Ocean-Born Mary, by Karen & the Sorrows

Ocean-Born Mary

by Karen & the Sorrows

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***Please note that this is a song cycle, so the four parts are interconnected and flow into each other.

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5

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Why Do We Want What We Want, Guaranteed Broken Heart, The Narrow Place, The Names of Things, and Ocean-Born Mary. , and , .

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1.	Part I: Persephone 03:27	lyrics	buy track
I was born upon the sea On a ship bound for America And though my mother fled a famine Her hunger bled into my heart It’s a birthright that I bear Even in this life beyond the flesh The pound and strum, the beat and hum The hunger song of my heart It’s calling From the underground Oh the sweetness of the falling Darling, take me down Was I spared or was I marked? Was I called to haunt or called to grace? No milk could chase that darkest taste The hunger sown into my heart Could it be this Could it be just one lonesome kiss Will you take me down? Could it be this A drop of poison for my lips Will you take me down?
2.	Part II: Caged Bird 05:17	lyrics	buy track
How do I keep it safe? Lock everything away Keep it from the light How do I make you stay? Boarded and bricked away Keep you in the night Hold on to me If you might not come back to me Why should I ever set you free? If you don’t belong to me You still should be mine If my heart’s a cage Then at least that keeps you safe If I clip your wings Don’t try to fly Why don’t you sing? Oh to be so adored Isn’t that what we’re for? What else could you need? Everything here is yours Everything but that door That belongs to me Hold on to me Why won’t you hold on to me? If I clip your wings Don’t try to fly Why won’t you sing? If I clip your wings Don’t cry Just sing
3.	Part III: A Plague on Your Houses 03:29	lyrics	buy track
A simple rhyme to seal the new Something borrowed, something blue But the ending’s not as clean Something hard and something mean So tunnel down into the dirt Or raze the city, salt the earth Buried deep without a sound Or ashes ashes on the ground Doesn’t matter what you need Choose the leaf or choose the seed One is just a hard-shelled dream One is broken by a breeze So make a map of where it hurts Make a list of which is worse And let it all come tumbling down Ashes ashes all around No If I don’t feel it I won’t go If the sky is falling down I’m still rooted to the ground No one’s going home No My heart tells me so Tied down to the mast If this ain’t gonna last Baby, you should know I won’t go down alone Take it back, take it back
4.	Part IV: All the Oceans 03:55	lyrics	buy track
Is there something I should say? Should I wish my crime away? I am not ashamed I didn’t see another way Am I left just holding bones? Did I make this grave a home? If it’s hell to haunt these walls Well, at least I’m not alone. All the oceans The deepest well, the longest rain Couldn’t wash this need away All the armies The darkest cell, the longest chain Couldn’t ever make you stay They say let him rest in peace How much can just one girl need? But I don’t care how long you stay If you’re only gonna leave Love is good but blood is better Some things have to last forever

credits

released June 28, 2012

Karen Pittelman: vocals, acoustic guitar
Elana Redfield: pedal steel, electric guitar, vocals
AJ Lewis: double bass
Tami Johnson: drums

Additional backing vocals on All the Oceans:
Charles Burst, Tara Lynne Mallon, Tami Johnson, AJ Lewis

All Songs Written by Karen Pittelman

Recorded and Mixed by Charles Burst at
Seaside Lounge, Brooklyn

Mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering, Brooklyn

Jacket Design by Jay Harlow

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about

Karen & the Sorrows Brooklyn, New York

“Like Gram Parsons, Pittelman peels away the superficiality that much of country music has embraced and looks deep into its soul, its history, and its stories and makes it all her own.”—No Depression