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Birds & Death

by Jonny Brownbow

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1.
Defy The Book Of Revelation 02:52
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Cretinous demagogues, go away! Cretinous demagogues, go away! Cretinous demagogues, go away! I want to put you back into a dystopian novel and There you can stay Ridiculous demigods, go away! Ridiculous demigods, go away! Ridiculous demigods, go away! Even Zeus got fat on soup and wine and faded away Forest-burning bible-bashers, go away! Forest-burning bible-bashers, go away! Bashers and burners, go away! Nobody has anything to gain if you stay I prefer green trees TO WHITE LIGHT! I prefer golden sun TO WHITE LIGHT! I prefer blackbirds TO WHITE LIGHT! I prefer turquoise seas TO WHITE LIGHT! I prefer amber leaves TO WHITE LIGHT! British Racing Green TO WHITE LIGHT! I prefer yellow flowers TO WHITE LIGHT! I’d sooner have silver showers THAN WHITE LIGHT! Cretinous demagogues, go away!
2.
Vesna Vulović 02:44
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She fell thirty thousand feet from a plane All the doctors told her she’d never walk again With a fractured skull and broken ribs and three smashed vertebrae A miracle occurred and she limped back to JAT airways The astonishing tale of Vesna, how did she cheat the grave? A diet of spinach and chocolate was the answer she gave Low blood pressure stopped her heart from bursting on impact A bomb ripped the plane asunder, but the fuselage remained intact Vesna fainted when she read the newspaper headline She’d remembered nothing of the flight on the DC9 Decorated by Tito, smeared by Milosevic He lied about the plane and he lied about Vulovic Now, she met Paul McCartney at a Guinness Book of Records bash She got sick of interviews just talking about the crash Survivor guilt had wracked her and she came to a sticky end She died poor and she died alone with no family and no friends
3.
The Flies 04:00
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They left me to the flies Let the gnats eat my eyes Cos’ I am dead And I don’t care Let the maggots gnaw my brain Let my kidneys be a train For every passing worm In fatty fluids squirm Let my juices feed the ground And start another round Of shoots and roots and flowers I’ll furnish termite towers Let the minerals in my skin Feed the land I’m in To me it is no bother Around it insects hover They left me to the flies That’s okay, we all die They left me to the flies That’s okay, we’ve all got to go Now, do not burn my heart I want to play my part In the history of the planet Don’t bury me in granite Use a degradable wood Unless I had the plague Then a bonfire you must make I don’t suppose it matters If my atoms are in tatters My former putrefaction Will set the world in action A nourishing mush Like the mulch of autumn leaves And if there is a spirit I’m not that much into it I prefer the Earth I’ll take another birth Or perhaps another planet They left me to the flies That’s okay, we all die They left me to the flies That’s okay, we’ve all got to go
4.
Corona Moaner 03:32
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I do not wish to die alone I do not wish to die alone We’ve all got to die in the end But I’d rather be with a friend Than to die alone on my own I wonder if I will die alone Saying goodbye on my telephone I’ve had a good life, I can’t complain I didn’t lose a leg or go insane But to die alone on my own And yet for me, me personally Things are okay under the sword of Damocles I’ve got birds and my best friend Some are stuck in with a bell end I know we all die alone in the end But two hours before you could be holding a hand We all die alone in the end But two hours before you could be holding a hand Die alone ... on my own ... Duncan-Smith thinks we’re corona moaners Bugger off, bugger off!
5.
Brownbow in Limbo 05:37
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I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ ‘Do you have any regrets, my friend?’ No, not really, just a few ‘Reveal to us your regrets, my friend’ I’m not telling you, it’s nothing to do with you ‘Don’t you regret your failed career?’ Not a jot ‘You could have been a star, you were so near’ I don’t care, I can’t imagine anything worse ‘But you wouldn’t have had to go to work’ Yeah, but what would I have written about? ‘All the shitty jobs you so reviled’ A spoiled pop star has nothing to say after a while I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ I’m talking to you from Limbo Land ‘He’s a ghost’ Yes, I am in purgatory 'That cannot be fun' I wonder if I’m here for my regrets 'I don’t know, I’m sorry I can’t help you there' 'Tell us about your regrets, my friend' Ask Betjeman 'Reveal to us your regrets, my friend' Just ask Betjeman, Betjeman, Betjeman Just ask Betjeman, Betjeman, Betjeman

about

This EP was recorded in Lockdown Spring, 2020, the contrast between burgeoning life and mounting death most striking.

Defy the Book of Revelation:

“We will continue to fight these battles, because there is a never-ending struggle until the rapture. Be part of it. Be in the fight”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a "God and Country Rally," 2015,

Vesna Vulović:

“I’m not lucky. Everybody thinks I am lucky, but they are mistaken."
Vesna Vulović, 2002

"Driven by her love of the Beatles, Vulović travelled to the United Kingdom after completing her first year of university."
Wikipedia

The Flies:

"Don't bother with a fancy tombstone or a big-deal angel or a little copper flower pot,
Grow a dog-rose in my eyes, or a pussy-willow, but no forget-me-nots,
No epitaphs, no keepsakes, you can let my memory slip."
Jake Thackray, from the Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray, 1967

Corona Moaner:

“The thing about making things compulsory is that there will be a lot of people who will not want to do this. The second thing is, if you call it compulsory, then who is going to enforce that?” Iain Duncan Smith on the proposal to make mask-wearing in public compulsory, July 2020

"Today I held the hands of four patients as they sadly passed away from Covid-19. One of them was in their 40s. To say it was heartbreaking doesn't even come close." British nurse, April 2020

Brownbow in Limbo:

“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.”
Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

The drums on Vesna Vulović were sampled from a beat recorded by Talya S Davies. The tracks were mastered by Tim Benton. Thanks again, Talya & Tim!

Cover by J🌝 Lewis x

Last but not least, my love and respect to the avian community! Birds are the best!

credits

released July 25, 2020

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Richard Batchelor Chartres, France

I am the singer in the cult Liverpool indie punk band Ricky Spontane.

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