Sep 23, 2007

Iron & Wine 'The Shepherd's Dog' Lyrics

Iron & Wine's 3rd full length album, The Shepherd's Dog, will be released on September 25th via Sub Pop. The lyrics offered here were found in several places online and could very well have errors. If you spot an outstanding error and would like to correct it, please do so in the comments.

BUY The Shepherd's Dog

TRACK LIST
1. Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car
2. White Tooth Man
3. Lovesong of the Buzzard
4. Carousel
5. House by the Sea
6. Innocent Bones
7. Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)
8. Resurrection Fern
9. Boy With a Coin
10.The Devil Never Sleeps
11.Peace Beneath the City
12.Flightless Bird, American Mouth


THE SHEPHERD'S DOG Lyrics
1. "Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car"
Love was a promise made of smoke
In a frozen copse of trees
A bone cold and older than our bodies
Slowly floating in the sea
Every morning there were planes
The shiny blades of pagan angels in our father's skies
Every evening I would watch her hold the pillow
Tight against her hollows, her unholy child
I was still a beggar shaking out my stolen coat
Among the angry cemetery leaves
When they caught the king beneath the borrowed car
Righteous, drunk, and fumbling for the royal keys

Love was a father's flag and sung like a shank
In a cake on our leather boots
A beautiful feather floating down
To where the birds had shit on empty chapel pews
Every morning we found one more machine
To mock our ever waning patience at the well
Every evening she'd descend the mountain stealing socks
And singing something good where all the horses fell
Like a snake within the wilted garden wall
I’d hint to her every possibility
While with his gun the pagan angel rose to say
"My love is one made to break every bended knee"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

2.
"White Tooth Man"
Said the plain clothes cop to the beauty queen
“I’ve seen nothing but a spoke in a wheel”
So she gave up her crown to a kid with a crutch
And they both felt cheated after closing the deal
And the white tooth man, I ran with him
Got all cut up from pissing out in the weeds
And a fight upstate with a broken blade
And a wife whose finger never wanted a ring

Said the plain clothes cop to the Indian chief
“I’ve made nothing but an honest mistake”
The postman cried while reading the mail
And we all got trampled in the Christmas parade
And the white tooth man who sold me a gun
A map of Canaan and a government bond
Said, “I love this town, but it ain’t the same”
The ski mask ripped as he was putting it on

Said the plain clothes cop to the holy ghost
“I’ve heard nothing if it wasn’t the wind”
And we all got sick on a strip club meal
While the statehouse was frying all the witches again
So the white tooth man with his kids in the car
And a wad of money that was already spent
Said, “I love my dog but she just ran away
She’ll keep running like the world never ends”

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3.
"Lovesong of the Buzzard"
In the failing light of the afternoon
Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish
Tomorrow I'll be kissing on her blood red lips

No one is the saviour they would like to be
The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree
With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line
And the cradle's unimaginative sense of time

Springtime and the promise of an open fist
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist
Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

4.
"Carousel"
Almost home
When I missed the bottom stair
You were braiding your gray hair
It had grown so long
Since I'd been gone

And the perfect girls
By the pool, they would protest
The cross around their necks
But our sons were overseas
And we all know about the hive and the honey bees

Almost home
With an olive branch and a dove
You were beating on a Persian rug
With your bible and your wedding band
Both hidden on a TV stand

And the cruel wind blew
Every city father fell
Off the county carousel
While the dogs were eating snow
All our sons had sunk in a trunk of Noah's clothes

Almost home
We got lost on our new street
While your grieving girls all died in their sleep
So the dogs all went unfed
A great dream of bones all piled on the bed

And the cops couldn't care
When that crackhead built a boat
And said, "Please, before I go
May our only honored bone
Be the kinship of the kids and the riot squad"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

5.
"House by the Sea"
There is a house by the sea
Two jealous sisters, they're waiting for me
And one is laid on the floor
And one is changing the locks on the doors
And I've been buying the time on my knees
And I've been selling their blankets to bleed (on)

Around the house by the sea
The scent of roses and raspberry leaves
And there is smoke in my clothes
Too much time with just smoke in my nose
And I've been making the meaning they lack
And I've been burning that book they come back too

There is a house by the sea
And an ocean between it and me
And like the shape of a wave
The jealous sisters will sing on my grave
And I've been living to run where they led
And I've been dying to rise from their bed
And I've been sparing my neck from their chain
And they've been changing the sound of my name
And I've been swimming to them in my sleep
And I've been dreaming our love and our freedom

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

6.
"Innocent Bones"
Cain got a milk-eyed mule from the auction
Abel got a telephone
And even the last of the blue-eyed babies know
That the burning man is the color of the end of day
And how every tongue that gets bit always has another word to say

Cain bought a blade from some witch at the window
Abel bought a bag of weed
And even the last of the brown-eyed babies see
That the cartoon king has a tattoo of a bleeding heart
There ain’t a penthouse Christian wants the pain of the scab, but they all want the scar
How every mouth sings of what it’s without so we all sing of love
And how it ain’t one dog who’s good at fucking and denying who he’s thinking of

Cain heard a cat tumble limp off the rooftop
Abel heard his papa pray
And even the last of the black-eyed babies say
That every saint has a chair you can borrow and a church to sell
That the wind blows cold across the back of the master and the kitchen help
There’s a big pile of innocent bones still holding up the garden wall
And it was always the broken hand we learned to lean on after all
How God knows if Christ came back he would find us in a poker game
After finding out the drugs were all free but they won't let you out the door again

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

7.
"Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)"
Wolves by the road
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her coloured hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd’s dog
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
Whoever got that brave?

Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher’s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then out like a dying bird in the ?? in the corner of the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd’s dog
Waiting around the jack call of the rooster
On the rooftop waiting for day
And ain’t nobody’s gonna say

Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to nail
Song of the shepherd’s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

8.
"Resurrection Fern"
In our days we will live
Like our ghosts will live:
Pitching glass at the cornfield crows
And folding clothes

Like stubborn boys across the road
We'll keep everything:
Grandma's gun and the black bear claw
That took her dog

When sister Laurie says, "Amen"
We won't hear anything:
The ten-car trains will take that word
That fledgling bird

And the fallen house across the way
It'll keep everything:
The baby's breath
Our bravery wasted and our shame

And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire
Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire
All the more a pair of underwater pearls
Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern

In our days we will say
What our ghosts will say:
We gave the world what it saw fit
And what'd we get?

Like stubborn boys with big green eyes
We'll see everything:
In the tender shade of the autumn leaves
And the buzzard's wing

And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire
Our tender bellies are wound around in baling wire
All the more a pair of underwater pearls
Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

9.
"Boy With A Coin"
A boy with a coin he found in the weeds
With bullets and pages of trade magazines
Close to a car that flipped on the turn
When God left the ground to circle the world

A girl with a bird she found in the snow
Then flew up her gown and that's how she knows
That God made her eyes for crying at birth
Then left the ground to circle the Earth

A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans
Then making a wish he tossed in the sea
Walked to a town that all of us burn
When God left the ground to circle the world

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

10.
"The Devil Never Sleeps"
Dreamin’ again of a train track ending at the edge of the sea
Big black cloud was low and rolling our way
Dog at the barbed wire barkin’ at my buzz-cut friends
Friend with a switch blade shinin’ in the summer rain
No one on the corner had a quarter for the telephone
Everybody bitchin’ there’s nothing on the radio

Dreamin’ again of a city full of fathers and their white clothes
Chatterin’ boys and a chicken at the choppin’ block
All of us lost at the crosswalk waitin’ for the other to go
Didn’t find the field but boy you’re really waterlogged
Someone bet a dollar that their daddy wasn’t comin’ home
Everybody bitchin’ there’s nothing on the radio

Dreamin’ again that it’s freezin’ and my mother’s in a flower bed
Long dead rows of daffodils and marigolds
Changin’ her face like a shadow on the ground
(can't tell what this line is - CAN YOU HELP OUT?)
No one lives forever and the devil never sleeps alone
Everybody bitchin’ there’s nothing on the radio

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

11.
"Peace Beneath the City"
Here’s a prayer for the body buried by the interstate
Murder of a soldier, a tree in a forest up in flames
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women hear the washboard rhythm in their bosom when they say,
"Give me good legs and a Japanese car and show me a road”

Sing a song for the bodies buried by the riverbank
A well-dressed boy and a pig with a bullet in the brain
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the white girls wander the strip mall, singing all day,
“Give me a juggernaut heart and a Japanese car and someone to free"

Sing a song for the body buried like a keepsake
Mother of million mouths with the very same name
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women tell the weather but never ever tell you what they pray
They pray, "Give me a yellow brick road and a Japanese car and benevolent change"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

12.
"Flightless Bird, American Mouth"
I was a quick wet boy
Diving too deep for coins
All of your straight blind eyes
Wide on my plastic toys
And when the cops closed the fair
I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map
And called for you everywhere

Have I found you?
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping
Or lost you?
American mouth
Big bill looming

Now I’m a fat house cat
Cursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats
Curl through the wide/white fence cracks
Kissing on magazine photos
Those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean
Blood of Christ mountain stream

Have I found you?
Flightless bird, brown hair bleeding
Or lost you?
American mouth
Big bill, stuck going down

Aug 3, 2007

John Vanderslice Interview: Part 2

Here's what you've been waiting for, part two of sixeyes interview with JV. If you missed part 1, with talk of sex on desks, Don Rickles, and Rhythm Ace drum machines, PLUS the exclusive premiere of "Numbered Lithograph" Live at Tiny Telephone, you can jump back to it right here.

