path: root/album/your-majesty.yaml

Album: Your Majesty
Artists:
- Michael Guy Bowman
Cover Artists:
- Alice Hu
Date: August 9, 2024
Date Added: August 9, 2024
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/your-majesty
Color: '#deb24e'
Groups:
- Michael Guy Bowman
- Beyond
Art Tags:
- Bowman
Additional Files:
- Title: Album booklet
  Description: >-
    Stylized booklet featuring lyrics for all tracks, and artworks by [[artist:alice-hu]]; included with the album download on Bandcamp.
Commentary: |-
    <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/your-majesty) / album booklet)

    When the future is uncertain it can be easy to romanticize the past. In fairy tales we imagine that the world was once a more beautiful place where magic explained the mysteries of life. The probing tools of science were once the simmering cauldrons of alchemy. We trusted our leaders completely as the righteous defenders of a higher order which placed ourselves at the center of the universe.

    We are tempted to return to this mythic era. The epic tales of old generations bewilder us with stories of glorious quests and lives of adventure. All of it seems to be disappearing just beyond the horizon of a new world that has become petrified with frightful complexity. We treasure the artifacts that remain from simpler times, believing in vain that they might unlock hidden entrances to unspoiled realms.

    Though the arrow of time pushes us ceaselessly beyond the dominion of our half-remembered past, we hold onto a belief that we are meant for something more than the cold reality that we face - too obvious, too impersonal. We imagine this is only a dark age between the reign of two great kingdoms, the next greater than the first. It is a seductive belief, and potentially dangerous.

    And yet, occasionally, we must indulge these fantasies. We romanticize the past because we remember once that we were able to romanticize the future. To permit legendary origins is to hope for a destiny beyond our crude surroundings. We have the choice to see life as a brief epitaph or as the unfolding chapters of a grand saga. Which way will you turn?

    <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (Bowmantown Discord, 8/11/2024)

    > how exactly do you decide on like, the musical style of an album?

    This time around I wanted to focus on working just with acoustic guitar and vocals at a couple of open mics, so I based the arrangements on that
    And the strongest ideas that emerged early on were sort of fantasy based

    So I was conscious of that both as an intent for writing and a guideline for what I picked to refine

    And in the end it felt like [[track:your-majesty|"Your Majesty"]] the song was the centerpiece because it's about heroism which unifies the images on the album

    Like the colorful characters you might find on an epic adventure

    I think I'm sort of conscious of what does and doesn't go together on all of these and picking which ideas to develop is a bit strategic
---
Track: Julia Verne
Duration: 3:36
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/julia-verne
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuM7VFAJHWw
Lyrics: |-
    Long ago we used to lie
    Beneath the summer evening sky
    The moon and mars and all the stars
    Were in our eyes
    You made a wish and it came true
    But what it was I never knew
    Until one night I saw your light
    Was up there too

    Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars
    Leaving behind these worldly binds
    For something new
    Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars?
    I've got to hope, my telescope's
    Always on you, on you

    I found the note beside the bed
    The strangest thing I've ever read
    "I've got to go, that's all I know"
    Was all it said
    So off it went, a loaded gun
    To shoot you right around the sun
    Are you insane? I can't explain
    The things you've done

    Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars
    Leaving behind these worldly binds
    For something new
    Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars?
    I've got to hope, my telescope's
    Always on you, on you
    On you

    How many nights and days
    Since last we parted ways
    It must be hard to count them out in space
    Lay down your landing gear (Ooh, la la la la)
    You know I'm still right here (Ooh, la la la la)
    Forever wondering why you disappeared (Ooh-ooh-ooh)

    But if I could I'd take a ride
    Across the great cosmic divide
    And maybe then I'd once again
    Be at your side
    For if it's true that what you've found
    Way out there where there is no sound
    Is worth it all, I'll never fall
    Back to the ground

    Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars
    Leaving behind these worldly binds
    For something new
    Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars?
    I've got to hope, my telescope's
    Always on you, on you
    On you (on you, on you, on you)
    On you (on you, on you, on you, on you)
---
Track: Vampire State
Duration: 3:07
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/vampire-state
Lyrics: |-
    Come one, come all to the midnight ball
    There's trouble brewing in the banquet hall
    Take a leap through the line and you'll be just fine
    I've seen your face all over the unwanted signs
    Have a toast to your host who's got the least
    He's secretly something of an awful beast (Oh)
    With a bulletproof plan for the also-rans
    And an awful lot of time upon his idle hands

    Everybody's going on about the end of the world
    In fact they seem a little excited
    It's a party and your pity's invited
    Dinner and dessert provided

    Vampire State - home to all the miscreated
    Where nightmares are related and dreams annihilated (Oh)
    Vampire State - pierce the moonlight with your steeple
    We're not your kind of people anymore

    Slow down, look around, take in all the sounds
    Your cup ranneth over ‘til it nearly drowned
    Take a few small sips, leave a few tall tips
    And you can keep on dancing when the record skips
    Don't you try to sneak out of any exit routes
    ‘Cause the scent that you're dispensing is a sense of doubt (sense of doubt)
    If you show off your back, you're just an easy snack
    You must impress upon them that you're always on attack

    Everybody keeps talking while their mouths are full
    But you know every word they're saying
    And you get the feeling you'll be staying
    It's an urge you can't resist obeying

    Vampire State - where the jawline meets the collar
    It's a real hoot and holler of opulence and squalor (Oh)
    Vampire State - rising over the horizon
    You'll wish that you'd been wise enough to run

    High on that heathen tower (Oh), clock strikes the midnight hour (Oh)
    Down from the belfry comes a cloud of wings (Cloud of wings)
    Kaleidoscope of teeth and shadows underneath
    Eclipsing all these wretched things (Oh, oh)

    But at the end of the night, if your cards are right
    You might get out of there with only just a couple of bites
    Keep your sleeves rolled down when you reach the ground
    And no one else will have to know when you get back to town

    Everybody looks different in the light of the day (Oh, oh)
    At the masquerade's adjourning (Oh, oh)
    But when the midnight oil is burning
    You know that you will be returning

    Vampire State - climb the hundred-story talon
    A crimson Irwin Allen exploding by the gallon (Oh)
    Vampire State - calling all the anti-saviors
    Be on your worst behavior at the
    Vampire State - dreaded fang as high as mountains
    An oozing scarlet fountain a billion served and counting (Oh, oh)
    Vampire State - where the wounds are freshly severed
    You'll wish that you had never heard its name
---
Track: Hermit of the Half Moon Rock
Duration: 3:44
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/hermit-of-the-half-moon-rock
Lyrics: |-
    He stood on the top of the hill
    He said "This isn't a drill - I'm gone"
    "I'm headed up to the dome"
    He put his life on his back
    And headed out at the crack of dawn
    To make himself right at home

    Out where the river shimmers in the night
    And the stars speak words if you listen to them right
    The crazy little creatures hidden out of sight
    They come out and talk
    To the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock
    It's him and the hawk
    Hauling up the vertical walk
    Of the Half Moon Rock
    Why don't you give him a knock?
    Follow the trail of chalk
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock

    He sewed the leaves in his dress (oh yes)
    And if it was hot even less he wore
    And sometimes nothing at all
    The hawk was all that he had (all that he had)
    And if he was lonely or sad, he'd roar
    And echo through the canyon walls (Aiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiai!)

    And the mountain lion came running to the sound
    While the whole hog herd would gather all around
    The [[album:comfortable-bugs|comfortable bugs]] all living in the ground
    Would raise a few stalks
    For the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock
    It's him and the hawk
    Hauling up the vertical walk
    Of the Half Moon Rock
    Why don't you give him a knock?
    Follow the trail of chalk
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock

    He's got the ink on his hands (ah-ah-ah)
    The beetles lend him a gland
    For the testament he scrawls inside his cave
    (Shooby dooby mm-bop, shooby dooby)
    He carves it out with a tooth (ah-ah-ah)
    He's on a mission for truth
    In a world he does not know if he can save
    (Shooby dooby mm-bop, shooby dooby)

    And he thinks he might be leaving
    But he isn't ready yet (Oh yeah, yeah, yeah)
    'Cause under every stone there's a spirit to be met
    Oh yeah

    And when he'd finally rest
    There with the hawk in his nest, he'd pause
    And think about who he was
    Out in the world all alone
    His life completely his own, his laws
    Only written in the things he does

    But if the buffalo bunch could stand the monsoon
    And the choir of crickets could learn to sing in tune
    Could the prince of the primates rise pretty soon
    And find his own flock? (Oh)
    Oh the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock
    It's him and the hawk
    Hauling up the vertical walk
    Of the Half Moon Rock
    Why don't you give him a knock?
    Follow the trail of chalk
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    Up the Half Moon Rock
    The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock
---
Track: Oracle
Duration: 3:11
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/oracle
Lyrics: |-
    Oracle awaken
    Tell me where to go
    The course of life has taken
    Everything I know
    Show me a tomorrow
    Free from all the sorrow
    I will beg and borrow
    Anything it takes to make it so

    Oracle astound me
    Tell me what's to come
    The world all around me
    Leaves my body numb
    Show me a horizon
    I can fix my eyes on
    Destiny, it lies on
    Distant shores beyond where I came from

    Oracle imbue me
    Purpose for my soul
    Something's running through me
    I cannot control
    Read the constellations
    Share your observations
    I could conquer nations
    If you'd only show me, oracle
---
Track: Breakers of Dawn
Duration: 3:41
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/breakers-of-dawn
Lyrics: |-
    Dawn calls to you
    Rakes its ragged claws across the eastern sky
    Day bursting through
    All at once you're certain of the reason why

    The night and its terrible kingdom has finally gone
    The nail of the crimson horizon has fallen upon
    The breakers of dawn
    The breakers of dawn

    Steel razors climb
    Scatter 'cross the borderlines of no man's land
    Cruel winds of time
    Move the mounds of sacred grounds and shifting sands

    Where vultures and vipers lay waste to the lives of our spawn
    Look to the few and the crazed who ride vengefully on
    The breakers of dawn
    The breakers of dawn

    They cannot be made, they can only be born
    Proclaiming tomorrow has come with their horn
    A power far greater than any could ever control
    I know you have felt it for all of your days
    The white-hot injection of turbulent rays
    Which penetrates down to the depths of your undying soul

    Now turn the wheel
    See yourself as seeing eye and as the seen
    Break off the seal
    Re-engage the light from where it's always been

    From fringes where faces of heroes and villains are drawn
    We're graced to awake in a world which embraces their brawn
    The breakers of dawn
    The breakers of dawn
---
Track: Your Majesty
Duration: 3:32
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/your-majesty
Lyrics: |-
    Every corner of the city's lined with shadows
    Every stranger in the street averts their eyes
    All the people locked away behind the windows
    They're all waiting for a hero to arise
    All the men remember days when they were stronger
    Every woman hides a dagger in her gown
    But you won't cover up your faces any longer
    On the day when I come riding into town

    So put a light on in your window, put your face against the glass
    Don't you know that I'm your hero? Won't you whistle when I pass?
    I'll move a mountain if you just rely on me
    I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty"

    Every year it comes with trials and tribulations
    And all the answers are revealed to next to none
    But I recall a time of grand imaginations
    Long before you learned to say "it can't be done"
    There is a storm to come that none alone can weather
    But if you'd like to learn I'll gladly show you how
    And in the days ahead we all will band together
    For your liberator walks among you now

    So raise a banner from the tower when you open up the gate
    Don't you know this is your hour? I have come to bear the weight
    I swear I'll set your body and your spirit free
    I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty"

    Now is the reckoning of wretches and the meek
    For the champion that you seek is at your door
    I'll rectify a world of impotence and rage
    And not only for an age but evermore

    In times of trouble we are torn in all directions
    You may be dazzled by the roads you travel down
    Do not beleaguer in the burden of selection
    You'll be lighter when you learn to lay your crown
    I've heard the wailing of your city in the distance
    I know the strain you must endure to still believe
    But I could steer a steady course with your assistance
    Toward the things that only power can achieve

    So now awaken from your slumber, wipe the worry from your brow
    Don't know I've got your number? Can't you hear me calling now?
    I'll make you one with wonders none before could see
    I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty"
    I'll be the one you beg to call "Your Majesty"
    I'll be the one you dare to call "Your Majesty"
---
Track: When We Take The Sky
Duration: 3:47
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/when-we-take-the-sky
Lyrics: |-
    There's love in the air
    And I'm taking you there tonight
    So let's hang like a key
    Flying fancy and free from a kite

    The morning edition and trusted magicians
    Say all the conditions are right
    So up we'll be travellin' where they're unravellin'
    Jupiter's javelin smite

    Climb up to the clouds
    We're the few and the proud here tonight
    (Tonight, tonight, tonight)
    Indulging a dream
    Like the smoke and the steam taking flight
    (In flight, in flight, in flight)

    The evening papers can peer through the vapors
    Which cover our capers from sight
    (From sight, from sight, from sight)
    Where static explodes from our five-finger nodes
    Into plasmatic roads made of light
    (Of light, of light, of light, hey)

    What a thing to behold
    We'll be way up high
    When we take the sky

    We've ridden the wheel
    That hangs at our heels tonight
    (Tonight, tonight, tonight)
    There's dozens around
    Who are holding the ground very tight
    (Very tight, very tight, very tight)

    But cool are the cats who'll be hanging their hats
    Way up here where the bats couldn't bite
    (Couldn't bite, couldn't bite, couldn't bite)
    Few mortals would dare to the mischief we share
    In the throes of such hair-raising frights
    (Such frights, such frights, such frights)

    So widen your eyelet
    ‘Cause I am the pilot tonight
    (Tonight, tonight, tonight)
    And all those behind
    May they pay me no mind, but they might
    (They might, they might, they might)

    I've stolen away for an evening of play
    And I wish I could stay at this height
    (This height, this height, this height)
    To linger the level where angels could revel
    Or are these the devil's delights
    (Delight, delight, delight, hey)

    What a thing to behold
    We'll be way up high
    When we take the sky

    At last we're descending
    We're reaching the ending tonight
    You're shook to your tail
    And your lips are so pale, nearly white

    Let's go get some rest, it is all for the best
    If the atmosphere's guests are polite
    Again we could treasure a night of such pleasure
    So long as the measure is slight
---
Track: Overboard
Duration: 3:17
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/overboard
Lyrics: |-
    Gentlemen, listen right now as I speak
    I fear that this ship of ours has sprung a leak
    The sea, she is coming to take us an inch at a time
    It's roaring in faster than buckets can fill
    I fear it's a matter of minutes until
    From belly to mast we'll be deeper than any can climb

    And all of this now with the shore plain in sight
    We might make it yet if the load could be light
    But what sort of life do you think we'll afford
    If we have to throw all that we have overboard?

    The gold in our coffers is weighing us down
    We shan't spend a cent if we're certain to drown
    And none can come with you at all in the life after this
    So gather your treasures and cast them away
    And if you are swift then I hope and I pray
    We won't soon be up to our eyes in a watery kiss

    And if one among you at all hesitates
    Remind them this is for the lives of their mates
    But what sort of life do you think we'll afford
    If we have to throw all that we have overboard?

    See now the spoils in motion
    Straight to the heart of the ocean
    Down in the drink, every glimmering piece
    You watch as they sink while the waters increase
    Just slow enough to renew life's intolerable lease

    At last we arrive clinging onto the sails
    And leap to the dock when it finally fails
    The ship where we spent seven months as we circled the globe
    The price that we paid sure is awfully steep
    Behind us the trail that shines in the deep
    Could only be seen by an angler's most luminant lobe

    We came as we left now with only our lives
    The glory is gone but the story survives
    So what sort of life do you think we'll afford
    Now we've had to throw all that we have overboard?
    Yes what sort of life do you think we'll afford
    Now we've had to throw all that we have overboard?
# Credits:
# Music by Michael Guy Bowman
# Drums by Bijan Eghtesady
# Accordion by Bonnie Maddox
---
Track: Venus Fly
Duration: 3:16
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/venus-fly
Lyrics: |-
    Little fly, don't you die so easy
    I know you only live a day
    Weathered by the winds so high and breezy
    Don't you let this evening slip away
    Little legs hatch from eggs each morning (ooh)
    Silhouettes hardly ever change (ooh)
    Stomach begs the musky dregs adorning (ooh)
    For a taste of something new and strange (ooh)

    Oh, open up your eyes
    Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly?
    Oh, won't you tell me why
    You keep living like you're never gonna die?

    Little speck, don't you wreck your wingspan
    The beating of which gives to you your name
    Keep in check below your neck for things can
    So easily be plucked upon your frame
    Spiders crawling forest walls you've thwarted (ooh)
    You circumvent the snatch of froggy tongue (ooh)
    The birds who call from perches tall you've shorted (ooh)
    But on this fang you let yourself be hung? (ooh)

    Oh, open up your eyes
    Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly?
    Oh, won't you tell me why
    You keep living like you're never gonna die?
    Never gonna die
    Don't you know that it's a lie?
    You were only passing by, for a try, another high
    Now the jaws will never pry

    "Come and play," you hear it say so sweetly
    Nothing else had ever been so bold
    But where you lay it's had its way discreetly
    With all the rest who never grew so old
    The same disease that lures the bees to pollen (ooh)
    Pulls you where no free thing should involve (ooh)
    In the squeeze of this the tease you've fallen (ooh)
    Now to feel your body be dissolved (ooh)

    Oh, open up your eyes
    Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly?
    Oh, won't you tell me why
    You keep living like you're never gonna die?
    Never gonna die
    Don't you know that it's a lie?
    You were only passing by, for a try, another high
    Now the jaws will never pry
---
Track: Merry-Go-Round
Duration: 3:02
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/merry-go-round
Lyrics: |-
    There is an ivory horse
    Upon a platinum post
    Down at the bumper car breaks
    Of the roller coast
    Where all the riders go on
    In an exotic parade
    You were there long ago
    While the organ played

    And although you aren't sure when
    You know you will be there again
    Upon the merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round

    Out of the strollers they rise
    Up to the saddles they crawl
    To seize the world by the reins
    Standing ten feet tall
    I saw the mayor and his wife
    Wearing their funny old hats
    Sat in the carriage behind
    With a herd of cats

    And they rose to the sound of the pipe
    Which blows a peppermint stripe
    Upon the merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)

    Ah, merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
    Ah, merry-go-round

    Many a person's lost in the crowd of faces
    But up on your horse you're the star of the rodeo
    Many a year you'll wonder just where your place is
    But when you're there in the round you're certainly bound to know

    For when the lights flicker off
    And all the riders depart
    They are sure to return
    When the new day starts
    And though the faces have changed
    It's still the same bumpy ride
    You've seen it all before
    And from every side

    And it calls you to climb up the stairs
    Where it all still waits for you there
    Upon the merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round
    Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)

    Ah, merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
    Ah, merry-go-round
---
Track: Charity Bizarre
Duration: 3:08
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/charity-bizarre
Lyrics: |-
    Oh, here it goes - they're all in rows
    All the madames and mademoiselles
    Decked to the nines and hanging signs
    From the cupboards and carousels
    The old bric-a-brac is out on bail
    But you know as I that what's for sale
    Is more than what's above the bar

    Charity Bizarre
    That's all you are
    You steal their hearts
    But you never take it far
    Charity Bizarre

    Oh, look at that - the tails and spats
    They are lining around the block
    A tip of the brim and you know him
    He's aware what you have in stock
    It's all for a very worthy cause
    And last that I heard there were no laws
    On doors getting left ajar

    Charity Bizarre
    That's all you are
    You steal their hearts
    But you never take it far
    Charity Bizarre

    The wives and widows play so posh
    But this is not the Sunday wash
    The price is high but the talk is free
    Underneath the canopy
    The lines we keep so clean and clear
    Are just a little jagged here
    Where dollars line the lips of mason jars

    What have we here? The auctioneer
    Strikes the podium gavel down
    Out goes the maid and marmalade
    With the newcomer in this town
    The school on the hill will lay its stone
    But lest that the rest should leave alone
    I'm sure that two will share a car

    Charity Bizarre
    That's all you are
    You steal their hearts
    But you never take it far
    Charity Bizarre

    Charity Bizarre
    That's all you are
    You steal their hearts
    But you never take it far
    Charity Bizarre
    Charity Bizarre
---
Track: Mister Mirror
Duration: 5:12
URLs:
- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/mister-mirror
Lyrics: |-
    I have a secret power
    That lets me change my face
    Every bone in my body
    Is replaced

    I've been the baker with his heavy hands
    I've been the soldier in a foreign land
    I've been every kind of person so very many times
    I'm not sure who I was when this began

    I'm a copy, I'm a clone
    I have no face of my own
    And the mask I wear before you
    Hides a fool who's all alone
    You can call me Mister Mirror
    Though I might not be a man
    For the life that I am living
    Is forever secondhand

    Secondhand
    Won't you please understand?

    Oh it's a wild transformation
    To move inside another person's skin
    Still I remain in isolation
    For the faces never fill the space within

    But if you'd like to see it
    It isn't hard to do
    Just reach over here and touch me
    I'll be you

    Won't you let me draw you nearer
    See yourself a little clearer
    In the eyes of Mister Mirror
    History's greatest disappearer
    Bring to me the mouth and nose
    The tensed brow, the fidget toes
    The rib that aches, the heart that knows
    The love and hate a lifetime chose

    I'll taste the sweet and bitter upon your tongue
    I'll choke the smoke and glitter that glaze your lungs
    I shall know you as no other ever has or ever will
    Though I know that you could never do the same

    I'm a copy, I'm a clone
    I have no face of my own
    And the mask I wear before you
    Hides a fool who's all alone
    You can call me Mister Mirror
    Though I might not be a man
    For the life that I am living
    Is forever secondhand

    Secondhand
    Won't you please understand?

    I'm a copy, I'm a clone
    I have no face of my own
    And the mask I wear before you
    Hides a fool who's all alone
    You can call me Mister Mirror
    Though I might not be a man
    For the life that I am living
    Is forever secondhand

    Secondhand

    So if you'd like to see it
    You know what to do
    Just reach over here and touch me

    Oh, won't you please just reach over here
    And touch me