Get all 6 Robbie Macfarlane releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Tell Me Where It Hurts, Catastrophically Ourselves, Borne on the Water (single), My Opera Career's Over (Single), Chicken Soup, and #Fake News Triggered Artist.
1. |
Face of the Earth
03:28
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All in all, we’ve done so little with our precious time
Save for running round in circles and pretending we are fine
It’s been a sad day on the face of the earth
It’s been a sad day and we’re afraid it won’t get better
Still we shop, and smoke, and drink our coffee, drink our wine
If I can’t hold you now
There’s something wrong with either you or me
It’s been a sad day on the face of the earth
But we built this sinking ship
Had we considered this when we said:
‘Let us abandon one another and line our pockets like before’
All in all, we did so little with our precious time
Save for running round in circles and pretending we are fine
Still, I can’t hold you now
There’s something wrong with either you or me
It’s been a sad day on the face of the earth
It’s been a sad day on the face of the earth
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2. |
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I don’t give a damn about Puccini
I mean sure, the guy wrote Tosca
But what’s he done for me lately?
The Opera House is boarded up
You can’t come in, the theatre’s shut
I’m drunk, sung out, my voice is hoarse
And most people think Rigoletto’s a pasta sauce
My Opera career’s over
Before it had begun
I wore some wigs, played some little roles
And had a bit of fun
My Opera career’s over
And now I’m getting bored
It’s good I know some basic rhymes
And learnt to play three chords
I can’t say Im a massive fan of Mozart
Although he’s paid the bills a couple times, and the finales are such fun
But thats all past, the ghost light’s on
The lines for Centrelink are long
My music degree is going to take me far
A million sopranos told they were gonna be stars
My opera career’s over
And now I’m unemployed
While the politics was complicated
I can’t say I’m overjoyed
My Opera career’s over
And now I’m getting bored
It’s good I know a Neil Young record
And learnt to play three chords
My Opera career’s over
And now I'm on the skids
Its a good thing I don't have a mortgage
A wife and a couple of kids
My Opera career’s over
And now I'm getting bored
It’s good I heard werewolves of London
And learnt to play three chords
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3. |
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Bower bird,
Something shiny came into your field of vision
and you disappeared
Not a word have I heard from you since November 11,
But your conscience is clear
I’m sure you’re doing fine
You’re probably with somebody else
I called you up myself
Because I heard she hit you
Heard she forced you out that room
I knew you were leaving
I didn’t think it would be so soon
I only called to say I hope you’re gonna be ok
But I know you’re gonna be ok
Bower bird,
now you’ve blocked me both on Instagram and Twitter,
But that’s all ok
Bower bird something shiny came into your field of vision
So you flew away
I’m sure you’re doing fine
Your already making big plans
Try and help me understand
Because I heard she hit you
Heard she forced you out that room
I knew you were leaving
I didn’t think it would be so soon
I only called to say
I hope you’re gonna be ok
But I know you’re gonna be ok
Bower Bird
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4. |
Borne on the Water
03:23
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Carry me slowly over the water
When you decide the time is right
Let me float away
I will return here, borne on that same water
It won’t be tomorrow, and it won’t be today
Place your hand gently
On my wounded shoulder
Stay with me, support me
As we walk through the rain
I may not see you again in my lifetime
But you will stay with me,
Forever I’m changed
Storms come, Storms Come
There’s no point in circumnavigating them
I’ve sailed through enough to know
To tie myself to the mast and keep on singing
Carry me slowly over the water
We don’t belong here
Amidst all this pain
Carry me slowly over the water
Then when the raging storm subsides
I will be ok
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5. |
Welfare Blues
05:00
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I live in a big old house
But you know it isn’t mine
I live on borrowed money
I live on borrowed time
I used to have a sense of pride
I was a self-made man
I feel robbed of all my dignity
Maybe you can’t understand
In the morning I read the paper
In the evening I watch the news
Eat Sleep Drink Wash Rinse Repeat
Its called the Welfare Blues
I used to fly in business class
I used to feel like a big star
Although I wasn’t making a lot of cash
Those frequent flyer points took me far
Now my local supermarket
Is as far as I will go
Things have changed like the poets say
But maybe you dont know
In the morning I read the paper
In the evening I watch the news
Eat Sleep Drink Wash Rinse Repeat
Its called the Welfare Blues
I don't mean to sound as If
I’m really doing it hard
In the scheme of things I’m quite alright
But many people aren’t
The homeless shelters work through the night
The tent cities grow and grow
Perhaps you should come and visit them
So you actually would know?
In the morning I read the paper
In the evening I watch the news
Eat Sleep Drink Wash Rinse Repeat
Its called the Welfare Blues
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6. |
She Will Be My Daughter
03:31
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There’s a new human being in the world tomorrow
And she will be my daughter
I don’t know how to feel In a world full of sorrow
And somehow I feel like I ought to
The sun and the moon will remain the same
They rise and fall with the tide
But my little life will forever be changed
The moment she opens her eyes
There’s a new little girl in the world today
And I still can’t think of a name
She is perfectly formed, she is wonderfully real
Whatever she’s called, she’ll be the same
What if she cries and seems like she nervous
She might not love me like one of my own
I’ll just just keep on holding that babe to my chest
Not a thing turns my heart back to stone
Theres a new human being in the world right now
And she will be my daughter
I don't know what to do but i'll work out somehow
Through flaws,mistakes, trial and error
The sun and the moon will remain the same
They rise and fall with the tide
But my little life will forever be changed
The moment she opens her eyes
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7. |
Circadian Rhythms
02:45
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I need water, I need wine
Drain the oceans, Strip the Vine
I need sugar, I need salt
C’mon babe it’s not your fault
Circadian Rhythms keep me awake
Doesn’t mean I’m yours to take
I taste the honey from your jar
The poisoned chalice, stolen car
I kiss your lips, I kiss your feet
And Somewhere in between we’ll meet
Circadian Rhythms keep me up
It overflows, that proffered cup
It’s what you needed
Not what you want
You walked away in that dress
And it seemed like a taunt
But the third time always works a charm
I’m gonna lead you to my bed, arm in arm
You are water, you are wine
Girl you know that you’re so fine
You are sugar you are sand
You’re blood dripping from my hand
Circadian Rhythms - that’s what you are
Your lips are gonna take you far
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8. |
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Hello my name is John and I was in the US navy
I fought in World War 2 but then got lost along the way
My vessel sprung a leak and I washed up on an island
With a cargo load of groceries in a place called Sulphur Bay
I passed out on the sand and when I awoke, locals surrounded me
Perhaps I should’ve run for it, but I had no place to go
But they all held out peaceful hands, politely what was my name
Confused, I started blinking and I think I said ‘Hello -
I am John, I am John, I am John from America’
The chief came to the front, holding a black book to his chest
He came down on his knees and wiped the sand from off my head
He told me ‘if you can bring me six more cans of Ovalteenies,
We’ll throw out all these bibles and we’ll worship you instead’
The women were so beautiful, their outfits so revealing
The palm trees looks so peaceful, the tide was clear and low
So I said, give me a week or two and will come straight back to you
They asked me to repeat my name, I think I said ‘Hello -
‘I am John, I am John, I am John from America.’
You might think that it sounds strange, you might think that it sounds odd
But you know that it’s not easy, it’s quite hard to be a god
You will find me in the bar with all my disciples that I know
If they ask me to pay my bill I will simply say ‘Hello -
I am John, I am John, I am John from America’
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9. |
In Transit
03:04
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What is all this time
That I’ve been handed down
I’m used to d]catching planes
I’m used to different towns
The landing gear is now
Permanently down
Let us stand quite still
With both feet on the ground
I wake up every morning
Knowing where I am
There is no place to go
There is no train to catch
My life was spent in transit
And calmly in my ear
A voice I can’t quite recognise
Will calmly say, ‘you’re here’
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10. |
Fluvoxamine
03:43
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That wasn’t me
That was fluvoxamine
There was no way I could be anyone else
When they pumped that shit in me
I nearly died
You were the guillotine
You kept shaking my snow globe baby
Until nothing made sense to me
Every vessel needs a port in the storm
Every harbour needs a little boat to keep from harm
Everybody needs a storm to throw them back
In the right direction
I couldn’t breathe
The smoke was choking me
Our politicians did nothing to help
Went on vacation to Hawaii
We nearly died baby
The air’s the guillotine
The worlds been shaken like a snow globe sugar
Now nothing makes sense to me
Every vessel needs a port in the storm
Every harbour needs a little boat to keep from harm
Everybody needs a storm to throw them back
In the right direction
I couldn’t be
What you expected of me
We used to lie in thrall with one another
Now we lie awake unable to sleep
I am no Tijuana
I am no St. John’s wood
I am the moving target trading on charm
And I wouldn’t change it if I could
Every vessel needs a port in the storm
Every harbour needs a little boat to keep from harm
Everybody needs a storm to throw them back
In the right direction
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11. |
Little Rabbit
03:09
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For the minute Little Rabbit we are stuck
All the planes are grounded and the welfare systems fucked
We can make each other breakfast we can talk and sleep and shower
We can hold each other close and watch the minutes turn to hours
You will walk again through the streets of your Madrid
I will sing an opera and make sense of what i did
And If it all comes tumbling down and the world begins to disappear
It really meant a lot to me to know that you were here
Who knows what might have been without Covid 19
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Robbie Macfarlane Melbourne, Australia
Sings. Directs. Plays the Banjo.
Drinks Red Wine.
Opera/Folk/Pop
Robbie Macfarlane recommends:
He recorded it with one cheap AT mic and with a few waves plug ins and it still sounds amazing, and as catchy as the Corona Virus
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