1. |
Right Hand
02:56
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Your righthand man is failing you
And everyone doubts your prevailing view
You're stuck in the swamps under lock and key
On the run from the law and attached to me
The dogs they all howl and the hangman says
Better run for your life better say your prayers
Better hide the knife and hie you home
Or get lost in the sea dead and all alone
The ghosts and the wind and the Furies moan
And arrhythmias attack your bones
And you'll hide yourself and be redeemed
In the muck and the mud and St. Elmo's steam
And you know all this you've heard before
It's a fairy tale but it still might be true
And now your silent bones in a silent grave
And if you're strong enough, will you still be saved?
You followed the plan, you saw it through
It's a fairy tale but it still might be true.
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2. |
Gasoline
02:34
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Rotting hulks and gasoline
And we all know you keep your whistle clean
A tap on the shoulder from the other side
And no doubt you'll let it ride again
Southern songs and silhouettes
And ashtrays for your cigarettes
Fortune favors the bravest ones
Like distant lights from darkened suns again
I stood last night outside your walls
In the orchard or in the halls
Where your gallant minotaur awaits
And around me hover blackened Fates again
Oh, how the night is young
And we might evolve beyond
Things passing strange
So take the stairs but leave the gun
And we can make the past undone
Kill 'em all and rob them blind
Forgive them if they've been unkind to you
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3. |
Run to the Hills
03:37
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You heard the news and now you'll make decisions
Wasting time on visions and revisions
But you can't decide what's right and what is wrong
So run to the hills, give yourself a severance package
Run to the hills, pat yourself upon the back
As strange as it feels, everything is gonna turn out right
Out on the road, fleeing in your station wagon
Run on your own, in your parents' Cadillac
Whatever you do, don't go to the river at night
The Gulf winds, they lick at you
The vultures haunt your bones
You'll kick and scream, you're paralyzed, alone
So run to the hills, hide your pain and take the pills
Just run to the hills, and just ignore how strange it feels
Bury all your secrets in a gold-plated casket
Survive...
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4. |
The Blurry Sea
03:41
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The timbers creak
Carved out of redwoods from the darkened woods
Cradling your body and your earthly goods
And misery
Is your final companion on the blurry sea
You strain for sight of land but none will come
You scan the waves
Don't think about the food sores or the scurvy sores
Don't bother cursing rats or fate or hungry whores
The blurry sea
Throw their bodies overboard, the blurry sea
Throw their bodies down into the deep
The men have come
To die out on the salty waves and roll the dice
Miss their wives, their daughters, and their sons
Inside the hold
The virgins cling together, they're afraid and cold
Cut them down and offer sacrifice
(And all your secrets will gather in the water
And they'll wait for you patiently til someone tips you over
And your infamy will have to long outlive you and the sunset
Will grow like blood above and spread out just like a blanket
On the blurry sea; you're churning in teh water, in the alchemy
The dying sons and daughters will all become your enemies
And they will take you down into the deep
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5. |
Shapeshifting Woman
03:13
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Conductor, conductor, you ask me what is wrong
I've got a shapeshifting woman
She torments me both night and all day long
(I've done her wrong)
Patrons of the station
Listen to what I say
I've got a shapeshifting woman
She's headed this way; tell her I'm gone
(Tell her I'm gone)
Oh get this train a rollin'
Let the whistle haunt the night
Shapeshiftin' woman
She's the cause of all my plight and for this song
(Wrote her this son)
Get those pistons pumpin', full speed ahead
Oh shapeshifting woman
I know she want's me dead-- I can't stay long
(I can't stay long)
Forgiveness for transgressions
I earnestly entreat
But her vampire kisses
Will have me at her feet; I've done her wrong
(I've done her wrong)
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6. |
Honestly
02:01
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I never meant to say the things I said
And I didn't want to hurt you like I did
Just enough to make you feel the same as me
Oh honestly
You don't even know what I am speaking of
You've had plenty of time to get over "us"
And just because I drive by your house every night
Doesn't mean
That you have anything to fear from me
Can't you tell that I'm non-threatening
And you don't have to press charges against me
Honestly
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7. |
Didn't Mean to Kill You
03:41
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I didn't mean to kill you; it was an accident.
I didn't mean to push you down those stairs.
And I know all of our friends'll just blame Providence
But I was careless, that's all.
I didn't mean to kill you; it was coincidence.
Even though I tried and tried before.
They say you're just a victim of circumstance
But circumstance didn't entomb you in the floor.
And now your singing in angelic choir
Smiling upon the mess I made
As I commit our house to arson fire
And cower in helpless in the shade
Of the tree we planted when we were young
The willow tree that gently waves
If I could reach through this funeral pyre
But I killed you and can't be saved
Didn't wanna bomb your house or crash your car
I didn't wanna throw you from a bridge
And you know all our friends will blame the President
But you can't hear me 'cause you're dead.
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8. |
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9. |
Jetpack Angel
03:33
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In the town where we both came from,
The resting place of the dead and lame,
Into the town that never changes,
Like a chameleon, oh yeah she came.
To the place of crooked strangers
With her retinue all in tow,
To cast pearls among the poor and dangerous
Who asked "How do you know the things you know?"
With a jetpack, like an angel,
Texting messages from beyond,
In the deserts where the trains dwell
She was sweet and cold as a pond
And I'll ask you not to repeat
All these praises I have sung,
Not to sprinkle in your notebook
Effusive heartblood that I've wrung
From these cliches and these stories
From these lies that I have spun.
Where she's gone to, I don't consider--
To some mountain all clothed in snow,
Or some world, 'midst space's glitter?
Well, I swear that I don't care to know.
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10. |
Gold Lies
04:08
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You were wearing my coat in the snow outside
Then the spirit blew out like a light
Head cocked to the sky as you whispered a kiss
But nothing was ever like I remember
Now the leaves are perched to fall and a chill crawls in
And it's raining outside, end of summer
I'm thinking of a time I was yours; you were mine
But we really belonged to ourselves
And you brought some water when my blood was afire
And drowning me in a fever
But as the snow rakes the sheets, as the negatives dissolve
I place these gold lies in the album
And oh my love, these are meaningless words
How the sky expanded above us
And I would talk to myself, how life is absurd
You'd smile, you'd nod, you would listen
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Quark Lepton Columbia, South Carolina
Commercial jingles for frosting eaten by spacemen.
Quark Lepton recommends:
Curdled pop songs from the mastermind behind Yukos the Crude!
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TC Costello is a world-travelling troubadour, combining folk, world, and punk influences. This album is maybe his most psychedelic and has my favorite production of all of his stuff.
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Everything Marcum does is great. This one has a special place for me because it was exactly what I needed in 2020, during SC's brief lockdown. The vibe is chill, a little melancholy, a little funny.
go to albumIf you like Quark Lepton, you may also like:
Keeper is the Heart
by Nighttime
Working with Florist member Rick Spataro, Eva Louise Goodman delivers buoyant compositions that run the gamut of psych-pop, girl group, and folk.
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Between Ship and Shore Part One
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featured on Bandcamp Radio May 5, 2015
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Various Artists - Gaza Calling
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 15, 2024
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