Get all 6 Black Owls releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Gasoline - Rook EP, Wild Children, Money on the Girl, Black Owls, June '71, and Lightning Made Us Who We Are.
1. |
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It's not I'd wish you were dead - instead
I'd miss your fretting head - she said
you get so close to me - sometimes
your soul is all I see - not mine
but if you moved in spirit planes
and if you rattled spirit chains
I'd get a chance to witness you
I'd get a chance to see the truth
Sometimes I wish you were a ghost
so I could walk right through you
Sometimes I wish you were a ghost
you'd be my holy host
so I could feel such cold
and you would not grow old
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2. |
I May Be Mistaken
04:10
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But for all this blood, and all this booze
and all this strippers glitter on my shoes
I may be mistaken, I may be mistaken
& I may be mistaken
I thought you said you'd change
but I may be mistaken
You left your soul deranged
but I may be mistaken
I thought I'd seen a clearing
but I may be mistaken
Such prescient voice I'm hearing
but I may be mistaken
& I thought you stopped the drinking
but I may be mistaken
of those you left unthinking
but I may be mistaken
& I thought I knew the fakes
that I covered all my mistakes
& I figured God would be here
& I figured you'd appear
I figured God would be here
I figured you'd appear
I figured clouds were falling
I figured you were calling
I thought you said you'd change
You left your soul deranged
I thought I'd seen a clearing
Such prescient voice I'm hearing
I thought you said you'd change
but I may be mistaken
You left your soul deranged
but I may be mistaken
I thought I'd seen a clearing
but I may be mistaken
Such prescient voice I'm hearing
but I may be mistaken
credits
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3. |
Tree Blood
06:08
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she's making it feel so lovely, making it feel so nice,
making it feel so lovely, making it feel alright -
wouldn't she love to comfort, wouldn't she love to hold,
wouldn't she love to see me, coming in from the cold.. Yeahhhhhhhhh
your woman is hungry - she's hungry for some truth
she's manic and she's thirsty & she's aching for her youth
her sorrows defined, but not so well earned
and you know I saw her laughing just a little bit
on the day that your flag burned
she oh so lovely yeah, you know that, you can't understand
such monsters enraged, in car-sickened fights
& they're flashing their penance, and flashing their bright lights
bright lights, bright bright lights
and they're stepping on the gas, and they're cursing the road
and they're asking forgiveness of nothing that they've sowed
The sky and the earth are masonry mud
and I'm drowning in bitters and I'm drowning in tree blood
your tongue is a river - your words are a flood
and I'm drowning in bitters and I'm drowning in tree blood
The air is of substance, it's so thick and so tan
like the warm paneled wood inside of your van
the van of your promise, the van of your word
it holds the truth hostage, gagging unheard
So walk thru the pine bows, walk thru the rain
and walk thru the dark town of the insane
& swing your dead thoughts - swing them high over your head
and call for the bakers to come bake them in bread
she oh so lovely yeah, you know you can't understand
The sky and the earth are masonry mud
and I'm drowning in bitters and I'm drowning in tree blood
your tongue is a river - your words are a flood
and I'm drowning in bitters and I'm drowning in tree blood (2)
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4. |
Broken
04:18
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Well all this drivel that you speak
It won't help you
In the break down
Walking feeble acting meek
IT will not save you
In the shakedown
all the buggers that tweak
They will not pull through
In the breakdown
& all the answers that you seek
They are not found here
In the take down
Your hydroponics & your stereophonics
Your 4 leaf clovers & your brothel blues
And your Mean speed greenies
And your touchy feely friends
It's where the party ends
And you die by your rules
You're not paying attention
You're breaking down
You're not missing anything
But you're breaking down
You're not paying attention
You're breaking down
You're not missing anything stepchild
I can see by the look in your eyes
but I can tell you one things for sure
you're breaking down, breaking down
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5. |
Girls of Alabaster
02:27
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Those girls of alabaster
dark as dungeons, right as rain
with fingertips of lightning
they wrote your book on pain
They're cigarettes and scripture
unfolding layered books
flip through their dog-eared pages
fair warning feckless crooks
They've swallowed boiling rivers
charcoal timbers, stones of pride
with nothing so black to cover
the killing seasons bread divide
They hold no continence sir
for flattery in chains
those girls of alabaster
in carriage roll refrains
They've vowed to make the mending
they've prayed upon the soil
their blisters all have calloused
from years of cloven toil
They've choked down guilty verses
so bleak to snuff out dreams
yet they provide so stoically
no thorns to harken screams
Those girls of alabaster
dark as dungeons, right as rain
with fingertips of lightning
they wrote your book on pain
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6. |
Octopus Flat
03:56
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It was dark as the devil
she ran it like that
& there was always a score
Down at Octopus flat
There were arms for the keeping
There were arms strangling lies
There were arms gently soothing
And arms in the sky
I found arms in my pockets
And arms in my shirt
They crept down my pant legs
And into the dirt
They tore out my eyes and
They filled up my head
When they took all they wanted
You know what they left me for dead
And the arms belonged to she
And she belonged to no one
And no one would believe me
Till she killed me with my own gun
Yeah I said the arms belonged to she
And she belonged to no one
And no one would believe me
she killed me with my own gun
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7. |
She Was There
02:50
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What did you sssssay.
You know what babe?
She's a breath catching reminder
Of the one thing you got right
She's the reason in your madness
And the sun in your blind site
When she bit you on the lip
It was to warn you of your own raw vice
And when she backhanded your kit
It was her way of playing nice
she was there
When you fended off nightmares
she was there
When your face lied in ruin
she was there
When your house fell to splinters
And she pulled you up
When the blues smacked you down
yeaahh.
I saw it 'cause I was there too.
And you know I was.
She was there
When death set upon you
she was there
When the spinning wheel passed
she was there
Fending dragons with her hairspray
And swatting sirens with
the wind, and the mast.
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8. |
Money on the Girl
06:43
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collecting maps of long abandoned cities
& throwing cash around like casino clowns
being insolent with strangers on the streets
pulling things from your purse, & pulling strings for the worst.
yeah.
ask yourself, am I fighting trees bare knuckled
you gotta ask yourself, is this question worth the asking
& ask yourself, am I afraid of being right or being wrong
tell yourself, there is no reason to say (4)
NO unto your mother's own song.
you could come to my city but I must warn you all
there's pirates smoking bones behind every welcome sign
they're very sharp and they're very cunning
it's filthy lucre business they are running
& the fight magnet is unarmed and that means trouble
the little scrapper's seething - heavy breathing & mad as hell
such sad refrain this man child's brain - lost his blind conviction
But I got my money on the girl
cause I've seen her and she holds herself very well
I told you I’ve got my money on the girl she holds her own so very well
when you were young sex was from the future
life was stones and bones and glitter and radio
ideas as fresh as cream spilling for the calves of spring
less sleep, less noise, more dreams, & more talk
collecting maps of long abandoned cities
& throwing cash around like casino clowns
being insolent with strangers on the streets
pulling things from your purse, pulling strings for the worst.
ask yourself, am I fighting trees bare knuckled
you gotta ask yourself, is this question worth the asking
& ask yourself, am I afraid of being right or being wrong
tell yourself, there is no reason to say (4)
NO unto your mother's own song.
you could come to my city but I must warn you all
there's pirates smoking bones behind the welcome sign
they're very sharp and very cunning
filthy lucre businesses running
obvious intentions that no one ever mentions when you're dying
the fight magnet is unarmed and that means trouble
the little scrapper's seething - heavy breathing & mad as hell
such sad refrain this man child's brain - lost his blind conviction
That's why I've got my money on the girl
That's why I've got my money on the girl
That's why I've got my money on the girl
she holds herself so very well
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9. |
Pipesmoker
03:24
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I am the minister of backward thought
& I'm the one your mother warned about
I am the lion rider with silver spurs and all
I am the skeleton in a stovepipe hat
the one that you've always dreamed about
I am the pipe smoker & I'm coming for you all
I'm the stiletto sticking out of backs
the one that you would scream about
I am the laughing wound
I am the burden and the beast
I'm not the figment of your imaginations
that's manifest of your confessions
I'm just you when all your sanity's been fleeced
I am the dead divide of tanning hides
and all their trophy mounted heads
I am the culture killer, the liquor spilling whore
I am the burgundy of blood red profit
You've never read in the printed pages
the rock of ages torn up pages
that are scattered on the floor
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10. |
Skynyrd
04:18
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It's where they grow the tobacco - so they're okay with smoking
and if jesus came back down today - they'd offer that boy up a smoke
they'd say Jesus, we're sorry for sinning - but you know the north is still winning
and the rain hasn't fallen - oh jesus, can you open the sky?
And if it wasn't for Lynyrd Skynyrd - they'd all hate his long hair
jesus would be ever so nervous - as all the people stop and stare
& he's asking you for your grace - but you are not listening
jesus is in the hospital - he's watching evening news
he's outside of Benton - they're feeding him interveinously
and everyone is praying - but nothings getting done. No.
Can you do us a favor? can you open up your coffers?
can you pull out your catheters? Hey Jesus can you give me a light?
can you lift up our voices? can you settle our fights?
can you bail out our sins? Oh Jesus can you make it all right tonight?
it's where they grow the tobacco - so know they're okay with smoking
and if jesus came back down today - you know they'd offer that boy up a smoke
they'd say Jesue we're sorry for sinning - but you know the north is still winning
and the rain hasn't fallen - oh jesus christ can you open the sky?
Cigarettes and war, fundamental religions
they're all old fashioned, remnants all
they're no longer needed, no longer fashionable
no longer worshiped, & we're just waiting for them to fall.
credits
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11. |
Bones of Songbirds
04:28
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With little more than a peck on my cheek
your eulogy has left me feeble & weak
such afterimages hang onto eyelashes
but you have made of this world such a lie
You made this day to wrap the day around
so I sat up well into the night
I listened closely for the thief of good memory
come to steal away my own bloodshot eyes
You and I are of pale common order
But you and I do not make the laws
I'll play upon your skin and
we'll watch the roof cave in
then all the heavens will look down on our sin.
We picked through pretty bones of songbirds
to find that not all dying words are true
I found it hard to feel the blind words
such things long dead should not seem anew
I'd steal the coins from eyes of strangers
watch pitchfork villages burn down
If I thought ashen dusted coppers
could bring your kingdom around
I shake you till you wake
your skin is half opaque
Indecency becomes convention
There's water in your dreams
we're floating there it seems
the water drains and we're forsaken.
credits
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12. |
Nude With Gun
06:28
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Your band of hipsters, you know they hurt my ears
their sense of irony shallow
when covering Brittany Spears
but I like their handlebar moustache's
& I like their skinny jeans
but they use too many pedals
& I don't know what the fuck their lyrics mean
And they wrote a song about you
they called Nude with a gun
& I think that's kind of funny
but they're not being very fun
& their burdens on the public
& their genius is lost on me
But they must be something special
& I'm just too dumb to see
You used to date the singer, you're with the drummer now
this bands your new direction
so it's got to work somehow
You like their beards and ballcaps, & you like their tree tattoos
& You like them taking pictures
of you with guns in the nude
They're going to do a whole set based on the poetry of Wendell Barry
They're going to play it in the basement of their trust fund bakery
there will be PBR, there will be pipes stuffed with borkum riff
there will be handmade tee shirts, & there will be fix gear rallies
there will be white belts, there will be messengers, & there will be buskers
there will be Holga cameras, there will be vintage japanese denim jeans,
there will be duct tape wallets, & there will be prescription Ray Ban sunglasses,
there will be nitto stems and campy cranksets, and there will be local gin
there will be George Jones playing in the background, so please come in.
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13. |
But For My Butterfly
04:03
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If I could take that car - I'd take it I'd take it
I'd break the law I would - I'd break it I'd break it
I'd wake the neighborhood - I'd wake it I'd wake it
I'd shake their moral core - I'd shake it I'd shake it
But for my butterfly - the lord and my soul
I have no other side - If this truth be told
But for my butterfly - let madness unfold
such graces such a lie - such kingdom so cold
If I could will such deeds - I'd will it I'd will it
If I could fill such needs - I'd fill it I'd fill it
If I could kill the pain - I'd kill it I'd kill it
with magic bullet booze - I'd spill it it I'd spill it
But for my butterfly - the lord and my soul
I have no other side - If this truth be told
But for my butterfly - let madness unfold
such graces such a lie - such kingdom so cold
I'd make the evening news - I'd make it I'd make it
I'd fake the suicide - I'd fake it I'd fake it
I'd stake such golden claim - I'd stake it I'd stake it
I'd rake in perjury man - I'd rake it I'd rake it
But for my butterfly - the lord and my soul
I have no other side - If this truth be told
But for my butterfly - let madness unfold
such graces such a lie - such kingdom so cold
credits
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Black Owls Granville, Ohio
Mennonite glam rock showcasing a certain proclivity to meld the majestic with the pitifully ordinary.
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