HEM rabbit songs (selection of three)

Quoted as wanting to make a record "we could love the rest of our lives," Hem spent a year on this collection. The idea was to combine their love of traditional American music with the lushness of the occasional 18-piece orchestra, a good choice considering the sweet, crystalline quality of the vocal work by lead singer Sally Ellyson. Ellyson had never sung professionally before, but answered an ad in The Village Voice with a cassette of lullabies she'd recorded for a friend's child..... Her voice, untarnished, as it may have been by spending nights on end singing in smoky bars, was worth waiting for. Rabbit Songs' sound is lyrical, melodic, and pure. It was recorded in the old-fashioned, non-digital manner and that devotion to tradition is apparent in each song, whether in simple and sparse arrangements or full of strings and glockenspiel. The songs.....don't try to sound old -- they just have an effortlessly timeless appeal. ---Travis Drageset, AllMusic

Half Acre



Betting on Trains



All That I'm Good For

leave my station where i stood
to lay for a while with you
i got shadows snapping at my tail
who say i'm no damn good
but that's just halfway true
all that i'm good for is you

you know i play with all those strays
prowling outside your door
it's the scraps of love you throw my way
that have got me on all fours

 Songwriters: Messe Daniel R

Note: I would have picked "Stupid Mouth Shut" instead of "Betting on Trains" had the former been available for this. There's a video here (a little slow on the bufferring though).