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in the year you were born

by the young novelists

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    Get all 6 the young novelists releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

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1.
I WAS A YOUNG MAN'S SON verse(6 count): C G pre-chorus: (Am Em) x2 Am C chorus: G Bdim C C bridge: G G D D Em Em C C (G D Em Em) x2 G D Em C kentucky stole my soul & nothing can bring it back you give me everything you owe. you owe me a second act [pre-chorus] oh someday they will sell my grave another acre they will pave & i need somebody to save me [chorus] oh i was a young man's son x2 the river, like the heart you break forever takes the same old path mistakes any man could make my father couldn't do the math [pre] & someday they will sell my name every acre stays the same. i don't need anyone to blame me [chorus] oh i was a young man's son x2 the work here is never done [bridge] & we will stay true & pay all our dues but if our best can't make it last well my old man's already passed i hope my children never ask why their old man is always living in the past [chorus] oh i was a young man's son x2 the work here is never done we work through the setting sun these fields never get full grown but i've got a son of my own
2.
IN YOUR DEFENSE capo III verse/chorus: G [G C] G G pre-chorus: (Em Em D C) x4 outro: G C trapped behind blue eyes without a word the engine of your heart a broken bird that drives your only hope off the rails & breaks each small success, it never fails don't spare details...full-blown the sails [pre] & take apart his eminence the officers, the evidence the ones who came to speak [ch] in your defense in your defense the lens refracts the light until it burns your common cause was never taking turns all praise a verb...you don't deserve [pre] when friends exchange with enemies the ghosts inside your family & hold you back to speak [ch] in your defense in your defense... [outro]
3.
STANDING STILL verse: C Am x4 F Fm pre-chorus: C G Am F chorus: C Am the day may come when i do not recall the little push, the tumble or the fall but twice i looked & twice i saw you twice i looked & twice i saw you twice i looked...& you looked too & did you sing me note for note? or see my heart was in my throat? [pre] oh i have never been the type to take a chance, the moment ripe i'm locked inside, i try to try i had to watch you pass me by & i... [ch] i'm standing still...i'm standing still when all we had was new we knew at last we'll build upon the ruins of the past & once i spoke & once you held me once i spoke & once you held me once i spoke...& then i knew that words would always come between what was said & what it means [pre] oh i could hardly stand the break & watch you make the same mistake you don't recall you made at all i'll never let you see me fall cause i... [ch] the day may come when i do not recall
4.
SMALL-TOWN HYMNS capo I verse: Am Em F C chorus: F C F C F C Am Em F C bridge: (C Em) x4 (F C) x2 Am Em F C these telephone wires sing over the fields the man of the hour, the only shield an instant addiction has been revealed moments you share in moments you steal [ch] & it begins with these small-town hymns carrying through your heart & all your limbs a parade of wrongs will serve you right like the moth has a choice when it sees the light & word has spread like a forest fire all the voices forming a small-town choir [ch] & it begins in these small-town hymns judging them over & over & over again [br] (instr. w/harmonies) [repeat 1st ch] ...through your heart & all your limbs through your heart & all your limbs
5.
MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE capo III verse: F C Dm F chorus: Bb Dm C C broken by her hand, cradled in your arms sirens in your head – all five alarms & the city is the perfect confidante it gives you what you need, never what you want [ch] & the lie you're sold is the same as every one you told & whatever it takes you need another break or a chance to make the same mistake your broken baggage now heavy in your chest the feeling that you lost all you possessed all of your demands made without a voice the fire in your head never had a choice & artificial sympathies dividing all your friends & enemies [ch] & all you've been is a ghost in someone else's dream & now that they're awak you only know the ache & the need to make the same mistake forgetting what you save, all your common grounds a king is what you kept, wearing other crowns [1st ch] [2nd ch]
6.
IT TAKES ALL KINDS verse: (G D D D) x3 G A Asus4 A chorus: (D A Bm Bm) x3 A Asus4 A outro: (G A Asus4 A) x3 G D caught in my head my one foolish friend getting ahead by playing pretend you left us for dead we were just at the end of the verse of the song when i come along...come along x3 & do everything wrong you felt like you[tacit] belonged like a harmony sung [chorus] break these ties as restless as two young lies between us it takes all kinds we know what it takes [solo over verse] you're [tacit]here in my mind so easy to find i just look down or behind to make sure to make sure to make sure you're not scared oh i know you so well don't say that i don't & i put you through hell as you already know oh i meant well, but i guess that don't make it easy to bear [chorus] x2 [outro] ...we know what it takes x3
7.
left behind 05:41
LEFT BEHIND capo II verse: (E E A E E) x2 (E E A A F#m E E) x2 chorus: (Bm Bm F#m E E E E) x2 Bm Bm F#m E A A Adim Adim E (hold) bridge: (E E A E E) x4 (E E A A) x4 (E E F#m/A A) to drum crash out Adim: [01210x] F#m/A: [00240x] oh dear why won't you try? new year's when you said goodbye & down here there's a crowd they're young & they're proud tonight & one tear for each mistake, you're wrong & you can't make it right [ch] & i can't understand & now you can't defend how you could end your life & i am left behind oh dear what does it take? right here there's an endless ache & small hurts that i made but i am afraid to break what words? they're only part. the sound that my heart still makes [ch] [instr. bridge] [repeat last verse]
8.
YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN verse: G Em G Bm C G Am (Am D) chorus: G G G D C C C D bridge: C C G D the rose is the lion of blooms these singers will fill up a room but every note they throw your way is false you change how a room takes a sound & measure a man by the pound & the weight of his mistakes can give you pause [ch] don't you see that you're on your own? x2 you've never been so alone don't you see that you're on your own the night has the stars in its eyes cause the depth of the dark terrifies but the strange is commonplace when you bring it home they will prove what can never have proof they will scare you by telling the truth but the truth is all that you have when you're alone [ch] G Em... [bridge] [ch] x2
9.
THE WAY IT WAS verse: A [riff] A A F#m E chorus: D D D E A A A E D D D E A A E E everyone here is a candidate to break the record or set the record straight you'll come out the other side in a couple years & wash your hands of all of this with all your tears oh don't you leave me, don't you believe me? & don't you wanna come down & grieve me? i'm doing damage in all my anguish you're saying sorry in every language, yeah [ch] tell me nothing's changed; it never does everything remains the way it was...the way it was now everyone wants to be popular so she copies you & you copy her & no one's going anywhere with the hint of disaster in the air oh don't you know it, don't you show it don't back down & don't you blow it i'm on my knees in a farmer's field only a momma's boy would ever yield [ch] well everyone's got a different take there's the truth you know & the truth you make & every word down from the rumour mill is a stab in the back or a look that kills & somehow...you weather the shake up 'til i say...i think we should break up [ch] don't you wish it was the way it was you can't go back because the way it was is the way it was
10.
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH verse: C C G Am Am Am Am Am Am F C C C C chorus: F C G Am F C G G bridge: Dm [Dm F] G G Am [Am /B] C C have a little faith in what you make stop keeping track of your mistakes oh you wrote a ghost there in the words about another pain that you endured & if you're lonely now well still you're young getting older with every song you've sung 'til your voice is broke & your heart is played well a star is born but a man is made [chorus] the heart string is breaking like you rehearsed centuries in the making, for what it's worth you're trapped in the amber of your flaws & you soldier on where others pause accused until you can't succeed well you cut yourself 'til you can't bleed & the strings will play to name your fear if only you could disappear [ch] alarms sing the break-in & the fifth becomes the first centuries in the making, for what it's worth [br] every lonely one you take them on & nothing's easy for you don't belong... you don't belong (instr. verse) have a little faith in what you make stop keeping track of your mistakes cause your voice is broke & your heart is played well a star is born but a man is made [1st chorus]
11.
LONG LONG LONG verse: D# D# Cm G# chorus: D# (D# Bb) G# (G# Bb) only the constant survive not the weak with their lies letting the ocean tides yet they never decide the permanent storm / has human form exacting a terrible price come on open your eyes / once they were closed... [chorus] long long long never convinced / someone has since told you the evidence all you need is an inch next to the end / trying to mend suffering discipline until nobody wins / really it's been... [chorus] [solo over verse] violent lives / if we survive vacate the constant past each one will last... [chorus out]
12.
WASTE OF TIME verse: G G C G Em Em C G chorus: Em Em C G bridge: Em C G G Em C D D Em C G D Em C...G i was born in your town / seems a hundred years ago the shadow that's behind me / ain't the only one i know i left you once before, oh / but i am here to stay [ch] i can promise you tomorrow i can't give you much today i went through the canyon / & came out by the lake i was thinking of forgiveness can i make one more mistake? i am still a poor man / & that's not my only crime [ch] you deserve a better offer am i just a waste of time? [br] & change is just a product of regret & so i've changed & i'm not finished yet but i can't change the past, & i can't change your mind i can only pray...i'm not a waste of time i've been down new orleans & through the carolines i've gambled with my virtue & lost every time & you would never say it but i have drawn the line [ch] x3 oh i do not deserve you i am a waste of time

about

email: graydon@theyoungnovelists.com

online:
www.theyoungnovelists.com

recorded between january 16th and february 3rd at the lincoln county social club under the guidance of chris stringer and the distant wisdom of john dinsmore. there were a few additional days in march there but those don't really count...we just wanted to hang out some more and finish reading the books we had started and left on john's shelves.

as is true of any artistic undertaking, there are times when you ask yourself "what in the name of sweet jalnorr am i doing?" the answer is that it doesn't matter what you're doing, but that you're doing it. well, we did it, but not without a significant amount of assistance and support. to that end the young novelists would like to thank eileen, lara, and eva for their patience; the strumbellas, peter katz, shawn clarke & the green hearts, the fires of, the maladies of adam stokes, parks & rec, and myke mazzei for sharing the stage with us on occasion; preetam sengupta and the LAMA (letting artists make art) team for the kind words, the good vibes, and the hard work; amie therrien for performing the labours of hercules on a fortnightly basis; meghan gamble and theresa micallef for their unflappable awesomeness in the face of publicity; and, chris stringer for yelling at us.

music doesn't really matter much without an audience. thank you for listening.

please note that unauthorized reproduction of this work is highly encouraged. share all you want.

credits

released September 11, 2012

all songs written & arranged by graydon james & the young novelists

the band:
alex dodd - keyboards
graydon james - vocals, acoustic guitar
shawn jurek - vocals, bass
john law - electric guitar
mike paddags - drums
laura spink - vocals

additional players:
chris stringer - general mayhem
jaron freeman-fox - violin & cello
joshua van tassel - additional drums
jalnorr klezmigond - omnichord
shreddin' jack peugelatt - handclaps
eva o'brien, eileen paddags, leah hunter, tess benger, charles tilden, allan raun, amber raun, lara martin, erin schildermans - group vocals on "in your defence"

string arrangements by jaron freeman-fox

www.theyoungnovelists.com

produced, engineered, & mixed by chris stringer at the lincoln county social club
mastered by jeff elliot (fedge.ca)
management - amie therrien (balsampiermusic.com)
photography by emily maureen and liz gareri
design by adam therrien (adamtherrien.com)

we acknowledge the financial support of the government of canada through the department of canadian heritage (canada music fund) and canada's private radio broadcasters.

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the young novelists Toronto, Ontario

Exclaim! dubbed their first EP “unpretentious brilliance” and this Toronto-based folk-roots band has won critical acclaim ever since. Stephen Fearing described them as having “tight arrangements, great dynamics, and good songs with beautiful harmonies” and their live shows capture audiences with both barnstorming singalongs and heartbreaking folk ballads. ... more

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