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A Word Child

by Susan Kane

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  • Full Digital Discography

    5
    releases

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of So Long, Mostly Fine, Sugaree, Highway Bouquet, and A Word Child. , and , .

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1.
Around the Bend 05:01
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They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you Like ignorance is some kind of virtue Heaven help the soul of a sharp-tongued woman Those who speak the truth have a hard time coming Walking the edge of the slippery slope Change is hard don’t give up hope Chorus You start at the beginning And see it to the end It’s right around the corner It’s right around the bend Forget about the jackpot and what you want to spend Ashes ashes in the end Ain’t no use to trouble or complain Might as well smile in the pouring rain The only way to come back is to go Whether your wheel turns fast or slow Chorus What’s it gonna take to get your backs up people? When you gonna stop being so damn feeble Never forget that people have the power Short is the day and late is the hour Who’s to say when the time is right? Rosy fingered dawn takes back the night Chorus
2.
Buffalo Jump 04:48
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Take me down to the buffalo jump Take me down to the buffalo jump Past the willow and the water pump Take me down to the buffalo jump Sometimes it seems like I can't get out of my own damn way And how I came by these ragged hands and this gray hair I can’t say This stuttering tongue and unsteady feet they belong to someone else The rule of the bone has rubbed me raw and robbed me of myself Chorus I like to take my knitting there; I sit right by the edge There’s no one now to chase me over, I listen to my head
Children’s stories, yarn and thimbles, seeds and crochet hooks A cup of coffee threads and beads needles and reference books Gravity calls me to the earth Singing my heart for all I’m worth Flying downhill feels like a rebirth  I know how the story ends, it’s the same way every time The ropy tails, head over hooves, the dusty buffalo fly The first mile traveled is the longest the last was yesterday And we will always be just things, things on the way
Things on the way, things on the way Chorus
3.
Black Roses 03:09
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I got a man, and he don’t love me Black roses over my door I got a man, and he just don’t love me Black roses over my door There’s a river, river of darkness I can see it in his eyes With the distance of his kisses There’s nothing left to die Chorus Faded memories haunt the shadows Of a doubt that come to rise Vows lay broken, sharp words spoken Two strangers come to life Chorus If I surrender to things we said today Maybe tomorrow I’ll see yesterday Chorus
4.
Loser 05:49
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5.
Meryem Ana 05:12
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On a bright fall day I made my way along The rocky path up Nightingale Mountain And in a cool grove of ancient olive trees Stood an old stone house and a quiet flowing fountain There were solemn pilgrims down upon their knees Laughing kids and nuns with rosaries Meryem Ana, Meryem Ana, Meryem Ana; hear their prayer I shook the dust from my feet and stepped inside the rooms Breathed in beeswax, incense, dusty carpets The Ave Maria always makes me weep Lit a candle for my dead and hurried through the exit Then I came upon a wall of a thousand rags White bouquets of fragile tissue flags They flutter in the breezes, they get melted in the rain The ink bleeds away, leaving ghostly faded stains Washed away, washed away Meryem Ana, Meryem Ana, Meryem Ana, hear our prayer And in my dreams I go to Mary’s House And I write on a tissue what I wish for you I wonder what do they know that I don’t know Surely this thin veil of life is what is true? Where I will go when my life nears its close? And will I ever find that pure white rose?
6.
Donal Og 05:31
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The snipe spoke of you from her deep marsh You’re a lonely bird in the wood And you will be alone till you find me You promised me, and you said a lie to me,
That you would meet me where the sheep are flocked; 
I stood and called through the night, No one was there but bleating lambs. You took the East and the West from me, darling What is before and behind You took the moon and the sun from me darling I fear you took my very soul, my very soul My mother bade me not speak to you Today tomorrow or any Sunday Too late and I beyond belief Too late to lock the door from the thief Now my heart’s as black as the blackness of the sloe,
Blacker than the coal on the smith's forge;
Black as shoeprints in stark white halls;
You put that darkness in my life.
 You took the East and the West from me, darling What is before and behind You took the moon and the sun from me darling I fear you took my very soul my own poor soul my poor soul
7.
I Know About Your Broken Heart 04:54
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Sometimes I wish I worked in a factory Used my hands all day long Sometimes I wish I worked in a factory Calm my mind with a metallic song I know about your broken heart Nobody knows about my broken heart Sometimes I wish I had my own secrets I’d hold them close to my bones Sometimes I wish I had my own secrets Something deep to call my own I know about your broken heart Nobody knows about my broken heart You don't know how dirty your hands are until you wash them Pearly grey water leaves a black ring around your sink If you took the time and care to repair everything you’d ever broken Who would care or notice when it’s all gone in a blink? Sometimes I wish I could go out in the wide world Who would see me, who would call Sometimes I wish I could go out in the wide world One more pale flower, flower on the wall But I know about your broken heart Nobody knows about my broken heart My broken heart, broken heart, heart
8.
Paulita's Lament 04:41
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So where has my Billy gone? Poor Billy’s laid to rest With a red, red rose upon his chest, my darling Billy boy I am an old woman, my name is Paulita Some call me señora, and some señorita,
For when I was young, I was bound to be wed
To a handsome young man they called Billy the Kid My father said “’Lita, I will not allow it, 
That boy he’s a bad one, there’s no doubt about it.”
But I was a young girl, and I would not hear
A word against my Billy dear Chorus Billy was working for the rancher John Tunstall Out in Lincoln county, herdin up cattle, 
But the ranchers in Lincoln were killing each other And they killed the man Billy loved like a brother Billy swore vengeance for Mr. John Tunstall He saddled his horse and he strapped on his pistols By the time he returned there were seven men dead And Billy the Kid had a price on his head Chorus The sheriff caught Billy and they brought him for trial The judge said, “Let’s hang him and just leave him awhile” But Billy broke out the Lincoln town jail,
Leaving two deputies dead in his trail
 He rode through the night to the house of my father But the sheriff was waiting with a loaded revolver When Billy walked into my room in the dark The sheriff put a bullet in my Billy’s heart Chorus
9.
Aquamarine 03:06
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Going up the Quickway in your dad’s old Newport To the land of Goshen, to ride on a horse Mixing up our metaphors, we’d conquer the world You, a bright blond Viking, me, a timid girl. We grew up, you went your way, and I went mine You ended up along the Continental Divide I was dressing for success, you took another road So much to see, so much to do, so much you had to know. Justice and truth The sweetest dreams of youth They are, they are, aquamarine. Love called you to sail across a deep dark sea Beside the dancing Northern lights you made a family However rough the waters get, you won’t go down You’re strong and sleek as Viking long boats, Sailing safe and sound So many things just slip away And the heavy things, they always Fall to the bottom They’re best forgotten Sail the long boat Sail the long boat What you love will float You are, you are, aquamarine. Aquamarine, aquamarine.
10.
Row Jimmy 06:56
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11.
New York Winter 03:47
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See how the moon walks on the water When the winter has frozen her path See how the moon walks on the water The tugboats crack the ice just like glass Now winter has come for the Hudson The George is lighted for the jolly holiday When winter freezes the Hudson Her tides run under the ice like a subway Chorus: Raise a glass to those who came before us Raise a glass to those to come Raise a glass to this bright chorus Till every song is sung See how the snow flies round the lamppost Footprints are pressed in the slush See how the snow flies round the lamppost As folks bearing gifts homeward rush I want to see you with snow-spangled hair White as wisdom, white as hope, white as fleece I want to see you with snow-spangled hair Silent night, silver bells, earth at peace Chorus See how the sparks fly up the chimney Let the fireplace burn hot and bright See how the sparks fly up the chimney Cares and cinders disappear in the night The moon says good night to New York City May you find joy and comfort in your homes When the moon says good night to New York City Wanderers rest and no one is alone

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released July 14, 2023

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Susan Kane New York, New York

Susan Kane’s award-winning sweet and sharp Americana seeks to alchemize the natural and the ethereal, weaving words and melodies to create moving songs. She is working on her fifth album, but will release singles along the way. As the pandemic recedes, she has returned to live performing, but loves the extended fan reach that Zoom creates. ... more

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