Get all 17 Mark Automaton releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Ernie Protocols #1, A Child of Five Could Do That, The Kill-Switch Fails, The Automaton Variations, you are not the reason, anymore, IMPOSSIBILISM, Trust Issues, Thin Silhouettes, and 9 more.
1. |
Each Terrible Step
02:24
|
|
||
|
You and I were walking
And the sun was somewhere else
On our heels were dogs a plenty
And the sun was somewhere else
She and he were fighting
And the rain was everywhere
In their eyes the rain clouds gathered
And the rain was everywhere
Each step we took was measured
In bones and time and blood
The words were primed and ready
But they did not do no good
The visions that we buried
The promises we made
Each step we took a terror
In light in dark in shade
They and them were equal
In all but every way
This and that and never
In all but every way
Stars and Stripes and Satchels
Broken by the doubt
In and out of social
Broken by the doubt
|
||||
2. |
|
|||
|
Just a little child
With a spider in her hand
With a head full of dreams
And a heart full of sand
And her teeth were white
And her skin was clear
And she sat there on the floor
And she knew no fear
And her eyes were blue
And her hair was wild
With a spider in her hand
She smiled and smiled
The space between.
The means of escape.
The absence of doubt.
A violent mistake.
And her eyes were wild
And her hair was red
Monsters in her closet
And under her bed
And her nails were sharp
And her dress was green
All her happy thoughts
Were few and far between
And all her friends
Couldn't understand
Why she sat there on the floor
With a spider in her hand
And her nails were long
And her dress was frayed
With a spider in her hand
She was undismayed
And her teeth were sharp
And her skin was fair
With a spider in her hand
She knelt at prayer
With a head full of dreams
And a heart full of sand
She was just a little child
With a spider in her hand
|
||||
3. |
My Rain Jacket
06:14
|
|
||
|
There’s a cloud
In the sky
Makes its way to
You and I
Are not dressed
For the weather
Set to come
Something breaks
In the hardware
discontinued
Parts unknown
Shoes don’t fit
walking hard
Frayed the nerves
Where is my rain jacket
when it rains
my promises
My aches and pains
I don’t need them anymore
My skies are dry as bone
Something rips
In my shirt
It can’t hold so much as dirt
Or the words
I discard
From my tongue
Lost the signs
From my map
It’s late I need a nap
One eye open
One door closes
All the time
|
||||
4. |
Runaway Train
03:19
|
|
||
|
This train of thought, unbounded by its rails,
A comet's course, relentless, through the night
The passing landscape blurs, the kill-switch fails
Now nothing can arrest our reckless flight
A hundred miles an hour, we're on our way
No chance to stop at stations in between
We strive to find some purpose in each day
And when we sleep, dream someone else's dream
But see the city in the wintertime
The streets forlorn, the river dark and wide
The churches empty, no more steps to climb
All battles lost, all victories denied
For those who wish to prove they're still alive
The train is leaving at four forty-five.
|
||||
5. |
Losing Nightingales
04:32
|
|
||
|
Lay the pieces on the ground
Remember how they fit
A photograph that I have seen
Covered both your eyes
Hands that move like acrobats
A kiss that never dies
Building up, grinding down
The cycle starts again
Bleeding hearts and broken crowns
Again, again, again
Lay the pieces on the ground
Remember how they fit
Dulcimers and hammered words
Notes and melodies
Lies that sing like nightingales
With perfect harmonies
losing you was easy
|
||||
6. |
Dirge Without Music
03:42
|
|
||
|
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, — but the best is lost.
The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,—
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.
Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
|
||||
7. |
From That Moment
03:34
|
|
||
|
You might think or you might not
Whichever is the case
A brighter spark is what you’ve got
It occupies your space
It occupies your space
All the drills and circumstance
Aimed squarely at our heads
All the unwatched fingers
Settled in, loosened all the threads
Settled in, all
From that moment
It was
From that moment
It was
From that moment
It was
|
||||
8. |
Bag Full of God
03:59
|
|
||
|
At the stroke of twelve
By the pale moonlight
He walked down the hall
His fists clenched tight
He dressed like a preacher
But he was not a man of faith
And many a one had fled in fear
From his nightmare embrace.
He had an air about him
That was just plain wrong
He looked like he'd stepped out
Of a Nick Cave song.
He had a look in his eyes
That was just plain odd
In his weathered hands,
A bag full of God.
In that time of darkness
In that era of disgrace
It took a brave or a foolish man
To look him in the face.
Life's kaleidoscope was turning
The colours washed away
He watched them with his broken eyes
At the dawning of the day.
And every night, down on his knees
He reached into that bag
Took out his God and polished it
With an oily cotton rag
And now he's leaving
To head for higher ground
And stand upon a burning hill
With ashes all around.
He walks for miles and miles
Across the desert sands
With a bag full of God
In his sunburnt hands.
|
||||
9. |
The Obsolete
04:03
|
|
||
|
As far as I can see
A test of patience
As long as sinews last
The click, the drone, repeat
As long as time is taught
The measurements can change
Mix future, present, past
Locate, erase, delete
Fortunately I wake up
Greet the sun again
The wind is still upon my face
Some clouds, a chance of rain
Walk the city streets today
A nod to those I meet
Push the boundary one more day
We are the obsolete
As all the chairs are gone
The game seems changed
The knees go next, the nerve
The legs, the arms, the seat
As moments start to merge
The borderlines are lost
The queue, the gate, the pit
Denied, accept, defeat
Fortunately I wake up
Greet the sun again
The wind is still upon my face
Some clouds, a chance of rain
Walk the city streets today
A nod to those I meet
Push the boundary one more day
We are the obsolete
|
||||
10. |
Recuerdo
04:58
|
|
||
|
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
|
||||
11. |
The Last Landline
02:31
|
|
||
|
Somewhere in the line
Hidden in the pack
Gems among the grime
Odds all neatly stack
Somewhere in the dark
Corners, skirting, boards
Machines are in the park
Exchanging minor chords
Landlines, paper, scissors, stones
Untracked choices, pencils, phones
Words that disappeared with time
And everything will turn out fine
Somewhere out of view
Just beyond the gate
A ghost that sounds like you
Arrives but still too late
Somewhere in the germs
Everything we had
Lost in legal terms
Good money after bad
Landlines, paper, scissors, stones
Untracked choices, pencils, phones
Words that disappeared with time
And everything will turn out fine
|
||||
Mark Automaton UK
Mark Automaton came to prominence as a founding member of the seminal “cassette culture” band the Instant Automatons, who
were instrumental in spearheading the UK DIY music scene of the late 70s and early 80s.
Since then, Mark has been active as a producer, musical collaborator and solo artist, releasing music under his own name and also as 391 and randomk/automata.
... more
Mark Automaton recommends:
Sincerely Making A Noise
by Instant Automatons
Instant Automatons retrospective released by BFE Records
go to album
12 errors of judgement
by richard randomk
Music and passion
go to album
Music/Poetry/Video project by Will Vigar and Mark Automaton
go to albumIf you like The Kill-Switch Fails, you may also like:
Have Some Shame
by don't get lemon
Gutsy New Romantic synthpop from Austin, Texas with hooks and heartache galore.
go to album
Within/Without
by Houses of Heaven
If you've been craving something dark and gritty yet stylish and dancefloor-ready, this hard-edged industrial synth opus might fit the bill.
go to album
Asleep At The Wheel Of Love
by Chances Are
Sprightly, eccentric EP from a New Zealand-based post-punk outfit featuring members of Trust Punks, Cool Cult, and Long Distance.
go to album
