Under Evergreens Album Notes

Under Evergreens by Tyler Nail

Released: Jan 8th, 2016

Available on CD Baby, iTunes, Spotify

Produced & engineered by Tyler Nail

Mixed by Tyler Nail & Johnathan Loos

Mastered by Matt Tuttle

The majority of the instrumentation is performed by Tyler Nail

Featuring instrumentation by: Johnathan Loos, Sam Kossler, Quique Rodriguez-Pastor

Album notes: "I wrote Under Evergreens around 2010. I wanted to write something focused on imagery.This was inspired by the idea that one could picture a world that was made of one's favorite items. A tire swing. A river. A willow tree. Passing moments, like when leaves are stuck on your window, or when she puts on your sweater. These thoughts became these songs.

This process required that I do a lot of looking backwards into the past. Into my memory of being younger. Into some pretty day that made these things (these images) seem significant enough to remember. Often that process of looking into the past would bring to life another sentiment in me. the one where I know I'm dying and that time is getting away from me. I think in a substantial way, that is what this album is about. Appreciation and nostalgia for the days behind. Some favorite moments of the many those days were made of.

Cellar Door is to blame for the whole album. That song got me out of a spell of being quiet, and got me into a spell of imagery. I am grateful to everyone who inspired these songs and reflections and to the musicians involved. Thanks to Johnathan Loos, Quique Rodriguez-Pastor, Wish, Matt Tuttle, Mom, Dad, my sisters, Tim, and the rest of the family.

-Tyler

Dedicated to the members of the SRB: James, Josh, Monica, Katie, Zach, other Tyler, Amy, Chris, Dale, other Matt, and the rest. This artistic development took place with all of you in mind just after the end of the SRB. I am grateful for those days and how much I miss them."

---

Salt Water

Love was a pretty poison and I a little chile

and she was a silver tea spoon that sent the poison wild

and I got fevered

and she was a little river, no stronger than a stream

and she feared the mighty ocean, and swore she'd never leave

and I'd stay with her

Always be the first to throw a stone

never leaving well enough alone

Love was a bed of flowers that made a fool of me

and I stayed in bed for hours too blinded still to see

that they were dying

And she was a pretty river, as pretty as can be

And I was a river boulder, too heavy for the sea

and I was crying

Never going anywhere but home

never going anywhere alone

Love was a bloody boulder with only feathers left

and she was the mighty killer that took the blue bird's breath

and left me bleeding

And she was the pretty water, as pretty as can be

And she left for bigger water, still flowing over me

and she's still leaving

Running like a dog out of the rain

Scared of staying, scared to say my name

Love was the tallest mountain I ever tried to climb

And she was the heavy snowing that stopped me every time

I tried to kiss her

And she was a pretty ocean, as pretty as can be

And she left me in the river still looking fir the sea

And God I miss her

Muddy water holding down my feet

Meant for missing, never meant to keep

---

Lady Of Faith

Whisper to me, of my lady of faith

Would you fall on your knees in a moment of praise

Would you stay by my side when I'm feabled and grey

When I'm close to the cold of the ground, oh my love, would you stay

And if I were gone in the raising of light

Would you weep for my soul in the dead of the night

Would you reach for to hold me, and shake at the sight

Of my name on the stone and the flowersw above where I lay

Wish that I never be taken young

And wish that I always be standing strong

But if I should ever be made to fall

My love, would you love me still

Mothers will claim us from gaining a child

And they'll work on my patience 'til sending me wild

But you'll see them as precious and send me a smile

And I'll burry my tongue and I'll keep having nothing to say

And sons will grow fast and tell stories of mine

And in thinking of love, they'll remember the time

That their mother was bright, with her hand holding mine

And they'll see it a children, us having the time of our lives

wish that I never be taken young

And wish that I always be standing strong

But if I should ever be made to fall

My love, would you love me still

Burry my bones on our acre of land

With the wind at your heels, may you run to the sand

In their changing of ways, will you stretch out your handTo whatever they bring, may you always be finished with me

---

Fools Gold

Lovin' ain't worth nothing if it ain't worth fighting for

I was just a young boy heading ready off to war

And we were young and easy, and fighting for the same side

I still don't understand it, how we ever lost the fight

And dreams ain't worth the having if they ain't worth the chase

A life that's spent on dreaming is a life that didn't waist

But sometimes when you're dreaming you run off pretty far

You left me in a nightmare and I'm still wondering where you are

Talking cold, it burns my soul

Love like gold is foolish stone

It's foolish stone

You weren't ever easy to look me in the eyes

I wish you'd never told me that you told me all those lies

You were just a fool's gold and I was only sand

Only meant to hold you 'til you found another's hands

Talking cold, it burns my soul

Love like gold is foolish stone

It's foolish stone

I'm not much to look at when I'm standing by your side

And you ain't ever shined much, though you've never really tried

And now we understand it, the way it ought to be

You were meant for shining and not for hiding under me

Talking cold, it burns my soul

Love like gold is foolish stone

It's foolish stone

It's shiny stone

It's just a stone

---

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry

For everything wrong, I am sorry

For giving you reason to worry

But I couldn't wait 'til the morning

And maybe there's nothing left for me

But I'm sorry as I'll ever be

Stollen

Taken for more than you're giving

And carrying more than you're holding

And leaving my arms lying open

And stealing the worst that I have

Spoken

Soft as the steps through the garden

Try not to leave it too broken

But you never made me feel broken

No you never made me feel broken

And I never made you feel strong

Special

Just like the leaves on your window

And you never made me feel special

And maybe we aren't very special

Or maybe you're tame as the leaves

Shaking

Scared as a boy, I'm still shaking

Scared by each breath that you're taking

Scared by the words that you're thinking

Scared as a boy, I'm still shaking

But I'm breaking the silence again

I'm sorry

For everything wrong, I am sorry

And I never meant you to worry

And I never meant to be sorry

I only meant for you to love me

And maybe you're not meant to love me

And maybe I'm meant to be sorry

And maybe you're meant to be wrong

---

Cellar Door

We made houses under evergreens, under branches with the tire swings

Little did we know how everything would someday seem so far away

And they say children grow like garden weeds, but that didn't count for you and me

We'd be young for all eternity, and never let our hair turn grey

But before we could see it, out like a secret

Amidst the weeds a flower made a stand

And soon in the mirror, just like a stranger

The boy I knew had turned into a man

And we made love behind a cellar door, among the jars and shadows on the floor

And I don't think that I could ask for more than knowing once what love could be

And we lie waiting on the fallen stars in the backseat of my fathers car

Your mother wondering where the hell you are, but you fell asleep with me

In love like a diamond lost in the ocean

We were what the world was waiting for

And old men were forty, and you'd never leave me

And how could we have ever asked for more

We fell short of what we thought we'd be back when we were only seventeen

And how could we have known what it would mean to give our wild hearts away

And what a shame it is to see the light, and feel the sorrow of a starless night

When you know another years gone by, and all you feel is yesterday

And oh how it changes, and time has the strangest

Way of taking everything away

And years fall like castles, slow but too fast for

anyone to make it out okay

And how could this happen, when did you grow up on me

And where is the garden underneath the evergreen

And why aren't stars falling, and when did you stop waking me

And weren't we just children hanging from a tire swing

And are we the same now as people that we were before

And are we ashamed now of love behind a cellar door

And weren't you the lover that said you'd run away with me

And what were we thinking to ever live a day past seventeen

---

Following Blindly

Rain was the most of the storm that she ever gave me

the lengths that she'd go to making a point not to love me

And I wish I could see her without all the dust in her eyes

Maybe lay down beside her without all the want and goodbies

When you're wrong

When you're wrong

She doesn't call whenever she fears what I'm thinking

Until closer to morning when all of the city is sleeping

And I never look forward to half-hearted opening doors

When she raises her shoulders like we've never done this before

When you're wrong

Then you're wrong

Hunger and wrinkling eyes were all that she made me

And love in some songs that she sang was all that she gave me

If she ever grew weary, she knew how to hide it too well

If she ever grew lovely, she showed it too seldom to tell

When you're wrong

When you're wrong

If she were a lady of grace, would she then love me

And owe me the faith of a sun following blindly

Could she ever be pleasing to lie in my weakening arms

Am I worthy at all to have someone as her do me wrong

When you're wrong

Then you're wrong

We wait, so strong, so said by everyone

We wait, afraid that those days may never come

But we gave those things to stray from everyone

So brave, so brave, amazing everyone

---

Breathe

She's laying on my pillow, holding my side of the bed

And she tells me not to worry, and lays her head against my head

And sh's been crying every morning, but she never tells me why

And sh'e happy when she's pretty, but she's gorgeous when she cries

And she asks me do you love me

And she asks me is this what you want

And she's drinking like nobody

And she's taking everything I've got

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Just breathe

One more cigarette and I'll be breathing like I'm tired

And she's tearing up my pictures, and she's setting them to fire

She'll regret it in the morning, and I'll have nothing left to say

And she'll break herself to pieces just to make me want to stay

She says can you live without me

She says can you look me in the eyes

She says I can't make you love me

And she tries her hardest not to cry

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Just breathe

The flowerbed is filled with dying leaves of gold and brown

And she's putting on my sweater, and her hair is flowing down

And God I wish that I could see her without knowing her at all

And God I wish that she could see me without seeing all my flaws

She says do you like this on me

And she wipes the tears off from her face

And her hair is thrown together

And she pus my hands upon her waist

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

breathe

Just breathe

Just breathe

Just breathe

---

Home

Chaser of love, dreamer of fate

Waisting away, waisting and waiting alone

I'm going home

Letters on fire, better and brave

Weather the storm, whether the rain or the cold

I'm going home

It's a long way down through the wind

It's a long way now to the warm

It's a long way out of the weeds

But I'm strong, and I'm going home

Mothers of gold, mercy and grace

Saving my soul, wisdom in faces of old

I'm going home

Faces I know

I'm going home

And Fathers of fire, family of love

Arms laying tired, reaching for something to hold

I'm going home

Fathers of stone

I'm going home

It's a long way down through the wind

It's a long way now to the warm

It's a long way out of the weeds

But I'm strong, and I'm going home

Nothing of blood, nothing of fate

Nothing but love keeps me from keeping alone

I'm going home

Scars on my hands, painted in red

in sand, houses stand steady on stoneBuried

I'm going home

Love that I've loathed

I'm going home

---

Willow Tree

The wind underneath the Willow tree

That Father himself had planted for me

When I was a brave a bloody child

Dirty and bruised, naked and wild

Young, and growing older

And Mother made a picture and she keeps it in her home

And Father made a memory out of me

Ever ready only when the Willow's dead and gone

They'll still know what it felt like to be free

The wind underneath the Willow tree

And old river birds, shiny and free

Harrowed and weeping over man

But steeling our bread straight from our hands

Young, and growing older

And how were we to know a little seed

Would turn into a Weeping Willow tree

Who's every breath would turn to bitter sweet

When once the tree was just as small as me

Love underneath a Willow tree

And mother herself dancing with me

Lost like a penny in a jar

Lost in her face, I thank God we are

Young, and growing older

Love underneath a Willow tree

That Jesus himself painted for me

Ripping my heart to open wide

Shaking the truth and praying for time

To be young, and growing older

Young, and growing older

Young, and growing older still