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Last Days of Summer 4:000:00/4:00
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Mary's Window 4:230:00/4:23
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Ford Econoline 2:290:00/2:29
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These Days 3:540:00/3:54
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Song of the Exiled 4:230:00/4:23
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Independence Day 4:460:00/4:46
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0:00/3:13
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Requiem 4:080:00/4:08
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Gold Watch and Chain 3:070:00/3:07
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0:00/4:07
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0:00/3:48
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Sixth Avenue 2:560:00/2:56
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Loch Lomond 4:410:00/4:41
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Janie's Waltz 2:520:00/2:52
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0:00/3:52
"Last Days of Summer" artwork, credits and lyrics (scroll down for "Everyday Street")

"Last Days of Summer" left inside
CREDITS
Lucy: acoustic guitar, piano, harmony
Duke Levine: acoustic and electric guitars, baritone electric guitar, National guitar, mandola, mandolin
Mike Rivard: bass
Ben Wittman: drums and percussion, harmonium
Richard Shindell: harmony
John Gorka: harmony
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Chris Rival at Middleville Studio,
North Reading, MA
Ben's drums and harmonium recorded at Wittman Studio, Toronto
Photos: front cover by Beowulf Sheehan
All other photos by Lucy K. and Rick Litvin
CD design by Lucy
Thank you: Rick and Molly Litvin, Steve Lurie, Duke, Mike, Ben and Chris, and all my Patrons
Songs by Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Litvin, ASCAP, administered by BMG, except:
"These Days" by Jackson Browne, Open window Music, ASCAP; "Ford Econoline" by Nanci Griffith, Irving Music, BMI ;
"These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Lee Hazlewood, Criterion Music Corp, ASCAP;
"Gold Watch and Chain" by A.P. Carter, APRS, BMI
Follow lucy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter www.lucykaplansky.com
c. 2022 Lucyricky records
LYRICS FOR ORIGINAL SONGS (ALL SONGS BY LUCY KAPLANSKY AND RICK LITVIN)
LAST DAYS OF SUMMER
Last days of summer are coming on fast
Was hoping August wouldn't end, but it never lasts
She’s filling boxes with blankets books and clothes
No longer a child, unafraid ready to go
It’s been 18 years since we fixed up that empty room
Pale yellow walls, pretty white crib, she’d be lying there soon
Then a bigger bed, games of pretend and books and friends
Come September gonna be empty again
CHORUS:
After 18 years, how can it be just one week more
Till we carry those boxes to her new room on the seventh floor
Across from the park where she played pretend, climbed and dreamed
Where she flew high on the swings
Now she’s gonna fly on her own wings
No longer pretending with her brand new dreams
I remember the day I told my mom I wanna sing
She said don’t be be a fool for a little girl dream
So I packed my things, looked back once, never did again
Afraid and defiant, was just 18 then
I know she’ll come back but never always again
That’s just as it should be and how it’s ever been
But I’ll miss that girl in her room, safe and mine
Life is a circle strewn with goodbyes
CHORUS:
After 18 years, how can it be just one week more
Till we carry those boxes to her new room on the seventh floor
Across from the park where she played pretend, climbed and dreamed
Where she flew high on the swings
Now she’s gonna fly on her own wings
No longer pretending with her very own dreams
Just down the street and a million miles away
Hope her bed is soft enough, hope at night she’s not afraid
And I hope her friends will be caring and kind
She’s gonna make her choices just as I made mine
Last days of summer are coming on fast
Was hoping august wouldn’t end but it never lasts
Come September we’ll be two no longer three
Back where we started, back around that circle darling, you and me
MARY’S WINDOW
Mary’s looking out at the empty streets of her town
February morning, rain's falling down
She’s missing the greetings and small talk there
At the library, grocery store, village square
Has the baby started crawling, I like your hair that way
How’s your mother feeling, sure is cold out today
That quiet cadence, the refrain of a town
With the cashier, manager, librarian
The sound of goodwill, kindness and care
