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Afterlife

by Auricle Records

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  • Streaming + Download

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

    Included with your purchase of this release is a pdf of the 16 page booklet, which includes both the lyrics and the majority of the photos included in the production.

      9 CHF  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The Digipac (or DVD) casing accommodates the 16 page lyric booklet. The booklet also includes numerous photographs. The product is in a cardboard casing with no shrink wrap.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Afterlife via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

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1.
alright, all hands on deck, lets crank it up, and see where it’s going - lets KICK it stop - even if you wanna go I know it doesn’t matter what I say, or what you might wanna know go - even if you never knew what is true, no matter who, tries to do count - every day you gave to every word you say, the chance to stay, how we learned the way in - this place to grow where did it go? who will it show? what did we know? are we leaving life to others in a current so strong that we never move cut - deep and wide leave only what you need, to survive touch - all that you are what’s sometime near, sometimes far drifting from the mountain which can not move are we smaller now? hold - the last divide find a break - in the sky - a door to why check - what you know it’s never too late, to let it go I’m listening I’m flowing in wonder I’m going
2.
I Can’t Stay Here Any Longer 4:55 Today, you say, I can’t stay here any longer Today, you say, I can’t stay here any longer It seems my house is no longer my home It seems my house is no longer my home I’ll have to roam alone Told to leave, cannot retrieve, the need to breathe the life that was here I only know, I have to go, and not too slowly walk with my fear I roam alone, no more a home, where I belonged - now no one beside me I’ll leave no trace, only a space that has to face - a hand that’s empty So, this is freedom My feet they walk, they cannot talk, but if they could, would they ask just what is this freedom? What is it that, we think we seek, that lies beyond, just what it is, we are needing My numbers called, I cannot fall, I’ll scale this wall, and steal the bacon I’ll cross the line, but promise this time, no one defines or defies what I am feeling But looking down, tears hit the ground, without a sound, a silence that fuels a burning anger Hold it now - Is this land my land? or a kind of bait that incinerates a yearning soul to embers So I ask why we leave, just to be deceived, without reprieve, and leave a humanity that could save us The road is rough, and I am tough enough, to board that bus and find what I’m made of I can’t stay but I can’t go I can’t stay I can’t go I can’t stay I can’t go, only stray and not know where I'm going I can’t stay I can’t go I can’t stay I can’t go, only stray and not know where I'm going No house or no home, no house or no home, no choice but to roam No house or no home, no house or no home, no choice but to roam So, this is freedom
3.
Wake Up 03:47
Wake Up 3:43 Wake up its gonna be a disaster if we really can’t do it any faster just wonderin’ who (who) is the master of the fall from grace am I good? welcome in the hood? where the good book barks hell-low a fell-low-ship - that’ll never quit feeling terrorized in the mirror eyes witness too much lies dressed like apple pie well get down and make a clear rebound to every pronoun in town every color and sound and fisticuff a total rebuff of whats been wrong and rough isn’t it ee-nough? maybe this time we stop the crime stop it on a dime turn round the one way sign stopping vi - o - lence against in - tell- i - gence or basic common sense no more subservience I think we need to bend ~ and not only spend ~ our lives depending on frequencies without decency creeping distantly toward a time when we know not to do what we can’t see through it ain’t nothing new fading out of view
4.
Love Me As I Am 4:41 Love me as I am a soul near journey’s end who alone has learned to stand Love me as I am Love me if you will A ship whose hull slowly fills With silence, thought and still Love me if you will Love is time I know will pass With questions I will ask Desires I will seek Love will learn to speak Waves they roll a sleeping boat at sea a bell on deck rings almost silently a sail can catch winds and destiny a night whose stars shine endlessly Love is Time is Light is Why is life like a book that has an end to a story whose words will send us out to sea alone In time love will offer light To take us through the night from blindness into sight Hold dear and always tight Love is time I know will pass With questions I will ask Desires I will seek Love will learn to speak Love me as I am a soul near journey’s end who alone has learned to stand Love me as I am
5.
Losing Hand 05:50
Losing Hand 5:47 Deuce's up, Jack's down, seems my luck has already left town I've come up short, when the odds were long, Watched my chance slide from right to wrong When I knew better I could have left you alone, Just keep the memories of all that I've known I was all in, you'd found your way out, Seems I forget what the deal is all about The cards I draw, change hope to fear Maybe its because your not here Wishing and hoping won't bring you back, As I turn my last card over, it's not a deuce, not a jack Hand by hand, a pair is just two Seems I got nothing to gain and everything to lose I try to remember how, it is to win As I reach deeper in the pocket, going all in Thought I knew better, when I left you alone Trying to remember when I still had a home The odds stay long, my time has come To ante up, and pretend it's a whole lotta fun It's not enough to stay cool and wait Really it's time to accelerate I keep thinking I'll find my way But I only hear the clock ticking turning night into day Maybe one more whisky, while the smoke lies thick Try to find a bluff, pull a smooth magic trick They say luck can turn if you find the key Ain't nobody else gonna turn that key for me I should know better why I'm now alone Why the love of chance gave me a heart of stone Just one more card for my house to be full But still smart enough to know I'm just dancing with a fool When I faced you, my only queen, the card I so needed was never seen Now I'm countin' every card Trying to find the one that is you I know what I need, I know a pair, a pair is just two
6.
The Long March 4:48 I can’t go to who will see or hear me I can’t show you where I’m free to be me I can’t know who unfurls my tis of thee But I can give to others what remains of me I can shed a light on shadows we fail to see I can go where we all fear to be We can’t wait any more comfortable behind a closed door like indifferent wonderers who think we know or who think we ain’t part of what is serious yes! we will riot for us because we can trust that chains will bust of those who should be free Then we can give to others what remains of thee we can shed a light on shadows we wish not to see We will go where we no longer fear to be
7.
Junkyard Magic 5:29 Well it all started easily when they were young when the only rule was having fun Living in a world of imagination flowing seemingly forever in the chaos of infinite creation Ricky & Randy were like two birds hopping from tree to tree Spinning tin can wheels of a vehicle called harmony Ricky was gentle, Randy was proud Together what they knew best was how to be loud A forgotten junkyard was their playground bang this and toss that - oh - what a sound Together they built their rocket ship for a trip to Mars Ricky & Randy could go anywhere from their junkyard Well eventually Ricky & Randy aren’t kids no more Pulled apart by a life that’s tough, they pass through many doors Then comes a day where fate steps in The car Randy’s pumpin’ gas for is Ricky’s piece of tin and wouldn’t you know - two smiles brings tears of laughter from their eyes before they know it, the dance begins, and love is no surprise Back with each other their life is a familiar tune These two astronauts get ready to blast off and dance on the moon to dance on the moon it’s never too soon ~ to dance on the moon it’s never too soon ~ to dance on the moon
8.
Missing You 05:59
Missing You 5:57 The day you left I thought I can get along As the days passed I realized I was wrong Words can’t describe the fact that your gone and when I try to sing I can’t find the words to the song I look out the window where I can see far Take long walks and ask the trees how you are In the night I look up to search for you on every star and each day I write a note to you and place it in a jar Missing you Wishing to Make it true That we can be together again me and you I know life’s a gift and I’m grateful for it each and every day But I just could not have imagined that things would turn out this way The sound of your voice, the touch of your hand, the smell of your embrace Remain the memories awakened from a picture I hold of your face Missing you Wishing to Make it true That we can be together again me and you
9.
Such Sweet Wonder 6:10 One just one Running Running Seeing something Seeing something No longer asking The past moves forward Longer and toward Longer and toward Another unadorned place of being Reason can leave now Sailing through clouds Losing the loss of how The world is burning (and) I am burning too The world is wonder (and) I am wondering who Who of us, cares enough To keep us from going under Raise our eyes to such sweet wonder I guess I can leave this I guess I can leave this time I guess I can leave this I guess I can leave this time I guess I can leave this I guess I can leave this time I guess I can leave this I guess I can leave this time

about

“Afterlife” took four years to complete. Here are some thoughts from it's creator ...

Some things require a life to be lived before they can happen.

The time has arrived for me to humbly reflect with my songs, the remarkable beauty of the world, while not hiding but rather confronting the cruelty of our actions upon it.

We can take our experience of love to guide us towards life’s future. To live love's rhythm is something we all share.

Although the notion of “Afterlife” traditionally consoles the living that their travails upon the earth are rewarded on the 'other side', I rather think of it as a myth we’ve authored to remind us that we are living this life now.


some background on this recording’s creator ......

The songwriter and producer Gerry Hemingway has a long back story as a drummer, multimedia artist, bandleader, composer and improviser of music beginning in the early 1970’s. His singular approach as a writer and player is heard on well over 250 recordings. “I admit that I stopped counting some time ago, but its around that amount.”

“Afterlife”, as its title might suggest, is a rather dramatic departure from the well documented trajectory of his career. “I notice that writers by now commonly refer to me as a ‘veteran drummer’. In all of my history I am seeking roads I’ve never traveled on, always curious to deepen and challenge my experience as an artist. In the case of the release of “Afterlife”, I should say that songwriting was always somewhere in me, close to the roots of why I became a musician. In a way, I’ve returned to discover something that was really always there. Singing, or the use of my voice, has made numerous appearances on past recordings, but more in an instrumental context. To sing lyric in the more traditional context of song is a more recent development.

To understand the expressive range, character and limitations of my voice, as well as to go deeper into producing, I spent a number of years singing and producing songs I admired by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, the American Songbook, Lou Reed, the Monroe Brothers and many others. Making these covers of other songwriters also meant my finding a new musical setting for the original song relevant to my aesthetics. After a while my own songs started to arrive.”

credits

released November 1, 2022

Gerry Hemingway
Afterlife

All music and lyric created by Gerry Hemingway, except “Such Sweet Wonder” with music co-written together with Manuel Troller.
℗ & © 2022 Gerry Hemingway Nagual Music (GEMA/BMI).
All music recorded and produced by Gerry Hemingway between 2020 and 2022. Additional post-production by Knut Jensen for “Wake Up” and “Losing Hand”.
Recording mastered by Adrian Flück, Centraldubs GmbH
Photography - Jordan Hemingway
Cover Design - Collin Fletcher

Hugely grateful thanks to the musicians who contributed their sound, ideas and inventions to this recording: Manuel Troller, Florestan Berset, Earl Howard, Sebastian Strinning, Bänz Oester, Linda Egli, Christy Doran, Michael Moore, Wolfgang Zwiauer, Hannah Wirnsperger and Ralph Alessi.

Special thanks to Bill Frisell, Blake Mills, Nels Cline and Knut Jensen for offering their ears and expertise to the project and to my dear ones who helped inspire and support my obsession to make this happen - you know who you are.

Afterlife is dedicated to my son Jordan Hemingway who has been and continues to be a constant source of love and determination in my life.

Auricle Records AUR -19 (2022)`

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Auricle Records Lucerne, Switzerland

Auricle Records is the artist owned label established in 1978 by composer, percussionist, visual artist and songwriter Gerry Hemingway. For more information visit his website.

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