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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Magiclands LP, Transport Planes, Island of the Dogs, Field Recordings LP, and Life Sciences EP.
1. |
Magiclands
03:35
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MAGICLANDS (Jeremy Gronow/Cameron Mckenzie)
Verse 1
I want to leave tonight
I cannot wake tomorrow
And step into this worn out charade
Hanging with the monkeys on the morning train
It isn’t very far
Maybe just an hour by car
And I can feel it when I close my eyes
When I’m at work it never leaves my mind
I don’t know another place for us tonight
Verse 2
I want to walk the cliffs
And look down from the cape
Find a little peace here
Find a little silence at the end of the day
It doesn’t matter how
It only matters where you are
At Magiclands its breaking left and right
The waves are standing on the morning tide
And you know everything will be alright
Chorus
Baby don’t you want to go down, tonight?
We’ll take the bridge over the water
Western Port nights and Woolamai mornings
Baby don’t you want to come down, tonight?
To where the waves know they’re part of the ocean
Can’t you hear Magiclands calling?
Verse 3
Why shouldn’t we want more?
How much has the city tried to swallow?
The concrete every day
I want to let the the wind wrap its arms around me
At Magiclands, its breaking left and right
The waves are standing on the morning tide
And you know everything will be alright
Chorus
Baby don’t you want to go down, tonight?
We’ll take the bridge over the water
Western Port nights and Woolamai mornings
Baby don’t you want to come down, tonight?
To where the waves know they’re part of the ocean
Can’t you hear Magiclands calling
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2. |
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ISLAND OF THE DOGS J.Gronow
Verse 1
Take down, your fences
Call off those, pretenders
Are we all, just luminescence?
Floating in the wake of our obsessions?
Chorus
Back on the Island of the dogs, they’re laughing, at the foolish dreams we make
Hear them every night, calling, young lovers to the break
And I tried, I tried to tell you how the whole damn thing would play
Cats eyes and day light shows the way ahead
Verse 2
Late night, Skin crawling
When you get home this morning?
You made plans, I did not
Somewhere in the crossfire I forgot
Chorus
Back on the Island of the dogs, they’re laughing, at the foolish dreams we make
Hear them every night, calling, young lovers to the break
And I tried, I tried to tell you how the whole damn thing would play
Cats eyes and tail lights show the way ahead
Bridge
At night the island comes alive, black ash garden of delight
They all want to make their own way, home
Verse 3
Half-light, still water
Come to me, take me over
Everything that you said
Everything is louder than everything else
Chorus
Back on the Island of the dogs, they’re laughing, at the foolish dreams we make
Hear them every night, calling, young lovers to the break
And they tried, they tried to tell you
It was always gonna be this way
Cable ties and dank lies show the way ahead.
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3. |
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TRANSPORT PLANES J.Gronow
Verse 1
I can hear the transport planes flying to Tasmania
As I lie awake each night
Waiting for you baby
A truck is changing gear
And it shakes the window pane
As the people upstairs start making love again
Chorus
Maybe it’s a dream I’m having
Tell me what goes on inside your head
I don’t hear a thing, who wants to? Oooh
Verse 2
I can hear your voice ringing across a bar
Hell, I can hear you baby, but I don’t know where you are
I am only waiting for a sign you’ll come again
God, I wish the transport planes would carry me away
Repeat chorus
Bridge
In the dark, the sound can travel further
And the cold, air, bends the waves back down to earth
Are we all, trapped beneath the layers and the cold?
Til the sun comes and frees the sound again
Verse 3
Sometimes when I dream, I fly above the house
And look down at the sleeping world and want to shake it up
Hanging here in space, woken by the sound
Of one thousand front doors slamming right across the town
Repeat Chorus to end
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4. |
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I HEARD YOUR HOUSE BURNT DOWN (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
I heard your house burnt down. While you were sleeping
Did you out just in time? What were you thinking?
Your records and your books, your memories and pictures
You lost your pictures.
I heard your house burnt down and you've gone missing
Verse 2
They said you stood out in the street and watched it burning
What shattered in your head? What left you hurting?
What made you walk away and head out into nowhere?
And no-one knows where.
As the fire engines came, they saw you go.
Bridge
I saw you on the news, a shady Facebook picture
The newsreader she said the police couldn’t figure
Was it you who threw the match, a candle or a heater?
They interviewed your mum, she said no-one was sweeter - sweeter than you
Verse 3
Did I see you yesterday? At the station in the distance
I thought to call your name, I guessed you wouldn’t listen
Did you find another life?
Like some protected witness, and do you miss it?
I heard your house burnt down, Yeah,
I heard your house burnt down, Well
I, heard your house burnt down and you’ve gone missing
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5. |
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THE LIGHT WAS AMBER ALL THE TIME (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
Ah, The blazing sun woke me up again to a room full of cracks and faded paint
Summer’s cauldron boiling me away
All the days of speed now a slow time fade, radio clocks tick tocking all day
The plans we made got quietly cleared away
Chorus 1
The Light Was Amber All The Time, Oooh Time
Verse 2
I’ve been running for a thousand days with my souls on fire and my spirit aches
Want to be close but still so far away
With the mountains ahead I left the valley behind, only way up was to crawl til I climbed
Reached the top, the mountain rose again.
Chorus 2
The Light Was Amber All The Time, Oooh Time
Bridge
They know what they want and they only want to see
The light in their eyes and wings on their heels
Like mercury
All quicksilver and speed
Verse 3
The time is coming and it won’t be long, don’t you want to wake up in the arms of a song
Lie in bed and watch the clips on Rage
I want, to set, my heart on fire and dance around it in the strange moonlight
Offer myself again for sacrifice
Chorus 2
The Light Was Amber All The Time, Oooh Time. X 2
Bridge
The chimes of truth cannot ring out
The bells were all cracked by the hammering doubt
No sooner than I'm in, I get shown out
I’m starting to see what its all about
Chorus 3
The Light Was Amber All The Time, Oooh Time
The Light Was Amber All The Time. Oooh Time
With the mountains ahead I left the valley behind and the only way up was to crawl til I climbed
Time
The Light was Amber All The Time. Oooh Time.
I want to set my heart on fire and dance around it in the strange moonlight
The Light Was Amber All The Time.
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6. |
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RISE UP - LOVE AND INSURRECTION (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
Kill the lights, stay away from windows
Strange, strange times, can you hear them singing?
Wash your hands, shut your mouth
Chorus
We can rise up (Though the walls are closing in)
We can build our barricades (High, higher)
We can rise up (Or we can let the facists win)
Have we learnt no history
Verse 2
Stay alive, though the mood today is killing
Why do we waste our time? When the future’s hidden?
I think you love me you’re so cool
And if you don’t, I got myself and that will do
Chorus
We can rise up (Though the walls are closing in)
We can build our barricades (High, higher)
We can rise up (Or we can let the facists win)
Have we learnt no history
Bridge
Rise Up…. Rise Up…. Rise Up….
Verse 3
Cool change tonight. The winds are shifting
It will be alright, maybe, it already is
Rivers of honey, milk and wine, Oil the waters, call the time
Chorus
We can rise up (Though the walls are closing in)
We can build our barricades (High, higher)
We can rise up (Or we can let the facists win)
Have we learnt no history
Bridge
Rise Up…. Rise Up…. Rise Up….
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7. |
Angela
03:09
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ANGELA (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
Angela, pick up your phone
I’m back again, like a restless ghost
I took my car, try to clear my head
And it drove me here, to your street again
Verse 2
Angela, are you coming back?
Everything is different now
How long til I can face the fact?
Let the needle drop to a different track
Chorus
Once in your life did you want for something Hold on too tight, breaks in your grip
Save, Save yourself
Save, Save yourself
Verse 3
Angela, won’t you take me in?
