Get all 9 The Mercury Tree releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Self Similar, Spidermilk, Cryptic Tree, Permutations, Countenance, Family Style EP, Freeze in Phantom Form, Pterodactyls, and 1 more.
1. |
Symptoms
06:59
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"tell me everything, and take your time," I said.
now your bromides stain my mind with photoluminescent dye.
as I wait my turn to speak, language center's stultified.
fruit is sweet, and past its peak.
you fill your cheeks, but miss the signs.
you've got symptoms.
we only can discuss kittens.
you've got symptoms.
breaking through the cross rhythms
of our interlocking mental prisons.
in my diagnosis
you must have your reasons.
how to treat you when I'm surely no physician?
nonetheless it's plain that there's a worsening condition.
as we reach the red line, hang your head on mine.
always time for one more chance.
now I fear that time has passed.
due to symptoms.
there hasn't been a thought given
to those symptoms.
breaking through the cross rhythms
of our interlocking masochism.
in my diagnosis
you don't even notice.
how to fix this when I'm surely no magician?
possibly you know it's an impossible position.
happy to not be scared of you
it's dumb to do that anymore, I think.
new dream: gone already.
new dream: same as the old.
new dream: happy, happy.
new dream: scared.
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2. |
Exhume the Worst
04:56
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your gaze seems so familiar and safe
like lead paint
whose vapors never seem to fade
concave is the depression that you made
we exhume the worst
we exhume the worst
we dug up this dirt
what's it worth now?
what's it worth when we exhume the worst?
jack-of-all-trades slipping on your slaves' sweat
you gave your verdict with restrained regret
you're done, done, done
with tasks you haven't even started yet
we exhume the worst
we exhume the worst
we dug up this dirt
what's it worth now?
what's it worth when we exhume the worst?
we exhume the worst
reanimate the cursed
sick-sweet with gangrene, still the thirst.
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3. |
Permutations
10:42
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clouded eyes
see what they strain to see
stark evidence
lift the veil to me
anyway you have to be ready to dispense with fools
(there's a way, there's a way, there's one way, there's no way.)
anyway you have to be ready to dispense with fools
that fool is you
onward into our limitations
can we agree that we won't address
the complications implicated in the face of
this elaborate hallucination
you close your eyes and I'll do the same
so we can be magically deranged
can we find new permutations
of the same old combination
if we relax and ignore the facts?
hey, can I say congratulations?
you got me to believe your emotionally disturbed world of the absurd.
walk me through
the part I must have missed
I walk alone
you cannot exist
the way others do
you might say it's a lost cause
but I've always been lost
put your back to the tide this time
put your fowl in a line this time
anyway you have to be ready to dispense with fools
anyway you have to be ready to
ready to, I wasn't ready to, among other flaws
anyway you have to be ready to dispense with fools
that fool is you
no, you. no, you. no, you. no, you.
thank you for your consideration
here's a gold star of participation glued to your cheek
new one every week
for your latest impersonation
if we write off the time that we lost
to lose it again, it can't be tragic then.
I can't hold you responsible
cause then, you'd have to be responsible
oh, please
die in a fire
that you built with no guilt.
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4. |
Ether/Ore
04:08
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what did you expect?
respectfully decline to elaborate
respectfully, it's
hate to say it, hate
loud like a devil box
weather-vain
glorious leader
take me away in chains
ether ore was the choice
but it never was a choice, of course
it was enforced
north points the compass
dumbass, now it's time to think fast
too long grinding
not worth fighting anymore
too long mining ether ore
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5. |
Placeholder
04:32
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stop
with the implication you ever intended
to have me as more than a fixture
just let it go
all forms of communication: a catering
positive forms of interaction: a savoring
yes is the answer if the question is
asking if I can become the placeholder
after you cast me aside I doubt any longer
my reaction would be to abide
what to do now that your patience
is running against the clock?
I can't conceive a situation
where you aren't fed up with something
something's gotta give, but it won't be me
I'll be here
I will be here.
I will be here.
I will be here.
I will be here.
with an outstretched hand
you know there's no implication
with me
why oh why did you give me the green light
to take what I wanted
consent in the technical sense.
I know why
I know why
I know why I can't help you decide
help me decide
help me decide
tell me why I can't help you decide
tell me why
tell me why
tell me why you can't help me decide
help me decide
help me decide
tell me why I can't help you decide
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6. |
Unintelligible
05:06
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I
know you
mean
mean well
mean
average
I know you mean well
I should leave well enough alone
enough’s not enough for me
do you even read these things you believe?
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-advised, not not unwise.
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-advised, not not unwise.
in an, in an, in an, in an indefensibubble
most regrettable
unintelligible
unintelligible
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-defined, most unrefined.
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-defined, most unrefined.
clarify the eminently unclarifiable.
inconceivable
unintelligible
unintelligible
it’s cute how you mistake sock-puppet rage
for proof you must repeat this ugly chain
it’s cute how you believe the things you say
it’s not cute from where we are
when you’re selling the wheels off the car
to pay for the lottery
that’s been over since yesterday
do you even read these things you believe?
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-advised, not not unwise.
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-advised, not not unwise.
in an, in an, in an, in an indefensibubble
most regrettable
unintelligible
unintelligible
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-defined, most unrefined.
ill, ill, ill, ill. ill-defined, most unrefined.
clarify the eminently unclarifiable.
inconceivable
unintelligible
unintelligible
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7. |
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sympathesizer
I hear your sympathetic drone strings
whose everlasting tone rings out
in exotic modes whose melodies can't be decoded
heretofore and after
we're learning more and faster
until it all combines into a blur
heretofore and after
we're learning more and faster
until it all combines into a blur
sympathesizer
I hear your sympathetic drone strings
whose everlasting tone rings out
in alien lullabies
these exotic modes whose melodies decode
to blueprints for an interstellar craft
heretofore and after
we're learning more and faster
until it all combines into a blur
heretofore and after
we're learning more and faster
until it all combines into a blur
into a blur into a blur
into a blur into a blur
synchronize your ultimatums
realign my core
can you pathologize me more?
sympathesizer
I hear your sympathetic drone strings
whose everlasting tone rings out
heretofore and after
we're learning more and faster
until it all combines into her
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8. |
Seek and Release
05:46
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stare down the barrel of discussion.
deadly weapon, do you have the right to kill me at any time?
this obsession leaves me trembling
your law is easily summarized
seek and release the enemy
seek and seek and seek and seek and seek and release, you said.
"may they rest in peace."
back to the secret police for questioning.
seek and release the enemy
seek and seek and seek and seek and we have met him, and we are he.
too late to speak.
back to the scene of the justice that you bring.
meet me in your secret compartment where you dismiss
sanity as merely alarmist and try to feather your
nest with long-discredited arguments, take a breath to
analyze what you say, now does it really hold water in the latter day?
maybe you should try thinking of it in another kind of way
"a well regulated militia" stands
while more continue to fall
population bomb defused: happy day!
no reason to be appalled.
this all makes sense to someone whose head's densely diluted.
this all makes sense to someone whose world intruded on mine.
meet me in your secret compartment where you dismiss
sanity as merely alarmist and try to feather your
nest with long-discredited arguments, take a breath to
analyze what you say, now does it really hold water in the latter day?
maybe you should try thinking of it in another kind of way
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9. |
Prometheist
09:00
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reasonable minds can differ
but where are the reasonable minds?
eagles may feast on my liver
still I'll live or die many times
my image serves to be observed and magnified.
circle logic
thought crime
kill for kill
eye for eye
virus
parasite
borne on a meteorite.
can you fashion a man out of clay in your hands?
who can fashion a man in the way that I can?
you can eat my crumbs, while I walk on your
while I walk on your, while I walk on your thumbs.
I'm a generous man.
generous with swift hand
I'm a generous man.
I don't mind that you asked.
I won't take you to task.
I won't take off this mask.
out of clay in a hand
out of clay you were made
thus your life is a theft
and the debt will be paid
you can eat my crumbs, while I walk on your
while I walk on your, while I walk on your thumbs.
I'm a generous man.
generous with swift hand
I'm a generous man.
out of clay in a hand
out of clay you were made
thus your life is a theft
and the debt will be paid
I don't mind that you asked.
I won't take you to task.
I won't take off this mask.
and this mask never cracks.
out of clay you were made
thus your life is a theft and the debt will be paid.
out of clay you were made
out of clay you remain
your life is a theft and the debt will be paid.
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10. |
Deep Five
10:32
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you had to take
the easy way
the easy way out
it's not so easy now
five deep is enough
you'll never be
five deep is enough
you'll never be six feet down to me
I have to call it out
your worst decision
I would have told you
it's all forgiven
but what's to forgive now?
you're not here to listen
five deep is enough
you'll never be
five deep is enough
you'll never be six feet down to me
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The Mercury Tree Portland, Oregon
The Mercury Tree is an experimental rock band from Portland, Oregon.
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