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Portraits

by Pale People

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1.
Mitchell 03:24
The robots come to kill me summer 2003 I heard all about it from you that year I was ten years old and stupid—you were a smart thirteen In the backyard of Grandma's house—where Grandma couldn't hear— You told me special things about your real self And the secret army that you'd built Who'd kill my mom and dad and everyone I loved If I revealed the secrets that you'd spilt Chorus Every night I lay down quiet and cold Ever day a new apocalypse—behold The way each school day unfolds The distant future blaze foretold So nothing changes when I'm old Nothing changes when I'm old You were pudgy perfect teenage genius Mitchell Blake Just barely cool enough to make Fat Kid weep You showed me certain kinds of pain I might mistake For quiet dreams and lonesome screams and sickening sleep The robots come to kill me on a gorgeous day The grown-ups all eat lemon bars inside They hold each others' gazes and make conversation And you hurt me like kids do all the time And oh—I keep you hidden ten years down the line And everyone who knows me knows that I'm not fine... Chorus
2.
Debra 03:32
When I was a little boy You kept a secret soul You sought illicit joy Oh, Mother— I Hid when you battled him Angry passivity Self-conscious victimhood Waste another Year— Grasping the burning iron Teach me how to shrink from him Teach me how to be a liar Hide yourself Well— Screwing your brains away Flagrant disloyalty Come clean When the silence starts to smell When I was an older boy You left me emptiness Left us to be destroyed Motherless All— Hot clammy summer days Let's disappear this way Howling like dogs At the foot of the Wall— I'll revisit your history Discover your crimes Tear all your mysteries Asunder You Never felt beautiful Never felt good inside Doubted that you'd Ever been a good mother Oh— Your body spreads open Lonely and bloated Bored and badly broken When I was growing up I felt the undertow Fragile—prone to choking up Little white Lies— Hungry for secrecy Utterly without decency Shameful experiments Between my Thighs— We both live our little lives Barely coming up for breath Mother says no one Can be trusted— She Fears that I'll go insane Families are all the same No one ever Tells the truth 'til they get busted Oh— Your body spreads open Lonely and bloated Lovely and clean Voice as milky and silky as cream When I dreamed of evil things Sickness and violence Coming up crying in the morning You Held me very very very tight— You set my head aright— Was as if you'd Never heard of performing
3.
Jason 03:10
Begin with a tower of orange L-blocks Stack the yellow squares in the corner Leave no vacant space And when the blue line arrives For Christ's sake, don't leave it upright You've never been readier to fight And they're never gonna take your place You are Jason—your name is legend You reign quietly supreme You were champion as a child Though your mom thought you looked dead And though she scratched you 'til you bled Nobody really gets the things in your head Nobody understands your smile Chorus Novices come seeking Jason Winning comes easy when you're Jason See the pretty colors falling adjacently The young ones genuflect before Jason He makes their lives amazing Gracious Jason's nascent agency Will make your children glorious as he You run your glorious campaign from your basement The blocks are falling—features crawling— Whole lines disappeared from sight It means more to you than life More than food and sleep and wife Put on your crown—raise your knife The children cheer for you tonight Chorus
4.
Annabelle 03:03
Here she comes with great ambition Scurrying like a rat to the stage Here she comes with the kind of discipline Quite atypical for a girl of her age Here she comes—and she's bringing her mother Fat and brooding and dripping with sweat Fraught with worry, she's holding her daughter Very very tightly at the edge of the set Chorus Annabelle Take one With your ribbons and lace you come Annabelle Take two Poor little girl—all the world's watching you Here she comes with her family all made up Poor and ignorant and humble Here's the camera—start the performance Young and very cute and prone to stumble Something like this makes for good television Good for an evil kind of laughter Here comes Annabelle—there she goes smiling Here comes the cameraman rolling on after Chorus Ten years old—she's been Heavily scripted and Blown apart by the Highbrow heart of the Panting public—they're Clawing out for her—they're Screaming for her— They just adore her! In the aquarium, swim lazy circles Swim past the glass as the passers-by gaze Swim blithely, cavorting and carefree 'Til the witnesses all turn away Chorus Annabelle Take one With your ribbons and lace you come Annabelle Take two Poor little girl, we'll never get tired of you
5.
Carol 04:10
Is Santa coming? Is Santa coming? I've weighted eighty-six years And is it snowing? Will it be snowing When Santa gets here? There have been strangers Can you imagine—strangers! They watch me wet the bed And how they worry I think I see them worry But maybe it's my head I see the old house The wood is shining My mother lives here The goats need milking The world is shining I'm holding it near I'm licking my lips My eyes are milky There's humming in my ear Is Santa coming? Will it be snowing When I disappear? I think it's raining The window's murky The night is blue Could it be raining? Rain on Christmas? That won't do...
6.
Josephine 03:22
Come see the amazing Josephine Come watch her eat the flying machine She'll choke it down for your amusement Sinew, bone, and flesh abused and Polished by the metal nice and clean Come see the amazing Josie fly If you're a good boy we'll let you try Come see her death-defying leaps As faceless Death toward her creeps And waits—but Josephine will never die Choking down a plane—swallowing a sword— Fill your mouth with gasoline—make a fire-stream— Breathing out flame in the ring Wrestling a bear—at the county fair— Straddling a mare—in a chair--in the air— And you should hear her sing (And you should hear her sing) Josephine can do anything! Come see the amazing Josephine She'll make your living world a dream And heaving up your mighty girth She'll liberate you from the earth And raise you above her 'til you can't be seen The amazing Josie walks the wire She'll throw you winks across the fire She'll make you shiver in your jeans And swell to bursting at the seams— You're just the kind of boy she'd inspire Josephine goes tumbling Now you're stumbling Fingers fumbling for her Josie's whirling Wires unfurling Fingers curled, you're hurling toward her Aiming for capture Eyes set in rapture If any other dapper chap sure of his stature Tried to catch her, she would fracture him But yours is strong skin Plummet through the air—Josie's out of reach— Falling with a certain style—let me see you smile— Everything ends in the ring People on their feet—everything is sweet— Nothing but a lump of meat—heavy with defeat— Open your lips and sing (Open your lips and sing) Josephine is everything! Come see the amazing Josephine Come watch her shake the tambourine Breathe quietly and close your eyes And listen to her as she flies It comforts you as you depart the scene
7.
Steven 04:28
Hello, Steven—good day, Steven— Are you playing fair? I see your congregation's left— You've worn them down with prayer Every day you curse the black man And the Jews and queers and freaks The good Lord speaks And you listen with tears on your cheeks Hello, Steven—good day, Steve— Your church is set aflame Though you hate them, won't you hear them— Can't you bless them all the same? You are righteous—you are elderly— You beat your children blue Before they knew That the good Lord never lived in you Hello, Steven—bless you— Let me kiss your ragged cross The war is over—and I guess you miss The people that you've lost How they hated when you raved and screamed And spoke to them in tongues At the top of your lungs— He'll damn them when His kingdom comes Hello Steven—are you sad?— I swear you're looking tired It's not easy when you hate so hard And when they fight with fire Heaven help you—Jesus save you— Everyone who knows your name Knows you're in pain And the world needs you to die in shame Oh—and it's no wonder you can't move Oh—and you've got nothing left to prove Oh—the Lord's too hateful to be true Steven—it's no wonder that He never loved you Hello, Steven—good day, Steve— I'll pray for you, I guess You're sick in the head—your end is nigh— Perhaps you should confess You've hurt them smiling—hurt them badly— And I guess they've hurt you back But it's hard to track Your mind is molten and your tongue is black Hello, Steven—good day, Steven— Everything is fine You're an old man, growing weaker— You can barely count to nine Everybody dies a hard death Everyone knows it's your time Everything is fine Keep waiting and there might be a sign...
8.
Lee 02:37
When you go to bed and lights extinguish (When you go to bed and lights extinguish) When you're all tucked in—watch the world vanish— (When you're all tucked in—watch the world vanish—) Evil thoughts come and play around in your skull When your body's tense and perspiring (When your body's tense and perspiring) When you're left alone with hateful things (When you're all alone with evil things) You've never known your mind could be so full Go to sleep Darling Lee Hush—rest— Feel me When you go to bed and lights extinguish (When you go to bed and lights extinguish) When the thin nails pound in your flesh (When the thin nails pound in your flesh) You've never known an appetite so cruel When you close your eyes and feel your thoughts dancing (When you close your eyes and feel your thoughts dancing) When they make your life sick and rancid (When they make your world sick and rancid) You've surrendered to their ugly rule Can't you feel better? Don't you feel better? Won't you feel better? Don't you feel better? Hop in the shredder Ceaseless endeavor Lonely together No one gets better No one gets better Go to sleep Darling Lee Hush—rest— Feel me Forget such things That make you grieve Give me your lips And speak
9.
David 03:26
Midnight—David listens Dad's out beating Mother senseless David holds his sister Very close—poor defenseless Children grow up quick in Cleveland David's keeping his odds even Readin'—turning towards Freedom—now Daddy's leavin' Drunk—dead—David fourteen Getting tall and growing smarter Fighting—speak fast and bright as Lightning—striking down stepfather Raging deep in his guts He exits—the doorway shuts He turns—the sky is full of crazy Suns—Dave cuts and runs Chorus Charlie's in the dirt and Barbara's bleeding badly Debbie makes you hurt from Years of loving madly And when Mackenzie comes Dave holds him—David hums Evening—Mom and Dad are screaming I hold my arm around my sister Someday, they'll work this through— He'll kiss her—bandage every blister— Fix her—she's badly broken— Full of secret parts she's always Hated—it's all too much for David—in her dark hallways He sinks—she is drowning I am somewhere Mom and Dad can't See me—where neither one can Free me—still and sad and David tries to keep us living Tries to give and keep on giving Everything that's his, I will Inherit—and we will share it Growing up—becoming men Be around to see it when Everything that happened happens again And it happens again Morning—we approach each other Dad's been meditating—Mother's Dead—a girl's sleeping in my Bed—we're growing old—another Morning, like any other morning, Brings us to the kitchen cooking Corn—we're newly Born—David's looking Over at the snowflakes falling Piling up behind the garden Wall—we stand there as they Fall—icicles harden Winter gleaming white and lovely Every single part of me Sings—for every one of these Things—that the morning brings Chorus
10.
Joyce 06:09
The channel flickers and it lights the room The lovely lady Joyce inspects her face The end of days approaching soon The way she looks, I think she's had enough Of TV murmurs and barren space The way she thinks, I doubt she's ever known grace Over the years she learns to keep them out The dirty people who disfigure her Lecherous—barbaric—devout Her beauty dulls each day she stays inside It's not the kind of beauty she'd prefer But she's forgotten what her choices were Joyce dies gasping today Joyce rests inside her pretty skin The channel flickers and it lights her way The years erode her and the quiet stays The sofa buries her when she caves in The channel flickers and her show begins Can you remember when you saw her last? And if you could see her now, what would you ask? And if you saw her rot as years go past— What then, friend? Can you describe what she looked like then— When she retreated to begin again? And if she loved her perfect ugly end— What then?

about

A bunch of songs about Tetris prodigies, racists, neurotics, lonely women, Mack’s parents, and Honey Boo Boo.

credits

released March 24, 2017

MACK GILCREST Piano, Vocals
KURT SKRIVSETH Bass, Guitar
BRIAN TREMPER Drums
Additional percussion and insane announcer on "Josephine" by Brian Tremper
Additional violin, accordion, trombone effects on "Josephine" by Mack Gilcrest
Lyrics by Mack Gilcrest I Music by Pale People
Engineered by Jon Filkins at RedBall Recording Studios - Missoula, MT | Produced by Jake Whitecar
Mixed by Jake Whitecar and Jon Filkins at Orangutan Sound - Missoula, MT
Mastered by Jason Suko at South Sound Sound - Seattle
Copyright © 2017 Pale People Music I Cover artwork by Rachel Chansler
palepeoplemusic.com

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Pale People Missoula, montana

Missoula, MT’s worst-kept secret.
An eccentric piano-rock quartet with a varied oeuvre, from soft confessionals to howling rants about the lonely and insane.
Better than sex. Cheaper than therapy.

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