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. |
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on a sidestep
you curled a snide lip
maybe it's high time
somebody looked you over
for bats in the belfry
or cats in the clover
as a sideline
we had a good time
but it's a fine line
between crazy and clever
waiting on providence
and pulling the lever
listen to me
come on and listen to me
after all that I've said
you must be --- in the head
but come on, listen to me
as a highlight
you took the spotlight
and for a fortnight
you were a media darling
soaring above it all
the flight of a starling
I can't abide this vertigo
spinning inside your radio
I'm calling out to you
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2. |
Outbound Train
03:53
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southbound lane
slow roll to the union station
outbound train
new momentum is a sweet sensation
losing game
when outbound is the right decision
who's to blame
for a world that runs on fission
southbound lane
show me to your sweet soul garden
outbound train
so my heart won't harden
what's your name
brightly painted ingenue
outbound train
take me out to Timbuktu
what's your game
sweetly smiling ingenue
outbound train
down the valley into Timbuktu
hold on tight
look up to the sky
the sun's a mirror
for your eyes
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3. |
Clover
02:56
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gonna catch a cab to Rosedale
and find my childhood home
gonna hop a bus to Rosedale
visit the places I've outgrown
find 'em on my TV set
or maybe on the Internet
look under every stone
gonna flag a plane to Rosedale
or crawl there on my knees
hop a high-speed train to Rosedale
or drag myself there on my knees
be a local boy made good
like they do in Hollywood
gonna do just what I please
I was born in clover
but as I grew
I found I did not have no roots
gonna find what I am missing
gonna look behind every door
when they talk I will be listening
even though my heart is sore
find the source of this duress
plot it on my GPS
home in on a cure
it wasn't over
that much I knew
and now I've got to find my roots
what's for dinner, momma
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4. |
Listen (to This)
00:30
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5. |
Coil
04:59
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in this uncertainty
hides a brighter, bluer day
that is what they say
but silence is security
if it keeps the wolves at bay
that is what they say
in synchronicity
lies a quiet ticking clock
a heart wrapped in a box
but silence is simplicity
if love is lost on talk
a heart locked in a box
to think that I
would tell you so
the snakes have eyes
in their mortal coil
I didn't mind being alone
when I was alone in you
I didn't find I missed my home
when I could atone in you
to think that I
would tell you so
the snakes have eyes
in their mortal coil
to fear that I
may never know
your railroad ties
firm against the soil
to pray that I
won't ever show
a fear to fly
o'er that wailing wall
to see that I
should know it's so
the snakes have eyes
in their mortal coil
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6. |
Life Imitates
04:17
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frozen images
of fatal scrimmages
I am a voyeur
of pain and greed
color video
more than a curio
I am the monitor
of what you need
a noose around the neck
only more so
I watch you take a bullet
to the torso
life imitates, life imitates
life imitates death
even before the start
beside your beating heart
you were taking your last breath
in a moment, in a moment
living in the moment
tune into this dispatch
a new disease to catch
I am the doctor who
sends out goodbyes
hold on to this ideal
and order your final meal
I am the surgeon who
carves out your eyes
a pill under the tongue
we're all burning
to swallow it and
quench this yearning
life emulates love
the pain and loss and
life emulates love
reigning over all and
life emulates love
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7. |
Clarendon
03:00
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I thought about it
I didn't doubt it
I held my heart out
then
I dreamed right through it
I found the will to do it
I wrapped my heart around it
then
I know you thought I would
and baby if I only could
I'd be flying to the sun
I'd be riding on the wind
that would carry Clarendon
when love trips up on reason
it's an ironic treason
left here with only lying
baby
that pilot never sings
of the melting of his wings
a curse to dare to dream
baby
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8. |
Listen (to That)
00:30
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9. |
Cracks
03:51
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I built a window
inside your eye
I set a clock to tick
on your insides
I gave priority
to all you wished
I fed your vanity
I pulled a baby
out of your hat
revived a dying dog
on your behalf
I interceded
in grave disputes
and that excited you
I wait until you come
from where you've been
and then I wait until
you leave again
I'll sit forever then
'til you come back
I'll watch the bones all slip
between the cracks
I see you in my yard
I watch you hide
I know you stumble when
there's no porch light
I hear you bark outside
my kitchen door
out by the garbage cans
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10. |
Pinnacle of Same
03:51
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who was the optimist who said
you can't love living until you're dead
if it was me, hey, you're welcome
if it was me, what can I say
I started loving living
just yesterday
what were the famous last words said
as I lay dying upon that bed
were they 'only kindness matters'
or were they 'trust your heart'
or did I just expire
after saying only part
now the headlines in the paper
they come as no surprise
they call out with the latest
like the imminent sunrise
circles within circles
winding down a drain
I've risen to the heavens
my pinnacle of same
did Plato ever contemplate
a pinnacle of same
an epitome without surprise
an Everest of lame
did he ever write a dialogue
of a single perfect word
repeated for eternity
repeated momentarily
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11. |
Listen to You
03:00
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listen to you
gotta listen to you
listen to you
gonna listen to you
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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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