Get all 32 Avi C. Engel releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
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1. |
Sing in Our Chains
03:59
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moonlit apes
swinging in the trees
the sky is huge
and the sea is green
borne in on a wave
dissolve in the breeze
as the waters rise
we sing in our chains
of hope and greed
moonlit apes
swinging in the trees
don't climb down
you'll bury the stars
and boil the sea
borne in on a wave
dissolve in the breeze
we try to gather the world in our arms
but we were better off up in the trees
moonlit apes
swinging in the trees
the sky is huge
and the sea is green
borne in on a wave
dissolve in the breeze
as the waters rise
we sing in our chains
of hope and greed
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2. |
Poisonous Fruit
05:13
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poisonous fruit
luminous rind
take out your knife
let's see what's inside
hallowed old hurt
shrivelled and dry
who are you without
all you love to despise?
poisonous fruit
luminous rind
take out your knife
let's see what's inside
the pale rider
drinking lilac wine
smoking a joint
still shows up on time
poisonous fruit
luminous rind
take out your knife
let's see what's inside
a warehouse full
of hearts with no eyes
they say love is blind
just tendrils and tongues
in a shivering fire
poisonous fruit
luminous rind
take out your knife
let's see what's inside
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3. |
The Snake in the Mirror
03:39
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the snake in the mirror is smiling at me
the snake in the mirror is levitating
tap on the glass
it's liquifying
and we swim in ribbons of light
godspeed
moon pulls too hard and strangles the tide
gaping heart and bloodshot sky
mindless body swirling and bright
tide-pool eyes brim with primordial life
the snake in the mirror is smiling at me
the snake in the mirror is levitating
tap on the glass
it's liquifying
and we swim in ribbons of light
godspeed
orchid bloom and vulture feed
a husk, a hollow lonesome thing
one foot in this world
one miles in the deep
half-life of love doesn't mean a thing
the snake in the mirror is smiling at me
the snake in the mirror is levitating
tap on the glass
it's liquifying
and we swim in ribbons of light
godspeed
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4. |
Deathless
06:32
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let it come down easy
let it come down like rain
a story with no ending
tears and mends itself again
sing a smoke ring
sing a tempest
sing a spiral and a burning wheel
hold me like flesh around a skeleton
like snow on a sleeping field
let it come down easy
let it come down like rain
a story with no ending
tears and mends itself again
sing a waterfall
a desert
a trembling compass rose
sing a hell and sing a heaven
hungry ghosts in shepherd's robes
let it come down easy
let it come down like rain
a story with no ending
tears and mends itself again
limbs twist into branches
bud and ache with stars
cold celestial heartbeat
red root that leaves a scar
let it come down easy
let it come down like rain
a story with no ending
tears and mends itself again
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5. |
I Died Again
05:23
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oh no
I died again
can we restart the game, my friend?
can I borrow your skin?
can I borrow your eyes?
can I borrow your wings
for a couple of lives?
or one more try?
oh no
I died again
can we restart the game, my friend?
I was walking along
I was feeling swell
when I stumbled into a bottomless well
oh hell
I was doing ok
I was just hitting my stride
when I tripped and fell in a river of knives
oh my
oh no
I died again
can we restart the game, my friend?
the hanged man
comes and goes
the fool got lost
in a labyrinth of woe
oh no
I died again
can we restart the game, my friend?
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6. |
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once upon a time
some bones made of pure light
decided to go out dancing
they borrowed some rags from the sun, who said,
"give them back before the morning comes
and have yourself a ball, little one"
they put on their dancing shoes
made of mist and the finest dew
and wandered the streets til they felt the pulse of a party
no one saw them come inside
but a quickening warm and bright
crept over flesh like a wave cresting
so high
words will rob you blind
fever dream of form subside
wet cracking shell
nowhere to hide
once upon a time
some bones made of pure light
decided to go out dancing
once upon a time
some bones made of pure light
dressed to the nines
invisible and burning
in borrowed rags from the sun
they danced until the lights came on
and floated home
aglow and alone
words will rob you blind
fever dream of form subside
wet cracking shell
nowhere to hide
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7. |
A Silver Thread
04:22
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sleep until the sun retreats
open your glowing eyes and feast
shadows come alive
clamouring and wild
streetlamps prick the flesh of the soft velvet sky
in my darkest hour
break into my head
shatter mirrors with your cry
claw the maps to shreds
start a fire and I'll close my eyes
your talons shine with blood
or moonlight
I can't decide
life too brief, a flickering thing
to be motheaten by ghosts
in waking dreams
circle the word
that trembles and glows
and toss the rest back in the coals
love songs pour from a weeping sore
I don't want to hear about your broken heart anymore
sew it up with this silvery thread
and let a demon bird build a nest in your head
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8. |
Personne
06:26
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never been saved
never been found
never been the key singing silver on the ground
never been the cup you raise to your mouth
never been the wolf
never been the hound
never been your doorway
never been your ride
never been your breakdown lane at the end of the night
never been violet
never been blue
never been the pane of glass you punch right through
never been anointed
never been tried
never been real
never been right
never been frozen
never been high
never been delivered
never been decried
never been a seahorse
never been a stag
never been as gorgeous as adonis in drag
never been a monster
never been a saint
never been a seagull perched on heaven's gate
(reprise)
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9. |
Bridge Behind the Sun
05:28
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there's a bridge behind the sun
made of spider's lace and wire
I met a drowned man sprouting feathers of fire
we traded songs before he took flight
but I would rather have traded my eyes
there's a bridge behind the sun
made of knotted ropes of light
I met a woman who'd been buried alive
hollow eyes full of planets and vines
she said "vengeance is a mirage"
as she coughed up a morsel of sky
there's a bridge behind the sun
free from every storm and pain
every earthly shape, every earthly name
blind wolf in the forest of stars
awaken, blow our houses down
move through our bones like mist
make no sound
I have no face
I have no eyes
I'm a fruit tree in a circle of fire
I bury my hands deeper in the sky
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10. |
Larvae
06:24
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larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
invertebrates
larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
lost in space
roots have so little room to grow
flames lick the windows
we watch and we wait
snow globe prison
pulsating schism
hot-blooded static
and the batteries fry
larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
invertebrates
larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
lost in space
last night I dreamed
mist poured over the sea
a spider web glowed in a sunbeam
and the undertaker and the kingmaker
sat around the fire
roasting hearts and hopes and joys
larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
invertebrates
larvae glisten in a moon dust garden
rare jewels
lost in space
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Avi C. Engel Toronto, Ontario
they/them
I'm not writing the same song over and over so much as writing one long
continuous song that will end when I die.
receive all new music in digital form: www.patreon.com/aviengel
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