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Phosphorescent Lilies

from Cautionary Tales by Charming Disaster

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Our second album in high quality 12" vinyl LP format, lovingly manufactured at Precision Record Pressing in Canada. The full-color jacket by Magda Boreysza opens up to reveal the full gatefold image. Limited edition.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cautionary Tales via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • The Charming Disaster Oracle Deck is suitable for divination, high-stakes gambling, or art appreciation. It contains 60 cards, each inspired by a different Charming Disaster song and depicting an archetype, concept, or character found in that song. The deck features original illustrations commissioned for this project from two dozen talented artists, silver gilt edging, and a 52-page divination guide booklet written in collaboration with arcanist and poet Jacob Rakovan, packaged in a handsome tuck box.

    A digital version is also available: charmingdisaster.gumroad.com/l/oracledeck

    Featuring illustrations by the following artists:
    Carrie Alexandria Caster
    Ellia Bisker
    Dame Darcy
    Ted Enik & Shiloh Penfield
    Ben Eshleman
    Camilla Finlay
    Omer Gal
    Devon Greig
    Bob Howard
    A. Nancy Koutsouflakis
    Erich S. Lehman
    Thos. Little
    Madame Onça
    Jeff Morris
    Carolyn Raship
    Logan Riley
    Jeff Ritchie
    Susan Saas
    Charles Schneider
    Ben Shafer
    Jacquelyn Marie Shannon
    Turtle Grenade
    Vincent Vaughan
    Steven Warrick
    Zalman Zuckerbraun
    ... more
    ships out within 5 days
    7 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $40 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    An album that exists on the physical plane: a beautiful three-dimensional object featuring original artwork by Magda Boreysza. Play it in your car or on your laptop, use it as a drink coaster, or play frisbee with it on a warm summer's evening.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cautionary Tales via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

lyrics

Phosphorescent lilies on the surface of the water
forming floating constellations round the caravan
The Gyptians rule the marshlands they can read them like the lines
that trace the future in the creases of your palm

they might not let us go but we’ll be royalty
the queen adopts her prisoners into the ancient clan
If we submit to their initiation rites, and we survive,
They'll make us part of all their secret plans

Chorus:
they say
if you want to stay
there is a price to pay
a sacrifice to make
what will you cast away
Cast away

Round the circle goes the flask and hand to hand the pipe is passed
Until we almost can't remember who we are
Fireflies conspire with the lanterns on the fishing boats
To let us float among the drunken stars

we didn’t plan to come here but we never want to go back home
the children throw us silver after every song
we’ll learn to ply the waterways and serenade the cormorants
we’ll roll our cuffs and let our hair grow long

(Chorus)

They say
Would you give up your pinky finger
Stay
A roof over your head
Pay
Your great great grandmother's wedding ring or
Make
Your comfortable bed

They say
Would you give up the precious memory
Stay
Of your first true love
Pay
Your house your home your family
Make
Your shaky faith in God above

They say
A tooth an eye a kidney
Stay
Your future first born babe
Pay
The last ten years of your short life
Make
What will you cast away
Cast away

Crickets chirp and nightjars sing as fiddle bows meet fiddle strings
The music's in a tongue we don't yet understand
Jasmine blooms intoxicate
The choice was never ours to make

we're dizzy but
we know we're safe
the dancers smile and take us by the hand

credits

from Cautionary Tales, released April 21, 2017
Written & composed by Ellia Bisker & Jeff Morris

Ellia Bisker: Vocals/Ukulele
Jeff Morris: Vocals/Guitars
Don Godwin: Drums/Bass/Percussion
Noah Hoffeld: cello
Marandi Hostetter: violin

Artwork by Jeff Ritchie

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Charming Disaster Brooklyn, New York

Charming Disaster is a goth-folk duo based in Brooklyn, NY, formed in 2012 by Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris. Inspired by the macabre humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the murder ballads of the Americana tradition, and the dramatic flair of the cabaret, they write songs that tell stories about death, crime, myth, magic, folklore, and the occult. ... more

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