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Hem — Reservoir
Album: Funnel Cloud
Avg rating:
6.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 578









Released: 2006
Length: 3:14
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Late last night I missed my train
I walked back to the car and drove home again
Just outside of Pittsburgh, it's really not that far
Saw a light come shining across the reservoir

The sun in California, it drops right into the sea
I took a couple pictures; they don't mean that much to me
But just outside of Pittsburgh, I saw it from my car
The light shines to the bottom of the reservoir

The starless night come fall around me
Over all we've left undone
I know a light that shines forever
Howsoever we may run

The moon hung on a hillside in eastern Tennessee
With rows of honeysuckle blooming over me
But the iron hills of Pittsburgh, where all my memories are
Gathering light around the reservoir
Comments (60)add comment
Love this band, great stuff for when your in a chill mood. Love to see them live some day but hasn’t worked out yet.
 lily34 wrote:
i'm not a fan of Hem. but i did get stopped by this tune. then i read the comments. she sound nothing at all like joni mitchell, i totally don't get that at all. and i'm not even a huge fan of JM. anyway...best Hem song i've heard. and my bestest friends used a Hem song as their processional at their wedding 4 yrs ago (which changed my life) and i can't even like the song for that reason. wish i could. anyway, this is no joni mitchell.
 

No, it is not Joni Mitchell.  Why compare anyway?  Appreciate them or not but they are not trying to be Joni.
 DownHomeGirl wrote:
"East" Tennessee, not "eastern" Tennessee... it is an East Tennessee thing.  Eastern Pennsylvania.  East Tennessee.  Nobody is going to know what I'm talking about.


Can you explain away colleges like Eastern Illinois University or any other of our Illinois school with cardinal coordinate directions in their name??  

 DownHomeGirl wrote:
"East" Tennessee, not "eastern" Tennessee... it is an East Tennessee thing.  Eastern Pennsylvania.  East Tennessee.  Nobody is going to know what I'm talking about.

 
Artistic license.  The extra syllable is needed so the line comes out the proper length.
ROCK AND ROLL!!!!! m/
I so enjoy Hem's songs, this goes well on a quiet Christmas morning.

 

Since they are from my hood they get extra points from me.

BTW, no Brooklynite who takes themselves seriously sounds like Joni Mitchell {#Wink}


 DownHomeGirl wrote:
"East" Tennessee, not "eastern" Tennessee... it is an East Tennessee thing.  Eastern Pennsylvania.  East Tennessee.  Nobody is going to know what I'm talking about.

 
Just avoid from Iron City, TN.
Had to look to see who was responsible for this vacuous, boring, sappy excuse for a song, and lo and behold: Hem! I have yet to hear anything from this band that passes for good.


really wish these guys would start touring again
 lily34 wrote:
i'm not a fan of Hem. but i did get stopped by this tune. then i read the comments. she sound nothing at all like joni mitchell, i totally don't get that at all. and i'm not even a huge fan of JM. anyway...best Hem song i've heard. and my bestest friends used a Hem song as their processional at their wedding 4 yrs ago (which changed my life) and i can't even like the song for that reason. wish i could. anyway, this is no joni mitchell.

 
gawDAM that's an awesome song comment! i can't decide which non-sequitur to ponder first...{#Drunk}
i'm not a fan of Hem. but i did get stopped by this tune. then i read the comments. she sound nothing at all like joni mitchell, i totally don't get that at all. and i'm not even a huge fan of JM. anyway...best Hem song i've heard. and my bestest friends used a Hem song as their processional at their wedding 4 yrs ago (which changed my life) and i can't even like the song for that reason. wish i could. anyway, this is no joni mitchell.
but only because she mentions pittsburgh.
"East" Tennessee, not "eastern" Tennessee... it is an East Tennessee thing.  Eastern Pennsylvania.  East Tennessee.  Nobody is going to know what I'm talking about.
Another beautiful song that I would never have heard if it wasn't for RP. 
 Cynaera wrote:

Thank you for the background information!  I really am starting to love Hem's music - it suits me when I'm feeling hostile and unreasonable... Brings me back to earth and calms me down. {#Meditate}
 
What's wrong with feeling hostile and unreasonable?

 brander wrote:


Sally Ellyson got the job by sending a tape of her singing (a capella) lullabies. The band had placed an ad in the Village Voice and had just about given up when...

 
Thank you for the background information!  I really am starting to love Hem's music - it suits me when I'm feeling hostile and unreasonable... Brings me back to earth and calms me down. {#Meditate}
A really nice, evocative tune.
Yes, very nice
"The iron hills of Pittsburgh are all my memories are...."

For some reason, I always picture my sister Linda singing this.
Her voice is just amazing. So distinctive, so clear. Wonderful.
 bam23 wrote:

It's really great that you reserve your strong emotions for the things in life that really matter. Or is this your response to many things?
 
:thumbsup:
 CatFitz wrote:
I hate Joni Mitchell - even re-incarnated.
 
It's really great that you reserve your strong emotions for the things in life that really matter. Or is this your response to many things?
 CatFitz wrote:
I hate Joni Mitchell - even re-incarnated.
 
poor u
oh it's not Joni M?
 
I hate Joni Mitchell - even re-incarnated.
 Papernapkin wrote:
Borders on dentist office music.
  Yes, good for the dentist office!!

 CalOF wrote:
I think I'd enjoy that voice even if she were singing the phone book.
 
Eight six seven five three ooh ni eee ine!
Borders on dentist office music.
It's "East Tennessee," not "Eastern Tennessee."
/nitpick

but a nice song otherwise
 jjbix wrote:
WHO IS THE GAL with the sweet voice? Tell me more about HEM!








Hem brings peace and quiet to an otherwise chaotic thursday at work!!
 



Sally Ellyson got the job by sending a tape of her singing (a capella) lullabies. The band had placed an ad in the Village Voice and had just about given up when...

Quite possibly the best song ever about Pittsburgh.  Since John Gorka lost his guitar there, anyway.  

 dolfan wrote:
Hem ROCKS!!
 

I saw them in concert in Asheville, NC 2 years ago - and surprisingly, they did break away from the "Hem sound" and really rock out - and Sally was pregnant!.

. . .but I agree that they ROCK . . .even without rocking out.

I am a huge fan after that show.
 auburntigerrich wrote:
Sadly, I find this one to be just a little too country compared to what I've heard of Rabbit Songs on RP. And Rabbit Songs is first on my list of stuff to purchase. Still tasty, but not as tickling or moving.
 

Rabbit Songs has its country-style feel too on a few songs. Enough for me to notice the country-twang-guitar-and-vocals, and comment about it, but not enough for me to discard the disk as "too country".

It's been a long day, if that sentence sounds jumbled (and even if it didn't).

Or the menu at Outback. CalOF wrote:
I think I'd enjoy that voice even if she were singing the phone book.
I think I'd enjoy that voice even if she were singing the phone book.
auburntigerrich wrote:
Sadly, I find this one to be just a little too country compared to what I've heard of Rabbit Songs on RP. And Rabbit Songs is first on my list of stuff to purchase. Still tasty, but not as tickling or moving.
I mostly agree... but I found "Funnel Cloud" to be much better after a few more listens, to the point where it is very moving to me.
jjbix wrote:
WHO IS THE GAL with the sweet voice? Tell me more about HEM! Hem brings peace and quiet to an otherwise chaotic thursday at work!!
See them live! Really!! They only come out west once in a while, but well worth the ticket price.
optimusprime10 wrote:
joni mitchell?
That's what I thought, too!
Gorgeous, as usual.
nice enough but all her songs sound the same to me.
thank you. One of the best benefits of RP!! auburntigerrich wrote:
Here's the band: Sally Ellyson - Vocals Dan Messe - Piano, Glockenspiel, Celeste, Harmony Vocals Steve Curtis - Guitar, Mandolin, Harmony Vocals Gary Maurer - Guitar, Mandolin, Harmonica, Harmony Vocals Bob Hoffnar - Pedal Steel Guitar, Dobro Mark Brotter - Drums, Percussion Heather Zimmerman - Violin George Rush - Bass Dawn Landes - Harmony Vocals, Glockenspiel I read a while back that Sally was discovered shortly after the band had given up looking for a vocalist. What a find, eh? Try "Waltz" on Rabbit Songs.
jjbix wrote:
WHO IS THE GAL with the sweet voice? Tell me more about HEM! Hem brings peace and quiet to an otherwise chaotic thursday at work!!
Here's the band: Sally Ellyson - Vocals Dan Messe - Piano, Glockenspiel, Celeste, Harmony Vocals Steve Curtis - Guitar, Mandolin, Harmony Vocals Gary Maurer - Guitar, Mandolin, Harmonica, Harmony Vocals Bob Hoffnar - Pedal Steel Guitar, Dobro Mark Brotter - Drums, Percussion Heather Zimmerman - Violin George Rush - Bass Dawn Landes - Harmony Vocals, Glockenspiel I read a while back that Sally was discovered shortly after the band had given up looking for a vocalist. What a find, eh? Try "Waltz" on Rabbit Songs.
Hem ROCKS!!
WHO IS THE GAL with the sweet voice? Tell me more about HEM! Hem brings peace and quiet to an otherwise chaotic thursday at work!!
...so nice... I agree that "Rabbit Songs" is best, but there are a few on "Funnel Cloud" that really move me as well.... but nothing as much as "Lazy Eye" or "Half Acre."
BBill's been drummin up a blindin playlist this eveng & tonight. Hem are so good.
rah wrote:
hmmm. very pretty. so far, though, nothing has quite measured the beauty of Rabbit Songs as far as I'm concerned.
Yup...
Sadly, I find this one to be just a little too country compared to what I've heard of Rabbit Songs on RP. And Rabbit Songs is first on my list of stuff to purchase. Still tasty, but not as tickling or moving.
Provisionally a 7. Maybe next time an 8 or a 2.... the jury is still out.
joni mitchell?
I like this.
I like Hem.
Good to hear something that hasn't yet been co-opted for a Liberty Mutual commercial.
hmmm. very pretty. so far, though, nothing has quite measured the beauty of Rabbit Songs as far as I'm concerned.
Bad_Art wrote:
Does someone know if this is a cover? Something about it rings a bell ...
No. This is a Hem original.
Me likes me some Hem. Deys so good!
Does someone know if this is a cover? Something about it rings a bell ...
mmmmmmmmmm, yummy, new Hem.