Fifty-five years ago, Marilyn Bell took a plunge and traversed Lake Ontario. Back then, being a Great Lake swimmer was a big deal; now, it's an astonishing physical feat taken for granted. It's a rapidly forgotten part of history, like a faded map or a tattered photograph. Or a lost channel.
Tony Dekker's Great Lake Swimmers have spent the past seven years performing on stages around the world - though, like Bell, they should never be taken for granted. LOST CHANNELS, their fourth album set for release on March 31st, finds them once again recording at historic locations. This time in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario and New York state, telling tales of hidden histories, still "mining for light in the dark wells," still "tuned to an instrument of greater and unknown design."
The instrument in question is the singular voice of Tony Dekker, a voice that summons ghosts from times past. It’s a voice that is capable of conveying heartache and comfort all in the space of a single phrase. Though his supporting cast has changed over the years—with the exception of longtime right-hand man Erik Arnesen — Dekker has always encircled him self with sympathetic players who value spacious arrangements that frame his vocals. Over time, the band has evolved from a sparse, delicate and hushed unit into a well-rounded folk rock band, sacrificing none of their original intimacy while upping both the volume and tempos when necessary.
Dekker chooses to record in old churches, community halls, abandoned grain silos and rural locations. It's easy to hear why. His voice doesn't need any studio embellishment, standing at its strongest when bathed in natural reverb and enriched by the historical context surrounding it.
To record LOST CHANNELS, Dekker and company went upstream on the St. Lawrence River to the Thousand Islands, halfway between Toronto and Montreal, a historic and picturesque area that straddles the Canadian/American border, and has been designated a World Biosphere Region. Great Lake Swimmers arrived at the invitation of fan and Thousand Islands photographer/regional historian Ian Coristine (www.1000islandsphotoart.com).
Coristine was able to arrange for the band to record in a number of acoustically unique spaces within the region, including one of the area's most storied landmarks, Singer Castle on Dark Island, near Hammond, NY (www.singercastle.com); as well as the historical Brockville Arts Centre (www.brockvilleartscentre.com); and at St. Brendan’s Church in Rockport, ON.
Additional recording took place at Halla and the Lincoln County Social Club in Toronto and the album was woven into a cohesive whole at the House Of Miracles, in London, ON, with long-time Great Lake Swimmers collaborator, Andy Magoffin.
That the album was created in both rural splendour and urban Ontario makes perfect sense for a band that has always navigated the parallels between natural and urban rhythms. River imagery recurs throughout LOST CHANNELS; the title of the album is a reference to a certain passage of the St. Lawrence, close to the recording locale, where a reconnaissance boat from a British warship went mysteriously missing in 1760. There’s no specific reference to the incident in the lyrics, though there are plenty of night skies, howling winds and raging rivers in almost every song which captures an elusive sense of mystery. As the album closes, Dekker sings the final lyrics—“Like the unstoppable river… Your beauty is gentle/ but forceful, and fast”—before the band ends on a suspended note. There is no resolution there, only eternity, a continuum, an endless river.
LOST CHANNELS also features the talents of Julie Fader (flute/backing vocals), Greg Millson (drums), Darcy Yates (bass), with appearances by Erin Aurich on violin; Mike Olsen on cello; and Paul Aucoin on vibraphone; along with special guests / Swimmers collaborators Serena Ryder with vocals on “Everything Is Moving So Fast” and Bob Egan on pedal steel.
Four albums into an already-rich and storied career, Great Lake Swimmers’ live show has won them ever-expanding audiences in the United States and Europe, and of course their native Canada. In 2008 Great Lake Swimmers shared the stage with an impressive list of artists, including Feist, Bela Fleck & The Sparrow Quartet, Hayden, Goldfrapp, Bill Callahan of Smog, and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.
I Became Awake
Great Lake Swimmers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From a very dark place
Patchwork of fear of poorly conceived ideas
With a blister of water
Mark of working hands, ready to catch or cut
Senses aligned, the animal urgency
And voices picked up
All awake, all awake
I became awake
Fingers are open, eyes they are open
The firing of images, an orchestra of scribbles
The guts of an engine, the veins of a leaf
Light onto paper, exposed
A filament in a bulb, up above or in the ground
Together we are magic, together we are dreaming
Together we will reach endlessly
The center of a seed, so full of possibilities
All awake, all awake
All awake
I became awake
I thought I was sleeping but I was only forming
A structure with no ceiling
With words like a runway
A cloud of a person drifting away
I was heavy but now I am light
I was heavy but now I am light
All awake, all awake
All awake, all awake
The lyrics to Great Lake Swimmers' song "I Became Awake" tell the story of the singer's awakening from a dark and fearful place. They describe their senses becoming attuned to their surroundings and their voice picking up the sound of the world around them. The singer talks about the firing of images in their mind and their ability to capture them on paper, likening the process to the workings of an engine or the veins of a leaf. They describe feeling heavy but becoming weightless as they awaken to the possibilities around them.
This song is a metaphor for the process of creative awakening, and the idea that the artist must break through their own barriers in order to truly see and express the world around them. The singer describes a patchwork of fear and poorly conceived ideas holding them back, but as they become more awake, they are able to see and capture the beauty around them. The song is a testament to the power of creative expression and the importance of breaking through self-imposed limits in order to fully experience and appreciate the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I became awake
I emerged from a deep, dark place into a state of awareness
From a very dark place
From a place of great fear and uncertainty
Patchwork of fear of poorly conceived ideas
A quilt of anxiety stitched together by irrational thoughts
With a blister of water
Carrying the physical mark of hard manual labor
Mark of working hands, ready to catch or cut
Hands that are tough and skilled, capable of both nurturing and violence
Senses aligned, the animal urgency
Heightened awareness and primal instincts
And voices picked up
Hearing the sounds and voices around and within
Flowing over the static, late, quiet
Navigating through the noise and stillness of life
Fingers are open, eyes they are open
Hands and eyes ready and receptive
The firing of images, an orchestra of scribbles
A vivid stream of creative ideas taking shape
The guts of an engine, the veins of a leaf
The inner workings that keep something alive and thriving
Light onto paper, exposed
Bringing to life and sharing what was once hidden
A filament in a bulb, up above or in the ground
An energy source that illuminates and powers life
Together we are magic, together we are dreaming
Unleashing the power of community and shared imagination
Together we will reach endlessly
Going beyond what we thought was possible with the help of others
The center of a seed, so full of possibilities
The core of something small and unassuming holding immense potential
I thought I was sleeping but I was only forming
Believing I was in a state of rest, but really in the very early stages of creation
A structure with no ceiling
An unfinished work with unlimited potential and possibility
With words like a runway
Words that give direction and purpose, paving the way to something new
A cloud of a person drifting away
A person who is evolving and changing, on a journey of self-discovery
I was heavy but now I am light
I carried the weight of the past, but now I feel unburdened and free
All awake
Fully present and alive in the moment
All awake
Fully present and alive in the moment
All awake
Fully present and alive in the moment
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind