Common Nation of Sorrow

Produced by Rachel Baiman

Engineered by Sean Sullivan at The Tractor Shed in Goodlettsville, TN

Mixed by Tucker Martine at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, OR
Mastered by Jon Neufeld in Portland, OR

Pre-Production Assistance by Riley Calcagno 

1. Some Strange Notion

Well the work of working people

Seldom fruits in their own time

So they labor for their children

With stardust in their eyes

Knowing all too well that through their days

They will never see a time

When the hands that keep them bent and kneeled

Fall prey to their own lies

Chorus: 

But now some strange notion

Has taken ahold of us 

It’s the common nation of sorrow

Hear the boots march through the dust 

When so much pain is intertwined

There are none who can tear it down

You cannot bury those already

Resting beneath the ground

And the tears well up within us

For the universal truth

That our mothers loved us fiercely

Though they knew not what to do

And with their love, we’ll look around

We will try to recognize

What it takes to build foundations

That will stand the test of time

Well time goes marching on

Yea the ghost of the living past 

But the dead will finally sleep so sweet 

When the people rise at last 

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar (Rhythm), Strings, Fiddle

Riley Calcagno: Acoustic Guitar (Lead)

Miles Miller: Drums, BGVs 

Ashleigh Caudill: Bass

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar 

2. Annie

Annie’s on the verge of tears

Drinking coffee through a straw she

Tells the kids to cover their ears

This is grownup talk

I cover mine for her to see but

Left little cracks between my fingers

When the news gets in

I wish I wasn’t listening 

Chorus: 

I was an old soul with a raw heart

So eager to see what would tear me apart 

I’d soak it all up, till I’d get so low

Weighted by the things I could never un-know

Annie says go on and eat

Don’t you let that food get cold but

I was frozen in my seat

Couldn’t do what I was told

Something softened in her eyes

Maybe she could recognize 

the worry, of a little kid

Whose world was suddenly too big 

Credits:

Written by Rachel Baiman and Erin Rae McKaskle

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar

Riley Calcagno: Banjo

Adam Chaffins: Bass

Lauren Horbal: Drums

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar, BGVs

Anthony da Costa: Electric Guitar 

Miles Miller: Whistle, BGVs

Erin Rae McKaskle: BGVs

3. Self Made Man 

How many men do you think it takes, to make a self made man

How many fingers must he step on, to do the best he can

Have you watched his eyes when he deals your cards

Do you know the other players in his life 

Have you ever seen the bones his closet holds

Do you watch him when he sharpens his knife

How many men do you think it takes to make a self made man 

Do you think you want to sit around and play a part, in the corner of his self made life

Stand by his side patiently, and try to be his perfect little wife

Will you tell him that he's done everything right and that he should never take the blame

For the people cast off and trampled on, just because they got in his way 

How many men do you think it takes to make a self made man

Don’t you wonder what he thinking when he holds your life in the palm of his money-stained hand

Don’t you wonder how long before you kick face down in the place in the place where you thought you used to stand

How many men do you think it takes to make a self made man

How many men do you think it takes to make a self made man 

How many people do you think he’ll use to do the best he can 

How hard will you run with your hair falling back to compete with a rolling stone

And track him down at all of the ports that he currently calls home

How many men do you think it takes to make a self made man

Don’t you wonder what he thinking when he holds your life in the palm of his money-stained hand

Don’t you wonder how long before you kick face down in the place where you thought you used to stand

How many men do you think it takes

How many men do you think it takes

How many men do you think it takes

How many men do you think it takes, to make a self made man

Credits:

Written by John Hartford with Additional lyrics and melody by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocal

Riley Calcagno: Banjo

Miles Miller: Drums, BGVs

Ashleigh Caudill: Bass

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar, BGVs

Anthony da Costa: BGVs

Tristan Scroggins: BGVs

4. She Don’t Know What to Sing About Anymore

Messy brown hair and her brother’s old jeans

Oversized coat comin’ apart at the seams

She was building corn castles for worms, in the great midwest

Selling lemonade on the side of the road

She didn’t know what it meant to move slow

She broke every record, aced every test

Chorus:

She sang about God in the gospel choir, 

Sang Good Night Ladies when her eyes were tired

She was laughing, dancing, feet stomping the floor

But she don’t know what to sing about anymore

She grew up smart like the crack of a whip

She could point out the truth when the story didn’t stick

And she made her own way, through the thickets and underbrush

She finally reached the top it was the edge of a cliff

But she stared right into that mean abyss

And she wasn’t scared, she just began to hum

She tried to be true

She tried to do right 

But that mean old world

Will put up a fight

She tried to sing out

Make some joyful sound

But that mean old world

Will sure get you down

Cuz every volcano on the face of the earth

It blew up at once like a fiery red curse and 

the smoke danced around like she did, when she was a girl 

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Banjo, Claps

Tristan Scroggins: Mandolin

Riley Calcagno: Acoustic Guitar

Lauren Horbal: Drums 

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar, BGVs

Erin Rae McKaskle: BGVs 

5. Lovers and Leavers

Lovers and leavers, that’s all that we are 

We’re summoning demons, to break our own hearts

Askin’ for trouble, yea were drinkin’ it in

Then were cursing the rubble, we made from our sins

And darlin’ your love, like the bite of a brown recluse

It’s boring a hole in my body, turning me black and blue, darling your love

You slip away easy, silent and cold

So I just lay quiet, yeah I do what I’m told

There is no middle, only highs, only lows

It’s a beast it’s a burden, it’s a bottle half full

And darlin’ your love, like the bite of a brown recluse

It’s boring a hole in my body, turning me black and blue, darling your love

When will it let me loose

Cuz I got a hole in my body, I’m turning black and blue darling

There must be some pill

I could take to forget

The way your body and my body met

Let me swallow it down 

Like you swallowed me whole

Like a beast, like a burden, like a bottle half full

There is no middle, only highs only lows

It’s a beast it’s a burden

It’s a bottle half full

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar

Riley Calcagno: Banjo

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar 

Lauren Horbal: Drums

Adam Chaffins: Bass

Michael James Wheeler: BGVs

6. Bad Debt 

Well I’ve always been thirsty, and I drink like a fish

And it holds me and warms like a good woman’s kiss

But I always knew, that someday I’d find

That I’d drunk all my chances and gone out with the tide

Chorus: 

Now I’ve got bad debt, that I can’t make good

Bad debt, just like I knew that I would

Bad debt, it won’t let me be

This debt is my prison, and I’ll never be free

Well I’ve always been lazy, but I live like a king

Eating the best of what others bring in 

But I always knew, that someday I’d find

I’d used all my chances, and been left behind

Well I’ve always been dark, and I hate the sun

It’s often I’ve wished for a loaded shotgun

But I always knew, that someday I’d find

I’m a coward at heart and I’m too scared to die 

Credits:

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Strings

Anthony Da Costa: Acoustic Guitar 

Miles Miller: Drums

Asheleigh Caudill: Bass

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar (Lead) Organ, BGVs

7. Old Songs Never Die

Did you ever think there’d be such a thing

Worth more than a diamond ring

But you can buy and you can’t spend

The loving arms of a true friend 

Did you ever think there’d be such a thing

Let the money man try to gauge its worth 

Pay a million dollars for every verse 

But you can’t claim and you can’t own

These songs that live inside my soul 

Let the money man try to gauge its worth 

Chorus:

Cuz old songs never die

They just cry and cry

Out for you

To sing them once again

Nursery rhymes and old hymns, the Magpie’s morning call

The sound the wind makes moving through the branches in the Fall

How can I explain it, if you don’t understand

The best of life ain’t something you can hold in your two hands

So when the days get dark blue

Those old songs will be there for you 

So turn it up and scream it out

There’s still so much joy to be found

When the days are getting dark and blue 

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Banjo

Riley Calcagano: Banjo 

Josh Oliver: Acoustic Guitar, BGVs

Adam Chaffins: Bass

Tristan Scroggins: Mandolin 

8. Bitter

With the things that remind me 

Of the dreams now behind me

Conveniently hidden from sight

All the time and the money

It would almost be funny

If I could just sleep through the night 

Chorus: 

But I’m bitter

Bitter as they come

Bitter as the cold morning sun

I’m a quitter

It’s easy said and done

At the end of the day

I laid down my gun

I had a vision

Some kind of religion

What makes life worth living should pay 

But I found no meaning

Nothing to believe in

Just men getting rich in the shade

Been used like a jukebox

Placed like a stage prop 

I shouldered it all and walked on

That drum I was beating

Has lost all its meaning

It’s as hard as my heart has become

Bitter is as bitter does

Once it was written

The machine had grown smitten

The stone said that I would go far

But the dog still needs feeding 

And with the ends hardly meeting

I stopped counting on my lucky stars

Credits

Written by Rachel Baiman and Amy Alvey 

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar (Rhythm), Fiddle 

Riley Calcagno: Acoustic Guitar (Lead), BGVs 

Josh Oliver: Electric guitar 

Lauren Horbal: Drums

Adam Chaffins: Bass

Erin Rae McKaskle: BGVs 

9. Old Flame

Caught off guard, I was drinking with old friends

When the bar started playing your tunes

I and heard your voice, above all the noise

There was nothing that I could do 

Love turns to smoke

Dreams turn to dust but that old melody’s just the same

My heart still burns, my stomach still turns

When I hear the songs of an old flame

I use to cry when I heard your name

I used to beat myself up 

For caring too much, my weakness and such

For losing myself in the game 

So I built a castle from ashes

Yeah I made myself queen of my life 

These stone walls are strong and they won’t come alight 

But your songs still burn through the night 

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman

Rachel Baiman: Lead Vocal, Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar 

Riley Calcagno: Banjo 

Ashleigh Caudill: Bass

Miles Miller: Drums, BGVs 

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar, BGVs 

Tristan Scroggins: Mandolin 

10. Ways of the World 

Honey you’re as pure as glass

And I can see I’ve made a crack 

In the way you’d like your world to be

So put your troubles all on me 

There are things that I have said and done

Things that I am not proud of 

You, my dear, have just begun

So let me shield you in my love 

Chorus: 

Ooh, ooh, ooh, 

Oh the ways of the world 

Ooh, ooh, ooh, 

Oh the ways of the world 

Will break your heart 

There are places that you will go

Foreign lands that I will never know

And you will slay a million beasts

And your troubles they will never cease

Now you’re laying in my arms

Nothing here can do you harm

It’s the way I’d like your world to be

So put your troubles all on me 

Credits: 

Written by Rachel Baiman 

Rachel Baiman: Acoustic guitar, Lead Vocal

Riley Calcagno: Acoustic Guitar (lead), BGVs

Josh Oliver: Electric Guitar 

THANK YOU to Riley, Sean, Tucker, and Jon for your start-to-finish attention and irreplaceable artistic contributions to the overall project.  Your collaboration, support, and unique voices made this record what it is.  To all of the musicians and writers who contributed their time and talents to these sessions. To Mark Howard for the use of his studio and John Hartford’s banjo on “Self Made Man”, and to the Hartford family for allowing me to play with the song.  To my manager Neil Pearson, and agents Jesse Dunn and Mark Anstey, for your guidance and endless hard work.  To Signature Sounds Recordings; Jim Olsen, Kelsey O’Brien, Flora Reed, and Jared Libby for your support of art at this time of financial impossibility.  To Natia Cinco, Clarence Jernigan, and Anna Jane Lester for artistic direction, photography, makeup, creative inspiration, and friendship.  To George Jackson, the most patient sounding board for ideas and frustrations, and to my family for instilling in me both my hatred of capitalism and hope for a better future.