Recorded 2015 at GCR Audio
Buffalo, New York
Producer: Mike Mean
Engineer: Justin Rose
"Prairie Fires" is the record this band was born to make. When we recorded "Everything is Golden" for our last EP, we knew we had stumbled into something good. The Country/Americana vibe of that song became an inspiration for this entire project. We went back to where the magic happened with "Golden," GCR Audio in Buffalo, but this time we brought veteran Americana bassist/producer Mike Mean along for the ride.
Mike helped us refine a bunch of brand new songs that we were working on, a couple of tracks from the "This Ship Was Meant for Sinking" period (what I call Adams Wilson's "Dark Ages" when we had tons of songs, but made no recordings that ever saw the light of day), and a couple of tracks from previous albums that I felt needed to be redefined in our new adopted Americana style.
Hellbound
I don't wanna go to hell today
But I've packed my bags
Just in case
I wanna be the worst and last mistake
all good girls
hope to make
But every time I see your face
I find a reason
To quit my hellbound ways
You're the only one I cannot face
When I'm lost and dying
Because of my hellbound ways
I got 1 or 2 good years to waste
Don't wanna disappear
Without a trace
Baby you could be my big mistake
We'll leave a trail of shame
In our wake
You wanna put me in line
Wanna chain me with a tie
And
sit me at a 9 to 5
But that would never fly
Run back to my old life
It's only just a matter of time
Upside Down
Dropped the bomb
What have I done
Some things you shouldn't say
Without a gun
Pressed against your head
And I'll be here all day
Trying to figure out how
How you'd listen
Wrote the ending first
What's worse
I never got around
To write a verse
And you can hear me guessing now
I'm up
Side down
You got my world all turned around
Eyes shut
Head first
Could this crush get any worse
I'm down now
Never come back
And I'm out now
Just fade it to black
well I’ve got no clue
what you’re about
my eyes right now are wider than
my mouth
you love to watch me squirm
and I’ll be here all day
trying to figure out how
how we’re kissing
well you hold my hand
you hold it tight
don’t ask me what I’m thinking
‘cus I might
I might just tell you how
The lines of my jaw
Come to rest in your palms
Can you hold me without breaking me down
I stumbled this far
Now I can't turn around
Can you hold me without breaking me down
Downfall
Whatever I did
whatever I’ve done
whatever I gave up for this
we were just kids
it couldn’t be love
it couldn’t have come to this
all of the wars we’ve won
all of the damage that we’ve done
Downfall
you wait
I'm prayin for safety
But nobody’s waiting
for me
put you in place
cover my eyes
wait for the stars to shine
that’s no way to live
that’s no way to lie
it couldn’t have stayed like this
and all of the wars we’ve won
all of the damage that you’ve done
downfall
you wait
I'm prayin for safety
but nobody saves me
plead to your saints
I'm praying for safety
But nobody's waiting for me
Oh
I think I want to say
those things I never say
would that be okay with you
It's raining here today
It's just one of those days
It won't go the way you want it to
Oh my life has become some kind of joke
I wish no one ever told
There's bright sunlight and I'm stuck in my winter coat
it's better to be off alone
this is my last try
my last goodbye
Oh
keep me out of the fray
I've said what I will I say
now I'm gonna run away from you
We both have different ways
the way the game is played
now we just have to play it through
What could I be thinking
my boat was built for sinking
down down low
down down low
What could I be drinking
my boat was built for sinking
down down low
down down low
down down low
Oh
In the Clouds
I've never felt so powerless
Compared to this
While sitting next to you
Holding your hand and I
I almost put an end to this
But it didn't fit
There's no ending without you
I wonder where we’re taking this
do we get our wish
don’t tell me if it’s not true
just let me stay here and
I - I could not put an end to this
it would not fit
There’s no ending without you
My head is in the clouds
(I'm trying not to look down)
My head is in the clouds
I forget what it’s like
on the ground
I forget what it's like
To look down
For fear of ever wrecking this
Don’t question it
There’s too much we could lose
I hope that there’s no end to this
that we never quit
no other love would do
If we only get one shot
I’m glad for what we’ve got
something this good ain’t owed to no one
We’ve got to do this right
Can’t let a good thing by
something so good ain’t owed to no one
Delusional
I can feel it coming now
From a hundred miles away
No matter what you try to say
You always try to hide it from me
You always try to say that you're fine
Like I can't read your mind
Don't argue with me
Don't try to change my mind
You can try to push me
But I'm gonna hold you when you cry
I'm gonna hold you when you cry
I never know the words to say
To pull the trouble out of your mind
The worry out of your eyes
Just give me some time I’ll think of
All the words you need me to say
To take your worries away
Could you ever see what I see
You say I'm crazy I say you're blind
Say anything that you want to
Long as you say you're mine
Say anything that you want to
long as say you're mine
Don't You
An old memory about you
crept into my sleep and I knew
You must have put my mind in some voodoo
But what could all this mean
That/And I don't want to be
Without you
You got some powers over me
Don't you
You pulse into my mind like a bad trip
start off feeling high then I get sick
then I can’t by so I turn tricks
now you’re in my dreams
Sidekick
Let's take off our disguises my love
The mild-mannered lies of our love
There's nowhere left to hide oh my love
Is that what you had in mind
When you said you loved me
Or have you had a change of mind
It's so stupid of me
To think you'd let me share your life
And listen to me
Say what's really on my mind
I bet you'd leave me my love
When you see how bad it could be my love
For some reason that's my fantasy love
You write the words you want to read
And I love a down ending
the hero finally meets defeat
And the sidekick writes the song
Roll On
Slide a picture across the table
look away if if I was able
A prophet knows before he asks
You asked me here but I should have passed
Assumed the worst but it's double that
And I tell myself to leave
Can't find the ground can't find my feet
Someone tell me why I don't
Roll on
Roll on you
Made you swear that you'd never leave
I wish I'd known just what that means
But no one takes your hits like me
And I tell myself to move
But no one tells me what to do
Someone tell me why I won't
Slide a picture across the table
I'd look away if if I was able
To imagine
What you'd look like
Walking away from me
The Movie Song
We watched Rick and Ilsa fall in love at our favorite place
And as days go by Sam just kept playing the same old song
It's just a movie
It's not like real life
Just pictures and some lights and a stage
We watched Charlie Kane lose himself with his sled
I'd build you a stage just to hear you sing again
It's just a movie
It's not like real life
Just pictures and some lights and a stage
So what are you watching
Now that we are apart
And I close my eyes
Because watching movies breaks my heart
All There Is
Well I
Stared at the sun for 30 seconds too long
And now I wonder where my time has gone
Used to be perfect now it all looks wrong
Like a silhouette
An empty mess
Destruction that I don't regret
Well we
Put up a fight but it's just never enough
Screaming and fighting doesn't make this love
If we're so special why's it so damn tough
There's nothing left
But my regrets
My judgment and no disrespect
I guess I never saw you in that light
Said that nothing matters you were right
My universe is shattered and that might be all there is
Well you
turned me loose just to watch me crash
Life is an accident I can't get past
You turned away just when it got bad
There's nothing left
But my regrets
Your judgment and your disrespect
Mistakes that I just don't want to relive
Wouldn't matter
Wouldn't matter
Wouldn't matter
What I did
Another Night
So I'm just another
stranger or lover
make your choice and let me know
'cus I can't leave this on the table
I won't waste another night
you say forgive me I'm unable
baby not this time
Words I've hated
It's complicated
well I refuse to let this go
'cus I can't leave this on the table
I won't waste another night
You say forgive me I'm unable
baby not this time
Love is fleeting
take it or leave it
play your games when you're alone
'cus I can't leave this on the table
I won't waste another night
you say forgive me I'm unable
baby not this time
Golden
Through your window pane
I see a hurricane
and the clouds are turning
the world has caught on fire
and you're sick and tired
and you're glad it's burning
I could be crazy too
if that's what you want
is that what you want
'cus everything is golden here
thanks for asking
and everything is cold outside
death and taxes
and I
I'll give you anything that you need
so just stay right here with me
and I'll keep playing
I'll keep saying
can better angels preside
if all your angels have died
and what's the use in hoping
I won't run away
but I won't just say
everything you're hoping
Or I could be crazy too
if that's what you want
is that what you want