Scenes Through a Mirror - a retrospective Album & CD Release | Irene's Pub NOV 2 | Lyrics included
North Track Records November 1, 2023 Scenes Through a Mirror
North Track Records, in association with The Record Centre Records, is pleased to announce the release of two recordings by Ian Tamblyn. Both releases are entitled, Scenes Through a Mirror. The vinyl release features ten songs chosen from a recording catalogue of forty-five recordings. The album was remastered by Phil Victor Bova and was manufactured by Precision Records in the Czech Republic. The CD collection features two CDs with twenty-six songs chosen from Ian’s extensive catalogue. This project was also remastered by Phil Victor Bova. Both projects include
detailed liner notes about the recordings. Both of these releases are available at The Record Centre in Ottawa or Records on Wheels in Dundas, Ontario. They can also be ordered on line at CD Baby or by visiting the website www.iantamblyn.com. Mail orders can be completed by writing North Track Records, c/o Ian Tamblyn, 21 Laing Road, Chelsea, Quebec, J9B 1S4.
Physical albums can be purchased directly from Ian at tamblyn@hotmail.com.
For those wishing lyrics for the songs, they are below.
A CD release of these projects will be held at Irene’s Bar, Bank St. Ottawa, November 22 beginning at 8pm.
After forty-five recordings, I thought it might be time to compile a retrospective of sorts. The process took well over a year and went through several steps along the way. I had a number of through lines and aspirations I hoped to achieve with this collection, many of them intersecting. I hoped to get as many songs from different periods of my writing as
possible, and at the same time, I wanted these songs to have a consistent sonic balance though the recordings span forty-seven years! I took a large selection of songs to musician and engineer David Bignell to assess which songs sonically stood the test of time, bearing in mind the tremendous shift from analogue to digital recording during this period. After we figured which tunes were sonically “valid” I passed a much smaller group of songs around to people who have followed my music over the years. Though I had a selection of songs I wanted to be included, I was interested in which songs others thought stood the test of time. Ultimately, it came down to these songs you have before you. Final sequencing and mastering was completed by Phil Victor Bova. There are, of course, many songs that are not included but I hope you will find this collection an interesting cross section of my work. I would like to particularly thank the engineers, co-producers and musicians who helped me realize these songs over the years. Besides the great joy I had recording the songs, it was their consistent skills and inspiration that allowed this project to be sewn together.
Ian Tamblyn 2023.
Scenes Through a Mirror Double CD – Lyrics
CD 1
1.Chasing the Sun
Oh how the body longs to sleep
But the dancing light has come
Pulling on the edge of Ellesmeres’ Peaks
Chasing the sun.
Arctic light on a great white sea
The day goes on and on
Gun metal blue teal blue green
Chasing the sun.
The sun.
Chasing the sun.
Further and further and further north
And the day goes on and on
Sheets of gold on the seeking path
Chasing the sun.
Spirit in light- light in the spirit
We are the fortunate ones
Who have come so far to look back in time
Chasing the sun.
The sun.
Chasing the sun.
Patterns of blue- white aquamarine like
A puzzle that is ever undone
Sail on sail on to the Lincoln Sea
Chasing the sun.
Lead me on lead me on
For sleep one day will come
For now we are bound to be
Chasing the sun
The sun
Chasing the sun.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music
SOCAN 1998.
Ellesmere Island, Nunavut.
2. Woodsmoke and Oranges
By wood smoke and oranges path of old canoe
I would course the inland ocean to be back to you
No matter where I go to it’s always home again
To the rugged northern shore and the days of sun and wind.
Chorus
In the land of the silver birch cry of the loon
There’s something ‘bout this country
It’s a part of me and you.
We nosed her in by Pukakswa out for fifteen days
To set paddle and the spirit at the mercy of the waves
The wanagans were loaded down and a gift left on the shore
For it’s best that we surrender to the rugged northern shore.
Cho..
The waves smashed the smoky cliffs of Old Woman Bay
Where we fought against the back swell and then were on our way
I’ll talk to you of spirits by the vision pits we saw them
Walk the agate beaches of the mighty Gargantua.
Cho.
I turned my back upon these things I tried to deny
The coastline of my dreams but it turned me by and by
It tossed the mighty ship around smashed the lighthouse door
Sent shivers up my spine- the rugged northern shore.
Cho.
Repeat 1 st verse.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN.
1990.
Guargantua Peninsula, Lake Superior, ON
3.Black Spruce
Chorus
Black spruce, black spruce- heart of the winding river
Through the glass I ripple- clouds and trees I know
Black spruce black spruce- onward ever deeper
Calm this restless heart -soothe this restless soul.
I am the raven high o’er the river
I am the black wings carry me home
I am the night sky deeper and deeper
So many stars- always alone.
Chorus
I am the wind sigh night through the jack pine
I am the flurry of birds on the wing
I am the silence -answer the calling
I am but a heartbeat pounding.
Chorus
I am the storm clouds building and building
I am the fury, the thunder, the light
I am raindrops, birdsong sing the morning
I am white water heard in the night.
Chorus
All of your questions, all of your longing
I am these things ask me no more
I am the whisper at the heart of your calling
Comfort your heart slip through the door.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
July, 2003
4. That Box Car in Algoma
The Montreal was tumbling down
Shadows chase a north fall night
The cut of frost hangs in the air
A boxcar glowed by kerosene light
The leaves today were yellow red
The sky today was endless blue
The rocks today were weather worn
There could not be a better view.
Waves of light dance the night
A million stars there was no moon
Laughter spills from a golden light
A south bound freight comes rumbling through.
The sky today blew westwind clouds
The sky today was endless blue
The sky today cannot be bought
Still I hope my colour’s true.
Oil and turp. fill the room
As Lismer scrapes his pallet bare
And A.Y. hums a maudlin tune
Jock and Harris -talking there.
Did you see that craggy pine
Out on the ledge hung in the air
It sent a shiver right down my spine
Oh how I wish that Tom was here.
And he would say- boys- that tree is mine
He’d have his pallet knife out then and there
Remember how he could paint so fast
Oh how I wish that Tom was here.
Clouds, they held the mist till noon
Then through it all burnt brilliant light
We caught that light late afternoon
And then returned here for the night.
I do not know where I am bound
I do not know nor do I care
It is enough to paint this land
In spirit, light and northern air.
Shadows chased a north fall night
The cut of frost hangs in the air
A box car glowed by kerosene light
Oh how I wish that I was there
As the Montreal came tumbling down.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1995.
Chelsea, QC
5.Higher Plane
Light come down in a shimmering ray
Oh for the yearning in my days
I will stand before you are I pray
Take me up to a higher plane.
Blackened stump bleached by the sun
Oh for the yearning in my days
Reaching up to kingdom come
There will be no brighter day.
Blinding light flash off the sea
Oh god the northern shore
Each bend and curve to beckon me
Shake me to my very core. X2
Pic Island arc in a perfect form
Oh for the yearning in my day
In the arms of the north I am reborn
There will be no brighter day.
Give me blacks, give me blues
Oh for the whites and the yellow hues
From them I’ll blend the subtler hues
There will be no brighter day.
Where the lake goes on beyond my eyes
And the light goes on beyond my dreams
Where the spirit grows, it never dies
Where the west wind blows and the jack pine leans. X2
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1996.
Neys Peninsula, Lake Superior, ON
6.You Are this Place
You are this place when I hear the big drum
When Raven calls and throat songs thrum
You are the wind- you are the sky
You are the land
You are this place.
You are this place when grasses sigh
Through aiy –aiy songs, time over time
Though change has come – will come again
Be not denied
You are the place.
You are this place when I hear the big drum
When snow geese call – and winter comes
The buntings fly the northern nights
Bring back the sun
You are this place.
Repeat bridge
First verse
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
August 2011.
Torngat National Park, Labrador.
7. Angels’ Share
She’s the heart of the highlands, the queen of the isles
She’s the light after storms, she’s the air
And if you get lucky you may come to know her
For she got the angels’ share.
