Get all 22 Derek Piotr releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Divine Supplication, "Yes, They All Sing" (Nathan Salsburg Version), The Devil Knows How, Making and Then Unmaking, Invisible Map - Single, flood deserts, Avia, The Sign - Single, and 14 more.
1. |
From Your Window
03:04
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There are little ghosts near my bed
Their forgiveness spreads oil to my skin
I hear wind chimes from your window
And a church bell far from here
While my running tortures the forest floor
I consume the wind who consumes me
Your ribs form branches
I walk under
There I’ll lay for a thousand years
Your ribs form branches
I walk under
There I’ll lay for a thousand years
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2. |
Sandhill Command
02:52
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Stick a spigot into a hill of sand
Drain the wells from the driest land
Make the cambric shirt
Destroy a perfect vow
Feast on only dirt
There is only now
You can watch the house next door
Get unmade and then remade
Always progress
You have nothing to do with
Launch an arrow with your hand
Be in search of untroubled land
Ward off Lankin and the De’il
Fill all seas in with a single pail
You can watch the house next door
Get unmade and then remade
Always progress
You have nothing to do with
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3. |
Invisible Map
02:57
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It oozes out of everything
But slowly at first
You have to notice
You have to collect it
Carefully
The things I hold onto
Make me want to change
But the more I change
The more I find myself
Holding on
Everyone’s telling me
I should move ahead
But the movements I have mapped
Are invisible
The things I hold onto
Make me want to change
But the more I change
The more I find myself
Holding on
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4. |
Bolakins
02:48
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Bolakins was a very fine mason
As ever laid stone
He built a fine castle
And for pay he got none
Where is the gentleman?
Is he at home?
He’s gone down to Marion
For to visit his son
Where is the lady?
Is she at home?
She's upstairs sleeping
Said the foster to him
How will we get her down
Such a dark night as this?
We'll stick her little baby
Full of needles and pins
They stuck her little baby
Full of needles and pins
The foster she rocked
and Bolakins he sung
While blood and tears
From the cradle did run
Down come our lady
Not thinking any harm
Old Bolakins
He caught her in his arms
Bolakins, Bolakins
Spare my life one day
I’ll give you many marigolds
As my horse can take away
Bolakins, Bolakins
Spare my life one hour
I’ll give you daughter Bessie
My own blooming flower
You better keep your daughter Bessie
For to run through the flood
And scour a silver basin
For to catch your heart's blood
Daughter Bessie climbed up
In my window so high
And saw her father
Come a-riding hard by
Oh, father, oh, father
Can you blame me
Old Bolakins
Has killed your lady
Oh, father, oh, father
Can you blame me
Old Bolakins
Has killed your baby
They hung Bolakins
To the sea-gallows tree
And tied the foster
To the stake of stand-by
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5. |
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It is an ocean I must shoulder
an ever-present kind of ache
The folks around me they grow colder
Burn my heart for them at the stake
Some days i feel i am cyborg
care with AI intensity
If you are lost or you are flagging
See my heart’s already caught fire
I am a cyborg
Enhanced love-chip built right in me
If you are lost you know I’ll find you
Care with AI intensity
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6. |
The Creek
02:35
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The leaves drop
One by one
Fill up the forest edge
Fill up the lake
How many winters will I wait for you
To come inside me?
For your spirit to release itself
In my poor heart?
The clouds move
One by one
Move past the tops of trees
Move past the creek
Move past you and me
Move past just me
How many springs will I begin again?
The years have seen the futures
I have sought
But come up empty-handed
Whenever you cry out I find you
So why when I am crying
Can’t you find me?
Why whenever I cry—
Why?
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7. |
Snow in Paradise
03:34
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It's a wall of snow
In paradise
All of us changing
For that better life
Did you manifest
What means most to you?
Cos you cant resist
It's an innate pull
It's an inmate's skull
Forgotten in the corner
By a careless warden
Many years ago
It's the letters sent
To the wrong address
But you wrote them all
On a letterpress
So you're holding hands
With a time-loop
And you're making friends
With that theatre troupe
Acting progress
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8. |
The River
02:17
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Take a taste out of these stores
Just a hint of where I’ve been:
Memories of memories
These will fade on their way out
Of the body, unable
To transform
The river cuts around your ankles,
But you do not cry out:
You move deeper
And more beautifully
Into love
Once I had you by my side
And our laughter rose so high
Beautiful and bright
Now we work hard to disguise
And we want to fill our nights
With the effort of effort
The river cuts around your ankles,
But you do not cry out:
You move further
And more painfully
From love
Longing to just forget
Love
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9. |
Light-Years
03:00
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Have I faltered
If you don’t trust
In my conscience
And abilities?
Am I older
In light-years of confidence?
Have I faltered
Irreparably?
Am I able
To charm you
One last time?
Have I faltered
Irreparably?
Have I wondered
If you would have
Too many problems
That won’t see the light?
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Derek Piotr
Derek Piotr is a folklorist, researcher and performer whose work focuses primarily on the human voice.
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