B i o g r a p h y (by Official Press)
The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La-Band formed in December 2000, when the original three members of A Silver Mt. Zion (Efrim: guitar, piano, vocals; Thierry: contrebasse; Sophie: violin) asked three additional players to join (Beckie: cello; Ian: guitar; Jessica: violin). This line-up, juxtaposing a string quartet with 2 electric guitars, continues to this day. A seventh member was added in 2003 (Scott: drums, guitar, mandolin, etc.). The debut performance by A Silver Mt. Zion took place at the Constellation Room in spring 1999, as part of the Musique Fragile concert series. This half-hour composition, built around a descending piano line and a field recording spliced on a reel-to-reel tape deck, went on to form the template for the band's debut record, He Has Left Us Alone, But Shafts Of Light Sometimes Grace The Corner Of Our Rooms (cst009). Expanding to six musicians at the end of 2000 (and lengthening the band name accordingly), the group worked on new arrangements of material from the debut and began writing new songs, then toured Europe in early 2001. The first album written by the larger band, "Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward." (cst018), was recorded over a couple of weekends immediately after the tour. The first two SMZ releases feature largely instrumental work, a punk-rock chamber music of sorts that evolved out of the three founding musicians' desire to compose in a setting more intimate than their other band, the sprawling nine-piece godspeed you! black emperor. Both records were released to broad critical acclaim, and while these albums include the earliest examples of lead vocal and lyrics by Efrim, it was in 2002, as godspeed's recording and touring schedule wound down, that SMZ began working in earnest on a decidedly more lyric-guided approach to songwriting and a more articulate attempt to harness the protest song traditions of folk, punk and avant rock. The band has been writing, recording and touring regularly for the last two years and has recorded two double albums of vocal-driven material, "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing (cst027) and Horses In The Sky (cst033). Efrim also recorded some song sketches in the fall of 2003 that turned into Thee Silver Mountain Reveries EP (cst030) originally available exclusively in concert during the band's spring 2004 European tour, then given a wider release in the summer of that year. All iterations of the Silver Mt. Zion band have been recorded at Montreal's Hotel2Tango (a recording studio built by Efrim and Thierry, along with engineer Howard Bilerman) and released by Constellation. Efrim is a founding member of godspeed you! black emperor and has been involved in many other projects via the Hotel2Tango loft space, which evolved from a ramshackle rehearsal hall in the mid-90s to an accessible 24-track analogue studio by the turn of the decade. He has recorded and/or played on records by Frankie Sparo, Hangedup, Hannah Marcus, Elizabeth Anka Vajagic and Phonemes, among others, and is chiefly responsible for the album artwork that accompanies all the albums by gy!be and SMZ. He has played in a Glenn Branca guitar orchestra performance, in an improv concert with members of Acid Mothers Temple, and has written for Fish Piss magazine. Silver Mt. Zion is his central song-writing vehicle, for which he writes all of the lyrics. Thierry has played electric bass in gy!be 1996, and began playing contrebasse a year later, initially in SMZ and Molasses. He has pursued acoustic bass as his central instrument ever since, playing in countless improv and free-jazz formations around Montreal, and on many albums recorded at the Hotel2Tango (where he is a partner and engineer). He has recorded albums by Fly Pan Am, Crackpot, and free music ensemble Balai Mechanique (in which he also plays), among others. He is also a founding member of klezmer-inspired quartet Black Ox Orkestar. Sophie has played violin in gy!be and SMZ since 1998 and Set Fire To Flames since 2000. She has contributed to innumerable records by other bands and is a highly active player in the local Montreal scene. Most recently, she has played and toured with Valley Of The Giants, contributed to recordings by Hrsta and Kiss Me Deadly, and founded her own label, Bangor Records, whose first release will be by The Mile End Ladies' String Auxiliary (in which she also plays). She wields electric bass in the noise-rock duo Diebold with fellow SMZ member Ian. Beckie has played cello in SMZ since 2000 and features as a member and/or contributor to a long list of other Montreal-based bands and projects, including Set Fire To Flames, Blackout and Elizabeth Anka Vajagic. She collaborates regularly with the local modern dance community and is a co-founder of the cello and percussion duo Esmerine. She also organises conferences for the Canadian Environmental Network. Ian has played guitar in SMZ since 2000, prior to which he was the guitarist for postpunk bands Sofa (1992-1997) and Sackville (1995-1999). He has contributed guitar, bass, drums and/or programming and computer arrangements to recordings by Hangedup, Frankie Sparo and Priya Thomas, among others. He recorded the debut record by Fly Pan Am and is co-founder of Constellation Records, as well as co-curator of the Musique Fragile concert series that ran in Montreal from 1997-1999 and gave many of the city's current experimental and improv players one of the first accessible, artist-friendly venues for performance. He currently makes computer-assisted music in Re: and bangs the drums in Diebold. Jessica has played violin in SMZ since 2000, prior to which she played in various Montreal