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First Flight

by W.C. Beck

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1.
Steel Bird 04:11
Sunset on the Atlantic on a steel bird flying east got a head full of dreams a heart full of hope a new world over the sea see the young man standing in a tunnel not knowing where it might lead not knowing what’s outside or what he’s got deep inside that he ain’t seen a picture of me wild and free Chorus: ‘Cause there might not be trumpets to play or bright lights to guide the way they might not build an arch in your name oh, but Lord, let ‘em know that you came and lived for a while I’m gonna run until I can’t gonna fly until I fall gonna find my way back again even if I have to crawl oh, ‘cause every at bat can’t be a home run not every girl can be the one oh, but when you’re down in the trenches, friend you find out where you’re from and what you’ve become and then you dream along Chorus I spend my days walking about streets paved in cobblestone statues making gods of men they just keep on shining that throne I spend my nights worrying ‘bout these puzzles that won’t leave me I keep finding clues in everything I do the answers bringing questions too baby, what’ll I do without you Chorus
2.
Colosseum 04:37
Hear the drummers a-thundering fast the crowd beginning to grow a little more restless a bloodthirsty mass it must be time to go watch the lights grow dim in that lion’s den where the fear’s so much larger than death take the steps that lead to a dirt floor that bleeds the only way out of this mess Chorus: ‘cause it’s a long walk at dawn a strange feeling coming on ‘cause when you’ve dreamed it enough all you’ve got to do is trust Hear the angels clearing their throats the archangels rosin their bows for a victory song or a funeral march all depends upon how this one goes well, down in the dungeon it’s easy to find distractions so simple and strange grab a sword and shield and then take to the field for the band’s tuning up to play Chorus Hear the drummers a-thundering fast the crowd beginning to grow a little more restless a bloodthirsty mass it must be time to go
3.
Up on this mountain I’m searching for something that I cannot hold Up in my mind I’m hoping to find something I cannot know Chorus: I’ll take the long way home to see how far I’ve gone and how much there still is to know Far from the place I was born and raised I find myself searching for a home Further along that old country song is gonna call me back to all I’ve known Chorus After all this time there’s still one thing etched in my mind just a passing phrase may you live your days my child Close to me you sleep your restless heartbeat the rhythm of this song for you Close to me I pray sweet mama, you’ll stay so that I might grow old with you Chorus Chorus
4.
Unknown Bust 03:54
Gazing at an unknown bust wondering just how much his life must resemble mine just a man living in his prime just one trying to make his mark before them lights all grow dark start something and watch it change hope them history books remember your name when it’s all wrote and it’s said and done well I’m lighting candles, baby in cathedrals hoping maybe you might change your mind oh, but praying don’t turn back time and the worry just make me sick yeah, the booze and the pills they don’t fix this hurt and this hole in my heart but I’ve learned that there ain’t no dark ‘til something shines and paints them diamonds on your eyes Chorus: It makes me wonder how a heart could ever come back from a wound like this turn back from the black abyss oh and learn to love again and when I hear the thunder of an old soul song and the way we were back then just kids in the city searching for pretty things I’m riding east on that Empire Line the click-clack of the track keeping time across mountain, prairie and coast and everywhere I see the ghost Lord, of a smile in the summer sun though seasons change and colors run owning up to what I’ve become letting go of all that’s done surrendering a bright leaf floating high in the wind Chorus
5.
Take off from a world that’s lost and find you another skinny smokestacks a thousand soft packs a cigarette skyline and float on a heart with wings fly on straight at your dreams until you find a place to land our love fit like a glove but you wanted another your eyes, a pale sunrise couldn’t hide the lies they told now a country home burned to ashes Icarus heart falling fast broken, searching for a place to land I watched you for a little while just to see how far you’d fall a bursting sun burning up both great and small now every breath or step you take away from one and toward another leading role, another piece of the whole a story partway told and all you’ve loved, lost and won all you are becoming one finding strength, setting sights on a place to land I watched it for a little while just to see how far it fell a shooting star burning up its former self well now I’ll take a plane, a boat or a train far away and find another wishing well, another tale to tell a place you will be from and float on a heart with wings fly on straight at your dreams until you find a place to land a place to land
6.
Powder Blue 04:22
I’m gonna hit like George Brett and Frank White in 1985 Powder Blue Darling put on your glasses oh, and read ‘bout Manassas words smooth as molasses from Major Ballou oh oh oh oh oh see them lights fade to blue Chorus: And when the world’s got you down and you’re all alone you’ve been telling yourself you ain’t good enough, remember the darkest shadows come from blinding lights the biggest hearts come from learning to fight so don’t let that setback get you down no, turn it around Don’t ever let ‘em turn your heart black Skywalker in a Vader mask Coop and Bob sharing a laugh no, that ain’t no good ‘Cause it don’t matter how far you’re down I’ll take Balboa in the 15th round Lasse Viren after falling down coming on through oh oh oh oh oh see them lights fade to blue Chorus Chorus No those darkest shadows come from blinding lights the biggest hearts come from learning to fight so don’t let that setback get you down baby, turn it around
7.
Grey 04:59
Oh last night my lady and I fought over grey and whether it was black or white and when we awoke in separate beds with separate dreams in separating hearts and heads the morning light felt black and cold as night and the noises all were white so I took the time to write down the words that I heard that sounded like a horn for my world it was not torn no, like a little baby I was born new again in twisted dreams of genocide I tried to close my eyes or at least look away from my own darkness deep inside but the black was thick and my judgment come too quick for it’s hard as hell to stand when it means your life if you don’t sit and the images alarm the piles of legs and arms people just like you and me running death factories and farms and from Dachau to Darfur by now we should have learned for sure oh, that each and every one of us holds things evil and pure deep within I’m always stuck here in between oh, the dark night and the bright light in me growing older moving on looking up to see the breaking dawn so I set off on a trip sailing on books and clipper ships spinning tales and chasing whales and finding words to fit in the spaces that I hid my darkest fears and lies and the oceans swallowed me just like the day’s devoured by night and when at last I stopped trying to change the past all the things I thought I’d lost came crawling back and a child was born in the black before the morn and an old frail woman in white slipped off into the blinding light
8.
Holding onto a coast is where I spend most of my time on the border between me and what I cannot define and when I leave that fragile turf I get swallowed by the surf doing hard work on my mind I’m learning to stand on my own from time to time oh, from time to time well, half of my life’s been spent paying off the rent on a building that I’ve always owned I don’t know where that time goes darling, but I suppose time’s telling me to pay attention to what works so I don’t spend the second half trying to fix the first trying to fix the first The breakers rising high and falling fast I’m trying to hold on to something that will last the moon tides pulling my heart back and forth in between what I was and what I hope suppose I’ll never know I’ll never know Holding onto a coast is where I spend most of my time on the border between me and what I cannot define and when I leave that fragile turf I get swallowed by the surf doing hard work on my mind I’m learning to stand on my own from time to time oh, from time to time
9.
I’m a sea among the waves fading in and out weaving myself in between your dusk and your dawn your chorus and verse the sleeping song and the waking dream Chorus: I don’t mind giving ‘cause I’m a-living a gift I could never repay and if I lose a piece or two I’ll gain some along the way so tell me just why my heart ain’t ever satisfied Waiting for the storm to hit waiting ‘round to die wondering what the wind will bring this time Leaving clues all about for a future heart to find I’m picking up the pieces a little at a time Chorus sing me an infinite country, baby paint me what a blind man sees dream up a thing the world’s never seen put your heart on display and watch it bring some light into the dark, black night
10.
Cathy Jo 04:51
A slender envelope an aching heart filled with things built to tear us apart a soul too good to have to go this way I saw you shine like a thousand suns that day I saw you float on as the wind called your name so I asked the stone men that I came across that were richer in wisdom, wealth and loss just what I might find before winter’s end they said son, seek to find the love that you give seek to find the love that you give Chorus hey...I toss and turn with a belly of fire sometimes you get burned hey...lately what has it shown between the dusk and the dawn the ebb and the flow we live up the days ‘til we go now I’m waking early before the dawn a chorus of bottles and birds sing along to this song in my heart a bright mourning dove and Cathy Jo may you shine forever above may you live on in all that we love Chorus yeah, we live up the days ‘til we’re gone

about

All songs written by W.C. Beck

Produced by Myles Turney, Joel Arnow and W.C. Beck

Mastered by Dan Millice at Engine Room Audio

Album design and layout by Jamie and Pika Stearns, Croc and Plover

Copyright 2019 mortimerfinchsongs

credits

released June 7, 2019

The Ensemble:

W.C. Beck - lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, Wurlitzer, Korg; lead guitars on tracks 2, 7, 9

Michael Bellar - piano, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3 organ, celeste

Craig Akin - electric bass guitar

Joel Arnow - drums, percussion

Myles Turney - electric guitars

Alastair Ottesen - background vocals tracks 2, 8, 10; horns on tracks 1 & 9

Nick Videen - horns on tracks 1 & 9

Paul Orbell - lead slide guitar tracks 1, 4, 6

Justin Giles Wilcox - electric guitar on tracks 3, 5, 9

Jason Myles Goss - background vocals tracks 4, 5, 10

Anna Hoone - background vocals tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

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W.C. Beck New York

W.C. Beck is an itinerant singer/songwriter from KS who now calls New York home after long stints in Portland, OR and Paris, France. Beck’s songs span from indie folk to classic country and tell of the American heartland and a forgotten epoch. With catchy melodies and sophisticated compositions, most songs find their depth in the personal, moving narrative. ... more

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