Get all 5 Oakes & Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Holy Moment EP, Between the Earth and the Sky, Evergreen, First Flight, and The School Session.
1. |
Once
04:45
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Once, my life was like a dream
I remember when there was a time
I felt so free inside
Free and alive
When I held my eyes up
To the sky
For once in my life
O, once upon a time
Inventing in the everyday
In a fantasy I would live in like a play
I went my own way
I never listened whenever they would say
Once the story ends, a normal life begins
Imaginary friends are fading in the wind
You're too old to go on believing in a dream
Now's the time to open up your eyes & see
But when we were small
They taught us to dream all
These dreams of
Joy and laughter
In rhythms and rhyme
Like happily ever after
And once upon a time
And now it's time to choose
Whether to live or lose
These dreams of
Joy and laughter
In rhythm and rhyme
Like happily ever after
And once upon a time
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2. |
Factory Girl
03:54
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As I went out walking
One fine summer morning
The birds in the bushes
Did whistle and sing
The lads and the lassies
In couples were courtin'
Going back to the factory
Their work to be done
He spied one among them
She was fairer than many
Her cheek like the red rose
That bloomed in the spring
Her hair like the lily
That grows in yon valley
She was only a hard-working
Factory girl
He sets up beside her
More closely to view her
She says, "My young man
No don't stir me so
I have gold in my pocket
And silver as well
No more will I answer
That factory call"
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3. |
You Beside Me
04:21
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I wake with you beside me
Still sleeping silently
I watch the light flow in
And fall upon your skin
I brush my fingers gently through your hair
And the breeze blows through the window
And I feel you head to toe
And the cloud-bed of your skin
Begins to pull me in
And makes me want to sleep inside of you
You wake up
Your knowing eyes open
And take me in naked
And I can't hide
And with you beside me
I don't want to hide anymore
Inside this soft, warm, sunlit womb
I let my love surround you
I feel it all around the room
I lay down, lost & found with you beside me
I wake with you beside me
Sleeping contentedly
With my head upon your chest, I lay
And listen to your breath, as day
Is drifting through the curtain like a cloud
And I watch as you lay dreaming
And I hear the sparrows sing
And it makes me feel so sure
So safe and so secure
Waking with my arms surrounding you
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4. |
Oceans Apart
04:53
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Love used to be
As easy as holding a hand
I knew that you could understand
Nothing was spoken
Yet something was open in me
But now it's all changed
The distance is starting to show
There's more in my heart than you know
We're both on our islands
And silently drifting away
We are oceans apart
And I am trying to swim to you
Come drain this waterlogged heart
Please, I'm trying to talk to you
I went out to sea
And landed on far, foreign sands
Strange faces in faraway lands
Speaking a language
No on back home understands
We are oceans apart ...
Just because my horizons are expanding
Doesn't mean I'm abandoning you
It's different but each day that passes,
I feel more at home here
Feeling somehow I belong
I wish I could bring you along
And show you how strong I've become
Exploring out here on my own
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5. |
Before Dawn
05:33
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I'm up before dawn
Waiting for the sun
To shine through the trees
I feel like I'm the only one
Awake in this world
Of grey mist and green leaves
And I feel at home
It feels good to be alone
Morning mist on the water
Stillness and a chill in the air
As all life, awakening everywhere
Anticipates the morning light
It's not quite day, not quite night
I'm up before dawn ...
Standing still in the silence
Opening like an underground seed
Trusting in nothing but a mystery
I open to receive the light
It's not quite day, not quite night
I'm up before dawn ...
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6. |
Hold On To Your Dream
04:23
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When no one is listening
Although you shout
And no one can understand
A single thing that comes out of your mouth
When no one can see you
For what you are
And no one has the vision
To see what you’re trying to become
They will try to pull it all to pieces
Make you think you're crazy
Don’t go down so easy
You know there’s a reason
To hold on to your dream
Hold it up like a lamplight
Through the pain of this hard-earned birth
Through this rock-hardened earth
You know you're on to something
Something they will not see
But it's your reason for being here
It's your reason to be
So, dreamer, hold on to your dream
They say you'll never get to
What you’ve already found
And everyone will tell you
That you got to get your feet on the ground
But there's a missing insight
Making people go blind
O, they won't slow down and turn around
And look at what they are leaving behind
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7. |
By the Ocean
04:39
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I was young, waiting for the sun
In the morning by the ocean
I would dream, writing poetry
In the early dawn by the sea
Half asleep, a promise to keep
Diving down as deep as the sea
I met myself searching for seashells
The water swelled and then crashed & fell
I would open up down by the ocean
I would wake up from sleep by the sea
As the light-up-the-sky by the rising sun
Would stir up the heart inside me
Sand in hand, drifting on dry land
Washed by waves as I tried to stand
Filled to the full by the cry of gulls
I was pulled inside the tide's lull
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8. |
Poor Wayfaring Stranger
03:48
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I am a poor wayfaring stranger
While journeying through
This world of woe
And there's no sickness, toil, nor danger
In that bright land to which I go
I'm going there to see my father
I'm going there, no more to roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home
I know that dark clouds
Will gather 'round me
I know my way is rough and steep
And the beautiful fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed there vigils keep
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9. |
Being Broken
03:34
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Crack, crack went my heart
And I tripped and fell right through
But I don't mind being broken
Into pieces over you
Crack, crack went the night
And my eyes flew open, awake
I was blinded looking at your face
So close, yet so far from me
In the breaking of the looking glass
I can see the light you see
Crack, crack goes the egg
And a bird flies out sometimes
As we are making all these plans
Against the same life we live
In the breaking of the coming day
We can see the life we love
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10. |
First Flight
03:41
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Going out the only way to know
The way that shows you as you go
Falling freely from a branch above
The singing wind is cold and shrill
I let the wings unfold and fill
With love leading me on
They all warned me what would wait for me
If I left the safety nest
They said it would end in tragedy
But we won’t know until we fall
What it’s like to feel our fragile wings
Begin to beat
Face first, eyes wide
Legs in, head high
Wings up and fly
Getting glimpses of another life
Through the wind-wet in my eyes
I get the guidance of the gravity
I can’t escape the pull of fate
It fills the belly up with weight
As I take a faithful leap
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11. |
Stay True
05:02
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If our parting must be
Please keep safe this keepsake for me
The dream we dreamed
As we lay with love in between
It eases as I see you leave
To know that we go
Soul to soul
Stay true
As I get through without you
Too many things can bring me down
But I think of you
Your truth rooted deep in the ground
Your branches expand in the sky
Reaching and catching the light
And I know that you go
Soul to soul
Stay true
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12. |
When I Woke
04:31
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When I woke this morning
The dawning light was grey
As the night was turning
Into a bright new day
And though I didn’t know then
What this day would bring
I knew it would be new when
I heard the first bird sing
Because she sang...
Yesterday’s done
New day’s begun
Here comes the sun
Wake up, once again the world is young
I walk by the ocean
With my feet met by the tide
And I stare at the horizon
Where the water meets the sky
And it’s amazing what I see there
It’s the future mystery
Who knows what might be there
Endless possibilities
And so I sing...
Yesterday’s done
New day’s begun
Here comes the sun
Wake up, once again the world is young
Younger than yesterday
While under the waves, I fade away
Younger than yesterday
As I watch those waves
Wash those days away
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Oakes & Smith Massachusetts
Robert Oakes and Katherine Smith both hail from musical families and began playing and singing at an early age. They met in 2007 and immediately set to work collaborating on art and music projects. They formed this singing and songwriting duo in early 2010 and started performing in venues throughout the Northeastern US. Currently, they are at work on their debut full-length album. ... more
Oakes & Smith recommends:
Momentous Change
by Justin Hillman
Great songs, great performances, beautifully recorded.
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Soulful songwriter
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Nature, re-mixed.
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