Bird Songs

by Nathaniel Riley

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1.
Bird Songs 03:34
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head in the clouds rolling over mind like a weed here hell on my home broken whistle still sounds like something then the coal rocks holding me down __________________________________________________ darling oh darling you lost your mind sleeping in out here the sun grows & the stars they show i wish you could hear the bird songs __________________________________________________ what tells of you now & your life on the range those dog days squandering trumpets for trains when i hear them now it all sounds the same keep hauling these days with nothing to keep ________________________________________________ darling oh darling you lost your mind sleeping in out here the sun grows & the stars they show i wish you could hear the bird song _________________________________________________ put the boots down they don’t shine the radio always burns on your favorite song ________________________________________________ darling oh darling you lost your mind sleeping in out here the sun grows and the stars they show i wish you could hear the bird songs darling oh darling all the joy now when was it spent? you never saw what the hell was gone i wish you could hear the bird songs
2.
The By & By 03:17
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oh best believe it that we all are still breathing you’re all little pieces that proved we were human but i still take my teeth out on the night radio plays loud it's always shitty sad songs dead cigarette burned the house down ______________________________________________________ oh little horse thief don’t you look like me i guess i will see you around then all your hair it fell out nearly stepped into the sun i couldn’t see myself choke on the ash in your mouth & i stared like a statue in the ground _______________________________________________________ raised by televisions channels of other’s living visions of us on the land my mother told me that i would be sorry for leaving this world behind true sorry sight for seeing yeah i’ve gone crazy oh i’ll take it on the train toward by & by ________________________________________________________ oh don’t you worry just your own sound here that's yowling pushing pins straight through the stone oh keep on singing your horse thief is borrowing that jail time rocking is gone you better find your mothers & tell them that you love them the clock here kept standing still oh little horse thief your pale black eye is swelling i’ll take it on the by & by i’ll keep on the by & by
3.
Jacqueline 03:10
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jacqueline’s porcelain skin poured into my veins while it was still forming blue is my favorite color color of my blood before it bleeds it covered up the damn kitchen ______________________________________________________ well vagabond keep it down what the hell do you think this ain't some night life go & drink yourself to sleep blue is my favorite color color of my blood before it bleeds oh my god that fuckin kitchen ______________________________________________________ all this red on the range sting my skin a hole open full of notes slip the string i hold still see nothing old flames burning hold my breathe now running away oh my something hold this dearly say how you’d like it don’t change a thing ______________________________________________________ jacqueline's porcelain skin poured into my veins while it was still forming blue was my favorite color color of my eyes you see hung on the wall in your picture frames
4.
100 Miles 02:51
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100 miles 100 miles yes i’m far away from home it’s always been as such i don't mind if you know where this goes fare thee well fare thee well the work hour whistle blows it's time to cut my hair & be headed on down the road ___________________________________________________________ take it back sing again somehow we all used to laugh although the things they were so bad the t.v repeats it all so slow then my eyes turned to sand but my legs they can still stand i will turn this water red from the love that i had to give ____________________________________________________________ that was all just a dream down the pipe laid on the seams shut it tight i cannot see what the world went on to be so fare thee well fare thee well my times through on the carousel though all time to me is strange to be our bodies never tell
5.
Another New Year 03:44
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6.
May 03:43
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oh my mind it’s bound turning time weary ‘neath the shimmer of your shine oh i i’ll make it right hold true to come back one day maybe then i can see through your eyes disintegrate mine all the same ___________________________________________________ then the banks gave in onto our poor heads i swore could hear them say the bells are coming in this order's tall from my home here underground following the sound of feet tapping the wall ___________________________________________________ i am so sick of catching snow just let it all blow spinning the time ‘till the years turn me to bones the wingnut turns ____________________________________________________ tired old crows beak out came a sound sleep on the floor ‘till may comes around
7.
Interlude 1 01:01
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8.
Red Sun 03:15
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a red sign stopped my blank sight & if you don’t mind my eyes set to fire you were the radio & i was in laredo watching adora frame together time on some paper by the shed ____________________________________________________ my love sweet love what have you done can you plant our years in your windowsill garden i’ll crawl through the cracks & live off of grass to be all that i’ll be for each season passing through the glass ____________________________________________________ they just want everything dirty neck boys playing ball in the street _____________________________________________________ go & tell your mother that i am the one that she should call all the dogs on i was never here nor there just stuck under your nails as the trials paid to the dirt in your garden
9.
Ten Sleeps 04:06
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i heard that time treated you fine get along left me behind wood & leaves burry me in the tall ten sleeps that we climbed every eve first winter snow brought to be then i sold the horse for more whiskey & weed ______________________________________________________ miss pomeroy sold me my joy singing songs for a chain gang no it ain’t the same as any walking straight the railroad owns my name when they call for me like pulling string could you ever hear the sound in ten sleeps? _______________________________________________________ the ballroom drunken colors & dreaming of your running through south i hear the whistle blowing it's the only love that i’d ever know the weatherman is stealing all the hard earned rain to come then the whiskey done washed out all the breath from your mouth ________________________________________________________ adalone did they take you home i don’t feel like myself anymore black ties came & moved me along just like you said, not another bird song
10.
Mums 04:01
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my hand rests your face & it looks a lot like me all the lineaments stay i was my father’s only one then age took ahold of him blue eyes say hold me uncle’s arm tied ‘round the couch then he popped his last balloon 47 birthdays _________________________________________________________ don’t you sigh for me come spring i’ll be the flowers don’t sound for me i’ll be all the colors _________________________________________________________ mums bloom and propagate & i’m making my way across the prairie spent living my last days in some kind of pain no prayer to save me my pa he worked all day hauling mineral in trade, he left before me __________________________________________________________ don’t you sigh for me come spring i’ll be the flowers don’t sound for me come spring i’ll be the colors __________________________________________________________ i’m making my way back to those eastern states please god forgive me since then i carry you around with me in a tin can for nicotine it’s fine nobody knows stacked in my guitar case buried beneath so many things bird feathers falling
11.
Stone Mile Doorstep 03:15
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someday when i come home to the stone mile doorstep behind me the burning rope i let you down & they all changed the station the airwaves rang out tears through the atmosphere to stop the time ______________________________________________________________ i don’t need to know no one yes i said that i don’t mind the sun i thought that i knew it all i guess that yes i was wrong i shot the saint to sink your heart ______________________________________________________________ there will come a time when i bury my mind all those years ago nobody needs to know cast all your spells this world can never tell the tarnish from your hands forgiven by this rain lord we were gone i knew it was long done _______________________________________________________________ i don’t need to know no one our sound poured out as colors now i thought that i knew it all i guess that yes i was wrong the river floods on out your mouth
12.
Wyatt 03:58
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don’t you ever think that i will be coming clean i’m buzzing through you walls like some time machine did you paint my face on the door so you can keep the sting ______________________________________________________ i heard you found a way to keep yourself vanishing through all the liquid smoke & dropping all the kerosine then you fell so hard you bust your head so clean now you can’t see ______________________________________________________ brother did you think the air would be thin & sweet instead it stopped the sound of all our song traveling had you been listening maybe then the apples grow ______________________________________________________ then arlo said this was their favorite dream me i spent the stars all on imagining well we will be just as bright eventually put the trowel down & stop all the digging
13.
Interlude 2 00:55
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14.
I Hear Nothing 04:25
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daylights turning still i hear nothing eyesight betrayed me revolt all that i’ve seen words meant something the ink stained the page this shipwreck is haunted water drowned all its days ______________________________________________________ salute the twilight darkness passed our heroes for sand always want something yeah that never changed captain or sailor their eyes look just the same the mountains will haunt you thought them for the waves _______________________________________________________ still hear nothing that won’t stop sun killed the moon salt filled up our cups oh, hey the ash soaked black on your tongue _______________________________________________________ splinter has taken it’s place in my hand whimbrels spinning time ‘round the bend

about

Nathaniel Riley, a folk singer/songwriter from South Dakota, put in his time working the small family farm and recording melancholic melodies in his basement. Treading with years of grief that constructed a cloud full of songs that Nathaniel lugged to Colorado began the process of his debut full length album, “Bird Songs”

Nathaniel’s songscapes lean on your heartstrings, unpacking melodies like a nostalgic lucid dream. Acoustically driven, wistful lyricism and ambient instrumentation provide the bedrock for his contemporary folktales. Compiling miles of desolation, heartache, introspection and memories of the forest and the prairie’s whistle that convey him to persist. Empowering his songs their role, to be a beacon on the hill.

The sound and songs arrived abundantly, easily and honestly. Nathaniel began recording his album “Bird Songs”, with Aaron Youngberg at Swingfingers Recording Studios in Fort Collins, Colorado in September of 2020.

Darren Garvey came on as a producer for the record, bringing a grass-roots perspective and an experimental, contemporary ear.

“I always loved pushing the boundaries of genres and wanted to create something familiar to myself in a couple different ways. One of which was to bring ambient ethereal sounds to the record that may not be commonly found on records claiming to be primarily folk,” says Riley.

“I love the process of recording and the almost immortal aspect it provides,” Riley says. “You will forever hear the person’s skin on the strings, the breath before they sing. Living proof of somebody being alive, and it remains there, like a little memory box of sound forever. Itself, never changing.”

credits

released July 14, 2023

the musicians

Nathaniel Riley - Vocals/ Acoustic Guitar/ Electric Guitar/ Banjo/ Noise
Darren Garvey - Percussion/ Electric Guitar/ Electric Bass/ Keys/ Accordion/ Noise/ Harmonies
Charlie Rose - Banjo/ Pedal Steel
Caleb Bristol - Cello/ Noise
Emma Rose - Harmonies
Bridget Law - Violin
Steve Varney - Banjo
Erin Youngberg - Upright Bass
Harrison Goodale - Upright Bass/ Electric Bass
Aaron Youngberg - Noise

Recorded at Swingfingers Studio

Produced by Darren Garvey

Engineered & Mixed by Aaron Youngberg

Mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering

Artwork by Erin Joy Parrot

Layout design by Bethany Chambers

All songs written & arranged by Nathaniel Riley, except for “Mums” (written by Nathaniel Riley & Austin Kenneth Lee)

Copyright 2020 Nathaniel Riley, Fox Mouth Entertainment

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