Get all 19 Naevus releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Setbacks, Time Again, Man Eat Man Eat Man, Twilight Season, Water's Work, Curses, 034, Appetite and Application, and 11 more.
1. |
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I used to live
Relatively
Close to the sea
But that was before
The things I saw
Crawled into me
So now I sit
Cautiously
Under bricks and leaves
And I can’t tell
If the things I smell
Are part of you or me
We all wait
Nervously
For what may never be
And I understand
That unknown plans
Undermine all we see
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2. |
Traffic Island
03:56
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The focus of my pleasure
Is out there, upon the tip
Of the situations
Where conscience spreads its grip
Beyond its proper place
And where reason is in thrall
To all that’s retrospective
Futuristic or banal
Bring it all on back to me
In painful episodes
No-one ever blessed
An adequate place to sit and gloat
Things will not transfer themselves
Away into the past
Because it is a dirty
And forever changing beast
I’m sorry that I laughed
At your existential dance
And derided verdicts
That I’d hoped would never last
At the end of what remains
Of feelings and of actions
I run roughshod over the edges
Of this traffic island
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3. |
Meat On Meat
05:19
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All around the farmyard
Bestial eye to bestial eye
The components of my dinner
Kick a colleague, lick a fly
Wandering without premonition
Of their next meeting place
Their snout-to-snout encounter
Re-enacted on my plate
Beneath my knife, upon my fork
At my lips, between my teeth
In my stomach, in my bowel
In my toilet, in our sewer
Won’t you please roll out the barrel
For me to throw my pennies at
I shall be washing down my sausage
With something brown or something black
I anticipate the flavour
I shall be gratefully replete
I take my seat to savour
The delights of meat on meat
Beneath my knife, upon my fork
At my lips, between my teeth
In my stomach, in my bowel
In my toilet, in our sewer
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4. |
The German
06:48
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Well, he walked into the bar
Like he was made of the place he was in
And the look on his face
Was closely related to a grin
And some of the people there
Stared hard at their whiskey or gin
While some others went outside
To dig a hole to put him in
He didn’t think it was too much to ask
To be separated from his past
From all of his petty weaknesses
And from all that he’d done
The German
He had conflicting emotions
Bubbling within
As he considered the implications
Of his move from West Berlin
He ordered another drink
While cradling his chin
When those others returned
And started closing in
He didn’t think it was too much to ask
To be separated from his past
From all of his transgressions
And from all that he’d done
The German
And he dreamed of little flowers
And of birds that spoke to him
And of squirrels and of rabbits
That obeyed his every whim
And of nature stood in order
With the things he held within
And of people that were placid
And approving of his sin
He stared hard at the barman
As they gathered up behind
And he asked for another
Plastic packet of pork rind
And the barman said deliberately
“This is what you’ll find
If you walk in here out of nowhere
Do you think we’re fucking blind?”
He didn’t think it was too much to ask
To be separated from his past
From all of his weaknesses
And from all that he’d done
The German
Well, the first shovel entered his back
And severed his crooked spine
And the second split open his skull
And emptied his tiny mind
And the third shovel shattered his pelvis
Absolving him of his crime
And he would have offered to help them
If he’d only had the time
He didn’t think it was too much to ask
To be separated from his past
From all of his transgressions
And from all that he’d done
The German
And he dreamed of little flowers
And of birds that spoke to him
And of rats and of mosquitoes
That suckled at his skin
And worms that ate unwelcome thoughts
Out from his dying brain
And he dreamed of all the people
That he’d never see again
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5. |
Dented Mess
02:25
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A procession of tiny and ignorant lessons
Leaving an unwelcome tang in their wake
Fallen from their dissatisfied centre
But with their weight and presence remaining
Wholesome/unwholesome
Frequent/infrequent
Wanted/unwanted
Oh, to have done and to have enough
To live vicariously and unpleasantly
Through the perceived thoughts of those around you
And to presuppose that your perceptions are wrong
Wholesome/unwholesome
Frequent/infrequent
Wanted/unwanted
Entry to dented mess
Brought Hell to Kent-based Den
Get the end of it and try to see fit for it
Consciously miss it and slowly replenish it
You intend to conflate two ideas
But instead you’re conflating three
Wholesome/unwholesome
Frequent/infrequent
Wanted/unwanted
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6. |
The Troubadour
04:02
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From all ills mine differs
It pleasures me, I rejoice in it
My illness is what I want
And my pain is my health
My pain is my health
From all ills mine differs
It pleasures me, I rejoice in it
My illness is what I want
And my pain is my health
My pain is my health
I don’t see then of what I complain
For my illness comes to me of my own will
It is my own wish that becomes my ill
And my pain is my health
My pain is my health
I find so much pleasure in wishing thus
That I suffer agreeably
And so much joy within my pain
That I am sick with delight!
And my pain is my health
My pain is my health
My pain is my health
My pain is my health
Is my health
Is my health
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7. |
Go Grow
17:40
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Once, I caught an eel as it fed
On smaller creatures rising up from silty, brown-grey mud
Its sharp, spasmodic movements had caught my eye
I watched it as it twisted in my bare, young hand
I considered whether it belonged in water or on land
I returned it to the river; it swam away
But you know what it looks like
You know what it smells like
You know what it feels like
Go grow
My cups of plenty always were abrim
With gifts that I would never give to her or to him
I was always ready to resent or to retire
Now medicated gum clots the streets
And disregarded fun sticks to the soles of my feet
And some of the buildings around me are on fire
But you know what it looks like
You know what it smells like
You know what it feels like
Go grow
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8. |
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I used to live
Relatively
Close to the sea
And I understand
That unknown plans
Undermine all we see
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Naevus London, UK
Lloyd James: voice, guitar. Ben McLees: bass. Hunter Barr: drums. Sam Astley: guitar.
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