gregory and the hawk

[firstflyingv]

mini cut *darling* for bandcamp friday

all this hard thinking all my mistaken for you

[firstflyingv]

Listen Darling by Gregory and the Hawk

[firstflyingv]

LYRICS FOR 'QUARANTUNES'

For Now (I’m In The Country)

For Now I’m in the country

You’ve gotta live alone for a little while

Before it suits you

Don’t expect to feel good right away

You’ve gotta learn to love the sounds of the house and

Your favorite time of day

For Now I’m in the country

Finding there’s more hours after noon

So I take my time not getting there too soon

You’ve gotta get to know the sounds of the house and

The tree outside your room

For now

Peace Like Rivers

You lay it out on the grass and

Tell me I’m gonna need new flowers soon

You let me up in the attics

Say how the sink will have the best view

But I do

You lift the veil on the woodpile

Tell me how it burns without asking first

You lick the blood off of your hand

Say how I won’t have to worry I’m cursed

But I do

Peace like rivers in a dream

I like that to mean

We’re right where we should be

That our prayers are received

Peace like rivers in a dream

I like that to mean

Someone else came between us and 

when I’m down I can stay down

I turn our talk back to work now

Say there are certain games I won’t play

You on your hands and knee cooing

Can’t pick a card any card so won’t you

I do

Fire At The Ocean

Won’t you ever follow me home

Can’t you see I’m living alone

And lonely times they aren’t hard for me to find

Won’t you ever pick up the beat

My hand clapping track is lagging underneath 

Gold intentions that I speak

Hot month mania knocks knees

Circle up on concrete

Sing our sins

I’m still 

The cloud that rolls in

Fog that hides the mountain

Don’t belong by a fire at the ocean

It’s a drag seeing you with her

And i’m sad not getting what I deserve first

I hear that it’s for good

But I’d change it if I could

Good Place To Be Lyrics

This is a good place to be

Separate from anger

Under the leaves

Waiting for Spring

This is a good waste of time

Parting the plants 

And finding 

Something to eat

I’ll wait for it

Honey, I’ll fall to bits

Honey, I’ll fall asleep

Cooly calling my home to me

All that I own in one 

Dome of deep

Droning memories

Murmuring to me

This is a good place to be

This is a reflection 

Of what you choose 

Just for today

We coalesce

Coyly asking all the best

Losing the urge of the 

Earthly

Tickling throats of the 

Thirsty

Grasping grass lush and green

We’ll wait for it

Honey, we’ll sweep a bit

This is a good place to be

SOME WHITE MOUNTAIN

Over some white mountain right in front of me

I imagine life is but a perfect dream

You finally see me how I’m meant to be seen

So if I’m lost along the way

Don’t start your crying

I could’ve been lost anyday

Now that I’m gone

You be a dear, turn my sheets down

Wait by the window until I come around

I wasn’t indeed what I seemed to be

Over some white mountain right in front of me

We agree our love is like an anchor

We believe our luck is in our song

So if I’m lost along the way

Just start your singing

I’ll follow your lines anyday

All the way home

You be a dear, turn my sheets down

Play by the window until I come around

It wasn’t indeed what it seemed to be

Over some white mountain right in front of me

NAME IN THE CLOUDS

What do you create

When you say my name

Into the clouds

My love for you is coming right on down

Into the waves and the rays

You ask of the Earth

You ask of the Sun

Tune in to up and downs

The tone I hum’s a humble one

I’m on the right side of your love

To keep wishing and hoping

I’m on the right side of the door

That just keeps swinging open

Call when you want me

My name is in the clouds

Dream what you need and

I’ll keep my ear to the ground

Oh when you’re in deep

My name is in the clouds

Dig on out, dig on out

My name is in the clouds

Now you know by noise

Now you tell by time

How sings the sky

My love for you is blowing right on by

Into the waves and the rays

Call when you want me

My name is in the clouds

Dream what you need and

I’ll keep my ear to the ground

Oh when you’re in deep

My name is in the clouds

Ethereal repeater coming in loud because

We belong hooked up

We belong hooked up

SYCAMORE

Wind may trace my trail to the sea

But fail me ultimately

Trade my ground for salt air and the sound

Of listening out loud

Bet if you got it you’d want it less than I do

Your own true love that’s faded away

Understand the heat you handle

Warms up the waves

Watch and toss

Fresh foam with our rocks

Long beach disappears into dunes

Dip my first in dark berry bushes

This tryst suddenly becomes blue

Bet if you got it you’d want it less than I do

Your own true love that’s faded away

Understand the heat you handle

Warms up the waves

And the sound of your name

Echoes callous and grey

So I’m careful to say

Away in other lives

Lost deep in the fog of losing mine

I’ll walk with you coming home

I’ll believe in other lines now

And wish for what is done

To lie down and see you out

When I return I’ll start the fire

A slow burn to dry the tired

I mist 

You evaporate

So long 

Too late 

So long

Breeze may blow

My smoke to the sea

But I remain with the heat

[firstflyingv]

Quarantunes by Gregory and the Hawk

[firstflyingv]

New! The official cover art of my new work. Digital download of the full 2022/23 bedroom-studio album Quarantunes will be out later this week on streaming stuff and Bandcamp!

[firstflyingv]

See the new official video for summer single Some White Mountain here and download the song here! The amazing animation for this video was created by Julio Carmona, whose work you can find online on Instagram, FaceBook, and YouTube.

In the video, you'll enjoy reenacted scenes of song circle, set in the snowy mountain wilderness of my dreams. You'll check out the mountaintop hut where I imagine I would write my most introspective songs. You'll even see a fox family! As someone who played King's Quest on floppy disk(s) as a kid, I very much appreciate the pixelated snowfall and the attention to detail which was so gently applied to this music video. Thank you so much to Julio for your time and energy in bringing this video to life!

Finally, Some White Mountain sounds sweeter now cause it was exquisitely mastered by Elaine Rasnake of Daughterboard Audio in Philadelphia, PA. As we speak, the rest of the Q-Tunes album is getting mastered and tuned up there and I'm flipping thrilled about it!

Hoping to cast the full Quarantunes album into the public digital sphere later the year...

~M/Gath

[firstflyingv]

Quarantunes. Stills from ‘Name In The Clouds’ video, January 2023

[firstflyingv]

Quarantunes. Still from ‘A Good Place To Be’ video, November 2022

[firstflyingv]

Zines with guitar tabs for Gath songs - I have been putting these together this fall for Patreon subscribers, and December will be Issue 05! This issue is going to be for the song ‘On The Hillside’ from my 2016 video album On The Orange Mountain. I’m brainstorming the best way to make these little zines (ebooks) available via Bandcamp. Stay tuned! 

[firstflyingv]

Lyrics for ‘Texas Collectious’

My Own Bad Dreams

Why do I wake up sad for no reason

Like my own bridge was burned in sleep

Rise on an island

Just me and my own bad dreams

Heart like butter in the sun

Mind like wine left in a mug

Why do I want things I’ve never seen

Miss places I’ve never been before 

Spiritually speaking

Who’s even keeping score

Eyes like skies during the pour

Breath like coals already burned

I don’t mind wasting your time

Feels like I’m falling behind

Someday I’ll think of these simpler times

And remember me fine and smiling

Then cross my bridge on fire

And enter my own bad dreams

Why don’t you stay here with me

From the shore we can look out to sea

He’s Not Gonna Call

He’s not gonna call and all of the day I decide

To believe that he might, now I’m lonely tonight

It sure is painful loving someone cruel

He sure got the best of me

Cut loose in the woods

He’ll lose with the rest of me

And nobody believes it like they should

How do I stop lying to you

Maybe light involve the truth

How do I keep holding on to fools like you

Trace Chain

Songbirds at sunrise, and

I’ll complain about the noise

My patio is a little large 

For me to enjoy

What am i doing, 

I got so much to fix myself

I can’t keep living my life 

Knowing I bring you down

Down in the dumps

Standing out in a crowd

Should we say it out loud

That the past so heavy 

And the void of letting go

Makes a cloud around me 

When I think of what you know

The whole damn thing is in lightning

And maybe I can’t do anything right

If I’m dead to you really

Guess it’s time to say goodbye

What am I doing

I’ll love the sun and all it shines on

Wake at dawn or at least try

Forget I’m feeling like 

A pile of dirt

Standing out in a crowd

Should I say it out loud

It’s not the strength I need to keep going

It’s not the sense of growing apart 

Just keeping growing

But the end that’s finally here 

After a long start

And the wind that’s been 

Nippin at my heels

The horizon is far 

But it makes my heart say 

Yeah man I drove 

But I still don’t know much 

About how you feel

If you knew I was hurt

Felt sorta worthless 

You kept an even keel

The one time you cried

Burned in my mind

Dancing in the kitchen 

And timewarp rides

My whole world’s pretend

And you don’t even bend

To save us again

How To Thank A Friend

How do you thank a friend

For their heartbreaking presence

For their undivided attention 

When you’re withering

You say I’m the water 

Lapping up against a wall

I feel that so completely

Flowing churning deeply

Yet stuck after all

How do you thank a friend

With fires bright and fighting fair

Keep on talking 

Cause you know they care

Lead me now to brighter times

I only loved you 

Cause I loved you blind

I loved you blind

How to do what you intend

Now that your plans got broken

And soft words you weren’t sure you’d say

Never get spoken

You show up at seven 

When the summer sun’s still up

I see your sadness clearly

Mad at your mystery

Yet stuck after all

How do you thank a friend

With iron sides and steely stares

Keep on walking you’re a joke I swear

Lead me down the path to find

I only loved you 

Cause I loved you blind

I loved you blind

He told me that I should forget it

It don’t matter anyhow

Wow it’s been awhile since I let it

Chew me up and spit me out

That fear’s like fate like drown-me-out

Wield my weight like solemn sound

How do you thank a friend

[firstflyingv]

Lyrics for ‘A Selection of Demos’

Right Medicine

I could kick it back on you

Put a cork in your gun

Make you wonder all summer

Where the hell I was coming from

But no matter the excuse

It kills to be cut loose

And all the days that follow

They follow you

Maybe you need the right medicine

Gonna take it everyday

Help you see the pretty colors

Make you wanna stay

Make you wanna stay

Make you wanna stay

Whenever you want

Just call me up

Make me blush and such

Tell me I’ve waited long enough

Whenever you want

Just roll me in

Tell me I can quit what I’ve been doing

That I’m your right medicine

You’re gonna take me everyday

I help you see the pretty colors

I make you wanna stay

Make you wanna stay

Make you wanna stay

Heart Attack

I wanna run but it aint that bad

And a little bit of running won’t bring you back

Don’t you think I know that

All the girls I’ve been talking with

Say I’m crazy in red lipstick

Don’t you think I know that

My aim is to please you 

I don’t wanna leave you 

And I never wanna see you alone

If I wanna be treasured then I gotta find better

Cause I never wanna stay at home

Oh it’s such a drag

To wait all day for a night so fast

She’s better than all that

Talking me in two like a heart attack

You want me back

Well all you gotta do is ask ask

She’s better than all that

You really gotta see her to understand

Stay True

Man oh man I want you

In the city in the noise

I’m waiting for you like a victim

You carried me through

Right to the end

In the city in the noise

I’m waiting for you like a victim

Scuffing my shoes

Trying to stay true

Maybe I’ll be strong

Noone promised it’d even last this long

And maybe I’ll be fun

Cause even when I’m drunk I feel too much

Man oh man I want you

Man oh man I want you

Maybe I’ll be strong

Someone show me where I belong

Maybe I’ll stick to what’s been done

Cause even when I’m drunk I feel too much

Man oh man I want you

In the city in the noise

I’m waiting for you like a victim

You carried me through

Right to the end

In the city in the noise

I’m waiting for you like a victim

Scuffing my shoes

Hoping you’ll stay true

You Read On

You Read On

By the flickering light til the break of dawn

You Read On

Back to the end start over again

You Read On

Finding meaning in the dumbest things

You Read On

Til even the beginning started to sting

I don’t ever want to get back to the beginning with you

I don’t ever want to have any little thing to owe you

Like you do

I don’t ever want to get back to the beginning with you

Cause everybody starts with peace

And everybody parts for reasons

You led me on

In your new apartment to new songs

You led me on

Let’s be friends it’s for the best

You led me on

Finding meaning in the dumbest things

You led me on

Til even the beginning started to sting

I don’t ever want to get back to the beginning with you

I don’t ever want to have any little thing to owe you

Like you do

I don’t ever want to get back to the beginning with you

Cause everybody starts with peace

And everybody parts for reasons

Magnetic

Should have taken what you said to me as truth

But I kept trying

A girl will do what’s she’s gotta do

To get by

I keep loving you everyday

I keep calling you just to say

I hope you’re feeling okay

And move on from this

Should have taken what you said to me as proof

That you’re fire

And I could never walk on you

Only basking beside you

Should have taken what you said to me as proof

To wake up

From loving you everyday

I’d been calling you just to say

I hope you’re feeling okay

And move on from this

Cause summer will end

And the guys who brought you down will come back

I’d never defend them

No

But you’re drawn to them

Magnetic

No room for crying cause you know I warned you

No room for I’m fine cause you know you’re a fool

Should have taken what you said to me as truth

But I kept trying

A girl will do what’s she’s gotta do

To get by

I keep loving you everyday

I keep calling you just to say

I hope you’re feeling okay

And move on from this

Cause summer will end

And the guys who brought you down will come back

I’d never defend them no

But you’re drawn to them magnetic

No room for crying cause you know I warned you

No room for I’m fine cause you know you’re a fool

Do You Wrong

Could have been lost on a starry beach

But instead I wait for you to say you’re sorry

For the cool kindness you show me

That kills me in your wildest dreams

See I never wanna do you wrong

Only wanna make you mine

Treat you sweet as sunshine

And keep you on my mind

Could have been lost on a mountaintop

But instead you stole the glory from the pines

With your sparkly hair and your homesick talk

Tell me where tell me when tell me why

All this danger did you wrong

Cause I only wanna make you mine

Treat you sweet as sunshine

And keep you on my mind

To tell the truth I’m on to you

And I haven’t been feeling so well

But noone can be sick of what they haven’t been told yet

So I’ll tell you

I wanna know you when your consciousness fades

Give you gazes, not enough to give us away

If I’m lonely then I might as well say

Keep it coming

Keep it coming

Keep it coming

Cause I’ll never do you wrong

I only wanna make you mine

Treat you sweet as sunshine

Treat you sweet as sunshine

Sweet as sunshine

Till you’re staying on my mind

Cut To Size

Now that I’m drowning

Now that I’m melting

You just walk on by

The calm in your eyes says

You’re not in crisis

Can’t tell the water’s high

Which I find

So hard to believe

Someone is speaking

I wish they’d let me be

While I watch you walk away from me

You move with a purpose

Cherry and turquoise

Follow me

Behind the curtain 

Of our real lives

And I’ll set you free

Which you find

So hard to believe

Someone is speaking

I wish they’d let me be

While I watch you drift away from me

I Demand It

Inst

[firstflyingv]

[firstflyingv]

[firstflyingv]

Lyrics for ‘Three Weeks No Songs’

Whirlpool

When I was a kid it was cumulonimbus

Now it’s mammatus

Before the storm comes

Still haven’t been to the Rio Grande

Still haven’t bought a home

Still can’t last at a 9 to 5

Cause I like to make my own good time

Don’t you like to make your own good time

When I was a girl it was whirlpools

Now it’s waterfalls

Before the storm comes

Still haven’t crossed the states by train

Still haven’t made my bed

Still can’t name all trees I see 

But I like to try and reach for it

Won’t you try and reach for it

In this time alive, what could we be

If we decide to share a mind

Would you come home to me

I’m sorry, I feel you

When life gets rough and you’re confused

What you say, what you do,

A whirlpool

Spit

You put your hands on your hips

In the last sliver of the moon

Your goodbye’s shit

I can almost taste your spit

I wouldn’t mind if you came to my castle

Building it brick by brick

Beneath a giant yellow sickle

On a charcoal cliff

I can almost taste your spit

I wouldn’t mind if you tried all my tunes

My kingdom for you

Tracking patterns while she waxes

Hope you’ll be here soon

I can almost taste your spit

I wouldn’t mind if you talked to me nice

You put the glass to your lips

Basking in a grown cocoon

My potions give you lift

When I mix them with your spit

Sun Shadow

We get lost 

in a dry creek bed and fall into it

All that sauce

And you make like the river, it seems

Not in heat 

Though on the next day

You trickle in and say

Babe I’m free, 

Want to get where the water’s deep

Hide inside chagrin

I don’t love it

Wade and pull me in

Won’t have it

Don’t wanna catch it, too

Sun shadow

Sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

May allow, an hallow, our soul and un-being

Hide inside chagrin

I don’t love it

Wade and pull me in

Won’t have it

Don’t wanna catch it, too

Sun shadow

Sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

May’s real tan soul

Sun shadow or something

Sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

An hallow, sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

We get lost 

in a dry creek bed and fall into it

All that sauce

And you make like the river, it seems

Not in heat 

Though on the next day

You trickle in and say

Babe I’m free, 

Want to get where the water’s deep

Sun shadow

Sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

May’s real tan soul

Sun shadow or something

Sun shadow or something

Sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

An hallow, sun shadow

Sun shadow or something

Limes

There is love out there for us

In dry grass and high fences

In hot cement and hornets’ nests

And snakes who call home Texas

So we always lead with enough

In shy pours and pretenses

In soft suggests and compliments

And maybe I’ll see you thens

If I had luck to be yours

I’d bring you limes

Cold and sour

Kiss along the dotted line

There is love out there for us

In dry grass and high fences

In hot cement and hornets’ nests

And snakes who call home Texas

If I had luck to be yours

I’d bring you limes

Cold and sour

Kiss along the dotted line

Bearer

Made it up

World I love didn’t exist 

And I really miss it now

Want to laugh

But I wish it’d lasted

I’m a sucker for things 

That don’t mean a wink

Keychain 

Groping

All of my weight 

It moans open

Peace out 

On ice

All of my pride

Your eyes broke it

Make a wish

Take a spin

To whittle away 

At this mood you’re in

I’m lost and I 

Can’t explain

The signs on your corners

The teeth in your grin

Fall much harder in the dark

How do you know my name

Without pouring out my heart

Why do I want to stay

I know that nothing is forever

But watch me

I will see if I can try

Don’t stop me

South First

Congress

Moving the mark

Making a big mess

Manchaca

MoPac

Throwing a fit

It doesn’t sound so bad

Fall much harder in the dark

How do you know my name

Without pouring out my heart

Why do I want to stay

I know that nothing is forever

But I’ll make it that way

Hate to be the bearer of bad news

Choose to lose

Leaps

I take leaps and bounds to love you

Maybe this wasn’t love at all

I’m all done and gone

Maybe this wasn’t love at all

Just a little bit

Just a little bit

Just a little bit wrong

It takes one to know one they say

Thought your voice was as clear as day

I’m open to being broken

Just hoped you’d be around for the fall

Just a little bit

Just a little bit

Just a little bit wrong

So resign my singing

New beginnings will have to wait

Just a little bit

Just a little bit

Just a little bit

[firstflyingv]

Recording ‘Little Wings’ ~ track 8 for On The Orange Mountain ~ at the foot of Mount Adams in southern Washington. This snowy shoot was so romantic and joyful!

[firstflyingv]

Recording ‘Do Me In’ - track 6 for On The Orange Mountain - at Warrior Rock Lighthouse outside Portland, OR. 

[firstflyingv]

Don’t worry, (try to) be happy 🌻 …big huge thanks if you’ve already signed up to hear #OnTheOrangeMountain! I’m nervous and happy to be sharing things with you all again…. starting Monday 〰