Get all 4 Arthur James releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Heckraiser, Anyway...here's "Wonderwall", The 4th Floor, and Right & Leaving.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
Ten Strings (For You)
02:10
|
|||
|
And underneath One frozen tree
I took Two breaths and found Three of you
With Four hands stretched to Five of me
We stumbled into Six amused
Not Seven now, but Eight long days
Thrown into Nine and bore from Ten Strings
That found the tune of Twelve
Swing back your head to find Eleven
Where Thirteen left you still and sound
Fourteen exhaled the warmth to find
The Fifteen tics on tocs to tame
The Sixteen clocks whose hands have paved
The Seventeen streets I've walked
Just to Love you
|
||||
2. |
Let It In
04:27
|
|||
3. |
The Message
03:24
|
|||
|
I heard a whisper before you said, "hello"
It said, 'I love you", before you had to
And I stood and watched with hands heavy as mud
And it was me standing behind You
Hands outstretched before you
In a moment, your eyes fell away... and they fell away
And the first thing I remember when I came to
Was the blood dripping to the side of my face
Now, my days are gone, my head is weak and you're the only thing I see
And I'm gone
I painted pictures with your name
Behind my eyes, I wished it all
My little secret trapped in dreams
"Be well", you said and told me not to find you
I bled it all, but I'm done now
It was my mistake
You're just a dream I have at 3am every night
A breath that escapes my lungs
I can hear you at the window sill
"Come down", but I won't because we both know you'll run
And I'll chase
Clawing blindly at the air for the hem of your dress
And I won't find you... I won't find you
And I don't know where I am no more
And you're not coming back
|
||||
4. |
Clarity
04:56
|
|||
|
I can't take my ears off of the air that's pushed from her lips
The kneading grip her right hand bestows on her left
Reminds me of emotion I left lonely years and years ago
Now, I can taste the look she gives me from below
A setting smile she's stolen from the ones we know
And she says she's never been so alone
That she still can't remember when Happiness met with Forever
And shook hands on her name
And gave her life away
Clarity comes when she opens her eyes
Clarity comes at 5am
And she can't take that away from me
No, she can't just walk away
"Don't stop being where you stand", she says
And pantomimes my fall
Untying her cramped fingers
Pointing at me to affirm her convictions
She said, "I'm not here to watch you drown...
...but I will if I have to"
And she says she's never been so alone
That she still can't remember when Happiness met with Forever
And shook hands on her name
And gave her life away
|
||||
5. |
So, Baby...
04:20
|
|||
|
The eruption of one syllable, the sound that is your name
Is bleeding from my lips again and I will wait...
Until the morn these eyes are given a view to you again
I will sit in darkened days, my dear, to pretend...
And I will get down on my knees and hope
There's only one more day to go
There's a new light now that shines on me, picking shadows clean from shades of green
You can break these beams with the beat in me, but I won't...
No, I won't afford you solace after I get myself free
I am leaving where I stand my dear, for I can see...
|
||||
6. |
Fire, Moonlight
03:41
|
|||
|
Now she's breathing dreams into the warmth below her covers
Screaming to a sky that holds the words I whispered to her
And she peaks under her bed to see if I am where she left me last
She's got eyes and lips and a love that stare right through me
This is not a love that's wasted now, but the pain that went long with it
And as her forehead meets the carpet, she sees that I have gone
These are not words, they are not breath
I feel the cold that stops my chest
Inside the pushing and unrest
We are the Truth, we came to be
And there's nothing left but to believe
Just hear my voice, a sound so honest
It was not before, but now it is bereft of Everything
I was never the kind to keep my heart somewhere I couldn't find it
Chained to my pulse in my pocket fiver fingers on it
Now I'm penniless and I lack the beat under my thumb and I'm wondering...
The moonlit fire, the flick'ring flame
The yellow blades that cut your eyes out
The insects that believe that they can touch the heat and run
And the screaming of the voice inside your head won't tell it all
|
||||
7. |
Sweet
04:34
|
|||
|
Take my trembling fingers and stop them from feeling awkward
All I need right now is something to take this away
Take this away and give me back Serenity
All I need right now is all that's been left for me
Can no one give me back that place I need to me?
But it's good to see that you're happy
If it's Sweet that you were looking for, it's Sweet that you will find
I'm fumbling words with a twisted tongue
I'm naked and undone
Now, if it's Sweet that you were looking for, it's Sweet that you will find
I'm fumbling words with a twisted tongue
It's difficult to breathe
Here I am with my blank expression
It seems that I am looking for your hands extended
Does it mean I'm selfish in my attempts to speak?
Or do you need proof of something that you cannot see?
|
||||
8. |
Victim
04:19
|
|||
|
I am a victim of my own mind
Held at gunpoint under my rhyme
The things I say don't mean a thing
Just like the word I call my name
She is afraid to break down
There's no one here to pick her up off the ground
She cannot sleep to that same sound
Of the grinding teeth inside her mouth
It's just a smoke, a coping mechanism
Because I can't put up with my own realism
And I will chase what I can't see
And learn to live with who I can't be
She says it's hard, it's not like breathing
You'll learn to test yourself away from leaving
And I can't wait to return to sea
And further chase who I can't be
|
||||
9. |
The Last Time... Again
03:21
|
|||
|
Breathe me in, it's the last time you will
Take it deep and feel Me enter You
Hold Me in, now, just give in to the Me inside You
Where I'll swim through every vein
For the last time, again
The last time I send these letters to the wrong addresses
The last time I fake the smile that was always pretend
The Last Time... Again
Pace the room, draw the lines in your mind
Of the words that you will send me off with
It's not fair to say that I cared
But I meant every word
And tonight, you'll say goodbye
For the last time, again
|
||||
Arthur James Seattle, Washington
Arthur James is a Seattle-based singer-writer.
Arthur James recommends:
I Don't Know How to Love You, Darling
by Emily Donohue
She's got a voice that'll take you on a trip. Listen, then download it, then tell somebody else about it.
go to album
Lonely Mountain Lovers
by Lonely Mountain Lovers
LML's got your late night dancing and weekend morning soundtracks on lock.
go to album
Don't Lose Your Head
by SPG and the Vices
These guys are on the rise. Friendliest bunch ever. Fantastic live shows. Great records. Listen to them. No, stop what you're doing and listen. Now.
go to albumIf you like Arthur James, you may also like:
The St Buryan Sessions
by Sarah McQuaid
Recorded live at St Buryan Church, the latest from Sarah McQuaid is a showcase for the simple power of voice & guitar.
go to album
Hell on Church Street
by punchbrothers
A re-envisioning of Tony Rice's classic album "Church Street Blues" from Brooklyn progressive bluegrass quartet Punch Brothers.
go to album
Once Upon A Time In Montréal
by Murray A. Lightburn
The folk artist explores grief through these smooth and soulful tracks.
go to album
