We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

When I Stayed Home

by JAMES GORDON

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9.99 CAD  or more

     

1.
Freight train rolling through a restless town Whistle blows, that’s a lonesome sound Two shorts and a long as the sun goes down All along the great divide On the east side when the shadows are long It’s like your living inside a Tom Waits Song An American dream that’s gone all wrong All along the great divide It’s not just the tracks that split this town It’s a system built to keep you down If you don’t have the money and your skin is brown Then slavery’s alive All along the great divide On the west side everything’s pretty and green Like the cover of a high-toned Magazine Safe behind their gates, not a soul to be seen All along the great divide On the east side you can get shot in the back For the crime of walking down the street while black And that train keeps rolling, clickety clack All along the great divide Oh, it’s a ghost train ride The wound is open and it is wide You can’t cross over to the other side All along the great divide
2.
In this year of grief and sorrow When winter wouldn’t go away We dream about a new tomorrow When we can all go out and play When this storm is finally weathered When we know this war is won We will dance and sing together Like we did when we were young We are broken but we’ll mend If we can just stay safe till then on the day that all ends We’ll hold each other close again We are broken but we’ll mend We all miss the human touch Hand in Hand and heart to heart There is only so much You feel from 6 feet apart We’ll do an old-fashioned slow dance To ‘At Last’ by Etta James Will we remember how to romance Stir those embers into flames?
3.
Winters are colder And the summer’s too warm Seems like every season, We get a hundred-year storm Water is rising, water is rising The fishery’s gone And the tourists are too We had to sell the store What else can we do? Water is rising, water is rising They tell us not to worry, things like this happen It’ll be better next year But they said that about the buffalo I think we’ve heard enough to know That the good old days aren’t comin’ back ‘round here My brother in Vicksburg Says the fields are too wet They won’t get off a crop But you-know-who says it ain’t bad yet Water is rising, water is rising Out on the coast, They’ve got wildfires and drought How can anybody say That they still have their doubts Water is rising, water is rising Over in Africa They’re getting it the worst Why does it always seem That the poor folks get it first? Water is rising, water is rising
4.
Molly's Song 04:29
I looked for you Molly where the morning sun breaks Over the pines along the shoreline around your beloved lake Or on the ski trail in the backwoods on the freshly fallen snow All the magic places where I know you always loved to go You weren’t there, you weren’t there And you were everywhere I looked for you Molly underneath the spotlight’s glow On the stage where you knew the way to steal hearts and the show On the endless road we travelled together for so long Or in between the lines of your fearless songs You weren’t there, you weren’t there, And you were everywhere. When you play a little harder Live your life a little larger Reach a little farther than most for the sky When a heart that beat so strong is stilled It leaves a bigger whole to fill Makes you wonder how we will survive When you’re not there, and you are everywhere I looked for you Molly where a sail might catch a breeze Or in a dark room you could lighten up, where you’d put us all at ease Where your bass line would hold down a badass beat Where your laughter used to mask the tears that lurked down underneath You weren’t there, you weren’t there. And you were everywhere. I guess you would have teased me about this song You’d say it’s too sentimental, and I got the groove all wrong It could’a been a little more Motown, a little more soul A little more rock, and a little more roll
5.
Times are hard, we know that for sure Folks feel alone and they’re all scared We all yearn to Find somewhere that we can to turn to If we look into our hearts we’ll find it there I’d like to tell you tonight Everything’s gonna be all right But I don’t know if that is really true All I can say Is I’ll be with you all the way And our love is our best chance to make it through Feeling stuck, but we’re stuck together In an unknown No-Man’s Land Hard to see the other side But we’re all on the same ride Holding metaphorical hands
6.
As the smiling moon rises it shines just like silver As the sun fades the river runs golden And the waking stars scatter bright diamonds on the water Such riches the Severn is holding Hard times come and go They ebb and they flow Leaving us battered and scarred But as our love grows The river knows And she holds us safe in her arms Sit down beside her, she’s a kindly provider And watch life’s sweet miracles unfolding Her banks lined with fine fragrant cedars and pines Such riches the Severn is holding
7.
As your memories fade away It won’t be long now Only one seems to remain It won’t be long now Of a place you left so far behind It won’t be long now Before this terror stole your mind It won’t be long now You’re going home to Sandford Avenue Home, where your mother waits for you You can play the day away It won’t be long now Don’t you worry you can stay It won’t be long now You’ll be safe in Greenwood Park It won’t be long now Till the streetlights come on at dark It won’t be long now Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing Onward, the sailors cry Carry the lad that's born to be King Over the sea to Skye Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep Ocean's a royal bed. Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep Watch by your weary head.
8.
Beneath a murderous moon, a flash of machete A scream and a keening in the night With our babies and wives, we ran for our lives Turning north we set our sights Turning north we set our sights On a place that we’d heard that you’d be just as free As the eagle that’s on their green money Where work waits for you, jobs the gringos won’t do In the land of milk and honey In the land of milk and honey I kept a picture of the Statue of Liberty Close to my broken heart And I prayed to the saints to deliver me To where our families would never be torn all apart Where we could all make a new start All through Mexico tall tales were told About what lay in store at the border for you In the home of our dreams, how could it be, How could those stories be true? How could those stories be true? They rounded us up, put us in pens Like cattle waiting for slaughter Big men with big guns, tore fathers from sons And mothers from their daughters And mothers from their daughters That statue says “give me your tired your poor The refuse from your teeming shore” But they don’t mean it any more No lamp to lift, no golden door Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita, Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
9.
Poison in the water, poison in the air Poison in the hardened hearts of billionaires Who raped our planet and left it to bleed And who sacrificed our future to feed their great greed Do we want to bring a child into this world? Do we want to bring a child into this worn out world? Are we in the final days of the Anthropocene Do we have to search this earth for the last patch of green? If we raised one up when it’s all falling down When our dreams all seemed to be scattered on the ground Do we want to bring a child into this world? Do we want to bring a child into this worn out world? If we raised a tiny person Would it look back at us Raging and cursing And coughing up toxic dust? Would they stand half a chance With what we left for them Or with the gift of time Would they somehow find A way back again? Do we want to raise a child into this world? Do we want to raise a child into this worn out world?
10.
Empathy 03:50
You’re afraid, I see that clearly And I know where that comes from Things are changing so severely We’re living under a monster’s thumb Where once our future looked so green Now the landscape’s dark and barren We’re in the age of selfishness and greed Overwhelmed by Kyle’s and Karens What happened to the love we shared Where is the human decency? Remember when we seemed to care What happened to you, what happened to me What happened to empathy? Truth has taken a vacation And kindness went along for the ride and It’s left a bitter broken nation Beaten and divided Remember ‘love thy neighbour’ And ‘living in harmony’? Now we rattle our sabres And descend into tyranny We cry and we grieve We’re in mourning for this land A parcel of rogues and thieves Have blood on their hands
11.
We’re not going back to normal, That’s not what we need, Normal’s driven by the religion of greed Normal was racism, violence and hate Normal made poverty a permanent state Normal was built on fear and dread We’re not going back to normal Like oil, it is dead We’re moving up to awesome, That’s where we need to be Awesome’s made from love and empathy Awesome starts with equality Awesome sounds like harmony Awesome doesn’t leave anybody behind We’re moving up to awesome Awesome is alive Normal didn’t care, normal wasn’t fair Normal only works if you’re a billionaire Normal was children locked up in a cage Normal never paid a living wage Normal meant you never got ahead We’re not going back to normal Like oil, it is dead Normal was waging endless war Normal was not what we bargained for Normal was designed to fail Normal was a Hollywood fairy tale Normal couldn’t keep everybody fed We’re not going back to normal, Let’s get awesome instead
12.
When I stayed home I sorted through my old cassettes Learned to play the clarinet Got to the end of the internet When I stayed home When I stayed home I was never short of things to do Stuff I’d not done hitherto I kept busy missing you When I stayed home When I stayed home I didn’t feel alone When I stayed home I knew I wasn’t on my own I knew I was doing my bit I knew I was a part of it When I stayed home When I stayed home I got my ducks all in a row I planted seeds and watched them grow Watched old 90s videos When I stayed home When I stayed home I found that our community Had such a great resiliency You couldn’t take that away from me When I stayed home When I stayed home I dreamed of possibilities For shifting our society To make this a better place to be When we don’t have to stay home
13.
The Grey Sisters of the cross Were entrusted with your care What care was shown to those we lost In that grave over there We’ve all heard the tales Of the horrors at St. Anne’s We all heard the screams and wails It was part of the plan We’ll bring you home, bring you home So your names and your stories can be known Bring you home, bring you home We’ll give a voice to your dust and to your bones It was dark where you were discarded It was cold and it was damp For all the broken-hearted It was not a school but a concentration camp Cut down in your youth They took your future away Now you can speak your truth` So your death won’t be in vain Cowessess, Kamloops Brandon Cranbrook, more to come Places where you were abandoned By the so-called holy ones