And Mary knows she’ll always belong there
CHORUS:
But now this country of hers has been ravaged and cleaved
By all this sickness and hatred and bigotry
Fueled by the lies of the fools who would lead
Lies told for power malice and greed
But this old woman's seen troubled times before
When the people rose up to shine a light once more
So in spite of her fears she’d play her part again
Band together with young and old, women and men
And on the third of November she stood in that line
With the manager, cashier, librarian beside
CHORUS:
And their voices of good will a mighty sound made
And the cadence of towns was a nation’s refrain
And truth and hope drowned out lies and hate
From cities to farms, from oceans to lakes
And then from deepest Georgia that same refrain
And then a man of good will and kindness and care
Placed a hand on a bible and the other in the air
And that cadence infused every word he did say
And a nation heard and rejoiced that day
They'd put differences aside
Reach out to each other
Lend a hand when it’s needed
To their sisters and brothers
Return to the hard work of trying to be
The people and the nation they still could be
Still could be
Mary’s looking out at the rain coming down
But it’s a rain of renewal washing over them now
She’s knitting a hat for that baby in town
That pretty cashier’s baby, it won’t be long now
Till she can hand it to her mother over in town
Oh the goodness of people can’t be put down
It just keeps on,
The sound of kindness
It just keeps on
Can’t be silenced
It just keeps on
SONG OF THE EXILED
New york 1995
By the Highline way downtown
The trains up there made this city run
Giuliani’s gonna tear it all down
It was cold so I grabbed a yellow cab
Driver was a tiny old man
Leather jacket, newsboy cap
Pall mall smoking on the dash
A motorcycle went flying by
He said he’s crazy it’s too cold to ride
I used to be crazy, I raced bikes
in Hungary in ’35
Must have broken every bone
Even broke some twice
We shared a smile and I said
You’re lucky you’re alive
Then his smile disappeared
Like the fading of a light
I was in the camps you know
Just a few of us survived
Lucky to be alive
CHORUS:
I’ve seen New York’s treasures celebrated and renowned
And also those not made of stone or steel
The stories of my town
Like the song of the exiled, the men who drive the cabs
As they live the story of our city and the promise of our flag
I grabbed a taxi the other day
I said Newark terminal C
Driver had a Chinese name
In broken English said to me
You musician, I said yes I am
He said my son plays violin
I said where in China are you from
And how’s this country been ?
He said I come from Chongqing
I’ve been here 15 years
I was a miner there and very poor
I am lucky to be here
My son he studies hard in school
He’ll get a Phd
Or maybe be a doctor
He won’t drive a cab like me
Won’t drive a cab like me
CHORUS
We’re passing by the Highline
You know it never was torn down
Now there’s acres of shimmering glass and steel
Another jewel in the city’s crown
I think about my forbearers
My Chinese daughter too
Amazed that I’m so lucky
Get to live the life I do
Get to live the life I do
I cannot share my luck with him
So I smile and thank him again
He drives off to the taxi line
With the other exiled men
To make this city run again
INDEPENDENCE DAY
I’ve been obligated to another soiree in that bland suburban town
There’s the prince with his loyal subjects, everybody’s drinking bowing down
Now he’s bear hugging that tedious cousin while looking right past me
‘Cause I didn’t like the way he spoke to me back in 2013
And per usual like I’m invisible or dead the festivities proceed
I watch him vilify me sotto voce while they nod empathetically
Treading so carefully for fear of his legendary rage
And I’m the one that’s sacrificed that’s fine, it’s all okay
For years I bought the myth of the happy family
But it’s a house of venom, lies and complicity
CHORUS:
This is where it ends, this is where it ends
Not setting foot in that house again
This is where it ends
I always did as I was told, took the blows, never did let on
So well behaved watched what I’d say like nothing could be wrong
Such a worthless expertise you twist and strangle all the time
Walking around with two black eyes like everything is fine
Always polite, never fight
Till one day I started to ignite
Like a supernova gonna burn that house down
CHORUS
We can’t choose how we come into this world
But we can choose who we're gonna be and what we're gonna be
Another summons to a family affair this time fourth of July
I’ve been invited to appear but I’ve resolutely declined
I’ve made my own family, people who I want to see
We practice kindness and loyalty and love and care and honesty
