Birdboys

by Penelope Houston

Birdboys cover art
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1.
03:02
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2.
03:38
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3.
02:58
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4.
03:20
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5.
02:20
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6.
03:49
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7.
03:14
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8.
03:44
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9.
01:46
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10.
03:25
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11.
03:17
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12.
04:47
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13.
03:34
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14.
02:31
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about

2 bonus tracks only with this download!

Penelope's first acoustic album. The All Music Guide gives it a 4****1/2-Best-of-Artist rating. "The band provides stunning backdrops for her voice--always an impressive instrument, and now possessed with a roundness more akin to British folk-blues artists. Compares with the best of Pentangle. The skill with which the Birdboys execute their jazz-folk-blues rhythms makes the comparison appropriate. The record is a fine achievement ..something quite fresh."-Puncture. A CMJ Jackpot! review called Birdboys "light years away from the Avengers sound, though no less fervent. Penelope's voice takes on a lilt and range that is sweetly infectious enough to warm the most cynical of ears. If life hasn't meant much to you since Richard and Linda Thompson broke up, Penelope's acrobatic vocals, and lyrics that deal deftly with adult themes like love and politics will give you purpose once again."

credits

released 10 October 1988
Penelope Houston: vocals, bells
Pat Johnson: guitars, vocals
Mel Peppas mandolin, tamborine
Steven Strauss bass and vocals
Kevin Donahue: accordion, piano
with
Eric Lefcowitz: guitar on tracks 5,10
Tom Freeman: drums on tracks 5, 10
Snakefinger: bells on track 11

Recorded at Dave Wellhausen Studios, by Phillip "Snakefinger" Lithman in 1987 except tracks 2, 4, 7-9 recorded by Kevin Army.

tags

tags: alternative snakefinger americana chamber pop female vocals folk-rock folkrock penelope houston punk rock san francisco singer-songwriter Oakland

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Track Name: Harry Dean
Oh Harry Dean, oh Harry Dean
Oh Harry Dean, where have you been?
The Winter's turned
The ice has thawed
And Spring has come

All time is flying by without you
I know you're alive somewhere
I know you're alive
you never wander through my dreams
but I can feel you walking in a place the seasons never touch

Oh Harry Dean, where have you been?
The Spring has come
The earth is raw and open wide

The seeds are sown and the days are growing long
White cherry blossoms are blowing through my hair
I remember the look on your face where you lay
in the summer grass, now you're far away
Can't you feel me can't you feel me?
Can't you feel me can't you feel me?
I can feel you walking in a place the seasons never touch

Oh Harry Dean, where have you been?
Your picture's taped upon the wall
The summer crops have long since died
The milk weeds blow, the earth has dried
Now wasps will suck on fallen fruit
The trees are bare, the birds have flown
I shut my eyes, the Winter turns
and Spring has come
Track Name: Talking With You
You and me baby, are a word apart
and that word is branded, letters tattooed on my heart
Maybe someday we can call ourselves friends

And now you're trying to tell me something
I think you're trying to tell me something
I really wish you'd tell me something
But you've got nothing, nothing to tell me at all

Talking with you is a dejevu
of things I thought before and never bothered to say
if there's nothing about me that you can love
than I don't think we'll ever get along anyway

Now you're trying to tell me something
I think you're trying to tell me something
I really wish you'd tell me something
But you've got nothing, nothing to tell me at all

like a vine crawling up your wall
starts out big but it ends up small
tell me something, tell me nothing at all
Talking with you is a dejevu
of things I thought before and never bothered to say
if there's nothing about me that you can love
than I don't think we'll ever get along anyway

Now you're trying to tell me something
I think you're trying to tell me something
I really wish you'd tell me something
But you've got nothing, nothing to tell me at all

like a vine crawling up your wall
starts out big but it ends up small
tell me something, tell me nothing at all

Oh, I'm talking to you
Track Name: Voices
voices
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by P. Houston, A. Gibson

Children are always coming and going
Adults are growing old and dying off
The memories saved are for ever distorting
The future will cover the loss

These are the voices that call me
The sirens are singing my name
I'm headed for enemy territory
The future is taking his claim

Now I'm young. I've had enough fun
I'm ready to leave it behind
I want to see, to plunge into my destiny
and execute this fortune of mine

These are the voices that call me
The sirens are singing my name
I'm headed for enemy territory
The future is taking his claim

Bring on my fate
I refuse to audition
I'm ready for a life
That will twist my soul
And give me a face
That's wracked with emotion
Give me a vision
To grow old

These are the voices that call me
The voices that sing and seduce
I'm headed for enemy territory
I'll never return to my youth
Track Name: Living Dolls
living dolls
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by P. Houston, Mel Peppas

Candle, candle, burning cold and bright
You burn the shadows from the night
With every blaze that you ignite
The sound of tearing silk

we stand unnoticed in the crowd
Our flames are crying out so loud
With faces full of hope and proud
Just like two living dolls

Behind the silent walls no one sings, no one calls
Behind the shuttered door shadows dancing on the floor
Behind the mirrored glass a hidden eye is watching me
the words come thick and fast but no one hears to turn the key

Candle, candle, burning cold and bright
You burn the shadows from the night
With every flame you light
The faces of two living dolls

A tree stands lonely on the ground
It¹s blossoms wither, turning brown
how many seasons will go round
Behind these silent doors

Behind the silent walls no one sings, no one calls
Behind the shuttered door shadows dancing on the floor
Behind the mirrored glass a hidden eye is watching me
the words come thick and fast but no one hears to turn the key
Track Name: Out Of My Life
out of my life
lyrics and music by Penelope Houston
Out of my life you go, love
Out of my life you go
What have you got to show, my love
What have you got to show
A broken heart and images
Of one you can't forget
Gather the parts together
And you will see it yet
A glistening tower of light, love
Falling all around
Fading into night, my love
Darkness coming down
You'll cry out in pain
And suffer in despair
When you finish your refrain then
You'll no longer care
Out of my life you go, love
Out of my life you go
You will never know, my love
What was hidden there
I am all around you
In every song and dream
Yes, I still surround you
You're far far away from me
A glistening tower of light, love
Falling all around
Fading into night, my love
Darkness coming down
You'll cry out in pain
And suffer in despair
When you finish your refrain then
You'll no longer care
Track Name: Bed Of Lies
bed of lies
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by P. Houston, K. Donahue

I've fallen on a bed of lies
I'm floating but I cannot fly
I'm drifting in a revery
and now I want to break free

you took me for a lovers ride
it shook me when you stole my pride
I'm shaking to think all the time
I hung my soul out on the line

but your just playing with me
like I've seen you playing around with my dolls
you're not staying with me
you made a bet I'd be the one who falls
you're hoping I
you're hoping I won't notice where you've been
well I've seen enough
I've seen enough to make me want to scream

I'd fallen into lonely times
I thought you were a friend of mine
I fell for you when I was down
but I'm not hanging around

I saw you in an open car
you're leaving but you won't go far
I left you with all of my dream
all the things I'll never need

but your just playing with me
like I've seen you playing around with my dolls
I'm not staying with you
to be your net when you start to climb the walls
I've heard enough
I've heard enough to make a bed of lies
and when I tuck you in and leave
we'll see what makes a grown man cry
cry
baby cry
Track Name: Full of Wonder
full of wonder
lyrics and music by Penelope Houston and Eric Lefcowitz

I was thinking, 'bout the times we had
those times they weren't so good
We were drinking and we had a few laughs
but one thing's been misunderstood

you talk about success
and how much to invest
and how you know what is best for me
don't say another word
because I've already heard
about your peace, love, brutality

you say, Life is full of wonder
you say it's wonderful
all I hear is thunder
if lightning strikes me twice
it would be nice

now you're smiling
and you're nodding your head
so full of ecstacy
now you're dialing
going to make a pledge
to your top ten best selling charity

you heard it on the news
all the money they can use
to make a better world, just you and me
don't say another word
because I've already heard
'bout your peace, love, brutality

you say life is full of wonder
you say it's wonderful
all I hear is thunder
if lightning strikes me twice
it would be nice

you talk about peace, love, brutality...

you say life is full of wonder
you say it's wonderful
all I hear is thunder
if lightning strikes me twice
it would be nice

you talk about love, love, love
peace, love, brutality...
Track Name: Summers Of War
summers of war
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by P. Houston, G. Ingraham

Strange the summers filled with war
Bear the empty promise of love
Fragrant evenings as before
Sunset bringing death from above

Come to where my garden ends
Where the flowers grow thick and wild
Fed upon the blood of men
There we'll lay beside them
Deep in the ground

One morning in the meadow I found
A fair young man from far away
His bones lay shattered all around
I buried them where the fireflies play

Come to where my garden ends
Where the flowers grow thick and wild
Fed upon the blood of men
There we'll lay beside them
Deep in the ground

Now my heart lies silent and calm
Like an unexploded bomb
Green are the rivers, green are the fields
Bitter the crop this summer shall yield

Come to where my garden ends
Where the flowers grow thick and wild
Fed upon the blood of men
There we'll lay beside them
Deep in the ground
Track Name: Stoli
stoli
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by Kevin Donahue

You stole my Stolichnaya
I could barely crawl out of bed
All those times you lied to me
I'll never forget

Said you'd always take care of me

when I'm broke, as long as I live

Now you've gone and changed your tune

that I'll never forgive

Now your time is up

you're close to the end

you'll drink from the bitter cup

forever, amen

You stole my Stolichnaya

I could hardly get out of bed

All those times you sang to me

I'll never forget

Drank my gin, you spent my money

And now you're living high on a hill

Thought you'd make a beggar of me

well, you never will

Now your time is up

You're close to the end

You'll drink from the bitter cup

forever, amen