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when i was younger, yeah, I fell in love with endless doubt
reaching reaching all around
I had a hunger for the thunder and the darkest clouds
reaching reaching up and down
I did not want to have direction now I want to
I was asleep and uninspired, now I’ve come to
come to, come to ….know where I’m headed to
I’m done with heartache over-reaching, spilling out
Now I’m older
This chip on my shoulder
It won’t weigh me down
I’m alright, you know
I’ve learned to let it go
I’m alright, you know
i got a feeling there’s a hole I might fall back into
reaching reaching all around
I’m reaching for a meaning in this city (it’s a zoo)
reaching up and down
I feel the subways pulse the pavement with their twisted knots
I go to rooftops and look out across the parking lots
I’m more than what I’ve got, that trophy in that parking spot
I’m done with heartache over-reaching, spilling out
Now I’m older
This chip on my shoulder
It won’t weigh me down
I’m alright, you know
I’ve learned to let it go
I’m alright, you know
So give it a try
Set you free
Just fly away, fly away, don't stop
And let the old die
It's so easy to fly away, fly away, don't stop
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when we fight oh i want to run and light the wood afire
and I don’t wanna ever return
i dont know how we could begin to make it right,
it seems like we can only ever burn
we always get our teeth out and start to polish them,
sharpen them up nice and shiny into a hundred tiny knives
we always have this fierceness, this fire in our bellies,
we raise our hands out overhead devouring open wide and open open open open (wide)
i see no hope to ever begin to know
how to come to see another point of view
(and you don’t) ever stop screaming long enough
to hear what i'm saying, tired as it might always turn out to be
(oh listen up) there you go there you go jumping up and down
what will we have to show for all of this jumping and hollering,
I don’t know, i don’t know, how to bring it on home,
how to do something better than devouring...
in the meantime, whistle while you (work)
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I could tell you how my time was spent looking for ideal happiness
but I was letting myself down, chasing every girl in town
Handing out a piece my heart to every lady (it’s a shot the dark)
and nothing ever came about (time to throw in the towel)
hey you’re getting caught in a lie that
you’re telling yourself just now
hell if you’re some helpless guy
who gets dropped by the pretty girls...
I want to help you figure this out and throw down a little truth right now into these
lies you’re telling yourself now
That make your little heart go POW!
you never let your guard down, there’s not a girl that could figure you out
so show me who you are right now, show me what you’re all about
changes are hard to make, but
I’ll try to take it in somehow
You say that its a give and a take
yeah, that’s something new for me, no doubt
Everyone’s afraid of heartbreak
maybe you can help me out
you somehow
you somehow
somehow....
The classic tale of boy and girl and growth and making changes
sometimes you got to break it down, it might need some explaining
its never ever easy but, she could be the pick me up
even the toughest fighter has somebody there to clean the cuts
and everything could simply be so beautiful
even though at first it all might just seem so unusual
long as you willing to try to keep happiness mutual
I never thought you could bring to life, something
that I held so deep inside
you somehow
yeah you somehow
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So we thought we could survive
As the wildfire came to claim our countryside
But cracking timber’s choir joined the shouts
Now we can’t touch the handle to get out
And we all have run ourselves ragged trying to survive
And its hard to take a step back and open up our eyes
All this time I thought I had to always win
I never thought that I could simply let ya in
But from our years together I can see
That loving you is living (living) in this heat
So we all will run ourselves ragged trying to survive
And we try to take a step back and open up our eyes
Cause we thought we had to slash and burn just to stay alive
But we see its just a marriage purified by fire
And we all have run ourselves ragged trying to refine
So it’s time to throw our heads back and open up our eyes
Yeah we all have run ourselves ragged trying to survive
And it’s hard to take a step back and open up our eyes
Yeah all have run ourselves ragged trying to survive
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When you set me on fire
You bathed me in a blinding desire
And when I brought you to your knees
Your lungs exhaled, your mind at ease
And as we settled down
Your voice became ecstatic sound
And in that tangled tree
we built a kingdom, you and me
Ohhhh
When I see you in flames
I know you’ll say some awful things
And when I go into my hole
I’ll shut you out to take control
And as we spiral down
The world becomes a distant sound
And with a gnashing of the teeth
we bring this kingdom to its knees
Ohhhh
When we were sixteen
we were never cross, we were never mean
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I picked you up to lighten the load and held you in the air
we slipped across the bridge on my back as i held you there
and seeing your darkness your blood and your lack of teeth i
came to understand you were
you were my son, you were my son!
i came to understand you were my son from the way you looked at me
and smiled a lived in smile
many truths many many lives
and then you said my name and I wept... wept a hundred tears
and felt a flooding joy, that comes
after so much suffering
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"We haven’t been this bedazzled with the allure of disco strings since Soul II Soul’s “Back To Life.” - KXT 91.7
------
A record of big pop moments and globe trotting arrangements in technicolor, these songs focus on a five year period of struggle, self discovery, growth and renewal in the life of songwriter/record-maker David Karsten Daniels. During this time DKD got married, had a kid and experienced a crisis of self-identity. Losing himself in self-help books and the Enneagram, many of these songs appear as mantras for a new husband and father trying to trade control and ego for connection and meaning. While a few of the songs flash back to easygoing youthful times, most deal very directly with the day to day of trying to survive and thrive in a new reality. In the end, the album is a sort of letting go - shedding a pervasively melancholic youth, discarding a fabricated self in order to participate in an ever-evolving and interdependent family unit.
Along the way David fell deep in love with the sounds of Fela Kuti, Congolese and Indonesian music, fun., (and the most inspired moments from Kanye West). Three songs feature extensive collaboration with songwriter/producer/filmmaker Chris Walker (Driver Friendly/Hopeless Records/Danger Films) whose focus on rhythm, faster tempos and relentless hooks helps gives the record a feeling of buoyancy rarely found on David's previous albums.
The other songs feature the inspired performances of friends and family - among them David’s wife and son, his brother and sister-in-law Dane & Abbey Daniels and friends Kyle Henson and Ben Jousan. Singer Lex Land (NBC’s ‘The Voice’) and rapper -topic briefly appear as well.
released May 19, 2016
David Karsten Daniels - vocals, guitar, bass, percussion, drums, keys, programming, violin
Chris Walker - drums, percussion, guitar, drums, keys, programming, violin, vocals
>>The Many Hands:
Dane Daniels - drums, percussion, vocals
Abbey Daniels - vocals, bass
Kyle Henson - drums, percussion,vocals
Ben Jousan - guitar, vocals
>>Additional Guests:
Lex Land - vocals
-topic - vocals
K8 - vocals
K. - vocals
Dashon Moore-Guidry - additional percussion
Juan Lopez - handclaps, vocals
Aaron Carpenter - handclaps
Reaching : written and recorded by CDW and DKD
produced by Chris Walker and DKD
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels / christopher daniel walker,
all songs published by smll thngs (ascap) / classic cwalk (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
Whistle While You Work : written and recorded by DKD
arranged by The Many Hands
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels, all songs published by smll thngs (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
You Somehow : written and recorded by DKD and CDW
produced by Chris Walker and DKD
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels / christopher daniel walker,
all songs published by smll thngs (ascap) / classic cwalk (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
The Woods Are On Fire : written and recorded by DKD
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels, all songs published by smll thngs (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
The Kingdom : written and recorded by DKD and CDW
produced by Chris Walker and DKD
additional engineering/mixing by Aaron Carpenter for Fifty50Studios
additional engineering by Juan Lopez
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels / christopher daniel walker,
all songs published by smll thngs (ascap) / classic cwalk (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
Rising Son : written and recorded by DKD
(c) 2016 david karsten daniels, all songs published by smll thngs (ascap)
(p) 2016 smll thngs
all songs mixed and mastered by DKD
www.davidkarstendaniels.com
