Get all 19 Hemlock Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Small Change World, Live @ CCC Festival (May 5th, 2020), Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes: "The Necrophone Sessions", The Ghost Parade, St.Louis (Webcam Version), I can only see the Darkness_DEMO, Medusa EP, By the Grace of Dynamite, and 11 more.
1. |
County Fair
03:03
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County Fair
I met a girl at county fair
Kissed her among the thyme
I had to touch her silken hair
I had to make her mine
Oh Lord, what was I doing ?
I fell under her spell
I met a girl at county fair
Now she hates me just like Hell.
I met the girl on Christmas Eve
Her belly firm and round
She turned her back, prepared to leave
But did not make a sound
Oh Lord, what was I doing ?
The guilt ! This awful stench !
I wed the girl on Christmas Eve
Now she hates me like the French !
I met a girl at county fair
Her hands caressed my chest
Her eyes just had the strangest glare
Our lips then did the rest
Oh Lord, what were we doing ?
Disgrace is where we fell
I met a girl at county fair
We suit each other well.
I met a girl at county fair
We suit each other well.
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2. |
Celebrate
03:35
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Celebrate
They’ve all come to celebrate
An hour or so to illuminate
The doom that awaits them as soon as they’re back home
The gloom
Where feeble candles shimmer
Along silent, lonely dinners
And hopeless dawns where the thoughts forever roam
They’ve all come to celebrate
An hour or so to anticipate
The doom that awaits them as soon as they’re back home
The gloom
Where hardship rhymes with dying
Forever weak, forever trying
To say your prayers when you know you’re all alone…
Oh Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Oh Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
For when the clock strikes twelve
Cinderellas flee in a dash
For when the clock strikes five
Back to the field, the mine, the ash
We’ve all come to celebrate
An hour or so to contemplate
How our lives could be if we stood a chance
Just a glance !
At brightly coloured futures
Illusions hardly nurtured…
If there is no doubt---how it all turns out…
Well, then let’s---
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
Celebrate…
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3. |
Across the Rio Grande
02:28
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Across the Rio Grande
Whatever the cost for you and me, my dear
I’ll pack my things and go
Whatever the cost for you and me, my dear
I’ll pack my things and go
Oh, I’ll fly
Oh, I’ll fly right across the Rio Grande.
If they lock me up or gun me down
Another bareback’s come to pay
My spirit will rise and ride the sun
All the way to Santa Fe
Oh, I’ll fly
Oh, I’ll fly right across the Rio Grande.
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4. |
Gropiusallee
01:13
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(instrumental)
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5. |
Mr. Philips
01:54
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Mr. Philips
Mr. Philips
Steady on his way home
Mr. Philips
With a burger in his pack
Mr. Philips
Always the saint among the neighbors
He did not kill them
Never saw the attack.
Mr. Philips
Mr. Philips
Mr. Philips
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6. |
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Baudelaire, Brussels, 1866
Let us love gently. In his lair laid low,
Ambushed in shades, Love strings his fatal bow.
I know his ancient arsenal complete,
Crime, horror, lunacy — O my pale daisy!
Are we not suns in Autumn, silver-hazy,
O my so white, so snow-cold Marguerite?
(Sonnet d’Automne—Charles Baudelaire, as translated by Roy Campbell, 1952)
***********************
If my sorrow came to vanish
And my fears would go to sleep
Oh ! Find a paradise untarnished
And some happiness to keep
This could be the most beautiful day in my life
This could be the most beautiful day in my life
So far…
So far…
If my troubles came to reason
Would my anguish fade ; in time ?
I could have a change of season
And finally find a perfect rhyme
This could be the most beautiful year in my life
This could be the most beautiful -
This could be the most beautiful year in my life
So far…
If my sorrow
Oh, my sorrow
Came to pass
How long for a beautiful
How long for a beautiful
I long for a beautiful day in my life
How long, for a beautiful
How long, for a beautiful
How long, for a beautiful day in my life ?
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7. |
By the Grace of Dynamite
01:19
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By the Grace of Dynamite
I found a dynamite cap – on the railroad track
And it blew up in my face.
I lost my sight – and everything – that day – it seemed
But what I found was - grace.
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8. |
Still, the Waters
03:06
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Still, the Waters
We anguish that the moon
Might shoo away the sun
We ponder and we swoon
When all is said and done
And through our open doors
The winds of change will blow
For richer or for poorer
Noone shall ever know
And still the waters
Still the waters
Flow
Still the waters flow
And may our inner stream
Of consciousness arise
In every wondrous dream
The devil’s in disguise
What will the river bring ?
What will the future show ?
We shiver as we sing
We die just as we grow
But still the waters
Still the waters
Run
Still the waters run…
Still they run…
They run…
And still the waters
Still the waters
Flow.
Still the waters flow.
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9. |
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Blacks and Whites
Would you play some chess with me ?
Blacks and whites, for all to see
How it all comes down to this
Nothing here – in life is free.
Won’t you play some chess with me ?
Blacks and whites are plain to see, the
Longer game, the fewer pawns
Nothing here – will last till dawn.
Would you talk it through with me ?
Blacks and whites are all we see
In this shaded universe
Nothing here is- neither wish nor curse.
Won’t you talk it through with me ?
Blacks and whites won’t do for me
Neither sad nor glad to sing
Queen is lost – on goes the King.
**********************************
A Single Breath, this Futile Bird
(instrumental)
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10. |
Fall Back on my Feet
01:50
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Fall Back on my Feet
Oh if I fall back on my feet I’ll let you know
I’ll leave a message or a card right at your door
But I won’t talk about all the things that I’ve been missing – since you left me –
If I fall back on my feet I’ll let you know
Oh if I fall back on my feet I’ll let you go
I won’t be the dusty carpet on your bedroom floor
And I won’t say a word about the times when I wasn’t breathing– since you left me –
If I fall back on my feet I’ll let you go –
I’ll let you go….
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11. |
Kometenakkord
00:45
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(instrumental)
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12. |
Bury the Dead
02:56
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Bury the Dead
Bury the Dead
And let them be
Don’t let them come back
And pull at your sleeve
Sign them off
And then close the lid
Don’t let the yearbooks
Loosen your grip
Close the door
And hear yourself breathe
Don’t let them whisper
In your ear while you sleep
And I know it’s hard…
Yes, I know
Oh I know it’s hard…
Yes, I know…
Oh, I know…
Bury the Dead
And let them rest
Sing when your sorrow
Puts you to test
Scatter their ashes
Beneath a tree
And then let it grow
For the shade it will give
Bury the Dead
But remember their names
The eyes of your children
Will carry their flame
And I know it’s hard…
Yes, I know
Oh I know it’s hard…
Yes, I know…
To bury the dead…
-to bury the dead…
To bury the dead…
-to bury the dead…
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13. |
Hurley, Missouri, 1932
01:10
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(instrumental)
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14. |
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(only the "F" word)
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15. |
It's all a Game
03:25
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It’s all a Game
Someone’s great lake is another man’s pond
Someone’s tall brunette is another man’s blonde
Someone’s feather is another man’s chain
Someone’s loss is another man’s gain.
Someone’s cold wind is another man’s breeze
Somebody’s itch makes another man sneeze
Someone’s black coat is another man’s vest
Somebody’s worst is another man’s best.
And it’s all
It’s all a Game
Someone’s corner is another man’s line
Someone’s paycheck is another man’s fine
Someone’s garment is another man’s fleece
Someone’s battle is another man’s peace.
And it’s all
It’s all a Game
Someone’s silence is another man’s talk
Someone crawling helps another man walk
Someone’s yearning is another man’s bore
Somebody’s truth is another man’s lore.
Someone’s calling is another man’s fear
Someone’s “far away” is another man’s “here”
Somebody’s rise is another man’s fall
Someone’s “nothing” is another man’s “all”.
But it’s all
It’s all a Game
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16. |
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I found my baby dying
I found my baby dying
In the parlour ; home on parole
She wore her silk pyjamas
I couldn’t count the holes
I found my baby dying
And the silver on her ring
Was like a stern reminder
Of the damn fool I have been
I found my baby dying
And now they’ll come for me
I shan’t move, I’ll stay beside her
There’s nowhere I’d rather be
Than with my baby
Than with my baby
Than with my baby
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17. |
(BONUS)_The Hollow Bells
03:19
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The Hollow Bells
Oh, we dance
To the sound of our trembling hearts break
It’s the biggest mistake
Yet, we dance…
Yes, we dance
To the hum of our solitudes cling
Even cornered, we sing
And we dance
It’s Romance…
It’s the sound of despair
As we cry in the streets
It’s our cold blooded murders
It’s our biggest defeats
In the silence to come
When we can’t carry on
We long for the days, when
We danced and we sung, oh…
Renaissance
Is a word that I don’t understand
If we’re born then we die
And it’s out of our hands
Yet we dance and we sing
Let the hollow bells ring
And the dead all join in
As we dance
As we dance
We give in to a fleeting sensation of joy
And the boys all like girls and the girls all like boys, oh…
Circumstance
Is the rule that allows him to strike
The sure-footed demon
Or God, if you like
And we dance
To his beat
Let the hollow bells ring
And the dead all join in
As we dance
And we dance…
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Hemlock Smith Lausanne, Switzerland
Hemlock Smith come from Lausanne (Switzerland). Since 2002, they’ve released 7 regular albums with intelligent pop, as well as 2 soundtracks for silent film and 2 collaborations with Noise duo Les Poissons Autistes. Fronted by singer-songwriter Michael Frei, Hemlock Smith's distinctive voice is complemented by a talented band seamlessly blending Pop, Folk, Rock and Trip-Hop Sensibilities ... more
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