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The Wreckage

by Mark Lenover

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1.
The Hunger 02:53
Give us your daughters Bring us your sons We’ve got some graves to fill and a slaughterhouse to run You will curse our names over and over and over and over again Follow your master’s lead Yeah, he’s so hungry He’s got a beast to feed Yeah, it’s so hungry Lay down your bodies Leave us your souls Trade us your hardened hearts for sulfur, death and smoke Follow your master’s lead Yeah, he’s so hungry He’s got a beast to feed Yeah, it’s so hungry
2.
The Coup 04:44
It’s so dark, underground We’re drunk on Marx A dozen rounds plus one Come out with your hands up, or you die Throw your guns down and reach for the sky The chopping block The cold gray cells We’ll make them talk We’ll give them hell Come on… Come out with your hands up, or you die Throw your guns down and reach for the sky
3.
Orpheus 04:14
She was the picture of beauty and grace He bottled her magic and fixed her in place His music was written all over her face He mined her perfection and chipped it away, reducing his lover to poems and paint As his gaze grew distorted his subject grew faint Howling, Eurydice covers her face as we carry her off to the vanishing place Shuddering, Orpheus opens his eyes A look nullifies her, he blinks and it flies her away… His tributes were clumsy and tainted by lust Her features were blunted and cold to the touch She covered his failures with lipstick and blush He’d harvest the melodies caught in her throat He’d belch out the rhythm and raise her a toast Of all his abortions, he loved her the most Howling, Eurydice covers her face as we carry her off to the vanishing place Shuddering, Orpheus opens his eyes A look nullifies her, he blinks and it flies her away…
4.
I am rushing at a bullet and the bullet’s standing still My heart’s racing toward a precipice that contracts as winter kills I am offering my poverty I am offering my name I am offering my sympathy and an indelible stain I am rushing at a bullet and the bullet’s standing still My heart’s racing toward a precipice that contracts as winter kills I am offering my silhouette my physical remains my naked triviality, and an indelible stain
5.
When the knell sounds we’ll be called to account and to justify all the time that we’ve wasted ironing the emperor’s new clothes The cuckoo’s are repeating, “I know it all, I know.” Just an echoing parody passing it’s dross off as gold I know I know Well, I know of that stylish chapel where the plagiarists babble and smoke I know of that great, worm-ridden apple Yeah, the parasite’s addle-brained host I know With trend-setting arrogance fashionable mannequins take their turns They’re all blank and ridiculous, wrapped in thick blankets of smoke Now their mockingbird’s singing, “I know it all. I know.” It’s a pompous, preposterous, grotesquely meaningless joke Well, I know of that stylish chapel where the plagiarists babble and smoke I know of that great, worm-ridden apple the parasite’s addle-brained host
6.
Vampires 02:55
A parting kiss A black arm-band If you can’t have it, no one can I feel like I’ve been condemned I feel like I’m burning at both ends How did your spooks make out? What are your informants on about? Stop scratching at my bedroom door and get out from underneath my floorboards Give me a sign Give me a sign Get the hell out of my deathbed I never invited you in so collect all your friends and go and don’t forget the demons in the radio You’re all vampires Never come back, you pigs you haunted filth Make your way to the place where the weather kills Give me a sign Give me a sign You’re all vampires…
7.
I’m just a bundle of suppressed nervous ticks My medication is making me sick A fog upon the brain A stagnant cloud which neither storms nor dissipates I was a fury of force and holy fits I was a turbulent, productive narcissist But as I live and breath I am being erased by tiny increments, with every pill I take
8.
We’ve all learned how to hide behind decadent tricks of the mind We savour the distance we sow between us and the rest of our kind We’re all mixed up each in noxious, insulating clouds We’re all mixed up, decked out in blinders and burial shrouds I was walking on eggshells spitting filth at the sun Medusa’s hair was everywhere at once So it goes… A soft, secretive fear, settles and stops up my ears against the crazed, smouldering cries of my brothers and sisters in tears We’re all mixed up We’ve set our broken hearts in stone We’re all mixed up We’ve made our haunted hovels home I was walking on egg-shells spitting filth at the sun Medusa’s hair was everywhere at once I hid behind a blindfold gulping brimstone and stunned Medusa’s hair was everywhere at once So it goes…
9.
Down 02:47
Now, to face the sunrise the breaking of the waves Come all yea feckless invalids It’s time to face the day As you walk upon eggshells you swallow the flame as you baulk at the mirror you plaintively make your way down Now, to face the evil eye the thunderheads and blight Your withered guide comes slinking by, he crumples and sighs As you wallow in victimhood you clutch at your sides Come all yea cloistered lunatics, it’s time to say goodnight As you crawl upon eggshells you bask in disgrace As you baulk at the mirror you wearily make your way down
10.
Malice 03:16
I’ll leave you to sleep through your delicate fantasies Leave you your eyes and your agonized smile I’ll leave you to hide behind sheltering lunacy Tricks of the mind played out in black and white I’ll leave you alive, and this merciful cruelty sucks all the life from your fetid remains I’ll leave you your mind, just to watch you go out of it Leave you the time to befoul your good name I’ll leave you to lie with your own executioners Leave you alive, to die over and over again I’ll leave you alive…
11.
Repent 03:13
Blank manifestos The rustling of leaves The lives of the scarecrows The wind in the trees The unnoticed rapture A simple refrain: “How is your master, and what is his name?” How can what’s lost be saved? How can our debts be paid? You fall asleep and you fall apart You fall in love and it breaks your heart To a sinner on Monday, it’s a long way to Sunday We sleep with the dead An ancient infraction A common excuse A joyful reception A loving rebuke How can what’s lost be saved? How can our debts be paid? You fall asleep and you fall apart You fall in love and it breaks your heart To a sinner on Monday, it’s a long way to Sunday We sleep with the dead
12.
The sidewalks are spinning underfoot I think another drink would do me good I think another round should set me straight I’ll raise another to the sober few I wouldn’t get too close if I were you It’s bound to put me past all self-restraint Dancing under lights upon a crowded floor a hair beyond oblivion and shame I wouldn’t mix with us if I were you I wouldn’t mess with us if I were you Men of straw are easily blown astray I do miss you I do miss you The sober few I do miss you
13.
The Recital 04:05
Give us a proper taste of lunacy Stand up and give us a recital Tell us of your psychotic fever dreams, of sickness of the soul and survival Tell us all about degeneracy and thick pharmaceutical pollution Tell us all about the blight you’ve seen and your frantic struggle for a solution Don’t forget to mention the dragons at your back The apocalyptic engines that burn the blue sky black Tell me all about the people you meet when you’re paralyzed and idle Smoke and drink a blend of vodka and bleach and await the speckled serpent’s arrival Raise a glass and tell us, how does it feel to drown your pale and languishing virtues You live in fiction, but your weakness is real and what you don’t know can hurt you Don’t forget to mention the dragons at your back The apocalyptic engines that burn the blue sky black

about

I would like to dedicate this album to my loving parents, to my brothers, and finally to my good friend Dave Disher for his invaluable contributions and continued support. I hope you enjoy listening to The Wreckage. - Mark Grayson Lenover

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released March 27, 2012

All songs written, performed and recorded by Mark Lenover.
Mastered by David Disher.
Cover Design by Mark Lenover.

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Mark Lenover

Through a distinctive fusion of folk, rock, theatre and electronica, Mark Lenover critically examines pop culture’s ubiquitous influence, its moral philosophy and the potentially devastating effects of drug abuse and mental illness. His recent work frequently challenges an increasingly pervasive culture of celebrity, self-indulgence, distraction and desire. ... more

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