Life Underwater - LP

by James O'Brien

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1.
Throat 02:31
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When first in love you mechanize distribute forces, calculate you itemize and agonize and stoke the fires and regulate And maybe then the fires will stoke you back and lying on the couch you realize her swollen mouth and say, “I’m not surprised it’s you” It’s real It’s really Deep in love and swimming for the shore you make an island of an ordinary day It’s just an ordinary day Hopelessly you’re lost inside the task at hand, inventing you needn’t count on muscle memory I’m not surprised it’s you It’s real It’s really In your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat When love is over, love is through well, you might sit around for a week or two and think on all the things he’s done to you Or, you might call him on the phone and tell him all the ways that he was wrong or you might tear the phone out of the wall And say, “Fuck it, baby, I’m not surprised it’s you, you, you” It’s real It’s really In your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat When you come back out on the street the sunlight touches down upon your face and all the venom in your veins just burns away You come back like a flaming tire rolling across corn fields lighting all the boring people up into the sky I want to be there I want to be there feel that heat to feel that heat to feel that heat It’s real It’s really In your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat It’s in your throat
2.
Jacinta 04:08
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It only happens when you die when all that is you slides out on the tile and all eyes turn on hands demanding why It’s greater than any drug greater than chemicals we think we are, we are not we are only mixtures Cold night in Boston Cold night in Boston Later on, I sing what I can sing it is not me, I do not do anything it is you, some strange harmony I want you to know they roared not for me, they roared for what they’d seen behind familiar doors we leave applause behind tonight for all the “folk stars” Cold night in Boston Cold night in Boston Later still, stereo low, television no sound the light is enough, my lover is sleeping in the other room she is beautiful Two pair in my hand and a bull I’d give back every pair until two thousand and twelve just to reverse your fall, leave you standing there leaning cool against that wall just reverse your fall Cold night in Boston Cold night in Boston Cold night in Boston
3.
Living in Love 03:27
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Aggravation, aggravation building and insinuating aggravation’s wearing on me wearing me down Hungry, I am hungry my hunger’s like a tumor growing bigger than a basketball today Not for us the rising tide of art or of integrity the burning smell, the smell of progress undermining all the words, so I can sing Sometimes I feel like I’m really going crazy some days it is you and it’s not me we are walking half-blind through the valley of ambition thinking this must be like living in love Slake my thirst, just slake my thirst you only make it worse when you prolong the deed the deed is driving into my skull I have a kitchen full of melons I’ve got melons on my mind melons soft and round and full of seed Waiting for the night to come waiting for the night’s cool kiss to chomp down on the meat of things the soft sweet orange meat of things and eat Sometimes I feel like I’m really going crazy some days it’s not me and it’s not you we are walking half-blind through the valley of ambition thinking this must be like living in love Speaking, I am speaking to you, sweating out the details like a bitter red poison that came in through the skin At the end of it, we’re wasted like two unconscious shaman who danced and fought and lived with all the demons for on hour And in one hour we’ll be free we’ll be hauling down the runway the shadows of the afternoon are falling behind Sometimes I feel like I’m really going crazy some days it’s not me and it’s not you we are walking half-blind through the valley of ambition thinking this must be like living in love we are walking half-blind through the valley of ambition thinking this must be like living in love
4.
Orbit of You 03:26
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I feel you on a train, I feel you in my clothes I feel you like an accident I don’t know you very well I feel you at 600 miles like a power of the occult I feel you when you’re close enough to breathe being difficult Whatever they’ve told you whatever you may do as I drown myself with words here exposing every truth there is a long distance between resistance and the orbit of you I am stripped down to my anchors I am stripped down to my bolts like a rabbit in the God machine I’m holding on for hope, for spirit withholding nothing Whatever they’ve told you whatever you may do as I drown myself with words here exposing every truth there is a long distance between resistance and the orbit of you the orbit of you Willpower like a fist exposing my condition I hope he finds you like the elements and without inhibition lets you drown him lets you blow his world away ‘cause it’s you that does this to me with your eyes of radiant grey I’m going to write you out of my system maybe today Whatever they’ve told you whatever you may do as I drown myself with words here exposing every truth there is a long distance between resistance and the orbit of you the orbit of you the orbit of you
5.
Big Time at the Iron House 04:29
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Turn out the floodlight, the captain comes in it doesn’t look good for you, it doesn’t look good for you I’ll take the irons, the switchback gurus I’ll take current, I’ll take what’s coming to me And dawn tears a gentle, tatter-y hole in the domes of the hemisphere, rearrange the frequency and down in the bunker, way underneath they’ve all gone insane, they’ve all gone insane it’s finally Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house The city lined up in twos and threes at the chapel of Oliver North the reverend come unto us He did what he had to, he made his own rules we’re told he’s a hero, well that’s the beginning yeah, that’s the ignition point that’s the ignition point It was downhill from there in the space of twelve years give or take a month or two they were firmly entrenched and ready to fight The southwest went first well, don’t let them fool you the old wound of Texas opened at Waco infected Montana the amputation at Ruby Ridge failed No longer a doctor, no longer a patient just two bleeding buffalo and a mountain of cancer and the martyr’s erected in the city of Oklahoma like the beach after Normandy, bodies all over and me, I’m the antichrist, strapped to this chair in south Florida Screaming, “I know the answer; wait I can stop this” but the man at the main switch, he gives me the juice and says, “I didn’t hear nothing, now how about you” “I didn’t hear nothing, now how about you” Get down on your knees This is not drowning This is not playing for the king Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house Well after dark, in the bowels of the city they pull down their shades and place their cut but firm hands on the good book of Dylan and swear by the graves of their fathers and mother — confirm Then out on the street, when they find a good spot they each part their lips and might get out a verse that sounds something like it sounds something like Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house Big time at the iron house
6.
Andale 01:59
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When they come, they come in numbers they come on bleeding steeds they check you in the aisles and sweep you at the knees they say, “Sign and live forever decline and die like this” well, it all comes down to seconds trapped there in your fist Andale Andale Andale I’ve seen more than enough I’ve taken all I think you’ve got to give And I ain’t giving up Well, the deal is like a doorway where you stand ‘til it’s your time you turn and say, “I’m going” I look, and I say, “Fine” you said, “You could come in with me we’d be like two fiery gas giants” what, burning up the system well, those are my lines so, you go on ahead and you do what you must do, but whatever happens it happens to you Andale Andale Andale I’ve seen more than enough I’ve taken all I think you’ve got to give And I ain’t giving up Andale Andale Andale I’ve seen more than enough I’ve taken all I think you’ve got to give And I ain’t giving up Now, the lucky get the virus it gets them in their hands lying in the darkness, they begin to understand it strips them of their need it leaves them saddened and empty but stronger and free Andale Andale Andale I’ve seen more than enough I’ve taken all I think you’ve got to give And I ain’t giving up Andale Andale Andale I’ve seen more than enough I’ve taken all I think you’ve got to give And I ain’t giving up
7.
Roadsong 03:59
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City lay by the lake like a hand like a thumb, thumb, hillside, hillside two p.m., dog day afternoon I just got in, bus stop still steaming like Albany, cheap coffee, styrofoam the voice of Jehovah I take a left, I take a curl I take hot shower, I take hard soap I take propaganda and you and me in the rain Who is the king here is it a good call yeah, well it’s a good call we all lock arms and dance around the ivory tower this is not working right this is not living well These are the days and nights that bring me back to you Tight stovepipe black baby shirt girl standing in the doorway waiting for the big sauce double shot soy top cappuccino shot of red red brick under umbrella dissolve, new scene why, you and me in the heart of ship city Who is the king here is it a good call yeah, well it’s a good call we all lock arms and dance around the ivory tower this is not working right this is not living now These are the days and nights that bring me back to you These are the days and nights that bring me back to you I know this city, I know this bridge one car length, two car lengths, three he slaps his knee, he pounds the window he stuffs his face, he runs to the restroom I pull the rolled up pants from behind my head the length of one Greyhound I pull the rolled up pants from behind my head the length of one Greyhound Who is the king here is it a good call yeah, well it’s a good call we all lock arms and dance around the ivory tower this is not working right this is not living now These are the days and nights that bring me back to you These are the days and nights that bring me back to you These are the days, these are the nights These are the days, these are the nights These are the days and nights that bring me back to you
8.
Islands and Phantoms 03:30
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I’m dying by my own light these the first words I can say my old world has entrapped me new world far, far away across the ocean, the lead-brown sea the ghosts of all these things come floating back to me look to the rivers, the yawning sky look to the hilltop, shrouded lines of cotton floating brides look in the desert, look in the sand note the way each grain clings glistening to the strong parts of your hands Carry away, far out to sea islands and phantoms come whispering come whispering Well, shed their accusations shed you of their greed shed their commentating like you’d shed your clothes for me pick me up, I’m broken strap these boots back to my feet clad me in some armor and you get me back out on the streets she said, “I cannot do this for you you must assemble your own defenses though the battle will be bloody and the price will seem too great go forth, your world awaits you and if we swing our throws together it is for fate and not for us to decide” Carry away, far out to sea islands and phantoms come whispering come whispering Carry away, far out to sea islands and phantoms come whispering come whispering
9.
Willowed 01:54
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Sometimes you just bloom erase and drift away sometimes when the moon callous, yellow, and Midas-touched touches your shoulder when we grow older will you still reach for this or will your arms narrow, brittle, and break Will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed Sometimes you just kill me sometimes I just lie there sometimes you are deeper and colder sometimes you are sudden and bright sometimes I am stammering, stupid, and bleeding you take what you need and I take what I want sometimes it’s enough when we grow older will you still try for this or will you just soften and sink into the same deep well Will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed Here comes the sadness here comes the salt parade here comes the sadness here comes the salt parade Will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed will you bend willowed
10.
Colorado 04:52
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They came down from the roof wearing heavy black vests for to stop the bullets proof of nothing, they wielded similar guns the idea black and inked like a nightmare, to shoot children, to stop death on children’s wings in the hallways, in the graveyard, in the boiling cafeteria, fifteen men, helmets, plexi-visors they are searching, they are searching, they are searching searching for the sons of the men of whom in turn they once were the schoolmates for to shotgun, for to shotgun, for to slay them where they stand for to shotgun, for to shotgun, for to slay them where they stand then they comb the rows of lockers rows of blasted metal, backpacks, brains interconnected, the footprints of the tale in the classroom a shaft of brilliant sunlight on a chalkboard it reads the topic of the day conflict and resolution, rethinking the American landscape in the office, in the choir room, in the rafters of the ceiling the remnants of the hearts of innocents still beating they are dancing, they are dancing, they are dancing, they are dancing jerking like the puppets of the angel of mercy And I’m running harder and harder Colorado on my mind I am running, running harder and harder Colorado on my mind Then they find them in the book room wearing jackets of explosives their own gray centers splattered across bulletins and carpets there’s no answer at the nexus only hints and intuition the survivors are survivors, but the finished are not reason on the bookshelves, the databases, in the silence of the pages nothing, no wisdom is forthcoming but it’s Lazarus, it’s Lazarus, it’s Lazarus again rising from the fluids of his still and cooling sister
11.
Transmission 03:27
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I’m tired, I don’t want to write anymore I keep taking ‘em down, to kill out the voices what would you say, if I told you it gets under the door like floodwater How very different how very strong We don’t talk too much about it we don’t smile except sideways we don’t communicate, except in lyric what would you do, if I told you the truth we could get out of here, get into the sun How very different how very strong how very brave how very long it’s taking and you’re still there I count the days by the teeth I’ve knocked out you count the weeks by the color of my skin I knock into the microphone I’m almost naked here; I’m almost alone How very different how very strong how very brave how very long it’s taking and you’re still there now I believe in you I’d set you on fire this is our transmission How very different how very strong, strong, strong how very brave how very long it’s taking and you’re still there now I believe in you I’d set you on fire oh, this is our transmission

credits

released July 10, 2000

All songs written by James O'Brien

Guitar and vocals: James O'Brien
Drums: Dylan Callahan
Bass: Rob Laurens
Keyboards: Kevin So
Keyboards and bass: Jordan TIshler
Cello: Sigi Tishler

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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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