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I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall

by Matthew Ryan / Strays Don't Sleep / PINES

/
1.
The Sea 04:05
The Sea Written By Matthew Ryan I took the stage To talk to you But you weren't there I paid my dues You disappeared Like you always did It made me sad It made me sick Oh oh oh Here we go I'm not the same Something's changed I thought the sea Would swallow me But now I'm free But now I'm free Alcohol And empty rooms Come yesterday A sonic boom I recreate This broken heart That haunted home That broken start Oh oh oh Here we go I'm not the same Something's changed I thought the sea Would swallow me But now I'm free But now I'm free To each life A moment comes A moment comes For me it's now And here it comes Here it comes Oh oh oh Here we go I'm not the same Something's changed I thought the sea Would swallow me But now I'm free But now I'm free
2.
Summer In The South Written by Matthew Ryan & Neilson Hubbard And so she said I've had enough of almost there I wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Some nights I crave Your body heat in conversation I wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like To live With You To give To you To not Be without You This Summer In The South And so I said I'm sick and tired of these foreign accents I wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like To come home and find you sleeping with the TV on I wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like To live With You To give To you To not Be without You This Summer In The South Last night she said I watched a plane disappear into space Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Last night I said I watched a plane slowly land near here Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like Wanna know what it's like To live With You To give To you To not Be without You This Summer In The South
3.
Hey Kid 04:13
Hey Kid Written by Matthew Ryan, Greg Richling & Phil Sidlow Hey kid Your story's not dead yet I know it's all fucked up I know it feels hopeless Yeah Hey kid Your heart is a weapon Against the fools of armageddon Uhhhh huh... Hey kid The static's getting thicker I hope you can still picture A world without tears We need you here We need you here Hey Kid... We got soul on command We got sex on demand We got everything but nothing's really real We got hyper confession We got constant compression We got fatigue and violence A war against silence When all we need is something we can feel Ok alright Ok alright Ok alright it's not alright Ok alright it's not alright You'll have to fight The war inside The endless night That's modern life That's modern life We got soul on command We got sex on demand We got everything but nothing's really real
4.
I Don't Want A Third World War Written By Matthew Ryan Our darkness is catching up with us We're turning to cannibals Darkness is catching up with us We're acting like animals Look a child in the eye and say What were you hoping for? You shouldn't expect too much Look a child in the eye and say What are you crying for? You should never expect too much from us But I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war No I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war Now nothing ever happens Unless you want it to happen Unless you want it really No nothing ever happens Unless you want it to happen Unless you want it Completely I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war No I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war Now nothing ever happens Unless you want it to happen Unless you want it really No nothing ever happens Unless you want it to happen Unless you want it Completely I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war No I don't want a third world war A third world war A third world war
5.
The Spinning Room Written by Matthew Ryan, Marc Byrd and Andrew Thomson Let's draw a curtain on this scene I'm not judgmental, I'm not mean But there's a bad vibe in this bar Outside there's somewhere under the stars All this neon makes me sick Know your limits, that's the trick I should've known when we walked in First Kesha, then Eminem then... 1 shot 2 shots 3 shots Boom 4 shots 5 shots 6 shots The spinning room I love everybody I love everyone I'm not leaving too soon I'll finish when I'm done Have you met my new friend Tito? He's a generous guy He said the red ones keep you grounded But it's the blue ones you should try
6.
Harmonium Song Written By Matthew Ryan Tonight there's rain All on the hill And tonight I miss my brother In every heart Some bitter pills And tonight I miss my brother We use to laugh and drink and lean for tomorrow For each of us A great story We rarely share with others But I was spared And he was not And tonight I miss my brother His last letter home arrived just a day after he died
7.
All Of That Means Nothing Now Written By Matthew Ryan We stood outside the Supermarket Such a strange cold place For such a sad sad thing And we weren't talking Your eyes were frozen But you looked so pretty love You were still my favorite thing And cars drove by us And people smiled inside And I hated every one For their simple easy lives Then I felt something Like a dam that broke A rush of every sea I still love you in my throat But all of that love All of that love All of that love... Means nothing now We stood outside the Supermarket Such strange cold place For such a sad sad thing And you weren't talking Your eyes were frozen But you looked so pretty love When you handed me your ring But all of that love All of that love All of that love... Means nothing now
8.
I Still Believe In You Written by Matthew Ryan I can't sleep I can't wake My life support my dear has gone away I work so hard I break at noon I watch the same plot unfold there but never soon And I still believe in you I want so much That never comes The traffic moves so slowly Feeling numb And I still believe in you Late last night From on the roof I smoked a cigarette, I looked for proof And in the quiet I watched a plane Hum and float through the snow while I said your name And I still believed in you I take a shower I brush my teeth I feel the rug being pulled from under me And I still believe in you
9.
My Darker Side Written by Matthew Ryan I can't wait Anymore Her dress is off And on the floor My darker side Has come to this I walked the line Until I slipped Taxi please Take me home She's in the dark And all alone And I can't stand A mercy killing But I know what I am now I'm the villain But I'll say please Honey please Yeah I'll say please Forgive me The chariot That I ride In sheets of rain And cherry light And I recall A promise made In some other room When I was brave I close my eyes I smell her skin I'm at the door The air is thin The water's deep The key is in And I was supposed to be home hours ago Yeah I was supposed to be home hours ago So I'll say please Honey please Yeah I'll say please Forgive me Forgive me
10.
Here Comes The Snow Written by Matthew Ryan Ain't it just like the times To play tricks on your mind You've seen so much, so soon You're already blind And when someone asks you how you're doin'? Of course you say you're doing fine Surrounded by wolves There's a baby in the rain Down the street there's a sparrow Circling a drain While a waitress mouths the words to a song That lobotomized her pain Ohhh hey la ohhh Hey la ohhh Here comes the snow The future's always coming And it moves just like a fist Time takes the things you love And puts a ghost upon your lips When nothing really matters, nothing matters More than this Revolutions flicker out In the wars of all for me Follow an idea to its root And you'll eventually reach the sea Full of rusted parts and corpses And broken metaphors like these Ohhh hey la ohhh Hey la ohhh Here comes the snow My eyes are on the wasteland The boiler room of humankind There's a toy piano playing And there's a memory in my mind Mom's humming in the kitchen Clothes are drying on the line Nightfall was upon us now All the trees were skeletons Closed my eyes and felt the sun's heat Disappear from on my skin And my thought now is could the world ever be As kind as I thought it was then? Ohhh hey la ohhh Hey la ohhh Here comes the snow
11.
I Want Peace 04:52
I Want Peace Written by Matthew Ryan There are villains in high places There are villains in the dirt There are heroes in the silence There is wisdom where you hurt I took a drag and made it beauty I took a beauty and made her beg When I pushed too hard I relented And I said that I was only pulling your leg Cause I want peace Yeah I want peace For you And for me For you and me I wouldn't say that I'm a pacifist I wouldn't say I'm going rogue But this soap star's the worst kind of weapon Throwing bombs like they were ropes You know the facts are being murdered By the din of politics And in the ways that we avoid each other While the big clock tics There's a violence in doing nothing As if the plot could be ignored Just because you've picked your poison Doesn't mean the wolf's not at your door I get no thrill from bringing bad news I'd much rather make you smile But I refuse to be a passenger As we smile… And swallow up the miles Cause I want peace Yeah I want peace Cause I want peace Yeah I want peace For you And for me For you and me
12.
Song For A Friend Written by Matthew Ryan Oh my friend It's sad how we've grown apart And so it went And we can't get back to the start When we'd smile and click our heels And float like drunk Sinatras The wonder and the feel Their smiles became our mantra Oh my friend I'm worried Time's a shark And in a hurry Brotherhood And glowing cigarettes Twas understood The warmth in wintry breath Dear Lord I'm worried Time's a shark And in a hurry A ferris wheel Sparkles on the hill And traffic moves Like a swarm of sparks were spilled On nights like this I drink my share of whiskey And wade in the flood of loneliness That was so foreign when you were with me
13.
All Hail The Kings Of Trash Written by Matthew Ryan Ahhh you must be proud Cause you got so loud As you were walking in And I was walking out Tonight we're in the hum Of the blank and dumb I hate to talk in spades I hoped we might escape The whole scene's been took By parasites and crooks Souled out and hungry ids That's where the whole thing slid And that's the awful truth And it's a crime on youth Cause that's the way it went The wholesale death of innocents All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash Don't need to know your name Because you're all the same That shiny plastic grin More heart in mannequins A manufactured past Now you're talking trash Too stupid to rebel We got Straight To Hell And that's the awful truth And it's a crime on youth Cause that's the way it went The wholesale death of innocents All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash All hail the kings of trash

