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Tunnels, Treehouses & Trainsmoke

by Jeff Andrew

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1.
Dance To The Death You break me wide open, you fill in my cracks You left your stamp in me like a child's footprints In dry cement, that she made when no one was looking and it was wet I sang your song just to myself As the cities burned and I rode to the south With the silence of the highway where no one can hear me anymore I need you tonight in the ash and the grey Where the sun is a stranger and ten years is a day Come find me tonight by the cross on the hill And we'll dance to the death of the world I set the fire and you lit the match The generators blew and we stood there to catch The ashes falling like snowflakes as the Rapture spread The great towers fell just like we always planned The smokestacks burned and the streets turned to sand Then I looked into the darkness and you were gone -Chorus- I searched the ruins, found a scrap of your vest I stayed there for days but there was nothing else left Oh, it's everything we dreamed but it's no fun without you There's a void in my heart that cannot be filled There's a demon inside me that cannot be killed By anyone but you -Chorus- Now there are times when I'm alone at night When salvation flies like a moth to the light And burns itself to death in protest at being had
2.
3.
Old Suitcase 03:20
Old Suitcase I been working in the bush for what seems like a year It's barely been a month or more Job went bust and I woke up drunk On a cheap hotel room floor Bars on the window and a needle in the sink Don't want to think about the things that went down Everyone I trusted's either dead or getting busted What the hell do I do now? I'm gonna stuff myself into an old suitcase Hitch a ride on a Lincoln Bus Ride the river to the Palace of Sin (Walk the valley of the Shadow of Death) It's the only place I know I can trust (Find a place where I can shake off the dust) I got everything I need in my old overcoat I'm a one-man traveling show Ain't got no money - but I'm richer than you'll ever know The city's full of liars, killers and thieves Wearing badges and expensive suits I'd rather take my chances with the carnival tramps At least we got the same kind of boots I tried all different kinds of living From the penthouse to the shopping cart You can pray for your breakfast, steal for your lunch Or burn it down and make a new start -Chorus- Got me a bottle and a half-pack of smokes A low bridge where it's dry underneath Rain's coming down and it ain't what I asked for But maybe it's all that I need There's a woman in the wings down at Old Mr. Nick's She runs the Theatre of Broken Hearts I left her once and she left me twice But I'm betting that the fourth time's the charm -Chorus-
4.
Reasonable Doubt Life swings in the balance Of a million quick decisions Which road you choose to walk down Can make all the difference Like that night in Toronto At the end of the summer When Nicole Kish went out drinking With some friends from the States Traveler kids who'd lived their lives On and off the streets No strangers to abuse Persecution and wet feet When Faith Watts saw Ross Hammond And George Dranichak on Queen St At an ATM just off of Euclid And asked them for some change Hammond told her to go and be a whore If she wanted to make some cash The girls said something back Harsh words were exchanged The situation escalated Until Dranichak threw Douglas Fresh Into a store front window And he and Hammond walked away A block further down the street Fresh confronted them again Hammond beat the kid unconscious Against the side of a streetcar While a crowd began to form And someone stabbed Ross Hammond With Faith Watts' knife As he kicked her boyfriend's body Over and over again Chorus: In this crooked old world of pain We gotta find someone to take the blame Like Milgaard or Truscott or Rubin the Hurricane We gotta find someone to take the blame In this crooked old world of pain As Fresh lay crumpled on the ground Another fight broke out This time Hammond got hold of Watts' knife And used it on Nicole Two men jumped him from the crowd Someone shouted "You die tonight!" At some point during the chaos Hammond was stabbed again He was given the wound that killed him By someone in the crowd Who was never identified But when he died two days later Nicole Kish was charged with murder Plenty of witnesses came forward But not one of them said they saw her Do anything but stand there In the four years that it took For her case to come to trial Not one but two surveillance tapes Disappeared/got erased By the Toronto police Her friends were all deported While the public rose in anger As they swallowed the version Of the "Panhandler Murder" That the papers reproduced Where two gentlemen were attacked By a gang of ruthless punks Leaving out the section Where they started the fight themselves Beat one kid half to death And left him bleeding on the ground When the hammer finally came down Despite the missing evidence No positive ID And big holes in the story A court of law somehow determined That Nicole Kish was the killer And cast her into prison For 2nd Degree Murder -Chorus- Nicole Kish is a songwriter A traveler and an artist She started her own magazine It was called "Bound For Glory" While Dranichak and Hammond Sold pornography online But were described as "Internet Marketers" In every press report About the "Panhandler Murder" Where it seemed as though a street kid Had stabbed an upstanding citizen At an ATM on Queen St. After he politely refused To give her money to buy booze An open and shut case Except that no one saw her do it And she never asked them for money And the so-called victims started the fight And DNA tests were done And all they found was a trace of blood On the bottom of Nyki's shoe And there was another man there with stab wounds Caught on tape right after the fight But when the cops arrived, he vanished To somewhere in Toronto Where none of this made any difference In the eyes of the press Who already had their killer Or in the court of Justice Nordheimer Who called the evidence circumstantial But sentenced Nyki to life in prison For 2nd Degree Murder Wrongful convictions Happen far more than you'd think Most victims serving longer sentences Than those who admit guilt Because it's hard to show remorse Or be rehabilitated For something you didn't do In the first place -Chorus- If you think there's no more class war Then explain how this can happen While the man who pushed a street kid: Ariana "Harley" Simpson In front of a Victoria city bus On a dark winter night Was given a one-year sentence "A tragic accident" they said So he got manslaughter instead Despite witnesses who saw him Push her straight under the wheels Reinforcing the knowledge That murder's not really murder If your victim is a street kid A prostitute, a peasant Not white or just plain poor Rest assured no one will look too hard For 50 missing women from East Vancouver But if a millionaire's son gets kidnapped The whole city goes into shock 200 cops are on the case Non-stop coverage in the press And the city doesn't rest Until he's found Hemingway said "The world is a fine place And worth fighting for" I say "don't get caught standing in the wrong place Or on the wrong side of the road" Like that night in Toronto At the end of the summer When Nicole Kish went out drinking With some friends -Chorus-
5.
Professional Asshole In high school I played at the amateur level Beating up the queers and the punks Now I've gone pro, I got official permission To kick the shit out of poor homeless drunks I'll treat you the same, whether you're criminally insane Or I catch you drinking beer in the park Now your face is a mess - "STOP RESISTING ARREST!" I love to go to work when it's dark...'cause I'm a Professional asshole You'll know me by the flashlight (teargas) I shine (smash/throw) in your face Working for the rich to dig a big ditch To keep the poor down in their place...'cause I'm a Professional asshole I don't have to wait til I get off shift How does a psychopathic thug get a badge and a gun? I guess that I was born with a gift I'll tell ya a little something, just between you and me: I get laid because I carry a gun Snorting confiscated coke, nailing hookers for free Being a cop sure is fun But I'm getting sick and tired of having to pretend That I'm here to give the public a hand So I think I'll quit the force and be a border guard instead I know the Customs Agents all understand...what it means to be a -Chorus- Working over immigrants, musicians and freaks I can strip-search any woman I want If you don't look like me, I'm your worst enemy But hey, I'm just doing my job Transit cops, bouncers and security guards Secret shoppers and railroad bulls If you're looking for a license to practise legal violence Your career is waiting right here for you...you too can be a -Chorus-
6.
Desdemona 03:53
Desdemona There's a hole in the ground on the east side of town All covered in dust from the train The sparrows are gathered in the branches above Waiting for a soul to take flight in the rain The shovel lies broken on the back of that night When I threw myself down in that helpless embrace In the end it comes down to the simplest of things: Why did our love fly away? The last time I saw you, you said you were headed south For the carnival and you'd be back in a week The next time I saw you there was blood in your mouth I took your hand and you struggled to speak The words weren't there, not the breath nor the air But your eyes told me everything I needed to hear In the end it comes down to the simplest of things: Why did our love fly away? What good did it do me to pray? When you fell from the trestle I cried out in vain My heart torn away by the sound The screaming of steel and the kiss of the rocks Then I knew for sure that you'd never be found I hear footsteps in the rain and I cry out your name All I can see is your face in the stream In the end it comes down to the simplest of things: Why did our love fly away? What good did it do you to pray?
7.
The Graveyard Downtown Time is the 4th dimension Look back through now at the place you're in A heart still beats behind the red brick skin And what happened then can happen again The colours change but the walls stay true A nation's built on the bones of the poor Left to rot beneath the city sewer Their ghosts will haunt the urban renewal There are tunnels under every city A buried past and it ain't pretty They want you to forget about the graveyard downtown But the Racoons know what lies underground Residential schools, internment camps Aboriginal blood on the colonial map The General Strike, the immigrant stamp Die for the railroad or live as a tramp You pay the head tax to feed the machine Or hide in the tunnels under Chinatown streets Smuggled lives, black market dreams While the Dragon breathes in the manhole steam -Chorus- So to those of you who'd tear down our past Red brick gone for the steel and glass Drive out the poor for the upper class And pretend no struggle ever came to pass Fuck you all! You can go to Hell I'll stay right here, keep ringing the bell You can tear down the bridge, seal up the well The old bones are gone but the ghosts will still tell -Chorus-
8.
Hobo Postcards Burning neon lights, star-eyed country nights I traded eyes with a Somerset Dame But I let it all break down, that night in Chinatown Ten years and every place just looks the same It’s cold and I got nowhere left to go I pray, but the churches are all closed The sidewalk calls, I make my bed of stone I’m gonna ride the broken staircase to the ground I been lost, I been found And the rain’s still coming down I been all around the world Now I’m going home Hooded eyes on the corner, a manic voice in the cold I drag the past like a rusty ball and chain I hopped a train to Heaven but St. Peter locked the gate Now I only believe in God at night when it rains Your face on the night we said goodbye Your tears were red, you had bloodstains in your eyes Lightning fell and the Earth begin to cry Thunder of steel and that high, lonesome sound -Chorus- Your team is chasing nightmares, just let go of the reins Take the junk you’ve found and build a home There’s no truth but in things, you must commit to the swing Let the blade find its own way through the bone Do you remember that little shack at the edge of town? Where the river bends and the tracks are broken down? Meet me there when the frost is on the ground Winter’s coming and it’s time to build us a fire -Chorus-
9.
Places 04:10
Places The Kootenays taught me dreaming and how to fall in love The Prairies taught me hitching and what heartache really was The Island told me stories about clearcuts and rust Nova Scotia taught me ballads and watch out for Sheilagh's Brush Haida Gwaii was like a vision from a faerytale rime At the Edge of the World I heard a voice as old as time Dawson taught me drinking and hold on to your toes The Alaska Highway was my first song on that midnight road Go...my my my All the places I go, all the places I go Prince George taught me working and skid row hotels In the Great North Woods waiting for an axe that never fell Ottawa taught me the river and how to love the snow In Quebec City I swallowed tear gas and stuck around for the show In Toronto I caught a bus with fire in my blood It rode me out of Peterborough just before the flood Manitoba left me stranded on the side of the road I said "FUCK THE GREYHOUND! I'll make it on my own" -Chorus Oregon taught me never trust the weather on the coast California gave me the Redwoods and a forest full of ghosts Washington showed me traintracks where Wobblies used to roam In Portland I saw the battle scars from the FBI's war In San Francisco I walked from North Beach through the Chinatown slums Sang a Dead song on the corner with the Scum Fucks and the bums In Big Sur I rode the highline with that endless ocean glow Golden Gate to Bixby Canyon, there's a bridge for every road -Chorus
10.
Map of Secrets Since I left my home Since I left my home Never once have I looked back Since I left my home I danced with an angel Eyes as blue as her soul She taught me how to hitchhike And she left me on the road When I left my home When I left my home Knew I couldn't be the only one When I left my home I was 18 and brave; said I wouldn't be no slave Combine machinery and childhood dreams betrayed So I learned to trust the shadows and the voices in the trees Drumbeats on the full moon night calling out to me When I left my home When I left my home Never once did I look back When I left my home Footsteps on the highway, a ghost in every town Echoes of the old world everywhere Shadows of the Goddess, spirits cast in stone Echoes of the old world everywhere I roam Everywhere I roam Everywhere I roam I see the cracks in what we've built Everywhere I roam I dreamt the city shadows were flaming in red Falling down a ladder on a dried-up riverbed When the highways are forgotten and the traintracks are dead Follow me to Salem like the prophecy said Trying to find my home Trying to find my home Searching every pair of eyes Trying to find my home
11.
Jo-Annie's Shack She rides a bike without a helmet, she got chickens in the yard She don't drive a car, no sir, no way She don't drink no more, but she smokes a pack a day Last week one of her chickens ran away When I can't sleep at night Big round moon and the darkest kind of light Breaking away to go Hanging around too long Staying up all night in Jo-Annie's Shack Small town in the Green Hills, a kingdom in the woods Tucked away in her own little paradise Remebering New York City and the last night on Earth That night a folksinger saved her life When I can't sleep at night Big round moon and the darkest kind of light -Chorus- Now it's four o'clock in the afternoon and I been up since three AM Drinking cold coffee all day There's a fresh pot in the kitchen, but it don't make no difference I just like it better this way All these fucking people with their frowns I try so hard not to let 'em bring me down I close my eyes and try to dream Of all the places that I been Remembering that night in Jo-Annie's Shack When I was breaking away to go Hanging around too long Staying up all night in Jo-Annie's Shack
12.
Dirt Alley Rose Midnite coffee keeps me warm This music keeps me whole She said "This place is hard to find, but I'm glad I found you here 'Cause I've never been to a wedding But I've seen my share of wakes Last night I dreamt I was a butterfly, but this morning I woke up as a snake" I said "They found me in a burned out alley Tied me up like an old pair of shoes They left me in the grease-stain sunrise with nothing but the needles and the blues" This world ain't much for dreamers like us We’re freaks wherever we go But now the nights are getting cold and I'm so tired of being alone I just want to fall in love one more time Maybe I'll see you out on the road somewhere In the mountains with your thumb to the sky You'll be dancing with your backpack and you'll be singing a song Looking like you're living a dream Looking like you're living a dream This place is cracked and crumbling That's how I like it best Broken bottle glass and empty hearts and all the rest She stopped under an October streetlamp With the wind wrapping shadows around her feet With her eyes full of heartache and the cold in her cheeks She smiled and sat down next to me She said "I've walked between the stars and the mountains I've hitchhiked every road you can name I've seen all there is to see and all I've ever found was me Ten years and I got no one left to blame" My hands are as patched-up and scarred as my clothes And we both got the same miles of dirt in our toes But you're pushing thru the wreckage like a dirt-alley rose Lord I hope you never lose your thorns -Chorus- The radios are crackling in the alleys That old jazz that always sounds best at night "Our adventures are the love songs we write to the world" She told me as we stepped into the light She said "I know there's an answer on the highway There's a home waiting for me out there I keep my faith wrapped up with the beads in my hair; now I'm sorry babe, but I got to go" My heartache has a rhythm like a freight train Comes and goes like a po' girl on the run 'Cause you're a sad old song that gets better every time I hear it sung My traveling boots are falling apart I can fit my whole life into a shopping cart When my last wish is gone I'm going to make a new start I promise I'm going to find you someday Maybe I'll see you out on the road somewhere In the mountains with your thumb to the sky There's some magic out there we're gonna find it I swear We just got to hang on to our dreams We just got to hang on to our dreams
13.
Cambie & Cordova Manic street preacher, wild-bearded dream teacher A wandering light in the fog A whisperer in shadows; he was right there at the gallows Crying: "Freedom is a backpack and a dog!" The world whips around her, no peace has ever found her But you can light up her day with a smile And one ever asks why the cops come so fast As she stands up to walk the last mile There's cars on the street, people trying to sleep The rain beating down on their souls At the corner of Cambie and Cordova there's a door: Turn left if you're rich, turn right if you're poor In an old shopping cart, she keeps a piece of her heart All that's left as she tries to hold on A cold wind is blowing and the doors are all closing As she dreams of a child dead and gone "I need to get to sleep," he says as he cries Head in hands on the park bench at dawn "When will it end? I had so much to give Now all I've got is this bell and this song" There's cops on the street, people trying to sleep The rain beating down on their souls At the corner of Cambie and Cordova there's a door: Turn left if you're rich, turn right if you're poor A place to get warm, a shelter from the storm Wrapped in old newspapers and sin But from the madness inside, there's no place to hide When the daemons all call from within There's cops on the street and a woman on the floor Of an old hotel bar by a cheap liquor store At the corner of Cambie and Cordova there's a door: Turn left if you're rich, turn right if you're poor
14.
Don't Lose The Night I drank all night and I slept all day Underneath a bridge, away from the rain It was already dark when I hit the road No money in my pockets, no silver, no gold The sun crept up over starry fields My shadows are falling, my secrets revealed I can't remember my dreams anymore I'm trying to hold on, but I don't know what for Stay here with me baby, don't lose the night The storm is coming, hold on to me tight I'm trying to be strong, but I'm afraid of the light So hold on to me baby, don't lose the night Hold on to me baby, don't lose the night You came to me with a promise and a gun Showed me the answers, left me with the sun Now I'm waking up and I'm all alone No way to find you, but I'm on my way home -Chorus-
15.
Old Boots, Rusty Shovel Big trucks crashing through the bush Chopper blades tearing at the sky They got machines to break the land, but we plant 'em all by hand Turn your wrist and you can hear your body cry Freezing in a lonely tent at night Fall in love at breakfast then you're gone Then the sun's beating down like the Hammer of the Gods Every day we sing the same old song: I don't want to plant trees anymore I don't want to cut another line I just want to plant my last piece so I can find Some peace of mind Bush camps and trailer parks up north Small towns and barges on the coast Clearcut salmon stream, your city life's a dream It's the little things that tear your heart the most Ghost wind blowing down the road Bones of the forest left to rot Shadows of history in the cold misty dawn I'm so tired but I don't know if I can stop -Chorus Elves dancing wild around a fire Or in a bar singing heartsick country songs Chop some wood, light a smoke, pull up a stump and tell a joke Have a drink and we won't think about tomorrow Bag 'em up and break your back out in the rain Three thousand times every day Boom and bust, stab and thrust, slash and burn, greed and rust How long, O Lord, tell me how long?
16.
Driftin' On 04:20
Driftin' On I rode the river from the mountains, dreaming all the way Now I'm lost in the delta and every branch looks the same The sky's getting darker and the clouds are rolling in It's the same old situation I always find myself in Hey, I'm just driftin' on Midnight on the water and a star above the ridge I found my father's ghost sleeping under a bridge Six in the morning, woken up by a cop I wonder if the nightmares are ever gonna stop Hey, I'm just driftin' on Memories of magic and crystal in the hills You said you'd come and find me but I know you never will So take all your worries and make a little song Best to keep it simple so we can sing along Hey, I'm just driftin' on Big blue world keeps rolling on Blue fog on the valley and the mountains glowing gold I found my way to town as the sun split the cold Sat down on the sidewalk, read a sign across the street It said "Jesus and the Magdalene made love here last week" Hey, I'm just driftin' on A preacher shared his breakfast and shivered as he spoke He said "Things are getting harder and my spirit's almost broke I used to miracles and live for signs of Grace Now I'm praying for my soup and I'm just trying to hold my place Hey, I'm just driftin' on" -Chorus A man in the alley told me things'd be okay If I lined up all my problems and shot 'em all away I found an empty building and the rain's coming down But there's cops on every corner that want to run me out of town Hey, I'm just driftin' on I hear the highway calling and a freight train rolling slow I'm gonna find the secret rivers running through my soul The days are getting longer and these games are getting old I'm gonna leave this city world, get back out on the road Hey, I'm just driftin' on -Chorus

about

NOTE: Download includes PDF of the songbook (chords & lyrics to all songs, handwritten wtih original artwork by Fraea the Banshee).

Ghost stories, murder ballads, fiddle tunes and train songs from the tunnels of East Vancouver. Features a 5-string fiddle, a baritone violin string section and the legendary Stroh Violin (a rare, antiquated instrument with a resonator and a phonograph horn).

"Incredible album of dark modern day folk songs...includes some of the eeriest fiddle playing around." - Americana Roots UK

credits

released October 29, 2013

Ryan Boeur: Guitar (1,2,3,5,6,7). Dobro (5)
Kenan Sungur: Percussion (1,5,6,7), Vocals (8), Bass (1,5,7)
Jeff Andrew: Vocals, Guitar, Fiddle, Dobro, Baritone Fiddle (6), Stroh Violin (3,6)
Chelsea Johnson: Vocals (8)
Alkemy Roseblade : Vocals (8)
Tyrone Shoe: Percussion (9,10,12)
Jess Hill: Vocals (14)
O'Mally: Vocals (16)
The Choir Under The Bridge (gang vocals on 9): Joe Trucker, Jess Hill, Fraea the Banshee, Julian Flinchum, CJ Leon, shayne avec i grec

Tracks 1-8 recorded and mixed by Corwin Fox
Tracks 9-15 recorded and mixed by Tyrone Shoe
Track 16 recorded and mixed by Jeff Andrew
All tracks mastered by Corwin Fox
Produced by Jacob Anger

All songs by Jeff Andrew (SOCAN) except "Places" (verses by JA, music/chorus by Phillips Saylor-Wisor) and "Don't Lose The Night" (words by JA, music by Michael Hurley/trad via The Shiftless Rounders, inspired by Jess Hill)

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Jeff Andrew Vancouver, British Columbia

Fiddles, horns, double bass and subterranean percussion from the tunnels of East Vancouver. Songs from the road and beyond the grave.

"A backroads troubadour with a few things to say by way of viscera, nerve and hard experience." - Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
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