King's Daughters Home For Incurables, by Karla Kane

King's Daughters Home For Incurables

by Karla Kane

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Emma Winston 'I don't know if this machine can kill fascists/Maybe annoying them's all right for now'. Perfect. Favorite track: King's Daughters Home For Incurables.

lemmysven Beautiful melodies, just amazing, highly recommended!!

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Karla Kane's debut solo album on CD, featuring simple, eco-friendly cardboard jacket and lovely photography by Khoi Huynh and Richard Youell.

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Get all 12 The Corner Laughers releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Halsway Carol / The Winter of Life (Big Stir Single #108.5), Temescal Telegraph, Goodguy Sun, King's Daughters Home For Incurables, Don't Hush, Darling (Charity single), Matilda Effect, Drinkin' Horn, To The Donkeys Of Barron Park EP, and 4 more. , and , .

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1.	King's Daughters Home For Incurables 04:01	lyrics	buy track
The queen of the west said her peaches were best she'd give you a taste for a mushroom or two The queen of the east didn't come to the feast She said, "I've seen enough of what peaches can do" And that was a long time ago I don't even know why I told you But that's how these songs tend to go Be happy with what I've just sold you I wanted to be an English folk singer A new Shirley Collins, the next Cecil Sharp And I would restore the folk songs to my people Armed with their history, my voice and a harp But I was a Golden State girl And I didn't have any people and that was the olden-day world And I couldn't climb up that steep hill A terrible troll lived up in his tower Surrounded by minions who couldn't say no And it was our role to take back the power To turn our opinions up high as they'd go I went to the King's daughters home I wanted to know how to fix you I stood under that starry dome and learned all damage their tricks do I went to the King's daughters home I wanted a cure for what ailed you I stood in the gloom of the gloam and heard all the ways I had failed you I don't know if this machine can kill fascists but maybe annoying them's alright for now I'm not very loud, you're rarely the brashest But we can make trouble together somehow Come on, let's make trouble together somehow
2.	Wishing Tree 03:21	lyrics	buy track
What'll we do when the tour is over? And we wake up before it’s light Make chai in the dark; try and write Helen and Mark What'll we do when the tour is over? Set all the magicians free Go send them to the wishing tree What'll we do when the grass is greener? Or the afternoons no longer gold? Leave salad for the gods; find it with our dowsing rods What'll we do when the grass is greener? Take out the ignition key Go hang it from the wishing tree And if you hear that Yorkshire string band Lie back down and think of England Marmite toast on equinoxes Starlight coast and frequent foxes Choose a branch and tie a ribbon Take a chance you'll be forgiven We're all forgiven And if you find you're missing me Go tell it to the wishing tree
3.	Skylarks Of Britain 03:21	lyrics	buy track
Rosie Abbott had a rabbit in the library Cosy habits, books, oh yeah, but also songs lovely And, oh, how we loved to sing ‘em, traveled all the way to Bingham Just for lovely Rosie’s rabbit in the library Lorna Morris sang the chorus in the grocery Cooking for us, tea she’d pour us, get our toast for free And, oh, anyone who heard would travel all the way to Birdwood Just for lovely Lorna’s chorus in the grocery All you skylarks of Britain, high marks are written for you All you bright druid daughters, write fluid waters anew
4.	The Lilac Line 02:41	lyrics	buy track
I woke up to a space in the ceiling in the shape of a circle that lets the sunlight in I spoke up to let you know how I was feeling, I wouldn't let you go to work ill or let the gunfight win You said I know that we'll be fine riding the Lilac Line I know that there's still good deep in the Dersingham wood Little Apple, I could live forever in you I woke up to the scent of eucalyptus or the sound of ukuleles, lost in the Dreamtime again And someday I'll say exactly what I'm thinking, make you spit out the tea you're drinking, and then it's tea time again I said I know that we'll be fine riding the Lilac Line I know that there's still good deep in the Dersingham wood Lolly Leopard, I could live forever with you Snowdrop, bluebell Grow up, do well If I could freeze this moment like an insect in the amber fossilize the way your eyes light up, your voice's timbre Well... Little Apple, I could live forever in you Lolly Leopard, I could live forever with you
5.	Don't Hush, Darling 02:56	lyrics	buy track
Don't hush, darling. Go 'head and cry Like those starlings, fill up the sky Don't be afraid to take up space; you should be seen And don't choose princess when you should be the queen Don't hush, darling. You know the words Like a starling or priceless mockingbird Don't be afraid to use your voice; say what you mean And don't take princes when you should be the queen Don't want to always wonder what might have been So don't choose princes(s) when you should be the queen
6.	Mother Of The Future 01:06	lyrics	buy track
Seed, stem, flowers, fruit Leaves, branches, trunk and root Touch the corn maiden, her hair is like silk Soft in their fingers like berries in milk They've tilled all her fields, they've crowned her with gold See, she is fruitful and never grows old "Touch the corn maiden," they say, "make her cry" They've covered the ground, petitioned the sky They've ploughed and watered, their seeds buried deep "We've done all we can," they say, "let us reap" But she doesn't answer, her braids turned dust They whisper and worry, their plans discussed She greets them with silence, her eyes are white The vultures all circle, blocking the light "We've done it all," they say, "reap what we've sown" And the corn maiden says, "leave me alone." Another is the mother of the future now
7.	Under The Oak In May 03:09	lyrics	buy track
If you sleep under the oak in May take care, you may be spirited away seasons pass in just a day under the oak in May A maiden under the oak did lay When she awoke her hair was gray Flesh to bone, become a crone under the oak in May Earth keeps spinning Births, beginnings What's the same, what has changed? Midwife eye sees Midlife crises Some familiar, some strange If you sleep under the oak in May take care, you may be spirited away seasons pass in just a day under the oak in May
8.	Midsommar 03:35	lyrics	buy track
Ley lines and their traces formed a map of ancient places where We walked together from Jerusalem to Rome. The puddles formed a mini-Nile, turned inches into many miles Followed in your footsteps from the train station to home. And I could see us on Midsummer's Day in circles heralded by stones. And I could cast us in a mummer's play and we would never feel alone. You and I are stained-glass windows, not surprised the way that wind blows. And out among the megaliths I wish that we could stay like this. We spun together under orbs of stormy stars. The lights of Swindon overheard, the fields of clover for our bed. Followed in the drumbeats of those druids in the yard. And I could see us on Midsummer's Day in circles heralded by stones. And I could cast us in a mummer's play and we would never feel alone. You and I are stained-glass windows, not surprised the way that wind blows.
9.	The Weight Of Acorns 03:26	lyrics	buy track
The smokey sky, the oak and I Awoke to find a cinnamon-shade world The crimson leaves hid in my sleeves The amber-ember-autumn flag unfurled And I can hear it falling with the weight of acorns Wondering for how much longer I can take more The steady pitter patter from on high We open our umbrellas to the weight of acorns Crashing through the branches as they wait, then break more Percussive and persistent lullaby The vibrant air, a silent prayer The violet, iridescent morning light A vesper dream, a whispered scream The morning turns to evening turns to night And I can hear it falling with the weight of acorns Wondering for how much longer I can take more The steady pitter patter from on high We open our umbrellas to the weight of acorns Crashing through the branches as they wait, then break more Percussive and persistent lullaby
10.	All Aboard 04:17	lyrics	buy track
All aboard All you souls in need of saving All you roads in need of paving, all aboard Gather ‘round All you hearts in need of breaking All you earths in need of quaking, all aboard Queasy and terrified That's the normal now So please won't you verify it with a formal vow All aboard There's a train that’s in the station Come and join the mass migration, all aboard All aboard Off the rails across the nation Don't forget the red carnation, all aboard And if you're a ghost now Be careful whom you haunt Remember your two children: ignorance and want All aboard All you tears in need of mending All you worlds in need of ending, all aboard All aboard All you tired, you poor, you hungry All you lonely, lost, unlucky, all aboard Come sinner and debtor Come in and shake my hand Come in and know me better, man.
11.	Grasshopper Clock 03:08	lyrics	buy track
Ants in the sugar bowl are something to behold  Shining in the silverware like little specks of gold  Milling through the sweetness like bees in honeycomb  You'll put it in your tea when we can bring some money home  Pendulum swings, energy's unlocked Counting down the seconds like a grasshopper clock  Down by the river where the water meets the dock  We're rowing in the rhythm of the grasshopper clock  When I see a lovely flower I can't help but pick it  When you look to me for answers all you get is crickets   Stone on stone, brick upon the block  Munching up the minutes like the grasshopper clock Wings take flight, people take a walk  And end up all together at the grasshopper clock  I saw the sky today, the colors made me feel so lowly I saw the world outside my window below, turning slowly   When I see a perfect surface then I'll want to nick it  When you ask me for solutions all I'll give is crickets   Heartbeats start like small electric shocks Going through the motions like a grasshopper clock  Round I go and on your door I'll knock  Saying meet me in an hour at the grasshopper clock   The world passeth away and lust thereof will vanish with it  They'll say it's for the best but I will miss it, oh, I'll miss it  When I find a puddle then I'll always want to kick it When I try out new ideas all I get it is ...crickets

about

Karla Kane’s debut solo album, “King’s Daughters Home for Incurables,” leads listeners into an intriguing land of acorns and tea leaves; feminism and fairy tales; pagan pop and pastoral protest songs; whimsical wanderings and sharp observations on the current state of the world. It’s a place for chronic worriers, hopeless romantics, Anglophiles, patriarchy smashers and gentle dreamers, where sunny California indie meets melancholy English folk and the redwood meets the oak.

The first solo release from the singer/songwriter/uke player of The Corner Laughers, the creation of this enchanting acoustic collection was inspired partly by the tours of England she’s undertaken over the past few years. Recorded over a few weeks at home, rather than in a studio with a producer, the album is Kane at her most independent and intimate, with sweet vocals and songwriting at the forefront. Themes include anxious thoughts on motherhood and the passing of time, the search for “home,” and a deep desire to summon optimism and hope in a dark world.

Many of the songs were written under the shade of a beloved oak tree in Kane’s California backyard. Armed with a laptop, her ukulele and a single microphone, she recorded them, usually in the evening, after her young daughter was tucked into bed.

But the simplicity of the set-up doesn’t mean the album is short on sonic riches. Though it has DIY, backyard-pop roots, the album expands its scope from the micro to the macro level. Woven into to many of the songs are the astonishing nature recordings of Richard Youell, which bring the sounds of the English countryside (buzzing beehives, dawn choruses, rainstorms) alive in harmony with Kane’s music. And though it’s officially a solo album, “King’s Daughters Home For Incurables” includes a number of notable guest appearances from England and beyond, including Kane’s songwriting hero Martin Newell (Cleaners from Venus), who contributes vocals and poetry to “Wishing Tree.”

Concerned Corner Laughers fans, take heart. All three of Kane’s fellow band members appear here, with husband/bandmate Khoi Huynh taking on co-producer duties as well accompanying her on most songs on a variety of instruments (including on two remakes of Corner Laughers works). Listeners familiar with Kane’s previous catalogue will recognize the clever, literate lyric style, and ethereal melodies and harmonies highlighted in her new, folk-inflected direction.

Everyone, at some point, feels like an “incurable” in search of a home. With Kane’s new album, listeners are invited to share in the mix of beauty and confusion in which we all find ourselves in these times. All aboard.

credits

released October 6, 2017

All songs by Karla Kane (BMI) except "Weight of Acorns," by Kane/Huynh (BMI).

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The Corner Laughers Redwood City, California

"Their indie pop is sassy and smart, intelligent and intricate, twee with bite" - The Guardian

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