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We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Idiomatic

by Prairie Rehab

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1.
Rabbit 04:03
Where had you gone? You missed the goings-on In your oblivion You couldn’t see a damned thing Went for a drive Sped toward the corner dive Came home just half-alive But why, you can’t remember… Where are you now? Furrows upon your brow No one can tell you how You even came to be here Woke with a start Worlds-upon-worlds apart Hands on the shopping cart And children at your ankles Contentment isn’t everything, is it? But it’s the business we’re all in Where have you been? Where have you been? Where have you been so long? What have you got? The little scheme you bought Isn’t the dream you thought It was at the beginning Give them a bit They’ll take the whole of it You’ll be hard-pressed to get Any of it back, but Contentment isn’t everything, is it? But it’s the business we’re all in Where have you been? Where have you been? Where have you been so long? So, you got a firm grip on the situation? Forgive me if I can’t help feeling skeptical You’re looking well, but are you comfortable? I want to hear it from your own lips What do you like? Short strolls and urban hikes? Bright-red banana bikes Breezing down the side-streets? Contentment isn’t everything, is it? But it’s the business we’re all in Where have you been? Where have you been? Where have you been so-- Where have you been so-- Where have you been so long?
2.
Saints for the window, saints for the gate Saints for to move your real estate And one to whisper in my ear Muddy my judgement, cloudy my sight My head can’t take it when my heart is right But, really, how often is that true? Guess it depends upon your point of view Spirits descending to tug at my sleeve Making me feel what I won’t believe Drumming my fingers, table for two You say you’ll meet me, you never do But I keep coming anyway Willing to help you, eager to please But all of my anxieties Have left me desperately obtuse Far too confused to be of any use Severed connections and fretful desires Are not what your sensible soul requires I hear from the bedroom the strain in your voice The same divinations for the same old choice I turn down the blanket, I switch off the light My head can’t take it when my heart is right But, really, how often is that true? Guess it depends upon your point of view
3.
Rush up the boulevard Run down the avenue You tell me once more You’re just passing through I lean on the red brick You’re so seldom homesick And I’m just a modicum of lonesome We walk on the cobbles And talk over coffee You ask if I’ve missed you I smile and say, “Awfully” No hang-ups, no demands Just my hand in your hand And I’m just a modicum of lonesome ‘Love’ is not a word you like to use And understandably You speak in ones, you never speak in twos Always I and never We I’m starting to wonder If this is a problem You whisper, I shiver The lamplight goes dim You drift off, the clock ticks The stereo statics And I’m still a modicum of lonesome I don’t want to beg for what I need I’ll take what I can get You don’t lie and I am not deceived By what’s plainly counterfeit Old satin pillows Spent cigarillos A million emotions I mustn’t expose I’m empty and achy You fill me, but break me And I’m still a modicum of lonesome I lean on the red brick You’re so seldom homesick And I’m just a modicum of lonesome
4.
Henceforth 03:52
All your erstwhile dears All of those who thirsted for you: It may seem presumptuous, but They could never thirst as I do All your worst fears All those dismal and insidious forms Will be swallowed in the unrelenting Warmth of my arms In the most comfortable love For which there’s no cause to crawl or beg or bleed Hands that hold you like you are all they want And more than they’d ever need All my grand designs All the lines I stole from others: However it’s ascribed Whatever is, is all yours All those dark nights I spent shivering in fits of despair Disappear: now any bed’s a refuge Long as you’re there In the most comfortable love For which there’s no cause to crawl or beg or bleed Hands that hold you like you are all they want And more than they’d ever need I’ve got satin and old lace Grosgrain ribbon, new linen Sanguine, sweet joy, made visible Made physical, made concrete In the most comfortable love For which there’s no cause to crawl or beg or bleed Hands that hold you like you are all they want And more than they’d ever need Hands that hold you like you are all they want And more than they’d ever need
5.
Tired, tired, tired of myself Glum and solemn, drinking from the bottom shelf I have broken what I couldn’t hope to mend Can’t go on pretending like I never sinned Wealth of heartache, dearth of joy: He was once my golden boy And I was something to him But now we’re out of time and out of rhythm How, oh, how-- how could I have been so hard? Cruel to him who treated me with such regard? Take your lines and feed them to the next girl down I’m already lachrymose enough to drown Wealth of heartache, dearth of joy: He was once my golden boy And I was something to him But now we’re out of time and out of rhythm Tired, tired, tired of myself Glum and solemn, drinking from the bottom shelf Change, come quickly! Change, you couldn’t come too soon! I’m worn-out from sounding like a one note tune
6.
Deficit 03:44
Oracular utterances, glasses of beer Cups of coffee to make it clear Taking it very slowly, holding my head Hanging on by a golden thread Good gracious, my darling, what can I do? Haven’t I space enough for two? And where are my manners? I’ve taken your praise Laid you bare with my turns-of-phrase You know it’s not exactly All it was cracked up to be In fact, it’s really less than nothing: You’re running a deficit, honey – you’re running a deficit, honey In the tenuous rhythm, the tremulous hum Of a strained consortium You’re itching for movement, the critical mass The slightest shift in the impasse You know it’s not exactly All it was cracked up to be In fact, it’s really less than nothing: You’re running a deficit, honey – you’re running a deficit, honey Swifts in the sunlight, sixty degrees Dulcet winds through the rustling trees I’ve sought for perfection, the best I can get Is to sit here hoping you won’t leave—not just yet ‘Cause the truth is awfully brutal I’ll probably never be suitable-- Suitable for you You know it’s not exactly All it was cracked up to be In fact, it’s really less than nothing: You’re running a deficit, honey – you’re running a deficit, honey
7.
Evolve 02:42
Another year distant Another year gone: It’s not a problem we must solve It’s just the way, just the way we people evolve Sentiments shift Interests drift Relationships dissolve: It’s just the way, just the way we people evolve I hold before me Slivers of memory Poring over every Artifact Nearly to brimful With composite people Seems you’re the only one I’ve kept intact Despite what you meant Despite my good intent How we tried to split the difference It breaks and we change and evolve You’ve grown beyond me Maybe I’m beyond you, too But think of me fondly As somebody you once knew Another year distant Another year gone: It’s not a problem we must solve It’s just the way, just the way-- It's just the way, just the way We evolve
8.
Shy Away 03:36
Tatyana, don’t shy away: sometimes your foot slips When you try to catch a glimpse of the outside And peer from the precipice onto the wider world below If there’s something I’ve missed, then, it’s best that I don’t know Boats in the harbor, lights on the bridge Strangers whisper in the timbre of another language A touch on your shoulder, a chill through your veins The fever may have broken, but the weakness remains Tatyana, don’t shy away: sometimes your foot slips When you try to catch a glimpse of the outside And peer from the precipice onto the wider world below If there’s something I’ve missed, then, it’s best that I don’t know The hands of your children, impossibly small: You want them desperately, but you don’t want them at all A wave from the window, a stroll up the path Faces, distant as the figures in a photograph The things you had longed for, the way it had been Before restlessness took hold and settled under your skin Tatyana, don’t shy away: sometimes your foot slips When you try to catch a glimpse of the outside And peer from the precipice onto the wider world below If there’s something I’ve missed, then, it’s best that I don’t know Tatyana, don’t shy away… Don’t shy away… Don’t shy away…
9.
Systems 04:17
Don’t you pretend you can turn away: We’ve all got a dog in this fight Even systematists who have lost their systems Hope that it still might Work. And sometimes I’m an awful cynic Who won’t hear a single thing So I know where you’re coming from And I know where you’re going You’ve cleaned up your language Paid off your debts, taken your medicine But it’s not any better-- No, it’s not any better Tired to death of the television’s Strain on your aching eyes: The old ungraspable cataclysms Clothed in a new guise Embers of war that seem to smolder Smolder forever It weighs on your shoulders But you pull yourself together Shut all the blinds Cover your ears, wait in the dead air But it’s not any better-- No, it’s not any better Onerous clouds press down Slate-grey and brushed-steel You lie on your back and wonder: Are you crushed or too numb to feel? The man on the street, the girl in your bed The voice from the satellite And the systematists who have lost their systems Hope it can be made right

about

The aptly named Idiomatic finds Prairie Rehab further exploring its craft and sound within the context of a variety of genres, including reggae, synth-pop, and R&B.

.

credits

released October 1, 2016

Lacie Williams: Lead and Harmony Vocals, Melodica
Scott Swartz: Guitars, Pedal Steel, Mandolin, Keyboards, Bass, Harmony Vocals
John Baldus: Drums, Percussion
Ezequiel Valguarnera: Bass

Special thanks to our guest musicians:
Greg Lamb: Bass
Adam Hucke: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Ben Reece: Saxophone
Aaron Chandler: Trombone

All Songs © 2015 L. Williams / S. Swartz (Filament Glow
Music ASCAP), except Modicum of Lonesome, Deficit, and One Note Tune © 2015 L. Williams (Filament Glow Music ASCAP)

Recorded and mixed by Scott Swartz at
Filament Glow Recording, St. Louis, MO
Art direction by Prairie Rehab
Images by K. Corea Photography

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