Chorus
Something about the light in her eye
It could be the toss of her hair
Might be the lilt in her voice- I don’t know
But she got the angels’ share.
She’s the Iris in springtime, the Rowan in fall
She’s the smile to erase all your cares
She’s the bird on the wing
She’s the reason I sing
She got the angels’ share.
Cho.
Now the question of course- how will she survive?
Being made so of vapours and air
But if you remember the light over Skye
You’ll remember the angels’ share.
And remember still that light in her eye
Remember the toss of her air
And remember still the lilt in her voice- I don’t know
But she got the angels’ share.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
Islay, Scotland.
8 25 th Hour of the Day
In the 25 th hour of the day I made my peace
And in that time allowed I unveiled a masterpiece
All the lessons they were learned - all the lost had been returned
All debts were repaid
In that glorious hour of the day.
And in the 25 th hour of the day all was done
No stone was left unturned- no song unsung
Not one lingering might have been -
Or if I could do it over again
For in that hour over again was easily arranged.
In the 25 th hour of the day I closed my book
And for the first time in many years I had a chance to look around me
No one calling on the phone- oh my god how the boys have grown
But it was not too late- in that glorious hour of the day.
And in the 25 th hour of the day all was revealed
And though you may not believe- all wounds were healed
And in that hour the lost were found- so we walked to higher ground
And there watched the sun refuse to go down
In that glorious hour of the day.
In the 25 th hour of the day I made my peace.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1989.
9. Soldier Down
Convoys sit off the cold French shore
Planes cut through the sky
Smoke rises up beyond the beach
We have arrived.
Gun shots heard and flames rise high
Tanks roll by in the night
A whisper of bullets, buddy’s hit
Try to control the terror and the fright.
Chorus
You can train you can fight
Fight for your life
No hero here
Soldier on.
You can train you can fight
Fight for your life
Win or lose
Soldier down.
After the war I tried to come home
My wife pretends that its fine
But the sound of thunder or a babies cry
Robs all sleep from the night.
Now they talk of our courage the great service done
They talk of the battles that were won
Us that was there we don’t talk so much
We live with the one’s that are gone.
Chorus X2
Words and Music- Ian Tamblyn
Words- Simon Gilleon Brady
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2018
Chelsea, QC
10. Going Home
And now the light has turned within
The long road calls to you
Family have gathered round
To hold and comfort you
Helplessly we wait the day
So little we can do
But hope the love that’s in our hearts
Reaches out to you.
Chorus
You are going- you are going-
Home.
Let it go lay it down
All trouble slipping through
Your hands need not reach out to us
Your goodness sees you through.
All the questions all the fears
The storm that raged through you
Return the calm now to your eyes
The gate swings wide for you
Chorus
I’ll see you on the river
I’ll see you in the bar
Nights so filled with laughter
And of course we went too far
I'll hear you in a melody
Winding through these hills
I'll see you in a starlit night
I will remember you.
Chorus X 2
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
Sept/ 2016- Wakefield, Quebec.
11.Arc of Dreams and Prayers
Too big, too white, too much, my eyes
Can’t take in it all
Brilliant light, breathe in and dive
Glide, glance, fall.
The arc of light, of wing, of fin
The arc of dreams and prayers
Dreams of sky and ocean
Rise before you and you’re there.
The sounding whale, the albatross
That carves an endless blue
And something in the distance
That is calling, calling you.
The flume, the wing, the fluke, the thing
That calls you to this place
Is bounded in our innocence
Our wonder and our grace.
I see it in the light, your eyes
The smile upon your face
As heaven now resides in you
And turns beneath the waves.
We have been touched, we have been touched
Again, again, again
The arc of all your dreams and prayers
Will never be the same.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
Feb 2004.
Antarctica.
12.Bay of Sails
I have been a sailor for far too many years
Nothing but the flotsam and the tide
But all of that is changing I will set my course today
And dream reach all the way to the Bay of Sails.
Chorus
And of course you know the place hard by Bernacchi Bay
Where the blue whales and the snowy petrels play
Come on- lay your burden down, let the capstan spin
And I will meet you down in the Bay of Sails.
I will cross the Bridge of Sighs skirt the Danger Slopes
I hear the bergs stand high in the Bay of Sails
I will cross the blue crevasse dive the deep dark green
And I will meet you down in the Bay of Sails.
Chorus
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN.
1994.
Ross Island, Antarctica.
13. Heading South Instrumental
Music – Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1986
Chelsea, QC
CD 2
1.Cat walk on the Gatineau Instrumental
Music- Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2007.
Gatineau River, QC
2. Old Voice
Old voice -Calling from the mountains
Calling from the mountains
Water rushing down
Old voice
Beckons from the snow fields
Tumbles down the rock face
Rushing to the sea.
Chorus
How I wish I could fly with you
But I have clipped my wings
One day- I will fly with you
When the telling heals the pain.
Old voice
Echoes down the valley
Echoes down the valley
Till there is no sound
No sound
But my heartbeat
And my heartbeat is pounding like a drum.
Chorus
Repeat First Verse and Chorus
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1992.
Kiitlope, Haisla First Nation, B.C.
For Cecil Paul.
3. Let It Go
Full moon through the clouds tonight
Ghosts whisper cross the sea
Horses wander the Marram grass
Iris quiver in the breeze.
Whites sands shift to reshape this world
Grain by grain endlessly
Tomorrow will not be what it was today
But it will be what it will be.
Let it go
Let it go
Let it all fall away
Fools may claim to rule this world
But the sun the sand the sea
Will have their way.
Footsteps fall much slower now
As I kneel by Starry False
Bayberry, Solomon's Seal
Know what once was lost
For they grow among lost sailors
They grow among lost seals
And they grow through the horses bones
And they wave across these fields.
Let it go, let it go
Let it all fall away
Fools may claim to rule the world
But the sun the sea the sand
The moon the sand the stars
Will have their way.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN.
July, 2017.
Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
4. Ghost Parade
When the past fades like some east bound freight
And I was trying to count all the cars
Half way through I seemed to have lost my way
And now it has gone too far.
Still I tried to catch all the things that I had missed
But you get so far behind
When you try to retrace, every thought, every face
That has been lost to time- I will return
I will return, I will not return.
When the past fades like some ghost parade
And I can’t, I can’t go home again
Though I frequently turn with a heart that still burns
To know, to know the north again
Ah but if you live with regrets
For all the things that you have done
Well that’s not living life at all
So turn to life turn to chance - to the future, to the dance
And forgive me when I fall
I will not return
Yet turn to life turn to chance - to the future, to the dance
And forgive me when I fall.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1986
Thunder Bay, ON
5. Paris Afternoon
Music in the garden, a summer’s afternoon
Barges on the river past the Louvre
Top hats on the corner, romance in their eyes
Oh it was such a time to live.
Summer by the seaside, winds from the south
Father with the glasses looking out
Sails on the horizon, while I wonder who she is
Oh it was such a time to live.
Ladies on the avenue beneath parasols
Walking to the sounds of carousels
If I could be there now then I would walk with you
Some where in a Paris afternoon.
Repeat last two lines.
Ian Tamblyn
Manda Music, SOCAN
1975.
Chelsea, QC
6.Tiger Lily Road
When I was a younger man
I traveled where the compass spanned
The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
And Tiger Lily Road.
The narrow streets, the sloping roofs
The fishing weirs, the horses hooves
The gold dust light on the purple hills
Always the river.
I was sent on some exchange
To learn the language I got paid
Doing dishes in some waterfront café
Evenings I would wander home
Past rocking chairs hushed Gallic tones
The knitting needles click the Rosary.
What was it about those times
I seemed to have a clearer mind
My footsteps knew their purpose then
Down Tiger Lily Road
.Perhaps it was the known routine
The simple work my thoughts were free
To roam the hills of mon pays
Always the river.
Perhaps it was the vesper hymns
The priests who prayed for my sins
The golden light upon the rim of hills.
The steeple cast its shadow long
The afterglow lingered on
I knew myself better then I know.
Weekends I would take my pack
Les Escoumins or Tadoussac
The path before me lay the world
Down Tiger Lily Road.
The bold cliffs of the Saguenay
We’d watch the Fins and the White Whales play
Why you could make Ste. Rose in two days
And yet I see it clearly now
That I was ripe for a fall
No priest within his solitude
On Tiger Lily Road.
I think about that time and then
Walking home one evening when
We played the game eyes
And that was all she wrote.
The name she bore- Marie Lafleur
Her father owned the corner store
At the corner of Redemption
And Tiger Lily Road.
And yes I’d seen Marie before
But dreams are hopes and nothing more
I found myself at your door
Dreams to deliver.
But it seems you knew more than me
The greater fool too blind to see
That you yourself were drawn to me
As drawn to the river.
That evening as I wandered home
Our steps were matched and not alone
The circumstance it had been sown
I smile to remember.
Oh I think about days
I wandered ‘round in a haze
Somewhere above the cobbled streets
Of Tiger Lily Road.
The cook he’d shake his spoon and laugh
I see the mouse has caught the cat
You are lost and that is that
Lost to the river.
But every moment we could spend
We spent together without end
Though shadows they were lengthening
Down Tiger Lily Road
I guess we chose not to see
That time was now the enemy
We had forever you and me
We had forever.
We had forever....
Back into those hills we tramped
Mal Baie - Les Eboulements
Marie and I together off down
Tiger Lily Road.
But Marie held a different key
And showed me new eyes to see
The blue and white the fleur de lys
Always the river.
As evenings were lost to song
Leclerc, Vigneault, Harmonium
I even tried to sing along
I tried to sing along.
But the more I saw the less I knew
As a fear inside me grew
And as the meteors of August flew
I could not tell you.
That I am not bound to these hills
These narrow streets your sharpened will
Ce n’est pas mon pays
This Tiger Lily Road.
And as the first days of autumn turned
The wedges flew and the maples burned
With promises to return
I could not deliver.
I did not know myself the truth
The shallow callousness of youth
I believed I would see you
Come next summer.
But next summer came and I went west
The tiger lilies bloomed I guess
Was it the same for you
I sometimes wonder......
I drive the north shore near your town
The radio off- the windows down
Something made me turn off down
Tiger Lily Road.
The cobbled streets they are unchanged
But that door- it’s not the same
And suddenly I’m lost again
On Tiger Lily Road.
Do you know Redemption Street
I ask the people that I meet
There is no Redemption Street
Please- try to remember.
But do you know Marie Lafleur
Her father owned the corner store
Je regrette we don’t know her
Please try to remember.
The river danced a thousand suns
I cursed myself, why had I come
The past cannot be found
On Tiger Lily Road.
Searching for a speck of time
A puzzle piece- a clear through line
Something that could be defined
As yours -as mine.
And now I doubt myself
These events belong to someone else
Did we ever walk down
Tiger Lily Road.
But now I begin to see
As myth entwines our history
We have forever you and me
We have forever.
We have forever.....
When I was a younger man
I traveled where the compass spanned
The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
And Tiger Lily Road.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2000.
Chelsea, Quebec
7. The Low Coast Road
Take a walk down the low coast road
I will disappear
There to join the sea and sky
And find some comfort there.
I used to think I’d learn from lost
I know now that’s not true
For what I’ve found is but the cost
Of being far from you.
I speak to you long distance
So close and far away
You say don’t worry it’s alright
But it’s not- that I can’t say.
I didn’t say.
I couldn’t say the ocean
Had found another soul
I did say the line was cut
Or if I just let go.
You never really grow up
The longings are the same
Revealed in different facets
New places and new names.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2010.
Aran Islands Ireland.
8. One Horse Town
Chorus
Why do I stay in this one horse town
That wind and time kick around
The dust and the sand were blowing main street down
And my reason for staying is gone.
The country’s great the people kind
Some call it home but it ain’t mine.
And I know I should be leaving and it ain’t for trying
I just can’t make the moves to be gone.
The 4 X 4's cruise the Main Street drag
Three in the morning on a friday night
And a smashing of glass brings the morning light
We’ve put another one down.
Chorus
The people I meet they all laugh and stare
They say, “What the hell you still doing here?”
And I try to tell them but it just ain’t there
My reason for staying is gone.
God only knows why I hang around
It sure ain’t playing this hotel lounge
I lie to myself I just might turn around
But I know in my heart she’s long gone.
Chorus
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN.
1980.
Burns Lake, B.C.
9. Storm in the Mountain
Storm on the mountain
Cuts through the trees
Cuts like a chisel and it’s cutting through me.
And there’s no way home, no way home
No way home.
Up past the tree line
Look at her wail
Clouds through the peaks now like a torn sail.
And it strafe that mountain
When the green light fails
Snow piling up in a blistering gale.
Oh God have mercy
On the fool up there
He don’t stand a chance, he don’t stand a prayer.
If it gets too heavy
It will all come down
You may hear the thunder, don’t look around.
For the winds of the future
Are born of the past
Storm on the mountain, coming on fast.
Storm on the mountain
Cuts through the trees
Cuts like a chisel
Cutting through me.
And there’s no way home, no way home
No way home.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN.
Nov. 2006.
Nakusp, B.C.
10. I am Waiting
I am waiting to be with you
To be with you once again
In the comfort of your warm embrace
I will know you then.
When the rust is on the metal
And the shimmer’s in the air
And the hum is all the summer
I will soon be there.
You are walking down the trestle
I am walking close behind
How I love the way your body moves
One day you will be mine.
Queen Anne’s lace black-eyed Susans
Ring of daisies ties your hair
As your hand brushes through them
I will soon be there.
We are walking in a dream time
When your arm brushes mine
And it stirs me may I tell you
I will love you one more time.
And the good rain splashes nighttime
And we’re laughing ‘neath the sky
Drenched skin – smooth touch
Seek to be entwined.
When the monarch’s in the milkweed
And Lunassa is in your eye
And the fire flies the night sky
I’ll be by your side.
For I am waiting to be with you
To be with you once again
In the comfort of your warm embrace
I will know you then.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2009.
Prague, Czech Republic.
11. The Ballad of Mark Jarareuse
My name is Mark Jarareuse and I am in grade six
I was born in Hopedale, Labrador
Yeah, they’re brand new running shoes
I got ‘em new for school
Say what youse guys come to Hopedale for.
Chorus
And the time goes slow on Sundays.
My sister made this whale she’s in the band at school
She’ll be playin’ for youse guys later on.
Yeah- the summer here was good -
Not so much to do
Say- where does that ship you come here on come from?
Cho.
Yeah- I think she done it good, the whales were here last spring
No- they’re gone and they won’t be comin’ back.
No- we weren’t out on the land
My uncle took the boat
And my Dad- he’s gone to Halifax.
Cho.
I really like your boat, I seen them boats before
The Coast Guard had some here last spring
I really like your ship, can I go on your ship
Will you guys be coming back again?
Cho. And Repeat 1 st verse.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
2003.
Hopedale, Labrador.
12. Declaration of Human Rights
“All people are free and equal in dignity and rights.”
Music – Ian Tamblyn
Sea Lynx Music, SOCAN
1990.
Ottawa, ON
13. In the Mist
In the mist of it all
I won’t fail you
In the mist of it all
I’ll be there
Though I strain at times to see you
Pay no mind be at peace don’t despair.
In the mist of it all
And at twilight
In the mist of it all
And at dawn
I will see you now before me
I’ll be there and be with you before long.
For when the morning mist come rising
In the fields above the snow
And the trees peer through like shadows
Comes the one the only one I know.
For now I see you walking
You are walking by my side
Through the mist the sun now burning
And in time this will pass by and by.
Ian Tamblyn
Sea lynx Music, SOCAN
April, 2020.
Cantley, QC