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. |
Elsalill (Part One)
01:09
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2. |
My Wonderful Bereaved
03:54
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My wonderful bereaved
Elsalill stared into the sea
For want to drown or for want to breathe
Long for nothing, but for the hours to flee
Oh why do hearts just stop but wounds still bleed ?
By what decree… ?
What decree indeed ?
Oh Elsalill, my wonderful bereaved
Oh Elsalill, what have you done to me ?
What have you done to me ?
Elsalill glared into the fire
What we possess, the cruel flames aspire –
- to and fro, destiny claims all of our desires
And devours our weary souls entire
And we agree…
Or do we… ?
Oh Elsalill, my wonderful bereaved
Oh Elsalill, what have you done to me ?
What have you done to me ?
Elsalill looked into herself
And found nothing there she’d want to tell –
- (a private hell)
A frozen monolith cast upon this fjeld
This world of ours may be our biggest cell
Oh let her be…
Oh let her leave…
Oh Elsalill, my wonderful bereaved
Oh Elsalill, what have you done to me ?
Oh Elsalill, my wonderful bereaved
Oh Elsalill, what have you done to me ?
What have you done to me ?
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3. |
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We are the Scottish Mercenaries !
We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
Aye-ho! Make way!!
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We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
We steal your thunder!
We take your lives!
We rape and plunder!
We take your wives!
We know no measure!
We have no soul!
We take your treasure!
And eat you whole!
We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
We are the Scottish Mercenaries!
We are the Scottish Men!
Aye-ho! Make way!!
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4. |
Love Blossoms
02:09
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5. |
In old Marstrand
03:54
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In Old Marstrand
In old Marstrand
Before the war
There were some monuments
So proud they roared
We rode our sleighs
Around these walls
Those tiny satellites
It held them all.
In old Marstrand
During the war
The buildings came and went
A molten core
We rode our sleighs
Amidst these ruins
Just tiny satellites-
Chaotic spins.
‘n Old Marstrand
After the war, you wore
A veil of shattered glass-
You were so pale
In old Marstrand
We’re settled dust
Once tiny satellites
And now we’re lost.
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6. |
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I hear the floorboards creaking
I hear the floorboards creaking
In the middle of the night
I hear the nightbirds shrieking
Noone in sight
I hear the doorknob turning
I hold my father’s gun
My eyes are sore and burning
I shoot and then I run
I shoot then I run
I hear the floorboards creaking
Down in Old Bailey Hall
The judge is cold and glaring
Guess I’ll be sent to fall
I hear the floorboards creaking
As they drag me out
I hear the people cheering
I vanish like a cloud
I think I hear the floorboards…
I think I hear the floorboards…
I hear the floorboards creaking
In the jailhouse near the moor
I hear the preacher mumbling
But there’ll be no cure
I hear the floorboards creaking
At the gallows in the morn
The noose , well has me yearning
Wish I was never born
I think I hear the floorboards…
I think I hear the floorboards…
I hear the floorboards creaking
In my coffin, here I lie
The ground they keep on shoveling
Until I’m out of sight
I hear the floorboards creaking
I wonder, who it might be
My juices will be leaking
The worms will have their feast
I think I hear the floorboards…
I think I hear the floorboards…
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7. |
Part and be Parted
01:47
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8. |
Torarin (intro)
00:24
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9. |
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The Girl with the Sad Eyes
Pain is the measure
That keeps us growing
Such powerful incentive
To quicken the stride
Pain is the treasure
We’re trying to hide
Put it aside
Time is the essence
Forever fleeting
Fake reminiscence
To wither and fade
And the girl with the sad eyes is waiting in the corner
If death is a passage
Then what am I paying ?
If death has a message
Do I speak its tongue ?
Did I mock it ?
Am I putting it on ?
And the girl with the sad eyes is waiting in the corner
She has me measured…
She has me cornered…
She has me measured…
She has me cornered…
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10. |
Seaman's Watch
04:22
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Seaman’s Watch
Oh my face
It is frozen
Like a beard on
Seaman’s watch
And my thoughts
Are well chosen
But my desires
Shall never match.
Oh destiny
Wrecks and grinds us
And with the tide
We wash ashore
And this debris
Shall forth remind us, that
Mother Time
Is just a whore.
Earth and space
They are frozen
Like a beard on
Seaman’s watch
And my grave
It is cosy, with
A coat of ice
Quite well attached.
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11. |
Here come the Troops!
02:11
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12. |
Elsalill (Part Two)
02:53
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13. |
Polar Otherwise
03:47
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Polar, Otherwise
Well…
Here we are
Not richer
Not poorer
But older
If not wise
Well…
The song’s been sung
The mourners waiting
To entrust our bodies to the ice
Well…
Here we are
Not smarter
But older
And polar, otherwise
Well…
The night has come
The night is young, so young
It’ll last forever in our eyes
We’ve seen the fire’s paradise
Now we’ll be polar otherwise
Now we’ll be polar, otherwise.
Well…
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14. |
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15. |
A Letter
04:27
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A Letter
You can’t go on like this
You’ll have to show sometimes
These times of doubt have made us blind
Oh God, don’t be unkind.
You can’t go on like this
You’ll have to speak sometimes
If you can’t be bothered to share your mind
It makes a God – so ill defined.
Show some mercy to all those, craving for divine
Dear God, please be kind.
You can’t go on like this
You’ll have to act sometimes
This our violence will tear and bind
If your light – does not shine -
If your light – does not shine…
Show some mercy to the mute who need a sign
Dear God, please be kind.
You can’t go on like this
You’ve got to stop sometimes
If you can’t be trusted to change your mind
Oh God, you can’t be mine.
Show some mercy on our souls, misled and blind
Dear God, please be kind.
Dear God, please be kind.
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16. |
Betray Me!
02:19
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Betray me !
Betray me !
Betray me !
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17. |
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18. |
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Constellation/Consolation
And thus ends my story
Its final word written in print
There are no heroes
Just puppets trying to blink
Here in this chaos
We fight for a small space to be
But there is no starlight
Just the glimpse of our own misery
Constellation… of the difficult
Constellation… of the violent
Constellation… of the separate
Constellation… of the inanimate
Ah, but are we not matter
So small, but part of it – still?
Oh, but did we not matter
If the universe ever stood still?
An unconscious memory
A spirit in the rock and the leaves
This is my consolation
This is what I believe…
Consolation… of the difficult
Consolation… of the violent
Consolation… of the separate
Consolation… of the inanimate
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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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