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Seven Stones

by Katie Dahl

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Ryan Gonzalez
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Rob Hanning
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sgascho
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1.
Both Doors Open 03:53
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BOTH DOORS OPEN i have a son who almost died, had a dad who did both times what was crazy was the way the light stayed lit how my breath kept on coming while i was listening for his there inside the corridor, wrapped in my mother’s shawl pictures of the dogs and kids and grandpas on the wall i felt something stirring from the far end of the hall both doors open, both doors open sometimes i get to worrying i’ll want to leave my bed those bar lights are a beacon, might start blinking in my head might go looking for a reason to start pulling at the thread later in the parking lot, her hair all dark and warm field breathing heavy from the coming summer storm and then before i know it, a rustle in the corn both doors open, both doors open both doors open and the wind is coming through there are currents in the river, most days i don’t jump in most days i forgive her, most days the white dove wins most days i keep the windows shut, don’t let that tempest spin but when i fiddle with the locks and find they’re coming loose sometimes i steal the eggs out from beneath the golden goose sometimes i bite the apple and it tastes just like the truth both doors open, both doors open both doors open, both doors open both doors open, both doors open both doors open and the wind is coming through
2.
Since I Was Eight 05:15
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SINCE I WAS EIGHT i’ve been trying to lose weight since i was eight cause i saw a picture of myself jumping into a lake i’d been playing in the water for most of the day and now the sun had set down most of the way big orange ball sinking into the gray and me just jumping into the waves i threw the picture away someone must’ve taught all the other little girls the rules how to eat their cake and have this too someone must’ve taught all the other little girls what to do how to want them all but take only a few how to be flat and thin and new except that all the other girls seem to feel bad too what a waste of time, what a waste of time i’m not the kind of girl who cares what anybody else might say i only hate myself a few dozen times a day and then a few dozen more for feeling that way get hit by the bullet and the ricochet it’s a game i don’t know how not to play how does anybody learn to say, hey, not today it’s a waste of time, what a waste of time it’s just a waste of time, it’s such a waste and i don’t have that kind of time nobody has that kind of time i’ve been trying to lose weight since i was eight cause i saw a picture of myself jumping into a lake
3.
Sacristy 04:41
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SACRISTY when the benedict bells ring, do they make you think of me? you and me inside the sacristy with the wafers and the wine my blood pumping like the organ, holding bibles in our hands you the canaan land, forbidden and fine when i hear the bells of st. jude, they make me think of you and all the pretty birds that flew from your mouth into mine my swallows almost set to singing, sparrows almost took to wing but if they knew anything, it’s that god’s eyes were on them all the time you said, the red velvet plate with the quarters, let’s take them we’ll build ourselves a house on the hill we can draw the holy water water from our own well in the hollers and the badlands, in the missionary van you dressed up in your sunburn, i hid under mine and in the evenings at the altar, father taught us how to pray for all the soulsick and the sinners you grinned at me, you said, that’s you and i and you said, the red velvet plate with the quarters, let’s take them we’ll build ourselves a house on the hill we can draw the holy water water from our own well, when god spoke to samuel do you think it sounded like the benedict bells? every one ringing out cracked and proud and clear back then i thought that we were serpents, i thought we brought the flood thought we turned water into blood, i thought we drank a wicked wine but really you, you were an apple, and me, i was a dove eating manna from above, i guess you knew that all the time you know the red velvet plate with the quarters, i took them i built myself a house on the hill and now i’m drawing holy water so won’t you come where the bells are a-ringing, you’ll find me here in my house on the hill we can draw the holy water water from our own well
4.
Temperance River 04:50
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TEMPERANCE RIVER temperance river come running down river runs cold and deep down to the waters of lake superior down to the inland sea iron mud and last year’s snow temperance river gather up all of the smoothest stones river runs cold and deep water to rock, blood to bone down to the inland sea father to daughter, stone to the water temperance river over the falls to the place we know river runs cold and deep hang onto the roots as you go below down to the inland sea are you ever gonna tell me what i wanna know temperance river come running down river runs cold and deep down to the waters of the biggest lake down to the inland sea the iron mud and the smoothest stones all those things i wanted to know gone the way of last year’s snow you can let them go temperance river temperance river come running down river runs cold and deep down to the waters of lake superior river run to the sea everything i wanna know gone the way of the smoothest stones gone the way of last year’s snow temperance river
5.
Jericho 05:40
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JERICHO there’s a girl in the country i know how she shines she is a silver pitcher in the sun filled with sparkling wine yeah, yeah, of course she’s pretty, she she is fine but pretty’s out there for everybody i wanna know her mind but if you get too close she’ll close the blinds jericho, jericho castle in the corn jericho, jericho i’m gonna blow that horn her body is as soft as any bed soft like mine his gravestone is as hard as his beautiful head a limestone valentine she carries a purse made of leather feathers and twine she’ll open it up if you ask her make it rain down dimes but if you get too close, she’ll cut the line jericho, jericho castle in the corn jericho, jericho i’m gonna blow that horn i tried flooding it with gin i tried killing it with kindness i tried to hammer every stone with my own sin, with my skin you can call me joshua call me little boy blue i’m just a whistle on the prairie i’m the thistle you grew jericho, jericho castle in the corn jericho, jericho i’m gonna blow, blow jericho, jericho castle in the corn jericho, jericho i’m gonna blow that horn
6.
Red Brown Blue Green 06:33
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RED BROWN BLUE GREEN where do you put them when you take them away, take them away, take them away at the bottom of the ocean or the middle of a mountain? do they keep on shining when i’m not there to watch them? can you tell me, do they glitter anyway? what do i lose when you take them away, take them away, take them away? bag of pebbles, box of diamonds, all the clothes i spend my time in scraps and souvenirs, little pieces of my mirror you creep in and you take them all away like the red rocks knocking in the big brown river in my blue jeans wading and her laughing like forever and the green leaves running down toward superior where did you come from to take them away, take them away, take them away? did you come down from my father? are you something in the water? when did you begin to live within my skin? when did I let you in to take them all away? like the red sun setting on the big brown desert in my blue jeans stepping and her laughing like forever and the green thorns glowing on the joshua trees i’m building up a wall so you can’t take them away, can’t take them away, take them away out of corduroy and dreams, all my little busted seams i’ve been thirty-four years building, i’ve been hammering and filling all the cracks where you can crawl and watch my precious seconds fall before you pick them up and take them all away like the red lamp lighting up the big brown bed and the blue quilt spread and her laughing like forever and the green light flashing from the electric storm where do you put them when you take them away? and tell me, do they glitter anyway?
7.
Two Old Birds 04:07
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TWO OLD BIRDS there should be a word for this for driving out of minneapolis into your town, past the merry-go-round station wagon windows down there should be a word for this for the feeling in my chest when i’m knocking on your door and the creak in your floor reminds me that i missed you what the word is, i don’t know the word for two old birds walking alone if there’s a word well you should know for that night seventeen years ago why you turned to me and then why you turned away again in the minneapolis snow cause i could write a whole damn book about the way i must have looked standing there in the gray, you walking away i could write a whole book what the word is, i don’t know the word for two old birds walking alone don’t you have a word for this you should have a whole thesaurus i’m not asking for another kiss it’s your words i miss your words i miss there should be a word for the kind of stone the kind of rock that we both own we pull it on a sled, drag it into our bed so we can feel less alone and now we’re seventeen years on i’m just dragging my rock along wishing somebody would see, see the stone or me the way that you have all along what the word is, i don’t know the word for martha playing on the radio dancing in your kitchen, cooking broth from bone the word for two old birds we’re just two old birds two old birds walking alone
8.
I Already Knew 03:39
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I ALREADY KNEW i’m learning what i already knew i don’t get to choose when or how or why or who aspens quake and bodies break and i could too i could too, i already knew the in and out is all we get to keep nose to throat to lung to heart to blood to rosy cheek days go by in minutes, the hours last a week the in and out is all we keep we all gotta wash in the stream not one of us is pure, not one of us is clean every one of us is pure, every one’s a holy dream a holy dream, washed in the stream there’s never been a spring that didn’t come nothing’s ever new beneath the cold winter sun hammer, tree, and tap, that sap is gonna run it’s gonna run, and spring is gonna come i’m learning what i already knew all the mighty millions are really just the fragile few empires shake and bodies break, i love you i love you, i already knew
9.
Summer Grass 03:30
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SUMMER GRASS skinny waist, skinny smile you see your mother in the mirror every once in a while that’s right, you’re still her child i see your big heart beating, it’s gonna bust right out of that brown tweed blazer and your yellow blouse that’s right, i see you choking on the words in your mouth hey, this is the summer grass, take off that winter jacket cut the chitchat, don’t give me any of that all i wanna know is what makes you sad colored glass, stony church i saw you look up at the ceiling when you talked about her that’s right, i could see it hurt oh is she walking with another by the big blue domes or did you have to leave her lying in the catacombs that’s right, either way you’re walking alone hey, this is the summer grass, take off that winter jacket cut the chitchat, don’t give me any of that all i wanna know is what makes you sad you’ve got something in you that’s like something in me i see it in your writing in the microfiche i see it in the heavy way you’re walking down the street i see it in your class when i’m sitting at your feet cause sad girls wear bright boots and i’m wearing some bright boots too so let me show you the map on the soles of my shoes you’ll know that i knew what i knew, that i knew you so turn in your grades, come out in the rain we’ll watch that cannon river shoot its banks that’s right, let’s watch it flood the plain hey, this is the summer grass, take off that winter jacket cut the chitchat, don’t give me any of that all i wanna know is what makes you sad unstack your stacking doll, put down that russian novel tell me all about your little purple pill bottle cause all i wanna know all i wanna know all i wanna know
10.
Silhouette 04:21
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SILHOUETTE how do you know that you love who you love do you wait for a flood, do you send out a dove when i get to wondering how deep or how high i close my eyes, think about the day you’ll die oh love, the day you’ll die i saw death in new orleans smoking a serpent pipe, sipping scotch bonnet tea he was looking at you, you were looking at me he was hanging a bloom on the magnolia tree me and you, that magnolia tree hey, hey i am a canyon, a red riverbed stones in my belly, birds in my head and you are the river, on the day you run dry you’ll see me reaching forever, stretching up to the sky the canyon and the river, you and i hey, hey i love the meadow for the graves at our feet i love the rainbow for the rust underneath that’s how i love you, i love your kiss and i love your shadow, all the things i’ll miss oh love, the things i’ll miss you planting all the daffodils, pedaling the iowa hills pumping that spinning wheel, keeping that even keel swimming in the cold lake, feeling that old ache crying for the dead man, dancing to graceland lighting up the christmas tree, yelling at the referee pouring out coffee and wine, keeping perfect time swinging that hatchet high, singing a lullaby every silent duet, every little regret, every endless breath your silhouette your silhouette your silhouette
11.
Mon beau galet 04:31
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MON BEAU GALET j’avais une pierre et toute mon eau elle contenait mon beau galet il y a des années on m’a dit qu’il fallait l’abandonner mon beau galet les cloches, l’éveil la fenêtre, le soleil j’ai fini, j’ai fini de me cacher dans l’église où elle chantait ma poitrine s’est brisée mon beau galet et là, parmi la terre et les racines, j’ai retrouvé mon beau galet les cloches, l’éveil la fenêtre, le soleil j’ai fini, j’ai fini, j’ai fini de me cacher TRANSLATION: i had a stone that held all my waters my beautiful stone years ago they told me I had to let it go my beautiful stone the bells, the awakening the window, the sun i’m done, i’m done hiding myself in the church where she sang my chest broke my beautiful stone and there among the dirt and the roots i found it again my beautiful stone the bells, the awakening the window, the sun i’m done, i’m done, i’m done hiding myself

