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Safe and Sound

by Tumbledown

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1.
Fold 04:27
She folds herself in on herself Your mother still protects her belly She knows that’s where life flows from You will find unfamiliar lines That you will feel with weakened fingers And won’t your life have changed when your eyes open… Is that one friend? Is this one foe? I’ve not the eyes to see the difference Without you beside me I stumble blindly And as for our endless sacrifices, mom Here’s my best-kept secret I don’t think we’ll live to see the difference. We won’t have seen a change nor suffered indifference. Now stand by mother and don’t you cry Hard she’ll try but pain will find you As countless parasites take arms against you What could she give up of herself To protect, to guide, to comfort? Could she beg the world to show you mercy? Is that one friend? Is this one foe? I’ve not the eyes to see the difference Without you beside me I stumble blindly And as for our endless sacrifices, mom Here’s my best-kept secret I don’t think we’ll live to see the difference. We won’t have seen a change… Tell me when to fold. Tell me when the coast is clear Show me how to cross my own lines Take a switch to me should I disobey you And as for your endless sacrifices, mom Here’s my next best secret I don’t think I’ll live to thank you enough Tell me when to fold.
2.
Perry 04:05
I am a follower of everything you do My loving predator, you’ll know this when I’m through That you are the only one with whom I know any sense of unity I long to tell you my funny little dream. The two of us were dead, though nothing really changed You were the perfect one and I was still deranged So there we stood, apparitions Poised to pounce on the unlucky ones Dreamt I was aimed at them out of my control, Perry. I am a follower wherever you may be My precious predator you’re perfect, I can see. And I see all things were born to die As you lick your fur and wipe it dry Perry, I’ve had so much die on me, too. I am a worshipper, no matter where you are Never let you fall behind, nor lead by very far And as the worms draw ever close They can tell we’re only animals But I dreamt I could keep you alive indefinitely… So I’ve heard it told- All lives love or otherwise must grow cold. All hands must hold them, and all lines must cross through you. I cross through you too, Perry. I am a follower of everything you do.
3.
Anxiety 03:41
Love, I’m so busy looking for something better I’ve missed perfection slipping out the door. Love, I get dizzy writing these cryptic letters. I’ve lost direction, closing every door. Love, there’s no reason to worry You’re here in my heart when my vision is blurry And all of this panic becomes a simple choice. But Love, how I am filled with obsessions! No one gets answers when asking me questions. And I just get lost in the vibrations in your voice. And I can never understand The wicked things people demand They wanna tear you limb from limb or make you beg for mercy from their dirty hand. I wanna know that all is fine. I wanna touch you all the time. I wanna roam within the heads of men and pour compassion on their minds. Love, don’t you dance with liars Trying to set your world on fire! No, they’re just desperate for feeling They cry when you stand and they kick when you’re kneeling Love, life is full of pressure Don’t let its cloud of tortures catch ya Though I’m told there’s reason somewhere in the fog. None of us will sleep tonight Our present fears eclipse our sight We can’t see clear because we hate the light. So none of us will sleep tonight. All my life panic, rest, panic. All my life is out the back door. All my life is slipping out sideways. And all this panic makes me sick.
4.
Rhythms 03:45
Stay low. Don’t so soon go. Some lonely unforgiving ghost Might swallow me sorrow and all. Still sore? Linger no more We’ll all be there to dance away The pain of remembering your eyes. You’d run a hundred years and come home with nothing But rhythms as clear as your eyes. Stay ‘til carelessness kills The most driven rhythm in your bones If you say “remember” I will. Still sore. Struggle no more! How high you’ll aim and far you’ll go While most of us lay dreaming.. Stories pass. The endings are nothing. But why would you leave them to chance? We tried to call you back. We cried ‘til there was nothing But rhythms as clear as your eyes. Did you see me on your way out?
5.
The Passing 04:32
Turning the channels today Smoking the reasons away Said they've already a name So soon, and someone to blame Let's keep him alive for our stones Broader our crying abounds Louder their laughter resounds Now our towers have burned Some say we'll never return to normal We're passing through slowly Your surprise seems so strange Your wars are unholy, unholy and you should change. Moving in waves tonight Crossing the ocean to fight To deliver messages of might Splashes, flashes of light. Keep him alive for our stones. Now our towers have burned Some say we'll never return to normal Never a day will pass we don't remember this, you assholes...
6.
I feel the wings given to me So they’ll spread and I will be free Once again I’m bound to leave Behind the things I once thought would save me. In the dark we’re paralyzed Dreaming through another’s eyes And if another brother dies Then, for sure, the world will hear my cries. So long, my brother, since you first came to us You were smiling like the sun that kindergartners draw. Light shined from your eyes, giving life to gray skies But now I’m in the dark and paralyzed. In the midst of summer days The kids parade and music plays And sparrows dance in sparrow ways. All the world wishes time would stand still. My brother, everybody knows Winter comes as summer goes So I’ll carry something of you And pray that men leave you in peace. So long, my brother, since I last gazed upon you. You were staring from the ground in your death trance. Blood rolled down your arm; still I held your hand And you saw my wings and begged that I fly you home. I feel the wings given to me.
7.
Taken 03:04
I confess I succumbed to temptation Descending on me like a raven. Was I blind, or drunk on ambition? A staggering fool at the point of submission. Maybe you could listen… The moon was strong and the air so tempting And the fix of her eyes said plenty. The palms of my hands were sweating And the scent of the wine told me I’d be regretting Something I was forgetting. I will find a warm place Where on my dying day I will have my last dance. It’s beautiful, but it’s not romance Her eyes were like cries for her mother. And I swear I heard Cane begging God for a new baby brother. Now what did you expect? All your thoughts blow this way. Only fools fly down here… Yes, I succumbed to temptation Opened my arms to the raven Will she fly away when he finds us? Should I be the first to flee for the lives I’d be saving? On her wings I am taken. I will find a warm place Where on my dying day I will have my last dance. It’s beautiful, but it’s not romance
8.
Chrysalis 06:53
I look to you for reason through maddening seasons Won’t you come, my light and my voice? And I keep as a chrysalis, always changing I will come with light and a choice. Everything we cover you feel is hunted By some secret, hungry and cold. So I save in a cocoon, safe from secrets We are here as providers of choice. I will change, Love. We may have lost our shelter And if so we can’t afford to lie. Our fear of heights, my dear May just be what keeps us ever high. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know our world is hell I love you more than tears might tell. To you I pray and you I save Lest this fear should bury us. I look to you for power through maddening hours Won’t you come, my light and my voice? And I save us in a cocoon, safe from secrets We are here as providers of choice. I will change, Love. Darling, I weep with you. Secrets I might keep with you Will hold us high. I will change, Love. We may have lost our shelter And if so we can’t afford to lie. Our fear of heights, my dear May just be what keeps us ever high. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know our world is hell I love you more than tears might tell. I’ve dissolved my life in yours Hoping you’ll provide the both of us With a choice. Change with me, Chrysalis.
9.
As I recall the sky was bright. I made my way to the forest while there was still light. I’d hunt for answers, armed with ego. Anywhere silence went the truth was sure to go. But the woods were dark and full of sound. A weeping sky had last night soaked the ground. I hung a dead squirrel from a dead tree To mark the twisted trail so you could find me…if necessary. I tried to sleep ‘til I heard the bird. When a raven cries his croak sounds like words I’ve never tried to hurt anyone But this shrieking voice condemned the things I’ve done. I’ve blown my days to smithereens My skies are filled with ashes And I’m spinning faster Crashing to your ocean Into your ocean… I couldn’t speak, nor hear the tones Which once was raven, and now feathers and bones. Suddenly I missed your taste So strong the reason, so wrong the strength I waste. And I shutter to think of you alone In the world I love and fear the more I roam What time will do with us I don’t know. Hold my hand…we’ll write it as we go. We’ll write it as we go.

about

Sometimes explosive and desperate and other times soft and pleading, Tumbledown's music holds up the mirror to raw emotion.

Tumbledown is a home recording project from Tom Gagne. His debut album, "Safe and Sound" covers a lot of musical ground without losing coherency. Sometimes explosive and desperate and other times soft and pleading, Tumbledown's music holds up a mirror to raw emotion.

The Tumbledown project also involves some guest appearances by online collaborators from around the country and around the world, with bass parts coming from Holland and California and saxophone parts coming from Louisiana. Neither Gagne nor any of the other musicians have ever met one another in person or even spoken on the phone. All communication and musical exchange occurs over the internet.

"Safe and Sound" could be described as a darker album that is dotted with light and hope.

credits

released January 1, 2006

Written, produced, arranged, composed and mixed by Tom Gagne

With help from:

Louisiana Steve (5 and 8): saxophone
Tjarko Busink: bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8), harmonium (9)
Mike Dunn (2 and 4): bass guitar
John Scrip: mastering

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Tumbledown Portland, Maine

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