video written and directed by Michelle Gemma / video editing by James Canty
1. |
A MONTH OF SUNDAYS
03:08
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A MONTH OF SUNDAYS
I read my first self-help book
in the third grade.
A Month of Sundays
I found it in the school library,
hiding from the noise
the divorce was final
and the judge said
“the father will have custody
every other weekend.”
friday night with my father
was junk food before the pool floats
would be inflated- sleeping under a spare blanket,
in the same room as him.
the divorce was final
and the judge said
“the mother will have custody
on the remaining days,
on the remaining days….”
my mother was dad and mom
but my father wasn’t either one of those
when did my father’s mother
pass away?
I still do not know
was it some kind of family secret?
my grandmother
on my mother’s side
had a stroke on the Cross Road
heading to her church.
the divorce was final
and the judge said
“case dismissed.”
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2. |
LET ME DIE ONSTAGE
03:18
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LET ME DIE ONSTAGE
Charles was driving,
we were always driving, driving driving…
95 south to new york
a sedan passed us
at 90 miles an hour
I caught it out of
the corner of my eye
“that doesn’t look good…”
“that doesn’t look…”
the sedan driver loses control
at a high rate of speed
and the car begins to bounce
from side to side
wheel to wheel
“that doesn’t look good…”
“that doesn’t look…”
the traffic split
and the drivers avoided a crash
Charles thread the needle
and we arrived
without a scratch
we’ve seen plenty on the highway
blighted towns and covert codes
but now, I could only think
let me die onstage
“that doesn’t look good…”
“that doesn’t look…”
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3. |
SEQUENCE
04:18
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SEQUENCE
I’m left again to recover
and revive the trust
I've been assigned to handle the estate
if I had known the lands distress
we could have done more
with less
you contemplate the contrast
bristle at the constraint
if every decision
depended on your opinion
we’d be slashing the borders
of our own dominion
I should have recognized
the sequence
a repository of interference
we were under the influence
I wonder at its insistence
this vicious sequence
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4. |
CIVIC DUTY
03:53
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CIVIC DUTY
my mom has a new boyfriend
his name is Russell
but he went by
a nickname- he was known as the Rat.
he worked the first shift
at the submarine factory
the bars were full at lunch
children were chided for having a hunch
I kept it to myself
“I need you to watch the kids.”
she said
“I’m speaking at the sidewalk hearing tonight,”
“what the hell for?” he said
“it’s my civic duty.”
“it’s my civic duty.”
he watched us from the neighborhood bar
I was used to it
my father did it
all the time
but I kept it to myself
Rat drove us home
in the yellow VW bug
my mom was waiting
on the old concrete steps
“did you have to take these kids to the bar?”
the ensuing argument
left an impression
the ensuing argument,
oh yeah
that left an impression
but I kept it to myself.
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5. |
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THE DAY JEFF BUCKLEY DIED
I believed in the idea
of assembly
to manifest success
he was the son
and we were the offspring
and that became a conflict
“you may have written these songs,
that people come to hear.”
and he heard the sound
and he heard the river
he walked into the water
and he walked into the water
“but the audience,
that’s our song.”
“but the audience,
that’s our song.”
there was a line waiting to
have their hand stamped, at the front door.
and he heard the sound
and he heard the river
he walked into the water
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6. |
MIDDLE NAME
03:23
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MIDDLE NAME
he lost a leg
his left leg
in a motorcycle accident
on the island
he’d been there many times before
the car didn’t stop
running a red light
they were not the island regulars
who knew how to adhere to the pace of
the place.
they accelerated through
the intersection
thoughtlessness in every direction
in a moment
they would add an
artificial limb
to his lower leg
during surgery
in a moment
they would add an
artificial limb
to his lower leg
during surgery
during surgery
during surgery
he hobbled into the store
on crutches afterwards
“it’s a good time
to get a prosthetic limb, you know,
during the war.”
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7. |
ON SCHEDULE
03:17
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ON SCHEDULE
the Pequot were a threat
they controlled the bank, the land, the assets
the colonists
were not used to being
told what to do
the western tribes
they'd be next
the same tactics
further enhanced
and The Tradition continues...
the cajuns and the slaves
were all thought to be the same
the wops, the micks, the polacks-
they were next
a definition of the same reflex
and The Tradition continues...
internment camps
were the logical solution
to decades of evolution
this process threatens
to expose our weakest depths
children are caged today
as The Tradition continues
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8. |
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WEATHERALL
I thought I had an obligation
so we sent out the invitation
to pass on knowledge
surviving decades,
for the next generation
we built a disco in the attic
we played your records
to get the people to dance
under any circumstance
to get the people to dance
under any circumstance
under any circumstance
I didn’t realize
I didn’t realize
I didn’t realize
it was a haunted dancehall
when the house was torn down
that next week
the final demolition
found us in handcuffs
I didn’t realize
I didn’t realize
I didn’t realize
it was a haunted dancehall
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9. |
BELT OF ORION
04:07
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BELT OF ORION
I’m three years older
than my brother
and it remains so to this day
but we didn’t have a relationship
of consensus
I was in junior high
he was still attending the elementary school
down the street
three blocks from our house
“hey man, youknnnowww Shawn, right? He lives next door.
I didn’t know what it would be like, but it’s great!”
they were huffing gas
from a red metal can
and then he fell forward
they looked at me to address the dilemma
“hey man, youknnnowww Shawn, right? He lives next door.
I didn’t know what it would be like, but it’s great!”
they were huffing gas
from a red metal can
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Ellery Twining Connecticut
the second solo LP from the 17 Relics, Low-Beam, and Slander drummer
Ellery
Twining.
photography by Michelle Gemma
michellegemmaphotography.com
cover design by Mat Tarbox
Portfire.org
... more
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