We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Last Man

by Oliver Franklin

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9 USD  or more

     

1.
Wires 03:19
Wires, nothing but wires The circuit is open, The synapse is fired Frequency strained to the skies, Circling higher I am nothing but wires Mind, nothing but mind This body was born but I’m not of your kind I am the ghost of a star Take out your eyes, come see what you are Hold them on high, Bound by your wires, nothing but wires, Coiling out for infinite miles of Intricate wires, Nothing but wires, Shimmering wires, I am nothing but wires Love, deep deadly love Heart of the mountain, flesh of the dove Teeth of your ancestors, Blood of your blood I am the fire where the temple once stood I am the fire where the temple once stood I am the fire, I am he, we are Wires, nothing but wires, Coiling out for infinite miles of Intricate wires, Nothing but wires, Shimmering wires Oh, nothing but dreams. I give you your dreams Scanning your mind to divine what I mean Behold, I am man as he’s never been seen You are the spectator pressed to the screen We are the screen, nothing between us but Wires, nothing but wires, Coiling out for infinite miles of Intricate wires, Nothing but wires Shimmering wires, I am nothing but wires Nothing but wires Coiling cathedrals, elegant spires, Nothing but wires
2.
Bye bye baby, it’s a brand new world And I can’t be bothered today I hear a warm white noise, I think it’s your voice But I can’t make out a word you say I got a hole in the head where I let in the sky Everything, everywhere, all of the time The water is rising but I’m feeling fine Everything, everywhere, all of the time Everything, everywhere, all of the time I said "Love love love", doncha gimme none-a that, no These stories can't sell themselves without me There’s war in the air, I'm strainin' to care so just Stitch your lips to the side of the screen I'll tune you in any damn hour that I please How many millions died for me to be free? Steo one: you hold your tongue, let’s pretend that you’ve won, You keep the kids, leave infinity to me I got a hole in the head where I let in the sky Everything, everywhere, all of the time The water is rising but I’m feeling fine Everything, everywhere, all of the time Everything, everywhere, all of the time What does it matter if I’m unkind? I can see my friends every night at the same time What does it matter if I’m untrue? What binds me to me? What binds me to you? It looks like a rose, but the petals are dyin' Foam at the mouth, singin' praise to the sky Hold up your palm, watch the hours rolling by Patent still pending on a broken design Bullets are sprouting from barbed wire vines Got a hole in my head and an eight track mind The numbers are down, but we can still get high On everything, everywhere, all of the time Everything, everywhere, all of the time Everything, everywhere, all of the time Everything, everywhere, all of the time
3.
Desire 04:50
Desire has come to find me in my quarters Asks me why we don’t speak no more And what I’m really here to prove She smiles at me, I’m smiling too She lights a cigarette and shuts the door Desire wakes me long before the coffee, Lulls me long before the dark red wine She can’t keep her slender fingers off me Her eyes insist we can take our time Oh, the myriad of ways in which I want you On my arm and on this silver moonlit street In this song and in my head, In this photo, dressed in red In this bed and sighing with me sweet Desire, be my window onto silence Drape like silk across my fragile frame Be the burning presence of her absence Scour me with my need, Strip me of my name Oh, the myriad of ways in which I want you On my arm and on this silver, moonlit street In this song and in my head, In this photo, dressed in red In this bed and sighing to me sweet Desire, you can burn my vain resistance Light a fiery beacon spelling “more, more, more!” Hold me to the coals of your insistence This honey is too thick and sweet to pour Oh, the myriad of ways in which I want you On my arm, and on this silver, moonlit street In this song and in my head, In this photo, dressed in red...
4.
Some subtle ghost is reaching back for me Failing now to hide behind my face Here he is declaiming with my voice There you glimpse him standing in my place Before the light goes out Before the light goes out Icy fibers knit into my heart, Beating hard and straining towards the sun Trembling fingers pull the strands apart, Light them up like candles one by one Before the light goes out Before the light goes out Before the light goes out Before the light goes out We could start over with a different past in mind Nothing has died here, we can stop time before the light goes out So let the blood flow back into the wound Drive the arrow deeper through the tree Don’t lose your head, bring out your dead, we can make it easy 'Cause I have taken time out of my day To give the world the finger and be done And still it seems to go out of its way To turn each petty curse into song Before the light goes out Before the light goes out Before the light goes out Before the light goes out We could start over with a different past in mind… Do you know where you are?
5.
On Your Side 03:16
Oh man, will you not be healed? Man, will you not be healed? What is it, to feel all this pain that you feel Oh man, will you not be whole? Man, will you not be whole? What is it, to know all this hell that you know? I am on your side I am on your side What you wanna die for? "If I could lay my burden down," he whispers, "I could build a bridge to thee But if I lay my burden down," he wonders, "Who will recognize me? Who will I be?" Oh man, can you hear my voice? Man, can you hear my voice? Don't you leave me now, you still have a choice Oh man, will you not be healed? Man, will you not be healed? Won't you miss the sun, don't you know you're real? I am on your side I am on your side What you wanna die for? So lay down your arms and blunt your swords, Do you even know what you heart beats for? Whether you lose or win your war, you leave me Don't leave Won't you miss the sun, don't you know you're real? I am on your side I am on your side I am on your side
6.
Listen, she’s coming Up the furrows where the tanks drove Past the ruins, past the graveyard In the raiment of a widow Listen, she’s coming Like a flash-flood without warning To wash those shallow roots away And swell the banks by morning Yeah, she’s comin, Put your pistol down Listen, she’s closer, She’s rattling the windows With her wake spread wide behind her Just as blackened as the meadow Oh listen, don’t fight it, Y’know she only wants to hold you You can mock her name, but don’t dare Say she never warned you Yes, she’s comin, Better light a candle She come back to dance atop the temple, Feed you a little piece of your shadow, Colorin’ daylight black, Welcome, daughter of night, Welcome, nothing is left, Welcome, bringer of light, Welcome, Mother of Death I know you know it’s time, I know you know it’s right, Make straight the way, don’t be left behind Listen, she’s here now She’s oh, so pleased to see you Don’t you get no big ideas, boy You’re just a lung for her to breathe through Oh, listen, she’s comin’, She’s doin’ what she pleases She may wrap you in her arms Or tear you into pieces Yes, she’s comin, Better light a candle She come back to dance atop the temple, Callin' all bullets back to the barrel, Colorin’ the daylight black, Welcome, daughter of night, Welcome, nothing is left, Welcome, bringer of light, Welcome, Mother of Death
7.
“Oh distant father, ancient father, Why have you forsaken me? I can't see my jailer's faces, Would someone turn the lights on…: She wears these prayers like ashes Like her only children, And says "Be still, They’re only sleeping" But when she sleeps, She dreams she hears some ancient voice cry “Lazarus, come forth!” And in this dream she feels her shaky fingers Tear her bones up from the earth there is a light that shines in darkness, a plea from the infirmary the nurses hide their faces they’ve got a brand new skin on you gotta get it out past the wall the truth ain’t safe from the law but out where the desert flower grows, the child is waking But when she sleeps, She dreams she hears some ancient voice cry “Lazarus, come forth!” And in this dream she feels her shaky fingers Tear her bones up from the earth They say “Kill the queen, the queen is dead, Long live the king, long live the king!” Perhaps the child is waking, perhaps the child is sleeping, Perhaps the child is crying Perhaps the child is waking, Perhaps the child is sleeping, Perhaps the child is dying But when she sleeps, She dreams she hears some ancient voice cry “Lazarus, come forth!” And in this dream she feels her shaky fingers Tear her bones up from the earth
8.
Silas 04:52
Silas Silas made the history books today Silas found a way to make ‘em pay He was born in a capsule Miles from the schoolyard When his mama died they say he never grieved Wouldn’t steal from his employers but he’d lie right to a child “For their own good,” he solemnly believed He got mostly passing grades, the occasional raise, Neither handsome nor too tough on the eyes He was rather well-behaved, Not noticeably brave, Nothing that would warrant a disguise But Silas made the history books today Silas found a way to make ‘em pay Simple pleasures, sleight of hand, Middling height, the anti-man Made the history books today Where he came from the only rule was “never say you’re sorry. Don't own up to a fault unless it pays”. When the hurricane came heavy He put money on the levy, Drank a whisky while he watched it wash away They found him at the embassy, took him into custody He didn't have a damn word to say But "There's a curious kind of honor In the algebra of slaughter, We're equal in the waters of decay" And Silas made the history books today Silas found a way to make ‘em pay Simple pleasures, sleight of hand, Middling height, the anti-man Made the history books today So the newsmen filled the blanks in The generals moved the tanks Across a border no one even knew was there And the door swung open to a cell That fit the warden very well The fingerprints rose into the air The last man’s name is Legion, We all are of his body, Cut the head off and another will arise Covered in his father’s ashes, Followed by his laughter, Cut the head off but the laughter never dies The laughter never dies Silas made the history books today Silas found a way to make ‘em pay Simple pleasures, sleight of hand, Middling height, the antiman Made the history books today, Go to sleep, now! Silas made the history books today
9.
The theater is closing again and the lights burn low On two hearts suspended in time in the center row Behind the curtain is a stage, And behind that stage is a brilliant light Tell me your improbable stories, And let me tell my own Tell me the one about those rebel hearts who found their way back home By the glowing of a coal lit by unknown hands in an unsung life Behind the curtain is a stage, And behind that stage is a brilliant light Come and wipe the blood from my face, I'm just glad you're home Come and carve your tale next to mine in the margins of my bones And I tell you, we will make them true When we learn how to tell them right Behind the veil is a face, And behind that face is a brilliant light

credits

released July 1, 2015

All music and lyrics written by Oliver Franklin

Produced by Oliver Franklin and Jeannot Lewis-Roland

Oliver Franklin- Vocals, guitars, accordion
Ehssan Karimi- Drums and percussion
Evan Kuhlmann- Bassoon and piano
Ned Faulhaber- Upright bass
Gavi de Tarr- Trumpet

Recorded and mixed by Jeannot Lewis-Roland

Mastered by Ryan Foster

Cover art by Sarah A. Cohen

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Oliver Franklin Boulder, Colorado

Oliver Franklin is a songwriter, composer and performer from the Pacific Northwest who now lives in Colorado. His raw but literate songwriting is a consistent through line as his musical explorations wind through ambitious electronic settings, gritty folk noir and lush psychedelia. ... more

contact / help

Contact Oliver Franklin

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Oliver Franklin, you may also like: