Get all 124 Hello Whirled releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Fractions Of Worlds, Jack Of Legs, The Ocean On Fire, Enter The Zone, There Is Another Sun, Banding Together 2023, No Use Crying Over Spilled Blood, Questions For Concerned Citizens, and 116 more.
1. |
No Victories
03:07
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all rise up
he has risen
bow to his glory
hail his vision
is this the man we worshipped so intently?
there's murder in his eyes
thought we'd be safe from the rapture
here's your second coming
as blood fills up the skies
no victories for the believers
thought to preach the truth
instead spread violence and bigotry
in the name of everyone other than thee
whiter clouds
bring dangerous game
cause of sorrow
like moths to a flame
play into it
lay your tired arms
walk into it
take your wild charms
and succumb
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2. |
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I paint morality plays on my walls
and look at them every day to have fruitful arguments with myself
I write scriptures, give them melodies to sing
and bless importance to a sylph, who knows my name
in documentaries they portray mental illness with fervent belief in a god
so am I fated to walk Daniel's path one day?
who says
two are connected at the rib, this isn't Adam and Eve
hold my chalice while I grieve
I dream that my future loses all to faith
and I'll be like Middle Age artists
wasting their talents for a self-constructed hierarchy
in life and death we are portrayed by souls
with investments to return
winged shareholders at the gates
with our eyes in an urn
leave us left to die
talking to god
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3. |
I'll Hold The Mirror
03:17
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arrange the trees like so forth in a ring
echo through the forest like a bell
polar intervention makes it sting
with no injury or blood loss that you can tell
kid gets coached by a stranger
learn another sport
live in your front yard today
build another fort
do whatever it is you do
I'll hold the mirror
angle it towards the sky
make the sun clearer
twenty mile jog through life
it's daylight horror
if you need to look behind
I'll hold the mirror
David's star sets over winter sun
blazes like a summer heat in March
paint the rocks with beautiful hearts out of sync
the metronome needs fixing but it's not the only one
you lost your sight to a blessing
juxtaposed in curse
you hid behind a curtain to use it as a gauze
could have been worse
do whatever you're going to do
I'll hold the mirror
cold inside the shade
wet on the burner
potholes make your sunroof
let the light in
when you need to drop the grind
I'll hold the mirror
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4. |
Lay To Rest
02:38
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ocean breeze on old sheets
watch the waves crash over the beach
thought you'd want one more good day
I'll make it up to you
even when there's nothing you could do
in our finest dressed
let's lie down
I need to rest
it's such a bittersweet ending
not in the cards
our plans were made by our forced hands
with this junk dealt
make the most of it
take the sun in
before we turn in for the night
we did everything right
so long to everything wrong
we did our best
we lay to rest
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5. |
The Way It Is
02:56
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there's a flag hanging over our bodies
bodies hanging over our land
still we pray for god's hand
to please protect us
there's a right way and a wrong way
wrong way goers say they're right
take their seats at the table
cutting legs off of chairs
there's a cold wind killing the unprepared
how could you ever take a warning
on such short notice and survive
that's the way it is, they say
and it will never change, for sure
they shrug but say it can't be improved
cause this way keeps despondents from knocking down their doors
there's a spectre over the Western world
the one ten miles from the lands we robbed
sometimes overlapping one over one
there's a spectacle of hypocrisy
"they're wasting time watching movies that couldn't have been made
if we hadn't stepped in to fund them"
they'd send in the army to produce new entertainment
propaganda on a plasma screen
the kind of abject horror you see in your dreams
I wish it was a dream
that's the way it is, they say
and it will never change, for sure
by grabbing proper dissidents
and throw them on billboards to flame out the core
that's the way it is, they say
and it will never change, for sure
they shrug but say it can't be improved
cause this way keeps despondents from knocking down their doors
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6. |
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it feels an evil crawling up the brain
to take control of hope
with anger sharks circled round the drain
and everybody else thinks it's just you
so no one ever steps in
to pull you back through
is art a futile move?
I doubt it ever changed the world
but this is all I've built
and it's all I'll ever be
but everybody else thinks that's just me
and I don't disagree
but I'll never step in
to pull myself back through
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7. |
New Crown
01:32
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little rodent on a wheel
superhero on a timer
feel no pressure rise
until my drive expires
maybe I should have burned out
a little faster
don the crown of fools
a righteous bastard
expertise is plenty
but overshadowed by character
there's a lot on my plate
that I'm ready to take
before they throw me back as a court jester
and as the curtain calls
I'm not a leading man
what is there left to embrace
than empty lives to chase
with these holes in my hands
I give up hope you'll understand
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8. |
Imitation
01:35
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when the word stops
when the ink spills
when the pen drops
when the thought kills
it's not new or
iginal
everything's been done before
make yourself lightheaded
trying to be the next genius
it's impossible
it can't be done
so embrace it I guess
imitation over art
give up and pander
to an image
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9. |
Easily Entertained
03:48
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under-"thought out"
over-rehearsed
filling in the blanks with spaces
to make it to the second verse
copy paste recursive
you hope someone finds it subversive
no illusions, you won't learn a little
but it helps to pass the time
everything you love will eventually die
it's the price you pay for being so
easily entertained
I'm just a cynic
you shouldn't read so into it
low points aren't a new concept
but it's impossible in the thick of it
a homegrown alternative to a shallow grave
pause after your last bad joke
call it a nice save
fix it so it can be broke
vibe’s not a substitute for boredom
it's the flavor aid you consume to be so
easily entertained
I didn’t know I needed you
because I didn’t
I didn’t think it’d be so great
because it isn’t
nature lives in repetition
never meant you had to do the same
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10. |
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through all times and cultures, little has remained so constant
but of expression, one form has persisted above all
it takes no words and no understanding of the language
and anyone can recognize its presence, ever growing
but it's not universal
some don't make the connection
as shyer voices beg to scream
one can only dream
please stop dancing
to claim it a nuisance would be equal to a burned book
I know much better than allude to world peace where it's ignored
but even those who look like me have sought to integrate it
and where most find it pleasure, I expect a stressful chore
cause it's not universal
and I wish not be expected
to perform this ritual
tradition be damned, with all due respect
please stop dancing
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11. |
Under Her Brilliant Rays
02:12
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foot over other
meat in a line
you go 1 2 turn
and step over the line
it's not poetry
it's just behavior
and in controlling it
you make yourself look better
don't move
if your agency is important to you
you'd know not to do
is this a solo or diversion
but I can't look away
entranced, enamored
under her brilliant rays
I want nothing
than to dance for her
in her court
for her crown
and never step over the line
is this a solo or diversion
I don't care, I think I've converted
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12. |
Chariot
03:16
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you were walking
in clouds talking
whisper phrases
message changes
little bits of paper
falling from the sky
some say the dots on them
make fragile butterflies
wake to a siren's call
only want, never need
faith means nothing in a wasteland world
when there's always a spirit to feed
take it like a martyr
take it like a saint
take it like a mother
feed it like the rain
chariot
my sweet Harriet
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13. |
Mrs. Matter
01:35
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in a chain of victories
not everything can be a winner
when you don't fly
make the misses matter
in a spiral of webs
not everyone can be a survivor
electric fate
face to face with Mrs. Matter
when you slip off the chain
does it hit you the same?
terror is a cycle of learning
the eyes of defeat
on an icy retreat
the smell of electricity burning
the sky opens up to let you in
gone are the fears you'll never win
and a new world begins
losing Mrs. Matter
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14. |
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blue woke
in the middle
of the night
he walked
to the nearest
house
he wondered
as he picked up every stick on the ground
and sharpened them into fashionable blades
what his purpose was
he thinks
here's a house larger than mine
they still have wreathes on their windows
their garage is open
they have 80 board games
he was once a saint of sorts
to many he meant a lot
he wore blue
he put on his uniform
and rang the doorbell
heroes make the best villains
a tired father answers the door
and the man's questions
he lets the blue man in
the blue man looked around this humble abode
humble being a figure of speech
they were clearly proud of themselves
they had been to many places
they had worked for many years
their children had many trophies
look at me with deadened eyes
and tell me this is the dream
tell me there's still a dream
the blue man found nothing
he was
in that moment
hollow
as he raised his arms
there is no family
heroes are the best villains
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15. |
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It's been a month now since the last snow melted
You wouldn't think it was spring
But here's the thing
When catastrophe flees
It doesn't make the opposite true
Some say we've only got 12 years left on this world
Before everything's on fire and everyone will be dead
And all this growth and progress will mean nothing overnight
So what's the use in getting ahead?
In fact, I think overnight's a strong word for a time without a sun
Seasons won't exist and the weather won't change
Of course I could very well be overreacting
But it's a plausible fear and I find that strange
Evil beats good in a man-made tug of war
And convinces the spectators that they're in the right
They point at hope and deem it dark
Throw away the keys, present stasis as light
Now, it may be far-fetched to believe that the police military
Are gonna force artists and musicians to pivot to patriotism
But I guess they're halfway there, because if you want to live as a creative type
You either sell your soul to commerce, or die for the artistry
So in 6 or 7 years when all my friends are famous
I'll still be in Mount Laurel, NJ, lying cold and shameless
And people will point and laugh at the never-was, shouting and faithless
Screaming "money is the death of art" bleeding on the pavement
And it dries into a rose-shaped pool
It'll make a bored photographer famous
Good for something I guess
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16. |
Savannah
01:24
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when all direction's lost
she turns to the road
makes peace with the bone-dry savannah
there's nowhere else to go
war travels in proudest defeatists
and she's given up her world
for a sky alone of no clouds
and no sun
baby's on the run
no gangs or silver ballrooms
safety among none
when all direction's lost
she turns to the world
makes peace with the abyss she's pinned down
as her knees hit the ground
as she escapes, her face goes scarlet
clearing an invisible target
baby's going, gone
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17. |
At The Bottom
04:52
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awards for con men who say they've saved the world / by feigning generosity
experience takes hold over emotion / in superhero costumes
what we need is more not less they say / see they were right about the future
and we should listen to them only / because they knew they could build it
patience is key when you listen to me
it's only 2 or 3 more years of waiting
like Noah's Ark, it's gonna rain, and float you up to the top of the flood
with fools watching, nodding their clearly inferior heads
but all of the sewage still pools at the bottom
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they're off to the top
you stay at the bottom
market to heart and they'll put down their arms / we swear it's surely worked before
co-opt the messages that can be watered down / then sell it to children
get them when they're young and they'll think we're heroes / build the loyalty early
never pass down the messages we wrote out of the books / what they don't know can hurt them
if they do not know / they will not speak
they will not notice / how much we take
if no one learns / then no one shares
if no one hopes / then no one dreams
distract them with / good acting deeds
if no one sees / then no one bleeds
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Hello Whirled Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Album count: 49.
Release count: 137.
Song count: 1447.
Hello Whirled has a lot of albums. You might like one of them.
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