Carmina de Nihil, by Robbie Jalapeno & the Bureaucrats

Carmina de Nihil

by Robbie Jalapeno & the Bureaucrats

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CD in retro silver-foil sleeve, reminiscent of an iconic Western Australian double-AA side single release. The hard-copy version also includes a short bonus track, St John's Square (reprise) not available on digital download.

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9

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Ode to P Dutts Nuts, Alone Alone, The Revelator Song, Come Back Helen, Carmina de Nihil, Old Baxter, Mirror Man, Far Horizons / Nosferatu double-AA side, and 1 more. , and , .

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1.	I Have Nothing 04:27	lyrics	buy track
Was it you that told someone some big nothing today? Hide that nothingness in some meaningless way Jargon-tongue, empty head, withered heart Don’t you worry now you can still blame the world at large And do you know or can you see what you’ve done? This complicated maze of excuses I’ve been led on Never knowing, never seeing what was done The talk is piling up and the deed is nearly done. I was wrong I stood and waited for something to happen ... Now I have nothing I have nothing Can you understand? Do you listen? Do you care? A moment’s reflection can ease a lifetime of despair Instead we quiver, we cower and we hate Nailed to the dollar we stumble forward to our fate ...
2.	Far Horizons 04:49	lyrics	buy track
Far horizons beckon their lonely fingers trailing in the wind A strident fear strikes through the heart, the heat of doubt sears your flesh, bone and skin Hidden out of sight a promise of all that you want or you could need To fulfil your destiny to these far horizons you must take heed Come with me Come with me and I’ll fill your life with all that you could hope or desire Come with me and I’ll save you from all your troubles and all of your strife A thousand years it seems you've waited for a spit of hope to appear That elusive dreamless place you feel no hate no want no pain no fear So close so real they seem you reach out to them but then they disappear And the fading mists reveal the broken promises of a dim and dusty dream ,,, Come with me … He stood there at the edge of his life (Follow me) The ground littered with forks and lies (Hidden Valley) Ahead the light, the truth, the love, the light (Golden treasures) The whole lot wrapped up with the keys to the lost city ... Come with me ...
3.	Carmina de Nihil 05:29	lyrics	buy track
Carmina felt of all the things that a woman should be Hers was not a life of glamour and beauty Such a plain and clever girl Rather hers was a life of knowledge reason and words None was the thing to which she could not apply The power of her mind With just a turn of a phrase backed by her sabre-toothed wit She'd make the bishops cry. The nuns would cower on their knees Brother Stephen spent his days preaching the word of the lord He'd never met a student like Nina before He couldn't understand her With her pale sweet eyes and her untamed locks She was the perfect canvas upon which any man could write The story of his life And yet the power embodied within the spirit of this girl Brother Stephen was sure could unlock the mysteries of the world … So Brother Stephen was faced with a terrible choice To nurture this child and give her the voice She so desperately needed to make her own way In this cold, cruel world Or he could throw his hat in with the bishops and the nuns With their petty vendettas and their wicked games As they sought to destroy this beautiful thing That they could not hope to control Carmina, for her part, remained unaware Of the silent maelstrom secretly engulfing her She simply could not perceive it It started as an itch, an ache, a dull thud in her heart That creeping feeling of slowly being left behind While others advanced past her As 'Mina grew into a woman, she would come to understand That in a world that cannot see, the blind will comfort the blind ….
4.	It's My Birthday 05:31	lyrics	buy track
Today it’s my birthday ... My birthday no more I lie dying in a pool of mud and gore I feel sore... I feel sore... I feel a little sick. I had a bit to drink But I’m sick from the dying. Not sick from the drink From the drink... From the drink ... The taste of blood upon my lips Erases the sting of love’s lonely kiss Surrounded by teeth and bone and piss Oh lord. I never asked for this ... I can hear their footsteps fade away into the night Before me a door opens and I’m bathed in a light In the night ... A shining light ... I lie and I wonder as my guts spill into the dirt Just how much time have I missed on this Earth Oh it hurts .... Man it hurts ... This godless life. The one I’ve lived Shall I repent all of my sins? Behind me lovers I have spurned Roads full of lessons unlearned Whispers of hope unheard ……… Today it’s my birthday. My birthday no more ... But now I’ve forgotten what I was singing for What was it for? What was it for?
5.	The Vision I Had 03:38	info	buy track
6.	Old Baxter 05:14	lyrics	buy track
Old Baxter he's caught up in someone else's dream Laurel and Clarkson blindly follow him Ignorant to the folly, the mistake in their ways Blind to the danger of forgetting what their hearts say Young Baxter was fresh. Not long since a child He sought wisdom and learning, a career and a wife But for so many years, he failed to ask himself why Or seek a reason or some meaning to such a life So Baxter he worked, he toiled and he strived For his house and his sons and his car and his wife Repressing his anger, his ego and his dreams He buried his soul in routine with two sevenths relief La la la la la, la la la la ... Friday night La la la la la, la la la la ... Saturday La la la la la, la la la la, la la la la Maybe a barbecue on Sunday Then it's back to work! Now Baxter he's old. He's all twisted and torn By lust. Desire. And the dreams he's hidden from Now Laurel points his finger at his father and to his brother, Clarkson, he says Never have dreams or you'll end up just like he did.
7.	Something I Care For 05:38	lyrics	buy track
You’re only something that I care for Something used to pass the time One of many reasons I remain here for Waiting, watching, listening, wasting time I should not really wonder why I watch you pass on by There’s not too much that I want for Not too much I want to call mine Not many causes I would die for No passion grips this heart of mine I should not really wonder why I watch you pass on by There’s not much that I really work for Nothing to really tax my mind You’re only something that I care for You’re a product of my mind …
8.	St John's Square 04:49	lyrics	buy track
St John’s Square is where I saw a grown man cry He never knew I watched as the tears welled in his eyes Well he just buried his face in his hands and wept Right there. In St John’s Square Right there. In St John’s Square After a while he looked up to the sky I don’t know if his tears made him blind I swear the sun bathed the steeple in a hail of light Right there. In St John’s Square Right there. In St John’s Square With the back of his hand he wiped his tears away He stood up, turned around and went on his way I felt my hair gently caressed by the fingers of the wind Right there. In St John’s Square Right there. In St John’s Square
9.	Standing Man 04:33	lyrics	buy track
Standing Man do you see how her heart bleeds? Take a walk through the streets you come upon a scene Three men they’re standing there She lies, cries naked, in despair All can see not only her heart bleeds Yet you just stand there Standing man don’t deny you've cried deep down inside You have felt hop and pity You understand her pain her suffering Her screams are ringing in your ears But all you do is stand there and sing It’s the same thing It’s the same thing It’s the same thing I've seen this on TV Standing man fade away into your grey and dreary ways There is no use for you here, unless you Help, pitch in clean up the mess Cover her naked body with her dress But all you’ll do is stand there and you’ll sing It’s the same thing
10.	As it is Written 03:03	lyrics	buy track
I birth. I breathe. I wail and I seethe. I shout. I kick. As I am torn from the comfort of my mother’s flailing gut, I start reading from the pages of the book as it is written for me … I grow. I learn. I watch and I yearn. I wait. I wile. For the time when my kind shall inherit the earth I keep reading from the pages of the book as it is written for me … The rules and the queues and the signs on the street Never stand on a carpet without wiping your feet Follow every path as they are laid out for you And when you knock on the door they will not let you in Where does it lead? A dead end. I eat. I shit. I puke and I spit. The over time I realise I’m just a bag of blood and bone, now all wrinkled an old And I start tearing out the pages of the book as it is written for me
11.	Mirror Man 04:11	lyrics	buy track
Minding my own business like thirty years before When a hungry little man came a knocking on my door He had nowhere to run to. He had no place to go He had no friend to lean on. He was a lonely restless soul. I turned him away ‘Please good sir’, he said, ‘Don’t turn me from your door. ‘I am a hungry man. I’m lonely and I’m poor, and I have nowhere to run to. I have no place to go I have no friend to lean on. I am a lonely restless soul. Please don't turn me away!' Well I turned him away. I couldn’t stand the look of the man The brand of his clothes. The cut of his hair. The smell of his breath Your judging stare, it burns into my face But I ask you the question, if you were in my place, and He had nowhere to run to. He had no place to go He had no friend to lean on. He was a lonely restless soul. You'd turn him away I think you'd turn him away ... You couldn’t stand the look of the man The brand of his clothes. The cut of his hair. The smell of his breath.
12.	The Sound of Nothing 03:23	lyrics	buy track
Have you ever heard the sound of nothing? If you listen, ignore the din You’ll find if you clear the crap from your mind That nothing is the sound of nothing He could feel it in his heart He knew his time had come at last The truth of it was there was nowhere to hide He drew his last breath and he died! He awoke on a cold grey slab The audience a sea of masks He choked and he gasped for some air While the audience could only stare They’d given him up for dead and yet Here, he was alive once again He looked at the crowd and the scar on his chest He threw his head back he had survived! Have you ever heard the sound of nothing? The weeks would drag and wear him thin He slowly came to realise That nothing is the sound of nothing! All the world is a stage and each man And woman has a part they must bear But at the end of the show, when in the mirror you stare Will you pull your mask off and see there’s nothing there!

about

Songs about feminism, existentialism and all-round nothingness from the world's finest purveyors of dark and dirty swamp rhythms.

credits

released August 22, 2014

The musicians appearing on this release are…

Rachael Aquilina (strings)
Peter Baxendale (mandolin, vox)
Elk Bell (vox)
Libby Browning (double bass)
Maree Cole (vox)
Shaun Corlson (vox)
Shaun Hoffmann (drums)
robbie jalapeno (vox, guitars, keys)
Stephan Lund (flute, vox)
Marty Pervan (horns)
Stuart Robertson (drums, percussion)
Cleo Robins (vox)
Imogen Robins (vox)
Damien Snow (electric bass, vox)

All songs written by robbie jalapeno and arranged by robbie jalapeno & the fabulous band of faceless bureaucrats. Recorded by Derek Hall & robbie jalapeno at Wrong Sea Studios, Willetton and latenite studios, Bayswater, Western Australia. Mixed by Derek Hall at Behan Street Studios, Bentley, Western Australia. Pre-mastered by Darren Halifax at Satellite Studios, Burswood, Western Australia. Post-digital mastering by Andrew J Robins at latenite studios, Bayswater, Western Australia.

Many thanks to studio benefactor, Shaun Hoffmann and all you talented musicians. Love and thanks to Tracey, Cleo and Imogen xxx. Without you, this would not have happened.