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Laurel Lake EP

by Rachel Ries

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Limited Edition, sewn by hand with love! Laurel Lake EP
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This is a rare little labor of love, sewn by me (Rachel) in the kitchen. Fabric sleeves sewn from a hodgepodge of fabric, a printed insert with lyrics (and a little heart I colored in) and, of course, a CD. Each one is numbered and unlike all the others. I wanted to turn my Laurel Lake retreat into something you could hold! The initial 317 sold out but I've put together another hundred. Have at it!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Laurel Lake EP via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
I've Forgiven Time time, i've been a gambler with time there was salt in my hand so i threw it over my left shoulder it landed, it landed on good soil a few plants they died but the heartier ones they survived time, i've forgiven you, time no i won't speak ill when you're dead in the ground and i'm alive see i, what i've got to show is a home and a husband and a cat who we can't hold still all i want is my mother all i want is my mother oh these holy waters oh this hallow time oh this fallen empire is only in my mind so i, i won't give you anymore time coz the next the thing i know i'll be dead to the fact that i'm alive now you, you can look me in the eye and you see that i've won this time, this time, this time now all i ask is for my mother to know that she is good you know i'd give it to her if i was able but i inherited the same hollow now all i want is my mother to know that she is good all i want is my mother
2.
Holiest Day 04:34
Holiest Day i drove away, far from the lake i found the farmer's daughter we could have been sisters if i were humble clothes muddy, red-cheeked and reticent i looked around and wished that i could stay and cover my head keep the fire going tuck the kids into bed i know all the hymns i'd say my prayers and close my eyes to wake at dawn and do it all over again so half in jest, i asked if i could stay, help milk the cows annie looked away and said just come back in an hour asking for more we ask we ask for more for more we ask we ask for more i drove away, back to the lake back to all my pretty, precious things - i put the milk away i started to cry, put the music on to fill the quiet oh cluttered life - we try, we try, we try asking for more we ask we ask for more always for more we ask we ask for more holiest day break our nightmares in two holiest day shape our nightmares into threes holiest day break take our nightmares before we wake we ask we ask
3.
Letting You In i know i am to blame i left my bike in the rain and snow for a season i watched it rust and fade i know i am to blame, i know i know i am to blame i know i am to blame for the violin that's been gathering dust if you insist i must i'd play you a song but i'm just the one to blame i can't play i'm just the one to blame i know i am to blame for leaving her there in her birthday blues with wine spilled on her favorite shoes and the house in disarray i should've stayed i know i am to blame i know i am to blame i said i would give you a place to stay i swore i'd be around when the sun went down i know i am to blame for not letting you in and not letting you in and not letting you in and not letting you in
4.
Willow 02:56
Willow i don't wanna say sorry for all the things i haven't done i just wanna go back to the way things were always done with a hand held out to shake and a word unbreakable and a gaze straight as the miles that cut the dirt grandma, i wanna go back to the way things were always done when you'd come down to find your man working the ground with his hand held to the plow and his back unbreakable and his word as good as the gold they found in those hills but i'm not gonna go i'm not gonna go back to the world i never knew so tell me all your stories about the way things were always done back before you knew me and the world it maybe seemed young before your hands shook so much and your voice so breakable and your back bent lower than the willow by the woods because my handshake don't mean enough and my word is breakable and my back feels bent lower than than the willow by the woods than the willow
5.
You Can Go Now did they say where's your bible? where's the body and the blood? did you really think you could go out in the world with no light from above? did they say where's your mother? what is she to you? did you really think you could go out in the world with no guidance from her? i'm sorry i'm sorry for you i'm sorry it had to come to this so soon did they say where's your family? the ones you're too scared to know did you really think you could go out in the world just pretending you're alone? did they say where's you spirit? she must be screaming bloody murder or did you really think you could go out in the world without listening to her? i'm sorry i'm so sorry for you i'm sorry it had to come to this so soon you can go now you can leave this all behind you can go now you can leave this all behind who're you waiting for? who're you waiting for?
6.
Standing Still i'll wait for you in iowa in the house upon the hill yesterday tornadoes came but here we're standing still i know these past few days have been the hardest that we've had last night we nearly lost it all but here we're standing still i would give it all i'd give it all to you if only i knew what it is i've got for you what i've got to give you what it is i've got for you on the day that we pass on into nobody knows may we leave a memory of us after the storm here standing still here we're standing still

about

In January of 2012 I gathered up all my instruments (minus the pedal steel) and drove down to a drafty little house in eastern Tennessee. I spent a month up in the mountains, perched on the banks of a narrow peninsula, spilling songs out into Laurel Lake.

I recorded these that month - some are brand new, one is a long-held favorite and a couple are quiet resurrections.

credits

released February 21, 2012

I played and recorded everything myself.
Dawn Landes helped me finish mixing the EP and Kris Poulin put on the mastering touches.
I did all the sewing, assembling, burning and coloring in of hearts.

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Rachel Ries Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rachel Ries, hailing from the prairies of middle America, crafts sly and compassionate songs for the crooked-hearted. With an electric guitar and piano; a clear voice and steady hand; she deftly pulls listeners in with disarming candor and holds them there with smart and tender poetry. ... more

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