Get all 32 Tyler Stenson releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of In the Loudest Way, In the Loudest Way (Live), New Northbound (Live), Lovely Little Victory (Live), SFTM: Another Gleam (Live), SFTM: Some Days I'm a Lion (Live), Long Before the Wheel (Live), SFTM: Bittersweet Parade (Live), and 24 more.
1. |
Good Comet
03:42
|
|||
Every once in a while it comes around;
A blazing comet you can see from the ground.
Man, it draws a line across your sky
And everything changes in the blink of an eye.
Every once in a while it spits a spark
And all at once you can see in the dark
What was gray is now vivid and bright
Now that it’s bathed in a remarkable light.
It’s out there circling the sky
And I would have thought
It would have come down by now.
A good comet is so hard to find
But [I found] every once in a while it comes around.
All my heart is held in the hope.
It’s out there circling the sky
And I would have thought
It would have come down by now.
A good comet is so hard to find
But [I found] every once in a while it comes around.
So, I once pretended the sunrise
Was a long-lost lover found—
A good comet is so hard to find
But [I found] every once in a while it comes around.
But every once in a while it comes around;
An easy rain on an easy town
And you hold out your hand just to catch the drops
And you look to find that it’s a comet you caught.
All my heart is held in the hope.
|
||||
2. |
How Bright
03:45
|
|||
How bright the light you beam.
It’s all I seem to see.
I was there when this place
Dimmed darker than space,
But for the fear that no love would be found.
Then, I was there when this room
Lit up like the moon,
Oh, the moment that you came around.
How bright the light you beam.
And I watched as the clock
Never sped its tick-tock—
No, it told me the time was still night
But I found that hard to believe
Cause all I could see were some damn silhouettes
Up against the white (bright white light).
How bright the light you beam.
It’s all I seem to see.
Let me circle ‘round you slow
And let me bloom
Inside that life-giving light you glow!
Now, gone are the days
Of the dark shades of gray—
I watched them burn off in the warm of your rays.
Now, I live in a world
That’s the closest planet to a girl
And mamma how you radiate.
How bright the light you beam.
It’s all I seem to see.
How bright the light you beam.
Give me more please.
Let me circle ‘round you slow
And should you burn out,
May I be the last alive to know.
|
||||
3. |
The Nest
03:17
|
|||
Baby, it seems
Like this city has outgrown us
And put us out in the sticks
With the dogs and the dirt and the leaves.
But Honey,
If Home is where the heart is,
Then we’re right where we need to be:
Just you and me-
Two birds on a branch of a tree,
With roots grown deep as the sea.
Baby, I know
It’s not what you wanted,
Hanging out in the middle,
Somewhere between the street and the stars.
But if it’s this or the cage of City Man’s wage,
Then I guess we’ll get some use from these wings.
Yeah, you and me-
Two birds on a branch of a tree,
With roots grown deep as the sea.
Little birds on a limb,
Caught up in the wind,
Oh, it’s hard to win.
But, you can trace a little line
Back to the pine and down
To the big ol ground.
If that’s what you want,
I can make it happen,
Because all I ever wanted was to see you
Smile like the star that you are.
But, if you believe my songs
Will one day catch on,
Then let us do what we do and sing.
Yeah, you and me-
Two birds on a branch of a tree,
With roots grown deep as the sea.
|
||||
4. |
Denim Sky
04:23
|
|||
I won’t lie, I feel the pain
When the sky is a chalkboard gray.
I won’t lie, it makes me miss the airplanes.
So, at the first sight of the sun,
We made for a blanket in the park
And laid, hips in the land
And hand-in-hand we gazed
Into the blue.
And all the storms moved on.
And only contrails remained,
Stitched in little lines.
For as big and blue as it is,
There’s just no room for clouds
In that so comfortable old denim sky.
Left behind the bad news of the day
And every bill we had to pay.
We let them air like laundry on a line.
