Get all 11 Vincent Blackshadow releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mandatory Reporter, Burn Out Loud, Tune Spinner, That's Not All She Wrote, 100,000 Ears b/w Bay Window, Awake Right Now, C, B, and 3 more.
1. |
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i wanna need to have it all the time
i want it to control me and to ruin my life
i wanna need to have it all the time
I kinda sorta want you to be mine
i kinda wish you’d pay me just to wait in my line
i wanna need to have it all the time
and when i get it, it’s alright, i guess
but not as…mhm… as when i’m
looking everywhere for where it hides
there ain’t a thing quite like it just to try and find
i wanna need to have it all the time
maybe i had it as a child,
i bet there’s a way back
i just haven’t found it yet
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2. |
Avalon Fire
03:07
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Ever since the avalon fire burned out
down on railroad avenue
i’ve been listening voices saying softly,
but assuredly and true,
“there is nothing for you here”
“there is nothing for you here”
ever since the crowd once gathered scattered,
nothing’s mattered much at all
Another evening falls upon the lake,
and once again i hear the lady call
“there is nothing for you here” (there is nothin’ here)
“there is nothing for you here, boy”
as i sail on toward the mainland,
with the smoke still in my eyes,
i remember a next-door petstore, and i realize,
this is no mistake,
this is no mistaking the flames
You were there at the avalon fire
You looked at me, what were we supposed to do?
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3. |
Return of the Books
03:00
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On too many missions to be misunderstood
hold it for yourself – it’s a public good, and it would
Take me far too long
To handwrite every wrong
you can’t redact what you’ve begun
you can’t go back until you’re done
but you can check out more than one,
just remember you’ve made them a promise
to return the books
sequels don’t always follow the first
the knowledge you hold now can’t be reversed, so
keep your voices down,
come on, show me around
You can’t go home without a fight
you’ve gotta face it toward the light
you’ve gotta finish it tonight
and you’re making excellent progress
just repeat the hooks
take your last looks
and return
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4. |
Devastating Laura
04:06
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Ah, devastating Laura, saying yes to saying no
Ah, devastating Laura, I wonder now, where did she go?
Can you occupy my dreams?
Slay the demons, can you?
Now she’s tearing through your house
Nothing that you can do
Ah, devastating Laura, writing songs or freaking out
Ah, oscillating aura, praying hands to thunderclouds
She used to be, everybody’s favorite neighbor
Obviously, the human form of hope
She used to be in tune with her own nature
Extension of viola
Now she’s gone, she’s almost gone
Lurasidone, lurasidone
Strung out on god, strung out on god
There’s nothing wrong with her
There's nothing wrong
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5. |
King Worm
04:56
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King worm smells tempting flesh - gotta have it all to himself
King worm will vomit when it is released - it will relinquish
You don’t trust me, I don’t trust me
Keep me far away from everybody
Run your mouth, abuse your standing
I’m on top, I show no sign of stopping
King worm runs after you - come to love it
Spineless spit, king worm – sick - in the name of love, promises
You don’t trust me, I’m not nasty
Face is pale, can’t you hear my warning?
Starve yourself but don’t stop smiling
You need water, I will bring you nothing
King worm laughs
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6. |
Words Don't Fail
04:06
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Have you ever stopped
To wonder how you’ve stopped wondering?
Are you committed like a child at play?
You ask aloud,
How could you be so blind, as to
Forget what she needed you to say?
Now you’re back on the southbound train
Just to tell her that you care for her
And if that doesn’t work
Maybe the time don’t fly
You’ve just been wasting it
And the thought don’t count
When you’ve forsaken it
And words don’t fail
You just didn’t love her very much
From the outside looking in,
It always seemed like you spent every night
Under a separate set of stars
But I know you, I’ve heard the truth
I’ve seen that story before, I ain’t a fool
And you ain’t traveled very far
But no one wants to watch him lose the game
And blame it all on you
Who wants to be told
That maybe the dawn don’t break
You’ve just been up all night
And the moon ain’t full,
You only see your side
And words can’t fail…
When she says “goodnight,” it means she forgives you
When I say “I love you too,” you wish you had the proof
When she says, “oh baby, I’m sorry”
It ain’t like she’s lying
She knows how little language can do
Have you ever stopped to listen to
Her tell you that you’ve stopped listening
To yourself?
