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Scintilla

by Jack Harlan

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1.
Standing in a hallway Of an Empire of Emptiness October wind through the doorway Like a ghost of the wilderness My existence is tremblin’ right down to the bone When you really get down to it All I got left is silver and gold Down to the river In the pale moonlight If my Lord don’t deliver The river gonna swallow me tonight When I was much younger I never count a wasted day Just always bought another When you’re young you buy The days with pocket change Had a hand full of women And a diamond cane at my side Now these days when I take women home There just ain’t no honey in their pie Down to the river In the pale moonlight If my lord don’t deliver The river gonna swallow me tonight God send me a word Make it straight and true I don’t care what it is As long as it ain’t something I’m used to Got an imported ceiling Got seven guest rooms Ten different tailors My clothes have been woven on a golden loom I got everything you probably ever wanted But that’s all my life can lend I got a million connections But I ain’t got no friends Down to the river In the pale moonlight If my Lord don’t deliver The river gonna swallow me tonight
2.
Burning Star 05:21
I am disgusted with my point of view My unwillingness to let go of Things that teach nothing new This is the moment to remember This is the moment to forget My life is either a miracle Or a mistake they failed to catch Like a burning star Crawlin’ out of the ashes Of our desperate neurotic love I don’t know why I left you Just tired of something I can’t understand I’m looking for a home But home ain’t a place I ever want to be Got to get something change something Something has got to give Like a burning star Like a burning star I'm wasted in the late hour Without a compass or moral My mouth is full of garbage My eroticism is on the shelf Bluebirds flying in and out of my conscience They’re there to justify when I hurt someone I’m the first one to be honest Except when it comes to myself
3.
Why haven’t you shown favour? Why does my song fall on deaf ears? Trees grow tall all around me I’m in the decay of the morning dew Waiting with all the warnings The echo of my name I have lost my patience That’s why I’ve been wrestling with Cain Your wisdom it leaves me hanging You’re out of touch with all these aspirations What is the point to go on pleasing Oh my Lord I am out of range I have given my all, time after time But I still got one thing left to give A great divide between the losers And the losers who find anyway to win Waiting with all the warnings The echo of my name I have lost my patience That’s why I’ve been wrestling with Cain
4.
Well, Well, Well Won’t you bring me some water My hands are just about fallin’ off of this plough Hard to understand why I’ve been Held by sorrow There ain’t no satisfaction in tomorrow Well I’m prayin’ on my mother Got a fever in my head and salt in my eyes I crawl on a bloody knee through The misty moonlit forest Beneath 57 dead lilies her body lies Well I’m prayin’ on my father I’m hear to tell em’ that these shoes I’m walkin’ in ain’t no better than his He’s off somewhere pissin’ off of some Barroom table Or pissed off swingin’ his everlasting pitiful fist Well I’m prayin’ on some sweet stranger Come heal the disease beneath my chest They see not the deuce I’ve been dealt Only danger Scared there might be a joker concealed beneath my vest
5.
Devil's Bed 05:42
Desert in your eyes Vacancy in your room Stain each other’s bellies With the milk of the moo Sleepin’ in a Devil’s Bed I’m going nowhere You’re going nowhere too Let’s spend the night together Do the things that nowhere people do Sleepin’ in a Devil’s Bed Stars have gone out And the satellite is dead I kind of like that funny feelin I’m getting’ in both of my heads Sleepin’ in a Devil’s Bed

about

Born from a DIY lo-fi vortex with a bottle up and explode mentality, these roots inspired southern spiritual anthems showcase Jack Harlan at his gritty best. Created collaboratively with artist Jonathan Anderson in the early days of his studio work, these songs are built on the exploration of experimental sounds with expansive finishes.

In the fall of 2000, I retreated into the vortex underground with a bottle up and exploded mentality in recording a bunch of new songs. I had just finished college and had from what I can remember some pretty crazy late night prowess that also fuelled my ambitions. It was a dark time for me. I was burning for some way to find what truly would make me content, although at the time I was way too intense and reckless to know what was good for me. Much like the other songs, Burning Star was of that desperation. Built with myself and co-creator Jonathan Anderson, this was in the early days of his studio work and we just went for it with whatever tools we had. All I remember is that my headphones were so loud that the sound was bleeding into the vocal track that I was laying down.

I always come back to these recordings, they inspire me to keep trucking, to be reminded that something can come from nothing. That it makes no difference what you have done, it is the passion and drive from the dirt and disappointment where you pick yourself up and do great work full of conviction. Around this time (so foggy, but in those days, let’s just say good reason to be) I was also in the weeds of big recording contract with Nettwerk Records working on Carnival of Mystery… long story short, I never really gave Scintilla what it needed. Excited to be finally releasing it almost 18 years later.

credits

released September 8, 2001

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Jack Harlan Calgary, Alberta

Lyrical firestorms, foot stomping and soft introspection of Alternative Folk, Indie & Experimental Roots.

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