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Spring Cleaning

by Headless Relatives

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1.
Through the Veil 04:56
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It's a season of rebirth I can smell the earth The cobalt sky is starting to flush And I can feel the leaden hush Petals from the trees Swirl in eddies on the breeze And grass of vibrant green Stirs up ghosts of propylene And the crimson berry stain on the ground Sings of life and death And the atmosphere crowds around And closes tight around my chest I stand here alone And listen to the swelling drone Of a thousand shadow clouds Flickering behind their shrouds The rumbling I feel in my heart Warns of the impending start Of the mad sky's fury show And there is no place left to go And the crimson berry stain on the ground Sings of life and death And the atmosphere crowds around And closes tight around my chest I can feel the sky coming down
2.
Lastly, in Case of Rain 02:26
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Watch your step If you go outside There are lots of holes And places to hide And lastly, in case of rain Wear a hat And lastly, in case of rain Wear a hat Board the windows up And lock the doors This is not the place We thought it was before And lastly, in case of rain Thatch the roof And lastly, in case of rain Thatch the roof And lastly, in case of rain Close your eyes
3.
Gutted Remains of My Enemy 01:59
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Walking the path after dark And I step on something soft I feel it squish beneath my foot And I look down Broken pieces of pumpkin Left to rot on the ground I step down hard And revel in the squelching sound I look to make sure I'm alone Then I start jumping up and down I say something about hollow victories And I start to laugh Broken pieces of pumpkin Left to rot on the ground I step down hard And revel in the squelching sound I couldn't say what made me do it Jumping down again and again But the triumph that I feel right now I haven't felt in god knows when
4.
A Great Year for Peanuts 03:15
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Three quarters of a million acres Full of the most delicious peanuts seen for years The rain came right on schedule And the heat was not as bad as we had feared So many peanuts The supply is overflowing It's a great year For peanut growing A bumper crop to keep us full Of the peanuts we use for everything Let's pitch the tent and celebrate The joy that such abundance brings So many peanuts The supply is overflowing It's a great year For peanut growing So many peanuts The supply is overflowing It's a great year For peanut growing
5.
He's Dead, Jim 02:08
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Break of dawn Stifled yawn Another day to face If all goes well Brunch in hell With a smile on my face My best red shirt My shoulders hurt It's time to drop my load Soon I'll be gone It won't be long You're better off all told 'Cause I'm a failure I'm a fool I quit the game Can't learn the rules I went to college I went to school I learned the world can be so cruel My family pled with me to stay But I packed up and went away I've got nothing left No words to say So I get plastered every day Drown myself in sweat and booze 'Cause I've got nothing left to lose I've got no name No one to blame Because the cast is all the same And when I die No one will cry And by the time the credits fly You'll all forget This piece of shit Who lived just to take your hits Yes, I'm a failure I'm a fool I quit the game Can't learn the rules I went to college I went to school I learned the world can be so cruel My family pled with me to stay But I packed up and went away I've got nothing left No words to say So I get plastered every day But the last laugh will be mine I'll scrap the script I'll change the lines Reshoot the scene Get away clean In my best red shirt In my best red shirt In my best red shirt In my best red shirt I'm a failure I'm a fool I quit the game Can't learn the rules I went to college I went to school I learned the world can be so cruel My family pled with me to stay But I packed up and went away I've got nothing left No words to say So I get plastered every day
6.
Christina the Astonishing 03:26
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My mother is gone My father is gone I work in the fields on my own Days and nights Spent with the sheep Twenty odd years living asleep Twenty odd years living asleep Twenty odd years living asleep His hand when it came Shook me like a leaf It shook me out of my long sleep It picked me up And lifted me out Of the plain pine box where I was laid out Of the plain pine box where I was laid out Of the plain pine box where I was laid out Their wicked eyes Burned holes in my heart And so at first I lived apart But fear and mistrust Soon hemmed me in 'Til hunger and pain were my only friends 'Til hunger and pain were my only friends 'Til hunger and pain were my only friends I kept no money No jewels or fine clothes Since I first from sleep arose Frozen rivers and raging fires Thorns and brambles are my desire Thorns and brambles are my desire Thorns and brambles are my desire No fire can burn I am reborn No ice can hold me I change my form No pain can break me I'm already healed No wind can shake me His hand is my shield
7.
Foxglove 03:43
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You said I'd see you on the other side That was two years ago And all that time I've watched The flowers you planted grow And the soft purple blossoms Tell me it's time to pack It's time to move on now I'm worn from looking back I can feel my heart racing As I contract into a ball I am coming o'er to find you I hear your gentle call I walk through the whole house Pulling the curtains back So the light can guide me back to you So I can stay on track Then I sit down at the table For my last meal in this place I close my eyes and lean back And let the sun wash my face And I can feel my heart racing As I contract into a ball I am coming o'er to find you I hear your gentle call Now I feel the pressure rising As I transform on the floor The rhythm of the blood pounding in my ears Guides me to the open door And I can feel my heart racing As I contract into a ball I am coming o'er to find you I hear your gentle call I can feel my heart racing As I contract into a ball I am coming o'er to find you I hear your gentle call
8.
The Tinker's Tree 05:24
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On the first day of Winter I left my home less alive than dead A grey sky hanging over A coffin slab above my head I turned my eyes toward the North And though I could not see I knew that on a distant hill there grew the tinker's tree I was scarcely past my garden gate When a giant old man blocked my path His beard glistened with ice and rage And my worn heart quailed before his wrath His voice rolled like thunder As he questioned me But at last he let me past to trudge on toward the tinker's tree I came up on the coastal cliffs Up came Old Man Shambles His face a mass of dark seaweed His blue touch chilled my heart But I paid his fee My wedding band the toll to march on toward the tinker's tree I came on an old woman Gathering up firewood And beyond her I saw mountains Blocking me where once none had stood Her raven eye was sharp As she said to me "I love the bloodied holly far more than your tinker's tree" At last I came upon the hill Where stood the mighty tinker's tree It's leaves they smelled of death And it's sharp thorns they cut at me My brow was bathed in red 'Til all I could see Was the color of that blessed fruit upon the tinker's tree Though I was bruised and battered And my very breath it cut my throat I gathered leaves and flowers In the pockets of my worn greatcoat And then I lit a fire To brew me a tea To cure my heart of all its wounds beneath the tinker's tree To cure my heart of all its wounds beneath the tinker's tree To cure my heart of all its wounds beneath the tinker's tree
9.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dutchman 03:03
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Subtle dissonance Starts to seep From my instrument Of banality Useless sentiment Pours from my mouth The words are grandiloquent But it's just sound Just vapid lies Told to ease my mind And ignore the sharp-edged dread That looms above my head The tremors start again It's worse this time It's impossible to pretend That I'm alright But I can't articulate This certainty That if I open the floodgates I'll be washed out to sea I'm bursting at the seams I just want to scream What a sound I'll make When my defenses break
10.
Screaming to an Empty Room 02:38
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These seats are vacant The five of us here alone But in this musty basement We'll play our fingers to the bone So let the walls ring With this crude offering Let every drumhead and every string Make the heavens shake The mix is a disaster It's all a muddled mess But we just play faster There's no one to impress So let the walls ring With this crude offering Let every drumhead and every string Make the heavens shake And I'll scream to an empty room And I'll scream to an empty room And we'll all scream to an empty room And we'll all scream to an empty Empty room
11.
Waterwheel 02:30
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In my dream you were standing by the waterwheel The river was running backwards With every rotation more of you disappeared 'Til I was utterly alone I woke up thinking about the times we'd walked On the banks by the old mill And I wondered what my subconscious mind Was trying to tell me Turn, turn Turn the wheel
12.
Mandrake 02:50
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Tie one end of the rope to my waist The other to the root I would risk anything for just another taste Of the root The world I see is grey and unrefined But the root Will reveal the colors that haunt my mind Since I first tasted the root You say this is reality But it doesn't seem that real to me Though you try to crush my dreams beneath your boot They will be revived By the root
13.
Babylonian Gourds 03:29
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Sever the connection Cut the cord Gather our provisions Pack the Babylonian gourds Prepare for the journey Don your gear If all goes well We'll soon be far from here If we stick to the plan Maybe we will make it out alive March on hand in hand Until we arrive Map out the pathways Scout the fords Secure our treasures Guard the Babylonian gourds Mask our departure Hide our tracks Stay alert In case our enemy attacks If we don't lose our nerve Maybe we will see the other side It may be more than we deserve But at least we can say we tried Listen to the wind Draw your swords Fall into formation Raise the Babylonian gourds
14.
Diabolical Ironclad Beetle 01:53
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Every time I open my mouth I start a riot I never learned to bite my tongue Without bleeding through the quiet When the blows come raining down The pain and adrenaline get me high But despite what you might think I don't want to die Let loose Open fire I am ready to absorb your ire And when I can't stand anymore Kick me while I'm prone on the floor
15.
Drowning Slugs in Beer 01:50
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The fog descends Hiding the proscenium beyond the window I can't see anything outside But I've got nowhere to go anyway I tidy the kitchen Clear our the cobwebs I've left too long Then I put the kettle Sing along to my favorite song I haven't felt this unburdened in years I spend the afternoon pruning the plants And drowning slugs in beer
16.
Maybe Ivy 02:43
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On the hill overlooking the lake Where we used to swim Stands a structure of concrete Forbidding and grim When we were children We would never get close Afraid of the shadows Afraid of the ghosts But I finally climbed up to see it Long after you moved away And I'm writing this report for my old comrade In memory of our younger days When you get closer The cracks start to show It's weathered and beaten A crumbling shadow And something the color of rust Flows up the walls like a flood Maybe it's ivy Maybe it's blood
17.
Pennyroyal 03:01
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Crushed under your shoe My legs feebly twitching You scrape my broken body Into the trash A phantom aroma Sharp and minty and bewitching Soothes my body oozing And smashed I feel new life surge through me and I know That before too long I'll be ready To go Go on Go on being The being I was always meant to be And ascend to my rightful station The savior of prophecy Well I'll be back someday And you'll wish that you'd shown mercy My family and I will revisit tenfold Every indignity you inflicted on me
18.
How to Make a Gutter Garden 02:16
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When the leaves fall Don't clear them away Let them gather Gather where they may Ignore all the comments And disapproving looks Add their names to the list In your notebook When nuts and seeds Clog up the spout Don't touch a thing Let it work itself out And then one fine day in Spring Sprouts will start to show A ring around the roof A verdant halo
19.
Stranded! 01:54
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We've lost the signal No way to call home Until the storm is passed We are on our own Thirteen months in this place Just each other to keep us sane But as the wind picks up I feel Like we are circling the drain I've boarded up the windows You've rationed out supplied You tell me they'll never last Unless one of us dies And you're smiling when you say it But your eyes are cold and grim The wind may be outside these walls But there's a reckoning blowing in
20.
Hollow 03:40
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Scream into the abyss Try to catch a clue The echoes come back hollow Maybe I am too If you prick me will I bleed If I follow will you lead Me from this dark expanse If I try will I succeed Or am I corrupted seed Doomed to repeat this dance Scream into the abyss Try to catch a clue The echoes come back hollow Maybe I am too Am I drowning Or am I just adrift Am I drowning Or am I just adrift Scream into the abyss Try to catch a clue The echoes come back hollow Maybe I am too Scream into the abyss Try to catch a clue The echoes come back hollow Maybe I am too

about

As we entered another Spring, I felt the urge to "clear out" some songs that I like but which are highly unlikely to appear on an actual release at this point, and my favorite way to do that is to release material as-is out into the world.

So here are 20 tracks of unreleased material in chronological order of when they were written (not necessarily the same as the order in which they were recorded). The oldest song pre-dates Headless Relatives by a year or two, and the most recent is from the end of last year. Some tracks are my initial phone demos, some are the audio from videos I've posted, and one is an old GarageBand project with some virtual instrumentation.

This release is more of a psychological necessity for me than it is a cohesive collection, but if you listen, I hope you find something you enjoy!

credits

released March 23, 2022

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Seth A. Biskind except:

5. He's Dead, Jim - electric guitar by Mike Smith

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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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