bands, toured with The Geraldine Fibbers, and was production co-ordinator for local film collective Automatic Vaudeville, to which she also contributed music and acting. Her violin work has graced many records, including Frankie Sparo and Hannah Marcus, and she plays regularly in local Arabic and Balkan music ensembles. She is a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar. She also makes lightboxes, metal flowers and figurines, wristbands, and other lovely objects. Scott has played drums, guitar, mandolin and cymbalom in SMZ since 2003. He played with various punk bands in Baltimore before moving to Montreal in 2000, where he completed school and co-founded the political puppet theatre troupe Petit Theatre de L'Absolu, which has toured France, Spain, the USA and Palestine. He is a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar, in which he plays mandolin, cymbalom and violin, and for which he sings and writes lyrics in Yiddish.
He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms
*** Thanx a lot to Tony for all these lyrics ***
Sit in the Middle of Three Galloping Dog We are all the children of light And the children of the day We are not of the night nor of darkness Therefore, let us not sleep as do others Underline it But let us watch We are to be watchmen in these endtimes And to be sober Be serious...
Movie (never made) On silver mount zion All buried in ruins We was dancing the hora Until we vomited blood Spinning like crazy Shoshana was jonesing The towers had fallen And the wind called out My grandfather's name Let's kill first the banker With his professional demeanour Let's televise and broadcast The raping of kings Let our crowds be fed on Teargas and plate-glass 'Cause a people united Is a wonderful thing I know that you're dying And i know i'm unwell And together we sashay Thru variations of hell And as you walk through valleys of fear The lure of my bed is ever near Oh, don't be afraid, though the parade Will not pass our way It's nobler to never get paid Than to bank on shit and dismay
Blown out joy from heaven's mercied hole Don't tell me that i am free Cause i have not been well Lately
Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward
Built then burnt (hurrah! Hurrah!) Dear brothers and sisters dear enemies and friends Why are we all so alone here All we need is a little more hope, a little more joy All we need is a little more light, a little less weight, a little more freedom. If we were an army, and if we believed that we were an army And we believed that everyone was scared like little lost children in their grown up clothes and poses So we ended up alone here floating through long wasted days, or great tribulations. While everything felt wrong Good words, strong words, words that could've moved mountains Words that no one ever said We were all waiting to hear those words and no one ever said them And the tactics never hatched And the plans were never mapped And we all learned not to believe And strange lonesome monsters loafed through the hills wondering why And it is best to never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever wonder why So tangle - oh tangle us up in bright red ribbons! Let's have a parade It's been so long since we had a parade, so let's have a parade! Let's invite all our friends And all our friends' friends! Let's promenade down the boulevards with terrific pride and light in our eyes Twelve feet tall and staggering Sick with joy with the angels there and light in our eyes Brothers and sisters, hope still waits in the wings like a bitter spinster Impatient, lonely and shivering, waiting to build her glorious fires It's because of our plans man; our beautiful ridiculous plans Let's launch them like careening jetplanes Let's crash all our planes in the river Let's build strange and radiant machines at this jericho waiting to fall Take these hands and throw them in the river We got desperate Waiting for our cheques to come I got drunk, you got high You would not raise your eyes We got desperate Waiting for our cheques to come I got drunk, you got high You would not raise your eyes Kopkars on every corner We're all alone Kopkars on every corner We're krawling home Take these hands and throw them in the river Take these hands and throw them in the river Take these hands and throw them in the river Take these hands and bury them in your hands Could've moved mountains
These hands could've moved mountains. The triumph of our tired eyes Sisters and brothers, We have surely lost our way. In strip malls full of cancer, And a pathetic rain. And lover, sweet lover Please don't discipline your hands. Just kiss me in the morning, In your dirtiest pants. We will find our way. We will find our way. There is beauty in this land, But i don't often see it. There is beauty in this land, But i don't often feel it. Pimples are flowers, Musicians are cowards! Let's argue in the kitchen, For hours and hours. Tomorrow is a travesty, Tomorrow should be ours. Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! Musicians are cowards! The soldiers with their specialists And the pigs with their guns cannot stop, The lost ones and the desparate ones and the driven ones. The soldiers with their cigarettes And the pigs with their guns cannot stop, The lonesome ones and the desparate ones and the smart ones. So come on friends, To the barricades again. So come on friends, To the barricades again. So come on friends, To the barricades again. So come on friends, To the barricades again. We will find our way, We will find our way. "When we finally cross the barricades With the angels on our side When we finally deny all the populary loss When we finally let doubt and worry die How will it feel?"
This Is Our Punk-Rock, Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing
Babylon was built on fire / starsnostars Babylon was built on fire And the bones of useless machines It hurt to breathe You fell away from me Packs of helicopters divide Across a crowded sky What angels did you ride As i staggered at your side First voice: Citizens in their homes And missiles in their holes And citizens in their homes Second voice: The brightest night I ever saw, Across An empty parking lot No stars Third voice: This highway needs rain across Both of its lanes until All that remains is This heart and its flames And the rumble of trains 'Neath a handful of stars American motor over smoldered field It will not be a tender fire Upon your postcard mountains No golden children Will write hymns about The slow defeat of your reckless destiny Bullets in the bellies of babies Sleeping in the strangest places Indifferent to the blinding grace of The vapour-trails and burning waste Of your baptist skies Oh! To live! In a burning house With burning children eating dust And finger-painting flags Smoke pours out of their eyes They're praying and saluting They're all hanged up Hey! Okay! Kiss me slowly Beneath the dripping leaves Of our traintrack trees Though sickly and diseased Some weeds thrive anyways This fence around your garden won't keep the sky from falling... Goodbye desolate railyard It's rolling So goodbye lovely train tracks And goodbye broken trees The devil poured his concrete 'Cross all our empty fields From shadows across our sunrise And sand beneath our wheels So goodbye lovely warehouse And goodbye sleeping weeds Your beauty was a shining thing That fell away from me Everybody gets a little lost sometimes...
Horses in the Sky Constellation
God bless our dead marines They put angels in the electric chair Straight-up angels in the electric chair And no-one knew or no-one cared But burning stars lit up their hair And burning stars lit up their hair And crawled to heaven on golden stairs And oh! How we to and fro! To and fro! To and fro! This is our torched estates (and we are your sweet mistakes) And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones Who among us will avenge miss nina simone? There's fresh meat in the club tonight God bless our dead marines Someone had an accident Above the burning trees While somewhere distant peacefully Our vulgar princes sleep Dead kids dont get photographed God bless our dead marines The hungry and the hanged The damaged and the done Striving 'long this spinning rock Tumbling past the sun Get through this life without killing anyone And consider yourself golden Lost a friend to cocaine Couple friends to smack Troubled hearts map deserts And they rarely do come back Lost a friend to oceans Lost a friend to hills Lost a friend to suicide Lost a friend to pills Lost a friend to monsters Lost a friend to shame Lost a friend to marriage Lost a friend to blame Lost a friend to worry and Lost a friend to wealth Lost a friend to stubborn pride And then i lost myself I love my dog and she loves me The world's a mess and so are we She tumbles long green muddy fields Sick with joy and glee And as she dreams sweet puppy dreams Whimpering gently There's fresh meat in the club tonight God bless our dead marines Someone had an accident Above the burning trees While somewhere distant peacefully Our vulgar princes sleep Dead kids dont get photographed God bless this century When the world is sick can't no one be well But i dreamt we was all beautiful and strong Mountains made of steam This was our stormy ending Water sank our boats Shouldn' t we oh shouldn't we Throw our hopes into the ocean The ocean The warm grey sea Tell me or Kick me or Hold me or Please believe This is their busted future And this is our dream Which one do you Believe in, believe in, believe in, believe in Together together together together Never to retreat Mystery and wonder Messy hearts made of thunder Somewhere there's a soldier Sleeping in a field Somewhere there's a mother a mother a mother a mother a mother a mother Please believe in gentle dreams The sweetness of people Whistling in their sleep The angels in your palm Sing gentle worried songs And the sweetness of our dreams Like mountains made of steam Horses in the sky Oh my broken lamb I worry when you cry Baby's gonna fetch ya Horses in the sky Though dead hands ring the garden And these are violent times And violence brings more violence And liars bring more lies Though we was born defeated Worried, tired and scared And monsters build mean robots Launching rockets into the air And the wealth of our nations Fed on angel blood And our cities shot with moneyed schemes Built on twigs and mud And our schools look like prisons And our prisons look like malls And downtown's just a sick parade Where no-one cares at all And our hero's all died crazy Broken, poor or shot Let's celebrate their tragedy And sanctify the loss And manifest the daydream Like those who fell before And glorify our small attempts And hate ourselves no more Blow words between these sucker's teeth And bind these panicked hands Lose your heart like a clumsy bell Please be well And all i true love Is the light In my sister's darling eyes Teddy roosevelt's guns Canada oh canada i never been your son You're a genteel rent boy Choking on your tongue And your bankers' vain plazas never nurtured no-one And concrete expanses laying fallow in the sun And your cities all collapsing while your corrupt mayors shrug And your grown-ups all gone bankrupt and your children all on drugs And your children are on drugs And your doe-eyed policemen demanding more guns And your distained farmers waiting on the flood Canada oh canada i ain't ever been your kin Overfed and easily led and twisting in the wind Your senators all in diapers and stinking of gin Shop and save Beneath the western sun Bought and paid for Teddy roosevelt's guns Hang on to each other We all got born so afraid And still search for words To describe that pain And cling to each other Like pigeons in the rain And nuzzle over feathered breast With beaks all worn and cracked an stained... Hang on to each other So this one's for the lost ones And the dead ones & the ones who fell away All our busted brothers And tumbled lovers Spitting at the rain We all got born so afraid And still search for words To describe that pain Hang on to each other... Any fucking thing you love... Birds toss precious flowers From the murky skies above... Ring them bells (freedom has come and gone) Ring them bells Ring them sorrowfull bells Now freedom has come and gone We've been waiting so long Never ever so long Now freedom as come and gone Shake that tail Like any other worried soul Now freedom as come and gone Steamtrain's coming Thirteen stories high If that steamtrain don't come I swear i will lay down and die The city makes canyons All littered with snow And beneath their crummy towers Our tiny bodies blow and blow So drown them bells Drown them miserable bells Freedom has come and gone Freedom has come and gone Freedom has come and gone Freedom has come and gone We was all of us just tumbling birds hanging in the sky And hauled our bones 'long troubling roads and did't none of us know why And as we staggered towards a frightening dawn I swear all i ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever believed in Was all of us together all along We was all of us just two shot birds tumbling thru the sky And built cheap homes along company roads and didn't none of us ask why And as we staggered towards a frightening dawn I swear all i ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever believed in Was all of us together all alone Imagine the view From a helicopter gunship A man comes into view And you hit a switch And you cut that man in two Imagine the view When they bounce that shit off of satellites And they hit a switch and when they hit that switch All the heaven shits/falls on you Imagine the view
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
*** Thanx a lot to Luke for these lyrics ***
1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound One million died to make this sound Can't learn the words if you don't know the feeling Can't get the feeling if you don't know the sound One million died to make this sound One million died to make this sound Your band You're bland Your band is bland Your band is bland ambition Can't live on their remainders We'll starve on it for sure Their way is debt and prisons They are burning half the world A feast of filthy feasts, man Stale air and dead parades The pretence of their awful gardens Monuments the mess they've made Give me a goddamn shovel I'll dig my own damn hole We drank 'til morning made us Then ate the shit we stole I.S.P. - N.S.A. - C.C.T.V. - D.O.D. - D.O.J. - D.O.C. I.D.F. - A.O.L. - A.I.P.A.C. - I.E.D - S.U.V. - MP3 I.S.P. - N.S.A. - C.C.T.V. - D.O.D. - D.O.J. - D.O.C. I.D.F. - A.O.L. - A.I.P.A.C. - I.E.D - S.U.V. - MP3... One million died to make this sound I learned it At seventeen On drugs And well policed It kissed me As I fell With fists full Of ringing bells / So get fast And get quick With strung hands And swung hips Our dreams Deserve this Yeah our dreams Deserve this Silk-screen that, ye twits, across thy internet... Silk-screen that, ye twits, across thy internet... One million died to make this sound... 