1. |
Christmas Island
05:53
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The radio plays the new Top 40,
To the two of us, fucked up and horny,
We park in back of our high school,
Hands tugging blindly at belt loops
First firebombing lights up our figures,
Our breath still frozen on the windows,
Trigger finger pinched on your waistline,
I’ve never dreamed of a more perfect way to die.
The radio plays its final broadcast,
An air raid siren; a distant plane crash.
You drive me back to my dad’s house,
My fingertips on your back,
How’d I let you leave without a final squeeze,
A breath drawn tight and no mess to leave,
But I’m shaking still while you pull out
My eyes are dry while my eardrums bleed
Before the bombs started to fall,
You said you’d give me a call
When you got home safe,
Well it’s been six days
And my phone stays silent.
I had something to tell,
Before they blew us all to hell,
And it’s that I’m yours,
And I’ll be waiting for you on
Detroit, Christmas Island.
A man came in black with a note to carry,
Sixes on the back, it was a page from your diary,
Tale of how I came with an awkward charm
But it ends before a sentence asking will this last long?
I shout, “Bring her back, I’ve gotta know where her love’s at,”
The city dead to rotting and a pain like a heart attack
Fills me with the heat of the wall of flame
That I see nightly in my dreams coming to take you away
They pile the dead high in this town,
And wonder why I linger around,
My gas mask on and a note in my pocket,
Hope I never see the face I wrote it for,
I hope I never have to leave it at a dead girl’s door.
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2. |
The Rat Song
04:51
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It’s 12 o’clock, where’s she at?
Living day to day in this crumbling hellhole,
Awaiting the nibbling of a goddamn rat.
Our conversations wile away the time,
When this prison feels as final as the notches on the drywall
Cut with jagged fingernails, these claws I call them mine.
Oh Mel, you’re the only one who listens
All those outside are not trying to find me
And I HATE THEM for not letting me out
I am nothing to them in my room,
With just my thoughts and only you, and…
Oh God, is this how I now live my life?
I called her Melody,
‘Cause that was what was in my head.
Some tune from Germany,
I haven’t heard since in the trenches
Of a war I fought a lifetime before.
Now I’m the only one I’m fighting for.
Melody,
They left us behind,
But you’re the only friend that matters.
Melody,
You will always be mine,
Because we know what happens to those who try leave…
THEY END UP IN THE BELLY OF A RAT.
An afternoon spent sniffing at the dust,
You know how to listen, that’s something I’ve been missing,
FUCK, it feels so good to turn my me into an us!
You do not know loneliness,
Oh, not as I know it, I’ve always been homeless,
Home for me is time travel, for all that I miss.
And Mel, I don’t even think that you love me,
Since the rubble trapped me, it’s just a rat talking to rats, I fear,
Oh God, is this how I now live my life?
Please don’t abandon me,
Because that’s all I’ve ever known,
And now insanity,
Sneaks in, before I see the daylight I’ll have grown
Too hard to remember who I loved before.
But my own life I’ll keep fighting for.
Melody,
They left us behind,
But you’re the only friend that matters.
Melody,
I fear I’m losing my mind,
And to all my friends, before I finally leave…
YOU’LL END UP IN THE BELLY OF A RAT.
I resolved to not need anyone,
But I still dream of rescue…
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3. |
Catherine's Mistake
05:04
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Most say they hate the sound near airports,
But it made Catherine fall in love
With every soul smiling towards their new horizon,
Close enough to hear, yet miles above.
The resonance shatters her wine glass,
But it’ll take more than that to stop another refill
And Catherine says “I don’t know who I am but I think I know you,
I swear I know you…
And now I feel like I’m running in step with a plane,
That’s a thousand miles away,
And I’m heading for the crash site,
Running to the crash site.
And you’re an A-bomb falling,
My God you’re gonna level this whole town.
We’re going down.”
Most people hit bottom in this dive bar,
But it’s where Catherine met her match.
“Need a light?” He purred
And she burned
And she held him by her fingertips
If we go out now, we can torch this town,
And fly above the rats you’re stuck here with,
Towards golden bays and decadence.
The resonance shattered an eyeglass,
She thought it would take more than that to blind whatever foresight
Now Catherine says, “I gave up who I was
Cause I thought I knew you,
You said I knew you.”
And now I feel like I’m running in step with a plane,
That’s a thousand miles away,
And I’m heading for the crash site,
Running to the crash site.
And you’re an A-bomb falling,
My God you’re gonna level this whole town.
We’re going down.”
Has anyone ever been in love like this?
Has anyone, anywhere, ever been in love like this?
“And now I feel like I’m running in step with a plane,
That’s a thousand miles away,
And we’re dead here at the crash site
Burning at the crash site
And you’re an A-bomb falling,
And my God you’re gonna level this whole town.
We’re going down.
And now I feel like I’m running in step with a plane,
And I’ve been in a tailspin since you took me away
I missed the fire from the ground,
We’re going down.
(Has anyone ever been in love like this?)
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4. |
The Traveling Show
05:16
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And when the president said
We’d all be better off dead,
I must admit I didn’t know yet just what he meant.
But when the singer sang,
We can rise up from our graves,
Well I’d have done just about anything at that point to get myself saved.
Cuz during my life I’ve watched my heroes live and die,
And their beliefs die long before them.
So I took that as a sign, that no amount of good intentions can keep you alive.
Take solace, everybody dies.
Step right up, here’s a ticket try your luck sir,
Don’t look down this view’s not for the
Weak-hearted, departed souls at every lectern
Guide you, go on, everybody’s waiting to see
What you got, how you fall without a net there’s
None more self-preserving than the lot of us
Since the day that our sinking city’s motto became
“Fear in a handful of dust.”
And by the end of this ride, you’ll watch your family live and die
But admit your love died long before them.
Don’t even bother to cry, your self-obsessiveness has made a bigger monster than I.
Stop thinking everybody lies.
It’s time to decide
why you’re one of the few that gets to survive.
Otherwise, it’s your blood on the stage,
You pray so loudly but they’re still not listening,
It seems I see every night,
Ten thousand die before my eyes,
And it gets televised to play for cheap laughs.
But in a nation bereft of any comedy,
WELL WHAT CHOICE DO WE ALL HAVE?!
And things have changed you know,
While all my past lives would have let you go
I stand before you a much wiser man
While three rings clamor to be rid of your hand.
You see you should have been sincere,
Your petty irony’s of no use here.
Don’t think I don’t know he will fall,
But til that comes at least I’ll outlive you all
And during my life I’ve watched my heroes live and die,
And their ideals die long before them.
So I guess if this is my time, I’ll count myself among the few to throw away that design,
Take solace, everybody dies.
It’s time to decide
why you’re one of the few that gets to survive.
Otherwise, it’s your blood on the stage,
You pray so loudly but they’re still not listening,
It seems I see every night,
Ten thousand die before my eyes,
And it gets televised to play for cheap laughs.
But in a nation bereft of any comedy…
Or decency…
In a nation enamored with our tragedy,
WHAT CHOICE DO WE ALL HAVE?
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5. |
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You told me that the scar on your lip
Was to remind you,
Every feast should taste a little bit like blood,
But you never told me why.
Oh, I meant to tell you I loved you,
But it’d just sound naïve,
I believed, so I’d save it for another time.
They say,
10th grade
Love won’t pan out anyhow
But how can they say that all this is fake
When it’s feeling so real to me now?
You were the first girl that gave me a chance,
When that was all that I asked,
You pulled me out of the slums I dwelled in alone.
And the posters that hung in your room
Were the bands I liked too,
And all I want is
To watch them through the darkness,
And listen to your heart kiss my cheek,
As you sleep under me.
How’s that for high school poetry?
You told me that you’d give me a call,
And now I’m stuck with
Imagining every single word I’d say
If it’d just ring fucking ONCE.
Oh I’m used to messing things up,
But now I feel cheated
If you’re gone and I’m not, where the hell is my shot at
Ruining something between us?
And I had planned out our wedding before we had our first date,
And fuck, I know it was stupid, but I just tend to get carried away
With any thought that can take me out of this place
And mark my words,
Detroit will weep for you.
Dear first love,
I guess this is how I’m saying goodbye.
I leave you a prayer and a promise,
In this town all monsters must hang for their crimes.
He better hope they didn’t leave him alive.
And if God survived he’ll give me a chance,
Because that’s all that I ask,
So mark my words Dalton
Detroit will not weep for you.
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Dalton Deschain New York, New York
Dalton Deschain & the Traveling Show are a pulp-punk band from NYC that tell stories loudly. Get ready for a weird-ass tale about circus freaks, nuclear war, and demonic possession that you can sing along to. Visit daltondeschain.com for details.
Dalton Deschain recommends:
Slower Than Light
by The Sky Captains of Industry
Not since Ziggy fucking Stardust himself has sci-fi songwriting sounded so good.
go to albumIf you like The Collateral Vignettes, you may also like:
Community Records Compilation Vol. 4
by Community Records
featured on Bandcamp Radio Aug 30, 2016
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Serious Devo vibes with some creeping synths from this Oakland-based project featuring members of Mall Walk and Religious Girls.
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A Split 7" Between Friends
by Dr Sure's Unusual Practice / Bench Press
A four-track bout between two of Australia's most formidable post-punk groups, fueled by wiry guitar riffs and vibrant, timely lyrics.
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A new 4xLP boxset from Athens, Georgia art-rock legends Pylon includes both studio albums and a slew of unreleased recordings. Essential.
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Joy as an Act of Resistance.
by IDLES
The English post-punk firebrands confront patriarchy, political turmoil, and personal tragedy on their searing sophomore LP.
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