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Welcome Home

by Red Collar

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1.
The Orphange 03:17
Stand up boy stand up tall Shoulders straight against the wall Your best smile, you bow your head Say yes sir and yes ma’am I feel like I’m in a firing line I’ve been here so many times Give me a blindfold And one last request I’m no babe for them to clothe But not yet a man of my own I’m too old to be young And too young to be old Stand tall! We’re orphans all! And we’re out on our own No ma’am! No sir! We owe you nothing! What did I ever do? Did I cry too much for you? Did I want too much love or What I gave was it not enough? I am Times Square on two legs mother and I I’m going to be somebody Somebody Someday
2.
American Me 03:26
The first words I ever learned were Mommy Daddy then Hungry I had the poor dumb luck to be the son of someone unlucky poor and dumb But I knew I was loved yet from a land that didn’t give a damn Hungry Hands calloused feet I then learned how to say Please And Daddy said Enough A Father’s sins can’t eclipse his love Somewhere son there is opportunity Here I don’t got no name and I got no crown And it holds me back and it holds me down American Me Mommy held me tight as Daddy he crossed first To where circumstances of birth won’t determine what you’re worth It’s in your head and hands your heart and your will He took my ear to his chest and said This is the sound of yearning fulfilled Do you know what that means son? That red white and blue? Past land laws and walls for all and not just a few Here you got no name and you got no crown But that won’t hold you back or hold you down American Me And then one night he woke me and told me to run There were lights I heard screaming I never saw him again American Me
3.
Living room the piano rolls These are good times to talk about when we’re old Life ain’t easy during Depression Days It certainly ain’t easy with a family of eight All week we’re fighting just fighting for life We’re just living for these Saturday nights Off in a corner Danny takes a rest Everyone’s partner cause he’s the oldest Everything’s gonna be alright We got a piano to roll all night Dance little sister and sing little brother It’ll be alright tonight Danny’s in the bedroom with his sick Dad Mom’s downstairs suitcase in hand Come dear Danny, this is too heavy Just for a moment you can leave your Daddy Please Danny boy, Momma’s getting too old And him, the good boy, did what he was told She gave him a kiss and said This is earned She got on a train and never returned He went back to Daddy to tell him what was done But the father of the family is now the oldest son Everything’s gonna be alright We got a piano to roll all night Dance little sister and sing littler brother It’ll be alright tonight They’ll take us, separate us, oh no! There’s only thing that can save us, oh no! Gotta treasure those nights and keep them in your heart I’ll work all day and I’ll work all night but don’t forget those Saturdays Or the reasons I’ll be gone and what can be bought’s never here for long Never let me go Everything’s gonna be alright We got a piano to roll all night Dance little sister and sing littler brother It’ll be alright tonight
4.
The closer we got the more I wanted out but I did it I did it I did it The thrill of the ride as we dropped from the sky A fear of falling but I called myself brave All the boys fade into the night All the girls fade into the night I became older, my fears became bolder I can’t believe the ride I’m on now The rise and the drop It never stops I want to get off But his hands They’re so small All the boys fade into the night All the girls fade into the night Watching my boy up in the sky Hold on child You won’t forget this day The difference between a boy and a man Is why you hold on Is it for you Or for him? All the boys fade into the night All the girls fade into the night I want to take him and shake him And tell him that I’m petrified I don’t know what becomes of life I don’t know anything at all But I don’t So I take his hand in my hand I say Be brave Don’t fade Into The Night
5.
This House 04:12
I was lost and I was down Seems my whole life I’ve been kicked around Till I found you Mistakes I’ve made so many mistakes But every twist and turn even them cigarette burns Led me to you They led you To me too And I I’ve got nothing to hide No reason to be ashamed And I’m through being afraid of anyone’s hate Cause I I’ve done nothing wrong We’ve done nothing wrong We’ve done nothing To them Come on Love There’s coming a day It’s on the horizon I can see it From our house of love
6.
Dodge K Car 03:21
Are you driving as fast as you can? Momma says that you drive so slow Is that right? I don’t drive so fast? I drive slow so the world can kiss my ass It’s so loud at the speed of sound Hell I got off that merry-go-round You shout as loud and as fast as you can But that don’t mean no one can understand You got all this information So you presume that you’re not so dumb Don’t confuse your information With knowledge and wisdom child Ain’t a thing on small screens that can replace experiencing You can’t say A picture frame Is the same As a day On the Champs-Elysees Tell me child listen to an old man’s lecture Why do you take your pictures And not live in the moment of the image you capture? You got no control in your little remote control And so You got to roll Got to go Got to throw Control Out the window Oh my Mommy spends her time She pretty she one and only Oh my Daddy spends his time Brings me pretty placemats Poor poor me poor pity A poor mouthed whine So pretty I’m one and only Oh my Pappy my only Pa One two buckle up My only Grandpa
7.
Choices 02:48
She got the keys for the very first time She called him up You wanna go for a ride? This is freedom He slides close She thinks this must be love Is this what I want? Is it how it’s done? I don’t know It feels like freedom Then she wakes Turns on a bathroom light Calls Aunt Emily up Something just ain’t right Oh child freedom Say goodbye to freedom We’ll get through this but Jesus Christ! Baby girl did you have a choice that night? Mom and dad never sat you down? You didn’t get THE talk? Can’t talk about it now Could you have known better? They should’ve known better Your friends, your teachers Now you know They don’t come From storks or Jesus Why are you talking to me? Why are you talking to me like this? What’s done is done Oh no child It’s just begun Hush my baby now We’ll get through this all Somehow
8.
Oh my girl I knew her so well What made her smile Which stories to tell I know soon I know that she’ll be As veiled as As veiled as the sea Oh my girl Oh my girl I knew her so well What made her smile Which stories to tell I know soon I know that she’ll be As veiled as As veiled as the sea Oh my girl She’s talking ‘bout walking on the beach got her hand in mind Our young footsteps Our steps in time She said Girl go girl lying by my pearls See a flesh sea shell? It’s spotted black and blue You know I bought it for you to think of this past An ocean in your ear Hear the ocean Hear the ocean Go whoosh? If that shell should ever break No fuss should you make Just put your ear To the lip Of an empty Lonely Highball Glass
9.
I think of lullabies when I think of home A bible and ice cream cones Sundays we praised you lord And some team you root for Remember tucking me to bed? Fables good and bad Your wrongs and your rights You kept ghosts away at night I remember feeling so much pride When the world would say we’re alike But now I don’t know Oh I hope it’s not so For every ghost you chased away You welcomed another to stay Like an accent I can’t lose An heirloom compass confused Now I can’t find my North I see-saw back and forth An old man in a rocking chair Unsure if he’s still there Oh my home it seems so far away Oh my home it’s not so far away Oh my home it seems so far away Oh my home it’s not so far away
10.
Welcome Home 03:58
How long has it been since I’ve seen that smile And hear you sing? One year? Two years? Who cares You’re here now It’s like it was just yesterday Tell me how have you been? My brother my here my shadow my friend Welcome Home My sister my beautiful my darling my mate Welcome home That old Dodge we used to run around in It’s sitting there rusting out There ain’t much in this world Not broken by minutes or miles Except what we got Our finest hours in parking lots And all night on a porch The water tower chill Welcome Home Midnight to six A.M. Cemetery Hill Welcome Home It’s time we go home Today’s already six hours old Our high school Let’s drop by her It’s on the way To the Welcome Back Diner Welcome Home

about

Three years in the making, Red Collar's Welcome Home fulfills the promise of the band's acclaimed debut full-length, 2009's Pilgrim. Welcome Home continues the tradition of heart pounding indie punk & roll from the Durham, NC quartet but expands the palette with dynamic results. Red Collar combines the jagged rhythms of DC punk along with the soulful, working class spirit and lyrical bend of bands like The Hold Steady and The Gaslight Anthem. Never shying away from their influences, the band proudly displays the earnestness of Springsteen, the boldness of The Replacements and the swagger of The Clash firmly on their sleeves.

Welcome Home is packed to the gills with tales, odes, and paeans of day-to-day American life, with the Norman Rockwell gloss completely removed. We’re not talking about fresh-faced kids singing about parties and idealized struggles of the proletariat in an attempt to be the next reincarnation of Kerouac. We’re talking about kids, jobs, families, mortgages, and more – the responsibilities of grown-ups who have to think in the long-term.

Call it a hearty dose of the street-wise sensibilities possessed by The Gaslight Anthem mixed with the fervor of Titus Andronicus and the sincerity conveyed by The Boss in his current elder statesman role. More importantly, despite the easy sonic touchstones I’ve mentioned, the band most assuredly possesses its own voice and personality, and this can be heard most plainly in the matter-of-fact delivery and no-frills production aesthetic. “Orphanage” set a fine stage for the album, while standout cuts like “American Me,” “The Old Piano Roll,” and “This House,” are powerful, energetic, and hopeful, despite the harsh realities of life. And “Welcome Home” brings the record to a rousing conclusion that reminds us all that you can go home again, and that there are probably people who love you waiting for your return.

The plaintive, pretentious, and petulant among you are encouraged to sack up, set aside your laptop recording devices, and listen to a bunch of men talk about the actual consequences of being responsible for your actions. Welcome Home is a vintage, fist-in-the-air guitar rock record created by a bunch of truth-telling street preachers who manage to pen a stirring ballad or three without the over-the-top bombast fashioned by the Arcade Fires of the world. In short, Red Collar works as a fitting metaphor for this group on many levels – working-class music by the working-class from a red state who aren’t afraid to bleed a little bit for the things that are most important to them.

And that’s the overarching strength of Red Collar – these thirty-somethings set aside their steady-paying jobs in North Carolina and committed themselves to making music that actually has a purpose. All that you know and love about Red Collar remains but Welcome Home opens up into hauntingly beautiful songwriting territory that touches on the timelessness of Americana roots. Red Collar is back and they are better than ever. Welcome Home indeed!

Welcome Home is available on vinyl from the label Tiny Engines. Seek them out. They've got other great releases.

credits

released June 12, 2012

Jason Kutchma - Vocals / Guitar
Michael Jackson - Guitar / Vocals
Beth Kutchma - Bass / Vocals
Jonathan Truesdale - Drums

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Red Collar Durham, North Carolina

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