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Mourning in the Morningtime

by Willem James Cowan

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1.
Rubber Tires 04:31
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Turn me back around I'm sick of driving the same side of town And always sporting this frown It's enough to drive a stick in the ground And call me on my phone I'm sick of hearing the same busy tone And always being alone It's enough to shake me to my bones Give me some confirmation Some sort of sign that you see me at all 'Cause when you leave me waiting I can get reduced to a crawl When I lose my composure I can fray like a wire The birds in the morning drive me wild And all this commotion like the school is on fire The lack of devotion we require I might as well start these rubber tires Just one moment please I didn't ask you to drop to your knees Just need a bit of relief Like a drink to calm this OCD This conversation is sinking Drinking doesn't stifle my mind But if I could shrink to a pinky Then maybe I could hide for a time When I lose my composure I can fray like a wire The birds in the morning drive me wild And all this commotion like the school is on fire The lack of devotion we require I might as well start these rubber tires You can watch it, but I pray you'll stay away Turn me back around I'm sick of driving the same side of town
2.
Mourning in the Morningtime 02:52
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Mourning in the morningtime Truly sick of my design I'm calling and you're right in front of me Mourning in the morningtime Just enough to lose my mind I've fallen kind of hard to say the least And why don't you trust me, you've got it easy I'm kind of rusty, bring me down slowly Mourning in the morningtime Fallen so far out of line I acted out of shame, admittedly A visionary past my prime Out of thoughts and out of rhymes I'm running fast and running past my peak Painting yourself, you make it look easy I've got a painting, shows off the old me Porcelain skin, and eyes like the blue sea Paint me a picture, tell me you love me Mourning in the morningtime Truly sick of my design I'm calling and you're right in front of me
3.
Prophet 02:51
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Writing out another story, I can't clear my head I could not make anything relate to what I said It all seems so disconnected, never quite all there Seems that I can not project it, as if I should care And if I fail again this time I might just stray out of line I'm not trying to be a prophet I'm just trying to speak my mind Mourning hours are drawing nearer, laying in my bed It seems that I should take a walk to ease my weary head The movement helps my brain awaken, activates its gears When I'm rattled, firmly shaken, validates my fears And if I fail again this time I might just stray out of line I'm not trying to be a prophet I'm just trying to speak my mind Let me roll again, I don't like what I've been given Sold again, what is not is still unwritten I confess, let me see those dice again I could have been a doctor Let me roll again, I don't like what I've been given Sold again, what is not is still unwritten I confess, let me see those dice again I could have been a doctor And if I fail again this time I might just stray out of line I'm not trying to be a prophet I'm just trying to speak my mind
4.
Wherever You Are 04:05
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On a cold bitter Sunday Trying to follow the Northern Star I was wishing for autumn She doesn't seem very nice so far And she smells like an ashtray Blowing smoke down the boulevard It's a cold bitter Sunday Take me wherever you are Take me wherever you are Step back in a grapevine So I feel like a child again I was wishing for winter I can't sleep through this heatwave And she slams like a brick wall And leaves me with a nasty scar And now I'm scared for the snowfall Take me wherever you are Take me wherever you are I feel like I'm melting In an hour I'll have gone away I was wishing for summer 'Cause I can't see when everything is grey And this heat keeps me up late I'll stay awake 'till my brain is charred And spin thoughts 'till the day breaks Take me wherever you are Take me wherever you are Take me wherever you are Take me wherever you are Just so you know, I'm afraid of this Thrown like a stone in the thick of it Silent, it grows to be so bizarre Before I decay, please take me away to your own star Just so you know, I'm afraid of this Thrown like a stone in the thick of it Silent, it grows to be so bizarre Before I decay, please take me away to your own star Wherever you are
5.
Cartoon Heroes 04:19
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Running recklessly Through the dying trees I couldn't care Blissfuly unaware You left your mothers home Hand over a stone Climbing uphill Conquering barren slopes When the sun melted the snow We would run for miles up the slopes To watch the cattails grow With no one to say no Demonizing powered down machines To fulfill all our dreams of being Cartoon heroes I'll race you to the top Plant a tree branch Deep in the soil I claim this as my own Raise my country's flag Just a plastic bag Tied to a stick Traits of a lunatic When the sun melted the snow We would run for miles up the slopes To watch the cattails grow With no one to say no Demonizing powered down machines To fulfill all our dreams of being Cartoon heroes She's at my door, she's at my door Don't know what she wants me for I've gone next door, I've gone next door Finished all I'm wanted for She's at my door, she's at my door Don't know what she wants me for I've gone next door, I've gone next door Finished all I'm wanted for Finished all I'm wanted for When the sun melted the snow We would run for miles up the slopes To watch the cattails grow With no one to say no Demonizing powered down machines To fulfill all our dreams of being Cartoon heroes
6.
Pick Apart 03:14
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A looming disaster, a thorn in my health Touching the plaster in grounding myself I reach for the walls The words in the stall bring me peace Clutching a handful of beads in the hall Stepping on dried maple leaves in the fall A form of distraction The stale satisfaction, it bleeds from a raw autumn nose I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar And hold it for difficult days To keep me from finding a way to pick apart I pick apart Let me know now if you need me to fight This feeling is pulling me out of the light I could gracefully fall Or answer the call that I hear She is a vessel of warmth and delight A healthy way out of a horrible plight And I'm crawling inside I need to confide and release all that I have in store Graceful, despondent, and picking apart I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar And hold it for difficult days To keep me from finding a way to pick apart I pick apart Graceful, despondent, and picking apart Tumbling down just to rest in the dark Releasing the breeze that I kept in a jar It keeps me from finding a way I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar The smell of the trees and the sound of the cars The rustling leaves as they fall to the yard I hold them for difficult days To keep me from finding a way to pick apart I pick apart
7.
Only Dreaming Now 04:26
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If I could soar above the swaying grass and perch upon these walls The echo in this hollow room would drift into the halls And the lowly man encaging me will reap what he has sewn But I'm only dreaming now If I could float out of this vessel and be tied to something more I would set aside my grievances and all I'm longing for But the cowards' way is an angel with a double-sided sword And I'm only dreaming now Take my lungs Take my heart Take my body and preserve all of its innocence Take my lungs Take my heart Take my body and preserve all of its innocence If I have any left over to take If I could see beyond my brain and grasp the wonders of the sky I would have no use for these restricting, dark, and sunken eyes But this body is a prison cell and I'm in here for life And I'm only dreaming now And in the darkness lays an animal designed to make you cry And he feeds on insecurities and thrives on broken minds I can try to strike this creature down and hope he doesn't find That I'm only dreaming now Take my lungs Take my heart Take my body and preserve all of its innocence Take my lungs Take my heart Take my body and preserve all of its innocence If I have any left over to take If I could realize the brilliance and the beauty in this world Maybe I could just relax a little, let it all unfurl I could write a new persona and then take it for a whirl But I'm only dreaming now
8.
Content 03:20
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Cradle rocking me fast asleep again I need somebody to talk me through this I could stare at the shit on CNN But I'd rather hear the TV hiss Not sure there's anything I'd miss I'm full of anxious scenarios Pulling teeth from the faultless sky And stuck in southern Ontario I am content with my lies PowerPoints of my faults and losses They play a loop in my brain 'till I crack Pull the plug I am feeling nauseous And I'm trying to cut myself some slack I'm not rotating the clocks back Wish I could find me a settlement I'd live alone for a little while And I think that it's evident That I should be put out on trial I made a point that I can't back up again And I can feel all the eyes turn All these people I thought they were my friends But try ignoring the cold burn I'm full of anxious scenarios Pulling teeth from the faultless sky Well could you try not to stare and gloat You shouldn't have to wonder why And I could make all these worries go If I could take to the faultless sky And stuck in southern Ontario I'll have to take it I'm willing to face it I am content with my lies
9.
Write 02:56
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Step outside I feel the air like bitter words Hits me like the day I heard That you had lost your mind Crooked flash You woke up with your vision blurred The patience of a hummingbird You shut yourself inside And everyone can analyze The thoughts behind your hazel eyes But no ones going to empathize And no one will write Formerly We were once the closest friends Carved your name in to my skin You let me open wide So come outside And let the sunlight feed your veins Give in to your family name And let them occupy, occupy And everyone can analyze The thoughts behind your hazel eyes But no ones going to empathize You threw away your puzzle piece Put your head between your knees And told your ma you couldn't eat And you couldn't write And everyone can analyze The thoughts behind your hazel eyes But no ones going to empathize And no one will write
10.
Flight of Falling Leaves 04:39
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Yesterday was a carpet building Spaces filling tar beneath the trees Through the wind like a love-locked letter Sweet duet, the flight of falling leaves They drift away in the thrum of autumn Not forgotten, carried by the breeze Half-asleep I can drift by their side Fully capsized, hurried off with ease So, slow down as the cradle rocks you gently off to sleep I can kiss the ground with a new understanding Of where I'm meant to be Just a taste of a new adventure All this leisure is catching up to me Catch a train in the wrong direction New affection, jump in to the sea In the window there's vague instruction Mild deduction makes it clear to me I'll pass through to test the comfort Just enough to shake the fallen leaves So, slow down as the cradle rocks you gently off to sleep I can kiss the ground with a new understanding Of where I'm meant to be

about

This album is a collection of songs written from 2016 to 2019, mostly while in college. I'm incredibly happy to have worked with some of my favourite people, and for this to finally greet the world. Thanks so much to everyone involved.

The bed sessions were recorded by Simon Larochette at the Sugar Shack in November of 2020. Everything else was recorded in Willem's apartment, except for the parts recorded by Lucas Zielke, Eric Richardson, Alex Southey, Austin Pigott, and Saveria - which they recorded in their respective apartments.

credits

released November 18, 2022

Willem - Vocals, guitars, banjo, keyboards, lapsteel, percussion, etc.
Keegan Marshall - Drums
Aidan Wasse - Bass, horn arrangements on track 4
John Fellner - Keyboards, string arrangements on track 1
Lucas Zielke - Trumpet on tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10
Eric Richardson - Guitar on track 7
Lliam Buckley - Vocals on track 7
Carley Otter - Vocals on track 1, 3, 5, and 6
Alex Southey, Austin Pigott, and Saveria - Vocals on track 1

Written by Willem James Cowan

Produced by Willem James Cowan, additional production by Aidan Wasse

Mixed by Simon Larochette
Mastered by Rob Nation

Cover art painting by Sheri Cowan
Photo by Carley Otter

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Willem James Cowan London, Ontario

Writing from experience, and a feeling of discomfort, Willem James Cowan aims to lighten this burden and offer solace to a generation rooted in anxiety, self doubt and social stigma. By weaving together retro and contemporary musical elements, Cowan achieves a sound that is both nostalgic and relatable. ... more

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