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I Am I Am

by Ruth Theodore

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  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of I Am I Am. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases May 3, 2024

      $9 USD  or more

    You own this

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    VINYL 12" standard weight Royal Blue 140g coloured vinyl with full colour label art. Presented inside a full colour ‘Murmuration’ sleeve on 300gsm white board, with 3mm spine, and a classic gloss finish. The coloured vinyl is protected in a classic white paper inner bag along with a full colour 12" double sided insert on 150gsm gloss art paper and the full product is individually wrapped in recycled shrinkwrap

    Includes digital pre-order of I Am I Am. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    edition of 300  50 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

    You own this  

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD Full colour high quality compact disc presented inside a 4 panel ‘Murmuration’ digipak with full artwork on each panel complete with a classic gloss finish and each individually protected in a recycled shrinkwrap.

    Includes digital pre-order of I Am I Am. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    edition of 500  48 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $16 USD or more 

    You own this  

     

1.
Barbed Wire Fence
2.
I have travelled land and sea with this bullet between my teeth To give you back the hell you’ve given me See how far I’ve come to give you some Of this little lick of lightning on the tip of my tongue I’ve ridden bareback through a blizzard of sand Had a great white eating out the palm of my hand so please! I’ve turned every stone and every autumn leaf With a full metal jacket between my teeth I’ve drunk the lizard's blood of a medicine man (hey hey) And I’ve held this feeling off for just as long as I can (hey hey) But now here I am I have travelled land and sea to give you back the hell you’ve given me I’ve eaten in a cell and in the presence of kings Found mountains of nothing are incredible things I’ve watched the night sky from the Cairo tower Where I scrubbed myself clean in a meteor shower to see If I could cleanse myself of all that’s been But I still couldn’t get you out from under my skin So I spent some time in the eye of a storm (hey hey) Working for a family living in a honey bee swarm (hey hey) I have travelled land and sea to give you back the hell You’ve given me (hey hey) You’ve given me (hey hey) But every time the tightrope slacks You come rushing back Ah I hate it how you do that And now they tell me I should be letting it go Letting you deal the final blow But I’m tired of them telling me so ‘Cause I’m tired of taking the hell you’ve given me wherever I go How about you reap what you sow? They tell you you reap what you sow ‘Cause I’ve travelled land and sea Mountain-high and river deep To give you back the hell you’ve given me But when I go to speak With a full metal jacket between my teeth I see That all the while it's me it's been killing And I spit it out like a broken filling And I turn on my heels and I tell you instead ‘You’re so much smaller in life than you are in my head!’ Now I’ve travelled land and sea To give you back the hell You’ve given me Signed sealed delivered From now on it will be all down river As I travel land and sea I give you back the Hell You’ve given me
3.
Captured
4.
Brighton Stones
5.
Watercolour
6.
I bumped into friend of mine in the council line back in spring time she said “I didn’t think I’d see you here didn’t I hear you were hitting the big time?” And heads turned to faces as she said “we heard you were going places. Does Emma know you’re back in town? she’s not herself when you’re not around” And I feel the urgency like a push on a beat to be who she wants me to be though I’m dead on my feet And I see Orion rising and drawing his bow over Cannery Row And I feel like crying ‘cause I’m tired and laughing cause I’m not alone I feel like crying ‘cause I’m tired and laughing cause I’m not alone Tell Emma I’m home dry that I’ll come by soon enough and give her my love tell her my minds made up Tell Emma I’m home dry that I’ll come by soon enough and give her my love We were still waiting in the council queue when I asked her “So what's new with you?” she said “I’m still doing the radio show but I’m down on my luck if you really wanna know I had a boyfriend half Jamaican he was deported all very hush hush He was born here worked as a labourer received a letter… something about Windrush Now I have a boyfriend in Jamaica and his baby in my arms and I feel like crying ‘cause I’m tired and laughing ‘cause I’m not alone. I feel like crying ‘cause I’m tired and laughing ‘cause I’m not alone” I said “Look at us all standing in queue! Don’t they know who they’re talking to? We are many and they are few and I wouldn’t let it get the best of you Don’t you forget we’ve come this far Don’t forget who we are! We are The People people We are The People people We are The People people and we are the people people” She strokes the forehead of her infant and lays a finger on the fence It gives a little and she turns to me and says “...It’s good to see you my friend we’re not as young as we were then... could we do it all again? It’s good to see you my friend We’re not as young as we were then... Could we do it all again?” And I said “Remember when Emma climbed the roof top to stop the diggers? and those policemen chased her all night around the chimneys in a cherry picker? And we cheered her on from the rigging handcuffed and singing… “Singing voices rising higher Weave a dove into the wire In our hearts a blazing fire” (We are the people people) “Singing voices rising higher Weave a dove into the wire In our hearts a blazing fire” Tell Emma I’m home dry that I’ll come by soon enough and give her my love tell her my minds made up Tell Emma I’m home dry that I’ll come by soon enough and give her my love And then meet me on Friday behind the Costa that used to be the Library The girl that works there says it’s likely that if I ask nicely she can get keys from the Old Town Hall for the empty municipal swimming pool Put out a call to Paddy and Maria tell them ‘Tea urn. And a speaker’ ‘Cause this is what we call divide and rule Maybe you want less and I want more maybe you are against what I am for But before we take our sides let’s ask each other why We try and squeeze inside these boxes that don’t fit us right When we could stand our ground let them know we won’t be pushed around We could take up space and let them know who owns this place Yeah let’em know who’s who Let’em know who they’re talking to We are many and they are few and I wouldn’t let it get the best of you Don’t you forget we’ve come this far Don’t forget who we are We are The People people We are The People people We are The People people and we are the people people “Singing voices, rising higher Weave a dove into the wire Singing voices, rising higher Weave a dove into the wire Singing voices, rising higher Weave a dove into the wire”
7.
Here Comes Your Song
8.
Thompson 05:11 video
I woke this morning full of this song So I’m writing it watching you sleep on and on ‘Cause there’s more to this now than just turning me on And I need you to be strong Thompson Cause when I ask you “is this love?” You say “has it ever been anything but?” But by now I know you well enough To know that you're dangerous And Thompson you gotta know me by now I'm a whole in the ground Im a rain cloud See even now I'm looking around for a way out Can you hear me? No? Can you hear me now? Hold me in the air put me to your mouth What about now? No? Sometimes better when I go and Stand in the cold with my head out of the window I can hear you just about but I can’t understand Pull your heart from your chest and bring it as close as you can Closer come on closer still Oh come on I’ll come in from the window sill I’m listening No man is an island Hold me to your lungs and scream relief into the silence Is there anybody out there? Are you the one? Thompson I awoke in the night To find that I need you on side That I need you more than I realised More than I care to admit sometimes ‘Cause last night you and a pumped up moon Collapsed down on my chest like a burst balloon And while for me it's a half light that fills the room Seems like wherever you are it rains diamonds on neptune Asleep in your cave at the ends of the ocean Where even the waves turn in all backwards and broken And from deep in your mouth with it’s jaw dropped open Only breaths come and go like words unspoken And for a moment you stir But for only a moment And then you’re gone in a beat The spell unbroken And left here afraid of the dark you’ve chosen I cram it all into words until the vowels split open And it’s like I'm holding on a line Calling into a delay watching it all just getting Further and further away Is there anybody out there? Are you the one? Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? I woke this morning full of this song So I’m writing it watching you sleep on and on ‘Cause there’s more to this now than just turning me on And I just needed to tell someone Copyright Ruth Theodore 2020
9.
Hold On Me 04:09
I thought I’d be free the day you emptied your arms of me but you see I’m starting to suppose that you never let me go ‘Cause I’ve been in the throws of a sound wave now i’m coming up to breathe and It looks like you’ve always been right always right about me Looks like you've always been right always right about me That I don't want to be saved! nah ‘cause I’m in love with the waves And I've kept you waiting too long And you can be sure that I’ll come back for more ‘cause if I am a wave well then you must be my shore ‘Cause for what feels to me like an eternity you’ve had your hold on me yeah you’ve had your hold on me You’re just a part of me like those marks you leave when you’ve had a hold of me when you’ve had a hold on me I go down to the sea and let it wash over me I don’t know why but I feel the pull of the tide stronger on when I’m on my own So when I say ‘the armor is caving in and becoming bone’ It’s just my way of saying I’m nearly ready to come home It’s just my way of saying I’m nearly ready to come home ‘Cause for what feels to me like an eternity you’ve had your hold on me yeah you’ve had your hold on me You know I’ve starting to believe I have the marks you leave written all over me yeah written all over me So come on take a hold Come on take a hold Won’t you come on and get me? or just let me let me let me Let me go! ‘Cause you have your hold yeah you have your hold on me You have your hold on me You have your hold on me You have your hold on me You have your hold on me You have your hold

about

Highly anticipated new release from Ruth Theodore.

credits

releases May 3, 2024

Produced by Ruth Theodore, Mathias Künzli, and Todd Sickafoose

All songs written and performed by Ruth Theodore on guitars and piano.

Basses, muted piano, additional instruments by Todd Sickafoose Drums and percussion by Mathias Künzli
Recorded and mixed at Spillway Sound, West Hurley, NY, USA by Eli Crews Mastered By Alan Douche at WWSM, NY.

People People lyrics by Ruth Theodore & Peggy Seeger
© Harmony Music Ltd

Additional vocal arrangements by Ruth Theodore
Backing Vocals by Abdul Shyllon, Jabez Walsh and Melody Brooks Recorded at 200b Osborne, Forest Gate, London, UK

Additional Drums/Percussion arrangements by Mathias Künzli Recorded at Summercamp West Studios, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Additional keys and various sound arrangements by Todd Sickafoose Recorded at Earycanal, Eugene, OR, USA

Synths, marimba, rhodes and theremin by Brian Marsella Recorded at Red Palace Studios , New Jersey, NY, USA

Barbed Wire Fence additional rhodes by Jonathan Fashole-Luke. Recorded in Southampton, UK.

String and brass arrangements by Ruth Theodore and Mathias Künzli Violin and Viola: Lily Holgate
Recorded at Summercamp Studios, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Cello: Yair Evnine
Recorded at Lethe Lounge, Manhattan, NY, USA
Engineered by Mark Ettinger

Trombones: Tim Vaughn

Murmuration photograph by Fiona Elisabeth Exon

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Ruth Theodore UK

'Original folk voice' Ruth Theodore is described as 'one of the UK's most exciting artists'.
Her highly anticipated forthcoming records is the fruits of another collaboration withTony and Grammy award winning US bassist/producer Todd Sickafoose and percussionist Mathias Kunzli.

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