The Avett Brothers have released a new video for “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” from the band’s latest album I And Love And You. It’s a spare but stunning work of art, featuring the animated paintings of Jason Ryan Mitcham. The video shows the rise, fall and inevitable decay of rampant urban development.
“Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise” was written about the temporary nature of our buildings and our mentality,” says Scott Avett. “Accepting the temporary state we may be in. (Artist) Jason (Ryan Mitcham) with his landscape paintings, and some that I’d seen that he’d animated, dealt with the temporary nature of the world around us.”
I’ve been waiting for this album for some time! Along with the release of Mumford and Sons new album, this fall is certain to make your ears fall in love, perhaps for the first time, or all over again. This release came at a good time for me: I believe we get what we need, when we need it, and we bleed because we’re human, don’t be defeated.
It is a very subdued listen: generally their albums alternate from a slow song to an upbeat, get you on dancing on your feet track. This is their first album to break that pattern. I’m not sure how I feel about it quite yet. With the theme of mortality running deep in The Carpenter, perhaps this album reflects their progress as human beings, Christians, musicians… what they have learned and come to reflect back over. It sounds like they are settling down, but I am certain they will be back to their head banging, grass folk, rocking ways before long.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with the Michigan love on this latest album. Starting with “The Once and Future Carpenter”, “I’m not from Detroit but her diesel engine carries me,” to the track “Pretty Girl From Michigan” in their classic “Pretty Girl From’ mantra.
Interestingly enough, their father, Jim Avett, has launched his musical career under the name, Jim Avett and Family.
I ain’t from Texas, but I made my way from Dallas And I know the lonesome sound is following I ain’t a gambler, but I can recognize a hand And when to hold, when the queens are staring back at me Once I was a carpenter, man my hands were calloused I could swing a metal mallet sure and straight But I took to the highway, a poet young and hungry And I left the timbers where they lay Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me And when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky And when the black cloak drags upon the ground I’ll be ready to surrender, and remember Well we’re all in this together If I live the life I’m given, I wont be scared to die
And I don’t come from Detroit, but her diesel motors pull me And I followed till I finally lost my way And now I spend my days in search of a woman we called purpose And if I ever pass back through here town I’ll stay
I will move like the world that turns beneath me And when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky And when the black cloak drags upon the ground I’ll be ready to surrender, and remember Well we’re all in this together If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die
And my life is but a coin, pulled from an empty pocket Dropped into a slot with dreams of sevens close behind And hope and fear go with it, and moon and the sun go spinning Like the numbers and fruits before my eyes Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me And when I lose my direction I’ll look up to the sky And when the black cloak drags upon the ground I’ll be ready to surrender, and remember Well we’re all in this together If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die
New song “The Once and Future Carpenter” from The Avett Brothers played on CMT Unplugged. I do not own the rights to this video and performance, all rights belong to CMT. I’m just uploading this video to promote the new song and the whole CMT Unplugged session.
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected Decide what to be and go be it
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There’s a darkness upon you that’s flooded in light
And in the fine print they tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
Good Signs are a simple sign of hope. We will use Good Signs to inspire light in loom of darkness, love in the place of fear, and community to combat disunity. Good Signs inspire Peace, Love and Happiness by making civil duty “cool” a way of life. Below will you find a Good Sign that we are offering as a profile picture on Facebook. If you’d like to be part of the solution and put the community of the world before the community of one, join our efforts to open the eyes of the heart and commit to a better way.
She keeps it simple
And I am thankful for her kind of lovin’
Avett Brothers Advocates of Detroit, The Lawn @ White Snake State Park, IN
‘Cause it’s simple
No longer do we wonder if we’re together
We’re way past that
And I’ve already asked her
So in January we’re gettin’ married
She’s talkin’ to me with her voice
Down so low I barely hear her
But I know what she’s sayin’
I understand because my heart and hers are the same
And in January we’re gettin’ married
And I was sick with heartache
And she was sick like Audrey Hepburn when I met her
But we would both surrender
True love is not the kind of thing you should turn down
Don’t ever turn it down
No longer does it matter what circumstances we were born in
She knows which birds are singin’
And the names of the trees where they’re performin’ in the mornin
And in January we’re gettin’ married
Come January let’s get married