Last Harbor
"Last Harbor" is the 12th and last song on American Music Club's second album, 1988’s California. Mark Eitzel recorded a live acoustic version for his 1991 Songs Of Love Live album, and a studio version re-made with Manolis Famellos and a group of Greek traditional musicians for 2003's The Ugly American.
| "Last Harbor" | |
|---|---|
|
Error creating thumbnail: File missing California cover | |
| Song by American Music Club from the album California | |
| Released | 1988 |
| Format | LP / CS / CD |
| Length | 4:35 |
| Label | Grifter Records/Frontier Records/Demon Records |
| Writer(s) | Mark Eitzel |
| Producer(s) | Tom Mallon |
| California track listing | |
| |
In a 1989 interview with Unhinged, Eitzel said, "I like Eugene O'Neill a lot and there's two references to 'last harbor' in Long Days Journey Into Night and also in The Iceman Cometh. He was obsessed with the last harbor because he used to take ships and in The Iceman Comet which is about alcoholism and living a lie, the last harbor is like a place of disaster, a place to end up in. In Long Days Journey Into Night the last harbor is a place of transcendence. At first the song was 'Snug Harbor' or 'Safe Harbor', but I was reading Eugene O'Neill so it became 'Last Harbor'. But I left it open to sound like the last harbor too, because this person I'm confronting with myself is like - are you going to be it? It's like using the words to 3 different levels if I can but it's not morbid. It's a sad song because it's from a sad place, but most of my stuff is sad. I mean did they ask Turner if he was a sad person?"[1]
Lyrics
Some of them are kind and it's phony
Some of them are kind and it's okay
Generous but where's the charity
To lose or give away
Some of them smile and it's phony
Some of them smile and it's not
Some of them never tell you
Just how much they've got
Falling
Hey, I don't see the bottom
Are you gonna be my last harbor
She'll soon find a way to make you feel fine
She's laughing and she's clapping her hands
As she walks across your cup of wine
She'll make it real easy for you
All you have to do is remember her name
She's almost your passport to the world
She's almost your ticket out again
Falling
Hey, I don't see the bottom
Are you gonna be my last harbor
Some of them smile and it's phony
Some of them smile and it's okay
Some of them never tell you
Just how much they'll give away
Video
Mark Eitzel performing "Last Harbor" on October 24, 2013 at Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Personnel
American Music Club
- Mark Eitzel - vocals, guitars
- Danny Pearson - bass
- Vudi - guitar, accordion
- Tom Mallon - drums, producer, engineer
Others
- Bruce Kaphan - pedal steel
Also appears on
- United Kingdom & California CD
- Songs Of Love Live Mark Eitzel - live version
- 1984-1995
- The Ugly American Mark Eitzel - alternate version
- Our First Trip to Nottingham Live version
- Solo Acoustic Live 2005-2007 Mark Eitzel - live version
References
- ↑ Drew (Winter 1989). "American Music Club". Unhinged. Retrieved March 27, 2018.