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 Pine Roots

by Iain Archer

supported by
Steve Lawson
Steve Lawson thumbnail
Steve Lawson It's easy for a songwriter as skilled as Iain to ply his brilliantly honed craft but ending up with ultimately unsatisfying if perfectly constructed songs... It happens to so many writers in his position.

Thankfully, Iain has yet to succumb to this tendency, & To The Pine Roots, against the odds, is one of his most personal and emotive records yet. All that great songwriter skill is in there, but it's at the service of a writer who wants to tell stories. Perfect. Favorite track: Streamer On A Kite.
/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      £5 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    gorgeous cardboard digipak with wonderful artwork by Rob Pepper and design layout by Dan Kaufmann.

    Includes unlimited streaming of To The Pine Roots via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £7.99 GBP or more 

     

1.
The Acrobat 03:39
The Acrobat A drop at his heels, but no shiver in his back He takes a deep breath and he flies Over the crowd with knuckles of Ice Everyone gasps in surprise He swings a great arc to the apex If Newton were here, he’d be perplexed by The Acrobat Three flips, and then he grips the trapeze Whilst one hand appears to be waving He throws his head backwards and hangs by his knees Not one bead of sweat is he breaking In one breath, he flies like a comet With eyes closed, I shout “has he caught it?” The Acrobat So in the between times, when sleep half arrives The Acrobat swings in my mind’s eye The troubles that weigh on me at such a time He easily does defy Where troubles abound, in their places Sit hundreds of mesmorised faces The Acrobat
2.
Songbird 03:55
Making signs by waving your arms No one comes to help you for hours Thinking there’s a mark on your back At target, or a sign to attack Like picking out the stitches you sew You keep learning things you already know And sitting down to watch everyone You’d love to be a bird or a bug But we‘ve got the morning, we’ve got the afternoon We’ve got all the hours til it’s light You’ll be a songbird, I’ll be a drifting tune Falling and then starting to climb. Days spent like a storm in a cup You can’t work out what’s keeping you stuck You empty all the thoughts in your head And arrange them in the shape of a rocket Cos we’ve got the morning, we’ve got the afternoon We’ve got all the hours til it’s light You’ll be a songbird, I’ll be a drifting tune Falling, and then starting to climb
3.
With the pallor of a spook And the wiry gait I undertook There hung from fraying thread My heart inside my hopeful chest The gravel underfoot, the slow incline that bends my boot I’ve lost my precious will, I have burned what I set out to fulfil But I could dig a fresh gem from the Black Mountain Quarry Oh! my heart is stone-cold and my soul is full of worry But I’ll be waiting for the thaw like a little bird told me Oh Black Mountain Quarry The rooks cry with remiss As if to say “I’m tired of this” While on their sable wing The stars, the moon and everything That emanates a glow, is consumed and never spoken of I too would meet this fate, but no glow have I recovered yet But I could dig a fresh gem from the Black Mountain Quarry Oh! my heart is stone-cold and my soul is full of worry But I’ll be waiting for the thaw like a little bird told me Oh Black Mountain Quarry
4.
In the quiet room In the quiet room, you came and combed my hair In the swell of day In the belly of the day, you came and said Your dreams from sleeping And your soft brown shoes, and your rock-pool eyes Hey Mia, don’t be lonely And your cotton shirt, and your neck so fine Hey Mia, don’t be lonely In the quiet room In the quiet room, we talked through light-soaked air I remember I was holding you I was holding you, and I felt your every breath And your soft brown shoes, and your rock-pool eyes Hey Mia, don’t be lonely And your cotton shirt, and your neck so fine Hey Mia, don’t be lonely You’re my land and sea You’re my day and night Hey Mia, don’t be lonely And the sky agrees And the sun says aye Hey Mia, don’t be lonely
5.
Everest 08:04
In the winter chill, in the wintertime Warmth of heart got hard to find Nowhere could we hear a familiar sound The dawn broke with my heart But I woke up in your arms that held me hanging on Hanging on in my own sweet time In the gathering dark, in the gathering night Warmth of heart, so hard to find A fiery flame of golden light I will kindle with my breath And with all that I have left I’ll just keep hanging on Hanging on in my own sweet time Hold my hand and don’t go looking back, hold my hand, don’t look back I know a way to find an open track, hold my hand, don’t look back All your hope is my hope, all of your joy, my joy All your tears are my tears, all your loss, my void I will tether your fear, if you fall, I fall Though our days get lost afar There’s an anchor in my heart that keeps me hanging on Hanging on in my own sweet time Hold my hand and don’t go looking back, hold my hand, don’t look back I know a way to find an open track, hold my hand, don’t look back (Some other day, when my morning comes, I’ll be the one that’s waited all night)
6.
Frozen Lake 05:07
Are your tears mine to wipe? Are your secrets mine to hide inside? Cos it might be my chance to try To try The frozen lake where we walk Is gonna change in the thaw, I know It’s just a lake of every hope That we own And I wanna be someone Who makes you feel beautiful I wanna be someone who does I wanna be someone Who makes you feel beautiful I wanna be someone who covers you with love Is my idea something you like the sound of? Cos I know I am always a born idealist And I know I can hope too much But I wanna be someone Who makes you feel beautiful I wanna be someone who does I wanna be someone Who makes you feel beautiful I wanna be someone who covers you with love
7.
Listen to the sound of the swallow’s lost song Harnessing the wind and saddling the unridden sun The liver red fire at the heel of the sky The beetle-black wing of the swallow telling you you can fly. Listen to the way that the longest branch groans, Dripping worried sap, and drying as the worried wind blows All at once moves, and all at once breathes You and I bend as limber as two saplings And I’ve had it in mind to tell you I’ve seen you in the sky You’re the streamer on a kite You’re the streamer on a kite You’re the wayward streamer on a long-strung diamond of a kite. Listen how like flies are the endless black wheels The galactic harvest hoard of the fecund silicone fields. The old dry well, now safe under stone The trembling earth, the pumps of our hearts till we’re gone And I’ve had it in mind to tell you I’ve seen you in the sky You’re the streamer on a kite You’re the streamer on a kite You’re the wayward streamer on a long-strung diamond of a kite.
8.
Today I’ll be an island, It seems I’m decided Til ever forgetful, my hands hold my head Despite my conviction, there’s something I’m missing That all my attention just can’t wrestle back And the time has come and gone to mend and move along And who mends someone quite this broken? The memories don’t fade, I think they’re here to stay They’ve made themselves right at home anyway. Today I’ll go searching, to see if there’s anyone Seeing these colours in tones just like me I’ll read and I’ll eavesdrop, I’ll people-watch non-stop And maybe just someone won’t look straight through me Cos the time has come and gone to mend and move along And who mends someone quite this broken? The memories don’t fade, I think they’re here to stay They’ve made themselves right at home anyway. I know it’s just me letting go, but why does it move so slow? Just don’t pretend that you know Today I’ll be an island, it seems I’m decided Til ever forgetful, my hands hold my head
9.
Colder now, the workers have gone The factory stretches, it lets out a yawn A torch, a newspaper under his arm The keys to every office, and attic and hall He doesn’t let the lonely silence bring him down Nobody sees him as the nightwatchman does his rounds The sound of his boots, his breath and the clock The rain on the roof, a door he unlocks A room with a light, a table, a chair He takes off his hat, and smoothes out his thinning hair. He doesn’t let the lonely silence bring him down Nobody sees him as the nightwatchman does his rounds A world asleep, he keeps a close eye In empty rooms, he waits for the sun to rise He doesn’t let the lonely silence bring him down Nobody sees him as the nightwatchman does his rounds He keeps himself awake, remembering aloud Nobody sees him as the nightwatchman does his rounds

about

This is Iain's barest and most heartfelt work to date, full of woody tones, distant birdsong and and an uncommon sense of hope. The album was made a world away and it sounds like it. The breath of an old harmonium, the ring of an ancient autoharp, poetry in word and note.

credits

released March 23, 2009

Engineered by: Iain Archer
Dave Lynch
Matthias Kaufmann
Miriam Kaufmann
Produced by: Iain Archer
Mixed by: Iain Archer
Mastered by: Tim Branton at Joao Carvalho Mastering, Toronto
Published by: Kobalt Music Group

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Iain Archer London, UK

iain archer is a singer-songwriter from bangor, northern ireland

contact / help

Contact Iain Archer

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Iain Archer, you may also like: