Get all 4 Isaac Graham releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of First Drafts, Calendar Year, Glorious Momentum, and Empty Vessels.
1. |
Resolutions
03:40
|
|||
|
Happy New Year’s Day my friends
Let’s hope the party never ends
May this year be better than the last
And I hope you find some happiness
Amongst all of the bitterness
Let us not dwell too long on the past
And I know that last year
Was difficult and testing
But I knew that you’d make it through
And I hope that you’re stronger
For all of the hardship
And this year brings something new
May no acquaintance be forgot
Remember all that you’ve been taught
Let us take our time and stay the course
Free yourself from the negative
And give yourself a chance to live
And when you fall get straight back on the horse
And I think we forget
How to act in our best interests
But some things are worth a good fight
And all that I want
Is to see your potential
And know that you’re doing alright
So forgive yourself as you take stock
Pay less attention to the clock
Take ownership of everything you choose
And let go of that false control
And find the thing that makes you whole
Make sure you’ve got something left to lose
And I’m taking this moment
To write a new chapter
About how nothing goes to plan
And I’m slowly but surely
Accepting the fact
That nobody knows how the fuck this all ends
Because I want for us all
To stay closer together
And not drink away how we feel
Because I’m getting tired
Of discussing the weather
I just want to say something real
For a change
|
||||
2. |
Something’s Wrong
03:50
|
|||
|
There is something wrong at the heart of this nation
You can see it in disparities in health and education
It’s a crack that runs along the wall and into the foundation
Something's wrong
And our history is short but too often it’s forgotten
And all that we have left behind is a legacy that’s rotten
It’s time for us to concentrate on things we have in common
Something’s wrong
So what can we say when there’s so much left unspoken?
How can we fix all of the things that we have broken?
And what should we believe when we don’t know what is real?
And how should I feel when I don’t know how to feel?
And this should be a day for us to lessen the divide
To acknowledge past mistakes and keep on building future ties
When your history and culture are stolen and denied
There’s something wrong
So what can we say when there’s so much left unspoken?
How can we fix all of the things that we have broken?
And what should we believe when we don’t know what is real?
And how should I feel when I don’t know how to feel?
And today’s the day we celebrate
The day the white man washed up on the shore
But amongst all of the fanfare
I can’t help but feel a little bit unsure
And this is not my legacy
But it is still a part of me
There’s no way that I could understand
How it feels to have someone
Take away your children and your land
So what can we say when there’s so much left unspoken?
How can we fix all of the things that we have broken?
And what should we believe when we don’t know what is real?
And how should I feel when I don’t know how to feel?
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
I stepped out of a taxi
With three of my best friends
And we walked into The Porterhouse
About quarter to ten
And there was a large part of me
That wasn’t feeling fine
It was Saint Patrick’s Day
Two thousand and nine
And the people kept appearing
Walking up from Central Station
As I was getting overwhelmed
With awkward conversations
‘Cause I’m the kind of guy that cares
What other people think
You should’ve seen my face
When I dropped those drinks
And I just want this evening to be over
‘Cause I don’t think I’ll ever find that four-leaf clover
And I don’t know who I am talking to
I’m all dressed up in green but I’m feeling blue
And I was feeling quite defeated
When a friend drew my attention
To the girl sat in the corner
Looking right in my direction
But before I could react
She made a beeline straight to me
She said, “Do you think you can move?”
“I can’t see the TV!”
And I just want this evening to be over
‘Cause I don’t think I’ll ever find that four-leaf clover
And I don’t know who I am talking to
I’m all dressed up in green but I’m feeling blue
And Patrick was a man
Who chose a life of true devotion
He took all of the snakes
And sent them back into the ocean
And he was well-known
For his goodwill and piety
But I bet that he never had
Social anxiety
And I just want this evening to be over
‘Cause I don’t think I’ll ever find that four-leaf clover
And I don’t know who I am talking to
I’m all dressed up in green but I’m feeling blue
And there is nothing more that I can do
I’m all dressed up in green but I’m feeling blue.
|
||||
4. |
Long Weekend
04:35
|
|||
|
How I wish it was summer
With the sun on our skin
But it seems this autumn rain is setting in
Without a map or a compass
Broken pioneers
And it feels like we haven’t played these songs in years
‘Cause I don’t know how they go
But I still care if it shows
Meet me by the river at the old S-bend
We’re leaving after work on a long weekend
And there’ll be something better for us
When we make amends
We don’t need a reason for a long weekend
In the middle of nowhere
In the heat of the day
And if we never made it home that’d be OK
‘Cause we could just keep on driving
Until the money ran out
And one day we just might figure it out
‘Cause I don’t know how it goes
But I still care if it shows
Meet me by the river at the old S-bend
We’re leaving after work on a long weekend
And there’ll be something better for us
When we make amends
We don’t need a reason for a long weekend
And I don’t need someone
To go and die for my sins
We don’t need a reason for a long weekend
|
||||
5. |
Every Dog
03:23
|
|||
|
And I cannot believe that it has been
Another year gone by
Since I last blew out these candles
With a long half-hearted sigh
As I find myself becoming
Less excited at the thought
Of growing up and slowly learning
All the things that I’ve been taught
And if I had to make a wish this year
I’d probably say that I would
Try to reconnect with all my friends
‘Cause it would do me good
To spend a little less time thinking
About spending time alone
But some days it takes a miracle
To just pick up that phone
But we made it through another broken year
In spite of all our doubts and all our fears
So you and I are gonna go
And drink this night away
‘Cause every dog will have its day
And on this day I cannot help but think
About the hospital
And the day that I came screaming
Into this beautiful world
And my uncle said that he’d be OK
Once he gets a start
But I’m still holding onto something
Deep inside this broken heart
But we made it through another broken year
In spite of all our doubts and all our fears
So you and I are gonna go
And drink this night away
‘Cause every dog will have its...
Day by day of reckoning
Who knows what this year will bring
And I am scared of everything
And I just hope that I know how to...
Make it through another broken year
In spite of all our doubts and all our fears
So you and I are gonna go
And drink this night away
‘Cause every dog will have its day
|
||||
6. |
Do It For Yourself
02:58
|
|||
|
There are days that I feel worthless
Undeserving of this life
So I try to keep my distance from my friends
And I work hard to save my money
So I can keep on making music
But it feels like every means is to an ends
So when you’re lying all alone at night
With those dreams high on a shelf
Remember baby, just do it for yourself
There are nights that I get jealous
At the success of other people
So I remind myself that patience is the key
To unlock the door between
Where I am and where I’m going
I can hear the future but I don’t think it hears me
So when you’re lying all alone at night
With those dreams high on a shelf
Remember baby, just do it for yourself
And I get so scared
‘Cause I don’t know what I’m doing
I’ve burned bridges
And rubbed salt in open wounds
But I will always be
Little fish, big stream
But now at least
It feels OK to dream
So try your best to never forget what counts
That it’s not for fame or wealth
Remember baby, just do it for yourself
|
||||
7. |
Augusta
04:10
|
|||
|
The morning dew is sleeping
On top of the first fairway
And it’s looking like it’s going to be
A beautiful day
And I am three beers down
Before I even swing
Too drunk to be competitive
But drunk enough to win
And they say they haven’t seen me
Since I was at least this tall
And they ask me how my mother’s been
And I say, “She’s doing well”
I see faces that I know
But I don’t remember names
‘Cause names, they don’t mean nothing
When the stories never change
Last year we lost a daughter
This year we lost a son
But the population sign it reads
Seven thousand and one
And if I plan to make this seven iron
Over the water
I am gonna need to find
All the strength that I can muster
It’s not much but this is my Augusta
And the only words of wisdom
My father spoke true
Is no matter what life delivers
Swing hard and follow through
And God I bless his soul
He makes the same joke every year
He says, “You boys deserve the longest drive”
“‘Cause you drove the furthest here”
Last year we lost a daughter
This year we lost a son
But the population sign it reads
Seven thousand and one
And if I plan to make this seven iron
Over the water
I am gonna need to find
All the strength that I can muster
It’s not much but this is my Augusta
And if, God forbid, I ever
Go before my time
Take all of my ashes
Down to the riverside
And pour them in the water
Underneath the bridge
Near the sharks that I believed in
When I was a kid
|
||||
8. |
Daniel Day
03:16
|
|||
|
Dress up in the best clothes that you own
Raise a glass and send out the parade
Make sure all the fireworks explode at the same time
Don’t you know that it’s Daniel Day?
Find a way to cancel all your plans
Shut down all the banks and all the schools
Sing songs from the years gone by with our healthy lungs
Have you not heard that it’s Daniel Day?
Today, my dear brother, is the day we celebrate
All the reasons that I think you are so fucking great
And I hope that if you find yourself alone on this day
That this song does nothing for you
Go out and get drunk
So take something from everyone you know
And call up some old friends that you haven’t seen
And tell them that you hate them all as you hug it out
Because they forgot that it’s Daniel Day
Back in the 1800’s workers fought for our rights
To keep the working day from stretching into working night
But on the day that you were born
They made a long weekend just for you
And I hope to God that you never learn the truth
So pour yourself another birthday drink
And fall asleep in front of the TV
And dream of all the things that you know that you can be
Fucking aye, it’s Daniel Day.
|
||||
9. |
Stayer
03:30
|
|||
|
And I swear to God this is gonna be my year
When the stars align and everything is clear
When they come a-chargin’ ‘round that final corner
And settle down into that perfect order
And I’ve spent it all before the race is run
And I’ve settled all my debts at the starter’s gun
And my heart stands still for far too long today
As they’re running for their lives without any pay
And I can’t believe that I still believe I can win
Put it all on black and we took that final spin
And in the newspaper they said she was a stayer
But nobody mentioned that she wouldn’t be a payer
Now everybody seems to know someone who has won
Someone who deserved it for the things that they’ve done
It’s the busdriver, it’s shopkeep, it’s the nurse
It’s the old lady with a dollar in her purse
And I can’t believe that I still believe I can win
Put it all on black and we took that final spin
And in the newspaper they said she was a stayer
But nobody mentioned that she wouldn’t be a payer
And can you smell the cigarettes and beer?
And can you taste the hopelessness and the fear?
It’s a day that I will not fail to remember
Three p.m., first Tuesday in November
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
I can hear my cousins and brothers
They are playing on the trampoline
I am holding a plastic controller
Staring at a TV screen
And I have got a series of problems
That I need to solve
And I have got a couple of levels
Until I am ready to evolve
And it’s Christmas Day, thirty-five degrees
I am rolling up both my sleeves
Because I have got some work to do
If I am going to rescue you
Do you remember Christmas ‘98?
When we unwrapped that new console
And suddenly the world around us
Was three-dimensional
They say you never really know someone
Until you ascertain their skill
At multiplayer Goldeneye
Facility, one-hit kill
And it’s Christmas Day, thirty-five degrees
I am rolling up both my sleeves
Because I have got some work to do
If I am going to rescue you
And I never felt more like a kid
Than when we were playing Alex Kidd
And I thought that this was supposed to be
A time of forgiveness
But it looks like video games
Have once again saved Christmas
Let’s close the door
And just let everything disappear
And I don’t know how long
That this feeling can last
But video games
Are my link to the past
And the way we’re playing
We’ll be finished by the new year
And it’s Christmas Day with a chance of rain
I am stuck in Forest Temple again
Because I don’t have a good walkthrough
How am I going to rescue you?
|
||||
11. |
Summer Punch
03:27
|
|||
|
Do you remember our first New Year’s Eve?
Well, I was so scared that I wanted to leave
‘Cause when you stumbled in, you lit up that room
And my heart it was filled with a new sense of doom
And the beer I was drinking tasted like old shampoo
And all that I wanted was to get close to you
And play you some songs on that four-stringed guitar
But the chords were all different, I didn’t get very far
Happy days, happy days, happy days, happy days
May the rest of our lives be much of the same
So I rode my bike home with your song in my head
And found my dear brother passed out in my bed
And as the January sun rose over the streets
I fashioned a mattress out of pillows and sheets
And as I lay sleeping on those cold kitchen tiles
My mind it kept wandering back to your sweet smile
And how you had told me that you had skipped lunch
So that you could keep drinking that sweet summer punch
Happy days, happy days, happy days, happy days
May the rest of our lives be much of the same
|
||||
If you like Isaac Graham, you may also like:
supported by 4 fans who also own “Calendar Year”
When you just feel like killing a few cells in your liver, and hear a sad Australian belt his broken heart out.
go to album
Wipe That Shit-Eating Grin Off Your Punchable Face
by The Smith Street Band
supported by 4 fans who also own “Calendar Year”
Convention & Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Read it. Make up your own mind. I have, and I think that the sentiments expressed in Punchable Face, pretty much mirror my own when it comes to refugees / asylum seekers, and how Abbott is a bad, bad man who has caused so much hurt and suffering. People should have the right to seek asylum, no matter their modes of transport. "Real Australians Say Welcome."
go to album
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
A vibrant vision of "Central Americana" from the Costa Rica-based artist, blending heartland devotionals with playful Tropicália grooves.
go to album
Meet Me at the River
by Dawn Landes
On “Meet Me By the River,” Dawn Landes’s self-described “Nashville record,” buoyant country melodies settle deep into lush instrumentation.
go to album
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach.
go to album
