High Tea For Poets

Lyrics and Liner Notes

01
Big Switch

Big switch on my back as I lie here awake,
Ah, look out, the trade winds are blowing,
My days here are numbered,
So now is the place,
It’s last call, soon I’ll be going,

Chorus:
Well I may go west
But I’m stealing time
‘Cause there’s so much to say,
And it might be in vain,
But I’m writing, writing away,
If I’m gonna’ die,
Just give me one more day.

Big switch on my back, it’s a lightning parade,
Haunting the last days of summer,
This fear at the heart, it’s a loaded grenade,
Soon you’ll be sifting the rubble.

Well I may go west
But I’m stealing time
‘Cause there’s so much to say,
And it might be in vain,
But I’m writing, writing away,
If I’m gonna’ die,
Just give me one more day.

I am the captain, that’s what they say,
But still I’m a dead man walking,
Ain’t that always the way, every living day?

I know where I've been 'cause I've been here a while,
Stoking these fires from the embers,
My last wish tonight is to leave you a sign,
It's something you might not remember,

That we all go west

And we're stealing time
‘Cause there’s so much to say,
And it might be in vain,
But I’m writing, writing away,
If I’m gonna’ die,
Just give me one more day.

Yes, I'm 'gonna die,
I just need one more day.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
David Dick: Banjo
Alex Weiss Hills: Accordion
Susan Anderson: Fiddle
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN;Lorne Entress/Harmony Street, Tolland, CT.

JDC: Big Switch is about the human drive forward, how even with the end in sight humans continually reach for one more day. I think that drive is at the heart of what we are and what we do.

02
Pareidolia
Storm clouds on a windward sky,
Rolled out like searching eyes,
To find the one they lost
And make it right.

And oh how I saw your hand,
Reach out to understand,
And to write the words
To bring us sleep tonight,      

Advice from a setting sun,
And all that we’ve ever done,

Once I took the clearer view,
Some days I would promise true,      
It takes just one sign,
To turn this boat around,                  

I’ll ride the first wave home,
I’ll ride the first wave home.

You say goodbye with a vengeance,
Shred all your ribbons and your ties,
But not me, I long for another,
Give me this pareidolic ride one more time,
See I don’t mind the winds of time,
If I can see your face in my mind,

You said goodbye with a vengeance,
Shred all your ribbons and your ties,
But not me, I long for another,
Give me this pareidolic ride one more time,
See I don’t mind the winds of time,
If I could hear your voice one more time

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Alex Weiss Hills: Accordion and Piano
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN.

JDC: Pareidolia is the psychological "delusion" of seeing human activity or form in the inanimate, like seeing a face in the clouds. I think our imaginations find interesting ways to "write" humanity all around us "onto" the world, using it as a kind of personal canvas for the things we need most. 


03
How I Became a Ghost
So here it comes: the story of how I became a ghost,
I saw her sitting all alone, 
So I offered up my name,
And then my reasons why, and she did me the same,

We crossed the globe; Philadelphia to India then home,
I gave her my briefcase with the codes,
She said. “Your secret's safe with me,”
Then sealed it with a kiss,
And that's the last thing I remember

Oh my Holy Ghost, 
She was something to believe in,
Until she had it all and then the lights went out,
That’s how I became a ghost,
She took a last look as she’s leaving 
As the saints were gathered round,
“Do you see it now?”
Yes, I see it now.

She packed a gun; by this I mean I think she had a gun,
Or maybe a bomb given her sense of overkill,
Yeah, bombs are better still for blowing things apart,

A good weapon for the heartless

Oh my Holy Ghost, 
She was something to believe in,
Until she had it all, and then the lights went out,
That’s how I became a ghost,
She took a last look as she’s leaving,
As the saints were gathered round,
“Do you see it now?”
Yes, I see it now

Now I’m a ghost, and I see so much better than before,
Down inside, where she knows she is beautiful no more,
And she laughs like the past is dead and gone.

But she is wrong.
I’m not sayin’ I’m right, just that she’s wrong,

The kind of girl you’d wish on your worst enemy,
Yeah, guaranteed to please, only she herself,

Like she’s the flippin' Queen of Sheba,

Oh my Holy Ghost, 
She was something to believe in,
'Till she had it all, and then the lights went out,
That’s how I became a ghost,
She took a last look as she’s leaving 
As the saints were gathered round
“Do you see it now?”
“Do you see it now?”
Yes, I see it now

Yes, I see it now

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
David Dick: Banjo
Susan Anderson: Fiddle
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Jamey Reid: Hand percussion
Keith Skooglund, Additional acoustic guitar

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Lorne Entress/Harmony Street, Tolland, CT.

JDC: There's no denying Ghost is about a lost love, but written many years later with humor, remembering the relationship posthumously as an alliance between two world-traveling spies that inevitably crumbles when one double-crosses the other.  

04
Remembrance Day
Once I was a true believer, and you were the only way,
Back when life was free and easy,
We laughed on Remembrance Day,

Our time is gone,
But memories in my mind,
They soldier on,

Now and then I hear you sing
From the shadows of the moon,

But the sun is out today,
You’re laughing on Remembrance Day.

“No goodbyes,” you said that night,
But that wasn’t true at all,

For just like the summer days,
The end came calling,
And no one could stop the fall,

When love dies in a storm,
You find its pieces scattered day and night,

It’s a world of circles, so many times I’ve said goodbye,
But today I came here searching for you, 
On Remembrance Day.

Burning with the sun,
Hiding in the moon,

Where does love go when it’s gone too soon?

It isn’t wrong to say I’ll always love you,
Ah, Remembrance Day.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Alex Stradal: Cello

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Alex Stradal, Nashville, TN.

JDC: Remembrance Day is about the deep need we all have to hold what we have lost in our memories, to keep alive what has come and gone in our worlds. I think Remembrance is maybe the most important key to our ability to move forward.

05
Fear
Fear, the slowest way to die,
You never say goodbye,
Even when they’re gone, gone,

Fear, I feel like I can’t move,
I always have to prove,
There’s nothing on my mind, I’m fine.

When it’s darkest all around me I’ll surrender here,
I’ll wash away, I’ll wash away my fear.

I had a dream last night,
I felt that finally the fear was gone,
Then I woke up in your arms
And realized I was hangin’on,

Fear, like waiting by the phone,
It makes me be alone,
Even when you’re right—here.

Fear like never letting go,
Even when you know, 
Tomorrow’s almost here, right here,
Right here.

With this darkness all around me
I’ll surrender here,

I’ll wash away, I’ll wash away my fear.

You don’t understand
You don’t understand
No you don’t understand
No you don’t understand

No one understands
I don’t understand my fear.
I don’t understand, I don’t understand my fear,
I don’t understand, I don’t understand my fear.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
David Dick: Banjo
Roger Williams: Dobro
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Jamey Reid: Hand percussion

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Lorne Entress/Harmony Street, Tolland, CT; Roger Williams, Glastonbury, CT.

JDC: I wish I had a magical formula for letting go of irrational fear, that silent killer of possibility. I don't. But for anyone trying to locate their fear, I have learned it is the one thing that is easiest to find in the dark.

06
Indiana

If I could draw the sharp and crooked lines,
Of trails that I have followed,

You might just think to chase a western sky,
Can only lead to sorrow,
I towed the line for 12 wicked years,
Slave to the factory was not the life for me.

We started on this trip across the land
In northern Massachusetts,
We’ve come 11 weeks and here we stand:
Our 16-man communion,
Some are just children, some are alone,
Some bring a family,

And we have all escaped from a world
Where you don’t have room to breathe,
And we’re bound for Indiana.

Ah, another sunrise,
Hey, look at my hopes rise,
I wonder what’s ahead
Across the mountains,
Though these nights are getting longer,
Our union’s getting stronger,
See we know of Indiana,And it’s somewhere out ahead,

They say the land is open to the sky,
The soil as rich as Eden,
The people have a simple grace inside,
And ah, that voice of reason,
Tell anyone who’s dying inside,
Tell everyone you see…

That if they want escape from a world
Where they don’t have room to breathe,
They might try Indiana,
The heart loves Indiana,
Ah, Indiana.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
David Dick: Banjo
Alex Weiss Hills: Piano
Roger Williams: Dobro
Susan Anderson: Fiddle
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Jamey Reid: Hand percussion

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Lorne Entress/Harmony Street, Tolland, CT; Roger Williams, Glastonbury, CT.

JDC: For all its complex realities, Indiana represents for me the blank slate, the fresh start we all imagine we will find in our next frontiers.

07
Love at the Funeral
You stole my eye,
Studied the gates,
Threatening to break inside.
It was an act of rebellion
Scratching my skin,
Just rows from the bod
y
In state at the funeral,

Your echolocation left no place to run
From 
the pain in your eyes and the need,
But that’s where I want to be,
‘Cause you are beautiful,

A sign of love at the funeral.

I’m lost outside,
Bones on a ledge,
Hiding the rest inside.
It melts you down from the future
Down from the core
Death and its shockwaves
And tidal destruction


It’s high tea for second-line poets and takers
Love be a safe house tonight
Love make these dark hearts right,
They could feel beautiful,
And find love at the funeral.

Back in the cell, I'm going under,
Down in the well, for wishing and for
Breaking down, Yes I'm breaking down,
While you're on the ledge outside,

So break inside, 
Under the skin,
That’s where you set things right.
And when you crash through the walls
I will bow and surrender,

Fill up my lungs with the smoke from your fire,

Listen for teardrops,
Search all your heavens
I will do all of these things,
That’s how I want to be,

‘Cause they are beautiful.
They are beautiful,
Signs of love at the funeral,
Yeah, they’re beautiful,
And I want to be beautiful too.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Alex Weiss Hills: Accordion and Piano
Roger Williams: Dobro
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Roger Williams, Glastonbury, CT.

JDC: When loss hits hard it seems to open us up not just to pain but also to our possibilities, and even to love itself. When I feel pain my eyes open a little wider, reach out a little more. Maybe that's an important part of what drives us all to love.

08
I’m So Anxious (Billy Rush)
Won't you come to Florida for a vacation?
The tan developer beckons from the television
They know they got me because I'm an insomniac
Records, detergents, here's the latest Pontiac
They got me so conditioned now that when they talk
I just react, why they throwing it all at me?

I'm so, I'm so, I'm so anxious

Hard sell pressure got to keep the motor running
Stimulate your need to satisfy something
You don't want to be the one who never gets in line
You don't want to be the one who's always left behind
Pick up that phone quick you're running out of time
Why they throwing it all at me?

I'm so, I'm so, I'm so anxious
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so anxious

I know you're worrying, what will the people say?
I know you're worrying, you've got bills to pay
Worrying will the backwash get you?
The undertow drag you out?

You don't want to be the one who never gets in line
You don't want to be the one who's always left behind
Pick up that phone, quick you're running out of time
Why they throwing it all at me?
Why they throwing it all at me?
Why they throwing it all at me?

I'm so, I'm so, I'm so anxious
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so anxious

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
David Dick: Banjo
Susan Anderson: Fiddle
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Sean Staples: Mandolin

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Lorne Entress/Harmony Street, Tolland, CT; Sean Staples, Cambridge, MA.

JDC: A Bluegrass remake of the 1979 Southside Johnny classic about the nasty effects of advertising messages on our mental health. Yep.

09
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us (Sam Phillips)
Strange things are happening every day
I hear the music up above my head
Though the sight of my heart has left me again
I hear music up above

Secrets are written in the sky
Looks like I've lost the love I've never found
Though the sound of hope has left me again
I hear music up above

Standing in my broken heart all night long
Darkness held me like a friend when love wore off
Looking for the lamb that's hidden in the cross
The finder's lost
I know I loved you too much
I go alone to get through

I hear Rosetta singing in the night
Echoes of light that shine like stars after they're gone
So tonight she's my guide as I go on alone
With the music up above

I hear the music up above

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Alex Weiss Hills: Accordion
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Sean Staples: Mandolin

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Sean Staples, Cambridge, MA.

JDC: A cover of Sam Phillips' great song about the muses out there in the ether. Thank you, muses, for all you do. 

10
Something New
I'm running out, I'm out of touch,
I'd cross the sky, but the sky knows too much,
As a rule, I need something new.

I'm breaking ground, Playing hide and seek,
Gone lost and found, yeah, One day in Rabbit Creek,
Over there, you can always find something new,

And I'll be the runaway,
While the world turns the other way,
Don't know if I can see it through,
It's just something that I know that I have to do.

I'm writing words, with words I pray,
I pray for love, I love a New Year's Day,
Ah, maybe then I'll be something new.

And I'll be the runaway,
While the world turns the other way,
Don't know if I can see it through,
It's just something that I know that I have to do.

With open arms that never stop,
Leaves start to fall,
A fall from a mountaintop,
As a rule I need something new.

Jeff Cannon: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Alex Weiss Hills: Accordion and Piano
Roger Williams: Dobro
Ron Kadish: Upright Bass
Sean Staples: Mandolin
Jamey Reid: Hand percussion

Recorded 2019,  Jake Belser/Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN; Roger Williams, Glastonbury, CT; Sean Staples, Cambridge, MA.

JDC: I am a big believer that the train is always moving on, and that change is not only inevitable, but beautiful.

 

THANKS to my wonderful Cannon tribe and to the many friends who periodically remind me that humans are in fact beautiful and worth the energy they require. You know who you are, and yes, I noticed. Thank you Jake Belser for your patience and talent throughout the many iterations of these songs. Thanks to Dave, Sean, Alex, Roger, Susan, Ron, Jamey, and Keith for putting your brand of love into them.