And Other Dystopias

by The Bookshop Band

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Marco Sensi
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Scott Dawson
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Ben Walker
“(I ♥ Ba) ∧ (I ♥ Bo) ⇒ (I ♥ BB) • Ba = "a band with a specific mission" • Bo = "bookshops" • BB = "The Bookshop Band"”
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  • CD album

    This is The Bookshop Band's second album of 2012, containing the songs inspired by Season Two of author events at Mr Bs Emporium of Reading Delights. Books that have inspired these songs include 'The Paris Wife' by Paula McLain, 'The Coral Thief' by Rebecca Stott, Cornelius Medvei's 'Caroline: A Mystery', and 'Embassytown' by China Meiville.

    The album comes in a bespoke, limited edition and numbered case, created by the band, and printed on fine Italian card on an old letterpress machine in Oxford.

    Includes immediate download of 8-track album in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

    Buy Now  ₤12 GBP or more

    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 900 

  • Digital Album

    Immediate download of 8-track album in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

    Buy Now  ₤6 GBP  or more

1.
02:47
lyrics
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2.
03:42
lyrics
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3.
03:26
lyrics
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4.
05:21
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5.
03:19
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6.
02:16
lyrics
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7.
03:46
lyrics
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8.
05:19
lyrics
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credits

released 23 June 2012

tags

tags: soundtrack alternative books experiemental folk literary Bath

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all rights reserved

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about

The Bookshop Band write songs about books and play them in bookshops. They started as a collaboration between a group of musicians in Bath and their local independent bookshop, Mr B's Emporium. Now they are about to go on tour, sponsored by Vintage Books and Independent Booksellers Week, around other bookshops and lit fests. Catch them if you can. Details at www.thebookshopband.co.uk ... more

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Track Name: The Paris Wife
The Paris Wife

We fell in Love and Married
Moved to Paris
You’d be a writer and
I’d be your ever lasting love

Accordions and whores
Were to be our background score
I’d cut my hair and you’d grow yours
We’d be the same guy you’d say x 2
But then each day you’d disappear
Into your fierce world of words

My earnest and me, a young miss Hemmingway
My earnest and me, a young miss Hemmingway
Red headed, wedded, waiting, steady and straight
You are the best parts of me he’d say

And he was like an island where
the weather always changed
And I am a small boat tethered to his fate
But I made the rope and tied a knot around the stake
I threw the anchor overboard on our wedding day

You’d be a writer and
I’d be your ever lasting love
But as you grew, you grew away
But as you grew, you grew away
And the words were the waves
That wore against the stake
That I’d placed


And by the end I was loosening the knot
I let my boat slip aside
Into still waters away from your tide
That continued to roll across the sea
I’d done my part
And so had she.
Track Name: Just a case of falling
Turns out it was a terrible show
I got my money back but she wont go
And it’s far too late to follow
The signs of love we’ll never know, you know

What a waste of money and wine
But then she took my hand it was an obvious sign
She’s gonna walk me home, cos she’s got the time
And it’s not just about this body of mine, you know

No, no, no no no no no
No, no, no no no no no
No, no, no no no no no
No

Turns out her money’s a home
So I can lead a life that I should have known
I got a suitcase made and a fine coat wove
She loves me dear because I always phone, you know.

What a taste for money and wine
Across the table there was an obvious sign
There gonna walk me home, cos they’ve got the time
And it’s not just about this body of mine, you know

No, no, no no no no no
No, no, no no no no no
No, no, no no no no no
No

Doh doh doh doh doh…..

We keep on talking but
We’re playing at this love
Forever, forever my dear
Forever, forever my dear

Doh doh doh doh doh....

No tea as I open the door
I see my washing’s done but it’s on the floor
I guess I should’ve loved her more
And now she’s gone I never wanted her more

What a waste of money and wine
She took my heart and cat and car this time
And it’s over now, but you know it’s fine
It’s just a case of falling all the time.
Track Name: Into the lion's den
Into the lion’s den

Daniel, into the lion’s den he heard, whispered in his ear by a raven with eyes as dark as the streets they walk, and the sights they saw.

Straight lines, have been stolen from me replaced by the tangled lives of this city.
As I follow your steady eyes that lead me through the streets, that lead me to keep your secrets deep.
Keep your eyes on me

Lost in clouds and dark waters where boarders once set, begin to blur. A landscape carved in my mind over time. The rain and ice made her black wings in a slow history.
 
As we steal into the night we steal to find the light. In our hands we hold the things of old, from deep waters. Tells the story of how you got your feathered brow. In your waters I drowned

But there I learnt to swim 
Grew gills and fins
  
And you stole from me my order
And I stole from you your time
And we stole together
The past to make the future bright

Daniel, into the lion’s den he heard, whispered in his ear by a raven with eyes as dark as the streets they walk, and the sights they saw.

Daniel, into the lion’s den he heard, whispered in his ear by a raven with eyes as dark as the streets they walk, and the sights they saw.
Track Name: The Coral Thief
The Coral Thief

There was an ocean over this town many years ago
The signs are there if I can find them, as the corals show
I’m not here in the street but walking by the shore
I cast shadows on the walls but ripples on the floor

Just close your eyes

When the sea was high
In it’s time
The coral grew
Nearby
When you saw blue
You saw all this too
Though it hides
From view

This cave is far down
I’ve made it my own
A place to lie down
You’ll stay, we’re fine now

There was a line of many soldiers breaking up the stone
They were taking back the horses, watching them go home
They say the town is always changing, but if they read the signs
They’d know the coral is just waiting for the oceans rise

Dont close your eyes






When the moon was high
We stole in the night
And voices grew
Nearby
So I ran too
Where the coral grew
So I might rise
With you

Their cave is far down
I’ve made it my home
A place to lie down
Don’t stay, I’m fine now
Don’t stay, I’m fine now
Don’t stay, I’m fine now
Track Name: Declaration
Declaration One

His hands are everywhere I turn
His eyes are questioning and peaceful
He looks into these depths as though he’s lost at sea, lost at sea
He drove me away
 
His kindness is sticky
Insistent, expecting
And I feel small and bitter
 
I crave simplicity
Like to think that I’m grateful
But I don’t like this box

I remember now your face
Was soft your pace was slow and steady
If only you could turn your back
Instead of circling round, circling round
You drove me away
 
Your kindness is sticky
Insistent, expecting
And I feel small and bitter
 
I crave simplicity
Like to think that I’m grateful
But I don’t like this box


Even when we part I feel you
Following following following following

Arms round my waist you pull me back to you
You drove me away
You drove me away
Track Name: Declaration Two
Declaration Two

Ooooooooooooo
Ooooooooooooo

I’ve got a crush
But I worry that
I may have made you up.

Friends say I’m mad,
So if I can

Convince others
Of your powers
Then this might save us.

Ooooooooooooo
Ooooooooooooo
Ooooooooooooo
Ooooooooooooo
Track Name: When you speak
When you speak

When you speak, my body shakes, I do not understand,
You are here, Your words are deep, in me,
And I could see, through your eyes, could see, thorough your face
As my body takes, what you say

I did not know you at first
I could not hear or know your words
I did not think, that
I did not think, that
We could be

But You- have become, Apart of the language that I speak
As I try to learn, you give me air to breathe

I did not know you at first
I could not hear or know your words
I did not know you at first
I could not hear or know your words
I did not think, that
I did not think, that
We would be

As part of you I grow
As part of me you know
Track Name: The word keeper
The Word Keeper

There’s a sea between words
You immerse and focus
Leave your mouth wide open
Breathe while you are spoken

For you are now a word I’ll understand
Call you out and there’s meaning to the sound
Walls are high but my voices bring them down
Thought that I was a keeper of this town

I learn you have two meanings
We fall when you deceive us
Enthralled, but you should leave us
Don’t leave this world in silence

For you are now a word we’ll understand
Call you out and there’s meanings to the sound
Walls are high but our voices bring them down
Thought that we were the keepers of this town
For you are now a word I’ll understand
For you are now a word I’ll understand
For you are now a word I’ll understand
For you are now a word I’ll understand