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Citadel

by Gondoliers

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1.
Rise Girl Rise, Rise up from the archway and take to the sky Shake down your mom for all she owes you while she still provides Rise up from the archway, board the bus Show your tits to the driver And sit in the back with the rest of the riders I caught your eye at the marketplace, I bought your eye I hung it on my wall with the rest of my collectibles I caught your eye @ the marketplace while I was fishing for soul Now I am protected by the evil magic of your followers We come with all our weapons hidden Pink and blue babies wrapped in blankets We come with all our weapons hidden Not yet loaded or enlightened, Not yet fully risen So let the wolves smell your heart and when they see you mean them no harm They will lick your baby feet. When they see you came in peace And will not harm your pack. They will kindly hide their teeth And when you ride the bus with the wolves How cool then will you be? Lyrics: John Manson
2.
Soon these bodies will become unlivable when we finish performing this ritual. And it's unbelievably eccentric to believe. We might reach some form of sustainability. As the flow grows so heavily away. We will be towed along with it one of these fine days and we go over the falls. When one starts jumping in all the rest will follow in the old familiar fashion But some of us will float. We will float like baby birds. We will float over olden borders into brand new colder water. Did anybody ever really wear a barrel? The gods take what they want. We are just hangers-on. When they chose one of us to go up. The left-behind slide their desks a little closer together. We follow our money down in the pockets of patriots. Driving their low riding chariots down to the trailer dome where they give it all up to their saints who have promised their people everything. All the bullion they need to rebuild their lousey flood land So most of us just pray. But then some of us will float. We will float like baby birds. We will float over the olden borders out into brand new colder water. Did anybody ever really wear a barrel? It's a comedy, it's a tragedy, it's complicated. Lyrics: John Manson
3.
Movie Ugly 05:26
You're just like us. You're funny or edgy. You're a bit of an odd one maybe, a little rough around the fringes. But still there's that special something good-looking maybe even sexy But not too off putting. You've got it all plus some endearing flaws. You're movie ugly and that's pretty. That's pretty damn good. What I wouldn't give to walk just a little bit in your movie ugly shoes. You're a depth of character in a sea of soul. You fill a need, a nitch, a role. Approachable and yet fuckable, You're movie ugly and lovely. And that's pretty, that's pretty damn good. If I were you I would find it hard not to strut and shake my ass around these blocks. I would swing my hips in my movie ugly suit. You're inside the walls, You're in the schoolyard In on both sides of hte joke, long in the know But you are so just like us. Lyrics: John Manson
4.
The Boxer 05:12
WE are boxers. We are fighters. We are born boxers. We are born pugilists. Blessed at birth with a talent for doing grand violence. To our shame we squander it. Our blood flows down from the Norse Gods through the Viking veins into the highlands before spewing across the sea into the heart of the south of North America. Where the Hatfields and McCoys have been feuding for generations over plots of rocks and dirt all the while keeping one eye open and on the herd. My dummy fists, they cannot swing. Like rubber fish that do not swim. My dummy fists, they do not swing. Like rubber fish they just exist. For alight with the weight of flies and then burst into clouds of white, mere moths on the cheek and grind to our knees as bags of sand. Roll around the ground as tomato cans. But no one gives a shit if we are butterflies or bees. We have these fancy wings. We have these handy claws. We traded in our mitts for they would not make hooks no more. So we pissed our genes out onto the parlour floor. We are monsters, we are mothmen. We are shadows of our grandfather's hands. We pissed the goods out onto paper in our finer days while we were fluttering about above our funny pages. We pissed our blood into the air and watched it shower down. We pissed the faces on our comic pages into red. Lyrics: John Manson
5.
Cockroach 05:26
The evening is still so young in spite of all it's withering This evening is so very young in spite of all it's wrinkling so we stretch and we grow wiser with each new seasons spots and strip So I wore my tallest shoes. Now I'm eye to eye with you. In the cold room you can't walk up on me. I own this even-ing. The girl next door is likely to come by one of these nights, The Girl across the way has a lovely blackening around the eyes. so we expand and we grow wider in our new black and our classic whites. So I wore my tallest shoes. Now I'm eye to eye with you. In the cold room you can't walk up on me. I own this even-ing. I won this town. I own it from the underpants on down. I love the veiux from here from beneath your stares I love to get under your skin and tangled in your hair I crawl under your doors and punt the filth around your floors. I hear the dirty words you just suppose exist and cannot quite ignore So when we get our shots our shots are going to take like birthday cake And when we get our shots our shots will take us away to a better place When we take our shots our shots will take us away When we take our shots our shots will taste just like birthday cake. Lyrics: John Manson
6.
In the front yards stands our pride, Our only trophies on display mounted high among the wires, Our monumental achievement. So the neighbors know of just what we are capable Just so the neighbors know of what we are capable I thought what we had, I thought it was a secret But it's been put onto a tee shirt and now it's gone around the block But it's come back up in conversation. Relevant again, I am. With my private parts swinging out all over creation; Relevant again I am, sans a podium. So stay in the back yard. Live like the country boys. Play in the tallest of the tall trees. Live like the freebirds did before you. Stay in the back yard. Play in the backseat of the old car. Stay where I can see you. My only advice to you is to remain tucked away. Stay unconvertible, Stay among the infamous. Stay un-vincible. Hold onto your powers. Stay unflowered. Hold on. Lyrics: John Manson
7.
Snake Houses 07:55
She makes these snake houses presumably for snakes that have no home. We bring her the materials she needs. She makes them from toilet paper rolls. And they are stacked up in pyramid form. She draws these lovely pictures of disgusting Gods. Who are actually quite handsome. They are truly to be admired. They bleed from their eyes and they bleed from their lips and their mouths runneth over. The fluid drips down their chins, down to where there should have been bibs. But it was all a misunderstanding. No one ever said disgusting. She just mis-overheard. There are so many of us human toilets all talking shit at the same time. All full up with ourselves and ready to back up and overflow with wings and legs and halos and all the proper accoutrements. All the proper shape on which to sit. As catalysts we are all here just to assist. We crystallize the energy. We help focus the eyes. We direct the light up the pyramid. we send these messages like fan latters to the disgusting gods. If only we could make this city for the turkeys is could be forever November. There would be no need for no butcherie if we could make a house for every homeless snake and fill the city with the sound of slithering. The baggers could cry until they bleed. Bleed from their ears and bleed from their eyes and bleed from their lips dripping fluid down their chins. Dripping down their necks onto where there should have been bibs. Lyrics: John Manson
8.
Glass Skirts 05:09
I chose you from amongst the billions. You will be my friend. We will play our woodland games together We will lose our way until we find a way to meet our mutual ends We will split the digs. We will surely split the digs Until we dig each others graves. From palimony it sprang. In harmony it will end. Much like it was supposed to have began On an island in the sunshine with out toes tucked into the whitest of sand Where we would paint our rocks any way we please. And we would hang our locks into the sea. We will turn to jelly on the beach before our castle made of bamboo and coconut leaves. I chose you from amongst the billions. You will be my friend. We will wear our glass skirts out To every damn luau and limbo until they shatter All across this lovely tropical beach And melt back into the smelly ocean breeze. Lyrics: John Manson
9.
Word of God 06:00
I'm a calculator. I calculate your availability. You have nice hair parted nicely. You have clean apparel. And sweet smelling skin. Recently scrubbed. You are ready to begin. You are ready to jump in. I'm calculating. I calculate obsessively. And just for the hell of it I am imagining that we get intimate. And just for the fuck of it I am calculating. I calculate. I have missed so many possible trysts but I move on. And pass on the information. The emperor's robe hangs open. You can see what's inside. Your eyes are alight. Your fangs sharpened to knives. Your feathers fluffed up high. I wish the best upon you all. I hope you all get laid tonight. Lyrics: John Manson

credits

released June 1, 2012

Brendan Gibson - Drums
Daniel Madri - Guitar/keyboard
John Manson - Vocals

Music by Gondoliers
Lyrics by John Manson

Recorded and Mixed by Kevin Micka.
Mastered by Scott Craggs

Cover Art by Josh Peters

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Gondoliers Somerville, Massachusetts

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