Get all 4 Carlton Hesston releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Metal In Your Spine/Sorry, He's Not Normally Like This, The Border, Ain't A Shame, and Burnt Offering.
1. |
Burnt Offering
03:29
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So you're the new religion
The one I gotta worship on
So pure the superstition
Super position
Here or gone
Is it true what they say
Love is free and truth is gray
At the end of the day
All the pipers have been paid
Do you want to be
A burnt offering
Do you want to see
What lies underneath
Black and blue tried and true
Kill the old and love the new
No worries man it's the plan
God is dead and so is man
Do you want to be
A burnt offering
Do you want to see
What lies underneath
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2. |
My Baby's Dead
02:50
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She's got a wicked way
Of turning me around
She gets all of my friends to dive her all over town
She's taller than an oak tree barely rooted in the ground
She's gonna burn out fast if she doesn't slow down
But none of that really matters
Cause my baby's dead
She's got a sick sense of agility when I'm around
She can bend over backwards to prove that she's my only gal
But when the lights are off and she is really down
She could be right next to me but on Venus' cloudy ground
But none of the really matters
Cause my baby's dead
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3. |
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I'm only drinking cause you're here
So order me another beer
Few years ago you were so dear
Now it all seems crystal clear
I'm only drinking cause you're here
I'm only angry cause you left
Left me so strung out bereft
My heart the target of your theft
You took it in a word quite deft
I'm only angry cause you left
I wish I didn't miss your smile
Haven't seen it in a while
Your legs go for a fucking mile
To say you're ugly is denial
I wish I didn't miss your smile
I wish you couldn't see me cry
If you only ask I'd tell you why
But you only seem to pass me by
Won't even try to catch my eye
Wish you couldn't see me cry
I'm on drinking cause you're here
So order me another beer
Few years ago you were so dear
But now it all seems crystal clear
I'm only drinking cause you're here
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4. |
Roses
03:24
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You took one look at the Garden
Said that it's overgrown
You have too many roses
And not enough loam
But after I ripped them up
And spread out my seed
You came back around
Said there's so much more work to be done
I screamed as the thorns
Ripped into my sides
As the roots tangled round me
I laid down and cried
But after my work in the unforgiving sun
You came back around said there's so much more work to be done
So I tear the roots out
And you plant them in
Is this my penance
For your unthinking sin
I'm not a savior or a reaper of souls
And you're not the messianic master of all
I cannot save the garden that I've grown
And you cannot save yourself from the fall
So I tear the roots out
And you plant them in
Is this my penance
For your unthinking sin
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5. |
Bernays
05:16
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You out there
Do you see the real me
Do you care
You with her
Don you see what you have done
Are you sure
When time and time again I see
The anger that is within me
No one ever knows
No one knows
When time and time again I've found
A reason to lead my hands astray
No one ever goes away
Look out there
Are they burning in the sunlight
Do they care
Look at me
Are you looking at a man
Or a machine
When time and time again I see
The anger that is within me
No one ever knows
No one knows
When time and time I've found
A reason to lead my hands astray
No one ever goes away
Away
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6. |
Venus Obfuscating
04:28
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Wrote you a letter a mile long today
But a lightyear couldn't say
What it is you are beneath that soft warm skin
That made my weary head dream
But rosy eyes deceived what was plain to see
In what your blushing cheeks bequeathed
I wish I'd known I didn't need ya before I met ya babe
You got me burnin'
Yearnin' for the days when life was simple
I hope that you're still waiting for me to call
All you did was break us down and put up your walls
You had your bags packed babe
But you weren't strong enough to carry them on your own
I guess that's where I came in
A means to your end
A dead captain for the end of your war
Maybe I used you as much as you used me
And all the stars at night I see (I stay awake all night and stare at stars that used to be)
Are like looking in your eyes
Wherein indifference lies
But light still tries its best to shine
I wish I'd never known I needed ya before I met ya babe
You got me yearnin'
Burnin' for the days when life was simple
I hope that you're still waiting for me to call
All you did was break us down and put your walls
Every day I wake up terrified you'll be on my mind
Cause even in dreams there's nothing left to find
All you are is what I wish you were
All I am is what traits you affirm
I wanna tell you now if things don't work out
To call me like you used to do
I can forget the pain and if you show me the way
You can love me like you used to do
But I don't think you will
Our love is something you killed when you needed to survive
I'm gonna die alone
And when the silence calls me home there'll only be the sound of your singing
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7. |
Daydream Blues
03:14
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If I had birds they'd be doves
And I'd give 'em to the ones I've told I love
If I had gas I'd fill up a van
And give it to the friends I've kicked out of my bands
If I had time I'd write a song for every person I care about that I've wronged
If I had a house I'd have land too
And I'd save all the animals people use for food
If I had money I'd give it up
To the people that make all my country's stuff
If I had a stage I'd build a cross and die for all the lives Jesus forgot
If you wrote a book I'd read every page
And fill it with notes and coffee stains
If you had a bed I'd ask for sleep
And lie awake all night and think
If you gave an inch I'd take a mile and feel like shit when I see you every once in a while
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8. |
Ostensible Flowers
03:21
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Set me on your window make the view so nice and pretty
You keep me there in a constant stare when you're too tired to hit the city
You wear me out like string in a bow then you stay so stoic and cool
'Til you want me gone cause I'm too close or too far that's how you make me look like a fool
It's so easy for you to hold me close
Cause you can't be alone and you don't love me
You made me out to be the bouquet that you caught after all those weddings
But here we lay nothing to think or say shaking hands like it's heavy petting
I don't mean to say you weren't breath to me when I was suffocating
But you turned around and I found you out
I'm just the flowers on the grave of your past
It's so easy for you to hold me close
Cause you can't be alone and you don't love me
You done me wrong yeah you done fucked up you're telling friends of ours that I'm cruel
But you're so crazy I think it's amazing anyone can think they know you at all
It just goes to show you only love the unknown that you can make into what you need
But it's the ostensible love that's got me mad that you're gone but I'll just pick some flowers of my own
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9. |
Confessions
03:48
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I wish I would've been the man you know today
A year or two ago when I was scared of the rain
And that you would've seen me waiting for your sweet black cherry smile
Before I knew your name I drank on fire and blood
Never thought that any death would ever be enough
Cause every pregnant silence that soothed me turned out to be stillborn
Darlin' can't you see I'm just too old for your youth
See you're very mature but the things that I've been through
They're enough to make a man not wish himself on an enemy
People I've held close will tell you I'm the worst
I periodically agree but man what's it worth?
I've spent more time asleep at the wheel than I have in bed
A succubus once told me that I lack a soul
I shrugged it off at the time but now I'm not so sure
I spend every day thinkin' 'bout people I never meant to hurt
Liars thieves and killers tend to eat pretty well
So I stay hungry cause I'd rather live in shit than a cell
But still the question begs the answer 'Who am I to starve?'
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10. |
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My world was blue and you were gold and my favorite color's green don't you know?
But when appraised the shine that swayed me proved my eye a fool and softest bed a stone
And so I walked for weeks beneath an opaque ceiling made of cotton black as coal
From which tears of love and war fell like metaphors in stories we've all told
And though the smiles that you gave me died in the air made sweeter by your laugh
Memories are rings in trees so my cheeks might rise and blush in presents passed
And when the anger that replaced you isn't all I have to keep safe from the cold
The light and warmth of brighter skies might make this old heart's face seem soaked in what makes souls
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11. |
Behind These Bars
02:45
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Well life is pretty funny when you look at it from more than one angle
Seems my friends of every race are living their lives at the mercy of a gavel
Seems that all my friends are living their life behind bars
Be them wrought in iron or libations to the stars
Well it's a dangerous business walking out your God damn front door
Look at the wrong many funny and he might just take away your car
Seems that all my friends are living their life behind bars
Be them wrought in iron or libations to the stars
Well my eyes ain't bloodshot I'm just looking out
for all my friends whose lives never rally panned out
And I'm not drinking water but it hydrates me
From this old stupid world and it's hypocrisy
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12. |
Ain't A Shame
04:05
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Ain't no shame in lovin' too much
Just get yours 'til you get enough
Just keep it safe keep it clean
Ain't no shame in you lovin' me
Ain't no shame in your size or shape
What some shame some appreciate
Just do you and get your lovin' on
Find someone that gives you what you want
Ain't no shame in not bein' straight
Woman man trans or in between
Just do you and get your lovin' on
Cause if it's love you can't do wrong
Ain't no shame in bein' young
Ain't no shame in bein' dumb
Just get a grip on your head
Cause you know we're all gonna wind up dead
Don't be hatin' if you're alone
Or if you've got one and don't want more
We come in peace so if you want more
I'll get mine get yours
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13. |
Dead Birds
02:51
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I'm a happy go lucky loud obnoxious clumsy son of a bitch
Head in my hands when I'm not keeping up appearances
I drink my water from the river and my wine from a plastic cup
Always trying to move on, walking 'til I can't stand up
I hope I make enough time to leave most of life behind
And all the people I'm surrounded by everywhere all the time
My yard is full of dead birds that flapped their wings and couldn't fly away
And if they did the cats sittin' on the fence would eat them anyway
And the dogs would still bark cause they got nothin' better to do
Except pretend to be free and wait for God to bring them food
Jupiter will never be a sun but it's still a really nice planet
Tragedy can save you from demise but you'd never ever know it
Singer of mercy please come to me in the morn
Your love makes me feel I'm worth the things that I can't afford
I wish the whole wide world was as beautiful as I find you
But then I'd never know my good from bad and I'd be so confused
Because my yard is full of dead birds that flapped their wings and couldn't fly away
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14. |
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I think I'm losing my mind
All my friends have died to me
I can feel the cool wind feel my hot blood flow
The planet that I'm on is too small for my world
I'll probably end up alone but that's alright with me
I mostly find that people crab and when they don't they shark
I find most people end where my beginning starts
And I'm smoking joints and drinkin' black coffee from a truck stop cup
Singing to myself about the woes of the world, but who can sing alone when life's a dirge?
I think I'll take a trip and lose my mind for a little while if I can
There's things I'll never forget but still I'll try to subside
The way my baby killed me when she said goodbye
Cause I'm all alone and it's nothing new
Maybe I'm just a stone upon where travelers step
And mine is time and it doesn't forgive
Cause I'm smoking joints and drinkin' black coffee from a truck stop cup
Singing to myself as I ride out this purge, but who can sing alone when life's a dirge?
Well I don't want to die on my hands and knees
Believing in a man who don't believe in me
I don't want to die behind a church pew with some old Holy roller telling me What I got to do
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Watch the men toil all damn day for a spit of land and an early grave
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
Do the crucifixion
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15. |
One of These Days
04:08
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Not all who wander are lost they say
But wanderlust is in my DNA
Just moving on and observing the plot
Chimpanzees pretending that they're not that crazy
I used to get up at 6 and go to work
I used to get off at 4 and go home
And I can't say if I didn't want that life
Or if I just failed every time I tried
One of these days I'll settle down again
'Til then I'm smoking weed and saying fuck that shit
I thought that the problem was me when I didn't fit in to that Arkansas scene
DIdn't take long before I found out the less you fit in the more you realize 'bout the world
I could have sold out and pretended
To be a normal guy instead
And I can't say if I didn't want that life
Or if I just failed every time I tried
One of these days I'll settle down again
'Til then I'm smoking weed and saying fuck that shit
I told her that I couldn't stay where I was and that I'd miss her and i'd miss her love
She told me that it would all be ok 'cause there's no place in the world I can stay where I am
I was born in 1992
My parents took care of me and fed me
And I can't say if I didn't want that life
Or if I just failed every time I tried
One of these days I'll settle down again
'Til then I'm smoking weed and saying fuck that shit
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