about

James Gordon, like most of us, had his life radically disrupted by the pandemic.
A legendary ‘gig pig’, he’s toured relentlessly since he was 20 years old, which wasn’t exactly yesterday.
Stuck at home, he sulked for a while then got busy. And boy was he busy.
From his tiny studio he finished a novel that is accompanied by a 36-song recording; he did a virtual tour of his one-man show “James Gordon’s Emergency Climate Musical”; he kicked cancer’s butt, dealt with the overwhelm of his side hustle as a Guelph city councillor during Covid, and perhaps most significantly, wrote and recorded his 40th album, called, appropriately, “When I Stayed Home”.
Unable to bring any of his ‘stable’ of top Canadian talent into the studio, Gordon buckled down and played all the instruments himself, including acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, piano, bass, accordion, (the loneliest of instruments), harmonica, tin whistle, ukulele, and percussion. He made two brief exceptions to his “all by myself rule” with stellar cameos from vocalist Tannis Slimmon and clarinetist John David Williams.
The ‘stay at home’ orders allowed Gordon to challenge himself lyrically and musically, and we think you’ll appreciate the results. The songs are reflective, the sound intimate and warm; stripped down. Just as the album was ready for release, he popped another song into the mix, a timely commentary on the shocking news around residential schools. That late arrival, “We’ll Bring You Home” is the first single on a project that covers many topics including climate change, the income gap, racism, empathy, social justice, our natural environment, and ‘love in a challenging time’. James says these songs demanded to be written, and he’s excited about sharing them with the opening-up world.

credits

released July 14, 2021

All instruments and vocals by James Gordon except guest vocalist Tannis Slimmon on "Sandford Avenue" and John David Williams on "When I Stayed Home

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

JAMES GORDON Guelph, Ontario

James Gordon is a Canadian songwriter/playwright/musician/producer/author and community activist. Co-founder of the legendary Canadian folk trio Tamarack, He’s released 40 albums in 40 years!
His newest release on Borealis Records- "the Heritage Hall Sessions" has been very well received world-wide. James Moonlights as a CIty Councillor in his hometown of Guelph, Ontario. www.jamesgordon.ca
... more

contact / help

Contact JAMES GORDON

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like JAMES GORDON, you may also like: