When the soul of the city was laid to rest
And the night forgotten and left for dead
I happened at a house built of living light
Where everything evil disappears and dies

When they love you and they will
Tell them all, they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell them all, to go to hell

I settled in slowly to this house that you call home
To blood and breath, fair flesh and bone
Blush of our bodies in the heat of the night
All day, the day after, reddened the skies

When they love you and they will
Tell them all, they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell them all, to go to hell

It's a lifeless life with no fixed address to give
But you're not mine to die for anymore, so I must live
Born of a bottle from heaven's hand
And now you know, and here I am

When they love you and they will
Tell them all, they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell them all, to go to hell

When they love me and they will
I'll tell them all, they'll love in your shadow
And if they try to slow me down
I'll tell them all, to go to hell

(David Prowse, Brian King)

The House Heaven Built

Paid up, weathered, and type-O
Clad in gladstone, watch him go
Swimming neath the microscope
Hello lonely, bless the nation
Mister skip to all or none
Wooden soldiers fall upon
Try to find what makes her tick
While they're finding out what makes them sick

I don't know where you find your nerve
I don't know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives

Been around and left you flat
Tragically decided that
Every child of God's a brat
And she's dying to escape them
But do we really need to see
All her punchdrunk history?
And which of it might hold the key
For the exit to her destiny?

I don't know where you get your nerve
I don't know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives

I don't know where you find your nerve
I don't know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives

Number one in all our souls
Trifle in a crystal bowl
Fill it up with nine to five
Save them for the best of Jill Hives

The Best of Jill Hives

Look at what we've done
To our daughters and our sons
We took it all and left them none
I blame myself I blame everyone.

Are we all just gonna act as pawns
In the games they play?
Where have all the heroes gone, these days?
Always darkest before the dawn, I say
So we gotta find the strength to hold on
Somehow someway...

State Of The Union

Stand By Me (Demo Version)

I've waited too long to have you
Hide in the back of me
I've cheated so long I wonder
How you keep track of me

You could never be strong
You can only be free
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me

I've entered the game of pricks
With knives in the back of me
Can't call you or on you no more
When they're attacking me

I'll climb up on the house
Weep to water the trees
And when you come calling me down
I'll put on my disease

Game Of Pricks

Floating

Nothing More Than Anything Is

John Jay & Rich Snippet

https://equipboard.com/blake_mckibben1

With so many albums little more than a collection of songs rushed out as soon as there is enough material to fill the space, it is a rare pleasure to find a record as lovingly crafted as Blake McKibben's debut. 

This young, good-looking man from Portland, Oregon has produced a record that has taken all of two years' hard work to perfect. 

'Haze' is an album that cannot be defined by any single style, but which still has a thread running through each and every track. As befits a record made entirely by one individual, every song is intensely personal, telling the stories of a man's life; both the highs and the lows. 

Equally adept at turning his hand to rock, pop, folk or even hip-hop, McKibben uses every weapon in his musical armoury. But each style is just another reflection of his soul, and evidence of an enormous talent. 

'Haze' is by turns catchy, heart-felt, funny and sad. McKibben covers every emotion of his young life, from the heartbreak of 'The Breakup Song' to the feel good jauntiness of 'You Lift Me Up', via the daily drudgery of working life, described perfectly in 'Another Day Another Dollar'. 

But the standout tracks are the rawest, most soulful and most beautiful. The title track and 'I Wish I Could Thank You' both deal with the tragedy of losing a loved one. But out of that tragedy has come music that belies its creator's youth. 
Despite only being 26-years-old, McKibben has been involved in music for nearly two decades. He began by picking up the saxophone in front of his whole school at the age of 10 and was soon turning his hand to piano, drums, bass and anything he could lay his hands on. 

He writes, records, performs and produces all of his music. And such total control has produced something that is genuinely unique. His influences include some of the most maverick artists of the last 40 years, including The Velvet Underground, Nine Inch Nails and Morphine. But 'Haze' is an album that is truly his own. 
Each song on the record offers something different, but it is as a whole that this album comes in to its own. 
If it's a sign of things to come, Blake McKibben has a very very long future.

Music by Blake McKibben

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