track 5 from "impressions from a ghost". an interlude.

Underwater Train Network

this one might be a closing track to an EP, but everything's tentative at the moment in terms of new releases so no promises.

Sketching Crows

this is an old one but i've reworked it a bit. kind of bad at goodbyes-esque.

Rain Bus

cover of a magnetic fields song featuring my best friend singing! (her soundcloud is here: https://soundcloud.com/alexa-k-7)

The Saddest Story Ever Told (feat. Alexa K)

this song is about the greek mythological figure of charon, who ferries the dead across the styx in the underworld but who actually hates his job and just wants to get back to greece to see his boyfriend again

lyrics:
remember when we hung out in your backyard
your dad dragged you back inside
said "that kid's trouble", maybe he was right

i'm sorry i haven't seen you in a long time
i hope you're happy in athens
i hope you're happier than me

i miss waking up with you
watching tv with you
hanging out at 2am

i'm dreaming
of finally leaving
and getting a cab to your apartment
and knocking on your door

and i'll see your face
with your eyes bright red
one day i'll be free
i'll get out of this place

your eyes bright red
casting magic spells
and i'll come on home to you
and nothing here can stop me

remember when i took this job you asked me
"what if i don't see you again?"
god help me, i thought you were joking

the boss lets his wife leave for half the year
he let out that stupid singer
so why can't he let go of me?

it's cold down here
i never get any sleep
my eyes have stopped
registering colour

but i'm dreaming
of finally leaving
and calling you from a payphone
telling you "i'm sorry"

and i'll hear your voice
like the first spring rain
i'll tell you i'm alright
i'll ask about your day

i'll hear your voice
like a shooting star
i'm coming home to you
and everything will be ok

Charon's Boyfriend

cover of dear's very cool song! listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/dear-music/moth-mouth

Moth Mouth (Dear cover)

first original song in almost a year aaahhh!! sorry it's been so long, i was in a songwriting rut in a while, but i've been working on a few new song ideas that i really like and hopefully i can turn them into an album? i'll see, but anyway this is a song about two best friends, one of whom overcomes all obstacles and achieves their childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. the title is a reference to the fact that karaganda, the 4th largest city in kazakhstan, is the nearest city to the landing site for astronauts returning from the ISS, which is where the narrator is headed. enjoy!

lyrics:
i used to watch planes flying at night, confuse them for stars
and we'd hang out in your backyard
and you said, "this world will chew you up and spit you out
so we better find a new one"

you'd sit alone in the lunch hall drawing pictures of spaceships
you never gave up on shooting stars
you worked nights at the planetarium
sleeping under constellations

and you went to school, got your degree
pretty soon you'd joined the european space agency
and thinking back, other kids, they made fun of you
if they could see you now
if they could only see you now

i remember that smile on your face when you told me the news
6 months on the ISS, you'd be lifting off next june
and although you weren't in space yet, i could swear
that you were floating off the ground

and now i'm in a plane, kazakhstan bound
to wait for the soyuz capsule to touch down
and though i'm flying 4,000 miles away
it feels like i'm going home
like i'm going home
like i'm going home

and now i'm in a plane, kazakhstan bound
and i can't wait to hear your stories as we drive back to town
and though i'm flying 4,000 miles away
it feels like i'm going home
like i'm going home
like i'm going home

Flying to Karaganda

actually recorded this one a while ago but never uploaded it! i think i wanted to work on it a bit more but i was listening to it recently and i actually quite like it as it is, at least for now. this one is a little abstract (abstract for me, anyway), but it's about vulnerable people finding and supporting each other.

lyrics:
when you were young you tore down all your mother's curtains
you couldn't sleep in the dark
well neither could i
neither could i

when you were young you tore down all your mother's curtains / we met in the winter
you couldn't sleep in the dark / you tried your best to smile
well neither could i / and i didn't want to be seen
neither could i / didn't want to be seen

we spent years trying to move forward / we met in the winter
crying on shoulders, picking ourselves up / you tried your best to smile
and falling back down / and i didn't want to be seen
falling back down / didn't want to be seen

we spent years trying to move forward / ghosts acting as people
crying on shoulders, picking ourselves up / we copied their movements, imitated their voices
and falling back down / but we never fit in
falling back down / never quite fit in

so we gave up, who needs the living? / ghosts acting as people
we'll live in haunted houses, hang around graveyards / we copied their movements, imitated their voices
if you can't join them, haunt them / but we never fit in
we're better than they know / never quite fit in

so we gave up, who needs the living? / we'll find our own way
we'll live in haunted houses, hang around graveyards / we don't them
if you can't join them, haunt them / we don't need anyone
we're better than they know / we don't need anyone

when you were young you tore down all your mother's curtains / we'll find our own way
you couldn't sleep in the dark / we don't them
well neither could i / we don't need anyone
neither could i / we don't need anyone

Fear of Ghosts

hey all! been a long while since i uploaded a song on soundcloud - sorry! i wanted to let y'all know, though, that i've recently started uploading my songs to youtube! with music videos and all! if you're interested, here's the link to this song's video: https://youtu.be/e01wli_19FQ enjoy!

lyrics:
i don't think i'm going to heaven
with all this sinless blood on my hands
for every town i've helped there's a town i've slaughtered
so truth be told, aren't i as wicked as a tyrant or a fiend?

told myself i was serving god
i think deep down i knew
i was only serving rich old men
cowering in their castles
stuffed full of pig's meat and wine
while children starved
the men i swore to protect
what a joke - what a joke my life has been

when i die, don't sing for me
oh, sing for yourselves
i'm not a saviour
you know, the world wasn't built by knights in shining armour
but by a thousand striving, struggling souls
straining their eyes in the darkness
trying to survive
and sighing away short lives
so sing for yourselves
sing for a better world, someday
but please, don't sing for me

Wounded Paladin

hey! so this is a cover of my pal margaret's amazing amazing song "atlas", from her recent album fisherman's knot! please do check it out (google "dear fisherman's knot"), and also check out the video i filmed for this song! https://youtu.be/t_Oesz4-skw

(p.s. you should listen to the original version of this song! here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/dear-music/atlas)

Atlas (Dear cover)

a cover i did for a friend's birthday! check out the video here :-) https://youtu.be/YPvTKFd_Oz0

Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)

hey! so this is a weird one, but i wrote a christmas song for the cambridge college i go to, corpus christi. i realise this is a very niche subject but i'm proud of this song and i want to post it anyway, even if the references are lost on most people! hope everyone had a merry christmas and is having a good new year's eve :-)

watch the video!: https://youtu.be/LrjeGYXCF_E

lyrics:
i was walking down king's parade in the snow
to this old, sand-yellow building we call home
it's bridgemas time, the streets are getting cold
but being here makes you feel a little less alone

blue and red crests, pink and white scarves
hold these things close to your heart
blue-orange glow around the clock
all these things will always be ours

benet to botolph, t-street to newnham
all this stress, all these deadlines, but we can get through them
look at how fast these eight weeks have gone
now all that's left is for me to sing this song

the frost settling onto new court
the winter wind whistling by the chapel
all of corpus sleeping softly 'neath the stars
all these things will always
all these things will always
all these things will always be ours

Pelicans In Winter

hi i'm ian i write whimsical pop songs about vulnerable people

Ghost in a Sundress

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