hold on to
But to call those shadows coming after you
Go on, go on, I couldn’t bear to lose
Go on, go on , I couldn’t stand to
They begged you for your awful words
So let them know the burden of your blues
Could have been the one you loved
The visions of the things I’d done
Well I wouldn’t be the only one if you’d only told the truth
While they chased you down that night
I was pulling feathers from your lies
I swear I saw it in your eyes
You never told it true
But to call those shadows coming after you
Go on, go on, I couldn’t beg you to
Go on , go on, I couldn’t stand to lose
They begged you for your awful words
Now let them know the burden of your blues
Oh to call those shadows coming after you
Go on, go on, I couldn’t beg you to
Go on, go on, I couldn’t stand to lose
They begged you for your awful words
Now let them know the burden of your blues
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7. |
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-- Lyrics --
Be true or be gone
You’re only fooling yourself
Open hand or not
You are holding out
But there is no lie that you can live in
Tear it apart,
Your old confession made in the dark
Now every hour, change of heart
You’re running away
But the shadow is yours
Cover all your steps
One day I know they will be tried
No deception left
And now even you might realize
That there is no light that you can’t live in
Tear it apart, your old confession made in the dark
Now every hour, change of heart
You’re running away but the shadow is your own
Your own
One day when it finds you
Take it to heart
You can’t run away when you know that the tall tall shadow
Tall tall shadow, the tall tall shadow , tall tall shadow is yours
Now there is no lie that you can live in
Tear it apart, your old confession made in the dark
Now every hour, change of heart
You’re running away but the shadow is your own
Your own
And one day when it finds you, take it to heart
You can’t run away
When you know that the tall tall shadow is yours
You can’t run away when the shadow is yours
You can’t run away , no you can’t run away
When the shadow is yours
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8. |
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-- Lyrics --
Sometime now I’ve been divining the end of a snowy morning
Sometime now I’ve been afraid that the pilgriming vine is finally coming to take me I have been one of them waiting
I have been one of them falling down below
So quietly wishing my only never looks down by the maple if he goes
Never looks down if he goes
Tomorrow I’ll know if there’s silver in your eyes
Crossing down on your cheek
And tomorrow I’ll know by the rubies in your voice
They’ve been calling your name to me lately
You have been one of them waiting
I have been one of them falling down below
So tell me you’re always my only
Never look down by the maple if you go Never look down if you go
Sometime now I’ve been divining the end of a snowy morning
Sometime now I’ve been afraid that the pilgriming vine is finally coming to take me
Taste it and tell me it’s savoury, hold it up high to the light and let it grow in
Tell me I’m always your only , never look down by the maple if you go
Never look down if I go
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9. |
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Instrumental
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10. |
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-- Lyrics --
All fables fail when you get older
And still the mirror on your wall keeps you from staring into the darkness
In visions keeping you awake
In fairy tales you try to stay
They echo back at you like a chorus
When you’re still too young to know
You’ve been living for a ghost
Spinning fables where the brightest colours faded
Stories fail you when you’re grown
Can’t hide us from our fall
But my love for you is bold, take it all
I found my old friends back at home
And for my father I had all the answers
Paid a price for pretending
Heroes and villains I had made
They’re all I have left of my day
In one more page of unwritten endings
Am I still to know I’ve been living for a ghost?
In my mind the brightest colours are unfaded Stories fail you when you’re grown Don’t believe them anymore
My love for you is bold but it won’t save you
My love for you is bold but it won’t change you
My love for you is bold
Take it all
How long can I keep going if stories I’ve still can’t save my love?
How do I be -
How do I be bold?
How do I ?
Stories’ all been told, can’t save you from it all
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11. |
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-- Lyrics --
They say in time it fades
Forget where you have been
Why can’t I look away from the face I’ve seen?
Saw it on those days we spent in the park
Saw you chase your dreams down the boulevard
And I saw you’re already forgiven It takes so long to say it
Already forgiven
How long I’d let you stay
I can’t escape my name
Now I don’t even try
When my body’s tired of drinking bitter wine
When the cup it breaks in my hand each time
Now the cup it breaks in my hand each time
Telling me you’re already forgiven It took me years to say it
Already forgiven
How long I’d let you stay
I want to leave my mind and let my old ways fall
They took shapes I could not have foreseen them all In my hands this time, I don’t know what I hold
But I know you’re already forgiven
Already forgiven
I took up the pieces of what you made
Tried to build a fire where there was no flame
What I tried to fight in my heart in vain
What I tried to fight in my heart in vain
Is telling me you’re already forgiven
It takes me years to say it
Already forgiven
How could I let you stay?
You’re already forgiven
It takes me years to say it
Already forgiven
Why can’t I let it fade?
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12. |
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-- Lyrics --
Don’t wait for a fortune
Don’t wait for the phone I’ve been there before you I know where you’ve gone
Where you keep on running
Where you fall apart Diamonds in the dust here Sing it to the dark
I’m at the end of the world
Another end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
You fall apart when you fall into it
Love is at the end of the world
In every song when you sing back to it
Love is at the end of the world
I fall apart when you fall into me
Find me at the end of the world
Write it from your future
See it from the start
Casting this all for you
Glitter in the yard
You could keep on running
You could start a war
Diamonds in the dust still
Sing into the dark
Another end of the world
And at the end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
You fall apart when you fall into it
Love is at the end of the world
In every song when you sing back to me
Love is at the end of the world
I fall apart when you fall into me Diamonds at the end of the world
Waiting there for you
Waiting there for you I’m waiting there for you
Waiting there for you
I’m at the end of the world
Another end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
Diamonds at the end of the world
Find me at the end of the world
Love is at the end of the world
Waiting there for you
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13. |
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Intrumental
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14. |
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-- Lyrics --
I know I can’t go home again I’m in trouble, I’d be living in
A future I can never know
And a past that is holding on
Holding on to me broken
On and on to me still
I thought I could break the spell
But maybe I , maybe I never will
An old ghost coming round again
Battlefield I’m abandoning
To the promise of a day like this
Or a memory in a kiss
Can’t see all the walls I built
Turned my fear into monuments
And daydreams I’ll be living in
But when I wake up here
Will I be holding on till I’m broken
On and on til the end
I thought I could break the spell
But maybe I , maybe I never will
If it feels like living in the name of
It feels like living in the name of
When you can’t keep living in the name of If it feels like living in the name of
Why am I living in the name of?
Why am I living in the name of?
I know I can’t go home again
I’m in trouble, I’d be living in
Old dreams when they’re caving in
And now I’m somewhere I’d never been I keep holding on til I’m broken
On and on til the end
I thought I had found a friend
But maybe I, maybe I never will
If it feels like living in the name of
Does it feels like living in the name of?
When you can’t keep living in the name of?
No, I can’t keep living in the name of
Why am I living in the name?
Why am I living in the name?
Why am I living in the name of?
Am I living if it feels like living in the name?
If it feels like living in the name
If it feels like living in the name
When you can’t keep going living in the name
Oh I can’t keep - why am I living in the name of?
I’m living in the name of
I’m living in the name of
Oh why am I living in the name of ?
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15. |
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-- Lyrics --
First comes your fear
Your laughter and tears and you shout
When you need a name for your doubt
You know what’s happening
When you feel free
Something small brings you back to your knees
Reminds you of secrets you keep
Now that it’s happening
Could it be like your visions of destiny?
Golden sunset you saw on a silver screen?
Was it all just a trick of your chemistry?
When there’s no other way out
One voice you hear in a crowd
Honey now you, now you’re in love!
Who disappears
And who do you want to be found
You go where the music is loud
Do you want a theory or thief?
Do you dream on a night with no sleep?
Could somebody make you believe that it was real?
Could it be like your visions of destiny?
Golden sunset you saw on a silver screen?
Was it all just a trick played by chemistry?
When there’s no other way out
One voice you hear in a crowd Honey now you, now you’re in love!
Fight an electric confusion
Laugh away all of your rules
What would you do if you were in love?
Are you in love?
Are you?
Oh what would you do if you were in love?
First comes your fear
Your laughter and tears, then you shout
The music goes one, two, three when it happens
Oh and somehow you knew
If you let go of your rules
If you believe
You can go back to childhood mystery
Wearing it like your mother’s jewelry
Sweetness on earth and it still makes a fool of me
When there’s no other way out
One voice you hear in a crowd
Honey now you, now you’re in love!
Laugh away all of your rules babe
Dance all night long but
Why can’t you tell the truth when you’re in love?
When the music’s gone soon
And there’s nothing you can do
Do you ever know the truth?
Are you in love when you’re “in love”?
Are you “in love” when you’re in love?
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16. |
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-- Lyrics --
Well any sense I had is gone
On an open field you had me run
Where was the light we had before?
I don’t know why I ask at all
I keep on talking carelessly
I look in books and magazines
Thinking a word could be enough
You look at me
I’m burning up
When I hear your good advice
I’m starting something
And good advice
I’m running from it
I didn’t ask and I didn’t want it
In an empty room you pardon me
When all around us - whispering
What we have now - anyone’s guess
So just be rude
Or your kindest
You give it out so easily
That now I drown in reasoning
I can’t be helped or even hurt
Now every word makes me feel worse
When I hear your good advice
I’m starting something
Your good advice
I keep running from it
I shouldn’t ask since I never want it
Any sense I had is gone
On an open field you had me running
Where was the light we had before?
Oh I don’t know why I ask at all
If a pardon isn’t what I want
I can’t be helped or even hurt
By all this good advice I’ve heard Oh
Your good advice
I’ve started something
I should have known that I didn’t want it I never hear it
I keep on running
I didn’t ask
And I can’t be pardoned
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Montreal’s Basia Bulat announces The Garden: a new album that reimagines songs across her five studio albums with stunning classical string quartet arrangements by Owen Pallett, Paul Frith, and Zou Zou Robidoux, set for digital release on February 25th, 2022, and physically on March 25th, via Secret City Records.
While she has been known to play live with small chamber ensembles and full orchestras–including the Ottawa National Arts Centre Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia–The Garden marks Bulat’s first recording to capture this spellbinding configuration, which further showcases her singular voice and timeless songwriting.
Across the 16 songs, produced by herself and Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire, Beirut), she revisits and gives new life to beloved originals alongside a handpicked group of string players, as well as bandmates Andrew Woods and Ben Whiteley on guitar and bass, respectively.
The title track and first single features grand, stirring arrangements by Pallet (whose recent credits include Taylor Swift, Haim, Arcade Fire, and more), and is out today alongside an animated video by Mel Fuentes.
“This past year, I let myself slow down, dig in the dirt, take root, and look at what memories and melodies came springing back to me in the garden after many years on the road. When I wrote ‘The Garden’ [in 2016], I was in a distorted state of mind, and it took my hand and calmed me. ‘We won’t look back, and if we don’t, we won’t be lost.’ It told me to breathe into the present moment and look toward the future, and during this past year of stillness and reflection, it reminded me to do that again, like a meditation,” explains Bulat. “Gardens evolve and change and are always growing. In my garden, the plants return, some pruned back, some overgrown, but they are never exactly the same as the year before. Owen’s arrangement for this song details all the blossoms and thorns blowing about together in the wind – new shoots and old shapes making themselves known to each other in magical ways. I feel so very fortunate to bring this song to another season in bloom.”
For Bulat, The Garden was a chance to record anew select songs whose meanings have shifted from when she originally composed them. Distance teaches, and reveals: “I sing the songs differently now,” she says. “It’s the gift of time.” While creating The Garden, Bulat had just found out she was expecting her first child, which she revealed to her collaborators in the midst of recording, down a wire from the vocal booth. A song can change shape, turning new leaves and growing new blooms, in life’s unexpected seasons.
The Polaris Music Prize and Juno-nominated Bulat is known for her powerful, unwavering vocals, and for live performances that see her effortlessly switching between instruments such as the autoharp, piano, guitar, dulcimer, and charango. Her work has earned acclaim throughout her career from The New Yorker, NPR Music, The New York Times, Pitchfork, WNYC, The Independent, MOJO, and Uncut, among many others; her most recent album, 2020’s Are You in Love?, produced by Jim James (My Morning Jacket), received rave reviews from press including The Independent (★★★★), MOJO (★★★★), and Uncut. Bulat has toured extensively around the world, gracing such stages and festivals as Carnegie Hall, Newport Folk Festival, and Montreux Jazz Festival.
released February 25, 2022
2022 Basia Bulat under exclusive license to Secret City Records Inc.