Get all 8 Arms of Kismet releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of My Projection of You (single), Potter's Field (single), Dreamland (single), Ballast and Bromides, The Helium Age, Play for Affection, Cutting Room Rug, and Eponymous.
1. |
Bathysphere
03:01
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one eye looks behind
and one eye stares ahead
and as we wait our turn
we turn white, blue, and red
one arm reaches left
the other arm is dead
an empty hanging sleeve
dangling by a thread
and since we’ve taken flight
from the monsters of the night
we live in fear
taking the plunge
in this Bathysphere
we’re all born alike
and we all dream the dream
but everything we share
is ripped out at the seams
and since we’ve all been gassed
by the demons of the past
we’re all in tears
gasping for air
in this Bathysphere
remember when we drove
the gravel mountain road
drenched in warm sunshine
and raindrops as we rode
one eye looks behind
and one eye stares ahead
and as we wait in line
we bleed white, blue, and red
and as we’re sitting there
in the stale recycled air
the water’s clear
see a peaceful world
from this Bathysphere
deep in our pursuit
of a lonely pas de deux
the water’s clear
find a perfect world
in this Bathysphere
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2. |
Specious Claims
02:47
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riding on a redeye from
southern Cali, USA
reading stories of a mass disturbance
on Independence Day
staring at a deadeye gun
and a sniper on a roof
must be the hand of justice, darling
but where is the proof
it’s all lies
it’s all lies
cover your eyes
fleeing from an angry mob
down Pennsylvania Avenue
you always did believe your teachers
it’s time you knew the truth
open your eyes
I see the proof in your eyes
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3. |
The Corner
04:02
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driving down a darkened roadway
navigating, making headway
on this trek to Timbuktu
like the testament he swore on
docudrama is an oxymoron
spinning marbles in a Rubik’s cube
and we do not know
what’s around the corner
a fleeting blue elation
or bleak, foreboding dark
squirming in the driver’s bucket
struggling with this sticky wicket
when the pilot can’t believe his gauge
the radio tells the story
the truth is sad and gory
it’s the Lindbergh baby of our age
but come take my hand
we’ll see around the corner
to the shimmer of the sunrise
and the promise of the stars
and we do not know
what’s around the corner
a fleeting blue damnation
or bleak, foreboding love
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4. |
Soul in a Sling
03:40
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I humblebrag all day
I find a new and tasteful way to say
I’m the chosen one
and you are but a ton
of random scraps
strewn across the floor
now I stand and sing
of virtue signaling
a soul inside a sling
I build my brand all week
I design a new, ingenious technique
I am your guru
and I am here for you
as you flail
Pisces on the sand
a lost soul in a sling
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5. |
Zanzibar
03:50
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you would talk all day
about escaping to a faraway place
or into deepest space
you’d ride there and back
in circles on the cul-de-sac
with your dreams intact
you’d wonder where to go
through the desert or the snow
where the winds wouldn’t blow
and so you dreamed for years
in a fight to face your fears
it sounded just like cheers
when you said Zanzibar
under the Swahili stars
Zanzibar
but you never got that far
you took a company car
and the clouds covered up the stars
now you never go
to Zanzibar
under the Swahili stars
Zanzibar
but you never got quite that far
all aboard to Zanzibar
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6. |
Be There
04:15
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black and tan at midnight
a pen that’s out of ink
sometimes the paper
is more blank than you think
black coffee at sunrise
I’m the Sunday ghost
writing in the margins
of the Sunday Post
I’ve got ambitions
or so I’ve heard
I’ve got ambitions
or maybe that’s just a word
and I will stay right here although
I ought to be there when you go
stumble to the subway
newspaper in hand
I’m scanning the headlines
but there’s nothing all that grand
just someone’s losses
and someone else’s gains
and someone on the subway
staying entertained
I’ve got ambitions
or so it seems
I’ve got ambitions
or maybe they’re just dreams
and I will stay right here although
I want to be there when you go
I read your story
I don’t remember where
and what surprised me
was that I actually cared
when I needed something
to drive away the gloom
I read installments
in the darkness of my room
I ought to be there when you go
I want to be there when you go
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7. |
True North
03:05
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dusk at Niagara Falls
dust in the cold moonlight
morning in the motherland
eclipsed by another night
away, you skies of blue
away, you fields of green
passport and a money clip
a ticket on the five-fifteen
going to Canada
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8. |
Found
02:51
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the room with no windows
is glowing and bright
and the shimmer of spirits
warms an eternal night
and the whirring of the roulette wheel
is an endless flight from our lives
now bets are off for a while
and I’m away from the table
I’m standing here playing the slots
and writing this fable
when I was unseeable
I was found
the room with no windows
is foreboding and cold
with the spirits seeping into the walls
as we grow old
now I awaken in the house of the Lord
and I’m standing at the altar
and as I get my marching orders
don’t let me falter
when I was unknowable
I was found
when I was unfindable
I was found
won’t you believe me now
won’t you receive me now
you’ve got to believe
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9. |
The Week That Was
02:36
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that was the week that was
you and I changed
we did it just because
we missed all the pain
that was the week that was
and if we wanted to stay
goodbye was an odd word to say
that was the week that was
you and I fought
we did it just to be
everything we are not
that was the week that was
it was a good run of days
goodbye was a strange word to say
and I don’t know its name
I don’t know its name
and I don’t know its whereabouts
or what it calls home
that was the week that was
you and I flew
we did it just to have
something new to do
that was the week that was
it was a long march of days
when goodbye was the wrong word to say
goodbye was the wrong last word
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10. |
Ballast of Our Youth
05:38
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why were we there
why did we care
to paint a mirage
in somebody’s garage
to fight this
the sightless
righting a wrong
by singing a song
waving a wand
at a chessboard of pawns
to make this
the weightless
it was the ballast of our youth
and our youth was like this town
ballast of our youth
it held us to the ground
it wrecked us
to protect us
then hiding the lies
in our suits and our ties
when under the guise
there was lye in our eyes
to blind us
it reminded us
of the ballast of our youth
and our youth was like this town
ballast of our youth
where I don’t see you around
it wrecked us
to protect us
and it might be too late
or it might be too soon
but we’re casting the sandbags
off this rising balloon
throw it overboard
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Arms of Kismet Winchester, Virginia
Brooding and poppy, funny and foreboding, it’s toe-tapping, tragicomic rock ’n’ roll.
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