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Dear John

by Eric Harrison

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Sal's Place, No Defenses, Until You Come Around, Somerset (by Kevin Salem and Eric Harrison), Dear John, A Win or a Loss, Good Intentions (EP), Gratitude, and 4 more. , and , .

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1.
Till You Make Me Home 03:42
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I caught a glimpse behind the counter So this is where I’ll say I found her The day we met she didn’t say a word She looks up and I’m a goner I feel the heat when I don’t wanna Losing my grip on thoughts she never heard You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper You’re feeling strong I need you weaker Gonna wait right here I don’t wanna roam Till you make me home Bicycle spoke caught my shoelace I took a dive riding to her place She took me in, put some JP on We lock eyes through a bandage I feel a spark, I gotta manage To turn this sprint into a marathon You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper You’re feeling strong I need you weaker Revvin’ me up from zero to full blown I found a girl I wanna keep her I wrote it down - read ‘em and weeper Like a gentle breeze to a full cyclone Till you make me home Let’s take it back behind the counter We’ll tell our kid of that encounter Watch her laugh, maybe roll her eyes Through all the doubt And all the damage Now we emerge with an advantage We got a love that ain’t a compromise You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper You’re feeling strong I need you weaker She gave it good Till my mind was blown I found a girl I wanna keep her I wrote it down - read ‘em and weeper Gonna wait right here I don’t wanna roam Till you make me home
2.
Cougar Jenny (feat. Simi Stone) 03:13
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It was a scandal - all I could handle Jennifer was twice my age She was six when I was three Bologna and Romper Room were all the rage Somebody found a basketful of kittens By the woods at Bicentennial Park Hold my juicebox - gotta check this out That's where I got my first kiss on a lark Hugs and kisses, hits and misses Gonna make that girl my missus Cougar Jenny I'll walk the line My love for you was right on time “How I spent my summer vacation” By Jenny Lynn in second grade I gave some little brat a kiss He followed me around so then we played I played the mommy, he played the dog His bark was really sad I guess I shoulda never made him fetch that stick His mom was looking kinda mad At hugs and kisses, hits and misses A tetanus shot - Is that what this is? Little boy you must not whine My love for you will come in time Well she became a rebel Colored way outside the lines And he ate crayons till it made me scream At the nurse's office he did hard time That was 20 years ago and the rest is history Cougar Jenny I thank you, Dear For unraveling the mystery You still follow me around Like I got something that you claim And when this kid hears what we did He’ll know where to place the blame On hugs and kisses Hits and misses Let’s show ‘em all what wedded bliss is Cougar Jenny you’re so fine My love for you was right on time I guess you’re gonna fall in line My love for you was right on time
3.
Hot Teardrops and Cold Compresses 03:51
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Hot teardrops and cold compresses Fever dream of my baby’s dresses Thinking of what came before Lying here wanting more Memories that we were making All the while time is taking What he needs we’ll only guess Hot teardrops and cold compresses I see shouts, I hear flowers I smell blinding light for hours All my senses fall away I’ve got nothing left to say If I did you wouldn’t hear I’m so sorry - glad you’re near Speak to me and hold my hand Tell me when this ship will land In hot teardrops and cold compresses Fever dream of my baby’s dresses Thinking of what came before Lying here wanting more Memories that we were making All the while time is taking What he needs we’ll only guess Hot teardrops and cold compresses Socrates and Dave Thoreau Walden Pond I feel your glow Zevon said “enjoy each sandwich” Now I get it, I can manage Preacher chase me as I climb Your wisdom ain’t worth a dime Soon I’ll be across that line Gonna burn one with John Prine And hot teardrops and cold compresses Fever dream of my baby’s dresses Thinking of what came before Lying here wanting more Memories that we were making All the while time is taking What he needs we’ll only guess Hot teardrops and cold compresses So everybody’s got their time And when the Lord decides it’s mine Don’t grieve over a song unsung Here it is - my will’s been done Now I hear shouts I smell flowers I feel blinding love it’s ours And as I pass I’ll hold your hand Finally this ship will land In hot teardrops and cold compresses Fever dream of my baby’s dresses Thinking of what came before Lying here wanting more Memories that we were making All the while time is taking What he needs we’ll only guess Hot teardrops and cold compresses
4.
Hoover Dam 04:12
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Legs below and eyes above Almost beside the point to say that I'm in love With the voice of Leonard Cohen in my ear Cyrano will lead me to you, Dear I forget myself sometimes But I'll never forget you If I can't win you in rhyme I'll be happy trying to And the girl I love is doing all she can One day she'll be looking for a man But I think of her and can't help making plans At the Hoover Dam Boulder City sprang from dirt I would build a fortress to shelter you from hurt With a reservoir of all we must contain Concrete to wall away the pain I forget myself sometimes But I'll never forget you If I can't win you in rhyme I'll be happy trying to And the girl I love is doing all she can One day she'll be looking for a man But I think of her and can't help making plans At the Hoover Dam Those shoes she wears won't slow her down To the pace of my heart beating, she's bigger than this town And as she leaves I will not say a word A foolish dream remains unheard I forget myself sometimes But I'll never forget you If I did not win you in rhyme I was happy trying to And the girl I love is doing all she can One day she'll be looking for a man Still I think of her and can't help making plans At the Hoover Dam
5.
Live Before You Die 04:08
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As you stand before a mountain To start a climb and scale a height The path around looks so inviting The peak is all but out of sight Danger joy and gratitude are waiting here for you Nothing short of everything will do I wish you love I wish you light I wish you all the time that beckons you To watch it all take flight Now darkness may be moving in Don't be afraid to try Or lose the will to be amazed And live before you die And when in time your heart grows heavy And there's no comfort in the night Don't forget the world we live in Is so much more than black and white Open up your heart and sing a song to call your own You won't have to face this world alone I wish you love I wish you light I wish you all the things we've never had And some that we still might Now darkness may be moving in Don't be afraid to try Or lose the will to be amazed And live before you die Open up your heart and sing a song to call your own You won't have to face the world alone I wish you love I wish you light I wish you all the things we've never had And some that we still might Now darkness may be moving in Don't be afraid to try Or lose the will to be amazed And live before you die

about

Dear John-

To write like John Prine is to write with a big heart. I don’t sing like JP and his influence on me may not be obvious, but because these five songs are bound by a conscious effort to write like (and about) him, I felt compelled to release them together.

COVID-19 took John Prine from us on April 7, 2020. The world had shut down a few weeks earlier. A fog of panic and dread had descended. The news of John’s death felt like a downpour.

I have never met a casual John Prine fan. To know him is to love him, and losing a soul who had brought such comfort, humor and joy to our lives while the plague that took him was knocking at our back door - that was a lot to take.

I had just started releasing new music and was looking forward to a year of full band shows, which were begrudgingly replaced by solo Facebook sessions from my front porch. Amid the madness it was fun to make new virtual friends while playing music, though the digital divide left me a little suspicious. (Thank you Olivia from Argentina for the heart emojis but no; I’m not single and I won’t send you money.) I was in a creative rut, and I need to be writing well to feel legitimate.

Enter my friend and producer Kevin Salem, with whom I traded tips every few days on how to maintain some sense of normalcy in our families’ lives. Mindful of the need to grab the oxygen mask for oneself when the cabin pressure drops, Kevin knew how I loved John so he gave me a simple but daunting assignment: write some John Prine songs.

The first of the lot was “Till You Make Me Home,” which had that JP romantic humility but musically felt like it wanted to be a Buddy Holly song, so we gave it the full Marshall Crenshaw treatment.

“Cougar Jenny” is an attempted prequel to “In Spite of Ourselves” - without reference to “sniffin’ my undies” since that’s a line only Handsome Johnny could get away with. I wrote it one morning over breakfast after finding a photo of my wife at age six and imagining meeting her when I was in preschool. Thanks to Simi Stone for playing a fine Woodstock Iris DeMent to my Jersey JP.

“Hot Teardrops and Cold Compresses” owes its existence to Fiona Whelan Prine.

In the weeks after we lost John, nobody soothed the broken hearts of his fans better than his lovely bride. I was floored by an interview where Fiona recounted her last words to John in the hospital, not knowing if he could hear, telling him what she wanted him to know as he slipped away.

I put myself in John’s place at that moment. What would I say if the curtain were closing and I could share my last thoughts? I’d like to think that I would express sadness, humor, love and gratitude in equal measure - as John did in his songs.

That’s what I tried to do here. And if Kacey Musgraves’ legal team come after me for singing about wanting to burn one with our hero then I’ll gladly donate 50 percent of all proceeds to a charitable dispensary of their client’s choice.

“Hoover Dam” pivots to more pedestrian heartache and the gratitude that can help one move beyond it. While John may have been a “niche” artist, I suspect the ratio of his fans to broken hearts healed by his songs is closer to 1:1 than that of any songwriter, living or dead.

As for the song . . . somehow as a trumpet player in the East Brunswick High School marching band in the 1980s I had a few crushes that were not requited. No songwriter has conveyed bittersweet acceptance of dashed romance better than JP, and “Hoover Dam” takes a shot at that Prinean magnanimity.

To round it off, I wrote “Live Before You Die” for my daughter as she was about to leave for college and the pursuit of her dreams. I was aiming for prime Prine but landed a little closer to Ray Davies. That’s fine by me — the Muhlenberg County in this fan’s heart is well-stocked with Muswell Hillbillies.

On the surface these recordings do not sound like the music of the man who inspired them: I’m from New Jersey, and unlike another hero of mine from these parts, I do not and will not attempt to sing like a Kentucky ranch hand.

But I set out to write like John wrote, and if these five tracks collectively deliver half the heart of a single John Prine song then this little project represents a mission accomplished.

Until we meet: I wish you love, I wish you happiness . . . I guess you know the rest.

Eric Harrison, 2022

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released April 7, 2022

Words and Music by Eric Harrison (BMI) - produced by Kevin Salem

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Eric Harrison Fanwood, New Jersey

Eric Harrison is a New Jersey-based singer-songwriter whose fifth album, "Gratitude," was released in November 2020. In 2021 he released the five-song EP "Good Intentions” and in 2022 he released “Dear John," a five-song EP of originals inspired by the late great John Prine.

In 2023 Eric released the double album “No Defenses." In 2024 he'll release a new single each month, followed by another LP ... more

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