Now, here's Part Deux of sixeyes interview with John Vanderslice...


SIXEYES:
With Bowie being your hero, do you aspire to reinvent yourself, if not image-wise, but musically each time you set out to make a new record?

John Vanderslice: Oh yes, but I never do. Isn’t that strange?? It seems like an easy thing to do... I really admire how Bowie changed musical styles like actors changing roles. Genre was like clothing in theater, something you inhabit for effect. Now I know how difficult it is to take those clothes off!!

SIXEYES: You've penned a number of songs that deal with and/or are set in Baghdad (the obvious being "Plymouth Rock" and "Trance Manual", and now you've advanced to the point where you are naming your upcoming album after a section of the city. I've got to ask if you've ever been there and if not, what have you read or seen that has affected you so much that that city keeps reappearing in your work?

JV: Well Baghdad city seems to be the epicenter of so much American folly. In the middle we've got a heavily fortified green zone, where we're building a billion dollar US embassy, by far the largest in the world. It's on 104 acres and half of the 5,500 employees are security. This is INSANE! But fascinating, right? I mean, why? It's the one of the only projects we built in Iraq that was delivered on time. And another indicator we're never leaving.

I've never been to the Middle East. I would love to take that drive from the airport to the green zone.

I don't think I really understand why we're there. Oil, China, heartland theory, funding a shadow government, yes I'm sure all those, but there are other reasons I haven't figured out... and that keeps me coming back to Iraq.

SIXEYES: This has nothing to do with the new record, but a while back I was listening to "Big Band Stars” and got a strong impression from the lyric that you were perhaps a fan of Melville’s Moby Dick? And that thought came back to me when I read something you’d written on your website about hurling a harpoon into black water. Does the story of the whale hold special significance for you?

JV: Oh yeah, Melville and Chaucer were the two big things for me when I went to UC Berkeley. I think anyone who tours and makes music over a long period of time must be haunted by some unknowable monster!!

SIXEYES: Just what is the plan for promoting the new album? Is the main thrust going to come from blog interviews and previews on blogs like Sixeyes, or are you going to lay down serious cash on a half page ad in an indie mag, or two, or three?

JV: Well, we're trying to do something different from our past records. I personally live on the web, so that's the place I want to push the record. We probably won't have any print ads for Emerald City. Everything is different now, and by the time my next record comes out we'll have to rethink it all again.

One thing that has to go: the three to four month lead time for a record release. This is retarded! That’s all to set up national press. Can you think of anything slower and more 20th century than doing something FOUR months in advance to get a record review? Shit, there's tons of nights where a blogger emails me THE NIGHT of a show and has written and photographed extensively about the performance they saw two hours earlier. That’s more my speed.

SIXEYES: Who shot and edited the Tiny Telephone Emerald City Tour film? And did you get involved in any way with the post-production?

JV: Scott Ottaway was the mastermind. He contacted me about filming a show in Seattle and I thought he'd be a natural. He brought two camera crews down to Tiny Telephone and kept everything rolling. I wasn't very involved in the post-production. I was too busy with my pit-bulls (it's dog-fighting season here). I told Scott I wanted as few cuts as possible, and for him to keep it very natural and unprocessed. He did a wonderful job.

SIXEYES: How long a process was this? Was it an all day affair?

JV: Two 14 hour days. By the end we felt like prostitutes on Super Bowl weekend. Whatever that means :)

SIXEYES: And I'm curious about who came up with the idea to shoot the film and offer it to favourite blogs of yours? Also, was this in any way to deter the entire album appearing as mp3s as soon as it hit the shelves?

JV: It was Barsuk's idea!!! Which is great because they can't blame us if it all goes wrong. Ha!

No it wasn't done to deter any p2p sharing. More of a way to show appreciation to fans and blogs for the support. And also to prove we can actually play these songs live!!!

SIXEYES: In the song “The Tower” you mention Tarot cards and I’ve seen a deck of Tarot cards in a picture of the console in Tiny Telephone. How heavily are you into Tarot and that kind of thing?

JV: Well, I love the Rider-Waite-Smith deck; I think the narrative ideas in it are fascinating. The song "the tower" is about the perils of ego and hubris. As far as my own beliefs, I am a godless soul who doesn't buy any of it.

SIXEYES: The current press release on Emerald City says that you wrote the bulk of the record while attempting to get your French girlfriend a visa, has that situation been resolved? And what did you learn, or are learning, about your government from this sad state of affairs?

JV: Well we're still dealing with all of that!!!

Well, I certainly learned that you need to constructively use all the anger these things produce, and not become bitter and crazy...

SIXEYES: Ok, on a lighter note... from photos I’ve carefully scrutinized it seems that all the members (excepting you of course) of your band are smokers. What’s it like being the odd man out when you’re on a six-week tour with three tobacco fiends?

JV: Yeah that's kind of a bummer. It’s strange I don't mind tobacco, what really messes me up is processed smokes. I used to work in a cigar bar and all that real tobacco was fine for me. I tried to get my band mates to roll their own. That lasted about three days.

SIXEYES: Now that you’re a world traveler and have seen things I can only dream about, or see on cable, where would you like to go if you could go anywhere right now?

JV: Vietnam!!

Seeing how the previous question was about 'travel', I thought I'd now ask John to take a trip down memory lane for his thoughts and feelings on the past six solo albums he’s recorded and released. And, as always, JV being a generous and open soul, he offers to pay for gas so I can come along, tells me that I'm coming along on his next European tour, and says something about blueberry pancakes, or was it blueberry blunts... here he is, on the couch:

Mass Suicide Occult Figurines (2000)
My first solo record, and my first record for a label. It’s really half an mk ultra record and half experiments in recording myself at tiny telephone. The heavy band songs (bill gates, speed lab, what did you do today, big band stars) were mk ultra songs tracked live with John Croslin. I love the title, and I love the sound of the record, but I can't listen to it. It’s too fragmented and unfocused. It wasn't until I cleared my mind of my old band that I was able to move in a new direction.

Download the entire Mass Suicide Occult Figurines album here at his homepage.

Time Travel is Lonely (2001)
Probably my fondest memory. It was the first record i felt like I found any kind of style that was true to what I was hearing in my head. I had made a lot of breakthroughs in recording since MSOF, finding a noisier, more distressed way of tracking. This was the first record I worked with Scott Solter, who did some tracking and overdubs. John Croslin mixed it at Tiny Telephone on our (then) new Neve 5316 console.

Download a couple of tracks from Time Travel Is Lonely here.


Life and Death of an American Fourtracker (2002)
This album feels a bit rushed to me, notice it was my third record in three years. some individual songs are high points for me (the mansion, 424) but the overall feel of the record is not fully realized. Some of the sonic experiments that Solter did (the percussion in "Nikki O Nikki", the drums in "Amitriptyline") are mind blowing to me today. After this record came out I decided to slow down my recording schedule, partially in response to the increase in tours.

Download a couple of tracks from Life and Death of an American Fourtracker here.

Cellar Door (2004)
A new direction. The first full collaboration between Scott Solter and me. It seemed to really benefit from the slowed down recording schedule. Sonically, Scott and I have never topped “Up Above The Sea”.

My only regret is leaving a track on the record that's probably the most requested song from the record. I won't name it!!

Download a couple of tracks from Cellar Door here.


Pixel Revolt (2005)
The biggest seller and many people's (along with TTIL) favorite. I really feel it's too long. If I had it over again I would pull four songs of the record and put them on a companion EP. I grew up with 40 minute LPs and, for me, that's the ideal format.

The songs for the EP would've been:

1. Peacocks in the Video Rain
2. Continuation
3. Radiant with Terror
4. Crc 7173, Affectionately

Then you would've had a ten song, 40 minute record and a very interesting EP.

Download a couple of tracks from Pixel Revolt here.

Emerald City (2007)
9 songs, 40 minutes! Yes. The first record made with a band: David Douglas, Ian Bjornstad, David Broecker. Mostly tracked live with Scott Solter. No other players appear on Emerald City. It’ll take me a few years to figure out how I feel about this one. In general, my estimation of a new record is a manic-depressive cycle. One day you're stunned you let so many mistakes make it to tape, and other days you feel you'll never be able to make music like this again.


From Emerald City: white dove [mp3]

Aug 2, 2007

JOHN VANDERSLICE: Live From Tiny Telephone + Interview Part 1

Emerald City, John Vanderslice's latest solo record and his first with a tried and true band backing him, was released on July 24th through Seattle's Barsuk Records, and it stands up well beside his last release, the critically acclaimed Pixel Revolt. But this time out not only is the sound pared back, but the content as well, with nine tracks which crackle, buzz, and mesmerize like the overload of media information we are inundated with each and every day (Pixel Revolt had 14). JV feels this buzz, he lives and breathes it as an avid consumer of online culture and print media, and he may understand it better than some because his new baby, Emerald City, is being promoted in a different way with print advertising being pushed to the side and JV's home away from home, the internet, being the prime focus. And the main push right now is his Tiny Telephone Emerald City Video Tour which is using nine of his favourite music blogs to host each of Emerald City's nine tracks in glorious 16 x 9 videos (go to his homepage for links to all the videos posted, so far). Sixeyes is proud to present the latest in that series, "Numbered Lithograph". Here it is, along with part 1 of the sixeyes interview with JV below... enjoy.




From Emerald City
white dove [mp3]

BUY Emerald City

VISIT:
JV homepage
JV myspace

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SIXEYES: John, the new album opens with acoustic guitar, was there any specific reason you leaned more heavily on acoustic for this album? Was it because you were tired of the electric, or is it just easier to work with an acoustic in a live recording environment?

JV: Well, to be honest I find recording electric guitar very difficult. Also, Scott Solter and I call it the "cookie monster" at Tiny Telephone because it chews up so much dynamic range. It steals space from vocals and most harmonic instruments that live in the middle. It’s like going out on the town with a loud-mouthed guy who's wearing a "sigma pi" sweatshirt. Unless you're getting jumped, he may be a liability.

There’s something more feminine and subtle about an acoustic, even when it's distorted to high heaven.

SIXEYES: Sometimes it's the little behind-the-scenes things that I wonder about, such as your going out with a photographer and scouting locations (that sounds so Hollywood) for the cover shot. What is that like? Do you typically spend a day having your picture taken? And why put your mug on the cover this time out (sixeyes: this is the first time JV has been on he cover)? And who is that woman sitting behind you on the cover of Emerald City?

JV: Well, remember Alan that I would love nothing more than to be a cinematographer. So photo shoots for me are amazing. Autumn de Wilde and I drove around for hours scouting places to shoot. She is a tremendous photographer and the only reason I ended up on the cover, I'm not sure who else I would trust that to. We shot for about 14 hours straight, and that's pretty rough. I mean to look interesting for five minutes is tiring, right!

So, we drove by an open garage door with an old lady and her son listening to Dr. Laura (right-wing self-help blabber, if you don’t know her, it's hilarious), Autumn said: "Stop!" We got out and she charmed the women into letting us take photos with her. I drive by her house everyday but haven't seen her yet to tell her she's on the cover. I'll wait until I get them back.

I wanted to put myself on the cover because I wanted to make more of a direct connection with the listener, and because my hero is Bowie and he's almost ALWAYS on the cover!

SIXEYES: A cinematographer, eh? You know, even if I don't currently own a camera (cell phones don't count) I sometimes find myself thinking, as I gaze through windows of cars, or buses, or trains, 'that would be a great shot', or 'that's a very cool location for a shoot'. Do you ever do that? And do you also, as I do, think 'oh hell, what am I doing, I'm not gonna make a movie'? Or maybe it's just me.

JV: Yes, I think of that stuff all the time, I usually take 300-400 photos every tour. And yes I know I’ll never make a movie. That would be absurd! It’s a very potent fantasy to be able to shift into another creative area. But it took me 15 years of playing and recording to even begin to figure it out, so I’m not sure if I want to go through that again!

SIXEYES: The eighth track on Emerald City is "Numbered Lithograph", a song that was previously titled "Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Numbered Lithograph". I didn't know who Mackintosh was before being prompted to search him out online, I was certain he was an artist, a painter, knowing of your interest in art history, but he's not, he's an architect (sixeyes: he's renowned as an architect, but did paint as well). How did you receive inspiration for the lyric in this song?

JV: Well, a girl I dated a few years ago did her arts degree at Stanford on Mackintosh, so I got interested in him through her. When I was in Glasgow I went to the Glasgow School of Art and the CRM cafe. Amazing!! I first found out about him through his wallpaper and tile designs. I am obsessed with anything domestic and crafty.

SIXEYES: What startled me and put me off on first listening to the album version of the song (I listened to a couple of live versions many times before getting a hold of the album), was that mysterious clicking-clacking-burbling-gurgle that wiggles it way throughout the song. But now I enjoy it, although I have to ask: What the hell is that?

JV: Ha!! It's a Rhythm Ace drum machine, one of the earliest drum machines ever made. I'm sure it's being jammed into a bunch of effects and distortion boxes. I'm glad you got used to it!!!

SIXEYES: And the abrupt ending, both lyrically and musically, what are you trying to say by ending the track the way you have?

JV: That song to me is about fragmentation and isolation. And things that are separated from their usual place or environment. The girl from the table, the cell phone from the girl, the bird from nature and the singer from friends and a healthier life. I wanted an anti-chorus, it actually doesn't sum up the emotions of the song, but makes the narrative feel more fractured. The quick and ruthless cut was part of that.

SIXEYES: Your old collaborator, Scott Solter, was once again in studio with you for the recording. You've worked together quite a bit and I was wondering if his role ever changes, or does he always contribute musically as well as production-wise?

JV: Well, his role gets bigger and bigger with each record. I LEAN on him! Some songs he hangs back, makes a few suggestions here and there, and let's it happen. Other songs he'll do a complete tear down. "Tablespoon of Codeine" is a Solter production. Top to bottom. Now, Douglas, Brock, and Ian wrote a lot of the music, but Scott shaped everything. My version of the song sounds NOTHING like the completed song. "Time To Go" is very similar to the demo I recorded.

SIXEYES: The upcoming Emerald City tour lists the touring band as David Douglas, Ian Bjornstad, Daniel Hart, and Dave Willingham. Who are these new guys and what's up with Dave (Mr. Comedy) Broecker missing from the line-up?

JV: Ha, Broecker is funny as hell. The movie guy voice he does is requested as often as some of the songs! He'll play with us in Seattle this month and always for the NW shows. He's getting married and trying to have a real life:) You can't blame him. We will probably play as a trio now with additional players as they're available. Daniel Hart is a genius. He plays in Physics of Meaning and Polyphonic Spree. He's an excellent violinist and singer. He'll add a lot to the set. Dave Willingham is the sound engineer for the Spree, we're lucky to have him.

SIXEYES: I get the feeling that you didn’t have any writer’s block when it came to getting these songs down on paper. If so, was that due to the fact you were bursting with ideas from your globetrotting tours over the past couple of years in support of Pixel Revolt?

JV: I had no trouble this time around. I think the best thing was taking a longer break. We have a two-year gap in between Pixel (Revolt) and Emerald (City). That’s by far the longest yet. I think the next record will be a lot faster than that. And yes the tours help, you have SO MUCH visual and emotional input that it's bound to pour out when you're still.

SIXEYES: Staying the course here, didn’t you write Pixel Revolt at your desk? I seem to recall you saying that. I want to know if any of Emerald City’s songs were penned away from that desk? Do you ever write while on the road?

JV: Yeah, I do everything on my desk. Sleep, eat. Even make love to my girlfriend. My desk is my life! I’m there right now listening to a Don Rickles interview on Fresh Air and typing this to you Alan!!!



That’s a really good question because for the first time, I wrote songs on tour. The first two on Emerald, "Kookaburra" and "Time To Go" were written in Australia when I was on tour with the Mountain Goats.

We stayed on after the tour at Killcare Beach (pictured above - photo by JV) and swam and hiked. It was one of the best times of my life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Whoa now! Hold on good reader, this is just the end of PART ONE!! PART TWO of this interview will be posted tomorrow. Please come check it out as it features what I like to call 'John Vanderslice: a self-analysis in six parts'. Which is his own thoughts and feelings looking back on all six solo albums he has released. And there's lots more, stuff like Baghdad, Bowie, Moby Dick, shadow governments, Super Bowl prostitutes, Tarot cards, and hand rolled cigarettes to mention a few.

See you tomorrow then, thanks for reading and I know that John thanks you for listening and for watching.

Jul 21, 2007

SPOON 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' Lyrics



Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Tracklist:
1. Don’t Make Me A Target
2. The Ghost Of You Lingers
3. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
4. Don’t You Evah
5. Rhthm And Soul
6. Eddie’s Ragga
7. The Underdog
8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
9. Finer Feelings
10. Black Like Me

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Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Lyrics
1. Don't Make Me A Target

Here come the man from the stars
we don't know why he go so far
and keep on marching along
beatin' his drum

Thugs and stick and bats and balls
for nuclear dicks with dialect drawls
they come from a parking lot town
where nothing lives in the sun

Don't make me a target (3x)
When you reach back in his mind
feels like he's breaking the law
There's something back there he got
that nobody knows

He never claimed to say what he says
He smells like the inside of closets and stairs
The kind where nobody goes

Don't make me a target...

2. The Ghost Of You Lingers
If you were here
Would you calm me down?
You settled this part
Feelings I fight (all the strangers in town)
Feeling so bright (would know if you were here)
The feelings I fight (would you ease my mind?)
Yeah (Come on!)

The sleep fled from my eyes
And I, I know that I need some
Give a thought to the one that you know

Or would you calm me down
When the night gets shadowed
We fast

We put on the clinic
If you were here
It felt good to me
(would you calm me down)
Can't see I'm losing it
Must have set up the scene
(The man asleep knockup)
Put on a clinic
(I see it) But I will need to write
(we settled this part) They're all alive

Oh, would you ease my mind?
Yeah

(The ghost of you lingers)
Put on a clinic till we hit the wall
(And leaves)
Just like a sailor with his wools beat soft
Come on

I had a light bad noon that could be put back together

My life
So light
Would you settle this part?

If you were here
Would you calm me down?

The ghost of you lingers
And leaves
I always think about it
Oh, would you calm me down?

3. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
Life can be so fair
Let it go on and on
I can push for good
You got that cherry bomb
Blow out that cherry bomb for me
We lost it long ago
You and me

Now you know your way back from the spirit far
Brush your teeth for bed
Blow out that cherry bomb
Blow out that cherry bomb for me
You got to know it's on your sleeve
Know it's on your sleeve
Know it's on your sleeve (c'mon)

It was the longest day that I had ever known
I watched you start that drive alone
Blow out that cherry bomb for me
It's gonna burn right up your sleeve
Burn right up your sleeve

So there you go again
Out in your dressing gown
Get yourself to bed
Blow out that cherry bomb

Oh, life can be so fair
Let it go on and on
I could pay to have all your cherry bomb
Oh, life can be so fair
Let it go on and on
I could pay to have all your cherry bomb


4. Don't You Evah
Bet you got it all planned right
Bet you never worry
never even feel a fright
Bet you got it all planned right
Never fit to worry
never even feel a fright.

Single sleeps alone
and I know you don't really mind
Five years by your side
so I know you really don't mind

But don't you love her
deep down
I said don't evah
cause it's gonna keep him hanging around

Never
deep down
I said don't evah
because it's gonna keep him hanging around

Don't you never think it's right
Bet you think you had to but it doesn't feel right
Bet you never think it feels right
Famous-sounding words make your head feel light

Petals getting picked
with the love-yous
and the love-you-not

Five years going by
Everyone is standing on their side

But don't you love her
deep down
I said don't evah
because you're gonna keep him hanging around

Never
deep down
I said don't evah
because it's gonna keep him hanging around

But don't you love her
deep down
I said don't ever
because it's gonna keep him hanging around

Five years going by
everyone is standing on their side

Never
deep down
I said don't ever
cause it's gonna keep him hanging around

Five years going by
everyone is standing on their side

I said don't ever need to worry
cause it's gonna feel all right

Never

5. Rhthm And Soul
Come loosen up,
so hung up
come count them ways to brether

Remember,
Windsor
gets cold in ways you always forget

Oh you know
mmm the rhythm and soul
Get your hands out your back pockets,
boy let it go

[CHORUS]

Here comes the man,
you saw in Kazan,
he just picks in his cold... oh no...
the rhythm and soul

Dollars and cents and no accident
not in the name of democracy
Come get there, come be there
come let your socks fall down to your shoes

Oh you know
mm... the rhythm and soul
Get your ankles moving their sockets
ooh, there you go

[CHORUS]

And here comes the man,
he bought a gift from Kazan
he can't leave it alone... oh no...
the rhythm and soul

When you take a picture and it falls in the lot, oh no no
Take another picture and you spring in the trap, oh no no... mm you miss home

You can't back this at your ride
change of tide
And you're wise, you're wise
rhythm and...

Tract houses
square couches
short legs and square shoulders

Pot holders
aching soldiers
your tank rollers
your all overs

And you know
ooh the rhythm and soul
Get your fingers moving their sockets,
tune in Tokyo

You're just the man
the one I saw in Kazan
wonder what this book will throw... oh no
the rhythm and...

6. Eddie’s Ragga
Someone that I met but I hardly knew
He said that everyone loves a defective heart
He'd parted ways with diction, this was late last night
He see me getting your affection and it proved he was right
The way I stared off thinking that all was sound

Anyone I knew they woulda called me down

You can break my legs, you can kick me downstairs
But there ain't no getting over Joanie Hale-Maier
Just let me walk away
Ah let me walk away

And then the place ignite
It's in my face and I'm
Behind the bassline

Someone that I knew but I hardly met
Told me, it's hopeless I'm a slut for the New York Times
She made my heart soft, worn an aiguillette on her arm
She never been to Texas, never heard of King Kong
And it'd been so long since I'd been suitably high

So we did an Airborne, settled in for the night

Tell me sweetness don't somehow reach your heart
Until you fall flat down and you can't wait to start
This is the one cold truth we've all of us known
As I think to myself this could be easy or I could face it alone

And then the place ignite
All out of grace and I'm
Behind the bassline

7. The Underdog
Picture yourself in the living room
your pipe and slippers set out for you
I know you think that it ain't too far

But I hear the call of a lifetime ring
felt the need to get up for it
oh you cut out the middleman
get free from the middleman

You got no time for the messenger,
got no regard for the thing that you don't understand,
you got no fear of the underdog,
that's why you will not survive!

I want to forget how conviction fits
but can I get out from under it?
Can I gut it out of me?
It can't all be wedding cake
It can't all be boiled away
I try but I can't let go of it
Can't let go of it,

Cause you don't talk to the water boy
and there's so much you could learn but you don't want to know,
You will not back up an inch ever,
that's why you will not survive,

The thing that I tell you now
It may not go over well
And it may not be photo-op
in the way that I spell it out

But you won't hear from the messenger,
don't wanna know bout something that you don't understand,
You got no fear of the underdog,
that's why you will not survive! (Hey!)

8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
It's just my Japanese cigarette case,
bring a mirror to my face
let all my memories be gone

Bring me my Japanese cigarette case,
bring a mirror to my face,
oh, let all my memories be gone

Bring me my Japanese cigarette case,
break a mirror to my face
oh, let all my memories be gone

It's just my Japanese cigarette case,
bring a mirror to my face
let all my memories be gone

9. Finer Feelings
Memphis comes creeping down my back
Somehow this place tastes just like an attack
A hundred-yard-stare of a kiss
Lord, I know I'll never miss it

They told me stop scouting the field
They told me have a look in commercial appeal
And start getting that hair cut sharp

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in commercial appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away

I was part-time at the Tasty Prawn
That and moving furniture and cutting lawns
Covered in newsprint, staying up real late
Just holding out for some fate

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in commercial appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away
[x2]

I was dreaming in the driver's seat
When the right words just came to me
And all my finer feelings came up

Always out on some witch's hunt
For the one who never lets me want
Before you know it it's all fuss

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in commercial appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away
[x2]


10. Black Like Me
I believed that someone'd
take care of me tonight

As I walk into Dorian's
can you see it in my eyes?
(yeah)

My boots are on the mend
and they ain't walkin' home

Street tar in summer'll do a job on your soul
Street tar in summer'll do a job on your soul
ooh

Junie's watching cover shy
My head's feeling light
I believed that someone'd
take care of me tonight
anyhow, anyway, so I split
oh just getting out of there,
what's gonna get me out of this?

I spent the night in the map room,
I humanize the vacuum

I believed that someone'd
take care of me tonight
Oh and as I'm lookin out at you
can you see that in, in my eyes
on the mend,
now they could lead me home

Street tar in summer
will play a trick on your soul

Oh Junie's got daylight
(yeah)
Aw it made me feel so light
(aw yeah)
Just something to take care of the light

Junie's watching daylight
(yeah)
All there is to feel a light
(aw yeah)
Someone to take care of the light

ooh
All the weird kids up front
(yeah)
tell me what you know you want
(aw yeah)
Someone to take care of tonight... aww

Jun 17, 2007

The National: Boxer Lyrics

Since there aren't any lyrics included with the album, or any Boxer lyrics posted on the band's website (I want to thank the band for recently linking this post on their band site) these uncredited transcriptions will have to do. If you have any corrections or opinions on these lyrics, please leave a comment.

If you haven't got the album yet, go here... or your nearest record store of choice and buy the disc. Boxer was released on May 22nd and has garnered acclaim from many in-the-know.

