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. |
Room of Spin
00:49
|
|||
2. |
She Was There
02:50
|
|||
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.
|
||||
3. |
Money on the Girl
06:43
|
|||
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
|
||||
4. |
Bones of Songbirds
04:28
|
|||
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.
|
||||
5. |
I May Be Mistaken
04:10
|
|||
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
|
||||
6. |
Broad White Ties
05:18
|
|||
Oh the dirty argonauts
and ladies painted up like trash
with power slides and bleak divides
& eyes as black as Afghan hash
with bloody face and bloody knuckles
& troubled girls in glaze of meth
and guitar heros falling flatline
and the singers singing songs of death
with whipped up matted heads of hair
cowboy hats and glitter tights
there's beer on ice and there's sacrifice
& broad white ties and lighter fights
now get your ass up out the dungeon
and get those drunks up on the stage
now tell the press to mind the bottles
enact that band to act their age
I've seen them breaking bones of bastards
& I've seen them fall upon the floor
this band is trouble in a body bag
they get the bootlace out the back door
|
||||
7. |
Careless Teenage Smokers
04:26
|
|||
I've got a question for you.
And I need you to answer me very seriously.
Hey careless teenage smokers
take your fingers from the chain links they are rusted
hey careless teenage smokers
musty mouthy pricks - flaring nostril hicks
hey careless teenage smokers
flinch to light the pouts - until they put you out
hey careless teenage smokers
time for you to run the world,
so wake up, wake up, wake up
tired programs for star machines
social network monsters in magazines
without experience and no remorse
wise beyond years, child of divorce
careless teenage smokers
bring me booze and candy
right here, right now, right here right now
don't stare you lonely losers, pay attention to me
bring me your dignity - it's for my own amusement
it seems your lights are fading so wake up wake up
they were breathing, they were laughing
they are falling so behind
they are trying, they are flying
they are dying on the vine
|
||||
8. |
Come Home Killer
02:28
|
|||
Well I thought you were crazy,
laying down on the boulevard
ohhh acting so manic,
the sinking queen of your sideshow
Then I thought I saw a reptile in your profile,
smiling bright in the sunshine
oohhh the magic so tragic,
you strung me up like a scarecrow
so when I died on your doorstep today
my mouth dried up & my skin just turned to leather
oh you stand as my shadow from the sunshine
and tell me everything is going to get better better
I feel the weight fade away
that weight fades awayayay
I feel the weight fade away from my soul now
I feel my soul start to fray and my mind fade away
please don't tell me that I'm looking better
please don't tell me that It's now or never
please don't tell me that I'm acting better
please don't tell me it'll come together, come together
|
||||
9. |
Broken
04:18
|
|||
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
|
||||
10. |
||||
You may not find that
In the gleaming spires
of new York city
You might not find that
In the neon glow of Tokyo
Where words are cheap
And nothing sleeps
But even working girls Are downright pretty
You filled the rigs
You've thrown the crow
You've got to go, you've got to go, you've got to go
So blow the low salt sinners
right the rolling trains
fight the good fight winners
to blow your shattered brains
Ed said he has six strings
to walk a million styles
And we're not too strung
To leave you hung and kill
Your tempest whiles
'cause this is just rock and roll
So let's not get too wound or chained out
just Let the hipsters roll and
Find their soul that's what
It's all about
|
||||
11. |
Our Dearly Deflowered
04:36
|
|||
Neat as a pin - alarmingly thin
she's waiting for some kind of ship to come in
On transom waiting
her egos deflating and patience is not of her virtue
it's social distress & oh such a mess
and the itches can't hide all the scratches
it's less than expected,
this one time neglected
is not what they said it would be
Oh dearly deflowered - this is not your finest hour
this playground that you built upon your gloom
for all your searching promise
they laid their hands upon
is not the end that comes too soon.
Fair willow hair, and not all there
& trolling through warm banks of shallow waters
her casts are predicted
they're easily picked
and the fisher has become the bait
and this one dishes precarious wishes
and one is as good as the others
but there are no mothers here
& there are no rules dear
the street's a filthy bed partner.
|
||||
12. |
Spider Eyelashes
02:37
|
|||
Some call it foolish
But I know that they know better
and some call me blind
But they can't see the way
and I'll tell you one thing
I'm alive and I am speaking
And I'm the poster child
For all that she would save
Amateur manicure
& fertile profile
sweet spice singing
& jangling jewelry
the longing lipstick
on the venus flytrap
the magic cavern
& spider eyelashes.
