Welcome Nowhere, 2004
Marriage records
Welcome
Just Ice
Money
Don't Be Afraid
Get Married
Nowhere
Hoo Hoo I Am, Wildly
Seasons, Years
Home Alone, Parts 1 & 2
Bonus Tracks, 2007
Welcome Nowhere Reissue
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Years (Seasons) 2
No One’s Dancing
Judges
Weeping
Waterfalls
Auntarctica
Welcome
I want to be welcome
So you save me a place in that big black sky
Or that cold little stream along your mountainside
Or in a bed that’s as bright white as light
That I can get well in for a long time
Well, my whole life is true
And it’s like all my dreams even though I don’t really know anything
And how now I will climb up my big destiny and make myself welcome
Just keep on singing
I want to be welcome, so I accept that I live in the world that I’m living in
And as long as I’m under these bright, shining heavens,
I’ll be good and I’ll be welcome
I’ll be welcome
You win
Just Ice
Our little house is just drooping over
The lamp and the light in the window
And for the fog, the sickle shaped moon glows
Through the wilderness, so fantastically echoing
The voices of grave robbers and the other weary wanderers
Their breath is steam, they wiggle cold fingers
And we curl our toes, blankets hung over our door
Money
I'm gonna live outside of your locked doors happily
And I’ll never come and knock on one of them and ask you for a single thing
And I'll never huff and puff and blow down your house
I'm not the big bad wolf, I’m just like a tiny little mouse
Or a clown, or a little boy you talk about
And I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'm gonna spend my life up this way right in front of your eyes
I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'll spend my life up, you guys, until I die
And I will spend the coldest night under a waterfall
And watch the white water roll off me
And I will spend the hottest day laying in a really big pile of hay
With somebody or another until I roll off
And I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'm gonna spend my life up this way, mama, right in front of your eyes
I'm gonna spend my life up
I'm gonna spend my life up like a hundred bucks
I'm gonna spend my life up
I'm gonna spend my life up, mama, until I rise
I'll spend my life up mama until I rise
Spend my life up
Spend my life up, you guys
I'm gonna spend my life up
Spend my life up
Don't Be Afraid
I'll eat you and sing uselessly
Save me from my useless duty
I'll say what I really am
You say if it's worth a damn
If I can make songs of your bones
You can call my whole world home
Don't be afraid
You hold right and I'll hold wrong
You hold night and I'll hold dawn
We will walk with balance on
Riches of the mountain's ghost
And if there is an avalanche
It will be our autumn dance
Don't be afraid
I will leave no work undone
And neither will you or your son
I will sing and play with you
Like the little children do
And you don't need to buy anything
You don't need to do nothing
You can steal from the thieves
Or, like a mother, rest with me
Don't be afraid
You, whose hearts are like the moon,
Everything is good for you
The whole world is good enough
Your life will be long enough
And if you come into bad luck,
Just try and give everything up
And if you hurt and feel bad,
Just start kneeling down
Don't be afraid
You can steal my heart from me
Or you can set your own one free
I think that it's the same thing
And if we die you can blame me
Don't be afraid
I beg you not to worry
And see how all the flowers are lovely
And jump into the waterfall
Like they do in the movies, ma’
Get Married
Come gather ‘round, bright stars of the black sky
Fall in my hair and dig out my eyes
I have become the mud in my pass-way
I’ve lived and laid too long in the waterfall
The way we are under the darkness of the world
Is how we shine
Come gather ‘round grains of sand on the shore
Get in my shoes and socks and never leave
I’ve spent the night before this ocean
And now my heart beats with the waves
We lay in sun, we don’t know what to do, we don’t know why
Is how we shine
Nowhere
Only reaching blindly in to blankness with frantic, bare hands
Did I ever really try to understand
And only with the open sky so lonely and empty
Did I ever really walk or stand beneath it
In the middle of nowhere
I am breathing of the same thing that looks blue above the mountains
In the middle of nowhere
And there's something strong and wise like the sun, or a lion
That is sifting through the ashes of my mind
And it's dangerous and scary to be living ignorantly like I do,
But imagine what it'd be like if I knew
That I'm nowhere
I am nowhere
Hoo Hoo I Am, Wildly
I was born wailing and wild
And like a hero’s, my story is of miracles
As I live, I’ve been clothed in everything
Like an emperor, my new clothes are like wearing nothing
So now I’m gonna’ go through the snow, all alone
And now, in joy, I’ll stay with you my love,
Forever
Seasons, Years
On rainy nights, our house is a blessing
It keeps us dry and I try to remember
To be grateful for it when winter comes to say:
“This is your home, this is where you’ll stay”
And on my birthday, a spring comes
And I want it to bare me with all the other ones who bloom,
To send me off quick, from where old and young meet
Wearing all green in the bright thaw
Let rain steer summer evenings when all things are easy
And our house is as big as they are silly
With laughable doom, the first rains fall through
The breathe that I lose,
Rushing under our roof
Home Alone, Parts 1 & 2
I lost the youth that impressed you
You liked to think it had some meaning
You think I left it back at home,
But then again now, that’s where I’m going
While I’m old and wise, I’ll pass
A prophecy from times gone past
That says:
"All things will be a mystery to you
And you’ll never have a fucking clue
Your frail body will not last
And neither will your song or dance"
Wherever you are, the night is long
And I can’t fall asleep
And I stay awake, and watch and wait
To make sure the sun’s coming
And I go outside when the rain stops
The air is clear, and cold, and soft
And the birds sing for a moment, to me
But the morning doesn’t come with them
Bonus Tracks, 2007
Welcome Nowhere Reissue
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Years (Seasons) 2
On rainy nights, our house is a blessing
It keeps us dry and I try to remember
To be grateful for it when winter comes to say:
“This is your home, this is where you’ll stay”
On my birthday, a spring comes
And I want it to bare me with all the other ones who bloom,
To send me off quick from where old and young meet,
Wearing all green in the bright snow thaw
Let rain steer summer evenings when all things is easy
And our city’s as big as they are silly
With laughable doom, the first rains fall through
The breathe that I lose,
Rushing under our roof
No One’s Dancing
Grass is frozen on my grave
Under the bare trees
Grass is frozen on my grave
The world looks gray
And it’s not warm and cozy or anything
My coffin’s hollow, snow’s a shroud
The branches all bend, there is no end
As far as I can see is so close
It’s the wind’s world to bite and freeze
And he makes it look easy
He cuts himself up fast and fiercely
And makes the trees bleed icicles
And then he dances on my grave
And sings like a ghost to himself
And vanishing into gasping blackness
He pushes his house in the ground
Through the grass that glows in the dust of my bones
And the white silence seems warm
The grass is glowing like the angels
In the western sky
Judges
Don’t judge my music, don’t judge my songs
If someone is singing, it’s not right or wrong
And don’t judge my dancing, I’m just here to have fun
You all should be happy, inside here, it’s warm
Don’t judge my painting, I’m not painting for you
And whatever you say, I’m gonna’ ignore you
‘Cause life isn’t easy, buddy, and it’ll never go right
And everybody is ‘gonna die
You and me can be happy, I think, in so many ways
It ain’t no use to us to complain
And you and me look even more funny
When we say bad stuff about somebody
So now when I sing, it’s just a sound
Like a car passing or swans’ wings flapping
You can give in, though, and lay in the waves
What did you think my singing was?
What did you think when you were young?
That light’s not from my eyes, it’s from those lights
When I get to see stars, I’ll judge it right
Weeping
My mother holds me all night and all of the day
And when I weep, there’s nothing she can say
And my brother offers to me his self and his love, and a picture he drew
And when I wept, it didn’t seem enough
And my father cried when I hurt his pride
And when I wept, it seemed that we both died
My sister sent me a picture from her honeymoon
And, from her life, I felt so far removed
My lover holds me all night and all of the day
And our weeping is like the river rapids
Waterfalls
In my most hopeless days and lost in pitch-black caves,
There’s waterfalls and dripping stone walls
It’s so perfect and amazing, you may only naively believe
There’s waterfalls and all perspectives
And when you see the light or go for walks at night
There’s waterfalls but you can stay dry
In the universe and in the death and birth
I always wonder, at each, my mother?
And right before I die or start to tell a lie,
There is a spark drowned out
In my heart’s hiding place, there is a moonlit lake
And there’s waterfalls on the way down there
On top of spaghetti and growing to a tree
There’s waterfalls and dripping meatballs
And in my Cadillac, you call me your mac dad
There’s waterfalls
And in the home of sky and in your pure, pure eyes
There’s waterfalls I try to swim in
Auntarctica
The winter air in between
The icicle and bare trees,
With a black crow a’ cawing
And the freezing rain a’ falling
It’s the same that holds me
While I shuffle on the concrete
And walk to the bus depot
I don’t want nothing no more
Through the road’s wise oracle,
Let me see how time has no hold
Just Ice
Money
Don't Be Afraid
Get Married
Nowhere
Hoo Hoo I Am, Wildly
Seasons, Years
Home Alone, Parts 1 & 2
Bonus Tracks, 2007
Welcome Nowhere Reissue
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Years (Seasons) 2
No One’s Dancing
Judges
Weeping
Waterfalls
Auntarctica
Welcome
I want to be welcome
So you save me a place in that big black sky
Or that cold little stream along your mountainside
Or in a bed that’s as bright white as light
That I can get well in for a long time
Well, my whole life is true
And it’s like all my dreams even though I don’t really know anything
And how now I will climb up my big destiny and make myself welcome
Just keep on singing
I want to be welcome, so I accept that I live in the world that I’m living in
And as long as I’m under these bright, shining heavens,
I’ll be good and I’ll be welcome
I’ll be welcome
You win
Just Ice
Our little house is just drooping over
The lamp and the light in the window
And for the fog, the sickle shaped moon glows
Through the wilderness, so fantastically echoing
The voices of grave robbers and the other weary wanderers
Their breath is steam, they wiggle cold fingers
And we curl our toes, blankets hung over our door
Money
I'm gonna live outside of your locked doors happily
And I’ll never come and knock on one of them and ask you for a single thing
And I'll never huff and puff and blow down your house
I'm not the big bad wolf, I’m just like a tiny little mouse
Or a clown, or a little boy you talk about
And I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'm gonna spend my life up this way right in front of your eyes
I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'll spend my life up, you guys, until I die
And I will spend the coldest night under a waterfall
And watch the white water roll off me
And I will spend the hottest day laying in a really big pile of hay
With somebody or another until I roll off
And I'm gonna spend my life up this way
I'm gonna spend my life up this way, mama, right in front of your eyes
I'm gonna spend my life up
I'm gonna spend my life up like a hundred bucks
I'm gonna spend my life up
I'm gonna spend my life up, mama, until I rise
I'll spend my life up mama until I rise
Spend my life up
Spend my life up, you guys
I'm gonna spend my life up
Spend my life up
Don't Be Afraid
I'll eat you and sing uselessly
Save me from my useless duty
I'll say what I really am
You say if it's worth a damn
If I can make songs of your bones
You can call my whole world home
Don't be afraid
You hold right and I'll hold wrong
You hold night and I'll hold dawn
We will walk with balance on
Riches of the mountain's ghost
And if there is an avalanche
It will be our autumn dance
Don't be afraid
I will leave no work undone
And neither will you or your son
I will sing and play with you
Like the little children do
And you don't need to buy anything
You don't need to do nothing
You can steal from the thieves
Or, like a mother, rest with me
Don't be afraid
You, whose hearts are like the moon,
Everything is good for you
The whole world is good enough
Your life will be long enough
And if you come into bad luck,
Just try and give everything up
And if you hurt and feel bad,
Just start kneeling down
Don't be afraid
You can steal my heart from me
Or you can set your own one free
I think that it's the same thing
And if we die you can blame me
Don't be afraid
I beg you not to worry
And see how all the flowers are lovely
And jump into the waterfall
Like they do in the movies, ma’
Get Married
Come gather ‘round, bright stars of the black sky
Fall in my hair and dig out my eyes
I have become the mud in my pass-way
I’ve lived and laid too long in the waterfall
The way we are under the darkness of the world
Is how we shine
Come gather ‘round grains of sand on the shore
Get in my shoes and socks and never leave
I’ve spent the night before this ocean
And now my heart beats with the waves
We lay in sun, we don’t know what to do, we don’t know why
Is how we shine
Nowhere
Only reaching blindly in to blankness with frantic, bare hands
Did I ever really try to understand
And only with the open sky so lonely and empty
Did I ever really walk or stand beneath it
In the middle of nowhere
I am breathing of the same thing that looks blue above the mountains
In the middle of nowhere
And there's something strong and wise like the sun, or a lion
That is sifting through the ashes of my mind
And it's dangerous and scary to be living ignorantly like I do,
But imagine what it'd be like if I knew
That I'm nowhere
I am nowhere
Hoo Hoo I Am, Wildly
I was born wailing and wild
And like a hero’s, my story is of miracles
As I live, I’ve been clothed in everything
Like an emperor, my new clothes are like wearing nothing
So now I’m gonna’ go through the snow, all alone
And now, in joy, I’ll stay with you my love,
Forever
Seasons, Years
On rainy nights, our house is a blessing
It keeps us dry and I try to remember
To be grateful for it when winter comes to say:
“This is your home, this is where you’ll stay”
And on my birthday, a spring comes
And I want it to bare me with all the other ones who bloom,
To send me off quick, from where old and young meet
Wearing all green in the bright thaw
Let rain steer summer evenings when all things are easy
And our house is as big as they are silly
With laughable doom, the first rains fall through
The breathe that I lose,
Rushing under our roof
Home Alone, Parts 1 & 2
I lost the youth that impressed you
You liked to think it had some meaning
You think I left it back at home,
But then again now, that’s where I’m going
While I’m old and wise, I’ll pass
A prophecy from times gone past
That says:
"All things will be a mystery to you
And you’ll never have a fucking clue
Your frail body will not last
And neither will your song or dance"
Wherever you are, the night is long
And I can’t fall asleep
And I stay awake, and watch and wait
To make sure the sun’s coming
And I go outside when the rain stops
The air is clear, and cold, and soft
And the birds sing for a moment, to me
But the morning doesn’t come with them
Bonus Tracks, 2007
Welcome Nowhere Reissue
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Years (Seasons) 2
On rainy nights, our house is a blessing
It keeps us dry and I try to remember
To be grateful for it when winter comes to say:
“This is your home, this is where you’ll stay”
On my birthday, a spring comes
And I want it to bare me with all the other ones who bloom,
To send me off quick from where old and young meet,
Wearing all green in the bright snow thaw
Let rain steer summer evenings when all things is easy
And our city’s as big as they are silly
With laughable doom, the first rains fall through
The breathe that I lose,
Rushing under our roof
No One’s Dancing
Grass is frozen on my grave
Under the bare trees
Grass is frozen on my grave
The world looks gray
And it’s not warm and cozy or anything
My coffin’s hollow, snow’s a shroud
The branches all bend, there is no end
As far as I can see is so close
It’s the wind’s world to bite and freeze
And he makes it look easy
He cuts himself up fast and fiercely
And makes the trees bleed icicles
And then he dances on my grave
And sings like a ghost to himself
And vanishing into gasping blackness
He pushes his house in the ground
Through the grass that glows in the dust of my bones
And the white silence seems warm
The grass is glowing like the angels
In the western sky
Judges
Don’t judge my music, don’t judge my songs
If someone is singing, it’s not right or wrong
And don’t judge my dancing, I’m just here to have fun
You all should be happy, inside here, it’s warm
Don’t judge my painting, I’m not painting for you
And whatever you say, I’m gonna’ ignore you
‘Cause life isn’t easy, buddy, and it’ll never go right
And everybody is ‘gonna die
You and me can be happy, I think, in so many ways
It ain’t no use to us to complain
And you and me look even more funny
When we say bad stuff about somebody
So now when I sing, it’s just a sound
Like a car passing or swans’ wings flapping
You can give in, though, and lay in the waves
What did you think my singing was?
What did you think when you were young?
That light’s not from my eyes, it’s from those lights
When I get to see stars, I’ll judge it right
Weeping
My mother holds me all night and all of the day
And when I weep, there’s nothing she can say
And my brother offers to me his self and his love, and a picture he drew
And when I wept, it didn’t seem enough
And my father cried when I hurt his pride
And when I wept, it seemed that we both died
My sister sent me a picture from her honeymoon
And, from her life, I felt so far removed
My lover holds me all night and all of the day
And our weeping is like the river rapids
Waterfalls
In my most hopeless days and lost in pitch-black caves,
There’s waterfalls and dripping stone walls
It’s so perfect and amazing, you may only naively believe
There’s waterfalls and all perspectives
And when you see the light or go for walks at night
There’s waterfalls but you can stay dry
In the universe and in the death and birth
I always wonder, at each, my mother?
And right before I die or start to tell a lie,
There is a spark drowned out
In my heart’s hiding place, there is a moonlit lake
And there’s waterfalls on the way down there
On top of spaghetti and growing to a tree
There’s waterfalls and dripping meatballs
And in my Cadillac, you call me your mac dad
There’s waterfalls
And in the home of sky and in your pure, pure eyes
There’s waterfalls I try to swim in
Auntarctica
The winter air in between
The icicle and bare trees,
With a black crow a’ cawing
And the freezing rain a’ falling
It’s the same that holds me
While I shuffle on the concrete
And walk to the bus depot
I don’t want nothing no more
Through the road’s wise oracle,
Let me see how time has no hold