Get all 13 The Crux releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Keep the Crux in Christmas (2019), Onstage, Witness, Witness, Witness, The Holiday Play (Ratcatcher Bonus), Crux Interpretum (Tapes 1-3), Keep the Crux in Christmas (2015), Crux Interpretum (Tape Three), Crux Interpretum (Tape Two), and 5 more.
1. |
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She leans against a rabbit hutch
How long since you’ve felt a woman’s touch?
She’s made of spice and silver, you know you’ll miss her
Going two directions on the stairs…
Eyes that widen when she talks
Doorways framed with golden locks
The moon upon you, looking on you
Shows you the way to her gate
They say that all of Charlie Chaplin’s girls
Find their way into her curls
The songs are hers, and the windmill whirls
And all the flowers in all the world
Where could she be tonight?
She lights the lamp and snatches up
Night crawlers, potato bugs
And human muscle, y’hear that rustle?
Just lean back and relax…
Everybody grits their teeth
And passes time in social sleep
But she giggles ‘neath the covers, and pulls you under
Funny things on the radio…
Past the falls that bear her name,
The bonfire fires, and the wind and the rain
And give praise there, for you were raised there
Up in the trees of the garden…
Cleopatra holds a glass
And lowers into a saffron bath
Her tongue may manage many the language
Spoken in the valley of your dreams…
She don’t make the papers shout
She ain’t the one you heard tell about
Away from the mission, she sees her visions
Watch them spinning around and around and around and around and around and around and around
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2. |
Coalsack: The Pilgrim
02:38
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3. |
Coalsack: The Pirate
04:05
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They've tempted me too many times with their rules
They've forced me to take up with madmen and fools
Now we do work with the Devil's own tools
Twixt the sun and the moon we are singing
Cast my memories back to my bride
As we went out walking down by the seaside
We had no warning of the cavalry's ride
Nor the war they had planned for the morning
Stab the sad bastards, to hell with them all
A mortar shell burst through our chamber wall
“Civilian casualties,” was what they were called
My brother, my mother, my darling
Now we study the stars, we run a tight ship
We light all the candles and sideways we slip
Into the ocean, the stars, and the myth
that we drift into leaves our eyes gleaming
Corporal Vamp, with the face of a child
Sends young men to war with a gun and a smile
Left his recruiters for dead in a pile
And went off to enjoy the evening
Fire for blood, water for skin,
Air for the wind that's without and within
And the earth is a dream from where we begin
We may return when treasures we're carrying
God is a beggar and Coalsack His face
The stars of His brow gaze off into space
The darkness is iron, and leather, and lace
And it be to this beggar we're riding
The armies, the navies, the airforces too
Desire me ship and me pirating crew
But we are too sensitive for that abuse
For we're always so fond of refusing
“Good morrow! Good Morrow!” cries good Sgt. Napper
Our glasses he fills and our beards he does flatter
His head and his war drum we shoved in the crapper
And told him his offers were charming
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4. |
Bert's Blues
04:11
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Give me a good show, give me parades
Slap your hands at the foot of the stage
I’m going to sing you… Bert’s Blues
Toast the rye and slop the whey
While all my friends are slipping away
Just for singing… Bert’s Blues
Baby, we should be in the pictures
You got the look you can play the part all right
I swear that everything’s just gonna be peachy
Just so long you don’t mind traveling by night
I got dreams and I got thrills
I’m making up stories to pay the bills
It’s a living… Bert’s Blues
The bad man drops what the good man steals
From Shakespeare down to the banana peel
That’s the way it goes… Bert’s Blues
Honey, I wouldn’t take it so personal
After all, you know, a man is but a man
And though the shark will show his pearly teeth, dear
Most men will stab you as they shake your hand
Good folks running, what you gonna do?
A wise man’s gonna cut a baby in two
What you gonna do? …Bert’s Blues
Everybody wants me on their side
Whether it’s neckties or tie-dye
I might have lied a little… Bert’s Blues
Ain’t that cruel and ain’t that California?
Or is this Berlin, 1939?
Everybody’s got their way of hiding
Everybody’s got their favorite wine
Jingle-jangle in a circus tent
Juggling verfremdungsteffect
That’s the way we do it… Bert’s Blues
I don’t know what it is these days
Everybody’s getting taken away
Just for singing… Bert’s Blues
I’m thinking what Benji always told me,
“If they’re after you, you must be doing it right”
Now Benji’s dead and I’m all sad and broken
I’m screwing in a brand new stage light
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5. |
Be Merry, My Friends!
05:44
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Be merry, my friends, be merry!
The treasure we seek is buried!
Don’t you weep! Dig that shovel deep!
See the things she carry!
The worms crawl in and then-then
The worms crawl out again-gain
Fat and juicy ones, long and skinny ones too!
I remember lying in bed
While the soil was sprinkled over my head
And the blackbird danced around me!
The blackbird danced around me!
She feed me pomegranate wine
She run her fingers down my spine
And then my love surround me!
And then my love surround me!
And I lay my weary head upon her breast
Roaming the city through the bells and calls
We were dancing free ‘neath the white stone walls!
Singing, “Rum bum badda oompa!
"Rum bum badda oompa!”
Papa’s in the tower, nodding his head
Mama’s in the kitchen bakin’ the bread
Going, “Rum bum badda oompa!
And, “Lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai…”
My love is a dove, she’s my bride of the mountains
She goes out tonight to bathe in the fountain
Hold my baby tighter! Hold my baby tighter!
The hiss and the steam of the cold and the heat
From the top of your skull to the toes of you feet
Oh, lift that baby higher! Lift that baby higher!
Until the crown of stars is pressed beside her brow
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6. |
S.O.B.
03:27
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Out in the vacant open ocean
Miles from hint of land
A sign out of the water
Reading “Bite the Hand”
Waves breaking all against
My proud ship’s ancient hull
Whom she carries ye may bury
But ye can’t control
Heave,-ho! Heave-ho!
Bring the sails in tight and low
Row! Row! Row! Row!
Drag it like an undertow!
Fight against the whirlpool
And fight against the rocks!
And in the night-time, mind the stars
With moonshine and a dog
And my ship… eight sails shining
Hang out from the starboard side
And shout a healthy tune
Darling tanker, for an anchor
We’ve an iron spoon
Fever dreams and Mr. Garlick’s
Homemade remedies
Your meal’s a peel of lemon
And a wedge of cheese
The moon was full the night we stormed
The crooked factory
I stole the blue stone whilst my shipmates
Set the chain gang free
And as we set the place ablaze
Whatever did we say?
Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
And my ship… the black freighter
Climb the mast! (Press the ink!)
Sew the flag! (Brew da drink!)
Wash the dish! (Forge the steel!)
Catch the fish! (Turn the wheel!)
Knead the dough! (Mix the paste!)
Feed the crow! (Save the waste!)
Dig the sand! (Share the wealth!)
Bite the hand! (Feed yourself!)
Raising hell on saffron trails
To cities of the plague
Now’s the time to use that beak
And smash out of the egg, ‘cause
This boat don’t carry no rats of weasels!
This boat don’t give no ride for free!
And my ship… that mean sumbitch
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7. |
Dragline
03:46
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Well, you wake up in the morning
To the ding-dong-dang
Marchin’ to the table
To the same damn thing
There’s a knife on the table
A cup, and a pan
Say anything about it
You’re in trouble with the man
That’s right, baby boy’s
Got boxed in the balls
Playin’ cards with barbed wire
Wrapping the walls
Cat calls hollered
At a full grown man
Your head held high
But you don’t understand
There’s a stench in the silent day
Hearing that blade swish
Chopping the weeds down
Like every wish
Like cleaning the mind
Like cleaning the dish
And loosing that kiss
That sticks to your ribs
So you climb of the bunk
And you grab that cold drink
You won playing poker
With sissies and finks
“Dragline, Dragline
"Show us your teeth…
“Dragline, Dragline…”
The lion beneath
Pounces at tumbleweeds
And slate gray bad days
And slinks to the chapel
While the good hound dog bays
And kneels at the crucifix
Ready to pray
Not a word to say
Not a word to say
Baby, you sitting
On a suicide train
You got a thousand dollar heart
But a ten-cent brain
The midnight special
In the bayou blood
Boy, blood’s gonna run
From this Alabama stud
And you walk across the yard
Like the slyest thing
Wearing that chain
Like a diamond ring
With a mind wiped clean
With spit shining
But remember…
Remember…
Remember nights on the bank?
Pig on spit?
A town full of honeys
Who all wanted it?
Remember cuffs on your wrist?
Your name on a list?
The pitch and the swing
And the cheer and the miss?
Yeah, dreams that stink
Like drunken piss
And Saturday, baby
You wrap it up in your fist
And you lay down right
And you lay down wrong
And these sweaty bitches
All follow along
Yeah, these jailbirds
Sing the Dragline Song
Singing, “Blah blah blah blah
"Bing bang bong,
"I’m out in five and, honey
"That ain’t long”
But when the good dog dies
Hallelujah bye and bye
When the good dog dies
When the good dog dies
Buckets of water
Rice and beans
The whistle blow
You know what that means
It’s a chilling wind
A sick sort of draft
You just a bum to good folks
Just a pain in the ass
And when you peek from the chain gang
To the rat race
You’re looking through the fence
At a woman’s face
and BANG! BANG!
And your face gets so hot
BANG!
Ha, that’s a warning shot
With guns and muscles
They’re digging for dopes
And you’re the dented bucket
They throw out on a rope
Just to bring all the small stones
Under control
Come on, don’t you see, they’re making walls
Out of you men?
How can you sleep
Inside the jackal’s den?
And don’t you get mad
When they’re condescending?
Now, I can only think of one way
Out of this yard
It don’t take no hot hand
It don’t take no wild card
No, this place don’t want
Nothing but blood
Golgotha gold
And the Reaper’s cud
One of these day’s
You’ll find me dead on the floor
Because I’m going up
To see my lord
Every time you’ve seen
These blue eyes smiling
Baby, you’ve been seeing
These blue eyes crying
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8. |
Phaedrus
06:10
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Underneath the chaste tree we settled
Far from the city’s walls
The voice in your ear, was keeping you near me
But soft, love, the sly wind calls…
While a wrestler, like good Iago, wonders
Writing, writing like a man possessed
We chased each other in the oat
A wolf pup and a billy goat
Your love of truth, my tender youth
Two pennies for the riverboat
Well, gods bless St. James the Supplanter
Bless him with a paper mask
The walk in the wheat, the soles of our feet
The violence of the village, so soft and discreet
All those questions you had to ask…
No I’m hanging from the hospital and howling
From Liverpool to New Orleans
“My baby’s dead today!
“My baby’s dead today!
“My baby’s dead, my baby’s dead!
“My baby’s dead today!”
You stabbed at the silence of speeches
You turned my wolf-head ‘round
Sharp as a saber, sweet as a fig
With the smile of a child and the nose of a pig
Now you’re six feet underground
Yes, Two and Three went down to the graveyard
But only Four came back
It must have been the poison (son)
It must have been the medicine
The dialogue, the train we’re on
They’ve gone and took my only one!
Well, of the rails I was raised up
And off them I was happy to stay
But the inkwell twisted, we never resisted
I should have known that you never existed
How that madman scribbles and strays
But when I die they can bury me barefoot!
You can dig my grave with a pottage spoon!
Because I’ll be riding on the chariot
You know two horses carry it
Across the pit, I’ll paint it red
A-hunting in my lover’s fit!
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9. |
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She lived alone in her little home
Staring at the numbers on the telephone
Problem was she was all alone, all alone
And so she lost her mind
Started making people out of twine
When she was finished, she said "You're my family
"And you will always be mine..."
They would always be there for her
They'd always come when she called
They knew her name and her social security number
Her friends would tell her to get a life
These were the friends that weren't very nice
These were the friends who sometimes made her cry, made her cry
She preferred the ones she made
Because they made her laugh
And if they ever made her cry
She could always cut them in half
They would always be there for her
They'd always come when she called
They knew her name and her social security number
But then she thought that they were thinking of leaving
She found their faces mean and deceiving
She said "You'd better not run away, better not run away"
"And I just bring you right back here again
"And anyway, where have you ever been?
"To leave is to live and to live is to lie
"And you know that to lie is to sin..."
They would always be there for her
They'd always come when she called
They knew her name and her social security number
Her suspicions made the Twine People mad
They lost the little bit of goodness they had
One by one they all went bad, they went bad
And so they put a knife to her throat
Made her put on her hat and her coat
Made her put out a long winded, tearstained
Legible suicide note
They would always be there for her
They'd always come when she called
They knew her name and her social security number
They found her body at the bottom of a well
They said she hadn't even screamed when she fell
They said she hadn't been mentally well, "Oh well..."
There was just one thing on everyone's mind
It was clear the fall had broken her spine
But they couldn't figure out why her body was covered
With tangled up pieces of twine
They would always be there for her
They'd always come when she called
They knew her name and her social security number
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