Corvidae, by Myshkin's Ruby Warblers

Corvidae

by Myshkin's Ruby Warblers

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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. , and , .

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A subtle, lovely, dark-folk-jazz-tronic record, songs of love and wartime. In all recycled carboard packaging with original artwork by Myshkin.

Includes unlimited streaming of Corvidae via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Gypsytown 03:34	lyrics	buy track
Two old girls from Gypsytown Drinking with a youngish Yorkshire man He is tattooed up and down They are only marked by time’s cruel hand He’s built to take it, full of beans and bacon You’d think that he could make it but he can’t keep up Few are as rough as a Gypsytowner In her cups Now picture those two girls young in Gypsytown Running out of breath to catch the bus Skirts and aprons, braided crowns Hands are made for work, work is sure to kill us And was it fine, your weekend love? Yes I had myself a night of sin And who’d you find down at the pub? My boy Bob and I am gonna marry him He’s built to take it, full of beans and bacon You’d think that he could make it I hope he can keep up Few are as rough as this Gypsytowner In her cups, always in her cups One she marries, one she don’t One she has her babies, one she won’t Friday nights they meet for pints And talk about the war And they’re rough around the edges, rough on every side Rough into the middle of their flint dulled eyes Rougher every weekend, rougher every day They gotta wake up in the morning to that page 3 babe Rough as dog, and the dog he bites From the roughest part of the roughest town in sight They’re built to take it, full of beans and bacon You’d think that they could make it but they’ll not keep up Few things are as rough as to be a Gypsytowner In her cups, always in her cups
2.	Drunk 03:54	lyrics	buy track
Along the lines of new mown hay A fiddler and a drummer lay Making blankets of their coats Drunk and chasing dreams One had traveled west and east Always one tune out of reach The one that got caught in her throat While drunk and chasing dreams One had journeyed north and south Always one taste in her mouth The blood beat pulse the god the goat The drunk of chasing dreams Drink to me, I’ll drink to thee And all your true lies The sun is in the sea the seas in the sky It’s all gone a wrack and awry And tomorrow, tomorrow These two met along the path Sized each other up and laughed Took a tumble in the oats Sun drunk and chasing dreams Came upon a house so grand Being buried by the shifting sand Left the house but took the boat, love Drunk and chasing dreams All along the river wide There along the river side Such sturdy wonders did they see While drunk and chasing dreams Drink to me, I’ll drink to thee And all your true lies The sun is in the sea the seas in the sky It’s all gone a wrack and awry And tomorrow, tomorrow we die A solid house on solid rock A solid church and school and shop But they preferred the fleeting notes Tune drunk and chasing dreams So they played until the rivers end Played as the tide pulled them in By inspiration and by rote Beat drunk and chasing dreams And when they get too tired to play Find a field of new mown hay They’ll want for nothing, no they won’t While drunk and chasing dreams Drink to me, I’ll drink to thee And all your true lies The sun is in the sea the seas in the sky It’s all gone a wrack and awry And tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow we die
3.	For Mimi in Jail 03:37	lyrics	buy track
Brave as you were, you will only get braver Just as colors ring and deepen in the dusk Keep out an ear for the wild voice inside you As you sit up steeping in the city’s musk Narrow the walls, the locked walls that surround you While they’re taking your time for breaking their rules But wide is the sky and it’s all hidden inside you Like a file in a pie, starry dome of your mind And don’t mind the doubt and keep to your council Don’t you worry about all that wasted time ‘Cause day in day out with your hands tied behind you You touch more than you see, you are working our way free And narrow the path it is wished we would follow Looking neither up nor down Enlightened horizon or dim bloody hollow just swallow, just swallow But wide is the sky, and it’s all hidden inside you Unexplored, unconfined, starry dome of your mind
4.	Saving of the Day 02:51	lyrics	buy track
Couldn’t get around wouldn’t get around to it The saving of the day Blame it on the pounding through the wall The race the climb the fall Blame it on the difference in the sound of it The miracle of death Losing of respect Missiles in their nests Birds bound to their cliffs Couldn’t get around or even leave the ground of it Like looking at a wall, and all you see is wall Not the toeholds in it, chinks to make it break and fall Couldn’t get across all the goddamned loss of it What were the first years like? I always feel your hand in mine On aeroplanes A mattress on the porch, then a leash that grew too short When did we decide we could decide each other’s course? Couldn’t get, wouldn’t get around to it The saving of the day Couldn’t get around, wouldn’t get around you Once you were there A mountain in the steamy delta air Impossible to see, you were so fair Couldn’t get across how you were boss of it You seemed so fair to me All until I could not breathe For the buzzing of the bees What was it like before that, was it still some subtle war, that? When did I begin exhibiting signs and bedsores Couldn’t get around, wouldn’t get around to it The saving of the day
5.	Caledonia 04:58	lyrics	buy track
My body is a circuit board Every nerve on line My body is a circuit board Surges all the time I ask what my bodies for Answer comes seems true Sweat love out of every pore Collect love like dew Some tomorrow morning I’ll be driving down the sky The rain be rising off the road Catching in the sunlight in clouds of holy smoke Like some vision of hope I’m gonna ferry that in my hold I’m gonna take it to the other side Oh this terra inconsolable, what pretty tears she cries Someone took the walls replaced it with the war Someone took the winter long Someone took the wheel and won’t tell me what for Drove right off the embankment expecting me to thanks them Caledonia called, I walked on through the wall Caledonia called, spun around ‘til I fell Feet first through the world I fell Late one lazy afternoon the curlews and the sirens cut the gathering gloom Dinners on the table quit complaining I am still one of the lucky few I’m gonna sit on this here egg, I’m gonna hatch a little paradise Dig a little dirt mine, build a little nest upon her weary thigh Someone took the wolves, someone took the waves Someone took the way I was The taming of the land is the digging of the graves Drove right off the embankment expecting me to thank them Caledonia called, I walked on through the wall Caledonia called, spun around ‘til I fell Feet first through the world I fell Slow now the fear of night will slip and disappear into the dying coals Soft the glow under the ash of all the crashes, all the stories told, stories retold Sweet the little piece of warmth to hold inside my hand until the morning breaks Oh this terra uncontrollable, you’ll grow over even all my worst mistakes Someone took the wish right out of the well Someone took the whole damn aquifer Sucking the world dry so I can have my fill Drove right off the embankment, expecting me to thank them Caledonia called, I walked on through the wall Caledonia called, spun around ‘til I fell Feet first through the world I fell Your ghost is everywhere, you do not believe But your ghost is everywhere, every red brick street
6.	Pipeline 02:50	lyrics	buy track
I don’t know who put the holes in the pipeline I don’t know why there were holes in the pipeline All that I know, gasoline flowed from those holes like silver wine I caught that gasoline in any old jar I could find Caught that gasoline in any old bottle One hundred or more of my neighbors caught gasoline by my side The fumes made you dizzy the gas burned your skin The fumes made you sick and the gas burned your skin But we shouted and laughed like it was silver or silk we were bathing in I don’t know who put the spark to the fire I don’t know why someone put the spark to the fire All that I know, that silver lagoon suddenly turned into a lake of fire Now I hear the bellringer walking the street Listen the bellringer is walking the street Calling the wounded to come to the hospital, promising not to turn us in for thieves But how can I trust them to treat and release me How can I trust they will treat me and leave me The burns on my body speak clear I am guilty of thieving their gasoline But I don’t know who put the holes in the pipeline I don’t know why there were holes in the pipeline All that I know, gasoline flowed from those holes like silver wine
7.	Human Cannonball 03:07	lyrics	buy track
Today is the city, tomorrow the town All the boys are pretty but all the boys are clowns Little lies like fireflies are lighting up the crowd Big top is swaying high wire’s frayed You and I are about to get down I’m gonna light your fuse, I’m gonna count to ten I’m gonna watch you rise and fall again Will you land in the stands or in the lion’s den Either way there’s only hungry faces Waiting for some hunter to kill them something And you’re perfect for the part, you’re a human cannonball Tonight it’s the barroom, tomorrow the park We’ve been singing with the drunks but we’ll be drinking with the meadowlarks Little hopes like puffs of smoke are drifting through the dark I can’t see clear from there to here But I usually know where you are Didn’t you light my fuse, didn’t you count to ten Didn’t you watch me rise and fall again Did I land in the stands or in the lions den Either way there’s only hungry faces Waiting for some hustler to sell them something And I’m perfect for the part, I’m a human cannonball Today it’s the taxi, tomorrow might be the bus All those girls be practicing all those things they must Fat cats and bar rats they’ll be pointing their fingers at us But little dreams are sprouted seeds They just keep coming up through the dust I’m gonna light your fuse, I’m gonna count to ten I’m gonna watch you rise and fall again Will you land in the stands or in the lions den Either way there’s only hungry faces Waiting for some human to tell them something And you’re perfect for the part, you’re a human cannonball
8.	The Dance 05:27	lyrics	buy track
Who lives in our house Is it soldiers now Is it empty, what a waste Rooms left messy in my haste I carried one suitcase Of course I held the baby Children carried what I could pack In a hatbox and a rucksack Months since we’ve been here And how I miss you dear They took our son to some other camp I don’t know if I’ll get him back Mrs. Van der Wijk sleeps on the palette next to mine Interrupts my dreams with her loud lamenting Just when the dancing was commencing Take my hand and lead my feet Our day in the sun was sweet I’m down, down, down Just can’t get around Sonja takes care of the baby I’d never tell her, might get a big head, but She has the patience of a saint And I’m down, down, down Don’t know how I’ll make it round and round How many moons till the end of the war I sleep when I can so I can dream more Take my hand and lead my feet Our day in the sun was sweet Spin me round before I wake The sun’s gone down and I can’t picture your face Who lives in our house Is it soldiers now Tearing my lace and breaking my china And if it’s all gone, how will you find us?
9.	Blackberry Winter 03:28	lyrics	buy track
Boats slip down the river The world is split in two One half shines and shivers The other half is mute Cars slip by my window The wet streets hiss like cats Stretched long and sleek and heartless Tear your heart out just like that There’s roses in the yard Forgetting in the wine It’s snowing in my heart But it’s only raining outside Been to London, been to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam Made my home down in the ninth ward of New Orleans First days of October and the winter’s coming on But it never gets too cold here and the winter soon is gone So why this icy feeling That’s settled in my mind It’s sleeting from my ceiling It’s only raining outside I need one long day in your woods One night under your stars Lay in the leaves looking deep Into the fire’s heart I need that fire to warm me I’m so cold I’m keeping this whole city cool With my blackberry winter Through May and into June I’m glowing such a rich red A cold, unholy light You could ice skate round my kitchen, It’s only raining outside I’m glowing such a rich red Burning with a cold, unholy light You had better come on in my kitchen Cause it’s raining outside
10.	Candle to the Gun 03:16	lyrics	buy track
It’s how you walked along Streets too windy for you Pulled your coat around you Held your candle to the gun So we can’t get on In this catalogue world Rip some pages out Fold ourselves a bigger one I see your mouth set All on fire I see the map of how I’m wired We slip into each other’s gears Come here It’s how I pull it out Through the riddle of doubt Pull the sound around me Hold my candle o the gun So we can’t get on In this mercenary world We’ll hold our own parade Build our own bomb Word and graph and note on staff And drifting fallout aftermath All the way to the wilding water The seeds of things you find in springs Sealed up to keep the promise in Where the miners all lose their daughters Your feral eye your tulip thigh your jack-knife mind I’m going for a dive I see your mouth set All on fire I see the map of how I’m wired We slip into each other’s gears Come here
11.	Bird of Paradise 04:26	lyrics	buy track
Very little air today The birds are crying in the rain Each day at dawn they wailing scorn The birthing of the world Very little we must say I know when you are swollen gray You know when I am falling Into puddles like a girl But when my eyes finally fade to white You will be my sight Dress me in black safe as the night My bird of paradise Very little we must say But it’s good if we say it anyway Help you loose your storms it helps me Find all my scattered pearls Very little air today The birds breathe shallow in the rain Each day at dusk they waling mourn The passing of the world But when your eyes finally fade to white I will be your sight Dress you in black safe as the night My bird of paradise

about

"The story grabs and doesn't let go until you've traveled with her across time and landscapes, accompanied by a soundtrack of jazz-influenced guitar and swinging drumbeats -- and that's just the first tune. Every song is brilliant." -Performing Songwriter

"Dark, smoky folk-jazz. Gripping, affecting and disquieting." - Read Magazine

"Both lyrical and politically pointed. A rich blend topped with her broad-ranging, keening voice." - Washington Post

"Dusky, haunting gems. Corvidae, for all its risk-taking, never sounds forced or unnatural; while Myshkin is all over the place in terms of influences, her work never fails to sound totally organic on this excellent, if brief, CD." - The All Music Guide

"Myshkin's voice is not to be taken lightly. A gorgeous rich alto infused with natural drama and melancholy, and best applied to her own songs: hushed one-act plays that speak volumes." - The New Orleans Times Picayune

"Every bit as creatively challenging as a Radiohead album, sans the 6,000 layers of instruments. A quietly militant social commentary." -1340 magazine

credits

released June 1, 2004

license

about

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