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Birch Book (Volume I)

by Birch Book

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  • Streaming + Download

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

      €7 EUR  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 7 Birch Book releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Werewolf's Eyes (single w/ b-side), Fortune & Folly (volume II), A Hand Full of Days (Vollume III), Birch Book (Volume I), Birch Book (French 10" EP), Tomorrow's Sun Will Rise the Same, and Tangles of the Vine (VPRO Radio Sessions). , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      €20 EUR or more (50% OFF)

     

  • 12" [Black Vinyl]
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First ever reissue of Birch Book Vol. 1, remastered in 2019.

    Note on shipping: Within Germany shipping is a flat €6 for ANY AMOUNT OF ITEMS.
    Outside Germany shipping is €4 + €2 for each additional item.
    (Though unintuitive, these price reflect actual cost.)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Birch Book (Volume I) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • 12" [Blue Vinyl]
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First ever reissue of Birch Book Vol. 1, remastered in 2019.

    Note on shipping: Within Germany shipping is a flat €6 for ANY AMOUNT OF ITEMS.
    Outside Germany shipping is €4 for one item + €2 for each additional item.

    see also options for Colored Vinyl and "Tomorrow's Sun" limited Lathecut.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Birch Book (Volume I) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • 12" [Black Vinyl] + 'Tomorrow's Sun' 12" Limited Lathecut **PRE-SALE Before June 7th**
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First ever Vinyl issue of Birch Book Vol. 1, remastered in 2019. Black Vinyl with the Lathecut for "Tomorrow's Sun will Rise the Same" [Limited Availability]

    ***PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A PRESALE - VINYL DOES NOT SHIP UNTIL MID JULY***

    Note on shipping: Within Germany shipping is a flat €6 for ANY AMOUNT OF ITEMS.
    Outside Germany shipping is €4 for one item + €2 for each additional item.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Birch Book (Volume I) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • 12" [Blue Vinyl] + 'Tomorrow's Sun' Limited 12" Lathecut **PRE-SALE Before June 7th**
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First ever Vinyl issue of Birch Book Vol. 1, remastered in 2019. Blue Vinyl with the Lathecut for "Tomorrow's Sun will Rise the Same" [Limited Availability]

    ***PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A PRE-SALE - VINYL DOES NOT SHIP UNTIL MID JULY***

    Note on shipping: Within Germany shipping is a flat €6 for ANY AMOUNT OF ITEMS.
    Outside Germany shipping is €4 for one item + €2 for each additional item.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Birch Book (Volume I) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • CD, Kraft Board Foldout Cover with Two Color Offset Print
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Birch Book Vol. 1 CD

