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Primitive Road (1993)

by Phil Smith & Corsage

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1.
Year Of Temptation 02:07
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Year Of Temptation When we went out in the year of temptation surveyed the wreckage of this once great nation hoping to find yeah our promised salvation but that's just the way it goes Drank with my friends 'till the heart of the sunrise looking to see what they hid in their eyes we drifted and drifted, caught up in our lies but that's just the way it goes The seven seas rocked and the sky it was flashing covered in rain yeah, the storm it was crashing everyone knew what the other was stashing but that's just the way it goes We huddled together and talked of our mentor looking for you yeah the one we were meant for everyone told me you hadn't been sent for but that's just the way it goes Staked out the prey of the animals clutching one to another sniffing and touching like a leech to a leg the unstoppable suction but that's just the way it goes Ah got to the point where we'd reach saturation tired of love and infatuation is this despair or just maturation or is that just the way it goes? So now we sit here in this year of temptation millions of parts of this once great nation spread out all over in separate sensations but that's just the way it goes
2.
Gathering Storm 01:35
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Gathering Storm As I walked out late last night I felt the gathering storm I knew right then that I shouldn't fight so I just did my best to keep warm the sky it darkened overhead and I fell down on my knees while everybody just walked on by oblivious to my pleas Then the clouds they opened up and the sky poured down its rain and I lay there in the village square and said "Oh no it's happening again" but after a while the rain it stopped and the stars replaced the storm and I walked back to where I came a place I knew I'd be warm So now you know just what to do when you're faced with a gathering storm there's no need to scream or shout you just do your best to keep warm cause the storm it now approaches although the skies remain clear so button up your overcoats as the final winter draws near
3.
The Cellar Again 00:57
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The Cellar Again Well I know a man who lives on a hill I say that I won't but then I will I go to see this man again and again but every time I visit he a-giving me pain Now this old man lives under the stairs he's the kind of guy who catches you a-sleeping unawares he drag you back down to the cellar again saying "I got what you want, but you better start paying, yeah I got what you want, but you better start paying" Well everybody know this old man so well hey, he's the kind of guy like a Lucifer in hell and everybody asking why they're going to go there but every time they coming back, they coming back yeah oh every time they coming back, they coming back yeah oh every time they coming back they coming back yeah
4.
Life In The Provinces (Dying On The Vine) 00:45
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Life In The Provinces (Dying On The Vine) the way the trains ripped through the countryside look beside you half the old city is gone now sleep - a bad drug dreaming won't stop anything old style decadence like seventies Berlin we're jamming the airwaves we're jamming the airwaves well, at least we've been having more good days than bad
5.
In The Valley 02:24
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In The Valley In the morning we went to see the mountain in the morning we knew just what to do it was time to leave the house forever time to leave all that we knew It was in the valley in the valley in the valley below One by one they left the house forever one by one they slowly walked away the only ones left were me and sister Sanna the only ones left in the house that day It was in the valley in the valley in the valley below Every day I thought they might return every day I cried tears for two for Sanna said that she had given up "I'd save my tears if I were you" Now she didn't have a reason to cry about it she did'nt have a reason to care all last night when asked what she thought about it she said "you know these things die hard" It was in the valley in the valley in the valley below Now I'm not one for heroes or bravery I'm not one to rise above the crowd I'm just content to let this life run out it's not so bad, all things allowed It was in the valley in the valley in the valley below
6.
Crash On The Lake 01:30
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Crash On The Lake There's a crash on the lake but how long does it take 'till the bodies are found when they don't make a sound?
7.
As I Look Over The Mountains 01:30
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8.
Gold Coast 02:07
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Gold Coast I think I’ll get my hat and coat and leave you for a while There’s nothing in the darkness out there to remind me of your smile A certain laugh a crushing blow much to my surprise I’m going to the gold coast to watch the new sunrise So everything falls into place all the passion and the pain It all starts out so gracefully then it falls apart again good-bye to all that the deception and the lies I’m going to the gold coast to watch the new sunrise Yes, I’ve got to get away from those ghosts inside your eyes I’m going to the gold coast to watch the new sunrise
9.
Across The Crypt Of Your Eyes 01:58
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Across the Crypt of Your Eyes Across the crypt of your eyes sons and daughters crawl back and forth they wander their writing on the wall the cries that they give out, dear their sound belies their size a glimpse into the future across the crypt of your eyes Across the crypt of your eyes tiny demons grow a mirror image lingers so difficult to know the monsters of the heart, dear are masters of disguise I can see those changes across the crypt of your eyes Across the crypt of your eyes stately sirens call one last final beckoning before your final fall the closing of the crypt, dear is a position oh so wise your deepest darkest secrets across the crypt of your eyes
10.
Worst Year On Record 00:56
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Worst Year On Record I can't believe it but this year is worse than the one before I can't believe it but this year is worse than the one before every time it gets a little bit worse I don't deserve it but it's part of the curse every day another battle is fought now I'm alone with my terrible thoughts and I can't believe it but this year is worse than the one before...
11.
A Distant Faded Flower 03:10
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A Distant Faded Flower With your Saturday shopping and your handbag so fine Your late-night parties conversation divine It was so good to know you at the height of your power But now you crumble like a distant faded flower Like a scene out of The Wasteland you can make it alright Playing Black Celebration on a withdrawn Saturday night Moving moment to moment baby moving hour to hour And now you crumble like a distant faded flower Sugar-coating days are over - a new regime now holds sway A late-night family blossoming in the crumbling decay You were radiant in the capitals but you're nothing now Universal anticipation awaits your final bow Over in the corner I watch you glower and then you crumble.... like a distant faded flower
12.
Try If You Can 02:39
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Try If You Can Try if you can to sweep my mind for a couple of weeks Take me somewhere else going to sleep Oh the sun and the moon and the stars the sun and the moon and the whip comes down I’ve been lonely for too long The world won't stop turning so try if you can Rome keeps on burning so try if you can Me – I’m still learning so try if you can Like a border station baby like sick dogs sniffing round disease I was born a hundred years too late In our drunken damnation overpowering intoxication a man of the hour for the moment The world won't stop turning so try if you can Rome keeps on burning so try if you can Me – I’m still learning so try if you can So try if you can to stake my heart and stake your claim a possible strike for a possible gain it's a shame Persevere baby, persevere baby persevere our private hells they only happen to us The world won't stop turning so try if you can Rome keeps on burning so try if you can Me – I’m still learning so try if you can
13.
Riversong 04:43
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Riversong Where the princes and the princess go to make their royal showing and the people raise their eyelids high and brush them on the ceiling and the break is made between the two the lampshade and the building she runs into the bedroom cold and falls down gently kneeling on the floor This is now the day of which she knew vanished in a hazy sea of blue Soon enough the drapes fall back a landscape most revealing as brilliant yellow and painter’s blood they pour down from the ceiling past the curtain out on the plain the rain is gently falling softly from the riverbank the riversong is calling to her soul The time has come for her to sing again ancient songs will free her from her pain Outside on the river banks the sun is softly shining they huddle as they make their camp in war paint so appealing a banquet feast most every night and love throughout the evening arms seek arms in dark embrace a ritual celebration of their souls A tribe that lives in simple age-old ways she watches in the brightness of their days But a light flows in from across the hills a tired and bitter signaling and circled thieves like shadow trains they slip through without warning flashing legs on horsehide backs ride out into the morning a silent move, a glance exchanged an enemy lies waiting once again On the hills the message is received a fragile peace no longer can deceive One by one the legions grow ride out into the morning the King and Queen surround them all decree the age-old warning horse to horse and sword to sword one to one opposing no time left let the four winds call another storm lies threatening to them all This is now the day of all their fears hiding in a valley full of tears Yes one to one and sword to sword heads thrown back as horsemen and women strong and true and brave they gather round their chieftan as they prepare yes one and all for this their final reckoning a thousand horses quick of foot they thunder down the mountain down below This will be the day of which they knew vanished up inside a sea of blue Darkness then the notes turn up a wish that’s full of flowers she waits there as the pain swells up an ache that lasts for hours outside on a window ledge a morning bird is singing she looks outside to far away the riversong is calling to us all Now’s the time to speak of love again celebrate the joy forget the pain
14.
The Long Slide Towards Autumn 03:00
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The Long Slide Towards Autumn We’re going through some changing times how can it be any other way ? seasons end when you least expect it one by one we’re all fading away But as we slide towards this long autumn just enjoy the ride towards this long autumn towards this long autumn

about

Originally released on cassette in 1993.

Cover Photo: Jeff Wall.

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released February 1, 1993

Track credits listed individually.

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Phil Smith & Corsage image

Phil Smith & Corsage Vancouver, British Columbia

Emerging out of Vancouver during the post-punk era, the musical collective Corsage features the core group of Phil Smith (vocals), Bill Napier-Hemy (guitar), Ron Allan (bass) and John Cody (drums). Over 7 albums and numerous live performances and broadcasts, they have collaborated with some of Vancouver's finest musical and artistic talents on songs that run from trance to hard pop to techno-folk. ... more

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