Besides
1997, Scampering Songs Publishing
Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej...
Hej, you wanna sit right here?
Here beside me?
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna say my name?
Say it slowly.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last chance.
Hej, you wanna smile at me?
I’ll adore you.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna read my poetry by the sea boy?
Do you BABY? I do. I do.
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last chance.
Hej, you wanna hear a secret?
C’mere I’ll whisper.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna hear it again?
Maybe one day we’ll be sayin’ I DO.
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last dance.
my love is a fever
my love is a fable
my love is jazz licks
improvised by toddlers
bold Ulysses by nursery rhyme
and firelight
my love is a metamorphosis
reason cold logic
intuitively speaking
my love is syncopated
spoon-fed ignorant
well-read
my love is singular
my love is commonplace
as a gravedigger's own birthplace
my love is a medicine
feeds the sick heals the poor
turns up the volume on the blind
my word it's a trip
like a migraine
on a moving train
it parachutes aeroplanes
watch it fly
eyes soar hands clap
ears ring it's a sand trap
hair raising amazing
grey city transformations
as lips sink stomachs ache
monkeys shine fire flies
foxes trot hobs knob
porches swing brains storm
hearts attack and air supplies
heads light tails spin
steeples chase you along your chin
rock slides
out of the woods now
a virgin in buckskin
moccasins tall thin
she plays your mandolin
so maudlin you begin to spin
out of the woods now
is it because I cannot see you
that you feel so free to steal
my excess baggage full of darkness and despair
while I fumble with my locks
you’re content to stand and knock
yet I know your knack for thievery is rare
do you know they call it arson
setting fires without permission
in my heart for sure and maybe elsewhere too
though your lack of inhibition
captures my imagination
I end up a wiser person thanks to you
it's coming to fruition
the sympathetic vibration
your train is at my station
within without
then there is your flare for murder
there's a dagger in the border
of your cloak and I suspect a captain's gun
as you put to death suspicions
kindly kill my fears as well
exorcise and slay the demons one by one
though I'm usually pacifistic
you are mercifully sadistic
and I didn't know that murder could be good
but the roses came crimson
springing from the prison
of the floorboards where there once were stains of blood
it's coming to fruition
the sympathetic vibration
your train is at my station
within without
it's calming my suspicion
with soothing intuition
your train is at my station
within without
within without
within without
within without
Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair,
discarded all your beauty in despair,
declared yourself a concubine,
filled the bathtub full of wine,
bathed and drank the night away,
and said there’d never come a day
when politics would ever mean a thing.
Last night I dreamt you came and crowned me king.
Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
and laid it at the bottom of my stair
and waited by the garden gate
for one more rendezvous with fate,
kept a pistol in your dress
(the iron loved your sweet caress
as trigger-finger twitched at your command.)
Last night I dreamt we fell upon the sand.
Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
and sold your stockings at the county fair
and how the clowns did dance and sway
(the sheep and goats all had their say)
and there I’m sitting at the side
of the one who loved to ride
the ferris wheel in nothing but bare skin.
Last night I dreamt you knocked. I let you in.
Murder’s just a word
for lack of something else to say.
Murder’s just a game
for lack of something else to play.
Put your finger,
put your fingers on it.
Something’s got me,
something’s got my heart by the throat.
Blood is just a shade
on the palette of your blushing body.
Blood is not afraid
of all of this internal bleeding.
Put your finger,
put your fingers on it.
Something’s got me,
something’s got my heart by the throat.
Love is just a flame
burning us with indiscretion.
Love, is not to blame
if murder is a man’s invention.
Love is not a man’s invention.
Inhale, exhale, dovetail, set sail,
nightingale, blackmail, go to jail, make bail,
prevail, unveil every detail,
read my braille, put your fingers on it.
Sometimes I like to stick my fingers
where they don’t belong.
Sometimes I like to fake a fever
and just stay home.
‘Cause we smile in here
we don’t get too close to sadness.
‘Cause what’s holding us
is just about to break.
Ain’t it funny how life can drag behind us
just like so much dead weight.
Sometimes what feels like pretty good music
is just the same old song.
Sometimes we deal with bygone bruises
and find it’s been too long.
But we laugh in here
we don’t get too close to sadness.
We know good enough
is a thousand miles from grace.
Ain’t it funny how life can drag behind us
just like so much dead weight.
And my hometown train
is pulling from the station.
And I know for once
I really will be late.
And I’ll dream that we can leave the past behind us
just like so much dead weight.
Sometimes I like to stick my fingers where they don’t belong.
(Don’t be bothered, no.)
Don’t be bothered by the fears.
I’ll try to bottle them like my mother’s perfume.
She wore it only on Sunday,
kept it safe in her room in a chest with a key.
We found it anyway.
Don’t be bothered by the fears.
They’ll only join us like the sky that blushes red tonight.
And makes the wind die down,
calms the troubled sea (more out of duty than pleasure,
but out of pleasure nonetheless.)
Your fire burns me like a favorite song.
A song I should have known all along.
I feel you move like smoke in my eyes.
And that is why.
Don’t be bothered by the fears
that sing from my eyes like carillon ringing only on Sunday
on the roof down our street finally Over the River.
Ring for you, ring for me, finally, forever.
It’s just I never, it’s just I never thought,
I never thought that I could be this free.
Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
a little lower than the angels.
And it's got nothing to do with me.
The wind blows through the trees,
but if I look for it, it won't come.
I tense up. My mind goes numb.
There's nothing harder than learning how to receive.
Calm down. Be still.
We've got plenty of time to kill.
No hand writing on the wall:
just the voice that's in us all.
And you're whispering to me,
time to get up off my hands and knees,
'cause if I beg for it, it won't come.
I find nothing but table crumbs.
My hands are empty. God I've been naive.
All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.
Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
a little lower than the angels.
This voice calling me to you:
it's just barely coming through.
Still, I clearly hear my name.
I've been fingering the flame
like tomorrow's martyr.
It gets harder to believe.
All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.
So from now till kingdom come,
taste the words on the tip of my tongue.
'Cause we can't run truth out of town,
only force it underground.
The roots grow deeper
in ways we can't conceive.
All I need is everything.
Inside, outside feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.
All I need is all I need.
Oh Lucy, it’s not as bad as you think.
Oh Lucy, love’s a fact that can make a girl drink.
And you say that it’s over.
You say it’s the end of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.
Oh Lucy, there’s a cold look in your eye.
Oh Lucy, I believe this is the way most dreamers die.
And Lucy’s starting over.
Lucy’s at the edge of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy...
God have mercy,
the house stands empty with the garden.
God have mercy,
your young girl’s heart will learn to harden.
Lucy, you can’t pray a lie,
no matter how hard you try.
Lucy, you can’t pray a lie.
You’re a bloody-minded girl and that’s alright.
You’re gonna be just fine.
Oh Lucy, it’s not as bad as you think.
I wanna be real,
something you can sink your teeth into.
I want you to feel,
all it is that I feel for you.
I’m firelight for your seeing hands.
Rich perfume for your tastebuds.
Your eyes are always
dark and deep,
but we have promises to keep
and miles to go before we sleep.
Are you drunk,
with the wine of God?
Did your ship wreck
as the tempest tossed you?
You can write your name on the water,
it’ll drift on out to sea.
You can treat me like a daughter,
you can write your name on me.
We touched a funeral, drank a parade.
We stole a wedding, melted and prayed.
It always hovers just around the bend.
We’re never quite there, but then again.
Once a stranger now more than a friend-
it all makes me pretty tired.
I suppose that you’re still wired.
Your heart’s on mine
beating double time,
but we have promises to keep
|and miles to go before we sleep.
And miles to go...
if i'm drowning within your open sea
save me, save me
if i'm lost within your strange anatomy
talk to me, talk to me
if i'm on fire and i'm melting in the heat
touch me, touch me
if i'm tangled in your raw philosophy
then you better walk with me
walk with me
i'm just walking across your heart
in spite of the weather
(won't you walk with me?)
if i'm dancing through your passages and fall
catch me, catch me
if i'm screaming in your sky and tell you all
hear me, hear me
if i'm feigning coherence and calmness
laugh with me, laugh with me
if i tremble at your close proximity
then you better believe me
believe me
i can see you now
i can hear you now
i can feel you now
i can taste you now
in spite of the weather
yeah
Besides was a record that was released initially as part of a “Rhinelander” fan club membership. Linford and Karin wanted to take a whimsical romp through the early years of the band, do something breezy, a little out of control, but with real substance, and teeth.
Linford explains further:
Folks had been bugging us to fire up a fan club of some kind. We wanted to make our version of a fan club CD to end all fan club CD’s.
And we felt that we had definitely been blessed with the sort of devoted following that was hungry and wanted to go deeper into the band’s music, root around in the closet, uncover stuff. Why not?
So we revisited the early music of the band and put some ground rules in place, tried to set the bar high, tried to mix as many metaphors as we could, trot out the cliches and reinvigorate them:
In short, the tracks had to:
1) Stand alone as compositions in their own right -- songs which had never previously seen the light of day as recordings (Miles, Lucy, Last Night, Murder, Dead Weight etc) or 2) Shed radical new light on an existing recording (The People Here Are Not Shy, Bothered, My Love Is A Fever etc) or 3) Embody some defining musical moment for the band (If I’m Drowning, All I Need Is Everything)...”
We wanted any “Live” recordings to sound way better than a typical bootleg, and we wanted to flaunt our overachiever tendencies a bit I suppose, come up with playful, lavish artwork, give our best fans something good, make people grin. (The booklet for Besides is the most expensive one we’ve ever printed…)
But the important thing at the end of the day is we’ll stand by this music. We were young and hungry and most importantly as any writer will tell you, we were showing up. Every once in a blue moon, God surprised even us, and walked through the room.
**
The first run of the CD was packaged with a small book called Northern Spy #1 (now a collector’s item) a metaphysical tour diary and more.
We’ll see if we can track down those words sometime and make them available here…
In the meanwhile, take a little ride. We think you’ll like it.
01. The People Here Are Not Shy (5:11)
Notes: Back in late 1988 when we first moved down to the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine it was a new dark place and it felt to me as if invisible credits were rolling at the beginning of the movie that was my brand new life. Every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the locals seemed to be nothing short of scripted. And pure poetry. I’d sit out on the sidewalk with my battery-powered four-track and record the moving street and sometimes invite people up to the bedroom to tell me stuff they wanted to tell. The voice on this recording belongs to a James Brown, middle initial “R.” I found this old cassette mix of the If I’m Drowning guitar/percussion tapestry out in the cold hallway at the top of my stairs in a cardboard box. As we were recording the songs that became Till We Have Faces, I would sometimes make quick mixes of recordings-in-progress to take home and evaluate. There are some parts in this mix that were absent or only tiny details in the final mix. See Till We Have Faces for more information.
02. Hej (I Do) (4:18)
Words and Music: Linford Detweiler, Scampering Songs Publishing, ASCAP.
Produced by Linford Detweiler.
Recorded and Mixed by Tim McAllister.
Notes: Written in fifteen minutes on a Sunday afternoon, this song was an out-take from the Patience sessions. “Hej, we’re a new wave band with a blonde Swede front and center. How do we sound so far?” Brian had a video worked out for this one involving cut-out, painted cardboard scenes.
03. My Love Is A Fever (Live) (4:07)
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
Notes: My love is alive. Recorded at the Emery Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 16, 1995 by Colin Cordy and Kerry Faye. See Eve for more information.
04. Within Without (rough mix) (4:32)
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler, Hordinski and Bergquist
Notes: This rough mix (made quickly by Trina just after the tracks were laid down) makes me smile because it reminds me of a turning point in the Eve sessions. Karin decided that things were getting entirely too slick and took matters into her own hands. She and Trina set up a Fender Twin in the loft of the barn at Longview Farm and Trina dialed in a truly raunchy guitar tone. They eventually recruited Ric to play a pseudo-grunge rhythm part throughout which he did, but with one eyebrow decidedly raised. Although the final mix was declawed somewhat, the spirit of much of the remaining weeks was captured in this moment. We were limping toward something louder. See Eve for more information.
05. (An American DeeJay)
06. Last Night (4:50)
Words and Music: Linford Detweiler, Scampering Songs, ASCAP.
Produced by Over the Rhine.
Recorded and Mixed by Trina Shoemaker.
Notes: This out- take from the Eve sessions was released independently as a single in the UK on vinyl and cassette. The single is out of print.
07. Murder (3:24)
Words: Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist.
Music: Linford Detweiler, Karin Bergquist and Ric Hordinski, Scampering Songs, ASCAP.
Produced by Over the Rhine.
Recorded and Mixed by Trina Shoemaker.
