The Narrow Place
by Karen & the Sorrows
johndre3000
johndre3000
Country yearnin', minus the "yee-haw my dog" is dead trope...heartfelt, rawkus, and LGBQT-tootin'...outstanding stuff!
Favorite track: I Was Just Your Fool.
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumLimited edition LP pressed on 150-gram transparent lavender vinyl in honor of Patrick Haggerty's Lavender Country, the first queer country album, released in 1973. Designed by Liz Daggar with beautiful full color lyric sheet.
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumDigipack CD designed by Liz Daggar.
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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.
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1. |
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How many times did I
See the signs
But I told myself why
Not give it one more try
How many times with these
Same little plans
With these
Same little hands
Singing oh no, this is different
How many times
Must the bottom fall out?
How many times
Must the walls get torn down?
Till I make my roof the sky?
Build your house up
Oh you made it strong
Made it last the storm
But it ain’t over
Till the wolf comes
With his mighty curse
With his heart of hurt
And blows it
Back down to the dirt
Out with the straw
Out with the sticks
I started again
And I went with the bricks
Closer to you
Or just closer to hell?
Well I bricked the windows
So it’s hard to tell
Bolt the boards
Still the bottom falls out
Shore the walls
Still it all gets torn down
Oh just make your roof the sky
Build your house up
Oh you made it strong
Made it last the storm
But it ain’t over
Till the wolf comes
With his mighty curse
With his heart of hurt
And blows it
Back down to the dirt
Now baby who’s afraid
Of that bad wolf?
I should have been afraid
Why weren’t we afraid?
Now baby be afraid
Of that bad wolf
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2. |
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There’s the way things are
And the way that they could be
I got pretty good
At living in between
All those people on the tv screen
Playing out my favorite dream
Made it seem like something we could touch
A home, a family
Our own little magnolia tree
But it was just something we watched
And you say
Can’t miss what you never had
But I do
I was living on fumes
But now I miss the smell
That oilcan shimmer of hope that says
You never can tell
Now you’re running as fast as you can
Away from this never-never land
Where no pixie dust ever made us fly
But I’m still on my window sill
Watching the night sky
Wishing I were wishing you’d arrive
And you say
Can’t miss what you never had
But I do
All these what ifs and wonderings
All my hoping that something
Could make this wish true
Can’t miss what you never had
But I do
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3. |
The Wire
03:59
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Hold your breath beneath the reeds
Still the wire it will find you
See it clawing up the leaves
Its light burning through the trees
You will lose everything
Will you make it through unseen?
Or become their precious thing?
Whisper wait into the wire
But it won’t wait, it won’t wait
It won’t wait
You will lose everything
How long, how long
How long till it’s your turn?
Let me be
Not consumed but burn
How long, how long
How long till you learn
That you will lose everything
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4. |
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How much further out can the outside be?
Nothing but this desert far as I can see
I remember how the Red Sea used to sing
I remember how it swallowed everything
Let the compass spin
Turn me round again
Doesn't matter if it's here
Doesn't matter if it's there
Any place without you is nowhere
I was split when I was known
Always one half in danger, one half home
Scarred my tongue to keep my secret safe
Now my secret's all that I can taste
Let the compass spin
Turn me round again
Doesn't matter if it's here
Doesn't matter if it's there
Any place without you is nowhere
All these bones
On the other shore
How my sister sang
But I don’t sing no more
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5. |
Take Me for a Ride
04:07
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We can’t say we’ve just begun
No, this ain’t our first time
We can’t blame it on we’re young
I see those laugh lines
Why don’t you drive by tonight
Come take me for a ride
Let those clock hands spin round round
Let that big sun fall down down
Let me take you on the town
Don’t care what those folks say
I don’t even have one doubt
Wanna kiss that pretty mouth
And then keep on kissin’ south
Cause you’re still the girl I dream about
All these years and I’m not bored
Oh no, baby
Cause oh my lord, here comes my girl
In a flatbed Ford
Why don’t you drive by tonight
Come take me for a ride
Let those clock hands spin round round
Let that big sun fall down down
Let me take you on the town
Don’t care what those folks say
I don’t even have one doubt
Wanna kiss that pretty mouth
And then keep on kissin’ south
Cause you’re still the girl I dream about
Ride, ride, ride
C’mon, cowgirl
Ride, ride, ride
If we don’t then who will?
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6. |
The Man Who Loves You
03:33
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I know this world don’t treat you right
Day in, day out, it’s a fight
I know you dream of an escape
Some superman to kill the pain
I wish that I were born that strong
Wish I could wave some magic wand
But I can hold you all night long
Ain’t that enough?
I am just the man who loves you
I can’t grow no wings
Fly you away from things
I can’t clear the clouds above you
But I can stand this ground
Won’t be turned around
Cause baby I’m the man who loves you
If I’m the rock and not the rain
If I’m the dirt, not the flame
If I’m the bass note underneath
Not some high, sweet melody
If all that glitters lets you down
If it can’t block the next day’s sun
Baby, I’ll still be around
Ain’t that enough?
I am just the man who loves you
I can’t grow no wings
Fly you away from things
I can’t clear the clouds above you
But I can stand this ground
Won’t be turned around
Cause baby I’m the man who…
When it’s dark, when everything
Falls apart
Still sees your pure, clear, perfect heart
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7. |
The Price of the Ticket
04:24
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“Later, in the midnight hour, the missing identity aches.”
—James Baldwin
Write your notes back to home
In an alphabet they can’t read
Save your change for the phone
But no line could ever reach back
To a person that you’ll never be
To a country that you’ll never see
To a language that you’ll never speak
La dai dai…
Did you fall so far?
Somewhere they never dreamed
Did they make you the star
Of a story that never rings true
About a person that you’ll never be
And a country that you’ll never see
In a language that you’ll never speak
La dai dai…
If they held us down, hold me up
Hold them down to hold us up
Did I hold you down to hold me up?
When will we just rise up?
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8. |
Walk Through the Desert
04:50
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When they write what has happened here
It will seem so clear, like we knew
All that loss, all the haze and fear
It will disappear like the truth
I don’t know why but I
Walked through the desert all night
Walked through it all my life
And I don’t know why
There’s a fire on the mountaintop
But in my black heart only smoke
What I’d give for the flames to stop
For this god to turn back to ghost
I don’t know why but I
Walked through the desert all night
Walked through it all my life
And I don’t know why
Why throw it all away?
What if we could have stayed?
All that we’ve done is trade
A grave for grave
A plague for plague
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9. |
Do It for Myself
04:30
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You say don’t wait
We all make our own fate
Take what you gotta take
To get to what you need
Be your own girl
Captain of your own world
Show ‘em how you stay alive
All alone at sea
So if you won’t turn back and
Take me in your arms and
Say I was always the one
If you won’t listen to your heart
Pick up that guitar
And write me this song
Guess I’ll do it for myself
Why should I miss
Worrying and wondering
Now I ain’t got nothing
To worry bout but me
And all these dreams
I thought you dreamed too
Now it’s just me who
Has to believe
So don’t you turn back and
Take me in your arms and
Say I was always the one
Don’t you listen to your heart
Don’t pick up that guitar
Don’t write me this song
I’ll just do it for myself
And oh who needs this part?
Oh take me back to the start
You say don’t wait
We all make our own fate
Take what you gotta take
To get to what you need
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10. |
I Was Just Your Fool
04:23
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Every heart
Like every stage
Has the same stock parts
The one in distress
The hero to the rescue
And the villain lurking in the dark
Oh I wasn't sure
Which part you'd choose for me
If I wasn't your star
I hoped I'd play a lead
But I was just your fool
Is this one of those plays
Where only the fool is
Free to tell the truth?
Why should I care?
If you don't love me
Than what good does that truth do?
Someone rewrite this script
Turn its world upside down
Put a poor child on the throne
And make the queen love the clown
Cause I was just your fool
Tear up these rags I wore
Tear out the page
Tear down this sad, cheap set and
Burn down the stage
I won’t be your fool
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11. |
Everything We Had
04:14
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I was writing this song
For a long time before now
But I kept changing the words
Because I didn’t want to know them
I didn’t want to break your heart
I didn’t want you to break mine
But if you gave everything you had
And I gave everything I had
And it wasn’t enough
What could ever be enough?
If we’ve got nothing left but loss
Oh my darlin, don’t you cry
Let the music stay with us
River deep and mountain high
I know I’ll always have your heart
And you’ll always have mine
But if you gave everything you had
And I gave everything I had
And it wasn’t enough
What could ever be enough?
All of our wrongs
All of rights
All of our darkness
All of our light
Every star we couldn’t see in the cold dark night
Everything we had
And if I broke your heart
And if you broke mine
It just wasn’t enough
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credits
released August 25, 2017
All songs written by Karen Pittelman
Recorded and mixed by Charles Burst at Seaside Lounge, Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering, Brooklyn, NY
Album design by Elizabeth Daggar, Electrofork
Karen Pittelman: vocals, acoustic guitar
Elana Redfield: pedal steel guitar, electric guitar
Tami Johnson: drums
Gerard Kouwenhoven: bass, backing vocals
With:
Julia Read: fiddle
J.B. Flatt: Hammond organ and Wurlitzer
Tara Lynne Mallon: backing vocals
Charles Burst: bass on “Back Down to the Dirt”
Sonia Alexander, Anya Rous, Eli Oberman, and Ariel Speedwagon: backing vocals on “The Price of the Ticket”
karenandthesorrows.com
©2017 Ocean Born Mary Music (ASCAP)
All songs written by Karen Pittelman
Recorded and mixed by Charles Burst at Seaside Lounge, Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering, Brooklyn, NY
Album design by Elizabeth Daggar, Electrofork
Karen Pittelman: vocals, acoustic guitar
Elana Redfield: pedal steel guitar, electric guitar
Tami Johnson: drums
Gerard Kouwenhoven: bass, backing vocals
With:
Julia Read: fiddle
J.B. Flatt: Hammond organ and Wurlitzer
Tara Lynne Mallon: backing vocals
Charles Burst: bass on “Back Down to the Dirt”
Sonia Alexander, Anya Rous, Eli Oberman, and Ariel Speedwagon: backing vocals on “The Price of the Ticket”
karenandthesorrows.com
©2017 Ocean Born Mary Music (ASCAP)
license
all rights reserved
tags
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
discography
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Sep 2023 -
Oct 2019 -
Aug 2017 -
May 2014 -
Jun 2012