Monday, June 28, 2021

Bead Necklace

--> Patter

And here we are, back to the front. The moon is up and the sun too blazes over the sick-sad beaches of the new millenia. We know where we want to go but we do not know where we are. Hold on the dear earth, taste it, and remember.


--> Bead Necklace

Sun rises in the east
And sets in the west
So slowly & surely it goes
But no body sees it so no one knows

History in the east
And history in the west
So surely the past is exposed
If nobody sees it the past is closed
If nobody reads it the door is closed

We don't know who we are
We don't know how to shoot a star
We don't know how it ends
But every summer day we rise again

We may lack minds but
But we have big hearts
Which we leave in the trees
And we write on the charts
We kill the clouds with the golden light
Of stars that have no concept of night

We don't know who we are
We don't know how to shoot a star
We don't know how it ends
But every summer day we rise again

Sun rises in the east
And sets in the west
So slowly & surely it goes
But no body sees it so no one knows

History in the east
And history in the west
So surely the past is exposed
If nobody read it the past is closed
If nobody sees it the door is closed

We don't know who we are
We don't know how to shoot a star
We don't know how it ends
Every autumn day we'll rise again


--> Tropicalia (Reprise)

(Wash of Waves Breaking on Shore)

--> Radio Static

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Blowdogs

--> Patter

Sometimes we fight in number, and sometimes we hide. Sometimes we know defeat, sometimes we die. But when you've got a mouthful of stars, and enough boots to make a good show, make it so.


--> Blowdogs

We struggle to love
Our communist scars

We drove off the edge
Into a mouthful of stars

Into the blue & the gray
With the blowdogs b-blowing away

We all missed what we craved
And the play of light on
The sea was exhausting

Half mast flags

We're burn down the fort
And digging up the graves of the slain

We struggle to love
Our communist scars

We drove off the edge
Into a mouthful of stars

Into the blue & the gray
With the blowdogs b-blowing away

We all missed what we craved
And the play of light on
The sea was exhausting

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Worm in the Beak



--> Patter

The man in the frock coat is bloated
The shrimp on the platter are causing mad spasms
The drunk at the counter is slurring
The churros I stole from the man in the frock coat
Are churros well worth my tongue burning


--> Worm in the Beak

I've got a worm on the beak
Gun fire on the streets
Easy come easy go
Take it fast
Or take it slow

So much room for deceit
But it's a good day cuz
I've got a worm on the beak

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Mariners' Chant


--> Patter

As we work our way the Cordillera to the Cumbia coast, think of the folks who spend their nights & days on the boats of the world.


--> Mariners' Chant

Green light lifting all ships
The red sea dips into the centrifuge
Looking left like a palate cleft
Got a new take on theft in this interlude

Red dawn
We are singing this song
With weapons drawn
On this hump day

Blue light
We are wicking the lamps
We are jacking the amps
Up to sunday

Mariners Chant
Jack up the amps
Wicking the lamps
We dine & we drink up to Sunday

Yo Se Que

--> Yo Se Que

Brilliant shades of blue
Bird calls a deafening hue
Tsunami rolls on in
Usurp geological time
These fineries, no wineries

Warehouse with words in Spanish
Yo (no) se que someone inside is right
Merida night turns into light
Nicotine withdrawal becomes a fight

Banana leaves
Contacting magicians
Who turn particles into wine
No deliverance
No one knows chivalry
Man is a woman
A man is a human

Dawn is on as I write this song
And I carry on and I carry on

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Army of Light



--> Army of Light

Got an army of light
On this island of blight
Gotta barrel of guns
& Imperial rites

Way up in the trees
And down on your knees
You pray to your god
We pray to our fleas

Setting sun on the sword and the crags
Us getting found is you getting lost
We’ve learned all your lies and we’ve played all your games
And still you think you’re the first in line

Think again

With an army of light
We’ll send you fucking packing
Got some Red Army guns
Gonna set European sons

Nutmeg Boy

--> Patter

Have you ever tasted smoke?
The earthly flavor of spice leaves
Have you wondered what it would be like
To eat the leaves of spice
Stardust of the tropics

--> Nutmeg Boy

Gonna seize the whole operation
Gonna burn down the western station
It's an army of liberation
Gonna seize the whole operation

On a hillside above the sea crash falls
We fell in love with the leaves of spice but the war did draw
A mess of cinnamon & mace in the shadows of the sea-bent squalls
We fell in love with the thought that our love would save us from it all

These are the seasons of our love
Starling & allspice
Cinnamon dove

Gonna seize the whole operation
Gonna burn down the western station
It's an army of liberation

All these things in my head
Are but feelings

On a hillside above the sea crash falls
On a hillside above the sea crash falls

We are an island
We are the silence
We are the black smoke
We are the failures of the stars above

These are the seasons of our love
Starling & allspice
Cinnamon dove

On a hillside above the sea crash falls
We fell in love with the leaves of spice but the war did draw
A mess of cinnamon & mace in the shadows of the sea-bent squalls
We fell in love with the thought that our love would save us from it all

These are the seasons of our love
Starling & allspice
& cinnamon dove

A fence of palm frond
A sea sick stare
A nest of cinnamon sticks
Blood in your hair

A fence of palm frond
A sea sick sun
Smoke of cinnamon leaves
Dust of oblivion
Dust of oblivion

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Longshoremen & Their Rope Coils

--> Patter

In the west
On the crest of a wave
Like the spine of a monster

You will find yourself
A private hell
You will find yourself
A watery grave
You will find yourself
Unusually bloated

Call we Raps
I make maps
I know where the lines go

My heart is a sphere
I know you are near
By the sound of your latitudes
By the things that I hear


--> Longshoremen and their Rope Coils

Call me Slips
I sail ships
I know where the wind blows

My union is strong
We get along
As the red sun sets

We see all the things
That there are to see
In the wet & the dry
In the pirate free

If you try to reclaim
If you try to explain
What you stole for yourself
Will you end up the same? (x2)

My heart is a sphere
I know you are near
By the sound of your latitudes
By the things that I hear
credits

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Drumz​/​Black Walls

Soft lights cut
through the blanket squalls

In this sodden slate,
waiting for your call

I've got these
black walls
black walls
black walls
I've got these black walls

I've got these
black walls
black walls
black walls
I've got these black walls

Cut the light out late, cleave the night down low
Need a light to shine, like a moonlight glow

I've got these
black walls
black walls
black walls
I've got these black walls

I've got these
black walls
black walls
black walls
I've got these black walls

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), released June 24, 2021

Rifles Out

--> Patter

A time of armed insurrection is near. We follow in the footsteps of Zapata.
It is time to take our rifles out


--> Rifles Out

When you see them
When you know
When you want them
When it shows

When you see them
When they show
With their rifles out
Gotta go they'll be no celebrating

When you want just what you want
But you know it's over
When you want it oh so bad
But it's red october

When you want it
But you know it's over
When you want it
But you know it's over

When you see them
When you know

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), releases July 4, 2021

All Spice Dub




--> Patter

Where were you the night King Tubby died? I was hiding in the woods. I was thinking of prairie. I imagined the taste of dirt and the smell of spiced tubers bubbling on an open fire. On this night, the night King Tubby died. You can kill the king, but you can't kill the king riddim . . .

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Sun Circle



--> Patter

The struggle continues. And while the fight for the working class rages on, the sun does it's own thing up there in the black vacuum. It is to the sun we go as we search for answers on the beaches of Uruguay


--> Sun Circle

Got to Uruguay
On a boat made of sand & leaves
Met a man with a paraglide
Got to try his skin on for size

This was years before we lost all three

Hoist those flags
Burning all the boats
Digging up those graves
For a second look
For a second look

Write it in a book
History of the rejects
When the world was bright
As stupid as it gets

Lost all three

Got to Uruguay

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), releases July 4, 2021

Honk, honk, I'm a communist

--> Patter

Honk honk, who's a communist?

The poacher declares himself above the law, & the small fry dies to accommodate the crimes of the liars who hold tight to power gained not by hard work but by serendipitous birth --> "We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings." - Ursula K. Le Guin

Honk, honk, who's a communist?

Honk, honk, I'm a communist.

--> Honk honk, I'm a communist

Honk honk, I'm a communist
Honk honk, I'm a communist

I'm a communist, emancipate the proletariat
Bosses can't get far, tie em up with my lariat
Psyching out the bosses like I'm Judas Iscariot
Up the commune, get into my chariot

I'm a communist
Now y'all are hearing it
I'm a communist
Now y'all are hearing it

Honk honk, I'm a communist
Honk honk, I'm a communist

--> Patter

The struggle continues.

from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), releases July 4, 2021

Magicians of the Sea

--> Patter

1000 black eyes will look upon you moments before the stars go blank. We travel the horse latitudes looking for the dreams that left us behind. We quest to find the magic that feeds.


--> Magicians of the Sea

Six skins & a string of fish
Petit four pie & a camel's wish
We pack 'n sell love by the multiple
Tried to raid the blue sea
But I fell off the boat

We raise the palmetto fronds
Hard and half behind the beat like Larry Lalond &
A whale scars love
Our wings beat like a dove
& the jitterbug dance
Of the sparrow

Magicians

Magicians of the sea
Have a million black eyes
& they're looking at me

Magicians of the sea
Have a million black eyes

Magicians of the sea
Have a million black eyes
& they're looking at me

They're looking at me
They're looking at me
They're looking at me

A whale scars love
& the lungs that breath

Whale scar love
When death comes from above

Six skins & a string of fish
Petit four pie & a camel's wish
We pack 'n sell love by the multiple
Tried to raid the blue sea
But I fell off the fucking boat

credits


from a balm from tropical nature LP (2021), releases July 4, 2021

Vampires

--> Patter

We come to the shore, looking for days & nights of love & war, but all we find is a dead dove.


--> Vampires


I got lost in the jungle
I had to bungle my way through the weeds

Then I found a lover
We bumbled together
Propped up our misdeeds

Through green dripping meadows
And vine-ravaged temples
We planted our seeds

We sorted our sorrows
Forgot our tomorrows
And drafted a screed

These were the golden hours of the golden days
When the sun came up and never went away
These were the green light mornings
When we held the vampires of time at bay

Tropicalia



--> Radio Static (Wash of Waves Breaking on Shore) This is a balm. . . 

--> Tropicalia 

This is a balm from tropical nature 
Tropical nature 
Looking to prevent erasure 
Of the time signature 
Of our stature