Get all 6 West My Friend releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of In Constellation, Quiet Hum, Shape of a Home, When The Ink Dries, Take It Slow, and Place.
1. |
When The Ink Dries
02:34
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When the ink dries on the page
When the head stands on his stage
When the creature's in her cage
Come what may
When the winter does not stay
When the summer turns to haze
When the paper goes in flames
Come what may
When the northern starts to blaze
When the darkness finds the waves
When the boats lie in decay
Come what may
When the suits lay down their claim
When the people do the same
When the hopeful find a maze
When the wicked do not pay
When the waters start to stain
When the peaceful turn to rage
When the rifles take aim
Come what may
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2. |
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Green for the envy that rises in her gut
And a pink blush as a betraying hue
Purple and blue for how she misses you
Each memory is a bruise of its own
She was lonely lonely
Ordinary lonesome blue
But now she’s tinted special
And she don’t need a soul, especially not you
White for the ghost of a kiss on her lips
Covered under coats of lipstick red
Jaundice yellow to remind her of her fellow
And all he took and all he left alone
Paisley plaid polkadots and stripes
Pinstripes tweed and corduroy
All the colours of the rainbow are my keepers now
I’ll never be alone, never be alone
It was the tattoo that loved her anyway
It drenched her skin, coloured every inch that it could fill in
The tattoo that loved her always
It held her close and whispered “Je t’aimerai pour toujours.”
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3. |
Missing You
03:01
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In the densest cities in the busiest parts
Sometimes the traffic noise gets so loud
Amidst the clap and thunder of SUVs
There isn’t room for romance
Two birds can’t even hear the love calls they’re singing out
I don’t know what I would do
If that was me missing you
Singing my heart out but never getting through
If that was me missing you, missing you
On the tallest mountains at the highest peaks
Sometimes compassion is thinner than air
Amidst a sudden flurry of summer snow
She focuses on the goal
And doesn’t see the stumbled footsteps she passes by
I don’t know what I would do
If that was me missing you
Reaching the summit but never knowing the truth
If that was me missing you, missing you
In the constellations in every person’s night sky
Some people say that our fate is inscribed
Do you believe that our fate is inscribed?
And in the horoscope that he read that day
It said the same, but it wouldn’t give him a name
Above his head, as he read shot a shooting star
I don’t know what I would do
If that was me missing you
Shooting through life but never catching my cue
If that was me missing you, missing you
If that was me missing you
Singing my heart out but never getting through
If that was me missing you, missing you
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4. |
Thin Hope
05:21
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Place her in a box on the stove and turn it up a little
It’ll be someone’s job to help her grow
We live on thin hope, thin hope
“Look at what I drew,” he said, and held it up a little
“Did you know they took children from their homes?”
“Look at what I did,” she thought, and pressed a little deeper
“This is the one thing that I can control myself”
A shallow winter’s riverbed visited at nightfall
And even though this mountain side’s not quite as familiar
Under every stone I think there must be a secret
Of how I came and how I lived and how I went
So choose your words like you choose one another
Charge your words with humility
And chew on your words like they’re the last supper you’ll eat
Place her in a box on the stove and turn it up a little
It’ll be someone’s job to help her grow if they can
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5. |
My Lover
02:59
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My lover lives upon the moon
She bares her cheek to me at noon
Unseen she rises at dawn
But at midnight she's in silver from her breasts down to her toes
My lover lives upon the moon
And I know that I'll see her soon
My lover lives up in a tree
Washes her cheek with the cold sea
She works with needle and thread
Knitting new hands in the springtime for the cedar and the oaks
My lover lives up in a tree
And I know that she'll save room for me
My lover lives upon the ground
She keeps her cheek cool and brown
These days she takes in the rain
But come summer she'll be dancing with her finery in rows
My lover lives upon the ground
And I know that she'll grow me a crown
My lover lives inside my heart
Gifted her cheek right from the start
She smoothes my skin with her hands
And it fills me up with lightness from my fingers to my nose
My lover lives inside my heart
And in hers she has given a part
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6. |
Troubles
04:30
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I have troubles, I have troubles raining down, raining down
All of our bodies are tender on the underside
So please don’t pack it up underneath your pride
In that tattered suitcase no
If you hit the ground running without a pause to where you’ll go
Then you’re only running
Then you’re only running from
I have troubles, I have troubles raining down on me
Yeah and this old road is a bringing me far from my home
All of our tender is held in place by what we’re owed
So never guarantee, watch for careful eyes
Aglow in morning light
‘Cause your skin’s only good as a shield if you hold it just so
So hold your choices
So hold your choices tight
Your burlesque show would be the best I’d know
Wrapped in shadows and fierce as hell
Your radio show would be the best I’d know
Listen closely and you’d hear an echo
Your travelling show would be the best I’d know
So familiar the tales you’d tell
And anything and everything you’d show would be the best I’d know
And I know, yeah I know, now I know that
Callus won’t form on broken skin
And I’m always shocked by the mess I’m in
And a thistle it knows, though it bends in the wind
That you can’t stop a-reaching and a-growing, no
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7. |
Lady Doubt
03:55
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The birds out my window are a cacophony of sound it’s undeniable
That they’re happy, they’re happy
And I’m not a widow but this nagging sense of loss is undeniable
Watching a spider hang from a thread two thousand times its body height above the ground
It’s fearless and carefree
And I’m not in free fall, but the bottom of stomach’s hanging out for sure
What are you a monster of? What are you if not my love?
It’s fumbling for a light switch in the slowly creeping darkness growing in your absence
Lady, Lady Doubt, that’s me
A man stacking boxes and another man unstacking so methodically
They’re piling with persistence
And from my vantage point oh I could never say with certainty when they’ll stop
False appearances are often made of naught
But when we place them at the edge of thought
They fester and they grow, choking row on row
Casting shade about, hiding secret doubt
But no the birds out my window are a cacophony of sound
And there is no denying it
No the birds out my window are a cacophony of sound
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8. |
The Cat Lady Song
07:22
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It was moony and misty on a midsummer’s night
There was naught to do but watch the sparrows in flight
From two distant windows they stared through the panes
Contemplating why the moon waxes and wanes
And whether it wants to be nearer the earth
Or to come and curl up by the sun’s fiery hearth
These thoughts two soul mates did unknowingly share
As they purred and they pondered and groomed their fine hair
Tawny and scrawny and full of emotion
Sam was the cat who thought up the potion
To seal their owners’ love
He was not a cat to be stopped
Claire was a retired orthodontist
People said she was like a meteor but she burned brighter
Her shadow tried desperately to keep up each day
As she catapulted through life
Noah was salty and gray like the ocean
Once a sailor, now a cat, who preferred constant motion
He strolled through the garden each day
Pausing for flowers on his way
Nancy was a kindergarten teacher
Round around the edges and a smile like honey
When people asked her, “How do you do it all day?”
She said, “How could I not?”
Sam watched from high above as Noah smelled each lily bud
He thought, “I may be young and novice in love, and he looks much the same.”
“But if there’s a cat I do adore, Noah is his name.”
So he prepared a lover’s speech
Announced his presence with a screech
A cat’s love cannot be contained
Strings, strings, strings, oh lugubrious strings
Will be the song for me to you
No yowl or scowl from opposing feral feline
Will keep me from my prowl
So stare with me in awe
Stare with me in awe at the moon’s efficacy
Which not only pertains to its waxes and wanes
And the tides and the tide pools
But to the love of fools for those as priceless as thee
Noah turned his head skyward and responded to Sam
He said “Please don’t think that I’m not interested, ‘cause believe me I am.
It’s just that human society is unreliable.
Feline ferocity is undeniable.
How can you be sure our affections will not be treated as an affliction?
Maybe we should wait ‘till we’re older.
Maybe then we’ll be a little bolder.”
“It gets better,” yeah I heard that one before
If we’re cautious young the habit takes hold
So I’ll make you an offer you can’t ignore
I know a thing or two about chemistry
I bet your Claire and my Nancy know a thing too
I saw some sparks when she was over for tea
Why don’t we make up a pot of love potion stew?
If we think hard oh I’m sure we’ll know just what to do
Set up a picnic and wait for the cupid to strike
‘Cause if Nancy loves Claire, and Claire fancies Nancy
Soon we’ll be roomies in our cat lady house
Our love won’t be tragic like the slow death of a mouse
“It gets better,” yeah I heard that one before
They can make space for us now, oh not tomorrow
‘Cause nobody says what you ought to do when
When two cat ladies fall in love
You can sleep until noontime, eat pâté with good wine
When cat ladies fall in love
You can love whom your heart wants and build up your family tree
There is no end to petting and never much fretting
When cat ladies fall in love
Nobody says what you ought to when
When two cat ladies fall in love
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9. |
Ode to Sylvia Plath
03:51
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Fig tree fruit crawls with worms to the undiscerning eye
And like most things, it takes time to cure the meat inside
I once sat here in the crux of this tree
Watching fruit reach out in front of me
I sat there, holding my fear to my heart
Watching fruit fall one by one ‘cause I refused to take a part
So put all your figs in a basket and float them downstream
Where the river goes you’ll never know if you don’t aim to starve
Just give it your all ‘till you’ve no more to give
All our steps lead somewhere, especially the ones that aren’t taken
And I don’t know which you took, but I’m glad they brought you here
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10. |
Baleen Whale
04:24
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Some things sink and some things float, it’s a toss up
Some things fly and some things don’t, oh you never know
Did you trick me like that baleen whale I know?
Are you east or west, am I heads or tails?
Who knows
‘Cause I like your salty undertones
And I like your skull and your crossbones
And sometimes I want, I want to bring you home
And sometimes I think you’re quite similar to me
You have an octopus hiding beneath the sea
And I have a whale on a roof seeing as far as he can see
So might you come drop your anchor in my bay?
Step off the dock, get land sick for a day
And maybe before you go for a while you’ll stay
Then kiss my cheek before you set your sail
I’ll kiss my kerchief and post it in the mail
We all love pirates and all that they entail
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11. |
Dark and Deep
02:31
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Oh in the dark and deep
Where the light don’t always reach past the leaves
People anthropomorphizing
“What a pretty thing.”
“Did you hear her tweet?”
Oh in a backroom hall
Feet a-tappin’ in a nicotine fog
With tunes so supple she spells out trouble
Amidst a the rubble of barroom brawl
Hear them say “All the pretty little songbirds on a line.
So familiar, it’s all in how they try to differ.
Each one has a place to define.”
Oh in the hush backstage
You catch a guarded look that’s hard to gauge
You wonder does she sing lullabies
To closing eyes or her lover’s sighs?
But this story is more old than new
And the light don’t always shine on what’s true
It’s people anthropomorphizing
“What a pretty thing.”
“Did you hear her tweet?”
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12. |
Last Call
05:25
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I could've downed a dozen Old-Fashioneds
I could've downed a dozen like they do when they want to feel true
I could've downed a dozen but I didn't
I've got things to do
And it's last call at the bar in my head
The numbers on the jukebox are still flashing red
The tab has been drowned, you're nowhere around
So I'll write a song so maybe you'll come back
I could've told a story about the sun
I could've told a story of driftwood and pebbles and waves
I could've told a story of how's the river
Of how the treaty's in graves
And it's last call at the bar in my head
The talk has been circling 'round folks long since dead
The temperature's lean, you're nowhere to be seen
So I'll write a song so maybe you'll come back
And it's last call at the bar in my head
I'm telling this woman of something I'd read
My eyes are cast down, you're nowhere to be found
So I'll write a song so maybe
I could've loved a little closer to home
I could've loved a little slower to show
I could've loved a little lighter, a little softer
A little more in my place
And it's last call at the bar in my head
I pull up my coat for the walk to my bed
I'm a stranger tonight, you're nowhere in sight
So tomorrow, I'll write a song
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West My Friend Victoria, British Columbia
In the modern musical landscape, it’s rare to hear something as put-together as three-piece Cascadian folk outfit West My Friend - something so layered, deeply symphonic, baroque, and mysterious in its own winking way while still courting an edge of disaster. Simple is safe, but complex is fiery, intricate, and ultimately more rewarding. ... more
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