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All words & music by Joyce Kwon
except Nililiya & Motherless Child — traditional
Collaborative arrangements by Joyce Kwon & Ross Garren
except Motherless Child — a cappella arrangement by Joyce Kwon
Published by Voicekwon Music, ASCAP

Produced by Ross Garren
Recorded & mixed by Keith Armstrong
Recorded November 2017-March 2018 in North Hollywood
Mastered by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound

Album artwork by Gianina Ferreyra
Makeup & hair by Kaz Shimada
Design & layout by ps fairy
Music video by Jon Pears & crew
Additional video by Hee Sung Kim & ps fairy

Thanks also to New Media Rights for legal counsel, Tronvig for helping me convey my artistic vision, Sun Yeo Art for design feedback, Molly, Hanni & Eunice for copyediting/feedback, 엄마 for help on Korean lyrics, and supporters on Kickstarter for helping make this new American folk tale of stone soup come true.

Joyce Kwon voice & gayageum
Ross Garren organ, piano, Mellotron, Rhodes, Clavinet, Organelle, Marxophone, glockenspiel, toy piano, Harmonetta & chromatic harmonica
Hitomi Oba tenor, alto & soprano saxophone
Nick DePinna trombone
Brandon Bae acoustic & electric guitar
Erik Kertes electric & upright bass
Gavin Salmon drums & percussion

Track listing:

1. Dream of Home

2. Ruby, 6

3. Nililiya

4. When I’m a Raisin

5. Song of Platitude

6. Motherless Child

7. Why-Go-Round

8. Little Bird

Released December 7, 2018

© 2018 ps fairy records
℗ 2018 Voicekwon Music

*Read about the inspiration and process behind each track on the album by clicking here to the blog*

Lyrics

Dream of Home

Dream of home but don’t go back there
It’s all been packed up, nothing of yours remains

Fragile memories can’t withstand a closer look
Clear through the lens
You might wish you could unsee
Lose the alarming lucidity

Dream of home but don’t go back there
There’s not a place for you, nowhere to lay your head

Recollections don’t hold up when you step back
Connect the dots
You might wish you could erase
All that’s tainted your naivety

So let it live on in precious reminiscing
뒤를 돌아보지 마요 (Don’t look back)
A source of strength, a sense of belonging
앞으로만 봐요 (Only look ahead)
Let home stay home so you can go forward

So dream of home but don’t go back there
Hold it near inside, keep it safe, keep it dear

Dream of home but don’t go back there
Hold it near inside, keep it safe, keep it yours

Ruby, 6

Could I find my way back home?
Would you welcome me back in?
Will I recognize the place?
Has it all been rearranged?
I’m ready to go home now but I can’t seem to find my way

I’ve traveled ’round deep in the woods
In buildings that scrape the sky
By salty shallow waters
But they weren’t home—they weren’t you
And the farther I got away
The more I understood the girl wearing ruby shoes
But no matter how I try and click my heels
I can’t get back

Could I find my way back home?
Would you welcome me back in?
Will I recognize the place?
Has it all been rearranged?
I’m ready to go home now
but I can’t seem to find my way

I’ve traveled ’round deep in the woods
In buildings that scrape the sky
By salty shallow waters
But they weren’t home

And there’s no place like home
No, no place like home

Nililiya

Korean traditional
Verses translated to English by Joyce Kwon

Light the lanterns, set the table
Your long-lost love will return, time to celebrate
Nililiya

늴리리야 늴리리야 니나노 난실로 내가 돌아간다
늴리리야

Days have gone by, the moon doesn’t lie
When will we meet again, never to part?

Nililiya
늴리리야 늴리리야 니나노 난실로 내가 돌아간다

Young yesterday, graying today
What can you do? What can you say?
Nililiya

늴리리야 늴리리야 니나노 난실로 내가 돌아간다
늴리리야

늴리리야 늴리리야 니나노 난실로 내가 돌아간다

When I’m a Raisin

Someone gave me some advice
“Stay out of the sun or you’ll get wrinkles”
It’s too late for that, that’s not what’s for me

When I’m a raisin, I’ll say I dared to look into the sun
That I let myself be blinded by its glow

When I’m a raisin, I’d like to say I have no regrets
That I lived and loved fully
Let my heart swell and shatter again and again

I won’t let myself spoil with delusions of self-preservation
Life is for living, the sun for shining, I’m for thriving

When I’m a raisin, I won’t be sad
I’ll have lived my life out in the sun
And be prepared to go into the light

Song of Platitude

They say that time heals all things
But it’s no use while you’re stuck in time
You say you’re fine that you’ll be alright
Going through the motions like a mime

You don’t want to cry so you sing
You feel like you’ll die so you ring a friend who says—

They say that time heals all things
But what’s the use when you’re stuck in time?
You say you’re fine that you’re moving on
Going through the motions like a mime

You don’t want to cry so you sing
You feel like you’ll die so you ring a friend—
Don’t cry! Won’t you sing?
Though you can’t help but sigh as you cling to what you’ve left

They say that time heals all things
But you won’t be whole till you’re out of time
Everything happens for a reason
But you can find no reason or rhyme

Motherless Child

American traditional
Korean lyrics by Joyce’s mom, additional English lyrics by Joyce Kwon
Korean ad libs based on the Korean Liberation Day song lyrics by Jung In-bo

가련하다 갈곳잃은 우리 (Pitiful are we who’ve lost our way)
서글프다 나라없는 우리 (Sad are we the nationless)
비통하다 자유없는 우리 (Sorrowful are we stripped of freedom)
돌아갈길 잊어버렸나? (Have we forgotten the way back?)
너무 멀리 가버렸나? (Have we gone too far?)

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home, a long ways from home

True believer | I do believe
True believer | We’ll find our way home
True believer | When the heavens cry out
Heavenly land, true believer | 흙 다시 만져보자
True believer | We will rise up, rise up and take back our land
Motherless child | 바닷물은 언제 춤을 출까?

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
바닷물은 언제 춤을 출까? (When will the ocean rise to dance?)
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
흙 다시 만져보자 (Let us touch the soil again)
A long ways from home, a long ways from home

Such a long, long ways from home

Why-Go-Round

It’s time to let go and move on, you’ve held on for too long
It’s time to let go and be free, forget what just won’t be

And run away to a place where you can be—just be
Far away from the stale air of a room closing in
Out in a world without walls

It’s time to let go and move on, you’ve held on for too long
It’s time to let go and be free, forget what just won’t be

And run away to a place where you can be—just be
Far away from the stale air of a room closing in
Out in a world without walls

It’s time to let go and move on, you’ve held on for too long
It’s time to let go and be free, forget what just won’t be

You deserve to be happy, you deserve to be free
You deserve to be happy

Little Bird

Little bird, little bird
What have you come home to find?
Sweet memories lingering in the breeze
In fields of foxtail, tall and lithe

Little bird, little bird
Flying ‘cross an endless sky
In reverie, you forget the things
That made you leave in search of life

(Korean bird calls quoted from the folk song Saetaryeong)
쑥국 쑥국 쑥쑥국 쑥국
쑥국 쑥국 쑥쑥국 쑥국

Oh, I hear your song
Longing for a time gone by
Clear melodies, above the trees
As you sing of hope and fly

“Little Bird” lyric translations in 한글, Tiếng Việt, 日本語, 中文, Yoruba, עברית, Hrvatski, русский язык, Français, Português, and Español available by clicking here.

In memory of 미야이모, 솔 and my gayageum teacher 고순옥 선생님