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. |
I Slept Through A Decade
04:39
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Wake me up I slept through a decade
And my unworked lungs are fighting to breathe
These feeble eyes are so tired of shadows
Please take these dirty blankets and wash them for me
I'd like to know do we waste years as we go?
I'd love to see a best friend beside of me
Wake me up I slept through a decade
And I broke my foot learning to walk
Don't blame me if I can't understand you
When my heart feels like a town under siege
I'd like to know why we lose friends as we grow?
Speak to me, tell me what is left to see?
There's still sleep in my eyes and I don't like surprises, especially the type that impoverish my life
It's one year at a time like the beads on a rosary while I wait for letters that nobody's mailed to me
And watch people get dumber day after day
And I'm trying to figure out how we're all upside down now, we're living in clown world
So hurry up I need to see beauty
Enflesh these bones and bring me to life
Wake me up the morning sun's rising
And I think I'd like to waltz in the trees
I want to learn why did life take such a turn?
I cannot comprehend all the broken things left to mend
So wake me up I slept through a decade
Wake me up
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2. |
My Pick Fell In The Hole
03:03
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Everything I know, it didn't help me in the end
The further I rise up it seems the lower I descend
I went to a school--the books are still upon my shelf
But have I yet begun the understanding of myself
I walked into a store to get some things I needed
The choices made me dizzy; I wondered what I came in for
I once knew a girl--she gave me everything I have
Her absence makes me ache but her memory makes me laugh
I still have the photographs in a hand carved box inside my closet
And the best parts of me, well someone else has walked away with
Just give me half a chance to screw this up--it won't take too long
I wrote a lovely song, but my pick fell in the hole again
But my pick fell in the hole again
(I still have the photographs)
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3. |
Once Not Long Ago
02:50
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Once, not long ago anything could happen
I caught a beam of light but it left me empty-handed
For everything I'd done, and all the years that'd passed
Well it put the fire out and it shattered all the glass
Now some time's gone by and I have grown older
My heart is ill at ease and regret hands o'er my shoulder
Wish we could have persevered in the love we'd briefly known
But I'm powerless and I know it's out of my control
One day I'll reach my hand and I'll catch the lightning
Maybe I'll see you then? The future is so frightening
Seek it though I may, there's nothing to grab on to
Nothing left to say -- nothing to return to.
Once when I was young, anything could happen
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4. |
Falling Up
05:05
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I got knocked out by a candlestick
I cracked my head and birds flew out of the hole
My body bore so many wounds but I
Took a bath and found they had all turned to gold
I feel the weight of the ocean
Crushing down on my back again
This life is a chain of misfortune
That somehow dropped me where I want to be
Falling up; falling up
I tumbled down a flight of stairs
And landed in the Garden of Eden
I don't need your pat on the back
I fell into this throne by sheer accident
I wrote a masterpiece in my bowl of moistened Alphabets
Each day gravity pulls me
And I hear the sound of the planets again
Falling up; falling up
I feel the weight of the ocean
Crushing down on my back again
And I won't be dissuaded, that I know
Falling up
(You don't belong here)
Falling up
(You don't belong here)
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5. |
Pillars of Salt
02:20
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I am not alone
But life is complicated these days
Strip all the meat from the bone
To uncover it's meaning
We've all different meanings of home
And everybody is looking for something
Put endless food in the hole
While we cover our feelings
People falling in love, they don't know what they want
We are pillars of salt looking back on the wreckage of our lives
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6. |
Leaden Sky
05:11
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We were under a leaden sky
Do you remember? Do you remember?
We were under a leaden sky
Do you remember? Do you remember?
The stillness of snow that hung from the trees
Where we soaked our shoes and we dirtied our knees
And I twirled my fingers around in your hair
And we spoke our sweet foolishness there
Exposed beneath the cold winter sky
Do you remember? Do you remember?
We could not let opportunities fly
Do you remember?
Ah
We fought a long summer and love spoke through pain
We clung to each other, in hopes of better days
I tried my best but I wasn't a catch
I got too fearful of my heart being left
You put your eyes to the horizon and what could I do?
You faded while I held on to you
We suffered under the hot, muggy sky
Do you remember? Do you remember?
I refused to let my devotion die
Do you remember?
Ah
So the distance it grew until you went away
I felt you withdraw in a sad, slow decay
I reached my hand to you, you turned your head
I wrote you a letter--you ignored what I said
I went to see you to talk it all out
Do you remember? Do you remember?
But you were different--you shut my love out
It's a pain I remember
Your absence, well, it collapsed my life
Doesn't that matter? Doesn't that matter?
I was fighting to keep us alive
Doesn't that matter? Did I ever matter?
I felt so rejected, like a disease
I loved you but you'd had enough of me
So I took the bullet while you laid in the sun
Do you remember? I hope it was fun
I get that you did what you had to do
I just want you to know what I've suffered through
Ah
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7. |
Blow Me Up Like Alderaan
03:54
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My mind was in a haze but I didn't feel uncomfortable
I'd always sang your praise and I found you irresistible
You became my point of light on a vast, dark sea of loneliness
It's all coming back tonight
I was stuck on you and it made me feel invincible
Our love was one big wreck but I defended it on principle
There was a sadness in your eyes and I couldn't pick you up
Couldn't bring the stone to life
(You had me alright) I was dangling from puppet strings
(You had me alright) I withheld not anything
(You had me alright) I was fooled by slight of hand
(You had me alright) Blew me up like Alderaan
We lived under the shade and I couldn't break us out
So you withered away and your spirit flew down south
Like water from the rock you quenched my thirsting dignity
And we touched across the clock
It's all coming back tonight; I don't wanna give up on you
But you blew me up alright, cast away what I thought true
It's all coming back tonight; I was fooled by slight of hand
You blew me up all right, left my pieces on the sand
(It blew up)
I can't believe it's over like I can't believe it happened and I still feel the explosion I can't pull myself together
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8. |
Can't Fool Myself
05:04
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I'm doing alright these days
Rearranged my books and bought new clothes
I'm watching the clock tick and the faucet drip
I am wearing my carpet out
I occupy time with this and that
I was waiting for the day you'd come ask me to take you back
But I can't fool myself
I'm going nowhere fast
I can't wait for you
I can't wait for you
The leaves have all turned
And the sky is gray
I haven't heard a word from you
Since the nineteenth of last May
The summer went by
You were nowhere to be found
Your laughter's fading now
By God I miss the sound
But I can't fool myself
I'm going nowhere fast
I can't wait for you
I can't wait for you
I could not help it
I was in love
And I can't just shrug it off
I'm sinking below
I'll just endure it
Serve my time
Pick up the mess you made
When you left me behind
But I can't fool myself
I'm going nowhere fast
I can't wait for you
I can't wait for you
But I can't fool myself
I'm going nowhere fast
The heart knows what it wants
I'll always wait for you
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9. |
Nectar Runs Dry
03:13
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Nothing compares to your words of guile
When you told me that we should part ways for awhile
You said we need space to unravel our lives
But the truth is you had a new man in your eyes
Hey, what can I say?
When the nectar runs dry then the bees fly away
Ooh, what could I do?
I'd have leaped like a deer to repair things with you
Life goes on under the sun
Well your new lover proved just a feckless young boy
Whose inconstancy played with your heart like I toy
I thought you'd return to where we went off track
But my time was done and you weren't coming back
Hey, what can I say?
When destiny called I was out for the day
Ooh, what could I do?
I still pause with nostalgia when I think of you
The night drags on through the dark
Time has a way of helping us see
How things that transpired were all meant to be
I forgive you the wounds I received at your hand
It's taken awhile but at last I can stand
No, please don't go--
I don't want anything except to just say hello
I do wish you well
In the end we just want to have peace with ourselves
There's nothing new under the sun
And life goes on in the sun
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10. |
Down to the Ocean
06:32
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My eyes are like the sea
They are turbulent and green
And they will swallow you up, believe me
I've seen it happen before
I will level with you
I fall in love way too fast
And I'll let those waves carry me onward
To my own destruction
I went down to the ocean finally
And I found love only existed inside of me
The endless waves spoke stillness to my soul
And they gave me nothing to go on
Seems I'm always out of touch
Or else you are out of reach
If I can't have you, then I'll adore you
Love is a bitch that way
But one fact still remains
Constant as blood flows through my veins
There is more empty space inside of me
Than I could possibly fill
I went down to the ocean Saturday
And I saw love close its eyes and drift away
The empty stares...they filled the air
And they gave me nothing to go on
So I stand here disconsoled
With my ankles in the sea
I can still smile while I am collapsing
That's just the way that I am
Maybe someday if you can breathe
You will find me here in the green
I do not care if you can't understand
Never mattered to you anyway
I went out to the horizon on the sea
And I found my heart--it was floating aimlessly
And I felt the sand slip through my hands
And it gave me nothing to go on
I just need a little something to go on
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11. |
Water in My Bones
04:56
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We went out on a friendly stroll
And dug ourselves the deepest of holes
I dug so deep I thought you never could leave
At least that's what I tried to believe
That is what I tried to believe
"Love is an act of faith" we said
And I can't get that saying out of my head
We leaped into the dark unknown
And I hit the ground and broke all of my bones
I hit the ground, broke all of my bones
You said that I felt safe, like a home
And I was the flower that sprung from a stone
Our lives were messy though our hearts were sweet
And we left our work of love incomplete
Our work of love is still incomplete
Each day you made my soul want to sing
And I thought our love could withstand anything
But it could not endure your restless heart
Now the tower we built has fallen apart
The tower we built has fallen apart
We burned so bright but too soon we were done
Like a morning dew dissolves in the sun
Our story's full of wasted dreams
Am I a fool because I still believe?
Yes I am a fool and I still believe
We were underwater all of our days
We swam for the light to breathe, and break away
But you kicked off, left me nowhere to go
Now I can' t get the water out of my bones
No I can't get the water out of my bones
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12. |
Call and Respond
04:14
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The richest freedom I've yet seen
It came to me in a dream
A place where I gave little care
To what others thought of me
I imagined I was such a man
Of boundless wit and golden hands
Who could walk on top of fog
Like newly fallen snow
With every finger in the pie of happiness
Shorn of all disguises
Once a gem fell from the sky
Into my palm--no surprise!
It burned the flesh off of my hand
While I clutched it to my breast
I sat inside the diner late
With a smile upon my face
When I realized nothing's ever lost
Not even wasted time
Both windows down upon the interstate
Barreling feet first into a big mistake
It's all call and respond
Sometimes we all shatter on the rocks
Sometimes we put our head upon the block
Sometimes we all fall away
Sometimes we all fall away
Sometimes we all fall away
Sometimes we all fall away
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13. |
Brightest of Eyes
04:20
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Interpreting hieroglyphics is more certain than reading you
Oh your strategy escapes me; you're so out of the blue
And I feel I can sense myself eroding
And I feel I can envision loving you
You, brightest of eyes
You don't know my intentions; desires shrouded dark
But I swear my heart is noble, only lend me that first spark
And I feel I can; my confidence is exploding
And I feel I can make a little place with you
With you, brightest of eyes
Ooh, brightest of eyes
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14. |
Barrel in the Flood
04:20
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I am a barrel in your flood
You're in my bones, you're in my blood
With roots entwined around the core
My heart is anchored to the floor
When I met you I found the key
To unlock everything for me
I tried to carry you along
But you were firmly planted
Will I feel that way again?
Will I feel that way again?
I had no business loving you
It was a foolish thing to do
A happy fault I don't regret
I wonder how we'll end up yet?
I wish I wasn't such a creep
But when I love I love for keeps
I miss the way you used to say
That I was so pretty
Will I see your face again?
Will I see your face again?
And among the world of men
All good things come to an end
Perhaps some day we'll share a smile
Until then take care of yourself
Will I hear your name again?
Will I feel that way?
Will I see your face?
Will I hear your name?
Will I know joy?
Will I live again?
I had no business loving you
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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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