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A Banner Year

by Cloud Caverns

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1.
What did we do to deserve this? A cruel fate for a beautiful soul It's like life's framework collapses each year that we grow older And we're left to build it back up with calloused fingers, broken hands. and we made god in our image, just to shoot him in the head. How many blows can this building take? Nothing but holes, yet still it holds. The death and the sickness, The government's gone to bed, The sun is shining bright, and still I kinda wanna die, cause a world without you is no world at all. Now the house is caving in, and the tumor lays in wait, the existential dread, the love and the hate, the bitterness sets in, and the joy subsides that's just life, is that right? So we'll cling to it, like wet leaves on the pavement. We were always waiting for the shoe to drop, Here it is.
2.
By the coast on a hillside where you sleep In a meadow downstream And the red sun shining tells us of tomorrow's heat, yet we lay down, we're throwing our lives away. Each day is the same, Just waiting for tomorrow to bring that sweet summer rain. And I know this is hard, but I can't tell you apart anymore. In the town where you grew up There's a stained glass image of the world All the people with tasks at hand No one's drowning in debt, second guessing their plans. What a colorful world that would be, free from ideals and insanity free from teetering just on the edge of middle class hell and mediocrity. Through those years we were writing in pain, Just waiting for tomorrow to bring that sweet summer rain and I know this is hard, I can't tell you apart anymore. Through those years we would write all those songs, they meant nothing to the world, they meant all the world to us. So we gave it a shot, we sailed by ocean breeze on a broken down old boat with no chances for ends meet. Through those years we were wrong were we weak or were we strong to tell ourselves that we were right about it all? Through those sweat soaked nights when we thought we sawed em off just to see if they would break.
3.
Odd Thing 04:19
"Maybe next year, when the debt is gone, when the car's paid off, and the house is done." So we ran, and we ran, and we ran, from this so long and now we see just how fucking wrong we were Plucked out of nothing, now you're here What an odd thing, to be right here Plucked out some dark vacuum, now you're here What an odd thing, to be alive in the 21st century, right here, right now. Right into this town. I love you Elodie, I do, I do, I do.. Can't believe you're really here, Can't believe the things you do. I love you senselessly, Like any old dad should, And as the world keeps spinnin' round I'll be here, solid wood. Maybe next time, we won't wait so long Need a friend for you, need a friend for us, Cause it's so obvious that it just isn't working out The radio silence of our friends' static sound. Plucked out of nothing, now you're here What an odd thing, to be right here Plucked out some dark vacuum, now you're here What an odd thing, to be alive in the 21st century, right here, right now. Right into this house, I love you Elodie, I do, I do, I do.. Can't believe you're really here, Can't believe the things you do. I love you senselessly, Like any old dad should, And as the world keeps spinnin' round I'll be here, solid wood. All we had was nothing compared to this, all we want is this. I love you Elodie, I do, I do, I do.. Can't believe you're really here, Can't believe the things you do. I love you senselessly, Like any old dad should, And as the world keeps burnin' down, I'll be here, solid wood.
4.
I was running on fumes, I was picking up steam, I was telling you all the things I'd seen. I was putting on airs, I was stuck in my hell. I was a shell of my good self. But if I was a loner, I wouldn't tell a soul. If I was truly a loner, I'd never leave this hole. I was ready to go, I was ready to stay. My mind split in two that day. I could hate everyone like lately I had done Or I could tear down all the shades. Now I know I'm not a loner, cause it feels so warm and bright. To be alive in the age of recompense and social renaissance. Now I know I'm not a loner, I've got a price on my soul, just recently it was worthless, I was bought and I was sold. I was bought and I was sold. This is all a dream, it's happening too fast, It's falling into place, this can't last. But what if it does? and what if I'm cured? What if the diagnosis was ignored?
5.
B. Ritter 05:45
Two children in the graveyard, and the poppies on the ground, The breeze it is blowing, B. Ritter sleeping sound. 1926 - To die on top, Before the great fall, Before the shoe dropped, Tame tortured soul in the valley of ash, Let the eggs crack where they will, let them roll or spill B. Ritter had riches the privileged won't ever see, had two young boys, wife, family. 1956: The child had grown, Hung his head in remembrance for his brother, his bones back from south pacific, now he's in the ground, right next to B. Ritter, a father forever proud. One son remaining, only one thing to do, So he fathered his two boys, and he taught 'em to shoot, Like his old man before him, like his brother had to do, And one day he stepped out and never returned. Two children in the graveyard, and the poppy's on the ground, The breeze it is blowing, three Ritter's sleeping sound. 1996 - To die on top, Before the great fall, Before the shoe dropped.
6.
Etwas 03:52
You threw a line, I took the bait, against every nervous feeling. You ushered in the renaissance of social, mental healing. Now I'm back there in the rain on that warm winter day. Sipping tea and talking life, And how we always look for meaning. We come up short, we spin our wheels, we end up right back in the dark. We fight the fight, we live our lives, always just shy of a spark. And with one stupid twitch of a finger, A mother lost a son, A love lost a lover, A pride lost its heart, We all lost our brother to time. We can all go back to take the blame, but none of us can ever feel the way His shadow felt on that long summer day. His shadow felt on that long summer day. His shadow felt as his body slumped away.
7.
Little hands reaching up from out your womb, into the bright white room. Little lungs filling up. To feel your touch, to get to know you. And she will love you so very much, unconditionally, unbelievable. And she will turn you to dust, no longer hardened to the touch. A flashbulb memory. A summer morning, your mom and I in the great room, sharing a happy cry, cause life had been so very hard, and in that moment, the tight knot we harvested fell apart. When we knew that light was on its way, the darkest dark of days were passing by. When we saw you on that X-ray screen, so perfect, so serene. Nothing before mattered at all. And she will love you so very much, unconditionally, unbelievable. And she will turn you to dust, no longer hardened to the touch. A flashbulb memory.
8.
A bitter member of society, another bastion of sobriety. I won't be afraid of what I can't see until it's inside of me. I turn my favorite pundit on, so I can seethe while I seed the front lawn. And I'm so afraid of who I can't see That I won't ever leave This beautiful country of mine, where the poor can't speak and the rich folks will lead to better times. Just sign the dotted line. This beautiful country of mine, where the poor can't speak and the dead vote over party lines. This glorious land of mine. I'll argue endlessly the gun debate, somehow I'll prove to you that love means hate. Yeah, you've got it all wrong! Dear leader told me so! (.. as he passed the collection plate) No I won't need no hospital, because I'm big and brave, he told me so. So let's fire up the gears, and lend me your ears, and lend me your venti venti ventilator In this beautiful country of mine, where the poor can't speak and the rich folks will lead to better times. Just sign the dotted line. This beautiful country of mine, where the poor can't speak and the dead vote over party lines. This glorious land of mine. God bless us
9.
Life in a haze. Better council, better days are ahead. Out in the sun, holding hands with everyone, Wouldn't that be nice? And we all learned a lot, of human nature. And we all learned a lot about our neighbors. And we all carried on so selfishly. Cause the world revolves you, it revolves around me. A banner year unfolds, casting doubt around the world once again. Ten years have passed since the last colossal crash. What have we learned? How to take a fall. And we all learned a lot, of human nature. And we all learned a lot about our neighbors. And we all carried on so selfishly. Cause the world revolves around us, it revolves around me.
10.
Together 04:16
Do you remember in the yard, nursing birds from fallen nests While the sprinkler sprayed its mist? Do you remember in the car, dodging tornadoes after airshows, while the house was burning down? Do you remember holding me, how I would squirm and cry and plead, how I always will need? Even when the gaps multiply, and your head's in a haze, a boat through the foggy night. It's abundantly clear that the world spits beauty like poison, and we're left to lap it up. Left to lap it up. I'm so tired of keeping the body and the soul together.

about

'A Banner Year'

The sarcastic title of this album was penned in 2019, as my family was dealing with numerous health scares, insurance problems, and serious house issues amidst the birth and beginnings of our wonderful daughter. For all the bad shit that was happening, there she was to balance it out.
When the year finally wrapped up, we looked ahead to a fresh start. To get everything back in order.

Woops.

'A Banner Year' went from working title to perennial nightmare in 2020. We're still here trying to stay sane. Trying to keep it all going while being a parent during a pandemic, getting blasted with terrible diagnoses from all directions, experiencing a less than ideal political state, and losing a good friend to suicide.

So that's what this album is about. It's a documentation of the past two years of my life. It's the most personal thing I've ever written. I wish it wasn't. But when I look at my daughter, I think, next year's gonna be great. And the songs about her are what give this album life, just as she gives me life. It's not all bad. It's never all bad. Just gotta stay positive, somehow.

Stay safe, and thanks for sticking around.
Brandon


Visit www.a-banner-year.net for lyrics, liner notes, additional demos, progress clips, and song credits.

**** All proceeds from this album will be donated to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Center (www.alzinfo.org) ****

credits

released November 13, 2020

Brandon Peterson (Tracks 1-10)
Dan Bouza (Tracks 3, 4)
AJ Estrada (Tracks 1, 4, 8, 9)
Justin Peterson (Track 4)
Jon Streker (Track 10)


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'The Eleventh Hour Effort'
Co-written and Produced by Brandon Peterson and AJ Estrada

'Odd Thing'
Mixed by Dan Bouza

'A Social Renaissance'
Co-written, Produced, and Mixed by Brandon Peterson, Dan Bouza, AJ Estrada, and Justin Peterson

'Together'
Harmony arrangement by Jon Streker

All other tracks Written, Produced, and Mixed by Brandon Peterson

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Mastered by David Lipps @ Spareroom Studios.

Artwork by AJ Estrada @ Applejuicemagic.

All proceeds from this album will be donated to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Center (www.alzinfo.org)

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