New mix!
Robert "Buck" Wilburn – lead guitar
David Partridge – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Mixed in Nova Scotia

A LITTLE MORE THAN ME
 I dreamed that I could sing like Randy Meisner. 
I dreamed I could compose like Gershwin could.
I dreamed that I could play like Pinetop Perkins 
And coax some magic from the wires and wood.
If I could act like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, 
I would not act the foolish way I do
If only I could be a little more than me for you. 

If I could write as well as William Wordsworth 
Define the soul with paper and a pen,
If I could paint the way that Paul Gauguin did, 
I'd prob'ly never watch TV again.
If I could dance like Kelly or O'Connor, 
I wouldn't stumble through the way I do
If only I could be a little more than me for you. 

Aretha & Corman & Frances McDormand 
And Lowell George, that's how I want to be.
I worship, I covet but much as I love it, 
I cannot find the John Coltrane in me.

I wish I could direct my life like Altman 
Or see the best the way that Capra could.
I'd love to make things move like Harryhausen 
And breathe life into clay and wire and wood.
If I had my own rhythm like Bo Diddley, 
I'd beat it 'til the dancers all turned blue
If only I could be a little more than me for you. 

Words and music by David Partridge

A LITTLE MORE THAN ME (Remastered)

Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– electric lead and slide guitars
David Partridge– Vocals, keys, percussion
Nathan McCarthy– bass
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge and Steve Long

SHE’S GOT A SUITCASE
I’ve been where you stand, take my advice,
If she warned you once, I’m telling you  now, 
She won’t warn twice
It’s not a threat, this is a promise–
Don’t you confuse it
She’s got a suitcase  and she knows how to use it.

It happened to me, I happened to stray
They say love is free I’m telling you now, 
That I had to pay
You’re not out of time, it hasn’t blown up
But you’ve got the fuse lit
She’s got a suitcase  and she knows how to use it.
BRIDGE:
I’m first to admit– it was more than one time
She means the world, but she walked out of mine
She’s built a pretty good life, I was there, for a minute
Life goes on, just not with her in it.

I promised to change, I raved and I ranted
She took me to task, I’m telling you now, 
I took her for granted
I lost her for good, now you have her love
Don’t blame me if you lose it	
She’s got a suitcase  and she knows how to use it.
She’s got a suitcase  and she knows how to use it.

SHE'S GOT A SUITCASE

Peter LeBlanc– fretless bass
Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– electric guitar, pedal steel
David Partridge– vocals, keyboards
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge

HOLLYHOCKS (Those Summers)
 My grandfather stood by his hollyhocks, his hair in a similar spire 
Just tall plants backed up against cinderblocks, a small green urban empire.
My grandmother stood in the summer sun, the fierce light fading her dress
Its pattern- a small but a busy one, 
A field under summer’s distress. 

CHORUS: I re member humidity;  I recall heat
A  burnt rural field, a  cooked city street
When air here gets thick with oncoming rain
I won’t see those summers again.
   
The beach got inviting but hot to touch. The wind warmed your face when it rose.
Familiar adults walked onto the dock with towels & way fewer clothes.
And my cousins jumped in just like maniacs,  obsessed with all things that could float,
Smiles started spreading across us all, 
As wide as that hole in the boat. 
Repeat CHORUS

BRIDGE: But it’s summer now and I’m in love
An angel lights; it’s just a dove
This soft brown bird is what I’m thankful for.

My grandfather stood by his hollyhocks
His hair in a similar spire
A thin line of garden against a wall
With flowers the colour of fire, the  colour of fire .

HOLLYHOCKS

2019 mix.
Robert "Buck" Wilburn – electric guitar 
David Partridge – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Howard Rabkin- bass
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc. 
Remixed in Nova Scotia.

IT WAS AUTUMN 
Slipping into a memory, some tenderness for the ache
Too much dreaming can make you spin
Like leaves into the lake
But golds and reds at the water’s edge
Don’t seem to make me blue
‘Cause it was autumn when I first saw you.

Every time that I take a step I hear that crumbling sound.
Too much dreaming can crack you like
The chestnuts on the ground.
A touch of frost and the summer’s lost
But still the sun streams through
And it was autumn when I first saw you.

When there’s frost on the pumpkin,
There’s a chill on the town
But there’s grain in the silo
When the wheat stalk is brown.

Slipping into a memory, got some bruises to ease.
Too much dreaming can empty you
Like wind in weary trees.
August dies in September skies
But still, the sky is blue 
And it was autumn when I first saw you.

Words and music by David Partridge

Circling Back: Selected Works of Postcard Comets

IT WAS AUTUMN (Remastered)

2019 remix!
Robert Buck Wilburn - dobro, acoustic guitar
David Partridge – vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion
Howard Rabkin – bass
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Words and Music by David Partridge

FARAWAY
Halfhearted, half way there, 
I’m half awake, half saneAnd all the baggage that I bear 
Is not in the belly of this plane.I have scars from ancient angry nights,
New bruises from the streetAnd memories of the strength to fight 
The winter wind and summer heat.

CHORUS: 
I’ve been soul singed and dream drained,Wished out and winded a gain.I’m in need of the part that pumps hope to the heartLike the face of my faraway friend.  
      
The same pale lights and distant homes  
From this same window seatThe same relentless hiss and drone, 
The same faint odour of defeat.As a child I dreamed of speed & space 
With longing you could see.Now the longing has a darker face; 
The earth comes flying up at me.REPEAT CHORUS

BRIDGE: 
 Taste adventure North and South, 
 Slightly sour in your mouth. Every ticket bears your name, 
 Every airport feels the same. Has the distance left its mark? 
The running lights, the punctured dark,  
The dark…

REPEAT CHORUS

FARAWAY (Remastered)

Nathan McCarthy– bass
Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– Electric and lap steel guitars
David Partridge– Vocal, keys, acoustic guitar, percussion
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and Music by David Partridge

BIRTHDAYS AND CAKE

No, I don’t put much store in birthdays and cakes
Yes,  guess I’ve had enough to cover my mistakes 
No longer youthful but a few days shy of ancient
Not quite so angry but a few steps short of patient
But no, I don’t put much store in birthdays and cake.

Years, as they amble by, bring wonder, joy and pain
And we take what’s given us as earth absorbs the rain
Sure, every one of us lives for love and food and air
But there’s no denying not all among us get their share
Still, years, as they amble by, bring wonder, joy and pain.

With a bit less gravity
We’d glide smoothly through these days
But we bump and we scrape against  the landscape
Afraid that we’ll float away.

So now I don’t put much store in uproar or revenge
There are no old bones to break, I’m here to make amends
Don’t live for history, don’t dwell on what has been
There just up ahead is the future and it’s laughing
So no, I don’t put much store in uproar or revenge
Or birthdays and cake.

BIRTHDAYS AND CAKE

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– lap steel, guitar
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– vocal, keys, percussion
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge
THE RIVER AND THE RAIN
    
Been around longer than most it’s not a secret to me 
Streams flow down to the coast like time steals a sweet memory
People say, “How do you know it’s gonna happen again?
Must it rise and threaten lives?”
The wind and the river, the river and the rain.

I’m not a goddam weatherman; I’m not here to kindle your fears
Hundred-year floods rise up now once every couple of years.
We built that bridge, we paved the banks; 
we thought we’d tamed her terrain
But Mother Nature has her tools::
The wind and the river, that river and the rain.

BRIDGE:
We pillage the planet; We drill and cut and cough
Rich men build rockets trying to get off
It’s your home you’re trashing– You’re also trashing mine.

Some advice: don’t be fooled- look back at where we have been
Wind moves rain, rain feeds streams, streams are where oceans begin. 
Nature’s angry– wouldn’t you be? She’ll teach but she won’t explain
She’ll send her holy trinity 
The wind and the river, that river and the rain.
She’ll send her holy trinity 
The wind and the river, that river and the rain.

THE RIVER AND THE RAIN

2019 mix!
Electric guitars, dobro, background vocal - Robert "Buck" Wilburn
Acoustic guitar, keyboards, vocal – David Partridge
Bass– Howard Rabkin
Alto sax– Bernie Tessier
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced for Blue Window Media Inc. by David Partridge

ANGRY WORDS
Angry words on the wire
Tattered tempers on the phone.
If I believed every word you said, sitting in this room alone…
When I break the connection
With a word said in haste,
Just a twist of the sweetest lips leaves a bitter taste.

I can't hear her voice. I don't like the tone.
Hanging on for nothing but...

Angry words on the wire---
What a cruel game to play.
Just how ruffled can my feathers get before I'll fly away?
 Like a mallet of the handle;
The receiver hammers down.
My heart stops when the cradle rocks, 
Died in anger born of sound.

I can't hear her voice. I don't like the tone.
Hanging on for nothing but...

Angry words on the wire,
Accusations on the phone.
You know I smiled when I first dialed, 
Sitting in this room alone.

I can't hear her voice. I don't like the tone.
Hanging on for nothing but...

			Words and Music by David Partridge

ANGRY WORDS (Remastered)

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– electric guitars
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– Vocal, keys, percussion.
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge

CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE
 
Each  time the screen illuminates
The  sequence always  seems to be the same 
The hand that guides the  storyline is
Never seen, just  slightly out of frame 
No script, no plot, no master shot
I’m moving but the  camera stays in tight 
It all seems irre versible in classic black & white.
 
A  table near the  dance floor in some
 Smokey spot, a  figure in the door. 
A  moment caught, reaction shot
It  seems to me I’ve  screened this scene before 
Is  it the way the Beaujolais
Crossfades her dreams with  mine this backlit night 
Or  is it her in  satin, fur & classic black & white.
 
 Red  hair, green eyes,  pin spot light
 Love on neutral ground tonight.
 
Too  soon the scene gets  garish, 
Things  clash & smear when  appetite’s involved 
The  reds take on a  hardened edge
The  pastels all get  muddy & dissolve 
And I ache for clarity
The  radiant line where  dark embraces light 
As  Spencer’s gaze meets  Katherine’s in classic black & white.

CLASSIC BLACK AND WHITE

NEW MIX!
Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– electric guitar
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– everything else
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
PARTIAL ECLIPSE

Yeah, well, He appears to be a little lost, 
In his very own little sphere 
It’s that thing they say about old dogs & new tricks
He was there, but now he’s stuck here.
With a TV antenna– the kind from 1956 
That he carries around dragging wires on the ground
Living life in a partial eclipse.

There is snow on screen– He looks back where he’s been
There’s a groan, like an old wooden boat 
Does he know he’s found nothing more than the sound
Of the universe clearing its throat?
Interference, white noise, 
But one face brings a curve to his lips
Still, it’s hard to see just who that hero  could be
There inside of the partial eclipse.
CHORUS:
Ghosts and echoes, 
Memories sweet and tart
In this wobbly broadcast
From a darkened heart. 

Yeah, well, he appears to be a little lost– cast adrift in his own little world 
He was wrapped up tight like a flag is at night
But just now, he’s becoming unfurled.
There’s a blue light in there, 
And just now there’s a smile on his lips
And despite where he’s stood his reception is good.
There inside of the partial eclipse.
Repeat CHORUS

POSTSCRIPT:
He’s off in the ether – I don’t disagree
I’ll admit the great beyond is beyond me.
Just how is it better in the mists of ‘56?
I'd explain if I could but the reception's no good
Here outside of the partial eclipse.

PARTIAL ECLIPSE

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– steel guitar
Nathan McCarthy– bass
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge

PAST THE WATERFALL
There’s a channel in between the lakes; embankments parse the town
It circumvents the waterfall and makes its own way down
Locks with massive wooden gates keep nature in its place
Something has been lost between, I see it in your face.

Boats pass through, some are big, and some are small
But they only pause for minutes to get past the waterfall.

Well, you used to swim in the black canal, tread water, dark and cool
‘Til the bottom filled with who knows what and the surface slicked with fuel.
And the lock’s great wooden gates just seemed to hold your days in place
Someone’s future sank in that canal, I see it in your face.

And boats pass through, some are big, and some are small
But they only pause for minutes to get past the waterfall.

And the boating folk decorate the decks. 
There are Raybans on each nose
They’re more confident than the folks in town 
And they wear a lot less clothes.
But their shiny ships are secure and sound
And they drink the beer that they bought in town
And they wait until the water lets them down. 

Well, you used to hate the rumble and you used to curse the mist
And you don’t back to the waterfall unless your guests insist.
But there’s days like this up on the bridge above the river’s drop,
When the beauty does not drain away like the water in the lock.

And the boats pass through, some are big, and some are small
But they only pause for minutes to get past the waterfall.

PAST THE WATERFALL

New mix!
Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– Electric guitar
David Partridge– Vocals, acoustic guitar, keys.
Produced for Blue Window Media by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge


THE BOOK OF MISTAKES       
 
The wind is pushing on the sky, 
But the stars are hanging on 
It feels a bit like you and I 
Could flicker and be gone. 
 I'm gonna do this by the book 
For all the difference that it makes  
REFRAIN: Miscues, missteps, heartbreaks 
It's the book of mistakes.  
It's the book of mistakes.       

  I've been around the hook so long,
I forgot about the barb 
Am I secured by  common sense 
Or  hung up by my heart
 Even though I wrote the book, 
This is where the logic breaks: Repeat REFRAIN
 
  There's a thin, thin line, it's a thick, thick book 
These are murky times take a second look 
I may thirst, and rage but each time I engage 
I get paper cuts from a brand new page 
In the book of mistakes.         

My words are spilling recklessly, 
But your eyes remain aloof
 I'm trying to solve your mystery 
Without a shred of proof.  
You will end up in the book  
But in truth, for all our sakes– Repeat REFRAIN
It's the book of mistakes.   

Words and music by David Partridge

THE BOOK OF MISTAKES

Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– electric guitar, lap steel, vocals
David Partridge– vocals,everything else, production
Produced in Nova Scotia
Words and music by David Partridge
CAN’T STOP DREAMING
No plan to lose, grateful to gain, 
I am an insect that sings in the rain 
As long as my breathing repeats its refrain, 
Forgive me, I can’t stop dreaming. 
        
Call it a vision, or call it a quest 
To lie in a bunk bed in the viper’s nest 
Crimes against normalcy, I must confess 
Forgive me, I can’t stop dreaming. 
     
Can’t give up (can’t stop dreaming)  
Can’t slow down (can’t stop dreaming)  
A shiny life, a shinier car, a torrid romance with a movie star 
Though dreaming alone won’t get you far,  
I just can’t stop dreaming.  

BRIDGE:
I don’t mean to interrupt–I’m on a mission to make things up
On my feet or in my bed, I can’t get creatures out of my head.
        
Live for another song, live for potential 
Life’s not just sun, the muse is torrential
I am immune to the joy in conventional.
Maybe ‘cause I can’t stop dreaming. 
   
Can’t give up (can’t stop dreaming)  
Can’t slow down (can’t stop dreaming)  
A shiny life, a shinier car, a torrid romance with a movie star 
Though dreaming alone won’t get you far,  
I just can’t stop dreaming.

CAN'T STOP DREAMING

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– lap steel, electric guitar
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– vocals, keys, production
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge

SNOW FALLS SLOWLY
When snow falls this slowly, it can perch on the thinnest of branches 
It’s strange to be singing of this, the most silent of things.
The birds all have vanished, even heartier ones that remain here
They have secret places known only to those who have wings.
 
I hide here inside I’m warm but not nearly as free
Content to abide where the steam rises up from the tea
 
I once promised someone that I’d always be there for the dances
The ones that we humans all do when the rising blood sings.
 But I have gone missing maybe buried alive by the winter
No access to fevers that sweet proximities bring.
 
I hide here inside, I’m warm but not nearly as free
Content to abide where the steam rises up from the tea

I hide here inside, I’m warm but not nearly as free
Who knew I’d backslide 
Where the steam rises up from the tea
 
When snow falls this slowly, 
It can perch on the thinnest of branches 
It’s strange to be singing of this, the most silent of things.

SNOW FALLS SLOWLY

Nathan McCarthy– bass
Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– electric guitar
David Partridge– vocals, keys, percussion
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge

TEACHER SAYS
There’s a current in the river stronger than you’d expect it to be
And the current in that river carries everything to the sea
Eventually.

She loved those kids– she taught them well; her house was full of light
With books stacked by the reading lamp that burned into the night.
Late late one warm afternoon
In the shade in the weeds in the deep lagoon:
She learned lessons still unspeakable in school, 
In that school.
Repeat CHORUS 1

A rendezvous in a boat you row with a cracked blade on one oar
They drifted into a lagoon and they bumped a bit on the shore
Late late one warm afternoon
In the bow of the boat in the calm lagoon
Though the waves just lapped, it felt like a whirlpool,
Whirlpool.

Someone else's secrets are no one else's concern–
One last lesson we never manage to learn…

She taught them all at the red brick school to be who they wanted to be
But I wonder if she asked herself, “How does that apply to me?”
Late, too late for our concern
She just sank where the stream takes a funny turn
With a secret that she guarded like a jewel, 
Precious jewel.
LAST CHORUS:
There’s a current in the river that will shelter all you confess
When you live life by the river you should not expect any less,
So teacher says.

TEACHER SAYS

David Partridge– acoustic guitar, keys, vocals.
Campbell McCrae– lead guitar
Produced for Blue Window Media Inc. by David Partridge
Mixed in Nova Scotia
Words and music by David Partridge

FOOTPRINTS

Morning comes and she is gone. Why?  Well, I should know:
Nightfall leaves, upon my lawn, these footprints in the snow.
You know that there’s heartache in these indentations 
 Laid out in a row. 
I say, ”Stay.”  She turns away; she says, “I have to go.”
Those fresh footprints look blue.

She longs for an evening fire; She’s drawn to my bed.
She must wake up somewhere else, reticence unsaid.
You know that I see her reservations  in these
Flaws in fallen snow
She moves on, I’m left behind, just footprints left to show
What she already knew.

She has to be home by daylight; 
Steady tracks tattoo the snow.
She’s alright knowing it’s not right;
She braves the cold for the glow
Does she know you already know?

Sunrise soon; she's restless, so she will move along
But come her blues, those pretty shoes re-autograph my lawn 
You know I can see heartache each time her breath leaves
Frost upon my pane.
I cannot turn her away, re-minding me again,
What a footprint can do.

FOOTPRINTS (Remastered)

Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– lead guitar
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– Vocals, keys, percussion
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge

DOWNTOWN SOUTHBOUND

Trying to be not late, rushing out the door
Just how much of this life have we still in store?
Halfway down the highway half out of your mind
Slender hope and dread intertwined.
CHORUS:
Downtown, southbound as crazy as they say
I drove that twisting spine into the city every day.
 
Not a thing is moving; engines idle still
Just the motor’s perfume rolling down the hill
Halfway up the highway, halfway down the drain
Dying slowly in the fast lane.
CHORUS:
Downtown, southbound as crazy as they say
I drove that twisting spine into the city every day.
 
BREAKDOWN:
She sings along to the radio, off-key but sincere,
He is focused, shaving in the rear view mirror.
Some guy’s eating Cheerios from a Star Wars bowl.
The only thing that I want back’s the hours that they stole.

Crawling by the river, edging past the trees
Drive until the ennui brings you to your knees
Creep around those orange cones– that’s the price you pay
To get to do it all again the next day.
CHORUS:
Downtown, southbound as crazy as they say
I drove that twisting spine into the city every day.

DOWNTOWN SOUTHBOUND

Nathan McCarthy– bass
Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– cigar box steel guitar
David Partridge– vocal, keys
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
Words and music by David Partridge

ROOFTOP
We  pretend this rooftop’s endless
Even though it is not.
We rely on superpowers
That we haven’t actually got.
So when we reach the edge, the ledge
And no choir starts to sing,
We’re not some skinny soul in tights–
It’s a disillusioning thing.

Stick around.  
Make it count.
Savour every bump.
Stare right at it, stare into infinity
But, for God’s sake, 
Do not jump.

ROOFTOP

Don (Zorro of Sorrow) McCarthy– lap steel, electric guitar, background vocals
Nathan McCarthy– bass
David Partridge– vocals, keys, percussion
Words and music by David Partridge

DEAD LANGUAGE
I don’t know how I let this slip by me just as our loving went south    
Everyone lies but with you it seems like it’s every word out of your mouth
Your first instinct is to spin out a tale when maybe the truth would be fine 
It’s too late for a story that’s straight – here’s where I’m drawing the line.
 
Double CHORUS 1: 
(Heaven knows)
How many times you have said that you’ll let him go
When those words slide over your tongue, that’s the only dead language I know.  
(Don't you deny) 
I’ve heard you say that you’ll set your other man free
When that promise passes your lips, Honey, that’s a dead language to me.

When we first met it was a similar story; restless and bored– that was you   
You took my hand and led me to the river; I was the one that was new
You baptized me, you idolized me, you gazed deep in my eyes 
Easing me into warm rushing waters but it was a torrent of lies.

CHORUS 2: 
(Time & again)
I’ve heard you say that you’ll set your other man free
When that promise passes your lips, Honey, that’s a dead language to me.
 
BRIDGE:
You don’t work at it, lying comes natural to you 
Soon I’ll be the once-was , tricked and tossed-over and blue. 

CHORUS 3: 
(Add ‘em up)
How many times you have said that you’ll let him go
When those words slide over your tongue, that’s the only dead language I know.  
When you swear that you’ve set him free, Honey, that’s a dead language to me.

DEAD LANGUAGE

New Mix!
David Partridge– Lead and harmony vocal, keyboards, percussion
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.

IN A MOVIE 

I stood beside the deep blue sea– I figured that’s where you would be
I thought the tide would wash you in; it happens ‘cause I saw it in a movie

I missed the current you were on– it kissed the coast but now it’s gone
No message in a coffee tin; it happens ‘cause I saw it in a movie

I thought you’d find your way to me
You clinging to the wreck’s debris
I thought that love would float right by
But maybe love is CGI
You clinging to the splintered mast
I’d wade right in but movies never last…

I thought you’d bring the things I lack, you riding on a dolphin’s back
You’d wave and hold on to a fin; it happens ‘cause I saw it in a movie

So roll the credits, make it stop– this sunset on the ocean top
The waves rise up and pull you in; it happens ‘cause I saw it in a movie

I thought it would be love I'd see
Windswept upon the wreck’s debris
Kate Winslet or perhaps Monroe–
But maybe that's the undertow
Arms outstretched by the splintered mast
I’d wade in deep but movies never last…


IN A MOVIE

2019 mix.
Robert "Buck" Wilburn– dobro, harmony vocal
Larry Goguen– harmony vocal
David Partridge– guitars, keys, lead vocal
Produced for Blue Window Media Inc. by David Partridge

CATCH AND RELEASE
You ran a little faster and you caught me
I’m not entirely sure it was your plan
I can’t say for certain that you sought me
But you’re a little swifter than I am.
And so, I’d like to know
Your true intentions please.
Is  this catch and release?   

You jumped a little further and you pinned me
I’m not opposed to being second best
You’ll have to be more careful or you’ll wind me
I feel my heartbeat hammer in my chest.
Again, can you explain
Your true intentions please?
Is  this catch and release? 

I don’t chase dreams anymore. 
It should be clear that I’ve been 
Caught on occasion before. 

You cast a little further and surprised me
My pool is just not used to something fine
And now you’ve seen what my reaction would be
With something pink and pretty on the line.
I spin, you reel me in
With what intention please?
Is this catch and release?


Slipping into a memory, 
got some bruises to ease.
Too much dreaming can empty you
Like wind in weary trees.
August dies in September skies
But still, the sky is blue
And it was autumn when I first saw 
Oh, oh when I first saw 
It was autumn when I first saw you.

CATCH AND RELEASE (Remastered)

Robert "Buck" Wilburn– dobro, acoustic guitar
David Partridge– vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Mixed in Nova Scotia

WATER’S NEVER FAR

Cross the border in a Honda in the sun
River and the sky an equal blue
On the road a while, this journey’s only begun
She hands back the passport – I am through
Crossing counties that have names I’ve heard in song
Bridges keep the highway smooth and straight
Signs along the roadside seem to nudge me along
Telling me I’m in another state.

Steel wheels, asphalt, rubber in between
Mile markers burn clicks away
I see towns and trees but water’s never far away.

Coming into Cleveland in a bit of rain
I can see the river’s not on fire
I begin to think I’ve been mislead by a song
Lured by dreams, driven by desire
Sun comes out and I turn south away from the lake
On the phone a voice I recognize
Signs along the river won’t prevent a mistake
Rocking boats don’t always capsize.

Steel strings, wood stage, human in between
Voices that raise the cafe
Rain drums on the roof and water’s never far away.

At the hotel again, watching CNN, and 
water’s lapping at their doors
People curse the silt that feeds the land.
We’re living on a floodplain
Where the water has its way.
You can’t hold back a river with your hand.

Steal hearts, share songs, life is in between
I drove home the next day
Eyes on road ahead but water’s never far away.

Words and music by David Partridge

Circling Back:Selected Works of Postcard Comets

WATER'S NEVER FAR (Remastered)

Campbell McCrae– guitar
Robert "Buck" Wilburn– dobro
David Partridge– vocal, harmonica, keys. 
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Words and music by David Partridge
SOMETHING BLUE

Something blue is coming, mama
Gather up your precious things
Something wants your riches, baby
Pluck your pearls and palm your rings 
It can even dim the brightest star
With the tarnish that it brings.

Something blue is coming, mama
Empty as the deepest hole
Something dark is drawing nearer
Feel its shadow on your soul
You will lose your memory of the light 
When the darkness takes its toll. 

Something blue is coming, darlin'
Taking trouble to extremes
It will leave your sleep in tatters
Sprinkle poison in your dreams
It will make you feel when you're awake
Just the way a nightmare seems. 

Something cold is coming, sugar
Better tuck your shirt tails in
Something blue is coming, lover
Sees your nakedness as sin
You can't turn this suitor from his path
With the velvet of your skin. 

Words and music by David Partridge


SOMETHING BLUE

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– dobro
Howard Rabkin– bass
David Partridge– vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Words and music by David Partridge

ANOTHER FLIGHT OF STAIRS
We had an understanding
Did I misunderstand?
I packed these bags, I took your word
Across this storied land.
Until I read the latest chapter;
The paper fell like stone.
The coal black ink began to sink,
Tattooed me to the bone.
I feel a little foolish, you caught me unawares---
I was dragging your old suitcase up 
Another flight of stairs.

I know you send your love, dear
I’m sure it will arrive
I guess for just one instant you
Forgot I was alive.
And I’m sure you meant to write me
But this story came unsigned.
You closed your eyes, you grabbed the ring,
I guess you stole me blind.
That’s just the way I read it, I can’t say I was there---
I was dragging your old suitcase up 
Another flight of stairs.

BRIDGE: The pen’s a mighty instrument and faith is mighty thin
When your eyes are open and the headline plunges in.
It’s a sorry tale, I’m sorry that it’s true.
Does the word “betrayal” mean anything to you?

I feel like unclaimed baggage, the fabled fool who cares---
‘Cause I’m still dragging your old suitcase up 
Another flight of stairs.

ANOTHER FLIGHT OF STAIRS

Nova Scotia Remix!
David Partridge– vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion
Robert "Buck" Wilburn– electric guitar 
Words and music by David Partridge  
Produced  by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.

WHAT THE RIVER HAS SEEN (Remastered)

2017 Remaster.
David Partridge– vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion 
Campbell McCrae– lead guitar  
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced for Blue Window Media Inc. by David Partridge

JEALOUS ME

It's not true. That's not right
It's a tattle in the night
Just a lie dreamed up to cause somebody pain
It's a sting.  It's a slight 
But it sure feels like a bite
Where'd you say you heard this story from again?

Why do words race the pulse
When they're evidently false?
Why do baseless whispers still inflict a twinge?
A little beast from the past
Beats its limbs against the glass
Why are faith and trust so easily unhinged?

CHORUS: It's just poison in the well
Not a case of kiss and tell
It's a little thing someone's misunderstood
It's just gossip on the wing
And it doesn't mean a thing
But it sure feels like it should
Jealous me.

I'm untouched. I'm not hurt
Foreign fingers in a shirt
That's the way these slanders always seem to start.
But no matter the spin when these vicious tales begin
It's the nails that always end up in the heart.
REPEAT CHORUS

Have I been this careless with your heart?
Have I been dumb?
In the twist of an errant whisper
Here's what I've become: jealous me. 
REPEAT CHORUS

JEALOUS ME

Gary Painting - guitar
David Partridge - vocal, acoustic guitar, keys, percussion
Music by Gary Painting and David Partridge
Words by David Partridge
Produced by David Partridge, Nova Scotia remix 2021

WOULD THAT BE SWEET  

Everyone says they want to fly
I’d be contend to glide
Ev’ry time love just casts me down
Unfriendly mountainside
I’d sail alone past rock and stone 
And land upon my feet
Not one battered part, no broken heart
Oh man, would that be sweet.

Everyone wants to learn to swim
I’d be content to float
Savour the sea beneath my limbs 
And not here in my throat
I’d drift once more to sandy shore
Where beach and ocean meet
No song left unsung in salty lung
Oh man, would that be sweet.

I reach and I stumble, I’ve taken a tumble 
A time or two, maybe three.
I’ve walked out the plank then I dove and I sank
But I still have a love for the sea, the sea.

Each soul that cannot, longs to dance
Well, I’m no different there
There’s no more rhythm in these limbs
Than legs under a chair. 
Oh, to rush in when tunes begin;
My and my lover’s feet
Laying claim to this hall from wall to wall. 
Oh man, would that be sweet.
Oh man, would that be sweet.
Oh man, that would  be sweet.

Words and music by David Partridge and Gary Painting

WOULD THAT BE SWEET 2021 (with Gary Painting)

Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy: banjo, electric guitar
Nathan McCarthy: bass
David Partridge: Keys, vocals, production
Words and music by David Partridge
(WALKING ON) UNEVEN GROUND             
CHORUS: 
This broken ground, uneven ground
There’s only this one time around

I’m walking on uneven ground, on frozen ground– it’s slippery 
I’m stepping in furrows from the plough
And unsure feet pause under me 
The prior paths from hooves and wheels
Make ruts no wider than our shoes
No, they aren’t deep but one misstep and there’s so much that you can lose.

Repeat CHORUS

These rolling hills don’t trouble me– what troubles me are little things 
I thought at this point along the path
I’d have the wisdom living brings 
I have the hopes, some of the dreams
But when the footing’s perilous
The smallest fissure in the soil– this very earth– is dangerous.

BRIDGE: Years can take a toll, 
They rattle our resolve–that one we can solve
Take hold of my hand and we’ll face the future down,
We’ll cross uneven ground together

On this embankment all the snow, this flattened snow– is treacherous 
It’s as if a child, adventurous child
Slid belly first ahead of us 
A dirty snowsuit or broken bones–
I like her consequence, not mine.
A cold thrill turns to misadventure with a little passing time.

Repeat CHORUS twice

(WALKING ON) UNEVEN GROUND 2023

Buck Wilburn– "lead" acoustic guitar
Don "Zorro of Sorrow" McCarthy– steel guitar, background vocals
Howard Rabkin– bass
Jeff Burley– drums
David Partridge– Lead and background vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Produced in Nova Scotia by David Partridge
ONE WISH, ONE DREAM
                
Versions will vary but motives are much the same
Longing to fly when you fall 
You feel its breath but you don’t dare to speak its name
Scrawl your desire on the innermost wall. 
You’ve got a movie you’ve memorized frame by frame
Action adventure romance  
But when you live it the dialogue’s not the same
Out in the daylight, it hasn’t a chance. 

CHORUS: Everybody’s got  one wish one dream
Everybody wants  sweet from the vine
Everybody’s got one wish one dream
I’ve got a feeling that you might be mine. 

Wishes like angels will watch over us until
We turn our eyes to the ground 
Each aspiration that drifts upward unfulfilled
Carries a clue that can never be found. So
I’ve drawn a heart ’round the spot where I wrote your name
Do I seem crazy to you? 
Dreaming is madness but dreaming is not the same
As how you feel when the dream could come true
REPEAT CHORUS

BRIDGE: Some people fall by circumstance
And some people fall by design.
I’d fall all the way given half a chance
And this one’s yours and mine.
REPEAT CHORUS

ONE WISH, ONE DREAM

2019 mix.
Buck Wilburn– acoustic lead, lap steel, harmony vocal 
Larry Goguen- high harmony vocal
David Partridge- Acoustic guitar, keys, lead vocal 
Mixed in Nova Scotia

MY TIME IN THE LIGHT
Tell the truth and don’t pause to disguise it,
Very few will even recognize it,
Plain unvarnished doesn’t catch the eye or
Draw the crowd that loves the shiny lie more.
Chorus:
I’ve been chosen and I have been discarded, 
Dragged out of and turned back into the night.
But when I land back on the pavement where I started,
I’ve brought back something from my time in the light.

Turn around and though you may regret it,
Very few have managed to forget it,
So pack it up, you have to take it with you, 
This new scar where someone used to kiss you.
Repeat Chorus

We’ve sustained some damage, a face or a hand or a heart.
But where the aching will end, a wisdom will start.

So tell the truth and don’t you dare disguise it.
Or soon you’ll lie and fail to recognize it.
Small reminders of the ones you don’t win,
Are bumps and pools upon a highway of skin.
Repeat Chorus

Ridges and curves of random design.
You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

Circling Back: Selected Works od Postcard Comets

MY TIME IN THE LIGHT (Remastered)

2019 mix!
Robert "Buck" Wilburn - electric guitars
David Partridge – vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Words and music by David Partridge
Produced by David Partridge for Blue Window Media Inc.
Mixed in Nova Scotia

DROWN
Dancing inside the flood, 
Battered and buoyed by the tune that the currents sing. 
Rapids boil your blood, 
Pushing your pulse to a place worth remembering.
Swept down the big stream, you twirl and spin like a leaf.
Caught by the deep dream, pulled down to bliss or to grief.

See me from the riverbank a smooth and tranquil blue,
Don’t be surprised were I to rise and drown the likes of you.

Whitecaps and sunshine
You see the sea through the veil of an inland bride.
Longing for coastline,
Blind to the unfeeling grasp of the hungry tide.
What’s down the gulf stream out of the range of the eyes?
Is life but a dream, broken just as you capsize?

See me from the boardwalk, mama, glittering and blue,
You should learn how I can churn and drown the likes of you.

Hear the water’s voice and wonder does the ocean call?
Can you tell your passion’s thunder from a waterfall?

Carried to extremes, we all have poisons to purge.
Sometimes it just seems tempting to jump and submerge.

See me from your airplane, mama, shiny, tiny, blue,
Make sure you know how I can blow and drown the likes of you.

                      					Words and music by David Partridge

DROWN (Remastered)

Under the moniker POSTCARD COMETS, singer songwriter David Partridge makes thoughtful, lyric-driven, acoustic-based music supported by a collective of like minded musicians. The  intent is to serve the song.

POSTCARD COMETS (David Partridge, Songwriter)

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