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons Blackout at the terror trials It's the 16th year of their wars... I'm pacing shotgun hallways while my fucking neighbor snores... But I swear hear them cannon 6 miles out from shore... There's ravens in the gum trees There's ravens in the gum trees There's ravens in the gum trees There's ravens in the gum trees Singing "This one by proxy", Singing "That one by gun", Singing "This one in water", Singing "That one in mud" I live by the railroad, I don't get no sleep Four corners resplendent with indie-rock creeps I just want some action This bright boy's getting old This town is too damn cold I just want some action I just want some action I just want some action I just want some action No heroes on my radio No heroes on my radio No heroes on my radio No heroes on my radio... The economics of our trembling selves The palsied pits where bad hearts yell... Let it be done Let it be soon 13 blues for thirteen moons You're cold of heart And golden wings are lashed upon your troubling This filthy moat in which we swim Is not our fate These stubborn limbs These open hands These wicked winds The hearts of birds keep on thundering Let it fall down Man, let it be soon 13 blues for thirteen moons In gated chambers they did meet With cardboard stockings upon their feet And tattled long their tattered road And none did ease the other's load The leaden lips of spittled gloom Where leaders lunch on meat and ruin And depth and light, have long been truant, While our nations shores go on bleeding into the ocean Let it come down Let it be soon 13 blues for thirteen moons The hangman's got a hard-on The pretty minstrels sway The pundit reeks of coffin The banker rapes a maid The hangman's got a hard-on The pretty minstrels sway The pundit reeks of coughin' The banker rapes a maid We will not sing in your damn parade We will not sing in your damn parade We will not sing in your damn parade We will not sing Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues I found a penny where the black waters blowed A dagger, a crown, or home in the snow And scraps, soil, and sentries for the children below There's one that are liars & ones that don't know There's one that are shattered & ones that get saved I will not be buried in my mother's grave I'm a wing in the water between the dull waves There's one that get shattered & ones that get saved The Gallows where hungry & tawdry & slow And fists full of candy for the children below The bones of a horse, knee-deep in snow There's one that are liars & ones that don't know We go too slow (too slow) - ignore We go too slow (too slow) - hurray We go too slow (too slow) - ignore It was No joke When your engine broke And the monsters came – a'brawling Those bankers Always win And this trouble That you're in Is not your own We're each and all this fallen... Feathers In your spokes Motherfuck these Weathered yokes I wish we could But worries always calling Thieves In our clothes Trophies for their trifle They don't know Their glory's only Vapors And pennies For our pride Goddamn these Tired eyes I'm so in love With all Our still born labors No homeland for the gentle-hearted Lack and tears for the young departed For all the good they never started We're building train wrecks in the setting sun We're building train wrecks in the setting sun We're building train wrecks in the setting sun (in the setting sun) BlindBlindBlind The dust and the mess of our mornings Promise that we'll never quit So drunk, though our hands surely woven Entire fleets of staggering ships Now our ships line the floors of the ocean And the ocean's breach on the ridge And the terrified dreams of our wanderings That once lit our way are now hid We want punks in the palace 'Cause punks got the loveliest dreams And our gang is liquored and lovely And smart and sweet and lean And burn with a curious flame That spits and kicks and shines And trumpets the labor of waking and trying There ain't none - sometimes there is Banged and bitter - but cling to it - Power's the province of miserable pricks There ain't none but sometimes there is Policemen in parallel lines = blind! blind! blind! The broken bones of quivering pines While empty waters rise May the light of our striving still shine Blind! Blind! Blind! May the light of our striving still shine May the light of our striving still shine Love the horse or leave the horse Love the horse or leave the horse Lover oh lover oh lover oh lover (god damn you lover) Some! Hearts! Are! True! Some! Hearts! Are! True! Ahoy! Ye bland plump boys Go tear wings for vainful gain = Our homemade choirs like forest fires Hiss 'neath golden rain And slip the leash and the chain And slip the leash and the chain 'Cause some hearts are true But some hearts aren't hardly true But some hearts are true...
Kollaps Tradixionales
There is a Light ??? Dull white starlite Pale as the morning falls away The devil each dawn And flat greys upon We're torn asunder neath his gaze So c'mon ye children If there's one thing we know It's that them gathering clouds are swinging low So don't you be precious Man don't you be meek There ain't no damn glory in the long retreat Go call the fuzz They'll shine their lights on us We've been building in the dark There's so many of us Now blinking in the light There's so many of us Illuminated and proud There's so many of us But there ain't no truth but the no truth but the not truth, yeah Ain't no thing but the nothing but the nothing, yeah Ain't no fall but the long fall is a long fall, yeah And there ain't no light but the true light is a dim light, yeah But I’ve been waiting and longing for that light to fall all over me 6 and 6 parsons and he doth proclaim that the best little bits of us misfits and strays Make a light in the night that needs to be shamed All for some none for all And all fallen the same And we surrender the stage to those pale horse riders Go forth, man Get down With a mighty fist and a retarded crown Do the one-step the two-step Sweet jubilee And show me the light, goddamn And lay me down in a bed full of rain Yeah shit is bleak - we've seen it and worried Our timid leaps get knee-deep and buried Entire weeks where I swear I can barely rise Electrical fits Tantrums and prayers Pride un-does what mercy repairs The pits of this Toss a match to it and start again The absence of light is its own stubborn light - no light is a light No light is the true light And there is no light so there is a light so there is no light so there is a light Though we've been denied too much hope in our lives Let tonight be the night when it ends. Tell me there is a light There is a light There Is A Light
I Built Myself a Metal I Built myself a metal bird I fed my metal bird The wings of other metal birds And oh, how my baby flew With heart so high and aim so true Up to the roof and into the sky Dumb as fire and twice as wise Did you see that star go out I seen it burn Did you see that star go out I seen it burn That little star went out, Your little eyes went out That little star went out Your little eyes went out Our burnt little dreams are hid Up where the stars get lit Our burnt little dreams are hid Up where the stars get lit Now-time's the right time Let’s lay those demons down Our side's the right side let's lay those demons down We're virtueless in the white smoke Virtueless in the white smoke Virtueless in the white smoke Virtueless in the white smoke White smoke White smoke White I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal birds True Love Don't Speak Its Own Name
Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Olde Dirty Flag) If she should come and greet me again With the pains of this world writ 'cross all her limbs Like bewildered child I'd hold her in mine And stroke her sweet head evermore Bound unto wonder We’d carelessly stray Like low-rolling shadows through the end of our days There's trumpets in heaven Six feet underground Mighty and muddy They faintly resound And love and love like proud flying doves With hearts full of pebbles and feathers and mud Though there's bedlam beneath us And no sky above Just a dark fucking hollow that smothers and gusts The flag, the flag, thee olde dirty flag We lay down like dry stalks 'neath that stick and that rag Shine up them buttons, Baby bury the band, And the flag, the flag, and thee olde dirty flag
Collapse Tradicional (For Darling) Oh, my darling The leaves Oh, how they do breathe There's a heart inside of everything That nestles deep with tiny wings Lay your hands inside this hand and gently sing Oh, my darling The leaves Oh, how they do breathe
Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos) There is no dream that sings anymore, That ship sailed a long time ago, But true as the rust and the soil and the trees Lord I still believe Gave my right hand right hand gave my right (Ball of fire burning ball of light) Gave my right hand right hand gave my right Right hand, right hand to that long thin long thin man (Ball of light ball of burning light) Gave my wrong hand gave my right hand to that long thin long thin man (Crown of gold crown o' gold crown a golden crown) Touched his hem touched his hem touched his golden crown Touched his hem and touched his golden crown Did you see did you see did you see that long thin man Gonna bury three dynamos Where the trees where the trees where the trees don't grow Gonna bury three dynamos Where the trees where the trees where the trees don't grow...
'Piphany Rambler I'm 'piphany rambler I ramble all day 'Piphany rambler Don't take these blues away Up is lovely Down is too It's its own peculiar labour When you're not able to Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Don't sleep Don't sleep Don't sleep And then sleep Tore a cloud and three birds fell Three birds fell and then it rained We crawled upside that mountain Down its ass and back again This tiny garden that we tend Where flowers bloom like accidents Let’s lay awhile and slowly wend Through days as long as nights we spent hanging on Great furrows in the pavement Where our hooves strove to leap Square men in the courtyard Engines idling We've seen those impossible mountains We’ve seen that upward rain Entire bibles full of broken things Dark and wide as empty graves Thunder said to the lightning "Let your good-foot swing Go down to the valley And shine your light on everything" Lightning said to thunder "Go on swinging like the pounding rain Swing your blues like a hammer Ride your boy like a shuddering train Go on, swing the ocean full Go on swing the bending trees Swing it with a heart that bursts And shine your light on everything Let your good-foot swing and shake And shake, and shake, and shake!" I'm 'piphany rambler I ramble all day Epiphany rambler Don’t take these blues away Up is lovely Down is too It’s its own peculiar labour When you're not able to Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Lay in the fire a while Don't sleep Don't sleep Don't sleep And the sleep I've heard tell at the boring gates of hell that There ain't nothing dear But there is too much dear But there is too much dear Yeah there is too much dear...
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
Fuck Off Get Free (For the Island of Montreal) Stifled and entitled while they play at boring games We're stifled and entitled while they play at boring games But there's fire in our dreams, fire in our dreams, fire in our dreams And a crying shame! Panicked born on troubl'd shores Our cities groan beneath the rain While pennies pile the hoarders smile and proclaim That what we want will never be In between we fuck and dream at living free again And kick at it until we end Seen some things had tiny wings but tore some light in everything, amen! I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Stifled and entitled, our proud town's overboard Our town's been stifled since the day it got born It's been too long since a stranger held my hand Goddamn! I need a stranger to hold my hand But there's fire in our dreams, fire in our dreams, fire in our dreams And a crying shame! The end again is what we're born in and dull smoke and wide white men Our! Dreams! Are! All! Of! Us! Until the end! Our! Dreams! Are! All! Of! Us! Until the end! Fuck off, get free We pour light on everything we see and then we Hold me under bright water never let us end Austerity Blues We've all of us carried our load Dull and young and bright and old But thieves and liars rule everything we know And thieves and liars rule everything that grows All we want is what we're owed We've all of us carried this load Fucking high and awful low We've all of us carried this load God we've tried how much we've tried Drunk and high we've seen the sun rise Many sleepless nights we've seen The sun collapsed on everything It's only love that's worth to sing These bells are broke but still they ring Love and love's the only thing Shut up awhile the birds are singing I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake God we've tried how much we've tried Drunk and high we've seen the sun rise Many sleepless nights we've seen The sun on top of everything Love is all that's worth to sing We're deep in it and still we bring The bells are broke but still they ring The sun on top of everything Lord let my son live long enough to see that mountain torn down Lord let my son live long enough to see that mountain torn down Lord let my son live long enough to see that mountain torn down... Take Away These Early Grave Blues Take away these, take away these, take away these early grave blues Fatten up their, fatten up their, fatten up their policemen Let them sing our, let them sing our, let them sing our pretty song Take away these, take away these, take away these early grave blues Pale man always gets his, pale man always gots his Boot - on - our - necks Lightning from a cloud Lightning from a cloud How do we get, how do we get lightning from a cloud With love and love dear, with love and love dear With love and love dear, with love and love dear I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake The world is awful cruel The wreck'd and worn get blue My love and I and so do you and horses' necks straining true Hearts these hearts just won't do my love and I and so do you Take away these, take away these, take away these early grave blues Fatten up their, fatten up their, fatten up their policemen Let them sing our, let them sing our, let them sing our pretty song Take away these, take away these, take away these early grave blues The sky goes cold while we get old Those selfish pricks won't ever know The simple joy of letting go The world is sick we're born it we did it 'cause all we knew was this Pale man always gets his, pale man always gots his Boot - on - our - necks Love each other that's all... Little Ones Run Wake up darling the moon is gone The sky's a mess and falling down I woke up scared and stumbled out Where day chased night the birds where shouting I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake The wind all night and through the dawn So all their nests broke on the ground Their little chests and whispering hearts And tiny breaths all fall apart They gather up what's left to save And leave the rest and fly away The big one hunt, the little ones And the little ones run Oh little one run run run... What We Loved Was Not Enough The world itself consumed Man that's the only truth And what we loved was not enough Even though we wanted to I learned it sick in bed Mining golden vapors Regrets like charms laid end to end And other sweet divinities And this I learned and thus I gleaned And what we loved was not enough But kiss it quick and rise again Kiss it quick and rise again (The day has come when we no longer feel) I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake There'll be war in our cities And riots at the mall Blood on our doorsteps And panics at the ball All our cities gonna burn All our bridges gonna snap All our pennies gonna rot Lightning roll across our tracks All our children gonna die All our children gonna die All our children gonna die Then the west will rise again And then the west will rise again So goodnight vain children Tonight is yours, the lights are yours If you'd just ask for more, then poverty and war (The day has come when we no longer feel) Rains Thru the Roof at Thee Grande Ballroom (For Capital Steez) The very last note choked Then broke And kicked like a burning star And the Atoms In the glass And the glass In its window Are still breathing I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake There's kids that are dead That ought to be living And rains thru the roof At the grande ballroom Hold on Hold on Don't ever be done Hold on Hold on There There Gone...
Non Albums Tracks Microphones in the trees
(Pretty little lightning paw EP)
Microphones in the trees Cameras in the sky Antennas in the canyon And the lobby's full of spies For us who are like bulldozers Sleeping in the sun For us who are like lightning Buried in the mud Don't! Give! Up! Don't! Give! In! Our time will come 'Cause we are the flood So grab my hand Lets set some fires The city's piss All hung with wires To kiss a tit Or have one's tit kissed On bended knee It's all you need Let's build ships Let's drift away Our mighty fleet must float again We are the flood Pretty little lightning paw
(Pretty little lightning paw EP) To fix it all With lightning paw Or explode From joy and light To break the bars With piss and scars, Just hold me 'neath the tumbling stars And tell me It's alrite... Lightning paw Pretty little lightning paw There is the valley all swimming in light There is a wonder in worry in life There is a reason and there is a light There is a valley all buried in light There is a reason and beauty in life There is a wonder and there is a light The wind in the trees and the tumbling light The whispering stars in the clouds tonight Free born, all our children (free born...)
Psalms99
(The West Will Rise Again EP) There's no god but the one god There is no god but each other There's no god but the one god There is no god There's no god but the one god There is no god There's no god but the one god There is no god But each other... There's a river in the valley made of melting snow
Mystery and wonder did light up the valley To be beat back by dark clouds and a harsh reeking wind And that battle staggered through three awful months there To stop for a minute Just to start up again Your hands like birds in the trees If the trees themselves were all on fire Your hips on mine make a choir Singing "baruch atta adonaï" And the river never made it to the lake So the lake surrendered to the mountain And the mountain's heart did fucking break At the sight of your nervous hands... And oh my love So gently breathing So my heart does softly swell So her & me did greet the evening With much red wine and giddy yells In these times of wandering soldiers Building towers on ruined land I hold my love to my belly And feel her breath fall across my hands... I have grown tired of the struggle And i've grown tired of making plans It think i'll quit to the valley Regain my strength And start again Where once we were some clumsy army Now we are just lazy hens I think i'll quit to the valley Until the light moves me again... So, let's link arms sisters and brothers And let's promise not to retreat There is glory in our failure So let's march to the rhythm of fatigue To live our lives without leaders To live in joy without fear Let's walk together to the valley And let the lights redeem our tears
The State Itself Did Not Agree
(The West Will Rise Again EP) Sun above and bones below A muddy mound where flowers go Sing ye lost and endlessly There's a hole in the sea Where nothing but dead things breathe Sing ye stark and breathlessly Kiss each tree where it falls The wind will break and bend us all Sing ye long and trembling This war and how we lost it We blew it like the wind Twilight's blues and and endless stars I could not get free at all I could not get free at all I could not We got free on broken knees Fuck yeah indeed The state itself did not agree We got free Fuck yeah indeed On broken knees The state itself did not agree Kiss each tree where it falls The wind will break and turn us all Sing ye lost and endlessly That's our bones in the dust Shining like the sun We were golden We were golden We were golden
What We Loved Was Not Enough Part 1
What We Loved Was Not Enough Part 2
(The West Will Rise Again EP) And the day has come when we no longer feel And the day has come when we no longer feel And the day has come when we no longer feel And the day has come when we no longer feel... There'll be war in our cities There'll be riots at the mall There'll be blood on our doorsteps And panics at the ball All our cities gonna burn All our bridges gonna crack All our pennies gonna rot There'll be mud across our tracks All our children gonna die All our children gonna die All our children gonna die All our children gonna die Then the west will rise again Then the west will rise again The west will rise again The west will rise again So good night vain children Tonight is yours The lights are yours If you'd just ask for more Than poverty and war If you'd just ask for more What we loved was not enough What we loved was not enough What we loved was not enough What we loved was not enough And the day has come when we no longer feel And the day has come when we no longer feel...