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Bent by the Weather

by Life in a Blender

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1.
I know you’ve come here to express such joy To impress me with your snakey moves They were as charming as I might expect Then again you had nothing to lose I like your backing band and your strange strut I’m sure all your fans want to kiss your butt Oh this is happening, this is going down Take a load off your feet why don’t you hang around Oh you look so calm I would say serene To imagine-- no one on Earth’s been where you’ve been Even the brightest star is the sky’s been dead a thousand years And it just takes one tiny stone to jam the gears And you’re collapsing I see you collapsing Oh if we were together, things could be startin’ We’d make the world all laugh, like Rowan and Martin We’d lounge with cigarettes in sofas made of leather We’d catch the butterflies and breathe in all the heather And we’d build the perfect sand towers And we’d rent scooters by the hour And when our fun was finished you’d leave—but our love would not diminish I’ve never felt so tired I’ve never felt so alone I’ve kept it close to the vest I’ve kept it close to the bone Sailed out to the West So far from my home I’ve never kept so silent I’ve never felt so alone But if you could feel as I do I know things could be different Put your self in my shoes Imagine my position I’m just doing what the people want This isn’t my decision Put yourself in my shoes Imagine my position I’m doing what the people want
2.
Gravel, gravel between my legs Huffy can eat my dust, Raleigh get out of the way I’ll be laying down fat skids, I didn’t come here to play Leave the knapsacks in the lawn when your kickstand’s up I’ll be long gone You cheer me up When things are down When I need to catch a break I just have to Push each pedal down To make our escape So hold tight, don’t stop It’s gonna be a smooth ride Through parking lots Any way that you decide With cards in spokes Some rubber we’re gonna burn Down hills we’ll coast Speeding ‘round each sharp turn The open road We both will ride I ring my bell Mouth open wide On banana seat I’ll make some room Hug my waist We’ll be home soon So hold tight, don’t stop It’s gonna be a smooth ride Through parking lots Any way that you decide With cards in spokes Some rubber we’re gonna burn Down hills we’ll coast Speeding ‘round each sharp turn My back, your breath Our selves are now combined Turned right, turn left Your heat I do not mind Well greased the chain We’ll shortcut through the weeds Through rough terrain My heart your sweat does feed
3.
You might feel strange What’s this about You might just take the cat and throw it from the house You might feel pangs A sudden twinge Well let me tell you, son, this is how love begins You might ….just reach inside… pull everything out….and say, “This belongs to you now This belongs to you now.” You’ll bite….into a pillow or two and feel just like…..a crater on the moon, a crater on the moon [middle] Where ever you look There’s kissing goats There’s kissing business men and they’re going for broke Oh love distorts, Oh love invades It cuts off all your oxygen and sends you into space You dive …..like a kite in the wind….your string pulled tight…twisting in the blue now, twisting in the blue now. You turn white….and feel hollowed out, so hollowed out…. like a a crater on the moon, a crater on the moon
4.
On the Sand 03:32
I was happy that day - at Coney Island with Michael and Angela and Dash. We went onto the sand. We were in a magic circle at Nathan’s hot dog stand And Dash ran circles around us at the table - a magical circle, Michael, Angela and me - and Dash ran round us. And we were together. Dash wrestled his father out on the sand. I am but a worm who imagined wrestling a man. If only my daddy would have wrestled with me. My whole life - when I'm alone - which is always - I think of myself as untouchable and alone. I always wished to wrestle with my father on the sand. And the sea is there - coming for us beautifully and always.
5.
Tangles Complications for rollers Conversations with smokers Higher than the Fountains of Bellagio Answers In the carpet there’s patterns Holding all combinations That will win the mother of all motherlodes Sailors, ginned up on Bailey’s They become dancers in ice cubes in glasses And they double down and they triple down And they push their chips in like shopping carts in parking lots And when they look around at all the dopes Who are losing ground They know it’s time to cash in Chances, thrown with dice long with glances Directed at false eyelashes Batting faster as he gives the wheel another spin Stumblers, landing hard on your shoulders Throwing cash on the table and accidentally Brushing lips across your chin Boasters Crowing like roosters Looking for a crumb of love from almost anyone And they double down and they triple down And they push their chips in like a wheelchair with a wounded rival What floor do you want? I’ll settle for the one that I’m on Besides the winning numbers are there Inside the bedside Bible Tangles Complications for rollers Conversations with smokers Higher than the Fountains of Bellagio
6.
You turned a blind eye—oh how I’m sick of it You can’t run away—you’re in the thick of it You should have spoke out When he smirked in your face It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth Look at all the gold and you become besotten All the things that bloom will suddenly go rotten Fight the bloody fight cuz if you get complacent All the pigs grow fat while you lie in the basement Wait for the change, and you would be mistaken All the things you trust will suddenly be breaking Rip off every suit and you will find the cancer Don’t have regrets, regrets are not the answer It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth You give him a hand and soon he’s twistin’ it He sings off key, and still you’re listening Believe what he says, and you’re his prisoner You may need a drink, a Soul Deliverer It will be too late when you’re inside your coffin Try to take a stand before you start to soften Make a tiny fist and then begin to use it Beat back all the shit before you start to lose it Look at all the gold and you become besotten All the things that bloom will suddenly go rotten Fight the bloody fight cuz if you get complacent All the pigs grow fat while you lie in the basement It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth It’s a terrible truth
7.
You buy me top shelf drinks And bags of shiny things Just to keep me by your side You preen and boast you think I need a show But that’s the last thing on my mind I just need you Need you to believe in me I just need someone Someone to believe in me Your adulation sours Your display of power Makes me feel far from free While the night’s still young Why don’t you get drunk Down at the Applebees I just need you Need you to believe in me I just need someone Someone to believe in me And I’ll reach for the medicine And thankfully not the gun You know I’d never do such things I’m much to scared to run I might go the cash machine To find some fleeting thrills To see those caring faces printed on all the dollar bills And there’s bound to be cigarettes When I have got the coin But if my lipstick’s missing I really can’t be going You know I’ll feel so glad So glad when I find you You know I’ll feel so glad so glad when I find you Oh I just need you to hear my living beat Put your ear against my chest and tell me what you hear down deep You know I’ll feel so glad, so glad when I find you You know I’ll feel so glad, so glad when I find you Oh I just need you to hear my living beat Put your ear against my chest and tell me what you hear down deep Ooga-chugga, ooka-chugga—ooka-choogga-looka Ooga-chugga, ooka-chugga—ooka-choogga-looka Ooga-chugga, ooka-chugga—ooka-choogga-looka Ooga-chugga, ooka-chugga--ooka-choogga-looka
8.
Here’s my special room with the cabinet, and the ironing board and the TV set Here’s my special chair, here’s my special place, here’s my special mug with the smiley face Is that all I get? Is that all I get? For all the years and all the sweat. Here’s the special pill with the childproof lock, and the pictures framed and the compression socks Here’s my Nutrishake and the tuna melt, and the button I push when I need help. Is that all I get? Is that all I get? For all the years and all the sweat. Here is the thing that I really want I want my place, my place at the table I want my place, my place at the table I’ll bring things, I know you’ll love To load your plate, and fill your cup I know everything will be just right I’ll bring walnuts and a case of beer I’ll bring cold cuts, take a look right here And some cocktail shrimp and cookies shaped like shells I’ll bring flowers the neighbors won’t miss I’ll bring stories and a big wet kiss And a hand upon your knee you won’t expect I’ll bring things, I know you’ll love To load your plate, and fill your cup I know everything will be just right I’ll bring pork chops and some sauekraut Hot peppers that will make you shout And a dance move that I learned from all the kids I’ll bring bonbons, and some peppermints A shot of bourbon that will make you wince And a song about a hunter and his horn I want my place, my place at the table
9.
Don’t be aftraid you know we’ll deliver Get you past the guards at the gate Don’t be afraid there’s no need to shiver We’ll get you cross the chop on the lake We’ll rope the statues and bring them down We’ll paint the streets and say this is our town And all the hate will just become a cloud Because, because, because we stood our ground Free up some time ...and come to the garden We took some land and made it our space Lie on the ground before it all hardens And all you have is a distant taste When we step up, they step down They disappear into a yellow cloud But then they come and shoot another round You see your friends all hit the ground Don’t be afraid you know we’ll deliver Get you past the guards at the gate Don’t be afraid there’s no need to shiver We’ll get you cross the chop on the lake We’ll rope the statues and bring them down We’ll paint the streets and say this is our town And all the hate will just become a cloud Because, because, because we stood our ground
10.
Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano You come with open eyes Your mind an open place You’re like my sandwiches You’re open faced You’ve got nothing to hide Everything’s revealed You say if you’re banana You’d be the one that’s peeled Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano It’s all a big surprise, an endless stupid race If you connect the dots, then you will make the space In which you can reside, a box so square and tight Then you will never be all the things you might Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come You have to take a step ahead to see everything You have to put your face deep into the water You have to figure out how to be free You have to swim among the debris Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano Alexy Muldano You come with open eyes Your mind an open place You’re like my sandwiches You’re open faced You’ve got nothing to hide Everything’s revealed You say if you’re banana You’d be the one that’s peeled Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come Let’s toast to us, let’s toast to us And all we are and all that’s yet to come
11.
Seabirds flying backwards Clouds looking strange A small grey whale has come to warn us of a wave. There’s no escaping What’s done will come We’ll sail into tomorrow to another sun Stones sucked from the ocean Moon’s swallowed whole The guts they never lie, we must trust what they have told Chaos bursts from darknesss Children gasp and stare A misbegotten mushroom crowned with sickly yellow hair Oh we just want to survive, floating on top of the flood We’ll direct all our fears to hope and purpose to keep us from the troubles to come. Oh we just want to survive, clinging to this pile of refuse Somehow without the men in charge things will here be more peaceful Or maybe that’s just a ruse Art is the safest channel for our madness When there’s problems ahead….bring out the puppeteer Bring out the songs when the storm is all around us Art is….a channel for our fear Oh what the fuck that art is I really can’t explain Makes the sun more than hot and the rain more than rain And even the Patch out in the Sargasso Sea Means that anything can be real though it really can not be That’s what Art is. That’s what art is That’s what Art is. That’s what art is Art gives us all hope when we know we’ll soon be dying Art helps us make sense of the things we can’t explain Like the seabird flying backwards The clouds looking strange The small grey whale who’s come to warn us of a wave

about

Album number 11.

credits

released January 22, 2024

Produced, recorded, and mixed by Al Houghton at Dubway Studios.
Basic tracks recorded by Danny Blume at Hidden Quarry
(except for “ On the Sand”).
Additional violin recorded at Track 219 Studio in Nashville by David Conrad.
Engineering assistance from Marc Frongillo and Violette Furton.
Mastered by Scott Anthony at Storybook Sound.
All words and music by Don Rauf and Life in a Blender (Stingy Brim Music/ASCAP © 2024) except “On the Sand,” words from poem “On the Sand” by Edgar Oliver, music by Don Rauf and Life in a Blender.
Life in a Blender is Ken Meyer, Al Houghton, Dave Moody, Mark Lerner, Rebecca Weiner Tompkins, and Don Rauf.
Horns on tracks 2, 7, and 10: Kevin Moehringer (trombone), Cheryl Kingan (saxophones), and Ben Syversen (trumpet). Saxophones on track 9: Cheryl Kingan.
Thanks to Ed Pastorini (piano strangulations on tracks 3, 5, 6, 8), Susan Hwang (background vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, 10, 11), Chris Rael (background vocals on tracks 3, 4, 6, 10, 1), and Brian Culver (trumpet on track 11).
“Bound” cover art by Vaune Trachtman.
Graphic design by Mark Lerner.

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Life in a Blender New York, New York

For over 30 years, Life in a Blender has been the canvas for singer and songwriter Don Ralph's blackly comic landscapes. The group has released albums ranging from screaming punk to orchestrated chamber pop, and has brought the high theatrics of its live act to stages from Berlin to Austin to Toronto to Brooklyn and Seattle. ... more

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