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Ephphatha!

by Joel Henry Little

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visitur An absolutely unique point of view, musically and lyrically. Favorite track: With Her (Agnes' Awakening).
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1.
Ephphatha 03:11
[Ephphatha! Ephphatha! Just open up your eyes...] See these sycophants and their various means of vain pursuit; See the mother weeping alone as her children kick the pew; See the man offering a key; See the steam rise from your tea; See the dome above and around you and how it never ends; See the light slow down to a crawl and how it starts to bend. I am all; I am everything. Hear me now; hear what I sing. [Chorus]
2.
Don’t call me lady; I’d never call you a sir. Don’t tell me which of my tones you may or may not prefer, You lowly cur. I know the ways of the world; I’ve played every card. You won’t appease me, this isn’t Sunset Boulevard. It didn’t have to be so hard, Simpatico... Those little men with their little hands on the door - I tell you, Sheila, I don’t know if I can take it anymore; I’m losing my form. Each morning I wake up just dreading the day, And spend the nights resenting how I just let ‘em slip away. Remember how we used to pray? Well here I go: [Can you hear me, Lord? Would you kill me now? I’m so tired. I’m so tired all the time. I’m so tired and alone.] They never ask if I really need to be here; Is it my womanhood or my brain that they really fear? It’s almost too clear... I used to twiddle my thumbs and make all these plans, And now I sit by the window counting the minivans... Here’s to the endless wringing hands, Too weak to sew. [CHORUS]
3.
Tripping over the pile of laundry, I reach the door, Looking back with revulsion like never before. We've accrued so much baggage I don't recognize my own Home! Home! Do you? Vacant dollhouses lining the hall to the living room; All these icons, you'd reckon we live in a tomb. Even now with an ardor wholehearted I'm feeling so Alone! Alone! [It's all a little Too familiar, familiar... Too familiar, familiar... (Too) And I can't go (Too) And I plateau (Too) And I kowtow To the fear Fear...] Whip-poor-will sitting sentinel out on the windowsill, Why is it you just perch there so perfectly still? Keep the west to your right, leave the nest - take flight! Please just go! Go! Go! [Chorus]
4.
All Around 02:12
Drawing closer to the alabaster frame, I see blood imbrued around a familiar name; Spangled curlicues abound on every side - Dear Ophelia, remember all that did betide In the morning When the sparrows Quit their warbling? And so, I will stay forever shrouded by these hands, Veins will be the rivers, fingers will fence my new land; No more melodies and no ideas to sell, All I ever need is there at the ring of a bell - And Ophelia, She's there smiling, With gardenias So beguiling; I can see the Cherubs rising, And our mother All around.
5.
Suddenly the count’s beginning; We’re champing at the line. No one knows what comes with winning, Nor why we’re all blind - Still we pick a spot and run And run And run, And just when we find the end Then we start all over again. Suddenly we all start screaming; Now we’re half our size. There’s a sort of burning feeling Forming in our eyes - Still we sing it loud: “I’m done! I’m done! I’m done!” And just when it stops to rend, Then it starts all over again. [Fly, Jehu! Fly, Jehu! (Even though there’s nothing you can do...)]
6.
Caught in my eye, I see red and purple faces screaming As the light returns. And I'm stuck paralyzed, Counting all the dots upon the ceiling 'Til the thought occurs - What if I Never died Satisfied by this: [When I'm with her, I'm an oversized teddybear. When I'm with her, I don't need a disguise. When I'm with her, I wish all the time she were there. When I'm with her, I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die.] Songbirds outside Being slowly drowned out by the traffic - Won't it ever cease? After all, I can't hide, They could never leave one so seraphic In its comely peace. But if we Can't agree On the easy things Then it's better I move, And I think that she'll approve. [Chorus]
7.
Fledermaus 03:36
Glory glory hallelujah now I'm seeing clear! After everything it's only you and me in here. I lost the key, so you burned the door And I don't wanna die anymore, Fleder. Siempre y cada dia, voy a canto tu oracion. Show me happiness and tell me horror in dulcet tones. I heard the guns and away I flew, But I'll try not to run from you, Fleder. [Hold me Hold me Hold me]
8.
From now on, I’ll be tiptoeing out through the lawn, Humming this song - We can make believe nothing is wrong... Just ignore All the men with their hands on the door; Who is it for When you agonize down to your core? Oh Agnes, see? This is all madness now to me, Unspeakably dull. Out on the open sea With a hearse and our hearts on the quay; It’s all so null... From this loam, I will make us a place to call home, Decored and domed (And they’ll finally leave us alone!) We’ll define Ourselves by all the goodness we find; Try to be kind And they’ll no longer keep us confined. Oh Agnes, how Can we afford this sadness now? There isn’t much time... We’re like those birds on boughs Who just wuther and wither and grouse In springtime. Run with me, Agnes! Please won’t you run with me? (x2) Look what they’ve done with me! Please won’t you run with me? (x2) Lay down your gun with me! Please won’t you run with me, Agnes?
9.
Slow down, Atalanta - Don’t you see their prison stretches all around? Just calm down... Don’t be Pollyanna - Don’t you know how easily we’d both be killed? Just stand still and [Strike the drum! Strike it again! Strike the drum! Oh and strike it again! Strike the drum Before they strike you back - Hear it ring... Hear how it stills everything... So, we’ll attack.] Partridge in a pear tree, Please don’t leave me alone; You’re all I know. Without you to ground me, I’ll just wither and float along. Just stay strong and [CHORUS] ...those pigs.
10.
My Children 02:46
My children, I come bearing news From over the hill: There's talk of healers who Will cure all our ills! Believe me now the cycle ends; We'll start anew, And fate will be our friend, Our fears will be few! I don't know how but I'm trying (trying), Chasing the light as it is slowly dying... So pack up only what you'll need, We leave at dawn; Then, daughters, we'll be freed From all of our bonds. Pay no mind to the knocking (knocking), Look to the sky as all the birds go flocking - So shall we Together be free. Have some faith in me For I hold the key. My children, I come bearing news From over the hill!

about

"And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain." - Mark 7:34

What follows is a collection of 10 short songs on the topics of loneliness, unhealthy attachment, and deception. Centering on a dialogue between two young women named Agnes and Sheila, the album follows an oblique narrative path through various emotional states and personal quandaries. Though the insights and observations are frequently scattered and contradictory, and while offering little in the way of minute particulars regarding the conflicts at the heart of each narrator’s story, the moral crux of “Ephphatha” is always clear: be open, and stay open.

credits

released March 13, 2020

All songs written, performed*, and produced by Joel Henry Little
*Violin on tracks 5 and 8 performed by Amy Dulsky Little

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Joel Henry Little New York, New York

Aged wunderkind

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