We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Wild As A Child

by Great White North

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    The debut album, "Wild As A Child" pressed onto white vinyl! A limited first run pressing of just 200 copies! Includes new artwork and lyric sheet.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wild As A Child via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 200 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 CAD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $5 CAD  or more

     

1.
The Factory 02:40
Every morning in the winter, the winter winds are stirring and they're returning to their warm cups of coffee the coffee keeps their eyes up but not their mouths shut, anything but The sun comes up around seven Well, seven hours are something when you're nothing but a number to the factory The factory owner's an asshole and you know it
2.
Northern Man 03:09
Woke up with my head buried in the snow and all you dark-skinned women, where do you all go when there's nothing left of summer but an ocean's breeze it's 10 below zero, but 30 more until we freeze The dust blows through the prairies like a mad man on the run He thinks he feels at home until he looks at what he's done He's setting sails on nothing and hoping he's coming back, He's got nothing distracting from keeping him on track. It's not like I was left out in the cold, I was gonna make it big but I got too old Well, the snow's up to my back, but my boots will stay on track I'll hold it in my hand 'cause I'm a northern man He gets up at 4:30 and he's on the ice at 6 He's not much of a lover, but he's magic with that stick Now he's dropping out of school and getting by on luck Well, you don't need too much luck when you're that good with the puck It's not like I was left out in the cold, I was gonna make it big but I got too old Well, the snow's up to my back, but my boots will stay on track I'll hold it in my hand 'cause I'm a northern man
3.
Oh my neighbour, call me down I just don't feel like dying And my father, tell me now About your love and lying Would you bring me down and find yourself Another man that we both knew And the song she sang came from the bones Of the man that she left dying My first love was a Christian girl, She put her trust in God before me But when the time came to push me out, Her love in him had disappeared too Would you bring me down and find yourself Another man that we both knew And the song she sang came from the bones Of the man that she left dying Oh my neighbour, call me down I just don't feel like dying And my father, tell me now About your heart of a lion
4.
We went out and built a new house Along that winding country road My mother blessed me with a brother, and another All the love I came to know My sister left us for the city The day she turned just twenty-two Well, through the rain her face appeared the same But her heart, well we knew was turning blue You held your ghosts out on nothing Then take your seat upon your throne One day you'll be the queen of something But this old house here ain't a home I'm told it gets cold by September So we'll warm our bones beside the fire Your humbled thoughts have left me here to do some thinking You lack the voice that we require Then we got married in the winter The snow fell on your white dress Well I held her hand, but couldn't bring myself to kiss her This whole wedding was a mess You held your ghosts out on nothing Then take your seat upon your throne One day you'll be the queen of something But this old house here ain't a home
5.
You came back fleet-foot and asking me for more I haven't seen that fire since 1994 I know that you loved all them songs I wouldn't sing You said, "I love you", but I know now that you meant some different thing Why don't you go and light yourself on fire You can warm yourself on someone else's desire Haven't you heard those words that you sold Well, I just don't know all the meanings of the stories that I'm told Boxes and boxes of letters that you wrote I take them out and then I read them and I choke I know that you heard all them lovely words before That's alright with me if you turn around and take them out the door Why don't you go and light yourself on fire You can warm yourself on someone else's desire Haven't you heard those words that you sold Well, I just don't know all the meanings of the stories that I'm told Your lying eyes will somehow see the way In which you came and left with nothing more to say And if I awake and you're still lying in my bed I could live without all your fairy tales and bullshit in your head Why don't you go and light yourself on fire You can warm yourself on someone else's desire Haven't you heard those words that you sold Well, I just don't know all the meanings of the stories that I'm told
6.
I was born to a city, the city lights shone down on me The road traveled down into some small town Lord knows that's where I'll be Take me down to that river where I will baptize my young Well, the water rose up and spilt over my cup Washed the black from my tongue I won't remember where I should be I won't wait for nothing, nothing waited for me Lay me down in that valley, where I ran wild as a child And when my love dies and if I'm in her eyes, Lay her body next to mine I won't remember where I should be I won't wait for nothing, nothing waited for me Take me back to that city, the stars will light up my way Put me up on that stage with lines on my page I'll put my life on display
7.
I was young once and I stayed the same I took your hand and hoped that you'd take my name Well I go on back down just like the pouring rain And if your love gone robbed me blind, I won't complain Later on on that drive back home You looked at me and said you feel alone How can love feel that way after all the seeds we've sown And if your love hadn't robbed me blind, I might have known Your long brown hair was blowing up in the wind You looked at me and thought, what might have been? If you had never loved a poor boy like me And if your love hadn't robbed me blind, I might have seen You got my heart, you got my mind Now Vancouver's colder than I recall I looked to you and then I watched you fall from your cloud into your little broken home And if your love gone robbed me blind And if you're having trouble with your mind And if your love gone robbed me blind, I wouldn't mind
8.
Oh Jesus Christ, for Heaven's sake Only the good Lord knows of all the trouble I make It's not all about the blind man and the water into wine, It'll take some kind of miracle to keep my soul alive Don't judge me on my haircut, at least I've got my beard Father tell me something that will keep my conscience cleared According to that good book, I might as well be dead Just don't tell anybody that I made love before I wed Maybe I'll be forgiven if I get her to marry me As long as it don't end in D.I.V.O.R.C.E If you're headed to the grave with another man you love Don't count on being welcomed by the angels up above I do love my neighbour, my family and my god It's just that I find some of his rules a little odd Well bless me father for you know that I have sinned It's been ten long years since I first let those demons in It's not just for the fact that I'm a lyin', stealin' cheat I sometimes work on sundays, won't you wash my dirty feet
9.
I was a sailor, sailing out from Spain I'm sick of how those seas exhausted all my pain Left my love to wander and you know that I'll pay the price I'm heading further away and I'm praying on Jesus Christ I traced the Fraser down to the coast My love was left at home so I'll be sending her my ghost I'll pass the time with liquor and sweet cocaine I'm hoping before I die that somebody knows my name How long can these days keep rolling on Withdrawn my mind until it's gone I've misplaced my sense of place too long ago And now my bones they lie below I've sailed the oceans and conquered every storm I've seen America's best and my love is home to mourn From the prairies I've waited out the snow I'm packing my bag again and I'm heading down to Mexico Jacques Cartier and the great white north Saint Lawrence will save me and I'll be back by the fourth Superior's waters have taken more than she's put If my ship shall sink then I'll be going on light foot How long can these days keep rolling on Withdrawn my mind until it's gone I've misplaced my sense of place too long ago And now my bones they lie below
10.
Bear 66 05:13
Grizzly, Grizzly got me down Blood flows down her fur of brown And she left three little ones alone Looking over her pile of bones And I saw them weeping Gonna take them home They were going to the city Gonna take a look around A train that's coming down the rail Bear 66 was going down Train tracks made of steel Let you know that this was real Sometimes I feel like a motherless bear when I saw them there And I saw them weeping Gonna take them home They were going to the city Gonna take a look around A train that's coming down the rail Bear 66 was going down And I saw them weeping Gonna take them home They were going to the city Gonna take a look around A train that's coming down the rail Bear 66 was going down
11.
To Alberta 03:22
I was awoken by words unspoken Going out there ain't for me The winter it blew up and swallowed you up The cold air took her away Alberta once called you and I just fell too short to call you my way You made a decision that there'd be a rescission Forget the winter and spring And the love that you had known would be gone before you go Alberta once called her and pulled her yonder Away from the words I spoke She left here crying, a poor man dying Ten months since last time they spoke

about

The debut full-length album. Recorded in the spring of 2015 in Oliver BC, Canada.

credits

released June 23, 2015

Michael Szalay - Vocals, Guitar, Organ, Harmonica, Banjo, Percussion, Mandolin, Melodian, Accordion
Carson Ruhland - Piano, Drums, Banjo, Backing Vocals
Polo Veintimilla - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sean Petersen - Drums, Piano, Backing Vocals
Sid Ruhland - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

All words and music by Michael Szalay

Cover photo by Lewis Hine

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Great White North Kelowna, British Columbia

Great White North is Mike Szalay, Sid Ruhland, Sean Petersen and Polo Veintimilla. Performances are always a hard-hitting, foot-stomping experience that teeters back and forth from a softer acoustic folk sound to a harder, grittier alternative rock sound. ... more

contact / help

Contact Great White North

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Great White North, you may also like: