Partial segment from a current work in progress from the forthcoming album, Please Stay Calm EP.

On Thursday We Leave For Home

And When the Sky Was Opened

I was on a freeway
driving down an overpass.
This band called Wheat
was playing “There Were Angels Watching Over Me”
//
when a car cut out
and I swerved violently
into the wall,
inches away from a fall.
//
Everything was white
but soon the dust settled I could see
the road through the shattered glass.
I didn’t know what to think.
//
For a moment I saw a scene
like in As Tears Go By when Andy Lau was dying:
the best time of his life
with the girl that was almost his wife.
//
I was now resolved 
to see myself back home
but then the ambulance showed up.
I didn’t want to go.
//
The sirens went off
cutting through the traffic like soft bread.
They put me in the ICU
next to a girl that was almost dead.
//
There was silence and there was sound
at the same time around me
as the girl beeped off.
Her mother wept softly.

All words, instruments, and recording by James Goatcher, 2019.

Back There

Leaves may fall and turn red 
like the pictures lost in your head, 
or the dreams we've had left unsaid, 
and the roads we drive without end.  

I will always love you.

www.jamesgoatcher.com

"Norway"

it's still unclear if where i am
is of this world or in my head.
brown eyes that speak to me
of love that i can see.

you're of a story written for
someone i don't know anymore.
someone i can't believe
exists inside of me.

all day, keep on wondering,
keep on wandering
in circles, all day.
circumambulate,
turn to her and say,
"encircled."

i wonder what you see in me
or if it's really happening.
the brightness around you,
to me, is something new.

has my life turned to parables
where all that's bad 
puts you through hell
and all your good deeds
negate your history?

i can't see far ahead of me
but it is certain what i need -
brown eyes and shoulder blades,
warm nights, a long embrace.

has my life turned to parables
where my past wrongs 
put me through hell
and now my good deeds
replace the misery?

and all our good deeds
rewrite our history.

www.jamesgoatcher.com

"Parables" (Dave Tree version)

Smile day to day.  It won't make you happy.  You're still the same.  You're just a copy of everything you want and everyone you see.  So let me break you apart and shake you to sleep.  If you really, really want to be like all the others then call your wallet, "Father."

Oh no no!  Don't you know?  It's all for show.  The outside's all they want to see.
Oh no no!  Don't you know?  You're not alone.  You can't be who you want to be.

Quiet, fall asleep.  Do you really know where you're going in your dreams?  I think you're farthest from where you think you are and where you want to be.  Your daydreams take you to lies that make you happy.  If you really, really want to be like all the others then sell yourself to structure.

Oh no no!  Don't you know?  It's all for show.  The outside's all they want to see.
Oh no no!  Don't you know?  You're not alone.  You'll never be who you want to be.

"This Tragic"

I'm melting in - into this ground,
in which I lay without a sound.
Like down a well, the air is meek.
Deep underground my heart can speak:

I know I've been waiting here for you,
I just didn't know when or where or who
I was waiting here so long, alone for,
but I knew the moment I caught sight of you.

So lay me down in fields of blue,
outside of town, right next to you.
I'll be okay.  I'll fall in love.
I'll take my place in the space above.

And we'll paint this place
where we roam
purple and yellow.
And I'll call it home.

"Down a Well" (Dave Tree version)

[Mastered Version]

I've seen the roots take hold
from fledgling to 20 years old,
and the city continues to grow.
We forget without ever being to told

to remember the day the air here changed.
Pockets of shade shift with the day.
When did winter nights' rain turn permanent May
and summers abound for 300 days?

I woke to 8 yards of branches and falling leaves
right below a noon day sun
with shadows to blanket me.

"If distance could outrun time,"
I ponder the thought in mind.
I imagined a life where you find
familiar faces in line

at grocery stores and mall food courts.
7 years pass like air through doors.
I'm trying to find a way to keep
myself alive and fall asleep.

I woke to 8 yards of branches and falling leaves
right below a noon day sun
with shadows to blanket me.

www.jamesgoatcher.com

Mouse Deer - "The Dave Tree" (Mastered)

My Love - don't be scared if come the morning my heart's not pumping.  I'll still be there next to you, I swear.  Just because my body is done with living - I'll still be near.  Whether a ghost or a memory, I'll be by your side.  Just keep me close and I'll protect you day and night.  You'll be my light.
My Love - it's not the end.  Though the weight I carry may be too heavy for other men, it's not for me, you see.  Just because a burden is set within me - it won't spell 'defeat.'  Distress and doubt invite misfortune to your life.  I'll shield myself tight from anathemas alike.  And you keep the day bright.
There's no sympathy sold and no regret to hold.  It's a science left to a society of sadness.  And the madness we face, more or less with disgrace, is judged by mandarin Washington and biblical talismans.  The sick left in effigy commands public empathy yet we all know you carry the converse in secrecy.
My Love - I'm not alone when you stand beside me.  Your light will guide me.  We'll face the unknown not as one, but two, so the weight I carry will be less heavy.  We'll make it through this night.

"What I Carry is Left to Whisper"

Cover of a celebrated American Football tune.

www.jamesgoatcher.com

Never Meant (American Football cover)

[mouse deer] is James Goatcher.

All words, music, and recording by James Goatcher.

All songs were written and recorded in a Los Angeles apartment, and the occasional suburban garage.

James Goatcher

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