about

Matthew Ryan
I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall
 
"And my thought now is, could the world ever be as kind as I thought it was then?" - Here Comes The Snow

"There's nothing precious about the songs here, but rather Matthew Ryan's incisive view of how and why we do what we do.  Whether it's the provocatively imploring anthem "Hey Kid," or the grinding, barely suppressed rage of "All Hail The Kings Of Trash," or the late-night Tom Waits meets Sinatra longing of "Song For A Friend," this is a record that covers a lot of ground as it keeps its focus on the individual. Images of dresses on the floor, planes floating through snow, drunken proclamations and silenced lovers all glide by while not only blurring the lines between heroes and villains, but also blurring the borders between genres. "I Want Peace" thumps and prowls with the urban rumble of hip-hop, "Harmonium Song" sounds a hundred years old with its sorrowful Irish melody and "All of That Means Nothing Now" careens with that broken-hearted seethe that harks back to the air that punctuated much of Ryan's earlier work on May Day. No stone is left unturned on I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall, and together it all forms a perfect mosaic of Ryan's view of the modern struggle where despair and optimism coexist and perseverance alone resembles victory." C.S. June 2011

credits

released June 22, 2011

Matthew Ryan started recording I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall in his Nashville home studio in June of 2010. He wouldn't finish until April of 2011. Barring a european tour, a film score and a brief vacation it was a day and night affair. That kind of commitment and isolation could drive anyone mad, but luckily it wasn't a solitary process, I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall is possibly Ryan's most collaborative album to date. For the first time since 2008 Ryan invited a producer into the process by having Greg Richling produce "Hey Kid," and the long list of friends that contributed range from Olly Knights of Turin Brakes, Katie Herzig, Patrick O'Hearn, Stanton Adcock, Amanda Shires, and Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson of the ambient duo Hammock. Long time collaborators and friends Brian Bequette, Kate York, Billy Mercer, Molly Thomas, Chris Tench and Strays Don't Sleep cohort Neilson Hubbard also chimed in with their talents.

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Matthew Ryan / Strays Don't Sleep / PINES Nashville, Tennessee

In addition to his solo work, Ryan is a member of Strays Don't Sleep with longtime friend, Neilson Hubbard.

In 2021 Ryan decided to offer his solo work as The Pines at Night to clearly enunciate the collaborative nature of his music.

Devotedly independent, Ryan offers moody & honest work that's now rich with a long list of beautiful songs.
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