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Notes To My Blood

by theythem

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1.
Prayer 02:17
Oh Lord Please make me Punk as Fuck And help me live life One mistake at a time I've got no money Not much luck to give So Lord Please make me Punk as Fuck The City's gone plastic and prim Halls are swept hourly by minimum wage The Jakes raise their bats on a whim While the poor people rage I keep one eye firmly set wide Keep my back straight My lips wet Swallow the bulk of my pride For the love of my sweat Oh, Lord Please make me Punk as Fuck And help me live life One mistake at a time I've got no money Not much luck to give So Lord Please make me Punk as Fuck
2.
We argued plot in the hot South Ferry sun And the garbage trucks on Water street Tilted all their filth away You cut your hair in a fit of frantic grief But you mutter soft and slow, "Don't Worry. It'll all grow back someday." My jawline swept the floor I worried about my health I was feeling fine before "Til I realized I'd been screaming at myself Honestly I can't see How the tide turned the other way I'm staring out my back door Wondering how the sky Turned from blue to grey My tongue lays flat My lips burst red And thoughts of you run water through my weary salts But every wink and nod I throw the aether's way Gets muddled by the foggy brine that's clogging All my cracks and faults Tan lines kiss the sky Dreams confront the day Eyes burn hot and dry As my ghoulish pride Throws its weight into the fray. Am I wasted? Can I lean on these fibrous, crackling nerves Beneath my skin? Keep it simple Keep it clean Wash the memories from your back so you can Stand another day So if, by chance, my breathing breaks the dawn And the River Skai runs black While all the phantoms hide their teeth til noon I'll point my battered nose toward the briar's edge And hum a few more bars Of some old dirge That I learned far too soon The taste of heliotrope A wistful touch of breeze I deconstruct the scope As the sun-drenched soil Shoots a shock straight through my knees Honestly I can't see How the tide turned the other way I'm staring out my back door Wondering how the sky Turned from blue to grey.
3.
Sara takes notes Learned to watch and fix Taught herself piano at five Mastered all the notes by six Daddy beats her mom Screams "It's for your own good!" Trapped in her cage Learns to bottle up her rage Like a good girl should Seventeen comes She shows a rockin' tune or twelve Now the kids all know her name "Play it, Sara!" The pulsing throng Is laughing, dancing, singing along "Who gives a shit how your life went wrong? All we want is another free song! All we want is another free song!" Little Sara sings Teenage Sara screams Grown-up Sara belts and holds her own Working hard to keep it alive Now that all her fans have grown Billy runs the show Seasons wounds with his salt Says, over brunch "Tuck your tits up in a bunch." Tells her "It's your fault." Out on the stage She calls for change to even the score But the crowd barks out again And again And again And again "Shake it, Sara! You talk too long. Back to poppin', where you belong! We're glad to pay for a peak at your thong! But all we want is another free song! All we want is another free..." OH, leave 'em, Sara! Shout it out strong! Don't waste your life on a lazy, dumb throng They think they're smart But they're doing it wrong 'Cuz all they want is another free song. All they want is another free song.
4.
New Song 03:01
On the day I collapse I will catch your eye And kiss your quivering palm And I will know you by your scent And you will know me by my psalm On the day I collapse The rattling sabres all shall lose their boast And I will write you letters Penned with just the words I like the most On the day I collapse I will laugh at every thump beneath my shirt And every time I stood in awe At sultry shapes beneath a skirt The wind will fail, the earth will crack, The sea will shuffle to its grays Yeah the day I collapse Will be the boldest of my days And I'll wake like I never slept Lips frothed and pale From promises unkept On the day I collapse I will see you dancing solo on the porch Your sun dress spinning through the fog With just a smile for your torch And you'll go on and on 'Bout how the world still loves me In its own dark, twisted ways Yeah, the day I collapse Will be the lightest of my days Will be the lightest of my days
5.
Moonlight 02:34
There's a lack of focus in the Sun It don't quite crisp the way That moonbeams settle on root and vine Her stems stand soft and sweetly spun She lays her breathing next to mine And as the stars align Dragging light through the flotsam She reveals herself Like pollen in the blossom And sinks her hooks down through my fertile soil My veins gape wide And thoughts print bold You and I will run these mazes of old 'Til the sun cuts through the night Fresh as babes and thick as thieves Splashing nocturnes over the wildgrass And through the leaves Catch my heartstrings on the thorn And grit my teeth as her branches sway in time And I have lost my way with words Crippled by the day-to-day Air grows stale And my insides turn a pale Withered gray But as the stars align Dragging light through the flotsam She reveals herself Like pollen in the blossom And sinks her hooks down through my fertile soil My veins gape wide And thoughts print bold You and I will run these mazes of old 'Til the sun cuts through the night
6.
You're right beside me I can hear your sighs I can feel your fingers kill the itch behind my eyes I'm watching songbirds settle Into fine-tuned rows Holding back the urge to kiss The dirt between your toes Funny, I can't recall the day Funny, I don't remember which cool thing I had tried to say Funny, it's never gone quite this way You whisper, through the radio-play "Hold me. Just hold me. Just hold me for a while." Hold me. Just hold me. Just hold me for a while.
7.
Pretend 02:36
Work up my courage Drain a bitter pint Drum out a confidential prayer She's radiating rum And warming up the light I'm trying, poorly, Not to stare Let me come clean Let me be bold It's been an age since I've been sold But if you can bear with the ebb and flow We can pretend your scars don't show And if I can prove my stories are true We can pretend I'm Pretty enough for you I'm ripped up, torn apart, and breathing free I've licked my wounds and I've tallied the marks And I have lost my patience with lust and bad poetry The rusty metal still casts sparks But you've got some grace You've got some nerve You've got that shattered skin Promises to keep And guts to preserve So If you can bear with the ebb and flow We can pretend your scars don't show And if I can prove my stories are true We can pretend I'm pretty enough for you So if you can bear with the ebb and flow We can pretend your scars don't show And if I can prove my stories are true We can pretend I'm pretty enough Yeah, we can pretend I'm pretty enough We can pretend I'm pretty enough for you
8.
Middle Child 04:53
Bobby's got his daddy's eyes But missed out on the Nihilistic point of view Gets his smile from the curls around the corner And a stubborn streak that pushes him through Well, did you ever notice? Is it plain and clear? How every time September rears its head It musses up your year? It's a long, cold march back to square But I guess it's worth winter It's worth the heartache and the crawl If it means I have you in the fall These country nights Muddle up my head And keep me from my sleep And everyone keeps asking why I never call The look in your eyes Makes me aware of the probable outcome But you say they'll beat me down Before I'm even three-foot-small Well, Bobby, fuck 'em all Yeah fuck 'em all Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I say fuck 'em all I say fuck 'em all Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Marisol, singing sweet down the road through Carolina Mama's blowing up her phone Brother don't quite get her style Blazing past the exits Cuttin' through the drear And every time the mirrors flash her gaze The blessing beats the fear My belly burns fire through my chest 'Til I am fused, 'til I am whole She says I barrel through minefields I say "I do the best I can. If I had a hope, I'd have a plan." These neon lights peel away my calm And blister through my cheek And every withered scripture drags into a drawl The blue in her sighs Makes me aware of the bruises she's hiding She tells me 'bout the shattered glass, The judging eyes, the punctured wall Well, Mari, fuck 'em all Yeah, fuck 'em all Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I say fuck 'em all I say fuck 'em all Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
9.
Skin 03:21
I won't worry 'bout the damage North Korea Or the past I won't worry 'bout the women that I've met They'll eventually Forgive my stupid ass And I will not be scared of satan Or his brother, jesus, with the fish tattoo I won't fright if I lose my mind tonight Yeah my skin The skin will fail when it do I won't worry 'bout the good friends Or the bad friends Or the friends I'll never meet I won't worry 'bout this fever in my head Or the bloody footprints that I leave On the gritty-city concrete And you can't make me fear the ocean Or the folks who see it from a different view I won't pray If my heart gives out today yeah, my skin The skin will fail when it do And any sense I had, I've lost And any plans I've laid got tossed But sense will come someday And my plans, they never turn out worth the cost So take me down to see Miami I swear I will not fear the rising tides I won't be afraid Of the enemies I've made I have long since given up On choosing sides And I still will not be fearing satan Or his brother, jesus, with that fake tattoo I won't fright when I lose my mind tonight Yeah, my skin The skin will fail when it do The skin will fail when it do The skin will fail when it do
10.
AC on Sunlight dripping 'cross the floor Shoes untied Socks are hanging Cat paw scratching at my door And I I've torn through my sheets again Coffee black Sweetener here and there Toast and eggs Pretend to straighten up my hair And the air is rich The ground is sure My hands are restless in their bones And you can't hurt me anymore Screaming my way down Glen Cove Ave In a sea-green, eighty-six Taurus Wondering 'bout what I would not have And if we made the right choice for us But I I couldn't have chosen a better one So I ran all the stop signs I hit all the curbs Flipped off the cops Struck a fire through the 'burbs Cut the wires of the city Blurring the lines Disregarding the gutless And ignoring the fines And the air is rich The ground is sure My legs are stronger than they were And you can't hurt me anymore And everybody's out to lunch Out to get ahead Thinking they can't be seen Pretty, snarling little bunch Sucking plasma red And turning putrid green So Bring on the dayjob and empty hands Mask a lie with good intentions And the one thing nobody understands Is what everybody mentions But you And I And all of us Are gonna run wild through the night sky And they will strike at our senses They will heave at our woes They will stuff our heads with their tired judgments Smack our jaws as our hunger grows And though their lashes split our hides Their curses plagued and pure Our gaping maws will insatiably roar You can't hurt me anymore You Can't Hurt Me Anymore You Can't Hurt Me Anymore You Can't Hurt Me Anymore You Can't Hurt Me Anymore

about

"Overall, Norwood's 'Notes To My Blood' is a phenomenal record that has no equal in today's music world. The beautiful vocals and story-driven lyrics remind this author of a very 90's rock vibe, while the acoustic sound of the music reminds one of a late 70's to early 80's acoustic rock concert that one never wants to leave. This is a band not to be missed"

- On Request Magazine

"the vibe, the momentums of each song, the rhythms are chalk full of that good ole fashioned, "I don't give a..." attitude, doesn't get much more punk rock than that."

- Music Emissions

"This is not your average Folk radio. The sound that Norwood creates is pure gold, and Notes to My Blood is a charming, artistic record, that will draw new and old fans alike."

- No Depression, The Journal of Roots Music

credits

released June 8, 2016

Chris Norwood on Guitar and Vocals

Nastasia Green on Vocals

Max Maples on Drums

Keith Michael Pinault on Bass

Hajnal Pivnick on Violin

Engineered and mixed by Nate Jasensky

Mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering

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all rights reserved

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about

theythem New York, New York

BOOKING:
Chris.theythem@gmail.com

facebook.com/theythemrock

"This is not your average Folk radio. The sound that [theythem] creates is pure gold, and Notes to My Blood is a charming, artistic record, that will draw new and old fans alike."

- No Depression, The Journal of Roots Music

"Tasteful and refined, Chris Norwood’s 'Year of the Bear' represents the future of folk."

-Skopemag.com
... more

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