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EPICSPLITTER

SINNER IN THE SEAFORTUNE TELLER

PARAALGIERS

MAYBE ON MONDAYPUERTO

BETTER AND BETTERNO TE VAYAS

HUSH THE VANISHING MIND

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EPICNights we hide between the walls and voices leading on the groundArms reaching out hoping for the chance to startHearts holding out waiting for the bells to

Bring my words to all of you and if they ever hear my voiceHold me in your thoughts laid out twisted in defenseHoping for the chance to start

Hearts holding out waiting for the bells toSend my love to all my friends and if I never make it back To hold you in my arms again not letting go this time

4

SPLITTERThrough the gardens and fields ‘neath the tall green grassYou were walking ‘neath the moon while covering your tracksWorking your fingers down to the skin and stone

One hand on the hammer, one foot by the doorPushed by the wind fed by the need for moving on,Moving on to nowhere

When division runs deep and down into the wellAll the coins you dove after lost all their spellCovered in moss walking for silver and blood

Out in the cafe, working in the groveGuarding the port of the future you sold

Holding on, holding on to no oneHolding on, holding on to no one

One eye in the mirror, the other on the screenSewn in the pockets and down into the dreamCaught up in the mortar, bricks and heavy load

Wait in the shadows down the living roadMoving on, moving on to no oneHolding on, holding on to no one

5

SINNER IN THE SEAThere’s a piano playing on the ocean floor between Havana and New OrleansDrummin’ a requiem for the dead and the souls hanging on every poet’s prayerRunning to the rock, running to the seaPrayin’ to the Lord please shelter meBut the ground keeps shaking, water is boiling on fireBlood pulsing through their veins like the waves crashing on the Malecón wall

Clocks stopping at twelve on the eve of a forgotten warLuis drivin’ a ‘59 making it half way across the GulfStranded on the rock, stranded on the seaThere’s a wall in the ocean between you and meDreams of reaching dry land, talking to the fortune tellerPrisoners pounding the jail like the waves crashing on the Malecón wall

Someone lost an eye, someone lost the truthTrying to save face, oh ‘neath the eyes of the Virgin el CobreShout me a line sister, shout me a line sisterOh I see your hands in the air, see you drowning on the other side

“Chief’s in the parish and the drummers in the squareWalkin’ across the fire, walkin’ across the waves”

Sinner in the rock, sinner in the seaThere’s a sunken bridge ‘tween you and meRunning past the embassy gates, the Santería shrineBlood pulsing thru their veins like the waves they rememberCrashing on the Malecón wall

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FORTUNE TELLERI was just standing turning aroundThat’s when they caught me heading downKeep on going don’t look awayThat’s what they tell me, that’s what they say

You’re a pretty thought I supposeI’m just trying to hold up as I goAnd one day I swear I’ll spread my wingsI’m on my way to finer things

It wasn’t just me playing those gamesStill it’s my own fault just the sameI opened up, I let you inNow these crystal fields are wearing thin

I’m walking with the fortune tellerI can see my own way homeBut I don’t like this dark road anymoreAnd I don’t wanna be alone for long

Don’t wanna be alone for longI don’t wanna be on this dark road alone

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PARAI hold your wristYou bite your lipThe push becomes an embrace

I touch your faceYou close your eyesThe embrace becomes a shove

I walk awayYou follow too closeThe shove takes holdAnd there’s no where to go

Take it downTake it all the wayTake it downTake it all the way down below the waterline

I see you nowThrough a glass wallAll that is you stays with youAll that is me stays with meBut we see it allWe feel it allAnd there is no place we can’t go

Take it downTake it all the wayTake it downTake it all the way down below the waterline

ALGIERS

ALGIERS

MAYBE ON MONDAYWoke up on Monday and wrote you a love song, wrote you a love songWell the pen stopped and the paper flew out the windowAnd the notes rang down the roadI don’t know where they’ll go get caught in the trees I supposeRipped apart by the birds and the winter winds whisper good bye to your love

Went out walking into the storm, into the stormFollowed what I thought was your voice but it was just the riversideI don’t know where they’ll go but I cast the letters you wroteTaken out by the current or sink to the bottom to say a little goodbye to your love

Skies dark and the wind blew the trees downI watched as the world slipped awayCarved into the bark a final love songThen I carried the words to the fire

Staring into the glow where the branches are burning lowSparks shooting out like stars and in the morning say a little goodbye to your love

I’ll carry this song with me everyday ‘til I lie down by your side

PUERTOLupita’s ‘gonna weave a path to the land up north‘Gonna find her way thru the thick of it allLooking at the lights dancing in the skyHoping for a fallen star...“Me consuelo viendo estrellas bailando en el puerto”

Brought them gold from the country to help cure their illnessBut they landed with only one purpose for conquestThough there’s still this wave of unsettling hunger that never disappears

Rigo working one, two, three different jobsAnd when he comes back home he welds into the nightBuilds an air balloon for his pickup truck‘Gonna fly up and over the wallIf everything stays exactly the sameThen nothing can move and nothing can change“Me siento ese pájaro que danza sobre el puerto”

Carried ships from the sea up over the mountainsThe warriors fell to their knees by the invisible virusAnd still you can feel this wave of unsettling anger that never disappears

She’s talking on the phone in the heart of townTo her Bachata Mama in the heart of the worldSaying “please come back to Santo DomingoWhy you gotta be so far away”If everyone stays exactly the sameThen no one can move and no one can change“Amo ver la Luna vacilando en el puerto”

No one fortelling the depth and type of destructionNor the sadness trapped on the tongue of MalincheQuetzalcoatl feathers strewn out over the altarBlood running down the pyramid steps in the morningCodices lost to a language that’s been brokenThere’s this growing sense of impending anger that never disappears

“Ninguna entrada , queda en el puerto”

BETTER AND BETTERThere’s a letter she keeps inside, a list of everyone she knowsBehind her closed eyes that turn her in when it’s time to goShe’s heading north into the haze, raise the wire and they raise the rentShe’s walking the sun back home and in the night the moon is goneIs it better? Is it better and better?Is it better than staying home with nowhere to go?

I’ve seen your face out on the plains drifting all aloneDraw my finger in the dirt and down another blue roadShe’s in Kansas and Alabam’, Idaho and the CarolinesKnow I’ve seen her before can’t you recognize those handsIs it better? Is it better and better?Is it better than staying back home?Is it better? Is it better and better?Is it better with nowhere else to go?

NO TE VAYASSigoSoñando con tu sonrisaPor la noche, abajo de cielo y la luna

Por qué te vas mi amorSin mis cariciasPor qué te vas mi lindaSin besarme con amor

Sus ojosMe mienten y me engañanPero siempre, te amo y te extraño

Por qué te vas mi amorSin mis caricias Por qué te vas mi lindasin besarme con amor

La Deriva a lo lejosva a dejar mi corazonColgando, como una seca rosa

Por qué te vas mi amorSin mis cariciasPor qué te vas mi lindaSin besarme con amor

I continueDreaming of your smileThrough the night under the sky and moon Why do you leave my loveWithout my affectionWhy do you leave my dearWithout a loving kiss

Your eyesThey lie and deceive meAnd still I love you and miss you.

Why do you leave my loveWithout my caressWhy do you leave my dearWithout a loving kiss

If you stray far awayYou will leave my heartHanging, as a dry rose

Why do you leave my loveWithout my affectionWhy do you leave my dearWithout a loving kiss

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THE VANISHING MINDOn the longest dayThe vanishing mindKnows not when the day endsWho could care for youWho could understand

In the room sealed shutYou’re not what you wereSo much sweeter nowThat there’s nothing left toRemember you

It’s what brought you hereIt’s what keeps you hereWho could care for youWho could understandKnow not when the day ends or begins anymoreIn the hallway and waiting again

Here we are, here we sitThe light turning greyYour smile brings me backTo the longest dayThe vanishing mind

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HUSHIn the afternoon of orange blossom daysHummingbirds rest above where we layYou say it’s ok, no need to fretThe weight of it all will ease as we find The balance in each step we make

Swinging back n’ forth in a palo verde tree The wind in the needles hushes you asleep Even with the strain, your heart remainsDon’t doubt why darlin’In time you will find we’re alright we were bornLike the branch to bend and not to break

Reconcile and resurrect, tombstone roseGrowing up and over the gates to where our children playThe future wraps ‘round like vinesInside these arms

Darlin’ will you say in our final embraceBefore returning ‘neath the clayAfter all that your heart still remains

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JOHN CONVERTINO drums, percussion, vibraphoneJOEY BURNS vocals, guitars, upright bass, piano, vibes, keys, accordion

JACOB VALENZUELA trumpet, vibes, vocals – 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12MARTIN WENK trumpet, vibes, Wurlitzer, sampled strings, accordion, theremin – 1, 2, 3,

5, 6, 7, 11, 12PAUL NIEHAUS pedal steel – 3, 5, 6, 11, 12VOLKER ZANDER upright bass, electric bass – 1, 2, 11, 12CRAIG SCHUMACHER Mellotron, percussion, Wurlitzer – 1, 3, 5, 7SERGIO MENDOZA piano – 3, 8, 10JAIRO ZAVALA vocals, slide guitar, bazouki, acoustic guitar, percussion – 6, 8, 10MICHAEL CARBAJAL trumpet – 8, 10MICHAEL FAN violin – 11, 12ROSE TODARO violin – 11, 12JOSEPH PAGÁN viola – 11, 12ANNE GRATZ cello – 11, 12CRAIG KLEIN trombone – 3JASON MINGLEDORFF tenor and baritone saxophone – 2PIETA BROWN backing vocals – 4TOM HAGERMAN violins, viola – 5CHRIS LOPEZ baritone trombone – 8CHRIS SCHULTZ Moog synth for pedal steel – 11

Produced by Joey Burns, John Convertino & Craig SchumacherRecorded at The Living Room Studio in Algiers, Louisiana by Chris George and Daniel MajorieRecorded at Wavelab Studio in Tucson, Arizona by Chris SchultzRecorded at Studio Calexico in Tucson, Arizona by Jairo Zavala (track 9)Mixed by Craig Schumacher of Wavelab StudioMastered by JJ Golden of Golden MasteringArtwork and Layout Design by Ryan Trayte of Saywells Design

All songs Joey Burns, Lunada Bay (BMI) and John Convertino, Good Clean Dirt (BMI)Both administered by BMG/ ChrysalisExcept No Te Vayas by Jacob Valenzuela, Bacobampo Music (BMI) administered by BMG/ChrysalisAnd Fortune Teller by Joey Burns, Lunada Bay (BMI) and Pieta Brown, Woo Jones Music (BMI) administered by A-side

Jairo Zavala appears courtesy of EMI Music SpainTom Hagerman appears courtesy of Anti recordsSergio Mendoza appears courtesy of Le Pop RecordsCraig Klein appears courtesy of Threadhead Records

THANK YOU TO…Christof Ellinghaus, Severin Most, Andy Kaulkin, Matt McGreevey, City Slang Records, Anti- Records, Matt Hanks, Shore Fire, Corey Rusk, Gail Perry, Fen Ikner, Charlie Levy, Patrick Templeman, Anton Pamer, Ali Hedrick, Billions Booking, Pamela Lillig, Howard Greynolds, John Tosch, Tarina Aumiller, Tom Pisano, Ryan Alfred, Chris Giambelluca, Nick Luca, Oliver Nielsen, Jelle Kuiper, Patrick Boonstra, Valerie Deerin, Fabian Ludwig, Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly, Ron and Nancy Barber, Rick G of Seattle Show Posters, Glenna Jean McElwain, Unity 5, Peter Woods, Tift Merritt, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, Amos Lee, Arcade Fire, John McDonaugh of the film The Guard, Aaron Schock of the film Circo, Chris George, Daniel Majorie and Kevin Barrios of The Living Room Studio, Berthold Seliger, Ali Hedrick, Billions Booking, Victor Gastelum, Ryan Trayte, Nova, Genevieve, Twyla and Burns Family, Christina, Kayleigh, Mia and Holden Convertino, Jackie Lawson, Robert Lawson, Christy Howison, Moni, Mario, Juan and Diego Zavala, Heike Ander, Lynn, J.J. and Valenzuela family, Wallfisch Family, Ellinghaus Family, Lena Obara, Jan Ole Gerster, Anne De Wolff, Ullrich Rode and Christoph Endres, Katja and Antonia Niehaus, Mendoza Familia, Michael Carbajal and all of the musicians that helped make this record.

A special thanks to Craig Schumacher, Karen Lustig and Chris Schultz of Wavelab Studio.