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The Question (Live and Alone)

by Anna Tivel

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  • Streaming + Download

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

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    These are the test pressings used to evaluate vinyl quality before the main run is pressed. There are only 5 in existence. These will be hand numbered. They come in a plain black jacket. This includes 2LPS (The Question, and The Question Live And Alone)

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Question (Live and Alone) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 5  3 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $100 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    2x LP pressed on Bowling Ball Blue vinyl with hand-glued heavy weight tip-on jacket. LP 1 contains the original album version of THE QUESTION, and LP 2 contains Annas acoustic versions of the album, otherwise known as "Live and Alone". This collection will NOT be reprinted.

    Limited to 100 copies on White vinyl, a true collectors item.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Question (Live and Alone) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 100 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $45 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    2x LP pressed on black vinyl with hand-glued heavy weight tip-on jacket. LP 1 contains the original album version of THE QUESTION, and LP 2 contains Annas acoustic versions of the album, otherwise known as "Live and Alone". This collection will NOT be reprinted.

    Limited to 900 copies on black vinyl, a true collectors item.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Question (Live and Alone) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 900 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $35 USD or more 

     

1.
In my dream you were beautiful, backlit, noble In the lowlight of the window, you were leaning on the edge The high rises and billboards, for perfume and call girls The steam above the dark road, the smoke around your head I knew you by description, the tall tales, the pictures Your short hair and your lipstick, the smell of coming rain I wanted to remain there, a voyeur, a stranger Below you in the night air, waiting to be changed Eyeliner and nylons, the calm upon your face drawn Revealing next to nothing, a deal you don't believe The bible in a locked drawer, the truth you gave it up for The hymnal and the comfort for the chance at living free And lined up with the laundry, your slacks and all those stockings Suit jacket and the soft things you dance in when you dream The neighbors never mention, the woman they see leaving Is the man who works the morning shift selling gasoline In my dream you were stone still, shadowed, half built A masterpiece of pure will, just waiting on the world To gaze upon your body, a razor on a rough cheek The blaze of burning beauty, the saved and the worth saving A hallelujah waiting to raise the heavy curtains A play with no good ending, a prayer that never mentioned The glory of the question and the answer is the same
2.
Alone in the dark at the edge of the border A coyote calling the moon from the sky The bright shining eye of a circling vulture And holes in the old fence line Traveling far from the land of my father The red cactus flower and the weight of a crime The faraway barking of dogs by the water And holes in the old fence line Oh angels look away Unbar the pearly gate, unblock the road Cause down here at the border, the dogs are getting close All of my dreaming, a house by a river A small bit of land for my beautiful wife Something to show for a lifetime of labor And holes in the old fence line I crawl in the dirt, to the edge of a country My hammering heart and the dust in my eyes I traded the night for the last of my money And holes in the old fence line Oh angels look away Unbar the pearly gate, unblock the road Cause down here at the border, i'm just an animal Alone in the dark at the edge of the border A coyote calling the moon from the sky The bright shining eye of a circling vulture And holes in the old fence line
3.
4.
The night comes to find you, a flickering bulb The streetlight behind you, a breathing shadow And i never wanted to hold something close until now A siren, a cat fight, a thin clarinet The neighbors reflecting the blue tv set And you got a way of believing the rest will work out I'm sorry I said what I said, I don't mean it The darkness it scares me to death, but I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out A car horn, a backfire, a bottle of wine Somebody laughing and closing the blinds And I never wanted to get something right until now A heavy door closing, a dog in the yard Chain link and wood rot and rusty old parts And you got a way of convincing my heart to lie down I'm sorry I said what I said, I don't mean it The darkness it scares me to death, but I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out You're walking back home now, I'm watching you go The slope of your shoulders, your breathing shadow And I got a feeling so high I might never come down The night slips behind you, a lit cigarette A junky arranging the leaves for a bed And you got a way of forgiving the trouble I found I'm sorry I said what I said, I don't mean it The darkness it scares me to death, but I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out, I'll figure it out
5.
Turn out the light, let's be still for awhile Let the wind blow in with the rain A change in the season, a tangle of sheets And the heat pipe half broken again I watch you watching, the headlights, you're lost in A country i cannot find They pass on the ceiling, a strobe in slow motion Alive in the cracks of the blinds Maybe it's time we left, Minneapolis A cloud of dust, and we could just be gone Something lost and something won Try to remember, the heat of the summer The salt and the steam on the road Driving for hours to sit at the water Make love on a pile of our clothes But something has shifted, a wind in the branches The cold coming in like a drug Curled like two questions, a couple of dancers Alone in our separate thoughts Maybe it's time we left, Minneapolis A cloud of dust, and we could just be gone Something lost and something won Something lost and something won Maybe it's time we left, Minneapolis A cloud of dust, and we could just be gone Something lost and something won Something lost and something won Something lost and something won Disappearing, now we're gone
6.
Two quarters in my hand, nothing else in my pocket I'm a wild horse pawing at the cracked dead earth The stoplight turning and a long white lincoln Goes screaming by, the bass line lingers It's hot as the devil, the rubber and the metal Black smell of something burning I never did wrong, i never did gamble Til the day you called me worthless Two quarters in my hand, nothing else in my pocket I'm a fuse box sparking in the summer grass I'm a hooded figure, a crazy killer I'm a dead man walking on the overpass It's hot as the devil, the asphalt melting The sweat wet smell of danger I never did wrong, i never was tempted Til the day you named my anger Two quarters in my hand, nothing else in my pocket I'm a count-down rocket in a cloud of smoke My fists are clenched, my whole body tense My mouth screwed up, my eyes half closed It's hot as the devil, a screaming kettle The bassline slowly burning I never did wrong, I was kind and careful Til the day you called me worthless
7.
The building was burning, the plaster was crumbling I lost my sense and I ran back inside The groan of the floorboards, and heat spreading under them Billowing smoke, in my throat and my eyes The kitchen ablaze and the wallpaper curling The table where you and I figured it out At two in the morning, alive and uncertain Just talking in circles, dreaming aloud Anthony I'm afraid, alone in the building, the billowing flame And I lost my mind I guess I thought i knew what forever meant A crash in the hallway, the photographs falling The shattering glass, like rain coming down The one of you standing, your hands in your pockets The look on your face, obscured by the sun Anthony I'm afraid, alone in the building, the billowing flame And I lost my mind I guess I thought I knew what forever meant The heat and the hunger, the smoke in the sky The feeling of losing, and something on fire And up in the bedroom, the curtains all blackened The bed where I loved you beginning to burn I opened the window where I used to call you Below in the garden you're already gone Anthony I'm afraid, alone in the building, the billowing flame And I lost my mind I guess I thought I knew what forever meant I thought I knew what forever meant
8.
Wake up it's a new day, the old day is done You can cry about it if you want The rain in the river, the baby in your arms Proud mother, you try so hard Jesus christ, it don't take much To fall asleep beneath the burning sky Oh my god, homeless child The world will leave you breathless every time Wake up it's a new day, the old day forgot You can start it over if you want Clean and sober, a year coming up Tiny daughter, unborn son Jesus christ, it don't take much To lose the luck you been living on til now Oh my god, homeless child The world will leave you sleeping on the ground Nothing but a string of broken chances Strangers look away and walk on by Nothing but a world without answers Just another list, another endless line Jesus christ, it don't take much To go from just enough to nothing in the end Oh my god, homeless child The world will leave you hanging by a thread
9.
I swept up the garbage, the cups and the wrappers The theater was empty, the crowd had gone home A circle of dust in the light from the rafters The wooden broom handle, a microphone And i sang to the dark rows, all velvet and empty The curtain majestic, in folds to the floor I sang so the angels would never forget me The rush of their robes as they rose up for more The night circled in like a dog in the alley All matted and skinny, and face full of hurt The theater still ringing, with lost dreams of glory The echoing voices of some brighter world And i sang to the mezzanine, the gold-painted ceiling The orchestra spinning, the bright chandelier I sang so the angels would feel what i'm feeling An empty so deep, i'm afraid i'm not here The last note it lingered, the dust settled round me A silence so heavy, it cut to the bone And deep in the shadows, the rustle of clapping I rushed to the back row, still holding the broom And a man who had crept in, all haggard and dirty A bag of belongings, and tears in his eyes I'll never forget this, he said as he left me I needed to hear someone singing tonight
10.
The first time that I saw you, you were waiting for the train Your body like a shadow slipped awayA bright display of color, and the tunnel swept me under And the last thing I remember was your face I hoped you would appear, in some old movie theater chair Some old vinyl back-booth diner way downtown I watched for you in windows, sprayed your name across cement walls In parking lots when no one was around The city lights, they shine like silver, the city lights, they shine like gold I'm holding out, for something better, what it is, I don't know The second time I saw you, you were running in the rain Ducked back into a Chinese restaurant I drove around the block, cursed the light, double parked Found only an old scarf that you forgot I wore it that whole winter, hoped you'd see me in the street Your eye would catch and suddenly you'd know A glance inside the subway, the central station bustling And two strangers locking eyes above it all The city lights, they shine like silver, the city lights, they shine like gold I'm holding out, for something better, what it is, I don't know I'm alright, if you're asking, I'm just tired, and I'm just stoned And the city lights, are a constellation, and your upturned face is, what I'm looking for I came around the corner on a bitter saturday A flower stand and trash cans on the curb I bought a cup of coffee from a man who never saw me Turned around and raised it up and there you were My heart escaped my body, flew right up and disappeared I thought that I might lose you in the crowd But you crossed the street and suddenly your voice was in my ear Saying don't i know your face from somewhere else The city lights, they shine like silver, the city lights, they shine like gold I'm holding out, for something better, what it is, I don't know I'm holding out, for something better, what it is, I don't know

about

"Long before a song ends up on an album, rough edges all shined up through a hundred live shows and imaginative hours in the studio with good friends, it exists raw and simple, just a feeling and the words that attempt to describe it late at night alone in the kitchen. My fourth album ‘The Question’ came out a year ago and I wanted to share the songs as they were at inception. Writing is a deep drug for me, the most powerful way I’ve found to sort through the mad chaos of my internal world and the achingly compelling worlds of others. I wrote these songs at home, hunched over the guitar for hours and hours like some tangle-headed night beast. I wrote them on tour, in rental cars driving through a mapping of rural towns and vivid cities, in the dusty backstage store rooms of old theaters and bars, and in every motel 6 from here to the blue side of the moon.

Here they are just as they first breathed, recorded to tape and mixed by Danny O’Hanlon who lives down the street and mastered by Jon Neufeld who lives down the street in a different direction. Simple poems wound through the landscape of simple chords. In these strikingly uncertain times, I hope you find a grain of comfort in these small stories of struggle and joy." - Anna

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released May 29, 2020

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Anna Tivel Portland, Oregon

Anna Tivel's 6th studio album, "Living Thing" will be released May 31 on Fluff and Gravy Records

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