Introduce Yerself, by Gord Downie

Introduce Yerself

by Gord Downie

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mlemckem Introduce Yerself is a gift from Gord Downie to all who loved him. This window into Gord shows us the grief, truth, love, and joyful moments in the final months of his life, and I don't think a more honest album has ever been recorded. Favorite track: My First Girlfriend.

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1.	First Person 03:09	lyrics	buy track
First person This is the gift of my life First person To lean down and kiss me goodnight First person You're the love of my life First person And to look into your eyes First person And say goodbye First person Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye First person You said you gotta be cool First person When they make a fool outta you First person When you take the scenic routes First person You said what you do is you First person
2.	Wolf's Home 03:13	lyrics	buy track
Hey kids, wolf's home He drops into his easy chair Stares up out blank Then bids his family come and gather 'round his chair Then clears his throat No one knows quite what to expect Says, "man's a God When he dreams, and a beggar when he reflects" My life of get and get I've gotten more than most and yet I didn't run I didn't vanish when I was afraid I never asked How many out there, I only asked where are they? My life of get and get I've gotten more than most and yet I got great touch I learned to vanish when I was afraid I don't know much But I don't try not to try, I don't do what I hate In my life of get and get I've gotten more than most and yet Throw the heart and target The stereo has started All the brokenhearted All I want is The dearly departed All the hurts I started Young and old poor-hearted All I want is All I've been afforded My life, my love distorted It's its own reward but all I want is you All I want is you All I want is you All I want is you
3.	Bedtime 03:37	lyrics	buy track
I held you I rocked you to sleep It'd take a long time But eventually, you'd go And I'd try to get out Of the rocking chair With you in my arms I'd get you to your crib Slowly lower you down Then pull my hands away As if from a bomb Then I'd step away One step at a time The floors were full of sounds All the creaks for time Then I'd get to the door Open it carefully Try and back out of the room so quietly When I'd got to the door Closed to within an inch That's when you'd come awake As if you'd been watchin' me Watching me the whole time As if you waited to see If I truly intended Just to let you be Just to leave Just to leave you alone Just to leave you alone How you would cry And I'd come back Yeah, I'd come back And lift you up Sit back down with you Try to start all over again Start slowly rocking again Start all over again We'd start all over again I'd come back Lift you up Start all over again
4.	Introduce Yerself 02:43	lyrics	buy track
You've helped me out of so many scrapes You helped me wait and wait and wait You helped me when I had to pretend You helped me walk through thickets again and again Once you got into the car with me And we were both sitting in the back seat And the driver, he was so friendly He had driven me so many times, he I couldn't remember his name And I probably should've remembered him So I wrote something on my hand For you to see to help me, help me Then I poked you and I showed you my hand I'd drawn an arrow and underneath it said Introduce yourself Introduce yourself Introduce yourself Went down the Danforth on Christmas Eve 'Cause there is something I just believe And I believe it permanently I thought of it so many times that maybe I walked up to the front door of the Black Pearl tattoo parlour And I, to put this on my hand forever For you to see how you have helped me So when I see you, I'll show you my hand You'll always see the arrow and underneath it sayin' Introduce yourself Introduce yourself Introduce yourself Thank you for your help
5.	Coco Chanel No. 5 03:31	lyrics	buy track
I could tell the truth Or I could tell a lie Or say the right thing At the right time We started out writing good letters back and forth Me in Memphis recording Yours were scented with Coco No. 5 We wrote stimulating things I could tell the truth Or I could tell a lie Or say the right thing At the right time Like I'd miss you so much in person and up close When we fucked till we fall Away from each other, we could manage to see Just what it was that we got In absentia, we were better off Finding new places to stand Finding new signs of resignation For the wishes we shared I could tell the truth Or I could tell a lie Or say the right thing At the right time, hey
6.	Ricky Please 02:33	lyrics	buy track
I don't do enough drugs Everything is broken I can have it all, dude I can get well-spoken 'Til I got no memory Or all the secret punches The talking all about someone As bored as the king I own I'm just talking 'bout us Maybe a bit of what we see Maybe might have done something else Or a little more indifferently We were together through so much And witness only our eyes caught And see and touching without touch You got me to the only door I've got Ricky please Ricky please You know you gave me some real good thing And dance and drink and sing I always looked for you to see See how you think it all seemed Oh, to see just how you helped Never, never anybody else When I didn't even earn or deserve When I'd never given you any help You know how confused, excited it made me You know how wrongful I could be The certitude is like a drill Ricky please Ricky please Ricky please Oh, Ricky please
7.	Safe Is Dead 03:51	lyrics	buy track
Wait, what Safe is dead Wait, what Safe is dead The dark previews Who'd miss this fear A damn silence Exiles meet Wait, what Safe is dead What, wait, what Safe is dead The dark brochure Full dark soon And then the rise Of a scarred moon Wait, what (wait, what) Safe is dead (safe is dead) What, wait, what (wait, what) Safe is dead (safe is dead) The dark preview Into my bed The mirror is clear In my head Wait, what (wait, what) Safe is dead (safe is dead) Wait, what (wait, what) Safe is dead (safe is dead)
8.	Spoon 02:38	lyrics	buy track
You're transcendent You taught me so many things You taught me that help is all We to this dumb planet bring But one time sticks out for me You were five, we were working with Bob in Maui Driving a rental Sebring, the top down Every morning we'd drive on down to Baby Beach And the Pacific Ocean's not the sea We'll surf the waves and we'll walk the sand To bring your leg back that you'd broken And you needed to learn how to walk again And I could help you with all this To help you is all there is You showed me that that's all there is That helping is transcendence And after, we'd go and eat at Anthony's Or we'd drive around and maybe stop And eat Fukushima Hot Dogs, sittin' on the hood Or we'd drive to the top Of the volcano called Haleakala At night, we'd stare up at the moon And we did all this listening to "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" by Spoon Months later, we were back in Toronto A Tuesday night, an all-ages show You were so young We sat in the back row Deerhunter opened the show The headliner was introduced We did our best We'd have to go soon We bought a t-shirt And we caught five tunes Just enough to say the first show for us two was Spoon
9.	A Natural 03:46	lyrics	buy track
We'd line up cans on the picnic table In the backyard across the lawn You stood soaking wet in your bathing suit Taking deadly aim with your BB gun You are a natural Kissed by the sun You are a natural You've just begun With every can you'd hit, you'd smile the thinnest smile You'd barely savour the applause Or the jealousy of all the older ones Just before you'd calmly killed a can, you'd pause You are a natural There in the sun You are a natural Beautiful and young And with all my life, I'll probably miss those days Whiled away with you spent on nothing much Watching you shoulder things, take deadly aim Your finger on the trigger, your gentle touch You are a natural You've only just begun You are a natural I'm the lucky one I'm the lucky one I'm the lucky one I'm the lucky one
10.	Faith, Faith 03:00	lyrics	buy track
We touch noses every morning, one, two, three times I say I love you into your dark, unwavering eyes That show caring, concern, disapproval, despair But you'll never leave me, never doubt me, never look elsewhere, yeah How one, two, three, and I love you One, two, three, and I love you I run my hand over your head, down your ears I scratch up under your chin, I stroke long strokes through your hair You'd have me do it all day, and if I stopped for a moment You'd reluctantly move away, or wait till tomorrow morning There is no other There is nothing like her There is no other There is nothing like your faith, faith Your faith, faith, your faith, faith, faith There is no other There is nothing like her There is no other There is nothing like your faith, faith Your faith, faith, your faith, faith, faith We touch noses every morning one, two, three times I say I love you into your dark, unwavering eyes That show caring, concern, disapproval, despair But you'll never leave me, never doubt me, never look elsewhere There is no other There is nothing like your There is no other There is nothing like your faith
11.	My First Girlfriend 04:18	lyrics	buy track
My first girlfriend You were barely interested in me I watched your every move Your sophistication Your sadness and your certitude You read books all the time And made me wanna read books Over my head You were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen So smart and funny Six years older You had long blonde hair to your waist And you didn't give a damn You saved me from drowning once You were standing at the ladder Water up to your chest I started slipping down the slope Couldn't get to the surface I caught with my index finger The string of your bikini You were You were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen So smart and funny Six years older You had long blonde hair to your waist And you didn't give a damn What your mother said You left for good as soon as you could I never forgot you Nor would I ever forget you My first girlfriend My first girlfriend My first girlfriend My index finger Your bikini Pulled me up 'cause You were angry To the surface, I'd just breathed You told me off as you pulled up your bikini
12.	Yer Ashore 01:29	lyrics	buy track
We'll slow it down Holding hands, squeezing tight There's no fighting anymore We're ashore, we're ashore, we're ashore, we're ashore Hold my hand, squeeze it tight There's no fighting anymore You're ashore, yer ashore, yer ashore, yer ashore Hold my hand, squeeze it tight You're not fighting anymore You're ashore, I'm ashore, we're ashore, we're ashore You're ashore, I'm ashore, we're ashore, we're ashore You're ashore, I'm ashore, we're ashore, we're ashore
13.	Love Over Money 02:40	lyrics	buy track
Love over money, you are my brothers and we've been through so much Love over money, we fell and we fell out and we got back up Love over money, we played to no one and no one plus one Love over money, we deafened the husband of the Queen of England Yeah, love, what little we shared Love, broken and repaired Love, deeply misunderstood Love, that's how we got good Love over money, pluggin' in and playin', tryin' for the ears of the earth Love over money, we missed many things tryin' to call a gig "work" Love over money, we missed death and marriage, we even missed a birth Love over money, we were always brothers even when just hotel worth Yeah love, what little we shared Love, broken and repaired Love, deeply misunderstood Love, that's how we get good Love over money, love over money, love over money, love Love over money, love over money, love over money, love
14.	You Me And The B's 02:45	lyrics	buy track
The Bruins kept us tight We talked about them nearly every day For over forty years now And we talked about Other stuff nearly every day, too With the Bs, you never could lose Oh, baby The Bruins got the conversation goin' Oh, baby Conversations serious as night Some so scary and deep What are you going to do? With constant concern I can't help her, and I cannot help her, and The trading of Joe Thornton The winning The losing, the mistakes, the slumps, the streaks The changes that weren't really changes Oh, baby The Bruins got the conversation goin' Conversations serious as night Some so scary and deep What are we going to do? They might just let us sleep The Bs are me and you
15.	Snowflake 04:08	lyrics	buy track
I remember one day We walked up to the highway And you held my hand We walked along the highway And it ran beside the lake So big, so flat, so great You held my hand On along the highway We got to an old stone home It stood out so all alone Against a great field All covered with snow And I don't remember who The woman you introduced me to Or why we were there Or what we were there to do She told me to go explore The quiet rooms, the cold floors I froze upstairs, I heard a voice From a room closed with a locked door And then from downstairs, I heard my name You said, "it's time we got going" The woman leaned in to say goodbye From I don't remember his name I remember that day The gray lake, the highway How you held my hand We walked home through snowflakes
16.	A Better End 04:05	lyrics	buy track
We live the proper distance For treasure or worse With the cowards in the fine print We make long visitors Where God walks with persons Even the maybe-doomed You sing it, it's a real song Even though their advice is not to Please stay 'til the bitter end I advise you to Where God walks with persons There's a candle of them But when you sing it, it's a real song When you sing to each his own man Stay 'til the bitter end I advise you to Even though they make their move before then We won't make our move before them We work the proper distance For treasure or worse Where all the old hatreds Can make us long visitors Where God walks with persons Even the maybe-doomed But when you sing it, it's a real song So my advice is that you Stay 'til the bitter end I'd advise you to Even though they made their move before then Let's stay 'til the better end Yeah, we'll stay 'til the better end And we'll stay
17.	Nancy 02:24	lyrics	buy track
Nancy, I can't see from far away I can't tell you where I am today I can always feel you near enough to say I can always see you even far away I can even hear and see and sing and dance Makes me feel everything, hope and love, a chance See you smile a smile Your eyes, nothing to withstand Nancy, I can't feel you closer to the end Murders me at the beginning, the middle, and the end By the time I got to the end We'll start all over again
18.	Thinking About Us 02:07	lyrics	buy track
I'm thinking about us About making your girl I'll miss your toes 'Bout holding and then letting go I'm thinking 'bout us Thinking for a place to be alone Forever may be too much to ask Thinking 'bout us Our kisses never got old Our kisses still feel Forever new kisses, and I'm thinking 'bout us But it doesn't help a bit It doesn't help do a thing, and it never did We're forever apart I'm thinking 'bout us Forever, forever It was never meant to be Doesn't mean anything I can't stop thinking 'bout us Here, there, and everywhere I'm thinking 'bout us
19.	The Road 03:03	lyrics	buy track
There you are, there you are, up again Sort of life, together and out and together Again, up all night with a baby and Trouble me and trouble me, all night What's the main trouble? Even when I hope but when I don't hope Making the road a displeasure in trouble And old, making money to bring home, missing lots of things Missions are somewhat suitable now I suppose, here we go Permanent on the road Here we go, here we go I suppose I suppose, here we go Permanent on the road Here we go, here we go I, I suppose I have a little use for the past Dream and kept up by little memories and stuff They can't do anything, stop it I can't figure out, little use, no home for it I suppose, here we go Permanent on the road Here we go, now, here we go I suppose Ooh, I suppose, here we go Permanently on the road Now, I suppose I suppose, here we go Permanent, on the road Here we go, now I suppose
20.	You Are The Bird 02:47	lyrics	buy track
It was him, he named you the bird It's how you were generally referred We never really understood Never really thought about much But with time, it only made more sense As time went by, it just made more sense You are the bird You are the bird It was him, yes, he was the bird Passed it down to you, like they're just words Like him, you listen and you care Like him, you want to help people out 'Cause you know, you have always known It's the true way, the only way through It's the only reason that we're here Like him, you are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird You are the bird
21.	The Lake 03:08	lyrics	buy track
Always stared at the lake My entire life I saw something today The love of my life Vague it's always been Between the sun and me Or rather than blocking it It brings it to me On a silvery gold trail Sparkles and dances With all the warmth and calm Of a hand to my chest I realized today You're Lake Ontario The love of my life You are willow (willow, willow)
22.	Far Away And Blurred 04:37	lyrics	buy track
Here we are, here we are again together Somewhere just listening To someone fillin' us in about travelling Something she's only seen We smile, of course, we're impressed But maybe the smiles we are doin' are meant to bury or hide Or hide, open, read something we've missed Something everybody missed The places we've been to and through So much up and down for sure So, onwards and upwards Up close or far away and blurred Here we are, here we are, again just standing Missing and filled in 'Bout travelling, seen it all, the things she's seen Smiling about the places she's been The places we've been to and through So much up and down for sure So, onwards and upwards Up, close or far away and blurred Here we are, standing here Listening to remember When times get tough I would, enough I'd dwell, you'd drift I'd stop, you'd lift Wait, you'd rip I love you Here we are, here we are again, just standing Missing and filled in 'Bout travelling seeing all the things she's seen Smiling 'bout the places she's been The places we've been to and through So much up and down for sure So, onwards and upwards Up close so far away and blurred
23.	The North 03:47	lyrics	buy track
Hello, boys Way up in the north On the western side of James Bay Keeping things real and Keeping things day-to-day You let me walk to the edge with a smile And suggested not dying today And you taught me more than they ever would Ever could, hey, hey, hey My bottle world I'd never seen, wasn't allowed to see The life of the north In a Canada we should've never called "Canada" You showed me around a bit Showed me a bit of the past and then showed me future Broken into bits You showed me a love with a higher, cooler style Or you showed me a problem That is over one hundred years old They're parents without kids without parents Without kids without parents without kids Without parents without kids Hello, boys out in the bush Let's forget things for a while Let's turn our faces to the sun And get whatever warmth there is In the unnoticed world The misunderstood world Undescribable world The interested anyone? Turn our faces to the sun and get whatever warmth there is

credits

released March 23, 2020

Songs written by Gord Downie and Kevin Drew
(with the exception of Wolf’s Home, Coco Chanel No.5, Yer Ashore, You Me And The B’s, Nancy, The Lake written by Gord Downie)

Gord Downie – Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Congas (Spoon), Synth (Far Away And Blurred)
All Other Instrumentation by Kevin Drew – (Piano, Bass, Keyboards, Guitars, Drums, Percussion)

Guest Musicians:

Dave Hamelin:
Drums – Bedtime, Coco Chanel No. 5, Ricky Please, Spoon, Snowflake, Thinking About Us
Keys – Wolf’s Home
Synths – Wolf’s Home, A Natural, My First Girlfriend, Snowflake, Thinking About Us, The Road, Far Away And Blurred, The North
B3 - Nancy

Nyles Spencer:
Keys – Love Over Money, A Better End
Beats/Sampler – Love Over Money, You Me And The B’s, A Better End
Morse Code/Synth – The Road

David ‘Billy Ray’ Koster:
Drums - Safe Is Dead, Far Away And Blurred
Background Vocals – Safe Is Dead

Patrick Downie:
Background Vocals and Percussion – Safe Is Dead

Gillian Reiss:
Background Vocals and Percussion – Safe Is Dead

Produced by Kevin Drew
Additional Production by Dave Hamelin on Wolf’s Home
Mixed by Dave Hamelin, Nyles Spencer and Luke Schindler
Engineered by Nyles Spencer
Assisted by Sam Bidinost (Bathouse)

Recorded at The Bathouse Recording Studios, Bath, ON, Canada with the exception of
Wolf’s Home at Revolution Studios, Toronto, ON, Canada &
Vocals on Thinking About Us recorded by Jimmy Shaw at Giant Studios, Toronto, ON, Canada
Mixed at Revolution Studios, Toronto, ON, Canada
Mastered by Eric Boulanger – The Bakery, Culver City, CA, USA

Art Direction:
Jonathan Shedletzky & Jenn Kitagawa

Managed by Patrick Sambrook, Eggplant Entertainment
Assisted by: Jenn Pressey, Bernie Breen Management

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about

Gord Downie Toronto, Ontario

Gordon Downie was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from their formation in 1984 until his passing in 2017.

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