Get all 20 Bonfire Madigan releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lady Saves, a Sudden Chill (voice cello mix), Bones, The Needle & The Damage Done - Cat Power & Bonfire Madigan, Parting, Heart of Hearts, Inch x Inch (RC og duet mix), Genesis Too, and 12 more.
1. |
Mad Skywriting
05:35
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I am changing my name
I am burning my past
I'm laying yesterday to rest at last
I am owning these actions
then setting them aflame
I'm not sorry for who I am
or who you wanted me to be
I am skywriting this survival
I am sending this survival in a bottle to the stars
here now - hear this now
I am not sorry for being here now
hear now
I am not sorry cuz I've made it here now
hear now
there's no apologizing for being here now
hear now
be not sorry because you are here now
plant your feet in the ground
then take a stand
we're all human beings while we're falling down
bent over backwards to grab your hand
we are all human beings while we are hitting the ground
exsistence should be enough
exsistence could have been enough
exsistence should have been enough
exsistence should be enough
for love
exsistence should be enough to be loved
love
we are all deciding
what it means
to be human
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2. |
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this is how the clock sounds after 3
i know now where you most want to be
all we are is something in the time
give her all your farewell
and then goodbye goodbye goodbye
lay in circumstance a filthy pool
we all want to be something new
the money said monkey see then monkey do
still want to be something new something
this is where
the sky below
meets
the sea above
lay on down quarter to three
place her here right next to me
i cannot look at any more dead bodies
David Lynch your films are killing me
the signs at six-o-clock they will not bend
this could be our first or last drive-in
(new scene begins)
i wear all your pretty dirty clothes
hung to dry on paperclips and mistletoe, mistletoe
the money said monkey see then monkey do
still want to be something brand new something brand new
something new to do
this is where
the sky below
meets
the sea above
this is where
the sky below
meets
the sea above
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3. |
Running
04:56
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Running into the ocean
Is the river
Running into the ocean
Is a woman
She has her daughter
by the palm of her hand
And in this salt water
she's doing every, everything she can
Tell me
You want to make this all right
Tell me
You've come to make her alright
Tell me
You need to make this all right
But it's your lies
That's how we know it's always right
She's always alright
She's always all right
It's all lies
but she's going to be alright
Lie; that's how we know you're alright
It's your lies that's how we know it's all right
Running drunk into the ocean
Is another woman
Running drunk into the ocean
Is the river
It doesn't stand still
And it will not move slow
And once it has touched you
It never lets you go
She is the mouth of the Mississippi
She's the deadliest undertow
And once she has touched you
She will never
She'll never
Let you go
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4. |
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She's standing at the bottom of the ocean
You want to know what's come so clear
And you've been so long with no shore
Here's the one that you adore
She's the only thing you've never had
you've got to come cum taste at last
What you wanna know?
What you come here for?
She's standing at the bottom of the ocean
You know now whats been so clear
The only thing you've longed to have
You've Come cum Now to taste at last
And she's standing at the bottom of the ocean
At a phone booth near the end of The Great Coral Reef
Oh angel insect alien
I hear her breathe in everything
0h Angel Insect Alien
She's breathing in everyone
You wanna breathe her in
You've never tasted such sweet sin
This is where it all begins
with
Breathing
Into everything
Breathing
Breathing
Into everything breathing
Breathing
#ontheconspire
#angelinsectalien
#anewworldisonherway
(breathe into my hands /
i'll cup them like a glass to drink from)
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5. |
Awake
03:55
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You Are Here
And this is
In my heart
the only place
I know you couldn't touch that part
He jumped in a river
Saying he'd get out of the rain
he went and got a bottle
to saturate all of his blame
and now we're so afraid
he might get up today
we're having a wake
awake for a living man
Yeah, we're so afraid
he will get up today
We're having a wake
awake for a living man
And you're at a Wake
for a living man
yes this is awake
for a living man
you are here (hear)
in my heart (art)
I touch this part
Hear (here ear) in my heart
you are here
and this is in my heart
the only place
i know he couldn't touch this part
he jumped in a river
saying it'd get him out of the rain
he went and got a bottle
to saturate all of his shame
and when you hear doors slam
where no homes stand
you're at a wake
a wake for living man
yes we're so afraid
he might give up today
we're having a wake
awake for a living man
you're at a wake (ache)
for a living man
yes, you're at a wake
for a living man
now now
you're at a wake
now now
you've done all that you can
he is a living man
you're at a wake awake
now now
you're at aWake
for A living man
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6. |
Scraps
04:21
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Scraps
You said you had
no place to go
while standing
in the doorway of our home
And how can I run to you
when you run away
How can I run to you
Couldn't see the back light on
I think you've gone
I guess you've gone
(where have you gone?)
Build your house
from Scraps
Make a Home out of Laughs
Build your House from Scraps
Make a home out of laughs
and laugh and laugh
and laugh and laugh
and laugh and laugh
I'm here waiting to see oh
if you've come & found the key
I went & put it where it used to be
but I'm not waiting on eventually
No I'm not waiting
Are we only scraps
of everything we hoped that we could be
I'm not waiting on eventually
No I'm not waiting oh
Build your house
from scraps
Make a home
out of laughs
Build your house
from scraps
but Make a Home
out of laughs
and laugh and laugh and laugh
and laugh and laugh and laugh
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7. |
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my
mother’s hands
carry me
off this ground
my
mother’s feet
calluses, an inch deep
she’ll
she’ll walk
walk us home at last
with
no compass
no atlas
no asking for directions
and no looking back
no, no looking back
no, no, no looking back
my mama moved among the days
like a dreamwalker in a field
seemed like what she touched was hers
seemed like what touched her couldn’t hold
she got us almost through the high grass
then it seemed like she just turned
seemed like she just turned around
and ran and ran and ran
ran us home, at last
ran us home, at last
no compass
no atlas
no asking for directions
no looking back
no, no looking back
no, no looking back
(c) Madigan Shive, MoonPuss Music 2000 (ASCAP)
[Middle spoken section of The Debut & Debauchery of Anna Magdelena from the poem My Mama Moved Among the Days by Lucille Clifton (c) 1969]
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8. |
Rachel's Song
05:49
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9. |
Onion Thin Cello Skin
04:56
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This skin I am in
The only box I accept being in
This skin I am in
The only window I expect to leap from
This skin I am in
The only box I accept being in
This skin I am in
The only window I expect to leap from
This skin I am in
The only place I know Freedom
This skin I am in
The Epidermis
The largest organ (organ organ)
This skin I am in
I'm in (I'm in I'm in)
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10. |
Come Ask Her
06:22
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Come Ask Her
She'll meet you in the morning light
Please sit me by the pale light
Stand near but not too close
You know my hearing's getting worse
Come Ask Her
Come ask her
Come Ask her
Come ask her
And ask and ask
And ask & ask
Then wear your hair
In a silver bun
I've come to see you ancient
And dancing in the sun
But going there graceful
It was never your style
But going there graceful
Could never be your style
You had to go out kicking
And screaming mile to mile
Well
Come ask her
Come ask her
Come ask her
Come ask her
And ask & ask
Ask ask
Scream your secrets
The wind is waiting
Scream your secrets
They've come to bring you home
Scream your secrets
The wind is waiting waiting
Scream your secrets
They've come to bring you home
Scream your secrets
The wind it's waiting
Scream your secrets
They've come to bring you home
Come to bring you
Come to bring you
Come to bring us
Come to bring you
Home home home
And I wanted you to see
What had become of me
I wanted you to see
What could become of me
What has become of me
Come ask her
Come ask her
And ask and ask
Come ask her
Come ask her
And ask ask
And ask ask
I wanted you to see (and ask)
What has become of me (ask and ask)
I wanted you to see
What could become of me
Come Ask Her
And ask & ask
Why not
Come and ask her
And ask ask
Maybe all you want is an answer
All you wanted was an answer
Why didn't you ask her?
Oh
Come ask her
And ask and ask
But you may not get an answer
Come ask her
Come ask her
Try and try
And try & try
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11. |
7 Mile Lane
04:19
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7 Mile Lane
For 7 years she could not make her bed
O lawd I cried; Is this my best defense?
It was 12 steps that led us to the death
I will not be my own significance
When your culture leaves you no no place to mourn
You begin to take revenge on the unknown
7 miles until you begin to fear you
7 miles 'til another soul hears you
There's no no mourning here
Yes, there's no mourning here
There's no no mourning hear
And we'll have no morning here
Driving driving driving 3 am
Only to be at the place where we began
A 7 mile lane lay me at my wit's end
to lie here watch everything play at pretend
7 miles to grow old in
7 miles to watch your soaps in
7 miles to dig your grave in
7 miles to rise again from
We came to embrace the havoc
We came to play in traffic
Hold our heads up to artificial light
and say our prayers when
we can tell that it's night
We came to speak in tongues
but we only know teeth & gums
There's no no mourning here
Yes there's no mourning here
There's no no mourning hear
And we'll have no morning here
Stucco and skyscrapers
Tombstones and mile markers
A home is a 7 mile lane
Our home is a 7 mile lane
Did you hear about the flooding
Did you download blueprints to the ark
You better go and get your mother
She may need that bed made before dark
She could use that bed made before dark
Oh the future is unfolding
It is blue screen to be filled in
It's a skeleton of a riverbed
We put in another 7 mile lane
Yes we put in another 7 mile lane
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12. |
Downtrodden Up
05:42
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Downtrodden Up
Downtrodden was a relative of mine
We traveled here and there most everywhere
We walked onto the edge of the world and from there
He whispered, "jump girl, what else you gonna do?
Jump girl what else you got left to lose?"
Push. Downtrodden up
You wanna Push. Then push out
They came to push. Downtrodden up
You like to push. Then push Up
Skid Row was a street in my hometown
The last little corner of continental conquer
The great Euro American scam
With the non-tropical rain forests, the reservations,
and the Puget Sound
I stole all my city's sirens
I buried them in the dirt
Now I hear the center of the earth
Screaming "Red-Alert"
Screaming
How high was it you wanted to fly
How far you willing to fall to try
How high was it you wanted to fly
And how far you willing to fall to try
How high was it you wanted to fly
And how far you willing to fall to try
And Push
Downtrodden Up
You like to Push Then push Up
They came to push downtrodden up
You wanna push Then push up
Get out
And push
You see I am a deep sea diver
I'll go to outer space
I make my profession known in the ranks of our Fate
I am a deep sea diver
I've gone to outer space
And I scream to the stars that my homeland
is more than a human septic tank
And we are more than a rat race
We're so much more
Push downtrodden up
You like to push then push out/up
They came to push downtrodden up
You like to push Then push out/up
Get out and push! Downtrodden Up
You like to push! then push up
Get out and push! Downtrodden up
You like to push! Well push out/up
I found a new frontier in the Universe
It's a familiar face
It's the one that smiles when you feel most forgotten,
and says:
"Oh, I know you. It's been a long time.
H-how are you doing? W-what are you doing now?
You know, we come from the same place?
We're from the same place."
We come from the same place
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Bonfire Madigan San Diego, California
Bonfire Madigan, AKA Madigan Shive, is one of my favorite musicians of all time. She clutches her cello like a life-raft, singing in gorgeous yelps and hums. It doesn’t really matter if you like the kind of music Bonfire Madigan sings, because she does it so soulfully and gracefully, you can’t help but stand there open mouthed, gawking at her vocals and cello.— JS The Mercury Pdx, OR ... more
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