1. |
||||
|
if I go blind
speak to me in rhyme
I'll hold your outer world
in fits of metered line
it's not so bad, you know
don't we all get tired of what we've had?
you can double dash or green this scene
I know my facts
in all this time
just trying to keep my mind
some lightning inner resource
when other comforts lied
go bigger wave if you need it
but don't we all get tired of being brave?
come Saturdaytime frequency
we'll misbehave, okay?
hunted under gardens
blow-the-cover trees
it's windy where the farm is raining pretty autumn leaves
time runs slow
keep me where the good things grow
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
we were philosophers and fools
in California afternoons
that we knew would never last
we had nothing else to do
so we gave ourselves to you
California afternoons
why'd you move along so fast?
I don't know if I can say
if I wanted you to want for me to stay
but why do you gotta call my name
when the awful truth is that I'm the one who don't remain
we were holding off the moon
from California afternoons
as we lay there in the park
we had nothing else to prove
so we made ourselves like you
California afternoons
why'd you let us get so dark?
if I holler let me know
might be halfway round the world before it shows
on the BQE
I look over at that postcard view
been searching for a future me
he's been dreaming of his past with you
California afternoons
|
||||
3. |
Ticker Tape Parade
03:48
|
|||
|
clean my clock, put my hands to bed
wipe the numbers from my head
if I can leave this house today
throw me a ticker-tape parade
nothing ever seems to change
when we only rearrange
so meet me at that new cafe
in the window light where can
find our way
window we can find our way
we'll find our way
nothing's yours until you get it
nothing's yours until you get this wrong
and I wanna go home to a ship I know
write this down: the streets are not
the only medicine we've got
if we make it through this mountain pass
let's find a wave and maybe watch it crash
maybe we can watch it crash
we'll watch it crash
nothing's yours until you get it
nothing's yours until you get this wrong
and I wanna go home to a ship I know
nothing's yours until you get it
they're closing every door while we get this wrong
and I wanna go home to the only ship I know
|
||||
4. |
Tomorrow
05:03
|
|||
|
give me the strength to fight tomorrow
and if I'm strange, don't call it sorrow
every night in our eyes
something bad might resign
through the rooms of our like minds
see the moon on the rise
show me the way, I'll try to follow
tell me what to say, before the night falls
oh, I believe in everything
an empty mind in sunlight brings
see me shine for what I need
heaven help a wreck like me
the day in reverse
were my last words wrong?
this spiral darkness
you and me holding on
|
||||
5. |
Beam of Light
03:47
|
|||
|
for years I've tried
to feel normal in their eyes
so I'll fake it fine tonight
in an old refrain from the royal county lines
only halfway through
all the plans I made to pay my dues
paper-thin and easy to bruise
I'm cursing what I've learned for seeming true
I'll be coming back as a beam of light
on the need-to-know
with the scene and the afterglow
don't think I can take much more
oh, bury me on some quiet fire road
pour into my thoughts
and find the reasons I forgot
to have or not
is it all the same with the kind of luck we got?
I'll be coming back with a lighter load
once in a while, I might feel less low
life in a mind like this one is never what you'd ask for
so turn the key to keep me on
and I'll be coming back as the one you want
all my very best on the bottom line
but I'll be coming back as a beam of light
|
||||
6. |
Empire Line
03:41
|
|||
|
everybody needs to show
if only just a little while before we go
now I'm rolling home
empire line past Rome
and feel faster grown
we raise our voices high to try and pray the faces stalled
when it seems like nothing's gonna bend to our will at all
city kids that sprawled and don't call
his-and-hers window seats
if big snow's gonna blow, don't make a scene
whisper why to me, wine to kerosene
and say what you mean
the skyline flashing black and white like a disco ball
the New York Times headlines you plastered on the wall
making you feel small, and that's all
and don't you know I'm waiting here for you?
(I know I want it all, I went last fall and came back wrong)
|
||||
7. |
No Harm
04:12
|
|||
|
with a passion for cold inaction
I'm flashing a badge of wait-and-see
to lay there and smile might be fine for a while
tired of the nights in pride no speak
but this man could give a good goddamn
if he'd open up the door
so follow the hollow thing
and find what a hindsight makes believe
the covering sky is nothing if I
go blind by some life I meant to lead
now this fool don't want to play it so cool
time on a tv screen
been blinking the years by me
if these words could ring through
and be heard as good news
fix my heart with wood glue
are we too far gone to pretend we can't lose?
in your arms, I'd do no harm
I do no harm
|
||||
8. |
Modern Art
05:14
|
|||
|
I was born a bastard child
left in baskets in the Nile
but I never learned
to stand back and watch that fucker burn
oh, I know I'm losing control
but I don't want to let it show
that I can't let things go
And I split my tongue asking for more
mountained-up man must come down
all my plans ain't working out
have I just begun?
strap me down and launch me into the sun
at least it'd be something I'd done
for now, hollow out my heart
so we can find where the beating starts
all the rest I'll mark as modern art
seems like every bird I held in hand
turned me twice as hard to understand
on my grave make it say “I do the best I can”
now with the water come rising high
I lay me down and I close my eyes
and I tell you, brother, the river doesn't wonder why
|
||||
9. |
Solid Ground
03:59
|
|||
|
I'll double down on solid ground
when I see that shore
how the night is dark
when the light was all I wanted
for you to take me for
got my head in hands now
we're stuck in broken lands
we never thought we'd have to know
watch it come to ruin
all the fall-down news headlining low
but I swear I don't care
just tell me where we're going to
or find me back in time
when I hoped we might
have more to lose
we faced the crowd
and screamed so loud
for our time to come
then I felt your touch
it was just enough to keep these
parlor words off my tongue
from the rocky coast
to the seaside ghosts on beaches
hanging under heavy stars
the terms of love
for the lands I'm of
have torn apart
oh, I swear I don't care
just tell me where we're going to
or find me back in time
when I hoped we might
have more to lose
I swear I'm prepared
to strike out where
we might be young
or find us marking time
to November crimes
you and I'll become
|
||||
10. |
Strike
04:30
|
|||
|
now I know you can never trust the man
with an offer in his hand
even if it's what you planned
so we agree to believe in something else
before this quaking world melts
I wish it…mostly well
in the weeds of a weekend dream you hit
on a scheme that seems to fit
and I swear, I'm into it
it's a long ride from the tower where we met
fissioned thin, half-dead
then cracked the ceiling back instead
how the reasons turn to backwards
when we learn that they're such bastards
and you're the kind of match
who wasn't sure that she would catch
I'll meet you halfway in between
Broadway and any field of green
everyone gets stuck
but let's not give a fuck
|
||||
Absent City Oakland, California
“gentle, worried anthems”
formed in Brooklyn, based in Oakland: Henry Freedland, Liz
Maynes-Aminzade, Sam Bloch.
press: hi@hominginstinctrecords.com
booking + compliments/complaints: absentcityband@gmail.com
hominginstinctrecords.com/absent-city
... more
If you like Absent City, you may also like:
Uncommon Weather
by The Reds, Pinks & Purples
supported by 17 fans who also own “Continue Normal Living”
Very difficult to choose a favourite track! An amazing band, amazing sound
go to album
The Town That Cursed Your Name
by The Reds, Pinks & Purples
supported by 12 fans who also own “Continue Normal Living”
Wow. Even by Donaldson's prolific standard (I'm loving every album), this one is a beauty. Every song urgent, melodic, yearning. A great hard edge on this collection. Each song a favorite. I've been thinking how Life In the Void is a perfect contemporary pop song, but I'm taken by the whole record. Listened in a genuine awe on release. Donaldson's songcraft genuinely makes me feel better.
go to album
Summer At Land's End
by The Reds, Pinks & Purples
supported by 12 fans who also own “Continue Normal Living”
This music makes me feel good. Chimey and wonderful, like slo-mo dancing in a meadow on a beautiful summer evening.
go to album
These tracks are straightforward and concise, never relying on gauzy metaphors to complicate her declarations of love.
go to album
The breezy, hooky, and highly literate songs on the latest from Great Pagans recalls ’80s Britpop at its finest.
go to album
The Los Angeles power duo explore a world of "guitars, grunge, and gas station burritos" on their debut album, a riff-fueled road trip.
go to album
supported by 11 fans who also own “Continue Normal Living”
Stereolab. Numbers. Seely. Love & drone
go to album
