Get all 7 Wampeters releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Murder Your Darlings, Hey Judas, Look What's Left, Bloodline, Pagan's Nest, Folk Medicine, and Screen Test.
1. |
Amorphous, I Love You
03:15
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I float ’round this room
like a party balloon
in the glow of the candles
I’m losing the handle
I be poppin’ soon
she makes up her bed
out of respect for the dead
the land of the living
ain’t very forgiving
so she calls out the ghosts instead
amorphous, I
amorphous, I
amorphous, I I I
I put a number on this shack
put a swimming pool out back
I line the sidewalks
with bright painted rock
and strap myself to the rack
she lives in a hotel
so she don’t have to tell
anyone where’s her place
or if it’s her face
staring up from the wishing well
I float ’round this room
like a party balloon
and up near the ceiling
the paint is a-peeling
I be hitting the blue sky soon
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2. |
Tupelo Hotel
03:45
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the concierge is crazy
with all these Elvis impersonators
filling up the lobby
and riding up the elevators
the concierge is frantic
he's slipped into a panic
at a trail of rhinestones shining
from here to the Atlantic
the concierge is loony
his eyes just look right through me
the guests appear identical
but they all have different room keys
the concierge is nauseous
he's growing ever cautious
'cause one of 'em might be real
and then I see you slip through the revolving door
swaggering over the marble floor
won't you tell me how you fell
into the Tupelo Hotel
where Elvis shot out TVs
tell me how you fell
into the Tupelo Hotel
here in Memphis, Tennessee
the bellboy's taking numbers
in hopes that he'll remember
where to haul their baggage
and where to stack their lumber
and when the bellboy takes their six-strings
to the shop when they need fixing
he sings "Heartbreak Hotel"
and then I see you in your rhinestone suit
dark sunglasses and alligator boots
where there's a convention of Elvises crooning
'neath the clear night sky
a gleam of wishful thinking
in their eyes
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3. |
Anytime
05:15
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out on the open road
by the little villes
near the greener fields
by the dim-lit hills
'neath the starry sky
and I wonder why
I was going blind
in the anytimes
down by the riverbed
by the fishing stream
out where I was led
to an old porch swing
'neath the cloudy skies
and I wonder why
before you were mine
in the anytimes
and I don't have any time
anytime
but you can call me anytime
with this or that
or you
out in the countryside
wildflowers in the fields
highway keeping time
underneath my wheels
by the timberline
and the crescent moon
before you were mine
in the anytimes
I was running down
out in the all-too-soons
out by the timberline
out by the crescent moon
'neath the starry sky
before you were mine
I was going blind
in the anytimes
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4. |
Arms of Kismet
03:33
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when I was a boy one time I fell
climbing down from the carousel
I thought I heard somebody say
'watch your step or you'll fall that way'
I said 'beg your pard,
I didn't plan it
maybe on some other planet
they might do things that way'
climbing on the rocks at blue jay beach
I fell when a branch was out of reach
I thought I heard somebody say
'watch your step, man, or you'll fall that way'
I said 'beg your pard,
I didn't plan it
maybe on some other planet
they might do things that way'
and so I fell into the arms
of fate there at that minute
I fell into the arms
of kismet
ice skating out on sparrow lake
it was early spring and the flow did break
I thought I heard somebody say
'watch your step or you'll fall that way'
destiny wore a long, white gown
all I could see was the snow white ground
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5. |
Mathias Rust
03:13
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you know my rocks are off
when their radar's on
gonna guide my plane
on to the White House lawn
like Mathias Rust
that's what I'll do
you know the wind is up
and I'm tempting fate
crawling like a swaying spider
up the Empire State
like Mathias Rust
that's what I'll do
and nobody knows Mathias
like I do
you know communication
is just a-what I need
gonna tell it to the nation
over a pirate satellite feed
about Mathias Rust
that's what I'll do
and nobody knows Mathias
like I do
oh Red Square was his moment in the sun
a hero or a scourge to just about everyone
and the message he delivered they just could not refute
a solitary finger raised in mock salute
oh Mathias
Mathias Rust
now I'm riding by the silos
in an old ATV
gotta find the doorway
if I'm gonna save me
gotta go underground
into the disarray
gotta save my soul if I'm gonna live
to fight another day
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6. |
Whos and Whats
02:08
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is it a 'who' you want
or is it a 'what' you want
'cause I'm a 'who' not a 'what,' you know
so can I still meet your needs
do you still need who I am
is it a 'who' you need
or is it a 'what' you need
'cause I'm a 'who' and that's all I am
so can I still fill your heart
do you still want who I am
or just what I'm not
interchangeable parts
all the same
we're all replaceable
in that game
is he the 'what' you want
is he the 'what' you need
does it matter who he is at all
do you like all the 'what' you see
do you still want who you are
it still matters to me
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7. |
Drop
04:27
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you think it's lonely at the top
but you ain't been here, down here, now look
you think you're never gonna drop
you won't find truth inside no book
you think it's lonely in your spot
but you ain't been there, down there, go see
you think it's never gonna stop
but now you'll make some room for me
I'm going down
you think it's lonely at the top
but you ain't been here, down here, come look
you think you're never gonna drop
you won't find truth inside no book
I'm going down
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8. |
Canaan Shiver
03:14
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years ago
when Momma put me on her shopping list
was she wondering if I'd be a risk
would I be something she could not resist
was she wondering if I'd be a risk
was Momma ready for my violent cries
and unexpected things she'd find in my eyes
like a movie where the hero dies
the unexpected things she'd find in my eyes
and it makes me tremble
it makes me quiver
it stops my heart
like a Canaan shiver
Momma gave me life
but, hey, I forgive her
how else could I have come to know
this Canaan shiver
years ago
when Momma put me in her master plan
did she envision me as a modern man
when she held my little baby hand
did she imagine me as a modern man
Momma told me stories of the past
so that I might learn about the things that last
now that the present's fading fast
I'm looking down the road at the things that last
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9. |
Picture Show
03:50
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a shadowy figure on celluoid
surveys everything that's been destroyed
I squint at the screen but I just can't tell
if it's your face in the wishing well
I see my nights like a picture show
all villains and heroes
but who am I
when I'm in the throes
I run to passion and I run from blame
in a moving picture or a single frame
lost in this movie where the hero dies
there are daggers hanging in your eyes
it's dead wrong and yet I know it's right
and it's something that I just can't fight
all I've dreamed about and all I've seen
projected on this living screen
I see my nights like a picture show
all villains and heroes
but who am I
when I'm in the throes
nobody knows
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10. |
Southern Virginia Rain
05:04
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driving out on Route 64
thunder in the Chesapeake night
the neon signs are out
the lights have disavowed
their connection to the world outside
now I'm south of Williamsburg
and the moon's gone behind a cloud
the deer in my lights
is a mark in my sights
I've got the radio loud
won't you tell me about the rain
one more time about the rain
if you do I swear I won't ever ask again
tell me about the rain
I pull over to the shoulder now
and I'm wondering where I am
the trees look the same
for miles in the rain
and the wheel's shaking in my hands
Richmond's lost under a blanket of black
and I'm needing to stop for gas
from back in my seat
I see the blood and the teeth
on the hood and on the broken glass
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11. |
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the old house on the corner
needs a little heat
the old lady needs a little help
crossing the street
and the children in the alleyway
got no shoes on their feet
I'm the one for them
the blind man on the roadside
needs somebody's eyes
and the baby on the park bench
needs somebody nice
and me, I need to help 'em
in my disguise
I'm the one for them
and now I lay me down to sleep
with my secret life as a saint
oh my baby don't you peep
at my secret life as a saint
'cause I don't want to scare you
with this hideous halo
the state of my compassion
is sorry to be sure
who knows what I was missin'
while rolling on the floor
in fits of strangled laughter
my sides were gettin' sore
but I'm the one for them
take my heart for a long, dark ride
'cause I want to be yours if you want to be mine
and this ain't no mortal sin, baby
ain't no suicide
I want you by my side
'cause I don't want to scare you
with this hideous hairdo
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12. |
Indies
02:52
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we're indies on this road
and we don't need to be shown
a map to the horizon
or a new direction home
we're indies to the core
adrift forevermore
we're indies, you and me
the last of a dying breed
when you talk about getting free
I know what you need
and I'm not alone
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