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.
1. |
Fairytale Tourist
03:16
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If you drop breadcrumbs while you’re off adventuring you’ll lose your way in darkness, so we’ve heard
We learn about their failures across the centuries but at least they got to feed some hungry birds
You can say that I’ve been clever or you can say that I’m a fool
But you know that I would never forget the lessons learned in nursery school
Let’s go out all dressed up fancy, make believe and take a chance on city lights (ba ba ba ba)
Wander out into the forest like some Grimm’s fairytale tourist, see the sights
Let me know or let me go.
Last night I dreamed that I was Cleopatra bound for Julius Caesar, wrapped up in a rug
When I awoke it wasn’t Alexandria, just cats and blankets tucked around me snug
And you can treat me like a peasant or you can treat me like a queen
But all that matters in the present is recognizing what I’ve never been
Let’s go out all dressed up fancy, make believe and take a chance on city lights (ba ba ba ba)
Wander out into the forest like some Grimm’s fairytale tourist, see the sights
Let me know or let me go.
And if I said that I was lonely or if I said I’m still afraid
You would know that it was only me making lemons out of lemonade
Let’s go out all dressed up fancy, make believe and take a chance on city lights (ba ba ba ba)
Wander out into the forest like some Grimm’s fairytale tourist, see the sights
Let me know or let me go.
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2. |
The Girl, America
02:54
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3. |
Octavia A
02:57
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Hey, Octavia A, she’s saving the day, she’s saving the day
Scandinavians say, “hej hej”
In Italian, “via” means “way”
Make way for Octavia A
La la la la la la la la …
She is a secret, never tell
She’s water in a wishing well
The pomegranate and the bell
Look at that Alice through the glass
She has no malice, only sass
She’s never callous, never crass
And if you stand her in the sunlight, she grows
And if you move her to the moonlight, she glows
Hey, Octavia A, she’s saving the day, she’s saving the day
Scandinavians say, “hej hej”
In Italian, “via” means “way”
Make way for Octavia A
La la la la la la la la …
I hope she never hates her hair
I hope her feet are often bare
I hope she fares well at the fairs
I hope she always wants to read
I hope she has all that she needs
I hope she’s always planting seeds
And if you stand her in the sunlight, she grows
And if you move her to the moonlight, she glows
Hey, Octavia A, she’s saving the day, she’s saving the day
Scandinavians say, “hej hej”
In Italian, “via” means “way”
Make way for Octavia A
La la la la la la la la …
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4. |
Queen Of The Meadow
03:13
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Henrietta Leavitt never got the credit for measuring the stars
Luminous and varied, numerous and buried treasure reservoir
The farther the candle the fainter the flame
The farther the scandal the fainter the name
I’m working like a milk maid, burning like a campfire
Trying to get the bills paid for my little vampire
I saw the sun rise on Thanksgiving morning
I saw the night turn to day without warning
And I’ve never been so afraid of the whole new world that we made
You’re working on the spiral trying to keep the rooms clean
Vanquishing the viral, wondering what the runes mean
We thought we knew but now we know
We thought we flew but now we flow
I’m working like a night nurse, trying to get the most out
Making all the fights worse for a little ghost mouth
And if you crown me the queen of the meadow
I’ll wear a gown made of leaves from the hedgerow
And I’ve never been so surprised by the whole new world we devised
Never a rainbow, barely a mouse
Never complain, don’t turn back and grouse
You’re working like a pool boy, passing out the beach towels
Trying to get the cool toys for your little screech owl
And when you crown me the queen of the meadow
I’ll wear a gown made of leaves from the hedgerow
And I’ve never been so elated by the whole new world we created
Henrietta Leavitt never got the credit for measuring the stars
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5. |
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Sophie in the streets of Stockholm, what’s she thinking?
Sophie in the streets of Stockholm, all alone
Staring up at the sky, eyes never blinking
Waiting for someone like me to take her home
And when they realize they’ve left her there, will they return and find her gone?
Or will they move along without a care as you and I, we travel on?
Sophie in the streets of Stockholm’s had her outings
(She’s moving on, she’s settled in)
Sophie in the streets of Stockholm’s had her fun
(She’s in a bathtub in Berlin)
As the people pass her, petulant and pouting
She’s already turned her face up to the sun
Her presence never fails to brighten us
We’re never sure what has occurred
And honestly, she sometimes frightens us
She has a way of being heard
Sophie in the streets of Stockholm
What are you waiting for?
Who are you waiting for?
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6. |
Midsommar
03:47
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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.
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7. |
Lammas Land
03:29
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Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
I can’t sleep so I just listen, listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
I can’t sleep
I hear the sound of the water coming down and the autumn all around
Listen, listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
You’re asleep so I just listen, listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
You’re asleep
I heard the sound of your breathing, up and down
Envy the peace that you have found
Listen, listen
It’s bad luck to sing in bed, that’s what my Nonna always said
So I keep the words inside my head
And count some sheep but I can’t sleep and rain falls on the rooftop
Listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
I can’t sleep so I just listen, listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
I can’t sleep
I hear the sound of the water as it falls from St. Mary’s at The Walls
Listen, listen
It’s bad luck to sing in bed, that’s what my Nonna always said
So I keep the words inside my head
And count some sheep but I can’t sleep and rain falls on the rooftop
Listen
Rain, rain falling on the rooftop
I can’t sleep so I just listen, listen
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8. |
Go Fly Your Kite
02:55
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Hey kids, do you want us to be your friends and tell you lies (yeah-eh)?
Your thinking is right: We're a rocket in flight
We're exactly who you want us to be.
Hey kids, would you suddenly feel let down, if we failed to make (yeah-eh!)
The top of the charts, capture everyone’s hearts?
We’re exactly as seen on TV
And when we make it, how we'll bask in the warmth of the lights.
You can tell all your mates at the party too late
That you knew all along you found us.
Hey kids, will we see you at next week's show?
Man, we need you around (yeah-eh!)
Attendance is low cause only coolest kids know
And it’s only coming out on cassette
And when we make it, how you'll bathe in the glow of delight.
Tell us how we sold out, it was never in doubt
Cause we knew all along that we found you
And when we make it somehow, feeling as high as a kite,
You can let out our string.
It's a wonderous thing when you're watching us soar in silence
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9. |
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In 1914, In Cincinnati, I saw you in my mind In the gilded age, in a gilded cage You were the last of your kind.
Once you darkened the skies above Now I’m mourning like a dove.
Why is my spring so silent? Where are the songs we once heard? Why is the sky so empty I could cry? How could this ever have occurred?
When did you fall from glory? What if this is the end? Who’s left to tell the story? When will I see you again?
When did you fall from glory? What if this is the end? So goodbye my one true love, farewell my turtle dove I’ll never see you again.
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10. |
Good Hope
04:57
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When clipper captains sailed their old wooden ships across the wild and windy seas
They said their prayers for safe, good fast trips; loaded their cargo, grain and teas
They had good hope, good hope
Sometimes they sailed past the fearsome Cape Horn, clung to their memories and rope
Sometimes they’d sail away to Australia and past the place they called Good Hope
And it’s two sides of the same coin, isn’t it?
It could be worse
All the small moments in a small world in one big universe
I read your journals, the letters bold and swirling
The covers covered in gray dust
Retraced your fingerprints, the pages curling where you wrote, “We all do what we must”
But it takes, good hope, good hope
I wondered how very few words aloud carried and if the sun would really set
And away from the crowds very soft hints of cloudberry
And that’s as close as I could get
And it’s two sides of the same coin, isn’t it?
It could be worse
All the small moments in a small world in one big universe
And it’s two sides of the same coin, isn’t it?
It could be worse
All the strange moments in a strange world in one big universe
We need good hope, good hope ...
I’ve got a lighthouse you can borrow
You’ll give it back to me tomorrow
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The Corner Laughers Redwood City, California
Clever wordplay, magical melodies and heartbreaking harmonies.
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