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American Air

by Olivia Kaplan

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about

In the later half of Trump's presidency, I rented a Jeep Cherokee and drove up to Montreal from NYC. Earlier that morning, the world learned that the songwriter and poet, David Berman had died by suicide.

I drove up the i-87 listening to Silver Jews and Purple Mountains. I passed the American flags, abandoned trucks and trailer parks, and noticed civilization dwindle as I got closer to the Canadian boarder. I daydreamed lucidly about his spirit, the spirit of these old towns, this weird fucking country, our dying planet, etc... I thought about how he might have found a way to put my grim daydreams into words.

It is now 3 years after that drive on which I wrote the first verse of this song. I have lost some of the most important people in my life, one to suicide. I now know how grief unlocks those Didionian ways of thinking and experiencing reality without the ones you've lost. I know more songs will be born from this strange gift and this is just one of them.

lyrics

can you feel it?

the body reaching north

thinning as it goes

thinning as it goes

and the spirit swaying back and forth

saying "believe me or don't...

believe me or don't"

but the mass is going under

whether or not you wonder at all

and i dreamt you there inside the booth

letting the suicidal youth sing you their songs

we tried laughing at the darkness on display

with our heroes on replay

heroes on replay

just tell me i look pretty

in the ashes of the city that I love



saying baby take it in but let it leave your lungs

heaven only knows what your breathing

count your lucky stars, they're falling one by one

in American air.


Tracing tracks that someone left

let a year go by

haven't caught up yet

moments of silence, days of disbelief

adjust to the darkness, it ain't easier to see


saying baby take it in but let it leave your lungs

heaven only knows what your breathing

count your lucky stars, they're falling one by one

in American air.

credits

released February 28, 2023
written and performed by Olivia Kaplan
produced by Gabe Wax
guitar by Greg Uhlmann
bass by Pat Kelly
drums by Sam KS
keys by Ben Alleman
mastered by Ruairi O'Flahtery

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all rights reserved

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about

Olivia Kaplan Los Angeles, California

Olivia Kaplan came to music through the stories and voices of American folk and jazz music that scored her childhood in Southern California. Her own songwriting took shape in the 2000s Los Angeles, listening to Sheryl Crow and Elliot Smith. She has shared the stage with the War on Drugs, Buck Meek, Courtney Marie Andrews, Miya Folick, and Hand
Habits.
... more

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