Get all 8 The Portingales releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Put My Heart to Sleep, You Took a Picture With Your Eyes, My Bloody Feet (single), Paint a Little Tree (album), Arms Around the Galaxy (single), An Ave Maria University Break Up (single), My Familiar Delusion (single), and The Portingales (album).
1. |
Walk Backwards
04:25
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I've been thinking bout Chicago today
And the middle class street that you called home
And of city lights and our sleepless nights
And the places that we'd hoped to be
Cuz your hair was tangled by the wind and the waves
And my brain was dizzy on my dreams
Dreams of happiness and a little house
All our domestic fantasies
That your feet had stumbled on the cracks in the road
While I ran much too far ahead
Into dead end streets with their hollow beats
And the good life I could never reach
And I'm sure that I fell
Asleep behind the wheel again
Cuz no matter how hard
I tried I could not shake that feeling
I was a king on fire
With everything I want but could never seize
I could not be the only one
I could not be the only one
To stake all on a dream
I don't want to walk backwards
I don't want to walk backwards
I don't want to walk backwards
I don't want to walk backwards
I could not even imagine
The best things that I could imagine
Were better that I had imagined
Better than I had imagined
(Better than I had imagined)
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2. |
Ebb and Flow
04:51
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There is an island where I used to live
With a single road like a circle that kept me looking in
And the people kept busy with trifles, while their souls faded out day by day
And I was distraught by the things that I thought
And the words that I heard myself say
The days are cloudy
And the wind hurts my face
Perhaps across the water
There's a sunnier place
I got to thinking, there must be some escape
From the heart-crushing wear monotony that wrinkles my face
Oh all of my life is just memories some that I live in and others avoid
But by God I will do something meaningful
Though I should be drowned in the tide
The one way I know
It leads back to the start
And all I know is that
It breaks my heart
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
Feel the ebb and flow
(I don't want to break but I need to move on)
(I don't want to break but I need to move on)
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3. |
Bob Ross
03:06
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I used to listen to Bob Ross
Helps me forget what I've lost
I like to hear your voice on the radio
Rock n' roll push and pull
We pick the colors our world
You drew the lines, I filled them in
Paint a little tree, paint a little tree
Right next to the water and the path that leads away from me
I know you'd never walk it but I saw you paint it carefully
Keep adding to the picture, and clinging to reality
Keep filling in the space you left with colors that you chose with me
Wondering how all this ends ours lives are a masterpiece
Along the way you started fresh
In empty space I didn't see
Hang what we started in a gallery
We live on artificial scarcity
Maybe that's why I didn't question
I've also started again
There's no mistakes
Just happy accidents
Paint a little tree, paint a little tree
Right next to the water add some crimson and some kerosene
You don't need to worry when your far away from things
Build it up or burn it down your life is a masterpiece
Another happy accident (do it if you wanna)
Paint a picture throw it out (do it if you wanna)
Anything can happen (do it if you wanna)
This is your world so do it if you wanna
Another happy accident (do it if you wanna)
Paint a picture throw it out (do it if you wanna)
Anything can happen (do it if you wanna)
This is your world so do it if you wanna
HEY! Do if you wanna, do it you wanna
HEY! Do if you wanna, do it you wanna
HEY! Do if you wanna, do it you wanna
HEY! Do if you wanna, do it you wanna
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4. |
Beautiful Soul
04:32
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What did I expect to find
That wasn't already somehow inside?
To what end do I accumulate
If I cannot just enjoy the rest I take?
So many allurements in the world outside my brain
Distractions keeping me from my interior domain
Would you sit by me would you love me for awhile?
Help me hold my head up; brush the hair out of my eyes.
I want a beautiful soul I want a beautiful soul
I want a beautiful soul Oh I want a beautiful soul
Cuz I want to be cleansed from defilement inside
Rags exchanged for cloth of gold; wounds in radiant light
And no one can be free save he who masters his desire
Precious metals purged of dross in the refiners fire
I dreamed that everything I wanted came true for a day
I woke up in a clammy sweat--it all had flown away
Would you be my friend would you take me by the hand?
Rest my head upon your lap till I can understand?
I want a beautiful soul I want a beautiful soul
I want a beautiful soul Oh I want a beautiful soul
I want a beautiful soul I want a beautiful soul
I want a beautiful soul Oh I want a beautiful soul
What did I expect to find that wasn't already somehow inside?
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5. |
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I am a sucker for a pretty face
The glass is the nature, the sunlight the grace
That drops like snowflakes on a thirsty heart
Build me up slowly then tear me apart
I should have stayed in my room
Repose in the sunbeams of a warm afternoon
Wait here for mother, she'll be home soon
Oh I should have stayed in my room
I fell so hard I could scarcely breathe
And no one believed me when I said it was sweet
The world has a way of just tearing you up
I've bled out so much yet I can't get enough
But there is no where to go
Where I could let myself show
I should have stayed in my room
Repose in the sunbeams of a warm afternoon
Wait here for mother, she'll be home soon
Oh I should have stayed in my room
Wait here for mother, she'll be home soon
Oh I should have stayed in my room
I should have stayed in my room
I should have stayed in my room
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6. |
Look Into the Sun
05:15
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When I was young I could look into the sun
My head was sore but I was sure good luck from it would come
I could look into the sun
I could look into the sun
In the store I threw my wallet on the floor
The cards and things that hold my strings, I don't need them anymore
No time for this, I am still waiting on a kiss
From the morning dew that soaks my shoes I would not want to miss
Cuz I cannot close the door
I cannot close the door
I poured my life into the pages of a book
It debuted to bad reviews I was ashamed to look
Withering, somewhat amused and dithering
Time goes by but still I try to make this dead bird sing
Cuz I cannot close the door
And the wind keeps blowing in
I cannot close the door, ooh
I am tired of walking into mirrors and biting my tongue
And my blood is cold
So bring me in and give me a drink, I swear that I won't talk to much and I won't touch your stuff
Hang me on your fridge to remind you of me day after day after day
Watching the sunbeams drain the years away
Tuck me in your sleep for a rainy day
And I'll tell you that
When I die I want to face the sun
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7. |
Sleep, Little Bird
02:57
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Sleep little bird
The day is done, the shadows are long
So sing not a word
The dish and the spoon have jumped over the moon
And the cow has followed them too
The words that we sing they won't change a thing
But I'd rather sing them with you
Sleep little bird
You can rest on the perch I just built right over my soul
I know that as always you won't ask much of me
My arms will encircle you when you are lonely
In silence and song we'll hold each closely
And if your nest falls, I'll rebuild it
Again and again and again and again
Sleep little bird
When they come for your feathers I'll hide you as long as I can
You'll starve in every way that it means to be hungry
They'll drown you in torrents of water and whiskey
And I am so thirsty I know you won't blame me
If the best I can do is let the flood in one drop at a time
Sleep little bird
When we're caught in the gale I'll listen for your sweetest song
And cling you until he past becomes present
In the roaring quiet of the funnel's current
I'll think when that dark cyclone swallows the sky
All that rises converges but not all that converges must rise
If floodwaters converge on you, please, just go to sleep
Alouette, gentille alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
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8. |
To Rule a City
04:27
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I used to rule a city not long ago
And they would all ring bells when I went by
I was alert, I was dapper, I was fine
Walking a solitary street
Cuz the space inside my lungs just would not fill
When the deepest root remains untouched
My tie came undone, I was spinning my tires in the mud
What was I looking for?
I stayed out counting seeds till dawn
Then I got out of bed at noon again
Walked naked through the lawn
When will my life begin?
Flame inside my fingers don't let me rest
I woke up after midnight with a muse upon my chest
Athena broke her father's skull, a spear thrust made things wonderful and new
Like you eluded me both day and night, O star within the bag guide me to you
I want you to know my heart
I want you to know my heart
I want you to know my heart
I want you to know my heart
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9. |
Hearts Deceive
06:17
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What's so great about you anyway?
You were always on my case
Too anxious to make me your own
And my heart got so carried away
But I'm floating down to earth
And my feet are back on the ground
Illusions are dispersed
I can see so clearly now
The lie that I believed
Was more beautiful than the truth
We all let our hearts deceive
When we want something bad enough
Just because I wrote this song
Doesn't mean I'm still thinking about you in fact
My tear ducts are fairly dry these days
The crumbs you fed to me
I made into a feast
Malnourished and diseased
I followed you with glowing eyes
The dreams that I had weaved
They carried me in spite of you
We all let our hearts deceive
When we want we something bad enough, bad enough
I am a deflated balloon
Skipping on the ground
A deflated balloon
Skipping on the ground
A deflated balloon
Skipping on the ground
A deflated balloon
Skipping on the ground
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The Portingales Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Portingales are an indie rock band out of southeastern Michigan. Combining stylistic elements as diverse as 1960's British rock, folk, and grunge, the melodic tunes of The Portingales strive to capture both the energy and melancholy of life's most meaningful experiences. ... more
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