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Schweiz (Deutsch)"New Years Eve Song" (New, Untitled) -- Lyrics: Please review
"New Years Eve Song" (New, Untitled) -- Lyrics: Please review
Posted: Sunday, February 6, 2011 - 20:43
Friends:
I've written down the lyrics, as best I could make them out from a recording at my disposal, for the new song played first on New Years Eve and also played at Kalamazoo and South Bend last week.
Because it was first played on New Years Eve, it's become known as the "New Years Eve" song (or "NYE Song," for short). I had the great fortune to meet Scott and Seth after the Kalamazoo show, and they told me that it doesn't have a name. but that they'd been working on it in the studio in January.
I wonder what they'll finally name it -- "I Ain't from Texas"? "The Life I'm Given"? I'd like "If I Live the Life I'm Given I Won't Be Scared to Die," but that's kind of long. That line is what sticks out for everyone who hears it the first time.
If you've heard this song, and especially if you have a recording of it, please review the lyrics below. I'm pretty sure of them, but there was half a line that I couldn't make out because everyone in Kazoo was cheering when Scott said "Detroit." [UPDATE: blaire543 supplied the missing words, which I've added to the lyrics.]
For any interested guitarists, I'm working on the chords for this, too. Almost ready, but I want to play it for a couple days before posting it, make sure it's all right. If you want to take a crack at it, it's capo 4 in the form of C (actual key of E).
This is one of the Avett's most structurally complex songs, featuring no fewer than seven different chords (including a Beatles-like shift A to Am [F to Fm with capo] in the chorus). This is fast becoming a most beloved song. I can't wait to hear it on their next record!
-- Eric
"New Years Eve Song"
I ain’t from Texas, but I made my way from Dallas
and I know the lonesome sound is following
And I ain’t a gambler, but I can recognize a hand
and when to hold, the queens are staring back at me
Once I was a carpenter, man, my hands were callused
I could swing a metal mallet sure and straight
But I took to the highway, a poet young and hungry
and I left the timbers rotting where they lay
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
and when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky
And when the black cloak drags upon the ground
I’ll be ready to surrender and remember
Well we’re all in this together
If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die
And I don’t come from Detroit, but her diesel motors pull me
and I followed until I finally lost my way
And now I spend my days in search of a woman we called purpose
and if I ever pass back through her town I’ll stay
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
and when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky
And when the black dress drags upon the ground
I’ll be ready to surrender and remember
We’re all in this together
If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die
And my life was but a coin, pulled from an empty pocket
dropped into a slot with dreams of sevens close behind
And hope and fear go with it, and the moon and the sun go spinning
like the numbers and the fruits before my eyes
Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind
Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
and when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky
And when the black cloak drags upon the ground
I’ll be ready to surrender and remember
Well we’re all in this together
If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die
Replies for this Board Topic
and I don't come from Detroit, but her diesel motors pull me
pretty sure that's the line.
Wow -- Thanks!
--Eric
On the New Years Eve stream, Scott sang "And I spend my days in search of a woman we called Asheville and if I ever pass back through her town I’ll stay."
Did they sing purpose in the most Kalamazoo and South Bend? I LOVE that. It makes that lyric even more meaningful.
I think the line is "sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind" that is how I am always hearing it, as in 'hitting the jackpot"
I was wondering what they had replaced "Asheville" with- purpose fits in there nicely.
there are a couple other words that I might contend with you, but I have to listen again while I am looking at your lyrics.
THANKS ERIC
Right on, Kindermama. I heard "I hit" this afternoon and logged in before bed to change it. Glad to have your confirm on that. Unlocks the whole song for me.
I'll say more later when I get a few minutes (have to do the taxes first -- ugh), but here's one reflection:
"I can recognize a hand and when to hold / the queens are staring back at me"
Song's basic theme, "Life's a gamble; you have to play the hand your delt best you can." And here I reckon Scott is talking about the hand he's been dealt in his family -- his wife and daughter (queens looking at him out of his hand).
That's a hand to hold. He's not a gambler, but, then again, he is. We all are. And he knows that's a good hand.
Beautiful song. Been playing it, too -- fast becoming one of my favorite of all their songs.
-- Eric
Right on, Kindermama. I heard "I hit" this afternoon and logged in before bed to change it. Glad to have your confirm on that. Unlocks the whole song for me.
I'll say more later when I get a few minutes (have to do the taxes first -- ugh), but here's one reflection:
"I can recognize a hand and when to hold / the queens are staring back at me"
Song's basic theme, "Life's a gamble; you have to play the hand your delt best you can." And here I reckon Scott is talking about the hand he's been dealt in his family -- his wife and daughter (queens looking at him out of his hand).
That's a hand to hold. He's not a gambler, but, then again, he is. We all are. And he knows that's a good hand.
Beautiful song. Been playing it, too -- fast becoming one of my favorite of all their songs.
-- Eric
Right on, Kindermama. I heard "I hit" this afternoon and logged in before bed to change it. Glad to have your confirm on that. Unlocks the whole song for me.
I'll say more later when I get a few minutes (have to do the taxes first -- ugh), but here's one reflection:
"I can recognize a hand and when to hold / the queens are staring back at me"
Song's basic theme, "Life's a gamble; you have to play the hand your delt best you can." And here I reckon Scott is talking about the hand he's been dealt in his family -- his wife and daughter (queens looking at him out of his hand).
That's a hand to hold. He's not a gambler, but, then again, he is. We all are. And he knows that's a good hand.
Beautiful song. Been playing it, too -- fast becoming one of my favorite of all their songs.
-- Eric
P.S. Is it just me or it the captcha being especially cross this evening? Third attempt . . .
I never heard "I hit" either, but yep... pretty sure it is. And makes much more sense to me now.
And my life was but a coin, pulled from an empty pocket
dropped into a slot with dreams OF sevens close behind
"of". not "and"
at least in my version. and that is truly picking it apart, I know, but that is only thing I could find.
Blaire: You're right! "dreams OF sevens" makes much more sense! Thanks a million.
-- Eric
Two more little things I noticed:
"I ain't from Texas but I made my way from Dallas and I know the lonesome sound is following" (not "you know the lonesome sound...", but "I know..."
Also, "and NOW I spend my days in search of a woman we call purpose..." (insert "now" in there)
Yogini --
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
-- Eric
Any progress on chords yet?
Thanks
pri3257:
Sure thing. I've been playing this thing every day and I think I've got it pretty well down now. Here's a direct link to my PDF of the layout.
One note: I found it a little tricky to indicate the "crossover" between the end of the second chorus and the interlude that follows immediately after. The interlude actually begins right on the word "die."
I haven't done any tabs for this song yet, partly because it was hard enough to fit onto two pages (so you can put them both on the music stand and not have to turn any), without adding that.
The interlude, however, uses a pretty simple little bass line. You walk down C-B-A before the Am chord, and G-F-E before the Em. So in the spot I'm talking about, you start the walk-down (C-B-A) right where you sing the word "die." Under "Interlude" I put the first Am in brackets to show the cross-over from one section to another. Hope it's not too confusing.
Also, on the subject of tab, Seth does these two little flourishes in the intro and between lines on the A and D strings. D-B-C and A-B-C. I've also pretty well figured out the little C-walk that he does before the final verse and hope to tab that out, too.
-- Eric
Anyone have link to this song on youtube?
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! i am obsessed with this song and now i can finally play it
Anyone have a recording of this song?
Fantastic, thanks Aerix. I recorded a quick version on guitar and banjo with your transcribed lyrics/chords, what a great song.
Activist/Riviera, here is the version from Kalamazoo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxXUPKIKFXU
Thanks, Eric. I had the great pleasure of hearing this song for the first time at the Wilkes-Barre show and knew immediately that it was really something special. To me, it shows them at the height of their art/talent/maturity - the artist fully realized. That sort of thing. "My life is but a coin pulled from an empty pocket . . ." Just beautiful. I'm gonna love learning this song.
How is it comin on the chords?
To me, it shows them at the height of their art/talent/maturity - the artist fully realized
Scootermcclain, I have been thinking the same thing. I have been hesitating to say that because in my opinion they have many songs that are brillant, but wow, this one just has been overpowering me. The lyrics are perfection. The last verse is so powerful. And the bridge....
What an incredible tune. Thanks to all for pulling the lyrics and chords together -- especially to Eric, who put up the PDF.
One thing I wanted to point out/ask about: in the couple of videos I've seen on YouTube, in the first and third lines of each verse, I seem to be hearing the chord progression as C-F-Dm-F (rather than C-Am-Dm-F as written out in the PDF). I also seem to be hearing the F rather than the Am toward the end of both interludes (i.e., C-F-G...). Anyone else hearing it as such?
Just some food for thought. Again, thanks for writing it out, Eric! I can't get this song out of my head.
ECUPirate, I've been working on (more like murdering) this song all morning and still hearing the Am in there. But then again I have been accused on being a bit tone deaf. I'll defer to Eric on this.
LindaM, I'd really like to know which one wrote it or whether it's more of a collaborative effort. Whatever the process, it's a wonder that after so many albums and songs they can come out with something like that. I wouldn't call it an improvement because even their earliest work is great - but I would say that it's reaching a new level. (A good analogy might be Dylan at his Blood on the Tracks stage?) I noticed at the Wilkes-Barre show that after the song half of the audience was sort of quiet - sort of a 'what was THAT?' reaction. Thanks again to Eric and everyone else for deciphering this one. Tabs anyone?
ECUPirate --
Damn, I think you may be right! I'm going to put on the headphones tomorrow and really study this one close, but I'm almost certain you're right.
Good catch!
-- Eric
P.S. I'll post a correction once I'm 100% sure about this change; I'm like 99% right now . . .
The boards are acting weird. I just failed a audio CAPCHA, which I had to use because the text image wasn't there for some reason, then when I tried again (this time with text CAPCHA), it went through twice.
Couldn't delete the second one, but I could EDIT it, which is what I'm doing with this nice little useless post here.
Just noticed, also, that the boards have reverted to my old photo, instead of the one I uploaded a couple weeks ago of me and Scott in Kazoo. This is easily the buggiest website I visit on a regular basis.
-- Eric
Scooter -- There's a moment in the Kalamazoo video (which I made into an mp3 on my iPod) where the crowd kind of realizes this ain't a cover, but a new Avett song. I think it's right after Seth sings "I won't be scared to die." That line was so clearly written by Scott Avett, and we all started cheering.
-- Eric
ECUPirate --
I've looked at several videos of this song and listened closely, and I'm sure you're right about those A-minors really being F's.
The Am always struck me as a sort of strange chord for that spot -- not musically (it sounds nice), but in terms of what I'd expect from Scott (I'm assuming this is a Scott song, since it totally seems like one).
I've updated the file at my Avett song archive accordingly. Also made a couple minor modifications to the spacing of some lines where the chord comes in before the lyric. I don't usually do this for aesthetic reasons (as noted on the archive page), but this song seemed to warrant it.
-- Eric
Very cool, Eric. Thanks again for all the hard work of getting this into a nice format. Wasn't sure if my ears were hearing those F's correctly, but one thing I do know is that your PDF will make it a heck of a lot easier for me to learn this song than me trying to read my own lousy handwriting if I had to decipher the lyrics and chords.
Cheers!
-- Jimmy
I just wanted to say I was thrilled to hear them play this twice this week personally in both Augusta and Athens. It's got kind of an old country song feel to it for me, largely based on Scott's lead vocal at the front end.
If it's a sign of what's to come, I'm really curious (always curious & eager) to hear more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrk5qKUbHA\
Thought I'd share if any you haven't see this.. It's definitely the best video of this song I've found! From Suwannee Springfest.
Clemoh12 -- Thanks for sharing that. I love the harmonies on the last chorus -- haven't heard those before!
-- Eric
My cover of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNPrPzMiiGc
-- Eric
they just played this in Charlotte and someone has posted as a John Denver cover...is it a cover or something new?
Japhy1--
They've been playing this song at almost evey show this year. It's an original by Scott.
They've also been working on it in the studio. I expect it'll be on the next record. Can't wait!
--Eric