Get all 8 Justin Wiles releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Burning of Los Angeles, Our Children Became Islands, Reticent Alien, The Old Balladeer, Songs From Iowa & Lime, Climbing Up Slides, Tomorrow's New Year, and A New Familiar Place.
1. |
Ghosts in White Suits
04:19
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If you hold on to my arm, I’ll lead you through the boulevards
And down the alleys with ghosts in white sheets
Whistling and hissing in the trees, a reminiscent melody
Drowning out the approach of frightened feet
And even as I follow, I fall on my fate for you
In somebody’s dress I’ve borrowed to fall into something new
Oh, you’ve been haunting the area and I am awfully honored
It’s a scary kind of comedy, a scary kind of comedy
If you hold on to my hand, we’ll meet the pomegranate man
Down the alley with ghosts in white suits
Drifting to a distant eulogy, a soporific memory
Drowning out the reproach of military boots
And even as I stumble, I fall on my face for you
With somebody else’s mumbles, I mutter up something new
Oh, you’ve been haunting the area, you gallivant on the barrier
Into this spectral comedy
Are you this spectral comedy?
And even as I follow, I fall on my fate for you
In somebody’s dress I’ve borrowed to fall into something new
Oh, you’ve been haunting the area, publicizing the tailor
Who has dressed this spectral comedy
You, this spectral comedy, imbue this vestal part of me
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2. |
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The lonesome legless boot, abandoned by the river
Its owner made a promise he could not deliver
He said he would return when finished with the river
Then he settled on an island in the middle
Why did you bring me here?
Why did you bring me here?
An open book am I, a soul devoid of a vessel
Instruct your young to pull my tongue and remove me ‘fore they wrestle
By boat or by balloon, step in and make haste ‘cross the river
I’ve been left before, but no more, no sir, you’re wearing me forever
But why would you bring me here?
Why would you bring me here?
Why would you bring me here?
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3. |
Jack Be Nimble
05:20
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Well, I opened up the paper, and what did it reveal?
The likeness of a king on vacation in Brazil
He was pasted to the panes of an abbey in the sun
Apostasies aside, I was nearly overcome
But from a questionable angle
I woke up in the strangest impression of myself
A gust of violent wind stirs the dust upon the shelf
Where I’ve been training night and day to achieve a higher height
I whimpered in dismay as the wind sussed out the light
I’m only blistering the candle
And why do I believe what I’ve ever known results in being alone?
Cause the distance to the wick mocks the distance to the phone
And why should I conceal what I’ve ever shown?
I’ll end up an unknown
Cause the distance to the wick mocks the distance to the phone
I’m just a blister on the candle
Well, the eloquence is plain in the rolling of your eyes
It’s all aboard the train in a 60’s spy disguise
Ending sentences in dreams just to wile away the time
Destructive as it sounds, haven’t slept a wink in seven nights
I’m blistering the candle
And why do I believe what I’ve ever known results in being alone?
Cause the distance to the wick mocks the distance to the phone
And why should I conceal what I’ve ever shown?
I’ll end up an unknown
Cause the distance to the wick and the distance to the phone
Are just a blister on the candle
I’m just a blister on the candle
Well, I opened up the paper, and quite to my surprise
A gust of violent wind, blowing cuts into my eyes
And I’ve been training night and day to achieve a higher height
But I whimpered in dismay, knowing full well how I’d feel
To find a blister on the candle
I’m just a blister on the candle
I’m only blistering the candle
I’m just a blister on the candle
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4. |
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Past the stop lights, past them all
And to the expressway for unwelcome vehicles
Past the florid fields I knew
And over a gaunt necropolis, and I am through
What do I have to do, and what have I got to prove?
Are you saying you want me separated from you?
Are you saying that I ought to move?
You’ve arrived in a brazen town
Where we’re too busy rising to commit to falling down
Take a number and await the call
Bury your baggage in the bowels of this u-haul
And what if I just refuse, no?
My doctor told me time heals almost all wounds
But will steer you into someone else’s goons
I’ll never yield to the noose, no
My doctor told me time heals almost all wounds
But will steer you clear of no one
Set a course for miles from her
My whole periphery is a heavenly blur
This horizon line of sight
Is all iridescence and a radiant light
And what do I have to do, and what have I got to prove?
Are you saying you want me separated from you?
Are you saying that I ought to move?
Are you saying I ought to move?
Are you saying I ought to move?
Are you saying I ought to move?
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5. |
Ex-Blue Sky
05:04
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The big idea has been the question for days
The girl just graces with ephemeral stays
She’s had me holding on for her line two
An iced expression worn discordant in spring
A bucking bullet aimed at everything
And everyone she never could talk to
She gave up...she gave up...she gave up
She gave up on giving up, on giving up
The biggest showboater’s asleep in the sea
A sot on shots and not enamored with me
The Four Non Blondes demanding answers too
She keeps close watch over the keys to her cell
And what she calls hectoring I call offering help
She sears in the sun and not a second too soon
She gave up...she gave up...she gave up
She gave up on giving up, on being generous
I wake up easy so my eyes can adjust
She’s stripping down into a vesture of lust
I’m madly attaching to her breasts like glue
She kisses searches for our fugitive souls
And breathes a sigh in a collision of holes
An ex-blue sky that you and I might move
She gave up...she gave up...she gave up
She gave up on giving up, on giving up
She gave up...she gave up...she gave up
She gave up on giving up, on being generous
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6. |
I Want a Woman
05:48
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I want a woman
A woman who’ll sleep by my side, a woman to be my blushing bride
I want to bend over backwards, sit back and relax on me
I want a friend I can touch as candidly or as much as I please
I want a woman who brings me to my knees
Oh, I take great comfort in knowing
That I’ve contributed to the genesis
Of the smile you are radiantly glowing
The kind that insists on attention and the right kind of kiss
I want a woman
A woman to carry my child, a woman convivial and wild
I swear I’m innately laconic, and I don’t mean to importune
But hurry up, woman, I may want a young lady soon
I’d take great pleasure in covering you
With sensually succulent sentiments
While I find your eyes lambently hovering over my lucky head
Oh, I take great pride in my knowing
That I’ve contributed to the genesis
Of the smile you are blithely bestowing
The kind I’m inclined to admit I was blind to have missed
I want a woman
A woman to settle all bets, a woman to murder my regrets
I need a lover to smother and sing to or my life is surely through
I need a woman, and why shouldn’t it be you?
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7. |
Surfing the Razorblade
04:57
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Peel my gaze from the fly to the lazy plaster dry
But never you mind, never you mind
Never mind, never you mind
In the back as she drives
I’m surfing the razorblade, what a ride
Saying goodbye, saying goodbye
Saying goodbye, say goodbye
Walk the wheels at a swift sixty-five
Raise the day when the suns catch your eye
Ask me nice through your woe
Sleuthing out the clue that you may already know
May already know, already know, already know
Heat the crisis to glowing or refrigerate ‘til cold
Whenever you go, whenever you go
Never go, but ever you go
Take the strip south to I-65
Raise the roots in the razorblade ride
Praise the bastard-to-be and always speak elegantly
I couldn’t decide, I couldn’t decide
If I might like to retire
In the back as she drives
I’m surfing the razorblade, what a ride
Never you mind, but never you mind
She could never be mine
I revive to this black and white sight
Nursed at rest stops along 65
Raise the day when the suns catch your eye
Raise the roots in the razorblade ride
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8. |
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On the way out to Tomorrow Town
You were keeping all our shit safe
Like a guard dog just napping around
At the foot of a beware-laden gate
All the beasts drove right on in
Never asking how you’ve been
You were nursing a wound to your chest
From a chancellor at a school out of state
All the priests clothed you in excess
And said, “Don’t weep, just create”
And you’re only cold to me now
You’re only cold to me now
You’re only cold to me now
In veiny thorns you are all adorned
As we smile and bleed, our outfits torn
And we live this lie to the day we die
On the way home from Tomorrow, on a race
To remain in the same stoic place
We appreciated sin
No one asked us where we’d been
And you’re only gone to me now
You’re only gone to me now
You’re only gone to me now...
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9. |
Reticent Alien
06:03
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Me and my father on a space amusement ride
“Cold glass of water” the last utterance before he died
Last seen on Gambit’s Green by the ferris wheel
But they found him below the wooden roller coaster
Now I can’t hardly go there no more
No more
“Eye for an eye” is my line, halfway misunderstood
Said you’d call and even bet me money that you would
You can’t afford this thing, it’s embarrassing for you
So take your debts aboard the slumbering solar coaster
Now I can’t hardly go there no more
No more
I am no rider of waves, I incise and split cement
But in last night’s trance I saw a chance
For this reticent alien to feel at home again
And if you endure the queue, austere in all desire
You can cavil at me, but do it lovingly or we’ll never be right
And I’d like us to be good again
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10. |
E.T.A. (Beautiful Day)
03:45
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With a keen eye focused on the key parts of the road
The other eye a-floating to a beautiful girl
In a beautiful world
On this beautiful day
(What is our estimated time of arrival?
What is our estimated time of arrival?
What is the estimated time of arrival?)
(To the expressway for unwelcome vehicles)
With a keen eye focused on the key parts of the road
The other eye a-floating to a beautiful girl
In a beautiful world
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Justin Wiles
Justin Wiles is a singer-songwriter whose compositions are centered around intricate, delicate, melodic guitars and poetic lyrics. His DIY recording style often includes dense musical arrangements and many layered vocals.
Justin Wiles recommends:
Mechanical Bride
by One Hundred Flowers
Really excellent experimental chamber pop, for fans of The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, New Pornographers. Listening pleasure amplified by simultaneous lyric-reading.
go to album
Collapse The Structure
by The Dark Water Hymnal
Like The National, DWH puts dark ambient twists on folk ballads. My favorites tend to settle into a groove, with layers that ebb and flow, and ultimately swell to crescendo.
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The enigmatic Frank Ene's solo record lives in a magical world where Serge Gainsbourg fronts Yellow Magic Orchestra.
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A female voice that feels out of another century quivers over a folk harp on the 11 tracks that make up this exclusive video album.
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There's a little Mazzy Starr and Beach House in these melancholic yet alluring dreamy folk tunes from LA.
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