Treeshadows
Artist: Tim Becker
Release Date: January 31, 2019
My third album Treeshadows is a departure from my previous work in interesting ways—more electric, more eclectic. The wide range of styles and influences expands in this collection to include R&B ("Rabbit"), Bluegrass ("Creektown"), Blues ("Sirens"), 90's prog-rock ("Radio Flyer"), and more.
I also challenged myself to experiment with time signatures ("Oaks"), leaned further into stream-of-consciousness lyrics during recording ("Sisyphus;" "Push," "Moving Right Along"), and found myself once again wrestling not only with personal topics ("Toss/Turn"), but also with broader pages of history unfolding before my eyes ("Coming Back to Life"). I love all of these songs very much and I hope some of them find you as well.
Lyrics
Sirens
slip into the cold floodwaters
pulled under
backstroke thunder
watch all those houses
pulled under
I took one look closer
one look closer this morning
I took one step further
one step further this morning
please play
tear across that midnight threshold
and wonder
if flashflood sirens wait to pull you
asunder
I took one look closer
one look closer this morning
I took one step further
one step further this morning
please play
tread water till cattle ghosts
wash up and haunt every field
tread water till devils resurface
from wading for souls
tread water till towns are rebuilt
from the wreckage and bones
tread water till treading the water
is all you can know
please play
I took one look closer
one look closer this morning
I took one step further
one step further this morning
Radio Flyer
here we are
at the edge of the sidewalk
blocks away from home
and disappointment
radio flyer
will you take me higher?
out of the woods
I can’t keep from crying
nobody sees us
we’ll disappear
can’t go any faster
don’t know what I’m feeling
that’s how it goes
on my back
shoes in the air and kicking
try my best
like I’m running on the clouds
radio flyer
will you take me higher?
out of the woods
I can’t keep from crying
nobody sees us
we’ll disappear
can’t go any faster
don’t know what I’m feeling
that’s how it goes
Rabbit
sometimes it’s hard to pay attention
when there’s nothing missing, nothing broken
it’s our season but it’s halfway gone already
is there something to hold on to
when we tear out all the roots
and start over
plant them in another yard
never knowing what we’re growing
come here little deer
there’s an apple, you can have it
there’s no need to be so careful
but we’re all creatures of habit
everything is what it looks like
so there’s no harm in approaching
everything is what it looks like
won’t make any sudden motions
you can have whatever you want
you can have whatever you want
you can have it,
whatever you want
sometimes I stare into the skylight
on the floor and reach my hands out
try to catch the flecks swirling in the light
long afternoons
tree shadows, every surface I can see them
tree shadows, if only I could keep them
then I’d keep them
come here little rabbit
there’s a carrot, you can have it
there’s no need to be so careful
but we’re all creatures of habit
everything is what it looks like
so there’s no harm in approaching
everything is what it looks like
won’t make any sudden motions
you can have whatever you want
you can have whatever you want
you can have it
whatever you want
take your time, take your time
everything is what it seems
take your time, take your time
everything is what it seems
you can have whatever you want
you can have whatever you want
you can have it
whatever you want
Push
feels like my life is on a string
winding tighter every day
now the thread’s about to break
feel like I’m standing on the edge
all I need, all I need, all I need
all I need’s a little push
all I need’s a little push
I’ve been drinking daylight
feel the magma in my bones
now the fuse is burning fast
and my skin’s starting to glow
I’ve been breathing lightning
feel the crackle in my soul
now the particles are charged
and the lid’s about to blow
all I need’s a little push
all I need’s a little push
now everything I do
I question while I do it
keep coming up with answers
but my mind sees right through it
all I need’s a little... push
all I need’s a little push
all I need
Moving Right Along
is there somebody there?
the window’s broken
the door is open
hanging on its hinges like a last word
nobody ever wants to
live in a ghost town
nobody ever wants to
live in a ghost town
wait, at the edge of the house
the weeds are overgrown
things are falling apart
the wilderness is taking over
put it all back the way it was
nobody ever wants to
live in a ghost town
nobody ever wants to
live in a ghost town
there’s no one left here to tell you
that you have been forgotten
so keep it moving right along now
keep it moving right along now
Toss/Turn
don’t worry bout a thing
I’ll love you no matter where you are
don’t worry bout a thing
I’ll love you no matter what
don’t worry bout a thing
it’s only a matter of time
don’t worry bout a thing
I’ll love you no matter what
don’t you toss and turn tonight
you are stronger than I
you are stronger than I
don’t you toss and turn tonight
you are stronger than I
Coming Back to Life
tearing out of sleep in the night
with a vision of the future
ghost-white knuckles in the dark
gripping tight, bearing torches
will we ever get past
this part of the nightmare
that is history?
will we ever see the last
silver-tongued snake charmer
burning witches?
the dark plagues of the world
scream for blood and reawaken
coming back to life
we can stand at the mouth
of this hell and feel its hatred
coming back to life
whirlwind out of sleep in the night
with a vision of the future
road flare marching in the dark
setting sparks in all directions
will we ever get past the
reprise of the wicked
and their mission?
will we ever see the last
jackbooted reformers
burning witches, burning witches?
the dark plagues of the world
scream for blood and reawaken
coming back to life
we can stand at the mouth of this hell
and feel its hatred
coming back to life
everything gets worse
and then you die
but I won’t give up
without a fight
everything you touch is razor sharp
with superstition
won’t you let it die
why’d you think that this world
was yours for the taking?
we’re coming back to life
whatcha gonna do?
whatcha so afraid of?
your days are numbered
here comes the wave
Sisyphus
I always worried I would wake up
at forty years old
having done nothing wrong
but done nothing more
than work a day job
putting money in the bank
not enough to dig out
of this hole that I’ve made
huh, uh, huh, uh
huh, uh, huh, uh
I always worried I would wake up
at forty years old
having done nothing wrong
but done nothing more
than work a day job
putting money in the bank
not enough to dig out
of this hole that I’ve made
but not if I can help it
not if I can help if
it’s a Sisyphean curse
chasing money in a purse
from the day you learn to drive
til the back of a hearse
still the message is repeating
every frequency and station
every side of the equation
put me out of this frustration
but not if I can help it
not if I can help if
Oaks
branches lean heavy and low
silence piles up with the snow
cold seeps into every bone
winter collects what it’s owed
time seems impossible here
colorless, windswept, and still
morning breathes sharp on the air
nowhere to slumber until
hangmen unravel and drop
from their oaks
hangmen unravel and drop
from their oaks
sleep comes in late if at all
no other voices to hear
no way to burrow till spring
nowhere to hide till it’s over, when
hangmen unravel
and drop from their oaks
from the forest floor
new life grows
branches lean heavy and low
silence piles up with the snow
sleep comes in late if at all
no other voices to hear
time seems impossible now
nowhere to hide till it’s over, when
hangmen unravel
and drop from their oaks
from the forest floor
new life grows
sleep comes in late if at all
no other voices to hear
time seems impossible now
nowhere to hide till it’s over
Creektown
when we were younger
we thought we knew what we wanted
when we were younger
we thought we had it all together
but now as the sun
breaks through the hurricane
it’s strange: what we dreamt together
keeps us separate
there’s everywhere to drown
when you live in a creektown
there’s everywhere to drown
without you, you’re my high ground
the water kept on rising
up over Jones Ferry
there we slept on either side
farther than a flood could carry
but now as the sun
breaks through the hurricane
it’s strange: what we dreamt together
keeps us separate
there’s everywhere to drown
when you live in a creektown
there’s everywhere to drown
without you, you’re my high ground
but now as the sun
breaks through the hurricane
it’s strange: what we dreamt together
keeps us separate
there’s everywhere to drown
when you live in a creektown
there’s everywhere to drown
without you, you’re my high ground