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Close to Paradise

by Patrick Watson

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1.
--Lyrics-- We’re getting close to paradise Every moment of the day Yes, now we’re getting closer and closer But not close enough Yes, now we’re getting closer and closer But not close enough Wake in the morning, the sunshine burns ‘Cause you fall from where you felt you are You’re walking faster and faster Oh, but the days they ain’t slowing down Don’t you, don’t you wanna be there, there right now Yes, now we’re getting closer and closer But not close enough Yes, now we’re getting closer and closer To paradise, we’ll promise that To paradise, we’ll promise that Hey lovely people down there Let’s fill that hole up in the sky Don’t be afraid to care I’m sure you’ll find yourself there Hey lovely people down there Let’s fill that hole up in the sky Don’t be afraid to care I’m sure you’ll find yourself there I’m sure you’ll find yourself there When you’re down, hold on, hold on I’m sure you’ll find yourself there When you’re down, hold on I’m sure you’ll find yourself there Close, close to paradise
2.
Daydreamer 04:34
--Lyrics-- Daydreamer Come talk to me now Daydreamer, daydreamer Come with me now Don’t, no, you're sitting down From your eyes Is he sleeping anyhow? You’re sitting down, sweet eyes Still, I’m sleeping anyhow But daydreamer, oh, daydreamer Wake me now From the early sunlight Pan my head away Daydreamer, oh, day dreamer My daydreamer Won’t you stay inside your house 'Cause I don’t feel so lonely When you are around When you are around Lay my head Tie me out of my shoes And walk another place away from blues When my head is heavy on my shoulders Daydreamer gonna make it over My daydreamer Won’t you stay inside your house
3.
--Lyrics-- Slip into your skin and spend the night Get outta mine Walking in streets at dark Where the lamps are the sunshine For the trees Oh, for the trees ‘Cause everybody needs somebody To hold on Oh, everybody needs somebody To hold on When your feet are leaving the ground Leaving the ground Leaving the ground Leaving the ground Be the blanket for my bones Be a place that I call home Slipped into your skin and spent the night ‘Cause I feel like a different man I feel it when I’m with you When I’m with you When I’m with you
4.
Giver 03:27
--Lyrics-- Is it just me or do you feel a little strange? Is it just me or do you feel the change? And now, is it me? How about you? Isn’t it strange that time’s a little fast? Isn’t it strange that nothing ever last? And now, is it me? How about you? Well, now, is it me? How about you? Don’t be a fool Well, don’t be afraid Nothing’s really ever supposed to last Now, don’t be a fool Well, don’t be afraid Everybody needs to meet the end Isn’t it fun at the very edge of the world? Where talking’s like walking on broken glass No need to fret, I’m in the same hands as you One of these days, I’m gonna meet my matchmaker too Well, don’t be a fool Well, don’t be afraid Nothing’s really ever supposed to last Oh, don’t be afraid Everybody needs to meet the end Oh, that is why Oh, that is why I feel, I feel so alive At the edge of the world Well, now, is it me? How about you? Well, now, is it me? How about you?
5.
--Lyrics-- I got my feet knocked off the ground I got my head knocked off my feet I tried to swallow all of the world And now I’ve gotten in a little too deep And now I’m falling towards the sky I just don’t know how and why But I got the weight of all the world I better not let go of the rope Oh, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to let go of all of you? Am I supposed to fall back to the sky? Or keep on rising for a while? I think I’m falling down Right back to the very ground I couldn’t hold it anymore I think that’s what I was asking for I think this might just hurt Oh, I don’t see how could I change my hurt I was carrying the weight of all the world I think I’ll get what I deserve I got my feet knocked off the ground I got my head knocked of my feet I tried to swallow all of the world And I think I got in a little too deep I think you know where I have to go I think you know what I deserve Here comes the weight of all the world And it’s coming straight for me
6.
The Storm 03:12
--Lyrics-- Found himself onto the road The dust up to his nose Put that anchor down To find a place where he could go ‘Cause he was looking for the shelter from the storm He was looking for a place that you could call your own, yeah Kept on now walking past the signs you used to see Kept on getting used to dropping anchor in the sea ‘Cause you’re looking for the shelter from the storm Looks like news, that storm is coming closer every day Well, I found myself into a town The roads were paved with gold (All the roads were paved with gold) Eyes wide open, shutters closed (Eyes wide open, shutters closed) Just waiting for my time to know (Quarter to twelve, it’s time to go) The sun was hiding underground The rain was falling upside down (And the clouds were turning red like flames) Oh, ‘cause I’m looking for the shelter from the storm ‘Cause she’s getting closer every day The storm is getting closer every day The storm is getting closer every day The storm is getting closer every day The storm is getting closer every day Every day
7.
Mr. Tom 02:48
8.
--Lyrics-- Sweet old luscious life Celebrate your dreams When you are awake Doesn’t it taste so sweet Like it’s growing on all Growing on the trees Oh, growing on the trees When you picked me up off the ground I’ll slowly turn you from a frown Sweet old luscious life My sweet old, my sweet old Luscious life! You taste so sweet When you are so free My sweet old luscious life You taste so sweet to me Hold time, no need for a moment of the day I celebrate I need, I need you today What’s one minute of the day To celebrate To let it be To feel so free When you and me In the sweet luscious life For a minute of the day You turn so sweet You taste so sweet Oh, you taste so sweet
9.
Drifters 04:27
--Lyrics-- We are drifting away Farther every day Soon we’ll have nothing to say We’ll be too far away Too far away Too far away From where we started From where we started We’ll be too far away ‘Cause we are drifting farther every day But I will remember Even if I’m drifting far away But I will remember Even if I’m fading all away I dipped my hands into the sea Oh, I pulled the ocean over me And after all the tides had swallowed all the shore I couldn’t find you anymore We’re the great drifters ‘Cause we’re the great drifters ‘Cause we’re the great drifters We are drifting away We are drifting away
10.
--Lyrics-- I was hiding underneath the sea I was looking there for me To be a better man To be a better man I was hiding underneath the sea I was looking there for me Just me, the fish and the sea Just me, the fish and the sea Oh, ‘cause the music was so much louder there Just me, the fish and the sea Just me, the fish and the sea Hiding from all your apathy ‘Cause I was born a noise machine Made of steel, I was born to peal So gather round all your family round Scream a noise and just leave Oh, leave the ground (The music was louder there) Oh, leave the ground (The music was louder there) Under the sea (The music was louder there) Under the sea (The music was louder there) I was so happy there under Under the sea Under the sea Under the sea
11.
--Lyrics-- Bad day, looking for a way home Looking for the great escape Gets in his car and drives away Far from all the things that we are Puts on a smile and breathes it in And breathes it out, he says Bye bye, bye to all of the noise Oh, he says, Bye bye Bye to all of the noise Hey child, things are looking down That’s OK, you don’t need to win anyways Don’t be afraid, just eat up all the grey And it will fade all away Don’t let yourself fall down Bad day Looking for the great escape He says, bad day Looking for the great escape On a bad day Looking for the great escape The great escape
12.
--Lyrics-- She walks beneath the skylines Her eyes pass the sea He talks and looks for all the signs Broken dreams In this new machine He chews her apple to the core Stopping just before Thinking of sleeping beauty She spews her venom to the floor And opens up the door Thinking plastics duties Thinking of sleeping beauty chained To her plastic duties Thinking of sleeping beauty chained To her plastic duties Thinking of plastic duty She’s my sleeping beauty
13.
--Lyrics-- Those bright shiny lights They’re shining so bright Casting a shadow On all the simple things you used to own Casting a shadow On all the simple things you used to own Oh, those bright shiny lights They be shining so bright Blinding the simple man Oh, what a sorrowful sight Blinding the simple man Oh, what a sorrowful sight Oh, those bright shiny lights They be shining so bright They’re casting a shadow Oh, what a sorrowful sight They’re casting a shadow On all the simple things you used to own They’re casting a shadow Oh, what a sorrowful sight

about

There was always something sexy about Purgatory. No one wants to hang out in Hell, but was Heaven ever really that appealing, either? How does that Talking Heads song go? “Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens…” Close to Paradise is one of those rare gems of an album that can stand as a gateway to wherever you want it to take you.

On the one hand it’s impossible to ignore Patrick Watson as a classic singer-songwriter; the charming young piano-player with the haunting voice. The big impact of an otherwise simple song like “The Great Escape” is a testament to the attention that Patrick’s voice, delivery and sensibility command. Just try and avoid vocal comparisons to Jeff Buckley on “Luscious Life” (inflected with just a bit of Sufjan Stevens-like orchestration), or the penetrating stripped-down gospel of “Bright Shiny Lights”. In some ways Close to Paradise is the coming-out party for one of Canada’s most exciting young vocalists. He’s already been enlisted by the Cinematic Orchestra for both songwriting and vocal duties on their next album.

But on the other hand, Close to Paradise also features three other incredibly strong musicians just beginning to enter their prime, both in terms of skill and contributing song ideas. Robbie Kuster might be the best drummer in Montreal (recently lured out on tour and into the studio with Holy Fuck), and between him and Mishka Stein on bass, the band has the ability to bolt from dreamy ballad to all out intricate rock assault and back again without blinking an eye. Simon Angell is among that rare breed of guitarist that can do more with one subtle and well-timed chord as others can with a whole song of throw-away notes. He can stand and slay with the best of them, but it’s when he’s patiently seated and kneeling at his arsenal of effects pedals that you’ve really got to be on your guard. Consider that Kuster co-wrote the ethereal electronics of “Daydreamer”, that Stein laid the foundation to “Luscious Life” (arguably the album’s most accessible moment of pop assault), and that Angell adds songwriting to his banjo credit on the apocalyptic dustbowl of “The Storm”, and it’s clear that we’re dealing with a two-headed monster – at least. Close to Paradise is also a serious trip of a record by as tight a four piece band as you’ll find.

Recorded in part by both Jace Lasek at Montreal’s Breakglass Studiosand Jean Massicotte at Master Cuts, the album also features guest appearances by two of Montreal’s most exciting up-and-coming female vocalists: Land of Talk’s Liz Powell, and country sweetheart sensation Katie Moore. Even electronic guru Amon Tobin adds a few touches.

Maybe most importantly, in age of records as mp3 cookie-cutter compilations, Close to Paradise is actually an album. Make no mistake, there are pop gems that are happy to stand on their own like “Giver” or “Drifters” (for which the band is currently working on a video), but “Bright Shiny Lights” is that much more uplifting after you take the trip that is “Sleeping Beauty”. Records used to do that kind of thing. They still can. You know, if you want them to.

Play it loud, with headphones.

credits

released September 26, 2006

The Close to Paradise band:
Patrick Watson - piano, vocals, drum, programming
Simon Angell - electric and acoustic guitars, lapsteel, banjo
Mishka Stein - electric and upright bass, glockenspiel
Robbie Kuster - drums, percussion, marimba, backup vocals, saw, piano on Daydreamer

Horn Ensemble:
Jean-Nicolas Trottier - trombone
Jasmin Fréchette - trombone
Geneviève Bouffard - trombone
Phillipe Legault - tuba
Louis Pierre Bergeron - french horn

String Quartet:
Marjolaine Lambert - violin
Anne-Marie Leblanc - cello
Marilou Robitaille - violin
John Corban - violin

Arrangements by The Close to Paradise band
Horn and strings arrangements by Jean-Nicolas Trottier

Additional Guests:
Elizabeth Powell - backing vocals (Brights Shiny Lights, Close to Paradise)
Jonathan Cayu - organ (Bright Shiny Lights)
Katie Moore - backup vocals (Storm)
Mélanie Auclair - cello (One of These Days)
Brigitte Henry - backing vocals (Man Under The Sea)

Produced by Patrick Watson with the gracious aid of Jace Lacek, Dave Smith and Jean Massicotte.

All composition by Patrick Watson, except for: Daydreamer, Giver by Patrick Watson and Robbie Kuster ; The Storm by Patrick Watson and Simon Angell ; Lusicous Life by Patrick Watson and Mishka Stein ; Sleeping Beauty by Patrick Watson, Louis-Phillipe Nagy and Mishka Stein.

Recorded by Jase Lasek & Dave Smith at Breakglass Studios in Montreal (Close to Paradise, Drifters, Giver, Bright Shiny Lights, Slip Into Your Skin, Daydreamer, Man Under The Sea) ; by Jean Massicotte at Studio Masterkut in Montreal (Luscious Life, Mr. Tom) ; by us at the cottage in Cowanswille (Storm, The Ghost Choirs, Slip Into Your Skin) ; by Sebastien Blais-Montpetit (Linda) at the Abandonned Church in Montreal (Weight of the World) ; by Christelle (The Secret Suomi Choirs) in Helsinki, Finland (Daydreamer) ; by Patrick at home (The Great Escape) ; by Bruchek at Studio 84, New York City (Sleeping Beauty).

Mixed by Jean Massicotte at Studio Masterkut in Montreal (Weight of The World, Daydreamer, Slip Into Your Skin, Lusicous Life, Sleeping Beauty) ; by Jace Lasek at Breakglass Studio (Close to Paradise, Drifters, Giver, Bright Shiny Lights) ; by Patrick Watson at home (The Storm, The Great Escape, Mr. Tom, Man Under The Sea).

Additional mixing by Amon Tobin (Man Under the Sea, Mr. Tom, The Great Escape).

Mastered by Carl Talbot at Studio Plasma.

Art direction sculpture and photos by Brigitte Henry
Design and illustration by Thomas Csano with Pierre Jeanneau.

2006 Secret City Records Inc.

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