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"Peach Pie," Song Lyrics, 1999
Bill Gessner
Lyrics for "Peach Pie," by Bill Gessner. The song describes the process of baking a peach pie, with Gessner's recipe being that of an unnamed loved one. There are three sheets of paper, with two of them being typed lyric sheets with handwritten notes on the side, and the third being fully handwritten lyrics and guitar chords. The first typed sheet also has the recipe's ingredients and instructions noted.
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"Red River Rising," Song Lyrics, 1978
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Red River Rising" by Bill Gessner. Four sheets of paper, which include typed lyrics and musical notes. The first sheet indicates a date of April 1978, while the remaining sheets have a fax machine date of April 9, 1997. This was several days before the dikes broke in Grand Forks and ushered in the 1997 Red River Flood.
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"Singing Woody Guthrie," Song Lyrics, 1977
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Singing Woody Guthrie" by Bill Gessner. Two single-sided sheets of paper, which include typed and hand-written lyrics. The page with typed lyrics includes a few hand-written marks and notes and is dated "Sept, Oct, 1977." The song describes a community of folk music artists and the performers whose music they admire and hope to preserve, including Woody Guthrie and Chuck Berry. Many other musicians are mentioned by name and Gessner makes a specific reference to Guthrie's song, "Pastures of Plenty."
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"Slow Motion," Song Lyrics, 1999
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Slow Motion" by Bill Gessner. Three separate pages which all include the same typewritten lyrics, with the first page having handwritten notes. A reflective mediation on inner stillness and the quiet beauty of surrendering to the flow of life.
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"Soft Spot," Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Soft Spot" by Bill Gessner. One page total of lyrics. This song talks about love and a soft spot in his heart.
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"Somewhere in Between (Freezing Drizzle)" Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Somewhere in Between (Freezing Drizzle)" by Bill Gessner. Two single-sided sheets of printed lyrics total, with one yellow sticky note indicating lyric revisions. No date is mentioned anywhere on the pages. The song is a mournful but resigned description of falling out of love. The lyrics utilize weather metaphors and vivid imagery to relate to listeners with similar experiences. No name is mentioned that may reveal the subject of the song, but the lyrics allude to the ending of the relationship by the end, so it is likely to be a past love in his life.
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"Stupidity," Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
Song Lyrics for "Stupidity" by Bill Gessner. One sheet of paper containing typed lyrics. The fifth stanza's lyrics "sixty-six has been my fix" implies he wrote the lyrics when he was 66, possibly dating the song to 2013 or 2014. The song also appears to contain many references to someone being in jail.
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"Swimming Lessons," Song Lyrics, 2002
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Swimming Lessons" by Bill Gessner. Two sheets of paper with typed lyrics. The song "Swimming Lessons" was written in honor of the late John Quaday, and was inspired by Carolyn King. The song is about John's life and a young girl's memories of him giving her swimming lessons.
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"Telephone Girl," Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
"Song lyrics for "Telephone Girl" by Bill Gessner. Five sheets of paper consisting of typed lyrics, along with guitar cords on the right side of the pages. The song has references about calling up a "telephone girl" and a possible relationship. The song states about the urges to call the telephone girl in the following lyrics:
"Gettin’ the urge, feelin’ a surge
To call up my telephone girl
I’m on the verge of a verbal purge
So I call up my telephone girl" -
"Tell Me I'm Nobody's Fool" Song Lyrics, 1979
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Tell Me I'm Nobody's Fool" by Bill Gessner. Fifteen pages of paper with both handwritten and typed song lyrics, guitar chords, and handwritten notes and revisions. Some of the pages also have yellow sticky notes with notes and revisions. The thirteenth page shows a date of "May 15, 79" in the bottom right corner. One of the pages held a bookmark with guitar chords written on it. And one page has the lyrics for "In The Web Of My Hand" by Bill Gessner. He makes a reference to "The Donahue Show" and on the fourth page he has a sticky note saying Phil Donahue was his role model.
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"To Make a Long Story Short," Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "To Make a Long Story Short" by Bill Gessner. One sheet of paper consisting solely of typewritten lyrics. Gessner reflects on a relationship gone bad, ending the song by noting:
"A flashback or two
Served to explain
How we let our love
Go down the drain" -
"Two on Two," Song Lyrics, December 1977
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for “Two on Two” by Bill Gessner. There are 8 total pages, which include typewritten lyrics and handwritten revisions. There are two dates listed on the pages, referencing the creation date, December 11th and December 12th of 1977. One of the lyrics pages was written out on the back side of what appears to be a family tree. Another page that lyrics were typed out on appears to have been written on the backside of a poem titled, “Loneliness." The song “Two on Two” talks about his younger days when he would play basketball “two on two,” but now that he has grown up and became a folk singer, he is now playing “one on one” with you.
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"Water In My Ear" Song Lyrics
Bill Gessner
Song lyrics for "Water In My Ear". One page of typewritten lyrics with the date written in the bottom right corner. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of sorrow so intense it floods the bedroom, soaks the pillow, and sends water flying down the stairs. It's emotional, theatrical, and strangely relatable for anyone who's ever felt overwhelmed by love lost.
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"What Are Fools Made (Out) Of," Song Lyrics, 1982
Bill Gessner
Lyrics sheet of "What Are Fools Made (Out) Of" by Bill Gessner. Gessner (1947-2019) was an alum of @UofNorthDakota and a singer-songwriter. In the song, Gessner writes about history and what makes up artifacts of the past, relating it to his questions about what a fool is made out of to keep falling in love. The lyrics sheet is dated Fall 1982.
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"Year After Year", Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
The lyrics sheet of "Year after Year" by Bill Gessner. Gessner (1947-2019) was an alum of @UofNorthDakota and a musician. In the song, Gessner writes about love and how long and unchanged his love for this person has been over the years. The lyrics sheet is undated and has multiple pages, with notes and edits.
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"You Can," Song Lyrics, undated
Bill Gessner
Lyrics for "You Can" by Bill Gessner. The song is about Gessner singing to an unnamed loved one about how they can depend on him. The first and third page contain the draft version of the lyrics versus the version found in the recording. The second page sheet contains lyrics for an entirely different song known as "Read All About It," which tells a story about the ups and downs of fame, and being written about in a newspaper. The first sheet also lists the guitar chords played during the original song.
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Mine Pit Song, 1998
Bill Gessner and Carolyn King
"Song lyrics for "Mine Pit Song, 1998" by Bill Gessner and Carolyn King. 5 sheets of paper including handwritten lyrics, typed out lyrics and guitar chords. The typed up documents show revisions made. The documents indicate this song was created on August 9th and 10th of 1998. The song references the Iron Range in northern Minnesota.
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