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End Of The Road

by Grant Olsen

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1.
These Roads Go Nowhere 02:47
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THESE ROADS GO NOWHERE  © 2020 Grant Olsen Up the mountains on the coast where the treeline meets the snow The mother lode is waiting to be made Many men before went out looking for that ore Freedom’s lustre never seems to fade I got trouble in my mind, gold fever and snowblind I’ll bite the dust looking for a seam These canyon walls for blinders, where keepers may be finders These roads go nowhere but to dream Whitehorse Johnny came this way, I guess looking for a claim Never found the yellow but he tried Saw his footprints on the track going forward, never back Never took his ghost with him when he died I got trouble in my mind, gold fever and snowblind I’ll bite the dust looking for a seam These canyon walls for blinders, where keepers may be finders These roads go nowhere but to dream Had a vision on the trail, a snake that ate its tail Vanished right there without a trace These roads go round and round, some go up and some go down And ne’er a one to take me from this place I got trouble in my mind, gold fever and snowblind I’ll bite the dust looking for a seam These canyon walls for blinders, where keepers may be finders These roads go nowhere but to dream
2.
The Day I Met My Love 02:54
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THE DAY I MET MY LOVE © 2020 Grant Olsen The happiest day that ever came my way was the day I met my love The sun went up and down and it rolled all over town On the day I met my love The happiest day was when I met my love For I knew I never would have to chase after her But in a way the saddest day was when I met my love For I knew I never could be any happier The happiest day that ever came my way was the day I met my love Her head went up and down and mine went round and round On the day I met my love The happiest day was when I met my love For I knew I never would have to chase after her But in a way the saddest day was when I met my love For I knew I never could be any happier The happiest day was when I met my love For I knew I never would have to chase after her But in a way the saddest day was when I met my love For I knew I never could be any happier The happiest day was when I met my love For I knew I never would have to chase after her But in a way the saddest day was when I met my love For I knew I never could be any happier
3.
Agents of the Wind 02:58
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AGENTS OF THE WIND © 2020 Grant Olsen Rhodo-honeysuckle afternoon Spring-fed stream carries away our gloom Winter’s over, but it never knows it ‘til the Stanfields wind up at the bottom of the drawer Dogs laze misty-eyed in sun-glazed early skies Bees graze lowly on the heather in the yard I feel a moment when time stands frozen ‘til the sun trickles in and melts it all away I think of all the time I spent with lowing ears and posture bent On a screen that screams in blocks and text And a heart that breaks my bones Falling, we become the agents of the wind That blushing on the vine doesn’t care about your woe You and I drop our heads, propped up like rag dolls in tomato cages Laden with the fruits of our work And I too must lean like this, tied to my cowardice For all the things I could have said and done to make it right I think of all the time I spent with lowing ears and posture bent On a screen that screams in blocks and text And a heart that breaks my bones Falling, we become the agents of the wind That burst on the vine doesn’t care about your Rhodo-honeysuckle afternoon Spring-fed stream carries away our gloom Winter’s over, but it never knows it ‘til the Stanfields wind up at the bottom of the drawe
4.
Happens to Everyone 02:58
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HAPPENS TO EVERYONE © 2020 Grant Olsen My baby sat me down one sad day She said seeing other people might be fun But we could maybe still get together I guess that happens to everyone I walked home so low I nearly stumbled on myself The clouds in the sky weighed a tonne My heart so heavy it dropped down in a hole I guess that happens to everyone Oh they say it can happen any day Try to wake up and you slip away Once in a while we could get together I guess that happens to everyone My baby sat me down one sad day She said seeing other people might be fun I don’t know why I found that a surprise I guess that happens to everyone I guess that happens to everyone
5.
Whiskey and Tap Water 03:45
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WHISKEY AND TAP WATER © 2020 Grant Olsen Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road The bartender drinks and the manager puffs with the patrons round the bar Old man Edgar’s happy as can be he’s got anyone to work there at all Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road The cops don’t know about this serpent of a road and they turn around at the bay And you’re free to live with your junk lying ‘round and you sleep all through the day Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road Old Mike Jake’s lived there 40 years with his little brother Dominique And they never found a way to take out the trash or to fix all them broken things Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road Over by the lake up the shining hill you’ll find their barricade They hide from my eyes below their fall-down hovel but their dog always gives them away Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road Their sister in the city’s trying to sue their asses and get them off her property But a hundred dump runs and a bin and a crane would never get that acreage clean Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road I sang them songs of freedom and love and I saw not a single friend But it’s they who are so much freer than me for I come from the bitter end Whiskey and tap water at Edgar’s bar at the far end of the road Paper cups and pickles in a jar at the far end of the road
6.
Sanctuary 03:17
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SANCTUARY © 2020 Grant Olsen I’ve got sunshine I’ve got rain Somewhere in my pocket Somewhere in the vein, she said Son come on up to the table Son get up off the floor Can’t you hear they’re stamping their feet now Cold outside the door, oh yeah Saw a man out on the sidewalk today Curled up in his camp Tent city wrapped around the block Invaded by the political tramp Oh Lord, can’t you see outside There’s a lot of suffering? Oh tell me what can I do about it? Come inside I’ll show you a thing (Sanctuary) Where love goes around (Sanctuary) Where there’s still love to go around Even in the dregs in the back alley gravel there’s still love to go a- round (Sanctuary) In the shadow of the local rose you know there’s still love to go a round, oh yeah Save, save, save, save me, sanctuary
7.
Daydrinking 02:45
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DAYDRINKING © 2020 Grant Olsen Toes tipped together, arms outstretched waving Pinwheeling, weaving in the warm April sun The cityscape goes by in a kaleidoscope of light So why should I keep from dancing? All you stuffed suits can stuff it, eat your curds Miss Muffet I ain’t no puppet and I’m out on the town Time is just for madmen dangling their neckties In trailers in the sky where there’s no dancing I take off my hat and my hair is a-waving The confidence you lack has yours pressed down to your head I take off my hat, I don’t fix my hair or nothing Are you confident you ask, or just depressed? I’m a fool for having feet and for walking on the railing Wishing I was sailing on the False Creek below But I’m more alive in mine than you in your oblivion So why should I keep from dancing? I take off my hat and my hair is a-waving The confidence you lack has yours pressed down to your head I take off my hat, I don’t fix my hair or nothing Are you confident you ask, or just depressed? I take off my coat and my shirt is missing buttons I like to be free from all restraint You look at me funny as I’m bleeding on the sidewalk But why should I keep from dancing? Oh why should I keep from dancing?
8.
Going West 02:48
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GOING WEST © 2020 Grant Olsen Please don’t go she cried out to her husband going west Please don’t leave the substance and the shadow for the cliff I beg of you to think about your family and your home I beg you not to leave us alone The answer was not happy news not what she hoped to hear I’m driven by a spirit that isn’t harmed by fear And there’s nothing left for me to take waiting over here I’ve got to explore the horizon Once was a time when you and I united Spirit and matter, uncovered and ignited We’re one and the same Though we try to change the other Once was a time when you and I united Spirit and matter, uncovered and ignited We’re one and the same Though wonder we try to change the other Please don’t go she cried out to her husband as he left I just can’t bear the thought of living in my head Oh why can’t you see I’m not like you though But you are a lot like me Once was a time when you and I united Spirit and matter, uncovered and ignited we’re one and the same Though we try to change the other
9.
Sister The Moon 04:02
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SISTER THE MOON © 2020 Grant Olsen Every time I’m walking in the daylight I see the sunshine in his eyes And every time I’m walking after twilight I see the moon shine in her eyes Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon The sunshine brings the bodies to the beach Friend and foe walking side by each The pulling and the drawing of the tide That sweet and subtle moon is on the rise Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon Every time I’m walking down the street I see it in the faces of the people that I meet And way, way down in the womb How does it do it, the light of the moon? Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon Hey my brother and sister the moon
10.
Poor Michael-John 02:32
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POOR MICHAEL-JOHN © 2020 Grant Olsen Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk End of the night and he finished his shift Took to the drink bold and swift Staff discount and he paid his dime Bartender poured him eight or nine Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk When he downed his last glass he landed on his ass And the bartender cut him off So he went to his truck, grabbed an axe and a maul That’s when things started getting rough Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk Fifty grand in damage to that lousy dive Fifty grand in damage, what a surprise A chair through the window ain’t worth that much Must have been all the booze on the shelf Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk I read it in the papers, I read it on the webs I still can’t get it out of my head You people who can’t handle booze I guess You people, you leave a mess Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk Poor Michael-John put down that axe Quit swinging it round your head and try to relax Poor Michael-John before someone gets hurt Please stop being a jerk Please stop being a jerk
11.
Fall Awake 03:38
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FALL AWAKE © 2020 Grant Olsen Sleepwalking shadows yawn cross the meadows Fast awake and wide asleep Trouble in the bubble hurry on the double No longer in our brother’s keep Fall awake I’ll overtake and Finally give these blues a shake Fall awake I’ll compensate no more The absence of our pain is good But the lack of good it ain’t so bad Right is measured against a wrong Well what if there were no wrongs to be had? Fall awake I’ll overtake and Finally give these blues a shake Fall awake I’ll compensate no more A death bed scene and his loved ones lean Close to his ear so they can hear him for All is allowed and allowable Something he never said before Fall awake I’ll overtake and Finally give these blues a shake Fall awake I’ll compensate no more Fall awake I’ll overtake and Finally give these blues a shake Fall awake I’ll compensate no more
12.
Losing My Home 03:16
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LOSING MY HOME © 2020 Grant Olsen On the first of May She was molding clay and I didn’t have the heart to tell her My brains were a shakin’ and my hands was a full of my knees By the first of July l had something to hide I learned how to juggle and sneeze And I think I might be losing my home Ain’t it funny how your fear and doubt Can cloud a sun-filled room And the lights at night they seem just a little too bright A story’s book or a comic’s dream Ain’t no way how it may seem And I think I might be losing my home All our conversations are well salted and well brought up And all the constellations in the sky Are raining down in a hit parade Look out Jade before it fades And I think I might be losing my home All our conversations are well salted and well brought up And all the constellations in the sky Are raining down in a hit parade Look out Jade before it fades And I think I might be losing my home A bird on its perch he was quiet at first But then he sang like it was four in in the morn It’s summertime and the windows are shut on the inside I got up in my dream and was walking around Sliced up an apple and sat myself down And I think I might be losing my home All our conversations are well salted and well brought up And all the constellations in the sky Are raining down in a hit parade Look out Jade before it fades And I think I might be losing my home Are raining down in a hit parade Look out Jade before it fades And I think I might be losing my home
13.
Mechanics of the Mountain's Dream 03:32
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MECHANICS OF THE MOUNTAIN’S DREAM © 2020 Grant Olsen I am the one who belongs to the mountain I am the one you never see I stand beside you on the trail or in the meadow Mechanics of the mountain’s dream I am the one who met them on the battlement Old friends, long ago we embraced I climbed up the face while the belts were rotating And slipped off into the abyss Here there be ghosts that wind through the mountains On conveyors and pullies unseen In your ears there’s a hum no one ever hears Mechanics of the mountain’s dream I am the one who watched her swim ashore Nothing I could do but pull the lever She climbed up the mountain and down the other side Before anyone could save her Here there be ghosts that wind through the mountains On conveyors and pullies unseen In your ears there’s a hum no one ever hears Mechanics of the mountain’s dream Here there be ghosts that wind through the mountains On conveyors and pullies unseen In your ears there’s a hum no one ever hears Mechanics of the mountain’s dream
14.
Lardy McLarty 04:09
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LARDY MCLARDY © 2020 Grant Olsen Lardy McLardy was a hand-logger’s son in the weathers of the west coast bays Grew up in the cabins floating on the booms, learned to play in the high rolling waves Caught lots of fish and grew real strong, set out on a seiner to make his living Had one sister younger than he, she slipped between logs to make her dyin’ On and on do the cycles go living and dying, laughing and crying Head to head and toe to toe breathing and sighing staring blindly Grounded but flying Lardy McLardy quit the fish boat one day and headed down to Hastings to spend his pay Kept a girl there she was like a tsunami, a stranger in a strange heart he left her down there On and on do the cycles go living and dying, laughing and crying Head to head and toe to toe breathing and sighing staring blindly Grounded but flying Lardy McLardy took a ticket to Malibu to log the ridges of the thousand waterfalls The chipper turned him into human hamburger, the cook told jokes, nobody laughed On and on do the cycles go living and dying, laughing and crying Head to head and toe to toe breathing and sighing staring blindly On and on do the cycles go living and dying, laughing and crying Head to head and toe to toe breathing and sighing staring blindly Grounded but flying

about

End of the Road is my follow-up album to 2018’s Broken Dams. Whereas Broken Dams was recorded in a single 14-hour studio session, End of the Road was recorded during the better part of a year. Begun in late 2019 the project was still in its infancy when the 2020 pandemic struck, which brought into focus a theme for my album - literally the end of the road, or the end of touring, gigging, etc. The album art features photographs that tie into this specific theme such as the ancient flywheel on the front cover, which signifies where the road meets the wilderness and then is overcome by it. There is also the Stanfield sweater shot, which signifies the classic garb of a Canadian logger who at one time had a use for such a mountain-side flywheel as part of a so-called electric donkey, used to drive trams up and down steep, timbered slopes. The ocean waves shot signifies where so many roads here on the West Coast actually end - at the sea.

Although some of the songs deal in dark subject matter like death and loss, there are also joyous and even humorous moments on this album; pleasure and sorrow are locked in a kind of embrace on End of the Road, as I wanted to capture the complexity and irony of the human condition. I wrote about characters - some real and some imagined - who dove into the absurdities of existence; they lived, loved and even died haunted by ghosts chasing dreams. They pined for affection and raged at their own unlovingness and foolish disregard for others. Sometimes they also shrugged off their burdens, mocked the stiffness of their fellow beings and allowed their sense of freedom and entitlement to mingle with their most irresponsible instincts. In short, the characters that made up the cast of this album all faced their own days of reckoning, in a medium marked by catchy melodies and harmonies, in a soundtrack both folkish and danceable, but ultimately, in my mind, rocking.

credits

released December 11, 2020

Produced by Grant Olsen

Grant Olsen: vocals, guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, accordion, drums and percussion

Pamela Messner: vocals
Fraser Blackley: podrum, bodhran and ratt

Engineered by Grant Olsen
Mastered by Ohan Vandermeer at Dialled in Audio

Photography by Laura Guerra except for front cover by Grant Olsen
Cover Layout: Laura Guerra

All songs written and arranged by Grant Olsen

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Grant Olsen Vancouver, British Columbia

Grant Olsen is a folk/roots rock singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist residing on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada.

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