Dance of the Red Flower, by Ames Harding & the Mirage

Dance of the Red Flower

by Ames Harding & the Mirage

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Ross Weidman It’s safe to say that no one in indie music has the songwriting range of Ames Harding. You can’t hear this kind of music happening anywhere else right now. Maybe you can find a few artists with Latin and world influences, but can they write a New Orleans jazz song with a catchy hook? How about a western waltz? You’d be hard pressed. He also has help from his all-star band who fill these songs with so much life. This is a band to follow very, very closely. Favorite track: Dance of the Red Flower.

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In addition, you will receive the tracklist and two additional album covers designed by Ames Harding

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$10 USD or more

1.	I'm Just Driftin' 04:09	lyrics	buy track
I've been high I've been lazy I've been so far off my head That no one could save me There's a time There's a sayin' That a man who never wins Ain't really playin' Give me truth Or give me fifty Give me something in my cup I ain't picky Get away Or get with me Cause I got nothing on my plate I'm just driftin' All you angel-headed vagabonds Let the seeds fall from your hair Dream a dream in silent amber I'm just driftin' Let us roam the salts at twilight Seven poems to crown your head Pierce these ears in scarlet starlight I'm just driftin' I'm just driftin' Freaking on a daydream fix Shine these boots to the bone for kicks Bubba don't you steal my thumb away I'll stop when I get kill my lust Cut these heels if you feel you must But honey won't you stay another day Oh what a life Oh what a life Oh what a life Oh what a life
2.	Dance of the Red Flower 04:51	lyrics	buy track
Scarlet scratches of a violent vein Dancing and a-swayin to the bass drum bang Singe me, swing me, shake my skin Closer to heaven in the state I'm in Ashes embers and their gruesome grace Burning at a breakneck pace Tell me, tell me it'll be alright One way or another as the fevers rise Send me smoking all the way behind Sleeping in the embers where the sun don't shine Sleeping so heavy just to pass the day Moon rises as the creatures sway In the fray Pick me for my petals Penny for my heart Pretty as a wildfire Gentle as the spark Pick me for my petals Penny for my heart Pretty as a wildfire Gentle as the spark Pick me for my petals Penny for my heart Pretty as a wildfire Gentle as the spark Pick me for my petals Penny for my heart Pretty as a wildfire Gentle as the spark Pick me for my petals Penny for my heart Pretty as a wildfire Gentle as the spark Spin my bones, softer than envy Let night call, the tap of your venom feet Shift like flames a-fluttering, while my feet are stuttering Phantom that moves the night, right As the tom tom's move from under me, got me stumbling Down into the bones Of the ancient game, nocturnal flame, smoke into the stem Of the red flower The red flower The red flower The red flower The red flower The red flower The red flower The red flower
3.	The Poet's Tango 06:33	lyrics	buy track
Come near To hear the beating of a violent heart In melodies with which she hates to part She roams In groves adorned with Birds of Paradise Who leave these scars upon her naked skin Cut by beauty's knife The lines of a poem Ladadada A poem She holds The smoking embers of horizon's bloom In callused hands that speak of toil and truth Be still As she begins to weave the wildest rose In tapestries with maddening ease She whispers as she sews The lines of a poem Ladadada A poem The ground I till and flesh I kill To eat my fill but I am never full From hollows creep the vines of sleep To give or keep but never to own Cause the poet Has no name They give their words like seeds upon the wind As the poem Finds its way To ears that hear the secrets held within The hands of time spell reason's rhyme Upon the skin of all who've ever lived I've learned quite well Those wrinkles tell A story that the tongue would never give Cause the poem Has no place It comes and goes wherever it may please And the poem Has no face It shows to those that take the time to see Ooh Marianne close your eyes Who are you without disguise? Feel her head upon your thighs Free to love Free from sight Marianne, a fateful mind Will you give until you die Poetry, thick like wine In your blood In your mind In your blood In your mind In your blood In your mind In your blood In your mind In your blood In your mind
4.	The Serpent's Embrace 05:10	lyrics	buy track
I was taught that life would taste so sweet Nectar of the mango's golden flesh Medals of a victory so neat Tongues to be hung around the neck But as the river swings I sing along This fable of desire upon my lips Cause held in the gentlest sway Is what I can say of the serpent's embrace Imbibe quicksilver wine Ripples of blood straight to the mind I roam drunken and blind With this veil woven tight The fire fleeting and bare Lust for the wood grown in the air Consumes all that is there Sweet desire doesn't care The snake sings sweet lullabies Moments that drip straight through its eyes Alone I'm hypnotized Venom fill these cuts of mine I sip each candied dream Choosing to see things as they seem Below the glister and gleam The serpent's noose tightening
5.	The Banyan Tree 06:11	lyrics	buy track
Seven altars Where seven sightless servants wander Beneath the Canopy of the banyan tree Wearing nothing but their blindness Serving no one but Her Highness Your highness Seven saints perched on the limbs Stain of wine upon their fingers The eunuch dances, smiles, and sings a Merry tune to mark the hour Snakes are woven in the roots While fruit decays upon the stem The languid lilt of merry men Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Dadabumbum Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Ladabumbum Seven pupils Who watch with empty iris open Behold them Eyes that can see but do not look At the decadence around them Silent as the name Of the one they serve Seven saints perched on the limbs Stain of blood upon their fingers The eunuch dances, bows, and lingers Picking pennies from the sand The lemurs stole all of the fruit That the servants placed with care On a shrine that is not there But how would they know Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Dadabumbum Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Ladabumbum Seven daughters Behold the scene with words unspoken Heed them Those with the scars upon their tongues Each for speaking out of turn Forced to stand and see as Seven saints swing from the limbs The scent of sex upon their fingers The eunuch tames a timid lemur And goes to sit upon a branch The snakes are woven in the flowers Tracing circles in the air Putrid pleasure unaware Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Dadabumbum Ladadada Dadabada Dadabada Ladabumbum
6.	Gilded Lips 04:58	lyrics	buy track
Gilded lips tell lily lies Of amber truths and silver eyes I see their whispers wink and sigh And slink, I think, but who am I to Speak between these teeth of tin To dance upon these boots of skin I dream a dream of life within That melts the moment it is seen Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Gilded lips tell lily lies Of candied truths and lazy eyes I speak of what I see inside Beneath the skin and words they hide their Gentle wings of brittle bone Their fragile shards of shattered stone Reveal the truth of a truth unknown That melts the moment it is born Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada My gilded lips they tell no lies They speak no words, but in my eyes There hides a secret plain as day So simple that no words will say My gilded lips tell only lies Fragmented truths dressed in disguise But listen close, and you will hear The bell is ringing loud and clear Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Ladadada Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm
7.	Ivory Tower 03:23	lyrics	buy track
Violent whims and jaded rings Pretty girls singing pretty things With the war beneath their bed Harmonies of lead Sickly I walk through the day and night Ready to pray and ready to fight Cause I live on cyanide And I'll give an eye for an eye Cities burn as the pigs they bite Smoking lungs breathe the fire of night I say brother it's time to fight Hey hey brother hand me the knife Follow the beat of the fists and drums Anarchy with a vagrant hum And I no sleep, I no love Cause I know freedom must come with blood The gilded fall Shattered banquets and china dolls Adorn the halls Empty but for the bones and all The gilded fall Satin blankets and ivory towers Seem so strong But change will come Singin' Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na Oh na na

about

The songs you hear in this album were born throughout the world: in the altiplano of Chile, the islands of Maine, the streets of Havana, and everywhere in between. But they landed and grew roots in Pittsburgh, and were brought alive by a group of uniquely talented musicians.

This album was recorded live over the course of one frigid day in December. Ten musicians came together in the Center for Civic Arts, an empty church in Wilkinsburg, to lay down what you hear here.

The Dance of the Red Flower is the dance of Fire. It is the dance of the carnal forces that takes hold of us, that spin and contort and drive us.

credits

released March 4, 2022

Vocals | Ames Harding, Lauren Nakamura, & Liz McBride
Guitar | Ames Harding
Bass | Mike Saunders
Drums | Eli Weidman
Percussion | AJ Arnett
Trumpet | Jonah Hanlon
Trombone | Erika Laing
Clarinet | Leslie Miller

Recorded by Jake Hanner & Dave Hanner
Mixed by Jake Hanner & Ames Harding
Mastered by Jake Hanner

Songwriting & Album Art by Ames Harding
Arrangement by Ames Harding with help from the band

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Ames Harding Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Ames Harding | Ames Harding & the Mirage | Amari Ames

no two songs the same

shows

Apr 27

Brillobox

Pittsburgh, PA

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