Get all 30 Clara Engel releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Undergrowth, Their Invisible Hands, The Cicada Session, Dressed in Borrowed Light, Ghost Bird, A New Skin, Hatching Under the Stars, Little Blue Fox, and 22 more.
1. |
Raven
04:05
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Said the raven to the king,
“What do you want from me? I can’t sing.”
Said the raven to the king,
“What do you want from me? I can’t sing”
Said the raven to the boy,
“I want your pretty little heart destroyed.
Of all the birds that I could be
Look at the goddamned bird that the lord made me.
I don’t sing for love, for the boys and girls,
I sing for the wretched of this world
And when this world goes up in fire
I’ll be an ash spewed into the light.”
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2. |
Harvest
04:39
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I want to feel the thunder
I want to taste the harvest
In your mouth
In your mouth
Seeds spit out of darkness
I want to taste the harvest
In your mouth
In your mouth
Though I know you’re ruthless
Though I know you’re heartless
I won’t fly south
I won’t fly south
Yes, I will stay the winter
I’ll watch the world grow dimmer
I won’t fly south
I won’t fly south
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3. |
Heaven and Hell
04:26
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Heaven and hell have both arrived
There’s no room for an afterlife
The sunset feasts in her own dying eyes
There’s no room for ghosts in this crowded sky
But to get through this night
I made myself believe in an afterlife
When morning came, and goddamn, I was still alive
What a dreadful fire kindled my insides
I am caught between night and morning here
The branch where I hang my fear
Is lightning scorched
Is crashing down
I’m afraid of everything
These walls of stone
I’ve seen them bleed and weep
Heaven and hell
Hold nothing for me
When the kingdom comes
You can let me sleep
I am caught between night and morning here
The branch where I hang my fear
Is lightning scorched
Is crashing down
You have seen the bird of paradise
You will never be the same again
Wrap my coat around the child
Keep her from the howling wind
Heaven and hell have both arrived
There’s no room for an afterlife
The sunset feasts in her own dying eyes
There’s no room for ghosts in this crowded sky
But to get through this night
I made myself believe in an afterlife
When morning came, and goddamn, I was still alive
What a splendid fire kindled my insides
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4. |
King Temperance
05:00
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There is indeed
Something infernal beneath
King Temperance beats a drum
And it's all soaked in blood
Who are you now
Turning in the light of the axe
Into someone I love
Into the hit of light I long for
The executioner dreams
Behind the garden wall
Weaving halos from daisy wreaths
For all of Blind Joe Death’s babies
Baby’s on fire
And there’s no water around
She screams like a wild wounded sparrow
And rolls on the dusty ground
You’re my thrill
You do something wicked to me
You take away the blue
From the sky and the sea
Red sun billows and breathes
Freshly severed wings
Fly away into the storm
I’m left standing in anemic fields
Scythe down the last flame of my tongue
The taste of this fire is sweet
There is indeed
Something infernal beneath
King Temperance beats a drum
And it's all soaked in blood
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5. |
Tangerines
05:01
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O hell is a rosy-coloured land
under the sea
and if we take a bad turn
you and me
we’ll go there together and plant tangerines
fiery fruit for the devil to eat
Come and dream with me
in a little row boat
we’ll sail until we sink
Rock-a-bye
in a bubble of light
I love all your fingers and toes
love the gristle and grind
of your bones
And if you can’t catch the gingerbread man
come with me
we’ll find him under the sugarplum moon
fast asleep
I’ll eat his fingers
you can devour his feet
no sugar, no honey, no nectar has tasted this sweet
Come and dream with me
in a little row boat
we’ll sail until we sink
Rock-a-bye
in a bubble of light
I love all your fingers and toes
love the gristle and grind
of your bones
O hell is a rosy-coloured land under the sea
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6. |
X-Ray
03:12
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An X-ray
of your heart
a phosphorescent rose
eaten by worms
buried in a forest of nerves and blood
To hold it in my fist
I would claw right through you,
My Love.
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7. |
Marrow Bone
03:01
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Beg beg beg for a marrow bone
maybe I’ll give you
and maybe I won’t
Beg beg beg for a marrow bone
maybe I’ll give you
and maybe I won’t
Beg beg beg for a body that feeds
trembling wings
and weakening knees
Spasm of light and a golden disease
I know how to bait you
I know how to tease
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8. |
Decomposition
04:06
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With crushed petals stuff my grief
For each lung a cabbage leaf
For my spine a dry, spiraling vine
Thoughts travel slow as my nerves unwind
If shooting stars could mate with snails
Streaks of luminescent slime
Crawling at a deathly pace
Across the charcoal sky
I would lay me down in a field
Rest there for a thousand years
And drink them softly with my eyes
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9. |
Hope is Heavy
05:10
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Without hope
We’d be feather-boned
Weightless, blown
Out of this world
Without flaws
I wouldn’t fall in love
It’s your jagged edge
I am hanging from
By a spider’s thread
These arms are bound
Under a sunrise stretched
Over a bloodless ground
Hope is heavy
Out of this world
A scalding kiss
Night’s endless return
Sparrows fall
At the speed of sound
Eyes and fingers
Drift to the ground
If it’s what you want
To make my heart pound
Lay your body down
On this shivering ground
Hope is heavy
Out of this world
A scalding kiss
Night’s endless return
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10. |
Rivers on the Moon
06:47
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You can’t blame anyone for leaving you too soon
Cold as a river on the moon
These breadcrumb trails
These iron lungs
These tired children
Kept awake too long
You can’t blame anyone for leaving you too soon
Cold as a river on the moon
Once I was
Your station in the stars
But now I close my window
So early, love
You can’t blame anyone for leaving you too soon
Cold as a river on the moon
Give me one more chance
Give me an afternoon
I’ll barter with an angry god
Take me instead of you
You can’t blame anyone for leaving you too soon
Cold as a river on the moon
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11. |
Sea Lions
08:22
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"If you get through the twilight
You'll live through the night
If you keep off the memories
You'll make it all right...
If there's somebody near you
Then just hang on tight
And perhaps you won't fall through
That hole in the night"
- Fran Landesman
Like sea lions
On a distant shore
Bark their praises to a great sea god
I sing my song
I sing my song
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Clara Engel Toronto, Ontario
they/them
I'm not writing the same song over and over so much as writing one long
continuous song that will end when I die.
receive all forthcoming music in digital form: www.patreon.com/claraengel
... more
Clara Engel recommends:
Storm-brimming, evocative, & spacious meditations for solo electric guitar
go to album
Immersive & moving art-pop songs that conjure up stark night landscapes
go to album
Luminous harmonica interpretations of Hildegard von Bingen's music
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