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Forest Fire

by Shawna Caspi

supported by
James McMahon
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James McMahon I found this artist by chance on YouTube and I was captivated by her remarkable vocals and delightful guitar playing.

Another fine addition to the work of Canadian musicians that I seem to be collecting at the moment.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Shawna Caspi's 4th album Forest Fire in CD form!
    Cover artwork features Shawna's original paintings.
    Includes liner notes booklet and lyrics.
    If you would like your copy signed, please request this when ordering.

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 3 Shawna Caspi releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Hurricane Coming, One More Chance, and Forest Fire. , and , .

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1.
We’ll find love in a U-Haul truck Start with a gamble and follow our luck How do we handle when the road gets rough? That’s love in a U-Haul truck We’ll find love in a moving van Pack it to the edges with as much as we can Anything we leave behind, we’ll build again That’s love in a moving van It all comes out on the other side And we arrive with something to show If it all falls down, we’ll set it up right We can go We’ll find love in a trailer on the back When the lifting’s giving me a heart attack You revive me when I get off track That’s love in a trailer on the back We’ll find love in a folded-down seat Make more room when our tempers meet Get out the cases and line ’em up neat That’s love in a folded-down seat We can go We can go We can go We’ll find love in the front of the cab With your hand on my knee and my foot on the dash We can get there slow or we can get there fast ‘Cause it’s love in the front of the cab And we all want a love like that We all want a love like that We all want a love like that
2.
It was one of those days in the dark When the world’s made a terrible mark On my softened skin that I covered up after the fact It was colder than I thought I said “I’m never gonna leave this spot” And I got down low like the place was under attack The March wind was a trickster He was cooking up a mixture Of all that winter left there on the shelf I was shaking in my cotton shirt Complaining how my body hurt Staying at home feeling sorry for myself “Put on your shoes! It’s up to you You gotta move those feet or the demon’s gonna do you in You can lie down when you’re dead.” Said the voice in the back of my head I don’t wanna live under the devil’s rolling pin There’s a club at the end of the block And the beer list’s written in chalk I walked right in like I was going back for more I said “Is this seat taken?” I fear my back is breakin’” The thin man at the table said “It’s yours” That high and lonesome sound Those guys were pickin’ hounds Weaving in and out of the microphone stands We raised a mason jar to Scruggs Tore up that old bar rug ’Til my ice cold bones didn’t bother me so bad The wholesome rugged band Had the whole room in their hands When they said goodnight we hollered “Play one more!” Everyone was feeling fine They did the last one double time I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been this way before
3.
Brave Parade 03:20
It’s OK, I’m not afraid Marching in this brave parade With all the souls who’ve crawled back up Who bet despite their crazy luck Who choose to love in an angry age Refuse to bend to spite or rage Who aren’t afraid of bad reviews And don’t care if they win or lose Who know that all the money’s probably spent Every deadline came and went Who know that love is not a game And life is equal joy and pain Who love moonlight across the bed Question every word that’s said Who celebrate every victory And aren’t afraid of mystery Who aren’t afraid of leaving town Giving up or falling down Throwing everything to chance Fighting for a new romance Who look between the skin and bones Who long for comfort, ache for home Who love the poets and the sky The drifters and the ones who cry So here’s a toast to the underdogs The little boats lost in the fog The ones who don’t quite fit the mold Who never do what they are told Who know that sad songs matter most Who face the music and the ghosts The lovers and the second best Who have no medals on their chest It’s OK, I’m not afraid Marching in this brave parade
4.
Never Enough 03:07
Nothing comes apart Like a mother’s good heart When her boy’s been living rough She lit another candle for his soul But it was never enough She came here looking for peace In all her worry and grief Calling up to heaven And hoping for a little relief She bowed her head Like the good book said Trying hard to settle up She said another prayer to keep him safe But it was never enough She came here looking for peace In all her worry and grief Calling up to heaven And hoping for a little relief But those words can’t bury the beast He’s gonna come out and bare his teeth Calling up to heaven And hoping for a little release She cried “Oh won’t you put me back together I know that I’ve been gone a long time I know I’m gonna have to do better Lord, won’t you save my child” If the good lord knows Everything that goes on He’s gonna call her bluff She put another dollar in the bowl But it was never enough She came here looking for peace In all her worry and grief Calling up to heaven And hoping for a little relief But those words can’t bury the beast He’s gonna come out and bare his teeth Calling up to heaven And hoping for a little release
5.
Oleaster 03:59
So we grow from the earth Believe what we see That a seed makes a tree And we are all we can be And that time is a measure of worth We yearn to be upright The award of evolution We insist on conclusion One full revolution But the day doesn’t end, it just rolls into night The day doesn’t end, it just rolls into night Bear in mind all that came before How the stems rose from the ashes To be ashes once more And all that comes after All that’s in store Oh Oleaster We are tethered, we are towers We rise above the peat Keep the dirt at our feet Like we’re not part of that beat And what we get from the ground is ours Determined to steer We stand on the curve Not enough to observe We think we deserve The whole world that brought us here That we can decide to be anywhere on its arc And we’ll be fine That we choose when time starts The rest will adjust The orbit will shift We predict Cause we are it And everything revolves around us Take this forward direction Not as a lurch But like a bird in perfect flight From its temporary perch The day doesn’t end It just rolls into night
6.
Numbers Game 03:27
This is an account Bankrolled by the boys In the back room with the bar tab And the noise Ashamed of how we acted Too busy and distracted We made a choice This is an account Bound up in a book That no one tried to open For the trouble that it took If it was reckoning or risk Or something that we missed We never looked Lift their faces off the page Bring a light and love and honour to their names This is more than just a numbers game This is a count This is a roll call A gathering at last to tell The story of us all So it begins Uncovering our skin, our limbs Our backs against the wall This is a count A nod, a mark A question, Are you present Are you out there in the dark Are you alive Are you waiting to be recognized In these parts As for the rest To confess It was a simple act of negligence A calculated guess This is an account The voice of the victim A second generation’s First telling of what hit them One perspective But this is how it starts, we respect it We start a record
7.
So you say, so you say There’s a mountain in your way Casts a shadow on your days So you say, so you say Take a breath and soon you’ll see More than trouble at your feet And the climb is not so steep Take a breath and soon you’ll see Take this mountain and make it yours Don’t try to move it anymore Let that rest be your reward Take this mountain and make it yours On the side you can build a house With a window looking out Down the valley where you left your doubt On the side you can build a house But stay close to the winding stream It’ll wash away those bitter dreams ‘Til the water runs clean Stay close to the winding stream There’s an early train There’s an empty lane That stretches out across the range So don’t look up for who to blame When there’s a mountain in your way You will sleep like a grizzly bear When you wake, that mountain air Will fill your lungs and comb your hair You will sleep like a grizzly bear So you say, so you say There’s a mountain in your way Well that mountain’s what you make So you say, so you say You’ll take that mountain and make it yours Won’t try to move it anymore Let that rest be your reward Take that mountain and make it yours
8.
I was waltzing with my darlin’ to the Tennessee Waltz When an old friend I happened to see Introduced him to my darlin’ and while they were dancing My friend stole my sweetheart from me I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz Now I know just how much I have lost I lost my little darlin’ the night they were playing That beautiful Tennessee Waltz Now I wonder how a dance like the Tennessee Waltz Could have broken my heart so complete Well I couldn’t blame my darlin’ Who could help from fallin’ in love with my darlin’ so sweet No, it must be the fault of the Tennessee Waltz Wish I’d known just how much it would cost But I didn’t see it comin’, it’s all over but the cryin’ Blame it all on the Tennessee Waltz Now she’s dancin’ in the darkness to the Tennessee Waltz And I feel like I’m falling apart And it’s stronger than drink and deeper than sorrow This darkness she left in my heart I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz And I know just how much I have lost I lost my little darlin’ the night they were playin’ That beautiful Tennessee Waltz
9.
Call off all the neighbours I’ll try to keep it down Don’t do me any favours I’ll show myself around When I close the door behind me I’ll leave the latch undone You know where to find me I’m not gonna run If you’re gonna get here, I hope you get here soon I’m leaving all the lights on, waiting up for you With nothing to show but the distance between The love I know and the love I’ve seen I never learned to listen I never learned to ask I don’t know what I’m missing But I’m scared it’s come to pass I hold this heart together With a needle and thread I keep pulling for the better days Coming up ahead If you asked, I’d say I must be the last In a long line Still stealing glances, thought I’d have all the answers After all this time The papers don’t deliver here No salesmen come to call Nothing to lose out of fear No words at all If I could close this space between us We’d be howling at the moon But all I’ve got is patience And this calendar of dates And no one else in the room
10.
My baby can fix a bike He’s good with his hands and he knows what I like When he tightens the spokes my temperature spikes My baby can fix a bike He’s got talent that couldn’t be taught He knows balance and he knows what he’s got He puts every piece in the perfect spot My baby can fix a bike In this world of cracks and breaks All the wear and tear of past mistakes He’s the one who can make it all right My baby can fix a bike He’s the quiet kind who won’t deny a favour And he’s warm under all of those layers Don’t buy the parts if you can’t do the labour My baby can fix a bike We are all complicated machines And we’re marked by the places we’ve been But this one rides like a dream Cuz my baby can fix a bike We’re blinded by shine and scared of rust It’s harder to climb, even harder to trust I’ve got a smooth-runnin’ lovin’ affair He keeps me in good repair All the others keep begging me to choose them But all these intricate gears just confuse them He’s got the tools and he knows how to use them My baby can fix a bike

credits

released September 1, 2017

All songs written by Shawna Caspi except "Brave Parade" by Lynn Miles and "Tennessee Waltz" by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King.

Shawna Caspi: vocals, acoustic guitar
Rosalyn Dennett: fiddle, background vocals
Don Kerr: drums, background vocals, cello on "Oleaster"
Dave Matheson: piano, organ
Joel Schwartz: electric guitar, baritone guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar, mandolin, resonator, tenor banjo
Ben Whiteley: double bass
Alyssa Wright: cello on "Numbers Game" and "The Love I Know"

Recorded, mixed, and produced by Don Kerr at The Rooster Studios, Toronto, ON

Piano and organ recorded by Dave Matheson at torontomusicstudio.com, Toronto, ON

Alyssa Wright’s cello recorded by Don Bray at Meek Monk Studio, Barrie, ON

Mastered by Reuben Ghose at Mojito Mastering, Toronto, ON

Design by Amy Campbell

Photos by Roni Hoffman

Paintings by Shawna Caspi

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Shawna Caspi Toronto, Ontario

Shawna Caspi – a connector of curious humans – is a singer, a poet, a painter, a fingerstyle guitar player.

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