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Keeper of the Word

from The Day Deserved by Doug Hoekstra

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  • 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.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • "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
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about

This song takes place somewhere in England a chance meeting in a bookstore, between patron and clerk, lovers finding solace in words and deed during a tumultuous time. Somewhat reminiscent of Winston and Julia, but different. In this story, love prevails, as they embark on their adventure.

Often, when out gigging, I wander around into charity shops, record shops and bookstores. And, it made me want to pay tribute to those “bookstore girls,” the keepers of the word. But, of course, the song needed greater context and in the end, the keeper of the word could also be me or the narrator. It’s in the story and apart from it and the music shifts to accentuate that and the changing world they are a part of.

This and “Gandy Dancer” were written after the record started, so I was intentional about making them compliment what we already had; this was designed to be a toe-tapper and yet, I still wanted the textures to shift, with the extended chorus/bridge and the outro and the dynamics throughout. In that sense, it was put together like “Late Night Ramble” even though they are completely different songs. Mad props to the band, and Hannah, again, for execution.

lyrics

Keeper of the Word

Somewhere in Soho, the Village Square
Came in from the rain to see what was there
Looking for some Shelley or Keats
Sorry for myself, lonely and beat
Dust on the shelves some kind of proof
Of a world that lost objective truth
The keeper of the word

Cat eye glasses, hair tucked back
Triple pierced ears and a case of tact
A life preserver when you’re lost at sea
A mix of sex and dignity
Secrets bound to tantalize
My weakness is the very wise
The keeper of the word

I ran upstairs to clear the shelves
Everything I wanted and something else, to which I return
The keeper of the word

She rang me up I asked her out for tea
To talk about what I was about to read
She laughed and said I couldn’t be done
But looking to the future was always fun
Autumn was coming we didn’t care
About the revolution in the air
The keeper of the word

Precious and rare like Audubon’s birds, the light the day deserved
To which I return
Keeper of the word

Together we formed a secret code
The good kind of tension about to explode
Stumbling through her one room flat
Like a dirty paperback
The keeper of the word

credits

from The Day Deserved, released April 30, 2021
Chris Benelli – drums percussion, handclaps
Dave Coleman – lead guitar, “Nashville” strung acoustic, handclaps
Hannah Fairlight - vocals
Doug Hoekstra – acoustic guitars, keyboard, xylophone, handclaps, vocals
Paul Slivka – bass

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about

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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

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