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The Nature of Things

by Francis Friday

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1.
Opening Revelry (free) 02:56
2.
Valeria (free) 03:03
Valeria, and I got no shoes She's a long tall woman in the rhythm review Well I got cold feet when I'm dancing with you oh honey I feel lucky when I go outside It's a sunny day in Houston, wanna go for a ride in my old school T-Bird, it's purring inside, oh yeah Valeria, don't ya treat me so mean I got one heart empty and the other's a spleen Well you know that I love ya, my teenage queen I got the moon and it's lovely and bright and the whole world's empty on a Saturday night Let's go to a movie, it feels so right, oh yeah Well I hold ya, I squeeze ya, I'm pinching your butt and our eyes are both reeling, we're so in love When the big mean daddy comes around I put the pedal to the metal and we all fall down Valeria, and your thoughts are so mean I got a winning lotto ticket and I don't even care As long as I got you and you got me, oh honey
3.
It Is Here (free) 04:04
It is one, it is here for you It is all in the things you do It is heat, it is freezing cold It is life, it is 10 years old It is dirt in our bleeding hands In the sky, in the earth and sand It's the sun in your eyes of blue It is truth, I am here for you It is lost, it can still be found Over there in the winter ground If you're frightened of what you know You are here in the ebb and flow It is burned in the blackened coal It is deep in your sheltered soul It is torn in the pouring rain It is love, it is here again
4.
The Flu Song (free) 01:15
Drop the golden sphere upon the atmosphere Watch it turn around when it hits the ground Open up the bends, science fiction friend Tells me all about it, right up 'till the end Terrified of god, military fraud Told me all about it, right up 'till the end Happy to oblige, the fear of getting caught Hold it up to the edge of the atmosphere
5.
Girl From Louisiana (free) 03:23
As she swept them off the floor, they had been there once before Like a nighttime summer dream, there's a thousand miles between And I like her winter smile, it had been there all the while If you don't mind to give me the time Because of all the loves before, there had been so many more But this time was like a car that had been so very far And the time had gone so fast, it was just not meant to last Say a prayer for the girl from Louisiana In the face of many lives, she had lost her hazel eyes If you want to go there still, they'll be waiting by the hill In an afternoon that's lost, they don't want to pay the cost Some of their dreams fall apart at the seams Like an old worn winter coat with a secret lover's note There had been so many laughs like a torn up photograph And if it's all just the same, don't you please forget my name Say a prayer for the girl from Louisiana In another land and time there had been a man so blind When he finally looked to see, it had been an old oak tree Then he climbed up to the top, he could see out on the rock At a girl whom he had loved And the vision was so clear, it was oh so very near As he reached out for the one, it was almost said and done It had come back for a while and then vanished with a smile Say a prayer for the girl from Louisiana
6.
Divided in the Rain II (free) 04:10
When the fireman came from washing his hands in the water In the down pouring rain there he stands, waving his arms in the air In the woman and the man he sees, divided they stand In the rain When they ring out the bells and the blistering sun burns the valley All the children run out and they stand, waving their arms in the air In the smoke and the fire we see, divided they stand In the rain In the red and the white and the blue they follow their way down to you In the rocky red land they divide up their hands and stand in the rain When the snow falls like sand and the bottle runs dry in the evening Will they scream, will they shout, and they talk While waving their arms in the air By the blue mountain moon we all knew, divided we stand In the rain
7.
As I sit on that couch in the chamber and I search for the answer within me I listen to the words of my analyst of potential rewards through therapy Well as I kneel before cognitive imbalance I know I've got so far in which to go Through self analytical confessions I will follow the light on which to go Well as I hold therapeutic confessions And I pour out the feelings in my mind Well I confront the self and the ego I know I've got so far in which to go As I hold onto didactic promise I release the psychic fantasies of a world without intimate communion I embrace compassion and its law Well I see Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler Carl Jung and Erik Erikson They opened the gates to my salvation that I found through crisis and despair Well as I hold therapeutic confessions And I pour out the feelings in my mind Well I confront the self and the ego I know I've got so far in which to go
8.
Hope II (free) 02:02
Hope can be the honest answer to the faction We're leading up to all the action of open minds and big attraction Where credit cards can never do you wrong And high is low, and fast can turn to achingly slow The vision that you saw last night is soft and darkly in disguises Where nothing ever wanted them to be And love is all a question that we both can answer So lay it on me quickly as I count the stars that lead me tonight and hold me close as ever what you see And trust is just a consequence of nature's own admonishment I wish you'd take the time to see We hold our hands The placecard saves the page from turning A thousand trees are never burning and gentlemen are always learning About the one you never really knew
9.
Fall Asleep (free) 03:20
Listen to the trees at night, it's only getting better I can hardly wait to go, if only for a second I can hardly wait to fall asleep Listen on the radio, it buzzes on the table The soundtrack to my toss and turning 'till I'm finally stable I can hardly wait at night, it's only just a day I can hardly wait to fall asleep Premonition feeds the call to all your lucid dreaming My eyes are open wide and staring at the ceiling Take it all away Listen to the afternoon, the sun is getting heavy All in all I wait to fall, the night is growing steady Can't explain just how I feel, the dreams are much too real And I can hardly wait to fall asleep
10.
It's such a beautiful apartment It's so beautiful I would want to live there It's such a beautiful apartment It's got a kitchen and a stove It's got a kitchen that I could cook my food in It's got a kitchen and a stove It's got a walk in closet You could keep all the clothes you have ever owned there It's got a walk in closet It's got a yard and a back porch You could sit out in the sun have a BBQ and a beer It's got a yard and a back porch It's got a skylight in the hall You could look up at the stars in the comfort of your own home It's got a skylight in the hall
11.
Memphis Summer Dream (free) 03:31
Up through the dawn in a Vegas hotel So alone, I do recall Will the plane take me home to a Memphis summer dream? Will I fall? Or not at all? For a man is a soul that he knows what he been It's a spirit in my bones that keeps on calling When I walk through the gates of my own happy home I will leave but a rose for dear ol' mama Way on the hill off Highway 51 Is it all not said and done? Once in a while I will sing another song Before I go on tour again For the Wolf River winds like a cold icy hand That grips a man down to the bottom As his spirit drifts alone to its own happy home Will the song still live on and carry on?
12.
Aint Too Hard To See (free) 02:32
13.
History of Music (free) 04:41
Open up the basement door and step into the history of music Walk around the darkened floor and feel your way, the history of music If you looked it up to find it hiding in the ground And you're not sure if you know which way to go Then you walk right down and turn around and soon you face the history of music Hold your breath and roll your eyes we sympathize the history of music Dance around the little tin can and sing about the history of music If you don't know what you're looking for you're going to find all the leaves will turn a shade of red and brown Then you'll spin around and hit the ground and soon you face the history of music Step right in and lift your chin and look upon the history of music Men of wisdom, women of time, we all will find the history of music If you don't know what you're looking for then hold it down It's a silent law that keeps the things you do Then you laugh out loud and open your mouth and soon you taste the history of music
14.
Wreck it Down (free) 03:10
If you're gonna wreck it down then I'm gonna need your love If you're gonna wreck it down Then I need your love, If you're gonna wreck it down then I'm gonna need your love If you're gonna wreck it down If you want to build it up then it's gonna take some time If you want to build it up It's gonna take some time, if you want to build it up then it's gonna take some time If you want to build it up If you think you want it back then I might just be around If you think you want it back I might be around, if you think you want it back then I might just be around If you think you want it back
15.
How did I do? Wait don't.... How did I do? Wait don't... Please don't tell me what they talked about with you I don't want to know the truth How do I know what they... How do I know what they talked about when I'm not around? What I don't know won't hurt me, so dear please... I don't want to know the truth

about

The Nature of Things is a good companion album to Culture & Consequence, and could almost be a sequel. I took my time on the recordings and by doing so learned a lot about my craft. There's also a lot of collaboration from outside musicians on it which is something I missed in the previous 2 releases.

I wrote and recorded most of the material from Dec '09 to Oct '10. There are also a few songs on here that were left over outtakes from previous albums. I tried out a bunch of new instruments on this album as well as a team of guest vocalists. Rachel Mason sings a country duet with me and Rob Markoff and Jonathan Cole sing harmonies on my 'gospel' number. I hired a pedal steel player to add the sad 'n sweet final touches to a couple country-style tracks. I also had some visual help from an artist I met at the Greenpoint Open Studios, Rebecca Posner, who provided the cover art (seen on this page). Some of the new instruments I played were my old-and-revived Kimberly electric 12 string, which sounded amazing after an overhaul, a handmade strumstick from the Appalachia, an imported Indian harmonium and a mandolin I bought in Montana.

The Nature of Things is a dynamic album with all sorts of styles thrown into the pot; bluegrass, country, gospel, '50's rock, psychedelia, folk and of course good ol' rock 'n roll. Enjoy.

credits

released October 7, 2010

All instruments and vocals by James Botha except...

Rachel Mason: vocals on Divided in the Rain
Rob Markoff and Jonathan Cole: vocal harmonies on Therapeutic Confessions
Jonny Lam: pedal steel on Divided in the Rain and Memphis Summer Dream

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Francis Friday Brooklyn, New York

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