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No Straight Line

by David Lewis

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1.
Due South 04:55
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All the debts of ingratitude are finally due south In the fields the harvests are falling short again And crumbs of compassion may drop from our mouths As we try to cover up a multitude of sins But lives lie hanging in the balance of payments As the children play in the light of the day And I breathe in the air for the fragment of a moment You think about the pain until it drives you away Due south Somewhere in the scenes in a crowded airport lounge Confusion hides behind the haunted eyes Horizons recede as you look around They're swallowed with the winds in a darkened sky Carving out a living in the cracks that we made Filling their dreams with the light of day Bringing some debts with a right to be paid You think about the past until it drives you away Due south In a world full of reason chaos takes its toll In the storms in the floods across the abyss Some visions cut deep others shut out with the light Wearing a distant disguise of darkness Anyone can smell the early morning rain And the sound of tears is just the same From the New York island to Port of Spain You heard it just once so don't drive it away When your destination takes you again Due south
2.
Open Smile 02:54
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Who you are is how you saw the dawn this morning How you feel is what you know when you are searching What you need is who you were when life seemed younger When you know you know that I'll be thinking of you Waiting for the fading mask to fall And leave an open smile If you knew how hard you made this for me If you thought we'd catch a new day dawning If you cared enough to keep this rain from falling If you felt the need to make it happen You could hold a life inside your heart And the world inside your dreams Can't you tell it was all a sad sad story Can't you try to see it in new light with me Can't you cry at all the trouble that you caused Can't you love the open hand that was extended Into the furnace and the fire With an open smile Now you know we weren't above suspicion And you wait for truth to hit you like a hammer Now you pause at all the things you thought were true Now you're sad but sadness has no place in you When you've taken stock of what you know The day unrolls again
3.
Out With The Tide 02:58
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I looked in the mirror, saw my reflection But I didn't recognise the eyes I waited a moment to make the connection At sun set down in the sky You showed me things that I didn't know In the shine of the signs that you still show I knew all of that until we let it go Out with the tide Out with the tide I took a long walk through the things I was feeling But I just couldn't find my way I opened my door and I stared at the ceiling But I didn't have word to say You showed me something that I didn't know In the shine of the objects you steal I had a grip till you set your sails Out with the tide Out with the tide I saw your face as it turned back to sorrow And I had to look away to sea I pin my hopes on a new tomorrow And I trust that you will agree Yours is the story that I will trust I promised I would and I know that I must Cos all this debris will soon be washed Out with the tide Out with the tide
4.
The End Of Something (duet with John Wesley Harding) 04:09
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These streets are full of nothing And all the faces look the same I'm locked inside the feeling That there's no one left to blame Please do it for me I did it for you Let's get ready for another stage Is this the end of something Or the start of a brand new age? In this soulless city Where the dirty water flows We search for diamonds shining out From the bed of the rivers below You'll find it out so don't hold it in And you know that it will carry you far Is this the end of something Or the dawn of a rising star? Now your eyes are keeping secrets You don't look me straight in the face I'm getting to thinking I've fallen behind That I'm finishing last in this race Will you wait for me like I waited for you? Can we swallow our foolish pride Is this the end of something Or the rise of a new born tide? They're promising the earth now With a smile at the start of the day We journeyed down the road a while Thinking of some things to say It's an open book worth a long hard look At the sights that that we locked inside Is this the end of something Or the start of another life? I can’t predict the future But it won’t be like the past The road its stretches on for miles And the sky is overcast It’s an open gate It’s an empty slate Where we can write everything anew Is this the end of something Or the birth of me and you?
5.
Calm Before The Storm 04:39
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Life has been suspended Some are stranded some are chained But in these streets The plans are fully formed Steam escaping through the cracks But the pressure still remains This is the calm The calm before the storm Outside in the distance People stare ahead The air is heavy The evening damp and warm Authorities are waiting Sleeping in their beds This is the calm The calm before the storm Second-hands are frozen There's a football in the street Bouncing lazy Like a slowly-ticking bomb Bodies tense a moment And rest back in their seats This is the calm The calm before the storm This might be the only chance That we will ever get Everyone has one last task to perform Let them guide a gentle hand Let them not forget This is the calm The calm before the storm Here is where the truth we know Is finally won or lost Freedoms are still waiting To be born Everything is double-checked Or maybe double-crossed This is the calm The calm before the storm
6.
Slowly Fading Evening Sky 04:34
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I was caught in the rain on the corner of Hope Street Where the people all run for their lives I was hoping that no one would sense my confusion See all the thoughts I was trying to hide And a broken umbrella still litters the pavement As the rain-storm escapes from this town And all of these tears are just pouring away Dissolving the dreams that we drowned Slowly fading evening sky and its gone We twisted together our lives for the moment In the springtime of every lost soul A passing attempt at informal attachment I remember the stories we told Look at the sky - will it ever recover? The rain pours relentlessly down And all of these steps are just running away Deserting the dreams that we drowned Now I'm lost for words as the crowds disappear The lights flicker on and I wish you were here But this is only a story it's just make believe But I can't tell the difference I trust what I see Now the streets are deep-frozen the traffic's in crisis The clocks are all starting to chime The slow motion madness of the night's wasted journey A thousand small crimes all hidden in time You never had that much eye for the details But you noticed the deals that went down And all of these thoughts are just slipping away Denying the dreams that we drowned
7.
Secrets In Your Hand 03:20
