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Augusta

by Kurt Swinghammer

/
1.
Rose Of Montrose She lived with her Mom In the old part of town A one bedroom house So tired and run down Life was pretty hard But they managed to cope In the backyard She planted all the hopes and dreams Of all the things she loved Rose of Montrose The strongest of all They say it grows When snow starts to fall I heard the jamboree When I walked past Knocked on the door With a guitar and some grass All the songs we sang Were love songs to her Next day when I rang I was too ashamed to tell her What my hopes and dreams were of Her Mom passed away The house was torn down Condos were raisedi In the old part of town They saved a few trees And the little bush was spared Every Christmas sees The miracle That tells them all what hopes and dreams are of © Kurt Swinghammer
2.
Kensington 01:38
Kensington I open my door to A Day In The Life As sung by the hippy across the street On an abysmal acoustic guitar With a bad bongo beat And the Portuguese men are staring again As they do every day from the billiard hall Don’t they have anything better to do With their lives? At the One Dollar, Two Dollar, Three Dollar Store They’ve just run out of Roach Motels And Bruce Cockburn’s photograph is no longer on the wall At the Pizza joint around the corner Is it my imagination or have things settled down Since the Bunchoffucking Goofs got kicked out of the fort And the cops cracked down on the crack house on Kensington I close my door to Hotel California As played by the hippy across the street On an abysmal acoustic guitar With a bad bongo beat © Kurt Swinghammer
3.
Augusta 02:22
Augusta Augusta is haunted By the ghost A broken skeleton Of a 10 speed chained to a street post A rusty shipwreck With it's mast Plastered in posters Of rock shows from weeks past The grinning skull The devil in flames The high contrast pouting face The buxom pin up dames An old man curses In a foreign tongue Rips them to pieces And just leaves them on the ground A thousand staples Corrode away Voodoo pins in the burial pole The stolen bicycle grave © Kurt Swinghammer
4.
Pale Green Glow To make a long tale short There was a storm, there was a port He said "do you have a lighthouse?" She said "Do you mean a light?" He said "I don't even smoke" She said "You might after tonight" High overhead the sky appeared red In the pale green glow of the stereo She wore something from a war She found in an army surplus store He said "Christian soldier or Christian Dior?" She looked as if she'd never heard a joke before He said "Excuse me if it sounds a little tacky But let's make ca-ca, and not khaki In the pale green glow of the stereo The smokey all night D.J. Was calling the play by play They let Donna Summer do the talking And say the things they could never bring themselves to say He stared at her tattoo A fuzzy dolphin in permanent blue And like a drunken sailor Lloyd Cole or Norman Mailor He said that mammal saved me And led me straight to you She put back on her bra It was the last time that he ever saw Just the pale green glow of the stereo High overhead the sky appeared red In the pale green glow of the stereo © Kurt Swinghammer
5.
Theory Of Relativity The leaves are relatively green The sky is relatively blue The water looks relatively clean But that can't possibly be true According to the Theory of Relativity As explained to me in my dictionary If two systems are in relative motion With uniform linear velocity It's impossible By observation or measurement Of phenomena in the other To learn more about the motion Than the fact that it is relative motion And that measurement of the velocity of light In either system Regardless of the position of the source of light Always gives the same numerical value Always gives the same numerical value I am just my mother's son The sun is just another star The stars are just gas and dust And dust to dust is all we are We're not in Kansas anymore But when Dusty Springfield sings The look of love.... I see the theory of relativity As explained to me in my dictionary © Kurt Swinghammer
6.
Green Face 03:02
Green Face I feel like a frog God knows I sound like one But gee you are so riveting I'd wag my tail if I had one You summon and arouse A million tadpoles All safe in a rubber raft Riding the rapids to Niagara Falls The honeymoon capital of the world You're the seventh wonder, girl Princess kiss this green face We spent our salad days Acting like carnivores Now it's dog eat dog out there Kind of the same behind closed doors Where you summon and arouse A brand new trick Although I'm amphibian Instinct tells me take a sniff and lick Biggest wax museum in the world Couldn't hold a candle to you girl Princess kiss this green face Big beautiful fish Dismal tourist pond Grant me my wish I'll turn into James Bond And I'll summon and arouse Under cover Go ahead blow my disguise My heart shaped whirlpool bathtub lover The honeymoon capital of the world You're the seventh wonder, girl Princess kiss this green face © Kurt Swinghammer
7.
The Most Beautiful Girl At The Fair The most beautiful girl at the fair I first fell in love when I first saw her there So long ago, long ago I can just picture her, pretty as a picture The picture I have of her by the photographer Somehow he captured her better than me The portrait remains, I couldn't stop her from being free Not the most beautiful girl at the fair I first fell in love when I first saw her there So long ago, long ago I used to dream of her long before I knew We'd become dreamers just like a dream come true One day she woke up, I knew she had to leave I still have dreams of her and in my heart I still believe She's the most beautiful girl at the fair I first fell in love when I first saw her there So long ago, long ago © Kurt Swinghammer
8.
Wind In The Sail Eyes so young Look, look around Say goodbye to I's a bye the sailor I's be moving on Though the ship's direction isn't known to me I believe it just can't fail There's wind in the sail Crow's nest, crow's feet Coffee and croissant The sentimental sea-side memories Those nostalgic needs and wants Love lost is an albatross Always right behind you on the trail With wind in the sail Look ahead the sky is red so sailor you be warned You know what she said "Any port in storm" Come tonight the crimson sight will soothe the ocean's scorn You'll see the light of day and sail away From XOX To SOS I keep looking for your semaphore But it's for the best I guess So it's wave a flag or flag a wave Whether the toss is heads or tails There's wind in the sails © Kurt Swinghammer
9.
One More Time Prophets, economists and freaks Lord knows where we're heading The stock market and the faith is weak How do you spell Armageddon If it's the end of the world I wouldn't mind Just as long as I can see you One more time I'll never forget the day I said my tearful goodbye And as that bus pulled away I felt a part of my spirit die But it's coming back to me And it's going to shine When I get to see you One more time You wanted to have a child So I acted like one When I wanted to reconcile You said there could be none It might be up in heaven Or someplace further away Or a motel in Burlington I only wish it was here today If it's the end of the world I wouldn't mind Just as long as I can see you One more time © Kurt Swinghammer
10.
Empty Sky 03:10
Empty Sky I am an empty sky You are a UFO So high you fly Then suddenly go No one believes you were there All they perceive is thin air What can I do When I'm a blue empty sky So many stellar nights Wonderful coloured lights Came crashing down You couldn't be found Now I don't know for sure Just who you really were Why did you leave me A cold and lonely empty sky Where are the birds when you need them Why do the seasons lead them away When I long to hear their song On a blue empty day Rain clouds come on in Darken the world again I'd rather it pour Now that you've gone away for good No longer am I A blue empty sky © Kurt Swinghammer
11.
The Short And Sweet Goodbye It was so economical Didn't waste a breath Time flies when love is comical Till laughter's all that's left Isn't it funny how Six feet tall feels so small now Each time you bow your head to cry Over the short and sweet goodbye Suddenly sadness came to me To excavate my heart No more valentines, no more ventricles Just an empty space in the dark Isn't it funny how Six feet down sounds comforting now Each time you bow your head to cry Over the short and sweet goodbye Take care Take away my only answered prayer Isn't it funny how Six feet tall feels so small now Each time you bow your head to cry Over the short and sweet goodbye © Kurt Swinghammer

about

For close to thirteen years I lived in a wonderful old house on Augusta Avenue in Toronto’s Kensington Market. Many of these songs were written there, and the inside cover photograph was shot in the backyard. When faced with the prospect of moving to a new location, I thought it would be nice to commemorate my beloved pad with this CD.

Over the years I’ve explored different styles of music, but always return to writing songs on an acoustic guitar. Although I often perform solo, Augusta is the first release that documents this bare bones approach. There were no punch in’s, edits, or auto-tune, and most of the ambience is from the room itself.

Glenn Gould Studio is a remarkable modern recording facility designed as a live concert hall. Microphones are placed throughout the room to capture different balances of the natural reverb. In the final mix of this material only a smidgeon of digital delay was utilized as an irresistable sonic detail on one tune.

The project was initiated by producer/engineer Ron Skinner, who invited me to do a live solo taping for the CBC show Bandwith. There was no audience present, which honestly explains why there isn’t wild applause after each track.

Three of these songs were included on the broadcast, but none have been available on disc before. Some however, have been around for quite some time and are favorites to play at gigs.

I was truly honored to record at a room with such incredible audio standards, and I’d sincerely like to thank Ron, Bill Stunt, and CBC Radio for the wonderful opportunity. Thanks to Al Beardsell for building me an inspiring new guitar that made it’s recording debut here (Wind In The Sails uses the same guitar but was prepared with a piece of paper woven between the strings). Thanks also to Meryn Cadell for telling me that 315 Augusta was available way back in the fall of 91.

Kurt Swinghammer, April 2004

credits

released January 1, 2004

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

All music and lyrics written by Kurt Swinghammer

Produced by Ron Skinner

Kurt Swinghammer - vocals and acoustic guitar

Recorded live at the CBC's Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto
by Ron Skinner
August 2002

Mastered by Ron Skinner at Heading North

Cover art by Kurt Swinghammer
Photo by Graham Powell
Cover assembly by Dan Bryk

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