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Games We Play

by Jen Schaffer and the Shiners

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  • Streaming + Download

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

    A gorgeous digital booklet comes with the album download, including all the lyrics and artwork and graphic design by Martha Townsend and Tina Sher.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 CAD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This limited pressing of the second Jen Schaffer and the Shiners album on compact disk comes in a four-panel card case with a sixteen-page booklet that includes lyrics. The artwork is done by Canadian contemporary artist Martha Townsend and New York City graphic designer Tina Sher. Music and poetry aside, the packaging for this record is a standalone oeuvre d'art.

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

      $20 CAD or more 

     

1.
Garnet Strand Came upon him head in hand More like refuse than he was man But dusted off the soot and sand Revealed the gem, the garnet strand  Semi-precious Ruby to me… Out of the mine, the sun on skin Escape the discord, drone and din Polish hard, brilliant from bland He'll shine again like a garnet strand Semi-precious Ruby to me… Kept in the dark Dampened the spark Just a passing remark That would never see the light of day But can't be repressed Buffed by distress A defiant progress  Even though she hoped that he'd obey Thought she owned him, soul and all Hers to reject and then recall But unlike jewels modest or grand He'll not be pawned like a garnet strand Semi-precious Ruby to me…
2.
Lament 04:42
Lament Tell me what’s on your mind And I’ll leave it all behind Because the worries can wait, I’ll let them gestate ‘Til they dissolve into a dew, into a dew Ophelia – open up your heart Ophelia – before they tear it apart Tell me the secrets you keep The ones that make you weep In the night while you sleep, as the sandman creeps Into the pool where you lie, pool where you lie Ophelia – open up your heart Ophelia – before you tear it apart The smile upon your face is so full of grace And I ache to believe but cannot conceive That you’re not drowning in their wake Ophelia – open up your heart Ophelia – before I tear it apart How is it your destiny to repeat my history? Is it too late to ebb that tide, get off that ride And just find your pride inside? Tell me it’s in my mind And that I’ll find, that I’ll find That your words are true and you’ll save me too From all my sad and foolish ways, my foolish ways Don’t betray the strength you display Ophelia, Ophelia, Om
3.
Games We Play Can I blow you out like a candles flame? Can the love we have not return again? Can I bring you back if you stray too far away? Can you read my mind can you read my eyes? If I look away will it reveal the lies? Can you banish me and refuse to head my cries? And can we stop this game we play? You go, I stay You shun, I pray But after today who’ll play? Would you turn around would you take my bait? Would you slow right down would you satiate? Would you open wide and receive our tortured fate? And can we stop this game we play… These are thoughts I come to when you tend to roam I cast my net out widely and call you back home I prostrate at your feet then I beat my own retreat When I sense defeat Should I pack my bags and escape the pain? Should I walk right out and my pride maintain? Should I call your bluff having never called your name? And can we stop this game we play…
4.
Gone 04:03
Gone She stepped out in the street as she took off her veil No longer felt the need to save a faith so frail And as the crowds appeared she faded out of view Abandoning her life for hopes of something new She was gone Born to a world that had her fear the other kind Told she’s the chosen one but never taught to shine She came from a stiff-necked crowd, always awkward squads But she alone desired the strength to face down God And be gone If they preach about the coming of the light With torches lit and a heart stone-cold from fright I’ll take darkness over the day I’ll take darkness over the day And be gone and be gone She caught a glimpse one day of liberty sublime And knew her great escape could happen anytime The only thing to do was to ignite a pyre And burn in effigy with a cleansing fire And be gone
5.
Hit The Bottom Quicker And when the spirit breaks you feel the pull Admit there's no escape from limp and lull Gravity magnified by crushed drive As feelings dissipate and darkness thrives You hit the low The bottom down It's quicker than The speed of pound The pound and shock And then remorse You climb aboard That hobbled… horse Can't hold on - but why do you even try to decimate the sky Strength long gone - the fall will purify the truth you try to hide Can't hold on - but why do you even try to decimate the sky Strength long gone You hit the bottom quicker You'll split the lip that bit ya And all your vain pretence Will reel from no defence You hit the bottom quicker You split the lip that quit ya And all your strained pretence Will keel from weight immense You hit the low The bottom down It's quicker than The speed of pound The pound and shock And then remorse You climb aboard That hobbled… horse Can't hold on… You hit the bottom quicker You split the lip that bit ya You hit the bottom quicker Ooh Ooh..
6.
Jerusalem Fields She sat in bed next to someone else The floorboards between us, continental shelf Present but gone on this strange new shield She left me to wander through Jerusalem fields Their laughter falls to silent silhouettes The novelty enthrals, ‘til absence is felt Present but gone on this strange new shield She left me to wander through Jerusalem fields Lush but lonely, far but only moments away Guest but voyeurist of her familial play Lush but lonely, far but only moments away Guest but voyeurist of her familial play The golden domes sway on slender stems Extend like ancient walls between me and them Present but gone on this Abrahamic shield But she led me to the temple doors Of Jerusalem fields
7.
Panic Life 04:07
Panic Life Playing out the day that hasn't come yet Before it’s had a chance I'm full of regret It's an anticipated affair It's a panic life lived on a dare Set the clocks running but I'll beat that race Close the gap and cut the space It's an anticipated affair It's a panic life lived on a dare Stoke the fire, burn the ire Keep the tindered blast Pioneering, so revealing Of a pace long past Imagining the curse, see the scenic lot Cinematic angst fuels the fated plot It's an anticipated affair It's a panic life lived on a dare See the train coming before its turns the bend Binded wrists too taut to the end It's an anticipated affair It's a panic life lived on a dare Stoke the fire... Ooh ooh Settle right down It’s a panic life lived on a dare
8.
Ominous Change Dreary day, clouds come across the lake Must be the nimbostratus kind With its dark and ragged rainy edge Storm coming up close behind Here it comes Ominous change Feel the shift at the shoreline Two fronts are going to collide Air thickens, then it turns real still As it penetrates deep inside Here it comes Ominous change Undulating cumulonimbus, beware the super cell Forces far too tumultuous to ever think you know them well So give it up Electrical charges build up underground ‘Till it can’t wait no more The difference too large to be endured Lightning unleashed from the storm’s core Here it comes Ominous change
9.
Secret Poison You are my secret poison Dangerous and divine Fill me up with salvation That tastes of bitter wine You are my consolation Soothe my broken heart When it seeks reparation And craves a brand new start My thoughts obsess Can’t look away from you As I descend into your deep blues I open wide and I swallow hard This toxic tonic that I crave Consumed by thirst and with disregard I gladly jump into this grave My thoughts obsess… I am awakened From my languished state With this devil’s elixir I take You have returned for to try again To turn my lead to gold, of that I’m wary Are you my alchemist with potent vials My very own apothecary? ‘Cause you are my secret poison Dangerous and divine Fill me up with salvation That tastes of bitter wine
10.
Dream Ditty 03:48
Dream Ditty Where do you dream little one? Tucked up, cuddled up under eiderdown in trundle beds? In sailing ships that steal into bedrooms in the night And launch a journey of a thousand miles? In nests, high in tree tops In tree houses and forts Built where eagles fly? In meadows of dandelions puffing out to seed After one glorious life of solar saffron! Do you remember your dreams little one? Do you remember? Nightscapes crowded with adventure and beauty And your very own nasty beasties Filaments, scenes and images Nonsensical and real They are the shapes and the dances Of the next round of life Dreams are the secret drawers of hope In the ark of life Open that drawer and out spills Gardens and rose trees Cascading like waterfalls Sunlight dancing in petals Infinite spinning, infinite weaving You becoming, earth becoming Life becoming, life becoming new again On the looms of dreams, On the looms of dreams… Dare to dream little one, dare to dream That is the work of the real hero.
11.
We Had our Time Disconnected as expected Why would you be different? Miles and styles and after a whiles All result in discontent We had our time my love Now I must be going And growing and knowing That this too must end The die was cast, it couldn’t last Not without some sacrament But we spilled the wine, questioned the divine And now all that’s left is to repent We had our time my love… I felt his hand slip away form mine Wasn’t a sign Only time to go We can’t look back at what we lacked Or at how our story might have been Regret is stark, shades grey to dark And the only light burns within I said the only light burns within I said the only light burns We had our time my love…
12.
Blood Of The Lamb Born to die, oh aren't we all? But she was more than most A baby's yell as the towers fell That caught the holy ghost He turned his eye and with a sign Proclaimed that she was marked He'd see her soon when earth's full moon Returned in shades too dark Blood of the lamb still on our hands Wipe it clean ‘til those who can't stand Will fall Raised on glocks and cattle stocks That ushered in her knot To eat and pray and love the way That ‘righteous folks’ were taught But how could she untangle free, from what was yet to come? An angry man, an angry plan And pure delirium Blood of the lamb… Close your eyes and hear the cries That echo in sunlight A giggle, grin, then from within A gasp that brought on night She's almost ten and without sin But that would not prevail ‘Cause the ghost returned, could not be spurned And claimed the marked and frail Blood of the lamb…
13.
Sunday Morning New York City A little slower slide on the low west side
 Take a Chelsea ride on the High Line steel
 You can go for miles penetrate the styles 
That flow between the subway tiles and dreams 
Glide through that groove, that vibe
 The island time and feel
 Sunday morning, New York City Orchards blooming sweet, off Delancey street
 Cherry blossoms cheat the fading sun Iron clad the walls of tenements and halls 
‘Cause no one there will heed the fall of time 
Sweep the grit doors open wide
 To let in its perfume 
Sunday morning, New York City The Lake stills as space expands to fill its history
 Central Park will tame the pulse
 of Manhattan’s majesty The boulders black, the vibrant green 
 Softening the manic stream Fingertips reveal the curious concealed
 The unobserved that yields a certain charm
 Hands will hold and guide and soothe the ripping tide
 That overflows along canals and piers 
Wander through that moving feast
 The urban wondrous zeal  Sunday morning, New York City


about

The Shiners are very excited to be releasing their second full-length record, Games We Play, on February 10th, 2018 at Burdock in Toronto. This second record, which contains twelve original songs written by Jen Schaffer and arranged by the band, was recorded over a period of one and a half years at Canterbury Music Company and their own studio. Produced by Simon Law, it was mixed by Jeremy Darby at Canterbury and mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK!

All the songs on Games We Play reflect on the manipulations and machinations of human behaviour – defiant, delusional, dysfunctional, contemplative, fearful or foolish in love! But always a hint towards redemption

credits

released February 10, 2018

All songs written by Jennifer Schaffer (SOCAN) except Sunday Morning New York City written with Simon Law (SonyAtv) and Dream Ditty written with Deborah Ackley (copyright control)

All songs produced by Simon Law.

Recording engineers - Jeremy Darby, Gary Barnacle, Lain Gray, Bo Heart, Wale Owoade, Simon Law.

Mixed by Jeremy Darby at Canterbury Music Co., Toronto, Canada.

Mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London, UK.

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about

Jen Schaffer and The Shiners Toronto, Ontario

Jen Schaffer is a Montreal-born, former Ohio and long-time Toronto resident singer-songwriter. Jen has honed her own brand of original soulful acoustic roots music with the help of her dedicated band and collaborators, The Shiners, including Simon Law (a.k.a. The Funky Ginger), John Teshima, Dot Hwang, Hideki Kumagai and occasional Shiner Emmanuel Szeptycki. ... more

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