By The Back Stair

by banded stilts

By The Back Stair cover art
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1.
04:24
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2.
05:00
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3.
03:47
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4.
04:18
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5.
04:37
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6.
03:52
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about

"By The Back Stair" was recorded with Don Mackay at Spaces Between Studios in Halifax, NS, March 2011.

credits

released 09 June 2011
Steve Haley - guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals
Brad Lannon - mandolin, piano, vocals
Marc Fagan - guitar, banjo, vocals
Travis Hatcher - bass and vocals
Reid Shepherd - percussion and vocals

tags

tags: back stair banded stilts folk forest indie Canada

license

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about

Banded Stilts' are a alternative-folk band that play unique singer-songwriter tunes backed by a folk ensemble of man- dolin, ... more banjo, violin, keys, guitars and drums. The sometimes odd lyrics, beautiful melodies, folk styling and storytelling narratives of lead singer/songwriter Steve Haley appeal to young and old alike. The band is currently back in the studio recording their debut LP. less

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Track Name: Forest, Oh Forest, Protect Me
we were lovers in the autumn
dead leaves in your hair
embers dancing with the stars
on the trails of the air
forest oh forest protect me
in your giving arms
lure me into majesty
with your humbling charm

maybe i'm right
i've been wrong many times before
the future seems bright
we're staring straight at a fiery sun

you were just a common stranger
looking for a ride
I was looking for someone
to hide in
came to branching paths in the wood
we broke out in a run
took the one less travelled just for fun
Track Name: Full Swing
we were setting up for the river gold rush
wade in to our knees
bend and drop your pan, wash it from the sand
thankful for a breeze
the strikes came on fast
folks said this would last
the rush was in full swing
you got sick that year and we shed our tears
when you didn't see spring

began walking that lonesome road
Many have been there but have never come home

i cried real hard then
first time since I was ten and my father died
he worked in an age when work meant something strange
unknown in most our lives
pillars of the earth shifted in the earth
can wear a body down
after our dying days will we wander as strays
never to be found

walking that lonesome road
many have been there but have never come home
please come home

must be forty degrees
sun lifts above the trees
trying to get the best of me
and I cannot shake this fiery, burning ache
that's risen in my chest "oh please.."
all the gold on this claim could not return the pain
that's rattling through my bones
somewhere in my mind
i begin to climb that dark and lonesome roam

walking that lonesome road
many have been there but have never come home
please come home
Track Name: You Tried To Give Your Heart Away
you like to start your swim at the bottom
where your body can swim across the oceans bed
i don't really care where I end up
so long as it's in over my head

you tried to give your heart away
but no one wanted it because it had two legs
of its own and it walked the other way
towards somebody's home

it don't speak to living things
the walk is draining its weary eyes
swollen knees

you like to start your falls from the tops of trees
dive in to a blanket of fallen leaves
i like jumping from building to building
so i don't have to walk below

where i don't have to speak to living things
the walk is draining my weary eyes
swollen knees

you tried to give your heart away
but no one wanted it
cause it had two legs
of its own
Track Name: The Owls
i grew up around the woods
like anyone here did the same
things get odd
dark comes creeping through a town
seems insane
it's like walking streets inside a dream
where the owls are not what they seem
go to work, do as I'm told
i drive my car, I want to scream

i will try to fly
before my days are over
i will leave this all behind and
in the shadow of those wings
you will sing

we would sing the night away
birds would join in
we'd drink till' day
to the hillside, to the moon
we knew it had to happen soon
transported out on a beam
and the owls are not what they seem
questioning folks that I know
and all of the talk on the screens

i will try to fly
before my days are over
i will leave this all behind and
in the shadow of those wings
you will sing

it is time to go
pray for hollow bones
light enough for the wind to carry me
light enough to hold
heading towards my home
heading towards those cliffs and shores
where I spent hours and hours..
Track Name: Anything With Legs
humid summer's day
you're thinking of leaving
this townin your dust
you pack up your bags
call a friend eastward
you're bound to be leaving by noon
before your folks come home
so you're leaving a note to tell them
why you're walking away
"because I can and I am
like anything with legs,
i will write when I'm doing okay"

i fell asleep on the bus as it turned onto the highway
i dreamed that I saw you at every stop that we made
you were selling white roses to all the passerby' s
reading your lips you were speaking my name

the city is cold
the city is hard
but it warms with a heat all its own
that melts every flake
falling on the pavement
before they have time to comform
the musical streets are keeping you rooted
have planted you firm where you stand
at a drunk irish pub you're reminded of home
so you leave without holding a hand

when my head hit the pillow I was gone from my room
i dreamed that i saw you on a nice afternoon
you were sharing your stories and drinking the time
the night came to fast you were gone from my sight

i fell asleep on the bus as it turned onto the highway
i dreamed that I saw you at every stop that we made
you were selling white roses to all the passerby' s
reading your lips you were speaking my name
Track Name: Flee Into The Autumn Dark
a wintry storm in the middle of march
the bones need to rid the cold
people will sit and freeze on their front steps
waiting to do as they're told

i'll make my way to a bar across town
to see what the night drags in
a room full of bores but the whiskey pours
it's the way that it's always been

the kitchen is full of rosy cheeked companions
who'll sing until their throats are hoarse
people nod off, others openly retire
the night has to run its course

i'll take my time with this bottle of wine
toast to their sleeping heads
that i might get mine before yo get yours
i'll let you know how it's been

the dew of the morning creeps under my skin
scares all the warmth away
i step on the leaves, dead under my feet
the seasons will turn again

unchanging dreams are a dangerous thing
like running with anything sharp
but run i can try and with no peering eyes
i'll flee into the autumn dark