Birdsong At Morning
Lumens (2024 Remaster)

Release Date: May 10, 2024

Lyrics

Lumens

  • So I am waiting for the morning sun
    And I am waiting for my time to come
    I'm waiting for that starting gun
    For the sound, like a thunderclap
    Stops my heart, and starts again
    Infinite lines on the road map
    Take a running leap

    And, go – Bounding out in the velvet indigo
    And, go – Finding out in the velvet indigo

    And I can see it in your eyes you've waited too
    And I have heard the voices that are calling you
    And I have witnessed miracles out of the blue
    In the night, when the fire is out
    With the cold creeping in
    Cast aside your coat of crippling doubt

    Just let it go – Wrap yourself in the velvet indigo
    And, go – Release yourself in the velvet indigo

    'Til the night, comes to take you in
    When the darkness starts to fall
    Catch the light that you're breathing in

    And, go – Diving down in the velvet indigo
    And, go – Lighting out in the velvet indigo
    And, go – Dissolving into the velvet indigo
    And, go – Exalt yourself in the velvet indigo

    Go

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

  • I can't help myself, from falling down
    Can't help myself, when you're not around
    Can't help myself, I know it's true
    Can't help myself, but what can I do?

    Can't help myself, my weakness is strong
    I've paid any price to sell myself short, for so very long
    Can't help myself, I know that it's wrong
    Drawn to the light, can't stay away, I'm hopelessly gone

    I can't help myself, I'm upside down
    Can't help myself, I'm all turned around
    Can't help myself, I'm inside out
    Can't help myself, absolutely in doubt

    Can't help myself, I'm trouble bound
    I laugh 'til I cry, feel so uptight, I'm coming unwound

    I can't help myself, from falling down
    Can't help myself, when you are around
    Can't help myself, too much, too soon
    Can't help myself, I'm over the moon

    I can't help myself, it's sad but true
    I can't help myself, and I don't want to!

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

  • Maria sends a telegram
    To let me know that nothing lasts
    Open windows, closing doors
    And all that was, is no more
    And never will

    Maria, I don't understand
    Your words refuse an open hand
    “Give me a chance," I will implore
    Like every man who came before
    And ever will

    Light out for the heartland
    Far as eyes can see
    There's no place for me

    Maria loved the sound of trains
    The smell of grass in summer rains
    Washing away the dirt and dust
    The dream of spring we come to trust
    'Til winter comes

    Maria, I was halfway there
    Turning down the road we shared
    Everything, or none at all
    You had a choice and made the call
    Thy will be done

    And all the things you left behind
    The remnants of a troubled time
    Photographs of fishing boats
    With empty nets and unread notes
    That said it all

    Light out for the heartland
    Yearning to be free
    It's too late for me

    Light out for the heartland
    Skies are growing dark
    It's too late to start

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

  • Sorry we can't offer the lyrics.

    Christine McVie © 1979 Universal Music Careers (BMI)

  • Lightning strikes, cold winds blow
    Water will rise above the seeds we sow
    The evil we see, the evil we are
    The soul a massive black hole, swallowing stars

    Innocence lost, the pure defiled
    Every monster once some mother's child
    Release the soul, let it take flight
    So in the darkest heart, let there be light
    Let there be light!

    Down in the hole, the plots and schemes
    The acid tongue, the mad corrosive dreams
    Thick is the air, and filled with dread
    From all the tortured logic in your head
    A terrible fate, the nightmare plan
    The itchy trigger finger, murderous hands
    But locked away, hidden from sight
    In the darkest heart, there must be light

    There must be light

    Lightning strikes, cold winds blow
    Water will rise above the seeds we sow
    Beware the fear, its grip is tight
    Beware the hearts of darkness, follow the light
    Follow the light, let there be light

    Amidst the cries, the endless grief
    Clinging to one last faltering belief
    Whisper a prayer, deep in the night
    Someday the darkest heart will find its light

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

  • Worlds are blooming, just outside your window
    A menagerie of petalled rainbows
    Like little prizes under the skies of blue
    A garden full of morning glories

    But you won't see them, inside the shades are drawn
    Another shadowed gray day is dawning
    Tears are flowing from your eyes of blue
    There's nothing you can do about them

    Rain clouds are forming, and pouring
    Nothing left to do, but let them
    Cool the tired earth below
    Where birds will sing of flowers growing

    And life continues, in the sleepy village
    Days will pass into the evening stillness
    A fond adieu to the sinking skies of blue
    The moon has come to tell you stories

    Dream worlds will hold you, enfold you
    Let the midnight hour awake you
    Tumbling from your slumbers
    Where the comfort of my arms awaits you

    And in the dawning, when the sun is rising
    There's a brand new light, on your horizon
    Wondrous surprises, open your eyes of blue
    “Good morning, little morning glory"

