Walking in the Green Corn, by Grant-Lee Phillips

Walking in the Green Corn

by Grant-Lee Phillips

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Metal Pumpkin This is such a beautiful and moving album. Every song is magnificent, but "Black Horses in a Yellow Sky" stands out as my favorite! Favorite track: Black Horses in a Yellow Sky.

bambilyn A great journey through Americana. Thanks for this re-release! Favorite track: Bound to This World.

Scott It’s difficult to put into words how much Grant-Lee Phillips’s music means to me. I’ve been a fan since the first note I heard him play with Grant Lee Buffalo. I have followed his career for 28 years. Numerous shows, numerous records.
Grant’s music brings me to that place that every fan of great music feels. Like it was written just for me. The world literally goes away for that 40 minutes, and I am on a journey Walking in the Green Corn or looking up at Black Horses in a Yellow Sky. Th Favorite track: Black Horses in a Yellow Sky.

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Streaming + Download

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

Also available as a download included with ticket purchase to Grant-Lee Phillips' "Walking in the Green Corn - Live on Bandcamp!" live stream event on April 2, 2021. Your digital album download will be added to your Bandcamp library on April 2.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
10th Anniversary reissue of Grant-Lee Phillips' long out-of-print 2012 masterpiece, pressed on turquoise color vinyl and includes a turquoise 45 single featuring two unreleased songs from the Walking in the Green Corn sessions - "Billy Bowlegs" and "Red River."

Includes unlimited streaming of Walking in the Green Corn via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

edition of 1500

Purchasable with gift card

$25 USD or more

1.	Vanishing Song 04:23	lyrics	buy track
The timbers swayed in the heavens The waters blessed the great and small All a vanishing song All a vanishing song A vanishing song The drumbeat played The warm winds sang And we would dance in time All a vanishing song All a vanishing song All a vanishing song A vanishing life The hunt was just And battles were few This was the life we knew All a vanishing song All a vanishing song All a vanishing song A vanishing life
2.	Great Horned Owl 04:11	lyrics	buy track
There’s a valley where you walk A mountain where you dream You’re my great horned owl You fly in-between What may come to pass What is yet to be Appears to you in colors That others cannot see When I’m fast asleep You are on the prowl With your books and tea You’re my great horned owl See you in the dusk Sun is almost down You are rising for the hunt You’re my great horned owl You’re my great horned owl A rustle in the leaves Winds are bound to howl Feel the storm that days away You’re my great horned owl There’s a valley where you walk A mountain where you dream You’re my great horned owl You fly in-between You fly in-between You fly in-between You fly in-between
3.	Buffalo Hearts 02:38	lyrics	buy track
Remember the ones Who travelled so far All that was lost on that walk Buffalo hearts Under the grass Under the stars Honor the past And your buffalo heart Buffalo heart They lifted you up And out of the dark A blanket of love Kept you warm Buffalo hearts Remember the young Children of ours So they will become Great and strong Buffalo hearts Buffalo hearts Buffalo hearts Buffalo hearts
4.	The Straighten Outer 03:21	lyrics	buy track
Thunder on the mountain There is lightning in the sky Hammer of the straighten outer Working overtime And all the world's a rattlesnake Waiting to unwind And all the world needs setting straight In his crooked mind Birds of prey, they circle over Black winged birds Smithy of the straighten outer Hammer out the curves Folly of the straighten outer Make the ravens laugh Nature, she’s got all the power He will never have Thunder of the straighten outer Sparking up the sky Hammer of the straighten outer Working overtime And all the world's a rattlesnake Waiting to unwind And all the world needs setting straight In his crooked mind Story of the straighten outer Story of the straighten outer Folly of the straighten outer The straighten outer
5.	Fool's Gold 03:50	lyrics	buy track
Praying for what never comes Digging for some glowing vein Losing yourself in the rush Driving you slowly insane Won't be the last one to fall Won't be the last one to find It's only fool’s gold Fool’s gold Oh, it may shine like the sun But it's just fool’s gold Someone to walk by your side Someone who's there when you're old Someone to love with your all This is the real motherload Won't be the last one to fall Won't be the last one to find The rest is just fool’s gold Fool’s gold Oh, it may shine like the sun But it's just fool’s gold Some men will steal to get rich Another will kill to keep his Maybe it's just yellow rocks Maybe that's all that there is All of it, fool’s gold Fool’s gold Oh, it may shine like the sun But it's just fool’s gold Oh, it may shine like the sun But it's just fool’s gold Fool’s gold
6.	Silent Arrow 03:55	lyrics	buy track
From the winter sky A silent arrow falls On the darkest night of all Lucky in this life If you find the one See you through these years to come And you are the one I love You saw the best in me And you found the heart I lost And gave it back to me From the world up high Silent arrows flame Falling from the sky like rain Lucky in this life If you find the one Lucky in this life And you are the one I love You saw the best in me And you found the heart I lost And gave it back And you are the one I love And you are the one I love And you are the one I love And you are the one I love
7.	Bound to This World 05:08	lyrics	buy track
Autumn leaves fall away Everything in a matter of time Many mansions await Try to build me a ladder to climb Bound to this world So unsure Bound to this world All its hurt Bound to this world To this earth Bound to this world Many snows still to fall And wars in the cannon to light And lamps left to burn I don't think I could leave it behind Bound to this world All its beauty Bound to this world All its cruelty Bound to this world Heaven help me Bound to this world Long days Long days Golden suns Long days Bound to this world So unsure Bound to this world All its hurt Bound to this world All its beauty Bound to this world All its cruelty Bound to this world Heaven help me Bound to this world
8.	Thunderbird 03:39	lyrics	buy track
Thunderbird, moving like a cloud Making all the rains come down Thunderbird, fire in your eyes Every time the big drum pounds Only so much I can see Always been a mystery Woman, moving like a cloud Dancing where the sun lies down Won't you take me on the wind If I could only fly somehow Only so much I can see You'll always be a mystery Thunderbird, rising like a storm Making all the rivers swell Cold shadows on the earth In the grass where arrows fell Only so much I can see Some things are a mystery Only so much I can see You'll always be a mystery Woman, sleeping like a cloud Dreaming of a greener world Thunderbird sleeping for a spell Dreaming of a greener world Only so much I can see You'll always be a mystery Only so much I can see You'll always be a mystery Thunderbird
9.	Black Horses in a Yellow Sky 02:54	lyrics	buy track
Black horses in a yellow sky A cloud of dust that has no end Horses in a yellow sky Are drawn into the whirlwind They were blown like sticks and leaves An awful dream, it woke me The horses blown like sticks and leaves It woke me, such a dream White mare outside my window Shone like the Morning Star White mare outside my door Exploded like the drums of war Black horses in a wounded sky Clouds of dust that have no end Horses in a yellow sky Are drawn into the whirlwind The horses, scattered just like leaves To every corner of the earth Horses scattered just like leaves It shook me, such a dream Such a dream Black horses in a yellow sky Black horses in a yellow sky
10.	Walking in the Green Corn 03:27	lyrics	buy track
Blow away black tornado Blow away troubled sky Blow away disappointment All the worried days gone by Ready for the crops to ripen Leaving all the rest behind Welcome that sun Looking forward to better times Walking in green corn Walking in fields so high Walking in the green corn of life Blow away the dust forever Tear up those seeds of doubt Blow away Roll on out like some dark cloud Been a long time a-coming Been a long time for sure Welcome that harvest Got a world worth waiting for Walking in green corn Walking in fields so high Walking in the green corn of life Blow away black tornado Blow away Twisted Horn Scatter on home Swear you won’t come ‘round no more Ready for the crops to ripen Leaving all the worst behind Welcome that sun Looking forward to better times Walking in green corn Walking in fields so high Walking in the green corn of life Walking in green corn Walking in fields so high Walking in the green corn of life

