the River Girl

July 5, 2007 6:53 PM

A song by my band, the Notes and Scratches, kind of about Vivian Eliot and featuring a bunch of water. I sing and play the acoustic and the harmonium.

posted by verysleeping (14 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite

This was the last song we recorded on our last record; you can kind of hear that we've been awake for two days and are seeing our second sunrise...

Hope you enjoy it, and hey, the Mefi Music Challenge is a great great thing, nice work everyone!

Lyrics:

There's one route to make your way out:
The road that runs straight through the hospital gate.
Follow that east to the blood-muddied creek,
there's a rowboat there tied to an oak tree.

Untie the boat, board it, push out.
The lost wind will coax you on through to the current.
The overhung trees are the lushest green curtain;
the worm's always cursing the finches.

I remember the silences and I remember the shouts.
I remember the nurses explaining, saying her time had run out.

Cicadas will sing to you, jaybirds and starlings,
the creek will soon merge with the river.
Look in that water, your paleness reflected,
tired and beautiful for it.

Offer your skeletons' names to the water;
it's deep, it'll surely remember.
Look 'round the next bend, our house on the river.
I hope you can make it here Vivian.
posted by verysleeping at 6:59 PM on July 5, 2007


I've listened to that whole record a bunch and I love your voice and music so much. What a great song this is. Hooray!
posted by melissa may at 7:45 PM on July 5, 2007


I'm starting to feel stupid for having nothing more to add than "Wow, that's a beautiful song," but I don't.

Wow, that's a beautiful song.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:14 PM on July 5, 2007


Hooray for The Notes and Scratches! It really is a wonderful song/album. Thanks for sharing it here.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:33 AM on July 6, 2007


Danged good, man. Shanty like nobody's business—shades of McGnarley's Rant and Jason Webley. The whole production is just lovely.
posted by cortex at 8:38 AM on July 6, 2007


This is fantastic - full and deep.

The ending is truly and thoroughly KICKASS.
posted by ORthey at 11:27 AM on July 6, 2007


Hey, that's great. Really well mixed; a great full sound. There's a late-Tom Waits sound to it that I like.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:31 AM on July 6, 2007


verysleeping, I think I'm a little slow because I just noticed that you said the song was about Vivian Eliot. Man, now I like it even more.

I just wanted to say that "The Hours" is my fave song on the album, but this one fits in with the theme and all that...
posted by sleepy pete at 3:32 PM on July 6, 2007


I love this so much.
posted by headspace at 10:09 AM on July 7, 2007


Just gorgeous; loved it so much that I had to chase down the album melissa may and sleepy pete mentioned and buy it.

totally not affiliated or even acquainted with very sleeping, totally not getting a kickback
posted by donnagirl at 4:04 PM on July 7, 2007


Great song. I've listened to "In the City of Eggtimers" about a bazillion times. Guess I better get off my ass and get the entire album.
posted by gamera at 10:05 PM on July 7, 2007


Yes buy it! The Notes and Scratches are not only a wonderful band, but verysleeping and the rest are some of the nicest people (let alone musicians!) that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:22 PM on July 11, 2007


Very nice. Reminded me of Tom Waits too (even before I saw wemayfreeze's comment).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:56 PM on July 27, 2007


Wow, thanks everyone for the very very nice compliments. I ought to mention that all of the musicians I play with are unbelievable geniuses. I show up with a few chords and a sore throat and they all transform that into songs like this...
posted by verysleeping at 1:31 PM on July 31, 2007


« Older ripples   |   Dance of the Ice Crab Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments