counting the moon

by timothy john weber

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Stuart Woodham
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1.
invocation 00:47
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2.
thank you note 02:27
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3.
company picnic 07:52
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4.
holy water 06:53
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5.
miso 02:06
lyrics
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shinshu honzukuri miso shiro i was eating a miso-mustard sandwich (my favorite), and reading the box it came in (the miso). it was written in japanese (phonetic), which i can’t read (pathetic), so all i know are the words my pronunciation may be awful, and i expect it is, ’cause all i know of Japanese i learned from menus and cookbooks.
6.
the potato waltz 02:39
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7.
as it must be 05:58
lyrics
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all is as it must be as it must be this moment for you seeds sprout when warm rains come reach for the sun winter before spring wait it out hopes rise and hopes are dashed this, too, shall pass and passing, becomes you clear your eyes friends meet and friends move on none stays for long all will meet again love them now all of your joy, all of your pain wheels within wheels, again and again you never learn the same lesson twice dry your eyes you are loved peace is in you
8.
freaks like us 07:08
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9.
interlude i 01:24
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10.
interlude ii 00:52
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11.
fatherless child 05:12
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12.
my lord of rain 04:33
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13.
o kali 04:24
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14.
we are one 03:14
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15.
leaving home 14:04
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16.
counting the moon 04:56
lyrics
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A short time ago, a guru was speaking with a student. She said, “Count your breaths.” The student said, “But there are so many, I’ll lose count.” The guru said, “Okay. “Count the moon then.” The student said, “But there’s only one moon.” The guru said, “Oh, is there?” The student said, “Yeah.” The guru said, “Okay.” “Then when you finish, start over.” so… i’m sitting here counting the moon: one moon and one maple tree. i’m just sitting here counting the moon. if you want to help out, come sit by me. i’ve seen new york’s colors in october. i’ve had carolinan hotcakes with pecans (no: pecahns). i rode a pony in the black hills, and i’ve felt the desert sun; there’s still no place i’d rather be than where i am. so i’ll just keep on sitting here… i’ll keep on sitting here… you may wonder if it’s kind of boring, going back to zero every time i get to one. go ask the maple tree, she’ll tell you: no two ones are quite the same, and every moment, here and now has just begun. so i keep on sitting here… i keep on sitting here… i’ve got a Red Delicious apple in my pocket, that i picked this afternoon, right from the tree. it says, “i’m so crisp and juicy! “eat me, right down to my core!” i may do that, later on. we’ll see. they say variety’s the spice of life, and i agree. i think i’ve got quite a bit. sometimes i sit and count the moon; sometimes i sit and count the tree; other times… i just sit. right now, i’m sitting here… and i think i’ll keep on sitting here… i’ll just keep on sitting here… i’ll keep on sitting here… if you want to help out, come sit by me. i sure would love your company. come over here, sit right by me.
17.
conclusion 01:17
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about

A double album, dancing between the material world and the inner experience.

I wrote these songs between 1989 and 1992. That encompassed my last years of college and first years out in the world - and it wasn’t an easy time just then. Big themes are how to fit into the world, pain and love, and spiritual transcendence.

The cassette is bookended by “invocation” and “conclusion,” and two “interludes” straddle the side flip. Also, instead of having a “side one” and “side two,” it has an “outside” and an “inside” (in that order).

Some highlights are “miso,” an a cappella song featuring heavy breathing, chest pounding, and lyrics from the back of a condiment package; "leaving home," an extended instrumental meditation on growth and family; and the title track, a happy ode to sitting still.

This was the first album I had commercially duplicated. I don’t remember how many there were in that run - maybe two or three hundred?

Andrew Rappaport engineered nearly all these songs in June 1992, on my old Tascam four-track cassette recorder. We had a great time.

The original liner notes:

produced and engineered by timothy weber and andrew rappaport in various homes of the family in the people’s republic of ithaca and elsewhere.

special thanks to susan blanco and lorna bayer, and to long-haired hippie degenerate freaks all over the world.

credits

released December 20, 1992

timothy weber: 12-string, classical, electric, and electric bass guitars, vocals, mandolin, rattle, recorder, harmonica, chest pounding, hand claps, banjo, whistling, bongos, south american flute, leg slapping, ceramic drum, tambourine, and wood block.

babbling by a stream in Etna, New York.

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timothy john weber Ithaca, New York

Timothy has been more or less constantly singing something or other since cassette tapes were new. He still likes it.

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