Get all 21 Ben Below releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Land of Dreams, Song A Week: Volume XVI, Song A Week: Volume XV, Song A Week: Volume XIV, The Ballad Of Sir David Horsenborough, Helicopter Staves, Song A Week: Volume XIII, Song A Week: Volume XII, and 13 more.
1. |
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Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die.
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2. |
Meet Yourself Coming
02:56
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When we first met, I was just five
Sat on the playground with tears in my eyes
He sat by my side, and gave me advice
Wrinkles surrounding his shining blue eyes
"I'm not going to say that it gets better.
But I will say this:
You only get one, one chance to be you
So don't let the bullies tell you what to do"
CHORUS
If you could meet yourself, see you coming
What advice would you give
Out of time, out of order
How's the life that you'd live?
I was sixteen, him twenty-one
Whispers and hints of things to come
Sometimes it's years, sometimes it's days
Often I don't have much to say
But always at least a nod and a smile.
-CHORUS-
-CHORUS-
Last time we met, he was just five
Sat in a playground with tears in his eyes
I sat by his side, and gave my advice
Now that I'd seen from the other side
"I'm not going to say that it gets better"
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3. |
Conga Jam
02:43
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4. |
City Of Rats
03:26
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Under the city in darkness they lurk
They live in the dark and the damp and the murk
For so long they've sat back, been baited and trapped
Once roamed the surface and they want it back
Rats!
They're under your floorboards
Rats!
They live in your street
Rats!
Whether paupers or lords
Rats!
Right under your feet
One at a time and they're harmless enough
When they come in packs then it starts to get tough
But when all move as one they can tear flesh from bone
The threat rose and drove people out of their homes
And so they came, and we left - like rats fleeing a sinking ship, or so the saying goes. But in this case, the rats were definitely not the ones doing the fleeing. The disease, the violence, it all became too much, as family after family fled for safer pastures. The most stubborn tried to stay of course, but none lasted. Every nook, every cranny, every shop, every building - all overrun. And so became the city of the rats.
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5. |
That's The Plan
02:55
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6. |
Experiment #587
01:08
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7. |
Non-Euclidian Corridors
01:58
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8. |
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Desert Heat
Just Highway
Keep it cool
Let's drive
Visor down
Full throttle
Buckle up
Let's burn
Fire the thrusters, time to trust us
Small adjustments as we're rocketing forwards
Feel the wind blow, watch the day go
Follow the faint glow, the horizon calls
---
Hit a town
Saloon's calling
Grab a drink
Let's rest
When the night comes, grab your light gun
Set it to stun as you sneak out of the guest room
Fry the cameras, swipe the bank vaults
Fill the tank and leave before the dawn
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9. |
The Swiftrider Gang
03:16
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What is this?
We're stopping
Not a town
For miles
Safety checks done, thruster pads on
Feet are down and keys are in the ignition
Tank is full, so given the clues
There's one conclusion: Sabotage!
---
Nice to finally meet you, Bonnie, D3
Though I can tell from your looks that you've not heard of me
I'm the head of this posse, the Swiftrider Gang
And I'll give you one chance to give up while you can
See we're better, stronger, we've got you outnumbered
We're meaner, hit harder, wherever we plunder
Our bikes are much faster than your out of date car
So crawl back to your home, cause these streets are now ours!
---
Well I do hate to leave in too much of a rush
But there's banks, shops and homes to rob, plus dreams to crush
While we leave you here stranded, one piece of advice
You get more from your marks if you don't leave them alive
See we're better, stronger, we've got you outnumbered
We're meaner, hit harder, wherever we plunder
Our bikes are much faster than your out of date car
So you can walk back home, cause the streets are now ours!
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10. |
Lunar Reflection
04:57
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11. |
In The Platonic Forest
03:28
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Summer breeze blows through the treetops
The skyline morphs from grey to blue
A hundred thousand tiny insects fly from bush to tree to flower
There's no better view
Foliage rustles in the distance
Constant trickle of the stream
Hear the mating calls of bird and beast from nightingale to robin
It's like a dream
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12. |
Empty Moon
03:44
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A long time ago, before life formed on Earth
A giant named Theia crashed into the globe
And the impact gave cause to celestial birth
As the empty moon was born
As the empty moon was born
As humans evolved, she was worshiped and feared
Tales spread that her phases turned men into beasts
Gave way to the months as her sister did years
As the empty moon changed shape
As the empty moon changed shape
Greek Anaxagoras deduced her a sphere
With glowing reflections of those of the sun
Aristarchus computed the distance from here
As the empty moon was measured
As the empty moon was measured
Gallileo drew her with mountains and craters
Michale Florent van Langren drew her first map
Riccioli and Grimaldi were prominent namers
As the empty moon was charted
As the empty moon was charted
Then the space race began, US USSR
A Soviet probe was the first to arrive
Not to be outdone, JFK wanted more
As the empty moon called out to men
And we built Apollos one through ten
Then in 1969
We sent up man for the first time
Armstrong, Aldrin walked her face
While Michael Collins stayed in space
Further missions followed
People walked the dusty floor
And the empty moon's not empty any more
A long time passed, life goes on on Earth
After three short years we stopped our lunar escapes
The powers that be have questioned its worth
And the empty moon stays empty
And the empty moon stays lonely
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13. |
Homme Offer Knee
02:47
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The merchant pedals to town where he peddles his wares
A suite of sweet food next to things you can wear
Clothes old and new, then a woman he knew
Comes to buy pairs of pears, and two tu-tus too.
Under a knot in a bough a man issues a bow
Says "wise baron, this field is barren now I know not how"
With a wry groan, "Why's no rye grown?
Can't make flour when nothing will flower"
CHORUS
We're sentenced to these sentences
But there there, they're their own reward, he said
You can hear them here, or join in instead
And as the words whirred through your head
You've mined your mind for others you've heard read
But you see red
Sir you must air a complaint ere you err by your heir
He bored hunting boar, rode out bareback and brough a pet bear back
Now we pray it won't choose us for prey
As it chews bones of eight men it ate yesterday
The coward cowered, then was threw through a bayside window
A spectator sees the seas seize him
They've seen the scene lapse: As the sea laps
He sinks like lead, led down the world whirled up over his head
-CHORUS-
On the English language, here's my two cents
The sentence that will follow this has no right to make sense:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo (x8)
*That's Buffalo, the city in New York , buffalo, the animal otherwise known as a bison, and buffalo, the little used verb meaning to outwit, intimidate, or baffle. And for those of you thinking I should have stopped after eight buffalo, no! Any number of times you repeat the word buffalo in a row, the sentence still bloody makes sense - look it up! /Sigh. Alright, one more chorus and then we're done*
-CHORUS-
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