Get all 13 Kim Simpson releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Before I Melt Away: Some Songs from the Early '80s, Mystery (single), Song for Sam (single), Mystery Lights II: Guitar Instrumentals, Dvaraka EP, The Comets Swish Their Tails, Goblins EP, Songs and Sightings 1992-2014, and 5 more.
1. |
Sheherezade
04:03
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I’ve come from a land where the rats run wild
I’ll travel yet another nine hundred miles
I’m clearing up the madness in my mind
Making room for a sadness of another kind
Where the trains have passed, no more trains coming
And the gray panorama dies into nothing
I’ve been here before
And if angels sail above my head
I shouldn’t fear the open space ahead
I can’t forget how my love was taken
From the cold dark closet, snuffed, forsaken
So old phantoms fill my need for people
I’m stranded where the sky meets steeple
I’ve been here before
You may come without a warning
But I will not meet you then
I could never live that way again
I’m too far from the beginning
Of this trail that never ends
I could never live that way again
I dream of queen with a bold façade
I dream of a night with Sheherezade
Strange ghosts rise up in certain seasons
That color my mind, influence my reason
So If you wonder if I’ve come to a decision
No, but I’m headed for a bad collison
I’ve been here before
You may come without a warning
But I will not meet you then
I could never live that way again
I’m too far from the beginning
Of this trail that never ends
I could never live that way again
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2. |
Destination
04:09
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It escapes you when you’ve almost got it
You can’t put your finger on it
Is it high up where the ice wind blows?
Is it mouldering beneath the snow?
It makes you wonder, it makes you guess
Makes you reach in deep, you start to confess
It tries your spirit, tests your spine
Makes you get up, cross the borderline
And your destination changes
Like the music on your radio
Don’t you get so upset
Sometimes we all forget where
We were meant to go
It’s growing like a thorny weed
That tears your skin and makes you bleed
Poisoning your precious heart
It tears your mind and soul apart
It makes you wonder, it makes you guess
Makes you reach in deep, you start to confess
It tries your spirit, tests your spine
Makes you get up, cross the borderline
And your destination changes
Like the music on your radio
Don’t you get so upset
Sometimes we all forget where
We were meant to go
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3. |
War Stories
03:14
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I was watching from the bottom of the hill
As they surrounded Julius and let the home fire spill
He was one of the golden boys, one of the true
He did everything his countrymen expected him to do
And I don’t remember when it was
But it’s a time I can’t forget
It must have been Iceland, the dead of December
And the sight of Stephen’s war dance is one I still remember
When the ice cold horizon was glittering and new
When war dancing Stephen was blown apart in two
It’s too traumatic now to talk about
I’ll save the details for the chef
Granddad related all to heaven or hell
Now if hell was enraging us, heaven was aiding us
He always talked about the angels singing
In strange harmony witht he death bells ringing
Solomon, Solomon, make haste and hide away
I know it doesn’t suit you when the state’s in disarray
Our treasury’s been taken, our women are defiled
Vandals burn the city and they haven’t spared a child
Did you not expect this Solomon?
Or are you too incensed for words?
Who the hell does this boy think he is,
Trying to fill an old soldier on something grave as this
Listen, Junior, don’t even begin -
I tell you, its a crime, it’s a sin
Can you stand straight at the sight of blood?
I’ll bet you’ve never held a gun
Granddad related all to heaven or hell
Now if hell was enraging us, heaven was aiding us
He always talked about the angels singing
In strange harmony witht he death bells ringing
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4. |
Eleven Fifty-Seven
04:14
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Eleven fifty-seven
Cool breezes spark the ash
Behind the bushes lie the makings of a midnight bash
They’re forging chaos in the factories
They anticipate demand
Someone predicted that this new design would fill the land
Clear a city block
Raise up perfect panels
Build a city
Pierce the hollow sky
Close out trouble for me
Just another season
Let the world stand by
See the sun go up in Babylon
Where children dabble in the arts
They’ve got self expression mastered
They speak from the heart
If I could talk to Venus
I’d have her take my love from me
Clear my troubled head of passion
Drown it in the sea
Clear a city block
Raise up perfect panels
Build a city
Pierce the hollow sky
Close out trouble for me
Just another season
Let the world stand by
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5. |
Leona Miles Away
04:21
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So I inch my way along, now
My thoughts run aimlessly
I’m knee-deep in the remnants
Of Leona’s darkest dreams
Maybe I’ve grown a little bit too accustomed to the night
That’s why I’m trying to turn my face into the light, yeah
And the pain’s been grating on us
And all our silver moons are spent
And while the summer sky ignores us
The wild winds never relent
We’ve been tumbling like dizzy leaves falling down
We feel like we’re two of the darkest souls around
But Leona she has nothing left to say
She’s started drifting miles and miles away
And the cold rain slowly blurred my window pane
Leona, she has nothing left to say
Upstairs in the attic,
Where the moonlight creeps through fractures in the wall
That’s where I’m gonna tell her everything,
Where I’m gonna give to her my all
I’ve never known a tale that’s better left untold
I’ve never had so many secrets to withhold
But Leona she has nothing left to say
She’s started drifting miles and miles away
And the cold rain slowly blurred my window pane
Leona, she has nothing left to say
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6. |
Doom Carousel
02:49
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Have you decided to come back around after one goodbye?
Have you decided to give her another try?
Well she taught you a lesson
But I guess you don’t learn too well
Get ready for a ride on the doom carousel
Well those carnival lights will pull you in every time
But soon enough you’ll be back at the end of the line
Well I’m no gypsy but your fortune ain’t hard to tell
Get ready for a ride on the doom carousel
The pony goes up but then it goes down instead
You hold on tight, but you gotta let go in the end
Some things change and others stay just the same
Some folks catch on and others never learn the game
You can turn around now, save yourself trouble or time
Or buy another ticket, throw away your very last dime
Hear the music, listen to the barker yell
Step right up get ready for the doom carousel
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7. |
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Toss the waters
Shake the sky
Turn black December
Into red July
I’ve been stacking stones
I’ve built walls so thick
I’ll savor what’s mine
And I’ll savor it quick
Cause I’m waiting
Waiting for you night and day
Can you save me
Before my kingdom crumbles away
I’ve been feeding my mind
Extending my reach
But the books I read
They just slur my speech
I wanna build a house so high
Forgive me if it sounds like sin
I wanna know before I die
If you’re ever gonna let me in
Cause I’m waiting
Waiting for you night and day
Can you save me
Before my kingdom crumbles away
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8. |
When Her Morning Sun
02:37
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When her morning sun starts to shine
A new world starts to turn
Feel my soul burn
When her noon day blue intensifies
And she starts to climb so high
Feel my spirits rise
But when her afternoon clouds weigh her down
And I see that her raindrops fell
Feel my heart swell
But when her starlight colors the night
And she’s ready to sleep
Feel my mind at ease
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9. |
Change My Mind
03:16
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See the bright stars falling
Feel the planet spin
I don’t understand the problems
I don’t understand this mess we’re in
Say what you say
Do what you’ve gotta do
Nothing can make me change my mind about you
They tell me that I’m crazy
Have I forgotten everything I’m worthy of
I’ve taken my devotion to the edge now
And you’re such a complicated one to love
But there’s no use in trying
To make the river change direction
Nothing can make me change my mind about you
And if it ever gets the best of me, baby
It’s when I wonder if it ever can work out
It’s when I sit on my lawn chair watching traffic
And I wait for you to come clear away my doubt
I’m wrong if I don’t
But I’m damned if I do
Nothing can make me change my mind about you
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10. |
The Cow
03:33
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11. |
Place to Be
03:16
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12. |
Duerme Como Esta Muerto
02:30
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Here high above the earth
Underneath the clouds
We sigh at our memories
Sigh at what were once our possibilities
We see the days go by
And need not interfere
Our time was a short time
Now we’ve lost our greatest memory
Sleep the way you’ve wanted to before
As if the world was standing still for you
Sleep, for the winter’s far too long
And the winter is impending
Looks like it could be never ending
Now nothing must be done
We ride on circumstance
We’ve used up all our patience
And all of our anxiety
Words feel the atmosphere
Some meaningless, some clear
And fly like seagulls picking garbage on the earth
Words cannot die
Sleep the way you’ve wanted to before
As if the world was standing still for you
Sleep, for the winter’s far too long
And the winter is impending
Looks like it could be never ending
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13. |
Sally Free and Easy
04:28
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Kim Simpson Austin, Texas
Kim Simpson is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, author and radio host who lives in Austin, Texas.
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