Notes: Another rough mix from the Eve sessions. Originally released in the UK as part of a compilation called The Seahorse.
08. Dead Weight (3:51)
Words and Music: Linford Detweiler, Scampering Songs, ASCAP.
Produced by Linford Detweiler.
Recorded and Mixed by Dale Smith.
Notes: Demo from Good Dog Bad Dog sessions. This was the last song recorded outside of a concert setting with Karin, Ric, Brian and Linford in the same room.
09. Bothered (4:24)
Words and Music: Linford Detweiler, Scampering Songs, ASCAP.
Produced, Recorded and Mixed by Linford Detweiler.
Notes: Out-take from The Darkest Night of the Year. A different version appears as a hidden track on Eve.
10. All I Need Is Everything (chamber music mix) (4:53)
Words and Music: Detweiler and Bergquist
This is an alternate mix done by Ric from the Good Dog Bad Dog sessions. See Good Dog Bad Dog for more information.
11. Lucy (2:46)
Words and Music: Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, Scampering Songs, ASCAP.
Produced, Recorded and Mixed by Linford Detweiler.
Notes: Demo from Good Dog Bad Dog sessions.
12. Miles (4:38)
Words and Music: Linford Detweiler.
Produced and Recorded by Linford Detweiler and Ric Hordinski.
Mixed by Ric Hordinski, assisted by Steve Harris.
Additional Engineering and Final Mix by Mark Hood.
Notes: This song gets the award for being around the longest but never raising its hand quite high enough. It was played quite a bit (in an earlier form) on the Squeeze tour in 1993 and before. It was on the Eve songlist but was left till last and never recorded. It was demo’d in the Good Dog Bad Dog era but wasn’t included. Ric worked on it for The Darkest Night of the Year and recorded Brian and Chris but it didn’t seem to fit in the "Darkest Night" song cycle. Finally, during the Besides mastering session, I added the wobbly Mellotron part and some Cello samples and it skipped in under the wire.
13. (Polish DeeJay)
14. If I'm Drowning (Live) (13:15)
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
Recorded Live at the Emery Theatre, December 16, 1995 by Colin Cordy and Kerry Faye.
Additional Engineering by Mark Hood.
See Till We Have Faces for more info.
Notes: Key of D Minor. When we played this song I would close my eyes and see a big gray bird flying in slow motion. When Brian was by himself, sometimes we would yell from the side of the stage, “DON’T STOP!” But he never heard us. I can only assume that on this last concert of the year, he must have been thinking, “If I can destroy these cymbals maybe Mallory will get me that new DW kit for Christmas.” Since this record is for you, our best fans, we decided to give you a good earful of what y’all sound like at the end. Thank you. Thank you very much.
All I Need is You. This collection was made expressly for RHINELANDERS, people who responded to our advertisement, (JOIN A CLUB.) You have helped put Over the Rhine on a wild and secret map. Special thanks to you all. The first seven years have been excruciatingly alive. Up till dawn trying to put that angel in a headlock... The story continues. The plot thickens. We’re wide awake. Besides, you’re still here. The musicians featured on this full-length recording: Karin Bergquist, Vocals and Acoustic Guitar. Linford Detweiler, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Piano, Mellotron. Ric Hordinski, Electric Guitar, E-Bow. Brian Kelley, Drums. Chris Dahlgren, Bass (Miles.) Norm Johns, Cello (All I Need...) All songs mastered by Mark Hood and Grey Larsen. Digital Editing by same. Notes and Compilation: Linford Detweiler. Artwork courtesy of the Sheldon Archive. Cover Art: Bottom Drawer Imagery. Art Direction: Linford Detweiler. Design and Art Production: Owen Brock. Director of Communications: Shelly Ross. Night Watchman: Todd Kearby. Live Sound: Kerry Faye. If you’re reading this and you’re not a Rhinelander (!) no need to toss a toaster through a window. Write to us or e-mail us. This music should be played at a pretty decent volume. (Louder.) The people here are not shy.
**** Excellent!
- The Cincinnati Enquirer
"Besides is an amazing piece of work. It will receive considerable airplay..."
- Greg Meitus, Music Director, WYEP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"This album has a compelling sense of humor and surprisingly playful musical depth and diversity. The artwork, typical of Over the Rhine, is exceptional. Highly recommended."
- Jonathan Edwards, Seattle, Washington