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Waltzing Backwards Through The Dark (fdm103)

by Chris Anderson

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1.
Pauper's Field 01:37
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PAUPER'S FIELD Eliza's ghost dancing in these hands At pauper's field - dismissive lands The roses red and the sky's turned grey And seldom shadows sleep their days away I'm gonna stand right here beside myself And pull the last bottle off the shelf It's a shame shame the way things always change It's a strange way to try And make the last one beg Say what's your name name? Do you wanna try and play that Same game - tasting the impossible That same game - wasting the incredible These names change Protect you when the thunder falls like rain. -Spring 2001
2.
Daily Feed 04:28
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DAILY FEED I read about it in the daily feed About how yesterday, she took her arms And made a quick release I tried to tell her hey, hello, Don't lose control How many tears must shed from you Before you lose your soul? I read about it in the daily feed Some days, she's sane Then others, cold She quivers 'til she's sold Another dime, a quick reminder of the spring With birds & bees And scents like these The context lies in everything So take a step back off that mountain I left her standing somewhere on that hill And I hear those ghosts still hang around the hill Every time the sun goes down They draw the shades around this town I hear those ghosts still hang around the hill I read about it in the daily feed Sometimes the words are real And sometimes we all make believe Like we were swimming in Another word for time Where innocence can pay the rent And everyone is fine So now you take a step out of your memories Of all the time spent hanging on my wall Our shadows always stumble down the hall I'm gonna burn the whole place down And paint my name across this town Our shadows always stumble down the hall Take a step back off that mountain I left her buried somewhere on that hill Between the broken pages of my memories They said I'd never run away until Our shadows always stumble down the hill. -Summer 2000
3.
Aberdeen 04:00
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ABERDEEN A wasted gaze on haz, washed-outy April days I'm still amazed they let me in But I held my breath to wait the storm out in the rain Too many roads, where to begin? Eash one, a faint reminder of the one that came before I shivered and I wrangled out the door Into the cobblestones enlittered in the path Of wanting this and never needing more And still her mama said "don't push me too far" and still her daddy said "Don't you come around here no more" the time you waste is time spent talking in your sleep it's a long long way from where you've been It's not as though the last one landed very far A hundred, give or take some change We rearranges the scenery to fit the view But, you know, I never thought of this as strange And still her mama said "don't push me too far" and still her daddy said "Don't you come around here no more" the time you waste is time spent talking in your sleep it's a long long way from where you've been Of all the times to jump and shout, it's not right now For all these vines have locked us in Between the breaks and all that festers in the way We stumble in the shadows of the spin And still her mama said "don't push me too far" and still her daddy said "Don't you come around here no more" the time you waste is time spent talking in your sleep it's a long long way from where you've been -Spring 2001
4.
17 03:26
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17 17 was a good year everyone had a good time except, of course, the time we sank into the flats along the bank we never really meant to be that late it's just that time seemed longer then we chose to sink instead of swim until we caught the windy rogue and learned to levitate 17 was a good year everyone had a good time remembering when first we held the chains & rattles, reigns & bells shaking out the winter from our eyes we never thought we'd get that close all we wanted was some of those vague impressions that we'd carry through our lives 17 was a good year everyone had a good time just steer around the wreckage now where everyone kept blacking out leaving us in moments all alone no waiting for the dawn to come averting eyes from all the ones who kick and scream and block you when you fly everyone had a good time -11/17/03 (based on fall 2000 sketch)
5.
Izzy Is Born 03:46
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IZZY IS BORN Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town Dirty faces lined with fear Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town The road to there leads right back here Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town Crooked words bring crooked tears Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town You made your bed Now sleep, my friend Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town And all this talk is getting thin Keep it shut - don't make a sound Everybody knows what's going down In this town Your silence, babe It's everything. Show me the tide and I'll turn the waves Show me the night and I'll bleed for days Wasting my time and all the ways to say "Look out world - I'm coming home" -April 2001
6.
Tug 02:37
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TUG Time after time We're found tugging the line Waiting to find another And we'll excruciate all those ills You keep down below And we'll laugh at the colorful lady Who says you should go It's as simple as that It's all in who you know And we'll try and create All those worlds you left long ago And we'll carry along Until one of us knows where to go It's as simple as that It's all in who you know Time after time We're found tugging the line Waiting to find another It's as simple as that. -October 2000
7.
Absinthe & Lace 03:10
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ABSINTHE & LACE Landmine - nightfall She timed my last call Reciting what she said to me "Sit back, stand tall we all win, we all fall" Or something to that same degree Sometime - next line: We all tease, we're all fine Just pining for a time to play "Stiff drink, small talk we all think, we all walk" Exactly what she used to say Eliza made a pit stop in this town Absinthe and lace all around And through the veil that shrouds her eyes She lifted up her cheap disguise And whispered lies When I awoke, the room was bare An apparition kneeling there Just turned and vanished Through the still of day And in my head, I played "Naima" To the ghosts of Hiroshima Then I grabbed my shit And quickly ran away. -Summer 1999
8.
Cold Cold Ground 03:56
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COLD COLD GROUND Sometimes it ain't nothing but a thing And sometimes you don't know where to begin Sometimes you're losing sight of the time And sometimes I hear you cryin' Sometimes you're running out of steam Sometimes you don't believe what you've seen Sometimes you lose the words for the signs Sometimes I feel you dying Another face in the crowd I hear he's lying on the cold cold ground Don't make a sound Don't turn around I hear he's lying on the cold cold ground Away from the clowns And the freaks in the town I hear he's buried in the cold cold ground Don't make a sound. -January 2001
9.
Expatriate I 01:18
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EXPATRIATE I I set a course for the day spring You held your silence Like a ghost could hold its pride You were the queen of everything Until the rain came down And washed the color from your eyes Then who came along? And brought a new song That everybody sang around the fire 'Til the morning came And who came along And told you it was wrong To smile in the dark And wish that everything was fine They call you the expatriate The way you stand alone Waiting to fold out your hands And wishing you were on your own They call you the expatriate The way you stand alone Gather all the dust you drag And bring it all back home. -August 2000
10.
Wonderman 02:12
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WONDERMAN Somewhere on the backside of my last mistake I spray painted "been there done that Saw the movie twice" That little yellow road I painted don't look good Pave and repave Waiting for another stone Of your good luck advice And I went down to see the wonderman And he told me that I'd find my way again And though I couldn't help but chuckle And notion that, unbuckled I would throw it all away and laugh again I wouldn't try to argue with him Somewhere in the shadows of my last escape I thought I saw a train of thought Too staggered to entice Yeah, screw that yellow road You know, it's still no good Waiting for another stone of your good luck And well-intentioned, broken-hearted Sentimental, full-of-shit advice And I went down to see the wonderman And he told me that I'd find my way again And though I couldn't help but chuckle And notion that, unbuckled I would throw it all away and laugh again I wouldn't try to argue with him -May 2001
11.
Hey Old Man 03:21
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HEY OLD MAN paint a picture of a lovely day or a rhinestone in a foot of snow cross the deep end, affix a gaze on the stars, they're falling on the clouds below like skippin' stones on a salty lake or going dancing in a summer rain like holding hands underneath the rays of a clear day's sun, i'm on my feet again hey old man, look at me i'm not as blind as i pretend to be old man look at me a loss for words, a mental picture tells a million little things we'd never say a quaint vibration, a glance, a stare show me more than all your words could anyway these little moments, to stop and stare to soak in everything we'd ever find these little moments, they're everywhere underneath, between, around, above, behind hey old man, look at me i'm not as blind as i pretend to be old man look at me hey old man cover up my bones... -11/17/03 (based on a Spring 2001 sketch)
12.
Expatriate II 03:37
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EXPATRIATE II I never slept the day you left The letter, stained by tears you wept Reminded me of everything I know With all the fear you held inside You packed your bags and hitched a ride Never told me why you had to go The skinny line inside your head Will feed your ghost when you feel dead From all those rivers that you cross so slow Still it feels so long ago I tore a page and read aloud Every word you'd said 'til now I built a fire on your grave You told me in that letter That you never had felt better Than the moment when you thought You had been saved The skinny line inside your head Will feed your ghost when you feel dead From all those rivers that you cross so slow Still it feels so long ago And I wonder just how everything you feel You felt alone And I'm waiting for the moment When you wrap it up And bring it all back home. -August 2000
13.
Tom 03:33
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TOM You can stagger where you stumble Thumb a one-way lift and mumble As your freedom crumbles Bundled in those vices That you’re used to knowing And when these words collide You’re not the one, just step aside And wait behind the rain Until the bells start ringing once again You’ve seen it now And you know the score A little bit less is so much more And more is more contagious That where you are So it’s time to celebrate And every market’s like a target Where you are, get out! They’re creeping in And looking out And waiting For another to begin And when the ME talks, it’s not just talking Walking past and looking in And trying to remember Any reason why it’s time to celebrate You can borrow You can gamble Steal a buck shot, wild and ambling Skirt your patience We’re still waiting For the next one to come screaming by And by the path of plenty We’re still running short of empty And the cards we’re left to carry Bury, tear you Where you scare the most Most is more, but not enough We’re laughing last and off the cuff Contagious, different stages Pages - cages Then it’s time to celebrate Tom! Don’t fall down Tom! Think back now. -11/14/01

about

Chris Anderson's 69th full-length album.

The songs that make up this album were mostly written in late 2000 and early 2001. At the time, I was performing with a band called Ebb, and writing as many songs as I could. Only a handful went on to be played by the band and, after Ebb broke up in May 2001, I immediately set out to record all the songs that were never used by the band, a few that were, and a bunch of songs that had just been written. The result was a double album called Mnemonics, an album that set in motion a prolific streak of creativity that extends to this day. Some of these songs came from a dark place, some of them came from a very optimistic place. These were all written in a more innocent, pre-9/11 time (aside from "Tom", which was the first song I wrote after that world-shattering event). There is still a great deal of material from that era that has yet to be addressed, but this album is a good start and was a lot of fun to make. Until next time...

-CA, 11/23/18

credits

released November 23, 2018

"produced" by Chris Anderson
Recorded and mixed in The Room, August 2018

"Izzy Is Born" - recorded in the Sidebar, 2011
Remixed in The Room, September 2018

CA: acoustic & electric guitars, bass, acoustic & electric mandolin, banjo, drum programming, percussion, vocals, other shit.

All songs written by Chris Anderson, 1999-2001
(c) CA / Flying Dachshund Music (BMI)



(p)(c) 2018 chris anderson / flying dachshund music. all rights reserved. share freely but those who rip me off shall tango sideways into the void.

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Chris Anderson Alexandria, Virginia

Chris is a wildly prolific songwriter who has hovered among the outskirts of the music world for over 30 years. On his own label, Flying Dachshund Music, Chris has released 154 CDs, 96 of them being full-length albums. That's just the tip of the iceberg and there are no signs of stopping. Ever.

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