|
||||
13. |
White Carpet
03:30
|
|||
glad handed by the sad cats
the streets have testified
paid out in laid out greenery
white lightning's by your side
You're stunned by falling offers
you're welling up with fears
these magic-potion ponies
are reeling in your years
white powder kegs - silver golden legs
& carpet baggers & chronicle bones
midnight laces - oh with those shrinking faces
in veils of fog machine - you know they're so far from home
white carpet calls to slumber
white carpet pulls you in
white carpet shows the stains
and the white carpet it hides the sin
so lay down and feel it softly
rest easy in the room of spin because
the white carpet buries burdens
& the white powder blends right in
let's go swimming in white carpet
let's go float on the white tide
let us drown in bright white oceans
take a long white carpet ride
let's go swimming in white carpet
let's go float on the white tide
let us drown in bright white oceans
take a long white carpet ride
|
||||
14. |
Tree Blood
06:08
|
|||
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)
|
||||
15. |
Nude With Gun
06:28
|
|||
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.
|
||||
16. |
Octopus Flat
03:56
|
|||
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
|
||||
17. |
||||
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
|
||||
18. |
Girls of Alabaster
02:27
|
|||
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
|
||||
19. |
But For My Butterfly
04:03
|
|||
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
|
||||
20. |
PipeSmoker
03:24
|
|||
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
|
||||
21. |
Summer Machine
05:02
|
|||
The symphony is a tonic
And the playwright has a plan
& the orchestra is in motion
And you intoxicate my land
I'll find you in the epilogue
Or else I'll find your curtain call
If Youre not listed in the program
I might not find you here at all
When I stumble to find you
crumbling all the numbing rings of fate
Its a chance I take
And it's my mistake
All for your summer machine
Ghostly walking on oceans
And drinking these magic potions
it tastes so great
When it seals my fate
all for your summer machine
Sunshine rides on your hips
And it bridles your lips
So sharp and so sweet
In the breaking heat
And then it goes and here it comes
Oh look at me I am all thumbs
I am in autumn falling faces
Falling frowns and dreery places
A messenger a mess indeed
A missing germinating seed
From summers garden summers host
From summers death comes summers ghost
So, straight from your tv screen
So Fresh and so clean
you have to see it to believe
It is the summer machine
|
||||
22. |
||||
I crawled out the hole where I was hiding
a choke grey smoke replaced the green
& you fanned the flames that were receding
in the darkest trees I'd ever seen
& I climbed right up to to build a nest there
where you swore I'd never been
you came to see me in my nightmare
they were the darkest trees You've ever seen
would you climb up there for me? Oh, please.
They are stove pipes and they are buildings
and they are women and they are mean
They are reaching out to take you up into
The darkest trees you've ever seen
So would you climb up there for me?
Babe I'm asking you would you please?
Look deep into my eyes
Tell me you don't like what you see
Plenty of dead dreams make my mind
But that don't matter much to me, not me.
Demons and mothers, demons and mothers
Demons and mothers, demons and mothers
they are demons and they are mothers
and they are snakes and drama queens
and they won't get lighter as you get older
They are darkest trees you've ever seen.
They are darkest trees you've ever seen.
|
||||
23. |
Skynyrd
04:18
|
|||
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.
|
||||
24. |
Fingertip Bosses
02:51
|
|||
Time ticks on - it's machinery
prodigal son with your mask of thievery
blind chosen one - it seems to me
prudence has won unconditionally
dust to dust - angel dusted man
in god you trust - sleep in your garbage can
from riches to bust - with your snow white tan
listen to us, we are your biggest fan, man
Tinkering around with your sanity
you put the flat flat in flattery
it's not at all that it's cracked up to be
you ripped the art from my artery
reasonable losses - count them 1,2,3,4
dissolving choices on dirty hotel floors
and inner voices only asking you for more
the fingertip bosses come in to reassure
|
||||
25. |
||||
You feel the pain in your mouth it's an affliction - so
devour, we shall become your addiction
with vocal remedy, in God's hands, it's charming
you're feeling so light and so easy - it's alarming
It's not a remedy indeed it's quite the worse son
It starts out just like a kiss and ends a blinding curse
You cannot see for the fog rolling in your eyes
now all the clamor and glamor, it slowly dies
just take my breath in your hands and release me
our souls have soaked through the skin can't you see
Our reputations mired in this tattletale fiction - but
devour, we shall become your addiction
with seasoning of the lurid devices
intoxicated, we paraded in drag
our permutations come in so many sizes
you can't decide which one to take from the bag
With proper drowning of the secret surprises babe
You recognized us in our tragically poor disguises
I didn't wanna see you strung out and quivering - but
your blood is growing so cold now, you're shivering
Such paradise in the backseat disarmed your armor
this time the poisonous snake it lulled the tired charmer
washed up on chinese rocks where no words are spoken
the connection between your mind and your body, it is broken
the wind has changed to the west and now it's troubling
your nightmares growing tenfold, and now it's doubling
with no prediction of such painful constriction - you
devoured, now we have become your addiction.
|
Black Owls Granville, Ohio
Mennonite glam rock showcasing a certain proclivity to meld the majestic with the pitifully ordinary.
Streaming and Download help
If you like Black Owls, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp