We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Our Dear Natal Hexagons

by Referent

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $6 USD  or more

     

1.
From a glacier up above The water trickles downward And nurses tiny flowers on the hills They drink its cold For a moment they unfurl and stretch their leaves But soon enough they wither and their petals Float downstream (chorus) On weary nights And tired days We wander onward without maps And we swim in sand and we drown in clay And eat our fill of rubble And we write to you On tattered sheets With ink that fades on contact And we wait alone So patiently For you to respond to our silence All the miracles we see Blind us with banality All the whispered prayers we sweep from under tables Spin like dust motes in the sun And the wishes made with tight shut eyes Now gone replaced with sleep While up above the planets grind Like the teeth inside my head (talking) Come on in I've almost finished the border Pieces come Easy go You can see I like puzzles Do you like puzzles? I like answers Have a seat we can kill time forever (chorus) On weary nights And tired days We wander onward without maps And we swim in sand and we drown in clay And eat our fill of rubble And we write to you On tattered sheets With ink that fades on contact And we wait alone So patiently For you to respond to our silence
2.
A widow's heart is missing As she stares at her feet While a baby cries with no sound And a seagull screams into a skyless cloud (talking) Hello there Lie down Fold your hand across your chest We'll begin soon You may feel warm Just hold still We will help you We will make you well After all's forgiven And your body dust And your charity revealed All the angels sing into a lightless sun (talking) We're already done You did so well It wasn't that bad Just a little noise We'll let your doctor know He will call you So don't worry now You must know we care
3.
With the weeds in the field With the sand on the shore With the foam on the waves With the light through the door Their feet leave no stain Their hands leave no heat Their eyes see no stars Their lips do not speak With the dog on the roof With the fish on the dirt With the snake on the road With the tears and the hurt Their words make no sense Their lies give no peace Leave their empty embrace Like a dove I'm released With the spoon on the floor With the book in the trash With the smudge on the mirror With the flavor of ash They turn from the sun They hide from the breeze The trip on the stones I stand firm they retreat
4.
Arrow Find home Halo Blind Soul Broke bone Grow slow Minnow Find shoal My tune Your ruin High noon Full moon Leave soon Bent spoon Your tune My ruin
5.
The Sound 03:32
He stumbles through the muddy field, hair matted and caked in browns and reds, his right hand bleeding, clenching and releasing in a nervous random pulse. He sheds the remains of his selfhood as it trails behind him like thin, black thread unraveling from a spool. The timbre of his heartbeat betrays just how dry, how hollow, his being had become. He arrives at the fence. Looking first left and then right, he throws a leg over the wire while holding onto the crown of the damp decaying post. He makes half a turn as he swings his left leg over to follow his right, but snags his pants on a thin rusted nail. The fabric tears with a brief proclamation. Just above and inside his knee a new cut appears. Once he would have yelped as the metal gouged his skin. In another lifetime he would have returned to the house, gone up to the bathroom, all slate and silver, its skylight ushering in the sharp gray light, and tended to his pain. He would have dabbed his wound with a wet cloth, washed it carefully with soap while wincing slightly, then applied gauze under white elastic tape. Today - the wound issues blood unacknowledged. The field turns to rock as he begins his climb. A small crimson bird hops before him on the rocks and blurs as it shakes its head. Always a few rocks ahead of him, the bird stretches its neck and inclines its beak with unknown meaning. The man is tired but does not pause. He continues to climb, the small bird understanding and showing the way. With a short blast of its wings the bird crests the ledge and disappears. The man follows. He's on a plateau devoid of rocks and trees, of a moderate size and nearly smooth. The man forces his breathing to slow so he can hear. Praying he isn't too late, he wonders, which direction will it come from? Will it emerge from a gap between clouds? A resonance rising up through his feet? Or would the sound simply wrap him like a shroud, tight and complete, eliminating will? His breathing now quiet he perceives the mild breeze, he listens to the soft tap as blood falls in droplets from his right middle finger. And then - he stops his breath completely, mouth hanging open, his arms lifting slowly from his sides, his eyelids shut and his cheeks quivering, he's amazed and overwhelmed. The sound the sound the sound the sound descends upon him and pushes his bones into the dirt, collapses his skull, crushes his brain, his mind, his thoughts - his flatness ever growing, a spreading shadow upon the earth.
6.
Moments 05:57
Sang so Sonorous in 1999 Tried to find myself but couldn't find the time New millennium arrived I went away Chased myself across Ohio I got lost while looking for An open envelope inside an unlocked door Didn't think to knock I didn't know my soul Was waiting there upon the stair Time goes by but doesn't stay Moments slide like ice and carry life away Just a minute here I think I've got a grip But I can't hold I let go So soon forgetting what I've gained I made a mark but then it curled down the drain I've been wrong before but never quite like this I see my bones beneath my skin Here we are the sunlight bakes The rays illuminate the wrinkles on your face So many years and so many sighs But through the tears we got it right I cannot help but laugh at this Sniffing daffodils but really smelling piss In this chair I think I'll hang on Too late Too late
7.
Cadence call in the cold and calm Bronzing skin in the blazing balm Prickled flesh in the sighing woods at midnight Dripping hair in a moonlit swim Warming hands at a fire's rim Taste of grass on the tongue on a hazy Saturday Smell of laundry in the warming air Kittens playing without a care Pollywogs darting in the pond I'm gonna miss you when your gone Lemonade in the park at noon Walking whistling a nameless tune black-eyed Susans reaching for the sun I'm gonna miss you when your gone Barking dogs bringing down the day Sound of wind in a driving rain Wet smell of steaming summer sidewalks Taking naps in a backyard breeze Turning over with more time to sleep Taste of water from a hillside spring exploring Yellow leaves twirling all around Spotted apples falling to the ground Purple skies as the day winds down I'm gonna miss you when your gone Snowflakes dancing in a bracing wind Pink patches forming on my skin White clouds in the cold of night I'm gonna miss you when your gone Smell of laundry in the warming air Kittens playing without a care Pollywogs darting in the pond I'm gonna miss you when your gone Lemonade in the park at noon Walking whistling a nameless tune black-eyed Susans reaching for the sun I'm gonna miss you when your gone Yellow leaves twirling all around Spotted apples falling to the ground Purple skies as the day winds down I'm gonna miss you when your gone Snowflakes dancing in a bracing wind Pink patches forming on my skin White clouds in the cold of night Will you miss me when I'm gone? Will you miss me when I'm gone?
8.
Where I grew up we had an apple orchard. Just five trees but they were large and old and 3 of the 5 were good for climbing. In spring the branches grew thick with white blossoms reflecting across seasons the snows they held in winter. Some years we got apples. After we collected all we wanted, the remaining apples, too blemished or now hosting worms, would fall and turn brown and soft on the ground. Yellow jackets and groundhogs scavenged what they could, but still there were dozens that needed to be cast into the adjacent field. I wore my dads heavy work gloves so I wouldn't get stung when picking up and throwing the the fruit. As the apples rotted they began to ferment and the yellow jackets seemed to fly drunk after feeding. Leaning over to pick up the fruit made me dizzy sometimes, and if I stood too quickly the yard would for a second seem to swim. I'd wait a few seconds and then bend back down, shuffling along throwing the apples sidearm across my body. One year I decided to kick them instead of picking them up. I'd start farthest from the field and work my way forward going back and forth in rows across the lawn. The apples would frequently burst as I kicked them and my shoes got sticky and smelled like cider. Morning cartoons bleeding into noon Pick up your toys and clean your room Have a bowl a soup and then load the car Nowhere to go but the center of a star When I was 9 my father put a wooden pallet in the crook of my favorite tree. Using scrap wood from behind our shed I nailed walls to the sides of the platform. There were openings in the walls so I could see out into the yard while remaining safely hidden. I had a plastic yellow pail on a length of clothesline which I could raise and lower from inside the treehouse, transporting items back and forth. One day I filled the pail with about a half dozen apples. I climbed up and into the treehouse and took hold of the end of the rope. I pulled the the bucket up and into my fort. When I looked into the bucket the apples were gone, though the bucket's weight declared them still present. Looking inside and seeing nothing, I tilted and shook the bucket - and heard and felt the apples roll. Starting to panic I tipped the bucket upside down and scooted away from the half-present things. I cautiously approached and then lifted the pail. I looked inside the now feather weight bucket. I shook it but heard no noise and felt no motion. I heard my mother calling me in for lunch. I didn't tell anyone what I had seen, but ate quickly and ran back out to the treehouse and climbed up inside. I repeated the sequence from the morning but nothing unusual recurred. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, and as the years roll on I question if it ever happened at all. Morning cartoons bleeding into noon Pick up your toys and clean your room Have a bowl a soup and then load the car Nowhere to go but the center of a star

about

This album was created and recorded using Propellerhead's Reason software on a MacBook Pro. I used an M-Audio Oxygen49 keyboard controller, a Shure SM58 microphone for vocals and a Focusrite Saffire 6 hardware interface.

credits

released December 13, 2016

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Referent Olympia, Washington

contact / help

Contact Referent

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Referent, you may also like: