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.

The Best of​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​Blue Mood

by Walter Ehresman

/
1.
Reduction 07:26
lyrics
buy track
Reduction (© 2013 Walter Ehresman) Draw lines, one more time, through faraway ghosts of friendships fallen through a crack in time; Goodbye, Goodbye.
2.
Darwin's Jigsaw 06:43
lyrics
buy track
Darwin’s Jigsaw (© 2003 Walter Ehresman) Some of the pieces are ugly, baby; Some edges don’t seem to fit; Every piece lives out on the table, baby, unaffected when you quit. And obscurity on the outside, baby; Misdirection in the central core; And the mists obscure the outlines, baby, and the dullards hold back on the shore. And the rancid blood of the ages, baby, shows no balance out on the scales; And your strength won’t lay with compassion, baby, so your baser urges prevail; The failed experiment of the sentient animal calls you down; And this train evolves to nowhere, baby, and we overstate our renown (yeah we do).
3.
Snipe Hunt - Just Keep Your Eyes on the Ball 04:33
lyrics
buy track
Just Keep Your Eyes on the Ball (© 2002 Walter Ehresman) [intro: calliope music, with barker] Step right up! Step right up! Yes, you sir; step on out of your Suburban. Everyone’s a winner! Just follow the ball, sir; win something nice for your lady friend. Anyone can do it. Just keep your eyes on the ball. They never dreamed that it would be this easy; They would’ve bet that you were not this dumb; So many millions to those advertising gurus– they could’ve saved it all and bought more guns. If they had only known the things you’d swallow– think what they could’ve done in Ronnie’s day! Wrap every poison in the Stars and Stripes; The only measurement--the flag you wave. [chorus] It’s just like showin’ dogs a card trick; It’s just like selling god to seniles; Just like takin’ candy from a baby then saying that you didn’t just to watch that trusting smile. [break: calliope music with barker] Yes sir, step right up ladies and gentleman; See the Office of Homeland Security. That’s right.....kill the patient to save him. Everyone’s a winner. An Expedition in every driveway. See the Office of Privacy Surveillance. Step right up. See the Department of Environmental Economics. Step right up, don’t be shy....Everyone’s a winner! They’re getting giddy with this misdirection; They’re getting greedy with this subterfuge; They’re getting sloppy with these rank diversions; They’ve bet the farm that you will not see through.
4.
Snipe Hunt - Hey Freyja 04:20
lyrics
buy track
Hey Freyja (© 2000 Walter Ehresman) Freyja, those dead heroes at your side; Sacrifice to you, and even still my well runs dry; We all tied our hopes to you, forgot the blank look in your eye. Hey, Freyja, does it ever bring you down?: The sacred things to you cannot exist in one go-round; The riptide contradictions tearing all your temples down. [chorus] Oh......... Hey Freyja.......
5.
May the Tone Be With You, Jon 05:29
lyrics
buy track
May the Tone Be With You, Jon (© 2009 Walter Ehresman)
6.
Constellations 04:07
lyrics
buy track
Constellations (© 2015 Walter Ehresman) Charting the stars swarming ‘cross the Southern sky to navigate these seas I do not know. With a song, the anchor line was severed and I’m spinning to the shoals where your indifference let me go. She spreads the cards; leaves before the reading’s done— that future never had a chance to grow. She forgets the page the moment that the next one starts the turning— her whims look for tomorrow’s heart to show. [chorus] There’s more to the code than the language and there’s more to the puzzle than the guide book said; Or maybe we were just two people instead— semaphores and signals; both trying to read the waves; Some to safe harbor, and some wash away; Some to safe harbor, some just wash away. She paints in blood—the canvas tries to overcome the medium that drains out from my soul; Contradictions underline the sickness that I’m feeling, but to walk away is all that I control. Constellations—they swarm; Constellations—re-form.
7.
Native 05:50
lyrics
buy track
Native (© 2016 Walter Ehresman) Poison flows, with signs held high; Say “Go Home!” (just guessing where you came from); You cry “why won’t you talk to me?” Can’t abide the differences they see. Won’t recall the family tree— one and all took chance upon the waters; Now free to kill all those they find; Destiny won’t allow a guilty mind. [chorus #1] Do you love the land—the place your feet have come to? Do you treat it as your sacred ground, and rally ‘round it? Circling past a finite star— we’re all natives of the Final Blue. Name the ones who never invade; Name the ones whose people were all born here and they stayed, and never conquered anyone; No slaves; not some god’s chosen ones. Forces try to stoke our fears; Rich men buy endless campaigns grinding you to tears, rotting out your better side; So sincere—behind the flag and cross they hide. People move from place to place, then we choose how to treat our newest neighbor— lock our space, or open up our hearts? A birthplace is just part of who we are. [chorus #2] Do you love the land—the place your feet have come to? Will you treat it as your sacred ground, and rally ‘round it? Circling past a finite star— we’re all natives of the Final Blue.
8.
A Ghost of Myself 06:42
lyrics
buy track
