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.

Songs In A Northern Key

by Varnaline

supported by
Whole Milk Latte
Whole Milk Latte thumbnail
Michael Clark
Michael Clark thumbnail
brianyorkey
brianyorkey thumbnail
yotengo
yotengo thumbnail
fearpete
fearpete thumbnail
Stephen Blackwell
Stephen Blackwell thumbnail
Brannon Costello
Brannon Costello thumbnail
/
1.
Still Dream 02:35
lyrics
buy track
Still Dream Living down beneath the cool dark ceiling Falling slow among the sunken beings I still dream I still dream Down below, my place of quiet pleasure Blind in sound, gone by certain measure I still dream I still dream
2.
Song 03:49
lyrics
buy track
Song Every night I lie awake and try To find sleep somewhere I’ll take it anywhere Don’t you know it never comes when you want? This sound, it spins My nervous wheels Too much to feel Song that song What was that song that song? The one where everyone came And we all felt the same The rush that never stops We floated to the top And everyone Their guns were set on stun I’m trying hard to take this tune With me To the other side Of sleep tonight My aching back Is filled with jagged cracks And my neck will break Every other day Don’t you know it never comes when you want?
3.
Indian summer Takedown 03:37
lyrics
buy track
Indian Summer Takedown It could have been the start Of something big, just a part When the light gets like that I explode Now color me depressed All my nerves got undressed Turned the tables on the stars And now it’s gone Too far gone How can you go on? Too far gone How can you go on? Indian summer takedown It came out wrong All the words were too strong There’s no keeping track Of what goes bad Standing on a ledge Where the toes meet the edge Thinking of that day When things went right This is not a bill A notice or a will Every meaning has a word That never fits Came into the cold That light was just gold October caught me with my hand Outside the door
4.
Blackbird Fields 04:03
lyrics
buy track
Blackbird Fields Pulling hard, slow and deep Fell asleep on my feet All good times All good times Washed away on blackbird fields In slow motion through the door Still the fool, like before Looking up Looking up Washed away all those years Down to nothing off the block Crowding in – just a look “Carry on, Carry on” Coming down on blackbird fields Coming down on blackbird fields
5.
Blue Flowers On The Highway 03:14
lyrics
buy track
Blue Flowers On The Highway She talked herself right out She could not stop She could not quit Like a sun that would not set She soon burned out From all the shit And the coffee can pour itself You wait your turn or just get out There’s nothing else Blue flowers on the highway The train it don’t stop here They ripped the tracks And pulled them out So she dreams her days away And nods her head But she’s checked out And they watch her wearing thin And shake their heads with knowing looks But she’s not there Blue flowers on the highway And the coffee can pour itself You wait your turn or just get out There’s nothing else Blue flowers on the highway
6.
The Drunkard's Wish 00:49
buy track
7.
Difference 04:12
lyrics
buy track
Difference Came on to a place Of hazy lines and blurry shapes But I was freed up by the time Of going nowhere line to line And on a frozen lake I disappeared and took no shape And fell into a world so fine What difference could it make? The hours wasted here I could have wasted anywhere And then the fever came It freed me up – you’re still the same And on a bent back road They all line up and then unload And leave me in a vein So fine What difference could it make? What difference could it make? What difference could it make? It’s just a smile soon to break What difference could it make? It’s just a smile soon to break
8.
Anything From Now 04:02
lyrics
buy track
Anything From Now Always talking but never laughing The trail it was laid out Your patterns were made out Closing all of the portal doors now I couldn’t see you face But my thoughts were full of grace for you I’m hoping that you’re knowing that Anything from now is better anyhow I’m knowing that you’re hoping that Everything from now is better anyhow Crawling back to a brand new old you I always cross the line I’m always losing time Give me less than this nothing happens A taste is all it takes And my bridge will surely break again I’m hoping that you’re knowing that Anything from now is better anyhow I’m knowing that you’re hoping that Everything from now is better anyhow I’m hoping that you’re knowing that Anything from now is better anyhow I’m knowing that you’re hoping that Everything from now is better anyhow
9.
Down The Street 04:06
lyrics
buy track
Down The Street So many nights I can’t recall Too many times I slipped to fall Most are only hoping to be heard You were just a broken toy A burned out house with no more joy Fishing for a hook to set your place I heard people passing by And they laughed their way Down the street that day I stayed in bed for endless days Nights and weeks are years some ways Listen to the shadows coming through You reached me on my roof top perch Misunderstood and in the lurch I’m trying just to find a way to say A sound so evil A sound so evil It’s not my fault It’s not your fault It’s not our fault It’s no ones fault Endlessly I cut the land Beat the horse and killed the band Children sometime grow up and stay young The bells and whistles in the phone Make me wonder who’s really home Genius skips a generation son
10.
Green Eyed Stars 04:20
lyrics
buy track
Green Eyed Stars When everything is in between And nothing seems to be happening You’re the one with pale blue skies Smiling all your light on me Feeling all right Oh the green eyed stars Oh the green eyed stars I couldn’t make sense of anything Every pulse was sharp and mean Came along in sheets of light Seas of joy and raw insight Feeling all right Turn the white heat on Turn the white heat on Turn the white heat on Turn the white heat… On - and on On - and on Common place and settled in Makes it feel like death will win Every day you open wide Crack the code and fly again Feeling all right Oh the green eyed stars Oh the green eyed stars Make me want to say Make me want to stay…
11.
Sister And The Chrome Waves 00:40
buy track
12.
I Don't Want 03:33
lyrics
buy track
I Don’t Want I don’t want to find you all alone Waiting for some call beside the phone With dirty yellow lights above And gutters filled and overflowed Hoping for the day you’re called back home Words and all can’t make this go away Planning for some unforsaken day I’ll carry you to the top I guess Remembering how you did it best The circle will unfold and eat its tail Always in my mind you know You told me all the ways to go Still I’m foolish after all But when the two is one again I’m holding on for you In the time it took to come this far All the things you hold are now just shards Happiness is over rated Expectations crashed on take off But you were always there and good to go I don’t want to find you all alone… I don’t want to find you all alone… I don’t want to find you all alone… Or going home
13.
Let It All Come Down 04:01
lyrics
buy track
Let It All Come Down I saw you drinking from the mermaid’s cup The world’s a burning and you’re filling up I know you can’t get shot I know you can’t get shot Let it all come down Let it all come down I walk the wires I walk the lakes Give me the mountains, lovely to see I know you can’t get shot I know you can’t get shot Let it all come down Let it all come down Oh no you got it wrong… Oh no you got it wrong… I can’t believe it I can’t believe it I can’t believe it I can’t believe it Oh the hawk now, oh the dove Got an iron fist in a plastic glove I know ya’… I know ya’… Let it all come down Let it all come down
14.
Broken Song 03:32
lyrics
buy track
Broken Song When the music starts I watch from over here Your dance is a fire That burns off the air There’s no one on the dance floor There’s no one but you The music is soft A But I hear that broken song Well I am a young man Soon I’ll be dead If you were a rich girl Well maybe I’d live There’s no one on the dance floor No one but us The music is soft But I hear that broken song Go back to nowhere That’s where I’m from And tell them we’re coming As soon as we’re done There’s no one on the dance floor There’s no one alive And the music is dim But I hear that broken song
15.
Murder Crow 02:52
lyrics
buy track
Murder Crow Crawling down to the water On a slide to a dirty old boat Got your knife and your money wrapped up Couldn’t wait for the horn to blow Set out for somewhere I’m not really sure They found you floating Miles from shore Murder crow Fields play under the winds hand Chrome waves rising in flow I watched down the avenue Tall buildings waiting to go Set out for somewhere I’m not really sure They found you drifting Miles from shore Murder crow Murder crow

about

Varnaline SONGS IN A NORTHERN KEY

Following the album Sweet Life, Anders Parker found himself once again solo after his touring band split apart. He headed to the wilds of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and began work on the sprawling Songs in a Northern Key.

Begining in an old fishing shack at the edge of a lake in Vermont, Parker soon relocated to a farmhouse in New York's Hudson Valley and continued to write and record. Again, Parker wrote, sang, played, and recorded by himself. This time he had a little help from a few friends: Jud Ehrbar (Space Needle, Reservoir) played drums and keys on a track, and Kendall Meade (Mascott) sang on a few songs. But at the heart of the album is Parker by himself.

Songs In A Northern Key is an impressionistic wander through many styles and sounds. There's a blurry quality to the entire record and many songs fade into each other, creating a dream like quality. The opener, "Still Dream," is a claustrophobic mission statement. "Song" abruptly changes the feel, rolling into euphoric pop-rock rush. "Indian Summer Takedown" drives down the road at a steady clip, while an organ winds its way between groove and words. All along there are ghosts and shadows and blurred lines.

"In 1997, we called Anders Parker 'an intuitive, emerging classicist destined to carve out his own chapter.' And so he does with Songs In A Northern Key, dancing drunkenly in the crevices between The Who Sell Out and the White Album while ghosts of Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt nod approvingly. A dense, arresting masterpiece equally steeped in alt-country, post-modern psychedelia and shot-in-the-heart classic folk."
-- Magnet Magazine 20 best albums of 2001

Random fact: Legendary songwriter, Steve Earle, a longtime fan of Parker's, released the record on his label E-Squared/Artemis.
Released July 31, 2001

credits

released July 31, 2001

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Anders Parker image

Anders Parker New Orleans, Louisiana

shows

contact / help

Contact Anders Parker

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

Anders Parker recommends:

If you like Songs In A Northern Key, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now