We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

To The Haunting Northern Winds

by Matthew Henry

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
Old Hickory 04:23
You were an oak and I was an old hickory. A river roared between us as the winds from the north stole our leaves. You were an open road and I was a suitcase ready to go. Something tells me someday that that suitcase is going to need a home. You were a rose and I was a raindrop at most. I'll still soak the ground down to your roots just so we can be close. Oh mighty ghost save my soul, Oh mighty ghost save my soul, I'm not afraid of dying but I'm sure afraid of dying alone. You were a pine and I was an alder tree. We'll sit up in the Star lit night and wonder how this world can be. You were the time and I was a memory, that I'd pack up in the suitcase that I planned to take on the road with me. You were an oak and I was an old hickory. The river roared between us as the winds from the north stole our leaves.
2.
Juniper 03:54
Branches were the spines and ghosts and stories. Junipers stood motionless in time. Bristlecones and pines and alders dancing. Before this shadowed ocean and in my mind. Can I have the courage to do what I want to do? Will the junipers remember who I am? Sat down by a river, it gave me everything I need. Can I dance with the white pines in the white light? Winters a lonely saint Can you watch with me the red oak swaying? Disregard the fact we can't stay true, to all those thoughts we've been set on believing. For years the junipers been the only truth. The dusty road is calling out a stalemate. I've traveled but I've never really gone to the place where the sycamores are breathing, the alders and the evergreens are worn.
3.
May bones show you love A liquid encasement To walk through a meadow Break and embrace it And your daily bread Can feed all those faces Balloons full of lead Can't sink faster than they did So breathe while you can Dreams can be fated A history book end Did no one escape it Transcendence of pain To clear out some spaces Regressive and vain This worlds hiding aces I knew that they came before me I straight path but we took the long way There's never a better day to remember Than the minute you first fell in love The tracks grew The train was so lovely
4.
Books 04:16
I ain't ever been Down the mighty Mississip No I ain't ever been Down that lonesome river No I ain't ever been A spirit in a closet No I ain't ever been Haunted I ain't ever been A light on in an attic No I ain't ever been A worn out bulb I ain't ever been A stone skipped down a river No i ain't ever been To the mighty Mississip I ain't ever been A meadowlark in the morning I ain't ever been A sweet sweet song I ain't ever been A fence post in the summer I aint ever felt So damn strong I ain't ever been The crackling of a wood stove I ain't ever been Inside a flame I ain't ever been The bent spine of a bible I aint ever been A book at all I ain't ever been A fortune drawn at random But I sure have been A lucky man
5.
April & May 05:17
I lost myself to the late august breeze. Soaking my skin in the waves. Pretending that stones were flying machines to sail away. I was a wondering man. Rolling down old 17. This was all part of the plan to set my soul free. Northern air has blown through my bones. Frozen beaten and cold. But there is a fire disguised as a beacon of hope. Here i am trapped up seventy feet alone. We are free in our minds We are free You are free in your mind You are free I miss the days I would sit by the lake. Resting my hand and just holding the place of others who have been, sat down, wondered, and prayed. It won't be long until the moss has overgrown. Covered my sitting place. That rock holds a fortune of memories destined to fade. But why, oh why, is that the case? We are free in our minds We are free You are free in your mind You are free
6.
Pick me up battlefield It's a long way down And I'm afraid Salute the water Salute the air It's a long way down And it's cold down there Count 'em one Count 'em three With muddy boots And shaky sleeves A field of loss From a field of dreams A brother bent upon his knees Ghosts posed as company It's a long way down And I'm afraid A fallen rope From a lazy tree It's a long way down And it's cold you see The command proved What it meant to be A law of stone In a land of free Brothers stared down tubes of gray As fingers told What mouths can't say
7.
Missing words just to heal the sores, while the ghost in the hallways returned. Pressing steel on a rosewood board. One slip and you've gone from dark to warm. Headed north with leather and pen, ink told a record of sorts. Worn out rooms formed the skin of the hallways and the ghost that walked the floors. Rusted eyes hold together the oak and caving boards. Turning time into nothing more than fear for the uninformed. Face the door, face the door, there's a whole life beyond this sunken porch. A broken staircase. A banner that has seen longer days than all of our eyes combined. Darkened corners, deep eyes wander, how could light ever survive? Silken traces of unknown places that once occupied a mind. Crooked hallways with crooked picture frames while ghosts stood gently by my side.
8.
Dawn had broken Leaves were stricken of their colors Its time for heading out The night was stolen The cars drove aimless lovers All around the town The evening moved me Clouds were baking in an oven Of pink and red All those endless rolls of film Were finally going to my head Set a course for The Pacific ocean Don't stop until you're there Taste the moist Salty breath of heaven The fresh mountain air I was reading What felt like an empty cover No spine no words no joy I wrote my words And sealed them in a bottle Now they sail the world
9.
I've got four hours And 40,000 miles to go There's a lonely road Stretching far beyond my bodies hold Packed my bags Packed my mind Set my feet on down the line Leave that sun behind Im going where that cold wind blows There will always be One more hour left to pray I hear that morning whistle Taking all my troubles away So start out with those shackles That bind both your wrist And burn your legs There are mirrors in the background Reflecting how our bodies were made I've gone 10,000 miles But I feel like I Haven't moved a bone Always planning on returning Never thought that the road Could be my home There are drifters in the shadows Vagabonds loosening their loads Whose wandering thoughts Are bouncing from Coast to coast There will always be One more hour left to pray I hear that morning whistle Taking all my troubles away So start out with those shackles That bind both your wrist And burn your legs There are mirrors in the background Reflecting how our bodies were made
10.
Momma can't you take us home tonight Father won't you save their souls tonight We don't want to waste your time We don't want to waste your time Feel it in your worn out legs Feel it on your worn out skin Hold fast unto the orange dims Feel it in your worn out bones Feel it on your soaking clothes Feel it as it warms it all Momma can't you take us home tonight Father won't you save their souls tonight

credits

released April 18, 2012

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Matthew Henry Denver, Colorado

Raised in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, Matthew Henry now lives in Denver, CO. His multi-instrumental folk sound draws inspiration from childhood migraines, fix-it-all family friends, and long drives on endlessly flat highways.

contact / help

Contact Matthew Henry

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Matthew Henry, you may also like: