A Bedtime Story

30 Plan

evil bow (master)

Like Vines

Lions Roar

Everybody Knows

Eleisha Eagle - The Quittin' Kind (Bass)

All my antics and my gibberish 
Put a damper on my sentences; 
I'm a [cuddlefish/cuttlefish] 
Trying to cover up my incompetence. 
Maybe your fancy just isn't ticklish— 
Maybe your heart belongs to another fish— 
But on your part that'd be foolish. 
Baby, I think you ought to think through this. 

The sea is big, big, big, 
And it's full of scary things! 
Like great white sharks, 
And colossal squid! 
And I'm worried about you... 
I don't want you to get hurt. 
I don’t want you to get hurt... 
I don’t want you to get hurt. 

If you love something 
(So they say) 
You should set it free. 
But I disagree— 
'Cause I can safely say that 
Catching and releasing 
Isn't what I'd want for me. 

I know I know better than you do 
What is best for you to do— 
Can't you see the logic there? 
It's superlogical. 
My perspective is an outside one, 
And that's really saying something 
'Cause we don't have mirrors 
And since we're under the water, 
There isn't a surface 
For you to see your reflection in... 
Not that you don't look nice! 
(In fact, how wonderful you look 
Is exactly what the problem is....) 

The sea is big, big, big, 
And it's full of scary things! 
Like great white sharks, 
And colossal squid! 
And I'm worried about you... 
I don't want you to get hurt. 
I don’t want you to get hurt... 
I don’t want you to get hurt. 

It guts me every time 
I hear you're frequenting 
Such sketchy dives. 
It's not like it's a crime, 
But what if you get caught by a scuba diver 
Just like Nemo and I can't find you? 

Still I'd never cease my quest for you— 
What else would there be for me to do? 
Sure, there are plenty of fishes in the ocean, 
But not one of them could ever get a hook in my devotion. 
So my love for you supports recent scholarly publications 
Reporting that fish have a greater capacity for memory 
Than was previously believed, 
And I will miss you for the rest of my life.


from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals

Stephan Nance — Cuddlefish

Melancholy Astronautic Man

The first release from our long-awaited, self-produced album, we're very excited to share our new 'Gory Stories' EP! We've been wanting to do a Halloween EP for a little while now, so we decided to have a little fun with the B-Sides when putting out "Edward Gorey's Gory Stories" as the lead single from the album. The video for "Edward Gorey..." goes live on YouTube on 25th October as well - it's hilariously macabre (if we do say so ourselves), so do check it out (https://youtu.be/kz0AxmNdRPw)! 

"Edward Gorey's Gory Stories" is an untraditional love song that explores identity, acceptance, and the profoundly macabre. Are we just the product of our experiences, and can we step outside that to decide who we want to be on our own terms?

Edward Gorey was a 20th century writer and artist, and his beguilingly dark illustrated books have been Ringlefinch faves for many years. We particularly love his work 'The Gashlycrumb Tinies', a delightfully morbid A-B-C book (or abecedary, word fans) whose protagonists get bumped off in rhyming couplets, and in hilariously unlikely ways. Special shout-out to artist Lolita Blaga for the artwork for the 'Gory Stories' EP, she absolutely nailed the Gorey style!

Track listing:
1) Edward Gorey's Gory Stories
2) Hell (Squirrel Nut Zippers cover - ft. Angie Rance of Patch & The Giant on trumpet)
3) Mysterious Mose (from a 1930 Betty Boop cartoon - ft. Johnny Craike on musical saw)
4) The Monster Mash (with thanks and love to the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band)

All of our songs can be found on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify and the rest. If you can afford it and want to support us to make more music, please consider buying or streaming from a paid service as well! We've also got some rather lovely t-shirts and tote bags available at https://ringlefinch.teemill.com.

Thanks!

Edward Gorey's Gory Stories

Pinecones, By Bug Hunter. This is the 6th song on their 3rd album, Bigger Than Myself

Hands up if life is getting stressful
And shout if you are saddened by the news
I need some tips to cope,
some data or some anecdotes,
'cause right now nothing's workin' for my blues

Sometimes I deal by playing music
and sometimes I relax by reading books
Sometimes I go downtown,
climb a tree and don't come down
and throw a bunch of pinecones at people

A crowd has formed around my tree,
just out of reach, and the police have 
blocked the street on every side
But no one can climb it and
I think its 'cause they know I have
a pinecone here for everyone who tries

I yell: I'm gonna live to be a hundred
I'm gonna see them cure disease
Then I'm gonna watch them
go to war over the royalties so
if you need me, I'll be in the tree

If you need me, I'll be in the tree

There's several cameras pointed up into my tree
it seems the world's concerned with what I might do next…
Throwing pinecones at photographers
from up here in this conifer
like Tarzan getting scouted by the Mets

Yeah, I'm gonna live to be a thousand
Got robot arms and run on robot feet
Got robot legs and robot head
and my robot ass don't know it yet but
I'd be better off back in the tree

So if you need me, I'll be in the tree…

'Cause no one's asking what would drive me up this pine
Is it protest? Am I being paid to preach or advertise?
No, this non-deciduous decision was all mine
You can show a horse the ropes
but no, you cannot make him climb

And this tree's a makeshift metaphor and I prefer to think
I'm just a stressed out Christmas ornament
who needs some space to breathe
And if the camera crews and crowded streets
and dozens of police
are my endless pressures manifested down below my tree
Then this giant stack of pinecones…
They are the lame and immature ways I deal with them
But also how satisfying it is to do so...
To dome one... when they're not looking... yeah

I'm gonna live to be a million
Longer than the flowers, birds and bees
but if I start to come undone,
make like a tree and hug someone
Everybody needs a place to breathe
just recognize when it is time to leave

I'm probably gonna live forever
but should I die (and that may be preferred)
take me out and bury me
and plant a tree right over me
so I may help someone escape the world

Yeah, I may help someone escape the world

Pinecones

Headlights, By Bug Hunter. This is the 2nd song on their 3rd album, Bigger Than Myself

Calm
The key is to be calm
I'm sure that my hands
will settle soon
Just keep them 
locked at ten and two
and carry on

I need to carry on...
'cause taking that final look behind me
changes nothing but my mind

If I stop now
and turn the other way
I'm only going back for yester-
Only going back for yesterday

And it's okay
We're better off apart but that's
the part of me
that voices things I never meant to say
We're like two cars in the night
Your headlights blind me briefly
then you're gone
and we continue on our way

Well
I'm not feeling too well
I tried every trick to understand
If I seem lost it's 'cause I am and I need
Help
I need a little help
I've crossed your path so many times
but right now yours just isn't mine

The road is clear, a sign as if to say:
It's time you let the past be yester-
Time you let the past be yesterday

And it's okay
We're better off apart but that's the part of me
that voices things I never meant to say
We're like two cars in the night
Your headlights blind me briefly
Then you're gone and we continue on our way

And when I think it's far enough away
You make me feel like it was yester-
Make me feel like it was yesterday

And it's okay
We're better off apart but that's the part of me
that voices things I never meant to say
We're like two cars in the night
Your headlights blind me briefly
then you're gone and we continue on our way

And my exit's on the right
The mile markers counting down
the empty minutes of the night
and I drive on...
Letting limits pass me by
As I search my rearview mirror
Not for the dawn
but for the incoming headlights