Untitled - Peirson Ross

“I don’t need to tell you what you already know. You make your own rules. Only you could choose this road”.
- Peirson Ross McLean, Wild Ones
Wild Ones
“We need the tonic of wildness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and
unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature...
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.”
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
Yes, wildness is a tonic, and yes, we all could use more of the mental quietude the natural world offers. But Thoreau’s idea that the tonic of wildness is
akin to time in the wilderness is so ... conventional. The word “Wildness” conjures up ideals that embody the opposite of convention: unregulated, unrestrained, passionate, off the tracks. Marlon Brando in the Wild One, “what’re you rebelling against Johnny? “What have you got?” Jack Kerouac’s mad
ones, “mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time,” burning like “roman candles” and “exploding like spiders
across the stars”. Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey Moonshine. Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes mixed with gunpowder, fired out of a cannon.
We need the juxtaposition of the Tame to appreciate the gloriousness of the Wild. Take baseball for instance, a sport of time-honoured customs and
traditions in which some professional teams ban facial hair and require regular haircuts. Dock Ellis was a 1970s pitcher most famed for throwing a
no-hitter on LSD. Wild, sure, but when I think of something that embodies all aspects of Wildness, I think of a game Ellis pitched against the Cincinnati
Reds in 1974. Ellis perceived that the Reds had showed his Pittsburgh Pirates a lack of respect and told his teammates before their next game, “we’re
going to get down! We’re going to do the do.” If the Pirates didn’t know what Ellis meant, they quickly found out when he tried to hit Pete Rose during
warm-ups while Rose stood in the on-deck circle. Ellis hit Rose with his third pitch of the game. Then he hit Joe Morgan; and then Dan Driessen. Tony
Perez avoided four pitches at his head and body, drawing a walk and forcing in a run. After two pitches sailed by Johnny Bench’s head, Ellis’s manager
removed him from the game. Ellis subsequently took to wearing hair curlers before starts to buttress his afro.
We need the tonic of wildness because, whatever form it takes, natural or behavioural, wildness enriches our lives. We’re often too busy with families
or school or workaday lives to get down to the essence of who we are at our wild cores, to stop and ponder the human condition. When asked, most
of us can’t distill life’s meaning into simple words, but we know it when we see, feel or hear it. Perhaps it’s trite to say that we all experience love and
loss, but there’s nothing trite about the depth of emotions that accompany such happenings. And when a piece of music speaks to us in those moments, it can be nothing short of transcendent - spirits soar, darkness lifts. Listen to the songs herein closely, as Peirson’s music, lyrically and sonically
speaks to the human condition, of love, of loss, and of life. It’s soul music, not in the Motown sense, but metaphysically. Listen, get down, do the do,
and live and love wildly.
- Jamie Bliss is a freelance writer who lives in Nelson, British Columbia
daylight in the shade
Old soul wrapped in sorrow
Has your sunshine come and gone?
May your daydreams of tomorrow
Keep you sheltered from the storm
Then somewhere we must have been
In a tunnel we can’t see
I feel the light come shining in
Now it’s shining down on me
Cause there’s daylight in this darkness
Daylight in the shade
There’s daylight in our troubles and in our hearts of pain
Daylight in our worry, daylight when we stray
Daylight blessed daylight in the shade
When you started playing Judas
We could hardly keep from crying
I just thought of Old Teresa
And her home life with the dying
Oh it pays to follow your heart
When your lightness weighs a ton
Until your sky is blown apart
In the house of the rising sun
Cause there’s daylight in the darkness
Daylight in the shade
Daylight in our toubles and in our clouds of rain
Daylight in our worry, daylight when we stray
Daylight blessed daylight in the shade
Daylight, daylight... please don’t fade
Away (In the shade)
north star
Soft and yellow light
The moon
Glowing through the night
Your pale light skin
Whisper of the leaves
The shhhh
Blowing through the night
Your frail white grin
You light my dark
You are my North star
Sharp and brighter light
The sun
Shining through the day
Your heart-felt mind
Calling of the loons
On glass water
Ripple of the moon
Your soul just shines
I feel like I can swim way out
Just because you’re looking out for me
And the further that I go from shore
I really couldn’t ask for more to be
I am free
You light my dark
You are my North star
outta my mind
I used to think then that time wouldn’t end
Til the day that you left me behind
But it’s plain to see that it wasn’t up to me
Now I can’t get you outta my mind
Remember when we believed that by speaking we could cope
And conquer the worst of our fears
Til the words we never spoke turned the silence to cold
What’s the point in holding back these tears?
Cause I can’t get you outta my mind
No matter how hard I’ve been tryin’
I’m just tryin’ to shake this dumb stage fright
But I can’t get you outta my mind
Maybe it’s the weather or the black raven’s feather
That could make all the difference this time?
And I’ll hold my breath for as long as it takes
Or at least til I sleep through the night
And if it’s no then I’ll go and count all the ways
I could change all my days into night
I’ll caw with the crows at all the big shows
But I’m not gonna give up the fight
Cause I can’t get you outta my mind
Every time I see the moon I think it’s a sign
Like the spirit you believed in who’s watching all the time
I just can’t get you outta my mind
I’m not looking for an answer or the reason why
I just can’t get you outta my mind
the year that winter never came
Quiet still life of the fire burning our malaise
Secrets we keep safe just come out anyway
Hibernation healthy absence in our slower days
You came out a silver splinter when winter never came
Like the sun shining through the rain
A message from the lonesome whooping crane
Strange and early comes the springtime like our first mistake
Loving in our secret dwelling our sacremental place
I thought I lost you with the spirit deep inside the cave
The year my silver splinter came out when winter never came
But now I’m just so glad to see you again
Coming out again
Like the sun shining through the haze
A message from the pining whooping crane
Quiet still life of the fire burning our malaise
Secrets we keep safe just come out anyway
Hibernation soul revival in our slower days
You came out my silver splinter
The year that winter never came
bird & bee
You and me
Me and you
Where do we go
When all the dreaming’s through
Do you believe in a light above
Or did you say we’re falling out of Love?
It’s a living but not the living we dreamed of
I don’t grow fonder
I just miss your human touch
Me and you
Bird and bee
If I let you go would you fly back to me
If all you have is your love of love
Would you leave when the pushing comes to shove
Love’s not loving the stupid cupid we dreamed of
I don’t stronger
I just miss your human touch
It’s a living but not the living we dreamed up
I don’t grow fonder
I just miss your human touch
I don’t grow stronger
I just miss your human touch
Me and you
Bird and bee
If I let you go would you fly back to me?
no other way
I loved you like the one, the one I never had
I said I didn’t need
Now far from home I run to a place where I’m alone
With a thousand hearts that bleed
Now I hardly see the sun and I’m missing you like mad
As the moon shines over me
If I found out you were gone I’d give up all I had
There’d be nothing left to need
I’m gonna hold you babe and I won’t let you go
I love no other way I just need to let you know
You said that I should go like the bird that you set free
Singing songs out on the road
So I’m living for the show but now this teenage dream
It seems it’s getting old
I’m still working hard but I’m hardly working smart
Been out here way too long
Without your shining eyes will I ever find
The place where I belong
I’m gonna hold you babe and I won’t let you go
I love no other way and I need to let you know
I’m gonna hold you close and I’m not letting go
I love no other way and I need to let you know
I love no other way
And I need to let you know
There’s no other way
dream
Lay me down
On the blue ocean floor
Where there’s noone else around
You can hear that silence roar
And dream
Of a world you can hear
In a song you can sing
And hold on to it dear
And I’ll see you in your dreams
Weigh me down
With the heavy stones of love
And pin me to the ground
Until the spirits lift me up
And dream
hymn for the insomniacs of the world
Instrumental
anyone
She said call me if you need a place to stay in Spain
No really call me if you need to get away from the pain
It will all go to waste if you keep up this pace
Will you never feel the same?
Said you want to erase all the vows that you break
Will they ever mean a thing?
Did you know I’d follow you into the dark
Yes I’d follow you anywhere
And if you don’t feel the spark
Then I might as well go
So call me if you need a place to stay in Canada - Oh Canada!
No really call me if you need to get away from the same old place
Oh what a waste I’ve been losing my taste will I never find the one?
I don’t want to erase all the dreams that we made
Could you ever be my one and only one?
Who follows me into the dark
Would you follow me anywhere?
And if you don’t feel the spark
Then I might as well go
Go away for a long while and never speak with you again
Seems you’re looking for a stranger kind of love
Anyway, anyhow, anyone
Anyone!?
after the fall
Don’t worry child
There are just a few more miles for us to go
Before we go down this road
Don’t worry child
It’s just the wild calling
Not everyone hears their call
Most get caught up and trip over falling
But you’ll get back up after the fall
It’s not the lightening above you
You just heard the thunder
Of every echo that becomes you
That won’t break the spell you’re under
Until you see beyond the shadows
That have chained you to that number
There’s no lightening above you
You just heard the thunder
So don’t worry child
It’s just the wild calling
Not everyone hears their call
Most get caught up and trip over falling
But you’ll get back up after the fall
Don’t worry child
There are just a few more miles
Before we can go back home
wild ones
I don’t need to tell you
What you already know
You make your own rules
Only you could choose this road
This is for the wild
This is for the wild ones
I’m not going to show you
What you’ve already seen
The damage in the Heartland
Or the killing machines
This is for the wild, this for the wild
This for the wild
This is for the wild ones
This is not the holy scripture
This is not the new commercial
This is not the competition
This is not the computer speaking
This is not a euphemism
This is not apathy or superstition
This is for the wild
This is for the wild ones
change
I always end up in this place, dreaming that I’d see her face
One more time, just one more taste, I tell myself it’s not too late
To change
Our impressions that we made once we forgave how we behaved
In yesterday’s mascarade, it’s funny strange how time can fade
Like all our golden escapades, our wanderlust with no restraint
The only constant in those days was giving way to our next change
Like songs of old that kept us young, much younger than everyone, an old soul never really has an age
When newness is your only friend, oh tell me how, when will it end, can’t you see that this is not a phase
It’s our age of change.
On the black walls with white chalk we organized our crazy thoughts
We wrote to do lists and then we’d talk about the lists of what to do not
On our skin with oil paint against the canvas that we hanged
On the wall your imprint stayed the praying mantis you became
My teacher of the little things, how every little one is great
How love and hate are both the same, I loved you more than anything
Like songs of old that kept us young, much younger than everyone, an old soul never really has an age
If lightness is our only friend, our heavy days may never end, can’t you see that this is not a phase!
It’s our age of change
I agreed right from the start that this was all just for the art
Of living just the way we are, tending to the garden
With our hearts and bodies twisted ‘round, our mortal parts together found
Everything we dreamed is in this massive little circle spinning ‘round and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round
All redemption songs we made to sing tomorrow like today
Giving everything away, loving wholly, unafraid of change
seraphine
Sheppardess of Sacred Heart, naive her world was blown apart
Simple nights by harder days knew a child named Seraphine
Oh the child who could be saved
Dates and times of births and deaths, no job could hold her interest
Paint by candles lite her way, the urge preserved the memory
Of a child who could be saved
Holy child named Seraphine
Of all the pages meant for you, she couldn’t mail the letter through
Ill-prepared to win the Great Depression took the memory
Of the child who dreams to play
Holy child named Seraphine
Dreams of children calling out without a fear there’d be no doubt
No matter how many times we change
As long as that’s the one sure thing
In a child who makes your day
For the wild in Seraphine
Hear the child who could be saved
Holy child named Seraphine
time
I’ve been standing right here listening to you
But I can’t seem to hear you at all
To hell with this fear and the laziness too
If we stay in this scene you know we’re bound to fall
It’s about time
You’re sitting right there looking at me
But I can’t seem to see you at all
I’m missing your love and your craziness too
Won’t you turn off that screen and break down your wall
It’s about time
It’s time to tell her
It’s time to show him
It’s time to wave goodbye
No el effecto espiritu
Look them in the eyes
It’s time hold on
It’s time to let go
It’s time to ring the bell
It’s time to make peace
It’s time to stop hate
It’s time to love her well
It’s time
It’s about time
highline
Riding Westward on horseback waving your red flag
On the High Line railway all my riches turned to rags
When you left me without a sign
On the High Line it’s a fine line
Between a B-line and a first goodbye
With your new eyes on Swann’s Way reading out your truths
Too familiar and intimate just two souls in their youth
Then I crossed you at a bad time
On the High Line it’s such a fine line
Between a green light and a caution sign
So high above the ground
The finest details can’t be found
On the High Line it’s such a fine line
Between a B-Line and a last goodbye
no place like heaven
One day left to love the world we barely knew
By the Redwood on the stone I’ll be waiting there for you
When there’s no place like Heaven
There’s something in this grey sky with a million shades of blue
Somewhere under the rainbow there’s a colour just for you
When there’s no place like Heaven
Where do you want to go now that we are here
With the spirits in the air or the spirits way down here?
In Heaven
When there’s no place like Heaven
Titans with stolen fire you’ll be scorched by the sun
As the wild North wind blows, it cries out to noone
None but Gaia who left you here on this mountain high alone
To find hope in that jar, in her heart is your home
When there’s no place like Heaven
There is no place like home
When there’s no place like heaven
There is no place like Heaven
WILD ONES is a dedication album to wildlife and to those inspired by the “wild” life. The sixteen songs represent sixteen endangered
species that reside in the ten provinces, three territories, and three oceans of Canada.
The project first began in Peirson’s New York apartment in the spring of 2012, where the original analogue recordings were water damaged
by hurricane Sandy. Initially, the songs were meant to act as guide tracks for Peirson’s bandmates but thanks to the encouragement of
a close friend, Peirson agreed to release the songs in their original form.
Armed with scissors, Japanese linen paper, one roll of reflective tape, a portable recording rig and an irrepressible urge to create,
Peirson spent months in solitude re-recording the record while cutting and pasting animal designs on the walls around him.
While Peirson’s designs have a contemporary feel, the source of inspiration was born out of an older, more traditional form of handmade
art. These reminders of home were created through reimagining the natural world in a small urban workspace.
“If you can’t return home or get back to nature when you’re away, why not bring the beauty of its memory to wherever you are?
This work out of the imagination and the daily rituals associated with channelling the wild, have been a challenging discipline but a
necessary focus in order to see, hear and feel this beauty from a distance. WILD ONES is an artistic manifestation of this”.
Although this is Peirson’s sixth studio album, it is his first self-produced work to date and his first attempt at playing 20+ instruments
including; cello, guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, dramnyen (Tibetan guitar), banjo, lap steel slide, melodica,
lutes, bass recorder, piano, bells, baritone ukulele, jaw harp, accordion, singing bowl & vocals.
WILD ONES is not only for the endangered species and their natural habitats at risk but also a tribute to the independent thinkers who
have fought to preserve their wild sub-culture, values and essential spirit that was born out of our natural world.
“This is not the holy scripture, this not the new commercial, this is not the competition
This is not the computer speaking, this is not a euphemism, this is not apathy or supersition”
A portion of WILD ONES artwork sales will be donated to the David Suzuki Foundation.
My deepest gratitude...
To all the fiercely independent pioneers who have embraced wildness, the battles you fight to protect it, the brave people who have made
efforts to preserve dying traditions and to the wild ones who reside in these fragile places and head spaces that we call home.
Thanks especially to the friends, loyal fans and family who have tried to understand and accept my unconventional approach to marrying
people, nature, art and song. Your notes of support, love and encouragement have made me a better human being. Without you it is
doubtful whether I would have completed this project and gone out into the wild in the first place.
“This is for the wild ones”