Get all 10 The Special Pillow releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Special Pillow Meets the Space Monster, That's the Way It's Got to Be, Mind Wipe, 1921, World's Finest, Sleeping Weird, A Billion Years Ago, Hudson River Dreamboat, and 2 more.
1. |
To No Avail
02:32
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You say that you believe that you can fly
You tell me I can make it if I try
Tell me the check is in the mail
I’m following your breadcrumb trail
I’m keeping on to no avail
Tell me that promised land is up ahead
That war is over and that punk’s not dead
Teaspooned a tunnel out of jail
To drink from your unholy grail
I’m pressing on to no avail
Everyone
Should dream some stupid dream
Till dreamtime’s done
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2. |
In Retrograde
02:05
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Your diary key
swallowed impulsively
but not by me
I lived the Reader’s Digest version
My Christmas tree
festooned with frippery
haphazardly
devouring your best tree surgeon
*************************
Our family curse
wasn’t written in free verse
We’ve got it made in retrograde
Our family jewels
melt into tepid pools
We’ve got it made in retrograde
***************************
So far off-track
I’m bringing backward back
My direct station’s
closed on days that end in y
(and “why not”)
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3. |
Workaround
02:59
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Splish, splash
You were casting your curse in the bath
Engraved in Latin, cause it had to last
Meanwhile the cursed tongue curled up and died
A spit spun
By a little dog inside a wheel
Although it may prepare the perfect meal’s
A canine wound to kitchen pride
But what’s a Baskerville without a hound?
Well, I’ve been working on a workaround
Wherein the one that turns the spit’s not me
And it’s another Frankenstein unbound
But, I’ve been working on a workaround
Where I’m the one that sets your curses free
Ding dong
But the song’s wrong, the queen is alive
And the bees are thriving in the hive
And their honey is the kind you steal
Double down dog dare
There’s no blood on the moon
I’m running round a Neolithic tomb
Just like a little dog inside a wheel
But what’s a Baskerville without a hound?
Well, I’ve been working on a workaround
Wherein the one that turns the spit’s not me
And it’s another Frankenstein unbound
But, I’ve been working on a workaround
Where I’m the one that sets your curses free
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4. |
Third of July
03:34
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On the day before the holiday
You might have to rent a car
I might leave the office early
we might have to travel far
****************
The third of July
we’re on our way
but not on time.
They’ll leave us behind
out of our hands
The third of July
******************
It might be a traffic nightmare
There might be a flight delay
we might wait around the airport
and run out of things to say
****************
The third of July
we’re on our way
but not on time.
They’ll leave us behind
out of our hands
The third of July
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5. |
Infinite Regression
04:39
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Ouroboros of distress,
what’s your source of bitterness?
Let me guess:
Has the universe declined to fall in line with your demands?
[mine all mine, so fall in line]
********************
You’re heading toward the point of infinite regression
You never reach the point of ultimate regret
You’re holding on to hope for divine intercession
Mad at the world because it hasn’t happened yet
***************************
Little engine of dismay,
what’s your problem of the day?
It’s okay
if the universe decides to fall in line with your demands
[it’s not mine, don’t cross that line]
********************
You’re heading toward the point of infinite regression
You never reach the point of ultimate regret
You’re holding on to hope for divine intercession
Mad at the world because it hasn’t happened yet
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6. |
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I found a pet plastic moonrock
wrapped up in a life-size map of the world
You saw a sign on the Sunrise Deli wall:
“Olive Loaf No More”
I don’t know why you didn’t try harder
And I don’t know why you would
But when you decide to tell me the reason
It better be something good
Some fine Canadian whisky
Tuesday night at the sports bar, faking it
Don’t save all your party time for the weekend
You might not last that long
I don’t know why you didn’t try harder
And I don’t know why you would
But when you decide to tell me the reason
It better be something good
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7. |
Staring at the Screen
01:18
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Love’s a bubble bath
Lunch a fatted calf
Boredom’s a machine
when I’m staring at the screen
Life’s a bar of soap
Death’s and antelope
Boredom’s a machine
when I’m staring at the screen
Truth is a massage
Cheese, aussi fromage
Boredom’s a machine
and I’m staring at the screen
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8. |
Unwinding Like a Clock
03:21
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Cold comfort in the summertime
Patio-side screwcap wine
Once demonic, twice divine
At the wrong end of the line
*****************
Once you get started,
I can’t wait for it to stop
Counting ceiling tiles
And unwinding like a clock
********************
Warm welcome for the winter’s tale:
Aspirin and pale brown ale
There used to be a trace, a trail
Now it’s just a dot, dot, dot
*****************
Once you get started,
I can’t wait for it to stop
Eating toilet paper
And unwinding like a clock
Once I get started,
You can’t wait for it to stop
Counting ceiling tiles
And unwinding like a clock
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9. |
Contradictionary
03:29
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10. |
Coming Soon
07:00
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The moment everything is fine
Is coming soon
some afternoon
The time when everything aligns
Is down the line
But coming soon...
***********************
You thought the time would come
When you’d make hay from all the gunk
That drags you down down down
And you will
The memory of golden pain
Just like a sack of golden grain
Is grist for the mill
***********************
well I could learn to be contented with the life I’ve got
or I could find a box of money in a parking lot
or I could mess up everything then try and start again
It’s coming soon but I don’t know when
well I could learn to be contented with the life I’ve got
or I could find a box of money in a parking lot
or I could wait and wait and wait, just like I’m waiting now
It’s coming soon but I don’t know how
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11. |
Airlocked and Earthbound
02:50
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Pressed in a nest with plastic leaves
The mockingbird is blocked
From clucking at the clock
with disapproval
Dressed in a vest with drastic sleeves
You stamp around the stump
Until I get around to its removal
**************************
But you can tell that I don’t get around
And I can’t see you, airlocked and earthbound
*************************************
Beneath a moldy chestnut tree
the village smithy lies
a jug of wine a loaf of bread and so on
And from the plastic orange grove
the mocking bird departs
But doesn’t leave me anything to go on
**************************
And you can tell that I don’t get around
But I can’t see you, airlocked and earthbound
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12. |
Bad Luck and Bad Living
01:42
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The golden days of yore
Were never such a bore
And now it’s gonna be the same sad story as every time before
Boy blunder torn asunder
A song will drag you under
You say you wonder why it didn’t work, but I don’t wonder
Bad luck, bad living
And the march of time
I don’t know how to stop
But I know where to draw the line
When everything seems great
The fickle fist of fate
Says everything’s too much
Too soon
Too lame
Too bad
Too late
When skies are overcast
does light shine from the past?
And do you have to be the worst to thirst
or be the best to last?
Bad luck, bad living
And the march of time
I don’t know how to stop
But I know where to draw the line
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13. |
The Pixelated Cloud
07:00
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14. |
Rainbow Clams
01:23
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15. |
Supermassive Disgrace
02:08
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16. |
Ultimate Recession
01:37
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Everyone
Should dream some stupid dream
Till dreamtime’s done
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The Special Pillow Hoboken, New Jersey
For the past two decades, The Special Pillow have operated from the margins of the marginal, creating a distinctive string- driven sound—a heady brew encompassing concise ’60s-flavored pop gems, dreamy psychedelic reveries, and a propulsive drive redolent of the antipodean indie acts of the ‘80s. ... more
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