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Grows Wings

by Tyler Key

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Wally
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Wally Mothman flies again
Brent Hickman
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joshbranch
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dinahdiaz
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allahamber30
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Brad Gerke
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David Morrison
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1.
City Life 03:01
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I ain't about that city life no more Going out every night to drink at Boar's I'll have a shot and a two dollar beer, it's clear that I'll be leaving here I ain't about that city life no more It's waking up with a stranger in your bed and you don't know her name or where she's been Feeling like you don't know your name Waking up with strangers in your bed I sure do miss the heat of an old wood stove the way mom told me all the stories I'd heard before Hunched over a photo book feeling like a dime-store crook I sure do miss the head from an old wood stove I ain't about that city life no more.
2.
Lucky Man 03:42
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So what if I live on a vast estate drive a new Benz with a vanity plate that reads HAHAHAHAHAHA I was born a rebel but I clean up nice donations to the cause start at the low, low price of HAHAHAHAHAHA I got lucky, man I got lucky, man Some folks just can't understand How I got lucky, man. I tend to dress down for events down south these populist stratagems seem a bit uncouth I say to myself HAHAHAHAHAHA I've been on safari and I've been to Bombay In the factories, the children are all work, no play they need a HAHAHAHAHAHA I got lucky man. There's a tower in Atlanta that bears my name Big gilt letters on a big guilt frame and people go "HAHAHAHAHAHA"
3.
Litany 05:28
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Here's the truth, I should loathe you I should cower in fear You couldn't know you'd love me but in this silence you can't hear When at night you pray to jesus tell him all your heartsick plans How you're longing for the west coast for some better chance Well if God made me, it's proof that God can make a mess and if God made you it's proof that he could do much better than the rest When you dance it's over landmines you don't see what's on the floor You'd trade away your beauty I don't know what for Well if God made me, it's proof that God can make a mess and if God made you it's proof that he could do much better than the rest Let jesus know I'm trying I've been looking for his face in every lampshade and window In some starspangled lace I don't know what I'm doing here sitting on an old church pew I think i'm looking for something probably looking for you
4.
Mothman No. 1 (...at night I will grow wings) 04:56
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I've touched the hems of garments I've annointed feet with oil My cup is overflowing The water steams and boils Let me taste your finest honey Build me my Canaan land I may not be a giant so put that sling back in my hand I've heard the declaration I've heard your lonely thoughts Gimme some attention I'll tie your stomach into knots You've seen the rivers flowing You want a peace like that That's just the surface, honey The rushing never turns its back The master calls me daily I got no telephone Open up your window, honey Listen to the way the wind whips and moans Show me the star of David I got a star of mine I'll show you everything Pending you give me a sign Go bathe in holy water Go make your body new I got the loaves and fishes and a good idea what we could do. My father has many mansions Roundtables topped with gold One day I shall inherit it all When my father gets too old There isn't one that does good, No sir, not even one. Look at my spotless record. I wasn't even born. At night I will grow wings You'll see me by my eyes. (Don't look into those red eyes)
5.
Mothman No. 2 (...sunflowers into the bonfires) 05:10
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the day that god revealed himself to me was the same day my sister lost her sight she took scissors to her hair and found my fathers sleeping pills and before the stomach pump, she felt alright don’t be afraid cut your losses stay in the game don’t be afraid his face appeared in a journal I’d stopped keeping and it seemed to faintly resemble mine so I layed down in the culdesac in the mist I was ancient I was signified and sign Don’t be afraid Cut your hair pray for rain Don’t be afraid In a bunker in the heart of west Virginia Where the slashed pines form a wasteland near the mines We chant and sing a song my sister always sang And toss sunflowers into the bonfires every night I tell you even clouds are advertisements even the roadsigns sing in choir Even the clouds are advertisements you could stay here for a while.
6.
Mothman No. 3 (Zacheus in the clocktower with a .45) 08:37
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Take a look at your polaroids see if he was ever there. It's not the notes, just the rudiments The bow that holds up the hair. Lock up your doors Keep a hand on your dress When the bogeyman comes just don't confess. Drive through the fields leave no stone unturned don't camp in the caves he will come as a bird. Talk to your daughters and talk to your sons Steer clear of the bridge before the whole town burns They've called in the guard so load up your guns Set fire to the moths I hear they're the ones Stay in the cellar you built for the bomb devour your rations til the rations are gone Lock up your doors Keep a hand on your dress when the bogeyman comes give it your best He's flying over the houses checking for blood I'll paint yours for twenty if it'll do anygood I'm going up to the clocktower with a .45 in my hand I'll try to stop shaking before the motherfucker lands So lock up your doors lock your neighbors' up too when the bogeyman comes he's not coming for you the mayor keeps talking on the shortwave band about swamp gas from venus and what the Russians demand Don't tread near the quarry don't pick the wild rose that grows near the precipice don't read unexposed. When it's all over, when we torch him in town I hope those goddamn Russians don't come back around. /fin

about

I was in goodwill, doing my usual routine of browsing through the decorative enamel dwarves, when I spotted a weird black box that I thought was a Betamax player in the back of the store near the old CRT televisions. It was an old 4-track cassette recorder, heavily used, missing about 8 knobs, so I knew I had to cough up the $9 to get it.
I brought it home, found a good tape (which I'm positive Logan Graff bequeathed to me), and this is what happened.

At first, I just plugged along, recording some ditties that I'd swept under the rug recently. The first three tracks are in this vein. City Life is about six months old, Litany is paleolithic, even. But Lucky Man just kind of jumped out of the ether after watching the GOP debates, which is to say that I literally wrote a song about Donald Trump.

But these songs, I later realized, were all about things that scared the shit out of me: becoming a wastrel, being ruled by people with enough money to laugh at everything, and those people-ghosts that stick around in your brain matter until they get wedged so deep they become you.

So, continuing with the rather tenuous thread of "scary things," the next three songs are a micro song-cycle about the Mothman of West Virginia who may or may not be a cult leader in the vein of Charles Manson, who may or may not be in collaboration with the Russians in a plot to escalate the Cold War.
Unlike the half-finished "Bro Country-Rock Opera," the Mothman songs are much more cryptic: No.1 is the credo, No.2 is the origin story, No.3 is where the shit hits the fan.

I should probably not tell you all of this stuff, dear internet, but it doesn't really matter. Nobody ever gets the chance to explain themselves these days. This makes me unprofessional. Also, the quality of the recordings ARE VERY POOR. THE SONGS WERE RECORDED ON AN UNSERVICED CASSETTE 4-TRACK AND TRANSFERRED TO DIGITAL. THE MIXES ARE IN MONO. THE EQ IS BAD.
If you like early Mountain Goats or Eliot Smith, you might dig it.

Happy Halloween,
Tyler

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released October 24, 2015

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Tyler Key Athens, Georgia

Athens, GA songwriter. Loud folk rock. This American Life as heard through a megaphone. Proud to be a bitter southerner.

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