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American Bridge

by Two Ones

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1.
Tough Luck Times 02:13
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I wanna go back to my school This quarantine is not too cool I wanna stroll through the dollar store I can’t remember what my fingers, remember what my fingers are for I wanna shake hands with my friends I wanna dance until the music ends I wanna tell a secret in your ear I’m going crazy waking up in, crazy waking up in fear These are… Tough Luck Times Can’t wait to leave them behind Tough Luck Times...I’m sure that I’d lose my mind If I didn’t have you I wanna sit in your living room Don’t wanna talk to anybody on Zoom You’re mouth doesn’t sync with your voice I’m at the edge of forgetting, forgetting that I once had a choice I wanna lose myself in the crowd I’ve found my voice is just a little too loud I never liked to be pushed and shoved I get annoyed by the void, I’m destroyed by the absence of love These are… Tough Luck Times Can’t wait to leave them behind Tough Luck Times...I’m sure that I’d lose my mind If I didn’t have you
2.
Know Where You're Going 02:12
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Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Know when to stop and when to begin These words of advice are words of wisdom Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Washing cars, counting stars, tracing your scars Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Know when to stop and when to begin These words of advice are words of wisdom Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Stacking bales, marking trails, telling your tales Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Know when to stop and when to begin These words of advice are words of wisdom Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been We all get lost sometimes We find our way with a beacon that shines My grandpa’s words are mine He said... Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been Know when to stop and when to begin These words of advice are words of wisdom Know where you’re going, know where you’ve been
3.
Black Sugar 03:53
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Sweep your stoop Dust your hood Do a loop To see you're good It's a ritual morning and nobody needs a warning Black sugar Fingerprints In red and mint See the tint of ash and flint It's a ritual morning and nobody needs a warning Black sugar City cracks Beneath the stacks We cross the tracks For new attacks It's a ritual morning and nobody needs a warning Black sugar A calm of blue You blink, it's through You could sue But who? An industrial poisoning The company finds annoying Black sugar
4.
Bessie Delany 02:59
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Bessie Delany was 104 One day she said “Don’t want to live anymore” She died in her sleep Without so much as a peep And that’s the way I want to go That’s the way I want to go Right on up to heaven with a tag on my toe Look down on those mourners as they cry o’er my grave And sing Hallelujah! My soul has been saved Now Bessie Delany was a hero of mine Well educated and ahead of her time She conquered her fears Throughout all of those years And that’s the way I want to go That’s the way I want to go Right on up to heaven with a tag on my toe Look down on those mourners as they cry o’er my grave And sing Hallelujah! My soul has been saved Now Bessie Delany never married, you see Why waste all that passion on the birds and the bees Her message to you, “Do the best you can do” And that’s the way I want to go That’s the way I want to go Right on up to heaven with a tag on my toe Look down on those mourners as they cry o’er my grave And sing Hallelujah! My soul has been saved
5.
Move to the Mountains 03:57
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Looking back on a lifetime of living On all that I gave and all I was given I was born in a Pennsylvania town I worked the steel mill but it just got me down I left for Ohio and a college degree But that life of academia, well, it didn't suit me The song of New York is always looking for a singer I moved to the city but I was too young to linger I thought I'd stay forever for a minute Got a room at the Chelsea but my heart wasn't in it I went out looking for the ghost of James Dean But those Hollywood Hills, they hid a haunted machine So I roamed the canyons and drove the coast of Malibu I heard a whisper and knew what I had to do I saw my past in the rear view mirror I moved to the mountains where the air is clearer I woke up from my California dream And I began building these Northwest memories The road is long and the road is wide I'm glad to have had all this time on my side
6.
Cryin' Shame 03:03
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He was my buddy and my best friend He was the apple of my eye He had a real keen sense of humor And he could not tell a lie He got along with everybody And his future looked so bright But the switch got flipped And he started to slip And he just couldn't see the light Crying shame, what they say When they sit and talk about him But they never knew the pain he held inside Cause when those demons take control They terrorize his soul And somewhere I think I heard the angels cry I coulda blamed his high school teachers I coulda blamed the booze and drugs I coulda blamed the kid who snitched him out I coulda blamed those other thugs I coulda blamed the treatment programs They've been through it all, you can tell I coulda blamed myself Coulda blamed the devil Coulda blamed the wishing well Crying shame, what they say When they sit and talk about him But they never knew the pain he held inside Cause when those demons take control They terrorize his soul And somewhere I think I heard the angels cry Now we prayed that he'd get sober How we prayed that he'd get straight And we prayed he'd come around again Before it was too late And we prayed he'd find the answers He'd been searching for some time We prayed loud and clear Hoping God would hear I guess he needs more prayers than mine Crying shame, what they say When they sit and talk about him But they never knew the pain he held inside Cause when those demons take control They terrorize his soul And somewhere I think I heard the angels cry
7.
Pandemic 00:40
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Pandemic, pandemic Can't do nothin' in a pandemic Sit all day on your big fat ass Have another drink and smoke a little grass Pandemic, pandemic Can't do nothin' in a pandemic Turn on your TV, stare at your phone Watch your dog for an hour chewin' on a bone It's a pandemic Can't do nothin' in a pandemic

about

What began as a pandemic-related home schooling project ("today's music class") blossomed into this 7-song quarantine journal, with songs about the pandemic, family history, and origin stories tracing from Oregon back in time to the town of Ambridge, Pennsylvania. A cross-generational hootenanny as balm for these strange times.

credits

released December 29, 2020

Two Ones are:
Rick: Vocals on #4, #6, #7; Guitar on #4, #6
Henry: Vocals on #1
Audrey: Vocals on #2
Erin: Backing Vocals on #7
Mike: The Rest

Engineered by Frank Witner
Recorded at Country Dark Studios, Sandy, OR during the Pandemic (except "Bessie Delany" which was recorded at Recorded at Laissez Faire Studios)

"Bessie Delany," "Cryin' Shame" and "Pandemic" written by Rick Matter
"Tough Luck Times," "Know Where You're Going," "Black Sugar" and "Move to the Mountains" written by Mike O'Shaughnessy

Cover painting by Erin O'Shaughnessy

cp 2020 Two Ones
cp 2020 Sleeping Brothers Records
www.sleepingbrothers.com

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Sleeping Brothers Records Portland, Oregon

Semi-fictional netlabel reissuing homemade albums from the catalog of Long Island's 90s tape label Big Casserole Records as well as releasing new music from same old guys & gals. Check out the hiss! NY/OR/CA.

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