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You Call This An Album

by The Sam Chase & the Untraditional

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    You Call This An Album was released in May of 2022. For its first birthday, we are releasing a limited run of vinyl. These are currently being pressed and will be mailed out in order of purchase when they arrive in stock.

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 13 The Sam Chase releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Live From Hopmonk Sebastopol - New Years Eve 2023, You Call This An Album, Tries Harder, Dragula, Almost Done, Lost & Found (Live at the Lost Sierra Hoedown 2019), The Last Rites of Dallas Pistol, Great White Noise, and 5 more. , and , .

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1.
Take a long look back from where you started It’s longer than you have ever gone who would’ve thought back in the beginning that you’d be better off never leaving home But that’s how it goes you’re never guaranteed that the path that you have chosen wasn’t wrong But it’s right to go the wrong way it brought you up here today and write about the wrong here in this song Strike a big chord tell a mighty story note taking shorthand on the run There’s no better way to leave a mark upon the page than to let the pen do what it’s always done Let the ink bleed Let the song sing Give you garden what it needs and let it grow harmony is happiness earthquakes and vibrations words we’ve given to the unknown You never can get high enough to look back at how far you’ve come from where you hang your heart Home beats inside your chest but you’re never gonna find it if you can’t admit that you’re running from where you are Take a long look back from where you started It’s longer than you have ever gone Who would’ve thought that back in the beginning that the path you had to take would lead you home
2.
I never thought I was special Never thought we’d get this far Never tried to be professional Writing lyrics has always been hard I’m told I drink too much on stage at least for a grown man my age we don’t claim were best there’s ever been but tonight we’re gonna play Like the worlds gonna end We're gonna play our songs Until the cows come home Until the wheels come off As if tomorrow never gonna come Ever since I could remember I’ve always wanted this life Now im a card carrying member Paying my dues every single night Stage to stage and town to town Drink to drink and drink to ground Someday I’ll get my self in line And hope I make it just in time We're gonna play our songs Until the cows come home Until the wheels come off As if tomorrow never gonna come Don't take it seriously It's only life you see It's only time gone by And soon we'll leave them both behind But don't think for just one minute That you'll leave behind your spirit You'll need it where you're going The music comes from somewhere And I can't quite put my finger on it But I would think it comes from there But where's the there I'm thinking of Of consciousness, of self and love To go there do we have to die Or can we go there alive tonight Is that what music is meant to do To go beyond the physical Beyond religion, beyond the spiritual Beyond time, and what's imaginable Beyond the definition of our universe From the verse, to chorus, back to verse. Go there and you'll find... We're gonna play our songs Until the cows come home Until the wheels fall off As if tomorrow never gonna come Don't take it seriously It's only life you see It's only time gone by And soon we'll leave them both behind We’re gonna play our songs Until forevers gone Until the sky will fall On a cold day in hell
3.
Everything I do I learned the wrong way Through twists and turns and bridges burned I’m here today and I can’t fault myself For how long it would take The stories I could tell you were well worth the wait Everything I do I learned the wrong way maybe I should double down And play the long game The future starts tomorrow So tomorrow can wait There’s nothing better than a memory That’s yet to be made Everything I do I learned the wrong way In the end it always seems to work out ok. Failures not an option It’s another chance to make everything you wanted and sometimes more mistakes cause there’s no such thing as perfect and no such thing as fate we’re walking in the world to put a smile on our face. and there’s always tomorrow If it didnt work out today. Its the one thing that I do I learned the right way.
4.
We’re doing our best In the Cuckoo nest Watching Loony Toons It’s an inside job trying to wag the dog when you’re locked in a padded room We may be two sandwiches short of a picnic basket case But if you take my hand I’ll help you understand why I act this way I hear there’s kool aid Down the rabbit hole. Off the deep end Chasing windmills we might be crazy About our theories but you’re all too lazy To see the writing on the wall Sound the alarm at the funny farm we are breaking out of this joint We got tinfoil hats and baseball bats And we’ve hit our breaking point to them this life is a big old joke But to us this joke falls flat but there’s a place we can go the funny farm aint nothing to laugh at I hear there’s kool aid Down the rabbit hole. Off the deep end Chasing windmills we might be crazy About our theories but you’re all too lazy To see the writing on the wall Deep state Illuminati Flat earth Paul McCartney Bigfoot Epstein Kubrick shot the moon landing Who was on the grassy knoll What’s going on in Roswell Media is mind control The skies are full of chemtrails The kids are into Qanon their parents look for Jimmy Hoffa ancient Aliens built all the pyramids Microchips 5G You can’t melt steel beams I know it all sounds crazy But you just gotta believe me We are two screws on the loose like we got nothing to lose You might be a spy but so could I And I’d rather be a spyin' with you I’ve been searching my whole life For the last clue to crack this case But sometimes when you look too far ahead You can’t see what’s in front of your face I've got my kool aid Down the rabbit hole. Off the deep end Chasing windmills we might be crazy About our theories but you’re all too lazy To see the writing on the wall
5.
I am my fathers son I am my daughters dad I’m a mommas boy I’m my lady’s man I’m the setting sky I’m the rising moon I’ve been here too long I’ll be gone too soon. But of all these things I’ve ever been and all I’ve ever done We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball blotting out the sun I’m a newborn boy with my whole life ahead of me Knocking on heavens door Looking forward to eternity I’m the rotting wood A fresh coat of paint I am what I am I ain’t what I ain’t. But of all these things I’ve ever been and all I’ve ever done We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball blotting out the sun I could’ve told ya I should’ve warned ya Life can be so cruel But it could be worse You could be cursed as exception to the rule I’m a debutant I’m a celebrity I get what I want and I want everything I want to hold your pain I want to feel your misery I want to heal your wounds I want to be your lil team But of all these things I’ve ever been and all I’ve ever done We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball blotting out the sun
6.
You give an inch They take a mile Give me a break Ill give you something to smile about There’s so much, but its never enough Good good love Can’t make heads or tails Of what I’m trying to say Ill stop yapping Try to explain it another way It’s simple, and fits like a glove Good good love Count yourself lucky That you got me Cause I’m lucky that i got you and what we’re getting Is no one else’s business But were hard working lovers With a job to do the night shift gets busy were the only two employees Cause they just dont get it Like we get it I wont beat around the bush I wont feed you no lines We’re just two grown people Living in our prime I don’t know much but I’m pretty sure of That good good love
7.
There something dark within me that compelled me to believe I should be leaving. And I stumbled through the kitchen after a failed mission to find my car keys It’s probably for the best because I wasn’t in any state to be driving But the feeling that I needed of movement and of freedom Something powerful to take my mind away from the reminder I’m slowly dying But I would count myself lucky to not have to see my friends and family go before me. Living to see them die, ain’t a happy ending.. no not to me She will constantly remember to remind me that her memory is faulty She says for her the problems chronic But I find it more ironic she's always who remembers to remind me That's what's great about a memory the great human ability to construct it If we don’t care for certain details we can twist them into tales Much more forgiving, or more destructive In mine, I have sailed oceans And I have conquered demons I’ve lived moments that if I put them into words would only disrespect them To me these moments they are angels angels floating through my cortex guiding me with memories of the past so that my future has some context Or maybe it’s all just egotistic bullshit I construct from a desire to be perfect and I am just as guilty of the irony, that my good memory was built from my inability to remember anything clearly
8.
John Prine 03:53
This morning I woke before the sunrise I couldn’t sleep after finding out Last night you had died Tossing and turning from one side to the other Poured myself a cup Not a moment too soon Got to see as the sunlight crept into the room But this new dawn was a little darker than I remember Hello Operator I know it’s been a long time Could you patch me through to god And keep him on the line I’ve got a friend wanna make sure he made it alright Down here, he goes by the name John Prine I can hear you breathing All the way from the other side I can hear all the songs you’ve been singing From all of the us who won’t ever let them die Whispering angel from Montgomery Turns out living wasn’t such a hard way to go How could we ever have known When you were dying alone When Montgomery’s angel had flown This morning I woke Before the sunrise I couldn’t sleep after finding out Last night you had died Cut down in your prime Put out to pasture Josh wrote me “Sam, what are we supposed to do now?” All I thought to write back Was “just make him proud” Write songs in his name And send him off To the Happily ever after Hello Operator I know it’s been a long time Could you patch me through to god And keep him on the line I’ve got a friend wanna make sure he made it alright Down here, he goes by the name John Prine Hello Operator I know it’s been a long time Could you patch me through to god and have him send me a sign I’ve got a friend wanna make sure he made it alright Down here, he goes by the name John Prine
9.
Hard Living 04:19
If hard living was easy everyone would do it only easy for the hardest old timers who’ve been through it But they put in the time Barreling through life Now they’re doing just fine living too hard to die Son, you see You could learn a lot from me By not doing a single thing I say But if you want to walk the line You gotta put in the time Rome didn’t fall in a day That’s the thing about hard living It’s only hard in the beginning give it time and it keeps on giving and you keep living that hard living What I really need is a Liquor store Jesus to turn my money into wine and say a little prayer that he’d get wild hair and shows me a sign This is the way to your destiny Not bad for a Tuesday night It’s all down hill to some damn good stories That I might later deny. That’s the thing about hard living It’s not a job Its a religion It’s only hard when you’re not believing praying God please relieve me from the hard living That’s the thing about hard living It’s only hard in the beginning give it time and it keeps on giving and you keep living that hard living On the river of life I’m frozen in the ice But I got nowhere to be But when spring is sprung and my bell is rung I’ll be feeling the heat I should win a prize for still being alive Living on the edge of a knife But what do I know I’ve got nothing to show And never worked a hard day in my life That’s the thing about hard living It’s not dying But it’s also not a living It’s not uplifting But it’s a tradition Im a man on a mission Spreading hard living That’s the thing about hard living It’s only hard in the beginning give it time and it keeps on giving and you keep living that hard living That’s the thing about hard living It’s hard on the liver the liver of life and the liver of the liver
10.
When I think of all the people I cross I’m too shy to say I don’t remember how we met And I don’t have the faintest memory of our acquaintance But that don’t mean you don’t mean nothin’ to me yet It’s hard to remember places and in those places there were faces and odds are I was wasted but that is no excuse I am just no good No matter how good I think I should be and If it were a game I’d always lose It’s a great big country of missed opportunities I’m falling like autumn leaves Please take me in Press me in a book to remember how I look I’d die happy knowing I would always be Your cherished memory It was not a good break up But bad break ups come from good love when that good love ends it’s hard to stay good friends When I opened the door the smile that she wore Was the smile she always wore when she was sad I never thought a smile Could make me feel so terrible It all felt so disjointed and surreal I always think I hide well The way I feel inside she had a nose for sniffing out just what I feel It’s a great big country of missed opportunities Like a broken butterfly wing Please take me in Put me under glass To commenorate the past I’d die happy knowing I would always be Your cherished memory the day I die I hope I goes peacefully I hope I go with dignity surrounded by my friends having no regrets and owing many debts to those I hope to someday repay I hope my songs will continue to live on That there are children who are born long after I am gone Who will sit up on the rooftops Drinking beer and singing sad songs like Rock Bottom Has Never Felt So Good It’s a great big country of missed opportunities Once my life becomes a legacy Please take me in Keep me in your thoughts Without you I am lost It’s all we should ever wish to be Is your cherished memory
11.
Every Time 03:51
Every time i wake up I don’t know what to do With my self Every time I’m up I wanna lay down And be somebody else Cause in my dreams I can relate To all of the things I cant do when I’m awake Every time I’m about I wanna get in And figure it out Every time I’m in I wanna get out Of this skin of a prison I cant make up my mind Cause my mind is made up Of all of my dreams They wanna drown in the tub Every time that Im late There’s no time to waste When you never have time Every time that Im on time I tend to waste time Waiting realizing Ive got all the time in the world But if I’m still alive Ive been running the clock But it isn’t my time Everytime that i let loose I wanna hang tight And enjoy the show Every time that I stay put I wanna branch out And see where we may go Every time i sit I wanna stand up And see the place I’m in Everytime I’m high I wanna get higher And higher And higher And higher And go to a place Where it all makes sense And the weight of the world Is under my footsteps Taking a walk On a breathe of fresh air Close your eyes And we can all meet there
12.
The graveyards getting fuller the living are getting stranger But I don’t think that anyone is willing to make a change here keep your chin up always knowing that the western winds are blowing in the morning Oh the sky is grey and heavy just the way you like it We both could run away and hide like children under blankets Keep your chin up always knowing we will soon see the way home in the morning I close my eyes most every night but never fall asleep Ive had many dreams before but never quite like these I hope for all our sake that we will all awake in the morning in the morning in the morning in the morning

credits

released May 27, 2022

The Sam Chase & The Untraditional
You Call This An Album

Recorded at New Improved Recording in Oakland, CA
Engineered by Ian Pelicci
Mixed by Jay Pelicci
Mastered by Piper Payne - Infrasonic Sound - Nashville, TN
Album artwork by Greg Gilmore
Photography
Andrew Quist Photography
Emily Sevin Photography
Alfred Muller

All lyrics written by
Sam Chase - vocals, guitars, mandolin, ukulele, Rhodes, xylophone

Once an Untraditional, always an Untraditional:
Ted Desmarais - drums, percussion, vocals
Chandra Johnson - violin, viola, vocals
Liss Leigh - upright bass, vocals
Devon McClive - cello, vocals
Debbie Neigher - piano
Dave Rapa - upright bass, vocals
Nikko Rios - electric guitar, vocals
Zachary Thorne - Trumpet

Additional Instrumentation:
Jordan Feinstein- Piano, Organ (Two Hard Working Lovers, Hard Living)
Brendan Getzell - Piano (Every Time)
Kalei Yamanoha - Accordion (In the Morning)

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