Travelers & Thieves

by Scharling

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  • Digital Album

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1.
04:10
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2.
04:44
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3.
04:07
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4.
04:38
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5.
03:47
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6.
02:50
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7.
03:32
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8.
04:55
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9.
04:48
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about

Recorded in 29 days as part of the RPM Challenge, Travelers and Thieves is Scharling's latest album, and reflects a focus on the grim, the downtrodden, the forgotten, wanderers, murderers, cheats, loss, hope, and redemption.

www.facebook.com/Scharling
www.scharlingmusic.com

credits

released 01 March 2012
All songs written, recorded, and mixed by Chris Scharling.

All instruments played or programmed by Chris Scharling except:

-Phil Montelone: bass on track 2, 4, 6, 8, backing vocals on track 7.
-Lawrence Basso: backing vocals on track 2, 4, 7.
-Erich Tisch: Fiddle on track 5 and 7.
-Bruce Jennings: Banjo on track 7.

Special thanks to Adam Schneider, Dan Dinsmore, Erich Tisch, Bruce Jennings, Dustin Henry, my loyal and awesome bandmates, and our families. Thank you for your unending support.

tags

tags: alt alternative indie rock acoustic acoustic folk acoustic guitar albany alt-folk alternative alternative rock cobleskill indie rock upstate ny Albany

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about

Scharling's music is a blend of indie, classic rock, funk, and balls-to-the-wall, get down and rock out badassery.  Formed in 2002, the band has focused on crafting catchy, durable tunes and putting on intoxicatingly frenetic live shows.  Song topics vary from sobering introspection to character studies of cheats, liars, and the deranged to outlaw stories and hip hop inspired wordplay. ... more

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Track Name: A Small Coincidence
Everywhere I go, I hear people call my name
Then I turn around and look and I hang my head in shame.
There’s nobody around and so my ego got a dent.
Then that little voice crept up and said, “it’s just a small coincidence.”

I remember waking in the woods in the middle of the night.
I went looking for my father in the pale moonlight.
Well I guess I must have stumbled into the wrong tent.
When they found me with a concussion, it was just a small coincidence.

I remember last year like it was just yesterday,
in the middle of March or maybe it was May.
I came into my hometown. They were throwing me a parade.
“Congratulations” they said, “a king you’ve just been made.”
So I got up on the podium to thank everyone.
And the silence hit like a hurricane and I knew that I was done.
When it was all over, they said I bared a slight resemblance,
But in the end I guess it was just a small coincidence.

Well I guess I’ve been through it all,
I’ve been kicked and stomped around.
I wish I had some souvenirs so I could show you what I’ve found.
But now I’m just stumbling and I’m looking for some sense.
The last sentence of my last page: Just a small coincidence.

When I got to the pearly gates, I asked if I was in the book.
Saint Peter studied the pages and gave me an odd look.
He said, “I’ve got no reservations.” That’s about as far as it went.
Heaven don’t know me, Hell won’t take me, just a small coincidence.
Track Name: Hymn for the Hopeless
Oh child, stay with your momma.
Stay with your momma now or the devil’s gonna take you away.
Ooh child, stay close to your momma now, or the devil, he’s gonna make you pay.

Ooh child, be good to your friends now.
Be good to your friends now, ‘cause later they’re gonna go away.
Oh child, be good to your wife now.
Be good to your wife now, you’re gonna need her some day.

Oh child, you’d better talk to the lord now.
Confess your sins or the devil’s gonna take you away.
Ooh child, stay in the lines now. Stay in the lines now.
Don’t you go astray.

After a while, you get used to the taste of your blood.
After a while, you get used to waking up in mud.
After a while, nothing hurts anymore.

Oh child, stay with your momma now.
Stay with your momma now or the devil’s gonna take you away.
Ooh child, stay with to your momma now.
Stay with your momma now or the devil’s gonna make you pay.
Track Name: Mussolini
A large and stoic bust of Mussolini rests atop an old man’s prized commode. A young man emerges quietly from the hallway, burden hangs heavily on his back. His eyes stare blankly, not betraying the tremors in his veins.

His words come slowly as his breath begins to quake, “I’ve taken a life and I fear my soul is forsaken.”

The old man pours a scotch and steadies his gaze.

The young man cries, “father, I tried to do as you told me, but despite all my efforts, this darkness has taken over me. There’s nothing I can say, nothing I can do to change what’s been done. Father, I’m a setting sun.”

The old man speaks quickly, his words march like soldiers. Calling in the servants, tobacco paints his commands.

“Collar the torches and raise them to the rafters. Set the manor ablaze and vanish without delay.”

As the corridors burned, a shot rang out in the night. Cinders and embers danced the macabre.

