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American Siren

by Emily Scott Robinson

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

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      $11.99 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

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      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Coke Bottle Clear SIGNED Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Signed by Emily!

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

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1.
Old Gods 03:46
Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea And if you are meant to be mine, love One day you’ll come home to me But are you a trick of the memory That the old gods are playing on me Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea Your blue eyes are there when I close mine I see your sweet face when I dream My heart is all ragged in pieces Bleeding at every seam And are you a trick of the memory That the old gods are playing on me Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea I’m down on my knees at a crossing Wondering which way to go But all roads are dark through the valley And I’ll learn to walk them alone And are you a trick of the memory That the old gods are playing on me Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea No wine and no song can soothe me I’m pierced by the arrows of pain I’ll lay in the grass by the mountain And summon the wind and the rain And are you a trick of the memory That the old gods are playing on me Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea Carry my prayers on the ocean Carry my prayers on the sea
2.
Be careful with that bottle When you have your first drink The pull that it’ll have on you is Stronger than you think Don’t speed through a small town Or push an empty tank And when that farmer stops to give you gas Be sure to tell him thanks Always check the oil in your 20-year-old car Before you leave for college or you won’t make it very far Things you learn the hard way Some lessons you can’t teach Until you’re living through ‘em The wisdom’s out of reach Things you learn the hard way Things you learn the hard way Don’t get married in a church called Mother of our Sorrows ‘Cause if it don’t feel right today It won’t feel right tomorrow A baby will not be enough To get a man to stay You can’t change or fix someone You gotta let ‘em walk away Don’t go to the dry well looking for a drink Never leave your wedding band too close to the kitchen sink Things you learn the hard way Some lessons you can’t teach Until you’re living through ‘em The wisdom’s out of reach Things you learn the hard way Things you learn the hard way When someone’s trust is broken It’s not an easy thing to fix And when Grandpa comes for dinner Lord, don’t bring up politics Be sure to call your Mama Every Sunday after mass You won’t be ready when you lose her And it happens way too fast Sometimes the deepest healing Comes through the darkest night And you can’t believe how often now Your mother’s words were right Things you learn the hard way Some lessons you can’t teach Until you’re living through ‘em The wisdom’s out of reach Things you learn the hard way Things you learn the hard way You ain’t never gonna forget The things you learn the hard way Things you learn the hard way
3.
What is there in Little Rock at the Hilton Double Tree Just a woman far from home a thousand miles out to sea She walks over to the window, pulls the curtain shut Pours three fingers of whiskey in a flimsy plastic cup Sits down on the bedspread, takes off her wedding ring If she does something dark enough he might just set her free It’s her mother’s mother’s diamond in a shining golden band Another woman who spent most her life loving the wrong man If trouble comes a’ lookin’ she won’t be hard to find She’s sitting in the hotel bar on her second glass of wine She put a pretty dress on, wiped the tears out of her eyes And if trouble comes a’lookin she won’t be hard to find Just two floors down is Brother John from Our Lady of Grace He is older now but handsome still with such a lonely face He picked a hotel off the Interstate where even God won’t find him Runs his fingers through the rosary and locks the door behind him How was Christ so perfect, how on earth did he resist The perfume on a woman’s neck, the softness of her lips He burned and burned for years with the fire of devotion But some things are impossible to stop once they’re in motion If trouble comes a’lookin’ he won’t be hard to find He’s sitting in the hotel bar on his second glass of wine Across the empty room he glances up to meet her eyes And if trouble comes a ‘lookin’ he won’t be hard to find At quarter til the bartender will make the final call She’ll slip down off her stool and sway slowly down the hall And he’ll kiss her like she always wanted, back against the wall And she’ll step out of her dress looking like Eve before the fall If trouble comes a ‘lookin they won’t be hard to find They’re tangled in each other’s arms in room 229 They’ve never strayed this far into the shadows of the night And if trouble comes a’ lookin’ they won’t be hard to find Not every infidelity is bound to end in shame She’ll smile one month later when a letter bears his name Brother John has gone to France and Italy to travel Where all of his ideas of God will happily unravel
4.
Let 'Em Burn 05:08
White picket fence, a quiet street Faithful wife of fifteen years, mother of three I go to church, I say my prayers But I have never felt the breath of God in there I followed every rule and played it safe And I built myself a beautiful cage The coffee’s hot, the kids asleep This is the only time I feel like I can breathe But late last night I locked the door And cried myself to sleep on the bathroom floor ‘Cause I lit a match and held it to my yearning And found out I was a house already burning I’m on the edge of somethin’ wild On the edge of somethin’ free On the edge of somethin’ reckless I get down on my knees If you don’t recognize me When I come back around It’s cause all the things I thought I’d be I let ‘em all burn to the ground I let ‘em burn, I let ‘em burn I never dreamed I’d start this war When I was young I was so innocent and sure I was afraid to be alone So I wrote every vow of loyalty in stone But is this the life I want for my own daughter? Just tryin’ to keep her head about the water? What if desire is a gift and not a sin? What if this could be the start and not the end? I’m on the edge of somethin’ wild On the edge of somethin’ free On the edge of somethin’ reckless Yeah, I get down on my knees If you don’t recognize me When I come back around It’s cause all the things I thought I’d be I let ‘em all burn to the ground I let ‘em burn, I let ‘em burn I let ‘em burn, Mmmmm I let ‘em burn, Burn, Ooooh—ooooh—ooooh…
5.
Cheap Seats 04:04
Oh, I’ve been right where you are Putting miles on my car Driving to some dead-end job each day Smiling for my tips Picking up those extra shifts Waitressing all my best years away Some nights I’ll buy a ticket and sit alone In the Mother Church up in the highest row I’m in the cheap seats Watching the big show Hoping that one day I’ll look back and know That every big dream And every hard prayer And every long road Would deliver me up there Singin’ for the cheap seats Singin’ for the cheap seats Halfway through a busy night I get a song idea to write And I slip out back to get the chorus down Now table twenty eight Is complaining about the wait And my manager just shakes his head and frowns I won’t let them have the best of me One day I’ll quit this job and then they’ll see I’m in the cheap seats Watching the big show Hoping that one day I’ll look back and know That every big dream And every hard prayer And every long road Would deliver me up there Singin’ for the cheap seats Singin’ for the cheap seats I’m so hungry I can taste it Want so badly just to make it I’ve got a thousand songs inside me left to write Gotta find my voice and use it Set true North and do not lose it And keep that candle burnin’ through the night I want everything before I’m ready And it’ll only come once I am standing steady I’m in the cheap seats Watching the big show Hoping that one day I’ll look back and know That every big dream And every hard prayer And every long road Would deliver me up there Singin’ for the cheap seats Singin’ for the cheap seats
6.
You should be with us now You should be here We should be sitting by the fire on our second round of beers We opened the whiskey, we’re out back in the shop We’re raising our glass to you, still numb from the shock ‘Cause you’re the only one who’s missing and it doesn’t feel right You should be tucking in your baby girl and kissing her goodnight Your son is full of questions about how Daddy got to heaven We’re never thought you’d go this way, you were only twenty-seven Our hometown hero’s in the news today The flags are flying at half mast We buried you on a clear blue All Saints Day To the lonesome sound of trumpet playing taps You went to Afghanistan You were only 19 You never talked much about the things that you’d seen You came back to your hometown to a start a new life Had a couple of babies and a beautiful wife But the demons that you lived with you hid well, we never saw The guns that you kept loaded and the patches in the wall She was in the kitchen making lunches and the kids were in their beds And in a flash we lost you to the war inside your head Our hometown hero’s in the news today The flags are flying at half mast We buried you on a clear blue All Saints Day To the lonesome sound of trumpet playing taps A father should never have to bury his own son He throws a shovel full of dirt down and we follow one by one Your kids are gonna grow up asking about you How you could love someone and leave them and how Both things could be true? Our hometown hero’s in the news today The flags are flying at half mast We buried you on a clear blue All Saints Day To the lonesome sound of trumpet playing taps
7.
I used to pray for my life to be easy Used to wish all my dreams would come true I used to have it all planned to the minute When you’re young that’s just what you do Then I had my heart shattered and scattered And I wandered the world on my own And at a bar down South of the border I met another girl drinkin’ alone I felt that her spirit was kindred And we traded stories ’til dawn Of dead ends and dark times and lovers The red wine poured out like a song Sisterhood softens the edges Of our burdens and worries and cares And as the stars faded into the sunrise She whispered the lost woman’s prayer Grant you grace for the hard days And may you be kind to yourself Run reckless and headlong toward your biggest fears Pull your dusty dreams down off the shelf Let your life be of service Turn your pain into purpose Open your doors to the wind and the rain And may you be forever changed May you be forever changed She caught a ride down to Cabo And I didn’t see her for years But we wrote the occasional letter Confessing our hopes and our fears There were weddings and bank loans and babies Divorces and late-night phone calls And through the ups and the downs And the lost and the founds I remembered that prayer through it all Grant you grace for the hard days And may you be kind to yourself Run reckless and headlong toward your biggest fears Pull your dusty dreams down off the shelf Let your life be of service Turn your pain into purpose Open your doors to the wind and the rain And may you be forever changed May you be forever changed On a night off of tour I called you Said ‘Old friend, I am here in your town’ Had drinks down at Johnny’s on State Street Can’t believe they haven’t torn this place down We laughed til we cried and we gossiped and lied When the bartender asked us our age Let’s raise up our glass, here’s a toast to the past And a toast as we turn a new page… May you be forever changed May we be forever changed May we be forever changed
8.
Every day in faith I came Every day in faith I came And by some miracle beyond me I have found my way ‘cause every day in faith I came Some lessons they were hard to learn Some lessons they were hard to learn But I thank my darkest teachers for the scars that I have earned Some lessons they were hard to learn If I’d seen the hills and valleys on the road If I’d seen the hills and valleys on the road I might’ve never had the courage to pack my bags and go If I’d seen the hills and valleys on the road I love you and I swear I always will I love you and I swear I always will I see you cross a crowded room and my heart it quickens still I love you and I swear I always will Every day in faith I came Every day in faith I came And by some miracle beyond me I have found my way ‘Cause every day in faith I came And by some miracle beyond me I have found my way ‘Cause every day in faith I came
9.
The summer that I turned nineteen was a hundred shades of green I just wanted to be seen Heavy like the air before it rains, clean like grass and summer sage I lost track of all the days Warm like the sunshine on the pines, fresh tomatoes off the vine Pickin’ peaches for the pie Cold, like that first beer on my lips and those midnight skinny dips Careful like your kiss Lightning in a bottle, if only I had known I’d be back here after twenty years driving down this road Wondering where that girl has gone and how to bring her back Missing life when it was easier and love when it was magic Dark like that trail through the woods, sneaking out late when we could My hand in yours fit good Bright like Venus on the rise in the early morning sky I grew up that night Breathless, heart pounding in my chest, I placed your hand upon my breast and surrendered to the rest Lightning in a bottle, if only I had known I’d be back here after twenty years driving down this road Wondering where that girl has gone and how to bring her back Missing life when it was easier and love when it was magic And every dream I had back then is finally coming true But last night I found the letter that I kept for years from you And I wonder if I lost something somewhere along the way I came back to find the piece of my heart buried in this place Lightning in a bottle, if only I had known That summer flames burn out so just enjoy the afterglow That time is touching all of us and the years are coming fast Missing life when it was easier and love Oh, love Lightning in a bottle, if only I had known I’d be back here after twenty years driving down this road Wondering where that girl has gone and how to bring her back Missing life when it was easier and love when it was magic
10.
Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine, To the summer land where the sun doth shine, Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State! Here’s to the land of the cotton bloom white, Where the scuppernong perfumes the breeze at night, Where the soft southern moss and jessamine mate, ‘Neath the murmuring pines of the Old North State! Here’s to the land where the galax grows, Where the rhododendron’s rosette glows, Where soars Mount Mitchell’s summit great, In the “Land of the Sky,” in the Old North State! Here’s to the land where the maidens are fair, Where friends are true and cold hearts rare, The near land, the dear land, whatever fate, The blest land, the best land, the Old North State!

about

We are so excited to announce the signing of our newest artist, Emily Scott Robinson, and this lovely record! American Siren imparts stories of the sirens that call out to us in our everyday lives. With an ear for bluegrass, folk, and country, and her finely-tuned soprano, Emily delivers a collection of flowing melodies and lived-in lyrics that belong in the modern folk canon.

credits

released October 29, 2021

All songs written by Emily Scott Robinson
Production: Jason Richmond
Engineer: Jason Richmond
Mixing: Jason Richmond
Mastering: Kim Rosen, Knack Mastering

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about

Emily Scott Robinson Nashville, Tennessee

www.emilyscottrobinson.com

Instagram: @emilyscottrobinson

Twitter: @emilyscottrobin

Facebook: @EmilyScottRobinson

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