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Lineage

by Farewell Friend

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1.
All the sheep had twinkle lights around their necks. You say that’s odd and I agree. But nah look there’s a whole line of em dancing in the rainbow hues; Such a pretty little solar system, Yeah this exit could be ours, Yeah the livestock like to bring their own tiny little stars. Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall. Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry and the silver is tucked in the drawer and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no more. All the bills were paid and the tracks were laid and the family were close at hand. All the colors from the twinkle lights setting sun, window sill, red clay dirt, and the chocolate earth they were dancing. They were dancing their way on home like the moon. Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall. Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry and the silver is tucked in the drawer and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no more. All the sheep had twinkle lights around their necks but I told you that one already. And the town’s people they were going home by their own way. It’s the simple little things keeping me sleeping at night. It’s the tiny little things keep me dripping from my eyelids. But it’s time for waking up. Yeah it’s time to go to work again in case the crazies try and go elect a wolf again. Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall. Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry and the silver is tucked in the drawer and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no more
2.
Brass, nickel, and wood have always done me good. Earth, heaven, and hell sounded just as well. So give me a rest for my heart, my head, and hands ease my mind help me understand. Cause I’m a pilgrim I’m a sinner The months of walking Now I’m thinner I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side? Shenandoah peaks and Shenandoah miles The holy spirit speaks and Carolina smiles. So give me a rest for my heart, my head, and hands ease my mind help me understand. Cause I’m a pilgrim I’m a sinner The months of walking Now I’m thinner I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side? Roan’s shady apples Yellow mountain cider let’ em touch your lips Smile a little wider Meet me at the chapel Damascus is my stop You can hang me from the steeple Or pin me to the top. Cause I’m a pilgrim I’m a sinner The months of walking Now I’m thinner I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side?
3.
Winter in North Carolina Summer in July, Winter in North Carolina Summer in July, The weeds they all grow tall and they all die. Get me to my home. Babe I know the way. Get me to my home down in Carolina. I had a dream last night babe they all were dancing. I had a dream last night babe they all were dancing. Put your hand on my thigh. Promise me all you got. Get me to my home. Babe I know the way. Get me to my home down in Carolina. I had a dream last night and I woke up cry’en I had a dream last night and I woke up cry’en You put Your hand on my eyes.
4.
Keep a candle burning on the sill Save a space beneath the floor board Where I can sleep tonight In the morning we’ll take a ride Past the dogs and past their guns A brush fire we’ll light when the morning arrives We’ll take the fugitive home. When I make it safe to Canada Will you meet me beside the water and pray You meet me there alive I know Ontario is cold but I will keep you warm by the fire Never let you out of my sight again. When I get safe across the water When I stop running Arrest my feet Arrest my soul and kiss my girl When the cuffs are off When the cuffs are off Keep a light on and burning bright So I can find your window When I’m creeping up the road tonight I’ll arrive when the streets are empty When July passes us by And the birds sing their hopeful song for the lovers on the run For the lovers on the run When I get safe across the water When I stop running Arrest my feet Arrest my soul and kiss my girl When the cuffs are off When the cuffs are off And you stay up late talking to friends And you call me and tell me it’s time But it wont be that long till I make you mine Well I’ll strike a match in the barn and let it burn As we slip away My father’s cash will get us to the ocean I’ll kiss your feverish lips like a brush fire that dries up a stream And melt you like a warm southern sky. When I get safe across the water When I stop running Arrest my feet Arrest my soul and kiss my girl When the cuffs are off When the cuffs are of
5.
He borrowed his father’s old suit for the wedding Slipped on those shoes and he walked down the isle He washed off her feet with tears so easily shed And he slept with the thanks of a boy turning into man And the circle of time was a dance as he held her hand. She raised up her son to send him away Made him a man who could stand in the sway Of the world But not trip in its ways. And it broke her whole heart when he took that first step And she died when he ran but he didn’t look back Cause you know that old man Moses is dead Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed My new name here is Joshua instead My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead We take off our shoes at the end of the day We wipe off the mud and the soil We give up our youth in the east and we walk to the west We baptize the earth with fresh toil Wipe off our brow for the work of idolatry’s foil. Cause you know that old man Moses is dead Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed My new name here is Joshua instead My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead And the clock it smiles for man its humble guest and God’s only law is to give up our best Let the seeds of life grow up wherever they fall so that seeds and soot can stand again as man. Cause you know that old man Moses is dead Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed My new name here is Joshua instead My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead
6.
Parades 01:22
Thots lik tamboreens krash btween a childs ‘hanz they are mine a boi hoo reeches uup wth teers an smyls depening an the our an thys is the one forsed smyls a momment four parades says the child in my mind despte te meses i kin fine. Slowly fall Slowly fade away Slowly form vapor trails Upside down and out.
7.
Seeds & Snow 06:04
Grandpa moved to California in a circle of wagons through the snow through cold and bitter winter mornings hoping ma would last the night racing wolves through an icy pasture. My old man would cross the desert running things some people buy. And he would stop and pass the night with pretty girls in dusty towns. I’ll meet a girl this time tomorrow. Seeds will grow in a bitter pasture. In the gypsum weed: sweeter fruit than I will ever know dreaming about the road and that quiet mountain range and how can people change. I don’t know I don’t know Aunty Caroline was a preacher. she moved out west in a dust bowl daze. She married a man for his guitar and his finger pick’n ways and the tricks the campfire would play. They made a pact of constant sorrow, laid those seeds beside the road. They grew sweeter fruit than I will ever know dreaming of yesterday, thinking I could take a chance as if the silent moon could dance. I don’t know I don’t know I met a girl whose name was Progress with delicate hands made for work in a promised land. But now I walk with the wolves and I settle for second best I hold the earth like an urn and now I take all the hell I get. Change is a silent masquerade generations on display: like a salt flat sky over sapphire fields as we burry our sweeter yields. Its how hurting and change can feel and why starting is twice so real
8.
Hey I got a devil to move I got new stitching in my shoes I’m moving on And I apologize for such a thin disguise I’ll probably change my mind again I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know I got a devil to move here’s looking to you I couldn’t leave too soon I’m talking about you too I’m talking about you too I got the moving blues I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know Hey I’ve got a devil to move I can’t leave too soon unless you do Hey I apologize for such a thin disguise I’ll probably change my mind again If it suits you If it suits you then it suits you Well I’m on the road. I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know I wont be stepping on your shadow or dancing at your show I hoped you’d know
9.
Digging down to find the core Sweeping up a rusty bottomed vessel don’t know what this ship is for except work, live, and die. And I see it all the time See my old friend Jones He was hanging round the neck Around closing time Singing “Who will call the family? And who will be the barer of such bad news and who will pick up the tab or clean these dishes up or cut the noose?” Now my sweeping days are over I said good bye to that old ship and shore I have a nice plot of land I call my Mrs. “Higher Ground” and “If-you-ask-it’s-all-the-same-to-me” Still I wake up scared some nights Singing “Who will call the family? And who will be the barer of such bad news and who will pick up the tab or clean these dishes up or cut the noose?” Digging down to find the core And if you see a dead man walking Don’t you know what a grave is for? But when you hear them call out your Name You won’t be thinking so much You won’t be asking your questions you wont be calling your name. Singing “Who will call the family? And who will be the barer of such bad news and who will pick up the tab or clean these dishes up or cut the noose?” Who? Who? Who?
10.
Tornado 04:56
There’s a river of fire under the Memphis sky for slaves like us - a gentle way to die. Theres a smoking gun between father and son: The only dance the old man taught me was a way to run. My car stalled out under a Mississippi moon the needle pricked ‘E’ 3000 miles too soon. Now I’m drunk on the gin of generational sin and the empty bottle’s the urn you can burry me in. ‘cause the lady lied and the lady laid the liberty bell at the gates of hell “Drink up” they said “boy find your fill we’re the experts here at the oil we drill” “The sea turned black but you’r sharp as a tack If you don’t clean this all up well… we hoped you will” ‘cause the lady lied and the lady laid the liberty bell at the gates of hell. So I took my sweet girl through the valley low And I carried her up On the mountains high. Of all my wealth she was the apple of my eye. And I buried her seed Oh in the land of the lies ‘cause the lady lied and the lady laid the liberty bell at the gates of hell Is there somebody here who could tear me apart? I need a tornado in this trailer park heart. Is there a fire or a flood that for heavens sake turn my landfill mind into real estate. Cause I’m ready to fail so I set my sail make up my bed in the belly of the whale yes I’m ready to fail so I set my sale find the skeleton’s eyes in the virgin’s vale down, down, down where lady liberty fell
11.
I am a dancing child Last of a dying race I am a tree in a field A place where you can land and rest your opinions and listen to the wind and hear the whisper… ready go! I ain’t no grandfather clock damned to carry my chains while the bells are always ringing in my brains. I ain’t no astrolabe charting ancient seas while my lucky star is always out of reach. This is what I’m supposed to do right now Oh teacher would you tell me how? Tell me now. oh teacher would you take a bow? Are you an inch worm? Or a million miles long? You gave a word but I still can’t write a song. So I will sing about defeat and I will dance without my feet, cut off my toes and they can dance their lonely beat. This is what I’m supposed to do right now. Oh teacher would you tell me how? tell me now. Oh teacher would you take a bow? Am I a salesman who has never made a sell? Am I pilgrim who is doing half as well? Am I thief condemned for wanting more so short I’m taring out my seems for sleepy dreams. died long ago so let me go let me go let me go home. There is a grey sky dancing on the waves and my hands are treading fire but this boat will do just fine in the mean time until the stars become my grave. Well the weeds will call me home while I wait while I wait while I wait For you. Cause this is what I’m supposed to do right now Oh teacher would you tell me how tell me now Oh teacher this is what I’m supposed to do Oh teacher would you tell me how tell me now Oh teacher this is what I’m supposed to do Oh teacher would you tell me how?
12.
Dreamcatcher 03:16
All our songs live in the rafters, They were born in dream catchers. All my children and their laughter, They live happily ever after. That’s my daughter Annabelle She’s my favorite joke to tell She fell into a wishing well She was drinking what she wouldn’t tell But if you meet her say her father said… Say I’m either dying or I’m dead So tell my children what I said what I said what I said: “my body made a terrible bow line My mind too prone to slip My soul no sinking ship” So tell my family That’s my son named Gabriel He’s my lucky star who fell with pocket’s full of things to sell They sent him home for raising hell. I met the principal and the policeman and I told them both: I’m either dying or I’m dead So tell my children what I said what I said what I said: “my body made a terrible bow line and my mind too prone to slip but my soul no sinking ship. So tell my family All our songs live in the rafters They were born in dream catchers All my children and their laughter They were born to dance at the funeral. ‘Cause I’m either dying or I’m dead So tell my children what I said what I said what I said: “my body made a terrible bow line and my mind too prone to slip but my soul no sinking ship.” So tell my family “Since I am a spiritual man you can bury me where I stand, you can bury me where I stand and you can burn all the evidence.”
13.
The Pearl 04:34
I’m no company man I’m too proud. When I hear voices I shut them out. This car can drive itself can drive itself I remember I could hear the bells. They sang a song of riches in the well. So I’ll sell my well and buy myself a gun and I’ll buy a gun and kill someone for love. For Love I held a baby boy here in my arms I trusted I could see just as far I trusted him to tell us who we are but in my mind I am always the star crashing through the yard. All the west became the Red Man’s grave. The white men all renamed again as Saints Well I staked my claim and gave the land My Name. But if gain’s my aim then Cain remains my name. My Name I held a baby boy here in my arms I trusted I could see just as far I trusted Him just like a shooting star Father & Son here on the run Mother & Moon dying too soon But I ain’t no I ain’t no company man I ain’t no I ain’t no Company Man.
14.
Skeleton Key 04:04
That night on the watch, I had a promise to keepfrom our rivalry torn for eternity’s sleep alone the road. My Brothers were doubt and their Keepers were greed. While the market was down - all to fast on their feet. We were kin to the land. We were born on the run. As debtors we stand to our shovel and gun. And when we sell our dreams to the fortune teller we can’t just skip the wait. The fires burning bright the smoke will burn our eyes and the cards will play their games and we’ll forget our way. This skeleton key, shaped like a cross is stuck in the door so I count it a loss. I came to this town with a burden of pride. I lay it all down for the weakness of wine. And when we sell our dreams to the fortune teller we can’t just skip the wait. The fires burning bright the smoke will burn our eyes and the cards will play their games and we’ll forget our way
15.
What my mother carried my poor father will bury and my conscience is burdened with the cost. I believed a lie about the northern lights and caught our death along adventures way. My heart was frozen set on the gold I had chosen cracked by guilt and shattered by the storm. Oh you heartless heartless fool oh you heartless heartless fool. A heart thus broken is no worthless token and the devil came to collect his pay. For the night watch keeping my brother’s turn sleeping so I left to find my golden prize.Oh you heartless heartless fool oh you heartless heartless fool. Our souls awaken and as his was taken mine was left to wander with the wind. Now I find my prize among the northern lights a selfish soul surrendered to the snow. What my mother carried my poor father will bury and my conscience is burdened with the cost.
16.
Could I give up a week for getting high in summer time? And I would drive for miles to get the sand off of my toes. But I...No I can’t waste one thought on that. No I can’t waste one thought on that. And as the men walk home from work they know they better grow they better grow their children tall. But they wanna keep their women small But I...No I can’t waste one thought on that. No I can’t waste one thought on that. No I I will get my fill up at the station and drive all night. And I will watch the stars as they pass by and miss my girl. I can’t waste one thought on that.
17.
Father once miscounted his sheep. Thinking one was lost or asleep he and his brothers went searching While a hunter walked alone in the forest he fell asleep beneath an old oak tree. He dreamed he died and his soul roamed free As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars The brothers all wandered till morning When my father again counted his sheep All of those lambs had returned to the keep. The hunter woke up under his oak tree He drew a cross and he leveled his aim He called a shot but the blast never came As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars. Father worked the farm until sundown Grandpa broke the bread and they all bowed their heads For the lamb they gave thanks as they ate The hunter woke up under his oak tree. The farmers daughter sat there laughing at him. She’d drawn a raspberry stain on his cheek As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars and the pendulum swings and the weakest all found wings.

about

In 2014 Tom Troyer started the recording process of the "Lineage" project, completing three EP's over five years. He began weaving together a story of a group of immigrants - a family story - and their history of struggle, challenge, success, and tragedy.

Beginning with the end of the family line, Lineage began with a song about two brothers who were the last of their family line and their misadventures in the Alaskan gold rush. That song became the title track on the first digital EP release "Brothers' Keeper ".

Following in 2016 "Father and Son" continued to unfold the narrative of the generation prior to the brothers as they struggle with love, greed, envy, and disappointment.

Finally, in late 2017 "Grandfather Clock " was released - a 2 year writing project. This is where the story of the characters begin; the optimistic and stir crazed landing of the family in the 'New World'.

We've released and distributed our three EP's in this cycle only locally and online through iTunes, Bandcamp, and Noisetrade.

____________

A note from the songwriter:

"When this project started, it was with the help of friends and old bandmates in home studios. I put down acoustic and vocal tracks and they did the rest. What came back on Brothers' Keeper and They All Were Dancing was more than I had imagined or guessed could happen. It was after this recording experience with Edd Kerr and David Wimbish I was given the inspiration to build my own studio - Black Rabbit Audio.

With each step of that process I began to continue work on the songs for "Lineage". I tracked most of our second EP "Father & Son" and David Wimbish was responsible for post production.

With this final EP, Grandfather Clock it has been my responsibility to produce the entire work start to finish on my own. From tracking to mixing, the work of creating this final EP has gone on in my studio - Black Rabbit Audio.

I am proud of the work we have completed and cannot wait to share it with our fans!"

-Tom

credits

released June 11, 2018

Consuming much of my free time for the last 5 years, the Lineage project and these songs have been my best work so far as a songwriter. The music you find on these EP's is evidence of collaboration with a few of my closest friends; Mark Byerly on lap steel and electric guitar, Virginia Wimmer on Violin, Ben Jones on drums, Evan Campfield on bass, Jack Gorham and Michael Khuen on piano, and David Wimbish and Edd Kerr on production.

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Farewell Friend North Carolina

Farewell Friend is a North Carolina based folk rock band. Farewell Friend’s music is first and foremost an exploration of poetry and narrative

Tom - singer, songwriter, guitar
Evan - upright bass, moog, rickenbacker
Caleb - violin and telecaster
Zac - drums
Featuring Kevan Chandler on harmonica and Galen Clark on mandolin.

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