Get all 8 The Roland High Life releases available on Bandcamp and save 65%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Oh Dolours (ft. Indoor Friends), Old Atlantic, Scotty Says, Anthology (2007-2022), Old Atlantic (Single Version — The Quentin Choir Remix), Songs About Comic Books & Mid-30s Malaise, Another Other Dorset, and If You Really Want To Hear About… (10 Year Anniversary Re-issue).
1. |
Squatter Song
02:57
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I've got a dead mattress thrown on the floor
Where I pass out every night
And the polyurethane that coats the door
Reflects the light from the street
There's never been a fire in the fireplace
Ever since they came and sealed it up
And every time I open the door
I've got to give it a kick, 'cause it gets stuck
But it's quiet sometimes, quiet
When I'm singing in the shower alone
It's not my home, but it's a place to rest my head
I'm never home, I'm told I'll sleep when I am dead
I hear the thudding pitter-patter of the kid upstairs
I've never seen him, but he wakes me up
And that's the funny thing about the cross I bear:
I only need it to get me going
There's never been a fire in the fireplace
Ever since they came and sealed it up
And every time I open the door
I've got to give it a kick, 'cause it gets stuck
But it's quiet sometimes, quiet
When I'm singing in the shower alone
It's not my home, but it's a place to rest my head
I'm never home, I'm told I'll sleep when I am dead
Sing to me, Jeff Tweedy
Am I listening to you?
Is this how I fight loneliness
By running somewhere new?
I'm sorry that I'm leaving
But it's something I must do
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2. |
Your Last Fall
05:02
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The harsh winds
Of late October
Howl as they tear across his face
Like sandpaper
The open front
Of the glass bus stop
Walls frame his view like a diorama
But face straight into the gusts
Of unrelenting autumn air
The screech and squall
Of downtown rush hour traffic
Is quickly overcome
By the abrasive crunching sound of deadened leaves
Crumbling to brownish dust
Beneath his feet and tires
So he sits in silence
Waiting
Breathing slowly
As the repugnant subway steam
From down below
Billows up from the sewer grates
To fill his nose
And consume the crisp aromas of the fall
This was your last fall with him
If it ever were at all
You said you're scared of all the colors and the winds
Afraid their whispers may remind you still of him
This was your last fall with him
If it ever were at all
You said you're scared of all the colors and the winds
Afraid their whispers may remind you still of him
The setting sun
Casts a browning yellow shadow over everything
Covering the world in sepia tones
Even fallen leaves
Once glowing with
An immediate transcendence
Have turned to dusty grays and lost all warmth
They've lost all life
He lost his life
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3. |
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Calm and collected
This city never looks
Quite as relaxed as it does
From 14 stories above
Tonight
The night has just begun
Now it's 12:35
And the night's so alive
Are they ants down below
Or just people I've known?
War thoughts I've left
So I'll step off the ledge
As delicate thoughts
Take their place in my head
Sticky white strands
Will soon fly from my hands
I'll swing across rooftops
Find some place to land
Perhaps your apartment
With lights turned down low
I'll quietly creep in
Through your bedroom window
You sleep like a beauty
So I kiss your head
As I take off my mask
And take my place in your bed
And you said, "Isn't it time somebody saved your life?"
Baby, baby, be my Mary Jane
You know that I'll rescue you
If you'll rescue me, too
And if you call your tiger
I'll always be true
There will be nights
That I come home real late
But you know that it's hard
When there's a world to save
I'm super lame
A super hero
Who fell in love with
A super model
I'm dangerous to know
And you'll be threatened by my foes
But I promise that I'll never let you feel harm
If you promise that I'll have a place in your arms
And you said, "Isn't it time somebody saved your life?"
Baby, baby, be my Mary Jane
I will crawl to you
Up the wall to you
I will swing to you
As I sing
"Be my Mary Jane"
I will crawl to you
Up the wall to you
I will swing to you
As I sing
"Be my Mary Jane"
You sleep like a beauty
So I kiss your head
As I take off my mask
And take my place in your bed
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4. |
Homecoming King
04:43
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Oh, please pass the whiskey
As we're passing Rye
It reeks of piss and bleach
On this four hour drive
I hear they've got some real nice beaches in Kingston
I'll stand on the shore
With the sand between my toes
As the ocean waves roll
Because I've really been dying to drown
But every time
I think I've settled down
I find it's time to go
What is a home?
When all you own is in a backpack
And you sleep with your guitar
After countless nights of passing out
You're passing out alone
You wake up alone
Where do you go
When you're always told that
There's no place like home?
Please state your name and destination:
My name is Jonas and I have none
Call me Ishmael
And I'll be for the sea
Or you can call me Holden Caulfield
But I'm still not holding on
To any person, place, or thing
Where I belong
This martyr needs a party
This lover needs a quest
A thousand times, I've heard it said
That home is where the heart is kept
All these yellow lines I count like bricks
Staring at the sun
Just remind me that I'm
Always on my way
I'm all alone
Where do you go
When you're always told
That there's no place like home?
Please state your name and destination:
My name is Jonas and I have none
Call me Ishmael
And I'll be for the sea
Or you can call me Holden Caulfield
But I'm still not holding on
To any person, place, or thing
Where I belong
No, I'll never be your homecoming king
Because there's no place like home
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5. |
Dad's Diaries
03:16
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Dad's diaries are waiting
In the top drawer of a bed stand
In the places that we go
When we get lonely for an hour
The paper-thin parchment
Crunches when I turn the page
Like autumn leaves that fell
From burning trees too soon
Translucent and impermanent
The noises keep me company in every bawdy tomb
I read my favorite stories
To a girl that I won't Mary
From the time when you were thirty-two
And think of all the shit you carried
With you on your back
You never let it weigh you down
And I am hoping to remember
All the things you taught me
Back when you were still around
Dad, I see your diaries
Were written down
By someone else's hand
But I still remember
Everything you taught me
About how to be a man
You'll be glad to know
That your grand daughter
Is working overseas
Where she is farming
In a fertile land
And does it all for free
And how I almost tied your grandson
To a fence the other day
But I just pelted him with rocks
Until he bled out all the gay
You see, I'm trying hard to live my life
Just the way you told me, or at least the way I read it
In this dusty little story book where your friends
Had all your best intentions written down
Father, I forgot
To ask you how
You drank from that bloody glass
Drank from that bloody glass
And split the fish while we
Were killing kingdoms in your name
And how you loved the lonely lepers
And you Knew your Mother's Whore
When you told me that the wicked
Would not be let in your door
But you're not around to give me all he answers I might need
So I'm forced to watch as Mary takes my sixty bucks and leaves
Me with Dad's diaries
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The Roland High Life Boston, Massachusetts
Earnest indie power pop punk americana nerd folk emo rock from Boston. Basically we play coffee shop songs that go to 11.
The Roland High Life recommends:
Second Guest
by Today is Tomorrow
Chris also plays drums in the Rhode Island punk band Today is Tomorrow. Recommended for fans of NOFX and Hot Water Music!
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The New Limits
by The New Limits
Jake also plays guitar in the Boston-based ska band The New Limits. Recommended if you like, well, ska!
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Forfocséic, Vol. 2: Whiskey & Work
by Thom Dunn
Thom also has an Irish-Americana Folk Rock / Punk project that performs under the name Forfocséic. Recommended if you like the Pogues and liberation, or if you don't like the British Empire.
go to albumIf you like The Roland High Life, you may also like:
Forfocséic, Vol. 3: Love & War
by Thom Dunn
supported by 4 fans who also own “If You Really Want To Hear About… (10 Year Anniversary Re-issue)”
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The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2
by the Mountain Goats
supported by 4 fans who also own “If You Really Want To Hear About… (10 Year Anniversary Re-issue)”
This song is an anthem for me. I will survive out of spite to those that don't want me to.
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15 years into their career, the Toronto indie rockers sound sharp and ebullient as ever.
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