Gonna watch the fireworks here today
It’s my world now and here I’ll stay
It’s independence day
CHORUS
REQUIEM
I’m driving back to that seaside town, first time since you’ve gone
We used to drive up here together singing Beatles songs
Snow is falling, John Lennon’s singing hide your love away
I turn it off, don’t want to hear John’s lonely words today
In town I see you everywhere and then you slip away
Like the colors that you took with you when you left that day
Now you’re laughing telling stories near that little shack on the pier
But it’s boarded up, I turn away from there
CHORUS:
I used to believe in so many things
And that love is stronger than anything
You left in darkest winter, didn’t think that it would end
And we must stay without you, can spring ever come again
Then here along this snowy beach road, desolate and grey
The first bluebells, blue like your eyes, greet me today
I’m back here at the beach and you’re laughing in the waves
Oh to be back there now when I thought I could keep you safe
Then the sun goes down and here they are the colors you stole away
In the blue green sea your laughter in the crimson sun your face
In a thousand years you’ll still be here, in these clouds this sand, this sky these waves
CHORUS
The stars cascade above me on the road as i drive home
Paul comes on singing Yesterday and I try to sing along
In a thousand years I won’t be here, just this broken hearted song
And though my love was not enough to keep you here for very long
I know that you can hear me cause my love is just that strong
My love is just that strong
ELMHURST QUEENS MOTHER’S DAY
Sun is coming up over the bay
Everywhere everything has changed
The only sound is wind in the trees, New York City’s far from me
Sun is coming up over the bay
Friends back home tell me nothing is the same
That city symphony just stopped that day
The crowds, the life, the energy
Are just sirens now through empty streets
My silenced hurting city far away
These days there is no work for me
And I don’t know if there will ever be
As remote lives keep moving on, I sit down to write this song
In this refuge from that storm far away
CHORUS:
And It’s far away, far from me, far away from me
Then I read about a nurse’s day in Queens
In cotton scrubs she is the infantry
Trenches painted in fluorescent light
Weaponless soldiers in the fight
I read about a nurse’s day in Queens
She’s wearing the only mask that she can find
She knows that they will all get sick in time
She’s telling the writer all the things they need, with the president lying on tv
Her oath was not for her family to die
Endless lines of those who won’t be saved
Dying in plastic chairs as they wait
When she gets home won’t hug her kids
Writes her will like her friends all did
Falls asleep in her living room chair again
I’m making dinner, sun is going down
Sun will be setting over New York town
They’ll be cheering soon on my empty street
A brief reprise of that symphony
In the city where I became a wife
Where my mother was born, where I’ve made my life
And though i wont be there to cheer along
Oh I can sing this song
For that nurse, and for my city, my home

"Last Days of Summer" right inside

"Last Days of Summer" CD back cover
"Everyday Street" artwork, credits and lyrics

"Everyday Street" CD cover

"Everyday Street" back cover

"Everyday Street" left inside

"Everyday Street" right inside
CREDITS
Produced by Lucy Kaplansky
Arranged by Lucy Kaplansky and Duke Levine
Lucy: acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonies
Duke: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric baritone guitar, National guitar, mandola, octave mandolin
Shawn Colvin: harmony on “Old Friends”
Richard Shindell: harmony on “Keeping Time”
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Chris Rival, Middleville Studio, North Reading MA, July and August 2018
Richard Shindell recorded by Greg Anderson, Ojisan, Beacon NY
Shawn Colvin recorded by Jacob Sciba at Arlyn Studios, Austin TX
Cover and inside photos by Lucy
Back cover photo by Beowulf Sheehan
CD package design by Lucy
Lucy uses Fishman Transducers
Duke uses D’Addario Strings and Mad Professor Effects
All songs by Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Litvin, Lucyricky Music, ASCAP, Administered by BMG EXCEPT:
Loch Lomond (traditional)
I Wish it Would Rain (Nanci Griffith, Irving Music) Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen, Sony/ATV Songs
Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen, Universal Music Publishing Group)
THANK YOU: Duke Levine for all the years of beautiful playing, friendship and hilarity; Jean Railla; and Adam Bauer, Hailey Phelps, Kylee Phillips, and everyone at Madison House.
