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The World Only Ends When You Die

by Skyway Man

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Second pressing on limited edition heavyweight 180g "Lavender" (well, it turned out more of a mauve) 12" vinyl variant. Package includes a download card & illustrated lyric inner sleeve. Illustrations by Kevin Hooyman. Design by Jeremy Yingling, Eric Loeffler & Vincent Bancheri.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The World Only Ends When You Die via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 617 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Second pressing on heavyweight 180g classic black 12" vinyl. Package includes a download card and illustrated lyric inner sleeve. Illustrations by Kevin Hooyman. Design by Jeremy Yingling, Eric Loeffler & Vincent Bancheri.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The World Only Ends When You Die via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    On ye olde compact disc in a handsome matte-finished jacket with a fold-out lyric poster.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The World Only Ends When You Die via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • 180g "Shimmering Void" LP (+ Album Download)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First pressing on limited edition 180g "Shimmering Void" (bottomless gold) 12" colored vinyl variant. Package includes download card and lyric inner sleeve.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The World Only Ends When You Die via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
I wonder how these little minds can conceive of god when they confine him to one spec of dust in the universe? - George Van Tassel channeling Ashtar Sheran, 1956 Muddy water like a piece of ancient church glass flowing We're on the darkest stretch, but the bend ahead is glowing Float past the trees, bent by the breeze Toward the lost, the always existing Behind the wall, not quite showing Above the muddy water Staring from the banks are the old lies I've been throwing Yeah a lie is still a lie, while the brightest minds are blowing One day I'll see all of the eyes Of the ones who swore that I won't die alone I won't cry when I'm going Know my name Swear that I Made my noise Paid the debt I'm owing To the muddy water Would you take me in this peculiar way I'm showing What's left of the mind after love, silence, and home? One day I'll be joined to the breeze with the lost The always existing, behind the wall, always knowing What's beyond the muddy water
2.
Just got back from the line of fire where the holy light freezes Just got back from the line of fire where the holy light freezes Just got back from the line of fire where the holy light freezes Hallelu-Hallelujah Sometimes Darkness in the mind, Sometimes it leaves us Sometimes Darkness in the mind, Sometimes it leaves us Sometimes Darkness in the mind, Sometimes it leaves us Hallelu-Hallelujah If I wake up tomorrow with my mind, I will set it on Jesus If I wake up tomorrow with my mind, I will set it on Jesus If I wake up tomorrow with my mind, I will set it on Jesus Hallelu-Hallelujah (“Railroad”) In the valley of the railroad bridge there is a garden lush and green And unusual flowers blossom there It was there I saw my true love talking to the wind And it played with a strand of her hair Are you coming for to carry me home? Are you coming for to carry me home? In the blinking of an eye I saw the two of them had gone They disappeared without making a sound I walked among the sleepers, along the path of steel Out a trace of my love can't be found Are you coming for to carry me home? Are you coming for to carry me home? (“Reprise”) Just got back from the line of fire where the holy light freezes Sometimes Darkness in the mind, Sometimes it leaves us If I wake up tomorrow with my mind, I will set it on Jesus Hallelujah
3.
D’you still dread the morning, all its force and light? Wake up every hour, scream out in the night You can’t understand what went wrong with this land Tilt back the bottle, hold my selfish hand. Shit’ll kill ya But Jesus took the fall, mhmm Lay down in the fog Hallelujah, good seein’ ya, I was the fortified wall Wake up, Mary-Anna, tie your shoes up very well I’ve come to tell you how the quiet nation fell Hallelujah, good seein’ ya I ride the Old Swingin’ Bell And if the Swingin’ Bell goes wandering by Get exposed to my stereo light And if the old Father tells ya, “The great receiver won’t receive ya” Believe what you like, but when I saw with my own eyes He said, "We all go out together, it just happens on different nights" Old Swingin’ Bell, Old Swingin’ Bell When will you tell all that you know? Want to make it hopeless, crawl into your shell? Find a friend to push ya down into the well If you can’t understand what went wrong with this land Tilt back the bottle, drive into the Grand Canyon silver Where Jesus took his fall so well Bide your time in hell Hallelujah, good seein’ ya I'll ride the Old Swingin’ Bell And if the Swingin’ Bell goes wandering by Get exposed to my stereo light And if the old Father tells ya, “The great receiver won’t receive ya” Believe what you like, but when I saw with my own eyes He said, "We all go out together, it just happens on different nights" Old Swingin’ Bell, Old Swingin’ Bell When will you tell all that you know?
4.
Ross, Rabbit, John, your father was a clown I never made you laugh, but one time you smiled at the ground In the company ranks from age of entry in year 25 Through some days way darker than a fallen soldier's eyes You screamed toward the shots, "I see the sky falling down" You ran to catch it like rain from a hellfire nation falling out of the clouds Yes, in war you'd never have a chance, you were too strong You were thrown to the dogs and died like your father In the rodeo Damn Did ya know him? -When you walk by his grave When the afternoon light lit his face in the old wooden frame Did you slow down to walk with the mourning, did they pass you by? Do the words "Did ya know him” when spoken sound strange? Ross, Rabbit, John, an aimless blade knocked you down Right now, you would be up all night, rolling heavy to a promised land sound We know it's too late to heal you, boy, but we still sing this rhyme Take the chains from your body, open your heart, put your hand in mind Did ya know him? Did ya know him? -What you say after speaking his name When the afternoon light lit his face in the old wooden frame Would you slow down if you saw his wheels were falling off right now? When the words "Did ya know him" are spoken, can you hear the sound? Sometimes we stare at the bathroom wall Wondering if the stucco on the ceiling's pointing in Sometimes people stare till they can't see at all Wait, in your bedroom Pace, until dawn Breaks a stream of light Over your desk drawer Write words "I’ll be fine" Oh so many times When your hand is sore Time to open the door Take my advice Wander open field Head pointed to sky Trace the pattern, Walk Till your hope runs dry Place your hand on the ground Listen to me, Freeze Till night falls down Watch the shadows in moonlight Point, you will survive Dig a hole there now Bury yourself inside You will be alright Dig a hole there now Bury yourself inside You will be alright Time to go down to the place of childhood dreams Time to go
5.
I was only two days old When the violent, flashing horrors started creeping in It was an ordinary sin I just couldn’t sleep So I dreamed while I was awake Wet my blankets in a common void Under faded fresco of shooting stars on the mission floor I saw what universe was for It had all just begun Somehow, I’m 31 And Theia brings me an angel carved from exploding sun Now, how did I deserve that love? Was it all too much truth? So I dreamed while I was awake Walked for miles through my common void Toward an ocean, swelled up a rising tide Through my fading core By then I was 34 I was not yet done
6.
"We’re sitting here right now on a spaceship that we call the earth Traveling a thousand miles an hour on its axis yet we register no sign of movement We’re riding on this planet, it’s our ship. We were put on it for a purpose, for a purpose, for a purpose, These latter days are here." - George Van Tassel, 1956
7.
Don't feel bad about being alive Even after, you know, many friends have died Your life was taller Cast a longer shadow on the ground Night is still falling Don't feel bad about being alive Sometimes the ship rocks you side to side Some hold tightly Some watch the moonrise bobbing up and down Beneath the water Caught you reading from the book of dead Head hanging from your shoulders Put it down, go out and wear your body For a little more time Don't feel bad about being alive Even if it was only you who survived Crawled out the foxhole, named the fallen Listed reasons you were not bound Oh, look how they're numbered! Now, meanwhile, we can dance beside This cold future coming over If it’s too bright, raise a pinhole fist to your eye Best we can do is ride that opening wide Through the days of milk and thunder Pushing colder and wider out into the night Or feel bad about being alive Cause if you wonder why it’s so dim While light changes over top of your skin You might discover the right way to go But once you leave, you can never go home Don't feel bad about being alive Even after many friends have died They may haunt your dark corners at night But they made a choice and chose to stay behind Say I get tangled in the port side lines You throw a buoy, but I've already died Scream my name off of the starboard and cry But don't feel bad about being alive Draw my face into the stars at night Use them neurons firing in your mind They've done you good now for a long long time While you sat around and felt bad From the mounds on Mississippian fields Over oceans so wide and surreal There’s more love than one boy can feel Raise that pinhole fist to your eye Lord, my Lord, how are we going to save all the feelings Scattered by the going of the day?
8.
You were supposed to be my babe You weren't supposed to be Charlie's babe I bought a new guitar today Was gonna show ya how that song got made "Night Walking, Alone" by The Desperation Play Sha la la la la la la Oh, the evening drifter Sha la la la Try to not miss her, it's easier so But love still grows And Nobody knows I was supposed to be your man Yeah, you know Charlie he don't understand But if that's the way, then that's the way Turn on the radio and fade away "Night Walking, Alone" by The Desperation Play Remember when they played at Dark Hollow And the lights blacked out? My head bled something real... I was barely 18 My hands knuckle-white Neck stretched out When they played “Gripped on to the Steel” Or was it “Spinnin' My Wheels"? Sha la la la la la la Oh, that’s right they played “The Superstition” Sha la la la That's when my spine started shivering from head to toe They played “Love Is the Great Unknown” into “Night Walking, Alone” Someday, I will rise from the grave Haunt that old pool hall beside the bay Live in the jukebox, watch people sway Late at night make the jukebox play "Night Walking, Alone" "Night Walking, Alone" "Night Walking, Alone"
9.
"They said that in event an atomic war starts they would not interfere until the people start crying to God for help and then they’ll put a stop to it (I’m on the air!) They are only going to observe and prevent any bomb being exploded That would destroy this planet or our civilization" - George Van Tassel on Aliens, 1956 Found the reason why it's gettin' so bad All my life singing verses from a sick sad song Till the light is all gone But when that melody hit You know it hit like an atom bomb When it come When it come When it come Oh Lord, you know it hit like an atom bomb Tripped a breaker when my old man died Now, I’m haunted by the fear of not feeling alive Well, I’m on fire tonight And when that melody hit Y’know it come from the sky Here it come When it come When it come When it come Oh Lord, it’s gonna hit like an atom bomb, bomb, bomb I was born in 1984 I heard a chorus and the gold voice splintered my eye You know the world only ends when you die And when that melody hits Ya gotta raise up and fly fly fly When it come When it come When it come When that melody hit like an atom bomb When that melody hit like an atom bomb When that melody hit like an atom bomb
10.
Power 04:49 video
I wanna tell you a story about a future vision I once had from an old ancient god Who sent down an army of machines to take the power from the land, bring it back above They rode carriages without horses, brought electric light Called it magnetic motion, lit the sad cafe When the bullets rang on our doorstep, they'd done it "for the Lord" Whole towns were mowed over looking for where power was stored Do you need power? Do you need power? Do you need power? It's in the heart of man She said, "Don't worry, boy You've won me over Just be careful, be on time And if I shake like a willow, hold me tighter" And we'll stay up late with our radio In case the raid comes at night We'll go down listening to powerful sounds Making pantomime, blown saxophones wail Do you need power? Do you need power? Do you need power? It's in the heart of man. It’s a question that’s been asked from time to time The answer, not hard to remember One body who receives the light Into the heart of man

about

Produced by James Wallace
Recorded at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia
and Huge Planet Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Mixed by Kevin Dailey
Additional Mixing by Jake Davis
Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering
String Arrangements by Dabney Morris
Art by Kevin Hooyman
Layout by Jeremy Yingling, Eric Loeffler & Vincent Bancheri

credits

released October 23, 2020

© & ℗ 2020 Mama Bird Recording Co.
under license from Skyway Man

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Skyway Man Oakland, California

"I've been living the wilds for 20 years now, hardly speaking to anyone." - Dr. James Oliver CYR, 2011

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