credits

released June 2, 2023

SONG CREDITS

Katie Dahl: voice, acoustic guitar, hand claps
Julie Wolf: piano, Hammond B3, accordion, glockenspiel, hand claps, live knob tweaks, voice (Jericho, Summer Grass, Mon beau galet)
Todd Sickafoose: acoustic and electric bass
Nino Moschella: drums, percussion, cymbal swells, bottle caps, hand claps, vibes, vocal and bass 6 loops, whistling, voice (Jericho, Mon beau galet)
Gawain Mathews: mandola, mandolin, banjo, pedal steel, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, National guitar, nylon string guitar, electric baritone guitar, dobro
Jenny Scheinman: violin
Vicki Randle: shaker, tambourine, congas, triangle, shekere, fuchi, cowbell, voice (Sacristy, Temperance River, Jericho)
Eric Lewis: 12-string guitar (Two Old Birds), electric and acoustic baritone guitars (Jericho)
Rich Higdon: washboard
Kris Delmhorst: voice (Both Doors Open, Since I Was 8, Red Brown Blue Green, Two Old Birds, I Already Knew)
Peter Mulvey: voice (Both Doors Open, Red Brown Blue Green, I Already Knew)
Eliza Gilkyson: voice (Temperance River, Jericho, Silhouette)
Claudia Russell: voice (Summer Grass)
Nini Camps: voice (Sacristy)

RECORDING CREDITS

Recorded at Bird & Egg Studio, Richmond, CA, by Nino Moschella, Julie Wolf, Alberto Hernandez, and Cody Hamilton; except Peter Mulvey, Kris Delmhorst, Vicki Randle, Rich Higdon, and Nini Camps (who recorded themselves), Claudia Russell (recorded by Bruce Kaplan, Studio 440, Point Richmond, CA), and Eliza Gilkyson (recorded by Don Richmond, Howlin’ Dog Records, Alamosa, CO). Mixed by Nino Moschella. Mastered by Kim Rosen at Knack Mastering, Ringwood, NJ.

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Katie Dahl Wisconsin

Katie Dahl is a songwriter and playwright known for her whip-smart lyrics, rich alto, mischievous onstage wit, and unflinching honesty. A small-town celebrity on the small Wisconsin peninsula where her family has lived for 175 years, Katie is also an internationally touring, radio-charting artist who “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter). ... more

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