    Includes unlimited streaming of Birch Book (Volume I) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Birch Bark I 01:53
2.
Staring out of the window How the clouds are moving slow Watching their broken fragments As the tea is on the stove Floor is scattered paper And the dishes all undone Before I get my life in line I'll write me one more song How the hours sing along Their solemn requiem Open sky before me Behold me now just as I am Listen here you old big world Beyond my own mind's door If you come a-knocking Mind you ain't no bore 'Cause if you's gonna clamor Awake my weary dream You ought at least to offer For my tea some cream How the hours sing aloud Their solemn requiem Open sky before me Behold me now just as I am I have some time for thinking When nothing else is mine When I got the world to please I cannot find the rhyme Yeah, when I lose my rhythm Where that I can float Seems without a river Ain't much use a boat How the hours sing along Their solemn requiem Open sky before me Behold me now just as I am The trees just keep on growing And the sky still making rain When I wake I know that For me it is the same Ask me why I'm living I'll say it always was Ask why the sun is giving And you see it don't need a cause How the hours sing along Their solemn requiem Open sky before me Behold me now just as I am
3.
On a frosty morning I awake by the gale And gold sparkled colors, they scatter the trail I gather my belongings and I follow the scent All them wise people, I ask where they went The children are silent with a colorful dress The old ones just smile under certain duress from another But what’s at the doorstep as the evening come by, A gift and a card without any why I lift up the lid and inside the box Are five hundred keys Without any locks worth picking I arrive at the party with a hole in my shoe They invite me in for they have no excuse But the cake is all eaten and the drinks they are stale They pass round the candle so I tell my tale to another But what’s on the table as the mornin’ arrives? A gift and a card and I’m none the wise I looked at the card to see what it said It was blank so it left me to think what I may be thinking On a frosty evening I shy from the gale And dark settled colors they scatter the trail I gather my belongings and follow the scent Find them old people all making lament The children still silent but over they’ve bent The ones just wince at their certain descent like any other But what’s at the graveyard as the noontime abides A gift and a card, ain’t that no surprise I left there the gift and I wrote on the card I’m still learning my ways but give my regard to another
4.
You knew it was bad in October Thought you had nowhere else to go Said in November you’re leaving Got to get on the right track now Said you’d be saving your money Had to make good on some old debt Said in some weeks you’d be ready “Before twenty-one days I bet” Why, oh why is it easy to live a lie? How, oh how do you stay when you ought to go? Spent your money for booze on the weekend To make bearable the time Floating along in Limbo I’m sure it’s easier without a spine Worried about all them people Them that would be let down Losing your life to the leeches When you’re ought to be leaving town Why, oh why is it easy to live a lie? How, oh how do you stay when you ought to go? You said it would be February You’d be free before Valentine’s Had so much more to get ready While the weeks just go passing by Sure, you’d be out end of March Like you might have thought last fall But the end of next month is a farce It never really comes at all You say it’s hard to think it out clear Just don’t know what to do As always there’s something there to fear And as always it’s up to you Ah, there’s always an excuse or other For what never gets done So, if it’s not worth the bother I suppose I’m better off alone Why, oh why is it easy to live a lie? How, oh how do you stay when you ought to go?
5.
Coffee morning Your dreams slip away Into fanciful tales of yesteryears And just the other day The pleasures you stole The night before They still linger in your hair Coffee morning Your head’s in a swoon Your thoughts would seem Now as the steam Now, as the dew upon your spoon Out awnings and leaves Through windows and trees Comes the day’s noon Coffee morning Smooth your wrinkled brow Recall the whimsical name Of a fleeting game That led you on to know The wings that she had When giddy and glad And the nimbus glow What was it like hung in mid-flight Caught on the full moon’s glare The tune you hear on gilded tiers The words you wish you’d shared Coffee morning You’re coming unsewn Over that faraway girl With her heart in her eyes Her thoughts you’d like to know About their colors and moods Refined or crude But you’re alone And so you brew
6.
Eglantine 02:49
7.
I watch the silt of my desire Settle to an unquiet fire While my loaded feet watch the ways go by They will not roam on a train to Rome In the dark my mind unties With swollen thoughts of brown wide eyes Amid the rush, possibilities arise Glimpsed, then gone, on a train to Rome A train to Rome; on a train to Rome Glimpsed, then gone, on a train to Rome From Leipzig to Milan I leaned on you; you held my hand But ours like all the journeys they will end You continue on alone for a train to Rome I’ll need to get on to Amsterdam To catch a plane; to keep a plan But with a homeless heart held in my hand All my home is on a train to Rome A train to Rome; on a train to Rome All my home is on a train to Rome From unparted lips a quiet moan An aching gut and empty bones For the skin I’ll never touch alone Torn from my own on a train to Rome A train to Rome; on a train to Rome Torn from my own for a train to Rome I watch the silt of my desire Settle to an unquiet fire While my loaded feet watch the ways go by They will not roam on a train to Rome
8.
Do you ever remember that brief autumn stretch When you’d spend every night that you could? We slept carless while leaves made patches on sidewalks How I remember your eyes then And the torn faded white blanket that we so adored Do you ever remember We laughed all night And I would bite your ankle make you cry of laughter We made forts from the bed that we found at the yard sale Hid in there ‘til night came so that no one else could see Do you have any pictures from then? Do you ever dream about then? Do you ever feel it now, The way the Wind was that fall? How I remember your eyes then And the torn faded white blanket that we so adored
9.
All that day I have forgotten And I forgot your name I’ve only my own inclinations Of sleepless search Upon a tireless wing from the wilderness of self To the compass of the other Some inclinations yet to follow When I knew you you’d take some photographs Of every happy time you knew And when you’re old you would remember And poor the boxes through If now I could remember Why it was I refused your arms And your open bosom bountiful If now I could remember How the pieces fit their parts How the pieces fit together I’d remember all that day And I would recall your last name I’d mind the life that I have chosen In sleepless search upon a tireless wing From the wilderness of self To the compass of the other Some inclinations yet to follow If it is I can remember How the pieces fit their parts How the pieces fit together
10.
If you have a little time to spend with me If you have a subtle thought to share I’m as open as the wild and rolling sea And I have all the world to spare If you tell me now as real and true What you see or seem to be as luring as the outspread sea-sky blue Of horizons in the eyes you see Lay down your burdens Release your pain Set a while in the garden With warm wind and rain the heart of the heavens heaves heavily ‘neath the sky’s gathering weighted wind Thunder cracks instantaneously As resurgent life begins Soft like the moss growing on the grounds And the bark of the living tree Life alive in unknown bounds Wild in the wind and free Lay down your burden Relieve your pain Stay a while in my garden With warm wind and rain The road is yet flanked with briars Narrow, steep and long Warm a while ‘round my fire My shoulder is wide and strong Heavy is a world of sorrow Loaded down, drab and grey Leave your worries for tomorrow And give today all away Lay down your burdens Release your pain Set a while in the garden With warm wind and rain
11.
Windows 02:27
I look from my window To see the sunrise Stair out to the water Of life in surprise My word’s caught in windows And most of them square They taunt with their bordered views And reflective glare I sit by my window To see the sunset My eyelids glisten Burn and then shut Are the days growing shorter Or is it I’m growing old I’ll wade in the water Before the story’s told
12.

credits

released December 11, 2015

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Birch Book

The enigmatic B’eirth is best known as the frontman for the psychedelic folk outfit In Gowan Ring. However, with his Birch Book project, he has moved away from the psychedelics and instead, opted for a simpler, more straightforward folk sound. The result, however, is still some pretty haunting — and haunted — music, thanks to B’eirth’s deft guitar-work and dreamy Nick Drake-esque vocals. - Opus ... more

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