1. |
Night Bus
03:03
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now after the years
you get another
chance
and after spending
your life waiting
in the bus stops
...
and after the years
of staring at the
walls
this time it appears like
you really have a
choice
but does it really even
matter anyway?
and now
you’re just fed up
when will time
finally catch up
and bury these idle dreams
beneath the concrete on the streets
and now
the late night bus is coming
to take late bloomers home
might be the last chance to get
anywhere at all
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2. |
Death Rays
02:17
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the girl next door cannot really
save you from yourself
the things she said as you were leaving
are now ringing in your head
and
now you’re talking to the kitchen sink
but it cannot understand
just why you’re pouring melted ice cream in
so you wrapped the flowers up again
and took them back to your place
where if you’re lucky they just might
last a few more days
while you’re inventing
new rhymes and death rays
this is likely situation 23
wherein much to his surprise
the hero arrives at the scene
but remains unrecognized
and though the poem isn’t bad
it doesn’t always work
and so it’s back to the drawing board
for the new Keats on the block
inventing rhymes and death rays
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3. |
Spiders
02:11
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we were standing by the road
as they loaded your black piano
into a big blue truck
and cars went by
an end of something
but we didn't cry
it’s just another fun thing gets taken off the list
when at twelve years old you‘re already
thinking like a fatalist
next day I went back
to your house
to talk to the spiders
in the corners of your room
they told me you were never coming
back and what chance does a
young heart stand against
caterpillar
tracks
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4. |
Daylight
02:13
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...and on a scale of one to ten
how do you rate
the date we had tonight
shall we see each other again?
well I guess it's too early to say
and your face is dripping with rain and I
remember the night so long
ago when everyone was too
fast and I was too
slow
so that I’d rather stay in bed and sleep all day
‘cause how do you chase after a
world that’s always two steps ahead
anyway
and
on a scale of one to ten
how do you rate the conversation we’ve
had
for a second there I thought I made you smile
but now your eyes look back at me all sad
again and I
thought that maybe you
might feel a bit
left behind too
and have some
catching up
to do
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5. |
Watching the Stars
02:58
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it was a long cold night
and the stars went all out
to watch us lie on the
roof
of your house
watching the stars
the stars put on their t-shirts
and was it the rain coming down
or was it the night's black sneakers
that barely made a sound
and your skin so cold and wet
that for a while I wondered to myself
was the roof a roof
was the sky a sky
or a pitch-black lake
into which we dive
as we
watch the stars
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6. |
FAQ
01:28
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something's on fire
I'm choking on smoke
with one hand stuck in the sink
I can hear sirens
red lights are on
and it feels like someone kicked my head in
“then please
exit through the real door
someone will help you
someone will certainly help”
but what if I’ve already tried
every door there was to find?
“please hold the line”
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7. |
Streetball
02:39
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a figure frozen in time
like a sundial at six
patiently waiting until
something clicks
for the sun to move on
beyond this field of stone
spilling her shadow
across the bricks
of a faded red house from an age of hip-hop now long past
with graffiti celebrating A Tribe Called Quest
and she knows that everyone’s on a clock to become a ghost
she just likes to think that hers
ticks a bit louder than most
and there’s a crack in the tea cup
and there’s one in the pavement too
and she knows that cigarette smoke will always rise right up to the sky
she’s just not quite sure what to do
about the chewed up tape
stuck in the cassette deck
that won’t let her fast forward
or turn her back
on this place of goodbyes
and return to her room
to the plans of vengeance on the world
to the tune of MF DOOM
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8. |
Apples
03:20
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tomorrow is the first day of school but you don’t need to go
there’s nothing they can teach you that you don’t already know
you stand at the window and yawn as the autumn birds take wing
looking down at the town feeling apprehensive about
(give or take)
everything
turns out being no one special is in fact quite tough
and although this whole thing may seem close enough
it gets progressively harder to pull off as time passes
you’re chewing the pencil as you go one last time over the list of your elective classes
and
the brightest student that you ever met
may have asked you out in July but by now has found something else
to occupy her mind
instead
and come to think about it it’s not really so strange
to prefer things that don't change
quite so fast
to something that was never going to last
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9. |
Bubble Gum
02:31
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former child prodigy composer
who’s been sleeping a minute longer every day
is also pretty good at math
and knows exactly how long it’s going to take
until the night stretches all over and fills up her place
like an overblown bubble-gum with the longest lasting taste
and it bums her out although not quite as much as one might think
because
the best mysteries are always submerged in black ink
the way she sees it
growing up shouldn’t have to involve
making up for the mistakes she’s made
and by now she would have hoped to be
more composed or at least
a little less afraid
now there’s barely time left to fold her t-shirts and pair the socks
tomorrow is another day after all
to try and cheat the clocks
her detective talent is wasted on the case
whoever’s to blame left behind no clues
the alarm clock is set
right by her bedside
and the loose ends are untied
just like the laces in her shoes
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10. |
Cosmic Noise
03:16
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up on the wardrobe
15 past midnight
gloom like cotton
a big TV set with volume rolled back and a sci-fi show on
throwing some light on what the day couldn’t quite
see done
you’d like to get up now but you’ve been hit by a laser gun
through a stack of old magazines you hoped would work like a time machine
and they did
except not in the literal sense
the bit you were looking for was supposed to open the door into summer
but turned out to be something else
time is running out now for the captain on the screen
until you pull the plug on what till now has been
your favorite spaceship and make it disappear without a trace
the one threat he’s not likely quite prepared to face
but hey, that’s the breaks
you either have what it takes
or you don’t
and he knew he was picking the losing side
in any case
another stripe of light on the ceiling
from a passing car
and unlike the stars the morning’s now not too far
the cold eyes of the universe are indifferent to the scheme
that you fucked up for the millionth time
but still can’t seem
to give up on the dream
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11. |
Lovecraft
01:30
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love travels on
bicycle wheels
down Angell street and
the architecture frowns as if somehow
you didn't belong here
and as you pass
beside the house where you were born
it just stares you down
and you realize you’re on your own
and you roll on
the shadows grow
taller than the trees
it's getting late
and deep inside your heart you know
that only evil things
come to those who
wait
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Unstrung Harp Žilinský kraj, Slovakia
UNSTRUNG HARP is Krištof Budke (drums), Bruno Čičmanec (basses and guitars), Michal Spáda (vocals, guitar)
Unstrung Harp recommends:
an atmospheric dark ambient record from our friend Daniel
go to album
menacing drums and cinematic cityscape electronica by or friend Fokular
go to albumIf you like Unstrung Harp, you may also like:
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Each Dot and Each Line
by Shredded Sun
A scorching rock record from this Chicago group conjures the energy of ’90s alt-rock with a 2023 attitude.
go to album
The Dust Has Come To Stay
by Junk Drawer
This Belfast group makes art-rock with an effortlessly melodic twist.
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without the luxury of perpetual lamentation EP
by regal murk
The new EP from the aptly named regal murk is a striking piece of work, thick rivers of guitar swallowing tender vocal melodies.
go to album
