CLICK HERE TO BUY — Love Lives Where Rules Die

Suzanne Vallie’s album, Love Lives Where Rules Die

Out now on Night Bloom Records.


After a hard spell, heartbroken and drifting, Suzanne Vallie aimed to make a driving record rich with sympathy, high romance, and dedicated to the magic of good-timing. Other themes on the album include dogs, surfers, and the supernatural.

Vallie, a sorta-recluse living in rural Big Sur, California, is known for her improvisational performances where she freestyles lyrics and tells stories, both mythical and rowdy. She wrote the bulk of Love Lives Where Rules Die during the bummer summer after a breakup. It was a time when she drove up and down Highway 1 trying to blow out the speakers of her 94’ Honda. (bummer summer playlist)



The 11 songs of Love Lives Where Rules Die were largely live-tracked over five days. Suzanne Vallie and a core band of California collaborators flew out to upstate New York during the last warm days of September 2019. 



The album features production and keys by Rob Shelton (Meernaa, Sis, Luke Temple, Kacey Johansing), guitar by Blake Kennedy (The Range of Light Wilderness), guitar and vocals by Carly Bond (Meerna, Sis), guitar and bass by Doug Stuart (Meerna, Brijean), percussion and drums by Andrew Maguire (Mirah, Vetiver, Meerna) with contributions from violin virtuoso, Edwin Huizinga (Acronym, Dark Watchers), percussion by Mark Clifford and Bob Ladue, and backing vocals by Paul Spring, Emily Ritz (Yesway, Honeycomb), and Molly Sarle´ (Mountain Man).

CREDITS

Suzanne Vallie - vocals, Wurlitzer piano
Rob Shelton - piano, Hammond B3 organ, Wurlitzer, percussion
Carly Bond - vocals, guitar, baritone guitar
Blake Kennedy - guitar, baritone guitar
Doug Stuart - bass, baritone guitar
Andrew Maguire - drums, percussion
Edwin Huizinga - violin
Mark Clifford - percussion
Bob Ladue - percussion
Paul Spring - vocals
Emily Ritz - vocals
Molly Sarlé - vocals

Produced and engineered by Rob Shelton with assistant engineers Ken Helmlinger and Ariel Shafir
Recorded at Dreamland Recordings, Hurley, New York
Additional recording at @bigsurlivebarnmusic, Big Sur, California
Mixed at New Improved Recordings, Emeryville, California
Mastered by Dave McNair
Calligraphy by Hunter Saxony
Photography by Emily Peck

All songs written by Suzanne Vallie

Love Lives Where Rules Die

LYRICS

Ocean Cliff Drive

Ocean cliff drive, ghostlit
Smiling while it winds, hooking
Danger keeps my eyes on it
Giant waves climb, then sit
Rain run deep within each niche
Tears of the divine for which
water gets to vine going
on its way to wine

Honey, I can’t see the road ahead of me
but I’m coming

Ocean cliff drive, ghostlit
Holding on to air, hoping
Fog can fool my eyes
Feeling wind born in waves and breathing
When you see me, a ways and a whistling
You speak I can’t hear, but I’m listening
Closer please, I’m begging
I want to start a kiss with no ending

Honey, I can’t see the road ahead of me
but I’m coming

Love Letter

Kiss of the western sky
A promise she won’t forget you
if you stay in her golden days

You’re tall on a horse
and short on the floor
with a drink to your health
and a lick from the dog
laughing and singing that song
about true hearts doing wrong

It could be your life written as a love letter
Pick your star and walk that way
Beautiful, wise-eyed, and knowing better
you tried
We all know you tried
Still, love knows your name

In all the world, nobody would think to find you here
Shirt off, double alive
Blaming the wind for stealing your skirt

Mean as a curse
Welcome as sympathy and a long morning in bed
Wheels straight for a thunderhead
My god, it’ll get you good
Roll your window up when you want to
not because you think you should

It could be your life written as a love letter
Pick your star and walk away
Sunburned, sad eyed, and lighting candles
you tried
We all know you tried
Still, love knows your name

Beauty from the Blue Country

Hidden down wind
carrying on
Half a long day
switching which side is up
Gonna go away
without a thought on how to go
I came along for saying
I’m yours but I didn’t play it
New moon will bring me home

With waves and the wind
better write a lover’s note
It’s no secret that I’d be
better off living
in the water around the knee
in the salt over the belly
at the end of wet curl
side the eye of a beauty
from the blue country

Time turn a key in a golden door
You waiting for me
Born is a joy
All I can be
I’ll be

I am all I am
I’m right here
Come on with me
Come on now with me
I can see in the dark

Where Are You

Lost on the sand
a beer between your feet
a swimsuit in your hand
hanging a medal on your pants
talking real about your tan
Where are you?

You’re going let me drive
and play “Whiskey in the Jar”-o
and I’ll finally pay you back
You said better a punch than a slap
Birds flying out of view

I get it. It’s a gambling song
Playing with a deck that’s down a seven
A dog-eared three and hearts on all the jacks
It let’s you cheat a little

Don’t talk mean about yourself
Bad at lying, and sorry for it
No need to give your friends away
Go ask your mama what to say
Waves breaking on you

Now there’s an pretty face
The right way to hang a smile
High and higher till tomorrow can see
you’re floating over the deep
out of view

Love Lives Where Rules Die

My luck was buried
My friends dug it out
Now with a three day storm
we’ll use it all up
The trees are leaning
It’s the road that falling
If there’s away from here
it’s not the way you came in

You’re all so nice, you smile back
when I say I’m fine
I can fall forever
and still show up on time
It’s because my heart is broken
I want to hear a love song
You sing it for me
holding all the long notes

Love lives where rules die
There’s wings to borrow
and all night to try
candles out, so we’re blind
still I’m the one
with a sign that says “hold me”

I’m flying on a wild light

Why do we act surprised
when the power goes down
Cooking on the fire
the last of what’s from town
No one said don’t go
out in those waves
We’re gonna play it safe
easy enough to say

Love lives where rules die
I’m gonna give ghosts my eyes
so they see what I see
How beautiful
Can you believe

My heart on borrowed wings

I Know the Way

I pull up the fences
I lift up the waves
I send my curses out on the wind
I know the way
I know the way
I am not wrong
I want what I take
I know the way

I run to where the ghosts go to sing
I get no closer than the stars are to me
I can give up whenever I want
I do it on purpose
My blood is so hot
I know the way

Sister
I can bear it
I don’t mind it
when the stars are wrong

Sister
we can land it
handstand it
when the stars are wrong

You start your crying
It’s better with two
A snake on your shoe
I’m sorry for you
I’m sorry for me, but I can’t believe
the itch on your leg is not destiny
I know the way

I am not gone
I am not here
I am the sound of a crowd as it cheers
The wind that breaks the windows came from my hair
My green is the reason it rains half the year
Curses grow blessings when I cross the ground
What you thought impossible lives in the sound
of time cracking in two, pink bending to blue
The ocean thanks me for the waves that I threw
The shadow of a dog is a home good enough
When I turn to diamonds I’ll crawl in the rough
I build what I can out of leftover stuff
My body and prayers is what makes it all up
A giant came crushing
She stepped on my place
I ran her like buffalo and I won the chase
I know the way




Sundowner

Before sky was a word
I read my mother’s eyes
Dad’s voice arrived along by night
The moon was his faithful dog
It followed him to town and back
Could you ever keep a friend like that
Seems you want it, is why I ask

You can’t make them stay
You can’t teach the wind to lay
even if the moon is your dad’s old dog
I heard you when you said it
I’m sunk if I doubt the tide
When peace came to my heart it came to hide

Running in a wetsuit, going with the flow
guitar promising daddy’s coming home

Sundowner for life
all colors, then night
Sinking your hat over your eyes
saying, Y’all, the stars go where they like

Sundowner for life
tripped out on living light
Rainbow blanket tight around you
Under the moon the colors all look blue

Thunder and summer are sister and brother
The rain make us wait
Drought is why I ever learned to pray
Make the road dark
kill the dust, steam off the engine’s hood
cool my sister’s neck and make her smile
Those clouds are downway twenty miles

It’s not what you say, it’s what you do
Fix your house when a storm rolls through
All that charm will chill you because it’s easy
I heard you when you said it
and took along your clearer skies
When peace came to my heart it came to hide

Running in a wetsuit, going with the flow
guitar promising daddy’s coming home

Sundowner for life
all colors, then night
It’s not falling if somebody catches you
The way you say it, sure sounds true

Sundowner for life
taking it to the ground in a fight
Why can’t it just be you and your old girl on your arm
They’re gonna ask for more, and then some




Morro Bay

I went down to Morrow Bay to see how it goes
I’ve been talking to myself and I think that it shows
Got in my car but sat in the back
getting low, feet up to switch a towel for pants
When you feel like trash, there’s nothing to stand on
but the sand in your shoes and the colors of heaven
Coconut oil on the steering wheel
Almost slid out the window with no last meal
Get a good picture to remember me by
There’s a chance by magic I’ll turn to moonlight
Keeping it cold and my boundaries steady
Saying, Hi, to strangers
We gotta be friendly

Midwesterners in Cali, remembering the corn times
How deep did your basement go
I’ve been sleeping in a pickup and I think that it shows

Wet to the bone, drying off in the afterglow
Bragging I’ll name my boat Infinite Slo-mo
Laughing is easy
Our words are grim
Walking through fire while singing a hymn
You took off your shoes to connect with the Earth
I looked in your eyes because I liked how it hurt
You’re not my man but I’m gonna wanna beg
I’ve got plenty of that if you’re still into legs

Midwesterners in Cali, remembering the corn times
How deep did your basement go
I lost my cherry in a barn and I think it still shows

Holding on to my girl careful of her sunburn
Hot at the waist
Beer going in for the cure
Learn how to share and you won’t need to fight
Learn how to dance and kick out the string lights
I bring all my money when I go to town
There’s no need to save for a wedding gown
94’ civic, real buttons and levers
dent on the side, wheels dusty forever
This fiver is my last and it lasts twenty miles
I’ll never give up on selling you smiles
Ripped a hole in my shirt
I wanted to win
I never let go if there’s a medal to pin

Midwesterners in Cali, remembering the corn times
Remembering the basement shows
I gave my soul to wizard now I got perfect flow

I went down to Morrow Bay to see how it goes
I’ve been talking to myself and I think that it shows
Why would you laugh at a thing like that
The world is mean enough, but so are those tight pants
A love that’s in pieces is the pieces of life
With a beautifully sharpened Japanese knife
you can cut it in half and then again twice
Remembering rain how it tastes so nice
I’ll take what I get I’ve never been so picky
God’s milk gets around and it makes everything sticky
I want you, and I love you, and I gotta get even
Tonight is my first as a runaway kitten

Midwesterners in Cali, remembering the corn times
Remembering the basement shows
I gave my cherry to a rich boy so my kisses make gold
I’ve got perfect love and I think you should know
I got kicked in the nose and I think it still shows




Love Me Too

You let me hang my arm over your back
You walked with me like I was your worth time
You said bright things about me I still believe are true
I want you to love me too

You let me rest my head on you
and walk my dreams on through
You held to me like you float away at night
You played with my hair like a mother would do
I want you to love me too

It’s too much to try forgetting
Rolling sun that’s bad a setting
Please don’t shame me for saying

My face is on the front and it says the truth
Anyone forgets, my eyes will tell the room
If time was a better friend and had some days lose
I’d be where you loved me

High with You

High with you. High with you. I’ll get high with you.

Ice down shirt backs, farmer tan max
big voice, oh boy, new boots, scooter shoots
windy favors, up skirt savors
drinks with flavors, suntan cravers
outdoor showers, rescue towers
cowboy singers, good-time bringers,
rhinestone slingers, outlaw winners
black shirt stain-proof, black hat
smoke through a missing tooth
legs to Sunday, hell cat pay day
hard work, and lay away

High with you. High with you. I’ll get high with you.

Skate board, hot tar, need a roll bar
counting scars, fall apart, a noble art
rollerskate, swimsuit date, knees a moonscape
paper plate, towel cape
grass stains in a drought, dust on a sexy pout
bikini eeny, look who’s teeny
green hose meany, air dry feel-ies
sand and shades, sea level haze, future lays
and a bronzy glaze

High with you. High with you. I’ll get high with you.

Hot enough for heat lightening
Wildfire keep on riding
Saying it was heaven sent
Here come my best friends
Cash in your pocket means half in my sock
It’ll last long, all day
if we walk, I’ll stay

High with you. High with you. I’ll get high with you.

Secret keeper, smaller dipper, sailor’s way
horsey say hay, nay hay, nay hay
flunks high riding, ice cream sliding
minty lips, hips and nips, swearing slips
crush on a scientist, lead loves the alchemist
bubbles full of cookie breath
jamming through the second set
hip-hop dictionary, free-style sanctuary
shameless sameness, copycat painless
motor boating, conscious floating
pastlife memories, born girls, never kings
flip-flop angels visiting
friendship bracelet glistening

High with you. High with you. I’ll get high with you.



Go on Down to Mary’s

When the peace you know
is waiting for you
keeps hidden or is lost
and is calling from far and through

No matter where you go
the distance stays
Some days your name
even fades

Let me heat up your coffee
You listen to this
It won’t end your sorrows
It’s a star for a wish

Go on down to Mary’s
Show up on the farm
There’s not a soul down there
will do you any harm

Go on down to Mary’s
Knock on her door
It will open. You’ll see
You’re not alone anymore

Love is in the water
Have yourself a bath
Love is in the bread
Help yourself to the last

There’s plenty extra blankets
and room on the floor
No matter how many
or why your eyes are sore

The roof is sealed
and there’s flowers around the porch
to call in good spirits
and keep out the storm

Go on down to Mary’s
Show up on the farm
There’s not a soul down there
will do you any harm

Go on down to Mary’s
Knock on her door
It will open. You’ll see
You’re not alone anymore

I’m glad to tell you
And I’m glad you’re here
I’ve tired my own heart
Now it’s sleeping in a chair

The story you tell
is of hail bent corn
of motherless children
and mountains well worn

So pleased to meet you
and sorry to say goodbye
Remember me
and the words to save a life

Go on down to Mary’s
Show up on the farm
There’s not a soul down there
will do you any harm

Go on down to Mary’s
Knock on her door
It will open. You’ll see
You’re not alone anymore




all songs written by Suzanne Vallie