shoulder to the wheel

by fiona keenan

shoulder to the wheel Cover Art
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02:56
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03:40
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about

this EP was made at home in aberdeen and edinburgh in 2011
all writing/performing/recording/processing/mixing by fiona keenan, with contributions from:

the mighty aoife keenan, who beatboxed on track 3
daniel ball, radio bootlegger extraordinaire, who provided the rte radio clips on track 3
euan oliphant, who (bravely) lent me his electric guitar which features on track 3
dan the busking man, who captured my younger, irisher self on a laptop recording way back in 2002 at a songwriter night at the music room in dublin (track 7)
some poor techie on the tunnels sound desk in aberdeen who committed the immortal sound of scott ironside's guitar hitting the stage to MD (which opens track 7) way back when during an angry scott and the sour kraut performance

cover art image by fiona keenan
shoulder is model's own
glorious DIY back tatt by sarah j stanley

credits

released 05 September 2011

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about

i am a music and sound maker, and started an msc in sound design at the university of edinburgh in september 2011. my online ... more releases live here on bandcamp , and my sound pieces are online on soundcloud. i have a blog on wordpress to document my electronics and sound design projects. less

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Track Name: truth be known
i will not reel you in, no more than i could pin you down
to a single solitary stance
to something i could understand
yes, i tried to let the truth be known
to share just what i did behold
but either that is something you've outgrown
or you did not want to be told

now we never have that much to say
just the trivia of every day
and when i feel like i should care
i open the door to nothing there
but loyalty it always comes
funny how deep that runs
says if i cannot carry this with me
what kind of person can i be?

bout time that i stopped harping on
bout what i never got at home
breaking that ground is quite a task
and i still don't know how to ask
feels easier to tag along
i wonder where i get that from?
family only in name
our could have been is such a shame
Track Name: bend spoons
your manic and bluster
my painfully shy
chasing me round the mattress
with that look in your eye
our epic, romantic
came down to this
to you wanting something i wasn't ready to give

whether my own invention, or if it was you
i could breathe fire then and i could bend spoons
and when i want to go back it's as much for that stuff
as for all of the reasons that we fell in love

my boots and eyeliner
your beat poet jive
both already so broken
both tied tight inside
meanwhile fate painted pictures
and i wished on, i did
you see i wanted something you weren't ready to give

whether my own invention, or if it was you
i could breathe fire then and i could bend spoons
and when i want to go back it's as much for that stuff
as for all of the reasons that we fell in love

a clock overhead
or one on my wrist
throughout all we poured over
each significant twist
but oh those pieces of paper
on which we were true
here's one more love letter
from me
to you
Track Name: shoulder to the wheel
the habit of a lifetime can't be broken now
whatever i was doing
i will put it down
to offer you assistance, appropriate concern
i wasn't born this gracious
it was something i learned

and then if you brush me off there is no price
cuz you impressed me once and i vowed to be nice

shoulder to the wheel
like nobody knows
grand designs that stand aside
is how my garden grows

i know an animal like you needs some help to make it
i mean, why should you give to me
when you can take it?
and never mind that 'the right thing'
is really my hoping to please
my making way will always
put your need before my need

and then if you brush me off there is no price
cuz you impressed me once and i vowed to be nice

shoulder to the wheel
like nobody knows
grand designs that stand aside
is how my garden grows

i will never tell you much
but i will tell you this
feeling less than worthless is what attracts a girl to service
but before you can cut through it you have to sing it
and before you can sing it you have to live it
so next time i think
i could help
i might keep it for myself

shoulder to the wheel
like nobody knows
grand designs that stand aside
is how my garden grows
Track Name: what you get to figure out
we met at the bank with the steps
dame street was its greyer self
his smile turning my insides round
i was on the rebound
not rain, nor broke, nor snow could come
between our one body then
before i railed and warned you off
when you reminded me of him

and now that's what you get to figure out
the kind of loves you want to make
and if the first real rush is worth
what time and pride and doubt will take

i had to laugh - only 17 when
you swore you'd never love again
so serious under that brow
the world already bearing down
you saw selfish, greedy and unfair
in macro and microcosms yes
if i'd had the means to wave a wand
don't you think i would have passed that on?

and now that's what you get to figure out
how to make sure everybody's free
and if good intent doesn't just fold
to the call of self discovery

you never sleep right through the night
your house is filling up with shite
and his bold flirtatious tendencies
and my excited circuitry
oh your furious relentless soul
an impressive nose and all that hair
and your daddy's silly songs
tell me - how are you getting on?
Track Name: now i know
i used to lock my mind away
it stayed indoors and remained tame
that kind of polite leaves you wary what you're singing
cowardly
careful
contained

but now i know just what it is
that keeps me from myself like this
a directive to run and hide
that ol' tripwire
rigged up inside

i used to try to reason with you
get drunk and go howl at the moon
a nothing without that approval
couldn't tell you what i came close to

but now i know just what it is
that keeps me from myself like this
a directive to run and hide
that ol' tripwire
rigged up inside

beware of your need to be needed
take care of who you thank and please
goodwill stings if misdirected
take it from me

cuz now i know just what it is
that keeps me from myself like this
a directive to run and hide
that ol' tripwire
rigged up inside
Track Name: being born
change will cloak a mind in doubt
you'd think that i'd know by now
is that why you huff and swear?
that old swagger is hardly there
and lately you've been coming home
all questions and new kinds of woes
seems though your body's long taken form
you are just being born

a feeder, waged and paying bills
can't be all a person is
in the maze of hand to mouth there might
be a bulb within ya to ignite
i mean, evolution will not step in
at the school of how it's always been
you've got to strike out for something more
if a better way is to be born

so when ne'er-do-wells with eyes unkind
tell ya to make up your mind
and that ferocious hope that makes you try
looks so sad and small beside
well, hold tight to a pinch of salt
bounce with all your might on that birthing ball
and when instinct calls let it take form
your new life is being born