For there’s something about a clear blue sky
That always felt like some old blue jeans of mine;
There’s a certain comfort in the way it seems to fade,
But seems to never fade away.
And all the storms moved on.
And only contrails remained,
Stitched in little lines.
For as big and blue as it is,
There’s just no room for clouds
In that so comfortable old denim sky.
I won’t lie, I feel the pain
When the sky is a chalkboard gray.
I won’t lie, that don’t happen much more these days.
|
||||
5. |
Tiny Caravan
02:50
|
|||
Louie was a lover,
But he’d never tell you so.
The kind that loves them in the night
But in the morning let’s them go.
Nelli was an orphan
Street fighter for a time.
We rescued her along the way
And she pulls her weight fine.
And both of them are walking
In a line, hand-in-hand.
Tiny little pieces in this tiny caravan.
Marie is the toughest,
She’s the hammer and the steel.
She’s the hunt, she’s the gather,
She’s the grease on the wheel.
And they call me the leader,
But I’m soft and I’m scared
That I’m half the man needed
To lead them anywhere.
Still, both of us are walking
In a line, hand-in-hand.
Tiny little pieces in this tiny caravan.
We wandered the wilderness—
All around, westward then east.
We wandered the hopelessness—
Starving to belong somewhere
And hunting it like a beast
And all of us are walking
In a line, hand-in-hand.
Tiny are the pieces of this tiny caravan.
There’s a baby on the way
In the belly of Marie—
And it’s everything we feared
And it’s everything we need
And we’ll carry [her] as far as we can
Until she stands
And walks along beside us
In this tiny caravan.
|
||||
6. |
Say No More
03:12
|
|||
Maybe I should say no more
Cause there’s plenty of foot in my mouth—
Or is it too late now?
Should I have known better?
It was a simple slip of the tongue,
Should I have put it in a letter?
No, it’s too late now
So, maybe I should say no more…
Nah.
Maybe I should say no more
Cause it feels like I’m blowing it up.
Yeah, I write patient words
But in the heat of the moment
I’m a venomous tongue—
I’m a bullet hitting a bullet
And the smoking gun
Is proof that I should say no more …
That I should keep all my cards close.
Take the ‘less is more’ approach.
Pretend that my mouth is broke.
Swallow my words and choke.
Maybe I should say no more.
I should hold on tight to my tongue
Because the damage is done
And I don’t know if we’re okay.
So, tell me, did I say too much
And could I have another chance someday
If I keep all my cards close?
Take the ‘less is more’ approach?
If I swallow my words and choke
And on the tips of my toes
Go dancing around the thoughts in my head?
Yeah, there’s a definite line
And I’ve crossed it this time,
Always saying what don’t need to be said.
Or is it too late now?
Should I have known better?
It was a simple slip of the tongue,
Should I have put it in a letter?
No, it’s too late now
So, maybe I should say no more …
|
||||
7. |
New Northbound
03:16
|
|||
Sunk like a stone
To the valley floor
But that’s the lowest land
Where I ever did stand
So, I’ll return there no more.
Oh, I rose like a bird
Up above it all
But looking down from the clouds,
Here’s what I found:
Higher up is just further to fall.
‘Go North young man—
It’s the promised land’
But if my heart’s at ease
Is the North not where I am?
I like this life in the middle
It holds me safe and sound
I’ve tried up and down
I’ve tried all around
But the only thing my lost heart has found
Is that the middle is the New Northbound.
I’m not saying don’t battle
I’m not saying quit the fight
But with a roof over my head
And a good lover in my bed,
I can sleep sound at night
And IF in the morning I rise,
I’ll give a kiss to that love
And I will call her the queen
Of my kingdom between
That low-down Hell and high-up Heaven above.
I like this life in the middle
It holds me safe and sound
I’ve tried up and down
I’ve tried all around
But the only thing my lost heart has found
Is that the middle is the New Northbound.
I’ve lived on both sides of the line
For the compass in my chest
Had me rambling round in circles
Up right down til there’s nothing left.
I like this life in the middle
It holds me safe and sound
I’ve tried up and down
I’ve tried all around
But the only thing my lost heart has found
Is that the middle is the New Northbound.
|
||||
8. |
As the Crow Flies
05:05
|
|||
I blew all the way down to Arizona
Then, like a leaf, I settled down into Rome
And somewhere in between me and Barcelona,
I heard the rush of the wind calling Home.
I could see seven miles into the distance
Before the earth began its curve out of site
And I leaned to the wind to feel a resistance;
To let me know I’m not a bird- I don’t fly.
I won’t take my time or circle ’round
Or weave my way through busy towns
Cause I could get lost if I missed a sign.
I’ll take the shortest path between you and I
And cut right through in a perfect line
And come to you as the crow flies.
From where I stand my Home is like a middle daughter-
Just a dot, on a map, of a world
And I’m reminded wheels don’t roll on water
So, tell me lies- tell me I am a bird.
I won’t take my time or circle ’round
Or weave my way through busy towns
Cause I could get lost if I missed a sign.
I’ll take the shortest path between you and I
And cut right through in a perfect line
And come to you as the crow flies.
I will come to you as the crow flies.
|
||||
9. |
Steady As I Go
03:19
|
|||
It’s commonplace
In the world these days;
Always better fast than slow.
But, I was thinking I would take the side
Of steady as I go.
It’s a bad disease;
How the grass is more green,
You always want to have
What you don’t.
But, if it comes, it goes.
Oh, it ebbs and flows.
But, I will stay steady as I go.
I’ve always felt that I have been kept from high—
But then again, I’ve never really sunken too low.
I’ve found the middle gives you room to grow
And holds me safe from misery
So, I will be so steady as I go.
Fast or slow,
To and fro—
Either you doubt or you know.
I could dim or glow,
From head to toe
But I will stay steady as I go.
|
||||
10. |
Evermore
03:01
|
|||
Now that I know what matters most,
My loneliness is just a ghost
That I’ve tucked away beneath the floor,
So it is free to haunt me nevermore.
It’s free to hang on someone else,
For I have no need for how it felt—
It was a hopelessness that’s best ignored,
So I cast it out, oh evermore.
That’s just how long I’ll lift you up
And hold the doors from swinging shut.
And I’ll defend you with a lion’s roar,
But speak to you sweetly, oh evermore.
Evermore my heart is yours.
Time has it’s way
Of breaking its promises made,
But I swear it evermore.
Just like the time and the time before.
Evermore.
Now that I know what matters most,
My loneliness is just a ghost.
|
||||
11. |
Spinning Me
03:51
|
|||
Look up in the air…
All the world is circled
By a night that is beautiful-
Pretty stars against pretty purple.
It’s like I’m the ocean, you are the moon
And my waves are just some gravity turning
For the moon that is spinning me.
I threw a coin that tumbled
Down the wishing well
And that hope has come right back around
Like a lovely carousel,
Where on the horse behind you
Was an empty seat
That has me caught up in a tail spin,
For the spiral that you lead is spinning me.
You have been spinning me.
Until I don’t know what’s the front and what’s the back.
Until I don’t know what’s the back and what’s the front.
Put me in my place!
Make sure that I can’t move
Because my head, it just can’t take much more
Of all the spinning in this room.
It has my dizzy-
Oh, I am dizzy,
Because of how bright that you beam
All your love light that is spinning me.
Until I don’t know what’s the front and what’s the back.
Until I don’t know what’s the front and what’s the back.
Until I don’t know what’s the back and what’s the front.
|
Tyler Stenson Portland, Oregon
Tyler Stenson is singer/songwriter in Portland whose music is elegant at its core. Twice-named Portland's "Songwriter of the Year" by the Portland Songwriters Association and recently named "Best Male Artist" at the Portland Music Awards, Stenson's music is refreshingly reminiscent of classic singer-songwriter greats such as James Taylor and Cat Stevens. ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Tyler Stenson, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp