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All Things Will Unwind

by My Brightest Diamond

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1.
There was you there was me We never could agree If I was up you were down You were there I was here A grand puppeteer stuck it all together If I was cat you were a dog If I was tied up you were a hog If I was flat you were a ball If I was charge then you were cash If I was tots your were the mash If I was loud then you were shhhhh We added up We added up to zero zero Flying neutrinos fly through My skin my hair my feet What a pair of disagreeable agreeables Your hands my hips your grip What a fit of exhausting inexhaustables Fusion makes the world go round Confusion with the making of all that sound Oh I hear a quieter voice It says, “love binds the world, love binds the world forever and ever”
2.
Though there is stillness I can hear a heartbeat Though I can’t see you I can hear a sound Through a veil I feel a hand near me Reaching through to the other side I receive this body mine From womb to grave I now walk an ancient line One foot follows the other This stone, this finite place Is it limitless? To touch the boundless I hear a measureless rise It seems so wondrous Just to be alive Hindrances, distresses of substance I turn them over Those forgotten I remember And gather them up in my arms Like some magic thing twisted and winding It carries me on Oh how gorgeous, oh how gorgeous to struggle now To struggle now in time
3.
In the beginning there was a spark Like two great cymbals clanging we met head on There was no time All of life suspended And when you spoke one heart jumped into action This the oldest story this the finest tale Our time, our question awaits Will we seize it Can we catch it, our reel to reel My only chance at this I will take hold of it This glorious day the earth is shaking hallelujah And I will join the unending hymn hallelujah No matter no matter no matter what
4.
It takes a lifetime to learn how to love It starts with a flicker that bursts into flame Then it fades to an ember with fights and with fingers pointing out blame Oh to exercise the act of falling in love with you over and over and over Let’s close off all our escape routes Let’s not put it off tonight Let’s close off all our escape routes We can have it all tonight It takes a lifetime to learn how to love Most the time I’m taking too much in my turn But I yearn for your closeness and a gentle return My arms snake around yours Your lips open explore These promises we have saved They hold us They hold and maintain
5.
Be Brave 04:16
I am a bird in water, a whale on sand I am the flood, the fire, the oil spill I’m feeling scared and I am overwhelmed And so I don my mask and finger bells Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara now get to work Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara this is going to hurt Be brave dear one Be ye changed or be ye undone I am slave, I’m under house arrest I am the beater, I am beaten for less Than being punk and feeling anger swell And so I don my beaded dress and finger bells It’s so hard, it’s so heavy To be hungry, to be happy It’s so light, it’s so easy just to be Oh God, what would you do with me Oh God, what’s my responsibility
6.
She does not know the fruit of her labor She does not rest ‘til late each evening She does not know her beauty grows with age She does not brave the war, but she saves the day She does not hear words to flatter She does not take much ease or pleasure She does not wait to love She does not bend or break or run away She does not brave the war, but she saves the day She does not build the fortresses or touch the farthest moon She does not climb the ladder, nor hold the silver spoon She does not make the history lists, nor do monuments portray She does not brave the war, but she saves the day
7.
Ding Dang 02:30
You were workin’ for a man behind a velvet curtain You were good and you were certain of what you were headed for But then snap kerplam kalamazoo Low and behold he was lyin’ to you And with revelation come repercussions That have you at your end In a great S.N.A.F.U your arrow bends Did you set your sights upon a target moving Did you hope in some fickle false fable A glass is at the top, but the diamonds on the bottom What is a rightful dream or a better expectation All things are not as they appear That which was far has become near In a great S.N.A.F.U it comes but disappears All things are not as they appear That which was far has become near In a twist or two you’re grinning ear to ear
8.
There’s a rat in the kitchen and he’s eatin’ my cheese Eatin’ my cheese, eatin’ my cheese A rat in the kitchen and he’s eatin’ my cheese Eatin’ my cheese alright There’s a snake in the cellar and he’s drinkin’ my wine Drinkin’ my wine, drinkin’ my wine A snake in the cellar and he’s drinkin’ my wine Drinkin’ my wine alright Well I ain’t gonna let ya keep on eatin’ and eatin’ and eatin’ Ain’t gonna let ya keep on takin’ and takin’ and takin’ I’m gonna treat ya like the mouse that you are Creepin’ in and eatin’ up my house you are I ain’t gonna stand it I am gonna turn ya out crack snap trap This is my home step back! There’s a moth in the closet and he’s eatin’ my clothes A mole in my garden and he’s chewin’ my hose A bird in the attic and he’s stealin’ my song A man at the door and his motive is wrong Oh bankers, lawyers, thieves! Gov’ners, mayors, police! …………………………………… Oh bankers, lawyers, thieves! Cheaters, dealers, disease! No I ain’t gonna let ya keep on eatin’ and eatin’ and eatin’ Ain’t gonna let ya keep on takin’ and takin’ and takin’ I’m gonna treat ya like the mouse that you are Creepin’ in and eatin’ up my house you are I ain’t gonna stand it I am gonna turn ya out crack snap trap This is my home step back!
9.
When you’re privileged you don’t even know you’re privileged When you’re not, you know When you’re happy you don’t even know you’re happy When you’re not, you know Righteous heathen Blinded and seeing You’re next you’re before You’re pompous you are poor You’re hungry yet strangely You’re working like crazy Selling buying Laughing and crying High low middle High low middle High low middle Keep yourself low, but not too low Saving wasting Dying for a tasting Banging for a buck And you’re shit and out of luck Are you fat or are you eating up your hat Are you fat Are you High low middle High low middle High low middle Keep yourself low, but not too low Lord help you when you’re growing old Lord help you when you’re tired and cold Lord help you when the dealings done Lord help you when the gettin's gone
10.
Come sit next to me and tell me what you saw Six blackbirds flying north Icicles dropping from the rooftops Come sit next to me and tell me where you’ve been You seem a little out of breath I ran down to Mr. Kimball’s house and then I turned right back around Everything is in line all things will unwind Come sit next to me and tell me what you dream One day I’m gonna sail across the mountains in a hot air balloon I don’t doubt you, no I don’t doubt you I’m so sorry I forgot your birthday A wish upon a card of peacock blue I’m so sorry I forgot your birthday How are you Everything is in line all things will unwind How can you say that How can you? Upside is downside Downside is up The tide is not subsiding I don’t doubt you, no I don’t doubt you, no I won’t Everything is in line all things will unwind
11.
I have never loved someone the way I love you I have never seen a smile like yours And if you grow to be a king or clown or pauper I will say you are my favorite one in town I have never held a hand so soft and sacred When I hear your laugh I know heaven’s key And when I grow to be a poppy in the graveyard I will send you all my love upon the breeze And if the breeze won’t blow your way, I will be the sun And if the sun won’t shine your way, I will be the rain And if the rain won’t wash away all your aches and pains I will find some other way to tell you you’re okay

about

All Things Will Unwind is the third, stunning offer from Detroit based experimental pop chanteuse-My Brightest Diamond, aka Shara Worden. Known for her many colloborations with indie rock royalty as well as her extraordinary original material, Worden is coming into her own as an artist and human on this 11 song recording. At once accessible and intelligent, the songs were written exclusively for celebrated chamber ensemble yMusic (Bon Iver, Antony & the Johnsons, The New York Philharmonic & Rufus Wainwright) and they are featured on each track. Grammy award-winning Pat Dillet recorded Unwind in New York City.

“We Added it Up” opens the record with a punchy, almost Ragtime acoustic guitar, suggesting Cabaret by way of Carolina. Worden’s voice, ever mesmerizing, dances between the notes in a clever narrative of love’s opposites, then joins a rousing call and response chorus on the song’s finale. The range of influences on All Things Will Unwind are as eclectic as its’ author, but listeners will recognize hints of Roberta Flack, Regina Specktor, Edith Piaf and Antony & The Johnsons throughout the album. Inspired by becoming a mother, chats with legendary performance artist Laurie Anderson, presidential addresses, and class warfare, Worden is metabolizing her influences as only she can- with playful, profound originality.

Since recording My Brightest Diamond’s critically acclaimed sophomore album A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, Shara has returned to Detroit, where she grew up in a family of musical evangelists. She is drawing inspiration from the motor city’s unique struggles. On “High Low Middle” Worden takes us to the center of Detroit’s unemployment crisis, in a catchy, vaudevillian protest song that would make Woodie Guthrie proud:

Righteous heathen

Blinded and seein

You’re next you’re before

You’re pompous you are poor

Your hungry yet strangely your working like crazy

All Things Will Unwind is a picture of an artist maturing; considering joy and pain, beauty and horror, yet bravely standing in the tension between the two- and singing about it. The record closes with “I Have Never Loved Someone” and finds Shara dipping into her soothing alto, singing to her newborn son; the pedals of the pump organ creak under the vocal, evoking visions of a cradle gently rocking:

I have never loved someone the way I love you

I have never seen a smile like yours

And if you grow up to be king or clown or pauper,

I will say you are my favorite one in town

Yet even in a lullaby, one that could easily be a classic, Shara is still Shara:

And when I grow to be a poppy in the graveyard

I will send you all my love upon the breeze

And if the breeze won’t blow your way

…I will find some other way to tell you, you’re ok

She closes the album repeating you’re ok, against the swell of an angelic choir, assuring her son, herself, and the listener- in this world of opposites “ok” – like this remarkable album-is a well-earned triumph.

credits

released October 18, 2011

Written, Arranged & Produced by Shara Worden*
Co-Produced by Rob Moose
*High Low Middle written by Brian Wolfe & Shara
*Ding Dang written by Tim Fite & Shara
*Everything is in Line written by DM Stith & Shara

yMusic is Rob Moose, Nadia Sirota, Clarice Jensen, Hideaki Aomori, Alex Sopp & CJ Camerieri.

Violin, Guitars & Banjo: Rob Moose
Viola: Nadia Sirota
Cello: Brian Snow
Clarinet & Bass Clarinet: Hideaki Aomori
Flute & Piccolo: Alex Sopp
Trumpet, Horn & Pump Organ: CJ Camerieri
Drums: Brian Wolfe
Bass, Piano & Moog: Brad Albetta
Marimba, Pianet, Prepared Piano, Roland RS-09, Roland Jupiter 8, Guitar, Mellotron,
Vibes, Celesta, Wurlitzer, Orchestron & Bells: Zac Rae
Percussion on Ding Dang : Justin Riddle
Celeste, Fireball, Clangs & Dangs, Synth Bass on
Ding Dang: Tim Fite
Rhodes on High Low Middle : Thomas Bartlett
Vocals & Acoustic Guitar: DM Stith

Vocals, Baritone Ukelele, Bells, Autoharp, Mbira & Pump Organ: Shara Worden

Engineered & Mixed by Pat Dillett
Assistant Engineer Jon Altschuler
Zac Rae sessions recorded at The Bank
Zac Rae sessions engineered by Ehren Ebbage
Mastered by UE Nastasi at Sterling Sound

Hairsculpture : Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, a.k.a. Shoplifter
(Sculpture made with Synthetic Hair)
Assistant to Shoplifter: Lena Hawkins
Photography: Denny Renshaw
Hat by Emilliner
Art design & layout: DM Stith
Makeup: Thora Gudmundsdóttir

Makeup for Clarice: Jules Waldkoetter
Mask created by : Lake Simons

Shara Worden uses Mya-Moe ukeleles

Thank you James Worden, the Asthmatic Kitty family, Lowell Brams, Michael Kaufmann, John Beeler, Tom Davies, Sufjan Stevens, Mary Brabec, Phyllis Belezos, Rosemary Carroll & Gillian Malken, Patrick Templeman, Elaine Zeberkiewicz & Phil Sarna at PS Business Management, Jeff Pachman, Paul Lamden at Domino Publishing, Shil Patel at Team Clermont, Roxanne Oldham and Brian Grushkin at Mixtape, Judy Miller Silverman at Motormouthmedia, Nathan Lithgow, Jessica Dessner, Murat Eyuboglu, Alex Craig, Aaron Craig, David Sarno, Noelle Marinelli, Charles Cermele, Judd Greenstein, Nadine Goellner, Dick Connette at 2nd Story, Sarah Kirkland Snider & Steve Mackey, Ben West, Kristi Sword, Gabriel Kahane, A. Bogs, Ted Poor, Bryce Dessner, Detroit revolutionaries, and our friends & families for your support.

To Constantine.

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My Brightest Diamond Detroit, Michigan

Musical firebrand Shara Nova (formerly Worden) has continued to weave her own way through pop, experimental and classical worlds, this time landing squarely on the dance floor with A Million And One. Nova has marshaled the influences of a youth spent listening to Detroit radio into a visceral love letter to the city, an electronic pop record both vulnerable and full of a fierce fighter's spirit. ... more

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