1. |
Hollow Bones
03:55
|
|||
2. |
All You Pretty Vandals
04:12
|
|||
|
ALL YOU PRETTY VANDALS
(Neill)
You cut your teeth on breaking things
Like any demon boy does
Now its on to bigger and better things
Like any true destroyer
Nothing built in this world that can’t be torn down faster
Laughing over spilt milk you’re a walking disaster
A walking disaster
All you pretty vandals, so happy with your destruction
All you pretty vandals, so pleased so pleased
You breakers of hearts with your riots and your scandals
Have you come to wreck the place and leave?
She commands the room when she walks in
With a smile just north of deadly
The eyes look up the heads all spin
She’s got them where she wants them
It’s all so simple the game is too easy to play
She’s always on the lookout for more elusive prey
More elusive prey
All you pretty vandals…
Wreck the place
The chaos that you celebrate, it leaves you a shambles
The temples that you desecrate, full of false and fallen idols
Beauty is mundane but its the method of your plunder
A path of ruin behind you and is it any wonder
You feel yourself going under
Wreck the place
|
||||
3. |
She Came Alive
02:50
|
|||
|
SHE CAME ALIVE
(Neill)
A shock of hair hanging in her face,
The camera loves her shy beauty
It sees what most people miss
It captures her defiance, a feral look right back at you
Her longing and her restlessness
Holed up in a railroad apartment
Bound together in a dance
The needle lands on black vinyl
Spinning spinning in a trance
Spinning spinning in a trance
She came alive in a shower of sparks, she came alive,
illuminate the dark. She came alive she came alive
She came alive she came alive
Daytime found them bathed in light,
Sun shafts through dirty windows
Clothes flung in the corner,
Pile of sheets on the unmade bed
Every scrap has purpose,
Some memory some meaning
All stored up in her dreaming head
He melts into the city
Bound to her by impossible love
Strays into the subways and alleys
Night coming on like a flood
Night coming on like a flood
He came alive in a blinding flash, he came alive
in a culture clash
He came alive he came alive he came alive he came alive
They would walk around this town for years and never tire
Living life at crooked angles, reckoning with desire
Crooked angles bodies tangled reaching ever higher
Higher and higher
Manahatta marches onward
In a state of constant change
His love lives on inside in her
Ever splendid ever strange
Ever splendid ever strange
|
||||
4. |
In With A Shout
04:12
|
|||
|
IN WITH A SHOUT
(Lyrics: Neill, Music: Lyster /Emerson/ Moen/ Neill)
I cut my teeth on breaking things
Gravel spitting out behind my tires
Tearing my clothes in the canebrake
Setting the woods on fire
Setting the woods on fire
From the far flung open fields of home
To the concrete, ash, and empire
I crossed that bridge then struck a match
Set the city on fire
Set the city on fire
In on a chance
In with a shout
In on a chance
In with a shout
Set loose into the open night
From the cages of the day
A fawn eyed girl took me in her arms
And carried me away
Carried me away
On the killing fields of endeavor
I stake my claim on solid ground
A gang of immortals to walk beside
Taking my guns to town
Taking my guns to town
In on a chance
In with a shout
|
||||
5. |
Vanish Away
04:40
|
|||
|
VANISH AWAY
(Neill, based on “Moon is Goin’ Down” by Rev. Gary Davis)
Moon gone down vanish away, vanish away, vanish away
Moon gone down vanish away, vanish away, vanish away
Every star gonna disappear, disappear, disappear
Every star gonna be disappeared, disappeared, disappeared
Somebody stole away my love, prey tell me where she is
She’s the only one can ease my mind prey tell me where she is
That big bright sun he refuses to shine,
Refuses to shine, refuses to shine
That big bright sun he refuses to shine,
Refuses to shine, refuses to shine
Somebody stole away my love, prey tell me where she is
She’s the only one can ease my mind prey tell me where she is
Moon gone down vanish away, vanish away, vanish away
Moon gone down vanish away, vanish away, vanish away
|
||||
6. |
The Dark Divide
04:24
|
|||
|
DARK DIVIDE
(Neill)
Where i wander
Under and over
High mountain
Canyon cover
Cover me
Cover you
I lost myself to be found anew
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
Where you stumble
On rocky meadow
Open ridge line
Bloom and wither
Wither me
Wither you
I lost myself to be found anew
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
This madness breaks over me in waves
Remember the days
Remember the days
Cover me
Cover you
I lost myself to be found anew
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
Out on the dark divide
|
||||
7. |
Signal Reach
04:21
|
|||
|
SIGNAL REACH (Neill)
so you say so you say
what is this between us?
does it have a name? does it have a name?
does it follow reason?
can it bridge? can it bridge the distance forever?
what is this between us?
what is this between us?
so i ask so i ask
what is this feeling about you?
i feel it too know it's true
but i don't know what it means
it brings me calm, brings me peace
your footsteps seem familiar
what is this feeling about you?
what is this feeling about you?
so we go to the beach in half light half remembered
up upon Signal Reach sunbathed in royal splendor
i see you i see you leaning on the fender of your car
just within reach, laughing, light as a feather
in half light half remembered
in half light half remembered
lovers are thieves, thieves
i will be one with honor
a faithful heart, a faithful heart
in a weary land
so young and true, young and true
sad and free forever
i will be a thief with honor
i will be a thief with honor
the like in you to the like in me
|
||||
8. |
My Little Dark Rose
04:28
|
|||
|
MY LITTLE DARK ROSE
(Neill)
Steel bridge at sundown walking along over the poisoned water
Skyline of the city covered in grey fog
We’ve seen the seasons come and go
The clouds roll in, storm by storm
The people flood in on a great migration
Give me destruction
Sharpen the edge
Let me walk on shattered glass
Down Belmont and 10th
Out to our western hills and east out to the mountain
Blooming in the valley
My little dark rose
My little dark rose
Be not sad for all that’s happened here
The littered hearts and broken bodies
The days roll into each other
And the ghosts they grow in number
These sodden boots are worn through
This pea coat still smells like smoke
The taste of brown liquor lingers on my tongue
Give me destruction
Sharpen the edge
Let me walk on shattered glass
Down Division and 10th
Tell me of the sweetbriar and your red american beauty
Far beyond compare is
My little dark rose
My little dark rose
Shine darkness shine darkness
Shine darkness shine
Long the journey from yesterday until today
We walk the streets together through the asphalt waste
Sisters of the road, brothers on the corners
Looking for the promised plenty, that seems so out of reach
Standing on the steel bridge in the drizzle and the grey
I hear music on each side of me and I sing its refrain
It’s the sound of Greg Sage, turn up “The Chill Remains”
Dead Moon lighting a fire in the western world
No matter where I run to or how far I stray
I will always return to you, nestled in your thorns
And somewhere in the numbers in an old man bar
Are the ones who won’t forsake you
My little dark rose
My little dark rose
And somewhere in the numbers in an old man bar
Are the ones who won’t forsake you
My little dark rose
My little dark rose
|
||||
9. |
No Earthly Pleasure
03:39
|
|||
|
NO EARTHLY PLEASURE
(Neill)
You don’t know me, you don’t see me
I am distant, i am fleeting
I move in the empty spaces where dreams go to die
Forever moving in the remove,
There is no bond that can soothe
This burning burning but in vain I try
Forever, forever one step behind
Outside, looking in on the world passing by
No earthly pleasure will satisfy
I’ll eat ‘til im full but not be sated, my hunger will not be abated
No drink can quench my thirst, my throat parched and dry
I swam in the well of sadness,
Locked myself in the halls of madness
Travelled to the distant mountains and
Crossed the bridge of sighs
Woe, cannot touch me cannot make me cry
So, another traveller on this dark ride
And no earthly pleasure will satisfy
Will satisfy, will satisfy
And no earthly pleasure will satisfy
I went to the house of learning
But nothing could ever stop this yearning
Took comfort in a lovers arms but my flesh was a lie
I read the prophets tried to follow every word just rang hollow
Hypocrisy and weakness that I cannot abide
Love, a word thrown around as need’s disguise
God, just people talking to the silent skies
No earthly pleasure will satisfy
|
||||
10. |
Sainted Streets
05:42
|
|||
|
SAINTED STREETS
(Neill) for Brad Will & other ghosts
Goodbye to the world that you once knew
And all the girls on 1st Avenue
Come Saturday they’d be down at the squat talking smack
Saying “I was here for the riot man,
I want my neighborhood back”
Here comes Davey with his scarf wrapped round his throat
Smoking and laughing in that famous black peacoat
And little caruso walking like he’s onstage at the garden
Making everybody smile
Do they know do they care?
Do they hear our prayers?
For these names once written in the wet concrete
On sainted streets
Young man climbing the fire escape up in the old tenements
Dives headfirst into the fray, and into the argument
Time skips a beat and moves on he stays true to his will
I can still hear marcie calling down from the windowsill
Saying, “if you stick around you can sleep in my bed again.
Don’t leave now if you do it’ll really be the end”
Will they find us or forget us?
Will they come and get us?
Will these be stories lost in the endless shuffle of feet?
On sainted streets
Another endless summer, laying out on a beach tar roof
Kids playing in the hydrants, old men sitting on the stoops
Davey with a new lady, Little C with a stolen radio
We’d be listening to Joe
Singing about a burning town
It was always Joe
The ramshackle day parade
Joe
Making the music talk
With the sound of the rebel waltz
The sound of the sinners
Heathen choir ringing in my head
The sound of the sinners
Heathen choir ringing in my head
The sound of the sinners
Now his face is painted on the wall by the park
Looking out on these scenes as they unfold in the dark
Do you see, can you hear,
can you kiss away my tears?
We’re still out here dancing to the crooked beat
on sainted streets
|
||||
11. |
Arden Eden
05:35
|
|||
|
ARDEN EDEN
(Neill)
Her accent comes back when she drinks
Sandpaper vowels she tries so hard to smooth over
Smoke curls around her head
She loses her carefully constructed cover
No longer transparent in her role
You see all that she’s concealing
Gone the illusion of control
Its all too revealing
Arden eden, your history holds no shame
Arden eden, they love you just the same
They love you just the same
She wears her tragedies like badges
All gone to rack and ruin
Caffeine highs and sugar crashes
The boys line up to drink from her shoe
They follow her down the neighborhood docks
Follow her down blind alleys in the rain
These regrets she holds sacred will one day be forgot
And dissipate like half remembered pain
Arden eden, paradise twice in your name
Arden eden, they love you just the same
They love you just the same
|
||||
Casey Neill & The Norway Rats Portland, Oregon
CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATS are a crack gang of musicians from Portland Oregon. Their sound combines high energy diesel fueled rave-ups and haunting ballads. Neill's weather beaten narratives celebrate miscreants, and explore the hidden corners of the American landscape. ... more
Casey Neill & The Norway Rats recommends:
Live at Yep Roc 15: The Minus 5
by The Minus 5
The amazing songs of Scott McCaughey with consigliere Peter Buck and a revolving cast - often members of Wilco, Decemberists, Posies, Tripwires, John Wesley Harding, Casey Neill, Death Cab for Cutie +
go to album
Adventureland
by The Junior League
New Orleans singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Joe Adragna's excellent music. Highly recommended! Also, see our collaboration bandcamp.SADABOUTS.com
go to album
Songs I sing and wrote with Japanese guitarist Takashi o'Hashi and Portland songwriter Kathryn Claire. Raise the periscope!
go to albumIf you like Casey Neill & The Norway Rats, you may also like:
Hooky-as-hell guitar pop from this Brooklyn artist that explores the ways people we have known live in us beyond death.
go to album
Life on the Lawn
by A Country Western
The Philadelphia group sharpen their hooks and internal dyanmics for a fun and non-dorky take on power pop anyone can get behind.
go to album
Back Into The Dream
by Elephant Stone
Montreal psych-pop veterans sound as infectious and hypnotic as ever on their seventh LP, slinging jangly riffs and bright vocal harmonies.
go to album
