note - I do N O T take A N Y credit for this track and will it remove if I'm asked to by the original creator

Allies or Enemies - by The Crane Wives

Hush! hush!
Listen to the Varied Thrush
The freezing rain has
Pushed them down into the valley
With the rest of us
Flushed
From the comfortably lush
Forest floor
They draw their bows across
Serrated edges of
Musical saws and crush
The frigid, sharply pointed hearts
Of icicles like us

Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush,
Crush, crush, crush...

Swish! swish!
The Osprey hovers seeking fish
The glassy pond
Displays the menu but won't serve the dish
To birds who wish
To linger when
The air turns cold
Defying pressure
To defer to Cackling Geese
And Western

Gulls, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish,
Wish, wish, wish...

Who doesn't wish they could
Begin
To leave?
Who doesn't wish they could
Believe
In letting something end?
We have these wishes
But we're hung up
On a superstitious
Focus on the family
We see in Collared Doves
With love much stronger
Than we probably
Should ever hope
For ours to be.

Are we a "we are" today?
Will we be a "we will be" tomorrow?
Were we a "we were" already
Long ago?
We don't know
What price makes sense to pay,
So we settle for indebted sorrow,
Never knowing we could dine and
Dash into that nullifying snow.

Thrash! thrash!
The so-called trash birds
Taking baths
Betray their cuteness
In the recklessness with which
They lash
Their lustrous feathers
Petroleum with flecks of ash
In an unseasonable
Puddle
Glaciating fast

Splash, splash, splash,
Splash, splash, splash,
Splash, splash, freeze,
Splash, splash, splash,
Freeze, splash, splash,
Splash, splash, splash,
Splash, splash, freeze,
Splash, splash, splash...

Hush! hush!
Listen to the Varied Thrush
Hush! hush!
Hush! hush!
Listen to the Varied Thrush,
Hush! hush!
Hush! hush!
Hush! hush!
Hush! hush!

Varied Thrush

Stream 'Where No One Knows My Name' (EP) -> https://linktr.ee/madilynmei

Gone By Morning

[Voiceover: yeah, I don’t think my mind’s really changed from the start. Yeah, but I, and you’re right, I can just stick around and figure it out, but I don’t really want to]

I shouldn’t relate to villains in cartoons
As much as I do
Guess that I need to
Grow a handle bar mustache
As soon as I do
I’ll fit the part
That you want me to (but I mean, uh…)

If you really truly want me gone by morning
I’ll do you one better, I’ll head out right now

I want to
Go any way where no one knows my name
Make it an adventure and never ever be the same
And I’d be to blame
Only me to blame
When I miss my appointments
And lose all my friends in this silly game of
Life would be alright if I left tonight
It’d never be the same
I’d gladly take the blame

I want to relate to heroes in cartoons
But I’m no Mary-Sue
Don’t know what to do
I don’t mean to wallow
Here in my sorrow
If heroes don’t cry then neither do I (I don’t cry) (Um but…)

If really truly want me gone by morning
I’ll do you one better, I’ll head out right now

I want to go any way where no one knows my name
Make it an adventure and never ever be the same
And I’d be to blame
Only me to blame
When I miss my appointments 
And lose who I am in this silly game of
Life would be alright if I left tonight
It’d never be the same
I’d gladly take the blame

I’m just a line in your book
You’re all the pages in mine
Why does it seem to happen like that every time
I’m just a line
I’m just a line
I’m just a line
I’m just a line
I’m just a line
I’m just a moment in time
A single beat and then I’m
Gone just as quick as I came
We never get to rewind
I’m skipping town, I’m leaving now, I’m leaving I’m
Leaving before I’m out of time

Cause I, oh I

I want to go somewhere where no one knows my name
Say hi to every stranger
And never outgrow video games
And I’d be to blame, oh I’d be to blame
When I lose my job, to dress like a pirate every day of my 
Life would be alright if I left tonight
It’d never be the same
And I’d gladly take the blame
It’d never be the same
Where no one knows my name (ooo)

Where no one knows my name

Gone By Morning

My debut album 'To Exist With You' is out now! 
Listen → https://linktr.ee/madilynmei
Vinyl → https://www.hellomerch.com/products/to-exist-with-you-vinyl-limited-edition

Catch me on TOUR 👉 https://www.madilynmei.com/tour-dates

MERCH: https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/madilyn-mei

written and composed by madilyn mei 
artwork by madilyn mei
produced and mixed by scrawny 
mastered by joe hutchinson

http://www.madilynmei.com
https://www.instagram.com/madilynmei/
https://tiktok.com/@madilynmei
Other links: https://linktr.ee/madilynmei

Lyrics:

Tell me all about how much you love Florida
What’s she gonna give you we couldn’t give
Tell me all about how much you love Florida
I’ll try and forgive while you get to live

You're gone but I still see you everywhere
Funny how you come and go as you please
And you never liked this town anyhow
So congrats on that, you finally get to leave
So leave

Tell me all about how much you love Florida
Can't go out without her name coming up
Tell me all about how much she was better
Than any of us
Any of us

I’m not gonna follow you around everywhere
Funny how you only try when I make it easy
And you never loved this town anyhow
If you're glad to go I’m not sad to see you leave
If you're glad to go I’m not sad to see you leave

Tell me all about it when you're in Florida
Give me a call so I can hang up
Funny how you're happy just about anywhere
Except here with us

Florida

Tho I'm A Tortoise is out now! STREAM IT 👉 https://madilynmei.komi.io/
Watch the music video! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzGXCyrswMs
Tortoise & Hare Hats! 👉 https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/madilyn-mei

http://www.madilynmei.com
http://www.instagram.com/madilynmei/
http://tiktok.com/@madilynmei
Other links: http://linktr.ee/madilynmei

Song Credits:
Written & Performed by Madilyn Mei
Produced & Mixed by  @ScrawnyMusic  
Mastered by Joe Hutchinson

Lyrics:

My finger paints aren’t great
But I still hang them on my fridge 
Reminds me of the fun I had 
Whenever I look at it
No I am not Picasso or Da Vinci or who knows who
Tho I am not the best by far I sure like what I do

(Alright, guys! On your mark, get set-) 

Slow down take a nap, I’ll catch up to you
Run laps around me but we’ll both burn out soon
The finish line’s close and you’ve nothing to prove
And tho I’m behind, I need a nap too
Cause tho I’m a tortoise, I’ve nothing to prove
Tho I’m a tortoise, I’ve nothing to prove

Death is marching

A slap on the wrist
A tomb made of stone
A casket awaiting a nap (Oh, oh, oh)
We all end up six feet below
Bury me in my favorite hat
The medals I've won from the races I’ve run
On display back home with my cat 
We all end up six feet below
So why should we care ‘bout all that?

I run my mouth and I will ’til I’m old
And things may not be as the forecaster told
Guess they wanted me to show off what I do
But I couldn’t care any less to show you 
Cause tho I’m a hare, I’ve got nothing to prove 
Tho I’m a hare, I’ve got nothing to prove 

Death is marching

Two cozy little caskets, cardboard boxes, earthy holes 
Can I hang our favorite pictures on the walls of moss and mold? 
(Death is marching, death is marching, death is marching- death is- death is marching- death is-) 

Death is marching steadfast toward us (Two cozy little caskets)
It doesn't care if you're bronze, silver or gold (cardboard boxes, earthy holes)
If I reach the end before you
Will you lend your hand to hold?
Will you lend your hand to hold?

Slow down take a nap, I'll catch up to you
Run laps around me but we’ll both burn out soon
They’ll pit us against one another, it's true
And tho we are different we’ve nothing to prove
Tho I’m a tortoise, I’ve nothing to prove
Tho you’re a hare, you’ve got nothing to prove
Tho we are different, we’ve nothing to prove
Oh tho I’m a tortoise, I’ve nothing to prove

Tho I'm A Tortoise

je mes les voiles

Tracked and Mixed by Ian Gorman at La Luna. Mastered by Glenn Brown.

The Crane Wives - The Garden

Teeth chatter 
Automatically 
A beat clicking double-time 
To the crunch of snow 
An animal 
Licks a beater 
A Northern Flicker 
Clucks a whimper 
A beep goes off inside— 
Is it time 
— or just a timer?

Decalcomania 
Ironed on our hides by the 
Scarlet fever-stricken 
Two-bit hypocritical 
Neo-Puritans 
Turning on a dime.

What are they? 
A little more than kin 
And less than kind 
We live in the same 
But we run on 
Different time.

You are safe 
You are sound 
You are safe 
You are sound

I feel your frequency 
Resonate at my core 
Enkindle my extremities 
Echo through my bones 
Hiccup out its tones
[ . . . ]

We face apocalypses every day 
And fumble stricken phrases 
We ball up to play:

When we feel forlorn 
Just keep peeling those little oranges 
They keep stealing, we keep peeling 
Stuck on an uneven keeling 
Every Great and Snowy Egret's 
Speaking of my evening grossness 
Every Evening Grosbeak's 
Speaking of my great and snowy egress 
Even if we deviate 
Even if we deviate 
The ice rink's set to counterclockwise 
There's no exit till we skate

I lurch along the verge 
A strawberryless frozen biscuit 
My flimsy figure zero traps 
A miraculous lemniscate 
When the intercom comes through 
I think I've lost my refound calling 
Oh, Winter Tanager 
You help me walk but you leave me crawling. 
You are a cardinal 
You are a cardinal 
And I should be so lucky 
As to be a part of you at all

You are safe 
You are sound 
You are safe 
You are sound 
[ . . . ]

You bring the tropics to these chilly parts 
The contrast shocks my system 
Chilblains swell upon my heart.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano
Simeon Brown - violin
Milo Fultz - upright bass
Hannah Murawsky - bassoon
Hannah Pell - oboe
Lizzy Donovan - cello 
Merlin Showalter - drums, percussion
Arrangement - Stephan Nance & Merlin Showalter

Overwintered

Oh 
What an 
Unfortunately 
Unsurprising turn of events... 
Oh 
What a 
Conundrum it presents.

Swing with a white-knuckled grip and 
Cling to the pieces of ship— 
Or start in the water and 
End in the water? 
The swells, 
After all, 
Intercept 
Just the tip.

Oh 
What (on earth) can I do 
I want help you (on sea) 
I want to help you unsee 
I want to help 
But if I help you 
I can't help me 
And if I go unhelped 
What help can I be?

But what if everything is okay? 
What if everything is 
Easy for once? 
Maybe everything can be 
Easy for once. 
Maybe everything can just 
Be okay. 
Yay. 
Maybe that isn't a psychopomp 
Maybe that's our lifer Hoopoe. 
Maybe that little Grim Reaper 
Will grow up to be a lighthouse keeper.

Hope. 
Hope. 
Hope.

Hope. 
Hope. 
Hope.

I hit the deck 
A cannonball 
From a diving board 
On the crow's nest. 
Best leave the stunts 
To the unprofessionals. 
Leave the stunts 
To the unprofessionals.

The boat's 
A hoax 
A fantasy of control 
A joke. 
See it for what it is 
Now that it's broke. 
Now we avail ourselves of its 
Splinters and rope 
To impale ourselves 
And hang ourselves. 
Hope is what kept us from 
Learning to float.

Float. 
Float. 
Float.

Float. 
Float. 
Float.

But go ahead. 
Offer me another free cruise on a shipwreck. 
How could I refuse? 
Why can't I refuse?

While there is life, there is hope—so 
Why, for the life of me, can't I just float?

Hope. 
Hope. 
Hope.

Hope. 
Hope. 
As if the water I fear 
Is not the water I bathe in.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synth
Adam Caswell - programming
Milo Fultz - upright bass
Tim McLaughlin - guitar
Shigeki Okubo - drums
Arrangement - everyone

Hope Or Float

No one can see
My bravery;
I stomp on humdrum ground,
I navigate mundane terrain.
But all the same,
An ancient flame
Ignites a fervency that
Surges into every vein.

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

In a previous life
I surely
Swept you off your feet
And carried you away
From the choking ash
And scorching heat,
To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

On every list
Of things to do,
An unchecked box reminds me
That the task of saving you
Remains undone
And unbegun
And unfulfillable 
Until the day we need to run
Until the day we need to run
We need to run—

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

In a previous life
I surely
Swept you off your feet
And carried you away
From the choking ash
And scorching heat,
To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

From form to form,
From place to place,
From birth to birth,
From death to death,
From earth to outer space—
From Plague and flood,
From fire and blight,
From each catastrophe
That threatens to eclipse your light—

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synth
Simeon Brown - violin
Maddi Krafve - alto & tenor saxophones
Tim McLaughlin - trumpet
Lizzy Donovan - cello
Arrangement - Adam Caswell & Stephan Nance

Pompeii

Knotted Constellations

indie chamber pop (bardcore)
pronouns: they/them

Overwintered

Sparkbird

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