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Model Trains

from Book of Travelers by Gabriel Kahane

supported by
Jeremiah Cawley
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John Murch
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Charlie Gilbert
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STEPHEN BLOCK
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PEREPECE
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Henry Green
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slamphear
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Adam Possehl
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waldoworld
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Dane Rosengren
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Bob Kelly
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Rob Kozlowski
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Quinn
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David Ragland
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David Johnston
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Don Shewey
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skigen
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ynqns
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Karen Hendley
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New listener
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Haim Ashkenazi
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/

  • Book of Travelers CD
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a digipak with complete lyrics and original photography. You will be emailed a link to download a song upon pre-ordering, and will receive four additional songs (one every 10-14 days) leading up to the release. (Image is just a mock-up; physical product doesn't exist yet!)

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

    Sold Out

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    **We have resumed regular shipping (24-48 hours from placement of order)**

    A new, limited edition pressing of the critically-acclaimed 2018 album is here on gorgeous translucent orange vinyl.

    “a stunning portrait of a singular moment in America” — Rolling Stone
    “one of the finest, most searching songwriters of the day” — Alex Ross, The New Yorker

    Includes unlimited streaming of Book of Travelers via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 500  5 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $18 USD or more 

     

  • Sheet Music

    PLEASE NOTE: this item is currently being reprinted and will ship in 3-4 weeks.

    Full Score, Piano & Voice, for Book of Travelers. Engraved, note for note, by the composer. 70 pp.
    ships out within 21 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $30 USD or more 

     

lyrics

The man who played with model trains
In the furnished basement painted black—
How it pleased him every day,
The pattern of the rail,
The pattern of the tiny track.

One night he slips and hits his head
As he reaches for a sleeper car,
And the lights kept blinking red,
Now level with his eye,
His miniature Place de la Gare.

The kids knew something wasn’t right
In the morning when he kissed them all,
He didn’t say a word.

And the model trains keep going round.

Showered, shaved, but sullied still,
With a fist of pink and blue and red.
And he will swallow every pill
To help him with his fear
Of getting from the bath to bed.

And the model trains keep going round.

Eyes cased in rime.
A face that’s chapped with tiger’s tears.

How his wife will mark the time
By learning how to love;
He’s been like this for seven years.

And now as a last resort,
She takes him to the ward in Redding
Thirty miles away.

And through, through the spidered glass,
The headstraps and the gas,
She watches as they put him under.

And the model trains keep going round.

She drives him home in the family car
Stealing glances at this body strange:
The vacant smile, the clean white scar
On the man who disappeared,
The man who played with model trains.

The man who made her laugh,
The man who played with model trains.

credits

from Book of Travelers, released August 24, 2018

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Gabriel Kahane Portland, Oregon

Gabriel Kahane is eating chocolate bread.

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