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. |
Karma Never Forgets
03:20
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there is no divine decree
says you have to calm the seas
we can't all be born in mangers
take stock of what you've got
it's not a lot but it is your lot
and there's a lot in life that's stranger
found money or a month's free rent
a windfall or an accident
it is visiting to own you
come time to pay the tax
if you're slicker than johnson wax
serendipity disowns you
'cause karma never forgets
an act of consequence
it's like an elephant
karma never forgets
to set up your blind date
with a femme fatale called fate
good fortune falls off the truck
and that cookie is not just luck
a corpse awakens at an Irish wake
and that is no mere lucky break
'cause karma never forgets
an act of providence
it's like an elephant
karma never forgets
to make you pay the fee
for a glimpse at destiny
grab a guitar and play
but it will play you, too, one day
'cause hey
turnabout's fair play
karma never forgets
intent that's good or ill
it overrules your will
karma never forgets
to aggregate the fee
for a stab at destiny
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2. |
Beautiful Career
03:22
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Gabriel, sound the trumpet
the oracle is here
ain't nobody's strumpet
is selling pretzels and beer
with a little Leonard Cohen
a little Philip Glass
a little love and thievery
the past is never past
your guitar or your manager
is somebody your friend
on whom you can depend
who loves you
so I limp and I lurk
I leap and I leer
craning my neck
to see your beautiful career
with a little David Wilcox
a little Philip Glass
a little borrowed scenery
the past is never past
who loves you, baby
who loves you
and your beautiful career
the floor is strewn with clippings
droppings from the press
ink stains and snippings
it's anybody's guess
if it's you who they're extolling
or some cipher of love
sweet adulation, baby
pennies from above
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3. |
Alive and Awake
04:00
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if we go broke in Kansas City
in Akron or Des Moines
we can jump into a fountain
go swimming with the coins
if we get heatstroke in Diego
we can sleep beneath a tree
if we get covered in a mudslide
we can go swimming in the sea
if we get sick in San Francisco
queasy from a quake
we can move the ocean inland
to the Great Salt Lake
baby
let's go anywhere but here
and maybe
this world will disappear
and if we're driving through the desert
straight into Santa Fe
maybe we'll keep moving
or maybe we'll stay, that way
baby
let's go anywhere but here
and maybe
this world will disappear
paint the side of the microbus
write 'alive and awake or bust'
and maybe
this world will disappear
paint the side of the microbus
shout 'alive and awake or bust'
and baby
this world will disappear
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4. |
Sail Seven
03:53
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we were born to sail the world
sail it to its end
on the stars we could depend
we were born to drift the earth
letters home to send
screaming in the city, Babylon, Babylon
shattered hourglass from a suicide bomb
poison in the water, baby, poison in the air
echoes in the alley of a suicide prayer
we were born to touch the sky
touch it with these dreams
we were born to burst it at the seams
and now we stand by root-bound
grounded at the scene
fleeing from the city, Absalom, Absalom
finding what's right in a fear of what's wrong
drink to the departed, baby, drink to your health
every man, every woman, every child for himself
I know we can still do
just what we want to do
let's just not leave it hanging like we do
sailing to the island, Avalon, Avalon
sail across the ocean when the city is gone
fortify the galley, baby, fortify the will
dream of a life in a house on a hill
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5. |
Hang
03:31
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climbed up on the bridge
and gazed at the water
one of those mindless sheep
or a lamb to the slaughter
what was in your mind
or was that out of reach
when they asked for your ID
and fished you off the beach
found your head in the oven
like a destiny manifest
collapsed upon the tile
awaiting your last breath
but nobody found you
morose and lying there
with nothing else to do
close to dying there
now tell me something
baby
why do you laugh at everything
drop the rope
and let's just hang
so you got yourself a gun
like a faux Soprano
but you shot a rhododendron
when you couldn't get a handle
what were you thinking
sometimes things get weird
but sometimes it's just fear
dragging you down
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6. |
Cuckold of Titan
04:27
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a lit cigarette in your hand
an old coffee stain on your pad
you surveyed a deep horizon
from a throne inside your head
from a lectern on a stage
from a peak far out of range
read the tablets on the mountain
wrote the words that filled the page
and you, you knew it was right
and you, you never gave up the fight
and you, you never lost track or sight
and that's good
so they made you
the cuckold of titan
one day they pulled a knife
like some unfaithful wife
and made somebody else their darling
just to complicate your life
now the twain won't ever meet
but you cannot accept defeat
will a posthumous ambition
light a coal that warms your nights
tastes change, tastes change
just a pilgrim on the road
writing from a bed of gloom
while trophies and their tarnish
fill the walls inside your room
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7. |
Foldback
03:11
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are you wandering in the forest
are you lost among the trees
are you following the North Star
are you down upon your knees
did you dream about a morning
when you'd wake up in the sun
did you fall in love with yearning
for some long-awaited one
catch the light
that warms your back
trade a spark on the breeze
for a bright new tack
soak in the starlight
when time folds back
on you
will you stand there in the fire
and resist the urge to call
will you climb the highest wire
while they wait for you to fall
see it coming
see it coming down on you
see it coming right on through
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8. |
Standby
04:20
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when I was a boy in school
there was a joy in every rule back then
and I was grateful
hanging on their every word
rendering the word absurd, my friend
but they were made to
I was a guileless fool
a little fish inside a pool
then I poured that wine for them
as I was inclined to, friend, back then
and I could taste it
squandering my every chance
that was how I learned to dance back then
it wasn’t wasted
tragicomic in my pain
I washed the wine right down the drain
but I will stand by you
as long as you want me to
the livelihood of loyalty
will help us pay the dues
then I picked that rose for them
like I was supposed to, friend, back then
and I could smell it
freedom with impunity
a golden opportunity back then
but who could tell it
hallucinating in the heat
I crushed the rose beneath my feet
keep my heart and hold my health
help me to forget myself
shed the trappings of my pride
show me how to breathe inside
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9. |
Are You My God
03:38
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you can take down all your mirrors
I don't need them anymore
you can board up all your windows
all I need tonight's a door
are you my god
you can gather up your visions
and you can lock them in a drawer
you can box up your religion
I don't need it anymore
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10. |
Sepia Eyes
03:58
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I saw the worlds pass
moments in an eyeglass
remnants of days past
known by no one
I dreamed of a flat line
stretching across time
a road with no road signs
except for the one
taxicabs on the streets
forgotten worlds beneath my feet
like those repros
of tintype photos
a moment when time froze
sepia eyes
I saw the angels
in the wishing well
but I couldn't tell
why they were there
life is a round line
stretching across time
throw them a thin dime
and then just stare
at the huddled sweethearts on the streets
remembered love at my feet
like those earthtones
written in sandstone
all of it unknown
sepia eyes
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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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