Everafter is the 12th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). All parts written and performed by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

Life gets better now
Now that you’re gone
I’ve abandoned you and
Opted instead for song
I opened the cage
And I flew away
But I left behind
Others who couldn’t find their way out
They stood their ground
For a while

The world here comes and goes 
As fast as rain
Holding on to dear life gets tiring today
Coping now
In their wake bodies litter the ground

And the worst breaks us down
To the wicked and the brave
It’s only everafter

We can break free from
The draconian laws enforced upon
Me and mine
To use is inscribed on the door here

Lights can dim
Too dark to see
Where I’m walking
Alone, I’m free
Precarious
They’re venomous
And you know they bite
They’re vicious and they fight to protect
A means to an end

Everafter

Private Playground is the 11th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). All parts by Rowan Galagher except for the electric piano which was written and performed by E.D.

Lyrics:

And I fear it’s been too long between 
The breaths I need 
That my minds already gone

Hold on to me
I’m alright if I can be with you again
You’re like Oxygen
And I’ll be alright
If I can hold you tight

And I hear a sound beyond serene
As the tides recede 
I can finally breathe

Underwater towns 
Suffocated me til now
You turn the world into our own 
Private playground

In the hold of the oceans bitter cold
I’ve been pulled to shore
Revived, clothed and cared for

I never knew of a land 
Where lungs were used
Life’s been a centrifuge
But the spinning stops with you

Underwater towns 
Suffocated me til now
You turn the world into our own 
Private playground

Private Playground

Plastic Bars is the 13th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). Written and performed by Rowan Galagher. Drums inspired by Clinton Spence's drumming as heard in Generic. 

Lyrics:

Hey hey kids
Today we’ll draw a house
Goodbye kids
Tomorrow we’ll draw a house
Isn’t that what you want?

Gotta keep running
Gotta keep going
How soon will
The wheel slow down again

‘Cause we love
We all love the wheel
We may be tired
But at least it’s made of 
Brightly coloured plastic bars
Through which we often smile

Today the weather’s fine again
There’s blue skies and the sun’s still shining

Today the weather’s not fine
No blue skies and the sun’s not shining

Plastic Bars

Voir Un Ami Pleurer is the 14th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). Written by Jacques Brel. Male vocals, piano and guitar performed by Rowan Galagher. Backing vocals by E.D.

Lyrics:

Bien sûr, il y a les guerres d´Irlande
Et les peuplades sans musique
Bien sûr, tout ce manque de tendre
Et il n´y a plus d´Amérique
Bien sûr, l´argent n´a pas d´odeur
Mais pas d´odeur vous monte au nez
Bien sûr, on marche sur les fleurs
Mais, mais voir un ami pleurer!

Bien sûr, il y a nos défaites
Et puis la mort qui est tout au bout
Nos corps inclinent déjà la tête
Étonnés d´être encore debout
Bien sûr, les femmes infidèles
Et les oiseaux assassinés
Bien sûr, nos cœurs perdent leurs ailes
Mais, mais voir un ami pleurer!

Bien sûr, ces villes épuisées
Par ces enfants de cinquante ans
Notre impuissance à les aider
Et nos amours qui ont mal aux dents
Bien sûr, le temps qui va trop vite
Ces métro remplis de noyés
La vérité qui nous évite
Mais, mais voir un ami pleurer!

Bien sûr, nos miroirs sont intègres
Ni le courage d´être juif
Ni l´élégance d´être nègre
On se croit mèche, on n´est que suif
Et tous ces hommes qui sont nos frères
Tellement qu´on n´est plus étonné
Que, par amour, ils nous lacèrent
Mais, mais voir un ami pleurer!

Voir Un Ami Pleurer - Jacques Brel cover

Intermission Nightmare is the 7th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). Music written and performed by Rowan Galagher. Lyrics arranged by E.D.

Lyrics:

Waking up
Real nightmare
You really can't escape

Change things
Help people
You can't escape waking up
To who you are

Intermission Nightmare

Scapegoat (Alternate Version) - Track 13 from Scary Poppins (Reissue).
This is a previously unreleased version of Scapegoat. It features a slightly different chord progression which is how the song was originally written.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

Out on the lam
No one here would understand
The shades of grey
Some man’s waving sticks today
Worse are those who would be kings

No one can breathe
As you incessantly
Drown the truth
No one can hear anything
Those with boats are in the wind

You cast blind eyes to
Those abandoned by you
And it is tragedy
And who’s the scapegoat now
As you writhe around
Trapped under lock and key

Breaking free from the leash
That you wear around your neck
The price may be high
But it’s worth running
Worse are those who would be kings

No one can breathe
As you incessantly
Drown the truth
No one can hear anything
Those with boats are in the wind

Scapegoat - Alternate Version

Shipwreck is the 5th track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). All parts written and performed by Rowan Galagher except for the piano which was written and performed by E.D.

Lyrics:

The water’s rising and you can’t breathe
The boat is sinking and you can’t leave
I know I’ll try to save your life
Marooned and absent mindedly

I asked someone to care enough
To spare something
There’s only one who said to me
The barrels aren’t empty

Places we have been before
Now they’ve got much higher walls
The victimised can save your life
Things have changed
And your worth’s a judgement call

I asked someone to care enough 
To rescue me
There’s only one who said something
Where’s the parade?

Shipwreck

Siren Song is the 2nd track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). All parts written and performed by Rowan Galagher. Lyrics "I've heard Mermaids calling each to each, they do not call to me" based on T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

Lyrics:

We rain on your parade
‘Cause the games you play have casualties
The lunatics are lost
It doesn’t take a lot to become a martyr here

We’re further from the truth 
As you’re fighting nail and tooth to be in control
I’ve heard Mermaids calling each to each
They do not call to me if I’m in the boat

Siren song
It won’t be long 
Till they’re talking destiny 
The Leviathan is watching me
I’ve lost the will to be among living people

Broken sleep and broken dreams
Nothing here is as it seems
You can have high hopes
It takes more than a load off my back

To realise your dreams 
Not an ounce of levity till the attack
Round and round she goes
Where she stops nobody knows

Siren Song

History Books - Track 5 from Scary Poppins (Reissue).
Released: November 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

There’s history books I never read
They turn the living into dead
Repressed everything they said

But winners wrote those history books
And many truths were overlooked
I’ve been a saint and I’ve been a crook

Tanks and guns are industries
Like selling drugs and lopping trees
If you think your job makes God pleased
Then die and find out

This house is built on dead bodies
Like the media and companies
They spin the slaughter with great ease
For those who watch TV

But television makes you feel
Like medication made the wheel
You could believe in what’s real

History Books

Out To Sea - Track 3 from Scary Poppins (Reissue).
Released: November 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher except bass guitar which was written by Rowan Galagher and Andrew Smetanin.

Lyrics:

First you roll the dice
And then you see
Winning is to lose
The irony

Escaping fates found far below
The depths we were ever meant to go
No one has to know

Gonna find a boat
So that I can go out to sea
Anywhere but here's my destiny

It takes us
Some time yet
No one knows

Jaded hearts and hypocrites
Almost everything is hit and miss
And it's come to this

Walking down a dim lit road
No ones got a torch that I can borrow
That's become the show

Out To Sea

Malice - Track 4 from Scary Poppins (Reissue).
Released: November 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

I don’t know
Which way is home
I left some bread crumbs
Around somewhere
In my shadow
In my shadow’s home

I don’t know
Which way to go
Up hill’s cold
But down I’m prone to fall
Into callousness
Rain helps malice grow

One day older and one day shy
Of the place we yearn to find
One step further
Hear the murmur grow

Malice

Berserkergang - Track 2 from Scary Poppins (Reissue).
Released: November 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

We come with our axes
To where you are
We can’t help retracting
Out offer of
A kinship which neglects
Our basic decency

You can take my hand
And follow me
No one here can resurrect
The faith in me

I want to believe
To fetch too far
This place questions whether
Faith could be an art

Misdirection
It makes a mess of me

Berserkergang

Scapegoat - Track 1 from Scary Poppins (Reissue)
Released: November 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:


Out on the lam
No one here would understand
The shades of grey
Some man’s waving sticks today

No one can breathe
As you incessantly
Drown the truth
No one can hear anything

You cast blind eyes to
Those abandoned by you
And it is tragedy
And who’s the scapegoat now
As you writhe around
Trapped under lock and key

Breaking free from the leash
That you wear around your neck
The price may be high
But it’s worth running

No one can breathe
As you incessantly
Drown the truth
No one can hear anything

Scapegoat

'No Roads To Take' is the 1st track from the album 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). Music and lyrics written, performed and recorded by Rowan Galagher except for the bass guitar which was written by Andrew Smetanin and Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

You can run but you can’t hide
From the creature that dwells inside
There’s no fall from grace
When you’ve found your place 
Underground

Run as fast as you can
You’re still the sacrificial lamb
There’s no falling star
That tears your world apart

Hiding from the sun
A hunger unsatisfied
A world weary person comes to mind
No one tends to believe
When their lucks run out

No one runs for cover 
No one makes a sound
There’s no roads to take
When you’re tempting fate

The cold closes in
The fear disappears with the feeling
There’s no roads to take
Unless you’re the bait

No Roads To Take

Hope Is Gone is the 10th track from 'Advice To The Wayfarer' (2014). Music and lyrics written, performed and recorded by Rowan Galagher. Backing vocals performed by Lakshal Perera, Nick Cooper and Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

It’s a cloudless night
You could be a star but you left it behind
For all your promises
Emptiness all too easy to find

Some would say that maybe the race has run
They’re playing Russian roulette now just for fun
They wonder why we’re killing ourselves in droves
It’s like we’re monks with kerosene but without the robes

Maybe I’m crazy
But I don’t feel the love
When you’re holding on too tight
What’s left when it’s obvious
That the hope is gone

The hope is gone

Hope Is Gone

No Tolls To Pay is the 6th track from 'Advice to the Wayfarer' (2014).
Music and lyrics written, performed and recorded by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

I want you to know that I stayed 
Because you taught me how to love 
The way words will stray and if I go 
It’s gonna rip my heart out

I flew so high
There will come a time 
To fall and I will go away 
From this place
But if I go I just know 
It’s gonna rip my heart out

As I fall down the spiral stairs
Everyone’s got their own cross to bear
I can see the fires burning 
In those with the faith
A passion which dissappointment 
Slowly takes away
Jaded by the healers 
Who have become the plague
But I’ve got something better
I just hope it’s not too late

I want you to know that I stayed
Because you were what I found 
That made this place 
More than just an empty shell
There are no tolls there is no bell

I knew the line
That retribution would come and 
I would fall one day without grace
I want to give but remaining is a dry well

No Tolls To Pay

Crimson Teeth is the 9th track from the album 'Advice to the Wayfarer' (2014). All parts written and performed by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

I wont be your collateral damage
As you grin and bare your crimson teeth
Gone are those who rushed into the reeds
They’ll be alright
If you see the signs to the art

That could make a difference this time
And you have tried to turn the tides
Lost are those with quickly silenced cries
They’ll be alright
If you see the signs to the art

And cameras they’ll be 
The first of many steps 
‘Til there’s no one left
A life we cannot lead 
‘Cause it’s fraying at the seems
But I care about it

And we’ve become cautious men
But it’s gone in minutes... taken

It carries me through the colder night
And you have wished for brighter lights
Visceral but doomed to be denied
They’ll be alright
If you hold on tight to the art

Crimson Teeth

Hold On is the 7th track on 'Hi Penthus' (the first album released under the name The Mad Pride). It is now available as a free download at 320kbps with correct ID3 tags. The drums in this recording were originally played by Clinton Spence (of BugGirl) and recorded in 2003 for a different song we played in our band (Generic).

Lyrics:

Over the people, over the bloody thrown
Through the fields and out by the road
There are so many people here
Some missing faces and some missing ears
Hold on, hold on

I don’t know what to do or think
But you stop swimming and you start to sink
And it numbs the pain you feel
In these wounds you think never heal

Over the feeble, those from hunted homes
And they’re seamless right down to the toe
And there’s so many of us here
Some missing faces and some missing ears
Hold on, hold on

Hold On

This is a cover of J'ai eu trente ans written by Maxime Le Forestier. It is performed by Rowan Galagher and Em. The recording was done in a living room in Wollongong with 2 microphones. It is dedicated to Marie-Avril Haïm and James Galagher. A big thanks to Geoff Galagher for introducing us to this song.

J'ai eu trente ans - Maxime Le Forestier cover

Song For Eli is the 1st track on the album 'Hi Aphrodite'.
Released: January 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2014.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

Alone again
Darkened eyes that light up broken men
Wait for me
I’d follow you beyond the world we see

Walking with you flying through the air
Words of wisdom the devil may care

Life and love
One without the others not enough
Worse than death
Losing you and fighting for breath

One more moment staring in your eyes
Proof that the soul can never die

Song For Eli

Greater Falls is the 2nd track on the album 'Hi Aphrodite'. 
Released: January 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2014.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher.

Lyrics:

One day passes and then
The next begins
The dark passes and then
The light seeps in

Who will wake up if I...
This could be the last
Breath of my life

You’ve made your mark
It’s on your skin
You’ve made your mark
On Vicodin

You’ve spent your time trying to fly
Greater falls from greater highs

Greater Falls

Stay Here is the 9th track on the album 'Hi Aphrodite'. 
Released: January 2010.
Remixed and remastered in 2013.
Written, performed, recorded and produced by Rowan Galagher except the electric guitar which was written, performed and recorded by Greg Hughes.

Lyrics:

I wish I could stay here all the time
Everything here’s beautiful
With you

But I have to go back to those people
And all of their worrying
Oh well

I’m running away from the pain
I can’t take these things you say

Stay Here

This is a cover of the song Doctor Blind originally written by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter known for her involvement in Metric and Broken Social Scene). It is performed by myself and my partner Em. This haunting coronach is a reflection on chemical oblivion as an institutionalised response to social disquiet and existential angst . 

Artwork by Em.

Lyrics 

The lack of light 
Hollow sea 
Poison beaches 
Limousines 
Toothless dentists 
Cops that kill
 
My baby’s got the lonesome lows 
Don’t quite go away overnight 
Doctor blind just prescribe 
The blue ones 

If the dizzying highs 
Don’t subside overnight 
Doctor blind just prescribe 
The red ones 

Hard to hold 
Cold to touch 
Fall to pieces 
Treat the rush in hindsight 
With prime time talk 

All your pain 
Will end here 
Let the doctor 
Soothe your brain, dear 

My baby’s got the lonesome lows 
Don’t quite go away overnight 
Doctor blind just prescribe 
The blue ones 

If the dizzying highs 
Don’t subside overnight 
Doctor blind just prescribe
The red ones 


Doctor Blind - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton cover

Combining 60s psychedelia, folk noir, art rock, baroque pop and gothic post-punk, The Mad Pride has been described as haunting and ominous like Syd Barrett and David Bowie collaborating on a Tim Burton film soundtrack. Comparisons are often made to Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Erik Satie, Opeth, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, baroque and minimalist / repetitive composers. It is the solo recording project of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Rowan Galagher. 

Since 2009 Rowan has released 3 original albums and he is currently releasing tracks from his 4th. He has moved from avant-garde psych-folk experimentation to cinematic soundscapes and towards a classical style of psychedelic rock. His DIY ethic motivated him to play the majority of the instruments himself and record them alone in his Wollongong based apartment.

With an uncompromising commitment to emotional authenticity and a wider goal of positive social change, Rowan is driven to make honest and progressive music. He is constantly pushing the boundaries of conventional genres and seeks to forge a new platform in the contemporary musical landscape. It would appear that he is succeeding at this as, aside from the aforementioned artists, Rowan's music has also been compared to Jacques Brel, Mr Bungle, Danny Elfman, Jeff Martin, Muse and David Sylvian.

'The Mad Pride' is a reference to the mass movement known as 'Mad Pride'. "Mad Pride activists seek to re-educate the general public on such subjects as the causes of mental disorders, the experiences of those using the mental health system, and the global suicide pandemic."

"If you mix the elements from Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Syd Barrett and Radiohead, you’ll get this music, in the most creative way." 
- acuvi - acuvi.org

“Psychedelic 60s gone noir cabaret with 80s goth production: watery guitars, icy keys and vintage Bowie-esque vocals.” 
- Delarue - New York Music Daily

“I recently came across some incredible stuff… The songs bear some resembles to Syd Barret, Tom Waits, Nick Cave or Cohen, this is interesting stuff for sure… I’m posting this because I think it’s worth it.”
- Netanderthalian – Grateful Breed Blog – A Psychedelicious Corner

"The Mad Pride is a good example of Folk Noir (“dark folk”) that also plays with some late 60′s dark psychedelic folk melodies. Galagher has been compared to Syd Barrett and the comparison is apt." 
- Matt Coleman - The Music Court Blog

“The variety here is amazing. The songs run the range from soft, almost acoustical to moody and experimental enough to be the sound track to a Tim Burton movie. They each push the limits of their genre. Be sure and listen to them all as they are very different and there is sure to be something you really like.”
- Jane W – fanrealm.com

“Rowan Galagher’s music is amazing. One minute it has you thinking “Pink Floyd” the next something entirely different. There is an ebb and flow to it that makes The Mad Pride beautiful to listen to.”
- Paddy – Only Australian Music Blog Archive

“Touches of the fragile detachment of Radiohead and a spectrum of dramatic emotion all take up residence under an ominous sky."
- Mr Atavist – Sunrise Ocean Bender

The Mad Pride

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