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. |
Caricature
04:54
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when I was born
I was so small
they wheeled me in the carriage
up and down the hospital halls
and they said I was the best
that I was perfect
'cause I was just like all the rest
caricature
and when I was a young boy
going to public school
the teacher said 'hey, boy, what is 2 & 2?'
well, I thought about that some
and I said '4'
and she said 'boy, there's no limit to how far you can go'
and when I left the confines
of my protected world
I found myself engaged
in mortal combat with the world
I went to school to learn to shake the money tree
but now I'm lost at sea
it doesn't matter
let it go
now I'm going out the highway
out Route 29
to see what I can see or find out that I'm blind
I'm going out the byways
where no two are the same
where they don't know my number but they'll know my name
I'm not your caricature
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2. |
Boy in the Moon
03:20
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get with it, get dressed
fight to be the best
here’s your flight cap
and here are your shiny boots
comb your hair, get moving
your laziness ain’t soothing to the rest of us
now stand up straight and tall
and smile, smile, smile
remember to smile
make the grade, get tough
everybody’s had enough
of idealists and utopians and other fools
get a grip, get serious
everybody’s furious
your brain’s been sighted
out near Saturn’s rings
boy in the moon
they shot you off too soon
your aptitude is high
your attitude is poor
discrepancies are cause for concern
sure you’ll take your sips
but soon you’ll be eclipsed
by somebody who took the time to learn
whatever it was
but fly, fly, fly
remember to fly
before you knew enough to shoot them down
and now is your big chance
to waste a round
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3. |
Disappear
02:44
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one day there was a blizzard
and the schools were all lost in the snow
we built an igloo in the back of the house
that was bigger than the whirligig
maybe that's old now
although it seems new
you know it's just something
that we used to do
but I still remember
all that was here
as long as you know that
it won't disappear
one day there was a hurricane
and a tree fell through the garage
we rolled around the driveway, laughing
as the storm crashed into the house
now there's nothing left but holograms
in the back of the house
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4. |
Weeping Willow
03:57
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there was a field here
covered in weeds
old lady's backyard
gone to seed
we marked time here
soaked up the shade
never thought much about it
while we played
but weeping willow
before they cut you down
I thought you'd always be around
there was a barn here
covered in brush
when the thunderstorms came
we hid out in the loft
we talked about the stars
over a beat-up deck of cards
sometimes we leaned against the walls
and listened to the rain
but weeping willow
before they built this town
I thought you'd always be around
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5. |
Rope and Knot
05:07
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it's been a while, I know
but I've been making my way, somewhere
staring at the broken lines, always
trying to get somewhere
and you look the same, you know
as you did the last time you showed
like your Little League photograph, always
hanging in one place
I brought along your old ball mitt, see
the Eddie Brinkman special with the rawhide web
it was sitting in a box in my parents' garage
they were going to throw it out
they had dusty old boxes, hundreds of things
that I'd sort of forgotten, you know, like distant dreams
and when I opened them up my legs shook
I remembered being somebody else
and I remembered the dream you had
when you thought you heard God's voice
saying 'pack it up, give it up
there just isn't any point'
and I remember you saying
that you listened to that
that you wrote your own eulogy
and that was that
like your Little League photograph, always
hanging in one place
hanging on a rope and a knot
it's been a while, I know
but there was nothing I could do
I guess you think that I'm wasting my time
doing the things I do
you know I saw a good game on TV the other night
Eddie Brinkman's record got broken and I cried
but I was alone in the dark and the quiet
and I didn't have to explain
it's been a while, I know
but there was nothing I could do
it's been awhile, I know
but I still do think of you
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6. |
Circles
02:09
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forever, it seemed
we were moving ahead
in a long, straight line
step after step
there was no other way
to go but straight on
to the end of the line
to the end of our lives
but then there were circles
in the depths of your eyes
around and around they turned
and I don't know
where they began or ended
I only know that they burned
into you
forever, you swore
you would never give in
alone in the world
at least you'd be sane
it was crazy to think
crazy to believe
that you wouldn't get wet
standing out in the rain
you're right
I don't have the sense, I know
to come in out of the rain
but given the chance, you know
I'd do it this way again
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7. |
A Safe Place
04:34
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on Friday nights he's at the grille & bar
buying drinks for everyone
he's a fixture in his hometown
a sturdy oak
he's taken root
on Saturdays he's at the high school gym
waiting in the bleachers for the game to begin
he's an institution on his block and on the next one
supports the team
wears red and green
and he's found a safe place
every summer he's the marshal in the town parade
he wears the coveted paper crown
the children cheer him from the sidewalks
he smiles and waves
he knows their names
and in the winter he is ever-ready
for an avalanche or a flood
he keeps a snowplow in his backyard
just in case
the big one hits
on the ground
down on his knees
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8. |
Days of Beer and Daisies
03:12
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I've heard that one before
the one that you revere
the one the world plowed under
to build the parking lots
the one that killed your soul
and left you sentiment
and made you cry for days gone by
like a neutered cat
as if all that ever mattered
was a running car and a radio
and a place to go to look at the stars
it was a perfect time
it was a perfect place
but it never existed
until it went away
before it left
it glued you to a chair
made you a slave of memories, lost
and staring at a photograph
hang the picture on a wall
frame it up with gold
keep the dust away from it
post it in an honored place
and when you're sad and old
look at the faces and remember
take a breath and hold it
and paint your masterpiece
call it
days of beer and daisies
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9. |
Bloom
03:25
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a late summer's haze
blankets the moon
and a murder of fog
strangles the fireflies
I start the car
I defer to the wheel
I trust the road
I turn back the canopy
I open the sky
there's a long line of cars
falling into the sun
a murder of lemmings
marching into the sea
I park the car
and take a walk
and the fog sets on the fields
and the clouds conceal the moon
and in the dark
I watch the flowers
bloom
and the fireflies light
like sparks in flight
moments in the moonlit night
I start the car
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10. |
Everybody's Here
00:43
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it reminds me
of a day
when I was a boy
and everybody’s here
everybody
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11. |
One (Fine) Day
05:44
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in the distance, on the highway
lie the ghosts of drivers past
rising in the sunshine
until the sunshine disappears
in the mountains, on the skyline
lie the margins of your heart
hidden in the treetops
until the treetops disappear
and I am chasing windmills
there is no other way
like Don Quixote
or Wile E. Coyote
I'm gonna get you
one fine day
and there's a windmill on the hillside
spinning in antiquity
and my eyes are rooted to it
burning holes right through it
daring me to do it
take it, Sancho
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