Get all 5 Illiteratty releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of It's Getting Late, Perfection At It's Best, Through the Mirror, Go For a Walk, and Is This My Life?.
1. |
It's Getting Late
03:33
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It’s getting late
The purple flowers are falling
On their knees
The sun is wasted
On the mountains
Precious time slides down the
Rivers, and the bees
Drunk with hazy fervour
Are returning
Among sparks of yellow
Pollen
That float beneath the trees
And everywhere the sun is going down
And everywhere what’s gone round
Is now coming round
Let this day have an end
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2. |
The Carpenter Ant
02:22
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3. |
Childhood's End
04:47
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For all the times the saucers landed in the park
Without incident, comment or concern
& every day we were not frightened by the thought
That we had visitors curious to learn
Let that innocence come again
Is it just the way things go
& turn aside the schemes of men
Are we better than we know?
We’ve been so banished from ourselves
That our fear is like perfume
The paranoia never fit us very well,
I always thought it was a sop to keep us down
The years of silence that descended on us all
Could not damp the fires moving underground
Let the changes now appear
High above these prison walls
Let the silver ones draw near
It’s the same sun on us all
The prisons will not hold us now
You cannot leave an empty room
But
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
As our ship comes into view
We turn and look back from the shore
To watch your mighty towers fall
Now we’re stepping through the door
And
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
We are leaving you
& we are listening too
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4. |
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Now it's my turn to skate with the Stanley Cup
I am holding it over my head like Bobby Orr
All my team mates can wait for my turn to be up
I will savour this moment, that's what this moment is for
Cuz I worked so hard since I was five learning the game
I would shoot at the net until I would fall asleep
I worked so hard learning to check, learning to skate
And the skills that I gained, they;re mine to keep
Now it's my turn to skate with the Stanley Cup
Have I done this before or is that just how it seems
All my team mates can wait for my turn to be up
I've rehearsed this for thirty five years in my dreams
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5. |
Like the River
05:00
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Heraclitus said The river twice
You may not step within
It will not be the same
But I began to think like Parmenides
Who said that nothing moves
Except perhaps in name because
I see the changes
They cannot reach us
I see that change has
Nothing to teach us
But that we are like the river
You and I we’ve seen so much in our time
It almost boggles the mind
How could we be the same
But when I look at you
I see the true shining identity
That lies beyond a name
I see the changes
They cannot touch us
I see that change shows
Nothing so much as
That we are like the river
We are like the river
We are like the river in our continuity
Nothing can deliver us from flowing to the sea
I see the changes
They cause confusion
I see that change is
Just an illusion because
We are like the river
We are like the river
We are like the river
We are like the river
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6. |
Little Man
03:43
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Little Man Song Earle Peach
Down on the boulevard a little man sells some books
He wears a winter coat in the sun
He’s got a treasure there for anyone who cares to look
Spreads his goods on a blanket on the ground
Balzac and Baudelaire, Hotel & Top Gun
Every day he carries his chair
On the bus, and he gets off a block from there
Rolls a cigarette and sits down
Little man, where are you from?
Did you know what you’d become
When you were a child in a town on the Don
Playing piano while your parents looked on,
And the bells in the great cathedral in the square:
Is part of you still there?
When the bombs landed in the square I was still in school
No one would tell me my parents died
That’s when I learned that Jesus doesn’t know the golden rule
In the station my uncle cried
For 40 years I shaded my face from the sun
Now I’ve finally ceased to run
Let them kill me on the street if they must
In the end we’re all dust
Little man, where are you from?
Did you know what you’d become
When you were a child in a town on the Don
Playing piano while your parents looked on,
And the bells in the great cathedral in the square:
Is part of you still there?
Is part of you still there?
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7. |
Go For a Walk
02:41
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Go For a Walk Outside
There’s a reason why you can’t sleep at dawn
It’s not because the birds are singing
It’s this loneliness that won’t leave you alone
& the silence inside you ringing
Beside you in the bed’s a gaping hole
You want to fall into its yawning
& vanish in the darkness & the cold
Full of emptiness & longing
When you’re alone
& your heart’s like a hollow bone
You got no one to love
& you just wanna wail & moan
Have a nice cup of tea
It’ll make you feel better
Then go outside & get some air
If it’s cold put on a sweater
Go for a walk outside
If it’s a sunny day don’t you hide indoors
Go for a walk outside
& all the pleasures of the daylight can be yours
Any time you want ‘em
Any time at all
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8. |
If You Should Fail
03:34
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If You Should Fail
If you should fail in your quest
Come back to earth, come to rest
We’ll wipe the space from your boots, and
Lighten your soul
Hostesses are waiting for you now
Scented with almonds and crème de cacao
With amnesia needles they’ll embrace you
They’ll make you whole
Where you went was just too far
What you tried can’t be done
No one has gone there and truly returned
You’re welcome home
We hope that you’ll find happiness here
That all those troubled dreams will disappear
That you’ll settle down in your place
And cease to roam
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9. |
ABBACAC
03:37
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10. |
My Chibougamau Baby
03:45
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Chibougamau Baby
You came west with a fishnet in your hands
Hoping to go underground and fight for the cause
Your inner child began to make demands
Fortunately you never managed to break any laws
But ah, the sky has unearthed you now
This big world has reached in and birthed you now
So cry, my Chibougamau baby
Cry with a sorrow that can’t be explained
You’ve only lost the comfort of the dark
You’ll feel better when you see
How your love has been unchained
You cast aside your fishing net in tears
And let the salmon show you which way to go
You stumbled into light, so sincere
Reaching for the wings you already know so well
But ah, the sky walks inside you now
The thing you sought cannot be denied you now
So cry, my Chibougamau baby
Cry with a sorrow that can’t be explained
Let the river overflow with diamonds
And rush along with a force
That can’t be contained
You know you lived your life like a question mark
But now an answer comes floating out of the dark
Cry, my Chibougamau baby
Cry with a sorrow that can’t be explained
You’ve only lost the comfort of the dark
You’ll feel better when you see
How your love has been unchained
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11. |
I've Got My Earbuds On
02:45
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I've got my earbuds on, I am a fortress now
I can see you, but you can't see me
I hate to interact with other people
Because they might be just like me
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12. |
Walk in a Mystery
03:09
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Walk in a Mystery
& I will dream of the ocean
& bright waves
& then I’ll know that I’m asleep
& you will be there before me
all shining
mysterious & deep
& with a smile you’ll undo me
so gentle
until I’m lying at your feet
& everything will be still then
‘til evening
& we’ll go walking down the beach
& we’ll walk in a mystery
we’ll walk in a mystery
we’ll walk in a mystery
warm air across our faces
love shimmering
like heat through a coal
& everything will be translucent
light streaming
like fire from our single soul
& when we touch
the surface will be gone
we’ll reach in & drink our fill
& all of this has been foretold
it always was, & it always will
it’s a mystery
we’ll walk in a mystery
we’ll walk in a mystery
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13. |
Our Ability to Dance
03:04
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Our Ability to Dance
It’s good, it’s good
It’s empirically good
That we should love each other
It’s good, it’s good
It’s the flower of philosophy
That we should play together
So throw your coat over in the corner
& dance with your fellow creatures
You don’t have to be somewhere
It doesn’t matter if you’re there
Just pretend that your cellphone didn’t work
& the roads were flooded
It was an accident that brought you here
but you will not be denied
Lots of room for everyone
won’t you please come inside?
Our vision is rather limited
We haven’t got a lot of time
But we have the sweetest music
In this region of the galaxy
Sometimes we stumble on things that seem to be true
The world moves through us as it moves through you
It might be true to say
Our ability to dance redeems us
Our ability to dance redeems us
Our ability to dance redeems us
Our ability to dance redeems us
Our ability to dance
Our ability to dance
Our ability to dance
Our ability to dance
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Illiteratty Vancouver, British Columbia
We play metafolk… meaning, original swing, European cabaret, celtic, rockabilly, a cappella, folk, world, pop, with sharp
lyrics and up to five-part vocals.
Our instrumentation is for three to six musicians, and our full complement includes guitar, mandolin, violin, keys/accordion, upright bass and small percussion. Our music is funny, angry, idiosyncratic, intelligent, and extremely varied.
... more
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