A Stranger Here

by Dillon Warnek

A Stranger Here cover art
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about

Writes Abbey Holmes of the music blog Hearingade:

A Stranger Here is a melancholy album, painting a portrait of a young man sorting through the complications of growing up and letting go, uncertainly coming to terms with reality. His songs feature recurring images of cars and trains, and the transition from night to day — common metaphors of the transforming self. From beneath it all bursts a glow of optimism at defying stagnation despite dissipating dreams, both in his lyrics and melody. The album’s closing tune, “Cold Car,” ends the whole journey on a figurative high note, with Warnek repeating, “Onward I will go,” atop a compendium of encouraging instruments. And you realize that whatever he’s searching for, he’ll find it, or perhaps already has.

credits

released 01 January 2012
All songs written by:
Dillon Warnek
Produced, engineered and mixed by:
Ethan McCracken
Mastering by:
John McCaig

Dillon Warnek:
Vocals, Guitars, Piano(9), Bass(1)

Ethan McCracken:
Electric Guitar(2,3,5,7,10), Slide(2,10) Bass(5,9) Vocals(3,7,10)

Tim Mechling:
Piano(2,3,10) Organ(2,3,5,7,10) Bass(2,3,7,10)

Luke Knezevich:
Drums and Percussion
(1,2,3,5,7,9,10)

Album design and photos:
Johnny Lucus

Portrait taken by:
Eric Flagstead

tags

tags: acoustic dillon independent indie rock songwriter warnek Seattle

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about

Dillon Warnek is a songwriter from Seattle, Wa. In January of 2012, he released his second studio album, "A Stranger Here". ... more In May of the same year, he released an 8 song collection of songs written and performed solo at a piano, "An Evening at the Piano with Dillon Warnek". He is currently performing and writing his third album. less

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Track Name: A Stranger Here
The train rolls through black night spotted by traffic light glow
Out the window
the imitated heart opens and closes
Nothing stays hidden for long
You hide and be found, say, it's not what you wanted
You hide and be found, say, what took you so long?
You hide and be found, say, it's not what you wanted
You hide and be found, hey, what took you so long?

A candle burns, this room is too dark to explain
Casts a shadow that's taken my shape and calling my name
This isn't who I am
But at the same time I really don't give a damn
At the same time I'm trying as hard as I can
At the same time I really don't give a damn
At the same time I'm trying as hard as I can

It's been a long time alone
It's been a long time a home
But I'm a stranger here
And I don't know which to fear

The train rolls through black night spotted by traffic light glow
Out the window
The imitated heart opens and closes
The imitated heart opens and closes
The imitated heart opens and closes
My imitated heart opens and closes
Track Name: Maybe
Her
"Come on now, baby. Don't you fall apart on me. The wrecking ball I hear it too, and in spite our best it will pass through"
Him
"I'm alright, don't worry kid. Nothing's knocking me down yet. And it's not like I can't say goodbye. I just want to get it right... and I can never get it right."
Her
"Some things are better left unsaid. Just let the snow speak for them."
Her
"If I write will you write back?"
Him
"I will in my finest hand"
Her
"Take care of yourself, please."
Him
"You will find me in one piece"

And so ended that affair
With everything up in the air
And a careless wind now scatters seeds
What grows may be the death of me
What grows may be the death of me.
But for now I'm here in these halls
Writing one word on the walls
Maybe.
Track Name: Faded From Mine
Still air freeze
Silent Piano Keys
Let the ghosts who linger lead
This next song
For the old friends
For the "hey how are you, mans?"
For the "hey how have you beens?
...it's been too long"
I don't remember much
And think about it less
I don't keep in touch
And well, I guess
I'm not the first to sing this...

Here's to the faces
Faded from mine
And all the old places
I won't be coming by
Did you make that money?
Did you buy the town?
Did you start that car?
Did you make it out?

The rolling fairgrounds
The midnight train sounds
The morning comedowns
Behind them all
A fire burned
A wheel quiet turned
Oh I swear I always heard
Something Call
I don't remember much
And think about it less
I hope you got some luck
Because I would bet
I'm not the last to sing this...

Here's to the dreams
Of a sleeping youth
And the restless ends
That they're pursued
Did you make that album?
Did it slay the scene?
Hey when we gonna see you
in the magazines?

There's one direction
The flow of time
And I wont see you
On down the line
But on a river endless
There's an age-old bridge
And if you listen closely you'll hear it singing...

(Of what's ahead and left behind)
Did you catch a break?
(Of what's ahead and left behind)
Did it fall apart?
(Of what's ahead and left behind)
Did you ever finish?
(Of what's ahead and left behind)
Did you ever start?
Track Name: An Older Brother's Letter
If you're going down to Dallas
Pour Momma a shot
And tell her, "this one is on her oldest son"
And give her all the love I got

Tell Marie I'm clean now
Like a warm summer rain
Tell her I'm back on track, riding round in a big ole' Cadillac
And spend each night calling her name

But man I ain't gonna lie to you
Everything's still going wrong
And the days run like the horses
I wish I put my money on
And I ain't driving no Cadillac
I've just been drinking all night long
Wondering where the time has gone.
Track Name: Dreamcatcher
Well the dogs in the alley
Mistake headlights for the moon
And I can hear them howling
From the windows of this room
Where my friend the shadow boxer
Wipes the sweat from his brow
And says imagination
seems to get the best of him somehow
And my head is spinning
The room begins to shake
I would be lying if I said that
I can't relate

I've been waking up screaming
The reason I can't recall
And I got a dream catcher
Hanging from the wall
Oh to help me rest easy
And take these heavy thoughts
Yes, I got a dream catcher

Now the rain it pounds like war drums
The wind like a widow wails
I can hear it from the harbor
Where the sinking ship sets sail
And the shadow boxer is knocked down
He's swinging from the knees
He says you even got to fight
just to plead for mercy
And the dogs are howling
I got a rose in my hand
I would be lying if I said that
I don't understand

Please help me rest easy
Take these heavy thoughts
I've been waking up screaming
The reason I can't recall
And I got a dream catcher
Hanging from the wall
Yes I got a dream catcher

I've been waking up screaming
The reason I can't recall
And I got a dream catcher
Hanging from the wall
Oh, help me rest easy
Take these heavy thoughts
Yes, I got a dream catcher
Track Name: From The Mountain Comes The Dust
I met a woman in an alley
With wilted flowers in her hair
Her beauty cracked and broken
But her smile fair
And she addressed me as child
And said, "What is it that you need?"
I said, "All I ask for is a rose"
And she handed me a seed
Saying, "There is no hurry my young friend.
Remember all seeking trails eventually must end"

"From the mountain comes the dust
From the rain comes the rust
For every baby born there's a ghost looking on
And from the mountain comes the dust."

I heard a man playing guitar
Singing songs about loss
With a hammer hidden in every line
Though delivered delicate and soft
And I just stood there hypnotized
Transfixed by sound
And all around me the people passed by
But I was nailed to the ground
And on my face he saw a question
How he did I don't know
But he sang the answer loud
"It's not about what you have but what you let go"

From the mountain comes the dust
From the rain comes the rust
For every baby born there's a ghost to mourn
From the mountain comes the dust.

And so as I continued on
Everything as it was appeared
The stars were just busted glass
And the moon a dirty mirror
And I saw myself reflected
I saw the movement of it all
I saw a young boy made to run
I saw a man made to crawl
I saw the war medals of my grandfather
I saw my mother's dinner plates
I saw my sister's child's clean hands
I saw my brother's face
I saw the road before me
I saw what I left behind
Oh, I saw the seas of infinity
And I saw that river of time

And from the mountain comes the dust
From the rain comes the rust
For every baby born there's a ghost looking on
And from the mountain comes the dust
And from the mountain comes the dust
From the rain comes the rust
For every baby born there's a ghost looking on
And from the mountain comes the dust
For every baby born there's a ghost looking on
And from the mountain comes the dust.
Track Name: No Need To Paint It Blue
You're the trace of my smile, babe
You're the lines in my palm
Late night wandering lost
You're the light left on
You're my endless journey
You're the shore I settled upon
And no matter the miles
I always keep you near
And I talk to myself
And I hope that you hear
But I ain't gonna make you read my mind
I'm going to say it loud and clear

You're the only one for me
And loving you is easy
It's like resting peaceful and waking up to a dream

And I need to do better, babe
Yes I understand
And I promise you, darlin'
I'm going to show you I can
I was a boy who fell in love
Now it's time to turn into a man
So there's no games or expectations
No hoops to jump through
The sky is clear my love
No need to paint it blue
And I'll tell anyone but I want to say it to you

You're the only one for me
And loving you is easy
It's like resting peaceful and waking up to a dream
It's like resting peaceful and waking up to a dream
I'm just resting peaceful and waking up to a dream.
Track Name: The Face Of My Heart
I saw the face of my heart in a lit cigarette
As the highway stretched from her coat pocket
All the way to a dawn I was trying to forget
so quick, it would be coming
She said, "tomorrow I'm bound back down the coast"
Each word and razor and hanging like ghosts
But the sound of the rain I remember the most
so gentle in its falling

And the trees they trembled, the ground it groaned
The wind blew sideways called no place home
Oh how foolish the things that we say and we don't
I just stood there, saying nothing

And God what a silence descended then
Heavy as a hammer, hard on our heads
For my betraying eyes had all unsaid
Written plain upon them
A bended knee said, "I beg you to stay"
And my back well turned... "Go away, go away!"
I just argue with myself, "What do you say?"
"A reply is all I'm wanting"

"Farewell, farewell" the Winds they wailed
"Farewell" cried the Flowers, false and frail
And "Farewell" said She, standing against the pale,
cold light of morning

Well yes she left, but she left me a song
And now the days run swift into nights that are long
Where the stars in the sky fall one by one
And I've only one thing to wish on
Undo this curse, remove the name
That burns in my mind such a senseless flame
These halls of longing are too dark to explain
Please leave me to my lonesome.
Track Name: A Fool Doesn't Make It Gold
Hey there, Annie
Your sister pinned a rose on me
And I'm looking at your pawnshop lips
Wondering what I'll get for it
A thousand days upon my path
A thousand nights at my back
All I have is what you see
And I'll gladly lay it at your feet
The rooted talk of rails
The innocent speak of jail
But "nothing is as it appears"
is what everybody whispers here
A fool doesn't make it gold
and truth doesn't make it told
Hey there, Annie
Don't look to close at me

I can't explain the shapes I take up
It's an ever-changing, endless wanting
Poured deeply into cups of nothing

Hey there, Annie
I got worry wrapped around me
And I'm looking at your flowing hair
Wishing I was woven there
Weariness upon my path
And a thousand troubles at my back
But I would trade an endless sleep
If you sang a lullaby to me

Fortune tellers reading wrong
Harlequin future palms
Beside heavy stone they sit
Whereupon nothing's writ
All they can do is guess
And hope it manifests
But I know, Annie
You can tell us how it will be

Unseen eyes are drawn
And hidden ears fall upon
Annie, who doesn't say a thing.
Track Name: Cold Car
Cold car, the heater broke
Windows cracked to let the smoke
drift away
God damn, the road don't end
I have no idea where I am
Oh, what more can I say?
I've never known where the time goes
I've never known where my mind goes
And I guess lately, everything's gone crazy
Or maybe it was just me
This uselessness, well I got used to it
Falling down is so easy

New dawn out the window
Rain storm on the radio
It's a static cleanse
So I cast out my crooked thoughts
So long to the love me nots
Hope is the rose that cuts my hand
I've never known where it grows
But I'll find out I suppose
Regardless of pain
Pleasure or any other name
If I'm beaten, busted or want to
Because the problem has been
I need something
so badly to hold on to

And I don't understand it
But maybe the answer
Is it was never a question
And that's why I left
To trade aimlessness
For the chaos of direction
And so onward I will go.