1. |
Beelzebub Jones
03:50
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Some days
I can feel the horns growing
Some days
I wake in a house of mirrors
most are concave
convex
none are crystal clear
did you see the witches in the woods?
did you see the witches in the woods?
wander
just be patient in the mazes
sometimes the path leads you to the strangest places
I see snakes in the garden
I hear wolves in the walls
in the cellar there's a doorway leading straight into hell
but I hardly ever go down there
no, hardly at all
my view
staring out from this black pit
what do I miss living in the abyss?
try hard not to smash a fragile piece
cloven hooves tapdance on thin glass sheets
we're standing on a jenga tower collapsing
the golden gate is breaking loose
someday the sun the moon the stars will all fall around our heads
is it a future that we're given
or a sickness we choose?
dirty ground hold me down
angel of light
my head hurts so bad tonight
and they're coming from the east
and they're coming from the west
from the belly of the beast
from the sparrow's empty nest
tell the children that they ought to settle down
tell the children that they ought to settle down
one day
we'll break through these mental fetters
instead of breaking we get better
one day
we'll step out from our house of horrors
finally start moving forward
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2. |
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counts all her blessings
with a single grain of sand
all these opinions
of what is woman what is man
formed from the fear
buried deep within the hands
of the greatest living pretender
she's haunted by the nights
when the spirits never speak
starved for a drop of poison
every day of the week
promise to pay forward
friends she always keeps
from the greatest living pretender
death steals blindly
leaves nothing on the shelves
takes all that you need
only rings the bells
wind chimes die lonely
the body's in the well
of the greatest living pretender
ah-ooo
tightened her lips
as she stepped out to dance
every great deed
needs just one single chance
she flowed like spilt milk
as she sought out the glance
of the greatest living pretender
he was feeling looser
while she was getting hard
open doors invite you in
to the house of cards
hostages with blindfolds
just need one peek at the yard
of the greatest living pretender
so lie down little baby
make no other sound
harbor those illusions
in the water on the ground
the runaways reconsider
and always come back around
to the greatest living pretender
ah-ooo
rescue me from solace
cancel all my grief
cast one final ballot
pick up all the teeth
take one look back
at what's hidden in the sleeves
of the greatest living pretender
now speak in hushed tones
blur your roving lips
move in dark shadows
got to camouflage your hips
the caress that you fear
the soft fingertips
of the greatest living pretender
ah-ooo
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3. |
BFF
04:55
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have you ever heard a tomahawk roar?
steven studies the same verses
over and over
humming
have you ever heard a burning man scream?
I mutter the same curses
over and over
humming
felt a judgement coming
felt the end of days
proclaimed by an orange-tinted man
propped up on a stage
scrub the floor with a toothbrush
in the house of the lord
you're an easy target
from my high horse
your empire's expanding
mine is only changing
who's more corrupted
when the money is raining
dead rat in the dumpster
cigarette on my lips
ten years later
every stone falls from my grip
among sonoran toads
and fractured moral codes
is it just a temporary distortion of my dreams
who really could've seen
the paths my life would take
detours
I don't call them mistakes
hey hey steve the preacher
you're turning into a creature feature
I was scrubbing shit cause I thought I was worth it
back before I found my way
now I'm working in the bomb factory
my soul is serpentine
cause killing is fine
when you're just a budget item sitting on a line
hey hey steve the preacher
turning into a creature feature
I was spewing shit
at your television pulpit
back before I found my way
now I'm working in the bomb factory
have you ever heard
a village explode?
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4. |
Cellophane Blues
06:52
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get home from work
music on my mind
pick up the cheapest half pint of whiskey I can find
marlboros from the floorboard
furious fingers strike the keyboard
pick you up at quarter after eight
gotta get there by nine
put my name on that list
put my reputation on the line
twelve steps to heaven
might hear a flute
might hear a loop
might be singing in tune
or out
or somewhere round about
I've got a new song
gotta try it
it's not quite finished
but, what the hell, I'm excited
it's a bit too long
and there are too many words in the verses
the melody meanders
but this is how the chorus is
even though I always smile
I'm feeling low
airplanes outside the windows
teeth all stained from smoke
2am comes and we spill out onto
45th avenue
hand me a napkin
it'll be tonight's journal
it's 10pm and there's already vomit in the urinal
whole place stinks of piss, smoke, and subtle lies
wooden legged bartender looks right into my eyes
says what can I get for ya?
well, how much is that one over there?
we've got a one dollar house concoction
if you dare
mccormack armstrong and rhyne
we've got the words if you'd just feed us a line
sweet sally marie
I know he's got your body
but tonight who has got your mind
morris barth and russian novel jon
hurry up from finnegans
somebody up on stage is resurrecting louis jordan
a filipino man playing those hillbilly jams
mr munoz and mr larson
I want to hear your voices join me on this chorus
even though I always smile
I'm feeling low
airplanes outside the windows
teeth all stained from smoke
2am comes and we spill out onto
45th avenue
like an ember that never joins the fire
I dance alone to my cellophane blues
long as I'm mesmerized by
brunette blonde reds in pint-sized glasses
and lonely prisoners in towers
somewhere out of view
I'm spinning yarns of improbable yearnings
and telling tall tales of you
I met you at the masquerade
wore my best martini grin
you write all the charities
and baby I'll compose the sins
said I'm a barnstorming panderer
father abraham slanderer
asked if you'd take my hand
get far away from here
get back to the root, the source
you looked straight in my eyes
said of course, of course
even though I always smile
I'm feeling low
airplanes outside the windows
teeth all stained from smoke
2am comes and we spill out onto
45th avenue
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5. |
The Minor Side of Town
03:58
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tell me the story of the minor side of town
the ruins of the carpenter and clown
men wobble slowly when they're propped up by fear
they never caught the number on that car
when it reached the pier it just disappeared
into the black between the stars
life is cheaper on the minor side of town
your ass is worth pennies on the pound
what you've learned ain't needed
on the sunny side of life
but wait here, and we'll give you a ring
wishes become brittle, fractured advice
shattered by the whims of kings
they're shipping bodies to the minor side of town
the population never goes down
taking all the names
from the graveyard up the street
pass 'em around just like candy
what good's a name when you can't keep the beat
of a marching band ceaselessly marching?
so take advantage of the shipwreck of the stars
steal their homes while borrowing their cars
kids shoot from the treetops
and the fire will have its say
stronger then the armies of the dead
while the buildings burn
do you look the other way?
did you stop to think the fire might spread
from the minor side of town?
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6. |
Photos of the War
04:08
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mama's come to town today
making up the games she plays
who are you gonna love?
who are you gonna love?
lost in photos of the war
stares at walls and open doors
who are you waiting for?
who are you waiting for?
mama writes her memories
tidal eyes that swell for me
who's knocking on the door?
who's knocking on the door?
I left home while mama slept
I slunk the streets and danced with death
who are you trying to be?
who are you trying to be?
mama cried herself to sleep
over thoughts she couldn't keep
who holds you in the dark?
who hold you in the dark?
(interlude)
mama's leaving town again
walks as a forgotten friend
who are you gonna love?
who are you gonna love?
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7. |
Rune
03:41
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santa rita
I was bitter when I met ya
broken christmas sunrise
but who really gives a damn?
morning dew dries
spirits in the sunlight
one mile high
santa rita
teenage drivers on the dirt roads
when they see ya
like a rattlesnake surprise
highway crossroads
cattle country calling
fifty miles away
stealing time to spend now and then
someone always steals it back again
santa rita
in the background of my winter
when I meet ya
I'm moving in to stay
like those pasttimes
I never seem to conquer
the habits of the day
sonoita
fell in love when I first seen ya
can't even say your name
but who really gives a damn?
wine drunk midday
wander up the mountain
one mile high
stealing time to spend now and then
someone always steals it back
in the fall
the fall
i want you in
the fall
maybe I'll see you when
the summer's come
I'm melting down
I need a road
to higher ground
need a home where I can breathe
the thinning air of mystery
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8. |
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in dark corners of the night
where it all belongs to you
and everybody plays by your made-up rules
underneath the bed
invent a cone of silence
whispered privacy
I want to cradle you within
dark corners of the night
where useless treasures lie
make friends with only those who make you cry
all around your head
the numbers take the lead
in a whimpered symphony
I'll hold a candle in the
dim, dark corners of the night
dark corners of the night
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9. |
Cassiopeia
02:35
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dreamed that you fell
from the furthest star
crashed slow and deep
in green fields you dance
fingers of spring
reaching inside
pulsing and throbbing
with light-year eyes
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10. |
Dulcinea
04:17
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in broken square city
pink chaos sky
last night got fucked up
I'm so alive
woke up in feathers
mysterious friends
alive in the camera lens
dulcinea
mavourneen
just say what you mean
see oh oh oh oh boy
smeared your black eyes
see oh oh oh oh oh oh boy
tell me where'd you sleep last night?
can you recite all your lines?
they're written all wrong
grapes left on the vine
always rot and fall off
dulcinea
mavourneen
just say what you mean
the swampland of your hair
go on, wear it like a queen
royal colors
red blue green
don't wash away in the morning
beautiful baby
ain't doing too bad
chased out the natives
moved in the transplants
tore down the houses
replaced them with boxes
cardboard castles in the sand
dulcinea
mavourneen
just say what you mean
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11. |
Common Interests
07:04
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I was wasted by the city
I was weighed down by the blues
sucked in by the maddening
spiral of the news
ran between the knees of giants
I rode a derailing train
til I passed out
in the napa valley rain
where you live between the barrels
and sleep under the vines
waiting on astral signals
for your time to shine
the sky is champaign silver
draped on wilted hills
inkblots on the paper
possessions in the will
and rings around the roses
empty pocket poses
I'm falling into ashes
a chain gang to my left
holy men to my right
panic at the sight of scissors
the savior and the ice
but I'll lay down all my burdens
to take up my arms
repossess those virulent charms
broken when I walk
I'm fixed in a run
place bets on extinction
by a red giant sun
when everyone I've ever known
turns to transferred energy
with a warbling voice
and a knocking of the knees
and rings around the roses
empty pocket poses
I'm falling into ashes
do you hear the bomb blast?
do you hear the birds?
deadbolts on the doors you pass
tracing maps in the dirt
your fingertips poke holes
in the timeline of history
cause the streets of your hometown lack mystery
so you unearth the memories
of the days that were lost
while that golden opportunity
became the granite albatross
you're curled up in the queen's bed
afraid to get warm
the circle of life
the eye of the storm
and the rings around the roses
empty pocket poses
I'm falling into ashes
I'm broken down in flooded ditches
I'm bankrupt in your breath
imagination feeding on
the angry bliss of death
stark white bedroom walls shake
I'm hiding in the corner
locked in the freezer
but I'm getting warmer
whether all things stay the same
or all things must pass
a sailor moon, a wise man's star
twinkling ice in the glass
you spend your nights drifting
between the sky and the land
the planes of existence
the lines in the sane
where you buried every witness
and all their common interests
blink and you'll see magic
forgotten in the attic
like rings around the roses
empty pocket poses
I'm falling into ashes
at the end of the road
I turn and I look back
I can't remember who
started down that path
smashed bottle weapons cache
I carve empty memories
til I feel you crawling onto me
then we'll tune in axis sally
tell us about the dead
tell us who's been sleeping
on the cold side of our bed
just tell us all the animals
have been sent back into the wild
my willful ignorance
the ramblings of a child
and rings around the roses
empty pocket poses
I'm falling into ashes
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12. |
Halfway Home
05:32
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Exit slowly
Night shadow
These walls are the silent types
But floorboards talk
I never noticed just how heavy certain words could be
Silence those bedsprings
Untangle the blind strings
I’ve searched everywhere
You might be hiding
I can’t see the future although I have an inkling
You’re always halfway home
Everywhere you roam
I call your name from every door
Unless I feel a sense of loss I feel a little lost myself
Anytime
Anytime at all
You fell you’re falling from a great height
When you enter the kingdom you’ll have no need to hide your eyes
You’re always halfway home
Everywhere you roam
I’ve stitched your name in all of your clothes
Cause though I love a sense of loss
I do not want what I’ve not got
Into the forest
The cities behind
You were always finest on the run
And crowds of fools will mourn the loss
Of someone they cannot become
You’re always halfway home
Everywhere you roam
They’ll paint your face and they’ll drop all their stones
Trying to sketch the divine
But they only use straight lines
You’re always halfway home
Everywhere you roam
I’ve stitched your name in all of your clothes
Cause though I love a sense of loss
I do not want what I’ve not got
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Joshua McCormack Tucson, Arizona
From the odd acoustic pop of Joshua Mccormack Presents Holiday Girl , to the electronic-tinged rock of The Phantom King , to
the collection of sonic oddities on The Dunce Cap, he’s been restless for years.
His recent album Lights Out 4 Baby Grand, shows a more personal side, while The World, Just For You is a collection of cover songs he recorded to survive the dystopian ambivalence of 2020.
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