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All That You Can Dream

by Grant-Lee Phillips

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1.
Curl up my little fish Red cellophane Curl up my little fortune fish What will be my fate? Gold treasures in the ground? Misfortune on the open sea? Or wake up in a hotel in some foreign country? The world’s a sudden place It turns on a dime And the night falls so suddenly Sometimes Such interesting times We say like a joke Reminds me, even Notre Dame Can go up in smoke It can all go up in smoke The world’s a sudden place It turns on a dime And the night falls so suddenly Sometimes A thousand miles an hour it turns And it never slows A wonder we ain’t hurled into space How folks hang on I’ll never know A thousand miles an hour it turns And it never slows A wonder we ain’t hurled into space How folks hang on I’ll never know The world’s a sudden place It turns on a dime Night falls so suddenly Sometimes The world’s a sudden place It turns on a dime The world’s a sudden place sometimes The world’s a sudden place The world’s a sudden place
2.
Cruel Trick 04:26
Shop windows are closed Like a Sunday And people are scarce The power lines heavy with ivy Sidewalks are quiet as nowhere The marquee is bare at the movies There’s nothing to see I miss the dumb places But mostly the feeling you get When there’s somewhere When there’s somewhere to be Feels like a cruel, cruel, cruel trick on the heart It took a holy mess to keep us apart Feels like a cruel, cruel, cruel trick on the heart We took a long drive through the country To gather some air We photographed silos and hay rolls All of the signposts of nowhere But it’s so hard to bear Feels like a cruel, cruel, cruel trick on the heart If there’s a cure for it Stick out my arm But it’s a cruel, cruel, cruel trick on the heart My guitar, it just sits in the case anymore Funny time is so easily wasted Funny I never caught this before Feels like a cruel, cruel, cruel trick on the heart It took a holy mess to keep us apart If there’s a cure for it Stick out my arm
3.
Wolves in the chamber Rage in their eyes Scandalous hours The violence of lies We’re all walking a razor’s edge tonight Choirs of anger A horrible dream Windows shattered A rifle that sings And tears through the heavens All the white stars ricocheting Pow, like a rifle that sings Peace is a delicate thing Like snow on the ground Peace is a delicate thing Only a mirror A reflection of us The deeper you peer The worse it becomes The deeper you venture How dark it becomes How dark it becomes Pow, like a rifle that sings Peace is a delicate thing Like snow on the ground Peace is a delicate thing Peace is a beautiful thing Peace is a delicate thing
4.
The wheels of progress grinding They turn from dusk till dawn Haven’t we learnt Hell is on earth So few are free from want All the love that you can dream All that you can dream New tongues are being spoken New words for ancient crimes Money to burn Money to burn A part of us is broken All the love that you can dream All that you can dream All the love that you can dream Damn this sorrowful dance So inhuman Damn this whip on our backs And refuse to lower your head When the ones who abuse you Push you down The wheels of progress grinding Like wheels inside a clock Haven’t we learnt Hell is on earth The wheels of progress grinding All the love that you can dream All that you can dream All the love that you can dream All that you can dream All that you can dream All that you can dream
5.
All teary like the Fourth of July Proud as a plume But I don’t know why Some folks don’t go and bury their face A nickel would have got ‘em to clap Flash ‘em a grin, toss ‘em a cap Goin’ away for the rest of their days Rats in a barrel Won’t coax no tears out of me Because they just bring misery Don’t need ‘em going through my grain Or running through our house I’m done with mercy, I’m all tapped out I read a couple school books once Mama never raised a dunce But some things still leave me Itching my head How people who get up with the dawn And toil away can still get conned Believing what some liar has said Rats in a barrel Won’t coax no tears out of me Because they just bring misery Don’t need ‘em going through my grain Or running through our house I’m done with mercy and I’m all tapped out Hear them pleading loud And looking scared “Took my marching orders from that man up there” Hear them pleading how “I got caught up” But ya can’t go throwing punches When you’re in the cuffs Old Lincoln saw it all go down Almost looked like the first time ‘round On that January day Rats in a barrel Won’t coax no tears out of me Because they just bring misery Don’t need ‘em going through my grain Or running through our house I’m done with mercy, I’m all tapped out Rats in a barrel Won’t coax no tears out of me Because they just bring misery Don’t need ‘em going through my grain Or running through our house I’m done with mercy now I’m done with mercy now I’m done with mercy now, all tapped out
6.
