A Bothersome Injuries Forty (Vol. 5) - EP

by James O'Brien

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1.
Bad Milk (Demo 2007) 02:44
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I looked into the eyes of the imposter. I waited for him to speak. He made no sound; there was no sound from him — my mind soft and my body weak. Bad milk Bad medicine I know “Six whole years,” he said. “Just one more hour and I am free.” He poured one long last ounce of it. “Lift your glass,” he said. “This one’s on me.” Bad milk Bad medicine I know Bad milk Bad medicine I know In the station, the great mist surround me. Ticket in my hand, I can go home. The gray walls surrounded him, and his eyes gently closed. Bad milk Bad medicine I know Bad milk Bad medicine I know Bad milk Bad medicine I know Bad milk Bad medicine I know
2.
Minotaur Heart (Demo 2007) 02:42
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Her head is a maze and I’m not asking; strike the billows in the curtains, your ghost comes ‘round. I was a Jesus to her Mary, born of starlight in a basket, south of mother’s milk. After the war has gone And the steel rusts in your bones It’s the big closedown Come on down Come on down Come on down Come on down Try my minotaur heart They will enslave you, if you let them; carpet your walls, undress your best plans — expose your hopeful runner’s heart. After the war has gone And the steel rusts in our bones It’s the big closedown Come on down Come on down Come on down Come on down Try my minotaur heart Come on down Come on down Come on down Come on down Try my minotaur heart You’ll be the wanderer in my wasteland; I’ll be the water for your dead sand. Do you understand? Do you understand? After the war has gone And the steel rusts in our bones It’s the big closedown Come on down Come on down Come on down Come on down Try my minotaur heart Come on down Come on down Come on down Come on down Try my minotaur heart
3.
RA(I)N (Demo 2007) 04:25
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All the artists have run to seminary school. The Fort Apache in your head’s on fire. Everybody’s sober; everybody’s cool. I read poetry down the wire. I keep a little radiation under my skin. I’ve got the poisoner’s curse — never swallow again. If you’re aching, if you’re unglued … Jump jazz. Jive. James Joyce. Geronimo I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran boy that ran the rain Even if you’re quiet, you can’t be good. It’s a world of should/not/should. Read everything under the roof and you’re stabbed by the literal truth. I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran boy that ran the rain ran the rain I think I’ve carved out my last invitation. Let me out of here, this ain’t the station. I strap on my sandals; I go to Rome. Let go the handle; pick up pick up the phone … pick up the phone. I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran the rain I am the boy that ran boy that ran the rain
4.
Strangers Again (Demo 2007) 02:32
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Coffeeshops and office parks; cafeteria throwing sparks A wave of motion from a gun; don’t doubt me Radiation suits in cases An endless tide of merchants’ faces West: the warheads cross Pacific These could be the best days of your life Don’t think twice about me These could be the best days of your life Don’t think twice All girls in gray and silver stockings — platinum pale particular somethings; all pink clouds are silk; they are mirages. Awake some warm and gentle morning, the Eastern promise … solemn warning; flesh to wake, tomorrow; today is useful. These could be the best days of your life Don’t think twice about me These could be the best days of your life Don’t think twice about me
5.
Bittersweet (Demo 2002) 02:10
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She said, “What do I get if I don’t get money, honey, in the big delicious whirlwind? I was learning to write, to spell my name, I blew it. I should’ve listened to the weather.” Bitter seed Bittersweet Bitter me You, you were my chess piece. You, you were my rook. I tried to castle out of turn; I blew it. You said, “That’s not in the rules; just read.” Bitter seed Bittersweet Bitter me She said, “What do I get if I don’t get love, love, love for blood? Blood, blood for a rose in June; I’m growing.” Bitter seed Bittersweet Bitter me Bitter seed Bittersweet Bitter me

about

The year 2007 turned out to be fertile ground. In addition to “Barbed Wire” (see Vol. 3), the record shows that I wrote and recorded “Minotaur Heart” ; “RA(I)N” ; and “Strangers Again”. Grouping these together, they constitute a body of work but the threads and contexts differ. They’re very separate kinds of songs.

“Bad Milk” owes much to “All Along the Watchtower,” on John Wesley Harding (Bob Dylan, 1967) and also to “Isis,” via Dylan’s Desire (1976). It’s a Western of some kind. And it’s a suicide song. And it’s a story in the voice of an old type of story, older still. From a technical perspective, you can hear the edits in this one, places where I maybe pasted together separate takes or punched-in on the laptop; that is the way of home recordings at one’s desk.

I hear a familiar and earnest voice at the center of “Minotaur Heart”. The lyrics of this one include an allusion to a certain Mancunian songwriter. Not the only allusive lifting of another writer’s work in my material, but maybe my personal favorite. Rather than borrowing, I manage to steal from the quarry this time … in the way that a mature writer steals and does not borrow. Which is also a reference to another writer, and in this case my borrowing is only a borrowing and not a theft.

Of all the later lyrics and recordings, “RA(I)N” is both a triumph and a mystery to me. I think about the “poisoner’s curse” frequently — an idea that came to me, that if you spend your life working with something that kills you if swallowed then you’ll never swallow anything like other people do. I think about the title, which contains three of the words in the one-line chorus of the song. “Even if you’re quiet, you can’t be good.” What a prison of the mind in that condition. “Let me out of here; this ain’t the station.” I listen to this one more frequently than some of the others. A message to myself from the past. Still trying to figure it out.

For a moment, something struck me. It might have been Liam Gallagher in an interview, or an Oasis song, or a Blur record. “Strangers Again” jumped out. Some digital artifacts at the very start, but then it sorts out. I love the chorus, here, and a bit of Billy Bragg-esque rattle and clatter in the guitar outro (on the level of DNA only, not a conscious choice as I remember it). And the voice is not one that I use elsewhere. A singular song in the catalog; it would have been interesting to pursue its style a bit.

There are a couple of instances across the arc of all the recordings that represent breakup songs written for other people. “Throat” is one of them, back on Life Underwater. “Bittersweet” is another. At the time, I sent the lyrics to the person for whom they were written but I don’t think (s)he ever heard them performed. This track is from the sessions that surrounded the very beginnings of Church of the Kitchen Sink. I can hear a certain Athens, Georgia singer rattling around in the engine, this one … maybe a little too much of him, in fact. But there it is. We carry on.

All these tracks were mastered in 2017 by Matt Girard.

The artwork is by Joe Kowan.

credits

released January 1, 2018

Bad Milk: 2007 ; Recorded/Mixed by: laptop home demo ; Mastered by: Matt Girard, Transference Audio, 2017 ; Artwork: Joe Kowan

Minotaur Heart: 2007 ; Recorded/Mixed by: laptop home demo ; Mastered by: Matt Girard, Transference Audio, 2017 ; Artwork: Joe Kowan

RA(I)N: 2007 ; Recorded/Mixed by: laptop home demo ; Mastered by: Matt Girard, Transference Audio, 2017 ; Artwork: Joe Kowan

Strangers Again: 2007 ; Recorded/Mixed by: laptop home demo ; Mastered by: Matt Girard, Transference Audio, 2017 ; Artwork: Joe Kowan

Bittersweet: 2002 ; Recorded/Mixed by: Jordan Tishler ; Studio: Digital Bear Entertainment, Boston, Mass. ; Mastered by: Matt Girard, Transference Audio, 2017 ; Artwork: Joe Kowan

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James O'Brien New York, New York

James O’Brien toured the U.S. and the U.K. from 1998–2004 playing politically aware songs, sometimes solo and sometimes with a band, sharing billings with artists such as Hamell on Trial, Dan Bern, Michael McDermott, John Sinclair, Bill Miller and Freedy Johnson.

In 2017, after a 13-year hiatus, he began to release archival and new material, expanding his catalog to fourteen albums as of 2022. ... more

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