Get all 5 The Wealthy Orphans releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Sing Like a Blind Man, Baby Just Give Me Your Hand, Throwing Glory, Little Piece of the Pie, and seamless life.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
Little Piece of the Pie
04:29
|
|||
|
mother may I come down stairs
looking for socks but I can't find a pair
broken dishes your flesh and your bone
ringing on the bell but nobody's home
rear view mirror, rusty fender, return the letter
right to the sender
sweep up the kitchen then you mop the floor
we used to live here, but we don't no more
chorus
every one wants a little piece of the pie
hold up your head now don't you cry
every one wants a little piece of the pie
hold up your head now, don't you cry
wedding band around my finger
makes me a honey bee with just one stinger
a bunch of bills that want to get paid
like a chicken with an egg that she wants to get laid
a rusty hinge on a broken door
scrape your plate 'cause there ain't no more
ya couldn't punch your way out of a paper bag
your old fancy porch has begun to sag
chorus
down in the basement and under the stairs
there's a whole lot of dust and dirt down there
ya got your washing machine, you shake and ya spin
huff and puff and blow your house in
dance in a circle, rattle the chain
splash in the puddle left after the rain
wallet inside of my old blue jeans
making room for a great big dream
chorus
|
||||
2. |
nursery ryhme
06:13
|
|||
|
twinkle little star how I wonder where you are
let the dish run away with the spool
hickory dickory dock let world reel and rock
and the dish run away with the spoon
Alice she fell down through a hole in the ground
as the queen put the boat into her hair
the candle stick maker met up with the undertaker
on his way down to vanity fair
Jesus Christ, he got it right the night he walked on top of the sea
and the three blind mice met up with the butcher's knife
please weave your straw into gold for me
little boy blue what in the hells wrong with you
don't you know it's all in the turn of your key
go on a blow your horn 'cause the cow is in the corn
and the king has fallen down to his kness
the full moon turns red when there's trouble up ahead
for you chicken little and for me
ashes, ashes and we all fall down
as Manhattan is swallowed up by the sea
then we land our boat high on top of the rocks
throw the doors open and let the animals go free
mother goose is there she dances so hard that her foot comes loose
Pied Piper lead the rats of the cliff into the sea
|
||||
3. |
what's wrong with me
04:43
|
|||
|
time has no master, I keep going faster on my way down to the sea
the trees keep growing taller, the girls don't come until I holler and I ask ya what's wrong with me
buried my money down a hole, worked hard to save my soul then the truth came along to set me free
I've been working real hard to find my own wild card but it's locked up and there's no key
there's a place you can go when you want to take life slow, I'll show ya come along with me
you can really change your skin when you let this love in go ahead and fall down on your knees
Chorus
what's wrong with me, what's wrong with me, I can't see
you don't have to be afraid, some day you will get paid any how the best things in life are free
I found a tree full of fruit. I shook it down to it's root. that day we had pie with our tea
I put my knuckles through the wall, my crown sat crooked like king Saul. I emptied out my bucket of pee
I got problems you can't fix, I pick up a load of sticks. I wear my jeans out at the knee
chorus
It is time to go home there is no beer under the foam, I'll show you who you are for a small fee
I come in just like the Pope, my clothes smelling of soap, my best friend's hung over like a willow tree.
I crack underneath the strain, I can't live with this much pain it's all a matter of degree
I've come to the end, there's no ink left in the pen
I look to the things that I can't see
chorus
|
||||
4. |
sparrow brown and grey
04:36
|
|||
|
sparrow brown and grey lands on the ledge dropping her tears of joy and I bought some new clothes, black wing tip shoes, hat with the wide silk band and you are my girl and every night is prom, homecoming queen for ever and I take your hand right where the sparrow lands this night is Dutch black licorice
chorus
surely goodness and mercy are running down your street to catch a hold of you and kiss you on the cheek
You're trapped up in a tower of all you can not see. The dancing girls have come to carry your long train and the curse over you is now broken in to a faithful beast of burden and as soon as you arrive the stones all cry out your splendor and glory
chorus
Sparrow brown and grey has carried you away into a gilded dome of heaven and I'm left alone in my new clothes just clicking my heals together and I dug these small holes in the dark earth to burry every seed of my sorrow
Surely goodness and mercy are running down my street to catch ahold of me and kiss me, surely goodness and mercy are running down my street to catch ahold of me and kiss me on the cheek
|
||||
5. |
Basquiat
05:22
|
|||
|
Jean Michael you became my friend
opened doors for me again and again
spray paint Jeremiah you riding the subway trains
there weren't much in the world to make you afraid
Samo, Samo this was your name
'till lady pride came along to drive you insane
chorus
brother if I could I would take your hand
lead you out of hell and into the promised land
but as it stands there aint nothing I can do
but sing my song and sow the tears for you
Jean Michael, I think of you now
with my eyes straight ahead and my hand to the plow
this world's not home for me and it wasn't for you
but you ought not have left 'till all your work was through
fragile as a flower you came into a world of hate
like something to eat they put you in the middle of the plate
and now that your gone the whole word's turned blue
like you took all the other colors right into hell with you
chorus
Jean Michael of NYC
what became of your life was a shameful pity
a cry in the wilderness and like a shot in the dark
from your home in a card board box in Tompkins Sq Park
the paintings you left behind lay out the bones of your life
like foot prints out of the ring where you fought you last fight
there's plenty ringing true in the paintings you made
so much left behind that won't be swallowed by the grave
chorus
|
||||
6. |
the devil's a liar
05:18
|
|||
|
I've got a kicking horse inside my head
I've got a lot to do before I'm dead
the hallow tree for the honey bees
no where to go so I'm on my knees
My body's shaking and my souls on fire
the devil, he's a liar
ya got a tighten your nuts and turn your screw
push on your sword 'til it goes right through
in the middle of the lake I sunk my ship
when we kissed she bit right through my lip
I don't know but I've been told
the devil, he's a liar
I've got a yellow corvette and the rag top's down
a slow drive through the bad part of town
grease on the gears and a bottle of tears
there aint no love, nothing but fear
a girl in the window with her body for hire
the devil, he's a liar
you've been burning your candle at both ends
where ya gonna go when you can't find a friend
you just buckle down with your heavy load
then you run out of gas on some empty road
you try every key but none of them work
the devil, he's a jerk
we dug a deep hole out the back yard
she told my future with a deck of cards
I tried to run but my lungs caved in
my shoes got heavy with all my sin
she promised me gold, but all I got was tin
the devil, he's a liar
the devil's a liar, swimming in a lake of fire (repeat)
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
I never kissed a girl like you before
my feet aren't even touching the floor
the smell of your hair and the world's on fire
I climb the top of the funeral pyre
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
ya kick me down to my hands and knees
the words on my tongue thank you mam and pretty please
throwing stones at your window knocking on your back door
I keep coming around 'cause I want some more
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
the sea's full of fish but baby your'e the only one
and when your'e in my arms then my race is won
at night I think of you and I can't get to sleep
then it's around the corner and then up your street
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
there's a time to wait and a time to push through
got my gun pointed and my aim is true
if I run out of money then I'll rob a bank
if you decide not to see me than my ship just sank
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
I never saw a day like this before
I swear God busted open every single door
I got a bunch of bottle rockets shoot'n off in my heart
you are the horse and now I'm your cart
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
you turn my world inside out
this is what the poets are all writing about
it's like sugar sugar jumping up and down in my veins
a whole lot pleasure mixed with pain
I never kissed a girl, no I never kissed a girl like you before
|
||||
8. |
she's a natural disaster
03:37
|
|||
|
She's a natural disaster, aint nothing faster
coming to your town, just to blow it down
waking you up in the middle of the night
she don't care a damn thing about treating you right
she's bringing destruction, it's her big production
so mister get your self ready for the reconstruction
I can't help but wonder who gave her all her thunder
what we did to deserve her wrath en-cure
now she's swinging her censor a smoking fragrance of disaster
I wish she'd just calm down and skip over our town
but there's anger in her eyes thats hard to survive
knocking over the trees, get'n us down to our knees
reconnecting our lives to some real live pain
here come the tears, mixed up with the rain
with a big gust of wind, she pushes her way in
it feels like the end of the worldin a storm with the name of a girl
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
sister Mary wears a golden chain x3
and every link's in Jesus name
there's no hiding place down here
chorus
no hiding place down here, no hiding place down here
you can run to the rocks to hide your face
but the rocks cry out no hiding place
no hiding place down here
I'm gonna pitch my tent on the old camp ground x3
gonna fight that devil one more round
there's no hiding place down here
chorus
oh the devil wears a hypocrite shoe x3
if you don't watch out he'll stomp on you
there's no hiding place down here
|
||||
10. |
lay me down
05:52
|
|||
|
death came to my house last night in the light of the full moon
I knew it was her by the sound of her sad tune
she came up on the porch and sat right down on my swing
in her lap a black velvet bag filled with wedding rings
chorus
lay me down, lay me down
underneath the old willow tree
lay me down, lay me down
and my soul will be set free
when I was a young man there weren't nothing I couldn't do
give that boy a nickel and a dime and have him shine my shoe
now that I'm old and my eyes grow dim
the shoe shine man's an old man and I shuffle just like him
chorus
I watch that old willow as it blows in the wind
my heart is heavy with the weight of all my sin
this pack I've been hauling all my stubborn life
if I could just lay it down I know my soul'd take flight
chorus
she lifts the cup to her lips that are full and red
she passes it to me and it goes right up to my head
death is a beautiful woman in her dress of soot and ash
I lay down in her arms and finally breath my last
chorus
|
||||
11. |
time of your life
04:48
|
|||
|
there's a stone in my shoe and cracks in my skin
a hole in the roof where the rains get'n in
I dig myself a hole with a shovel and a pick
ya gotta boil down the sauce 'till it gets nice and thick
scrub the top of the stove, get it nice and clean
she's tall and pretty, but she's shallow and mean
I got a stack of wood I carry around in my head
and an o'l ally cat left his fleas in my bed
I have to climb a ladder of tears through a hole in the sky
I had to let go of the steering wheel just to hold my head and cry
she broke every dish, through them hard against the wall
little David played his harp to get the love back in Saul
deep in the night she's lost in her dreams
sewn into the hem of her dress, all the money she'd ever need
busted down, she's caving in
right through the floor with the weight of all her sins
blow on the coals 'till they leap into flames
she's a wild, wild, woman in a world too tame
they slam their doors as she walks down the street
she's got golden shoes on ivory feet
she's calling you out
she's sizing you up
pouring out her love into your empty cup
the trees kneel down as you open up your eyes
you didn't even know this was the time of your life
|
||||
The Wealthy Orphans Grand Rapids, Michigan
Playing music forged in the furnace of real life, the Wealthy Orphans open hearts and unzip heaven at the same time. Their songs are lite up with vivid imagery, haunted by enigmatic narratives that confuse as much as enlighten.
The Wealthy Orphans recommends:
Shining from Shook Foil
by Stover
Just a darn good song writer who knows how to mix the spiritual and the profane in a way to help keep you sane.
go to album
These guys have a way of punching a bunch of little holes in the sky with their songs to let heaven start dripping through.
go to album
The Old Sisters' Home
by Orpheum Bell
I really like this for the way it blends top tier musicianship with heart felt content. I am a sucker for this albums Eastern European flavors.
go to albumIf you like The Wealthy Orphans, you may also like:
Will I Still Bloom?
by Half Dream
Heartland indie rock that’s like Angel Olsen at her fuzziest fronting a gnarlier Mazzy Star.
go to album
The Melbourne singer-songwriter's captivating debut balances dreamy indie folk with driving, emotional rock.
go to album
The Valley Of Vision
by manchester orchestra
The rock band embraces emerging technologies to create an immersive, forward-looking soundscape.
go to album