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The National: Boxer: Lyrics

FAKE EMPIRE

Stay out super late tonight picking apples, making pies
put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

Tiptoe through our shiny city with our diamond slippers on
Do our gay ballet on ice
bluebirds on our shoulders
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

Turn the light out say goodnight
no thinking for a little while
lets not try to figure out everything at once
It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire


MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS
You have to do it running but you do everything that they ask you to
cause you don’t mind seeing yourself in a picture
as long as you look faraway, as long as you look removed
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

Make up something to believe in your heart of hearts
so you have something to wear on your sleeve of sleeves
so you swear you just saw a feathery woman
carry a blindfolded man through the trees
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults


BRAINY
I’ve been draggin around from the end of you coat for two weeks, ah ah.
Everywhere you go is swirlin, everything you say has water under it, ah ah.
You know I keep your fingerprints in a pink folder in the middle of my table
you’re the tall kingdom I surround
think I better follow you around

You might need me more than you think you will
come home in the car you love, brainy brainy brainy

I’ve been draggin around from the end of you coat for two weeks, ah ah.
You keep changing you’re fancy fancy mind every time I decide to let go
I was up all night again, boning up and reading the American dictionary
you’ll never believe me what I found
think I better follow you around

You might need me more than you think you will
come home in the car you love, brainy brainy brainy
You might need me more than you think you will
come home in the car you love, brainy brainy brainy


SQUALOR VICTORIA
Underline everything, I’m a professional in my beloved white shirt
Underline everything, I’m a professional in my beloved white shirt
I'm going down among the saints

Raise our heavenly glasses to the heavens! Squalor Victoria! Squalor Victoria!
Raise our heavenly glasses to the heavens! Squalor Victoria! Squalor Victoria!

Out of my league, I have birds in my sleeves and I wanna rush in with the fools
Out of my league, I have birds in my sleeves and I wanna rush in with the fools

Raise our heavenly glasses to the heavens! Squalor Victoria! Squalor Victoria!
Raise our heavenly glasses to the heavens! Squalor Victoria! Squalor Victoria!

3:30 in the last night for you to save this
You’re zoning out, zoning out, zoning out, zoning out
3:30 in the last night for you to save this
You’re zoning out, zoning out, zoning out, zoning out

This isn’t working, you, my middlebrow fuck-up


GREEN GLOVES
Falling out of touch with all my
friends are somewhere getting wasted,
hope they’re staying glued together,
I have arms for them.

Take another sip of them,
it floats around and takes me over
like a little drop of ink in a glass of water

Get inside their clothes
with my green gloves
watch their videos, in their chairs.
Get inside their beds
with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves.

Cinderella through the room
I glide and swan cause I’m the best slow dancer
in the universe

Falling out of touch with all my
friends are somewhere getting wasted,
hope they’re staying glued together,
I have arms for them.

Get inside their clothes
with my green gloves
watch their videos, in their chairs.
Get inside their beds
with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves.

Now I hardly know them
and I’ll take my time
I’ll carry them over, and I’ll make them mine.

Get inside their clothes
with my green gloves
watch their videos, in their chairs.
Get inside their beds
with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves.


SLOW SHOW
Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can’t pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared

I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years


APARTMENT STORY
Be still for a second while I try and try to pin your flowers on la la la la
Can you carry my drink I have everything else
I can tie my tie all by myself
I’m getting tied, I’m forgetting why

Oh we’re so disarming darling, everything we did believe
is diving diving diving diving off the balcony
Tired and wired we ruin too easy
sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave

Hold ourselves together with our arms around the stereo for hours, la la la la
While it sings to itself or whatever it does
when it sings to itself of its long lost loves
I’m getting tied, I’m forgetting why

Tired and wired we ruin too easy
sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave
but I’ll be with you behind the couch when they come
on a different day just like this one

We’ll stay inside til somebody finds us
do whatever the TV tells us
stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days
We’ll stay inside til somebody finds us
do whatever the TV tells us
stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz

so worry not
all things are well
we’ll be alright
we have our looks and perfume

stay inside til somebody finds us
do whatever the TV tells us
stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz

so worry not
all things are well
we’ll be alright
we have our looks and perfume on


START A WAR
We expected something, something better than before. We expected something more
Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave
Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war

Whatever went away I’ll get it over again. I’ll get money, I’ll get funny again
Whatever went away I’ll get it over again. I’ll get money, I’ll get funny again
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war

We expected something, something better than before. We expected something more
You were always waiting but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now
You were always waiting but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war

Whatever went away I’ll get it over again. I’ll get money, I’ll get funny again
Whatever went away I’ll get it over again. I’ll get money, I’ll get funny again
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war


GUEST ROOM
They’re gonna send us to prison for jerks
for having vague ideas of the way to turn each other on again
They’re gonna send us to prison for jerks

They’ll find us here here here in the guest room
where we throw money at each other and cry, oh my

We miss being ruffians, going wild and bright
in the corners of front yards
getting in and out of cars
we miss being deviants

They’ll find us here here here in the guest room
where we throw money at each other and cry, oh my

We can’t stay here
we’re starting to stay the same
We can’t stay here
we can’t stay this way

Just tie your woman to your wrist
give her room to tie the other

They’ll find us here here here in the guest room
where we throw money at each other and cry, oh my


RACING LIKE A PRO

You’re pink you’re young you’re middle-class
they say it doesn’t matter
Fifteen blue shirts and womanly hands
you’re shooting up the ladder

Your mind is racing like a pro, now
Oh my god it doesn’t mean a lot to you
One time you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my god it was a million years ago

Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something
sometimes you stay in bed
sometimes you go la di da di da di da da
til your eyes roll back into your head

Your mind is racing like a pro, now
Oh my god it doesn’t mean a lot to you
One time you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my god it was a million years ago

You’re dumbstruck baby
You’re dumbstruck baby now you know
You’re dumbstruck baby
You’re dumbstruck baby now you know

Your mind is racing like a pro, now
Oh my god it doesn’t mean a lot to you
One time you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my god it was a million years ago

You’re dumbstruck baby
You’re dumbstruck baby now you know
You’re dumbstruck baby
You’re dumbstruck baby now you know
You’re dumbstruck baby


ADA
Ada don’t talk about reasons why you don’t want to talk about reasons
why you don’t wanna talk
Now that you got everybody you consider sharp
all alone. all together, all together in the dark
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air

Ada put the sounds of your house in a song
try to be speechless for a minute
If you think you gonna faint go out in the hallway
Let them all have your neck
Ada don’t stay in the lake too long
it lives alone and it barely knows you
It’ll have a nervous breakdown and fall
into a thousand pieces around you

Stand inside an empty tuxedo with grapes in my mouth
waiting for Ada
Ada hold onto yourself by the sleeves
I think everything counts a little more than we think
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air

Ada Ada Ada Ada
Ada I can hear the sound of your laugh through the wall

Ada don’t talk about reasons why you don’t want to talk about reasons
why you don’t wanna talk
Now that you got everybody you consider sharp
all alone. all together, all together in the dark
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air
Leave it all up in the air

Ada Ada Ada Ada
Ada I can hear the sound of your laugh through the wall
Ada Ada Ada Ada
Ada, I’ve been hoping you know your way around


GOSPEL
I got two armfuls of magazines for you
I’ll bring em over
so hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden
hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden and I’ll
I’ll bring a nice icy drink to you

Let me come over I can waist your time I’m bored
Invite me to the war every night of the summer
and we’ll play G.I. blood, G.I. blood
we’ll stand by the pool
we’ll through out our golden arms

Darlin can you tie my string
killers are callin on me
my angel face is fallin
feathers are fallin on my feet
Darlin can you tie my string
killers are callin on me

Stay near your, stay near your television
Set it up outside
and hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden
hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden and I’ll
I’ll bring a nice icy drink to you

Let me come over I can waist your time I’m bored
Invite me to the war every night of the summer
and we’ll play G.I. blood, G.I. blood
we’ll stand by the pool
we’ll through out our golden arms

Darlin can you tie my string
killers are callin on me
my angel face is fallin
feathers are fallin on my feet
my angel face is fallin
feathers are fallin on my feet
Darlin can you tie my string
killers are callin on me
Darlin can you tie my string
killers are callin on me

Apr 18, 2007

Hipstereo Interview: The Veils' Finn Andrews

From the moment major labels execs started waving five album deals in his fifteen year old face, he was on the path to leading his own band. At sixteen he left school and home in New Zealand to head for London to make music. 2004 saw the release of The Veils' debut, The Runaway Found. An album teeming with promise, it slipped under the radar of many who should have heard it. The album boasted the magnificently dreamy balladry of "Lavinia", a song that has wound itself about my core like a wild vine. The talent of Andrews staggered me when I heard the rest of the album and further more when I learned he was but twenty years of age. The sweeping romance of the imagery countered with Andrews cracking rasp, which could, and often did, rise with a feral grace, seduced many of us who are romantics at heart. The seduction continues with the second effort by Andrews and the new members of The Veils, Sophia Burn, and Liam Gerrard... the album is called Nux Vomica. Not as polished as The Runaway Found, production-wise, the new recording shows a growing confidence in Andrews as a songwriter. The ferocity unveiled on the debut is even more on show here in songs like "Not Yet", "Pan", "Jesus For The Jugular", and the title track, "Nux Vomica". And worthy successors to the lovely "Lavinia" are here as well, namely "Under The Folding Branches" and "House Where We All Live", the former being as romantic a song as Andrews has yet written. The only thing holding The Veils back from stardom is time, time to be heard, time to build an audience, and time to do things one at a time.

Finn Andrews was kind enough to answer some questions from an imaginary hammock on an imaginary dusty porch (when he wasn't worrying about time and space).

Visit The Veils myspace and be their friend.
Download Nux Vomica with eMusic's free trial offer of 25 DRM-Free MP3s.

* * * * * * * *

+Sixeyes:
Let's start at the beginning... what instrument did you first pick up, guitar? And is that first instrument the one that still gets the most attention today?

Finn Andrews: I played around on a lot of different instruments pretty early on - I learnt the didgeridoo when I was about 6, circular breathing and all. I’m currently trying to teach myself the Viola but I’m still pretty shit at it. I figured I’d at least be as good as John Cale within a few months but it really doesn’t seem to be working out like that.

+SE: I was wondering if anything you've read had inspired songs on the new album, or on the first album?

FA: I read an essay by Susan Sontag in the paper last week that made me want to build a fucking city. It had a line in it, I don’t know if it was one of hers or not but it went: “Time is so everything doesn’t happen all at once, and Space is so it doesn’t all happen to you.” That cheered me up immensely.

+SE: I've gotten the impression from some lyrics and older interviews that you may be a homebody, that you like the comforts of hearth and home. If that's true, or not, how do you handle the constant flux of life on the road?

I’m really pretty perverse – I want whatever is furthest away from me most of the time it seems, so when we’re on the road all I really want to be doing is swaying in a hammock on some dusty porch, strumming a banjo and humming to myself.

It might have something to do with growing up between New Zealand and England that nothing ever seems like that far away.

+SE: In the performance videos I've seen of the band and in photos you've adopted an image that some have described as pseudo-Amish. Is this a deliberate look you've settled on, or just a happy result of your style choices? And if deliberate, why?

FA: It’s amazing the amount of attention a big hat gets you. I just like dressing up in weird shit from time to time - bands all look the fucking same and I just woke up one morning and thought “Fuck it, I’m putting on an enormous fucking hat.” I don’t wear it anymore though.

+SE: I want to know what drives you to create? And why did you decide to make another album? I mean it seems like such a hassle and all to get a record made unlike say a painter who only answers to himself and does all the work on his own.

FA: I think it depends entirely on how you look at it: I haven’t met many painters who are laughing it up at people in the music industry cause they’ve got it so much harder. Anyone that works in the arts kind of has to just accept pretty early on that it’s a fucking struggle getting anything of any real worth made and you better just get used to it.

+SE: Nick Launay, who produced Nux Vomica, had worked on your father's (XTC) albums in the past. Did you know Launay personally because of this connection?

FA: Yeah, sort of - I used to go round to his house a lot when I was a kid and I’d amuse myself in his living room while the adults were up stairs making loud noises in the studio. It’s kind of come full circle.

+SE: Did you always have the idea of making music as a way of life in the back of your mind because of your father's career as a musician?

FA: Oh God no! It looked like the most horrific fucking profession imaginable – I wanted to make films or be a fisherman or something.


How do you think his career affected your confidence towards music and making a living at it?

FA: It made me very aware very early on that nearly everyone in the record industry is a self-promoting chancer who will work you to death and try to steal your money. That’s proved pretty much spot on so far.

+SE: Is there an artist or musician whose work you hold aloft as a goal you're attempting to equal when you write? Someone you measure yourself against?

FA: I read an interview with Martin Sheen this morning and I kind of want to turn out like him in 40 years time. I love Devendra Banhart’s stuff. He’s so free in the music he’s making and he really excites me about the music that will be made tomorrow. I used to be very obsessed with musicians more of my father’s generation when I was in my teens, people like Patti Smith and Tom Waits, but now I feel a lot more towards those closer to my age, people whose work is blossoming all around us right now. People like Rufus Wainwright, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Antony & The Johnsons, Bill Callahan. They’re kind of all driving me nuts at the moment.

+SE: What does the rest of the year hold for you and the band?

FA: We’re actually moving to Oklahoma to squat in The Flaming Lips living room and rehearse a record. You know how it is. We’ll be there ‘til August and then hopefully there’ll be a new album out by the end of the year. I can’t wait.

* * * * * * * *



From Nux Vomica
advice for young mothers to be [mp3]

BUY Nux Vomica and/or The Runaway Found.

TOUR DATES

When performing live the band line-up is:
Finn Andrews (vocals, guitar)
Sophia Burn (bass)
Liam Gerrard (piano and organ)
Henning Dietz (drums)
Dan Raishbrook (guitar)

APRIL
25th: Islington Academy, London, UK

MAY
2nd: Mezz, Breda, The Netherlands
3rd: Doornrosje, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
4th: Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5th: Bevrijdingsfestival, Groningen, The Netherlands
6th: Rotown, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
14th: Anciennes Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

JUNE
7th: Mercury Lounge, New York City, NY, USA
8th: Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY, USA
9th: Great Scott, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
11th: DC9, Washington DC, USA
12th: The Khyber, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
14th: El Mocambo, Toronto, Canada
15th: Shelter 16, Detroit, Michigan, USA
17th: Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois, USA
18th: 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
19th: Grand Emporium, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
21st: Larimer Lounge, Denver, Colorado, USA
24th: Plaza Club, Vancouver, Canada
25th: Crocodile Club, Seattle, Washington, USA
26th: Doug Fir, Portland, Oregon, USA
28th: Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, California, USA
29th: Spaceland, Los Angeles, California, USA

Mar 12, 2007

Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank LYRICS

MODEST MOUSE will see their latest released on March 20th. It'll be their first with former Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr, and it does mark a change for the band as they have become even more radio friendly since the last album.



We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank TRACKLIST:
1. March Into the Sea
2. Dashboard
3. Fire It Up
4. Florida
5. Parting of the Sensory
6. Missed the Boat
7. We've Got Everything
8. Fly Trapped in a Jar
9. Education
10. Little Motel
11. Steam Engenius
12. Spitting Venom
13. People As Places As People
14. Invisible

Here are the lyrics to the new album. These lyrics were found on various sites online and there is no guarantee that they are correct. If you find some glaring errors and want to set the record (or song) straight, please leave your welcome help in the comments. Thanks.

Please SUBSCRIBE to *hipstereo.

1. March Into The Sea
If food needed pleasing
You'd suck all the seasoning off!
Suck it off!


Well, treat me like disease
Like the rats and the fleas
Ahaha! Ahaha!

Bang your head like a gong
'Cause it's filled with all wrong
Ahaha! Clang, clang, clang!

If you think you know enough to know you know we've had enough
And if you think you don't, you probably will

Our tails wagged and then fell off
But we just turned back, marched into the sea

Well, treat me like the sea
Oh-so salty and mean
Ahaha! Oh, ha ha!

Well, treat me like disease
Like the rats and the fleas
Ahahaaa! Haa!

I'll be beating my heart's record for speeding
I'll be beating the record for heart skipping

Oh, the doggone tails, well they fell off
But we just turned back, marched into the sea
..Well, we just turned around, marched into the sea

Take all that you need
Let my saxophone free
Till it's gone, till it's gone

Well, this coffee you bleed
Like the leaves of a tree
Ahaha! Ahaha!

Let's shake hands if you want
But you-- both hands are gone!
Oh, haha! Haha!

Well, treat me like the sea
I'm so salty and mean
Ahaha..
Oh, treat me like the sea
Oh-so salty and mean
Ahaha..

Well, treat me like the leaves
Like the rats and the fleas
Bang your head like a gong
'Cause you call it all wrong
Move your tune
Clang, clang
Clang, clang
Clang, clang
Clang, claaang!

Cut me down like the trees
Like the lumber or weeds
Drink me out of the sea
And then teach me to breathe
Give me forests so dead
I wish death on myself
Give me forests so dead
I wish death on myself
Ahaha!
Aha!
Aha!
Aha!
Ahaaaaah!

Well, we all saw the rat
Take a happy encore
For the phone speaks we all
And the running bulls
Ahaha!
March on! March on! March on! March Ooooooon!
Well, march on!

2. Dashboard
Well, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio.

Oh, it should've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.
Well, you told me about nowhere well it sounds like someplace I'd like to go.

Oh, it could've been, should've been worse than you would ever know.
Well, the windshield was broken but I love the fresh air y'know.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)

Oh, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know, oh!
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)
Oh, we talked about nothing which was more than I wanted you to know-oh-oh-oh-oh.
Now here we go!

Oh! It would've been, could've been worse than it had even gone
Well, the car was on blocks, but I was already where I want.
(It was impossible, we ran it good, we ran it good)

Why should we ever even ever really even get to know?
(It was impossible, we ran it good, we ran it good)
Oh if the world don't like us it'll shake us just like we were a co-oh-oh-oh-old.
Now here we go!

Well we scheme and we scheme but we always blow it
we've yet to crash, but we still might as well enjoy it
Standing at a light switch to each east and west horizon,
Every dawn you're surprising,
And the evening was consoling
Saying "See it wasn't quite as bad as"
Well, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.

I was patiently erasing and recording the wrong episodes
after you had proved my point wrong,
It wasn't like I'd let it go, oh-oh-oh. Oh-oh-oh.
I just wanted to catch the last laugh of this show.

Yeah, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio.
(The dashboard melted, but we ran it good, we ran it good)

Hard-wired to conceive, so much we'd have to stow it
Even needs have needs, tiny giants made of tinier giants.
Don't wear eyelids so I don't miss the last laugh of this show.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)

Oh, we could've been, should've been worse than you would ever know.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)
Well, you told me about nowhere well it sounds like someplace I'd like to go-oh-oh-oh-oh.
Now here we go!

Well we scheme and we scheme but we always blow it
we've yet to crash, but we still might as well enjoy it
Standing at a light switch to each east and west horizon,
Every dawn you're surprising,
And the evening was consoling
Saying "See it wasn't quite as bad as"

Oh it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.

3. Fire It Up
Etceteranough? (x8)

Fire it up, fire it up
When we finally turn it over
Make a B-line towards the border
Have a drink, you've had enough

Fire it up, fire it up
If you need some conversation
Bring a magazine to read around
our broke down transportation

Fire it up
Etceteranough? (x3)

Fire it up, fire it up
When we find the perfect water
We'll hang out on the shore
just long enough to leave our clothes there

Find enough, find enough
Oh we ate all of the oranges
off the navels of our lovers
grabbed a book and read the cover

It honestly was beautifully done
Like trying to hide the daylight from the sun
But even if we had been sure enough it's true we really didn't know
Even if we knew which way to head but still we probably wouldn't go

Fire it up, fire it up
We pushed off we're rolling boulders
crashing down the mirrored stairways
two of lifes best mind canaries

Fire it up, fire it up
When we fix the carburetor
then we'll push off once again
in an hour or so later

It honestly was beautifully bold
Like trying to save an ice cube from the cold
But even if we had been sure enough it's true we really didn't know
Even if we knew which way to head but still we probably wouldn't go

Well we always (x2) had it all (x2)
(x3)

4. Florida
Although we often wondered
It was no thing of wonder
The shit that flew from our minds
Grass stains and fresh fruit
Reminds our shoes of horse glue
On this ridiculous climb
With great tall vision
We built ourselves a mission
To ride out motives decide
Oh, with vague description
Of what we have been missing
So why would anyone try

It was always worth it
That’s the part I seem to hide
And the busy ant empire
Put all your clothes inside

I wasn’t always cargo

I guess I’ll pack up my mind
It took so much effort
Not to make an effort
Oh, what a flawless design

It was always worth it
That’s the part I seem to hide
And the busy ant empire
Put all your clothes inside

Even as I left Florida
(yee-ha)

It was always worth it
That’s the part I seem to hide
And the busy ant empire
Put all your clothes inside

Even as I left Florida
Far enough, far enough
Wasn’t far enough

Couldn’t quite seem to escape myself
Far enough, far enough
Far from Florida
We were all drowning in cruise control
Far enough, far enough
Wasn’t far enough

I stood on my heart supports thinkin’
“Oh my God, I’ll probably have to carry this whole load.”
I couldn’t remember if I tried
I couldn’t remember if I took my brain out, threw it so directly a the goal
I couldn’t remember if I….
I could have my mind erased
And still not know exactly what I don’t already know

Even as I left Florida

5. Parting of the Sensory
There's no work in walking in to fuel the talk
I would grab my shoes and then away I'd walk
Through all the stubborn beauty I start at the dawn
Until the sun had fully stopped
Never walking away from
Just a way to pull apart
Dehydrate back into minerals
A life long walk to the same exact spot

Carbon's anniversary
The parting of the sensory
Old old mystery
The parting of the sensory

Who the hell made you the boss?
We placed our chips in all the right spots
But still lost
Any shithead who had ever walked
Could take the ship and do a much finer job
This fit like clothes made out of wasps
Aw, fuck it I guess I lost

The parting of the sensory
Carbon's anniversary
Just part it again if you please
Carbon's anniversary

Who the hell made you the boss
If you say what to do I know what not to stop
If you were the ship then who would ever get on
The weather changed it for the worse
And came down on us like it had been rehearsed
And like we hope, but change will surely come
And be awful for most but really good for some
I took a trip to the exact same spot
We pulled the trigger, but we forgot to cock
And every single shot

Aw, fuck it I guess we lost

Some day you will die and
Somehow something’s going to steal your carbon

Some day you will die and
Somehow something’s going to steal your carbon

Well some day you will die somehow and
Something’s going to steal your carbon

Some day you will die and
Someone’s or something’s will steal your carbon

Some day something will die and
Somehow you'll figure out how
Often you will die somehow and
Something going to steal your carbon

Well some day you will die somehow and
Something’s going to steal your carbon

6. Missed the Boat
While we're on the subject
Could we change the subject now?
I was knocking on your ears
Don't worry, you were always out
Looking towards the future
We were begging for the past
Well we knew we had the good things
But those never seemed to last
Oh please just last

Everyone's unhappy
Everyone's ashamed
Well we all just got caught looking
At somebody else's page
Well nothing ever went
Quite exactly as we planned
Our ideas held no water
But we used them like a damn

Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell
Saying yes, this is a fine promotion
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell

Of course everyone goes crazy
Over such and such and such
We made ourselves a ???
We just used it as a crutch
We were suddenly uncertain
At least I'm pretty sure I am
Well we didn't need the water
But we just built that go god damn

Oh, and I know this all myself
I stood in front for all the people
Oh, and I know this all myself
We listen while life hangs on
And the sound of life's sweet bliss

Was it ever worth it?
Was there all that much to gain?
Well we knew we missed the boat
And we'd already missed the plane
We didn't read the invite
We just dance at our wake
All our favorites were playing
So we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands
A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks
Sitting drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them
When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat

Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves
But not the skills to make a shelf with
Oh, what useless tools ourselves

7. We've Got Everything
We've got everything
We've got everything
We've got everything down to a science so I guess we know everything
We know everything
We know everything

We know everything was built to expire so I guess we've done everything
If we carried it out to sea
Pushed it over the edge we'd have all been through,
Well first off Gary got drunk fell asleep in his car til about noon
Flat Top Tony got all messed up split his lip chasing cheap perfume
Well look at our boat in the bay it looks like some sad ass little canoe

We've done everything
We've done everything
We've done everything like trial by fire so I guess we'll stop trying now
We've tried everything
We've tried everything

We've tried everything half assed and as liars and thats how we've got everything
If we carried it out to sea pushed it over the edge we could have all been through
Well no one even bothered showin' up but we still did what we should have thought through
We crashed in like waves into the stars Didn't want it didn't need it but we knew that we could see it so we opened up the door
We receded like waves out of the stars
Didn't want it didn't need it but we knew that we could steal it left it dying on the floor

We've got everything
We've got everything
We've got everything down to a science so I guess we know everything
We've got everything
We've done everything
We've tried everything
We've got everything
We've got everything

8. Fly Trapped In A Jar
Of part and parcel,
so well we're already dead,
well it's probably been said,
that it's always been said,
that,

one wing isn't even enough,
it isn't even enough,
it isn't even enough,
it isn't even enough,
to leave,

one wing isn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
to leave,
(HAHAHA HAAA HAAA HA)

I'm gonna' shake myself right out the door,
I'm gonna' take myself when it's finally over,
I'm gonna' let my own bad self take over,
I'm gonna' move my arm out with my shoulder,
and

one wing wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
to leave,

one wing wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
to leave,

one wing wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
it wasn't even enough,
to leave,

First off Gary was on trial and drunk before we left bed,
as things got better was it hard to say that he had no idea,
well I hadn't noticed but the people really noticed that they really didn't want us around,
so we all just opened up our mouthes and walked to this town,
well I was walking just a little bit sideways and you were walking sideways too,
well I hadn't learned when a front door can be used,
here it goes now...

We had darkened doors so we didn't read what the sign read
Though simple enough it was to me really tough the ground needs to be fed,
well I hadn't noticed but the people really noticed that they didn't really want us around,
so not a single one of us will ever leave town,
here we go sir...

our bodies were laid out,
they were laid for fifteen yards,
well two feet above each of our heads was a fly trapped in a jar,
well I hadn't noticed but the people really noticed that they really didn't want us around,
so every single one of us hit the ground,
HERE WE GO NOW...

one wing wans't even uhh,
one wing wasn't even enough,

oh pardon pardon,
so well it's already been said,
that it's always been said that
we're already dead

9. Education
Call it education
It was somewhere in between
You gave me some sound advice
But I wasn't listening

After we had capsized
I could tell you how you thought
Well, I'm not sure
But laid to rest on the city on the wall

Not quite conversation
It was somewhere in between
You said everything is taught
And I listened patiently

All this dog and pony
Still monkeys the whole time
We could not help from flinging shit
In our modern suits and ties

Our instincts, they were cringing
About how we lived our lives
It didn't seem we'd lived enough
To even get to die

All these diss distractions
So beautifully complex
Well, I loved life's surprises so much
I don't want to know what's happened

Stubborn shouting, said
"I don't do what you do"
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I've been away

Hardly education
It was somewhere in between
Oh, I hit the roof but I had
Aimed for the ceiling

Hardly education
All them books I didn't
They just sat there on my shelf
Looking much smarter than me

Good old Nostradamus
He knew the whole damn time
That always being east from west
Someone is there fighting

Stubborn shouting, said
"I don't do what you do"
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I've been away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don't know anyway
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Uh.. I fell away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then

Oh, very well, then

10. Little Motel
I hope that you like it in your little motel
and I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well
well I can see it as time and a sight through smell and
thats why its nice to be by yourself

Cause thats what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for darlin'

We treat mishaps like sinking ships and
I know that I don't want to be out to drift
Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and
they both tell me that we're better than this

Cause thats what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for darlin'

We trade tit for tat like that for this
and I don't think that there was an insult that was missed
I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and
I'm very sorry

Cause thats what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for darlin'

it rained and its over a shooting star
landed directly on our broke down little car
we fold and we had made a wish
that we would be missed
If one another just did not exist

Cause thats what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting on, aren't we?
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for darlin'

That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for aren't we?

11. Steam Engenius (These are incomplete)
I was born in the factory
Far away from the milky teat
What's the use?
Oh, what's the use?

You cheered as I was split in half
A mechanical sacrificial calf for you
Oh, all for you

Steam engenius, you see
Steam engenius enough to answer anything you need
But what's the use?

Human nature was installed in me.
I did what was right, but naturally
It wasn't natural
though not my fault

I held my hands
The beating heart of a robot
He drived his car
He's sitting there burning
Now in the parking lot
Just for you

What a waste of time
What a waste of words
What a waste of strength
Well, I spoke in binary
And you see far
You meant for clenching your leg

I was born in the factory
Far away from the milk and teat
What's the use?
Oh, what's the use?

Bliss through waters, I was split in half
A mechanical sacrificial calf that flew
Oh, off they flew

Steam engenius, you see
Steam engenius enough to answer anything you need
And I like speed

I held my hands
The beating heart of a robot
He drived his car
He's sitting there
Waiting car in the parking lot
Out for you

What a waste of time
What a waste of words
What a waste of strength
Well, I smoke in my air
And you spoke far
You meant for dizzying lay

(I was born in the factory)

Both hassle men
Half like a joke
Trying to make another joke
Laugh, haha

Stasisity's what you brought
Like a rickshaw getting pulled around by another rickshaw
Rickshaw..

In the past talking present tense
Gonna break it
Gonna wreck it
Gonna try to make it all make sense

Stasisity's what you got
Like a rickshaw getting pulled around by another rickshaw

Steam engenius, you see
Steam engenius enough to bring my own damn doom
What could I do?

I been blamed then blamed the groom
Well, deep inside everybody knew it was them
It's caught on them

Things rain in stories Greek
I didn't want it, you gave me deity
It was you
Yeah, all for you

I was born in the factory
Far away from the milk and teat
What's the use?
Oh, what is the use?

I held my hands
The beating heart of a robot
He drived his car
He's sitting there crying
All the way in the parking lot
Just for you

I'll start up the man
(?)
Then rip into my
(?)

(?)
I didn't even know that was my own damn plan

What a waste of time
What a waste of words
What a waste of breath
Well, I spoke it by now
You broke your thought
You meant for (?)

I held my hands
The beating heart of a robot
He drived his car
He's sitting there crying
Now waiting for you in the parking lot
Going woo-hoo

Stasisity's what you got
Like a rickshaw getting pulled around by another rickshaw


12. Spitting Venom
we were spitting venom at most everyone we know
if the damned gave us a road map then we'd know just were to go
now let it drop

let it all drop
let it all drop
oh let it all fall off

well you were talking soda pop
you were talking quite a lot
the opinions that I do not give
the opinions I aint got
so let it drop

let it all drop
let is all drop
let it all fall off there oh

well you were spitting venom at most everyone you know
if you truly knew the gravity you'd know which way to go
well let it drop

let it drop
let it all drop
oh let it all fall off

my ears were bristled firmly right against your mouth to hear
when you tried to spit the venom out your words were not so clear
now drop

hold on to what you need
we've got a knack for fucked up history
hold on to what you need
we've got a knack for messed up history

well we went downtown and we sat in the rain
well looking what direction and waiting for a train and thought over
its all over

I did't know you kept track I didn't know there was a score
well it looks like your the winner and I aint gonna play no more
its over
game over

well we walked real stiff and i came inside the ground
you hit me with yours
and said 'pull yourself together'
its over
oh it's over

you can say what you want but don't act like you care
it takes more than one person to decide whats fair
its over
think it over

you were spitting venom at most everyone you know
if the damned gave you a road map then you'd know which way to go
so we carried all the groceries in while hauling out the trash
and if this doesn't make us motionless I do not know what can
what a rotten thing to say such an awful thing to say
I didn't mean to bite you so really
I always did what I always did what I always had to sling
so let it drop

let it all drop
let it all drop
oh let it all fall off

let it drop
let it all drop
let it drop
oh let it all fall off

cheer up baby it always wasn't quite so bad for every
venom then that came out the antidote was had
X 7

cheer up

cheer up baby it always wasn't quite so bad for every
venom then that came out the antidote was had
X6

13. People As Places As People
To answer a question
It’ll probably take more
If you’re already there
Well then you probably don’t know
Well we were the people
That we wanted to know
And we’re the places that we wanted to go
It’s hard to get hold of
And hard to let go
Always something we look for
From the day we were born
Instead we’re the people that we wanted to know
And we’re the places that we wanted to go
Yeah we’re the places that we wanted to go
We’re the places that we wanted to go

Always asking a question
And I don’t want to know
Like the wind across strings
That had finally let go
And the people you love
But you didn’t quite know
They’re the places that you wanted to go
Bark at the neighbors
And then bark at the dog
Sniffing the wind
Whimpering for someone to know
But we were the people that we wanted to know
And we’re the places that we wanted go
Yeah we’re the places that we wanted to go
Yeah we’re the places that we wanted to go

It was not the intention
But we let it all go
Well it messed up the function
And sure fucked up the flow
I hardly have people that I needed to know
‘Cause you’re the people that I wanted to know
All this scrambling around
Hunting high and then low
Looking for the face love
Or somewhere to go
I hardly have places that I need to go
‘Cause you’re the places that I wanted to go
Yeah you’re the places that we wanted to go
Yeah you’re the places that we wanted to go

[You're the people that we wanted to know]
[Shouldn't have to ask]
[You shouldn't have to ask]
['Cause we are your real place]

14. Invisible
Oh, well lesson dance
And shoot to god
A storm-suffered owl
You're not invisible inside your car
No matter what stupid sort of mission you're on
Well, you're not invisible inside your car

I go absolutely mental
Good ramblin' George
Well, you're not invisible inside your car
No matter, you could breathe it like your flies in a jar
Yeah, you're not invisible

I like the sailing teeming
Well, it's true that the moon could pull it back and far away from me
I should just let it be
Well, it's true that the moon could pull it back and far away from me
(And it's sad)

Oh, we had to have some kind
Room shaped like a charm
Well, you weren't invisible
Not all along
No matter how many eagles came in the door
We were not invisible
I knew that

I like the sailing teeming
Well, it's true that the moon could pull it back and far away from me
And there's the orphan sea
We were never invisible but that I guess we did not see

Of course this all had been laid down
Way before we lay down for it all
Before we had a course, of course
Of course this all had been laid down

Of course we lay down..
Of course we lay down..
Of course we lay down..
Of course we lay down..
Of course we lay down..
Of course we lay down....

I like the sailing teeming
Well, it's true that the moon could pull it back and far away from me
I like the orphan sea
Well, we were never invisible but that I guess we could not see

We'll get crushed by the ocean
But it will not get us wet
Crushed by the ocean
But it will not get us wet
Crushed by the ocean
But it will not get us wet
Crushed by the ocean
But it will not get us wet