Album: Ithaca Artist: Michael Guy Bowman Cover Art: Michael Guy Bowman Has Track Art: false Date: January 1, 2012 Date Added: February 12, 2021 Color: '#c82537' Groups: - Michael Guy Bowman - Beyond URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/ithaca Commentary: |- Michael Guy Bowman: Experimental aircraft, lost civilizations, mythic quests, the Philippines, true love, utter loss, and the transience of life - the many subjects of Ithaca, the first independently released Bowman album. Scattergun in its genre and chaotically retro in its fashion, Ithaca is an eclectic mix of songs both personal and abstract. Bowman once again brings his familiar voice and ever-changing production style along with several friends from the Homestuck music project and elsewhere. Ithaca is calling. After spending years making music exclusively for Homestuck, I branched out with 2012’s Ithaca, my first independently released album. Following up on my album-within-a-web-comic [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido]], I moved away from my palette of digital synths to focus on a classic rock style. Out come the guitars, the bass, the little toy harp. Shades of Eno, Bowie, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, even a swing tune. It’s a freaky affair. The ideas came from everywhere. There’s a song based on something I heard in a dream when I was eight years old, ([[Old Buggy Now]]). There’s one about an engineer who falls in love with an experimental aircraft ([[Tacit Blue]]). There’s a carriage ride through a Manila’s Chinatown district ([[Kalesa In Binondo]]). The title track [[Ithaca]] recalls Odysseus, a bowman himself. All of it is peppered with guest contributions from Internet friends. --- Track: Old Buggy Now Duration: '3:35' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/old-buggy-now Lyrics: |- Riding through the night like a jaded vagabond No one else in sight I could be the only one Hear me radio, play the song I know Take me where I long to go 'Cause there’s nobody nobody now Who can hear me or stop me now In this old buggy old buggy now In this old buggy old buggy now Guided by the stars burning up petroleum Here inside my car I could be the only one Somewhere in the sky a satellite on high Watches with its lonely eye --- Track: Ascension Artists: Michael Guy Bowman, James Dever Contributors: - Luke Benjamins (eight bit sequencing) - Andrew Huo (violin) - Solatrus (lead synth) - Peter Turner (synth solo) Duration: '3:55' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/ascension Lyrics: |- Long before there was you and I The ancient ones lived in the sky A kingdom built upon the stars A million tiny points of light Do you ever wonder where they’ve gone? Don’t you ever wonder why? The ancient ones they rose and fell For reasons that we just can’t tell Cataclysm - maybe so Perhaps we’re just not meant to know Empire never lasts or so it seems But some say they’re still with us in our dreams Ascending off to god knows where the ancient ones took parole Legend says they were running from a force beyond their control And the kingdom that was left behind Was turned to dust from which mankind Did first emerge like cinders up from the coal And you and I we are the ash Of demons slain and cities smashed The ancient ones they reached too far And thus for now the world is ours And though it’s just a legend so they say Perhaps they will return again someday --- Track: Come With Me Duration: '4:47' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/come-with-me Contributors: - Thomas Ferkol (guitar solo) - Tavia Morra (backup vocals) Lyrics: |- Your weak young heart keeps playing its part for show And though you never say never you never say yes or no Even if you never grow up you’ll still grow old So why do the warmest welcomes leave you cold? Dust in the shadows, smoke in your eyes Heart full of anger, head full of lies There’s no way of knowing which way you’re going But at least you’re free, at least you're free So when the wind is blowing and the stars aren’t showing You can come with me, come with me Your weak young heart is resting safe and sound But the child you were is nowhere to be found Well I’ve read in books that most folks feel this way But the game cannot resume 'til you press play No place to run to, no use pretending Life in this moment, not in its ending --- Track: Tacit Blue Duration: '2:15' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/tacit-blue Contributors: - Clark Powell (string arrangement and sequencing) - Nick Smalley (additional sequencing) Lyrics: |- Back in the lab I’m running the test If you won’t fly then I won’t rest Turbines turning in the tunnel of love Upon that perch sits my dove Built for stealth like a silent blade My cobalt queen adorned in jade Navy seal but Air Force-made Please be true, the things you’ll do Tacit Blue Hear my siren sound her bell Your heart belongs to someone else Sapphire spy you were built for war My best girl a government whore I should have known that’s what you’d be I set you up they set you free How could you do this to me? Like a shrew the tramp just flew Tacit Blue Years go by and I get no sign Until one day by chance I find Blackbird, Valkyrie standing in place Between their wings - familiar face Oblong dame - a museum piece Eternally posed for eyes that feast Home at last with cousin and niece But once I knew the other you Tacit Blue --- Track: Rodeo Clown Duration: '4:09' Contributors: - Marcy Nabors (flute) URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/rodeo-clown Lyrics: |- I'm just a good machine You turn me on and I’ll get by But you’re just like gasoline You burn right up until you’re dry, oh why? I don’t want to have to hold your hand But you have always been unpredictable, bless your soul Why can’t you see? You are a rodeo clown Does that not get you down? We only keep you around for a laugh But i just can’t help but frown Do you just like to be hurt? You see the danger and flirt And they laugh while you’re face down in the dirt Does that just get you high? Making a good friend cry I’d stay but I’m not gonna watch you die I sometimes envy you There’s magic each time you arrive But i just can’t get into you You never live you just survive, oh why? I just want to walk by your side But you have always walked on the tightest rope Is there no hope? Why can’t you see? --- Track: Cerulean Skies Duration: '3:22' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/cerulean-skies Lyrics: "I never had the best of health\nJust a lot of time and a little wealth\n\ I never failed, I only tried\nJust a moment too late, the dream had died\n\nI\ \ never saw cerulean skies\nOr the light of the truth behind the lies\nI never\ \ received, I only took\nFrom the few pages left of every un-burned book\n\nI\ \ never once saw time well-spent\nOr a wise man who was not hell-bent\nI never\ \ spoke, I only screamed\nAs the men upstairs shot down my dreams\n\nCome on (come\ \ right on) \nCome on (sit down with sin)\nCome on (no way to win)\n'Cause if\ \ you can’t kiss ass then you can’t begin\n\nCome on (no chance in hell)\nCome\ \ on (think for yourself)\nCome on (you might as well)\n'Cause a good student\ \ has nothing on a good sell\n\nCome on (write your own role)\nCome on (no lump\ \ of coal)\nCome on (just rock and roll)\n'Cause if you’re not damned yet then\ \ you’ve sold your soul\n\nAt first I tried to fight the law\nBut I never pulled\ \ the very first straw\nI could not fight my mom and dad\nWhen the sins of the\ \ parents were the ones I had\n\nI fought for all the underdogs\nWho turned out\ \ to be hive-mind cogs\nI fought for love - of course I lost\nBut I was the one\ \ who named that cost\n\nI tried to fight the last of my friends\nBut all i found\ \ were long-dead-ends\nI’d lost my time, I’d lost my wealth,\nAnd I’d never once\ \ tried to fight for myself" --- Track: Noun Duration: '5:14' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/noun Lyrics: |- Somewhere in a jungle grove a candle burns denoting Saint Therese A prayer that those we’ve left behind are troubled not with heart and mind at peace Nurse attending close at hand with wine to cast its old familiar spell An elder soul looks into you but cannot speak in things the tongue can tell I’m sorry I forgot your name I only have myself to blame If you were me you’d do the same Somewhere in this downward race A person, name, a thing, or place Solution to my endless chase I’m sure I’d recognize its face Though I forget myself I’m sure there’s something else I’ll come around I'll make the sound The noun In my car I’m on my way from where I live to where you are right now And though I’ve been here many times it seems as though it all has changed somehow I’m sure I’ve seen this busy road a million times or was it in my sleep? My minivan was in the sky, but never mind - I’m thinking far too deep Familiar signs have gone away I’m sure if it was not today I’d be there now - I'd find my way --- Track: Ithaca Duration: '4:04' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/ithaca Lyrics: |- I spent the best years of my life waiting For this moment A time to call my own, a place to call my homeland It’s come here far too soon I sit around my room Hatching my plans and schemes I mostly leave forgotten I spent my longest nights awake wondering through the outside Amused but still deranged, divided on the inside Returning to the core The place I can’t ignore The wonder behind the fear I just can’t seem to shake off Oo-ee-oo To dream or do To do or die To sink or fly Oo-ee-oo To get a clue To run and hide To laugh and cry I turned my back on battles won and sailed to new adventure The journey made by all, a lonely mortal tenure To Ithaca I sailed And though I have not failed My home is a fleeting camp, the journey’s just beginning I spent the morning hours awake writing down the lyrics Resolved to get it right - to capture the true spirit Although I sing along That moment now has gone My heart still a restless sea where Ithaca is calling --- Track: Kalesa In Binondo Duration: '3:57' Contributors: - Nick Smalley (kalesa driver, additional sequencing) URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/kalesa-in-binondo --- Track: Underneath It All Duration: '2:33' Contributors: - Katie Carrell (backup vocals) - Tavia Morra (backup vocals) - Clark Powell (string arrangement and sequencing) URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/underneath-it-all Lyrics: |- Moving on is hard The more I fight the more I have to lose From the very start I should have known there would not be a use Underneath it all I’m sure it’s no one’s fault (feels like it’s my fault) Why bother to explain? There’s nothing left to gain (I need someone to blame) No time for regrets Repenting leaves you stranded in the past And though I've lost my bets I should have known the good times never last Underneath it all I was always bound to fall (I’m just so scared to fall) Behind the blood and tears I’ve been running dry for years (running from my fears) If you only could have seen All the things we could have been If I could have only shown you I would have known that you know what I really mean --- Track: Laughing Forest Duration: '2:18' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/laughing-forest --- Track: The Roamin' Bowman Duration: '3:59' Contributors: - Erik Scheele (piano) - Clark Powell (string arrangement and sequencing) URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/the-roamin-bowman Lyrics: |- Tangled in the ropes that have strangled All the hopes that were dangled in front of my eyes But when I'm near you, I have nothing to fear You make life oh-so-clear, you cut right through the lies Somwhere, from the crack of the sun there I'd be working for one share bemused and alone But your love is the fast and the sure love Which keeps me feeling pure, love, each time I come home 'Cause if my kind of home is really your kind of home Then what reason have I to roam? Lonely days, humid nights When I go to turn out all the lights I only know you, love, will still be my true love To have and to hold all my own For without you I guess I'd just roam My life is a head-in-the-sky life And I still wonder why life seems strange and unknown But when we're together, no matter the weather I feel that much better, like I've just come home 'Cause if my kind of home is really your kind of home Then what reason have I to roam?