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The Long Run

by al Riggs

subscriber exclusive
1.
The Long Run 08:08
There's a lighthouse on every corner of Carolina Drive two hours from anywhere, and you'll see one Standing proudly, watching over the black waves Under a black sky, thinking about the long run Handing my trumpet to a qualified repair man Says "there's not much left in this one Only good for random bleats of triumphance" Well those are gonna help me in the long run There will always be a need For folks like me Even though they tell us that we're Going out of style So hold me tighter as I ignore the calls From my mother who's worried about her son There will come a day when I tell her I'm happy like this 'Cause keeping secrets wont help me in the long run.
2.
I know a lot about impostors A lot about knowing about impostors A lot about knowing about philosophy A lot about the Benefits of You and Me Benefits we have to leave home for We have to leave They pulled the finish line closer So we could die young like we read We can die fast, hand in hand We can die alone like we planned A plan we have to leave home for We have to leave "Sensitive Pornograph" Lines across my chest again Lines arbitrarily tossed Lines that we need to cross A crossing we have to leave home for We have to leave.
3.
Woodchuck 02:43
Apocalypse has come and gone And we are not satisfied Woodchuck, chucked out, clocked out, gone And into the depths of the deep-fried Pinched a nerve and it bled all over Now I'm out on the curb Have you heard the word? "We survive, I'm alive" I wrote your name in the sand And watched it float away Death by train track Foretold by cliche Severed toe and out in the cold New York, you're beautiful, don't change! Homeless on the range "We survive, I'm alive"
4.
I like my coffee with a little bit of raindrop I herd my children away until the rain stops They're trying to drive us away from our home We put wheels on the bottom of our house last night Little Johnny, spreading warpaint, looking for a fight They're trying to drive us away from our home Hide away Better soon then never Our picks and our tenderloins Frost bitten fiery weather Better hide away Valley family Sun spot, son, stop, the man is here for what is his Your new family can raise you righter up than this They're trying to drive us away from our home Send word, send note, a different address every day By crow, by blow, by any other faster way They're trying to drive us away from our home.
5.
They took my heart away My nylon strings, my timpanis They took my home away My equal living, my symphonies Oh my dear sweet countryside You were beautiful once Now it's time to hide Oh my dear sweet local boy pride You were beautiful once Now it's time to hide Carolina cares about us all My simple pleasures, my fantasies Carolina cares about us all My hidden measures, my tragedies Oh my dear sweet dying boys You were beautiful once Now it's all destroyed Oh my reverb, my modulated noise You were beautiful once Now it's all destroyed Don't tell me that it's too late We can save them, we have the technology Oh my dear sweet piano shack You were beautiful once Now I want it back Oh my head colds, a whooping hack You were beautiful once Now I want it back Oh my dear sweet countryside...
6.
Ghost Blood 05:52
Bossgaze, bossgaze, I'm lazy these days Can't keep up with the death rays Can't keep down the voices of Men pregnant with choices and Women fighting for one Only twenty one, gotta have fun I'm gonna die soon, midnight's son "I'm gonna live" I shout into An upturned spout and blew All my blood away Ghost bleeding, that's how it rains Ghost blood powering electric trains Ghost blood slowing down the process Of men too prolonged with success To know we fight to win.
7.
Spent little engine Slow down, sleep Lower attention Six thousand sheep Oh Bethesda, fountain bound Serenity, bow down Go go quiet go go dancer Tights untightened, relax Shit, shower, shaved for the answe Diapers on flour sacks Oh Bethesda, fountain bound Serenity, bow down I keep hitting you when you sleep Every move I make in the bed We need a bigger one and I Need more room in my head Oh Bethesda, heaven bound Serenity, bow down I keep missing you when you sleep.
8.
I can't rely on my memory Memories of ponds filled up again And the roads underneath them Haunt my thoughts like mountain men Skyhook hooked me and carried me away Trapped Satan in amber and buried him I wake up on our wedding day A thousand lips chanting "you shouldn't have married him" But God is on my side I'm a short drive Off a long cliff, you knew that My feet are torn to shreds A ticking pipe bomb under my heat Skyhook hooked me and brought me to Heaven In your hair I fall asleep and sleep for days I wake up to a yelling screen A thousand articles saying I'll be back to my old ways But God is on my side God is on my side.
9.
I fear the hearts of men are falling Other Burlington, outer calling And the skylights and the skyhooks Work together These our latter days we know Other Burlington, through the snow The forecasts calls for a recount About the weather A great depression now is spreading Other Burlington, we're heading For burnt ceilings and washed out floors We still walk on God's word declared it would be so Other Burlington, another show Tire stores and answering machines We still talk on I'm going where there's no depression.

about

The Eighth Album- part one of the double album "The Long Run and The New South"

An album about maturity through sifting through an immature past, "The Long Run and The New South" is the longest and most professional (???) sounding album in AL Riggs' discography so far. Featuring songs about ghosts, Satan, hard cider, ruined trumpets, fountains, and birds probably.

"Both albums (The Long Run and The New South) are primarily faded out acoustic guitars, minimal percussion and precise use of other instruments and sound bites. Al’s voice is rarely dressed up, presented without frills or artifice. The songwriting is both sharply honest and wonderfully familiar, and is probably Al’s best work yet..This is music that breathes, like bellows stirring coals to life, and I feel privileged to have seen Al’s talent grow in craft and power, from one album to the next."- Mani from All Your Forgotten Songs (junkverse.tumblr.com)

"With 'The Long Run', AL Riggs gives us his most melodic and emotional collection of songs yet, a powerful turning point for a songwriter whose journeys make the most compelling of music utterly riveting".- Zach Corsa of Lost Trail

credits

released February 19, 2014

AL Riggs- voices, guitars, bass, drums, drum loops, microKORG, Baldwin Fun Machine, harmonica
Zach Corsa- guitars on "The Long Run", piano on "Satan In Amber"

Recorded between December 2013- February 2014 in a house in Greensboro, NC

Album art by Michael Scates

Special Thanks:
Michael, Mom, Dad, Sara, Zach, Glenn, Denny, Amanda, Hasbrouck, Jeremy, Rufus, Peyton, Mani, E.K., Erin, Andrew, Sam, Other Sam, Christian, the staff of Local 506, the staff of Nice Price Books, the staff of TYP Haus

Bands to thank:
Mutual Benefit, Elise Testone, Lost Trail, Velma and The Happy Campers, Hiss Golden Messenger, Phil Cook, Morning Brigade

And you. Thank you.

For Michael.

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al Riggs Durham, North Carolina

Sad Songs For, About, And Written By Birds

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