Lyrics:

I’m burning wick to fingertip with sage
from my shaky-shakin hands
Millie, what have you done to me,
my friend?

I’m tossin’ turnin’ in an open grave
coined-tongued with whatever I can save,
carrying hauntings of a brand-new age—
Millie, can’t you see I slide
planchettes with my wake?

Catch me walking with the ghosts again
Must be on that double dose, depends
Roman chamomile all down the throat, lift hands
In Michigan, the lakes all darken
Blackbirds flocking to and fro, sevens
Roots drag marsh over the floor, levelin’
Millie, can’t you stop them? You slow no omens
like exhaling, it never ends

I’m coughing up elderberry on the stage
like your sacrificial lamb
Millie, hypnotize pain away, I beg

I’m whisper-hissing notes on every slate
that I scribe and toss into the hungry waves
carrying itchings for a familiar ache
Millie, can’t you see I made a walking stick out of my stake?

Catch me walking with the ghosts again
Must be on that double dose, depends
Roman chamomile all down the throat, lift hands
In Michigan, the lakes all darken
Blackbirds flocking to and fro, sevens
Roots drag marsh over the floor, levelin’
Millie, can’t you stop them? You slow no omens
like exhaling, it never ends

Three redwing blackbirds outside my window
two fish heads at my door
What be this omen, I’ll never know
Millie, warm the kettle once more

Three redwing blackbirds outside my window
Two fish heads at my door
One kettle bubbling atop rusted stove but
Millie, warm the kettle once
Millie, warm the kettle once
Milly could you so please be 
a kind old dearie just for me
and warm the kettle’s tea once more?

Catch me walking with the ghosts again
Must be on that double dose, depends
Roman chamomile all down the throat, lift hands
In Michigan, the lakes all darken
Blackbirds flocking to and fro, sevens
Roots drag marsh over the floor, levelin’
Millie, can’t you stop them? You slow no omens
like exhaling, it never ends

Millie, Warm the Kettle (Dorm Demo)

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

Lyrics:

Sparks fly 
Every time I
Identify a species I have
Hitherto never 
Seen in the field 
Seen in the feather 
Sparkbird 
Destiny drew us together 
Every smile line on my face 
Can be retraced 
Down to the split second 
Down to the split place 

Is it magical thinking 
Or is it magical realism 
Or is it neither here nor there? 
Every time I check my wrist 
It's another brand new freckle 
Past another brand new hair 
I'm growing up, up, up 
Against my will, will 
Will you finally resurrect 
The time I've killed? 
Will you finally resurrect 
The time I've killed, killed, killed? 

Sparks fly 
Every time I visit this park 
I envision the phantom 
Of a giddy little cartoon me 
Jittering on the electrifying
Cusp of discovery 
Before and after the storm 
All I wanted was to be seen
And to see

Some signs of a world still
Turning, turning, turning 
Some signs of a world still
Forming, forming, forming 
Rebirth of a dream still
Burning, burning, burning

Is it magical thinking 
Or is it magical realism 
Or is it neither here nor there? 
Every time I check my wrist 
It's another brand new freckle 
Past another brand new hair 
I'm growing up, up, up 
Against my will, will 
Will you finally resurrect 
The time I've killed? 
Will you finally resurrect 
The time I've killed, killed, killed? 

Sparkbird 
Sparkbird

Credits:

Music and lyrics by Stephan Nance
Produced by Josh Frigo
Co-produced by Stephan Nance
Woodwinds and strings arrangement - Josh Plotner
Keyboard and vocals - Stephan Nance
Guitar, backing vocals - Josh Frigo
Upright bass - Jeni Magana
Percussion - Mathias Kunzli
Alto flute, English horn - Josh Plotner
Violin, viola, cello - Yoed Nir
Lead vocals recorded at The Map Room
Woodwinds recorded at Josh Plotner's studios
Strings recorded at Yoed Nir's Studios
Engineer (lead vocals) - Adam Sweeney
Vocal coaching - Nevada Jones and Adam Sweeney
Mixed by Josh Frigo
Mastered by Alex Dobbert
Artwork - Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design - Chad Lowe

Sparkbird

Boy Toy

Boy Toy (acoustic)

The Well- The Crane Wives

I Wanna Feel Calm

Heaven's Gate

The Royal Family

My man is a stagnant water,
a mud-your-linen, cacklin’ bogland
Waded in his iris to my knees
I bathed in his mouth overnight
We drank moonbeams from oily skies
Come dawn, he begged me, “Please, love, never leave”

Hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm,

I have hands for building altars,
Lips to pray to reckless gods
Yeah, I was made to be a devotee
His mangroves held me ‘till died
My body’s relic left behind
To fossilize beneath the willow trees

Hmm, hmm,
Hmm, Hmm,

Thrashing like Ophelia in my featherdown coat
Won’t someone teach me to love without it swallowing me whole
If to be loved is to be changed, I’m only worsenin’
Mosquito larvae in my ribs
He only loves me when I rot with him

I’m my father’s stubborn daughter
And I am no gentle lover
Only crown I wear is loyalty
My man is a stagnant water,
a mud-your-linen, cacklin’ bogland
And I’m forever stuck his bog body

Hmm, hmm,
Hmm, hmm

The Bog Bodies - Dorm Demo

Side Quest Song is out now → https://madilynmei.komi.io/music/sidequestsong
⚔️
 
Merch! → https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/madilyn-mei

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

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

Lyrics:

If we split up the group
Can I be paired with you?
Not for any reason
Other than the fact I think
We make for a good team
A side story or two
Slay a couple dragons together
and I can’t help but 
I can’t help but think that
maybe you and me
could kinda sorta
I’m not sure where this sentence is going
Um

I can’t help but think that
Maybe you and I
Could possibly try
To take on a side quest sometime

If we split from the team
But you wanna follow me
Or I could follow you
Come on let’s do our own thing

I sound like such a flirt
But usually this works
Something about you just leaves me all fidgety 
Speechless and wishing we were
Something a little bit more than the friends that we are
But I’ll take this if it means I get
To be around you 

I wanna make stories to put on a shelf
I wanna protect who can’t protect themself
I wanna do everything I can and more
So do you accept my side quest or-

I wanna make stories to put on a shelf
I wanna protect you when you can’t yourself
I wanna do everything I can and more
So do you accept my side quest or-
Do I gotta woo you a little bit more?

Side Quest Song

Stream

Blue-, blue-, blue-eyed 
Scruffy fella— 
Helicopters buzzed against 
Our cheeks and ears and necks and 
Turned us all around 
In terms of color: 
Blushing, queasy, spinning 
And irrevocably endearing 
Drinking fountains, puppies, penguins, 
Little lambs… 

Don’t you dare go 
Making me like you more; 
I hate you more and more 
Every second I’m with you; 
Every second you’re making me like you 
More and more, 
I hate you more 
I hate you more. 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 
But it’s still good. 

True, true, true, I would 
Be your boyfriend 
If you’d be mine, 
But this whole situation is 
Becoming so ridiculous— 
Mr. Potato Heart— 
Indeed, it seems 
You lack a few essential pieces; 
Would it be taboo for me 
To skip-bo right past go, 
Play operation and connect for good 
The clues to cure this sorry state of 
Constant aggravation? 

Don’t you dare go 
Pushing my love away 
If you’re gonna just 
Pick up the slack and 
Pull it right back 
In a stupid kind of tug-of-war game 
That I don’t wanna play— 
Unless I’m on your side, 
In which case 
I’ll be with you all the way. 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 

I could go a day without you 
I could go a hundred days 
But I’d spread those hundred days 
Out over a century 
If that’s okay with you 
Sometimes I get the feeling 
I’m just on display— 
Like some little punk’s been 
Pressing against me, 
Setting me off for a 
Pyrotechnicolorful 

Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Setting me off and 
Running away 
When I’ve got something 
I still want to say… 
Again! 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 
And no matter what— 
It’s never long enough— 
But it’s still so 
oh oh oh-oh-oh 
good!

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Merlin Showalter, drums 
Tim McLaughlin, bass/guitar

Stephan Nance — Firecracker

Indie chamber folk-pop out of Portland, Oregon.
Booking/licensing: music@stephannance.com
Pronouns: they/them

Stephan Nance — Firecracker

Sparkbird

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