1. |
Cow Choir
03:20
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It’s the opinion of others that I’m a quiet, kind-hearted man,
but they can't see the darkness with which I've been cursed.
I can feel my lips moving and I'm flailing my arms, but you can't understand.
Oh pretty girl, I've been repaired in reverse.
I have the heart of a poet,
and a mind filled with reason.
I've been singing in the Cow Choir.
The only light that can brighten this darkened season.
All those goddamned optimists may be happy,
but they know they’re just lying to themselves.
Nothing happens by design, or purpose, from ancient prophecy.
Life doesn't always get better can't you tell?
Everybody's lights go out.
Everybody let’s get out.
Everybody's lights go out.
While I sit and stare with longing in the dark.
I have the heart of a poet,
and a mind filled with reason.
I've been singing in the Cow Choir.
The only light that can brighten this darkened season.
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2. |
High School Drama
03:08
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You wake up in the morning, it's a beautiful day.
You know they will admire you in the usual way.
And why shouldn't they? You truly are amazing.
The spotlight is on you. Everyone is gazing.
Attention! Attention! She's got something to say.
A story? Her feelings? She’s always cliche.
You think you’re so holy, just because you pray.
All those lies will make your teeth decay.
Someday you will fall like the holy Roman empire,
and faith is for believing in what logically are lies.
If the pearly gates exist, and if you make it through,
I'd rather burn alive forever than spend another day with you.
Who's your boy of the week? Is he what you seek?
Someone to adore the way you look and speak.
He better not let your marked-up coffee leak.
You're so conceited. It's nothing new.
Dreaming that life is all about you.
If you stopped talking and let someone else try.
I'm sure you'd feel like you just might die.
Someday you will fall like the holy Roman empire,
and faith is for believing in what logically are lies.
If the pearly gates exist, and if you make it through,
I'd rather burn alive forever than spend another day with you.
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3. |
Kaleidoscopic Memory
04:21
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All that I’ve ever cared and longed for is lost.
I had it once, but now it’s gone.
The only certainty that I’ve discovered in life
is that life itself is uncertain.
I’ve manipulated every variable,
but I always get the same result.
Was there a time when I wasn’t so neurotic?
My memory’s kaleidoscopic.
I’m apathetic, but you’re just pathetic.
I find comedy in tragedy.
All that I’ve ever cared and longed for is lost.
I had it once, but now it’s gone.
All of this trying to make you want me
has generated nothing.
Everywhere I look, I see me dead.
Whispers in the wind beckon, “Follow me.”
You say that you would miss me, but I think you’ll find
that I will never cross your mind.
You say it would be selfish of me to leave,
but it’s selfish to ask me to stay.
This silence is overwhelming.
I’m alone, but there’s another voice I hear.
This silence is overwhelming.
Now I know the time has come.
All that I’ve ever cared and longed for is lost.
I had it once, but now it’s gone.
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4. |
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When I’m with you, the muscles in my face contort.
The corners of my lips begin reaching ever upward.
Being near you brings me happiness that has been inert.
I occasionally laugh out loud, I’m caught so off guard.
I’ve been trying to read your signals, but fall short.
When you look into my eyes my heart races. I’m disarmed.
You’re as beautiful as a singing Siren months after leaving port,
but I’m terrified that if you knew these things you would be alarmed.
I don’t know why a girl like you would give me your attention,
when lately I’ve felt like something that the cat won’t even drag in.
I exist inside this unattractive contraption
riddled with faulty wiring that makes me futile.
I’ve been out of control, but you’ve given me some traction.
I dream you will take me in after the time I’ve spent in exile.
I want to apologize for this infatuation,
but you’re the only light that I’ve seen for miles.
Whatever happens to me, you can have this satisfaction.
I will always do anything to make you smile.
I don’t know why a girl like you would give me your attention,
when lately I’ve felt like something that the cat won’t even drag in.
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5. |
Drum Headed Girl
05:39
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The drum-headed girl remembered the story her father told in the camps.
“Count Dracula dreaded the rest of his immortal life of chance.
He knew he did not want to live without love and romance.
Though he could woo any maiden with the charm of his trance.”
When she cries, the sea swells and the wind it screams.
The children awake shaking from their terror dreams.
Her laugh could make the heart of a beast skip a beat.
When she smiles, the ground loses its grip of your feet.
“Cursing the absent god and the creatures he makes.
The Count was in love with the Sun, so his life he must take.
So he poured a tall glass of Type A, sharpening wood as he drank.
With a life without love, he drove in that steak.”
When she cries, the sea swells and the wind it screams.
The children awake shaking from their terror dreams.
Her laugh could make the heart of a beast skip a beat.
When she smiles, the ground loses its grip of your feet.
“If I make it out of this war,” she swore,
“I vow to find my monster rich or poor.
Even monsters ache for love from deep in their core.
We’ll escape these dark days with each other's love forevermore.”
When she cries, the sea swells and the wind it screams.
The children awake shaking from their terror dreams.
Her laugh could make the heart of a beast skip a beat.
When she smiles, the ground loses its grip of your feet.
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6. |
Question Mark Sea
03:48
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His mother asked the doctor, "Is this my son,
with wool as black as thunderclouds on the horizon?
His hanging horns will offend ‘most everyone,
like and Atheist in a cloister of pious nuns.
This black sheep makes such little sense to me
with my proud and clean and pure white family."
The black sheep awakens alone again feeling lifeless and crammed.
He shouts, "God if you're real I swear I'll build a goddamn God Dam!
My walk is as hard as George Washington's teeth."
He stares in his mirror fearing the monster that lurks beneath.
Each waking breath brings a building pressure within with no relief.
He was finally found in the big smug city
by the Drum-headed Girl, agreeing that life is shitty.
"Our kind takes and tears down what we don't understand.
We all fear the unknown, so take my hand.
I'll be the one to file down your heavy horns."
The black sheep awakens with hope feeling alive and said,
"God I don't care if you're real, and I don't care if you're dead!
My walk is as hard as George Washington's teeth."
Feeling warm and safe in the skin lying underneath.
Life is as delicate as the flickering flame of a candle in a windstorm.
We will run down to the dock with a huff and a hurry
to escape the judge, escape the jury.
We'll steal a sailboat light but sturdy,
and turn You into We without any worry.
It's just you and me and the Question Mark Sea.
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7. |
Antirobotic
04:02
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I was built with no defenses
to protect me from this world.
So I’ve tried to dull my senses.
I’ve felt my mind unfurl.
You can fight off my advances
until you know you’re sure.
I want to knock down all your fences.
You’re a very special girl.
I’ve thrown myself at you.
Don’t let me hit the ground.
I could hold you tight the whole night through.
We would feel so safe and sound.
Starting life anew with you won’t leave me feeling blue.
I’ve been lost, but with you I’ve been found.
In my eyes, I’m seeing static.
My worst fear’s been realized.
This last year has left me sick
with these thoughts I can’t defy.
My skin is as hard as brick.
My heart has been crystallized.
You could be my Antirobotic,
and I won’t be nullified.
I’ve thrown myself at you.
Don’t let me hit the ground.
I could hold you tight the whole night through.
We would feel so safe and sound.
starting life anew with you won’t leave me feeling blue.
I’ve been lost, but with you I’ve been found.
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8. |
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I saw a bright, young fox. It was a beautiful sight to see.
I saw the Soul. It wasn’t half as nice as I thought it would be.
I want to live my life fighting through the flaws
in this great big world and in myself.
I felt the breathing ground sighing beneath my feet.
I met Love. She was a pleasant girl to meet.
Why can’t we all rest in peace?
The darkness in my genes wages war against my feet.
I was dying inside, but there you were smiling so sweet.
Pushing off, I feel the hot breath of euphoric numbness
whispering indecipherables in my ear.
“You are.”
These thoughts converge on me without any warning.
I am convinced my mind has a mind of its own.
I’ve been my own god, I’ve been the devil.
I’m such a sucker for a damsel in distress.
I will climb your tower and keep you.
The Catcher in the Rye fell three short days in all.
Mr. Antollini couldn’t quote to break his fall.
When I was a young boy, I dreamt of dying for a cause.
Now that I am older, I want to live my life for one.
Will I die a hero or live free?
It’s the kind of feeling you can taste.
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9. |
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10. |
Decree of Shadows
03:48
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My passion has become my greatest flaw.
My reclusive nature disappoints my ma and pa.
Self-consciousness will surely rub me raw.
Sometimes I feel as though I’m made of straw.
Depression has become my identity.
My given language self-directed obscenity.
Known facts have brought me comfort recently.
Anxiety will be the death of me.
Self-destruction is my covert goal.
What once was full is now just full of holes.
The sickness has begun to take control.
Girl, you know your love would make me whole.
My fear of disease only makes me ill.
My hope sits high atop the windowsill.
The world is moving, I am standing still.
Reality is getting so unreal.
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Otter Space Atlanta, Georgia
I (Austin Theodore) have been in bands/playing shows in Atlanta & Athens, Georgia since
2003.
Otter Space is the name I use for my own music & lyrics; have personal control of the EP (demos) & the polished album.
Question Mark Sea was written between 2010-2015. Willis was essential in making QMS from 2014-2016. We recorded every weekend for most of 2015.
My wife Alison does all visual media.
... more
Otter Space recommends:
This is an incredible album by one of the best bands of my generation. Barnes is a fellow Georgian, and his prolific discography has been a huge inspiration. UR FUN is my favorite since Sylvianbriar.
go to album
In League with Dragons
by the Mountain Goats
This is an incredible album by one of the best bands of my generation. John Darnielle is the greatest lyricist alive or dead. In League with Dragons is my favorite since Transcendental Youth.
go to album
Black Sheep Boy
by Okkervil River
An epic masterpiece by another prolific lyricist, Will Sheff, this has been one of the most influential albums for me while writing The Question Mark Sea. Listen to Black Sheep Boy Appendix, as well!
go to albumIf you like Otter Space, you may also like:
Hooky-as-hell guitar pop from this Brooklyn artist that explores the ways people we have known live in us beyond death.
go to album
Red Hot & Holy
by Sarah & the Safe Word
This Atlanta group have a unique take on Americana, bridging queer cabaret culture of the 1920s and '30s with punchy contemporary rock.
go to album
Echo Dancing
by Alejandro Escovedo
The legendary Alejandro Escovedo returns with another country-rock scorcher.
go to album
