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Fantoche

by Alacartoona

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1.
Geppetto 03:34
this is a dangerous game I'm playing, where nobody knows they're involved the strings must remain imperceptibly thin until all of my plots are resolved all this requires a most delicate pressure to ease to the edge of a break everything has it's own natural timing, to push it would be a mistake water does seek to find it's own level and so it goes with the world but I have found with the right use of force that levels can be softly disturbed just like a chessman I plot out my course, I think at least six moves ahead i stay up at night, planning your life, while you're at home asleep in your beds you think and you feel and you act just like sheep, you follow the will of the herd all you need is that benevolent shepherd to convince you it isn't absurd ever so slowly I apply the right tension, then move you with it's release lightly, quietly, you lose your position and don't notice that mine has increased just as the water will carve out the canyon, irreversibly I'll wear down your will you'll welcome the cords I attach to your wrists and you'll beg me 'til your head is filled enjoy viewing the world through the lens that you're given, you see what I want you to see i'll feed you the truth and you'll swallow it whole, from your own troubled thoughts you'll be free
2.
first contact, it's known, is best chanced alone a brief glance, drop the eyes, then it's done first contact, they say, is a brave game to play do you stay, walk away, do you run? first contact achieved with a knife up one's sleeve is just luck raining down on a fool if one draws all is lost at a staggering cost safe to say, one should play these things cool no one knows if the morning will come no one knows if they'll come undone first contact that's won at the point of a gun is just fruit rotten through on the tree first contact that's forced to run a strange course runs, of course, to a stranger sea no one knows if the morning will come no one knows if they'll come undone be careful as you wind your way there's no telling how the night will play there's no guessing just what she might say to you as you push your point through
3.
The Sneakers 02:42
we are the sneakers we're hiding in the night we're putting out the lights one by one we are the sneakers we watch you live your lives we're sharpening our knives just for fun and when the sun comes up we rest our heads 'neath the streets of your fair town we are the sneakers we're hiding in the night we're listening as you're whispering on the phone we are the sneakers we slip into your room you never should assume that you're alone for when the sun goes down if you should close your eyes you know we'll come for you then we cut we cut we cut, cut, cut, cut, cut we are the sneakers we slide beneath your doors we click across your floors while you dream we are the sneakers we slip into your bed we kiss your precious head and when the sun goes down if you should close your eyes you know we'll come for you then we cut we cut we cut, cut, cut, cut, cut
4.
i've got a twenty to spare if you should care to sit down beside me you don't have to love me i know you don't love just don't stand above me hook your arm through my arm put your hand in my hand let's sway to the band 'cause we all come down in the end, you see? don't talk of the past let's make the money last 'cause i'm on a mission i'll sit here at the bar and keep shooting stars 'til i have a vision hook your arm through my arm put your hand in my hand and we'll sway to the band 'cause we all come down we all come down we all come down in the end, you see? you don't want to leave with your head on your sleeve but your eyes are so heavy and you don't want to choose 'tween your bed and your booze when one's cold and one's empty well, you're having trouble speakin' and you might start to weaken but you can't let those bastards see 'cause you know you'll come down yes, we'll all come down we all come down... in the morning in the morning when they talk but they never sing and the sun hides everything when you wake up on the side of the road no one see you as you walk home we all come down... we all come down... yes we all come down we all come down we all come down in the end, you see? oh, we all come down we all come down we all come down in the end, you see? i know you see
5.
Sailor Joe 03:59
when the white waves crash upon your shore we cry, "more!" we cry, "more!" when the red tides rise within your skin we begin we will begin when the yellowed bones have washed away then we'll say "oh, happy day" when the gray men ask us who we know we know joe sailor joe but sailor joe doesn't know where he's been so he reads of his deeds on his skin and sailor joe doesn't know when to rest so he paints another history on his storybook chest when the gold moon hangs above our heads we will wed and share a bed and when the green hill meets the ocean floor you cry, "more!" i'll give you more but sailor joe doesn't know where he's been so he reads of his deeds on his skin and sailor joe doesn't know when to rest so he paints another history on his storybook chest and sailor joe doesn't know where he's been so he reads of his deeds on his skin and sailor joe doesn't know where to start so he carves another mystery on his storybook heart
6.
where'd you get that, baby? you got any more? i didn't hear you go out did you slip down to the corner store? last night you wanted lovin' but you said that you were short on cash wake up this morning you got yourself a brand new stash where'd you get that, baby? how can i make you see i ain't got nothing but love for you baby now what you got for me? i've been such a good little girl i'm begging you pretty please do you really want to see me on my knees? well, that's a silly question we'll lie around all day watch the clouds in the sky i'll keep your lovin' good if you keep me up top and tight where'd you get that, baby? you got any more? did you go down to st. john show 'em what that mouth is for? last night you wanted lovin' but you swore that you were short on cash wake up this mornin' and you're struttin' all stone and flash we'll lie around all day watch the clouds in the sky i'll keep your lovin' good if you keep me up top and tight won't you keep me up top and tight? we'll lie around all day watch the clouds in the sky i'll keep your lovin' good if you keep me up top and tight
7.
i'm trying to drown all of my sorrows but they're learning how to swim i've tried white poison, tried to shoot them but i just can't do them in lately i've begun to think that there's no way that i can win i'm trying to drown all of my sorrows but they're learning how to swim there are no silver linings if you haven't got the gold and wishing things and dreaming dreams just leave you empty and cold calling them the fairer sex doesn't mean that they play fair you'll bend and twist and ache to be kissed 'til you're tossed out without a care we're trying to drown all of my sorrows but they're learning how to swim we've tried white poison, tried to shoot them but we just can't do them in lately we've begun to think that there's no way that we can win we're trying to drown all of our sorrows but they're learning how to swim that which doesn't kill you can leave you scarred and broken for life you'll beg for the noose if you survive the abuse and they won't even give you a knife the men that tell you, 'trust me,' are the ones to never believe their words will ring hollow as they ask you to swallow their lies and still stay naïve [chorus] so i put on the paint and i make you all smile but you're really just baring your teeth so hear me sing and watch me dance to forget that we're shrouded in grief the stage lights are bright and the room is loud to keep the dark at the door suspending our lives as we drown out the cries and we drink and we dull pain once more we're trying to drown all of my sorrows but they're learning how to swim we've tried white poison, tried to shoot them but we just can't do them in lately we've begun to think that there's no way that we can win we look down in our glass there they are floating in the gin we're trying to drown all of our sorrows but they're learning how to swim
8.
the sunsets come in red these days "i didn't hear what you just said," you say well, there's nothing here that could ever make me stay with you when you haven't got a clue why the sunsets come in red why i'm trapped inside my head while you skip from shore to door to floor to strange enchanted bed on the weekends and our friends remark on the days when we used to be in love

about

What is “Fantoche?” Roughly translated…a puppet. When the French use the word, they are speaking of governments. The same word in Spanish refers to a person controlled by others. While no strangers to the underbelly of life, on this release (their first on the Money Wolf label) Alacartoona has turned down a darker path. The songs on this recording explore the narrow, poorly lit byways of the human experience, featuring characters that are the unwitting puppets of forces beyond their recognition – sex and desire, addiction and bad choices, fear, loneliness, the need for love, and the failure of love. And yet, somehow, Alacartoona lifts the songs above the clouds of despair to find those rare patches of sunlit hope and joy.

Recorded in the famed Money Wolf Music Studio C, “Fantoche” also marks a departure for Alacartoona from the minimalist style of their two previous recordings. The players became puppeteers themselves, manipulating the studio surroundings, their instruments, and voices to create a cast of songs that dance, bow, and contort to their every whim and fancy. Falls, Forge, Marland, and Wooldridge worked in close concert to master these tales of desperation and manipulation into the sound recording presented to you here.

Songs 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 by Christian Hankel (2 w/ Bishop Hankel), 1 & 4 by Kyle Dahlquist. All songs arranged by Erin McGrane, Christian Hankel, Sergio Moreno, & Kyle Dahlquist. Visit alacartoona.com.

credits

released September 14, 2012

Performed by Alacartoona. Recorded, produced, mixed by Justin Penney & Tommy Donoho III, with Alacartoona. Mastered by Patrick Meagher at Fuzz Bomb.

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Alacartoona Kansas City, Missouri

Alacartoona's stage show is a visual extension of their all-original songbook. Utilizing a stripped down ensemble of accordion, bass, and drums, with the occasional guitar or brass, they bring to life vivid tales of love and loss, of bedrooms and back alleys, of the solitude and the camaraderie of sex, drugs and cabaret. ... more

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