We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Balfour

by Gun Lake

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      $3 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in high quality digipack with artwork by Gun Lake's Mark Fain and includes a free download of the album with a bonus track not available on the CD.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Balfour via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD

     

  • T-Shirt/Apparel + Digital Album

    A gray heather American Apparel V-Neck featuring a drawing on the front by Gun Lake's Mark Fain. Only have left: Sizes Small and Medium

    Includes unlimited streaming of Balfour via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD

     

1.
Cliffhanger 03:58
Onto you I Hang myself dry And thinning is the air in which you rise Far beneath me Churns the great sea Where our ship's imprisoned in the brine I am a cliffhanger You're the edge While I'm a cliffhanger It's not the end I am a cliffhanger 'Cause I can't let this book Close easily And throw myself over you Tell me won't you Please descend to Return some feeling back into my hands With your gold key Maybe set free The vessel with our captivated plans I am a cliffhanger You're the edge While I'm a cliffhanger It's not the end
2.
I was walking through the stormy country You were walking through the stormy country And the rain, it pierced right through our hides I gave my hand and we ran against the rain We found a roof and everything was changed You moved so very close to me Underneath the falling sea We're safe inside our submarine To a polyrhythmic wash of sound We wrung each other out We bow to what until now Was ruefully drowned By the sovereign art Of our solitary hearts We made our home in the unknown But we had all we need To kill the cold and keep us worthy Underneath the falling sea We're safe inside our submarine To a polyrhythmic wash of sound We wrung each other out I was walking through the stormy country You were walking through the stormy country It was here we saw ourselves so clear
3.
Once upon a new year's morning On brother's bed I soundly slept Dreaming of a girl I'd marry I made believe the truth was deft La Da Da Da Da Don't know why I thought it could be for good Forget it now Sleep again Wisdom fell hard upon me Cutting down the fool inside The dream I lost was cursed already Now it must be left to die La Da Da Da Da Don't know why I thought it could be for good Forget it now Sleep again
4.
You're flushed with your father's blood And I'm in contempt of your new complexion You're a master of well-placed ink And a dead woman escaped with my affection I know you'd say you don't believe me But it's easy Just close your eyes and breathe 'Cause life will always move at this wicked speed And we will bleed Just give what you receive And know I gave enough For both of us You know I gave enough For both of us Now I feel... The air that's all around you Is purgatory from which there's no escaping I could run in these lost and found shoes Or risk damnation for saying we're worth saving All I am is a man who can't watch this all fall away I'm losing these days But I'm trying to keep the pace But life will always move at this wicked speed And we will bleed Just give what you receive And know I gave enough For both of us You know I gave enough for both of us
5.
Backwards 02:49
Backwards moving Just want Some peace I can't do this anymore Fix this Use your Pretty head Let's go Back to bed The nightmare could be over now Fix this And sing me back to sleep 'Cause I love you In this room I've made your bed I wait and I wait and I wait Rewinding all the ground we've tread Again and again and again But I can't do this anymore
6.
Trees 04:15
I talk to you in mind All of the time Every line has the power To open your eyes You're invited to make it all true 'Cause frankly things just aren't right We walked the path of lose-lose Where the earth all had dried But somewhere our shadows are fused Where trees never die It's not hard to find if we turn off our minds Your heart will tell you no lie Take me to the place where the trees still grow I never thought we'd leave there for such a cold 'Cause spring was just a lie. The warmth never came But I know the trees are there still growing the same You let the irony play Love was withheld When I finally found the display Coins down the well My wishes, a waste and you don't want a taste Of what we promised ourselves Take me to the place where the trees still grow I never thought we'd leave there for such a cold 'Cause spring was just a lie. The warmth never came But I know the trees are there still growing the same So you've got some weight on your back And no stable ground I'll make sure your spine stays intact That a road can be found Just give me a sign and we'll travel all night To the place we would be now Take me to the place where the trees still grow I never thought we'd leave there for such a cold 'Cause spring was just a lie. The warmth never came But I know the trees are there still growing the same
7.
June 04:38
By the start of June We'd walk Michigan Avenue And on Independence Day We'd throw all of our cares away By an August sunset We'd see my brother happily wed Then drive to the Greatest Lake To soak our souls in Agawa Bay But you want to give this up I could not give up 'Cause there's no common sense In falling on the fence By the start of June I wrote another song for you Because melody is truth While words hide from our abuse With Fall around the bend You broke your silence once again And now you're only in my mind As a long finished film I won't rewind You want to give this up I could not give up 'Cause there's no common sense In falling on the fence
8.
Darlin' you're really something I wish you were something else Your belly it turned so yellow Like a leaf before it fell But you don't seem so graceful On your long way down All the dirt you stirred up Has made it into my eyes And it burns ever so clearly Yet I still can't say why You lost all your spine, dear What did you expect to find here? Darlin' you're really something A mary that's lost her blood What's left here is some kind of poison Like dried veins beneath the flood Like roots under the river I'll never see what they deliver I never did agree But still it came to be 'Cause all you did portend Turns out what just pretense No, I am not your friend Darlin' you're really something I wish you were something else Your belly it turned so yellow Like a leaf before it fell But you don't seem so graceful On your long way down I never did agree But still it came to be
9.
Time Again 05:15
We have moved so perfectly Together we Showed up crossed stars and made them fall Through it all Don't you remember who I am? I remember you You're not this girl who let her love lie While I stood in salute But that's the sad truth That girl chose not to lend a saving hand To give me any token lovely Time and time again We spelled the end before we knew What letters to Write in their place. No spirit flowed To inspire prose I can't make believe we're not in love After all that was 'Cause we held so fast the city breathed Through our bodies Don't you remember who I am? I remember you Your eyes reflected each morning light to make the world anew Our bodies glowed from head to toe Our feeling fingers followed And we were sure then This light would happen Time and time again
10.
Trials 04:58
The earth is a child of the sun A mother to the moon But all we are is falling apart I don't believe in God But I believed in you But all we are is falling apart As children of forests, we've failed our fathers Our roots never took in the soil soaked with water Our shadows have run far away from our center When you said they looked goddamn great together But all we are is falling apart.

about

Balfour is everything you want a place to be. However, every muscle you flex to get there will be exhausted. As you bask in its serene, wild beauty recuperating, the rotating earth is your enemy. You cannot stay on Balfour forever, and once you face this fact, your only exit is to paddle up the labyrinthian creek that brought you. Pushing against the current, you are sure the creek is now shallower and narrower than it was before—the bends more acute. The dams have been built up since morning, and with the sweltering afternoon heat, the sun has brought the flies. When finally you reach the portage to the other lake, your dead-weight motor feels like lead, and paddling has reduced your arms to reeds. You nevertheless carry your gear and your canoe across the root covered distance to the other lake. Here, finally, you can put the weight of the motor to use and feel relieved that the work is over. But as the wake goes backwards toward the path to Balfour, you wonder if there is any chance that you could do the same.

credits

released March 24, 2011

Recorded at Backseat Productions in Ann Arbor, MI

Recording Engineer: Jim Roll
Mixing: Jim Roll, Ben Collins
Mastering Engineer: Jim Kissling

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Gun Lake Ann Arbor, Michigan

Gun Lake is based in Ypsilanti, MI.

contact / help

Contact Gun Lake

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Gun Lake recommends:

If you like Gun Lake, you may also like: