1. |
Fear
02:12
|
|||
|
and the magic is gone
and there's nothing to say
for there's I have that can't be taken away
so I gather my bones
I gather whatever I can find
for there's nothing around that wouldn't be better mine
and the magic is gone
and there's nothing to say
for there's nothing I have by which I've not been betrayed
so I cry to you God
I cry to whoever might hear
for there's nothing I've seen which I haven't to fear
|
||||
2. |
Onslaught
04:48
|
|||
|
you've walked about a thousand miles in my shoes
still haven't found a single thing that you could use
(where are you going?)
man, I got big plans
(what are you doing?)
man, I got full hands
cuz it's been ten long years in a whole in the ground
in a box under soil trying not to make a sound
but now I just might make a sound
because it's been a fucking onslaught
it's been a goddamn marathon
the trick is not to get caught
while you keep on keeping on
and I've been doing swell
as you can clearly tell
you've heard about a thousand stories from these lips
all you've decided is they aren't worth being kissed
(where are you going?)
bitch, I don't fucking know
(what are you doing?)
well that's a question I suppose
so let me see
well, it's been one big shitshow feeling every muscle ache
all while everything around me starts to slow and finally brake
and it's been one long haul with my eyelids plastered wide
trying to finish what I started while I keep myself
after so many efforts hoisting all my dead weight
I'm about to give the ghost up that I picked up at the gate
cuz after ten long years in that hole in the ground
in a box under soil trying not to make a sound
I'm gonna tell you how it's been a fucking onslaught
it's been one thing after the next
yeah, it's been fucking nonstop
so I can't seem to get no rest
|
||||
3. |
The Gyre is Unspooling
07:28
|
|||
|
(I'm over here!
can you find me in the dark?)
hold still
I'll fuck anything that moves
hold still
I'll fuck anything that isn't nailed to the floor
...
what do I taste like?
sticky and salty
you can thank my husband and his God for that
so what am I?
some kind of rag to mop your cum?
oh what am I?
some kind of lip your prick made numb?
I could not see past my nose
to where your boot-heel met my teeth
but where you thought me satisfied
instead you're met with disbelief
where the liar needs his schooling
now the fire starts its cooling
now the pyre ceases yearning
because the gyre is unspooling
I could not see past the sight you'd me
so I suppose that I could never see the ass that wrapped itself around my nose
I could escape the wheel of fire that you'd tied me to
but now you have so underestimated all I've spoke to you:
"for this city will be ablaze before the night is through"
this is when the liar gets his schooling
when the fire starts its cooling
and the pyre ceases yearning and burning
because the gyre is unspooling
this is all we can do
this is all that we can do
this is the only thing that we can do
this is all that I can do
this is all I can do
this is all I can do
this is all that I can do
this is the only thing that I can do
this is all I can do
|
||||
4. |
Ending the Rope
02:50
|
|||
|
I've watched winter lay its lilywhite blanket
on the scarred and cracked land of a disappointing year
so when I say I've had enough
so when I say I'm done
I pray you take my plate away
and ask no questions
I feel the roots beneath me
from the mighty oaks and sycamore
we used to have a far more firm of foothold in this world
now I can't imagine anything but unhappiness
...
I've watched my calloused toes down the bridge of my nose
scraping in the dirt like a wolfdog in heat
so when I say to end the rope
so when I say to make a break
I pray you stare into the sun
until you go blind
I feel the roots beneath me
from the mighty oaks and sycamore
we used to have a far more firm of foothold in this world
now I can't imagine anything but unhappiness
|
||||
5. |
Hesitancy
03:08
|
|||
6. |
Still Digging This Hole
04:42
|
|||
|
now I've been digging this hole
not sure where it goes
but I could dig this hole all the way to China
you're still shouting down from the ground above:
("come on up, join us, the air is just fine!)
but I keep yelling back up:
"don't you remember what the Firefly wrote to the Friars Club of Beverly Hills?"
in other words:
why don't you make like that man's brother and keep your trap shut?
in other words:
get lost
now I've been digging this hole
not sure where it goes
but I could dig this hole all the way to China
(get up!
get up!
come on up!
ain't you had enough of playing this game?)
I've dug so deep down here
and now I'm stuck in this mire
so while I'm here I might as well leave behind in my confusion all my questions
so that might future generations
dig them up like bugs in the amber
find them washed ashore like driftwood
lift and sift them out from dying
and try to call back answers that I'll never get to hear
you must be dense
you're still shouting from above:
("you look like death! your lips are blue!")
o, there's a storm at sea
look into my eyes
I've got sand in all my crevices
tread lightly and tread with caution
read my knuckles: gog and magog
and read my lips: fuck / off
and what will I dig up
any answers?
or maybe just a new set of knuckles to peruse
so too I speak:
"the more unhappiness I find,
the unhappier I am"
which saying it out loud seems to say it goes without saying
so I'll keep digging to who knows where
like there's some other side
like there's somewhere to get
and I don't even speak Chinese
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
o, mother
had you birthed me by Olympus
with the blood of a king
I'd be a songbird
not a man who turns a crank
o, mother
had you made sure I was beautiful
with the blood of some king
I'd be exalted
not waist-high in muddy water
you poured your placenta
in the Mississippi Delta
so for all my filth and failure
I am not to blame
you made your riverbed
lying with paupers and sharecroppers
their seed was nothing to squander
so I feel no shame
but I hear the wedding of long ago
when they wed you in this mire
and you stole away my lyre
it's the way it always goes
I've got nothing left to lose
but I cling to all this shit
like it's my only chance
and I take no credit for the failures I've amassed
so avast ye
and if you see me on my riverboat
look on
I have no shame!
you can look at me
I have no shame!
don't turn away
I have no shame
(o, mother!!)
("what? have you got a fucking problem with me?
do you not wanna look at me?")
this filthy country
has no use for poets like me
this hollow country
has no use for Orpheus
and I take no credit for the failures I've amassed
so avast ye
and if you see me on my riverboat
please don't turn away
I just pray that you'll stay
|
||||
8. |
Origami Papercut
04:27
|
|||
|
at the start of the show put me back in my box
and I'll slither and curl in the dark to my thoughts
"there's always a hole in the box so I can breathe"
and so you can see and feel me
touch and squeeze me
slowly reveal me
"you there!
come stick your hand inside this hole!
don't be shy! what's that you feel?
why, are those the brains of Aristotle?
and here in this hole: why those are the guts of Tarrare!
the French revolutionary who made his feasts from cutlery!"
...
I was nimble I was quick upon my stage
with just a flicking of the wrist
I draw the eyes to my cage
and mark the contents of a soul
in marrow, sinew and whatever may be left of me
after my encore I'll skip my shore leave
making magic through the night
sculpting my golem til the clay feels right
and folding paper til the sunrise
reveals the folly of the creases that I'll eulogize
when I reflect a funny thing:
contortion's fortunate, it always keeps you practicing
so that you never lose the knack
and hear those cymbal splashes match with your ligaments' snap
all of my cracks and my folds
please let me be alone
tearing to bits
(shit)
please let me rest
|
||||
9. |
Hymn Unheard
06:44
|
|||
|
I've got this frustration I can't seem to shake
everyone seems distracted
I slam on the brakes
I'm staring at brakelights
I'm staring at walls
I'm watching and waiting for nothing at all
I've got so much anger festering inside
so it's hard to believe
when I tell myself I've got nothing to hide
I find myself slipping
I can't help but cry to a God who's not listening
but I know somebody's listening
would you say I have shit for brains
or would you hold me close?
now I find as we're ending our time
I'm hoping that you'll do both
I drive home after another bad day
oh boy, it's been a fucking onslaught
I drive home and have nothing to say
shit, it's been an onslaught
I'm composing a sonnet
I'm constructing a spire
I'm enacting a truce
I'm ending a wire
and if you're hearing this message
you've made it too far
please turn back at the nearest available u-turn and don't turn around in your car
would you say I have shit for brains
or would you hold me close?
now I find as we're ending our time
I'm hoping that you'll do both
and every day is another bad day
all a part of the onslaught
when I'm driving home I think to say:
("my fucking god, it's been an onslaught!")
and if some day I ever get my fucking way
first thing I'll do is end the onslaught
I have joy that's inside
it's just buried deep
I have love that's undying
but I find it so hard not to sow what I've reaped
|
||||
The Judas Sprawl Boston, Massachusetts
The Judas Sprawl is the conceptual musical project of artist Jay William White.
Plumbing the
depths of history by exploring how the spirits of the past haunt our present and future, each Judas Sprawl project constitutes a fully developed world and internal narrative, often fusing elements of science fiction, fantasy and horror.
The latest, INBETWEENS, releases 01/01/2024
... more
If you like Onslaught, you may also like:
AFTERTHOUGHTS [EP]
by WE ARE TEMPORARY
Mining the space between darkwave and dream pop, We Are Temp. conjure a goth-like electronic sound.
go to album
Private Property Created Crime
by Nackt
The final work from visionary musicians Johnny Igaz, aka Nackt, who lost his life in the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, California last year.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio May 9, 2017
go to album
A mesmerizing ambient album ten years in the making.
go to album
Pneumania
by E L O N (Elon Katz)
Glitchy minimalism from Elon Katz, where songs are composed of pinprick synths and murmuring beats.
go to album
ShadowPlay EP
by el nino diablo
These four electronic songs combine ominous moods with whirring rhythms; fascinating and immersive.
go to album
NY’s legendary L.I.E.S. label serves up this platter from Ploy, a dark subterranean journey with clattering beats and shadowy synths.
go to album
