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Little America

by The Little Americans

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1.
Coyotes 03:36
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Hold your breath don’t say a word Until we get across Midnight van drives the desert With its lights turned off A memento To hold you, hold you A little something to get you by A memento To hold you, hold you On those late nights when you cry Flash of lights- that’s the signal Yes we are almost there Hold your breath, in the silence Recite a Lord’s Prayer Ghosts they Line this devils highway Feel them in the airwaves On this devils highway On this devils road Coyotes sing in the moonlight Words I don’t understand Following a man, or trickster, Across the borderland Words and Music by David Mussen
2.
I Am the Other 04:09
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I wash the floor again And make up all the beds No one sees my shadow As I clean the windows I empty out the pan And sow my tattered threads As they raise their glasses I sweep up the ashes I change the bandages on your face-lift I fold your laundry and then raise your kids You never see me there As we pass on the stairs Oh how could you notice You’re callous to roses It is just like a dream Present and yet not seen I hear all your secrets And I always keep them The other one beside you that you can’t recognize The other one who does not have a name The other one beside you whose light doesn’t greet your eyes The other one beside you who has a faceless face I wash the floor again And make up all the beds As they raise their glasses I sweep up the ashes Words and Music by David Mussen
3.
Blossoms, My Love 04:02
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My sweet little one, get your rest The day is done the Sun has fled I know this life is long and lonely As we take the dusty road Led on by the scent of honey Following blossoms my love The sun will wake in the fields Where we will break and we’ll kneel I try and think of it as praying Although I can’t get low enough Leaving is are only staying Following blossoms my love Following blossoms my love It breaks my heart to see all I have to give is poverty And blossoms my love, and blossoms my love Words and Music by David Mussen
4.
Woven in the Hills 03:25
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We left at night Firefly-stars in the dark Ancestor ghosts, All alone they hold the spark Colorful embroidery We are woven in the hills Across the terraced slopes we left The village and the fields With just the clothes That we wore We had no shoes Along the way We all hid In people’s homes Say goodbye now to this life The only one you’ve known Try your best now to deny Even though it’s in your bones It’s a distant memory That has got me on my knees I’m falling down again My Mother said that the moon shone in the water Is her sister who walked by the lake one night Out from the dark and the deep there rose a dragon Who pulled her down so now we see her mirrored light We sold the last Silver Jewelry, forks and spoons So we could pay To cross The river in bloom Colorful embroidery We are woven in the hills Across the terraced slopes we left the village and the fields We tried to sleep As the screams echoed the rain All that we left Behind In ruins and flames Say goodbye now to this life The only one you’ve known Try your best now to deny Even though it’s in your bones It’s a distant memory That has got me on my knees I’m falling down again My Mother said that the moon, shone in the water, Is her sister who walked by the lake one night Out from the dark and the deep there rose a dragon who pulled her down so now we see her mirrored light Words and Music by David Mussen
5.
Thirteen Gold Coins 03:47
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First words, and first steps- he’ll miss everything. Last night he was here, or, was it a dream. A rosary bound the bride and groom The newlyweds crowned with stars and moons I pleaded with him we not register… I recall the face of the officer, And my love as he was led away Though I’m afraid, I’m too angry to pray. The fractured light, the distance that we touch I feel the weight, feel the crush The thirteen coins that we were forced to sell We fell in love as we fell Now we live a part and the bride and groom Orbit all alone with their stars and moons The rosary beads spilled on the floor Waiting for a knock at the door. Words and Music by David Mussen
6.
Peaches 03:19
lyrics
There is an old cottonwood whose shade is long and wide Where I go, oh, when I find I need some time inside A tiny place to hide When I’m there I disappear, I’m just the quiet breeze I escape the weight of breath, these worn hands and knees, This heart about to seize Each day I steal away a peach from the orchard No fruit in this world tastes as sweet. Mother died when I was young, I tried to carry on Long ago I left in search of money to send home I tried to carry on Sunlight and rain I journeyed both night and day, a road of dust and tears It was written in the stars, and spoken by the seers- Destiny brought me here Words and Music by David Mussen
7.
Seamstress 03:33
lyrics
I am looking through a window At the silver, silk, and golden, At the things I will never own or touch And my heart is filled with sorrow And my spirit’s lost and broken And the weight of this world is too much Why did I leave my home across the sea? I wasn’t thinking clearly Everything that I held dearly I left behind with my waving hand To work as a seamstress In my hunger and my weakness, Fourteen hour days in a foreign land Why did I leave my home across the sea? I wish I could fall asleep again Where it’s safe and warm A night where I didn’t feel alone I would fall and sleep and dream again In my mother’s arms If I wasn’t so very far from home The tenement is teeming with rickets and with weeping Children like potatoes plucked from dirt My fevers growing scarlet and I can’t afford the garments That I sow all day long while I am at work Why did I leave my home across the sea? Words and Music by David Mussen
8.
A Thousand Miles Away 02:57
lyrics
Well, I’m feeling nothing ‘neath the floodlights humming Sitting on this bumper with nothing left I didn’t come here Looking to pick flowers I’m lost in the showers that the rolling cloud have wept Well, the field is empty And although it’s tempting Seeking out redemption for the past It is time to gather, Box up all our labor Take it to the warehouse and then ship it out at last A thousand miles away From the field to the store. Well, I hope you flourish And that you are nourished Even as you hunger for more and more Although you don’t see me I am all around you Just another human born into this world poor Words and Music by David Mussen
9.
Hardanger Fiddle 03:48
lyrics
I left my life, my only love Down on old Jacobsen’s farm. All that I own in a small suit case And a Hardanger violin under my arm I came to my love with a colorful string And tied around our bed post I promised I would be back by the spring In person or form of a ghost I will return to untie the string Unravel the threads of your heart While I'm away "The Sun is Setting" you'll sing Please think of me while we're apart From Stavanger the boat left its port Moonlit waves looked like snowdrifts Never before had I felt so forlorn I longed to give her a kiss All through the fog the warning bell rang And unleashed a fear in my heart Quietly, "The Sun is Setting" I sang Alone underneath the cold stars Then, through Ellis Island I came The rest of me long disappeared They looked in my eyes, they changed my name Gone now some fifty odd years The candle we lit, it no longer burns I hope that you no longer hope I am so sorry I never returned I'm sorry that I never wrote Words and Music by David Mussen

about

While I had some previous experience doing some statistical work for a local refugee organization, the idea to write a few songs about immigrants came a few years ago. I was visiting some family and friends on Long Island. I went out for my morning jog, and on the way back, I stopped by one of those great roadside produce stands that can be found scattered across the Island's farm country. My blood sugar was running a little low so I bought a peach, sat down at a bench and ate it right then and there.

"Just Fresh", I heard from behind me. I turned and there sat, a small, rugged man, who based on the amount of dirt and sweat on his clothing looked as if he had worked harder by 5AM than I had ever worked in my entire life. He looked beat, but he was cheerful, and friendly and we had a nice conversation.

While I didn't learn much about him, I did learn that he was from Guatemala, and that most of his family was still there but he hoped that they could join him soon. I felt as if I had met a Superhero. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to give up everything, everything that one knows and loves, to try and provide a better life for one's family.

And with that conversation, this project began. Write a few songs from the perspective of different immigrants, and sell it as fundraiser. So here is how it works. Make a donation of $10 (unfortunately that is the minimum) at our CrowdRise here www.crowdrise.com/the-little-america-project and we'll send you a code that will allow you download this album from this here Bandcamp page: thelittleamericans.bandcamp.com/yum

Refugees and immigrants have heart, determination and desire; all the things that make America great, not again, but right now. Please consider making a donation. Thank you!

credits

released July 19, 2017

Recorded and Produced by Jonathan Hughes
All songs written by David Mussen

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the little americans Buffalo, New York

We aren't a band in the traditional sense. We all participate in the Robot Holiday Collective (www.robotholiday.com) and enjoy marrying our passion for making music with our desire to help others, and make this a more fair and just society.

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