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Apothecary

by Headless Relatives

/
1.
Hyssop 03:30
Purge me with hyssop And I will be clean Rid of the taint of all the horrors I have seen Purge me with hyssop And I will be scoured Of all of the toxins and the poisons I've devoured Purge me with hyssop And I will be free Of the nightmare shadows that convene around me Purge me with hyssop Spread it on my skin And I'll be relieved from all the pain that I've been in Purge me with hyssop But not today Because if it fails my last hope will melt away
2.
Wood Betony 02:27
The circle is drawn Around you and me The mob presses 'round Desperate to see If we'll turn on one another Just to survive Would we rather be honorable Or alive I can feel my venom Clamor for release And I see your fangs glisten In the light from the East Can I forsake my principles Just to see another day Will you strike me down If it means you'll get away The jeering grows louder As we draw eye to eye For one of us to live The other must die
3.
Benzoin 03:09
Days marked out In bland repetition Bound to this husk Craving a vision Or anything really to shake me From my waking sleep Strike with the blade Plunge it in deep And let me be strengthened Let me fly free Borne on the blood As sweet as vanilla That leaks from the tree Pace out my cell Day after day Cut off from the world Locked away But when the spark catches and the Smoke starts to rise I will soar with it And I will see with new eyes And I will be strengthened And I will be free Borne on the blood As sweet as vanilla That leaks from the tree And though I know The wound will eventually close And I'll awaken to the constant pain At least for a while This fog is lifted And I can forget about these chains Because I am strengthened Though I'll never truly be free Bound by the blood As sweet as vanilla That leaks from the tree
4.
Sanguinaria 02:01
My blood runs thick My blood runs red Through the wound where my skin Is hard and black and dead As the days grow longer I feel my will wane And my fingertips bear An ever-growing crimson stain When I killed off my sorrows I also killed off my joys Now this necrotic husk is just one Of time's discarded toys The warm humid air Catalyzes the change What I am becoming is something Hideous and strange
5.
Willow 04:08
It's your birthday again Another cycle 'round the sun that you didn't see I am sitting on the grass still wet from rain Talking to the glistening willow tree I tell it stories of this past year I catch it up on all the gossip Taking on the cadence of the wind in the branches And the sporadic drips At some point I realize That I've crossed a threshold I start to tremble As the grief takes hold I've lived more of my life since your death Than I did while you were here I give into my emotions And stop fighting the tears I'll be back again next year To pretend that you can hear me As if your spirit inhabits This gentle old willow tree
6.
Lying here in the grass Watching the clouds pass I'm just hoping my ass will decompose Because I'm tired of being a man I'm tired of problems and plans So I'm hoping that my outstretched hands will take root All I want is the sun And the taste of dew on my tongue But the bell of consciousness can't be unrung Lying here on the ground I hear the unmistakable sound Of humanity buzzing around and I sigh Because I knew from the start That I was only playing a part I can never outrun or outsmart my own mind

about

I found several years ago that working around a particular theme can help me when I’m writing songs. One of my first experiments in this vein was a collection of songs about plants used in herbal medicine and ritual magic. None of those songs are on this EP. Last year, however, I did return to the idea, and I ended up with these six songs.

Instrumentally, Apothecary definitely leans into the folk side of my music, and lyrically there are threads of fatalism and weariness. When I’m listening to music, I find that songs that explore darker themes are very bolstering. Writing and recording these songs was a cathartic experience for me and I hope that listening to them can be for you as well.

credits

released October 22, 2021

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Seth Biskind

Cover photography and design by Seth Biskind

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Headless Relatives Troy, New York

Headless Relatives play songs. These songs feature desperate individuals, bittersweet memories, and ancient Egyptian gods. Some of these songs can be found here.

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