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7. |
I Think Not
03:32
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Some function, a corridor to a life well lived
And comin at me fast
i function as a standalone balcony at best
you make up all the bits and pieces of the worlds at rest
in your slender fingertips
Eye make up,= all the dirt on which you walk
i think not
strange things happen to a man on a schedule
everybody knows
none of us guys ever write in a journal
and it shows
i think not
the end is right around that corner
so don’t you move
the end is so easy to forget
except when it’s all there is
oh god, get out, get out, get out
all of a sudden i beg to engage in
every vice at once
please don’t bring me back to that deep dark space
just give me some drugs, I need drugs, I need, I need, I need,
I want it
i think not
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8. |
Lease at Least
05:50
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Wake up, apologize – she can’t hear me
This is actually a pretty good story
We’re getting introduced to everybody
Some of them, a pretty good time
Three months out of summer, I saw some vapor
Recently gone in the other direction
You were getting a little fuzzy like Hendrix
Are you cooking for the house?
Adjust to this brand new schedule with all these limitations
Until June
You’re kinda quiet – I was gonna call you out
Anybody have any plans to go home?
I’m looking at a picture of it
Can you kinda see it? Are you writing it down?
That’s a beautiful instrument, terribly out of tune
And the houseplants, just ruthless
Absolutely ridiculous.
How is what? It’s fine.
How’s yours? He didn’t say.
Things don’t really work so well up here
High-end people remind me of the first Amaretto
Speaking of – what are you doing in my house?
She might’ve – she might not anymore
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9. |
Run With the Villains
02:49
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hate between the lovers
the fathers are the mothers
yeah, everything’s backwards
there’s a lot of hurt
we traveled far to get here
same desert, different year
Why did I drink all the water?
What did I do to your daughter?
oh no
we’re all standing single file
stone faced and docile
Well, what are we waiting for?
What are you waiting for?
the older couple down the street
Anti ambiguity
And all future centuries
I’ll put ‘em out of their misery
i think i’m gonna kill them
and go run with the villains
i’m runnin
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10. |
Bartolo Colón
07:29
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Say, it’s been proven again
as you watch it leave your sight
That it’s never too late, it’s never too late,
too late to hit your stride
Oh, if you tell me once more
that i’m too old to ride
no i am not afraid, no i am not afraid,
i am not afraid to fight
Yeah, as we go to the ninth
It’s all been done once, so why not do it twice
It’s a matter of time, just a matter of time
So prove it
Say, do you rise with the sun
are you beating the drums,
for the sake of your pride, for the sake of your pride
for the sake of sweet consistency?
oh, have you worn many hats,
do they abandon the dome
the farther you get, the farther you get
the farther you get from home?
yeah, who needs clean uniforms?
we’ve all been worn
in the end there is dirt, in the end we’ll be dirt,
in the end there will always be dirt
this one’s for the big sexy
the ultimate expo, running slow
As seen in dreams and future museums, a house full of heroes
always known
you pay to see them, you pay to see them forevermore…
and when you’re outta the zone
in front of the unknown
you gotta go for the gold
let it all unfold
and watch them turn to stone
and if you’re changing the signs
you better look behind
at what you’ve already thrown
You’ll never be alone
Once you’re bartolo colon
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11. |
Powerletters
02:38
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Powerletters keep you down
Do you mean to tell me that there’s another way?
I admit, that never occurred to me
Powerletters have control
But when I spell them out, they don’t mean anything
They just sound so good to say
“I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone”
“My call will be answered in the order in which it was received”
Powerletters keep it clean
As long as you don’t look around
Keep your eyes on the road, and fix your taillights, kids
The future people will keep it going
One by one we’ll be done with against-the-laws
And the none-at-alls
And the legions living along the plains
Far from the city’s electric gaze
And you better believe it
They’ve been ready to rise at a moment’s notice
And burn all the power letters that wrote us
Back down to the water from where we came
Will I ever make it to the surface?
Will I ever see your lights again?
I can’t imagine something perfect
But what I mean by that depends on if I’m speaking words
Or just holding your hand
Powerletters keep it clean
As long as you don’t look around
Keep your eyes on the road, and fix your taillights, kids
Tail the lights on the fix, and keep your road eyes, kids
Fix your road on the kids, and keep your eyes on the taillights
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Vincent Blackshadow Brooklyn, New York
Honest rock since 1997.
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