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Put Singing Birds Into Your Messy Hair

by Canada

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1.
Bring fire to the children bring water to the aging and torture all the clouds until it rains sing songs into ditches as we pass along in searching til we find the curse that’s causing all our pains Throw stones into the sky and drag the sky into the ocean and hold the ocean calmly in your hands and water all the deserts til the roses are all blooming make windows made of glass from all the sand Shake math out of the stars cork laughter in this old jar put singing birds into your messy hair and make clothes out of the leaves that fell from atop the old tree that stood for years and years just over there Kill gods with a kiss steal sunshine from the moon’s lips build boats of reeds against the coming storm dream histories at night wake up and pull the sails tight keep rowing til we reach the farthest shore
2.
Milk 04:27
Oh when we laid in the grass oh with our bodies laid so flat Oh when we felt the time pass oh when we looked through the glass We saw your daughter with skin so rosy and fair we saw flickering light that danced with the air and the angels and saints are wagging their tongues while that silvery light danced on brother and son Oh when milk rained down from the sky it stained our clothes it stung in my eyes We saw the birds were circling high they blocked out the sun we watched them all fly
3.
We are not the garden wall the one that blocked the sun when you were small because it stood so tall We are not the wrecking ball the one that made your ancient houses fall your families and all When you die your words are all made true your habits become you and everything is new We are not the handmade sail that cracks its luffs when winds have failed it turns your face so pale No, we are not the handmade sail the one that bends beneath the gale held fast by rusty nails When you die your words are all made true your habits become you and everything is new Oh, when you die your promises renew your friends they call come through
4.
Old Road 04:11
There once was an old road that as children we’d pass of old sun-bleached bones and of brown withered grass and old men with guitars who would sing as they would laugh The birds in the meadows would all turn into kites we’d sail through the morning until it was night the wolves would be howling at the full moon’s first light The trees had all learned to sing amen, amen the mountains learned to shake and churn and finally ascend where clouds would send lightning to give us our end The road is all overgrown with poppies and thorns it no longer leads anywhere, it no longer leads home the moon no longer sets out, the moon no longer roams the old road
5.
The walking song began last spring I felt the grass soft under my feet underneath our family tree with arms round each other we grieved in the green The currents sway to and fro and everyone that I know will give in they’ll all give in some sickness so sweet will wear them so thin I’ve been so long without a home and we all have sins to atone buried deep those boxes keep the sounds of half-hearted laughter and wholehearted grief and all will pray for relief
6.
Lumberyard 03:37
The axe in my hand cuts only at branches cuts not at the bark its toughness is far too much for this blade all rusted and lame as the ice trickles down and covers this town in the lumberyard thaw This ice in my hands in my head it demands melts away when we all fly south for the fall when we cover the streets in dust from the trees as our bodies flow out down rivers, past towns spilling out like a sound laying beds in the ground of the lumberyard This axe in my hand cuts only at branches cuts not at the bark its toughness is far too much
7.
We drove to the hills and took off all our clothes all the beasts gathered round and heard our stories told Our bodies were so tired from walking through the night the air began to thin distant we heard singing And the children sang from their homes in the ground sang so sweet with the words they had found shining teeth were the jewels in the crowns we said naught, we were struck down by the sound
8.
Lived through a winter lived through a spring the seasons don’t mean nothing when the seasons cease to sing When the seasons cease to sing the trouble then is deep as deep as the oceans of the earth on which we sleep The earth on which we sleep bluebottles, jays and sparrows take to the skies as arrows the wind for them to keep Their eyes are wells whose bottoms you can’t reach Lived through a winter lived through a spring the seasons don’t mean nothing when the seasons cease to sing When the seasons cease to sing the trouble then is deep as deep as the oceans of the earth on which we sleep The earth on which we sleep foxes, wolves, and wild dogs snake through the trees as night falls the fields for them to keep Their eyes are wells whose bottoms you can’t reach and the harvest comes but there’s nothing there to reap and the clouds cover the sun and banish the heat so, sing a song to us to help us face our defeat
9.
It came from the river, making nighttime from the day Driven from our fields, we huddled closely and whispered quietly Oh cruel leviathan We prayed for salvation Braying and snarling beasts were given to the sky Moving and crumbling, ever marching, coming nigh Oh cruel leviathan We prayed for salvation We had gathered our courage, we had prayed to the sky We had gathered our things and walked east in the night The air thick, and smelling of rotting bones, had choked our vision The creaking of the floorboards, we did not dare make a sound Oh cruel leviathan We prayed for salvation Hopeful thoughts were flooding to come and wash away our sins From the burning and the breaking, ever watching frightful eyes.
10.
Across red desert plains through valleys and endless remarks in the rain through the last things remembered in pain we fly, we fly Will we die in an aeroplane for how long will the last few dull seconds remain will we ever be happy again we fly, we fly She turns and she mutters my name letting out one last breath as I wave and her face says to me will you write when you leave will I know where you'll be I drive but it tires my brain they will find us together asleep in the flames we cry out across the mountains in vain and we die, we die And in death we will live without games we will wish we will want to have life back again and in death we will live without names for we die, we die She turns and she mutters my name letting out one last breath as I wave and her face says to me will you write when you leave will I know where you'll be And I will erase and rebuild what I've been and everything’s dumb that you think is a sin and everyone new will know where to begin and they will come find you and they’ll call you friend And I will erase and rebuild what I've been and everything’s dumb that you think is a sin and everyone new will know where to begin and they will come find you and they'll call you friend

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released November 19, 2021

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Canada Ann Arbor, Michigan

We are a folk rock band from Ann Arbor, MI

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