There’s a comfort in the simple things Put a kettle on the stove Keep an ear out for the whistle when it blows But I’m following a world of things Try to keep up with it all But I can’t believe what’s come to pass as normal The earth, it shook so much That I cannot trust the ground The earth, it shook so much that I Cannot trust it now At the kitchen table School begins She’s got her face up on the screen Can’t imagine how it feels to be thirteen The earth, it shook so much That I cannot trust the ground The earth, it shook so much that I Refuse to trust it now The earth, it shook so much that I Cannot trust it now At the kitchen table Pushing paint But I’m running out of sky I’m running out of ways to pass the time Running out of ways to pass the time
7.
Now we’re left to pick up the pieces Shovel up the shards Because a fool won’t listen to reason Till he’s gone too far Till he’s gone too far And some just want a king They didn’t come here to sing But if you cut to the ending History is told by an old man Who survived the wars Little talk of spineless enablers Ones who held the door And knelt to kiss a ring Held onto power By any means But if you cut to the ending I’ve seen some ugliness Some terror in my days I’d love to think we’ve seen the end But when you think you’ve got the lid on, here it comes The same old ghosts are back again Now we’re left to pick up the pieces In this house of cards But we must not speak of treason That is where we are And some just want a king They didn’t come here to sing But if you cut to the ending Cut to the ending
8.
When the weight of doubt presses you down And it’s all you have to carry yourself From the bed where sleep swallows the day Let me lift you up and shoulder the weight Hide, you can’t hide No more than the sun Or the moon can hide All in knots I was trying to breathe All these thoughts of mine, showing their teeth Sadly, we were never taught That the worst is when you come to believe Hide, you can’t hide No more than the sun Or the moon can hide Hide, you can’t hide Or turn away From the world outside Worries are just shadows Being cast by passing clouds Try to scoop them in your arms Just shadows on the ground Hide, you can’t hide No more than the sun Or the moon can hide Hide, you can’t hide Can’t turn away From the world outside You can’t hide You can’t hide You can’t hide You can’t hide
9.
A line that any child could trace The beacon dimmed, the tired turned away Footsteps between asylum and the cage The history books may hide this shameful page But my eyes have seen My eyes have seen My eyes have seen On foil blankets strewn beneath the bridge The sleepless and the desperate are hid The mighty with our dogs and razor wire A fence around the country where you live My eyes have seen My eyes have seen My eyes have seen My eyes have seen And all these prideful slogans are but cloth Our hands are stained, the color’s coming off The lies we tell ourselves devour us Until we can’t remember what is lost My eyes have seen My eyes have seen My eyes have seen My eyes have seen
10.
I may not always choose my words so well It doesn’t change the way I feel Oh, believe me when you hear me say That my love for you is real Oh Remember this Promise to remember You will always have my heart Remember this Few things are forever You will always have my heart We don’t always have to think the same Not a crime to disagree Doesn’t mean we have to turn away Doesn’t make us enemies Oh Remember this Promise to remember You will always have my heart Hardest thing is when I see you hurt I wish that you would tell me why When you need me simply say the word I’m there to hold you when you cry Oh Remember this Promise to remember Even when we are apart Remember this Little girl of mine You will always have my heart Remember this Remember this You will always have my heart Remember this Remember this
11.
All By Heart 04:43
We become numb We become hard That’s human We become cruel Tearing the uniforms off our abusers Even unmoved Cover our eyes When we refuse to see What we know by heart Every scar Every lash delivered All by heart Word for word A part of you remembers We become mute Protecting ourselves from cruelty Biting our tongues A moment to scream out from the roofs if ever We know by heart Every scar Every lash delivered All by heart Verse by verse Some part of you remembers In our memories We seek to find some meaning in the past But do not think, for once That grief is buried in the grass All by heart We know by heart Every scar All by heart And every lash delivered All by heart We know by heart Every scar Every lash delivered All by heart We know by heart All by heart We know by heart All by heart

about

When you're a musician used to a certain creative groove, it's disorienting to have this rhythm disrupted. But that was just the position Grant-Lee Phillips found himself in spring 2020: Months before the release of a new full-length, Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff — an album he was already previewing on an early 2020 tour with John Doe and Kristin Hersh — the pandemic led to the cancellation of tour dates and other promotional plans.

Like many musicians, Phillips sought out silver linings wherever he could find them. He started performing weekly at-home livestreams, dubbed Live from the Parlor, and promoted Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff from his house in Nashville. But in early 2021, when Phillips realized any potential touring options were still on hold for the foreseeable future, he started to write and record a new solo album at home. "I found respite in the process when I could do little else," he says. "It became a sort of meditation on this time in my life and the events that we've collectively experienced."

The resulting full-length, All That You Can Dream, is understandably introspective, as it's anchored by Phillips' empathetic voice and rich acoustic guitar. The album's lyrics attempt to make sense of an uncertain, anxiety-riddled time, while coming to terms with the idea that once-unshakeable things now seem fragile or fallible. "In terms of subject matter, I found that the circumstances of being off the road, and left to reflect on what this time feels like, produced a different kind of song," Phillips says. "I wasn't entirely certain—and to be honest, I'm still not altogether certain—when I get to take these songs on the road. In some ways, that freed me up to write and record the kind of song that was personal and executed as though it were for an audience of myself alone. That's freeing."

Nevertheless, writing at home was admittedly an adjustment for Phillips, who was used to the solitude of songwriting while on the road. However, he still found inspiration in movement — he and his family took daily drives in the serene Tennessee countryside, marveling at turkey vultures and haphazard hay rolls — even as his songwriting turned toward global current events. "By and large, most of what you hear is me reacting to everything that we've gone through in this year, alone," Phillips says. "The attack on the Capitol, making our way through this pandemic, and everything else."

By coincidence, he found that some of the older songs he was working up for the album had similar thematic immediacy. The string-buoyed "A Sudden Place," written in 2019 following the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral, speaks to how quickly unshakeable monuments can crumble. The solemn, piano-driven "My Eyes Have Seen," meanwhile, references the inhumane ways immigrants and asylum-seekers were treated at the southern border during the Trump administration, a troubling development that's still not rectified.

"The only way that I know how to write is filtering whatever's coming in from the outside from the social stimulus, and the direct personal stimulation of family and whatever's going on internally," Phillips says. "All of that gets thrown into the blender. We bring our work home with us and we bring our politics home with us—even if we never get the opportunity to leave home."

All That You Can Dream is also rife with Phillips' signature songwriting flourish: using rich historical references to illuminate modern truths. "I'm always juxtaposing the events that we're all going through with similar events in history—sometimes laying one over the other to draw a comparison, to find parallels, to seek out patterns," Phillips says. As an example, he cites the "Rats in a Barrel," an unsparing condemnation of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Building with a specific nod to historical turmoil ("Old Lincoln saw it all go down/Almost looked like the first time ‘round").

The album-closing "All by Heart" also cautions against historical complacency: "In our memories / We seek to find some meaning in the past / But do not think, for once / That grief is buried in the grass." And the title track speaks to the idea that, as time has shown us, not everyone benefits from progress and forward motion. "All of us are engaged in a collective dream," Phillips says. "In this dream, we have a choice between a world that’s hospitable or one that’s brutal. We face a struggle between the visionary and the cynical. In this way, there’s a dual meaning in 'All That You Can Dream'—the possibility of betterment or the inevitably of collapse."

In a nod to this lyrical elegance, All That You Can Dream's music is ornate but spare. Phillips wrote and arranged the album's songs on guitar or piano, adding a basic rhythmic and vocal framework. To flesh out the music's contours, he then enlisted a pair of trusted previous collaborators, the Los Angeles-based bassist Jennifer Condos and drummer Jay Bellerose. "They were going stir-crazy themselves and welcomed the idea of a long-distance recording project," Phillips says. Bellerose set up drums in his living room, Condos served as engineer, and the duo laid down rhythm tracks to songs Phillips had sent over, as if the three musicians were all in the same room.

"I know that I have to bring my A-game when I work with them," Phillips says. "That's a personal thing where I feel like I don't want to bring them my sketches—I want to bring them something that I feel really strongly about. I know they'll be very respectful, and they'll inspire me as well."

Indeed, these songs inspired Phillips to layer on additional textures himself—for example, mellotron or pump organ—or enlist outside musicians to add keyboards, pedal steel or cello. "This more gradual kind of production allowed me to ruminate on the songs, to arrange parts for strings or keys," he says. "While working at home imposed some restrictions, it pushed me to take the wheel as an engineer, mixer and producer. Consequently, so many nuances remain in the final mix, all the weird stuff that sometimes gets lost in the polishing stages of production."

Audiences first discovered Phillips' thoughtful, literate songwriting in context of the rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, a trio which found success with the 1993 debut Fuzzy. The title track catapulted the group to international recognition. Grant Lee Buffalo followed up Fuzzy with 1994's Mighty Joe Moon (an album featuring the modern rock hit "Mockingbirds") and two more well-received full-lengths, 1996’s Copperopolis and 1998's Jubilee. Beginning with his 2000 solo debut Ladies' Love Oracle, Phillips opened another chapter in his career, as a folk- and Americana-focused artist crafting songs and stories rich with details and humanity.

During the pandemic lockdown, he also started diving into another creative endeavor: painting. One example of his artwork, as seen on the All That You Can Dream's cover, depicts a well-loved pair of headphones spray-painted silver. Phillips has kept the pair for nearly 30 years; in fact, he wore them in photographs included in Mighty Joe Moon's booklet. To Phillips, the artwork signifies not just All That You Can Dream's interior vibe, but his own meditative past few years.

"My wife said the album is very dreamlike, and feels very internal and personal," he says. "It's the kind of record where when we were growing up, we probably would have enjoyed listening to it on headphones, going within ourselves. In some ways, maybe I was taking inventory of the arc of my work up to this point. There's more to come, but I was taking a moment to reflect back on that person who I was."

Maintaining this sturdy through-line between the past and present gives Phillips' music emotional heft. All That You Can Dream is no exception. "I'm driven by the potential of making a connection," he says. "Finding that place where the listener is able to engage by way of their own experience and what I'm bringing to the table. We’ve experienced some staggering events over the last year or so. When people speak of those things, it's not enough to simply highlight or underline the headlines of the day. The aim is to tap into the feelings that we share that are trapped beneath our skin—and figure out how we expel those feelings by talking about them."

credits

released May 20, 2022

2022 Grant-Lee Phillips licensed exclusively to Yep Roc, LLC.

All songs written and produced by Grant-Lee Phillips

Vocals, guitars, piano, Mellotron, pump organ and keys by Grant-Lee Phillips
Recorded at home in Nashville, TN

Drums and percussion by Jay Bellerose
Bass guitar by Jennifer Condos
Drums, percussion and bass guitar recorded by Jennifer Condos at home in Los Angeles, CA

Piano on A Sudden Place, Cut to the Ending, and My Eyes Have Seen by Jamie Edwards
Chamberlin on My Eyes Have Seen by Jamie Edwards
Piano and Chamberlin recorded by Jamie Edwards at home in Boston, MA

Pedal Steel Guitar on Remember This by Eric Heywood
Recorded by Eric Heywood at home in Butte, MO

Cello on A Sudden Place by Richard Dodd
Recorded at home in Los Angeles, CA

Mastering by John Baldwin at John Baldwin Mastering, Nashville, TN

Art Direction by Grant-Lee Phillips and Nathan Golub
Album cover painting and portraits by Grant-Lee Phillips

Published by Storm Hymnal Music Administered by Blue Raincoat Music Publishing, Reservoir Media Management

Management: Thomas Manzi for Umbrella Group Artists Management, NYC

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Grant-Lee Phillips Nashville, Tennessee

American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

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