We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Higher Ground

from The Day Deserved by Doug Hoekstra

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Eco wallet design by Bob Delevante; includes lyrics, credits, photos

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Day Deserved via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11.99 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • "The Day Deserved" backstory booklet features lyrics and credits, along with extra photos, poetry, and dialogue from Doug Hoekstra on the making of each track. Full color, 10 pages, measuring 6 x 8 ,this was also designed by Bob Delevante in tandem with the CD. Special pre-order - just add $5 to your order for digital download or CD to cover shipping/handling) and will go out with the release. Limited supply
    Purchasable with gift card

      $5 USD or more 

     

about

There’s a small coastal country the middle of the Pacific Ocean called Kirabiti. Highest point is six feet above sea level and in the near future, this nation of 110,000 is likely to be completely swallowed up by rising sea levels caused by climate change. So, the country’s leaders are buying up land in Fiji, higher ground, moving the entire population 75 people at a time, by lottery. Sometimes winning isn't winning. The song is from the perspective of such a winner, an old man, looking back, missing his native land.

This may be the most layered song on the record; it was intended to be a slow burn, with touches of instruments or vocals added as we went, building on the dynamics of the core band. I demoed the songs on this record more thoroughly than usual, because I wanted them to stretch to different places than I would normally take them

Dave went out and got a new Fender Jaguar for these sessions; which you hear in different textures throughout this record. He plays for and records with lots of acts in town, as well his own band, the Coal Men, and you really get a sense of his range in these songs. I played most of the keyboards myself, just simple counterpoints, melodic lines that work around the guitars but provide a different color. On most of them, I used this cheap Yamaha keyboard that’s barely a keyboard, but sometimes that’s the thing that works.

lyrics

Higher Ground

Up above the clouds, brought here to higher ground
The waters began to rise. I left my friends behind

It was my childhood town
Another place and time
The beach kissed the sea
That’s what things were like
I’m a survivor now
They say I’m doing fine
Don’t have much to talk about
When I close my eyes
I see the coral tides

Up above the clouds, brought here to higher ground
The waters began to rise, I left my friends behind,
I left, left my friends behind

It didn’t happen fast
The governor saw it all
Coming into view
Like a dream in a crystal ball
Buying up Fiji land
The temperature getting hot
Running from the past
And what we hadn’t got
As we tied the knot

Up above the clouds, brought here to higher ground
Looking back on life, I made it to 89
I left, left my friends,
I left, I left my friends behind

The fields I used to roam
Are an underwater plain
We danced one more time
In the eye of the hurricane
I won the lottery
Half of us moved away
I can see everything
From this mountain peak
I see love that’s lost
For eternity
In a lottery

Up above the clouds, brought here to higher ground
When I close my eyes, close my eyes,
All I see are these coral tides
Up above the clouds

credits

from The Day Deserved, released April 30, 2021
Chris Benelli – drums, percussion
Dave Coleman – lead guitar, mandolin
Hannah Fairlight - vocals
Doug Hoekstra – electric rhythm guitars, organ, vocals
Paul Slivka – bass

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Doug Hoekstra Nashville, Tennessee

Doug Hoekstra’s singular musical persona sets sympathetic narratives against understated vocals, memorable melodies, and subtle but unexpected arrangement turns. His albums have earned Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, a bevy of top 10 list appearances, and a reputation as a “songwriter’s songwriter” (CMJ Music Monthly). "The Day Deserved" due out Spring 2021 ... more

contact / help

Contact Doug Hoekstra

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Doug Hoekstra, you may also like: