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1. |
Marathon
04:51
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Look at me, I’m a marathon runner now
I was training for so long, but when they fired the starting gun
I was tying my shoes, I was stretching my quads, I was drinking water
So everyone got a head start, how can that be fair?
They say it’s hours upon the track
Til someone puts a blanket on your back and then
You’ll feel like yourself again
But have I hit the wall? Am I just getting started?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running?
Have I hit the wall? Or am I broken hearted?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running
And should my body break down, i’ll allow myself to collapse to the ground
While all these men they’ll go and run past me for fun
They are fitter than me, they’ve done this before
I see they bear scars from the war
I wanna ask them how it feels when the finish line comes
They say it’s hours upon the track
Til someone puts a blanket on your back and then
You’ll feel like yourself again
But have I hit the wall? Am I just getting started?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running?
Have I hit the wall? Or am I broken hearted?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running
They say it never stops hurting, they say it never stops hurting…
But have I hit the wall? Am I just getting started?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running?
Have I hit the wall? Or am I broken hearted?
I knew this was coming, so how long have I been running
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2. |
Making A Go Of This
03:56
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I’ve bought too many houseplants for the size of my house
And I don’t know where they should go
Which ones should face north, which ones should face south
Which ones will die when the wind comes to blow
I’ve bought compost and pesticide, cheap secateurs
Some gloves and some Miracle-Gro
I’m making a go of this
Having a go
I can’t thread a needle, I can’t draw a straight line
I don’t know where buttons should go
But I bought myself a sewing class, Wednesdays 6-9
Though progress is bound to be slow
But I’ll practice my stitches, I’ll bind up my samples
And then, one day I will know
I’m making a go of this
Having a go
On the road to the river there’s a club near the station
Where the terminally hopeful can go
Where girls with tattoos in the shape of a nightmare
Will take your arm and they’ll tell you all that they know
They are archers from Russia, with great reputations
They know all about shooting and all about sin
And I know a girl who goes down there to learn
From these Robin Hoods by the Premier Inn
She’s new at this, amateur, seen too many shows
But she’s fixing an arrow to the notch of her bow
Making a go of this,
Having a go
I’ve never known a ghost before, you’ve never been one too
We don’t know how this will go
But we are all doing our best to make something work
Though you’re haunting us left and right, high and low
With houseplants and needles and tautly strung bows
Making a go of this
Having a go
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3. |
Memphis
04:17
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I never got the line ‘bout the ghost
Til you went and you saw the sockets and wrote
About spending the last of your money before flying back home
And I too remember the churches blurring just out of view
Like roadside attractions, like stories I knew
Not by my heart, I just heard ‘em get told
Oh we were caught in a fire
Now we’re gasping for air
Oh we sang in a choir
So high in the air
They thought we were singing to God but we were singing to Memphis
They thought we were singing to God but we were singing to Memphis
Hands together, singing to Memphis
I never sat in a pew thinking something might happen
But the light through the stained glass made brilliant patterns
Moving in waves, whispering bright through the noise
And so yes, I believed for a second
Because those were the options
But I was praying to nothing, just keeping faith in ourselves
And what i know to be true and the sound of your voice
Oh we were caught in a fire
Now we’re gasping for air
Oh we sang in a choir
So high in the air
They thought we were singing to God but we were singing to Memphis
They thought we were singing to God but we were singing to Memphis
Hands together, singing to Memphis
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4. |
Bloodletting
03:15
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How long were you bleeding before you showed me the clot?
Red as a gemstone, shaped like a heart
I carried that picture around without thinking it’d tear me apart
I’ve been letting this blood flow through me without leaving a mark
How long were you hurting before you told me the truth?
You sounded yourself then, every word came out new
I carried that sentence around without thinking that it came from your mouth
I’ve been letting this hurt flow through me without letting it out
Give me old fashioned medicine
Dispensed by the drop from a vile
Give me the heat the open my pores
Let sweat run from me like streams through the soil
All this weight, still to jettison
Or the water will fill up my lungs
And I can’t cough up this sickness
Fever still comes
How long were you out for and what was it like?
Do you know that she stayed by your side every night?
I carry her love for you round like we’ve been hit by the same bolt of light
I’ve been letting it flow through me when I’m not feeling alright
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5. |
Free Italian Food
03:17
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If I’d have known the restaurant would be paying for the dinner
I’d have had another wine to make it last a little longer
Out here in the real world I can tell you’re looking thinner
But this ain’t the real world, really, it’s something different altogether
Cos the streets outside they smell like blood and marrow
The market in the square outside the hospital
And all the men in suits they rush like they don’t even know
How sick you are at all
We did not go for superstition sat around the table
No salt over my shoulder, we were not looking for the devil
Polpetto, arancini, caponata, limoncello
We pass these things between us in a cross
And it may not be our custom to say for what we should be grateful
But I seem to recall you made a toast
And if you’d ask me what I want if I thought my days they might be numbered
I’d say free Italian food, and nothing else
Cos the streets outside they smell like blood and marrow
The market in the square outside the hospital
And all the men in suits they rush like they don’t even know
How sick you are at all
If I’d have known the restaurant would be paying for the dinner
I’d have had another wine
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6. |
Roses
04:09
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You’ve been dead a financial quarter
But the markets aren’t levelling out
I don’t understand the fluctuating currencies
How those cunts in the city move their money about
The weather’s changed from balmy to destructive
The country’s waiting for the bomb to fall
And my friends think if they can’t say something constructive
It’s better to say nothing at all
But don’t the days feel like a boulder on your chest?
Don’t the sun look like a boulder in the sky?
I gotta deadhead the roses, ‘cos they’re losing all their colour
Maybe it’s better to just look these things in the eye
The road will be closed throughout the summer
They’ve torn down the shopping arcade
And the buses are diverted, ‘cos they’re building another
It’ll be bigger and better and in the same place
Now there’s just a gap where the building used to be
Like a kid pulled out his last baby tooth
And I keep searching my reflection for signs that I am older
Then remember it’s only been three months
Sometimes the days feel like a boulder on my chest
Sometimes the sun looks like a boulder in the sky
I gotta deadhead the roses, ‘cos they’re losing all their colour
Maybe it’s better to just look these things in the eye
Turn away, I don’t want you to turn away
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7. |
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Plane flying at low light, I’m checking the exits
Nose turned to the water, sun slung off the bridges
My eardrums have burst, I cannot hear anything
I look in my front facing camera for signs of difference
You wait by the gate, your face will be silent
What is there to say that won’t just sound violent?
My eardrums they hum like I’ve been pulled under water
The seatbelt signs come on, I can’t hear the pilot
The sky looks like teeth, like the world is an animal
The sky looks like gold, like the world is a thief
I know the world is a thief, I know the world is unbearable
When you’re caught underneath of it
When you’re caught underneath
Oh, oh, oh, I feel drunk all the time
Oh, oh, oh, I feel drunk all the time
Don’t you, don’t you feel drunk all the time?
I feel drunk all the time
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8. |
Apocalypse
04:22
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I was travelling through the borders, The wind was volleying the reeds
They moved like water through the rapids,They were scattering seeds
I broke down from the weight of it, Before we got to Galashiels
And I could see the clouds make patterns, casting shadows on the field
If I could just stop shaking
If I could just compose myself
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
You keep it mostly to yourself, I sometimes wonder if you should
Or are you preparing for the worst to come, stockpiling firewood,
I think in truth you must be just as worried as the rest of us
By the numbers climbing on on the dials, by the mercury in the bulb
If I could just stop shaking
If I could just compose myself
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
And preachers hand out pamphlets on the streets
Ask me if I’ve thought of God, tell me it’s not too late
I am waiting for this weather to explode,
The trucks are gridlocked on the road,
All heading for the coast,
I cannot stand the wait, I cannot stand the heat
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
Say it with me, say it with me, say it with me
If this is the apocalypse
At least we know the scale of it
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9. |
Deadliest Warrior
03:55
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All the machines are whirring in the warehouse
All the uniforms are using their degrees
I don’t know where you study to learn this kind of information
It all seems pretty dubious to me
They’ve made models of the structures of your body
They are looking for your weakness and strengths
But there’s people in your corner sure you’ve got a fighting chance
Even though they know just what you’re up against
Maybe if you had a sword, a military sword
Maybe if you had a gun, a double-barrelled gun
Maybe if you had a shield, an iron-plated shield
We coulda levelled up the playing field
Before the battle had begun
Spartan vs. Ninja was a whitewash
Ninja wasn’t even getting close
Spartan’s spears were thrusting through his torso
And the Ninja didn’t land a single blow
And in the match Jesse James vs. Al Capone
You know it’s Jesse James all day long
That’s why Cher wrote the song about Jesse James
And why Cher didn’t write shit about Al Capone
Maybe if you had a vest, a standard-issue Kevlar vest
Maybe if you had a knife, a Nepalese Khukuri knife
Maybe if you had attacked without one hand behind your back
You’d pin that fucker to the mat, have him fighting for his life
Well ain’t that just like life, you’re the knife in a gun fight
With blades in your shoes, you’re set up to lose, and now I’m just tongue-tied
You were always gonna go down in flames,
You were always gonna go down in flames
But maybe if you’d had a whip, like Indiana’s whip
Or maybe if you’d had a bomb, a sophisticated bomb
Or maybe if you’d had the will, we’d be in the trenches still
And you could go in for the kill
With everyone cheering you on
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10. |
Things John Hated
02:52
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John always hated the football, no matter how much I explained
But today is a Saturday, and John would have hated the pubs all showing the game
John would have hated the noise from the stadium tumbling into my flat
Everyone dressed the same like they’re children or something
John would have hated that, John would have hated that
John would have hated this weather, the sun making everyone bloom
The heat would have stuck his shirt to his skin and he’d whinge and he’d stay in his room
Playing video games and drinking cider in a cloth shirt and old fashioned hat
But the circles of students all setting up slacklines
John would have hated that, John would have hated that
John hated when he wasn’t smoking, and not being able to smoke
When a bottle of wine wasn’t open, there’s no point in living like that
And John fucking hated Southampton, and I fucking hate it as well
Cos there’s nothing to do in Southampton and if there is, I don’t wanna know
If there is I don’t wanna know
John would have hated the way the words started to slip from his tongue
How he had to build all these bridges again to get back to where he’d begun
John would have hated being so far away from himself and from everyone
I love him, I hate that he’s gone, I love him, I hate that he’s gone
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11. |
All My Worst Ideas
04:02
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I’m following a new girl to the Cro-Bar
Her friends are telling me she’s got a kid
I think she called me charming but I’d rinsed an open bar
So I assume she must have been taking the piss
We went to the church of Scientology
They tried to make us do a personality test
We didn’t see each other much after that single incident
Probably for the best
Here’s a toast to all my worst ideas! They’ve gotten me here,
they’ve gotten me here
I can’t remember swinging for that bastard
But Ella says I did, and then we called it a night
I blame all the ginger wine John gave me on the underground
Hidden in the lining of his coat
Here’s a toast to all my worst ideas! They’ve gotten me here, they’ve gotten me here
And once I shared some weed with a Bulgarian
Got him talking about Stoichkov in his prime
But I couldn’t roll for shit, I didn’t know what I was doing
Caroline said it’d probably be fine
She was wrong, it wasn’t fine
Here’s a toast to all my worst ideas! They’ve gotten me here, they’ve gotten me here
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12. |
Reindeers
03:07
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It’s funny how they move so slow
Leaden feet upon the ice
I’m falling asleep on your couch again
We’ve watched all of the movies now
Dishes piled up in the sink
There’s a mouse on your countertop, it’s no use, let him eat
Would I do it again? I would do it again.
Christmas lights still on the tree
Crunch of snow from your TV
They are delivering letters, I cannot pronounce the place’s name
And the traffic hums like a kitchen fan
My glass is empty again
You tilt the wine in my direction, I reach out my hand
Would I do it again? I would do it again
Would I do it again?
Yes, I would do it again
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Harry Harris Edinburgh, UK
Harry Harris is a Welsh songwriter, based in Edinburgh.
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