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.

By the Side of the Lake

by Wes Weddell

supported by
/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      $9.90 USD

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    New, unopened audio CD

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

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 8 Wes Weddell releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Pushing Forward, Somewhere in the Middle, Nobody's Flag, The Bushwick Book Club Demos, Vol. 1, By the Side of the Lake, Songs to Get You From Here to There, My Northwest Home, and Battlefields and Broken Deals. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $49.13 USD or more (25% OFF)

     

1.
The Gap 03:14
Outside, it’s colder than it ought to be, Looks like it’s starting to rain Dark clouds’ve been rolling in and out, And this one’s decided to stay Sometimes I go a little crazy When I don’t have quite enough to do Tonight I’d planned to take it easy, But I’ll just end up thinking about you CHORUS Another day here getting older Beats another day off wasting time Trying to bridge the gap between what I say And what’s on my mind When I was nothing but a stranger, Stranger things would find me every day Now my defenses lie in tatters, and everyone just looks the other way CHORUS Tonight I feel all right, and I’ll take it Someday soon, I’ll share it with all of the world Inside, my heart drops like a thunderbolt Rattling the windows from within Five counts since lightning hit the ground, Feels like it could always strike again CHORUS
2.
No way out of the city Living wall-to-wall Stacked on top of one another’s dreams Big trucks keep on rollin’ by Doors stay locked all day Nightfall oozes silhouettes and steam CHORUS I don’t want to live this life forever This is not where I was s’possed to be I fall asleep at night counting daydreams floating by Saying: “Remember when you could’ve been me?” Grew up smaller just like you Promised everything Didn’t know what I had till it went Not the kind to stick around, But they changed the locks on my hometown Left me counting chips already spent CHORUS I’m just one of the fifty percent Who’d rather live someplace different Opportunity came and went on its own Maybe I’d rather live with kin Or go see the world before clocking in One thing I know for certain: I ain’t alone CHORUS
3.
Well, it’s that time of year When the weather turns ’round, And, despite all the promise, You want out of town You’d trade all you have, Do whatever it’d take To pick up and move By the side of the lake When I was a kid The world just was that way It was mine to discover, It lay frozen in place And when I saw the chance To choose what road to take, I’d follow the one By the side of the lake CHORUS The soft-spoken hillside, The smell of the pines, The flash on the water, The sun in your eyes Can lift you above Whatever’s at stake It’s hard to be down by The side of the lake These days I watch And I wonder aloud Just where on the timeline We find ourselves now Has this all been coming As steady as rain? Or are we now authors of New rate of change? ’Cause with each passing day And the spread of the news It’s same as it ever was, Maybe times-two Off’ring mem’ries to new fam’lies Out on the take Who can score themselves spots By the side of the lake CHORUS The growl of the diesel, The lock on the gate, The shiny new fiberglass Bought out-of-state Was I just a lucky one Stumbling through fate? ’Cause now it’s hard to be down By the side of the lake
4.
There’s a halo of dust hanging over the hills From the work on the road and the work in the fields, And we’ll pay for it later once we breathe it all in, But it sure makes the moon look good ’Bout five miles away there’s a pond and a dock, But they’re just not as cool as this hot parking lot Where you wait for your buddy whose brother Can pass for eighteen CHORUS I can still hear it calling ’Bout this time of year Take me just a little bit out of the way For summer At the edge of the steppe near the county line Amber waves give way to knotty pines, And though daylight has faded, the workday has not, And everybody’s got something to cut Peter and Mack are headed down the grade With their jake brakes flapping every inch of the way When the short-line pulled up and the boxcars pulled out It never did sound the same CHORUS You spend a few years wishing you were just a little bit older And a lifetime after just wishing you could take it back But take me just a little bit out of the way for summer And I can The great-horned owl works the graveyard shift When its finally too dark to shoot hoops or fish Or to make one more pass through these Endless rolling hills Grain in the bins, hay in the barn, Logs on the truck, and kids in the park, And a whole lot of people who’re only just Passing through CHORUS Head south on 95 Don’t expect to follow signs Turn the radio on, roll the window down Pull your foot off the gas when you blow into town
