Get all 12 Ben Roque releases available on Bandcamp and save 45%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mad Andalusia, Charmed I'm Sure, Hatchetfish, The Old Hush, Money in the Doll, Off Your Tiltawhirl, Amuser, Jackals, and 4 more.
1. |
Shot an Apple
01:51
|
|||
|
Lion opened up a jawbone,
let Circus in the air
sent Monroe skipping like a stone,
Old Hush sat nailed to a chair
some devil gonna paint your face
so you won't know if you're dead
there's a golden arrow in the valley,
she'll shoot an apple off your head
pour 'em from a barrel with a pitchfork
that ransom money came through
dealing blackjack in the taillights
of the mayor's Lincoln Coupe
I swear that girl in the fishbowl
was sleeping in your hat
Houdini should've never looked away
I swear she'll saw that boy in half
Rhinehart's drinking with the mime
said "Hoist that moon and shoot"
Spidora's caught up in a web
been playing that backbone flute
"Say, how you gonna get to St. Louis
with all that fire and lead?"
She aimed at the Human Skeleton
and shot an apple off his head
|
||||
2. |
This Side of the Floor
03:08
|
|||
|
These eyelashes fall just like an ax
the parlor closed down with only a match
leave your shadow nailed to the door
morning don't come on this side of the floor
pacing the floor in ten foot high heels
she raised the wind but that was the deal
Face Card said more than money she wore
work don't stay done on this side of the floor
a clock ticks the paint off the wall but nobody saw
Red Point was flipping a nickel with too many sides
hey man, don't you know gypsy perfume is just a disguise?
broken stained glass, prayers in your hat
shoot the marquee, it's only an act
lights spell her name, but you can't be sure
a dream cuts its teeth on this side of the floor
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
Diamond John gone wrong
a snake in a canary cage
went all in with a Marilyn
sleeping in a bottle for days
Knuckles and Brass got fogged
spinning a Chicago wheel
that widow doll cut the coffin tall
never kiss a calico queen
you gotta get behind
the eight ball and roll
cigar smoke in a ring
Powder blew a hole in the day
Nevada Joe rides a torpedo
aiming at some bones with a name
low down drunk to the bone
Dutch's in the domino rain
such and such with the acid touch
dancing like a moth and a flame
you gotta get behind
the eight ball and roll
|
||||
4. |
Off Your Tiltawhirl
03:10
|
|||
|
I split my lip on a broken trombone
I keep a devil in a bottle back home
board up a door to a place in the past
a broken mirror makes a mighty good mask
you're wearing off like a cheap perfume
I'll stuff a scarecrow with a tale or two
losing poker with the cards you choose
walking off in a dead fellow's shoes
spilling rain from an old top hat
it's only Memphis that I left on the track
so long, I'm gonna waltz in the dark
with Pleiades' eyes and moonlight in a jar
cutting up in a circus truck
I'm only here to bluff
stepping off of your tiltawhirl
with a broken rope of pearls
sleepwalk across another stage
that candle's brief today
and paint eyes on a witness
and I will tell you anything
drop a hammer baby strike me a chord
you're dropping dead across an old checkerboard
she broke a nail on a Colt 45
putting holes in a nickel and dime
laughing at the dice I threw
is how I'll leave you inside this room
|
||||
5. |
Money in the Doll
03:18
|
|||
|
Sound of Harlem in the rain
sane now, bottle here to blame
night owl, diamonds in the pond
wife now, widow by the dawn light
widow by the dawn
red light, hollow out the horse
painted, ready by the door
dead broke, thunder round the clock
Charlotte made him talk in Tucson
said the money’s in the doll
the money’s in the doll
that mad dog broke loose
headed out of hell to Baton Rouge
our father full of fireworks
said wouldn’t you like to know
the money’s in the doll
said the money’s in the doll
Rembrandt put you in a frame
lifelike, no one knew your name
a dollar gets you on the hook
bite down, Charlie’s on the lookout
and no one knew your name
the highway rolls you like a dice
better off in Santa Fe with
Pharaoh smoking spice
flash house ivory is cheap
swimming through the madness
just to say it in your sleep
the money’s in the doll
said the money’s in the doll
that mad dog broke loose
headed out of hell to Baton Rouge
our father full of fireworks
said wouldn’t you like to know
the money’s in the doll
said the money’s in the doll
sound of Harlem in the rain
sane now, bottle here to blame
night owl, diamonds in the pond
wife now, widow by the dawn light
widow by the dawn
|
||||
6. |
Dahlia Seas
03:39
|
|||
|
Shipwrecks in bottles of rain
violets and dreams end in a frame
Rampart Street vanished from you
that sapphire French horn silhouette moon
you sharpen your heels
a good man died holding your pinwheel
there’s a hole in your past
these ashes of plans made abstract
and finally everyone cracked
in dahlia seas
ashes to ashes to diamonds
that Jersey lightning sang that siren
sawdust was drying the floor
the carnival don’t stop here no more
with a heart of marble
Flat Joint had one ghost to spend
you cut that rifle and oleanders came again
you know Texas is no place to blend
in dahlia seas
|
||||
7. |
Widow Susan Road
02:55
|
|||
|
Deal out another little grave
you know the dice is full of jokes
now I’m dusting off another
for a diamond’s worth of coal
she’s dressing up in burning clothes
I’m out on Widow Susan Road
another tiger in the smoke
she’ll charm the lock off any door
and I don’t believe the stitches
are holding anyone together
she knows what gasoline is for
I’m out on Widow Susan Road
a broken leg for broken luck
I hear New Orleans up the stairs
and it’s raining like a hammer
when Lawrence goes out for some air
he got to heaven with a rope
I’m out on Widow Susan Road
I’ll drag a nightmare in the sun
a blue flamingo on the lawn
and Louis’ dead inside a suitcase
a thousand voices move along
She threw a dart at San Diego
I’m out on Widow Susan Road
|
||||
8. |
10th Avenue Lumberjack
02:00
|
|||
|
(Instrumental)
|
||||
9. |
Bone Dice
02:30
|
|||
|
Fifth and Ash, black Cadillac
raining nails, blind as a bat
hollow ring, red lingerie
Santa Fe's only an hour away
'Any night' scrawled on her arm
lucky strike, a snake with a new charm
never know til you're front row
the moon froze, devil been moaning low
no shotgun tells her what to do
in those pointed shoes
cut the harp from junk iron dawn
clap along, you rust til you're gone
morning rose, a deep red ax
turn the world just when it all seemed flat
forty-five miles to go
got a bone dice to throw
rumors on a desert road
said it in a tombstone poem
no shotgun tells her what to do
in those pointed shoes
|
||||
10. |
Name on the Moon
02:17
|
|||
|
I know, I know, I’ll be there you wild rose you
I’ll take the rickety stairs to a place midair
I’ll put your name on the moon
so long, farewell, I’ll be above all this weather
I’ll take a jack knife and I’ll be up on the roof
I’ll put your name on the moon
said it all with a pearl and a teardrop tattoo
set me up with a whiskey and I’ll go too
floating out of a window before night’s through
shadows at dawn, piano plays in the attic
there’s no one out on the street to look up and see
I put your name on the moon
I know, I know, I’ll be there you wild rose you
I’ll take the rickety stairs to a place midair
I’ll leave your name on the moon
|
||||
Ben Roque Burlington, Vermont
Noir/Lo-fi influenced musician, author (The Midnight Cabaret, Calliope Steam, Living Paint), and collage artist.
Booking/All inquiries: ben.belldrive@gmail.com
If you like Ben Roque, you may also like:
Other Better Places
by Fraidycat
Charming and catchy lo-fi jams from Brooklyn's Fraidy Cat.
go to album
Not Getting What You Want, One Step at a Time
by Imp of Perverse
Getting some serious Dean Wareham vibes from this Texas bedroom project that’s anything but lo-fi.
go to album
Yucca Street
by Alexei Shishkin
Forged Artifacts announce the sophomore release, available on limited gold cassette, from lo-fi Portlander Alexei Shishkin.
go to album
(the dog tape)
by Alexei Shishkin
featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 10, 2015
go to album
Leah Wellbaum and company find self-transcendence in an ever-shifting alternative rock landscape.
go to album
Press Play Volume 2
by Loose Grip Records
Cracking compilation of unreleased songs from punk and garage bands in support of the recent Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 6, 2015
go to album