It’s cold tonight, and my jacket’s thin
I miss your voice, and I miss your smell
And I cannot swim against the swell
Chorus
Once in your life, did you want for something? Hold on too tight, breaks in your grip
Save, Save yourself
Save, Save yourself
Save, Save yourself
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8. |
This Country's A Bomb
03:20
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THIS COUNTRY’S A BOMB (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
The sky is all red tonight. And I can’t breathe the air
We can’t see, to get out, but we know we can’t stay here
This ain’t the way we planned it, if it will be, so it shall be
All the tankers and TV crews are heading for the beach
Chorus
This country’s a bomb, this country’s a bomb, this country’s a bomb.
Verse 2
The fire’s a vengeful spirit, burning a thousand miles long
All of the planes from California, cannot stop what’s going on
Why do we laugh at science, as the hail destroys our homes?
When we live in our own wasteland, who’ll be left to get the oke?
The wind’s a storm of embers, each ridge is cavalry
Chorus
This country’s a bomb, this country’s a bomb, this country’s a bomb.
Verse 3
I know it doesn’t make a difference, do we think we have a choice
We can hear the axe is swinging; must we wait until it cuts?
What if the jobs all come to nothing and we cannot feed ourselves?
What if the future we were promised, turns out to be a myth?
Do we think that we know better? Do we think we can resist?
Chorus
This country’s a bomb,
Day light, we’re trapped down on the camp ground
This country’s a bomb,
Phones out, and no-one knows what’s going on
This country’s a bomb,
Red eyes, waiting for the rain
This country’s a bomb,
This fire, nothing can control it
This country’s a bomb,
Clear truth but no-one wants to own it
This country’s a bomb,
Eyes shut and hope it goes away
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9. |
Plane Tracker
03:16
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PLANE TRACKER (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
I’m on the plane tracker, watching you fly
At twenty thousand feet, way across the Bite
An hour in Perth, then on into the night
Its 2am I think the screen has burnt my eyes
And I am wondering how you could leave me so alone?
The only human in the country’s up and gone
Chorus
With the waves below you
And the land behind
And the stars, are falling,
Down on me, tonight
Verse 2
You’re not the only one travelling tonight
A thousand tiny points reflecting in my eyes
Some were delayed, some never made the flight
And we who lost them are never going to find
But we keep searching, and scanning the skies
Hope springs eternal, that’s everything tonight
Chorus
With the waves above them, And the light can’t shine
And the stars, are falling, down on me tonight
Outro
I have been searching For So Long
Waiting and searching For So Long
Will I be waiting For So Long?
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10. |
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DON’T EVER TURN YOUR BACK UPON THE WAVES (Jeremy Gronow)
Verse 1
Hold my hand and listen in
I can’t sleep for soul searching
As days grow short and time gets thin
My memories flicker like old films
I remember the way
My grandfather always used to say
If you go out on the rocks - don’t ever turn your back upon the waves
Verse 2
Sarah’s at the kitchen bench
Making breakfast for the kids
All at once she looked my way
And only god knew why she stayed
There’s just no way
She could afford the price
Love wanted her to pay
And If you go out on the rocks - Don’t ever turn your back upon the waves
Bridge
Verse 3
Years ago I was a king
My heart was strong and conquering
I’d call my subjects round each day
To shower me with golden praise
But thick turns to thin
And your old enemies become news ones again.
And the bright lights fade - Don’t ever turn your back upon the waves
Though fate will have its way - Don’t ever turn your back upon the waves
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Blackbirds FC Melbourne, Australia
BLACKBIRDS FC
Featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, and the Vanda’s Blackbirds FC play
their own brand of alt. country rock inspired by the Go-Betweens, The Church and Wilco.
Formed in 2017, the band released the EP Life Sciences in 2018 and their debut album Field Recordings in 2019.
The band are delighted to be releasing their second album Magiclands in November 2022.
... more
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