1. |
Canary In This Mine
03:14
|
|||
|
Just so you know
I'd burn it all
I'd burn it all
down to the ground
They'll take your soul
Get Christmas coal
You'll pay your toll
with a breakdown
Canary in this mine
Don't waste your precious time
They wasted mine
But maybe you'll be fine
Once you sign
you can't resign
They paid me well
burn in their hell
They made me sell
My heart and mind
They'll find your tell
They'll scream and yell
You're a gazelle
and they're a lion
Canary in this mine
Don't you waste your precious time (Don't you waste, don't you waste my time)
They wasted mine (they wasted mine)
But maybe you'll be fine (you probably won't)
Once you sign
you can't resign
|
||||
2. |
Baby, Set Me Free
03:17
|
|||
|
She walked into the room with a look in her eye,
a look that said ‘I’ll be your girl to you die.’
I said, “I wanna be your man, but I got shit to do”
She said, “I don’t give a damn baby, even if that’s true”
And she said “Oh now baby, won’t you give in to me”
And I said “Oh now baby, why don’t, why don’t you set me free”
I explained that I just had a lot on my mind,
but it’s nice that a woman of her class would be so kind.
She explained that she too had stuff to get off her chest,
starting with her silver necklace and her lacy vest.
And she said “Oh now baby, won’t you give in to me”
And I said “Oh now baby, why don’t, why don’t you set me free”
She shut the door and she said “sit yourself down”
I said “I can’t, what with the way the world’s spinning ‘round”
She insinuated the spinning was l in my head
She suggested that I should rest up in her bead
She said “Oh now baby, won’t you give in to me”
She said “Oh now baby, I can set you free”
I always try to do the right thing
I sometimes just go and screw it up
I wish I could just try and not think
Damn my brain
why don't you set me free
Oh now baby won't you give in to me
and I said “Oh now baby why don't you set me free”
|
||||
3. |
If You Thought About It
03:22
|
|||
|
You owe me an apology
because you thought I was much more ignorant than you
Turns out that
You're the stupid one
And that your lesson in humility is only just begun
And if you thought about it, I don't know when
If you ever thought about it, maybe we could be friends
but in the meantime you can take my abuse
You blank me on the streets when
it's as if you pretend you're blind or that we've never met
You've got some grovelling to do
but grovelling's hard work and you've never worked a day in your life
And if you thought about it, I don't know when
If you ever thought about it, maybe we could be friends
but in the meantime you can take my abuse
How about it? Gonna be a man?
Or are you gonna be the thumbsucking baby I think you are
You owe me an apology
because you thought that I was much more ignorant than you
And if you thought about us, I don't know when
If you ever thought about me, maybe we could be friends
but in the meantime you can take my abuse
|
||||
4. |
You're Tongue-Tied
03:02
|
|||
|
Let's say I'm never coming back,
what happens then?
I guess panic attack.
Let's shorten this long weekend
let's settle this
Let's stop trying to pretend
You're tongue tied
You know why
A blind eye
The fall guy
comply
scrape by
fish fry
good bye
defy
I'm cashin' in my chips,
I'm clockin' out
I've an empty bag of tricks
You have made me paranoid
I'm so strung out
Destroyed and unemployed
You're tongue tied
You know why
A blind eye
The fall guy
comply
scrape by
fish fry
good bye
defy
Who are you to criticise?
Why bother man?
Your words, they demonise.
Say I pass off the baton?
What happens then?
Who else could carry on?
You're tongue tied
You know why
A blind eye
The fall guy
comply
scrape by
fish fry
good bye
defy
|
||||
5. |
I'll Never Love Again
04:28
|
|||
|
Fly, fly above the storm below
Glide, glide until the bright rainbow
Fill, fill the stark and
light the darkness up
You still my anxious heart
Soothe, soothe the syncopated beats
Smooth, smooth the wrinkles from the sheets
Calm me down in
my defeats and
still, still my anxious heart
Feel me tremble
You, you are the one
who brings the sun
who brings the morning to my night
I only screw things up
but you rebuild, you fix it up
You are a godsend and until the end
I'll never love again
Squeeze, squeeze the air out of my lungs
Please, please untie my twisted tongue
Hold, hold my hand and
freeze this moment still
You still my anxious heart
Bleach, bleach me clean until I am,
teach, teach me how to be a man
Slap my face, beseech me to grow up
and still my anxious heart
Feel me tremble
You, you are the one
who brings the sun
who brings the morning to my night
I only screw things up
but you rebuild, you fix it up
You are a godsend and until the end
I'll never love again
Caffeinated, dehydrated
Deteriorated, dreams evaporated
Graduated, but outdated
Overweight and over-rated
But you still my anxious heart
Feel me tremble
You, you are the one
who brings the sun
who brings the morning to my night
I only screw things up
but you rebuild, you fix it up
You are a godsend and until the end
I'll never love again
|
||||
6. |
We Wanna Be Like You
03:33
|
|||
|
You want it, you get it, you always win
You rewrite, you recast so you don't sin
You grab at the goods and you just grin
You leave us for dead, and think of spin to spin us
But we wanna be like you
Looked up to after a life of paying dues
Wealth accruing, no-one turning screws
No-one stopping ya or cluttering the view
The sky-rise, the mansion, the live-in nurse
The pay-rise, expansion, it's well-rehearsed
Advertise your mentions, every verse
Devise a pension investment that survives beyond your hearse
And we wanna be like you
Looked up to after a life of paying dues
Wealth accruing, no-one turning screws
No-one stopping us or cluttering the view
All that changes now you wanna rule
You might find we stop buying all your bull
You're shoveling but we think that you're too full
of yourself and of your crap, it's time you went to school
You gambled that we liked you (but we do not)
You thought that you could rule us and we'd pay you too (we won't)
Turns out that it's us who turn the screws (oh yeah)
And by stepping forward you're cluttering our view
You buy us, you want us, we want your wealth
You fly past, you bypass, obsessed with self
We're outclassed, but steadfast and in good health
The outcasts will outlast you and all that's on your top shelf
We don't wanna be like you (no we do not)
Looked down upon, while you lie about paying dues (you lie)
Why have wealth accrue? You turned too many screws. (oh yeah)
By stepping forward you went and cluttered up our view
|
||||
7. |
Jack Of No Trades
03:20
|
|||
|
Sing with me a song about a spider crawling up my leg
Silkily just thread around, disguise the gnawing, I'll renege
Oh please, you are the Queen Of Spades
I want my bourbon with lemonade
Oh I'm no Jack of All Trades
and I don't think I've got it made
The ocean spray is widening the teenage wounds along my back
Be dismayed, I might have been a page three groom, blessed with tact
Instead you got a Jack of Hearts
A head of Dvořák and Mozart
You got dealt a wasted card
A boy, his soul, freshly marred
|
||||
8. |
I Guess You Had To Go
03:35
|
|||
|
Seven months gone now
Long time to wear a scowl
He thinks it’s time to let you go
But he can’t
Songs don't seem the same
He can’t speak your name
Says he sees you everywhere
But he’s wrong
I guess you had to go
who were we to say no
But I really wish you’d stayed
I wish you were still here
Rolling stone gathering moss
Honestly at a loss
As if you’d give a toss
Well we do
I guess you had to go
who were we to say no
But I really wish you’d stayed
I wish you were still here
Why’d you have to go
Couldn’t you have stayed
Why’s the world unfair
Couldn’t you have stayed
I guess you had to go
who were we to say no
But I really wish you’d stayed
I wish you were still here
|
||||
9. |
Dan, Dance
03:58
|
|||
|
If I get up on time then I know I’ll get paid
If I dance, take a line, then I might get laid
If I leave then I know that I’ll wish I stayed
I should really dance, yeah I should dance, yes I should dance
C’mon and dance, dance, Dan, dance
Danced all night, and now I’m stuffed
You say that’s just fine, you’re not too chuffed
I say “Damn, I’ll rise, I’m tougher than tough”
I should really dance
Dance dance dance while the beat’s getting harder
I should dance dance dance, yeah it’s getting much faster
I should dance dance dance, it’s the DJ’s sonata
I should dance dance dance, this is more like a regatta
I should dance with you girl, lay my hands on you girl,
Take a chance with you girl, dance séance with you girl,
I should show you the world, I should spin you and twirl,
I should just dance
Just how much can I take?
Girl I can dance with you, let’s dance
C’mon and dance, dance, Dan, dance
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
That's a mean limousine
Treat 'em keen, keep it clean
Live the dream libertine
Born in 1983
Eat a burger, party on
Own the city, you belong
Run a red, smoke a bong
Mr Headstrong. Your drinking song, sing along, bang a gong, all day long, modern day phenomenon
You think that you're a rebel?
You're just a precious petal, boy
You are not all that special
Stand up so I can level with you
You have no accolades
Look at this mess you made
You call a heart a spade?
You pray before you play?
Unmask this masquerade
You're not a renegade
Dated by a decade
An afraid tirading crusader, in need of an upgrade. Screw it. Let the chorus play
You think that you're a rebel?
You're just a precious petal, boy
You are not all that special
Stand up so I can level with you
Boy, be a man. Boy, be a man
You wanna be a man?
You have-to be more than a wannabe Peter Pan
Time's up, Hook's in, come on lost boy, think a happy thought and fly
You think that you're a rebel?
You're just a precious petal, boy
You are not all that special
Stand up so I can level with you
You're not really a rebel
You're just a precious petal boy
You're really not that special
Fly up here, so I can level with you
|
||||
11. |
I'm Yours
03:48
|
|||
|
I'm yours
Have it, you can make it
Half it, you can break it
You can grab it, if you want it, it’s yours
Own it, invest it
Grow it, or divest it
You can double it, or just muzzle it, it’s yours
And if you stay, I’ll stay
If you go, I’ll go
If you need love, I’ll give
If you need room, I’ll leave
If you want me, you can have me
If you’ll have me, go on and take me
You know it honey, I’ll be your baby
I’ll lead you if you need leading
I’ll cheer you, when you are weeping
I’ll carry you if you’re fatiguing, I’m yours
Support crew at all your pitstops
In the job queue, and in the opera box
Through the electric shocks, and in the 5th Ave shops,
I’m yours
And if you stay, I’ll stay
If you go, I’ll go
If you need love, I’ll give
If you need room, I’ll leave
If you want me, you can have me
If you’ll have me, go on and take me
You know it honey, I’ll be your baby
On and on
Day by day
Year by year
A decade
A century
I’m here if you’ll have me, on and on
I’ll stay
I’ll grow
I’m yours
|
||||
Daniel McClelland Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand-based mad-scientist smashing together alt-pop and alt-rock with Beach Boys-inspired harmonies. Stacks of vocals abound. Hard-hitting snares. Grungy guitars. All played, arranged and produced by one person.
Daniel McClelland recommends:
The bass on The Sparrow is stunning. Melodic, rhythmic and uniquely 'retro'. I use this album for reference all the time. Another Kiwi classic, that gets played in New York often. Big with hipsters!
go to album
Proof that New Zealand can produce great R&B, Stevie Wonder-style harmonies and generally infuse electronic and acoustic music seamlessly.
go to albumIf you like Daniel McClelland, you may also like:
I Don't Know Why I Do Anything
by LIPS
LIPS make off-kilter, danceable music that's a little bit post-punk, a little bit pop, and a little bit alternative rock.
go to album
The New Zealand-born, Brooklyn transplant, returns with her giant lips and big adventurous pop songs.
go to album
Brand new album from the New Zealand pop legends, just as dreamy and brash as ever.
go to album
The Chicago multi-instrumentalist sharpens bold, funky hooks into urgent sociopolitical commentary.
go to album
