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.

Our Lady of Perpetual Motion

by Lola Mullen

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      name your price

     

1.
Nothing comes as easy as the pain You can see it in my eyes that I've exhausted Even my skin Everything I move begins to ache The gristle and the muscle in my jaw strains my body Tense and alive So get in my car to take my leave Driving over Afton mountain Looking down upon the city lights below I can't stay awake but I can't stop Don't even know how far I have to go If I were a rocket Then my gaze would turn to tar the miles ahead I could burn with one glance the miles Between our beds And all my clothes would turn to smoke and ash I would stand before you naked as the day Not hidden by the dark of my past Now I let you see me at last Now you see the other me The one that sleeps, the one that dreams Now you know me as I am and want to be There is no show, there is no scheme I am free Living by the edge of dotted lines Moving till they blur along the walls of my sight So late at night White noise blends all the sound I hear The breeze of passing cars, the hum of motors Are all I hear in my ears But these few thoughts will ease my fear: Alone, your body comes to me in waves In the smell of sweat, in burning oak, in tobacco Baby, in my dreams Until the next time I should see your face I will keep inside what you've taught me The precious value of release Until you're lying close, I will be Driving over Afton mountain Looking down upon the city lights below I can't stay awake but I can't stop Don't even know how far I have to go
2.
This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to The protagonist always gets his way in the end This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to But you sit transfixed nonetheless Some say the unexamined life is not worth living I say I could use some microscopic inspection in mine And what will we do if all the buildings cave in? Begin again And what will I do if today falls through in the end? Begin again This life is an idiot box your parents let babysit you You're always too young to understand what's happening This life is an idiot box your parents let babysit you It sucks your soul away minute by minute Some say the unexamined life is not worth living I say I could use some new perspective in mine And what would you do if I left and never came back Begin again And what will I do after I talk to you for the last time? Begin again Some say the unexamined life is not worth living I'm through with wearing blinders all the time Some say the unexamined life is not worth living So examine your own before you start in on mine This life... This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to But you sit transfixed nonetheless
3.
Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine Crying tears of 80 proof bottled by my eyes I'll drink until I've sobered up Or drained this whole town dry Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine Got a roaming man with a roaming heart on a steady diet of girls and gin He roams the world with roaming hands But only darling booker ever seems to understand Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine Crying tears of 80 proof bottled by my eyes I'll drink until I've sobered up Or drained this whole town dry Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine Bottled boxed or barreled up Stolen, paid, free, or on credit White and red or brown and gold It's all the same from where I sit Traveled to Chicago to escape my troubles Wearing Black Velvet like it was my skin I met my Maker in sweet Loretto But my Christian Brothers set me on the right again Maybe one day, the lord himself will save me He'll reach right down and clear my sight But here on earth, this bar's my chapel And Heaven Hill is plenty heavenly enough for tonight
4.
I reckon I'll have a good life and that I'll make my way But before I get too old, there will come a day I'll fall asleep one night, I will dream at your side I reckon; no, I know, one day too young I'll die Maybe it was the liquor or perhaps it was them pills Perhaps it be a baby; that, my body cannot feel A mother I won't ever be but I refuse to cry I reckon; no, I know, one day too young I'll die Will heaven be as pretty as preacher made it sound Will I be delivered there, or only to the ground By Peter and by Gabriel, a flaming sword so bright Will alight that sodden hollow down where my body lie I'll ready my soul for it, a prayer I shall say 'Cause before I get too old there will come a day I'll fall asleep one night not far off, by and by I'll sleep but never shall waken, one day too young I'll die Will you be there by my side? Cry not for me, my sweetheart, for you'll see me by and by
5.
I was so young at 14 years So young, with all the time in the world These hands work till they hurt With callouses that added ages to their worth One dollar for the pile and no less To my father goes the toil and the gain from it To keep my family fed, I'll cut the lumber down to dust Yes, every inch of it A preacher in the make God's hands will surely take Oh, bring me home, bring me home With sweat upon my brow, a hand will bring me down Oh, bring me down, bring me down Go forward, John, to the light Of a summers' end for me that fades into a night For this blade I hover on will be my last From rib to groin, it split me in two halves A preacher in the make God's hands will surely take Oh, bring me home, bring me home But I will be rejoined, by his hands I'm made whole Oh, bring me home, bring me home Young John, take my hand at long hard last Brother, be a good son, do just what your daddy asks Oh, mother, please don't let go, not yet I shall see you later on, at his feet we'll be met A preacher in the make God's hands will surely take Oh, bring me home, bring me home
6.
I've been a liar but not a cheater Though I've come close a time or two I've been run over by a motor vehicle And crashed one or two, it's true I'm a good egg on a broken plate When looks seem to be everything I'm a trainwreck without incident A quiet old car passing through you See, I'm always hopping down chutes When I should be climbing high Pardon me, dear, this is the first ladder I've seen In quite a while Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that I put on my boots and the closest shirt Each morning and yes, in that order I'm as curious and reversed as can be Like a bad movie while high I still run half my life backwards I write my cursive "I"s the wrong way But when someone told me, "You look happy" I answered, "Yes, perpetually" Do you wonder where it will take me next 'Cause I do wonder what will become of this Yes, I'm wondering about wandering And what it really amounts to And I'm facing south When north was always my home And I'm wondering about gambling With money and time and what's mine And I'm facing south Though it's not always with you in mind Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
7.
Train Song 03:30
There is a house 'cross railway tracks Stands high and broad against the rest The floorboards part enough to see The people all moving beneath And the cold comes through each closed door The railcars rattle panes and bones The steeple shades the windows bare And smokestacks waft and part again From factories and passing freight A lonesome whistle permeates And the cold passes underneath Creeps between the blankets deep Where the Plymouth stands to guard the gate And the churchyard waits so patiently beneath Where the welcome mat is a broken road Where you lay your head, where I wish I called home And the cold don't mean so much harm Only looking like us to find some warmth Where the Plymouth stands to guard the gate And the churchyard waits so patiently beneath Where the welcome mat is a broken road Where you lay your head, where I wish I called home There is a house 'cross railway tracks Stands high and broad against the rest Could we be there waving goodbye To passing trains if only in my mind
8.
Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete Don't know what importance to you they keep If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey Make it heavens to me Go on swearin' and cursin' a storm Ain't no one wanna listen to your carryin' on With a mouth like that, you'd better check your heat Slap the lips right off you in a hot heartbeat Oh, heavens to me Keep your hands off my sides and feet off of mine Steer clear of me, dear, I'm in no mood tonight After what you've done be glad you've a bed And be glad on that neck still sits your big head Oh, heavens to me Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete Don't know what importance to you they keep If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey Make it heavens to me Don't know whose sake you're going on about It's your own tanned hide you've gotta worry for now So watch that tone when you come on home You're a dog in this house, ain't got no bone Oh, heavens to me Done told you once, done told you twice Next time I ask, it won't be so nice If you do right, won't be nothin' wrong But it seems for this world you won't be long If you're gonna beg to somebody, my baby, honey Make it heavens to me Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete Don't know what importance to you they keep If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey Make it heavens to me
9.
I walked in with you sitting there Spouting lines without a care My mouth was split wide open I knew from the very start Your tales would tear us apart My mind was split wide open Everyone says I should've seen it coming But I waited for you when I should've been running Now it's all gone south, and so have you, honey But I haven't a tear to spare Everyone says I should've seen it coming But I waited for you when I should've been running Now it's all gone south, and so have you, honey But I haven't a tear to spare Oh, this house seems so empty now I haven't one picture to hang No shoes to rest beneath my bed No one to come home to But I'm glad for one thing I guess That's having you off my chest Though it's split wide open No, I don't want my dresses back God knows who's been wearing them Split 'em all wide open Everyone says I played the part of the fool Turning my back on what I knew wasn't true There's nothing left of this heart in my chest It's split wide open
10.
Who You Love 04:22
Grains of truth inside your humor Grains of salt stuck in your eye I heard the stories and the rumors But no, I did not realize Your life is odder than a novel Yet more open than the great wide west Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause You're the one you'll always love the best Grain alcohol flows to your stomach As grainy pictures flash before your eyes I heard the tales and could not match them Turns out they were all fake anyway Your life is odder than a novel Yet more open than the great wide west Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause You're the one you'll always love the best Come closer, closer still, and tell me The stories of your fabled youth Tell me not tales from when you conquered worlds Tell me nothing but the truth Your life is odder than a novel Yet more open than the great wide west Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause You're the one you'll always love the best Your life is odder than a novel Yet more open than the great wide west Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause You're the one you'll always love the best
11.
Your arms across my back, a pistol on a string Dangling from your wrist and spun my like an upright Sweetly, I'm reduced to your weapon of choice The ghosts are bursting out and burning down the house But you've got no reason, no nothing, no cause To let them loose, oh, them parlor tricks you know can kill you Oh, yell, rebel, yell Oh, yell, rebel, yell Oh well I've got a red handkerchief roped up around my leg I stole it when you turned me and spun me like an upright Sweetly, you return me to the floor, away again Oh, yell, rebel, yell Oh, yell, rebel, yell Oh well

credits

released February 10, 2006

All instruments, vocals, lyrics, music: L. K. Mullen

Tracks 3, 4 & 7-11: Recorded during February 2006 at Monkeyclaus Studios, Nellysford, VA

All other tracks recorded by L. K. Mullen in Laurel, MD, Charlottesville, VA, and Staunton, VA.

license

tags

about

Lola Mullen

Eastern born, westbound. Austin, TX.

contact / help

Contact Lola Mullen

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Lola Mullen recommends:

If you like Lola Mullen, you may also like: