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Zersch

by James Hersch

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1.
Water Tower 03:45
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And the fire bell rang On the side of the house We were hanging out in the backyard Peter hurried off in the car Down second avenue Right behind n our bikes As the fire siren blew On the water tower The water tower That big silver water tower And if we got there in time We'd see the firemen roll Jumping in their boots Pulling on their coats and their black fire helmets Peter's helmet was white Because Peter was the boss A wave and a yell And a ring of the bell And the fire truck was off From the water tower The water tower That big silver water tower And I remember a big moon shining Off that silver lining One time, on a dare My sister and a boy climbed way up there To the top Said you could almost see tomorrow Now Peter's passed on I remember that day They put his box on the fire truck And drove away It made me smile to see And I will not forget On top of that box Was a white fire helmet And they drove him by the water tower The water tower That big silver water tower
2.
Jimbo's Boys 04:27
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From a poem of the same name by Kevin J Langton We ran intervals Around man made lake Even here at forty three The memory makes me ache I clearly recall how your neck turned The way you smiled Feel my last breath of oxygen Just to get across the finish line Keep moving- you said Turn it over from your legs to your head From the motion to the deep That last lap, we found something we could keep Somehow in that sticky air We found a lap we didn't know we had We found it to impress you, or some girl Or each other, or Mom and Dad We found it for ourselves It was a measure of where we stood For we were Jimbo's Boys Doing things we didn't know we could Keep moving- you said Turn it over from your legs to your head From the motion to the deep That last lap, we found something we could keep Now we carry that last lap In ways we never expected When we've lied to ourselves too long That last lap is there to protect us We find it in the waiting room In the detox In a hard goodbye On the long walks In divorce court Or the midnight hour In the sweat of our Daughter's wedding flowers In the soft rain On a long run In the dreams We've all but given up on We hear the sound of the same voice We share the gift of being one of Jimbo's Boys Keep moving- you said Turn it over from your legs to your head From the motion to the deep That last lap, we found something we could keep
3.
Del and John 04:50
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Maybe their stories Come from some old box Deep in their memories Now they unlock each other Smiling ear to ear Del and John will pick out a favorite souvenir They play like trump cards Each other's weakness With every trick they take There's a sweetness And no one's keeping score The game they play's not for winning anymore Stories told are as good as gold When two old friends do the telling They win back the clock They forget they forgot Hold a moment in their hand Like old friends can It's such an old song They words get hidden In the lines of time The times of living These two together Can fill their blanks in Find the rhyme in the song their singing It took them so many years to write it Verse by verse, but it's still stuck inside And it's right where they left it long ago Maybe there's still one verses to go Stories told are as good as gold When two old friends do the telling They win back the clock They forget they forgot Hold a moment in their hand Like old friends can So say goodnight now Be well and gone Say goodnight to Old Del and John May we all live For a hundred years May we all have our own box of souvenirs
4.
Jon's Gone 02:56
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5.
To the West 06:29
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West across the North Dakota Badlands Thunderheads were hanging in the far horizon Flashing somewhere over east Montana Behind us a Minnesota moon was rising West through endless miles of sunflowers Spilling like a river into a rocky plain Had a beer with a cowboy in Glendive, Pulled over, just too tired to drive Fell asleep to the sound of the rain CHORUS On the road Just like Kerouac The eastern wind and youth Still at our back And we sold Whatever future we had left Laid it all down on a bet, on a quest... To the west West a tourist lodge in St Mary On the border of the great Glacier National Park Blest - getting paid, making music  At night we'd just stand outside staring up at the stars We hiked the garden wall and Many Glacier Laid us down in fields of tall beargrass A saloon and a three piece band Up on the roof of this magic land Hitching a ride back down from Logan Pass CHORUS Years, been so many since those summers Those wonders and blunders How you figure out who you are Faces waving like the sunflowers Scenes of Montana on an old post card Now I'm pulling over for a hitch hiker in Ohio  A ghost of susquehanna thumbing  in the rain He says anywhere west will do He knows the same songs that we knew Something deep in me hears the refrain CHORUS
6.
How to Breathe 04:45
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I walk a little everyday A couple of miles even when it's rainy and gray It's been gray so long Around the woods, around the pine The turkey tom, a duck, a deer... and more people all the time It's a strange walk we're on Looking for the grasses, the pond, the trees To teach us how to breathe... again I wonder if we'll even know ourselves When we come out of this cloud, look around, see everyone else Our joy, our grief How will we know how to say hello, fix our broken and Shattered peace Our disbelief Now let the spring, the spark, the sprouting seed Teach us how to breathe... again So what's the lesson, what's to learn To testify, to make me wise to the life I thought I earned The old crow laughs at me I've been a fool, and I'm not alone Building and burning through a world I pretend I own But I can barely see Looking for mercy and a prayer on my knees Lord, teach me how to breathe... again
7.
Sipe's Park 03:07
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Nine different tee shirts, nine different colors That's how you know who's on your baseball team this summer School's out, Sipe's Park Take the kids from the east side, kids from the west side Kids from the country out to the Brooklyn Park boundary Line 'em up, Sipe's Park Stan had a list, put us in a line Roll the gear bag out, now I think it's time Play ball, Sipe's Park I wish every kid had a Stan Getchell in their life Set it all up, take it all down, make it all come out right We loved our baseball and our nine-colored tee shirt Stan was the umpire, not a parent in the bleacher That's just fine at Sipe's Park I wish every kid had a Stan Getchell in their life Set it all up, take it all down, make it all come out right We're on our bikes after the game Stopping at the Tastee Freeze, hey there's Slimmer McLean He says, "just another day, sweet summer day Gonna be another day at Sipe's Park."
8.
Home Again 03:50
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I learned some of my favorite songs Under the Milky Way Sitting around a campfire Charlie on the MTA I picked up my sister’s guitar I learned how to play It wasn’t long before Larry and Tom Had booked our band for pay In the junkyard we pulled the parts To build a PA of our own Someone’s Dad had an amplifier Someone found a microphone Carried it all behind our bikes In the wagons we’d outgrown Learned Summertime Blues, Iron Butterfly And the Rolling Stones At the American Legion Hall There was a bandstand with lights Boys, it felt like a dream to play Music on a Saturday night Standing up there for real To feel what it’s like Those nights with my friends, they play in my head Like an old black and white INTERLUDE I’m crowding sixty two, boys Holding a guitar Maybe I’m a fool, boys To chase it this far There’s a beat to this life There’s a beat to this heart Chase it right to the end, every song that I can Until the bandstand goes dark That song about Charlie, they say He never returned again It occurs to me now Maybe I’m a little like him I jumped on the train And the places I’ve been No matter how far I go, it’s the ones I love so Take me home again

about

These songs were recorded in the summer of 2021, and several were written for my concerts with storyteller Kevin Kling.

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released August 10, 2021

Some tracks recorded at Stillwaters Studio in Marshall, VA. Engineered by Jeff Wolf.

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James Hersch Minneapolis, Minnesota

I live on this piece of prairie. I'm passionate and dedicated to writing songs in hopes of singing them for people. I don't think I could continue without both ends of that process. Create then hope. It's here I write songs, and here I wait to sing them for others. ... more

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