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Ghostlight Sessions

by Adrian Glynn

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eyes_of_a_tragedy67
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eyes_of_a_tragedy67 There's so much here, and all of it heartfelt and relatable. On my first listen, I laughed, cried, melted, breathed easier... Here I go, looping another Adrian album, lol. Never a bad choice, though. 💜 Favorite track: So Am I.
anyrei
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anyrei Oh man, I had to grin through that whole song and I'm sure I will listen to this the next time I feel sad to cheer me up. Favorite track: Talkin' Suicidal Depression Blues.
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    This album is by donation, I really appreciate your generosity. 25% of the proceeds will go to the NAACP. Also, there is a lyric/song story sheet attached as well as a printable CD case. If you're a dinosaur (like me) who still likes to have a CD, print the case off onto cardstock and you can fold it easily into the official CD case. (The lyric sheet folds to fit inside, too).
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1.
Somewhere I left a light on digging through the house of ancient memory Somewhere, the pink perfume of someone else’s hair And I could see you standing there Standing in your parents’ house, just your mother’s girl A morning tub with your matted curls My teenaged hands on your soapy skin, fingers in the lather I swore to myself that I’d always remember Remember everything Somewhere I left a light on thick behind the door but we bury this away Let it carry on in ghosts I tried to keep these moments, squirrel them away, I tried a thousand ways, I thought a thousand times Of stolen wine and backyard tents, my brother’s songs on old cassettes I made it up as I got it wrong, I was hoping you’d help me along With the life of love that lay ahead but it was only you in a childhood bed And I named your breasts, stamped your skin, Counted moles like I was saving tin just to battle time and my lazy head That I thought would not surrender I swore to myself that I’d always remember Remember everything Every light I’ve kept behind the door Tells me friendship isn’t quite what love is for I smile that I promised to love you forever I was acting my age
2.
Wide awake and it's quarter to six How many time i gotta start a day like this, i'm tired Like you And i know we’ve gotta keep a light in the flame It’s like the longer the distance the braver the face for you And for me It might just rain like this for days But there’s shelter in the way we see it through It might just rain like this for days When the weather breaks i'm on my way to you I said i'm dyed in the wool to be dark in the head It's like the closer you get the further i bend away From you Tell me again about the bar that you found The one downtown where we maybe hear ourselves think I could buy you a drink It might just rain like this for days But there is shelter in the way we see it through It might just rain like this for days When the weather breaks i'm on my way On my way to you I know we’ve gotta keep a light in the flame It’s like the longer the distance the braver the face for you For me It might just rain like this for days But there is shelter in the way we see it through It might just rain like this for days When the weather breaks i'm on my way On my way to you
3.
Terrified 02:54
She said, there’s something to these rooftops That’s why I walk without looking down I thought, if looks could kill you’d be queen of the hill But you could tumble and break your crown She said, I only wanna start again So terrified of losing again So terrified of having my way I only wanna start again I said, I feel like I’m at home here There’s something in the glow of your eyes She said, that’s the shame about a flame, baby, You can never get close to the light She said, I only wanna start again So terrified of losing again So terrified of having my way I only wanna start again Maybe it’s a trick of the light It’s always in the back of my mind You can spend your life waiting for a sign But good things never come on time So terrified So terrified of having my way I only wanna start again
4.
Full of pomp and privilege, I drove my mother’s car. I was enamoured with my every word, the way young people are She sat there like a passenger and held a private smile She said, the bravest thing to do is write a song that doesn’t rhyme Went to university, that’s what my people do I cemented my convictions and predictions of the truth I was less concerned with substance than to learn to love in style But the bravest thing to do is write a song that doesn’t rhyme My father was a prospector, my mother was a rock. They tied their wand’ring hearts together and scurried from the flock And they sang it to my brothers’ ears, they sang it into mine The bravest thing to do is write a song that doesn’t rhyme I’m asking for the courage, I’m asking for the heart I’m asking for the strength of arms to hold my world apart I’m asking for the silence to believe without my eyes That the bravest thing to do, the bravest thing to do That the bravest thing to do Is write a song that doesn’t rhyme
5.
Kelly Joe, I heard you sold your last guitar Somebody told me. Man, we were wond’ring where you are And I remembered in the cold, when I slept in my father’s car After driving seven hours to see you play the Dreaming Bar It was years ago Hey, you know, I remember asking your advice A song I wrote, I was praying that you’d like it There was space around your words and you were kind in your reply You said, “you sing it like a ringer and your imagery is fine” That made me smile Kelly Joe, don’t let it go Your perfect sound is a radio I’ve carried with me when I’m down Would Vince Van Gogh have sold his brushes if he’d got old? Hey, Kelly Joe, I heard you got a new idea To get your boots and get your cap and be a ranger in the trees Well, that doesn’t seem a stretch, I guess it’s no surprise to me And I think it’s a relief just to know you have a dream You have a dream Kelly Joe, don’t let it go Your perfect sound is a radio I’ve carried with me when I’m down Would Vince Van Gogh have sold his brushes if he’d got old? Does genius demand a ransom, higher as years go by? And does doubt come through the cracks if genius isn’t recognized? And I know it’s not my business but I wish you’d compromise Kelly Joe, I heard you sold your last guitar
6.
Driftwood love, i don’t hedge my bets I’ll take what I get and that’s enough Driftwood love, romance isn’t true We break or make do and I give up I didn’t really know We get old so fast It takes something lost to make you long For something lasting Love, I been drifting too Something brought me to you-- that’s enough Something brought me to you, driftwood love
7.
Hammer 03:45
If i had a hammer i’d keep it in the closet I’d keep it in the ether with my thoughts and my prayers I’d read about the marches and like em on Facebook I’d keep my hands clean, i’d keep my hands fair If i had a bell i’d leave it on the mantle I’d stuff it with velvet and shine up the brass I’d have my friends over to talk about TV Hey, what’s with the bell? Nobody asks Cause I am a white man and I choose my causes And then in the evening i go home to my bed And i dream about danger and i dream about warning Wake up in the morning with a clear head If I had a history i’d keep it in the basement I’d keep it in the schoolyard buried under a tree Then I’d write a new story, put it in a movie Make a little money cause life ain’t free Cause I am a white man and i choose my causes And then in the evening i go home to my bed And i dream about danger and i dream about warning Wake up in the morning with a clear head Well, i got a bell and I got a hammer And I got a history and nothing to say But I like my family and I like employment And I like my head down, I hear better that way Yeah, I keep my head down, I get by that way Ah, the love between my brothers and my sisters...
8.
Well, I woke up bright and early today, then i woke up again a little less early Then i woke up again not quite so bright and finally I said, ok, i better get this show on the road So i put on my pants, i put on my shirt Then i glanced at the clock.. It was getting late so i went back to bed... got to bed early, though! Some people have sad running in their veins, it’s a default setting we were wired that way But you can’t send back to the factory unless you have a warranty So i wrote to my folks asking if mine was still good. I waited a while for a response... And finally i heard back from them-- they yelled down.. Move the hell out of our basement. (Please). You start to think about suicide what it be like if you up and died How many people’d show up on your funeral day what kind of speeches your friends’d make Course, i suppose you could find out these same things if you just... up and got married. Maybe stick with the first plan… suicide! I wake up in the night with voices in my head they’re still there talking when i go back to bed Voices when i write, voices when i play voices follow me out on stage, Never heard so many voices. So i started talking back to em, I said: You don’t deserve to be here. You don’t control me. You can’t control my mind. Cause you’re lonely, nobody loves you nobody wants you nobody cares about you you’re wasting your time you don’t have any friends everything you do is worthless you’re worthless you’ll die a worthless piece of worthless crap that nobody loves or cares about because you’re worthless Yeah, it didn’t work, they’re still there. I just gave em new ideas! Well, i woke up bright and early again, this time i did it I GOT OUT OF BED! Got outta the house and made it to the gym, patted my back and called it a win. Then i overheard some guy say, “welp, tomorrow’s another day”. I slapped him Well, I am sad and you are sad and your friends are sad and your family’s sad Everyone’s sad about being sad nothin is good, everything is bad But you know what they say... “It’s good to have something to look forward to”. Can’t wait to hear what they say at my funeral. Or wedding! Well, I am sad and you are sad and your friends are sad and your family’s sad Everyone’s sad about being sad nothin is good, everything is bad Well, I am sad and you are sad and your friends are sad and your family’s sad Everyone’s sad about being sad nothin is good… and everything is bad.
9.
So Am I 03:25
This is a song to say what I couldn’t say Something gets in the way every time It’s a blessing not a curse to put money in your purse But I’d like to know, wouldn’t i? I’ve been going through these pages From all my various stages The shit no eyes will ever see And I’ll wonder to the end, every now and then Is there another way this could’ve been But when you’re overcome or you come undone And you’re the only one Well, so am i Now I wander through the trees that stretch out over the beach The wind has shaped the way they lean And there’s something in the air that didn’t used to be there Something I can’t touch, that I can’t see I’ve been going through my things To see if maybe there’s some meaning For a sign of life in my possessions Cause I tried to fill my home with little joys that I have known When being lonely gets to feel like a profession But when you’re overcome or you come undone And you’re the only one Well, so am i And when the colors fade, sometimes for days It’s the way you’re made And so am i

about

“Ghostlights” are burning in all our empty theatres as we speak, illuminating the bare stages. A longstanding theatre tradition, these are naked bulbs left standing as the sole light source when the theatre is closed for the night, to give straggling crew safe passage through the wires and props and to keep mischievous playhouse ghosts from running amok in the dark. I recorded this homemade record by ghostlight on one of those stages in Kamloops, BC, after a theatrical production I was part of was canceled by COVID in March 2020. It’s a collection of old and new misfit songs that never found a home on any previous album but somehow always stuck around. Mostly just a voice and guitar recorded live with one microphone and a couple bells and whistles added, here and there. Bare stage, bare songs. To keep me illuminated, i guess, till the houses fill up again.

credits

released June 19, 2020

Recorded at the Sagebrush Theatre/Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, BC.
All songs written and recorded by Adrian Glynn.
Mastered by Brock McFarlane at CPS Mastering.
Album Art by Marlene Ginader.
With thanks to the Western Canada Theatre for generously offering the support and space to make these recordings.

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about

Adrian Glynn Vancouver, British Columbia

Adrian’s 5th solo album tracks the story of his Ukrainian grandparents’ flight from their homeland in the 1940s, to settle in Montreal. Adrian is a songwriter based in Vancouver and has released more than 8 critically acclaimed albums, both solo and with his folk band, The Fugitives. He has been nominated for a JUNO Award and multiple Western Canadian Music Awards and Canadian Folk Music Awards. ... more

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