- DARK COUNTRY -
lyrics
CREEK
Before a creek becomes a river
I must turn all the stones.
Before a seed becomes a field
I kneel and plant it, blind.
Through frozen ground
And faithless years,
With no reward to find.
Before a creek becomes a river ...
Before a creek becomes a river!
Before my soul becomes an angel
I must turn all the stones.
With gentle hands and heavy heart
I lift them on my own.
Before a creek becomes a river ...
Before a creek becomes a river!
Although my boots are old and worn
I've made this path my own.
Before a dream can rise and live
It must be overthrown.
The wind begins to moan.
Before a creek becomes a river!
Before a creek becomes a river!
ON A BUS FROM OTTAWA
In the wee hours of the morning,
In the dead of night, in the stormy rain,
Shades of blue climbing the horizon.
The diesel purrs but I can’t sleep
Against this window pane.
On a bus, on a bus from Ottawa ...
No one waiting there to meet me,
No one waiting there to greet me.
There’s just an empty seat beside me,
Full of love ...
I found love.
In the wee hours of the morning
It’s not easy to tell
Which stop is meant for you –
And when the ride should end.
On a bus, just a bus from Ottawa ...
No one waiting there to meet me,
No one waiting there to greet me.
Just an empty seat beside me,
Full of love.
DARK COUNTRY
We’re dwelling in dark country,
Night has always been our friend.
We’re sinking in dark country,
From our birth until the end.
We’re flattening our faces
And flattening the things we feel.
So keep your nose close to the grindstone
And your shoulder to the wheel.
Empty words of liberty –
A ghost of what we used to be.
But I’ll walk this night until it’s through,
With moonlight, and a thought of you.
I love you, dark country,
Yet you’re the killer of my soul.
I love you, my country,
Turning diamonds into coal.
I love you, Dark Country,
Yet you’re strangling my soul.
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
One way or another
I’m gonna find my way back to you.
When the storm sets in
Don’t know how long it’s been
Since the last time I’ve seen you cry.
When we go all-in
Don’t know how long it’s been
Since the last time I’ve made a try.
God knows where you’re sailing now?
I hope you reach the port somehow ...
Go! Almighty, almighty wind!
One way or another
I’m gonna find my way back to you.
When the day is done
And we’re having fun,
To each other we’re second to none.
Well, God knows where you’re sailing now?
And I hope you reach the ports, somehow ...
You almighty, almighty wind!
One way or another
I’m gonna find my way back to you.
One way or another
I’m gonna find my way home to you.
DOLPHIN HEART
Fresh water shall be my grave,
They chained me up and made me their slave.
Break, break away ...
Amazing body and amazing soul,
With lust for life and always on a roll.
Break, break away ...
Vibrating of the world,
Pulsating of the Earth:
Things that I could feel.
Please, take my dolphin heart,
And take it back to where I found my start,
Back to the deep blue sea –
Again I will be free.
I couldn’t balk and couldn’t go blind;
One constant thought lingered in my mind.
Break, break away ...
Rotation of the Earth,
Destruction of the world:
Things before I kneel.
Things before I kneel!
Please, take my dolphin heart,
And take it back to where I found my start,
Back to the deep blue sea –
Again I will be free.
Oh, please, take my dolphin heart,
And put it back to where I found my start,
Back to the deep blue sea –
Again I will be free!
Cut it. Cut it out!
WORKIN
Workin', workin' much too long,
Grinding all day, holding on so strong.
The clock ticks slow like a broken gong,
But I keep humming my working song.
Calloused hands from the hammer's prong,
Carrying dreams that don't belong.
For silver spoons, for the wine-soaked throng –
For folks like me who've waited long!
I'm gonna be workin', workin' till it's done,
Workin', workin' till it's done!
I've been workin' long,
Baby, much too long.
Yeah, I've been workin' long, baby,
I've been workin' long.
With a tired smile, where the brave belong,
I keep singing my working song.
But I'd be better off with something else to do:
spending my whole day making love to you!
I'm gonna be workin', workin' till it's done,
Workin', workin' till it's done!
Oh, sweet lawdy mama!
I'm gonna be workin', workin' till it's done,
That's right!
I've been workin' long,
Baby, much too long ...
ARE WE ONLY DREAMING?
Are we only dreaming?
Am I only dreaming?
My flight’s suppose to land at 7:15,
No pilot on the plane, nowhere to be seen;
They wrecked up my guitar
And the Uber is late.
OK. I’ll wait ...
There’s a Camel in the street
Dancing to the beat.
There’s a Panda on the corner,
He’s employed as an informer.
Cow and Elephant going on a date.
OK. I’ll wait ...
Are we only dreaming?
Are we only kissing the skies of reality?
Are we only dreaming?
Are we only testing the grounds of duality?
Are we only dreaming?
No matter what we do –
We’re in the same old ZOO.
No matter what the animal –
We’re all in queue.
So everybody get on board
And pull the weight!
OK, OK, OK ... I’ll wait ...
Oh! It was just a dream!
Am I only dreaming?
SKATING
Our love is like skating
On a barely frozen lake.
Blades that cut in circles
In a game of give and take.
The ice might be cracking –
We could hear its breaking cries.
Winds of life may burn our eyes.
But it’s a blessing in disguise:
Cause everything is different with us!
Perseverance. Hanging on:
Cause everything is different with us!
O-A-I-A.
Our love is like skating
In an arena full of pucks,
Stumbling over them,
Like our feelings are in flux.
But if we hold each other
Really really tight,
We both know we might,
We might ...
We might just make it
Through the night:
Cause everything is different with us!
A SOLDIER DYING IN THE MEADOW (1812)
As my body lies
Time makes me realize
That everybody dies –
And closes their eyes.
As my body tries,
And I don’t feel a thing,
Under the blood red skies
With my soul I cling.
Oh, with my soul I cling!
Goodbye, my life:
Goodbye my ways, my words, my thoughts –
The fire that shapes a man sincere.
Goodbye, my love:
We were to wed this very year –
I won’t return to hold you near.
Goodbye, my brothers,
Thy courage shines for all to see!
Goodbye, my sister,
May your voice soar ever free!
Goodbye, my father,
In thee the noble heart I knew!
Goodbye, my mother,
I was because you gave me life
And followed through!
On this meadow all begins anon!
As the battle rages on,
As the cannons slay the dawn,
As the slaughter blazes on,
As the horses’ blood is drawn,
As the muskets echo on,
As the volleys shatter dawn:
On this meadow all begins anon!
COLOUR BLIND
Our love leaves me colour blind –
I try, but there’s no cure I find.
We’ve been always undefined –
Like light I might never find.
Our love leaves me colour blind –
Dark souls, crude and unrefined.
We spoke in a broken hue,
Where red and green both felt blue.
There was a time for love but now it’s gone,
You were my queen but now
I can’t tell the red from the green.
Our love keeps me colour blind –
I try, but there’s no peace I find.
Once warm feels so cold and slight –
A soft goodbye in black & white.
There was a time for love but now it’s gone,
You were my queen but now
I can’t tell the red from the green.
Colour blind, red from green ...
Colour blind.
I LEFT MY LOVE IN SAN FRANCISCO
Met her out in San Francisco,
By the bay where the fog rolls low.
The Golden Gate and golden moments,
With her walking by my side.
With every step our souls unlocking,
Together nevermore alone.
But the mighty fall came knocking,
had to make, had to make my way back home.
I left my love in San Francisco
And went up North where the cold winds blow.
When I get back in blooming springtime
I’ll steal the moon to make her mine.
The stars were pale above the pines,
The cold has taught me how to read between the lines.
My love still burns beneath this winter sky –
A flame no freezing wind could dear deny.
I left my love in San Francisco,
I went up North where the cold winds blow.
When I get back in blooming springtime
I’ll steal the moon to make my baby mine.
I left my love in San Francisco,
In San Francisco, far away,
Our love still lives where seagulls play –
Our love still lives in San Francisco Bay.
A L B U M C R E D I T S
“DARK COUNTRY”
All music, lyrics, vocals, instruments and musical arrangements by
Gal George Gjurin.
Album produced, mixed and mastered by
Gal George Gjurin.
Recorded in Studio OSH (Oshawa, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
& Studio HAD (Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU), 2016-2025.
Assistant: Niko Kostanjevec (Studio REZ, Slovenia, EU).
Special guests: Ruj Hudson Gjurin (glockenspiel on ON A BUS FROM OTTAWA),
Niko Kostanjevec (acoustic grand piano on DOLPHIN HEART),
Tinkara Kovač (Paleolithic bone flute on DOLPHIN HEART),
Kras Gjurin & Anja Oraže (backing vocals on SKATING).
Album design by
Jana Furman, Lalala Biro, Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU;
584 Visuals Canada, Toronto, Canada.
Album cover photo by
Elizabeth Stang, Toronto, ON; Vancouver, BC.
Published by
OSH Publishing Canada, Canada, ©℗ Gal Gjurin ℗2025.
All rights reserved.
Album catalogue number: GAL LP 17 & GAL CD 18
Side A
-
CREEK 3:45
-
ON A BUS FROM OTTAWA 4:24
-
DARK COUNTRY 4:11
-
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER 4:43
-
DOLPHIN HEART 4:24
Side B
-
WORKIN 2:56
-
ARE WE ONLY DREAMING 3:30
-
SKATING 3:57
-
A SOLDIER DYING IN THE MEADOW (1812) 3:51
-
COLOUR BLIND 4:10
-
I LEFT MY LOVE IN SAN FRANCISCO 3:34
Total playing time: 43:43
Performed by Gal George Gjurin:
lead and backing vocals, various acoustic & electric guitars,
Fender Champ lap-steel guitar (1954), 5-string banjos, guitarbanjo,
resonator guitar, mandocello, Canadian plucked dulcimer & Weissenborn slide guitar,
Southern European bugarria, bratsch & bisernitza, Spanish laud, Cuban tres,
violas, violins, cellos, Italian upright bass (1826), bass guitars,
drums & various percussions, B-3 (1956), M-3 (1959)
and A-100 (1963) Hammond organs, Mellotron, acoustic piano,
Mark II Fender Rhodes (1981), digital and analog synthesizers,
Hohner accordion (1962), various harmonicas, sampling,
Irish flutes & whistles, Slovenian wooden shepherd flute,
valve and slide trombones, baritone saxophone.
***