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Aim for the Center - Live from Bellingham

by Erika Lundahl

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1.
Follow me follow, into the hollow huntress, hero of the underground you carry in your collarbone a wisdom i will never know so go, go go, go with the caribou wade into, into the ocean follow the cry of the lonesome canary on down the mine shaft, flare of the car crash read of the epitaph, read of the end aim for the center again aim for the center again aim for the center again There are worse places to be, than stuck in a traffic jam, driving through mountains sky blue and gold rush, radio reports on secret prisons white helmets and unsung saviors, valve turner and corporate favors I'm wondering where I can put my trust in, in a world so broken and busted, oh turn it off you said just enjoy the scenery, when else will we be here, we might as well be here, come back to me friend aim for the center again aim for the center again aim for the center again Our car passed over the 45th parallel, drew a line between Equator and the North Pole, it's raining hard now, raining hard the weather man says, please try to stay in, please try to stay home well we're trying, we're trying, we're trying to get there we're trying, we're trying, we're trying to get there we're trying, we're trying to get there but this storm's got me worried for my friends and my family father he tested the generator says it works fine call me later now, when you arrive, oh, oh, oh so go, go go, go with the caribou wade into, into the ocean follow the cry of the lonesome canary on down the mineshaft, flare of the car crash read of the epitaph, read of the end aim for the center again aim for the center again aim for the center again The oil trains pass, black snakes on the sunset the cows eating grass they got pipelines on under them river beds, truck beds, oil and grain what it takes to feed this growing machine will be buy, barter, steal or lend will aim for the center again, aim for the center again.
2.
He tells me what to look for he tells me to watch out with his eyes on my bear shoulders he says he'll look over me then he wonders why I don't call him back you see, you see I got this clever explanation for my very strange behavior I'm out of town forever, I got married by the river to my life, I will be my own wife, I will be my own, I will be my very own I will be my own, I will be my very own See there are people who will love you like a hurricane hits and there are people who will love you like you're the thing that they can't quit but when I call my lover crying to tell him my bad dream you can rest easy knowing it was your face that I seen and it was no dream So if one man more tells me how he's going to watch out for me tonight I'm going to down 4 shots of whiskey straight and get in my first bar fight I'm going to down 6 shots of whiskey straight and get in my first bar fight I'm going to down 8 shots of whiskey straight and get in my first bar fight he says I got to love more then I got to watch out for danger He tells me to button up and when I don't he hoots and hollars this is a strange world, ain't it? And getting stranger by the hour But I will walk the streets at night because I just can't be bothered. He tells me what to look for he tells me to watch out with his eyes on my bear shoulders he says he'll look over me then he wonders why I don't call him back you see, you see I got this clever explanation for my very strange behavior I'm out of town forever, I got married by the river to my life, I will be my own wife I will be my own, I will be my very own I will be my own, I will be my very own
3.
Mercy - Live 03:13
If you go home love Pray you have mercy on your family Draw water from your history Daughter sense the mysteries That lie behind the stone A round robin of song cacophony of home I was always slow to catch on the the sermon Songbirds and the city rustling Hustling souls on second avenue Oregon to Oklahoma Trace the spiral line Ineffably designed Soldier in a civil war Fought from the losing side Blood of me and mine Blood of me and mine Blood of me and mine Blood of me and mine Cacophony of skin and bone Seeds as they were sewn Daughter sense the mysteries That lie behind the stone When my reckless body Wings to a southern bird becomes Births from a bell still waiting to be rung I was always slow to catch on the the sermon Songbirds and the city rustling Hustling souls on second avenue
4.
Lands shift and cities sink sandcastles prove atomic laws that we're all made of the same stuff cut from that same cloth of cosmic undoing and the wind will take our sails into the fog oh the wind will take our sails into the fog Each of us a good organ in a sick body Each of us just trying to get by Each of still waiting for that last savior when none of us see through our own disguise oh I could be free from the wailing I could be sensible I could be another pebble in the water i could be none of it at all none of it at all Angela said to Amy we must act as if there is hope and Amy said well Angela, if there's anyone out there you would know because daylight is rising on the Nazarene river beds beer cans are battered and scattered by the road the kings and politicians are still writing their own history books and the apostles are asleep in the olive grove the apostles are asleep in the olive grove. I could be free from the wailing I could be sensible I could be another pebble in the water i could be none of it at all none of it at all
5.
Don't fight the way they want you to Color in the lines won't get your due You got to go to the far out edge Lean in to the love, lean in to the dread They got paddy wagons at the court house Where they are counting on you to be So, occupy them airports, start praying In the Wells Fargo Lobby Jack be Nimble, Jill be quick We'll jump over the candle stick The flame is higher than it's ever been If we don't give it a go, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win There's no one coming to save us, but ourselves So, tighten up those bootstraps Pull the history books off the shelves We got a new play book, a new playbook But first you got to play Won't do no good spinning circles To bring down a God that's got no name So Jack be Nimble, Jill be quick We'll jump over the candle stick The flame is higher than it's ever been If we don't give it a go, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win Where the wind whips and the sun is red I've spent days just hanging my head Want to tear down this door Everything that ever came before Won't do no good, fire and rain Enlisting in the army of a hurricane In a hurricane, in a hurricane So Jack be Nimble, Jill be quick We'll jump over the candle stick The flame is higher than it's ever been If we don't give it a go, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win The fire might win, the fire might win, the fire might win Don't fight the way they want you to Color in the lines won't get your due You got to go to the far out edge Lean in to the love, lean in to the dread Lean in to the love, lean in to the dread, lean in to the love, lean in Lean in to the love, lean in to the dread, lean in to the love, lean in
6.
GOD'S WORLD O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! Thy winds, thy wide grey skies! Thy mists, that roll and rise! Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff! World, World, I cannot get thee close enough! Long have I known a glory in it all, But never knew I this; Here such a passion is As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year; My soul is all but out of me,—let fall No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call. -Edna St. Vincent Millay
7.
Thank you for coming today. No one else I know can heal me this way You traveled hill and dale city by bus and city by rail now you're back in her arms again my own holy grail I drink you in, salt water and cinnamon I drink you in, salt water and cinnamon the poison and the medicine You carry what you carry is no business but yours you conceal and feel safety and I pray you are you carry what you carry grows heavier each time around I pray for the day when we all may lay our arms to the ground But until then, salt water and cinnamon until then, the poison needs the medicine I try to be brave in the face of all that could give right out from under my feet you know, nothing is solid I try to be brave in the face of all that could give but I have been known to fall prey to my own stompin' and cryin' I drink it in, salt water and cinnamon, I drink it in salter water and cinnamon the poison needs her medicine My body already known more than I ever did hungry for truth she will fast in the face of falsehood my body already knows more than I ever can she's a giver and taker of untold joys and sufferings I drink you in, salt water and cinnamon, I drink you in, salt water and cinnamon the poison, and the medicine
8.
BRAMBLES Lyrics by Erika Lundahl Rain barrels full, the gardens wild with brambles Kettles on, the stories we tell ramble on and on On your feet there’s so much to unravel On your feet, there's so much to unravel Salted streets and skin heads with their bibles Water’s rising, and the houses and rivers are rivals January come and gone Up north our neighbors are burying their stillborns The air is dirty and the land is torn But we’re still breathing so we’re stitching up a love song Stiching up a love song Help me to believe that we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for Smoky skies bring me to my knees The orchards filled with apple trees Go down to the river, thank you please I’m scared I don’t know what this means What this means I've been asleep but morning is breaking into dawn No time to weep, all of us broken still belong Grave Digger, Oil tanker Law Maker, heart breaker Aren’t you tired of selling this as dignity? Aren't you tired of selling this as dignity? Air is dirty and the land is torn But we’re still breathing so we’re stitching up a love song Air is dirty and the land is torn But we’re still breathing so we’re stitching up a love song Rain barrels full, the gardens wild with brambles Kettles on, the stories we tell ramble on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
9.
10.
EXILED Searching my heart for its true sorrow, This is the thing I find to be: That I am weary of words and people, Sick of the city, wanting the sea; Wanting the sticky, salty sweetness Of the strong wind and shattered spray; Wanting the loud sound and the soft sound Of the big surf that breaks all day. Always before about my dooryard, Marking the reach of the winter sea, Rooted in sand and dragging drift-wood, Straggled the purple wild sweet-pea; Always I climbed the wave at morning, Shook the sand from my shoes at night, That now am caught beneath great buildings, Stricken with noise, confused with light. If I could hear the green piles groaning Under the windy wooden piers, See once again the bobbing barrels, And the black sticks that fence the weirs, If I could see the weedy mussels Crusting the wrecked and rotting hulls, Hear once again the hungry crying Overhead, of the wheeling gulls, Feel once again the shanty straining Under the turning of the tide, Fear once again the rising freshet, Dread the bell in the fog outside,— I should be happy,—that was happy All day long on the coast of Maine! I have a need to hold and handle Shells and anchors and ships again! I should be happy, that am happy Never at all since I came here. I am too long away from water. I have a need of water near. -Edna St. Vincent Millay
11.
12.
YES, I WILL Lyrics by Erika Lundahl Do you need to walk your own path? Do you need to study the anger in your breath? Do you need to carry your buckets up the hill? Yes I will, Yes I will, Yes I will, Yes I will Do you hold the shivering song bird in your hand? Did you sing the psalms that ring from childhood? Did you drink the wetting water until you had your fill? Yes I will, Yes I will, Yes I will, Yes I will Did you open up the ocean and look deep in? Did you dip your bucket in and then again and again? Did the salt start to ring around the edge where all was still? Yes it will, yes It will, yes It will, yes It will Did you sit all alone and start crying? Did you face the truths that you have been denyin’? Did you sit there so long, that your thoughts began to spill Yes they will, yes they will, yes they will, yes they will Open, yes they will open.

about

"Aim for the Center" was recorded live at the Bellingham Alternative Library, in Bellingham, Washington as part of an educational evening & benefit concert for the Lummi Youth Canoe Family.

Special thanks to the Western Washington Students for the Salish Sea for hosting me, and creating an earth-centered space.

xoxo,

Erika

credits

released February 16, 2018

Guitar & vocals: Erika Lundahl
Drums & backup vocals: Doug Indrick
All songs copyright to Erika Lundahl
Recorded at The Bellingham Alternative Library
Mixing & Mastering by Doug Indrick at Rolling Crone Records

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Erika Lundahl Seattle, Washington

Erika Lundahl is a musician, writer and activist based in Seattle, WA. She employs her classically trained voice and distinctive "tapping" guitar style to create an enveloping, atmospheric musical space. Her poetic, often autobiographical lyrics employ "poignant and powerful imagery" combined with a modern and individual style of storytelling to deal with contemporary social issues. ... more

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