The young man cries, “father, I tried to do as you told me, but despite all my efforts, this darkness has taken over me. There’s nothing I can say, nothing I can do to change what’s been done. Father, I’m a setting sun.”
Track Name: Bottle of Wine
Leave me here with my bottle of wine and let me drink it by myself.
‘Cause I don’t need a thing from you, so leave me to myself.

Troubles come and troubles they go. I guess you know the tune.
But all my days, all my troubles stayed and left me howling at the moon.

I came into this here town seven months ago.
I just wish I could hop that train and make my way back home.
‘Cause home is where the heart is and where you hang your hat.
The last time I saw my old lady, she threw me out on my back.

Now all you kids just leave me alone and I won’t bother you.
‘Cause I sure wish that I could crawl inside of this here bottle of booze.
‘Cause I’d set sail on the seas of merlot,
and maybe I’d change my tune.
‘Cause I’d see the world in a different light inside my little round glass room.

Oh no. I never stood a chance.
Track Name: Deep Blue Grave
I lost all of my memories
somewhere down south
Hard to tell who owns the words
coming out of my mouth

And I tie myself forward with a drastic mind
Pieces of ideas are so hard to come by
With the wind at my back and the devil at my heels.

This deep blue grave will be my final resting place.
My final resting place will be this deep blue grave.
Tell my wife I love her so.

The captain’s in a coma
First mate’s passed out drunk
We’re taking on water
I hear voices in the trunk

And I tie myself forward with bloodshot eyes
Peace of mind can wear a strange disguise
With the water at my knees and the devil in my ear.

This deep blue grave will be my final resting place.
My final resting place will be this deep blue grave.
Tell my son to be strong.

We’re nothing more than spectres
Echoes of the past
We climbed over each other
The ocean is so vast

And I tie myself forward, but I’m falling behind.
The pieces came together at the strangest of times.
With blood on my hands and the devil satisfied.

This deep blue grave will be my final resting place.
My final resting place will be this deep blue grave.
Tell my family that I tried.
Track Name: Maxine
I burned my ID.
Shaved my head.
Drove my car into the river.
They told my family I was dead.

I’d always dreamed of getting off the treadmill
And breaking the chains
Once you reach a certain low
It’s not that hard to flush it all down the drain.

Oh Maxine
There’s a certain forever after
For people like us
It doesn’t end in joy and laughter.

All those sandbox cowboys
They wax mechanical
I always tell them to go to hell
When they say my glass is half full.

Oh Maxine
There’s a certain forever after
For people like us
It doesn’t end in joy and laughter.
Track Name: End of the Tunnel
When, when I was a young man, I used to run, I used to run.

When you were by my side, I was a careful man.
Those times are gone, they’re long, long gone.

But now I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.
And I I can make it if I just hold on.

I never was one with a nose for trouble
But it always found me and brought me down.

You’ll always be the one
The one that got away
If I could turn back the clock
I’d have found a way to make you stay

There used to be a time when I was a happy man
But now I’m sad, I cry every day.

Once, once I had it all figured out,
But somehow it all fell away.

You’ll always be the one
The one that got away
If I could turn back the clock
I’d have found a way to make you stay
Track Name: Run Aground
Don’t pull out your eyelashes.
You ain’t gonna see no better that way.
Don’t give up on your daydreams.
When the world tells you to put them away.
Don’t give up for a second. Never give up.

Just keep your head on straight.
Don’t let the world bring you down.
Just keep on moving, moving through.
Even when your ship runs aground.

I was once like you are now, full of hope and full of dreams.
But those days have passed me by. I don’t know what’s ahead of me.
I once had choices, I once had plans. Somehow it always seemed to slip through my hands.
I had it all but didn’t know. Now I’m out of time.

Just keep your head on straight.
Don’t let the world bring you down.
Just keep on moving, moving through.
Even when your ship runs aground.
Track Name: Feast or Famine
We stayed up till we could see our breath and watched the fireflies.
As we made our way back to the shack, I held you close by my side.
While we slept and shivered through the night, a fire began to glow.
When the flames drew close, they rang the bell and told us it was time to go.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the ocean, and too long since I’ve been warm.
As they rush out onto the road, I can’t help but feel torn.
Watching the last of our possessions wither in the fire, I hold out my hands,
And for a moment, I bask in the heat of destruction and forget about making new plans.

With you by my side and my instinct as my guide, there’s nothing more that I’ll need.
Still it’d be easier if all of our dreams weren’t crushed by some rich men’s greed.
We stayed up until the sun came up and watched the fire die out.
Made our way to the coast, better times are ahead, feast or famine, flood or drought.