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The Hymns of Sorrow

by Jack Harlan

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1.
3:30 Blues 04:23
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I’m hung in this dark hour Back in the temple of gloom Both innocence and beauty are dead Long before they’ve even bloomed My life stolen in a moment Lightening lost in my bones Spend the nights hunting the dealer Asking why has thou dealt me so cruel? All my trains of glory Have all left the station Don’t know why I have become such a hollow man Trading deliverance for these unknown faces I'm left lingering 'neath the moon 3:29 strike up the tune of The 3:30 blues Got an old photograph Got an old lucky charm It’s about the only two things I got That I still hold in these cold arms I’ve flown once with the wings of love And I bit in the flesh in lust Now all the diamonds in my life Have all turned to dust All my trains of glory Have all left the station Don’t know why I have become such a hollow man Trading deliverance for these unknown faces I'm left lingering 'neath the moon 3:29 strike up the tune The 3;30 blues Feel like I’ve been done too soon But the 3:30 blues Feel like I've been done too soon By the 3:30 blues
2.
No Friend I've Known 04:59
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He laid down his head in the dark of his pillow As the moon came down through his window Gazing into the reflection of a bottle he’d just thrown Thinking this world’s been no friend I’ve known She laid herself down all dressed in leather As a stranger of desire came down over her Give me your money boy I’ll make it good to the bone Cause this world’s been no friend I’ve known Well he sat in the park a life he lived almost everyday Feeding the birds of sorrow to pass the time away I’m hanging onto nothing now where shall I roam When this world’s been no friend I’ve known She smoked her last cigarette in the orange of the morning Down beside her she watched her child sleeping Your father he left us we be dead leaves a blown' And now this world is no friend I’ve known The world wants your money Your shirt and your skin They counterfeit your dreams to make it look like you’ve sinned But from this empty bedside I’ve flown Even though this world’s been no friend I’ve known
3.
Chain of Nightmares 04:14
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It’s a lonesome jaded desperate hour Your hands have picked every virgin flower Feet have climbed every golden tower The sky opens up spits something sour to believe in The night throws shadows across your floor You pray there is not anymore But every thought you have tried to ignore It gathers outside of your door Raging You wonder where it all has gone But was ever there for very long? You peek your head out They are still playing the song Live goes on Carry on boy All the time conceal your pain Keep in line with the parade But leaning on this broken cane People cry oh what a shame When they don’t even remember your name Tomorrow Hours looking in the mirror Looking for the face that disappeared Your hands are shaking You are drunk on fear You know there is no exit near Nobody there to bend an ear While waiting in this pool of tears Talking of some ancient cure But where you are you can not hear Them bells tolling All of this is all over you You who are somehow bound to lose Walking underneath pale moons Wandering lonely through the ruin Wondering if you will make it through Wondering what there is to get through to Or will it all come back on you Again Somehow you must be brave That is what your father will say Can’t remember what cards you have played No matter everything you have saved adds up to nothing So lonesome goes down another day The night becomes a desperate game It’s truly love that you crave But love has changed its name To this a game that you must play And play it there is no other way Cause your heart is sinking, sinking fast Caught the future and the past Not knowing which one is built to last But everything will surely pass And another such as you will be born again Into a chain of nightmares Chain of nightmares
4.
Thomas J Penny 06:18
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5.
Down to the River 04:18
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Standing in a hallway Of an Empire of Emptiness There's an October wind through my doorway Like a ghost of the wilderness Well my existence is tremblin’ right down to my bone When you really get down to it All I got left is silver and gold I'm going down to the river In the pale moonlight If my Lord it don’t deliver The river's gonna swallow me tonight When I was much younger Hey man 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'm taking the women home There just ain’t no honey in their pie That's why I'm going down to the river In the pale moonlight If my lord it don’t deliver That river's gonna swallow me tonight God send me a word And won't you make it straight and true I don’t care what it is As long as it ain’t something that I’m used to Got an imported ceiling I 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 So I'm going down to the river In the pale moonlight If my Lord it don’t deliver The river's gonna swallow me tonight
6.
Drive 05:16
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Got a an aching in your bones You must feeling sick suckered and pawned Highways broken head s a mess of blues Faceless and nameless no bit left in the booze It’s a mean old world brother But you got to drive on Drive when the soil beneath you groans When you know not the seed you’ve sown When it s your worst nightmare and there’s nothing on the tv except a plastic hero riding shot-gun Crack babies crying the backseat It’s a mean old world brother But you got to drive on Drive, world gone wrong and ain t had no loving Drive you must thousand tounques flapping saying nothing Drive when you loose your wedding ring, when your lover s flirting with your best friend Devils in the police car your waiting for the world to end It’s a mean old world brother But you got to drive on It’s a mean old world brother But you got to drive on When the darkness rolls up your backbone When you ain t got no home Nothing but hobo a veteran of the low road raven at your window no call on the telephone last call everybody gone home red rivers flow rape your daughter and the law ain t on the level Confidence is crawling too much shit on your shovel when your eyes are tired your hand ain t been hired either laid off or fired brain been wired with no desire ain t no no honky tonking disesase mobs the innocent your part of the game your heavenly horse gone lame everythings the same everythings the same make no difference what they say eveythings sounds the same
7.
Ain't No Satisfaction 04:35
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8.
Wonder Where You Are Tonight 02:48
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9.
Don't You Wanna Hear Your Bird Sing 03:41
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Good Morning to you, how do you do? I'm doing all right , how bout you? I'm tired and I'm lonely And every day brings the same damn thing Don't you want to hear your bird sing? Walking with your head down, Holding onto a bleeding rose You ask your best friend why He says that's just the way love goes Isn't anything sacred any more I get divorced and I'm still paying off my engagement ring Don't you want to hear your bird sing? Step down to the dance floor Lights are flashing green and red Find some laser lover boy And take him home to bed In the morning he gets up Sighs and says he'll call you or something Don't you want to hear your bird sing? Back here again where the night is long And you've been covered up with mirrors The wine's gone bitter, you are wrecked on loss And all you can hear is the constant fear There's a black crow on your bedpost Your dreams are on fire And the day smells of gasoline Don't you wanna hear your bird sing?
10.
The Whiskey of New Years Eve 02:24
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about

At the end of the lost highway, just outside of the the town of no return, stands the cathedral of solitude where folk noir hymns are sung with a voice that has seen all the trials we all stumble through.

I wrote this album during a turbulent and dark time in my life not long after I moved to Vancouver in 1994. It was a different city back then, much grittier than it is today. I found myself living in a rooming house on the East side of town sharing the house with a few other lonely souls. For me solace came from late night walks in the streets where I would come up with melodies and go back to my room and write the lyrics until the late hour under candlelight drinking whisky out of the bottle in my small attic room.

I started to make a little name for myself at this amazing poetry and song showcase held across the hall inside the NBI strip club. The Malcolm Lowry Room was a once a week showcase for poets and a few musicians created by poet Micheal Turner. I was 20 years old and did not really know anyone in the city. This was a wonderful home for me to speak my truth. If that place didn't exist, I would have maybe ended up packing my bags. I made some great connections there, including the talented guy doing sound who offered to record and produce me. Marc L'Esperance gave me the confidence to actually try and lay something down in the studio and offer some support for the songs with textures and stylings. He followed up Hymns of Sorrow by creating some nice gems like Please Don't Pass Me By, She and Breath of Heaven off my Carnival of Mystery release in 2002. Thanks Marc!

I look back on those years fondly even though they were difficult and somewhat dark for me. These are the songs that came out of it. Enjoy.

credits

released March 28, 1996

Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Marc L'Esperance:
www.facebook.com/HEAVYOSONIC/?pnref=lhc

Peggy Lee - cello www.peggylee.net

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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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