Get all 26 Headless Relatives releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of One Eye Open, Live Headless, Vol. 1, Solstice: Fragments, Nightmare Realm, Send You a Funeral, Visitor, Spring Cleaning, Father Viper in the Land of Fungi, and 18 more.
1. |
Arithmomania
03:36
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We count beads like vampires
Nights spent huddled side by side
Shifting twos and fives on homemade abici
Pale faced and bleary eyed
Watch for patterns in the strands
Sort each according to its kind
Record the numbers on yellow paper
Make lists and sublists in our minds
Count each hair on my body
If you miss one start again
I will take my turn and number yours
And count each freckle on your skin
Count things up on your fingers
When you run out use your toes
Count up all the things that frighten you
The lists me make will keep us close
Don't stop until the work is done
Our numerology is delicate
Don't stop until the work is done
Our taxonomy is intricate
We count beads like vampires
Nights spent huddled side by side
Shifting twos and fives on homemade abici
Pale faced and bleary eyed
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2. |
Death Hymn
02:54
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A child knows nothing about death
Especially when it's all around
No time to grieve
Counting bodies on the ground
See an arm sticking up
Try to trace it to its source
A child's game can resist
This strong entropic force
Innocence won't keep you alive
But it just might keep you sane
Share a bed with a stranger
But never learn their name
When they're gone you'll inherit
More space for you to claim
Eat the food that you're given
Don't question where it comes from
Pale band on your mother's finger
The price of bread for her son
Innocence won't keep you alive
But it just might keep you sane
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3. |
Cardinal Sins
02:41
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Sing with me my love
And I'll feed you mouth to mouth
As the birds sit on the fence
Behind the house
And alone at last I'll trace
Patterns on your skin
And confess my love
Along with all my sins
And behind this thin facade
Of matching masks and crests
We'll pretend our way of life is best
Gather seeds
But be careful not to choke
Hide them all
In your crimson cloak
We're refugees who don't know
The songs of this town
But we've never let that
Get us down
And behind this thin facade
Of matching masks and crests
We'll pretend our way of life is best
And we'll wear proudly
Our matching masks and crests
Who's to say that our way of life is not the best?
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4. |
Six Dollar Bones
03:34
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Made my way to the store
That always smells of incense
And browsed through all the racks
Looking for a defense
And I was strapped for cash
But I got what I could
I couldn't afford the best
I couldn't even afford the good
Just a pack of healing stones and six dollar bones
Back in my quiet room
I spread out all my tools
And whispered to the night
"Have pity on this fool."
Half a tarot deck
And some miswritten runes
Some tea leaves past their prime
Saucer cup and spoon
And a pack of healing stones and six dollar bones
But nothing happened then
And I'm no better off
No signs for me to follow
No stars to shine aloft
And I'm used to being cracked
I've never been whole
But I'm tearing at the seams
And I would sell my soul
For a pack of healing stones and six dollar bones
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5. |
Proving Ground
03:41
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They came before the dawn
They snatched us from our beds
They stood us up in ranks
Rain falling on our heads
My pulse sped up its pace
But the enemy I fear
Is the wolf among our fold
And I feel him drawing near
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to join the crowd
Sheep are missing clothes
Someone's foaming at the mouth
It won't be long 'til blood is spilt
This whole plan is going south
They make us toe the line
And face us toward the fire
Their howling waxes fierce
As they push us toward the pyre
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to join the crowd
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to get knocked down
But nobody is safe
When the wolf has his way
And he's the one who invited us to play
And nobody is spared
When the wolf pulls the strings
But it's the only way that we feel anything
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to join the crowd
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to get knocked down
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
I didn't ask to join the crowd
I didn't ask to come to the proving ground
But it's the only game in town
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6. |
Homesick
04:09
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Drowning in the quiet
Of another lonely day
My head is hanging low
With the words I'll never say
And the crickets in the woods
And the questions in my brain
Are harmonizing now
And it's driving me insane
I pour another drink
The spirits mock my fear
They won't let me forget
That I'm not wanted here
The vodka burns like Hell
Almost makes me feel at peace
But the lightning bugs outside
Make me ill at ease
It's not the demons that I fear
They won't attack their own
Set a place for me in Hell
Someday I'll be home
The voices in the night
Are calling me by name
But I don't really mind
I'm kind of glad they came
I'll exercise my demons
Let them stretch their wings
They've been kept inside too long
And I know confinement stings
I've been secluded in the dark
Because the light it burns my eyes
And the sun's accusing stare
Cuts through my disguise
But the face beneath my mask
Is faded from disuse
And my horns are pointing in
I feel at home with self abuse
It's not the demons that I fear
They won't attack their own
Set a place for me in Hell
Someday I'll be home
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7. |
Anubis as Driftwood
03:59
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When I was not so lost
I cared for the dead
But now the violent waves
Crash over my head
And I'm nothing more than flotsam
Of purpose now bereft
And my wrappings all sink bloated
To the ocean's frigid depths
Alone adrift
I ride the wrathful waves
The sea was never
It was never my domain
Some people call the sea mother
But I was never her child
And now she's hoarding all my treasures
In her icy domicile
And I'm nothing more than flotsam
Of purpose now bereft
And my wrappings all sink bloated
To the ocean's frigid depths
Alone adrift
I ride the wrathful waves
The sea was never
It was never my domain
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8. |
Self Portrait
04:59
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The first five beers
Don't absolve my guilt
And although I know the result will be the same
I drink another five
And when I still want to smash my face
Against the wall
I pour a glass of whiskey
Let it burn my throat
But I can't escape
The burning image
Of my fangs
Dripping with blood and saliva
When I close my eyes
The vision just gets clearer
And the alcohol
Refuses to blur the details
I am a beast
I am a monster
I am drunk now
But I call you on the phone
Because I am looking
For absolution
But I can't tell you
What it is I've done
And you can't forgive
What you don't know about
I get down on my knees
And I try to pray
But my mouth won't form words
To a god I don't believe in anymore
So I call you again
Blubbering
I am slurring all my words
But it wouldn't matter anyway
I am a beast
I am a monster
And my guilt
Refuses to be vocalized
And you're the last person on earth
That I would want to know about it
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9. |
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The hot sands can kill you
But it's the phantom sirens
That you really need to fear
They will lure you to the red wastes
Because they know that you
Are beyond their clutches here
But it takes little to escape them
Weave rushes into mats
Braid palm leaves for hours on end
Wait for serenity to descend
Don't speak too often
Don't ever raise your voice
And never start a fight
And don't forget to make the brown bread
It can last us months
If you do it right
And whenever you are idle
Weave rushes into mats
Braid palm leaves for hours on end
Wait for serenity to descend
The hot sands can kill you
But it's the phantom sirens
That you really need to fear
They will lure you to the red wastes
But don't worry
You're beyond their clutches here
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10. |
Redemption Song
04:14
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I walked out to the street
Said I was going to the store
But we both knew I wasn't brining back
Anything we needed anymore
And as I passed a quiet house
I felt my face turn red
My ears rang silent alarms
As I replayed the words we'd said
And lying on the ground
I saw a stone perfect and round
So I picked it up
I looked into the window
But I just saw my silhouette
And I cursed the glass for bringing back to light
Things I would much rather forget
And I looked down at the stone
Waiting in my hand
And suddenly knew beyond a shadow of a doubt
What it had planned
And so I hurled the stone at last
Light caught the edges of the glass
So I picked it up
The jagged edges pierced my skin
And I laughed all alone
I had absolved all our sins
I saw the sacrificial stone
And I picked it up
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11. |
Unfinished Remains
06:32
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Sitting in silence as we drive down the New Jersey Turnpike
Watching empty landscapes rush by
Beside the road there always seems to be construction
And I begin to wonder why
I begin to wonder why
Half finished bridges stand deserted on a Sunday
No one to tend to concrete
And suddenly I feel like we're driving through history
Something that's never quite complete
It's never quite complete
Concrete pillars standing tall
A temple deserted
With no one left around to pray
But we'll heed the silent call
Though our course be diverted
We could use a blessing today
As we run away
I grip your hand as we roll further from all our friends
A new life waiting now
Car full of animals that we just can't live without
We'll make it through somehow
We'll make it through somehow
New Jersey's ugly when you drive through it like we do
But we don't really care
'Cause like the overpasses that don't span the whole gap
We're suspended in air
Suspended in air
Concrete pillars standing tall
A temple deserted
With no one left around to pray
But we'll heed the silent call
Though our course be diverted
We could use a blessing today
As we run away
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12. |
Atavistic Tendencies
07:08
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The strain was unbearable
I couldn't take another day
So I drove off into the night
I just had to get away
And I took the corner too fast
Where the old headstones drown
In a lake of grass
Down at the edge of town
I saw headlights wax brighter
As I slid into the oncoming lane
And my brakes gave out
And in that moment I almost felt sane
I spun the wheel
And careened off the road
And hit the memorial
Of someone forgotten long ago
My head hit the wheel
I bit my tongue
And yet somehow I knew that I had won
I sat laughing with a mouth full of blood
Goddammit I felt good!
I dragged myself out of the car
And sat on the grass
And then I just lay down
Mindless of the shards of glass
I listened to the choking sound
Coming from under the hood
And got this sudden urge
To take off into the woods
I pulled off my new shoes
No need for them anymore
I heard someone yelling
But it was easy to ignore
And I felt trapped in my clothes
So I broke free
And I ran naked
Through the tall oak trees
The branches grasped
Ripped up my skin
Yet I knew that this was the way to begin
I ran laughing with a mouth full of blood
Goddammit I felt good!
For one holy hour
I didn't feel any fear
And you can't touch that feeling
When you spend all your time around here
I was laughing with a mouth full of blood
Goddammit I felt good!
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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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