Get all 10 Myshkin Warbler releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Ravens (single), Peace (single), Trust and the High Wire, Faithless (single), That Diamond Lust, Sigh Semaphore, Corvidae, Rosebud Bullets, and 2 more.
1. |
Saturnalia
04:41
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calling
calling all the wild
wives of no one
sunburned. far flung
finding your sea legs
on all these shifting plates
pulling your chin up around
spun by your own palm. unwound. rewound
elastic arms, a corkscrew neck
you’re animated you’re up on deck
the gulls are feeding in your wake
you cut the surface like a cake
your deeper waters, your sonar spark
you know the ways out of the dark
make saturnalia from saturnine
make bleach and bitters into your wine
make the surf’s static into a song
finding a thread there to string a rhyme along
a meaning on. a meaning on.
finding your footing in cast off shoes
slipped anchor dumped cargo you’re on the loose
there’s doubt in your belly lime in your smile
but your hands keep on fashioning fishing line
doubt in your belly all the time
but the code that’s worth knowing it lives in your spine
you’re searching its secrets while swallowing brine
make saturnalia form saturnine
calling
calling all the while
riding high and empty
unmoored. off the charts. hoping your sea legs
are all you need to start
tripping your dance down the barrio
sliding in your big silly boots in the snow
your perfect form your perfect grace
no one to touch them oh how they go to waste
you will reach back from some more savvy day
but now you cut the present like a cake
your higher desert, your static charge
you only know one way out of the dark
make saturnalia from saturnine
make bleach and bitters into your wine
making the traffic into a song
finding a thread there to string a rhyme along
a meaning on. a meaning on.
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2. |
Lucky
03:11
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lucky you are lucky
you are loved
lucky you are lucky
you are loved
you like your love too much
you like your love
but you are loved
fortune shall I tell your fortune?
let me look at your working hands
fortune shall I tell your fortune?
let me look at your working hands
you like your love too much
you like your love
but you are loved
money say you got no money
for a palm reader like me
money say you got no money
for a palm reader like me
you like your love too much
you like your love
let me look at your working hands
liar one of us a liar
is it you is it me?
liar one of us a liar
is it you is it me?
you like your love too much
you like your love
but you are loved
lucky
lucky
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3. |
Welding & Sawing
04:42
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and when we resurface
on the other side of this
ears full of ocean
and eyes full of sand
our plans all in thin strips
our wishes all in check
my lungs black form holding
my heart dark with bells
your cold hands colder
for not being held
so you leave
and find another
and I crawl out
from under cover
then what dear what my love
copy our same old code
open the door and get
pulled all the way
into overload?
I’m weary to death
of this welding and sawing
I need a love that’s
honest and rare
and courage to peel back
the layers of longing
and patience to savor
the fruit that lies there
love you were you are you will be mine
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4. |
Hoopa
05:05
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bizarre
how brilliant you are
bright as any star
you light the morning sheets
from underneath
your hills are sweet
sweet with sleep
your hollows all your secrets keep
your dreaming mouth unmade
your eyelids tidal with brain waves
bizarre
how brilliant you are
bright as any star
you light the morning sheets
from underneath
your muscles ache to pull a plow
the clouds race shadows cross your brow
you need some magnifying lens
to pull your light into your hands
bizarre
horse hooves applaud you
on the cobble
all the grinning dogs they follow
all the birds light in your tree
all this while you are still asleep
owls and engines fill the valley
the valley is littered
with flying machines
a hoopa feather in your hand
still you don’t see your beauty
bizarre
how caught in flight you are
struggling in the air
I see but can’t cut the strings
tangled in your fingered wings
your muscles ache to pull a plow
the clouds race shadows cross your brow
you need some magnifying lens
to pull your light into your hands
bizarre
you light the morning sheets
from underneath
your muscles ache
wind wreaks havoc on your water
yes your stronger than your fathers
yes you know which path to take
all from six thousand miles away
horse hooves applaud you on the cobble
the cobble is littered with flying machines
a hoopa feather in your hand
still you don’t see your beauty
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5. |
Too Late in the World
05:35
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well the rain is on in portland
can’t sleep through my raging
drinking myself down again
smoking in the kitchen
cause the lights dead on the porch
you got the bulb but didn’t fix it
and I’m leaving in the morning
and I don’t know where I’m going
threw away my pictures
selling all my books
only want to take things with me
that are sturdy made of wood
cause I woke up to a nightmare
I was dreaming you were right there
but your still with someone somewhere
slippery and mute
electric and fifteen
and hidden from me
now I perch on chairs and barstools
can’t be caught sitting down
need my knees around my heart
my feet close to my crown
you sure know the way to spin me
spun out all over these rooms
gonna leave here in the morning
I’ll see you none too soon
gonna leave here in the morning
I’ll see you none too soon
I want to see you
I know that words are my weakness
much as their my tool
I rely too much upon them
forget how to feel
all the force fields around you
the light round me as well
we used to play good catch with that
under the spell of play
that’s what the word means anyway
oh why does it go so astray
remember that night in new orleans
long lost mermaid lounge
you asleep in the van
I thought you were some dream I had
too good to be true
couldn’t find you anywhere
I couldn’t find you anywhere
I couldn’t find you
now I perch on chairs and barstools…
so I been thinking about possession
how it’s nine tenths of the law
how that culture kills us
life love and all
I want to cut it out of my heart
with a fine tooth saw
oh but maybe it’s just ambition
whatever you call
that cold burning hearted wanting
to be better than you are
seems the only way to get there
is abandon what you got
but we don’t need this lesson anymore
too late in the world for that
I must have something left here
must be somewhere to stand
balanced on guitar strings
like a high wire in a headstand
everything is upside down
sudden fall from queen to clown
and foolishly I want to scold you
and I know that I have
I want to shoot some arrows through
your impenetrable mask
but when you got to crying
what did I do
did I sit down beside you
did I comfort you?
no I perch on chairs and barstools
can’t be caught sitting down
knees around my heart
feet close to my crown
I want to get up in the morning
want to it down on the floor
spend the day tomorrow
trying to be pure
and really see you
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6. |
Corvidae
03:03
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wet and the wind is blowing
my heart set
between sweet tone
and atonement
as of yet
I’ve no way of knowing
was it my one and only
follow the silver thread
all the way
to the silver mine
but how many skins shall I shed
to pay for what
I am doomed to find
I’ve got so good at waiting
but time she’s sharper than me
she’s so much better at wasting
riding my frozen ocean
or sealed up
inside my home
or calling the corvids in
to fill up this room with wings
and bone
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7. |
Whalebone Skirt
03:27
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hush baby hush baby
who you gonna call
everyone with any heart
is up against the wall
still baby stlll baby
where you gonna run
everywhere with any soul
been driven underground
or drowned
dig baby dig baby
dig into the dirt
scratch a root walled hollow
in her whalebone skirt
you’re not a technician
of the science of sound
you’re not running
anyone’s machine
you pick up a thread
from every piece of ground
and as you walk you weave
as you walk you weave
you do not speak
for the state or the crown
you’re not a mascot
for a winning team
you collect signs sins
and hometowns
and pockets full of leaving
somewhere in the quiet
that you make yourself
empty out your pockets
on a lacquered shelf
string under your fingers
stories under string
big enough to make you
scratch a root walled hollow
in her whalebone skirt
live baby live baby
how you gonna be
a little bit anxious
and a little bit free
dig baby dig baby
dig into the dirt
scratch a root walled hollow
in her whalebone skirt
somewhere in the quiet
that you make yourself
empty out your pockets
on a lacquered shelf
string under your fingers
stories under string
big enough to make you sing
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8. |
Pity
03:10
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pity she bows her head down to her knee
so fleet she takes a hold of me to dance a tango, terribly
pity she’s chaos with a cutting edge
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
threatening on the window ledge to dive 2 feet into the hedge
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
filled my plate with cream and butter now I’m hungry all the time
threw my ace into the gutter took my place in line
all the bright birds spark and sputter
drunk on rhyme and barley wine
open mouths all kinds of weather thirsty all the time
pity she purse her lips and bind her brow
once had such a pretty bow but look at how she stumbles now
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
pity she gestures out but faces in
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
tossed about on every wind as if they were all wars to win
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
filled my plate with cream and butter now I’m hungry all the time
threw my ace into the gutter took my place in line
all the bright birds spark and sputter
drunk on rhyme and barley wine
open mouths all kinds of weather thirsty all the time
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
pity she chatters to me all day long
(pity my poor pity pity my poor pity me)
she can’t leave any bone alone she’ll chew me up until I’m gone
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9. |
Beulahland
03:52
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I was too cold when I came here
but I remember crying in beulahland
when that phantom vanished down 23rd
and the crossroad just took everything
was I already sold when I came here?
that lift barely in my bones
suddenly so damn alone
cause the crossroad just takes everything
maybe I was too cold when I found you
but I remember courting in beulahland
you were running just like you are now
not from but to
that’s just how we do it darlin
beulahland
were you already sold when I found you?
cause here I am drinking in beulahland
another phantom vanished down Mississippi avenue
damn crossroad just take everything
another phantom vanished down Mississippi avenue
damn crossroad just take everything
beulahland
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10. |
That Diamond Lust
07:12
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oh that diamond lust it is contagious
all the billboards and the barkers
all the racket of the market
and all I’ve sold and bought so far
it’s outrageous
spinning wheels and chasing tails
spinning gear in some great big railroad
I would rather sit down by the river
never sing one note more
hear no knocking at my door
silent and alone still it’d be better
than the way a lie looks in your eye
than the way a lie sounds in my sigh
you can’t keep it in your hand
just cut your palm up and turn to salt and sand
could be the lies of love and art
are just stuck phases
true intent that just stops growing
caught in habit and unknowing
and surrounded so by force
we become faceless
force our feelings in two shapes
we read as stay or run away
we’re like wolves all saddled up
in tack and traces
not supposed to pull on anything
but we can’t bend back and break the string
so we carry down the road toward the city
but it’s thin as smoke and mirrors
master the trick and get out of there
you can’t keep it in your hand
just cut your palm up and turn to salt and sand
what is love now
ride that pony til the sun comes up
how much of this play is fact
how much creation
seen all those scenes in different lights
every time I blink my eyes
all my stories get so pat in isolation
then i see your cautious face
tales i tell myself erase
tragedy’s seductive and contagious
all the barters and betrayals
all the games fates cards and players
ah but why we here if not to be courageous
make up something bold as love
ride that pony til the sun comes up
you can’t keep it in your hand
just cut your palm up and turn to salt and sand
something bold as love
ride that pony til the sun comes up
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Myshkin Warbler Astoria, Oregon
Myshkin and an ever-evolving crew of restless gamblers—string, horn, drum, key, and and wave players. Passions range from tango to electronica, folk-noir to gypsy-swing to modern classical to rocknroll. Literate & spooky. Myshkin mostly plays guitars. When warm, she sings like a shiver down your chakras. Like a heart breaking all wide open. Like one in utter control of uncontrollable things. ... more
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