At the Butcher's

by Dave Knowles

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

about

A dystopian exploration of human ethics faced with the knowledge of imminent collapse. We pray for integrity, but when "God is dead", do we pray to desire? To power? To love, hope or self-righteousness?

A limited early release from the upcoming album, In Waking Skin.

lyrics

------------------------------

Where do the watchers go when the Butcher
Comes red-faced, tight-fisted, down the road
He's ditched the apron
Oh, but those bloodshot eyes reveal his glory

Singing "Sex, stocks, smokestacks and apple pie,
Kiss the girls for someday you will die!"
And with a gold-toothed grimace,
He broke my pride
My pride

So you think you're better,
Than this beast of a man?
Well I say this devil at least knows his hand.

And in silence I wait,
In resignation to fate
Oh to fate, oh to fate

Oh me, oh me, well I don't see my path
Beset by misery,
I've nursed the bottle, praised the screen,
Sustained my privileged ancestry.
Your classless dream will never be,
So leave me my complicity
Leave me my complicity

Where do the guardians go,
When their children
Rest their weary feet on the coals
Rest in sweet abandon, the clarion
Lost and unsounded in the cold

Where do the warriors go when they're frozen
Bows unbent, slack and arrowless
Oh, where do the kings go,
Haggard and maudlin
When the flames lick the feet of the throne

But oh, we know these stories
Only too well.

Singing "Sex, stocks, smokestacks and apple pie,
Kiss the girls for someday you will die"
Oh, sex, stocks, smokestacks and apple pie,
Fuck the rest, there's no sense in saying I tried

Well I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried,
I tried and I tried and I tried.

------------------------------

credits

released August 15, 2014
Dave Knowles - Vocals; Guitars
Luke Otto - Cello
Carly Nauta - Viollin

All songs written by Dave Knowles
Album art by Dave Knowles

Recorded by Philip Pells at Africa Sun Music Studios, Cape Town

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Dave Knowles image

Dave Knowles Cape Town, South Africa

Knowles' music is unfailingly powerful, intimate and dynamic. His strong vocal style conjures Jeff Buckley while soaring over intricate guitar work reminiscent of Nick Drake or Jose Gonzalez.

In the 7 years or his solo career he has shared the stage with most of South Africa's acclaimed guitarists, from Guy Buttery, Steve Newman and Gary Thomas, to Dan Patlansky and Albert Frost. ... more

contact / help

Contact Dave Knowles

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Dave Knowles, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now