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Taped Over

by The Earthly Frames

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1.
My Worst Self 04:09
lyrics
Can’t forget to set up the alarm for eight AM. I’m due in court again. There's nothing wrong with Mike. He’s just alright. Yeah, I punched first but wasn’t even trying to fight. And If you told me that five years ago, you’d be with him, I still wouldn’t let you in. I’m sitting down to try to figure out why I’m being my worst self again. I knew all along that what I did wrong. I’m being my worst self again. We had our time, and we had a kid. She does more for you than I anything I ever did. Pink plastic toy in a soaked Shop Rite bag. I know it’s nothing much, but it’s all I really had. I’m sitting down to try to figure out why I’m being my worst self again. I knew all along that what I did wrong. I’m being my worst self again, and all those bad things always seems to cling. I’m being my worst self again. Yeah, we nearly died, but I’m okay to drive out for some smokes. I’ve already been revoked. Last walk home from work. It’s just another perk: Father of the Year, Employee of the Month.
2.
For a Blue Girl 04:29
lyrics
Walk on down these halls. Finger-paint scrawls spell out her name in bubble-lettered epitaphs. She breaths then unmasks, smiles, then asks if I know a game that won’t take long for us to play When you’re cold, you can take my hand, blue girl Lean on me when you need to stand, blue girl It’s your quiet heart I don’t understand, blue girl We can play any game you want today Doesn’t seem too fair. It don’t seem right. You’re not kept by locks but by the failing of your heart. Has it been that long since you seen the sun? “Well, how long for you?”Able, yes, but not quite having fun. We can play any game you want always. The phone rang just once, nobody spoke. I knew it would come but still, how could it happen to you? Been stuck in my thoughts, secrets you knew: gifts of the short-lived, A kingdom in a hospital room.
3.
A Few Steps 04:34
lyrics
Shoot for the moon, missed the stars, so far off, a few more steps Reached for stars, fell short of the sky, so far off, a few more steps So far so far each step traveled takes me further and further away Asked the question, it was a joke, so far off, a few more steps Crossed the street, stuck halfway, so far off, a few more steps Solved the riddle, probably wrong, so far off, a few more steps Tried to stop, lost the power, so far off, a few more steps Grind to a halt, can’t stay still, so far off, a few more steps Made a list, nowhere to start, so far off, a few more steps
4.
Monocacy 03:53
lyrics
In sixty-four they stopped Early as to take one for the team When they pulled out to Baltimore it weren’t the loss it seemed Now, the hollow it follows me while driving past those monuments. Us NJ boys lead astray, here we are the occupants. Trumped up flags, buck’d and gagged, some corn for acknowledgement We are holed up at Best’s, buying us some time All those after me, I tried my best to buy you time Across the street from the county seat, Lee asks them to pay the ransom. Rebs are back, red hats attack, now confused about the anthem All those after me, I tried my best to buy you time To those at Araby, try your best to hold the line Don’t know where this going, but it’s going nowhere good Virtue delayed a day like Monocacy withstood All I can hope for at best is to buy you time All those after me, I tried my best to buy you time
5.
Stay Strangers 03:28
lyrics
ou’re waiting across from me. I try to pretend I don’t see that look in your eyes, that plea. You’re hoping for some company Hesitant, so reticent Sorry I wish I could help.I’m just not quite feeling myself Day after day I can’t help by shy away It occurs to me that you are lonesome too You would think that we’d talk, but that would be untrue This is the drift I have caught, while weeds poke through the motel parking lot. Seems I’m boarding now, and you are not Reticent, so hesitant Now I can really see that you are lonesome too. So long ago, lives ago, I ceaselessly withdrew. So, I’m afraid, it will be silence over you
6.
Dying, yet Gaming 04:22
lyrics
I just popped out of the Vault, if I’m not on mic it’s not my fault They just gave me some real life Rads and it’s got me so I can barely stand The Alliance is ganking again. Portal to ‘Barrens to defend. Wasn’t that faction supposed to be good? Nurse wants me off, I probably should I'm stuck down here waiting for a res Killing time, switching skins on my dress Don’t bring it up, don’t be so distraught It's just that dying takes much longer than I’d thought Zavala goes on about The Light. 'Hive don’t put up much of a fight. Maybe I’ll be found by a Ghost somewhere along the Shattered Coast Stacking blocks with my sister’s kid. A tiny house on an infinite grid. He calls down about a diamond square. Wish I could make it up those stairs I said goodbye so many times I’m numb I will leave you all the loot I've won Health meters refill why not mine? It’s not just me, we are all just passing time
7.
Irish Goodbye 03:33
lyrics
Known as quite polite And to that despite There’s no farewell for you I couldn’t tell you why I can’t say goodbye Time for me to fly I can’t say goodbye Kitchen light catches me going out the back door Invites in my postbox, for me no more Good at pleasantries Nod my head and agree There’s no farewell for you Here in my finest Yet there’s no question why must There be no farewell for you Dollie’s at the piano time to make my leave. Her singing’s so lovely, makes it hard to breath They won’t be the wiser If I pocket that appetizer There’s no farewell for you Oh, yes, the office friend Yes, another ear to bend There’s no farewell for you Voices grow quiet as I rise up the hill .Finally freedom in the night air’s chill
8.
You Got a New Dog 02:42
lyrics
Know you have been down for weeks Me too, in waves and peaks Seems you got yourself a new dog. Guess I’ll Undo that last Epilogue You moved on, but here I am stuck feeling him gone Seems you are now quite alright Too few of my old friends left in sight You know it’s untrue I hold on in spite Put him down together. I still see him around You moved on, but here I am still leashed along
9.
Pixels 04:13
lyrics
The font of resampled girls It's my fixed reference for the world Blinking cursor, cursed observer Interrogating port to port Resolute resolution revealed Cutting up, square to square It’s a funny little world you’ve got yourself rendered here Oh, the places you’ve let us see, the world and its vacancies The dirt formed from pearls It's my fixed reference for the world While in vain we tame The world, byte by byte, bit by bit Everything to pick now with a click On and on, phone to phone, share to share It’s a funny little world you’ve got yourself rendered here The horrid men behind the URLs It's my fixed reference for the world
10.
Watch Out for That One 02:32
lyrics
He’s walking all alone Watch out for that one Think you can’t, think you can Watch out for that one Think I went to school with that guy He was gone before the end of fall Should hear the things that say Not sure I believe it all Not sure what he’s done Watch out for that one When you were young, you two would play Did he take a punch that was meant for you? See him on the playground, you forget and you deny He was messed up for his life You're forgetting where’s he’s from Watch out for that one Thinks the debt is undone Watch out for that one Never thanked him, never tried Watch out for that one
11.
Taped Over 03:47
lyrics
Pulling you back a mirror, a miniature that feeling you’ve left on the stove. It's all on the plaque, carved by mad milliners: a riddle you cannot decode. A sad lonely claque, they called you a pillager of finite fishes and loaves. Cassette on the ground, recorded while dreaming. The answers were there, but I taped over it. See that man on the ledge? You two could be brothers! Don’t worry if he falls. They’ll tape over it. Brain to the rack, hand to the sinister. A coin lost in the deep trove. How’d you lose track? Now just a mimicker, acting like it’s something you chose. A plank to the head on the ship of Theseus. Hull marks obscured, they taped over them. I caught you on camera, you were supposed to be sleeping. Alibi still holds. We’ll tape over it. Heroes come home, but wear out their welcome. One last parade. Ticker tape them all. Dailies in screening, ‘switched out the actor, fixed with a splice, we’ll tape over it. There’s a hole in your story. Event out of sequence The timeline is shot. You’ll tape over it.

about

The Earthly Frames are not known for putting out accessible music. Taped Over seems at first to break with this convention, offering some straightforward, melancholy Americana. The lyrics and title focus on a pre-digital, Younger era. The music, too, doesn’t veer far from the folk-rock formula of banjos, mandolins, harmonica, and Nashville-sounding baritone guitars that were popular in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. 

However, on closer listen, those heady Sci-Fi-esque metaphysics from the ‘Frames previous materials are still there. On the opening track, “My Worst Self,” the singer is not just referring to a bad day, but in its dedication to a “v875,” it seems to actually be talking about an Earth-616-style alternate universe self. In “Pixels,” Walsh’s shrill and affected voice notes to the ever-present screen molecule, “It’s a funny little world you’ve got yourself rendered here.” The title track, too, seems not to talk about a nostalgic VHS mishap but about aging and identity, “A plank to the head, on the ship of Theseus, hull marks obscured, we taped over them.” Yikes.

Taped Over is the Blue record in The Earthly Frames mega-project, The Rainbow Table, which was started in 2016 to produce a whole album for each color in the ROYGBIV chromatic spectrum, plus two more for black and white.

credits

released April 3, 2023

All music was written and produced by The Earthly Frames in 2023. Additional contributions by Graham Hopkins, Nikola Vlekovski, Nikola Ristevski, Micko Damnjanovski, Maria Grigoryeva, Lyudmila Kadyrbaeva, Neil FitzGibbon, Daire Mulhearn, David Stone, and Mike Ballard. Creative Direction by Jason Merritt.
Stereophonic Mastering by Timothy Stollenwerk

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The Earthly Frames Maryland

The Earthly Frames is recording artist Gabriel Walsh. He's currently in process of creating The Rainbow Table, a nine album series corresponding to ROYGBIV (with black and white). The latest album is blue: Taped Over coming in April of 2023.

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