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Make it Make Sense (EP) coming out January 27  

‘Soft’ vinyl has finally arrived, get it here
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Like a Bird: An Alex Schaaf Anthology (2010-2021) coming out on March 26th.  

The Mistress Deluxe Edition out now, get the vinyl here


WAVES


release date: August 8, 2018
as: Alex Schaaf
on: self-released
format: digital, cassette, CD

PURCHASE CASSETTE / CD





LYRICS


Waves
It’s Amazing
Lights Out
Harvest
Polaroid
Paint It Blue
Jenny
Like a Bird


Waves

Give me time to
Give me time to relax
I don’t know you
I don’t know you yet

Waves are on my side
swallow me up with the tide
‘cause I’m not sure
that I’ve earned the right to stay

Follow me down
Follow me down below
It’s a straight shot
easier if you let go

Waves are on my side
swallow me up with the tide
‘cause I’m not sure
that I’ve earned the right to stay

Waves are on my side
swallow me up with the tide
‘cause I’m not sure
that I’ve earned the right to stay

It’s Amazing

The sun is stretching
it limbers up
too occupied to think of much
Me, I’m just dancing
with something new
and it feels alright
to tell the truth

it’s like the man that I’ve been lately
is something hazy from a dream
‘cause the difference when I woke up
It’s amazing

I learned my lesson
I made some notes
Let’s take a look
see what I wrote
Shit - well it’s just a scribble
it goes up and down
I say ‘oh well, let’s hit the town!’

it’s like the man that I’ve been lately
is something hazy from a dream
‘cause the difference when I woke up
It’s amazing

Now all of my clouds
they’re over my own head
Now all of my dreams
they lie in my own bed
the light, it shines on what’s beside me
yeah that’s all that’s on my mind
for now

Lights Out

I sit in darkness
holding my breath
purple and hazy blue
Something starts glowing
I see a square
I ask if you see it too

When the wind kicks up
all that I am
calm requires a touch
Something beyond the
tools at my reach
Hands are not good enough

Do you hear me out there?
‘cause i feel my lips moving
it’s hard to tell sometimes
where I am
but when I turn the lights out
the fire takes over

It’s easy to see
the storm on the rise
quaking the furniture
Fear is in season
but don’t invest now
a drought’s coming up, for sure

Do you hear me out there?
‘cause i feel my lips moving
it’s hard to tell sometimes
where I am
but when I turn the lights out
the fire takes over

Harvest

Out in the garden
i've lost track of what it is
that i even planted
maybe some radishes?
but it doesn't matter
i'll take whatever comes
i'm greening up my thumb

would you call this waiting?
i call it watching carefully
it's already going
much faster than you see
yeah I like it better
'cause waiting's down the street
but watching's here with me

'cause i'm not tired of growing
it's the only game i'm playing
i'm just ready for the harvest to come
to feed a friend in need

is this a lesson?
or just a sorry circumstance
that's keeping us guessing
when green will come at last
yeah i'm at the window
i'm praying for some rain
'cause something's gotta change

'cause i'm not tired of growing
it's the only game i'm playing
i'm just ready for the harvest to come
to feed a friend in need

when i was certain
you're never coming back
it made me less nervous
less risk of heart attack
'cause waiting was wasting
my garden from below
it suffocates the flow

'cause i'm not tired of growing
it's the only game i'm playing
i'm just ready for the harvest to come
to feed a friend in need
to feed a friend in need
to feed the friend in me

Polaroid

I found the polaroid in the car
figured I’d thrown it out back in March
nothing had changed, it matched to a T
what I’ve been living with in my dreams

Sitting in my room, covering your face
I thought I’d destroyed every trace
what is not there will not be remembered
that’s what you taught me back in November

A picture has power when it stands for a ghost
if you were here that’d scare me the most
I could take its legs out if I wished
I could look you up, see what I missed

I’m not alone, I’m with all I need
Don’t need a phantom following me
gets in the way, obstructing the view
of the beauty that’s left in a world without you

I’m taking steps
to feel better again
my garbage is overflowing
I’m taking steps
to feel better again
but still I put you in my pocket

Paint it Blue

Built it up from the ground
was the very first
place that I could call my own
I painted it brown so it would match
with the neighborhood
and I tried to make it home

but wait, just wait
my mind is on the way
in a minute, it will come to paint it Blue
ok, ok, I won’t make the same mistake
but a new one, well that might do

When she arrived it all felt right
but for one detail
Brown was feeling pretty dull
so i painted it red to match my heart
and called up all our friends
had ourselves quite a ball

but wait, just wait
my mind is on the way
in a minute, it will come to paint it Blue
ok, ok, I won’t make the same mistake
but a new one, well that might do

When she left, the house itself
seemed to mock me now
all the red was memories of you
my friend said I should burn it down
but then I’d lose it all
can’t I just paint it Blue?

(I know it’s hard to see
from your point of view
but I think that color looks good on you)

Jenny

Jenny come on would you
we’re gonna be late as it is
the car is on our street
It takes a while to get there
the same as getting anywhere
so up and on your feet

I climb the stairs
they crumble one by one
and I start to feel on edge
I brush your hair
but the rest of you is gone
and I awake in my own bed

But you have to be invited in
you can’t show up just when you feel like it
I thought I was in charge of my dreaming
it don’t seem fair

Jenny come on would you
stop playing around with my heart
I’m trying to get it right
my days are full of progress
but that all seems to be erased
when you sneak back in at night

I wake at two
I surface from the deep
and I try to swim away
What can I do
a man needs his sleep
and the morning’s far away

But you have to be invited in
you can’t show up just when you feel like it
I thought I was in charge of my dreaming
it don’t seem fair

Like a Bird

One day I’ll be like a bird
high and free
nothing weighing me down
no place to be
I’ll come find you then
I’ll come find you then

One day you’ll be like a tree
feet on the ground
nothing dragging you away
no other town
I’ll come find you then
I’ll come find you then

One day this will be a laugh
that we give to our kids
‘Tell the story once again’
all the shit I did
I’ll be better then
I’ll be better then

Dogs on the Porch

Can I send you something
so you don’t forget
Can I write you a letter
would that be wrong?
I know I’m the doer
but something had to be done
I know we can make it
if it’s not too long

There’s no need to worry
the dogs are on the porch
just shut the door behind me
and I’ll be back
before it’s dark

I came here with nothing
and I don’t wanna leave
without diving for something
a little out of reach
Go to Denver Monday
Santa Fe from there
after that it’s a question
is that so wrong?

There’s no need to worry
the dogs are on the porch
just shut the door behind me
and I’ll be back
before it’s dark

‘cause something’s got a hold on me
I can’t let it go
I won’t let it go
It’s pulling me right into the deep
I don’t mind it though
I don’t mind it though

There’s no need to worry
the dogs are on the porch
just shut the door behind me
and I’ll be back
before it’s dark





CREDITS


written and produced by A.S.

drums on 2 by Mike Gunvalson
drums on 5, 6, 7, 9 by Zach Hanson
guitars on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 by Matt Vannelli
guitars on 4 by D.J. House
pedal steel on 1, 2, 8 by Ben Lester
bass on 2 by Kevin Scott
bass on 3, 9 by Cooper Doten
vocals on 1 by Aly Spaltro
everything else by A.S.

cover photograph by Brenda Bingham
inside photograph by Jonah Lorsung

engineered by Zach Hanson
additional engineering by A.S.
mixed by A.S.
mastered by Zach Hanson
recorded at April Base in Fall Creek, WI
additional recording at Decent Vibes in Minneapolis, MN

recorded from January 2018 to June 2018
mixed at Decent Vibes in Minneapolis, MN in June 2018
mastered in Chippewa Falls, WI in July 2018

thanks to everyone that’s helped me out with this, including Zach, Mike, Cooper, Matt, my landlord Kevin, D.J., Ben, Aly, Brenda, Jonah, and everyone else out there who has come to a show or bought an album or supported this in any other way. see you out there.

VIDEOS