so empires s1 flower husbands coded i love it

Sparkbird

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

Moth Man

2nd place winner of Yishan Wong's 2021 Solarpunk Art Contest! 🎉
medium.com/@yishan/solarpunk-art-contest-2021-winners-d935df357c84

Lyrics:

A city in ruin
But only for the blink of an eye
A pitiful tune
But only for a moment in time
In the long run

We came back to these old streets
When the barriers had all gotten
Buried at sea
And when these buildings all
Turned green
We agreed
It’s better than it used to be

How long has it been
Since we last felt fear of the sun and the wind
And how long will it be till we feel
The Metropolis of Eden we live in is real?

A city in bloom
A city with that adapts to survive
A little more room
For underdogs and misfits to thrive

In the rooftop gardens
The Purple Finches are pecking out the eyes
Of the wild yellow sunflowers
Smiling at vanilla skies
And you and I are finally free
To do the things we like
Be it making art or making out
And stargazing every night, and oh
How sweet would it be
If an Eastern Phoebe nested
On the balcony, and oh
How sweet to begin
Seeing life as a gift,
Not a contest to win

We came back to these old streets
When the barriers had all gotten
Buried at sea
And when these buildings all
Turned green
We agreed
It’s better than it used to be

How long has it been
Since we last felt fear of the sun and the wind
And how long will it be till we feel
The Metropolis of Eden we live in is real?

How long has it been
Since we last felt fear of the sun and the wind
And how long will it be till we feel
The Metropolis of Eden we live in is real?

A city in bloom
(We can do the things we like)
A city in bloom
(We can do the things we like)
A city in bloom
(We can do the things we like)
A city in bloom
credits
releases December 24, 2021
Music & lyrics by Stephan Nance
Arrangement by Stephan Nance

Piano/vocals/synths - Stephan Nance
Percussion - Mathias Kunzli

Mixing & mastering by Thaddeus Moore, Liquid Mixing & Mastering

Recorded in Portland and Los Angeles

Artwork by Leif Holt
Graphic design by Chad Lowe

Metropolis of Eden

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

team best, last life
credits to cherrifire for the cover

the crane w̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ lives - can't have it all

Hole in the Silver Lining - the crane wives

Lyrics:

One small sound
One small word 
In tongues all over the world
I said it
I said it 
One small word
I said it
I didn't
I said it
I didn't
Tongues all over

Can't pick them out
Can't press them in 
I'll never hide my scars
Can't pick them out
Can't press them in
I'll never hide my scars 
I'll never hide my scars 

One small sound
One small sight 
One unsheathed knife must glint 
In an alternate timeline's light
One rust-ridden blade juts out 
Of a friendly moonstruck shape
To tear, tear terribly, terribly
Tear, tear terribly 
The delicate crepe of night

Familiarity breeds
Indifference
Familiarity breeds discontent
Familiarity breeds
Indifference
Familiarity breeds discontent

My other time machine
A pungent, putrid brownish-green 
November smile 
Blandishing my two-timing door

One small sound
One small bite
One tomial tooth
One Loggerhead Shrike must skewer 
My invertebrate doppelgänger 
On barbed wire in a parallel universe 

My tongue parallelly bleeds 
One small drop 
In a monthful of blood 
In tongues all over the world
I said it, I didn't
It doesn't matter
What I said or didn't
Admit it
You were never going to get it
I was always gonna get it

Can't pick them out
Can't press them in 
I'll never hide my scars
Can't pick them out
Can't press them in
I'll never hide my
Familiarity breeds
Familiarity breeds

Not only is it thicker
Blood is stickier than water
Maybe that's relevant somehow
Can I explode now?

Credits:
Music & lyrics by Stephan Nance
Produced by Josh Frigo
Co-produced by Stephan Nance
Keyboard, vocals, backing vocals - Stephan Nance
Drums & percussion - Mathias Kunzli
Bass - Jeni Magana
Strings arrangement - Stephan Nance and Michelle Packman
Strings - Bizarre Star Strings:
• Patti King - violin
• Kyleen King - viola
• Anna Fritz -  cello
Guitar, additional backing vocals - Josh Frigo
Vocal coaching - Nevada Jones and Adam Sweeney
Vocals recorded at The Map Room
Vocal session engineer - Adam Sweeney
Mixed by Josh Frigo
Mastered by Alex Dobbert
Artwork - Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design - Chad Lowe

November

How strange I am to all
How strange to sleep so long

Not a soul, not a soul
Will meet my gaze or greet me
And the carob tree’s brittle leaves
Rattle hoarsely on the wind

“You are out of time
You are out of favor
You are but a cipher
You are the circle maker
You are out of time
You are out of favor
You are but a cipher
You are the circle maker

“How strange you are to all
How strange to sleep so long

“How strange to grow so old
And to never grow up
And to never grow tall
And to never grow wise
And to never grow anything
But smaller and farther away”

How strange I am to all
How strange to sleep so long

But in sleep, I may dream
Fairy lights illuminating everything
Everyone gathered all around me
Singing a song

Only the carob tree
Will keep me company
Oh, bitter friend
Oh, beloved enemy
Symbol of the time gone by
And stretching out in front of me
A lonely life of any length is like eternity

And I am out of time
I am out of favor
I am but a cipher
I am the circle maker
Praying for the rain
Paying for the prayer
Begging for a sign that I was
Ever even there

How strange I am to all
How strange to sleep so long

To sleep to feel seen
To sleep perchance to dream

The Circle Maker

The Circle Maker (Demo)

The Bard EP is out now! STREAM IT 👉 https://ffm.to/thebard

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 Scrawny  
Mastered by Joe Hutchinson

Lyrics:

I used to lead
With my head as my feet
My heart used to be irrelevant

Yearning for more
A place in the score
My soundtrack would be excellent

How many tales will I tell
Til I go on my own adventure? (own adventure)
Strumming along
Just a bard with a song
So they all remember

So they all
So they all

I’m bored again
Guess I’ll pretend
I’m from distant magic land

How very hard
To be a bard
In San Tan Valley, Arizona

Romanticize my silly life
Khaki armor
Quest to Wal-Mart

Someday I’ll die
But for now I’m alive
So hand me a pen
And call me The Bard

(Louder!)
(Second Verse!)

Lately I think
I’ve been stuck on the brink
Afraid to leave all that I know behind

Word spreading now
Of a bard town to town
My music and I
Blooming here online

Orpheus sings for a Eurydice
Who is gone for good now (gone for good now)
What would I lose if I was in his shoes
If I turn around?

It’s a lonely path, Isn’t it?
Of a bard with an itch
To do more than he knows how

More than he knows
More than he-

I’m bored again
Guess I’ll pretend
I’m from distant magic land

How very hard
To be a bard
In San Tan Valley, Arizona

Romanticize my silly life
Khaki armor
Quest to Wal-Mart

Someday I’ll die
But for now I’m alive
Send me on tour
And call me The Bard

Places to be
And people to meet
Stories to tell
To the curious listener

Someday I’ll change
My name rearrange
And when I return
I may not know my face
But I’ll try to be brave
On the brink that I contemplate
Going beyond til the grave

Cause there’s always
Another quest waiting
To take me and make me
A little less wise
And a little more lost
Cause the more that I know
The more that I don’t
And I’m chasing it now
I’m leaving this town
I’m writing my findings
And not slowing down

I’m bored again
Guess I’ll pretend
I’m from distant magic land

How very hard
To be a bard
In San Tan Valley, Arizona

Romanticize my silly life
Khaki armor
Quest to Wal-Mart

Someday I’ll die
But for now I’m alive

So call me The Bard
Call me The Bard
The Bard

Call Me The Bard
Call Me The Bard
Call Me The Bard
Call Me The Bard (I’m bored again)

Call Me The Bard (Call me The Bard)
Call Me The Bard

The Bard

Call Me The Bard

Stream

Lyrics:

If the double-row eighteen-cylinder
Air-cooled radial engine
Is not enough to tip you off
Before he slips you off the needle
Drops you into unstitched space
The wasteland which henceforth
Shall be referred to as “your place”

The captain lives by the sword
And the captain loves by the sword
When the captain dies by the sword
He'll leave you trapped in the cockpit
Crying out "Mayday!"

When a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher aerial courtship
Nosedives in a blitzkrieg from that Whiskey Delta
You can tell the backyard bomber
Never helmed a cargo crate
He croaks out undoing and doom
To the wishful safety net
You jeopardized your life to loom

The captain lives by the sword
And the captain loves by the sword
Once you elope with the captain
You'll leave on a sordid honeymoon
Trapped in the cockpit
Crying out "Mayday!"

Always the last and never the least
Always the fast and never the feast
Always the cult of domesticity
Always the jolts of electricity
Always surpassed and never decreased
Always amassed and never released
Always the past controls your mind
Never the peace you hoped to God you'd finally find

The captain lives by the sword
And the captain loves by the sword
And when he dies by the sword
He’ll reward you for your obedience
For your countenance has woven in at every turn

Even as the back, even as the back
Of the hand
Even as the back, even as the back
Of the hand still burns
Even as the back, even as the back
Of the hand still burns
From the last airstrike

Credits:
Music and lyrics - Stephan Nance
Piano/vocals/backing vocals - Stephan Nance
Programming/bass guitar/guitars/banjo/organ/keys - Josh Frigo
Violin/viola/cello - Yoed Nir
Double bass - Jeni Magana
Trumpet - John Lake
Trombone/bass trombone - Becca Patterson
French horn - Meredith Moore
Piccolo/flute/oboe/clarinet/bassoon - Josh Plotner
Percussion - Mathias Kunzli
Drums - Aksel Coe
Orchestral arrangement - Josh Plotner
Vocal recording engineer - Adam Sweeney
Mixing - Josh Frigo
Mastering - Alex Dobbert
Artwork - Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design - Chad Lowe

Mayday!

go white boy go

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

You tell me that the boat is moving forward— 
Whatever that means when there is no land in sight. 
I’d always pegged you as a shorebird— 
But in light of certain facts, 
I’m inclined to take it back. 

Don’t underestimate me; 
This field of research is my specialty, my specialty! 
I will crack this hierarchy 
If it is the death of me, 
The death of me! 
The death of me… 

You tell me we are sailing on a one-way sea— 
I nod my head and hold my tongue. 
(You are an idiot!) 
You gave me a bum steer, crowing of your lofty views; 
I might have known you were 
A rooster on a booster seat! 

Don’t underestimate me! 
(Clearly there’s no danger of my underestimating you!) 
I will commandeer this vessel 
If it is the death of you, 
The death of you! 

—Must you respond so saltily? 
My faculties… 
Have long been… 
Bursting at the seams… 
Brimming as they are… 
With onomies, 
And ologies, 
And 
Memories! 
Memories! 
Memories! 

Don’t esterundimate me! 
I will hack this crierarchy! 
—Cut me, please—a little slack, I mean— 
Mental tacking’s never been my specialty. 
My knack is for a marked lack of strategy. 
But spin around and take another whack at me 
Look back at me — and see! 
I will stack up properly! 
If it is the death of me, 
The death of me, 
The death of me, 
The death of me!

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Angelica Sather Hodgetts, cello

Stephan Nance — One-Way Sea

I thought I had been shot— 
Been shot a thousand times— 
It's not a shocking way to die 
In the fields this side of 
The enemy lines.

But I've fired my fair share of guns, 
And I know full well that bullets 
Don't just fall down from the sky— 
So I opened up my eyes.

I saw a flash of light— 
I saw it through the black—whoa! 
I saw the flooded track— 
I felt the hail upon my back—oh, 
I saw the start of the foggy maze— 
I couldn't see for several days— 
But then a sunbreak finally 
Burned away the haze.

(You know I'd kiss you if I could—ah, 
But my lips are made of wood, 
And it wouldn't do to splinter you 
In an unfamiliar neighborhood.)

I dodged a ball of flames 
Fueled by the dust the sun'd kicked up 
A stone's throw from the tonsil crypt 
I eschewed the beaten path 
On a SUP.

Tight-lipped and planing through 
The murky millrace surface— 
These flavescent leaves, 
Crispy teardrops shed from crying trees— 
Murmurations— 
"'Tis autumn?" 
"No, only fallout," 
Sighed beside 
A chemical breeze.

Oh, stratocumulus 
Oh, circumbendibus 
I saw and ceased to push 
I'd seen and heard too much 
My oar became a crutch 
I sculled into a reef 
It sawed the board in half 
I saw my former single fin 
I soldered lead and tin 
I sauntered out 
I saw interred my kith and kin

(You know I'd hold this post a while 
If I could only learn to smile 
But by the time I've earned the privilege 
Only grimaces will be in style.)

Surf Scoter on the pond 
Coyote on the fescue

Siroccos on the flesh 
Globe lightning to the rescue

An earthly comet rolling by 
A stoic guide toward a new clear era 
No shadows on the sterile mind 
No leks distract the prairie-chickens from their terror

I found a brand new clearing 
Next to the old new clearing 
A welcome change 
From the adjacent older new old clearing 
I didn't feel at peace but 
I didn't feel at war— 
A welcome change.

(You know, I went to your old home 
You know, the site of your new grave 
You know, I'd pay my last respects 
But the respects I have I'd better save.)

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synth
Milo Fultz - bass
Tim McLaughlin - trumpet
Merlin Showalter - drums, percussion
Arrangement - Adam Caswell, Milo Fultz, Stephan Nance, Merlin Showalter

Lead & Tin

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

Stolen Smiles

indie chamber pop (bardcore)
pronouns: they/them

''Be strong,'' I whispered to my wifi signal

Stephan Nance — Cuddlefish

Sparkbird

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