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How the Dead Live (LP)

by Jordan Reyne

/
1.
In a town so small it barely had a name The Fates weighed quiet anchor on the shore. While ancient trees stood darkly in our way: the tide went out. Even History is surprised that she should be here And her footprints look like questions in the sand. She looks at Death and wonders what he'll give her and the tide goes out. And Duty takes my hand and wears me grey while clouds make weightless exit over sea. With all the letters never sent, yours never came And the tide goes out. The tide goes out again. Here, the smell of winter Isn't one I used to know. And all these trees retain their colour Though the endless rain Should wash them through.
2.
This song has no lyrics
3.
The Witness 03:58
Your eyes shine wet in the dark And I'm murderous. The southern wind fills this mast and Takes this cargo safely to a nowhere town To make nothing of them They make me watch you and ask I am Murderous. The ocean chews at the earth Will they pull you down under crashing waves and violent sea? I'd make a story for you: Murder. You'll find ways Of dragging seconds out Into days. Don't let it come to that You heard: Don't let it come to that 3 faces that whisper at me: "murderess murderess" so where is Death when I ask to be over you? Please ask him please ask him to bear you out down in steady hands with no requiem. What would I say? Murder You'll ask for home Till every little echo of her is thin and worn. I only wait here and Say: "it is so". Say: "it is so".
4.
The Brave 04:34
There's a black dog from the Fenian Rd He follows everywhere I ever go. When the earth is bare and nothing grows He is company and we, will turn the stones. When the men are gone and the women speak O her pretty eyes turn blind to me. Though we mark the earth as we mark the time Still she'll look at us, look at us as if we're nothing. But maybe, we are the Brave. Though I know she'll never say. Maybe we are the Brave but she'll leave here, all the same Theres a dark man on Umere Rd He speaks the native tongue none of us knows. And of all her men, and all their deeds She never speaks a word of his to me But Maybe we are the Brave Though I know she'll never say. Maybe we are the Brave She will leave here, all the same
5.
The Dead 04:26
I'd pay the wind to turn it off You make an ice age from a dry dock. I'll sit here and wait for the steamers to sail. The quiet earth turns in its sleep And mountains fall into the sea. There is nothing else but waiting. Waiting. As History shook her tired head I spoke with a man who was already dead Through yellow clouds of nicotine He waved dismissive hands at me He said: You don't know that you're nothing. I don't like words that talk of pain And I'm really only waiting. But it feels like something.
6.
There's only 6 miles of bad road between you and I. Only 6 miles of Bad Road and blue sky If he gets there fast, you won't feel his breath You won't catch my eye But I count the time and I watch the days Till he helps you fly. There's only 3 feet of shallow water between you and I. So it isn't deep – but its just enough to make sure that I.. O if you swam to the edge of things, Where the earth meets the sky. He will meet you there in the setting sun With his empty eyes. It's a short, sharp drop, past 3 flights of stairs between you and I. So it isn't far, but you'd get there fast cos you're so fragile Will he see me smile, as you taste his tongue? As you vanish by You will feel his hands, and they're cold like bone But they're gone with time How do you like your blue eyed boy? How do you like your blue eyed boy?
7.
In autumn you left with the evening Cold hands held Shivering. Time runs slow, imagining Warms arms round me in the rain. While the sea keeps burying your name The tide will bare its teeth to you Sirens call the lonely. Stars don't keep their promises and God couldn't follow all this way. I asked him to bring you here again. But there's noone in the sky. There's noone in the fog. There is noone in the sky. There is Noone at all. Today the breezes sent for me. They brushed my face with kisses. If I close my eyes would you be there. When I open them Again. I will sing your name into the wind But there's noone in the sky Noone in the fog. Noone in the sky Noone at all.
8.
Blood 03:54
This is where the waiting stops and I get to move again. Like the ribs of wrecks worn bare by sea, you will be forgotten. This is where the smell of blood on the air runs like music through me And a thousand men will meet their deaths when I take them down to Boer with me I wish you wouldn't wait susannh, cos the ships don't ever come. Hope is something that will drive you twisted in the end. Now I get to take the broken stories of Kitcheners dead. And mix them with the graves and names of lives so bravely wasted. This is where I laugh at gestures that I never understood How could you have let the quiet sink so deeply into you? I don't have to wave susannah, but ill smile instead. Then Ill throw away your name and the names of all your kindred.
9.
You wouldn't wait for me You wouldn't wait for me. Time can only bury me. In a borrowed grave Under nameless trees. While the empty face of your certainty, is Clothed in sky, and dressed to leave For the bloodstained tales Of victory. And if I were your jailor I'd have carried your freed to you So you'd always remember All the glory It won't allow you.

about

Digital download of How the Dead Live. Comes with the e-book "Remembering the Dead" in PDF form (you can also purchase the .mobi file with the audio book of "Remembering the Dead").

New Zealand's pioneer history has many tales left untold. How the Dead Live explores the life of Susannah Hawes, one of New Zealand's first settlers, and her struggle with the character "History". Susannah left her hometown of Gravesend (England) and arrived in the experimental settlement of Karamea in 1874. The album is a tale told through the sounds and instruments of 19th century New Zealand. Featuring steamships, the clank of iron, voice and folk instruments. In teh album, History has been sent to track Susannahs 'ordinary' life and is irritated with the lack of battles and adventure in the lonely west coast town of Karamea. Susannah suggests, however, that maybe it is those who are overlooked by History who are really 'the Brave'.
New Zealand's pioneer history has many tales left untold. How the Dead Live explores the life of Susannah Hawes, one of New Zealand's first settlers, and her struggle with the character "History". Susannah left her hometown of Gravesend (England) and arrived in the experimental settlement of Karamea in 1874. The album is a tale told through the sounds and instruments of 19th century New Zealand. Featuring steamships, the clank of iron, voice and folk instruments. In teh album, History has been sent to track Susannahs 'ordinary' life and is irritated with the lack of battles and adventure in the lonely west coast town of Karamea. Susannah suggests, however, that maybe it is those who are overlooked by History who are really 'the Brave'.

"How the Dead Live" is associated with the book "Remembering the Dead" which explores many more pioneer tales, and is a coming together of folklore, fact and fantasy, and set in one of Karamea's forests, where the undead are said to walk at night, desperate to tell their tales to the living.

Reviews:

"...original, dark, and very, very powerful" - Brass Goggles (UK)

"Astounding; you can hear Susannah heartache and hear her tormented breathing... her lyrics are powerful.. the instrumentation excellent.. This album is nothing short of remarkable" Rip it Up (New Zealand)

“One of this country's most gifted, probing and intelligent writers. A dark, emotionally intense and musically arresting concept album... delivered in lean poetry and electrifying folk-noir. An impressive achievement” - Graham Reid, Elsewhere (New Zealand)

„Ein Juwel des Industrial Folk… verstörend schön. Man muss es einfach haben – nicht nur als Liebhaber von Dark und Industrial Folk sondern auch einfach so.“ Unser Lübeck (Deutschland)

“One can hear the centuries of tradition in her banshee-like vocals. One can literally hear the sounds of machines that were used at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Not only is this music hip, it is really very good.” - Dig this Real (USA)

credits

released January 3, 2009

all songs written and performed by Jordan Reyne, with live drums by Nick Clarke.

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Jordan Reyne Karlsruhe, Germany

Known recently as the Resident Evil 7 vocalist (trailer track, "Go Tell Aunt Rhody"), Jordan is described by New Zealand's National Radio as the pioneer of a new sound, Jordan's music is a blend of irish/ celtic rock, steam-era machine noise, and Grimms fairytale-eske lyrics. Imagine PJ Harvey trapped in the workhouses of Industrial Revolution era England, with only Nine Inch Nails for company. ... more

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