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Expatriates

by Tyler Lyle

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1.
Medusa 05:46
One year closer to my death I haven't found what I'm looking for yet It ain't big blue eyes and long blonde hair It ain't a million dollars or a secret prayer Ya see, my corpse was born inside of me Sometimes I carry him, sometimes he carries me And we ride this desert foreign land When my prayers don't work I use my hands There's a monster in my dreams With ruby eyes she calls to me And the demons circle round her throne beside the princes she has turned to stone She can take your brain but not your blood She can bury your bones but not your love Still, I keep practicing my aim Persius is my name Time is not the enemy I am, I think But if I can't find the rhythm If I can't find a cure By God I'm gonna break these walls and shake the floors If I come I come to raise the dead Even with all these demons in my head And if you've come to raise them too If you wait for me, I'll wait for you My grandpa asked me to plant a tree So I burned down the forrest while he was asleep He awoke with not a tree in sight, Said "now maybe son you can plant one right Don't be afraid of the blood and gore Don't be afraid of the devil on the threshing floor 'Cause there's a power in your bones that outconsumes War and Sex and God and You" Time is not the enemy I am, I think But if I can't find the rhythm If I can't find a cure By God I'm gonna break these walls and shake the floors If I come I come to raise the dead Even with all these demons in my head And if you've come to raise them too If you wait for me I'll wait for you Guts of gold and wings of steel A loaded gun and a pocket mirror And if you make it out alive You better hold that bloody head up high My dad was born in '58 His dad was born in '29 His dad was born in 1895 His name was Persius- the same as mine
2.
Song For Bob 03:40
Too much whiskey and you can't find the truth Too little and the outcome's the same I'm on Abbot Kinney, a quarter to nine Three drinks in my head and this song on my mind I got nothing, nothing and no one The pretty people just running in place Tell me, is a song worth a damn thing Nothing won't be worth nothing one day I got a meeting tomorrow with a man and a pen see if he can't get these songs of my hands and give me some money for all of these tears I got nothing, nothing and no one and I just keep running away Tell me, is a song worth a damn thing Nothing won't be worth nothing one day Hey hey there Bob Dylan, I wrote you a song About a world that ain't never been born Like a curse in my mouth and a cure on my tongue It comes from my guts and it pulls out my lungs I got nothing, nothing and no one The pretty people just running in place Tell me, is a song worth a damn thing Nothing won't be worth nothing one day Nothing ain't worth nothin' I say
3.
Werewolf 04:54
Some days I am Caesar Some days I am Christ Some days St. Theresa By golly, some days I play nice And some days I am a mother fucking werewolf I am a cannibal that eats himself alive So if you see me tonight on the floor or the ceiling It depends how I'm feeling, maybe you'll take me home and I'll climb your mountains and build a castle around it But bring your silver bullets just in case Some days I'm wide receiver Some days blow your mind Some days stoned at breakfast Some nights drunk on wine And some days I am a mother fucking werewolf I am a cannibal that eats himself alive So if you see me tonight on the floor or the ceiling It depends how I'm feeling, maybe you'll take me home and I'll climb your mountains and build a castle around it But bring your silver bullets just in case Some days you are Elvis Some days Joan of Arc Some nights Hallelujah and some just break your heart And some days you are a mother fucking werewolf You are medusa with napalm in your eyes/ you are a cannibal that eats himself alive And if I see you tonight on the floor or the ceiling It depends how you're feeling maybe I'll take you home Maybe we'll slow dance or build a fort on my big bed But I'm bringing my silver bullets just in case While I was casting demons out of you You were casting demons out of me Now I think it's best we let it be Because I am a werewolf and you are a werewolf too
4.
Rodanthe 04:00
Naked skin, the body bends in the morning sun The best moments are the ones you can't tell anyone We heard the front door slam and you let go of my hand Your daddy chased me round the water Said "what are you doing with my daughter" I said "i'm just doing what the bad boys do sir didn't you used to want to be a bad boy too" I got sunshine, sunshine All over me Brown eyes, blue skies Are all I see Time it goes, I suppose, too suddenly But the things I thing I've lost I find back in the sea Before the world began Before you held my hand Are you married with a family? Did you move back to Rodanthe? Do you chase away those bad boys too? Remember when you used to think you loved a bad boy too? You had sunshine, sunshine All over you Red wine, tan lines and nothing to prove One day it might be as good as it was But it'll never be better It'll never be better Sunshine, sunshine all over me brown eyes, blue skies Are all I see
5.
Ithaca 12:02
I was born outside of Lexington The first son of Oblivion I came with a name that was on my tongue I thought it might be You I came of age and fell in love I always pushed too hard or not enough But I kept that song stuck to my tongue I've been trying to get it out See, I tried to marry Jesus Christ It didn't take, but the dress was nice So I filled my pockets with bread and wine And I went on down the road Caught a train to Babylon Learned to sing the secret Songs I dreamt of God in foreign tongues And I learned how to starve In a beautiful dream you were walking In the city by the sea and you wanted me like I wanted you I wish that were true I learned that Dionysis dances well But the hangover she hurts like hell Apollo robs the wishing well He's a liar and a thief Blind Lemon, Jack, and Kerouac Henry Miller in my gunny sac Blind Willie Johnson and Kierkegaard Taught me the Texas Blues I found a sleeping river man Swore he would take me across the river to Jerusalem But he wanted more than I could offer him I memorized some quotes and wrote some songs Now I sing for food and cigarettes In these noisy bar and cabarets Cough up the songs stuck in my chest and I trade them for a beer In a beautiful dream you were walking In the city by the sea and you wanted me like I wanted you I wish that were true The rain came in Vichy France In a rented room by Pére Lachaise Calypso on the unmade bed She wears grey, but you wear blue, don't you There, I dreamt that I met Kind Louis Who was waiting on the guillotine He said "They just don't see the things I see" I said "They see more than you think" He said "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani" Like the Son of God of or a fallen Beast C'est ne pas mon pais this is not my home Then I awoke by a chestnut tree In the Garden of Gethsemane For a moment I saw Everything Hallelujah and God Damn. In a beautiful dream you were walking In the city by the sea and you wanted me like I wanted you I wish that were true Oh Penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more Queen of Tennessee, every street to her was paved with gold A thousand song I have sung I got a hundred thousand in my lungs But they never seem to be enough To keep you by my side All the lovers I have known, Most for fun and some for show They were only just a place to hold The space I keep for you And What may be the only sin Is: life keeps you hungry to the bitter end And one trip to the well ain't enough to get Every thing you'll ever need But I do not tell the world my dreams They are alone for me to keep Like a forrest in a mustard seed Like the fire in the black coals In a beautiful dream you were walking In the city by the sea and you wanted me like I wanted you I wish that were true Oh Penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more I heard that she left town, heard she settled on another shore I made it back to Ithaca a high rise where the vineyard was No magnolia trees up above Blue grass hills had turned to stone Then the oracle came at last Said "Everything has come to pass." Disappeared in a camera flash And left me with the bill I am a dying leaf upon this tree I'll maybe last a century Just waiting for a gentle breeze To cast these sails to shore Then I'll return from where I came Without a face or family name And I'll dissolve in the winter's rain Back into Everything In a beautiful dream you were walking In the city by the sea and you wanted me like I wanted you I wish that were true Oh Penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more I sailed the seven seas But she don't want a man, she wants her King and that ain't me I'm sorry

about

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large" says Whitman, "I contain multitudes."

This small collection of songs was written by the caprice of some of the strange passengers in my head. I can't point to which one wrote what, because as soon as I realize that I'm being led down a strange road, he vanishes before I've reach the end of it. I look around, astonished that the page is full of a stranger's handwriting and claim it as my own. The theme is alienation- isolation- the november of the soul that begins to suspect that, damn it, this might just be it, and it's not going well.

This was tracked at my dad's home studio in Roopville, Georgia over the course of three days in June and then tinkered with at Joel Seibel's studio in Atlanta, Georgia off and on for about six months.

I view this as a dark, pensive intermission of sorts. I spent a year in LA accumulating songs that I'm proud of that will never be released, and songs that will, and songs you'll hear sung by other artists and you won't know that I had a part in it. I hesitate to put this small collection out because the feel, the intention, even the themes aren't similar to what's on the horizon, but I think there's something worthwhile in these expatriate songs- these songs meant for chewing on, not for swallowing (for the quiet minority that still have their teeth after ten years of auto tune and a four on the floor drum pads). *

For the family members whose likeness I've used on the cover and haven't recieved permission (which is all of them)- thanks in advance for letting me share this picture. The heavy roots that you carry are the heavy roots that I carry and the heavy roots we pass along. You will rage in me until I die- there is a strange solace there.

This is for the last few dark cold days of winter when the books are heavier, the thoughts are stranger, and the light is more foreign.

thank you.
2.16.13


*No offense to the auto tune or drum pads- that side project is on it's way shortly.

credits

released March 14, 2013

Produced and mixed by Joel Seibel
Mastered by Andre Griffin
Most of the instruments were played by Thomas Lockwood
Drums were played by Gabe Seibel and Micah Williams
Molly Parden sang harmony

Vocalist on Ithica:
Holly Evans, Faith Riley, Victoria Valle, Becky Scott, Virginia Fielder, Joel Seibel, Daniel Bass, Aaron Hogin, Gabe Seibel

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Tyler Lyle Atlanta, Georgia

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