more from
Solitaire Recordings
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Outlandish Poetica

by Jonathan Something

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Jonathan Something's Outlandish Poetica on a limited edition run of 50 cassettes. J Card w' Red Cassette

    Includes unlimited streaming of Outlandish Poetica via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 50 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Beautifully handcrafted CDs made from our hands to your mouth

    Includes unlimited streaming of Outlandish Poetica via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 100 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
I am somewhere in between the silver surfer’s dreams Of Fantastic-4 erotica and doing something mean Oh will someone please just stop me ‘fore I say something obscene I’m not intending to offend I’m simply trying to set the scene So there I was just walking down the middle of the street When in flies Larry Bird and the ’86 All Star Team I said hey Larry man, yes its been a real long time He said oh Jonny Baby could you maybe spare a dime? I said I’m sorry Lar’ but I just don’t carry that kind of cash Not since the great depression and that whole stock market crash He said okay I understand, I’ve picked up on your clue And that was that and Larry and the whole team off they flew So I just kept a walking 2 or 3 feet at a time Until I found myself a standin’ where the sun don’t seem to shine Despite the lack of sunlight the reality was clear I was currently residing halfway up somebody’s rear I yelled up to the heavens and the heavens yelled right back A monumental roar that knocked me flat out on my ass Suddenly I’m sitting in the belly of the beast The beast and all his brothers are just staring back at me I feel like saying something, but before I get to speak I’m upside down and bleeding, cut wide open cheek to cheek They do the sacrificial dance and feed me to the boar But I come back resurrected 10 times better than before Now with one eye split wide open and 5 women on one arm I tell the beastly brothers that I mean no one no harm I grab my shoes and jacket and start to walk out the door But then I realize my trousers feel much lighter than before It must have been my ego that had blinded me to see That I’d been bested by the one and only number “33” Larry Bird really pulled the wool over me, uh huh
2.
Tell Me 03:37
Tell me it’s not a mistake Look me in the face and say That you really want it To be this way Tell me it’s how it should be Just I, you and me Only us three Is that what you see? Cause I don’t wanna break your heart And I don’t wanna make you cry I don’t wanna take so long that you move right along and die Tell me is this all there is? Just us doing that and this and that and this And that and this and that and this Ahhh tell me Is this what you want no not what you need Cause I want you to breath believe me I want you to I don’t wanna break your heart I don’t wanna make you cry I don’t wanna take so long that you move right along and die And I don’t wanna break your heart And I don’t wanna make you cry I don’t wanna take so long that you move right along and die
3.
A Fan 04:36
I really like your face It’s like the one I want It’s been up there on display And I’d love to try it on But I can’t afford the price No I can’t afford to buy it Could you help me? With anything you can I was born with both my arms But they soon disappeared I’m not sure where they’ve gone They’re usually right here But I can’t afford the price For another pair Could you help me? I could really use a hand No I can’t afford the price For another pair Could you help me? I could really use a hand I used to be a man But now I’m just a girl I’m doing what I can To make it in the world But I can’t afford the fight No I can’t afford to fight it Could you help me? I could really use a fan No I can’t afford the fight No I can’t afford to fight it Could you help me? I could really use a fan [x3]
4.
You wear your skin like it's covered in sin And all the black muck never does wash away In the shower for more than an hour Tryna scrub-a-dub all the bad junk away You think that it's oh you think that it's over You think that's over, my my happy day! And then it comes back my way Holy roller, perched up on your shoulders Tryna find the way the new wind will blow While he's up there, scolded by his mother You can't turn a fact into a fiction no You think that it's oh you think that it's over You think that's over, you think that it's over, you think you're okay And then it comes back later in the evening that day You think that it's oh you think that it's over You think that's over, you think that it's over, you think you're okay You ever think you've got it down to a science Then it kicks you in the teeth and it asks you If you're doing OK?
5.
I was holding on a phone call from above I guess the union dues I sent just weren't enough And now I'm waiting while they process what I owe Three hail Mary's, both my arms and a few toes There are several kinds of endings to a life There is death then there is death done up all nice Some get both and some get neither one at all And you don’t get a say in how those pieces fall At the restaurant where fruitless freaks lay rule For eternity they cook me like their fool And now I'm nibbling on their famous humble pie Until my sweet tooth gets its wits and says goodbye I was living at this home called Gentle Breeze Once a year I'd get a visit from my niece Oh my lord or lord my savior pretty please Don't I know it, she just wants my property! See the seasons play their tricks out on death row While the women dance eternal a-go-go All done up in black and singing you their curse What a relief knowing it can’t get much worse Now the doctors they’re all sucking at my blood Hooked to morphine and a pinch of Georgia mud Pulling vials from between their white coat seams Got a tonic to relieve my fever dreams But their poultices are screwing with my head I see fairies now when ere I near my bed And blue demons and those ghastly beasts of yore They coming howling at me thrice a day or more Oh their wickedness surrounds me like a fog Come on baby put me down like your sick dog I’m your martyr, you’re my copper colored queen I’ll bring sandwiches you bring your 43 See the seasons play their tricks out on death row While the women dance eternal a-go-go All done up in black and singing you their curse What a relief knowing it can’t get much worse I’m the only single honey here tonight And my coin purse is filled with whippets and wet wipes All the masters and the servants at the bar Eye my fast decaying body from afar Someone shouted hey your number’s being called Tuck your shirt in, stand up straight against that wall Number 47 sign here on this line We got reading glasses if the print’s too fine Seems like I’m the foreign one this time around The only English speaking senor in this town All I ask for when they put me underground Is a magazine and something strong and brown See the seasons play their tricks out on death row While the women dance eternal a-go-go All done up in black and singing you their curse What a relief knowing it can’t get much worse
6.
Up in Massachusetts With my tongue zip tied Who could dare undo it? Heaven knows I’ve tried Making my way up top the mountain Halfway I almost turned back down If it weren’t for the passion of the party Surely I’d have turned around Bought an apple fritter With a credit card I thought it was delicious Though, a little hard I’d say it sat out for an hour No more than one hour or two I ate half the fritter And then I gave the rest to you And you just smiled like you do Saw the necromancer In his garden clothes He was in the flowers Near the indigos I asked him, “Can you speak to Elvis?” He told me that “The King, he was not dead” And he spoke low, “If you’re ere to see him Please thank him for the violets Please thank him for the violets” Thanking you for the violets Thanking you for the violets
7.
You came to me in a feverish dream With the smell on your breath of another Let me down softly I’m begging you please For I need now a friend more than ever All that I ask is a dance in the dark With a woman who knows me like you do All that I ask for is light when I’m lost Not some magical syncretic voodoo I heard a voice through a midwinter’s chill Saying “carry yourself through the weather” Wouldn’t you know it, the spring, when it came Then my feet felt as light as a feather All that I ask is a dance in the dark With a woman who knows me like you do All that I ask is for light when I’m lost Not some magical syncretic voodoo I took a walk through a memory past From a bridge, spitting into the water That day to me was the coming of Christ And you were the savior’s daughter All that I ask is a dance in the dark With a woman who knows me like you do All that I ask for is light when I’m lost Not some magical syncretic voodoo [x2]
8.
Fine 01:56
I am falling to pieces in the dugout of my old middle school Bathed in moonlight and bathing in my own spit and drool As I break the silence, saying to the air, "Let's fight!" A small child pokes its head in and asks if I am alright And I say I'm fine He’s fine I say I'm fine So fine I cut my finger on the stem of a martini glass I held it too hard in one hand and broke it right in half As I break the silence saying "whoops oh silly me" Would somebody call my vampire? He'll come lick this blood off me And I say I'm fine He’s fine I say I'm fine So fine I say I'm fine He’s fine I say I'm fine So fine However could I feel unhappy when I'm on my way to be And extraordinary asshole with a bachelor's degree And I say I'm fine He’s fine I say I'm fine So fine I say I'm fine He’s fine I say I'm fine So fine I say I’m fin
9.
An Indian man with a bright orange hat fixes his brim for it must have gone flat His yellow vest seems to float flawlessly large as he’s met by a dwarf whom I’m guess is in charge Cause he tells him “quit foolin’ around get back to your job” Which consisted of moving a broom back and forth on the train station floor as a girl in a sparkly shirt and a gimp in her step fakes a laugh, which sounds more like a sob A Korean boy dances in place near the track on top of a warning that says to “stand back” I’m guessing he probably plays DDR from his move set it’s safe to assume he’s a star Where he comes from. We get on the train. He draws samurai swords I watch for a while but he gets lost in thinking of ideas and sooner or later I start to get bored I watch a plump girl eat a meal in her seat. It looks like weird chicken or some foreign meat The walls are all lined in a fake wood grain mess. She catches me staring; my eyes hit the deck. And I can’t help but smile as it all just reminds me of home The wood grain that is not the weird chicken girl who is currently sideways and talking real soft on her phone A black fella struts with one pant leg rolled up, right off the train to the bed of his truck A middle aged white woman watches him leave and I bet she’s a racist, but looks can deceive Hey maybe she’s just got a thing for black men and afros But if I was to judge by the look on her face she’ll most likely get home and tell her husband David or Richard or Harry she came within inches of being assaulted cause that’s just the way that it goes The woman across from me looks like a peacock. She wears a blue shawl, purple shoes and a tank top She must have at least 15 rings on each finger. Yes, easily 15 I’d say and it figures She’s reading a paperback novel; I can’t read the name. I wish that I could but I’m guessing, don’t quote me here, that it has something to do with a hunky young male in his 30s who sweeps up the girl who’s small life is just spinning in on end with no loss or no gain Because it’s all just the same I get off the track at the Providence station. The Korean boy passes me looking impatient The weird chicken girl stares me down with a grin. I wonder if my life has yet to begin And I think I’m the girl in the novel I just synthesized Minus the hunky young man in his 30s, I’ve got no love story I just feel like each day starts and ends boring. I wake up and walk through the motions each morning then pass through the day till I end up just closing my eyes Yes minus the hunky young man in his 30s, I’ve got no love story I just feel like each day starts and ends boring. I wake up and walk through the motions each morning then pass through the day till I end up just closing my eyes [x2] That was the day I rode on the train, July 26, from Back Bay to Providence Station
10.
I sold my loving to the girls next door They bought it all and then they asked for more Hey won’t you leave some of it for the poor? I saw my demon on 395 Pulled over, asked if he could use a ride Sometimes you have to love the things you hide from For all my life I’ve been looking for the answer To a question that was never worded right And I know it’s trite Oh to be questioning the answers And to never look at life through hindsight I brought my donkey to a horses show Everyone laughed; thought he was a joke Just want my donkey to feel loved, you know? I am the drummer in a cover band We only cover songs by Steely Dan They call us Aja & The Royal Scamps For all my life I’ve been looking for the answer To a question that was never worded right And I know it’s trite Oh to be questioning the answers And to never look at life through hindsight She walked right out of some French fairy tale Eating foie gras and drinking Belgian ale Surprised she wasn’t sucking down a snail You know the girl she’s got a PHD She don’t need no one no she don’t need me I’m out here rearranging the ABCs For all my life I’ve been looking for the answer To a question that was never worded right And I know it’s trite Oh to be questioning the answers And to never look at life through hindsight For all my life For all my life For all my life
11.
It’s such a thoughtless thing An effort not to bring Yourself to love Or to be loved, or want to be in love Or all of the above I saw a photograph Of someone in a laugh He looks so foreign To me right now and yet somehow I think I’m starting to know him And now that I’m here Naked and lonely Through an eyeful of tears I see how I was the phony Here in the checkout line Next to a girl so fine She heals my burdens with just her eyes Then swallows me alive And I’m reborn Oh what an ugly game The one that people play We shoot ourselves full of desperate lies And then untie the belt and pay the whores And now that I’m here Naked and lonely Through an eyeful of tears I see how I was the phony There is a song I wrote I wrote it long ago I sang it to you And then you cried I sing it time to time with no one in mind There is no secret to Being a good recluse You just neglect all The ones you love, even yourself And only live to breathe and be ignored And now that I’m here Naked and lonely Through an eyeful of tears I see how I was the phony I see how I was the phony

about

Hailing from Brooklyn, Connecticut (not to be confused with Brooklyn, New York), Jonathan Something is the musical project of writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Jon Searles. His first single 'Outlandish Poetica' is a rather cheery depiction of a surreal nightmare in which Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird and the 86' All Star basketball team inexplicably ambush Jonathan Something, brutally beating him and robbing him of his money. 

The track takes the best of many hallmark acts, without being able to put your finger on one particular sound. The track has the production value of The Black Keys's El Camino, the songwriting style of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the aura of Beck's Mellow Gold, the peculiarity of The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the story telling of The Mountain Goats' The Sunset Tree and the satirical lyrics of Kimya Dawson and The Moldy Peaches.

The songs' expressive imagery and vivid storytelling are a perfect preface to the forthcoming album, also named Outlandish Poetica. As anti-folk made light of folk music, Outlandish Poetica creates an almost anti-blues/anti-rock style that masters classic sounds while still mocking the perceived seriousness in the established music scenes. While on the surface, the track may feel very satirical, the song somehow takes this very quality and makes it emotive and heartwarming in it's very own, unique way. 

credits

released November 7, 2018

All songs written, played, recorded, produced, mixed & mastered all songs by Jonathan Searles

Big Thanks to Lynne & John Searles and Lorenzo Cook-Gillis
Artwork by Dz Gan
Press Shots by Gabby Jones

(C) 2018 Solitaire Recordings
(P) 2018 Jonathan Something

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Jonathan Something Connecticut

Jonathan Something is the musical outfit of multi-instrumentalist Jon Searles, resulting from a love for Baroque Pop, Rock & Roll, and Realism

contact / help

Contact Jonathan Something

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Jonathan Something, you may also like: