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Answers Belie

by Anders/O'Bitz

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1.
A Slow Movin' Nightmare 04:15
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A Slow Movin’ Nightmare (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Breakdown Has come Too long Believin’ wildly dumb Way down You’ll see From these cancers We cannot be freed So low … and with Lost rights … and we’re Scrapin’ bottom Reachin’ for the sky So far … and with No time … and we’re So far gone We can’t even ask why Aha what a weight for our sons And for our daughters To bear Aha to the victor the spoils A spoiled victor’s Nightmare A slow movin’ nightmare Breakdown Has come Too long Prayin’ Kingdom comes Way down You’ll see From what’s come We cannot be freed So low … and with Lost rights … and we’re Scrapin’ bottom Reachin’ for the sky So far … and with No time … and we’re Too far gone To find a home called mine Aha what a weight for our sons And for our daughters To bear Aha to the victor the spoils A spoiled victor’s Nightmare A slow movin’ nightmare Ooh oh ooh oh Ooh oh ooh oh … Aha what a weight for our sons And for our daughters To bear Aha to the victor the spoils A spoiled victor’s Nightmare A slow movin’ nightmare A slow movin’ nightmare A slow movin’ nightmare
2.
Force of Old 04:23
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Force of Old (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Heard about a war to come Heard it might be unlike wars of old Heard it won’t be civil Heard it might be hot or cold It weighs on me The weight makes it hard to see A home Where I … can grow old Weighed down Weighed down I can feel the weight of war The ground No sound No sound of any marching feet Still find our home Weighed down by a force of old Weighed down Weighed down Can we really take a war No, we can’t take it hot or cold Won’t ever be civil Can only dig a deeper hole It weighs on me The weight makes it hard to see A home Where I … can grow old Weighed down Weighed down I can feel the weight of war The ground No sound No sound of any marching feet Still find our home Weighed down by a force of old Weighed down Weighed down Old weight so very heavy No sound but deadly heat Weighed down Weighed down I can feel the weight of war The ground No sound No sound of any marching feet Still find our home Weighed down by a force of old Weighed down Weighed down Weighed down Weighed down I can feel the weight of war Weighed down Weighed down Weighed down Old weight So very heavy
3.
Long Ol' Civil War 05:12
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Long Ol’ Civil War (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Twelve-score and seven-plus years ago The white fathers of this diverse nation brought forth Liberty and slavery juxtaposed For too long white men much more equal So engaged in long ol’ civil war Oh long old civil war Oh we won’t long endure Yes we long, long forgot yes forgot all they died for Liberty and the rot of the right juxtaposed Again it’s left up to us the livin’ to ensure They didn’t die in vain eight-score years ago Oh long old civil war Oh we won’t long endure Ooh ah Ooh ah Ah ah oh Such a long ol’ civil war Such a long ol’ civil war Now it’s left up to us to ensure and endure And that great task remains: not let it perish from the earth Not let it perish, not let it perish from the earth Not let it perish from the earth
4.
The Hardest Lesson 03:36
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The Hardest Lesson (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Why All the needless repetition And then resistance Without workin’ through Why They burn bright with the colors, so Reminiscent of the Original two All these lessons Too many lessons To work through Oh why The hardest lesson The hardest lesson’s Been you My love Why Over and over Same old failing Same old nothin’ is new Why Always burned by these colors, oh Same old colors And never new hues All these lessons Too many lessons To work through Oh why The hardest lesson The hardest lesson’s Been you My love Why oh why Over and over then you Why oh why Over and over All these lessons Too many lessons To work through Oh why The hardest lesson The hardest lesson’s Been you My love Why … over and over Why … over and over
5.
Answers Belie 04:15
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Answers Belie (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Can we ever really know Are we acting out of time What can constitute a home If we search out the sublime Oh oh I I hope My answers won’t belie If their light is seen too long Will seeing leave us among the blind If they are heard by us alone Will any others hear in time Oh oh I I hope My answers won’t belie Oh oh I I know Nothin’ left but the sublime Not really so long ago I felt so I had some answers More than whys But for too long I was alone With my answers For too long Answers belied Ooh oh oh Ooh hooh I Ooh oh oh Ooh hooh I Can we ever really know Are we acting out of time What can constitute a home Nothin’ left but the sublime Oh oh My answers won’t belie Oh oh Nothin’ left but the sublime My answers won’t belie Nothin’ left but the sublime
6.
Eyes, A Child, Bedside 03:47
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Eyes, A Child, Bedside (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Layin’ there mouth open and eyes alone Stricken my early years at your bedside Wondered who you’d been ‘fore all went wrong Who had been the father of mother mine We all three shared eyes You lay there only mind and eyes alive Eyes … a child … bedside Your mind and eyes were all that were left alive Our shared eyes You couldn’t share your mind Trapped inside A dustbowl refugee left the hardest times Headed west one in a million line Midwest born then California wild Eyes … a child … bedside Eyes … a child … bedside Your mind and eyes were all that were left alive Our shared eyes You couldn’t share your mind Trapped inside Break Photos black and white and crooked smiles The Harley not to blame for those lost miles Midwest born then California wild Eyes … a child … bedside Eyes … a child … bedside Your mind and eyes were all that were left alive Your mind and eyes were all that were left alive Our shared eyes You couldn’t share your mind Trapped inside
7.
I Hope Time Will Be Kind 04:09
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I Hope Time Will Be Kind (©2022 Anders/O’Bitz) Remember seeing you When you first opened your eyes Remember seeing you As you gave walking a try Remember seeing you Lovin’ your first solo ride Remember seeing you Drivin’ away sayin’ goodbye Oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh I hope to see you When you’re on your own and just fine I hope to see you When yours they open their eyes I hope to see you As you help them find their lives I hope to see you And I hope time will be kind Oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh I hope to see you And I hope time will be kind

about

Eric describes the first song on the album, “Slow Movin’ Nightmare” as “a dirge for American democracy.” The second song, “Force of Old” starts out “Heard about a war to come/Heard it might be unlike wars of old/Heard it won’t be civil/Heard it might be hot or cold.” The third song is a reimagining and updating of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address: “Long Ol’ Civil War.”

But not all the songs on this album are political. Some are philosophical (the title track, “Answers Belie”) while the other three are sentimental. With the song “The Hardest Lesson,” Eric returns to what was a common theme for him when he wrote the lyrics for his first three albums: the repetition of dysfunctional relationships. Of course, this was a theme before he met and married his wife in 2005.

“Eyes, A Child, Bedside” is Eric’s ode to his maternal grandfather who was a Harley-riding CHiP who developed MS and spent the eighteen years Eric knew his grandfather in a hospital bed in his grandparents’ living room–because healthcare sucks in the U.S. even for people who devote themselves to civil service for decades.

The final song on the album, “I Hope Time Will Be Kind,” is an ode to Eric’s three kids and an expression of the universal fear of growing old. It is also an expression of his fear that the world is going to get worse for his kids with climate change and the rightward drift of U.S. and world politics.

credits

released June 24, 2023

Produced and Mixed by Mike Butler.
Mastered by Jamal Ruhe.
All songs were written by Eric Anders and Mark O’Bitz.

Eric Anders - Vocals
Mark O’Bitz - Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Keys, Piano
Mike Butler - Bass, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Keys
Ben Moore - Keys
John O'Reilly Jr. - Drums
Jenn Grinels - Backing Vocals

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Anders/O'Bitz California

Singer-songwriter Eric Anders (right) and guitarist-composer Mark O'Bitz (left) both hail from California. Eric and Mark have been working on music together since Eric's 2003 debut release, Not At One--like all of Eric's solo releases it was mostly Anders/O'Bitz. The guys started releasing music as a duo in 2018 with Of All These Things and have released at least an album every year after that. ... more

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