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Gold, Sapphire & Plum

by Ethan Andrews

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1.
Secondliner 04:00
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Six parts water and half of a man I was standing all night on the bus You can leave me with a smoke and song in a brownfield Where nobody ever bothers to look I’ve been this less wicked and that less well Always for somebody else. What’s left, I keep to myself. Stunned bee stung and West sun fed I was only laughing to cover up What was written on the top of your head In that slanted script of lust I’ve been laid back, skipping my weight in stones, Trying to put a spin on the rest of what’s there. Get your money roll out, make it bend Forward from 2:00 and back to 10:00 'til the end. But time can’t stop. The phase, the cops, this capital feeling of doubt. If the weather’s finer in Carolina Will the landed rents say it’s on account of them? You can count on it. We’ve been blowing from the second line for so long That we’re spent. Take the money and rent. That’s all I needed.
2.
Flatworms 01:42
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Sat down in my place Said I hated space Let the old models rust Got no trouble in mind, no feeling in my head for pairing words Slip into a skull to get out of the light of daylight dimming. In the afternoon strimming All around the sound of cutting grass Oh, let me get there last. Black gold digger, semi-pro slinger What do you want to know? That it’s lucky to die as to be born I’d have never said it so. In streets run white with salt Go gold with black ice Come white as snow. No haven in farms or medicine. So, sing so sweet the next time we meet Like you know which one of us has it better. (Wasted, spaced, unwilling to race like a broken clock) Put my ashes in my shadows for now Watch the vines climb up the stairs Talk a lot of sass, burn a lot of gas, count on another chance To come back from the dead as an eel instead of the sponges and flatworms And push into the noisy scene When the clear moment comes finally It’s easy as it’s ever been.
3.
Dance if the Music is Right 04:33
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Don’t stand by the woodpile, baby We could have fun tonight Don’t lie on the ground, waiting We could have fun tonight And if the music’s right, You’re gonna move your leg And if the music’s right, You’re gonna move your head This is the time for warmer weather When we could wear different shoes together Between us there will always be a pair Don’t stand with one hand on the door And the other on the cord of my headphones That ain’t fair Gimme a little room to stare These burns are barely a smudge Mark me up like a hearth glove I won’t budge I’m used to it It’s just a little trip we take Don’t let the sound of the coolers make you afraid This, too, is stupid No reason to make a promise I’m not looking for a serial thing, just a pause when nobody saw us We could have a word or two I saw you outside of the dance I had a child in each of my hands You were doing your own thing And it was good, I must confess. Sometimes I do my best And now might be a time to notice Should we roll our bones in the snow And forget about where they go, if winter is so upon us Some of us dance alone Some of us dance like somebody told us There are so many fools Let in no bearings that the magnets in your mind oppose
4.
Mosquitoes 03:28
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Falling in and out of sleep, I’ve heard the rest of the world awake When I get up the feeling is always the same, I wonder how much can I take. Do I have a mind for anything else? Do I have choices and spies? There’s only one way that I look at the world. I see it with my regular eyes. Look at the rake in his middle age, aping the gravitas Look at my teeth and the spaces between and tell me what kind of ice cream I love. You and me, and the three of we, and the oligarchs And the dogs that bark and the dogs that mark, we all have something that gets us up. We’re the mosquitoes. We’re sucking your blood by the hour We’re the mosquitoes. We have no respect for your power Couples are made and corners are stained in living sweat and grace With broken wings and broken eyes and everything else put in its place Oh, I’m out ‘Tis as luck to be born as to lay down And look up at the stars We all have clouds coming out of our mouths And guts between the two On a perfect moonlit night, you can hear a party far away If only one of us can make up our minds, then maybe it should stay that way Or dip our bills and say in voices shrill, “There is no other way.” And toss away convention for the better, the worse, or the same. Am I the kind of this who that? If you knew it before then it’s a matter of fact. The leather slapped around the last. I never saw it coming. You can lie you can cheat and you can rob, But don’t give a flying fuck like me a job. I can feel your lifeblood coursing through your keys. When you feel a pinch just slap your knee and say… Oh, I’m lucky I haven’t got a thing When he came around and asked for money I bleeped him with my key ring Do I bother? I do what I do to win Ommatidia Lay down your collars and let us in We’re the mosquitoes. We’re sucking your blood by the hour We’re the mosquitoes. We have no respect for your je ne sais quoi I’ve got one little thing on my tiny mind, I want to get a little taste before I die Thin our ranks as you might; in the end we shall be multiplied. So, shade our tiny bodies from the sky. I haven’t got a thing in mind Cover from the stars and sleep among the stings. Just as you are, and will be again.
5.
Go to Heaven if You Want 02:15
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6.
When the Conomy Grows 04:04
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When the ‘conomy grows, it will be right on time And the squares will turn to diamonds all across the bottom line. When the ‘conomy grows, I’m gonna hang out my shingle And all the bad thoughts and memories will mingle with match smoke in my nose And when the new jobs grow, they will cover the old And our cups will overflow, and we will need no sugar. Grabbed my jeans and tried to run. You can’t stop it. My middle finger flipped out like a gun in my pocket With eyes like two white dots Do you like this city or what? Can you separate the high from low? In this scene, you just can’t know The things I said for free when I thought it didn’t matter When the ‘conomy grows, it will make a nice smell. There will be beatings and the losers will be receiving them well. When the ‘comony grows, I’m gonna wear it. Count your fingers and toes, hold your sniffling nose if you think I’m gonna share. When the milk lets down on the pork loin of progress Many pans will brown, and the contrast will complement our faces. Grabbed my jeans and tried to run. You can’t stop it. My middle finger flipped out like a gun in my pocket With eyes like two white dots Do you like this city or what? Can you separate the high from low? In this scene, you just can’t know The things I said for free when I thought it didn’t matter. Grabbed my jeans and tried to run, I can’t stop it. My middle finger flipped out like a gun in my pocket With eyes like two white dots Am I camera-ready or what? Well I never made it, but I can say that I got real clothes.
7.
Triple Down 01:49
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8.
Sharm el-Sheikh 02:34
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When the bats come out, I slide down to the floor and steal away. Light outside a map where I could not erase the lines. I stuck around see what rose from the ashes of the states. From away, every day’s uncertain. May, there’s only so many ways to draw the curtain down. Kiss back a bit of my worry. Toss out the names I’ve wanted to get rid of. I wanted to see my eyes explode. The coin breaks, no matter what you take en route. Am I small, is it you, am I far, far away, getting closer? A lamplight in one eye, the moon and an ash in the other. Before the shadow of a tree. Before long when I float in the water. The other side of the gulf is quiet Or just new, with less people lying, and you… Kiss back a bit of my worry. Toss out the names I’ve wanted to get rid of. I wanted to see my eyes explode. The coin breaks the moment that you take it. Your sad and your no-crying hate keeps breaking through. Lord, you wore me down. I didn’t mean to show you up. After the body’s gone. Only stars are left. Kiss back a bit of my worry. Toss out the names I’ve wanted to get rid of. I wanted to see my eyes explode. The coin breaks, no matter what you take. I’ll ride the warm winds back to Sharm el-Sheikh
9.
The Octopus 04:53
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I’m gonna take it from the top, just when you thought I was done I’m coming up like a baby, sitting astride the rising sun. Gold and sapphire, black as the sand If I came back in plum, would you know who I am? If I had rings on my fingers and toes? It’s a well-worn bluff, didn’t you know? Who can define what isn’t known yet From a place that has no precedent? Keep it like a popsicle cool on your lip (As it slips through your fingers) Like a candle that has no body or wick (Who would have figured?) And the octopus cobbles from cuttles he kept He waiting for it, he’s waiting for you, coconut.
10.
Half of the Days 04:46
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I haven’t been long enough to know Heavenly days I am dying Half of the days I’m gold Sun-beat, lazy or I’m half lying I run the maze of the town They were selling up while I was lying down Between the failures I know There’s you and me and maybe mine. Come away from the floor When the wind blows cold Half awake I might slide over From nothing left to no more This disposition of mine A picture of a flame from the behind There’s something in the mail, I know With you in mind. Tell me the sympathies of man Quietly, so I can understand Between the setbacks lie What’s left of my love and demand Come out the door, there’s nothing left of you inside. Old restless friend of mine, where have you gone? Slide over soft, There’s nothing left of the stars at dawn. Moreoverly…
11.
Rich Man 05:06
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Try to keep that rich man on your mind He was there when you were born and he will be there when you die. In his time he may seem clever, on his terms he will be kind So try to keep that rich man on your mind He’ll champion education. From afar he’ll raise the bar. He may keep a congregation, but you won’t see him in the choir. Throw his Roman coin your way, but when it hits your palm The edges will be clipped and he’ll be gone. Senator Black How easy you tack How do you sail by and large at once? Register blue Whatever you do The word no sooner given than gone You can shave with month-old razors You can drive on balding tires In the end you will have nothing And your nothing will be fired You can sweat to make a nest and in your old age still aspire With no net, and nothing left to bet, or burn. So try to keep that rich man on your mind He was there when you were born, and he will be there when you die In his time he may go quiet, but his children won’t be kind So try to keep that rich man on your mind. Armchair firebrand You tipped your hand So raise your arms in the air Like this is the last dance. On the ground, or in the sky Somewhere there’s a guy You may think you are the bomb But you are the weapon he will not buy (I’ve got to hand it to you, But you’ve got to hand it to him.) In debt from the first breath Indebted in death You may think yourself a little ray of sunshine But you are the exposure he will not accept So come on I could have it all wrong I could be a liar I could be a rich man who just wants you to call Believe me, I’ve never told a lie Or maybe I did, and maybe you figured it out, But so what This is the last dance So, put your hands in the air.

about

The music on Gold, Sapphire & Plum was recorded in Belfast, Maine between 2010 and 2013.

credits

released April 10, 2013

All tracks written, performed and recorded by Ethan Andrews

Mastered at Black Dog Mastering Studio, LLC

Videos:
When the Conomy Grows - youtu.be/W4BSJCJYwh8
Go To Heaven if You Want - youtu.be/OZZfOjxw5qM

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Ethan Andrews Belfast, Maine

Looks good in a coonskin cap, but then you can't just wear one of those all the time without having to answer a lot of questions.

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