Halfway playable

Half Way Home

The Waiting

If We Saw The World Just Like You
by Jennifer Katusha and Jeff Oxford


Verse 1
One day when it was raining
And I was busy complaining
‘Bout the gray and the clouds
and wet that was coming down
You said think of all that comes with it
Remember what is, not what isn’t 
Then you tilted your head like you do
Said, rain brings the flowers you love… and I love you

Chorus
You have a way of finding the gold
Bringing us doubters in from the cold
You make the ordinary… extraordinary
All the good we could do 
If we saw the world just like you


Verse 2 
When time comes collecting
And I start forgetting
The names and the faces
The people and places
I hope one thing I keep
Is all you taught me
I’ll send the rest off with a smile
Knowing it was mine for a while

Chorus
You have a way of finding the gold
Bringing us doubters in from the cold
Making the ordinary...extraordinary 
All the good we could do
If we saw the world just like you


Bridge
When I lose heart, you help me to see
The whole world so differently
You show me better view
A new lens to see life through


Chorus
You have a way of finding the gold
Bringing us doubters in from the cold
Making the ordinary... extraordinary 
All the good we could do
If we saw the world just like you


Outro
If we saw the world just like you

If We Saw The World Just Like You

Alvvays

Ones Who Love You

Archie, Marry Me

Illinois

Concerning the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois

Soft Sounds from Another Planet

Till Death

Out of Sight

The River St. Johns

U.F.O.F.

Cattails

Late Night Feelings

Late Night Feelings (feat. Lykke Li)

Another Everything

Eyes Glow

Satis Factory

Keep The Change

Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)

Bad Case

30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, the band Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. The band had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. -“the celestial twin”- days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album -“the earth twin”- Two Hands. 

In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different— an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt. 

Anybody who has borne witness to Big Thief in the wild will find songs they recognize here. Much of the album’s tracks (“The Toy”, “Those Girls”, “Shoulders”, “Not”, “Cut My Hair”) have been live staples for years. “Two Hands has the songs that I’m the most proud of; I can imagine myself singing them when I’m old,” says Adrianne. “Musically and lyrically, you can’t break it down much further than this. It’s already bare-bones.” 

Lyrically this can be felt in the poetic blur of the internal and external. These are political songs without political language. They explore the collective wounds of our Earth. Abstractions of the personal hint at war, environmental destruction, and the traumas that fuel it. Lyrics like “And the blood of the man who killed my mother with his hands is in me/ it’s in me/ in my veins” are genuine attempts to point the listener towards the very real dangers that face our mother planet. When Adrianne sings “Please wake up,” she’s talking directly to the audience. “Attention is power,” she says. “I believe you can manifest something on the other side of the world just by using your power well.” 

Engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who were both behind U.F.O.F., capture the live energy as instinctually and honestly as possible. Sarlo teamed up with James Krivchenia to mix the album, where they sought to emphasize raw power and direct energy inherent in the takes. The journey of a song from the stage to the record is often a difficult one. Big Thief’s advantage is their bond and loving center as a chosen family. They spend almost 100% of their lives together working towards a sound that they all agree upon. A band with this level of togetherness is increasingly uncommon. If you ask drummer James Krivchenia, bassist Max Oleartchik or guitarist Buck Meek how they write their parts, they will describe—passionately—the experience of hearing Adrianne present a new song, listening intently for hints of parts that already exist in the ether and the undertones to draw out with their respective instruments. It is an honor to give life to these intricacies. 

With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album. While you listen, let your own two hands rest in front of your body with palms facing inward and see what power grows between them.

All kinds of Music, Great Coffee, Delicious Food and Good folks is what we got. Come on by and kick it for a while.

Cattails

Big Thief

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