about

“History and legend have often found their way into my songs,” reflects Grant-Lee Phillips. “But sometimes, I don’t have to look quite so far to find inspiration.”

Walking in the Green Corn by Grant-Lee Phillips is ten songs drawn from Phillips’ intensive investigations into his native lineage. Phillips, who is Muskogee (Creek), elliptically explores the intersection of past and present, personal and political. While the songs delve deeply into the subconscious mystery of his own back-story, they simultaneously reveal the resonance and insight of ancient myth in parallel to contemporary man's emotions, actions, and errors.

Composed in a concentrated burst over the course of a few winter months, Walking in the Green Corn came about almost too quickly to censor the unfiltered sum of years of rumination and discovery. As the days became shorter, the nocturnal Phillips became more productive. “I’m pretty good in the morning,” he says, a smile emerging, “which for me is about 2pm. I find that in a half-awake state, I can make a little bit of headway. Then I become more conscious as the day goes on...I have to wait until the evening and the rest of the world has quieted down to resume.”

What initially began as off-the-cuff home recordings, designed to capture the songs at the moment of conception, soon took on a life of its own. “Initially I figured that, somewhere down the road, I’d get some musicians together in a cathedral-like space and re-record these songs,” Phillips explains. “But the disarmingly warm, bioluminescent quality of his simple home recordings had the certain weathered elegance that,” in Phillips’ words, “would have driven me mad if I attempted to recreate them in a professional studio environment.”

With the exception of violin and vocals by Sara Watkins (formerly of Nickel Creek) and an understated vibraphone part by Alexander Burke, everything on Walking in the Green Corn was performed, sung, and engineered by Phillips. “I do my best work when nobody's paying attention, including myself,” he recalls. “That’s what happened. It really snuck up on me. By the end of the year, I had most of the album written and recorded. Little by little I'd play the songs back for my wife, Denise (Siegel), on long drives up the San Joaquin Valley. She's an artist and writer with uncanny ears and instincts. She kept me aimed in the right direction and brought a lot of objectivity to the project. Denise was my co-producer here.”

The mix of euphoria, wonder, and caution brought about by fatherhood a heady emotional cocktail that fueled Phillips’ last album, the critically lauded Little Moon, also played a hand in this project, as his thoughts turned to his own mixed heritage. He has always found his ancestry, which encompasses both Native American peoples and European settlers, to be a fertile source. “Connecting to my ancestry is like having this deep trunk that is embedded in the earth, with deep roots. It was always something that was important to my grandmother, who was Creek, and to my mother. So, after becoming a father, I wanted to be able to answer all those questions I know I'll be asked one day, when my daughter takes an interest in where we come from.”

credits

released April 2, 2021

2012 Magnetic Field Recordings licensed exclusively to Yep Roc Records.

All tracks written by Grant-Lee Phillips
Storm Hymnal Music Administered by Blue Raincoat Music Publishing / Reservoir Media Management (BMI)

Produced by Grant-Lee Phillips & Denise Siegel
Engineered by Grant-Lee Phillips
Mastered by Ryan Freeland at Stampede Origin

All vocals and instrumentation performed by Grant-Lee Phillips except:
Alexander Burke - vibraphone on "Vanishing Song"
Sara Watkins - harmony vocals and fiddle on "Fool's Gold" and "Walking in the Green Corn"

license

about

Grant-Lee Phillips Nashville, Tennessee

American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

shows

May 13

SPACE

Evanston, IL
May 16

Stockroom East

South Bend, IN
Jun 15

3TEN ACL Live

Austin, TX
Jun 21

HopMonk Tavern - Novato

Novato, CA

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