Song That I Heard

from Queens of the Breakers by The Barr Brothers

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about

The Great Antonio was a famous strongman from Croatia who moved to Montreal where he became an icon. As a young man in the 1940's, he broke world records by dragging up to four city busses loaded with passengers. He was also known to sing in a soft, sweet voice. In his final years, he was homeless and penniless and often taken for a crazy hobo. This is a love song to the city that nurtured and embraced him and eventually drove him mad, and to the people in it, who continue to nurture and embrace us. This is the only song on the album without drums. - Brad Barr

lyrics

---Lyrics---

In the same reckless city where Great Antonio died
On the island in the river with a mountain at its side
I came to scatter ashes of the bridges I had burned
And to know the name of the song that I heard
Yeah to know the name of the song that I heard

Like a moonlight mathematician I subtracted my concerns
Multiplied my options and divided my returns
Sacrificed the angel who was tugging at my shirt
I was already claimed by the song that I heard
Yeah already chained to the song that I heard

From the corner of my eye I caught the shadow of a girl
But my shoes were tied together and my face was in the dirt
Her gentle eyes said everything before she said a word
I knew I was changed by the song that I heard
Yeah I knew right away by the song I heard

In the cult of desperation we stay just behind the curve
No one here admits we're getting more than we deserve
I was born a first child and she was born a third
We were already named by the songs that we heard
Yeah already cleaned by the songs we heard

Did I make you out a phoenix from the ashes of a bird?
Did we build our palace and watch it as it burned?
Its kind of like a lesson that had to be unlearned
Like a fool-maker fall taker
forsaker heartbreaker
earth-quaker soul shaker
sooth sayer moon bayer
sun slayer ye sayer
mistaker rattlesnaker
We are already changed by the songs we heard

credits

from Queens of the Breakers, released October 13, 2017

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The Barr Brothers Montreal, Québec

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