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From Source to Sea

by Honey and the Sting

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contact What a strange and beautiful album. The style is so distinct and works so well in many moods and mindsets.
Thea
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Thea I listened to Wolf 359 too much, and it shows. "Change of Mind" was my favorite episode that didn't feature HERA. Favorite track: Paradise Valley.
blessthiswes
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blessthiswes I first heard Paradise Valley in Wolf 359. It has since become a staple of my and my friends' listening, and we always belt along to it on long car rides. Absolutely gorgeous song :) Favorite track: Paradise Valley.
Danny Whatley
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Danny Whatley My fiance turned me onto this band when she heard a song featured on Wolf 359. The sound is so unique and cool, I love the whole album! Favorite track: The Mouth.
Alli Pelle
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Alli Pelle I first listened to this song at the end of an episode of Wolf 359 and have literally not taken it off repeat since. It's so soothing and catchy. Favorite track: Paradise Valley.
Kailey Byers
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Kailey Byers When I die I want my ashes to be pressed into a vinyl of this album, not a joke whatsoever. I listen to it daily, these songs feel like coming home. Favorite track: The Source.
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1.
The Source 02:19
ABOUT: Imagine you are sitting at the top of the Connecticut River at the source lakes in New Hampshire. Wash away all your expectations. Listen with an open mind and an open heart. LYRICS: I washed all my things in the river Watched them float on down, down the river Thaw out in the sun - snow and ice melt From source to the sea - flow with freshet Wash away with the spring all the honey and the sting Wash away wash me clean Water runs free and clear Wash away obstacles, fears Wash away to the sea
2.
Disjecta 03:37
ABOUT: "Disjecta” comes from the name of an artist collective in Portland, Oregon. The name means the unfinished pieces of art. This song explores the river not as a constant entity, but a canvas that is continually unfinished. FACT: The ancient glacial lake "Hitchcock" retreated 15,000 years ago and started the Connecticut River. LYRICS: Tributaries carve a path to the mouth Come together like the geese do flowing south Oh, oh Disjecta - unfinished and flawed Ah Disjecta - the river is, the river was Ancient Lake are you proud of the progress your river has made? You retreated Set in motion eleven thousand years of performance art. Unfinished and Flawed Ah Disjecta - the river is, the river was
3.
ABOUT: The Connecticut river is New England's longest river and its tributaries and main flow are complicated by hundreds of dams. Dams are put in place to redirect the flow of the river for human purposes. This song is about the two separate personalities of the river: the beautiful and ever-giving and the treacherous and vengeful. It leaves the listener with hope for a compromise between the people and the river. LYRICS: Take what you want from me I bring it willingly The paradise valley Take what you want from me Soil and food for free The mammals skin for hire Whatever you desire Waves crash on the shore And spill over the lip of the bank As the flood drains swell to the brink I surround the city streets Drown the food you were gonna eat Take away your first born son Watch him float away So you'll have to hold me down Could you just hold me down build the levees higher Could you just hold me down? You’ll have to hold me down Build these levees higher As dams cut off desire Waves crash on the shore And spill over the lip of the bank As the flood drains swell to the brink I surround the city streets Drown the food you were gonna eat Take away your first born son Watch him float away So you’ll have to let me out Could you just let me out? (Let me out) Let me flow with the freshet (Let me out) What is this all about? We have to slow it down (Let me out) Let me flow with the freshet (Let me out) Waves crash on the shores The spring will come with the floods, The warmth, and the early buds In the past I lay out on the land Stretched my legs felt my chest expand If we could flow together someday Then we will float away
4.
ABOUT: The next song “Mary Rowlandson” uses words from "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration" of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. It was so terrifying what she went through and this song attempts to express her fears and her experience in a song. As you listen imagine you're in the woods in 1675 and you are witnessing a Native American raid. Fact: Mary Rowlandson was saved by her husband when he paid King Phillip for her safe return. LYRICS: Oh! the wonderfull power of God that mine eyes have seen, Now when others are sleeping mine eyes are weeping. I have seen the extreme vanity of this World : One hour I have been in health, and wealth, But the next hour in sickness and wounds. For my poor children and I in 1675 were stole away From our home in Lancaster by Indian raiders. I was shot and my babe was done the same as I, Their weapons; they were glittering and I felt myself trembling with fear. So with my spirit and my child I descend on foot to fend for the time into the wilderness. Refrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, For thy work shall be rewarded, And they shall come again From the land of the Enemy Thus nine dayes I went With my moaning wounded child, until she passed away She’s buried up on the hill (her little body resting still) In some unnamed forest. Whither I go, I go mourning all the day long. But God sent me blessing – it’s a torn and tattered bible And it teaches me lessons. So with my spirit and my child I descend on foot to fend for the time into the wilderness. Refrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, For thy work shall be rewarded, And they shall come again From the land of the Enemy
5.
ABOUT: Song for Middletown is a goodbye to the city and the people who we've met over 4 years at Wesleyan Univerisity. It summarizes the transient experience of a Wesleyan student. We have found home in Middletown and as we search for new homes across the country and the world, we know we will always be welcome. LYRICS: He was a wide-eyed captain making rounds on boxes of tobacco She owned a little diner serving sailors cups of Sunday coffee They lived on river paychecks building makeshift homes along the coastline Leaving their widows pacing in the window waiting for their letters Saying find me home Find me home I am a student spending the time to feel the tides in the river Gathering leaves, balconies, and strings in my canopy of colors I made a beautiful mess on top of a sandbox built from slave bones But all eggshell towers are made to crumble And they all came finding hallowed ground here She said hold on to your quiet river cause the trains will be here soon And he melted down the anchors after empty cargo turned to boxcars And she boarded up the diner after Sundays never came We live through passing engines in a Middletown along the highway Reading the sailor’s stories from a bookshelf cut off from the river They used to tie the lines on the moorings and walk across the mainstreet To find their brothers resting every sunset on Indian Hill And they will find me home Find me home There were echoes of ______ There were ghosts on the _____
6.
RT 9 04:29
ABOUT: RT 9 is a road that was built in in the lat 60's that connects I-91 to I-95. Unfortunately, the road runs right along the river and makes it difficult to access for Middletown residents. The song is about development over time and the decline of anadramous fishes (fish that migrate between salt water and fresh water). It parallels the story of love that fades over time and the constant hope of its eventual return. LYRICS: This road follows the river like I have followed you up against the edge opening into the white-capped confused confluence swirling inside. This road it is a cavern I drive down to your mouth. Your mouth ends in an ocean And a bridge that we built out Of secrets no one knows - only you. Will salmon find their homes when they return? The shad run up the river up near Holyoke. The people try with ladders to fix what they have broke. Every year less have come back upstream. Will the salmon find their homes if they return?
7.
The Oxbow 05:47
ABOUT: As the river bends towards its source it sheds unnecessary pieces that don't contribute to the flow anymore. An oxbow lake is a part of the river that is no longer in use. The oxbow in North Hampton, MA is the inspiration for this song. Its a kind of break up song between the river and the oxbow. LYRICS: When I meet with you again, my love, I trust my heart to decide But this wilderness of conifers draws my banks towards the other side And since the time we broke apart I've grown calm and deep and I've grown wide Cause I'm the oxbow 'n you're the river its a 150 years since we aligned Now my U-shaped bend Is cut off from your current You dug me out and I just don't know why At first it was broken back holding birch logs that float down from your source Now my mind is full of lovers holding their hands, kissing in the sun, in paddle boats Their laughter is a wicked trick, their happiness makes me sick But, when I meet with you again my love, our waters will rage and fight and curse. Now my U-shaped bend Is cut off from your current You dug me out and I just don't know why
8.
Mercury 05:34
ABOUT: The song Mercury was made with help from Professor Johan Varekamp at Wesleyan University. The song is about the work he is doing in Wethersfield Cove in Hartford, Connecticut. Using core samples, he found that there is a mercury deposit in the cove. He found that the mercury came from a company called HELCO (Hartford Electric Light Company) that, in the early part of the twentieth century, tried to use a technology that used mercury as the fluid for a steam power plant. The company had to use tons and tons of mercury and there were leaks and possible spills. This song relates the failed and dangerous technology to modern events like the atomic bomb and references to nuclear technology and the Fukushima disaster. LYRICS: Water will speak in whispered tones It carves its words with dripping stones Syllables are bent and slow toxic noxious chemicals are trapped beneath the silty cove for energy and warmer homes where does it go Mercury Written in mud beneath the lake they sowed their wealth with their mistakes innovation laid to waste split the atom turn to dust The earth still bears the memory of the {silver shining} future lost Was it not enough? Mercury For how long?
9.
The Mouth 04:55
ABOUT: A triumphant song for the end of a long journey. LYRICS: I washed all my things in the river Watched them float on down, down the river Thaw out in the sun - snow and ice melt From source to the sea - flow with freshet Wash away with the spring all the honey and the sting Wash away wash me clean Water runs free and clear Wash away obstacles-fears Wash away to the sea

about

We would like to dedicate this to Bonnie Bieder, whose vibrancy and love of the arts shimmers in every note and flows through time like a river.

credits

released September 25, 2012

All songs written by Honey and the Sting

Honey and the Sting is:
Jess Best
Melanie Hsu
Sam Long
Howe Pearson
Gemma Smith

Engineered and produced at Jersville Studio in Woodstock, NY by Jared Paul
Mixed at Headgear in Brooklyn, NY by Jared Paul
Mastered by Peter Humphreys at Masterworks Recording in Willow Grove, PA
Album Art by Anna Mckinsey

FOR BOOKING AND INFO: honeyandthesting at gmail dot com

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Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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Honey and the Sting Middletown, Connecticut

Honey and the Sting is a group formed at Wesleyan University in 2012 and currently based in Philadelphia, PA. The groups first LP "From Source to Sea" is a musical journey along the Connecticut River. The group has continued to perform post-college in festivals and house shows. Honey and the Sting is Sam Long, Mel Hsu, Jess Best, Gemma Smith, and Howe Pearson. ... more

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