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Chimera I

by Chris Pureka

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1.
2.
California 03:51
California The sun comes through the shade, Lands on the ceiling Meanders down the wall to where you’re sleeping And I’m trying to memorize Your every morning movements The roll and rise of you Cause it’s too late to run When you’re caught in the snare And I’m tangled in the barbed wire You hung around your bed But honey I’ll never learn It takes me so long And when I finally fall You know, they’re always gone, It’s hard… Early morning haze Packing the car What to bring and what to leave behind love You’ve got a car full of clothes You’ve got your Steinbeck novels You’ve got your wine glasses You’ve got your summer sandals You’ve got your sunglasses You’re ready to go To the gold state… The gold coast… And oh… The sun comes through the shade Lands on the ceiling Came 93 million miles Just to be here Maybe its not so far Maybe its not so far Maybe its not so far To California….
3.
Hold It Together I’m looking in the wrong direction I'm getting myself lost yes, desperation has its costs and I thought I knew better Oh, the things I thought the things I wanted to be the things I'm not, the things I'm not and I’m coming to terms with the lines on my brow and how I put them there myself and I've come to terms with the fact that we don't get what we want, and that's why we want it from the start that's why we want it, that's why what a beautiful mess you've made are you proud of yourself? did you it would just go away if you stayed out late enough? so as least you can say, nobody's happy now and there's nowhere else to go but down it's too late to be noble it's too late for compromise throw another lie on the fire and cover your eyes I said cover your eyes no, it's not a crisis no, it's not life or death it's just another day inside of your head inside your head, inside my what a beautiful mess you've made... the burden, the blame, the prices we pay don't have the strength to stick around hold it together now driving down south to recenter myself don't have the strength to stick around hold it together now... hold yourself together... hold yourself now pull yourself together…
4.
31 AND FALLING: Well you call again, as if I don’t know what you’re going to say….So let it ring, I can count the cracks in the ceiling all day long. I guess the birds they just went south, but I’ve got no where to go, it’s 31 and falling, I’ve been dreaming of you darling, in case you’d like to know… God damn my wasted time, ringing all the bells. If I could hold my tongue, just long enough to get me through the door then you won’t know… rewind the tape while your back is turned, fold my arms and pull the curtains closed, bury the roses in the backyard and darlin’ never mind what I might have said, before, before, God damn my wasted time, ringing all the bells…I’ve got half a mind to lie to you half a mind to tell you everything I have to tell, to tell, to tell. I’ve been wasting my time I know I know better, and I’m tired of waxing sentimental, I’m tired of saying please, please, tired of waiting, I’m tired of waiting. You call again, as if I don’t know what you’re going to say….
5.
COME BACK HOME: Maybe I won’t give you a chance to untangle all your stories... I’ll be as graceful as a bird now, following the skyline… and I’ll land resting on the first thing that doesn’t bear your name…I already took all the pictures down. It’s record highs out on the west coast, it’s another week of snow here, oh how quickly we’ve forgotten, just how we ended up here…You know I dared you like a child and then you only upped the ante, and now you’re stealing summer kisses and I am freezing in my bed sheets, and that’s why, that’s why…I’ve got walls, I’ve got wings, I am ready for the fire…I’ve got trust in nothing, see I lost it by and by, but I’ve got something shining somewhere, honey I dream on the sly…won’t you come back home? Won’t you come back home? There are terrors deep inside me that are screaming bloody hell and I’m trying to keep my hands from shaking while you tell me where you’ve been, darlin’ what is it you’re doing, with that hammer to my heart? You tell me you don’t know, but there you are again, you tell me you don’t know… So take another breath, open your eyes, see this is what you get, yeah it serves you right, and when it’s all said and done, it always seems so predictable, predictable and that’s why, that’s why…. I’ve got walls, I’ve got wings, I am ready for the fire…I’ve got trust in nothing, see I lost it by and by, but I’ve got something shining somewhere, honey I dream on the sly…that you’ll come back home, that you’ll come back home, that you’ll come back home….
6.
SWANN SONG: Yeah, I could tell you lots of things. I grew up on the bay. I used to race my sisters up the fence-side to Mr. Medley’s place. Papa ran the general store and mama did everything and the waves and the waves and the sea. Time brought me here like a fishing boat at the whim of the Atlantic breeze. It was a good life, yeah it was a good life, I’d do it all again. I joined the Navy Nurses Corp., it was 1941 and I met my sailor in that fated harbor in the days before the bombs came…Hail Mary, I made it home, ‘til I was laughing as my ship went down, singing and bailing water right back to the shores of San Francisco town. It was a good life, yeah it was a good life, I’d do it all again. I was hitched out in Reno, I stayed at home and he went out to sweep the mines. I’ll never forget the day we heard it on the radio, it was the end of the war…and we laughed and cried and cheered and laughed again... yeah we cried and cheered like it would be the last one. Yeah sure, yeah sure I’ve wished for things, I wish I had been there the day that Nancy drowned. I wish I hadn’t seen them build a highway, a highway right through my backyard. But you just learn to love the little things, I’ve lived long enough to know. And I’m still waving from this front porch and this is still my swan song. It was a good life, it was a good life, I’d do it all again, I’d do it all again….
7.
Wagon Wheel 04:25

about

chi•me•ra:

1. An organism, organ, or part consisting of two or more tissues of different genetic composition
2. A mythical creature compounded of incongruous parts

This record is a collection of songs that span a wide period of time and come from many different experiences. There are three live tracks, recorded at three different shows from the last couple of years. There are two new original tracks that I recorded myself in my apartment in Northampton, MA. There is a cover song, first recorded in the studio with a full band in 2005 and finished in 2006. And there is a new version of an old song. The timeframe in which these songs were written spans from 1999 to 2008 (or 1973 to 2008, if you count when Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for Wagon Wheel). These disparate pieces are now united into a single work. In short, this record is something of a chimera.

Thanks to the Dorit Lab for planting the chimera seed, and thanks to Sebastian Renfield for making the visual come to life.

credits

released April 3, 2009

All Songs by Chris Pureka © 2008 Sad Rabbit Music (ASCAP) except “Wagon Wheel” by Dylan/Secor (Special Rider Music (SESAC)/Blood Donor Music (BMI) administered by Bug music).
Mastered by Dan Richardson up in the basement.
Original chimera drawing by Sebastian Renfield
Design/layout: Chris Pureka with Meghan Dewar (Sketchiedesign)

Special thanks to:
Christen Greene, Adriana Papaleo, my family, Merrill Garbus, Sebastian Renfield, Mark Alan Miller, Jesse Freidin, Doris Muramatsu, Nate Borofsky, Gregory Alan Isakov, Peter Mulvey, Julia Read, Jazer Giles, Shana Agid, Sam Nye, The Dorit Lab, Gillian Reynolds, José Ayerve, Dan Richardson, Justin LeFurjah, Anand Nyak, and the folks at The Iron Horse, Swallow Hill and The Cherry Tree.
And, of course, many thanks to everyone that comes out to the live shows and supports independent music.

www.chrispureka.com

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Chris Pureka Portland, Oregon

Singer-Songwriter based in Portland, OR.

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