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I Had You Before Eyes

by Honeyman and the Brothers Farr

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abdonoval
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abdonoval my baby sister absolutely adores this record
Noah Goodbaum
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Noah Goodbaum Eric Farr's songwriting is a wonder of the world. When that bridge hits in "Until The Dark Can Sing"? Good Lord! More hits: "The Moment and the Mile", "Walk Upon The Waves", "Voices and Words". Favorite track: Until the Dark Can Sing.
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    Artwork, layout and design by Martin Dupuis (rightearleft.com), handsomely printed at Standard Form (standardform.org). Makes a swell companion to "Behind the Veil, Behind the Veil"!

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1.
The Sparrow 04:14
I opened my fists I pressed my palms to the sky I let the crows pick out The jewels from my eyes Oh God, I don't need to be original Don't need no vision now Please just plant crocus bulbs in my empty sockets You cannot stop it I cannot stay Let me lay down And turn to flowers where I lay I opened my mouth I let it fill up with rain I let my voice drown out The morning dew I became Oh God, I don't need to be original Don't need no language now Please just plant crocus bulbs in my gaping mouth The birds have flown south I cannot stay Let me lay down And turn to flowers where I lay I opened an egg I found a wet baby bird inside But he was not ready I heard his first and last cries Oh God, I don't need to be original But did you see that sparrow fall?
2.
Lord, how long Have people talked at me with wagging tongues? For some conversation closes in like dogs A wild pack with ears back and snapping jaws And I can't think of anything worth saying But then after twenty-three years A word from her was buried here And its veins branched out bearing seven songs On each limb a letter that spoke in new tongues And I could say anything to her And the space between every breath that we breathed Was filled with our voices and words Whether whispered or hollered They rained down like water And curled through the cracking black earth Late one night I dreamed I went under the knife Because they found something off in my tests So they cut and opened up my chest And I could feel everything they did And the last words you said They cut with a serrated edge Because you thought I'd be numb to the pain But you could pump morphine through each one of my veins And I'd still feel everything you said And the space between every breath that we breathed Was filled with our voices and words Now when you say my name It's like an empty refrain You repeat at the end of each verse And the space between every breath that we breathed Was filled with our voices and words Now it's just a cold exchange You might hear between two strangers And it hurts all the more it's deserved It don't mean anything
3.
Under Fog 04:00
We were born under fog Four blue eyes wet with dawn Nestled in a thicket in wilderness Sister, hear the cricket Mercy kept? Come, faith Move, twin Move, you tiny mountain In the warm before light I had you before eyes Mother, don't you cry, your child's with God Mother, don't you cry, you child of God We might lie still But we roll like the hills God's will never withers So we bend with the river Come, faith Move, twin Move, you tiny mountain
4.
You are dear to me, Alexander Tell me friend, how well do you remember The glass jar to hold the frog and salamander To keep them breathing through the frost of mid-November? You said the air holes in the lid must look like stars to them But maybe our stars are just holes that let heaven's light in Have no fear with me You are ever dear to me I hope you can hear me Alexander It is clear to me, Alexander The way that shame can make us all pretenders After your family heard the scandal They packed and headed back to the panhandle Your thinning hair and body scream surrender But you hold onto a hope you can't remember But have no fear with me You are ever dear to me We can change by grace and mercy Alexander We're all wounded animals, Alexander Who without warmth won't make it through the winter Let's not huddle and hide in homes of rotting timber But rise upon their brightly burning embers Your broken brother's love grows ever tender Love lives and breathes forgiveness, Alexander So have no fear with me You are ever dear to me We survive by mercy only Alexander
5.
Blistered hands still hold the twine But time ain't like a fishing line You can't reel when you feel it pull Echoes of a black nightmare The screaming bobcat and the bear But we sleep in sheep's shorn wool Barely holding down the tent I hold my sole and sweetest friend I might die beside my love When the sun returned to us Love and light and life at once I'd rise beside my love I'd cut the brush and walk the wild But time isn't measured in miles No street, no two feet will ever be enough And when our separate lives divide No more the moment and the mile We'll be friends again like love Blistered hands still hold the twine But time ain't like a fishing line You can't just reel when you feel it pull
6.
A woman lay dying in a white paper gown With all of her family gathering round The husband cried "Please, baby, please don't go" But it was just her bones he grieved when he laid her low. Some people hang onto pain Some people hold onto pearls And all the things they've collected Stay in this world Later when praying the man thinks, "Maybe I'm all alone And the voice I keep hearing is just a cold dial-tone. Still it's a fine way to face the embraces of time Like a lover or one crucified I stretch my arms wide." Some people hang onto pain Some people hold onto pearls And all the things they've collected Stay in this world Jubilation or sorrow it don't mean a thing They ring in then they're wrung out on a pendulum's swing The greatest relief is when the coin's still in spin Two worlds blur together as we begin again Some people hang onto pain Some people hold onto pearls And all the things they've collected Stay in this world
7.
Everyone everywhere's waiting for now The hour when the sun seems to sink 'neath the ground The fluorescent heaven-sent reverenced moon Seeps through the seams of this windowless room Maybe it's mystical, maybe it's not Maybe my feet won't keep me up when I try to walk Either it's everyone else or it's me But I lack the will and the balance to leave Night sky clouds over with crows And I turn over and over How long, good God only knows Will daybreak just make me feel older? I've heard sounds swell around me above and below The music of the living as they come and go From sadness to gladness, from buoyant to blue The feeling is lonesome but it's never been new Night sky clouds over with crows And I turn over and over How long, good God only knows Will daybreak just make me feel older? They waltz and they kiss, these two hands on my wrist And I clap along keeping time It's a comfortable bluff to look up above With a short simple supplicant shrug Everyone everywhere's waiting for now The hour when the sun picks itself up off the ground Rise if you want to but I'm backing down Back to my mind where I won't be found
8.
Close the curtain, shut out that thieving moon Just stay in and compose your silent tune Concealing thoughts and letting dingy details loom In that cluttered mind there's hardly any room to breathe Living monochromatically day after day But your neutral tones are giving too much away Dust off those memories you keep Of when living seemed a laugh and love was all it said to be All your enemies won't even put up a fight They're blindsided, you attack in your perpetual night I'll admit that I've got reservations You've burrowed deep into a place in your head Wanting privacy but you can't be left for dead Pinned down by the who, what, where, when, why Just alive enough to have some strength left to die Disguises often have a way to reveal All those battle scars that just won't heal I'll admit that I've got reservations Trying to understand through divinations Frankly I am tired of this surveillance I just want things to fall apart So I can give you a second start
9.
Open Ocean 07:03
Out in open ocean The all in all Soft and salt-scarred mouth Swallow air and steam And breathe sea Black and blue They blur on the horizon Just like the blue into my lungs I thought I saw you on a wave But then the cold water you became Comb the ocean floor Lines into the sand It's a name I thought I saw you bear me o'er the waves But then the cold water I became
10.
I know I can change My life, I know, can change And if they take my legs I'll beat down my arms And stretch the skin until they're wings And if they take my eyes I'll cry out into the night Until the dark can sing Stay on my side tonight
11.
May your smile never be crooked May your path always be straight And if you have purpose for a compass May you never deviate God keep you on your journey God bless your shining face And at the table of his glory May you always have a place Good keep you on your journey God grant you strength to go May your destiny be high Although our heads are hanging low May our love animate you always May your love do the same May we bear witness to its majesty Unafraid to name its name God keep you on your journey God bless your shining face And at the table of his glory May you always have a place God keep you on your journey God grant you strength to go May your destiny be high Although our heads are hanging low When your burden becomes heavy May you feel his breath upon your brow May you have faith that he is with you Just as we are with you now And forever

credits

released December 27, 2014

Written by Honeyman and the Brothers Farr

Performed by Eric Farr, J.M. Farr, Simon Honeyman, Charles James, and Shawn Rompre.

Recorded and mixed by Jeff McMurrich at 6 Nassau

Mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering

Design by Martin Dupuis

Photography by Alessandra Coté-Bioli



Produced by Ruth Brigden, Nora Fontaine, Barry Honeyman, Eric Kianfar, The Brothers Weber, and Honeyman and the Brothers Farr

Special thanks to all contributors

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Honeyman & The Brothers Farr Montréal, Québec

The band that would be king, Honeyman & the Brothers Farr is a good time for a long time. Simon Honeyman, Eric Farr, and James Farr have been playing roots-pop for 4 years and have an impressive resumé. They've played at Ottawa Bluesfest, Fringe POP, POP Montreal. As a band and as soloists, they've collaborated with ex-Unicorns Alden Penner & Jamie Thompson, Patrick Watson, & Kelly Joe Phelps. ... more

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