Drone In F#

One of the singles from my new album (out now: https://matthewsquires.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-everything-or-the-art-of-being-nothing-in-particular)

A Song for a Future Phoenix

An Ancient Voice

Electric River

Not Sure What I'm Looking For

The Life of Trees

The Ballad of Norm Macdonald

Felt Like Your Man

Love & Other Vaccines

Baby, I've been working for too damn long for too little pay
Don't know nothin' bout Marx or Freud. but I know what it's like to play
the role that someone else designed to make someone else's day
but the tree of justice blooms upon the top of every grave

Love's a lot like dyin'
Love's a lot like a Pepsi inside a church
Love's a lot like flyin'
Love's a lot like a heaven encased in Earth
Love's a lot like cryin'
Love's a lot like the space 'tween death and birth

Poor men southeast of Portland awake from their American dreams,
they enlist into the culture wars to distract them from their screams
about how they feel about their shame to look their children in the eyes
I guess the tree of justice blooms upon the question "why?"

Love's a lot like dyin'
Love's a lot like a Pepsi inside a church
Love's a lot like flyin'
Love's a lot like a heaven encased in Earth
Love's a lot like cryin'
Love's a lot like the space 'tween death and birth


*********************

This song was written and passionately performed by Anthony Oliver, a parallel universe's version of Oliver Anthony.  

Oliver Anthony told Joe Rogan that he chose 'Oliver' as his stage name in honor of his deceased grandfather. He was nostalgic for a more innocent time, when hardworking, God-fearing white men got a little respect (he forgot to mention how that respect was at the expense of everyone else's, or how it was largely enabled by unions).

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, Anthony Oliver told Roe Jogan his name was inspired by Casey Anthony.  He was nostalgic for a more innocent time, when Americans could still unite around our fleeting spectacles of controversy, and weren't yet confused as to which ones were astroturfed by right wingers.

Poor Men Southeast Of Portland

This is the new song called Echo from Matthew Squires and the Learning DIsorders' next album, Where The Music Goes To Die, which will be released Dec. 2nd.  Stay tuned for more tracks and music videos!

Lyrics:
I hope you know this song is not about you.
It’s not about the time you undressed me with your eyes.
And it’s not about your lips
or the ways in which your hips
elucidate the wisdom of your thighs.

I hope you know this song goes on forever.
It is not merely the procession of these notes.
No, the depths from which it springs,
it is the source of everything.
My method is to do as I am told.

And so it is, I am an echo,
I am a vessel of your truth.
Well here it is, I’ll be an echo.
One voice torn in two,
I am a memory of you.

I hope you know this song is all I’ve got left.
It is that final thread which is tying down my mind.
And now, if you hear it snap,
it will be followed by a laugh.
You can not ever really lose what you could never find.

And I hope you know this song is not completed.
It is not gliding down some track to its bitter end.
No, the movements of the times 
and the way the stars aligned,
they were not plotted in advance like some silly trend.

And yet here it is, I am an echo.
I am a vessel of some truth.
Well here it is, I’ll be an echo.
One voice torn in two,
I am a memory of you.

I wanted you to know that I am thankful
for all the ways you’ve been so kind.
You always gave me what I asked for
Even when what I asked for was just a waste of time.

It was a waste of time.

I wasted so much time.


Echo

A Strange Piece

"The Giving" is the newest EP from critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Matthew Squires. The sound of it is far more stripped down and lo-­fi than has been heard in his recent albums, employing sound collages and field recordings to create an atmosphere of off­kilter intimacy.

Lyrics:
Love, trust, truth, god, nature and the rest of it,
dancing in your eyes.

Change, shame, fame, fear, failure, the whole mess of it.
Well, what a wild ride.

Sex, drugs, rock and roll, or, at least whatever's left of it,
it all just fades with time.

Can you carry all your famous friends
with you into the grave?

Or, can you carry all your mighty words
with you into the grave?


Sex, Drugs, Rock And Roll (or: At Least Whatever's Left of It)

Dead or Dying is the tenth track to the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Lyrics:
I wrote a letter once to you.
I'll be the first to admit, it was a silly thing to do.

I discussed the many was I've lied.
How I dressed myself like Dylan in 1965

Then I told you about the song I heard.
It came to me in a peculiar dream,
it was whispered by a wounded bird.

He sang:

Everyone is dead or dying
Everyone is dead or dying
Everyone is dead or dying
or dead or dying or dead.

And all of them are worth rememberin'
All of them are worth rememberin'
All of them are worth rememberin'
worth rememberin'

My friend.

You held a mirror up to God.
You looked just like a statue, you looked perfectly flawed.

And then your head spun around.
Your eyes started pouring water onto the thirsty ground.

Suddenly I couldn't help but weep.
I felt just like a child, I felt so incomplete.

You asked me then to tell you who I was.
When I opened my mouth to answer, I couldn't find my tongue.

In its place was a rope which stretched along.
I traced that line to the end of time, there was nothing there
except this simple song,

It went:

Everyone is dead or dying
Everyone is dead or dying
Everyone is dead or dying
or dead or dying or dead.

And all of them are worth rememberin'
All of them are worth rememberin'
All of them are worth rememberin'
worth rememberin'

My friend.

Dead or Dying

Debt Song is the eleventh track on the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Lyrics:
Spent the bulk of my life in the wake of Armageddon.
All the news reports were reporting everything was fine.
Well, I ventured out to my nearby 7-11
and I treated myself to their cheapest bottle of wine.

I've got debts that none can see
but they must be paid.
it won't be a pretty sight to see
on that day.

Spent half of my time chasing after orgasms
the other half I am paying a hefty fine.
I ventured down to the heart of central Manhattan
and I saw that hole that those fuckers put in our sky

And I thought:
We've got debts that none can see
but they must be paid.
it won't be a pretty sight to see
on that day.

I was born shrieking up a storm
and I pray to God
(or whatever's left)
that I don't die the exact same way.

Debt Song

Shape of Your Heart is the twelfth track on the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Lyrics:
Every time I try to hide
my head inside the sand
this ancient song comes flooding in
from some distant land.

That melody's so soft and sweet
I wish I could explain
the ways in which it takes my eyes
and creates summer rain.

I am the Antichrist
I am Mother Teresa, too.
I am the Antichrist.
I am everything to you.

Everywhere I stop and stare
I see you staring back.
Your brokenhearted wisdom, dear
it's stopped me in my tracks.

I could never claim to be
the person that I am.
That's why I stay silent, hun,
I hope you understand.

I am a broken cup.
I'm The Mighty Ocean, too.
I am a broken cup.
I am everything to you.

I promise I'll never abandon you.
Even if you say you want me to.

I will see straight through
to the shape of your heart.

Every time I try to hide
my head inside the sand,
this ancient song comes flooding in
from some distant land.

Shape Of Your Heart

Bird Song is the thirteenth track on the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Lyrics:
I used to dream of stardom,
That was before I learned
that even the stars must die.

The ones at hand, and the ones that are so far flung,
they still glimmer like
fireflies from the black, mystic jungle of sky.

And when I see them,
I feel so all alone.

But I can't dismiss,
at least in this
I am not alone.

I was once afraid of failure.
That was before I learned
that 'failure' is just a word.

And there are other words,
like: 'death' and 'God' and Honor'
but all of these are mere feathers
on some great and cosmic bird.

And when we spot her
we will feel so very small

But the arms of grace
which we'll embrace
will not be so small.

You and I may not go on and on forever
but our love, my dear, is not so easily severed.

Bird Song

Drone Three is the fourteenth track on the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Drone Three

The Living Goes is the fifteenth track on the album 'Tambaleo' by Matthew Squires.

Lyrics:
No one knows 
where the living goes
when the living goes
away.

Some will say there's a world beyond this one.
Others say, "No, no. What is done is done."
Some will say there's power inside our veins.
Others say, "Tisk, tisk, don't you turn away."

No one knows 
where the living goes
when the living goes
away.

Some will say there is hatred from the start.
Others say, "No, no, you forgot your heart."
Some will say there is nothing in the end.
Others say, "Well, well, why are you shaking, then?"

No one knows 
where the living goes
when the living goes
away.

The Living Goes

released August 30th, 2019

Great thanks to Ben Humphreys, Wes Maffly-Kipp, Greg Spencer, Marcus Rubio, Hanna Campbell, Matt Krolick, and Evan Kaspar for their creative and generous contributions to the arrangements of these songs. 


Engineered and mixed by Evan Kaspar at Estuary Recording Facility 
Austin, Texas 

Mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Digital Audio, Inc. 
Austin, Texas

Silence Now!

Joke Song

Strange Day

American Fever Dream

(Not Quite) Cannon in D

You and I could never stick to our plans. 
I've never seen a thing that could 
anyway.

I turned to putty right inside of your hands.
You made me feel I was starting over, 
what a shame

That the children could not laugh like us
We made them look like tiny soldiers
with all the plans we made.

Who am I to try and force commands?
I've never seen a thing that could, 
anyway.

I'd rather reach straight down and touch this land
there's nothing wrong with getting gounded,
I have found

That there's a child in each one of us,
we're dressing up like tiny soldiers
with all the plans we fake.

I'm tired of pretending like my mind is full
when it's not.
I'm tired of pretending like 
I was born with my arms crossed

I'm tired of pretending like my back is bent
when I'm up straight
I'm tired of pretending like 
I was born with my arm's crossed

I'm tired of pretending like my heart can't thaw, 
when it ain't cold
I'm tired of pretending like 
I was born with my arm's crossed

Tiny Soldiers

Matthew Squires is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas. Since 2012, he has released eight critically acclaimed albums. With his distinctive vocal style and penetrating lyrics, Squires has carved out a unique niche for himself within the realm of indie pop, creating an idiosyncratic sound which manages to touch the heart and mind in equal measure.
​
His work has garnered praise from many notable blogs and magazines, including Steregum, Consequence of Sound, The Needle Drop, Brooklyn Vegan, USA Today, Performer Magazine, Largehearted Boy, Surviving The Golden Age, Magnet Magazine, and many more.

Matthew Squires

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