1. |
Long Black Train
03:10
|
|||
|
See them marching down the walk
Scuffed shoes marking the time
Bleary eyed at the breaking dawn
Step back in line
Worn denim black from soot
Uniform for the mine
Shoulder those picks, turn your lanterns on
Step back in line
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Resignation on each face
Embrace the coalman’s grind
Sold souls of the underground
Step back in line
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Squinting through their coal stained sweat
Scraping for that dime
The clang of picks echoes through the deep
Step back in line
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
Of the long black train
|
||||
2. |
Carnies on Parade
02:44
|
|||
|
You sir, come test your luck
A try one measly buck
Why no this game ain’t crooked
Just step right up and play
Two hearts and one black ace
A chance to guess its place
It’s double or nothing that’s the prize
Throw caution to the fray
Lock up all your valuables
Close your windows tight
Clear the streets of your small children
We arrive tonight
Fill your pockets, stuff your wallets
Come support our noble trade
Here for your amusement
The carnies on parade
Lookout! Carnies on parade
Townspeople one and all
All you can hear this call
Come see our traveling freak show
Just one thin dime to go
Such things beyond compare
Will make you stop and stare
The siamese twins, the cannibal king
And more within our show
Lock up all your valuables
Close your windows tight
Clear the streets of your small children
We arrive tonight
Fill your pockets, stuff your wallets
Come support our noble trade
Here for your amusement
The carnies on parade
Lookout! Carnies on parade
|
||||
3. |
Elephant's Last Waltz
07:19
|
|||
|
Step right up and witness
Ladies gentlemen and all
A world of amusement
This circus carnival
This is the last time I swing this trunk
Last night the master’s drunk
Chains are rattling in the distance
Monkeys swinging from the bars
Come on in and test your strength
Some ghostly organ squeaks a tune
Step right up and witness
This visual assault
Big top full of wonders
And the elephant’s last waltz
Whip cracks a lion roars
Trapeze girl flying hits the floor
No more little kiddy rides
On my knees this one last night
Flash lights up their cotton candy faces
As the cannon fires
Step right up and witness
The ringleader he calls
Big top full of wonders
And the elephant's last waltz
Three rings for a dollar
A sawdust doll for your girl back home
Around it goes the ferries wheel’s squeaking
Dirty hands, pair of shifty eyes
Carnie lurking in the shadows
Mister takes a ride?
The clowns, they’re filing in now
Sadistic grins, silly shoes
I wonder what’s hiding behind that greasy smile
And why the bearded lady’s crying
They’ll be just fine without me
And the master’s evil ways
He’ll never see it coming
This ringleader’s last parade
The folks, now they is running
Screams cut through the air like a knife
My last night in this damn circus dancing round
Bloody top hat crushed on the ground
Step right up and witness
Young, old, big and small
A world of amusement
This circus carnival
Don’t cry for him don’t make a sound
Don’t cry for the master dead on the ground
Just step right up, come see the show
Big top full of wonders and this elephant’s last waltz
|
||||
4. |
The Suit
02:27
|
|||
|
So Mitch cremated this lady’s husband.
"Fifty percent off. Call it a going away special,” Mitch declared. “Hell, I’ll even throw in the suit.”
“Keep the suit,” the widow replied, as she callously closed the lid of the pine box that lay between them. Into the flames the rustic, wooden, box slid, and Mitch muttered to himself, “Forty-five minutes outta do it.”
His work done for the time-being, and seizing the opportunity to rest his aching feet, Mitch retired to an antique, leather, swivel chair, removed the battered fedora from his desk, and placing it lightly atop his head, pulled the brim down just low enough to hide his drooping eyelids. As Mitch leaned back, the squeaking springs of his chair drew the widow’s gaze for a moment, but her curious attention quickly returned to the voluminous brick oven, grateful that it was finally beginning to beat away the chill in that cavernous, cement room.
Outside, thick black smoke could be seen spewing from one of three derelict chimneys atop the crematorium’s decrepit roof. The other two chimneys stood vacant: their furnaces rarely lit. Business was slow these days.
An hour slipped by in near-silence, until startled awake by his own snoring, Mitch roused from his slumber, and as adroitly as a baker leaping into action at the ding of the timer to retrieve his latest confection, Mitch procured the cauterized corpse from the oven. Now reduced to mere handfuls of drab, sooty ash, the remains were delicately poured into a dilapidated, begrimed, brass urn.
Nearby stood the widow, anxious to claim the meager fortune that pitious jar in Mitch’s trembling grasp represented, all the while making eyes at him, her smile illuminated by the flickering glow of the dying furnace.
Laying hold of the urn and stuffing it into a faux-designer handbag, the widow pivoted on her heels, and with a calculated flip of her peroxide hair, nonchalantly began to saunter away.
“Oh, and about that suit you promised,” the widow self-assuredly called to Mitch over her shoulder with a coquettish wink, “wear it when I pick you up on Friday.”
|
||||
Monkeygrinder Salt Lake City, Utah
A collection of artists with a taste for the bizarre celebrating the music of carnies, clowns, hobos, pirates, crazed elephants, and other characters on the fringe.
If you like Monkeygrinder, you may also like:
Mind, Man, Medicine
by The Secret Sisters
The Alabama duo's fifth album exults in dusty Americana, showcasing rich vocal harmonies alongside blissful folk instrumentation.
go to album
Little Green
by Cara Beth Satalino
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom.
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden
Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime.
go to album
Breaking and Mending
by Lisa/Liza
Lisa/Liza's delicate psychedelic folk tunes make something beautiful and graceful from the traumatic experiences of chronic illness.
go to album
I Don't Like My Chances On The Outside
by lilo
The London-based duo's intimate folk music explores love, friendship, and loss.
go to album
Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection 2
by Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection
A kaleidoscopic collection of folk, jazz, and pop from this Nashville musician topped with gentle, soothing vocal melodies.
go to album
Collaborating remotely with 12 songwriters from all over the world, Kim Edgar emerged with a work of striking art pop.
go to album