All my love to Rick, Molly and Janie Litvin, and thank you Rick for all your wisdom and for telling me not to over-think this.
LYRICS FOR ORIGINAL SONGS (ALL SONGS BY LUCY KAPLANSKY AND RICHARD LITVIN)
OLD FRIENDS
I’ve got a picture of you and me
From maybe 1982
You were 27
I was almost 22
We’re singing with somebody
Who isn't in the frame
Smiling at each other
Matching every phrase
Suspending notes that don't belong
Seconds and sixths whatever we want
And it feels like flying
Always landing somewhere new
Weaving a shared tapestry
That’s what you and I do
I was working the bar at open mike
The night you came to town
I’d heard about a girl
Better than anyone around
I got up and sang a tune
While Robbie watched the bar
Then the whole place got quiet
For your voice and your guitar
I remember us sitting on the floor
Singing every song we knew
Richard and Linda Thompson
Gram and Emmylou
We could tell each other everything
And we still do
Keeping our shared secrets
That’s what good friends do
And if I’d never met you
So much I never would have done
All those gigs you got me
All those great country songs
The record we made
Gave me this path I’m on
The way you showed all the guys
A girl could sing and write a song
And as it sometimes goes
We went separate ways
Who was right and who was wrong
Neither one of us can say
And it doesn't matter now
It was so long ago
Like water under the bridge
Life flows where it must go
So here we are in your hotel room
Singing Gram and Emmylou
20 years 20,000 roads
Have brought me back to you
Older a little wiser
Than back in 1982
Sharing a history
That’s what old friends do
SIXTH AVENUE
Was 10 years ago you were up all night
I was begging you to sleep
Sitting up in bed, wouldn’t shut your eyes
And you’ve still got that over me
Your first birthday, just your dad and me
Little face covered in ice cream
We made a wish for you, blew your candle out
Thought that baby you’d always be,
Thought that baby you’d always be
CHORUS
Oh was ten years ago
We’ll turn around and you’ll be grown
Oh one day you’ll be on your own
You’re gonna let us go
There’s a picture, red star on your shirt
You’re taking your first steps
I’m behind you, I’m reaching out
You’re smiling and not looking back
Many have said you’re an old soul
Wise beyond your time
You’ll walk alone for what is right
You choose kindness every time
CHORUS
We always tell you when you’re older
You say that won’t cut it anymore
Begging to get a slice with your friends
Alone with them, your own money to spend
So I let you cross Sixth Avenue
Soon the crowd is all I see
I keep on looking, I can’t let go
And I know you’re not looking for me Just how it’s supposed to be
11th birthday’s coming soon
Me and dad, your friends and you
When you blow your candles out
What you wish for it’s up to you
JANIE'S WALTZ
I gaze in wonder as you stir from sleep
I whisper your name and you come to me
I kiss your head and breathe you in
So glad as another day begins
We head out for a walk on our everyday street
We can get to the park across Waverly
But each flower each leaf is calling to you
Every day I discover the world with you
CHORUS
We’ve got nowhere to go and no one to meet
I’ll follow you wherever you lead
Oh on our everyday everyday street
Amazed by a tiny blowing leaf
You have to chase it and pull away from me
Snow is left from that storm last week
So many treasures buried underneath
A man walks by in a tall fur hat
You look up at him and you stop in your tracks
Bravely you approach, keeping close to me
You just have to find out just what he could be
CHORUS
I used to live stuck inside
Worrying about nothing, watching time go by
But when we’re walking you and me
I’m not worried about anything
Oh a child will grow and a child will leave
But years from now right here we’ll be
So glad for another day on our everyday Street
KEEPING TIME
I take walks in the mornings
When my kid’s gone to school
I see parents walking children
Like we used to do
In the mornings for years
We headed down that same street
I’d see you and your strawberry blond family
I’d see you scruffy and smiling
After school in the yard
Or the park on Horatio
Where the kids played till dark
Or Sunday morning Little league
On the chilly Hudson Pier
Just the movie star father
Freezing with us in the April air
In the bright morning sun
Or late afternoon glow
We kept time with the rhythms
Mothers and fathers know
A February morning
The news was on
I froze when I heard your name
Our neighborhood king was gone
You'd been chasing the dragon
Needle still in your skin
Ace of Spades all around you
Aces always win
After 23 years
The great actor of our day
After 10 years of fatherhood
It took you just the same
For the kill that lies in wait
Like the cruelest undertow
Is stronger than all a man builds and loves
And dreams and knows
And I’ll see you again
Up on that screen
But I’ll remember you best
On our neighborhood streets
In your baseball cap and jeans
Kids and stroller in tow
Amid the flowers of spring
Or January snow
Keeping time with the rhythms
Mothers and fathers know
Four winters come and gone
Spring is here again
I saw your kids the other day
An old woman with them
And a chill went through me
When I looked into her face
She was the picture of you
Just wizened with age
And all at once I knew
Something sorrowful and true
She was walking with them
Still keeping time with you Cause the rhythms just go on
And will go on without you
THIRTY YEARS BEGIN NOW
30 years have passed and we’re here again
In your childhood yard, at childhood’s end
We the branches we the leaves
We that remain of our families
It was over here we planted a tree
A promise of our life to be
So we stood beneath an antique quilt
Our multithreaded canopy
EE Cummings words were read
I thank you god for this amazing day
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
Inside behind my eyes I prayed
CHORUS
Here we stand again
On this changing ground
As 30 years end
30 years begin now
Then I sang with the band Embraceable You
And all the longing of Someday Soon
And all I’d longed for was coming true
Down the toughest road I would follow you
The last song was Ashokan Farewell
I took off my shoes and danced with you
To that sad bluegrass melody
Old things end with something new
We drove again our open road
And nothing was the same
On my hand was your gold ring
In my heart a promise I’d never break
CHORUS
Oh this is living ground
And only this moment matters now
And what I feel for you today
And the spirit of trees
And the promise I made
CHORUS
DAY IS DONE
Good night my darling
And goodbye to the day
Good night my darling
And goodbye to the day
I’m leaving in the morning
Be gone when you awake
it hurts you and it hurts me too
I wish that I could stay
You want time to keep moving on
Can’t wait to be all grown
You want time to keep moving on
I wish it would all slow down
Funny how I used to think
The day would never end
Now I watch the years go by
And I can’t get them back again
CHORUS
Day is done
Gone the sun
But not for long not for long
Day is done gone the sun
But not for long my darling one
I went searching
For that place where I belong
I went searching
Wound up back where I started from
Should have listened to that voice
That was in me all along
Sometimes what you’re looking for
It isn’t really gone
Oh my darling now it’s time to say goodbye
Oh my darling, sometimes I can’t remember why
There’s just this part of me I lost
But I got it back again
I hold it close as I hold you both,
I hope you understand
CHORUS
THE TIDE
There are demons in the water
There are devils in the sea
There are dangers in the current
When the tide goes out of me
I could drink you under the table
I could drink you out of town
I could drink you off the planet
Drink myself into the ground
CHORUS
And I have nothing for you tonight
I have nothing for you tonight
I have nothing for you tonight
I have nothing for you
I was made to be a good girl
Carried buckets made of stone
Full of envy, full of sorrow
On a tightrope all alone
And all the time I was on fire
I burned with every stride
And now I see this anger
Is the horse I choose to ride
Now you say you want something nice from me
Well if you find it, take it, it's on me
In the meantime don't bother me
The tide has washed the nice from me
CHORUS
In nothing are the voices
And the pictures of my life
In the nothing of the sky
Is an ocean made of light
In the nothing of my silence
Is a sad-eyed little girl
On a tightrope she is singing
As she passes through this world
CHORUS