Get all 9 Willem James Cowan releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mourning in the Morningtime, Only Dreaming Now, Write, Prophet, Content, Panic Attack/Lost My Mind, Stay a Little Longer, Friends of the Cove EP, and 1 more.
1. |
Rubber Tires
04:31
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Turn me back around
I'm sick of driving the same side of town
And always sporting this frown
It's enough to drive a stick in the ground
And call me on my phone
I'm sick of hearing the same busy tone
And always being alone
It's enough to shake me to my bones
Give me some confirmation
Some sort of sign that you see me at all
'Cause when you leave me waiting
I can get reduced to a crawl
When I lose my composure I can fray like a wire
The birds in the morning drive me wild
And all this commotion like the school is on fire
The lack of devotion we require
I might as well start these rubber tires
Just one moment please
I didn't ask you to drop to your knees
Just need a bit of relief
Like a drink to calm this OCD
This conversation is sinking
Drinking doesn't stifle my mind
But if I could shrink to a pinky
Then maybe I could hide for a time
When I lose my composure I can fray like a wire
The birds in the morning drive me wild
And all this commotion like the school is on fire
The lack of devotion we require
I might as well start these rubber tires
You can watch it, but I pray you'll stay away
Turn me back around
I'm sick of driving the same side of town
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2. |
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Mourning in the morningtime
Truly sick of my design
I'm calling and you're right in front of me
Mourning in the morningtime
Just enough to lose my mind
I've fallen kind of hard to say the least
And why don't you trust me, you've got it easy
I'm kind of rusty, bring me down slowly
Mourning in the morningtime
Fallen so far out of line
I acted out of shame, admittedly
A visionary past my prime
Out of thoughts and out of rhymes
I'm running fast and running past my peak
Painting yourself, you make it look easy
I've got a painting, shows off the old me
Porcelain skin, and eyes like the blue sea
Paint me a picture, tell me you love me
Mourning in the morningtime
Truly sick of my design
I'm calling and you're right in front of me
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3. |
Prophet
02:51
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Writing out another story, I can't clear my head
I could not make anything relate to what I said
It all seems so disconnected, never quite all there
Seems that I can not project it, as if I should care
And if I fail again this time
I might just stray out of line
I'm not trying to be a prophet
I'm just trying to speak my mind
Mourning hours are drawing nearer, laying in my bed
It seems that I should take a walk to ease my weary head
The movement helps my brain awaken, activates its gears
When I'm rattled, firmly shaken, validates my fears
And if I fail again this time
I might just stray out of line
I'm not trying to be a prophet
I'm just trying to speak my mind
Let me roll again, I don't like what I've been given
Sold again, what is not is still unwritten
I confess, let me see those dice again
I could have been a doctor
Let me roll again, I don't like what I've been given
Sold again, what is not is still unwritten
I confess, let me see those dice again
I could have been a doctor
And if I fail again this time
I might just stray out of line
I'm not trying to be a prophet
I'm just trying to speak my mind
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4. |
Wherever You Are
04:05
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On a cold bitter Sunday
Trying to follow the Northern Star
I was wishing for autumn
She doesn't seem very nice so far
And she smells like an ashtray
Blowing smoke down the boulevard
It's a cold bitter Sunday
Take me wherever you are
Take me wherever you are
Step back in a grapevine
So I feel like a child again
I was wishing for winter
I can't sleep through this heatwave
And she slams like a brick wall
And leaves me with a nasty scar
And now I'm scared for the snowfall
Take me wherever you are
Take me wherever you are
I feel like I'm melting
In an hour I'll have gone away
I was wishing for summer
'Cause I can't see when everything is grey
And this heat keeps me up late
I'll stay awake 'till my brain is charred
And spin thoughts 'till the day breaks
Take me wherever you are
Take me wherever you are
Take me wherever you are
Take me wherever you are
Just so you know, I'm afraid of this
Thrown like a stone in the thick of it
Silent, it grows to be so bizarre
Before I decay, please take me away to your own star
Just so you know, I'm afraid of this
Thrown like a stone in the thick of it
Silent, it grows to be so bizarre
Before I decay, please take me away to your own star
Wherever you are
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5. |
Cartoon Heroes
04:19
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Running recklessly
Through the dying trees
I couldn't care
Blissfuly unaware
You left your mothers home
Hand over a stone
Climbing uphill
Conquering barren slopes
When the sun melted the snow
We would run for miles up the slopes
To watch the cattails grow
With no one to say no
Demonizing powered down machines
To fulfill all our dreams of being
Cartoon heroes
I'll race you to the top
Plant a tree branch
Deep in the soil
I claim this as my own
Raise my country's flag
Just a plastic bag
Tied to a stick
Traits of a lunatic
When the sun melted the snow
We would run for miles up the slopes
To watch the cattails grow
With no one to say no
Demonizing powered down machines
To fulfill all our dreams of being
Cartoon heroes
She's at my door, she's at my door
Don't know what she wants me for
I've gone next door, I've gone next door
Finished all I'm wanted for
She's at my door, she's at my door
Don't know what she wants me for
I've gone next door, I've gone next door
Finished all I'm wanted for
Finished all I'm wanted for
When the sun melted the snow
We would run for miles up the slopes
To watch the cattails grow
With no one to say no
Demonizing powered down machines
To fulfill all our dreams of being
Cartoon heroes
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6. |
Pick Apart
03:14
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A looming disaster, a thorn in my health
Touching the plaster in grounding myself
I reach for the walls
The words in the stall bring me peace
Clutching a handful of beads in the hall
Stepping on dried maple leaves in the fall
A form of distraction
The stale satisfaction, it bleeds from a raw autumn nose
I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard
I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar
And hold it for difficult days
To keep me from finding a way to pick apart
I pick apart
Let me know now if you need me to fight
This feeling is pulling me out of the light
I could gracefully fall
Or answer the call that I hear
She is a vessel of warmth and delight
A healthy way out of a horrible plight
And I'm crawling inside
I need to confide and release all that I have in store
Graceful, despondent, and picking apart
I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard
I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar
And hold it for difficult days
To keep me from finding a way to pick apart
I pick apart
Graceful, despondent, and picking apart
Tumbling down just to rest in the dark
Releasing the breeze that I kept in a jar
It keeps me from finding a way
I feel a cool swaying breeze in the yard
I wish I could grab it to keep in a jar
The smell of the trees and the sound of the cars
The rustling leaves as they fall to the yard
I hold them for difficult days
To keep me from finding a way to pick apart
I pick apart
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7. |
Only Dreaming Now
04:26
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If I could soar above the swaying grass and perch upon these walls
The echo in this hollow room would drift into the halls
And the lowly man encaging me will reap what he has sewn
But I'm only dreaming now
If I could float out of this vessel and be tied to something more
I would set aside my grievances and all I'm longing for
But the cowards' way is an angel with a double-sided sword
And I'm only dreaming now
Take my lungs
Take my heart
Take my body and preserve all of its innocence
Take my lungs
Take my heart
Take my body and preserve all of its innocence
If I have any left over to take
If I could see beyond my brain and grasp the wonders of the sky
I would have no use for these restricting, dark, and sunken eyes
But this body is a prison cell and I'm in here for life
And I'm only dreaming now
And in the darkness lays an animal designed to make you cry
And he feeds on insecurities and thrives on broken minds
I can try to strike this creature down and hope he doesn't find
That I'm only dreaming now
Take my lungs
Take my heart
Take my body and preserve all of its innocence
Take my lungs
Take my heart
Take my body and preserve all of its innocence
If I have any left over to take
If I could realize the brilliance and the beauty in this world
Maybe I could just relax a little, let it all unfurl
I could write a new persona and then take it for a whirl
But I'm only dreaming now
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8. |
Content
03:20
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Cradle rocking me fast asleep again
I need somebody to talk me through this
I could stare at the shit on CNN
But I'd rather hear the TV hiss
Not sure there's anything I'd miss
I'm full of anxious scenarios
Pulling teeth from the faultless sky
And stuck in southern Ontario
I am content with my lies
PowerPoints of my faults and losses
They play a loop in my brain 'till I crack
Pull the plug I am feeling nauseous
And I'm trying to cut myself some slack
I'm not rotating the clocks back
Wish I could find me a settlement
I'd live alone for a little while
And I think that it's evident
That I should be put out on trial
I made a point that I can't back up again
And I can feel all the eyes turn
All these people I thought they were my friends
But try ignoring the cold burn
I'm full of anxious scenarios
Pulling teeth from the faultless sky
Well could you try not to stare and gloat
You shouldn't have to wonder why
And I could make all these worries go
If I could take to the faultless sky
And stuck in southern Ontario
I'll have to take it
I'm willing to face it
I am content with my lies
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9. |
Write
02:56
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Step outside
I feel the air like bitter words
Hits me like the day I heard
That you had lost your mind
Crooked flash
You woke up with your vision blurred
The patience of a hummingbird
You shut yourself inside
And everyone can analyze
The thoughts behind your hazel eyes
But no ones going to empathize
And no one will write
Formerly
We were once the closest friends
Carved your name in to my skin
You let me open wide
So come outside
And let the sunlight feed your veins
Give in to your family name
And let them occupy, occupy
And everyone can analyze
The thoughts behind your hazel eyes
But no ones going to empathize
You threw away your puzzle piece
Put your head between your knees
And told your ma you couldn't eat
And you couldn't write
And everyone can analyze
The thoughts behind your hazel eyes
But no ones going to empathize
And no one will write
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10. |
Flight of Falling Leaves
04:39
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Yesterday was a carpet building
Spaces filling tar beneath the trees
Through the wind like a love-locked letter
Sweet duet, the flight of falling leaves
They drift away in the thrum of autumn
Not forgotten, carried by the breeze
Half-asleep I can drift by their side
Fully capsized, hurried off with ease
So, slow down as the cradle rocks you gently off to sleep
I can kiss the ground with a new understanding
Of where I'm meant to be
Just a taste of a new adventure
All this leisure is catching up to me
Catch a train in the wrong direction
New affection, jump in to the sea
In the window there's vague instruction
Mild deduction makes it clear to me
I'll pass through to test the comfort
Just enough to shake the fallen leaves
So, slow down as the cradle rocks you gently off to sleep
I can kiss the ground with a new understanding
Of where I'm meant to be
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Willem James Cowan London, Ontario
Writing from experience, and a feeling of discomfort, Willem James Cowan aims to lighten this burden and offer solace to a generation rooted in anxiety, self doubt and social stigma. By weaving together retro and contemporary musical elements, Cowan achieves a sound that is both nostalgic and relatable. ... more
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