1. |
Metropolis
03:51
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There's a screamin' out in the woods of the faceless metropolis. Ice sheets slam on cars and the corporate lights are spying in the faceless, heartless metropolis. Beep Beep.
Tatooed Sue hides behind her wounds because she doesn't know what's inside her. The metal boys clash on the street and the motor wolves start howling in the faceless, heartless metropolis. Beep Beep.
So get out get out, get out of the metropolis.
A tidal wave threatens the shore of the faceless metropolis. A wooden chair and a wooden spoon wash with the needles and the sirens in the faceless, heartless metropolis. Beep Beep.
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2. |
The Metal Boys
03:19
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Metal hearts, metal skin, the metal boys will always win. In the school, on the front. The metal boys will always win.
Metal shirts, metal pants, never hide the softer skin. Gathering fuel for the fire, the metal boys will always win.
That face is wise and loving. I see, I see it coming.
Metal hearts drop like stones, they hit the ground collide with bones; the bones of pigs, the bones of man. They're all the same, they taste the same.
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3. |
Camera
02:54
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He likes the shaping of the 'love thing'. It's the cutest disease. So he's taking it down to New York City at about a hundred degrees.
I'm taking you the scenic route, the perfect view, my camera's new. I'm taking you the scenic route, the perfect me, the perfect you.
And he could smell her from a mile away now. She doesn't need perfume. As rewarding as a northern summer, she was too good to be true. And with the lights that blind the night streets they shone out from Canada. Yeah they puncture the country.
And just like in your favourite movie, there is editing of time. Her face was flushed with the deepest crimson and her crooked teeth would shine. And with the rumbling of the car engine there was a yearning in their insides. Yeah, they make love in a wheat field.
I'm taking you the scenic route, the perfect view, my camera's new. I'm taking you the scenic route, the perfect me, the perfect you.
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4. |
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Found your hat on the western shore. I put it on and I wanted more. Saw your silhouette in the heavens circling the stars. Heard your words in a hole in a tree, a group of squirrels were chittering at me. I looked up and I saw the branches stripped of all their leaves,
this is what I have to offer, it might not be much but at least it's something. I hold it up high above my head and won't give up to midnight.
I woke up in a heated trance inside the space where I taught you to dance. Nothing like a fictional romance, the vines wrapped around your knees, baby. Inside the foliage a glimpse of your hair, can't see your mouth but I taste it there. I looked up and I saw the branches bearing paper leaves.
Major chords and minor effort. It might not be much but at least it's something. I hold it up high above my head and won't give up to midnight.
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5. |
The Psychiatric Ward
03:56
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There's a virus in that cave. The sign on the entrance said so. But you have no need to go in there. Don't go in there, precious stone.
The psychiatric ward was located on the highest floor of the tallest building.
It's time to build that track, work out all those knots in your back. All the repeated visions of falling rocks and stones. Calloused hands, pick axes and brooms. Sweaty arms, pick axes and brooms. Precious stone.
The psychiatric ward was located on the highest floor of the tallest building.
The psychiatric ward was located on the highest peak of the tallest mountain.
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6. |
Prayers For Shelter
04:26
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Not immune to deficiency. Blues captain I'm sinking now. It's not the vessel I was looking for. I see the crater and I wait for the comet. The gods must be laughing the joke's going on for too long.
Right in the temple, ya that's where the source is. Climbing up through the bones of the Tyrannosaur ribcage. OOh headaches for carnivores. I see the tsunami in the gulph of Mexico. Prayers for Shelter, 65 million BC.
Prayers for shelter and Venus on the beach.
Got to get back to the way things used to be. Comfortable and faithful distractions. Oh not immune to carnivores. I see the crater and I wait for the comet, the gods must be laughing. It's headaches and nausea for Jupiter.
Prayers for shelter and Venus on the beach.
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7. |
You Fly Higher
03:24
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You fly higher than metal kites, higher than sinking ships, higher than deep sea fish.
You deal with all of my metal kites, all of my sinking ships, all of my deep sea fish.
You fly higher than astronauts, higher than cosmic jets, higher than satellites.
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8. |
Bite
02:43
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I'm not gonna fall for it, I won't bite back I will not bite. I never did fall for it, a tooth for a head a head for an eye.
Outside the highschool gates the crooked teacher said: "If you do not shut your eyes these ghosts will haunt your head."
If I had bitten my lip any harder I'm sure it would have bled.
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9. |
Not Max
03:51
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Not Max, my dog doesn’t bite.
They removed his claws, the tooth marks don’t fit.
They found them out near the train tracks where I saw the Red Wolves mating. The bodies were dragged through the weeds, scaring off the great blue heron.
Show me that combination. The safe holds determination. If I could find that key the ghosts wouldn’t torment me.
That dream holds half the night.
The spirit was catching a cold from the weeping mortal.
The bodies were dragged to the cradle – the Tigris and Euphrates. The wrinkled skin of the earth where the tears flow through the valleys.
Show me that combination. That safe holds the destination. When I was half asleep a ghost lifted my feet.
Not Max, my dog doesn’t bite. They removed his claws; the paws are soft and light.
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10. |
The Animals and Us
03:16
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Still have time before the meter is gone the last one's called the NAIL. Hands hold out a needle pulling thread. With a line stretched through rabbit holes, the black bear hibernating, the frostbite makes the human's nose turn red.
Where you're digging there's a ghost; the cold air and the cigarette, the native man, the newspaper and you.
With a dress made from rooftop flakes the sand dune sings a prayer. The octopus and the business man shake hands. Giant eyeballs, the Hindenburg, the gas man on the surface. Moonbeams holding apple pie for two.
Saw you smiling like the sky, the petals of the evening fly, the channeling of the cinnamon through string sections. Saw the lightening in the soup, the AIDS victims diving through the hoops; a circus for the NYPD in Africa.
Where are you right now?
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11. |
Teacher/Student
04:27
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Like a mouth there's an opening in the street; jagged concrete like the jaws of the elite. But don't you cry because it's more obvious now, see the tattooed number on the back of my skull. It's just a matter of time before we walk without the use of our feet. Kayla, you're choking in the coloured lights, your blue mascara runs. You're tired but not lost.
Said the howler monkey; "who's the man in charge?" The way you wield that knife, you're going to land yourself the leading part. Leave the lights on when you're gone, you can teach your children the popular song, but you can't deny them the ground that's under their feet.
Teacher, the student's eyes are ready now. They're tired but not lost. The blindfold's come off.
She tells her lovers that she's not in love anymore. She quits her job on the 666th floor. On a plane and she's heading out to Sudan. She tells the monkey and her mother that she's doing whatever she can.
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Clark the band Ottawa, Ontario
Clark the band was founded in Ottawa by John Tielli in 1998 and died in 2006 in Toronto. The band went through a series of lineup changes over the years. Members included Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara of Arcade Fire, Andrew McCormack of Woodenstars and Mike Dube and Phil Bova of Hilotrons. ... more
Clark the band recommends:
School of Unlearning
by Metal Kites
This is John Tielli's last project based in Toronto.
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