Get all 11 Erik Ritland releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Scientific Search, Well There's That: The Best of Erik Ritland, To St. Jude with Desperation: Best Acoustic Tracks, 1747 York Avenue (Borges Labyrinth album), Angel and the Badman (Borges Labirynth album), A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus, For An Empty Theater, Promises/Help Me Tonight, and 3 more.
1. |
Rock n' Roll is Dead
03:18
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You can try to deny it
Or point to exceptions
But they only prove the rule
Most of the greats are dead
And so is the radio
All that's left is to sweep the ashes
Rock n' roll is dead
But don't be too upset
At least we lived to see it pass
There's so much going on
But nothing to latch onto
We barely see our neighborhood
"It's so superficial"
People always said
Now it's finally ringing true
Rock n' roll is dead
But don't be too upset
At least we lived to see it pass
You can have your fun
Waste your nights away
But it will always be a shadow
Where there was mystery
Is now so plain to me
What happened to all the eccentrics?
Rock n' roll is dead
But don't be too upset
At least we lived to see it pass
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2. |
Fade With Me
03:13
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I’m getting so high
But I’m lower than the angels
And that’s the thought I always regret
I confess what I don’t want to consider
But it’s best that I don’t forget
Fade with me
All I have is a lot of wasted time
Already spinning in my grave
I try to think big
And I know I am better
Than the sunk cost I can no longer save
Fade with me
What I think I can say no longer
As if I’ve ever had the nerve
Put me in chains so I know how it feels
To be shot down like I deserve
Fade with me
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3. |
Grab Your Shotgun
02:05
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All this old land is worthless now
We can’t grow anything
The family’s disavowed
Now we hear the town’s been overrun
Grab your shotgun
Things are fading fast
We’re out of luck
There go the good old boys
In the back of a pickup truck
The age of the antichrist has only just begun
Grab your shotgun
I will rot in hell if I shoot first
But I can’t see a way out of the coming curse
If there is a battle
It’s better won
Grab your shotgun
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4. |
First Things Last
03:18
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She didn't care that much for him
But she stuck around
Maybe it was boredom or lack of self-respect
Or how much she loved that town
He wasn't that bad in the past
He just put first things last
She tried her best to be true
And she mostly was
He stopped caring as though he never did
She stayed with him just because
He wasn't that bad in the past
He just put first things last
On the day that she left
He watched one last episode
Smiling slightly he sank into his chair
And rolled one for the road
He wasn't that bad in the past
He just put first things last
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5. |
Jerusalem
02:37
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You thought it was bad before
In the golden age
Now we’re stuck in this real down town
The band has left the stage
We’re restless
And bitter
And likely bored
We wish into existence what we want to see
And if there’s no success like failure
Then take a tip from me
I fear our end is come
Like the poet said
Go ask William Blake
Raise him from the dead
Like magic
He’d know us
Like Jerusalem
We wish into existence what we want to see
And if there’s no success like failure
Then take a tip from me
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6. |
Driving Wind
02:34
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I’ve got my reasons for taking a different way
Ignoring dreary Uptown
It’s so far away from me
You can’t beat the rain
In this driving wind
I have been planning
But all I do is laugh
Tripping on bleak mid-winter
I know that they’re after me
You can’t beat the rain
In this driving wind
Let’s take a walk downtown
Even if no-one’s there
We can sing in the rain
And remember what used to be
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7. |
Goodbye to Old Times
02:30
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Sometimes
I find
Most times
I lose
But when it matters
I will be gone
Don't cry
It's fine
Those were the days
But now they're gone
It's just a sweet dream
That has to end
Goodbye to old times
They're ours to lose
There's a purpose
It's in your heart
But it will die
If you ignore it
Watch how your dreams float out of reach
We don't have reasons
Only excuses
Goodbye to old times
They're ours to lose
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8. |
So It Goes
03:45
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In another world it was never quite like this
All our dreams and fantasies crossed off of the list
If we don’t have a choice
Why do you still raise your voice?
How you’re living doesn’t quite add up
So it goes
On and on
Lessons learned have been withdrawn
Trying hard to play it cool
Finding God is hard to fool
So it goes
At this place we are it’s all us vs. them
Then again that’s basically where we’ve always been
Sometime in the distant past
We got somewhere but it didn’t last
And now I’m wondering how much time we have
So it goes
On and on
Lessons learned have been withdrawn
Trying hard to play it cool
Finding God is hard to fool
So it goes
Those who got it figured out don’t say a word
Those who don’t are the most assured
I’ve seen visions of a modern world decayed
Earth in all its glory will soon be washed away
Empty skies point to it best
So take it now and leave the rest
I’ll be behind you in a haze of smoke and mirrors
So it goes
On and on
Lessons learned have been withdrawn
Trying hard to play it cool
Finding God is hard to fool
So it goes
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9. |
The Past is Never Dead
03:37
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Take a walk
Hear the melody
I miss the days I used to see my family
There’s a God-shaped hole that nothing seems to fill
The more I take the medicine the more that I get ill
The past is never dead
It isn’t even past
Haunting us at every turn
Don’t slow down
Don’t oversleep
We’re wasting time and that stuff ain’t cheap
The old playground where we all used to go
Is still alive today with all the ghosts of long ago
The past is never dead
It isn’t even past
Haunting us at every turn
Don’t think
Look instead
Life is bigger than the books you haven’t read
The old churchyard that we pass along the way
Its grass gets greener the more we turn away
The past is never dead
It isn’t even past
Haunting us at every turn
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10. |
To The Pure Life
02:52
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This is the golden age
At least while it lasts
So I’ll say the ancient words
As I raise my glass
To the pure life
The world is upside down
Like it’s always been
I just shake my head
And raise my glass again
To the pure life
Here’s one for the old times
That we had
And for all the cowboys
They weren’t so bad
Time is not our friend
All things fade away
We have time for one more round
I can hear the old men say
To the pure life
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13. |
Erik Ritland Saint Paul
One of the last great American songwriters in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, William James, G.K. Chesterton, Jeff Tweedy, and Jim Varney.
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