A Ghost of Myself (©2012 Walter Ehresman) I am a ghost of myself; the guest unuprooted whose grasp of the uptake has gotten too slow. An echo of someone who once thought of chances; a flicker of something that left long ago. The grains in the glass spin the wheel one more turn; The answers are paid for with silence to burn. My gravity heavy, like planets more massive; My skin won’t cool down, and I feel lost in transit. The edges gone grey, and they lack definition; And old pleasures now patterns of rote repetition. –stare the night –as I’m haunting myself; –you can see it, my friend –as you greet someone else; –and I know that my time is fading –or already gone; –but the song, and the music, play on. So I turn out the lights, and I listen to Sandy– her voice from the place where no one can find me; My eyelids feel heavy, but sleep doesn’t live here; The weight bears me down, and I fall through the aether. Ain’t it strange how the imprints from youth won’t extinguish; The cold psychic toll lingers on to the finish. –stare the night –as I’m haunting myself; –you can see it, my friend –as you greet someone else; –and I know that my time is fading –or already gone; –but the song, and the music, play on.
9.
Near November 08:20
lyrics
buy track
Near November (© 2008 Walter Ehresman) –dedicated to Sandy Denny and Kathleen Overstreet, in memoriam The calendar swings hard around the sun, picking up speed in its mad dash to cold, grey skies. Near November, and–as they will–my thoughts turn to you. That song, Remember, plays–your voice a distant echo now. Beautiful, but no longer alive.......a reverberation of a long-dead bright star, fallen into an ocean’s eternity; the ripples of pain and sorrow not yet exhausted.......not yet to the shore or the far liquid horizon. Such was their strength and their depth. A tear surprises, falls, hits the table and glistens in the window’s refracted light. One drop, one tiny reflection, and yet in it I see the past......somehow larger and non-linear, dream-like in that I know more than I can see in these scenes. Maybe not like a dream......more like hindsight–knowledge I now have and maybe do not want. But it’s good to know......better to know than not to know, I’ve always said, no matter the cost. Do I believe that now? These scenes paint a pattern, inexorable and down-sloping.....and not only because I already know their ending. Your mirror was concave....or convex, something that arced your vision of yourself into a skewed, distorted frame. We could tell you, but you saw what you saw. We could not conceive of such a distortion. We saw your spark and knew how we felt when you were near. We saw what you created, from the plumbless recesses of a heart too damaged by what filtered down from the eyes. Too susceptible to it. And we are left with that now. Sometimes those things you’ve left behind fill the room as if you were with us still, and your art dances in our ears and in our souls. And sometimes its sadness reaches out and expands, filling the room.....filling all rooms, until we can perceive of nothing else, and we are awed by its power, and we weep to emptying at its truth, its reach, its finality. But........sometimes.......you come to us when we’re alone, as a wisp whose passing sends a delicate gauze over the heart. And as it flutters down, to wrap and cover but all too soon dissolve into insubstantial atoms, a tear may fall.......and, in a certain light............. --the reference in the text to the song "Remember" is one by Groove Armada, featuring extensive sampling of Sandy singing her song "Autopsy" with Fairport Convention.
10.
The Last Spark of Kindness 04:26
lyrics
buy track
The Last Spark of Kindness (© 2016 Walter Ehresman) When the last spark of kindness fades from off the screen, we all will walk into the darkness and know the worst unseen; And look back (Oh, we’ll look back!) Back to the time, The time we could have changed it; But we didn’t have the will to stem the tide. When the very last better angel sank under the mire; no hearts left here to see it— only egos of desire; Wanting more; Wanting all; None to share; In the bunkers of our greed; ‘cause we didn’t feel the need to try to care.
11.
I'll Walk Out of Here 03:33
lyrics
buy track
I’ll Walk Out of Here (© 2010 Walter Ehresman) Then I walked through that door, –with no question inside; –with no thought of what more might be shaved from my life; What kind of life –is left to me now? –is worth all the fight? Chained by all that I know; Chained by what’s gone down, –by the boot unexpected; –by the spears of the crown. Starved for kismet reflected. Starved for eyes that see inside-- past the mask beneath the mask I cannot see; And why would I be worthy of such archeology? Is it fair to ask a woman for that leap? No wonder I don’t sleep, and jump back at sudden sound; There’s nothing on this side to hold me down; No call to stick around. And my footsteps drum steady, –with no fear in my soul; –and no anger besets me; and I release control.
12.
BONUS TRACK: Slow Time 03:52
lyrics
buy track
Slow Time (© 1988 Walter Ehresman) The days and the nights blend together in the times that we spend alone; A twilight of the mind, counting ticks while slowly dying, and staring blankly at the phone. You feel that you’ve something to offer in the closeness that adds up to two, but the wounds from the past breed the fear that holds you fast from every trying someone new. [chorus] If we could see through each other’s eyes-- those earnest ideas (real or imagined), any pain would be justified by the quantum jump between; To see what we really mean; Imploring, but unheard, unseen. Misperception kills its share of those who chance to gamble out of the slow, slow time. Some kind of situation with someone, could happen almost any day-- two people killing time, telling jokes and telling lies, with nothing really much to say. It could lead in some direction, or take them just nowhere at all; The delicate balance of interaction, just a blink, hopin’ it don’t stall. [chorus]

about

2017 marks 30 years of recording his songs for release out into the world and, to celebrate this milestone, Walter Ehresman is releasing a series of "Best of......" compilations throughout the year, organized by style and mood. They draw from the over 200 songs he has written and released, across 16 solo and four band albums, between 1987 and 2017. No song will be repeated across any of the collections.

As those of you familiar with his prodigious output know, Ehresman tends to jump genres on pretty much every song on any given album. As he said in February of 2017, "....This is because I take the musical inspiration as it comes, and also have just never wanted to release an entire album of songs all in the same genre, with the exception of 2007’s experimental dark ambient album “The A.D.G. Project” (written for use with a large art installation at Burning Man that year).......Like many musicians, I rarely think of genre at all when I write and record.....I just pursue the idea wherever it leads, and in the end it 'is what it is,' as they say.

"I never have a good answer when asked by people: 'Oh, you’re a songwriter…..what kind of songs do you write?'...... Some songs are in recognizable styles, and some I frankly don’t what genre you’d put them in. But given all that, I think all my songs can be sorted out into a few general categories that have as much to do with mood as with a recognizable genre."

Nine compilations are planned, and this seventh one is a collection of the melancholy songs. Whether expressing anguish over the ever-rightward US political course and its human costs, or exorcising a deep hurt from his personal life, Ehresman has always laid himself bare in his songwriting. The selections on this compilation come from a very real and honest place inside him. He tells us "in working through these feelings myself, through music, I hope to both express something universal in each piece and also maybe help other people in the things they are going through."

NOTE: This collection includes one track that has not been released on any album, "The Last Spark of Kindness," that Ehresman wrote the dispiriting week of the Trump election.

As with most of his tracks, Ehresman largely handles all the vocals and instruments himself, but some very talented Austin, Texas players and singers appear from time to time to sweeten the pot.

Cover photo by Ron Van Dyke; photo treatment by James Rader.

credits

released September 1, 2017

--produced and compiled by Walter Ehresman.

p. 2017. Snipe Bog Records. All rights reserved.
© as indicated at each work.

Discography
--solo albums: "Honor in the Swine?" ('89); "In the Path of the Cat Chasers" ('90); "Split Brain Theory" ('91); "The Blue Shoat Special" ('96); the spoken-word "The Rants" ('97); "Handwedge from the Trap" ('99); “Le Cafard“ (’01); "The Feral Rugby Team Must GO!" ('03); "No Unifying Theme" ('04); "March, Scream or Cry" ('07); "The ADG Project" ('07); "Monkey Paw Situation" ('09); “Well…..Let‘s Look at Your Track Record, Shall We?” (’10); “Life Outside the Tent“ (’12); “Blue-Eyed Devils” (’14); “Pinches Topes” (’16); "The Best of.......Singer/Songwriter" ('17); "The Best of........World Music" ('17); "The Best of.......Party Mix" ('17); "The Best of......Hard Rockers" ('17); "The Best of.......Electronic Rockers" ('17); "The Best of......Chill" ('17); and "The Best of.......Blue Mood" ('17).

--with Snipe Hunt: "We'll Be Right Back!" ('99); "Dirty Ditties and Cover Tunes" ('00); and "I Saw the Future (But the Damn Train Hit Me Just the Same)" ('02).

--with Los Platos: “Oh, No” EP (’08).

--with Delphi Rising: “For Granted” (‘10)

--compilations (various artists):
(with Swine Patrol) “The Austin Cassette Compendium” (‘86);
(solo) "Monkey Boy Sampler" ('01, '05); and "Several Famous Orchestras" ('03).

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Walter Ehresman image

Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more

contact / help

Contact Walter Ehresman

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Walter Ehresman, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now