We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Snake Armed Album

by The Snake Armed Man

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

    The Snake Armed Album is comprised of songs that I've been writing and composing since September of last year (that's 2011). To me, the album seems to chart the path of happiness, or some kind of significant life experience: soaring highs and endless hope in Airplane Man; the threat of impending doom inspiring good cheer and passionate love in Before the Bomb Drops; the security and tranquility of flowers and quiet cemeteries in In the Meadow; sudden loss and subsequent rage in Happiness; the realization that all's not all it's cracked up to be in a cover of the traditional Man of Constant Sorrow; painful nostalgia in July Sun; disappointment and longing in The Queen of Green Eyes; the inability to escape suffering and fear in The Moon; and a complete loss of faith in loved ones (and deities) in Empty Gestures. The further it goes, the bleaker things start to look. And I really like that as a concept.

    The associated album art was kind of a last-minute thing. I was going through some disposable-camera photos from when I was a kid and found a few that I liked (you'll see one more of them later on), but this image was particularly striking. What I believe is a shed from my old house can be seen behind a red filter of I-don't-know-what... my grandmother had a tendency of ruining shots by crossing the film or something to that effect. I don't actually know. But I liked the image because it says something about melancholic nostalgia - just present enough to sting, but so obscured by an aggressive filter that you can't quite make out the best of it.

    I'm not expecting anybody to pay for this album. Please don't feel obliged to pay for it. I just want somebody to hear it. They don't even necessarily have to enjoy it.

    Whenever I feel up to working on this again, I'll be releasing a companion piece called "Snake Armed Extras", which were songs I cut from the album (mostly covers) because I felt they didn't fit the theme and tone of the rest of the music.

    Recording these songs has been a total labor of (frequently effusive) love for me. I hope it's as rewarding for you as it was for me, but I'm not really holding my breath.
    ... more
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
Airplane Man 03:05
Airplane man Airplane man You were born in the worst of God's despair And you didn't know what you'd become Airplane man Searching man Searching man With all the knowledge you would ever need You could change the world, rewrite it possibly Searching man Writing man Writing man You know us better than we knew ourselves Or maybe you just opened our eyes Writing man Crying man Crying man Was the weight of the world getting too much? Did you buckle from the strength of the blindness? Crying man
2.
If the world's gone crazy, I've lost my mind too Through all the horror and death, all I think about is you And I could get through the blast and the radiation as well If I could taste your lips before we're all sent to hell (Chorus) I need to love you 'fore the bomb drops Need to love you 'fore the end Need to love you 'fore the bomb drops Wanna hold your hand as you cry to me About that great white light Well, love you know it scares me Time is running out We're so close to the edge There's nothing left to think about And I hope when it drops, the mushroom's not too bright I wanna keep my eyes open when I'm holding you tight Chorus And if you didn't love me In 2008 Well, that would be just fine But the DEFCON is rising Babe we just don't have the time Chorus
3.
All the flowers are beautiful in the meadow All the flowers are beautiful in the spring All the flowers are beautiful in the meadow And the spring All the bodies are beautiful in the cemetery All the bodies are beautiful in the fall All the bodies are beautiful In the fall All the flowers are dying in the winter All the flowers are dying now All the flowers are beautiful In the meadow
4.
Happiness 01:23
I'm giving up, this shit consumes me I've given every thought and all my time I hope you choke on the next thing you encounter Then I hope you fucking die (Chorus) I gave everything for you and you treat me like the plague Is there anything I can do right? It made me sad it broke my heart Now I hope you make him miserable as I was He deserves it, you do too In fact, you're quite deserving of each other Chorus And who do you think you are? And who do you think I am? And what do you think this is? Chorus
5.
I am a man of constant sorrow I've seen trouble all my days I'll say goodbye to California The place where I was born and raised Through this open world I'm bound to ramble Through ice and snow, sleet and rain I'm bound to ride that morning railroad Perhaps I'll die upon that train Your mother says that I'm a stranger My face you'll never see no more But there is one promise to you: I'll see you on God's golden shore I'm going back to California The place where I started from If I had known how bad you'd treat me I swear I never would have come
6.
July Sun 02:27
I want to drown in an ocean of you Get my feet more than wet to beat the heat All wet, and it rolls off my skin And you glimmer in the July sun Surround me Encase me I miss the feel of that fire in you That gripped me and kept me warm These days, it burns my hands And it's hot, like the July sun Scorch me Then sooth me Your sweat Your skin on mine Your soft lips on my neck Like the July sun
7.
The queen of green eyes Peers over me She watches me sleep Her gaze is like ice It melts on my skin Absorbs to my brain She's there when I close my eyes She's there when I drift off to dreams The queen of green eyes She won't hold my hand And she won't touch my lips She wants to tell me She loves me to death But I don't think she will I'm gone, I'm out of her head He's there, he's filling her up The queen of green eyes Has burned up my soul And broken my worth She's moved me to cry She's pushed me to smile And I'd make her scream I dream of joining with her I dream of getting her done The queen of green eyes Is elusive
8.
The Moon 02:42
The moon's back in the sky again I said the moon's in the sky again And it pushes my fears As the sun disappears from my life I wish I had forgotten its face But it glares down at me all night long And it calls out my name And it uses its fame to get me And it slowly fills up my house And it's sending me shivers both inside and out But I can't escape As the drape of its light fills my room I'll be gone soon
9.
If I get this wrong again, Will you pray for me again? I know that it's an empty gesture But when you've lost it all And there's nowhere else to go Well, God seems just okay to me No, I don't believe exactly But I know despair too well Consider my conversion selfish and sad She left me for a man A chiseled jaw, a swimmer's body And I don't think I can compete Cause he holds her close and tight Brings her safety through the night And I'm scared and skittish about everything But I hope she's happy now But I know for sure she's not And I think that's what gets me most of all So I'll take God if he's all you've got In the back room, left in stock Though he'll make things worse 'fore he cleans things up But if he were any good, he would have stopped it long ago But I guess true lust is beyond his jurisdiction But I need something anyway Cause I have nothing left So please, love me If I get this wrong again, Will you pray for me again? I know that it's an empty gesture

credits

released June 9, 2012

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Snake Armed Man California

contact / help

Contact The Snake Armed Man

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this album or account

The Snake Armed Man recommends:

If you like The Snake Armed Man, you may also like: