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Understanding

by Mirah

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Newest full-length record from Mirah, released September 2018. Available on CD, Vinyl, & Digital!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Understanding via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Newest full-length record from Mirah, released September 2018. Available on CD, Vinyl, & Digital!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Understanding via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
Counting 02:51
Round and round goes the whole game Power takes and power aims Round and round goes the whole game I take power with this way We love to death our money We love to death our gods We’re blowing up for money We’re blowing up for gods No rules left No room left No rules left We love to death our money We love to death our gods We’re blowing up for money We’re blowing up for gods No room left No rules left No room left
2.
Information 03:49
Hold you back from a long way down You can tell me you’re feeling ‘round ‘fore the things you lost ‘fore the things you found When you were younger than you’re feeling now When you were younger than you’re feeling now We can all get lost in time We can read the papers fine But you’ll lose your heart and you’ll waste your mind If the information doesn’t make you kind We want the information to make us kind But if you put up a wall to protect your side And you stuff your faces with mean ‘ol lies This is how you will kill and die America Give us all an open road Give us all a hand to hold It’s time to understand how to make things whole In America What holds you back from a long way down What gets you grown up from the ground Doing something more than just sitting round You won’t get younger than you’re feeling now/can we be free? You won’t get younger than you’re feeling now/can we be free? So don’t get lost too lost in time When you read the papers, find How not to lose your heart or to waste your mind Cause we want the information to make us kind We want the information to make us kind But if you put up a wall to protect your side And you stuff your faces with mean ‘ol lies This is how you will kill and die In America Won’t you give us a hand a hand to hold So you can understand how this world rolls Give us all an open road America
3.
Lake/Ocean 02:44
the lake was as big as an ocean an ocean of my fears the mountains rise clouds in my eyes I brought myself out here hear the hum of hummingbird wings The call of everything My heart’s elephant-sized with love of life But in the dark its too loud loud loud loud In the day I am fine to be floating the line Above and below the water A shallow dive is no less a try To see underneath you don’t have to go deep when the water’s this clear If you look down once you could fall through But that’s not what I want to do That’s not what I want to do Every day becomes night sure as rain is right That’s when I want you here When the sky eats up all of the light I want that to feel blanket-like But my bare-eyed view only lets through A few thousand pinpricks whispering blue While the rest of the black takes me all the way back With a space echo hum of the universe drums ba-dum-ba OOOOO ba-dum-ba OOOOO ba-dum-ba OOOOO ba-dum-ba OOOOO In a vacuum void of any dreams I’ve dreamed I can’t lay myself down under this feeling I stare and stare and wait for things With the goldenrod and the pines and rocks
4.
Lighthouse 05:09
And your baby’s hanging on, looking at pictures on the phone You’re back at home while I’ve gone away We thought it wouldn’t feel long, ‘cause aren’t we so independent But the wind out here is strong it blew right through those confidences And the sky’s been coming down as if the green could get more green As if the poppies had just thirst and thought the sun was just a dream The water on the road looks like a river lost control Spilling out the seams and soaking through my jeans And I run up to the hill, run right through the battery The military men have gone and left this all to me Listen the wind is making songs in the trees all the day long They’re singing more than me, they’re making their own reveille I want the lighthouse to be on, when the evening’s coming on ‘Cause when the lighthouse isn’t on, the night can feel so long Turn on the lighthouse, turn it on, so the nights don’t feel so long I’m just out here watching clouds, I could be famous for doing this Just thinking thoughts there’s nothing to it And in the days I make it right, I’ve got my work to do I can clean up the windows and serenade the view But when the sky gets darkened down, I just want to be known by you In our lighthouse, I can feel you feel it too I want the lighthouse to be on, when the evenings coming on ‘Cause when the lighthouse isn’t on, the night can feel so long Turn on the lighthouse, turn it on, put the million candles on
5.
You head out on a restless wing And set yourself to wandering Wake up in the morning sun Though blinded by the pretty light Think you can find your way without your sight Pass the hours to darkness falling How the twilight does become you And the stars do twirl around The deep night above You have a dream you help someone You dreamt that you were needed But in all the days that passed No open arms were seeking By your body to be held In your heart to feel the beating To hear you say ‘Use my breath for your own breathing Because in you I am believing’ You want to forget How it feels to be lonesome To have all your friends around you But you go off and live without them You want to remember How it feels to love someone How to see your body right I will be your body right I will see your body right
6.
Ordinary Day 04:10
It’s called an ordinary day, but that doesn’t describe it What’s called an ordinary day has so much inside I gaze up to the sky with dreams dancing from my eyes On every ordinary day with you I get such a thrill, I do Cause I’ve got magic streaming off my shoulders from you And we get such a thrill, we do Cause we spend all our nights holding on like we like to And it’s called an ordinary day but that doesn’t describe it What’s called an ordinary day has so much inside I wake up with your eyes, and trace fingers all around Our sleepy sighs, on every ordinary… …day with you is a chance at making more music and fine romance And if our balance gets funny we fall But we brush ourselves off, we don’t mind at all We wake up to the blue and we can still see the moon In a winter stance lookin’ like she’s got a lot to do Oh to roll in the heavens and represent so much Why do we pin our dreams on the mysteries above But we can’t help ourselves from falling in love Even when this round world has gotten so fucked up We won’t stop falling in love, no we won’t stop falling in love Don’t stop falling in love, no don’t stop falling in love
7.
Hot Hot 04:08
If anything tries to hold you back we won’t let it We’ll make it stop stop, we’ll make it stop stop Try to keep your tires on the road even when the wind picks up You can keep it calm calm, even if you roll off You got a good thing baby don’t waste it, don’t waste it no Keep keepin’ it hot hot, keep keeping it hot hot If we were clouds we’d be making prisms of light Holding up the rain all cool and bright Wouldn’t that feel good, wouldn’t that feel so right Keep moving along ‘long, keep keeping up what you want So when I heard that I heard that I could stay And hold me and hold me so I’m safe I like when, I know me, I’m ok I’ll get back to myself one of these days You’ve got the whole team on your side, we’ve got this one we do We’ve got the life life, we keep the power on for you If the clouds stay low, oh, sometimes they do You just might get a little wet before they burn through You know beauty comes with age you can’t help but keep on Getting more hot hot, with every brave thought So when I heard that I heard that I could stay And hold me and hold me so I’m safe I like when, I know me, I’m ok I’ll get back to myself one of these days Don’t listen don’t listen when they say the bad Get up, get on the porch, take it on back girl take it on back Keep your heart together, get your mind relaxed Step in time together, let’s feel the power coming back
8.
Love Jetty 03:24
We sit on rocks by the ocean On the jetty in the sun so fine The wind is strong and it blows in I’m holding on to you so tight My heart is filled with emotion I’m gonna be gone for a while We know we’re bound to feel lonesome Even though we like to be alone sometimes I’ve got my bags packed But I’m already counting the days Until I get back home When you drive me to the plane I don’t want to get on, I just want to stay On the jetty with you The sign says keep off, but we don’t care That sign couldn’t keep us, from climbing out there We’re just making some heat, on a chilly day Nobody follows the rules around here anyway I’ve got my bags packed But I’m already counting the days Until I get back home When you drive me to the plane I don’t want to get on, I just want to stay On the jetty with you We sit on rocks by the ocean Wasn’t too far to get out here My heart is filled with emotion, I’ll sing it to you Coast to coast I miss you, and I want you to know I’ve got to trick myself into leaving, every time I go But I’m gonna I’ll call you every day just to hear you say my name I’ll call you every day just to hear you say my name The jetty is rocks rocks But we’re making it soft soft
9.
Sundial 02:34
We look to the strongest light in the sky We’ve been living here since the dawn of time We don’t count the days we’ve got the sun inside And we’ve been watching you this whole while Some of us have roots and some have wings that fly But we are like you we all get born and die We can teach you how to know what’s wrong and right By showing you how much we love about this life We don’t take too much, we have the light it’s just enough When we go we don’t mind, we give life we give life Look at all the beauty that the light has raised A garden like a heaven on the earth we make Why would you go off looking for another whole world When you could just love this one that welcomes you
10.
Energy 05:50
We only know, that it’s not that easy When time together is gone It’s not for us, to say how long To say how good, to say how strong We are turning in the night to our lovers love light For some holding on, for some good songs And to reconcile, all we will lose Cause we can’t choose, no we can’t choose How the day falls, how the stars lift We can just, we can just give tenderness Let’s try to get old together but even if we check the weather We might never be prepared for what comes But I’ll take care, of what I can I’ll give thanks to my parents For giving me this body for my soul to breathe It’s in here that I keep making memories And I will hold on, I will hold onto these for when time together is done And I feel so much love for the people who’ve come with me Even when I’ve been kicking and crying When I’m mad and I’m burdened, and I’m feeling uncertain And I just want to lay down my mind I’ll wake up again, and a new day begin With more energy

about

Understanding, Mirah’s 6th full length solo record, is a conscientious return to her early unconventional recording process — an embrace of spirited imperfection and rawness inclusive of rough first takes, natural room sounds, and a fair amount of broken equipment. Bathed in the sparkles of disco ball light, Mirah recorded demos with vocals, guitar, organ, and percussion in a former army barracks gymnasium at The Headlands Center for the Arts, where she spent four weeks as an artist in residence.

Once home in Brooklyn, Mirah teamed up with her frequent co-producer Eli Crews (tUnE-yArDs, The Julie Ruin, Son Lux) and invited Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier to join them in the studio. The collaboration sparked new textures and ideas. Building on top of Mirah’s vibrant original tracks, they used midi to transform a marimba into a distorted farfisa melody, drastically lowered the pitch of vocals until they morphed into sub-bass lines, and added layers of distinct timbres from Crews’ extensive vintage synth collection, a mellotron, and an 80’s era Soviet drum machine.

Written and recorded in a time of political and personal upheaval — family illness and the death of a dear friend, all in the shadow of the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath — Understanding presents an even hand of political themes, love songs and introspective rallying cries. As Mirah explains, “We all have needs and we all have dreams. We want so much to feel love and to give to each other, to ourselves, to the world. But how does this fit in with the constant barrage of information and distraction, of truths and lies? How do we move through this rapidly fluctuating reality with a sense of resilience and empowerment?” One of the best lyricists of our indie rock generation, Mirah uses her sharp intellect, empathy, and a measure of levity to shine a light on the world around us and the ways of our own hearts, showing us that understanding is what we all need a little more of.

Understanding [KLP268] is Mirah's third release through her Absolute Magnitude Recordings.

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released September 7, 2018

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Mirah Brooklyn, New York

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has been creating incorruptible independent pop music since the late 90’s. Mirah recently released the reissue of her debut LP, You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This, accompanied with a full tribute LP with contributions from over 20 artists. ... more

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