5.
Not Now 04:27
My name is A.J. Kirby, lived here all my days Took the hand that I was dealt and never once complained It ain’t what most would seek, but I believe it takes all kinds, And I wouldn’t trade a penny here for any other dime; oh ... Grew up like the others, spread around the bay Learned what elders taught me, settled debts in trade Made it through the winters that carved me into shape Never viewed my simple life as anyone’s escape; oh ... The grass is always greener, ’specially by the shore And one can have it both ways now come darkening my door Not that all is black-and-white—more people means more sale But you never see a sign for schools or hospitals or jail; oh ... CHORUS Keep a candle burning in the window here tonight Make yourself at home, I’ll be back before it’s light Eat and drink and carry on for time waits for no vow Not here, not now Change has come to Washington, it’s found its way here, too And you’d be surprised by friends of mine who helped to see it through But the devil you don’t know may be a different kind of man, And I hope that he won’t write us out of any future plans; oh ... This ain’t no Copperhead Road, it’s just a dead-end drive If you’re cursed to be the age you are still working to survive The folk who come ’round half the year may one day up and find That in that place where you have everything, there’s nothing left behind; oh ... CHORUS
6.
I was finally moving on something, Couldn’t sit still anymore I’d had a thing for her cousin And I thought I’d get a foot in the door There was a dance at school on the weekend I’d probably have to wear a tie And say all the right things While I leaned on her folks for a ride CHORUS She taught me a lot about heartache She was never who I wanted her to be I fell down hard, Then shuffled the cards, And I like what she did to me A few months later the story broke I guess I was ahead of my time Soon she was turning ’em down Just as fast as they could form a line Now I’d all but forgotten the cousin Don’t know what made me think that I had the right To crown her perfect— Thank God she didn’t bite CHORUS It’s hard to hum along before you know the tune But you can fall in love before you know the rules We’re still in touch and stay friendly I see her every now and again I’ve got a whole other set of questions Than I did back then She looks more and more like her mother now Can’t say that’s what first drew me in But it’ll string me along, Wishing after leaves in the wind CHORUS
7.
Dear Abby 03:59
If I saw myself in Dear Abby, would I know it was me In that letter filled with troubles like those that I’ve been known to see? Would I stand tall on the mountaintop, or the nearest gentle rise, And shout to the world, “I’m changing my ways,” or just turn to the funnies and sigh? If I saw myself in Dear Abby, I know just what she’d say In a kindly response that didn’t mince words and faithfully spelled out the way She’d say: “Get out, go on home, pick up the pieces and spend time alone With your heart and your hunger, then pick up the phone and start it all over again” Well, I saw you once in Dear Abby, easy to see it was you It was a blustery day in the middle of May, maybe you saw me there too I said: “Hold on, wait here, I’d like but a bit of your time” But when I returned you’d up and moved on, and relatives tell me you’re fine So now I sit with Dear Abby, whose inky heart lies on her sleeve She smiles to this day, still with plenty to say, but nothing to make me believe From the barroom to the barbershop, she watches me with her gaze Daring me still, in a test of my will, to reach down and turn the page
8.
On My Watch 03:30
It’s a bumpy ride down a rocky road that sometimes disappears But a half-dozen generations know the way No one knows why, back in ’75, JP and PJ left their old-world lives For six-score acres in the palm of the Mitten State CHORUS On my watch I’ll keep her standing On my watch she’ll never fall As town creeps closer and the years blow by The mill might stall and the well might dry, But the house stands guard on Newaygo County line They don’t make Great Lakes timbers that size these days And the staircase ain’t to code— Hell, the lock could hardly keep a mule deer out And there ain’t much growing on the sandy farm, But the trees gave way and the bank held off, And all year long the children come around CHORUS Grandpa Charlie’s old fiddle was just a Sears-and-Roebuck dream That worked its way to one day coming true He’d tap his foot and pull his bow and tighten down the strings And Waltz Across Texas with you It’s a last resort, it’s a treasure chest, it’s an autumn smorgasbord With logs to split most any time of year It’s hub-cap hockey on a frozen pond or the springtime promise of another dawn Where you can chase your troubles out of here CHORUS
9.
Got Out Some 03:39
Two things I used to think everyone knew ’Bout the nighttime: One was that sundown brings quiet; The other, that darkness is cool You learn what you see, and, while temperate was me, I got out some While chiggers and kudzu be damned, I’m glad to have traveled the land One night in Texas will learn you, One Georgia moon’ll set you straight Put a Northwestern soul on a Southeastern shoal And he’ll tell you there’s more than one way Two things I used to think everyone knew In the winter: One was that snowfall is common; The other, that driving’s for fools You learn what you see, and, while frigid was me, I got out some Though freeways and Freon be damned, I’m glad to have traveled the land One night in Scottsdale will learn you, One Orange County moon’ll set you straight Put a new mountain man in a high desert land And he’ll tell you there’s more than one way From the redwood forests to the oceans white with foam God blessed America, my home Two things I used to think everyone knew ’Bout their worries: One was that everything passes; The other, that all will be well You learn what you see, and, while blessèd was me, I got out some So callous indifference be damned, I ain’t giving up on this land One night in mourning will learn you, One mission moon’ll set you straight Ask a fortunate son once his journey’s begun And he’s seen that there’s more than one way
10.
I stood on the port side, reached for the shore, And watched as the waves rolled themselves out It was like a moment of knowing in a lifetime of not, Like the sun breaking through a Jet City winter sky So I reached in my pocket, pulled out a stone, And sent it skipping on to someplace better As I thought to the last time I thought that I knew And wanted to hang on forever; oh ... Now, it might take a village, it might just take time Ain’t no way ’round it but through Give thanks to the many, treat yourself kind Count yourself lucky when it’s true For there have been: lovers and dreamers; fathers and friends; Sisters and singers; pilgrims and prophets; There have been dancers and drifters; sailors and saints; Teachers and tillers; rounders and ringers; Captains and cast-offs; barkers and beggars; Nobles and night owls; healers and hold-outs; oh ... Wherever I wash up, whatever remains Whoever is standing there with me Give thanks to the many, treat yourself kind Count yourself lucky, stay for the credits All of you: students of wonder; moved by the moment; Caught in a landslide; stuck in the shadows; You may be hell on the highway; heading for home; Or still in pursuit of your pastures of plenty; oh ...

about

WW Band digs deeper...

“Wes Weddell is a master craftsman as a songwriter...a must-have album.”
-Wildy Haskell, Wildy’s World

credits

released March 29, 2010

Produced by Wes Weddell & Alicia Healey

Recorded at The Winterblue Room: Seattle, Wash.
Engineered by Alicia Healey
Mixed by Alicia Healey & Wes Weddell
Mastered by Mark Guenther, Seattle Disc Mastering

All songs written by Wes Weddell, ©/(P) Dusty Shadows Music/ASCAP

Cover Photograph: Erika Sheehan

*Physical copy also contains cover of "Below" (Slaid Cleaves/Nicole St. Pierre), available via other digital outlets (iTunes, Amazon, etc.)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Wes Weddell Seattle, Washington

For the past twenty years, Wes Weddell has worked multiple shifts in the engine room of Seattle’s roots music scene as frontman, sideman, writer, teacher, and community-builder. "Always heartfelt and well-constructed" ("Seattle Weekly"), listeners have come to expect Weddell's songs to "speak for themselves" ("No Depression"). ... more

contact / help

Contact Wes Weddell

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this album or account

Wes Weddell recommends:

If you like Wes Weddell, you may also like: