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The Light You Throw

by Lake South

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 13 Lake South releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Empty Hours (Lake South remix), The Light You Throw, The Johnsonville Line (I know how to dance), Baby - Mystery Waitress (Lake South remix), History/Present, Wellington | Te Upoko O Te Ika, South Coast, Samuel R. Saffery - Underground (Lake South remix), and 5 more. , and , .

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  • Book + CD

    SOLD OUT. Available still from Slow Boat Records in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand

    A collection of lyrics, photographs, essays and conversations.

    30 pages of pictures and words. And a CD of the album.

    Printed, spliced, bound, glued and trimmed at Rebel Press in Te Whanganui-a-Tara by 5ever books.

    Designed by Sam Fraser.
    Photographs by Hamish Johns.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Light You Throw via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Townbelt 03:53
The freedom of an empty street And the feeling of coming back to it And the sun still shines dappled light, and we walk and we watch, it’s at dusk when will Run with me I’ll be honest The silence at the dining room table, it’s heavy day after day after day I’ll be honest It’s just like before but empty The wonder of flight Keep on driving through this perfect night With the speed and the silhouette, these are outlines of other life Keep on running with it Keep on running with it I’ll be honest Reaching the summit Looking down at the waste and within at the worst We can hold it off We can hold it off Immaculate dirt and rock I'll be honest The unhoped for serene we could be anywhere A lie A lie
2.
With the birds and the beach and the lake and the river You call and I come hither When it’s day off and sun shine and everyone’s kind and time is slow and you know it in your heart you can feel it there is goodness in this life Goodness in this life! We know how lucky we are We learn it by heart With the hills and the trees and the light and the weather We go bright cos brilliant is better When it’s party up the road and all your friends go, there’s a realness in the room it is true you can feel it there is goodness in this life Goodness in this life! We know how lucky we are We learn it by heart I think we’re falling apart We were doomed from the start Behold the beauty Every tomorrow Has a tomorrow Vastness of sunlight New things grow Wander and follow
3.
Verse I went to cross the street I have pain all up my leg Been a year and a good one I wanna stay out every Friday night I have a pain all up my side You say that life is long But I just end up following Following the call Following the mania of the fallen and the tall Chorus Hope and the light you throw Hope and the space to breathe Hope and the light you throw Hope and the light you leave Verse I woke up, I was sweating The dream was work unwilling We’re lucky and we loathe it I get angry on a Tuesday night Brougham St and Bentleys The rising cost of squalor Every day is precious now Every blessed evening Every blessed evening I want to hold it like it’s something Chorus Verse Tonight I will not tire I will run through Matairangi I will take the track above me I will climb the hill that’s calling Calling like the birds Calling like a memory that is buried in the dirt Chorus Verse In the tears of joy I see it And I reacquaint the spirit Of normal people trying I am nothing to this island But I felt it on the weekend There is fear where there is power I want to hold it like it’s something Chorus
4.
Verse Leave it to me, I’ll put the kettle on Leave it to me, I’ll cook dinner tonight I’m calling in sick, nothing’s worth your health I’ll clean up the house, I’ll put the rubbish out Chorus “How do you know when you’re in love?” You can feel it in your bones Verse Summer came late, let’s get on down to the beach Beyond the blues, you waited for me And I can tell this flat’ll be ice cold come winter But you and I got a warm glow in our hearts Chorus Yeah we can feel it in our bones Bridge Let’s talk about politics, let’s talk about feelings I wanna hear what you think about the state of New Zealand Verse I’m sorry babe but this is me for life I talk a big game but I never get it right Chorus “Then how do you know when you’re in love?” You can feel it in your bones
5.
Verse I had been falling All of the autumn Now I know seasons Now I know water Give me your friendship Take me to Lion's Head Now I know seasons Now I know Stories of summer camp Of ritual created You gave up on magic Sunshine's so easy Chorus Sing it with feeling The colour of caring I know what you said in the park I'm on the edge of it Always return to it Cannot compare with it I still have a hope for it Verse Orange pine needles Barefoot asphalt Boots and snow and grit Green frost on Saturday morning I'm always running It's stumbling with balance I never learned to skate I always learn too late You had a lightness I want to weigh it down Music will mend us Will it reveal love? Chorus I thought I was learning The truth and the burden To know what is to be you I'm on the edge of it Always return to it Cannot compare with it Still have a hope for it Bridge I had all this time to waste I did it wrong, I couldn't wait You’re an athlete on a stage You’re maladroit, your inner void
6.
Verse We had real talk on the grass out the front Empty bottle of wine on the floor by your bunk It’s pretty cheap here And your news was a bit of a scare Chorus And I’m not ok with it Nor am I over it Just getting used to it Verse Anticoagulant in your leg by the bed I don’t flick the needle before I inject So I’m freaking out here You are dying and we don’t know where Chorus
7.
Dunedin 03:58
Verse City in a hole, feel the damp, see the cold You’re one of my best friends We hated high school together You bought a red van and you never returned Everything thing is dark, we are dead in Dunedin Played one of my best shows With one of my heroes forgotten These thoughts of fruit become rotten and lose colour Chorus I need you to know that I love you I need you to know I’m your friend There’s place on the hill in Dunedin There’s a boy in a bar with a mic And he’s singing his heart out Verse Took a ticket, sang a pop hit, saw someone I spent a life with Nights like this are on the edge of fucking perfect If it wasn’t for the hallowed and the hollow If it wasn’t for the lines I have followed in error Late night kebab, climb the hill, confess the close, chase the thrill I could talk shit till sunrise But it’s duvets on the floor, hum of the fridge in the kitchen Another buzz to ignore, I only dream I never listen Chorus Verse Blossoms in the spring light, that crisp Sunday morning There’s a new hope in town And he will rob you if you let him in I feel like I could talk to a stranger I feel like I could walk with a genuine smile
8.
Verse Downstairs flat Outside’s fire We can never hold a single thought in our heads Dead end street All money and concrete If I could just work up the courage to stay on my feet and breathe Bad news coming With age you feel it I have never understood the anger of men But I’ll be there walking I’ll sing my heart out I’d rather be on your side We will meet at the bookstore, I wish everyone of you well And when the southerly hits your face at dusk and the rain is sharp and you soak into an empty dark You need calm You want warmth I am with you friend I refuse their talk! I refuse their title! There are people who have held it That bliss in their hands Chorus I’ll watch the birds It’s the best way to learn
9.
Verse You stayed in New York, I always thought you would come home We ran down Lambton Quay, we talked of Central Hawkes Bay There was snow, it was Easter, in a bar we shared stories on loan You left the corporate heap for songs of the subway and the street Chorus “And I never wanna work to make someone else rich” And I’ll never regret running far and fast and higher The thrill of the middle of the road I gave up for the 10th time, we moved into the spare room in the spring I ran up Maungawhau, I’m always running for the height and for the low Decisions have put us in places with people we love I never planned for the pace of how our cities and seasons would change Chorus Outro For the riverbed, for the blood and for the violence For the pylons and the pendant of promise For the weight of the mist on the water For the man who saved a life
10.
Verse You took the job in the north And you bought a house on the bright side Meet up once a year And you celebrate all the myth we made Everyone has gone Everyone has been replaced Everything is different now You told me we would never change Made a pact for the price of a dozen And we followed it through till the money went You went and fell for a tired tradition Give me two more years and some good luck Now I'm alone in a hall full of strangers Crying out for a fair go You're on the edge but you were a part of it Give me a wave on your way home I will finish the job that we started in January I will write you a part, it will make you rich Chorus On a Sunday morning, with your sweetheart walking You know all about it love When your city’s talking and your friends are calling You say ‘Hey it’s everyone!’ Verse I can see you smile A day in the life of a good friend We stood at the dawn and we sang out of tune A sacred glimpse of something great I want to know where you went after summer I will meet you at the harbour This is a thing and you were a part of it Give me two more years and some cheap rent I will finish the job that we started in January I will write you a part, it will make you rich Bridge For the good in us And we do it on the weekend And we’re back at work on Monday Give me a light I've got a new friend And we want our heroes And we see that they’re just like us And that hurts
11.
Verse Put the address into your phone I'll do the driving, you do the talking Let's take the long way out of here You wait in the carpark I'll fetch the groceries, so strange and ghostly Fear had arrived in Masterton Chorus I’ve never longed for anyone this much I've never been with anyone this tough Verse And we like to head up north Friends become family, time becomes sandy I tend to hide from everyone I'm clenching my teeth again You're always solid, now we have wandered Hold my hand close until the coast Chorus Bridge I had a hope But everything would change in a weekend It was a joke That what you do matters to people Verse We're watching TV news Countries are closing, calling in colours An ode to the lovers of Castlepoint
12.
Verse People are billionaires People are giving up People are living with it People are living it up You can’t see me falling apart You see me smiling This life is as grey as fuck But everyday we are buying And every other day we’re trying Chorus Hope movement rising Be on your path and guide me Hope movement rising Verse I saw it, I was walking past my old school, same uniform, it’s happening again... It’s happening again – same mum, same dad, same friends Just taller fences, higher rent Chorus Bridge Hold the burden tight Outro But there’s a faint light shines from online Sometimes it’s from your eyes Sometimes it’s on the street It’s giving that love to me
13.

credits

released September 17, 2021

Penelope Esplin - backing vocals, keys, piano
Vorn Colgan - backing vocals, keys, some lyrics, guitars
Eddie Crawshaw - drums, bass, guitars
Phill Jones - percussion, guitars, daf, banjo
Matt Enright - trumpet
Gareth Darling - trombone
Timothy Blackman - Violin
Sean Linton - Bongos
Andrew Hayes - wrote piano lines on ‘Lucky’
Everything else by Lake South.

Written, arranged, recorded & produced by Lake South.
Mastered by Austin Asvanonda
Drums recorded at Avalon Studios by Chris Winter
Everything else recorded at Waikawa Beach, Takapau, and Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

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