Satsuma, by Life in a Blender

Satsuma

by Life in a Blender

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Gorgeous 5.5" x 8.5" booklet with lyrics, custom artwork for each song, and a custom cocktail recipe for each song, crafted by a crew of our favorite mixologists. (Artists: Nancy Howell, James Williamson, Carla Rozman, Gideon Kendall, Sky Pape, and Pete Friedrich)

Includes unlimited streaming of Satsuma via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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$20 USD

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1.	Vacancy for a Bluebird 04:27	lyrics	buy track
She and her husband Try and attract bluebirds I hear all about it Whenever I have words to send Carol’s my typist She lives upstate in Woodstock We chitchat for hours Oh how I miss our long talks Have you seen any bluebirds? There don’t seem to be any here I guess they’ve all disappeared In a world without bluebirds When my words are ready I say goodbye to my wife, put on my coat I go to the store to buy a manila envelope In with the locals down on Second Avenue Who won the lottery? Hey, what happened to your foot? Their words are a soothing song With all the bluebirds gone At least I have my words In a world without bluebirds The ones we elected seem to bring us all to our knees They’ve hitched up their wagons to a horse that has got mad cow disease This is not what I fought for, the interests of the one percent Although I am tired, I’m ready to get in the ring again Have you seen any bluebirds? My belief in them is firm We’ve set up homes for them in the yard For when the bluebirds return For when the bluebirds return For when the bluebirds return
2.	Soul Deliverer 04:22	lyrics	buy track
I’ve got to deliver some souls today Pack them in jars and cart them away Cuz in the backwoods, the mines may spray A body or two that has gone astray Souls leave get caught in branches Where crows eat them like worms enchanted But it’s quite a steady job, shipping all those souls right out Oh I really can’t stop smiling, though there’s nothing to be smiling about I know, I know my days are numbered, from the grounds inside my cup I think next time I’ll skip the coffee, and get water for my lunch You know water has done wonders for you You’d never know that you were 95 Believe me, I’ve tried to kill myself a thousand times It can be so hard to stay alive I know, I know my days are numbered, from the grounds inside my cup I think next time I’ll skip the coffee, and get water for my . . . Soul deliverer Wash the bones, bring the body, leave the heart behind Instructions you must follow to usher souls along For if you should leave someone in a suitcase in a field, say All the children will get scared, everything will go wrong Cold hands, let go and say goodbye Fold pants, gather belongings before you cry And listen, we don’t offer rush service It takes many days, at least forty So you better notify your employer when it comes time for soul exporting I know, I know my days are numbered, from the grounds inside my cup I think next time I’ll skip the coffee, and get water for my lunch Listen, I’ll meet you at the crossroads but for now let me enjoy my John Dory and rakija And I am going to keep that Jungle Book with me for now Besides you’ll get it on that final day that I see you
3.	Freak of Nature with a Lonely Heart 04:12	lyrics	buy track
Oh baby, show me your superpowers Oh mine? I can talk for hours Bore a whole room to death And barely take a breath Fly you to top of towers later But we’ll have to take the elevator I break necks and never sweats That would be something you’d regret Fully dressed I am not mighty, but you should see me in my tighty-whities It’s a bod that’s made for fighting, there is nothing more exciting Put on this costume, it is form-fitting, it’s great for brawling and the sheets we’ll be hitting A freak of nature with a lonely heart Am I not allowed to experience love A freak of nature with a lonely heart I only want the unconditional touch Oh baby, show me your super talents Oh mine? I am super valiant And if I were to be honest I’d have to say that I am super modest Oh baby, I’ll save you from the villains With just a minimal of killing Besides I like to hear them say That I will rue the day Lock me up and cages will rattle Set me free and I’m ready for battle Put on this red mask, bring comic relief Bloated piñata full of killer bees When I get going there is no stopping Especially when you mess with my possum I blow out evil just like a candle But I’ll leave your city in shambles A freak of nature with a lonely heart Am I not allowed to experience love A freak of nature with a lonely heart I only want the unconditional touch
4.	A Party in the Drunken Forest 05:09	lyrics	buy track
As the roots crackle out their beat underneath the haloed moon The ants stroke the aphids to get their honeydew The stag beetle bursts in A glimmer on this brow He invites you to lie on his bed of moss And the budding of the saplings sends desire through the air And the earthworms keep things happening Wearing lichen for their hair And the moths they are such pretty dancers Underneath the starry skies And the ferns they never take their chances In the light of fireflies There’s a party in the drunken forest Don’t invite the sun and it will never end Pendulous branches crack like whips Fueled by their daily orgy of solar indulgence With some gentle coaxing, tight flower bulbs will open And the trees stagger round in their lopsided crowns With their feet in the ground, and the flickers all pound out the rhythm, mesmerizing And the sap is running high And the fungus, tantalizing Oh the foxfire glows bright The mushrooms give a pleasant disconnect The leaves hold patterns from a dream Some may fall and then they disappear But in decay there grows a seed There’s a party in the drunken forest Don’t invite the sun and it will never end
5.	When the Big Bell Calls 03:07	lyrics	buy track
We’ll milk the cows now Sun is in the yard We’ll clean the barn out Time is running short Leaves they won’t stay in the trees I know it’s impossible. I know it’s impossible Icy bullets in the northern breeze I know they’re unstoppable. I know they’re unstoppable And with every motion that you make in haste Can’t keep things together frozen in one place Like the Frisbee, left in the summer stream Come the snow, we’ll only have the dream Like the mitten you left in the icy pond Come the spring, the mitten will be gone We’ll bale the hay now Make tight yellow cubes Pickle the string bean For our winter’s food Dust may gather and make balls Nothing’s invincible, nothing is invincible Where will you be when the big bell calls? You are responsible. You are responsible Idle hands may wander, shrivel on the beach Make sure every chore gets crossed off of your sheet Make sure the river doesn’t narrow to a creek Make sure the wool is taken from the sheep Make sure the baby doesn’t wake from its sleep Check the saddle has got the extra grease And when everything goes all cattywampus We will still move forward, oh nothing can stop us When the ceiling droops and the floor starts to buckle We will keep it together, we will face all our troubles It’s not impossible, it’s not impossible, it’s not impossible We are unstoppable, we are unstoppable, we are unstoppable, oh yeah
6.	The Ocean Is a Black and Rolling Tongue 04:00	lyrics	buy track
Oh-ho-ho, the ocean is a black and rolling tongue It seems to follow me no matter where I run Drowning is black and sudden fear Pull yourself out of it Sometimes the ocean’s all you hear, when you are out of it. But I never counted on all of this violence to wash over me And I’ll crack the window to set all the bad spirits free Codeine, make it all disappear, wake up in a new day White noise, waves in the machine, it’s time to drift away Oh-ho-ho, the ocean is a black and rolling tongue I want it to swallow me when my work is done I’m only trying to make all of the wrongs correct I’ll leave some breathing to show I have some soul left But I never counted on all of this violence to wash over me And I’ll crack the window to set all the bad spirits free By the time the drugs kick in she’ll have no remembrance In the playground, Lisa’s counting higher than she ever has I wasn’t counting. No, I wasn’t counting

credits

released November 20, 2020

Life in a Blender is Don Rauf, Dave Moody, Rebecca Weiner Tompkins, Mark Lerner, Al Houghton, and Ken Meyer
We’re joined on 4 of these songs by the Colony Collapse Horns:
Jackie Coleman: trumpet. Kevin Moehringer: trombone. Drew Krasner: alto saxophone

Produced by Al Houghton
Recorded and mixed at Dubway Studios, NYC
Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk

Additional performers: Nina Moss and Caleb Addy (handclaps)
Strings and horns arranged by Mark Lerner

Dubway recording engineers: Russell Castiglione,
Violette Furton, Zach Grappone, Rory O’Hara, Al Houghton
Dubway assistant engineers: Sydney Fuqua, Marc Frongillo
Quarantine engineering/recording: David Conrad, Ken Meyer, Mark Lerner

Front cover photo: Wim Goedhart. Back cover photo: Harum Koh.
Designed by Mark Lerner at Rag & Bone Shop

All songs © 2020 by Don Rauf (Stingy Brim Music/ASCAP)

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about

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