Get all 6 Marlow Shields releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Fight For Your Life, Pt. 1, Caged as I Feel, My Body is a Vessel, Around the Glass Bowl, Songs of Defiance, Variations from a Painting, and Pure Garbage.
1. |
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Cassandra, you’re braver than I’ll
Ever be, you’ve kept your
composure
When we talk of our dreams
You’d describe scary things that
You saw with the lights off
Silhouettes in the hall
Kitty ears, but a person
We’re so weird
I thought about it all at rehearsal
When I tried on the dress
No one gave a shit but then again
nobody knew
I’ll admit that I’ve kept my mouth shut
And I’m sorry for that
Cuz I love you
It’s difficult to describe
There are layers to nonsense
It’s hard to compromise
When people you love are
different than you
There’s no use for excuse
I’ll just cut to the chase
Tracing words on a blank page
We’re more alike than
We’ll ever know and I tell you
Everything
Judgments run and hide
Silhouette, spirit guide
Judgments run and hide
You will be beside me, I
Beside you for the rest of my life
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2. |
Second Grade
04:51
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In the schoolyard, we would play
Me and Ashley every day
Back in Clovis second grade
Second grade
So, Brittney was Ashley’s friend
I had Brandon and Quinn
I’d do math work for all of them
All of them
I like-liked Ashley, Brittney like-liked me
Ashley like-liked Harrison, I’m as jealous as can be
So I bought her a ring
It was plastic from a vending machine
It was U.S. flag-themed
Flag themed
Happenstance eroded, I wasn’t a real person yet
And I assume that most of us feel the same
Happenstance eroded, I wasn’t a real person, yet
For years my eyes were darkened with shame
Ashley was a queen
Of mixed signals, threw the ring
In the trashcan of all things
She could do
But then Ashley agreed
To kiss me behind the swings
I was nervous… excitedly
Recess bell sounded, we made our way to the scene
We closed our eyes together and what happened was a dream
I kissed Ashley, then Brittney
Jessica, Audrey, Maya, Emily, and Quinn
Happenstance eroded, I wasn’t a real person yet
And I assume that most of us feel the same
Happenstance eroded, I wasn’t a real person, yet
For years my eyes were darkened with shame
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3. |
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I’ll say it again
Acting my age is a chore
And your friend’s such a flirt
It doesn’t seem to matter that the
Night is young
There’s so much time to fuck up
Take it easy, cheers to you boy
I don’t recognize you at all
I’ll tell ya again
This glow is getting hot real fast
It’s such an expense
Your wine glass is plastic, the
Night is young
There’s so much time to fuck up
Take it easy, cheers to you boy
I don’t recognize you at all
Maybe I’m sad, but that’s no excuse to
fall apart or fail to
celebrate
Push it aside until tomorrow
Push it aside until tomorrow
Night is young
There’s so much time to fuck up
Take it easy, cheers to you boy
I don’t recognize you at all
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4. |
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Honey, don’t you mind the space between
a comma and parenthesis
The space between our words is ever-widening,
day by day
Trailing off the speech of modest sentences,
I find it kinda funny
With all this time of quiet contemplation,
I push away
I can’t help but push away
Looking through the glass, what will be will be
I have to ask: What is wrong with me?
Consonants and vowels scatter blindly
through the open-air again
Slipping from your tongue they echo outward,
mumbled with care
If I hyper-focus I could catch them,
all in proper order
The issue seems to be that neither of us
are ever really there (are you in there?)
Looking through the glass, what will be will be
I have to ask: What is wrong with me?
Used to capture every single phrase,
flown like busy flocks of birds.
Now I tend to find the useful meaning in
Empty spaces
Between
Your words
Looking through the glass, what will be will be
I have to ask: What is wrong with me?
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5. |
Wise Guy
03:16
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Naked eyes, I noticed as we stumbled to your car
Or SUV… whatever vehicle it be
Our taco drive succeeded but with many twists and turns
Cuz from my seat you were making eyes at me
And you know exactly what you want
You were my ride, way out of mind
I tend to rest my head diagonally
I tend to rest my head diagonally
With my ears catching corners of the pillows
(Oh) I ain’t ever done these things before
(Oh) But they seem familiar
(Oh) Copy-paste a thought I had myself
(Oh) Treatin’ me like a flower
And you know exactly what you want
You were my guy, exceptionally wise
You made me feel that I was beautiful
You made me feel as if I was beautiful
With our ears catching corners of the pillows
Once again, I have to hark on how grateful I am
Once again, my red teapot is shattered
You were golden, respected all my tiny feelings then
Once again
And you know exactly what you want from me
That night my head rested diagonally
You make me feel that it’s beautiful
When my ears catch the corners of my pillows
And you know exactly what you want from me
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6. |
Dermatophagia
02:27
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It’s a whore of the mind
Phantom limb of one’s flask
Would you care to pour a glass, now
Darling
Creeping in when she touches sending shiver down spine
She sings a pretty song
But the words aren’t the same
They’re slurred and deranged
Derailed, out of time
Off of key, losing lines
When arms start to shake uncontrollably
When you know if you sleep you’ll die
Tomorrow night’s pride
and tonight’s ferry ride
Would you care to be more crass, now darling
Mindless hums from the hallway,
She’s a nun by her footsteps,
Performing a dance
But the dance isn’t right
It’s off-kilter and trite
And her footing is warbled
Offensive and more
When arms start to shake uncontrollably
When you know that you wake when you die
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7. |
Orange Slice Sun Ray
03:22
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I can’t talk
I can’t complain
I saw a smile today
Joyous grin
Yellow teeth
Orange slice sun ray
If I seem unusual
My apologies
I’m taking in a moment
I can’t talk
I can’t complain
We saw eye-to-eye today
Differences
Pushed aside
Handshakes are alright
If I seem unusual
My apologies
I’m taking in a moment
I can’t talk
I can’t complain
I saw my dad today
Golden family
Simply healthy
Stay, stay, stay
If I seem unusual
My apologies
I’m taking in this moment
I’m taking in this moment
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8. |
Cardboard Messiah
03:38
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What could come of a cardboard messiah?
Flip a coin, is it heads or tails?
Work every day, chip away at your shoulder
One succeeds when his brother fails
Oh please, bury me
Deep beneath the ocean
Please bury me
At sea
What words are said in a final fleeting hour?
Smokey ash scuffing up the rails
Dig with a spoon while the onlookers stare at
The piss and blood and dirt beneath your nails
Oh please, bury me
Deep beneath the ocean
Please bury me
At sea
the tv and papers are yellow news
And everything else can be misconstrued
I guess that’s true but...
All good will end and all bad will perish
Blast parade there’s fire on the floor
Stand up real tall, you’re the cardboard messiah
Avoid the rain and shuffle to the door
Oh please, bury me
Deep beneath the ocean
Please bury me
At sea
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9. |
Fire!
04:09
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Fire!
It burns
Flow is the state
In which I yearn
Fire!
My heart
I sing I shout
Play my part
For what seemed to be
A vast eternity
You people thought I was gone
But I’m back
I’m strong
Fire!
Tears down
Blows everything
To the ground
Fire!
In my soul
Blinding light
Controlled
For what seemed to be
A vast eternity
You people thought I was gone
But I’m back
I’m strong
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10. |
Carnations
03:09
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Is a person flesh and blood
I exist because your love
Without your love, I am halves not whole
Seeps into the cracks heavy in my soul
Would you still love me?
Could you still love me
If you knew who I was?
Would you still love me?
Could you still hold me,
Mother? Like daughter, like son
I remember a simple discussion
I remember articles you read
Be it from above, or from words below
Beneath your reading glasses
All things: monochrome
Would you still love me? (Would you still love me?)
Could you still love me (Could you still love me?)
If you knew who I was? (If you knew exactly who I was)
Would you still love me? (Would you still love me?)
Could you still hold me, (Could you still hold me tightly?)
Mother? Like daughter, like son
I did not know who I was at the time
You cannot ever know
How the concrete cracked
It cracked under my foot
I planted a flower there for you
Would you still love me?
Could you still love me
If you knew who I am?
Would you still love me?
Could you still hold me?
Would you still love me for me,
As I am? As I am?
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Marlow Shields Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Songwriter and Producer based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
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