Get all 5 Mandate of Heaven releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Least Concern, Doll Eye Test EP, Mark Music, The King Has No Sting, and Fading Hectographs were their Fact Saws.
1. |
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Country boys got in my head
When I was at an early age
I wont tell you what they said
But I had to dumb down my ways
Now I’m always looking over my shoulder
Laying in my little patch
Of what this city might have been
Watch the airplanes as they crash
Resurrect, take off again
But no one’s gonna hear the shots on the 4th of July
No one hears the shots
No one sees the light
What was that joke you used to tell?
Used to make me laugh for days
Something about the road to hell
And the way that it is paved
And the way in which it’s paved, leaves nothing to be saved
So boy you got to stay ahead
Boy you got to get it right
I can promise that you won’t see me in another life
No one’s gonna see you
In no other life
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2. |
Hey Headbanger
06:11
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As I was driving home from Iron Maiden cover band practice
Had to stop at a red light about a mile from my home
With the windows rolled down, I heard,
from the streetlight shadows a voice
Too scared to run the light, I had to listen, I had no choice
And someone said: “You look like you got
Jesus as your personal hairdresser
With your long hair, your beard, and your kind blue eyes”
“Hey headbanger, who are you?”
She looked like she’d been dead about a week
Skin starting to blister and peel in the summer heat
Track marks and dried blood under
The dirty blue dress she had on
Skull smashed in by some high angry john
And a rope with a noose swung back and forth between her thighs
With one end held tight by the child she took with her when she died
“Hey Headbanger, I came for you”
“And I’m always right within arm’s reach
I’ll take your hand and show you the way
Hey Headbanger, faithful like you”
And as the noose slipped around my neck
The very last thought to go through my head
Was what a stroke of genius
the Iron Maiden cover band had been
Bringing out hipsters in their 20’s, trying to get into that
Ironic heavy metal sound
And bringing out old dirtbags from Jack’s Reef
Hair still long from the first time heavy metal came around
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3. |
Turned Table
03:35
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Used to watch the David Geffen logo turn around the spindle
While King’s Lead Hat faded up in my headphones
And I was only 6, but I knew enough
About what I could and could not touch
But only please, could you let me see
Inside the dream that’s spinning in front of me?
And I caught Jessica Six in a lie, at the Sanctuary
She said “you donate your body to science, or you get buried”
And when they crack the chest, what will they see?
A broken heart, a scratched EP
So put the needle in the groove
And fill the morgue with the sound of Little Girl in Bloom
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4. |
Human Ashtray
04:06
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I was a disease when I was young
I was on my knees when I was young
Spiders and fleas they bit my tongue
I was on my knees, but now I’m done
And if you’ve seen me, you’ve unseen me
Beautiful seeds grow into dry brown weeds
And they turn to dust in the human ashtray
Don’t you know I burned a hole right through
Now hold still and let me do it to you
My knife gets jealous of my gun
Lays eggs in my eyes just for fun
And paints all my enemies with a symbol of the sun
I was on my knees, but now I’m done
And if you’ve seen me, you’ve unseen me
My beautiful seeds grew into dry brown weeds
And they turn to dust in the human ashtray
And it’s enough to make you sick,
Enough to make you wake up floating in the creek
And you’re just another human ashtray, dying on the north side
Just another human ashtray
Dying on the north side
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5. |
Shutdown Man
06:14
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Shutdown Man saw a saw in your hand
Tell me how you gonna dig out that splinter
You see me grow and you cut me low
You don’t stop until you cut down me
Shutdown Man saw a shovel in your hand
You know you’re gonna have to dig a bit deeper
These bones the glow when you bury them low
And you can’t dig it if you can’t dig me
Oh, Shut Down Man
You wait and see
Gonna rewrite your program
Gonna make you talk like me
Black Jack Man with a spade in your hand
You could have gotten everything that you wanted
But 21 diamonds on a telephone wire
Couldn’t tell you that your world was on fire
Check Out Man, such a slip in your hand
You could have gotten everything that you asked for
But you had to steal what they were giving to you
So what’s your fuckin’ plan now, dude?
Oh Check Out Man
You wait and see
Gonna get inside your program
Gonna make you talk like me
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6. |
County Seat Syndrome
02:21
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I’m gonna kick that dog
Make him learn my name
Gonna buy a stake in the ground
Then I’m gonna buy a chain
And if he doesn’t thank me
For what he’s got
I’m gonna tie him up in my front yard
And let him rot
And when I seen the light
I seen right down the sight
My county seat
I’m gonna kick that dog
And I don’t even care
If he’s already rolled over on his back
With his paws in the air
And if he don’t bite
Just who I say
I’m gonna take away his food
Take away his water
Make him so thin that he blows away
And if I can’t settle down
I’m gonna drive back into town
And chase the whores around
With all the other clowns
And when I seen the light
I seen right down the sight
And then I know, the star of my own video
The star of my own syndrome
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7. |
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Who comes by at night to steal
Who took off running through the fields
Who jumped the fence in the back yard
And how do you even know if he is real?
Daddy Longlegs in the jewel-weed
Daddy Longlegs rides so tall
Daddy Longlegs makes the wind blow
The silver and gold what’s stoled
Will fall for us all
So who comes by at night to steal?
Well if you go north it’s all mountains
And if you go west it’s all mud
But I don’t know anybody to the south or the east
That doesn’t have thievin’ and stealin’ in their blood
So who comes by at night to steal?
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8. |
Nummenuff
05:42
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Snow’s gonna change to rain and it’s just your luck
And an itty bitty flame was the best bang for your buck
And you’re waitin on a day where there ain’t gonna be no rain
Well there ain’t no day comin’ where there ain’t gonna be no rain
Yes your bones are getting sharper than your skin is getting tough
You feel them wearing through on the nights that you’re sleeping rough
And you’re waiting for the day that gonna be numb enough
Well there ain’t no day comin that you’re gonna be numb enough
So drop right where you stand if you can’t hack it
Cause there’s no way of living that ain’t some kind of racket
But I know you’ll come runnin’when fire calls your name
And everything that’s made of you is runnin’ right on down the drain
So someone comes a-knockin’ and it knocks you to your knees
Sayin’ everything that you do to yourself you’re gonna do to me
So someone comes a-knockin’ and you go down on your knees
Sayin’ everything that I do to myself I’m gonna do to thee
And you’re waitin’ on the day that you’re gonna see the sun again
Well there aint’s no way of knowin’ when you’re gonna see the sun again
And you’re waitin’ for the day that you’re gonna be numb enough
Well there ain’t no day comin’ that you’re gonna be numb enough
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Mandate of Heaven Syracuse, New York
Mandate of Heaven is an all-original indie rock project from Syracuse, NY centered around music primarily written by multi- instrumentalist Greg Pier. It is also the title Greg has used for his solo performances and recordings. The first Mandate of Heaven record was released in 1999, and the most recent was released in fall of 2012. A new record, "Least Concern" will be released 5/18/19 ... more
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