Get all 6 odessa chen releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of When Time Runs Out : A Single by Max Stoffregen & Odessa Chen, The Act of Loving You, Invisible Stories, Archives of the Natural World, The Ballad of Paper Ships, and One Room Palace.
1. |
Deer Perspectives
05:21
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hang up your burning lights
hang up your miles of wire
hang up your hopes
like arms, or ropes around me
this sequence of streets
revolving doors
always wanting more
hang up your burning lights
hang up your miles of wire
hang up your hopes
like arms or ropes around me
where we move
they surround us
with their dark machinery and guns
will we fall
as the others fell?
with nowhere left to run
as we are driven, driven
into the woods, the woods
into the woods
as we are driven, driven
into the woods, the woods
into the woods
as we are driven, driven
to what remains of the woods
to what remains of the woods
hang up the sterling stars
hang up the miles of pines
hang up the night
with no arms, or roads around me
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2. |
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romance is dead
mystery we’ve killed her
thus devalued, she’s that much easier to claim
gild all gods and angels
forget from where you came
thus elevated, we aren’t animals at all
instead of flying
and with no defenses
instead of flying they did not leave
the tethered sun
unwilling witness
the wild parakeets of the carolinas
shot down, every one
we don’t even know they’re missing
instead of flying
and with no defenses
instead of flying they did not leave
the tethered sun
unwilling witness
witness
witness
witness
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3. |
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don’t wake the dawn
I am yours and wish to sleep
cradled at the base of your throat
at the quiet intersection of those fragile bones
at the quiet intersection of those fragile bones
don’t wake the dawn
she breaks, easy as the rib cage of a bird
the quiet intersection of those fragile bones
at the quiet intersection of those fragile bones
in remembering
all our archived dreams break free
a stable of bright white horses
horses pure and right
I’m remembering a wonder pure and right
the day will come
but for now, for now this page
one corner folded down
its crease is like a scar
its crease stays like a scar
at the quiet intersection
of those fragile bones
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4. |
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the binding knots
dismantling clocks whose arms
hold where the time went
you are the flanks of horses
as they run, as they run…
for there is no, there is no deeper
there is no, there is no deeper
than what we are
we are a pair
thread and needle
I hear you whisper
in handfuls of dirt
you move so easily
from form to form
first a wolf
and now the wind
for there is no, there is no deeper
there is no, there is no deeper
than what we are
you are the plain, you are the sky
I am the ax, and the pine
first a wolf
then the wind, oh!
first a wolf
then the wind, the wind...the wind
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5. |
Lesser Creatures
04:44
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like you, I had plans, my intentions
so nothing could go wrong
it’s too easy to fall apart
at the sight of crushed birds and doe
on the sides of the highway
I free fall
while the others fall
into the hands of the lord
to reach a place so far removed
that I’m not bothered by it anymore
we sleep deep
and have no dreams
rest our heads upon the backs of geese
and other lesser creatures
maybe we never made it home…
instead, lay back silently as leaves
upon the glistening lawns
so alike, so symmetrical
like eggs that never wake
or like graves
the sky is a wishing well
scattered coins
I’m wishing now, now, now
when I close my eyes I see
clockwise arches and blizzard wings
when I close my eyes I see geese,
lesser creatures
flying
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6. |
Oh, Atlantis!
04:59
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oh! oh! summer birds are flown
and the fields are burning
hear them heed the call
of our season’s ending
oh no, no, no, Atlantis, oh no, no
oh! oh!
summer rains don’t fall
where the lamb are kneeling
the places where they crossed
unrecognizable or gone
no no, no, no
and we did not stop
and we did not stop
until the sea
until the sea
gathered in it’s fold
all the edges of our world
oh no, no, no, Atlantis
oh no, no, no, Atlantis
oh, no no no
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7. |
The Mercy of Sound
03:59
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the clouds taken down
the mercy of sound again
return of the birds
and in the air
a subtle shifting like sand
warmth rising like bread
the holding patterns of dusk
retrieves my heart
sunk like a stone inside me
the soft beating of moths
meeting with milk white bulbs
when all the voices, when all the voices
when all the voices, when all the voices
when all the voices, when all the voices
stop.
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8. |
Cinders
05:11
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the sparks come down
arms flung out and falling
embers and other beauties we see
afar distances, oh
that can’t be touched or known
and therefore can’t be at all
It started out with wanting
and wishing on the moon
or other beauties we see
afar distances, oh
that can’t be touched or known
and therefore can’t be ruined
oh….
cinders that strike our minds
so bright the whole place burns right down
all that’s left is me
all that’s left is you
and memories of light and sound
were do we go from here…California?
Arizona’s gone
it all seems like a defeat of sorts
or what comes after
and I’m too young
I’m too young for salvation
I’m too young for salvation, I’m too young
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9. |
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oh, oh...what could be contained in a box
held in place with pins, a paragraph
a single photograph, a single photograph
silent, laid silent
oh, oh...what will remain then
an exquisitely cataloged cul-de-sac
a single photograph, a single photograph
when after all, what could I have done
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odessa chen San Francisco, California
Cinematic and spectral, Odessa Chen’s music is a journey, intimate as a long held secret. Each song, like a tiny rowboat maneuvering in the dark, transports us to the deepest part of the lake where the stars shine brightest. Through despair towards transcendence each snapshot in time speaks of the romance of heightened experience, pivotal moments, and the rush of love. ... more
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