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

  • Catch me, I'm falling, falling for you
    Catch me, I'm falling, falling for you
    So many years apart, together, so few
    So catch me, I'm falling, falling for you

    And I'm over my head, over my head
    Over my head in love with you

    I made resolutions, more than a few
    I made resolutions and broke them in two
    They're so overused these words, so tried and true
    But catch me, I'm falling in love with you

    Yes, I'm over my head, I'm over my head
    Overly overwhelmed and overjoyed
    By you

    So tell me you're falling, tell me it's true
    Tell me you're falling, I know what to do
    Now, don't keep me waiting, it's long overdue
    Just tell me you're falling
    And I'll follow you

    Alan Williams © 2010 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)

 

Credits

Alan Williams: lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonium, percussion, string arrangements
Darleen Wilson: acoustic and electric guitar, harmony vocals
Greg Porter: bass, harmony vocals
Ben Wittman: drums, percussion
David Gutierrez: orchestral drums on "Light"
Kevin Barry: lapsteel on "Velvet Indigo" and "Heartland"
Marissa Licata: first violin
Stephanie Skor: second violin
Helen Sherrah-Davies: five-string violin
Catherine Bent: cello

Produced by Alan Williams
Bass and drums (Ben Wittman) recorded by Roy Hendrickson, assisted by Aki Nishimura, at Avatar Studios in New York City.
Strings recorded by Antonio Oliart at Fraser Performance Studio, WGBH in Boston.
Fabio, Jerry, and Anne Elise recorded in their homes by Alan Williams with the Backpack Mobile system.
All other performances recorded by Alan Williams at The Aviary (Mach 1 and 2).
Mastered by Mark Donahue at Soundmirror in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Photography by Julia Margaret Cameron

About The Music

Lumens

  • This song is about the difficulty of writing this song. When we recorded most of the drum tracks in one two day session, a number of songs existed as barely more than fragments. This was one of them. I had no idea what the song was about, no words other than "go." We spent no more than 15 minutes recording the basic track, since it was unclear whether there was a song here at all. But Ben Wittman's drumming really brought the track to life, and it felt too good to drop.

    Still, I couldn't for the life of me come up with the words. The more I tried, the harder it got, until the song so intimidated me that the very thought of it brought me to catatonia. Then one day, "Eureka!" I realized that the song is about this very condition. What have you got to lose, just finish the damned thing. Very post-modern, etc. So emerged a hymn to self-empowerment, written under intense deadline, and sung just days before mastering the last record. Take a running leap...

  • Another fragment recorded in a single take with Ben. Can't help it, I love pop music. Catchy, sing-along choruses, nifty hooks, shiny surfaces and pulsing grooves. Not that I write those, but I do love 'em.

    This song always envisioned the string quartet as the driving force, so it took a little encouragement to convince the rest of the group – "this will work, trust me. Once the string part is there, then it'll be clear." Not sure I won that argument, but I still get a rush out of the string part. Hey, at least it's not another song about dying.

  • During the first year of Birdsong, I booked some solo shows out in the Midwest, spreading the gospel, so to speak. Visions of wheat fields for days, the train station in Days of Heaven, Dorothy's no-place-like-home-Kansas – it all screamed "America."

    Almost a foreign country to me. What if someone ventured there and never came back? Whenever you go, something or someone is always left behind.

  • An overlooked gem from Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, a double album from 1979 that has persistently insinuated itself into my stereo system. So unhip, but a touchstone nonetheless.

    (Hey Matthew Sweet has championed it, and Camper Van Beethoven recorded a cover version of the whole album, so...) I love the ambivalence of the title phrase. Defiant, delusional, accepting.

    You decide.

  • When I was in graduate school, I played in a Middle -Eastern music ensemble, and became enthralled with Arabic pop music, especially the monumental, but incredibly nimble orchestral parts. Once this song came to me on guitar, the unison string counterpoint rang loudly in my head.

    This one took everyone in the band, and the string players too, by surprise. But it was too much fun not to go with it. Conceived as an ode to Dick Cheney (echoing Neil Young's, "Even Richard Nixon's got soul"), the sentiment sadly remains relevant. Put down the gun, there's room at the table.

  • A lullaby to fresh starts. Nearly left off the album because I was unhappy with the mix and my vocal performance. Re-recorded the vocal and remixed the night before the mastering session.

    Thank God we don't work in studios, or many of these songs would never see the light of day.

  • This song had been part of our live shows since shortly after the release of Bound. After all the morose navel gazing, it was a relief to have something upbeat to go out with. But by this time we had sketched out the rough outline of the remaining CDs, and knew the last one would be lighter in tone. So we held it back, even as people kept responding favorably to it in concert.

    Somewhat written for that purpose, the not very deep lyric acknowledges the cliché of the easy, "I'm falling in love with you." But what if you are? Just because it's a cliché, it doesn't mean it can't be real. For such a romantic band, it's kind of impossible to sidestep love.

Videos