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In this world of fragments There are pieces here and there Drawn together by these tangled threads Across the line the mystery deepens Further every day As we trace the patterns Just the way we said And I know that I want to hear What you have to say tonight Living only in the here and now Close at hand I'm open wide I'm satisfied I'm reaching for the secrets You hold open in your hand Tonight the moon it seems to hold A lifetime in its light All these imperfections cast aside I can watch the way your fingers move As they soften up the night The answers never seem so hard to find And I know that I want to see What you say you'll see tonight Lying in the silence and the heat The symmetry You pacify, demystify I'm aching for the secrets You hold open in your hand While you sleep the shadows move Across the white-washed wall And the room is bathed in never ending light Knowing that these stretching arms Are bound to break our fall No matter what the distance what the height And I know that I want to see What you have to dream tonight Way beyond the windows of your soul Tranquility I'm looking in, beyond the skin I'm let into the secrets You hold open in your hand
8.
Under The Same Moon 03:24
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There's children outside in the street Playing in the glass no shoes on their feet Kept from death by a single beat Far from the city's heart As the cars go by without remorse And the poisoned rivers run their course And the police use justifiable force To take back what is theirs And the darkness seems to gather too soon Under the same moon The hotel porch is bathed in light Guests roll their dice on a Saturday night Living out their god given right Bathed in a neon glow And as the dice begin to roll They try to make their lives more whole But they're burning in their very souls Where the truth can never reach They're drinking liqueurs in the lagoon Under the same moon The world is large and the chasm wide And some must guard their dreams inside Its hard when you live across the great divide But you know the wall will come down Until that time the city sleeps With one eye open on the street Until the healing is complete The wounds are gaping wide Two simple scenes one night in June Under the same moon A fading dream one night in June Under the same moon
9.
Jealousy's Antiques 05:10
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You met me in the cyclamen shade Where the water flows to the shore And the sun rose over factories Where the ocean ceased to roar You were writing silently With the mercury rising high I couldn't break the tranquillity To take the morning ride And I know we never came to grips We only ever came to blows In the market place where jealousy's antiques Are bought and sold I never cared for the heat and the dust But it never seemed to hurt us You lost your sense of humour But you found a sense of purpose And in the darkened gardens Where our conversation flowed You offered me the seeds of dreams And every chance to grow I listened hard but time stood still And my senses froze In the market place where jealousy's antiques Are bought and sold You were looking for assistance Down the line of least resistance You played fair with a faraway stare Somewhere in the distance You said the rusted statues Would soon be obsolete But later in the old hotel I felt them through the heat Sometimes the truth is obvious But you never want to know In the market place where jealousy's antiques Are bought and sold You stroked my head as we lay in bed And listened to the hum Of other people doing All the things we hadn't done But no one seemed to move All while your mouth was touching mine The elegant electricity Stretched shivers down my spine Just one precious memory Is worth more than all the gold In the market place where jealousy's antiques Are bought and sold
10.
Heat And Light 03:41
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Now I don't want to hear Any more facts my friend I don't want to hold out Until the bitter end I don't want to feel the pull Of a fading tide Or the tear mongering rituals That drown us both inside It's a cold November evening Stars flicker in the night But our slow burning generates More heat than light So tease me, tell me a story Or just give me my new name The symmetry's been broken Uncertainty unchained My thoughts are in collision I'm lost without a map As we lean into an empty space And reach across the gap It's a cold November evening As we gaze out on the night But our slow burning generates More heat than light The clothes in your wardrobe The flowers on your shelf You told me all your secrets Then you gave them away yourself I'm looking through the keyhole Just where I used to hide But all I sees an empty room With nothing left inside And it's a cold November evening And we never got it right But our slow burning generates More heat than light
11.
Waiting For The Sunlight 04:22
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The smoke in this bar cocoons and protects me But I'll soon be ready to walk away These people have smiles to calm and collect me And help me to chase these demons away Outside and the street is wintry and raining The wind is grating against my face Traces of tears and thoughts remaining Filling the calm and the empty space And you sit there looking down You captured the high moral ground You're winning now in this game of chance While I'm waiting for the sunlight Waiting for the sunlight I'm cloaked in the warmth of friends who all love me Sometimes I just can't reciprocate Spent far too long asleep in the snowdrift I hope that it’s been worth the wait If it had worked, it could have been heaven It seems like things could've happened that way But if all you wanted was to pull out the carpet I'm glad you had the strength to call it a day I'd had my suspicions for a long time now That things would probably come to this We talked it over until it was dry But I still remember that suspicious kiss If the ghosts return, please don't feel haunted But don't ever try to chase them away They're just a reminder of what we both wanted Separate paths which led us astray
12.
Every Sunrise 02:46
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Here comes a casualty from the distant future Rolling through the ages on a roller coaster Giving out free tickets to all of his dreams And the main in the trench coat is not what he seems He's the court jester and he's out on a spree He's got all his fingers out pointing at me There's a tidal wave rolling and the force is unstoppable He's a man with a mission but the mission's impossible Cos every sunset is another sunrise On the other side of the world Now he's finding all the enemies right in our midst He likes to be applauded he likes to be kissed Kneels in prayer to the memory of his youth But he can't find the reason, the logic or the truth His plans they really don't include you or me Give him enough rope and he'll hang us all gladly They say that Armageddon's very close at hand And a few grains of truth fall to the ground like sand Threads of hope hang like a spider's web And the fountain of reason begins to run red I hope that you don't come to me for more advice I can only tell you once not to think twice

about

Growing up in the west of England addicted to 1970s folk-rock, David met fellow student Wes Stace (later to be known as US-based singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding) at university in the mid-1980s and the two forged a friendship busking blues and folk songs mostly discovered on old Dylan and Ry Cooder records.

Later when Harding’s career took off, they started collaborating on writing songs such as “Red Rose and the Briar,” “Ordinary Weekend,” and “Cupid and Psycho” which wound up on various Harding CDs. Each of Lewis’ albums to date has also included three co-writes with Harding.

With Harding and fellow musician Scott Mathews as co-producers, Lewis recorded No Straight Line at Mathews’ San Francisco studio. Harding, Matthews, Robert Lloyd (a frequent Harding accompanist) and guests like REM’s Peter Buck on mandolin created an acoustic-based recording that also featured “unexplained ‘atmospherics’... setting up some interesting spooky textures,” according to Sing Out!

Launched at SXSW, NSL unfortunately took a quick trip to the cut-out bins when the American record label, the Austin-based Dejadisc, went out of business the next year.

credits

released March 1, 1995

Produced, recorded and mixed by Scott Mathews and John Wesley Harding at The Pen and Sound and Vision, San Francisco.

All songs written by David Lewis except 4, 9 and 12 written by David Lewis and John Wesley Harding.

Musicians:

David Lewis: vocals, acoustic guitar.

Robert Lloyd: mandolin, violin, pump organ, piano, banjo, accordion, tambourine, tin whistle.

Scott Mathews: percussion, stumpf fiddle, bass, trombone, apra magicka, thumb piano, steel drum, 'mathewphone', chunk of wood.

John Wesley Harding: acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica, bamboo flute, harmonium, harmony vocals.

Janene Mitchell: clarinet.

Kim Osterwalder: cello.

Peter Buck: mandolin on Slowly Fading Evening Sky.

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David Lewis London, UK

David Lewis is a London-based singer and songwriter who has released four albums: No Straight Line (1995), For Now (2001), Ghost Rhymes (2007), and Old World New World (2014).

A new album 'Among Friends' was released on vinyl and CD in June 2020. ... more

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