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biopic

by The Harmony Motel

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1.
lay on triple sheets staring at beehives on the moon -- your flannel sheets -- and crashed on beehives on the moon -- like the way you move around the room -- wanting inside of what makes me want you -- staring at beehives on the moon -- it never takes long to feel it in here other rooms and people just make me feel weird -- i don't want to pick you apart, only sit near and watch you play a song that doesn't have to make sense -- staring at beehives on the moon
2.
the amputee 03:43
i don't want to wake up with my body on my arm and my arm barely hanging on -- and the blood very nearly gone -- each night i go to bed praying that i don't wake up with a limb on the floor -- and a bone sticking from its core -- i have the dream of an amputee -- the amputee is me -- we all go to sleep thinking that the world will be the same when we the morning bell slaps our face -- but instead we've lost another trace -- we don't want to wake up with our bodies on our arms and our arms barely hanging on -- and the blood very nearly gone -- we have the dreams of the amputees -- we are the amputees -- oh no -- we are the amputees -- you've got to hold on to what you keep -- cross yourself twice before you drift to sleep
3.
the helicopters are relentless from the police academy -- a screaming brood of locusts buzzing silhouetted trees -- each palm frond giving detail to blinding stadium lights -- which kill the stars and make the moon shine every single night -- and though there are no curtains for their sieve-like louvred windows -- scott & portia sleep so very, very hard -- you'll never see so many donut shops and other ways that you can sin -- it's a rolling house of terror merging onto the 110 -- and you're just plain unused to this, nothing seems to fit -- ideals go by the wayside when you're hanging by your wits -- and though the streets are unrolled for everyone to strip -- scott & portia sleep so very, very hard -- when you mean nothing but to the one who loves you -- you keep your city small -- once an honest farmer drove his plow right through this mall -- intersections could yet give right way to fragrant trees so tall -- simplicity can be arranged, it's meaning redefined -- even for the cop that's got his flashlight right 'tween your eyes -- all that sprawl's like morning glory, could the frontier life? -- may scott & portia sleep so very deep buried in the yard
4.
i believe that you believe that what you say is true -- and i can see that what you see depends on point of view -- a nod's just like a wink these days, is there nothing we can do? -- i believe that you believe it -- i don't believe in black and white, but different shades of blue -- this ain't no damn coin toss, choices one or two -- it's all quite big and complicated, more than me or you -- but you believe, don't you believe it? -- you say you act with honor, i think you think you do -- but you're a true believer, and that's a problem -- i believe that you believe that what you say is true -- and i can see that what you see depends on point of view -- a nod's just like a wink these days, is there nothing we can do? -- i believe that you believe it -- you say your faith is stronger, you think i think it too -- but you're the true believer, and you're the problem -- yes, i'm set; i'll admit that you could never make me see -- but you're running out of friends and it's getting colder and you're looking older
5.
come, you say, run far right to me -- let's forge a brave new society -- it'll have no secrets, conducted in the clear -- and then we will sweep out conventional fear -- you say that's what we'll prove -- look at you fooling you -- replace their worst with a bore of our own -- cover their stain with a fresher taint -- i must confess there's no way to ignore there's pleasure found in bitter complaint -- you think you know us, fool? -- well look at you fooling you -- we know all emperors have not a stitch -- i'd just as soon dwell in a cleaner ditch -- so when you turn up your spited nose, i'll be the first to send a blackened rose -- you say you found me true, look at me screwing you
6.
you deserve to lose her, you, you're such a loser -- i was at the show and she was there alone 'cause you decided not to go -- stood her up, oh you're such a punk -- she didn't need you anyway -- she don't mind being alone but she don't mind some company and that's me -- we saw each other through the smoke, talked amongst the blanked-out stares, the scrawny asses and sharp glasses -- and then i left with her -- the saddest thing i feel for you is not your girlfriend leaving or that she's with me, no -- i think you missed the show of the year -- she doesn't need you anyway -- she don't mind being alone but she don't mind some company and that's me
7.
biopic 05:06
you got into the movies by filming the story of your life -- you didn't know about the work, all the hours spent just trying to get it right -- take after endless take, were you defeated by the heat lamp lights? -- or did the camera turn you on? -- you feel like an action figure that no kid would ever want to steal -- the more that you try to perfect yourself, the less you seem real -- gotta give up what you want, gotta dive into your heart and find that feel -- ooo-hooh, where's your love? -- you're leaving out the part you know you need to make it complete -- the cutting room floor is covered, the truth's in pieces at your feet -- now all that's left to do is sweep out the scraps and dump 'em by the street with your love -- ooo-hooh, you're missing your love -- now you made a work of art -- yeah, you look good in your part -- you made a work of art, you look good in your part, you got it right to start but you couldn't stop cutting -- and now it's been premiered and everyone appears to say you faced your fears but they don't know the whole story -- this life is a fiction
8.
you don't have to shoot it straight with me, honey -- you should not try to be yourself -- i'll go along with the fetishistic roles you're playing -- this is how i pretend to have a sweet tooth for you -- and laugh at whatever you do -- let's go out to the california desert where the marine base gears up for war -- while the tanks rumble in imaginary battle we'll sit out by the motel pool and share a sweet kiss or two -- and laugh at whatever they do -- we're powerless against you know who -- so let's just laugh at whatever they do -- let's raise a glass to the puppeteers who make it happen -- give 'em thanks for their noble cause -- then make love with a nearly dangerous abandon -- it's the only weapon we have that inflicts a sweet wound, it's true -- but even love may not work this time, ooh -- we're powerless against you know who -- so let's just laugh at whateve they do
9.
collaborator 04:47
your genius was to me first heard in the rankest basement in all of portland -- you sang my song with such authority -- it had a dignity it did not deserve -- but we didn't have a chance to take it someplace else -- yeah i was sure i'd found the one -- who'd give a voice to all my dreams and wishes -- with perfect time and a gift for phrasing -- but then you disappeared and hid yourself away -- and we never pressed record -- there's no proof that you happened -- it's the loneliest position working on your own -- especially when you've glimpsed a future you could know -- but first you gotta find and keep and hold a collaborator -- i could do it myself but there's something not right -- i'm walking through a tunnel with a 20-watt light -- just show up at my space, i'll make it worth your night -- my collaborator, want a collaborator
10.
if we're together after this wait -- whisper another romantic cliche -- dear god i feel such anxiety -- because i've let go the best of me -- we had some times back in the day -- everything was easy on sticky southern nights -- on porches with beer cans -- for ashes and in hands -- we'd sweat after dark, awake and alive with the buzz of illusion -- that we can make something from all that we'd fumbled -- you made your mark and passed me such a load -- now that i'm dumber and harder to know -- let me float -- don't get together after this wait -- we can't be forever, so stupid to stay -- don't get together tonight or one day -- we can't be another movie cliche -- please go on, go hide
11.
bye 06:37
to realize your newfound self -- give it up and let the pieces scatter below -- to leave someone who you can't live without -- let 'em into a world that isn't yours -- hey you, you there, on my couch -- force yourself into places uncharted -- showing you can get through the terrain -- explore your own restlessness -- can you command one slipped kid -- to never worry you'll never see her again -- if he's yours, you'll meet on a bus -- bye bye bye

credits

released January 15, 2006

produced by arthur schlenger
mastered by tony lash
cover art by alana goldstein

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The Harmony Motel Portland, Oregon

The Harmony Motel is a project of Portland, OR songwriter Stanton Hall, also bass player-vocalist for The Zags: thezags.bandcamp.com

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