Get all 5 Isaac Balson releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Flying Lessons, Mad Mango Film (OST), A Totally Real and Normal Podcast (the album), B-Sides & Takeouts, and Mild Card.
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2. |
Ashes & Lashes
03:10
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My Bathroom mirror this morning won't stand still,
That goddamned light reflecting off the sill,
shows me I cant keep my mouth shut
and this time as much as any time is enough
my middle school teacher used to ask me what I want to be
right now I can't think to do anything but brush my teeth
spit shine watch it glide down the sink
cuz you and I took a bath in rye I think
still those big brown eyes and that smoky smile
won't shine if the sun comes up
cuz you know as much as I know
they're made up
Ashes and lashes on my windowsill
I can't believe they're sitting up there still
like light couldn't grace me to pick them up
like god didn't need them enough
ashes and lashes keep me up at night
staring and laughing from the dim streetlight
they're yours and what's more is you're alright
to see you -all of you in daylight
It's a wonder you could get home
past the garden gnome
who'll sit a watch you do nothing
when you're all alone
this house has got eyes for you
this house has got eyes and eyes for you
credits
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3. |
The Fly
02:40
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There's this fly who woke up and won't give up
and spends his time around me
and this morning it made plain that I only have myself to blame
for why it won't leave me be
and with every toss and turn I'd feel a burn
as fly makes contact with skin
a swipe from my shoulder to shin, arm, rolled over
as fly makes contact with skin
and fly makes contact again
so I get out of bed, get changed and step into the world again
a tiny zigzag shadow over me
there's a buzzing from my pocket and a buzzing by my ear
a buzz begets more buzzing over scene
now I can't sit at tables or even look you in the eye
I can't hear above the noise and the buzzing of the fly
because I don't know what you're thinking or the trouble that you're in
when fly makes contact with skin
and fly makes contact again
yes winter will come to swallow all the bugs
wet sloughs of sleet and snow bury tracks around me
and winter will come to make way for another one
and I'll forget to ask myself where have you been?
until fly makes contact again
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4. |
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5. |
Helvetica
04:30
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Take a word, as long as you'd like,
and you can spell it any way you try
and I'll learn to read between the lines
because you won't spell anything twice
the thing we call a dog that barks and bites
is a chien by any other name tonight
and I can teach you what your name might be, in Japanese
so you can write it all over me
I can write in Helvetica
the swoops and pulls and pauses dance around you
I can sing in Helvetica
so let me try to write you something nice
it's funny how we'd borrow from nearly anyone
sentiments and faces, whistling, kids know how to run but
all we know comes from a pen rested on a thumb
so, write me anything you'd like
but when you're gone just know
that when the words you hear don't mean anything at all
just listen to the faces
and let all those wretched thoughts, all those wretched thoughts go
because you don't need a pep talk you can stand up on your own
you're not alone
credits
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6. |
(c)Rap Skit 2017
03:12
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Fade in: Stock noise of a club, sparcely populated, glasses tink and people laugh. It is backstage at the club. Isaac is relaxing on a couch, tinking away on an ukulele. A door opens.
Guy
Oh hey, uh dude.
Isaac
Oh yo yo whats gucci baby?!
Guy
Uh, hey. Yeah man there's something I have to run by you quick. You got a minute?
Isaac
Boom! Mi Casa es su casa hombre
Guy
Right. Well, it's a little personal.
Isaac
Got it. Oi! Everybody Out! (record scratch)
Everyone leaves. (This is just a fade-out of the stock crowd noise which makes it sound super weird)
Dead quiet now.
Guy
See? You didn't hear that? The crowd leaving sounded fake.
Isaac
I don't have a clue what you're talking about.
Guy
Dude, you're sitting backstage at a club right now. It's insane. When have you EVER hung out at a club like this?
Isaac
Right now, man, take a seat. Want some Voss?
Guy
Alright you're not getting it, I'll lay it out plain and simple then.
Isaac
Please do.
Guy
I think this is a rap skit.
{Pause}
Isaac
...no
Guy
Think about it, think real hard. You were just sitting in a private party in a club. Why.
Isaac
...Cuz I'm awesome, and everybody respects me.
Guy
Even if you were- which I seriously doubt at this point, everyone here was just at your beck and call just now. You kicked them all out with a word.
Isaac
Two words.
Guy
What?
Isaac
Listen back, I said (EVERYBODY OUT from earlier)
Guy
“Listen Back”. How in the hell could you do THAT if this isn't a rap skit.
Isaac
Haven't you been listening at all? This album has been nothing but ukulele and like weird toys I had. Nothing about it says Rap Skit.
Door Open. Enter Fan-Girl.
Girl
Oh hey! I'm here for the party. Ooo is that a little guitar?! I love the little guitar!
Guy
What the hell is this?!
Isaac
Dude, look. It's 2017. There haven't been Rap Skits since like 2003. If I wrote a Rap Skit now I certainly wouldn't make the only female character so dumb. No offence.
Girl
None Taken. [giggle]
Guy
I guess you're right. But this just seems so messed up. Everything sounds hollow and planned out.
Isaac
I didn't get into the rap game to avoid situations like this -it's for the music. It's always been about the rhymes, -my rhymes. It's like you let the game get to you man.
Guy
Yeah.... Wait! You're doing it again! What the hell are you talking about?
Isaac
Shit. I think you're right. This has got 2001 Rap Skit written all over it. I kind of feel like cappin someone.
Guy
heh. That would be funny I guess. [pause] What are you doing? No! No!
Girl
Screams!
Isaac
What? I don't have a gun guys. Like I said before. It's an Uku-lele album.
Guy
Stop saying it like that.
Isaac
That's how it's pronounced man. We can't just like take the words and make em all lame and European. The hawaiians have a rich language and heritage. Also, did you have any idea that the ukulele is actually based on a Portugese instrument.
Guy {filled with childish wonder}
Hmm, No Fooling...
Isaac
Come sit and I'll regail you tale. You see, the year was 1875 and the island of Oahu was in the throws of a bitter land dispute over trade and resource....
[Fade out]
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7. |
Zelda Fitzgerald
03:50
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I sit alone sometimes
running through all that's been on your mind
but it seems you're always there with me
please don't change your mind
I drift alone sometimes
do you drift alone or safely by my side?
though the winds they say just might change directions
please don't change your mind
I've seen some lonesome times
clouds moving fast across a blue night's sky
but if I can't tell where they're going
I'm just wasting time
it's just that I need so much you say
so much been said with much more talking to go
when you whisper softly
pack up your lines because I'm going to take them to go
and here I go
You dance alone sometimes
your hips swinging fast but mostly out of time
to the song you don't know where it's going
please don't change your mind
to you the world is always ending
and you laugh at reason's lack of rhyme
though these words to you sound condescending
please don't change your mind
chorus
if I could only take a minute
I'd count the leaves in the trees until autumn is finished
but if i can't tell where they're going
I'm just wasting time
and I'll keep wasting time
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8. |
Phoenix
03:18
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If I knew everything about you
don't you think that I would know by now?
If I knew everything about you
don't you think that I would know by now?
there ain't no hurricane going to knock you down
so let it all rain down
I remember a time when your smoke filled up my mind
pools like rainwater trickle down my spine
those rains though not passed, are easing up at last
but I'm still bracing for the weather all the time
because when those rains come down I'm a take what's mine
and let it all rain down
Chorus
if you thought you knew every which way to go
even if I knew different I'd be right in tow
if you claimed you saw Phoenix rise out of the ashes
I'd wait by the fire until the last smoke rise
and claim the smoke was clouds that filled the sky
and let it all rain down
it's the rise fall and scatter of the wind that come and the winds that go again,
rise, fall, and scatter of the winds that come and the winds that go again,
here it goes again
the weight of the water on my head's going to break not bend
Chorus
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9. |
Two Songs
03:06
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I've got one song to make you happy
and one song to play when you're gone,
I've got one song to make you happy
and one song to play when you're gone,
I've got a song that's all about the way you'd laugh
and how you smile loud,
and how you dance,
A song about your clever mind
and how you'd school me every time
if my big mouth gave you the chance,
Chorus
I'm growing tired of this place
as I've grown weary of your face
and I know it won't be long,
So like a lady when you mumble
"Maybe I love you"
as a clock runs like a song,
Chorus
this song you won't hear about
because you won't be around
a little crown to fit your head,
this is a song for you
for what you'll put me through
when you leave this bed,
Chorus
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10. |
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Isaac Balson Kelowna, British Columbia
Bedroom acoustic experimenter
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