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Conversations With A Willow Tree

by calm.

/
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    calm. pill t-shirt to get rid of those anti-smiles

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    Building Power While the Lights Are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power - features a chapter by chris time steele

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 19 Time releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Depressed Joy, Still Everything Blessed, ALL THE DREAMS I EVER HAD, Fugacious Cicatrice, Conversations With A Willow Tree, Whose Dystopia? (feat. Che Noir), Nighthawks At McCoys, These Songs Kill Fascists, and 11 more. , and , .

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1.
Let me take you to a place with no postage come closer Rats and roaches blinking neon sign hypnosis Opioids we're overdosing, turning kids to ghosts and Broken bottle hopeless, sipping till cirrhosis Viruses and locusts, we admire the soulless Technology to control us, that's why we can't focus We gave earth tuberculosis, she's choking on her own spit I pity the prognosis, dystopias the diagnosis Jackson Pollock blood splatters in the slaughterhouses lead in the water can't tell where the slaughter house is Staring in a black mirror the satellites wanna steer I used to dodge deer now we dodge drones with fear History books and amnesia, propaganda's what they teach us Television anesthesia, while they dig the grave beneath ya Saw a 100 foot hologram advertisement ballerina Down on alameda watch me deconstruct it like Derrida What is this? A world with nothing? A world with no, freedom, freedom Piano keys yellow from the nicotine, the hammers scream Graffitied epiphanies, saying go protect the salmon stream Ouija board symphony, dead soul, the grammars clean Ed of days periphery, walking towards the grander scheme Orchards and trees, the truth is in the berry leaves War birds and thieves, the spooks wanna bury me Cranes in the sky blink, with flags from invaders Tech crusaders, link traders with the future as a wager Got the weather going crazy like gods fucking with the faders Speculators stock market collapsing like artic glaciers Spectators speculate going to work for their jailers Life's a conveyer, obey, vote for your favorite dictator Street preacher serenaders with eyes like 2 craters Screaming what's the difference between a thief and a mayor Living in Hell-Vetica tagging in times new roman Watch it fall off the wall and burn to ash like an omen What is this? A world with nothing? A world with no, freedom, freedom Under a dying sun and dead moon, I listen to the dead move Orange bottles in the bedroom, milligrams of dead truths Sirens sound like Buckley humming hallelujah Anti smile pills scattered in Shibuya Candy wrappers, road kill, man this city's so ill Wine bottles, scratch tickets, take another hope pill Vomit that control pill, I wrote this with a crow quill If the cops don't kill you, the hackers and the code will No Tocqueville, just joe hill, singing with asbestos breath Two of us made it out of the mine, the rest are dead Hellscape, looking like Hieronymus Bosch palette got tossed Replicant, no empathy, mass destruction from the autonomous bots Satellite procession gazing down the gorgon stare Eyes like keyholes inside I see the warden there She said you are not the story and you are not the hero This is a math lesson on how to count to zero
2.
What's a friend but a future wound a friendly gun that'll shoot you soon Running from these mobs and goons, dark like night in the afternoon Eyes like nicotine moons, my coffin is my cocoon In these ruins casting runes, trying to outlast this doom Born a loner, sitting in corners, never had friends in school Thought I was a stoner, another misnomer, I smile and played the fool Made friends with the weirdos, the goths and the rap heads, and the metal head cholos too They thought I sold drugs but I sold my thoughts, my solos were written with truth Betrayed for money aint it funny and we were on that conscious shit Insecurity and ego and a high libido, a recipe for some monster shit Ghosted so many I must be haunted, in cat's cradle with Vonnegut Armageddon in retrospect, in 45 the comet hit I'm an INFJ, a neurotic Aquarius, I let people in to my own detriment Protect your energy, love it and cherish it, take the fake and dismember it I didn't lose a friend, I just realized I never had one But I am my wounds, I am my friends, even if I’m a bad one You thought you had me again Now I gotta push your out, push you out I slow it down, slow it down I’ll write the start of the end Here’s how it goes (yeah) I’m gonna push you out, love me down Keep my space when you’re around What do you do when the person you'd take a bullet for is aiming at you? I'm loyal to a fault, this red stain is the proof, there's hate in you A welting flower with rotten roots, you dumped your poison on me My life was irrelevant with toxic talk you bombed me An emotional vampire, afraid of light afraid of reflection Afraid of truth, I’m not angry, I’m not fake, that's your projection You never wanted advise, your demons just wanted permission You were never a friend, just a lying leech who couldn't listen I felt like nothing, insignificant, you weren't there for my darkest nights You were only there for your addictions, the gas light hid your darker side You never celebrated my successes or commented on my creations I guess you were jealous of my crumbs, while I gave you plates of patience You called to talk about yourself another nagging narcissist I’ll never be an architect just a bridge dedicated arsonist When I was depressed and wanted to vent you made it about yourself I should of learned it the first time but it took me till the 12th What’s the difference between a goal, an expectation and a deception? Every secret I told you from my soul was forged into a weapon I'm everyone that hurt me, I'm everyone I hurt Grandma used to say, we pick the ones we think we deserve But what's a human without a scar, what's a planet without a star? I don't care if you'll betray me I just want to love who you are She said don't fear the future, roll the dice, give it your all She said death isn't sad, the sad thing is some never live at all
3.
I mean it’s all fuck up now you hear To live and die in dystopia I been dodging snakes since Nokia Mind in a shrine in Ethiopia Bunch of illuminati been running after my body The paranoia of an eagle destroyer, I work for us yeah we the employer Latino lawyer watching Jewish lawyer you know, seen, seen, high Today’s Tom Sawyer got mean mean pride Rappers ain’t real they got that green screen vibe I’m home everywhere, I see drones everywhere I’m dodging big brother in el cielo They coming for my neck like a cello Hello goodbye cigarillo in the sky, I got in from mars hello Keep it on the LO They feed us Xanax and Ambien to keep the smell off Never talk numbers on the cell-o I got these glasses from Rowdy Roddy Piper It helps me see through the bullshit, the snakes and the vipers The more I watch the TV the more I feel it’s watching me I’m trying to dodge the misogyny It’s getting hard to breathe Pardon me, where are we? Hell on earth like Prodigy Thought crime prophecy, I got crucified cause I forgot to cross the T Every night’s the same, a Lincoln follow me home The Wright Brothers made planes, the wrong brothers made drones The city is a prison with invisible bars There’s only cameras in the sky, those never were stars Who did it Scooby Doo, ripped off the sheet it was you Gods die when their believers do, I’m like Nietzsche with a rubix cube Blaming everyone from the Hennessy to the centipedes I’m paranoid, I guess my worst enemy is me Screaming 1-8-7 to the cop in my head 2 shots go off with a thought, aneurysm I’m dead
4.
Conversations with a willow tree, the branches sway heavenly They say it’s meant to be and it’ll all make sense eventually When centipedes crawl through my skull and eat all my memories And I return to the soil and fertilize serenity To become food for the worms and reciprocate the energy No more enemies, no more spam to be sent to me I never use Hennessey as a remedy cause I never wanted addiction to be a friend of me Our bodies leave skin cells that turn to dust The rain gives us food and makes our machines rust It’s kind of symbolic of what natures trying to show us We’re living in the 6th extinction it’s time to grow up Melancholy on my countenance found me where the mountains is Make another wish flick a penny in the fountain kid My inner child got SIDS I’m searching underground for him Haunted soil I only found worms I never found the kid Skyscrapers a tombstone, roads crowded abyss If a tree falls in the forest it doesn’t matter what the sound is It matters what gets affected from death comes resurrection A tree becomes a coffin a coffin becomes dirt Sound turns to language, and words becomes hurt But words could heal, a conversation could save a life That’s how I got here, the willow o wisp’s light shines bright Trees are our elders, they don’t need cars to get water and food They store their energy in the autumn and bloom by June Mutual aid, they shelter the animals, birds build nests They dig their roots deep and hold their heads above the rest The willow is a buddha, the tree is my teacher Each tree is a person, we’ll all meet the reaper A leaf falls in my cup, I drink up the dusk We sit in the darkness until dawn erupts In the dark it was clear that the bark was a mirror I was the forest, the dew was our tears I’m not trying to conquer my enemies I’m trying to conquer myself What’s a tree but a friend that offers shelter and help That willow tree was there for me when I couldn’t find anyone else Money’s just a dead tree, a live one is wealth You’re fearful and doubtful because you forgot about nature and reciprocity You think everything will mess up or break Because you believe the lie that you’re a consumer and used to buying things that break And interacting with machines You forgot about nature, about being human, even about plants
5.
This is stolen land on a stolen map, rent is theft, give it back Work 3 jobs get a heart attack, no insurance, now they want tax They gentrify like Shawn Carter, then say you should've worked harder Nondisclosure a nonstarter, redistribute the land like Sankara Nine tenths of the law we squatting this, banks don’t own us we bought this They got a camping ban for the jobless, get your camera, cop watch this This is the science of spatial violence, capitalism and racial violence Witness the silence of liberal bias, classism and race alliance What development wants, development gets, they get no jail when they sell them bricks Guerilla garden let's build this, mutual aid not selfishness Since that eviction letter, this aint really been home Landlord didn't discover this, that's chris columbus syndrome We're just trying to raise the roof, they just wanna raise the rent I've been working 3 jobs, i gave that cracker every cent Landlord of the flies, dollar signs in his eyes Let's stop working for the rich, so we can live our fucking lives Skylines filled with condos, throw em out like Marie Kondo Landlords don't spark joy, tell em leave the city pronto Give the land back from Canada to Colorado Those aren't giants, those are windmills, just ask Sancho This is stolen land stolen homes, 
 Neighbourhood bought n sold Just a spot to park the gold Wanna watch they dollar grow Ain’t gonna cool that market These fools make too much profits Fake as all these costs get
 Paid by the workers losses 
Wage ain’t cover naw shit 
Broke from the crib to the coffin 
 Broken from those processes 
 Landlord and or bosses Banks is they’s accomplice 
State gonna pave that process
 Landlords see no problem 
 Take the people’s last dollar 
Rent or lease a collars 
 With leash reaching wall streets
 Launder shit for mobsters Secret deeper pockets The broke don’t got no options Lord of the land on top them Organize gonna stop them See the guillotine chop them 
Seize the means and properties And block they greed and profit stream Get get those leeches offa we I mean get those landlords offa we Nights in crown heights We was down bad dad out of hard white Landlord actin like shit was on sight So we thugged em ducked em dodged em Pops like If he keep it up fuck it might rob em Just to have the roles reversed The shelters were worse My soul was hurt Only thing kept me grounded Was a Hova verse Stick up the world and split it 50 50 Y’all don’t own the earth Or know the worth Coach taught me if your brothers cold And all you owns a shirt You find a way to split that shirt Half a million evicted they still insisting the system work Assisted living let you live in thirst This government place people second business first They Gentrified our existence but we been dispersed Tear gasin us since diaspora Fascist stay after us Look what happened in Attica Pardon the tangent it’s Just the martyrs get candles lit While daughters stay vanishing And bystandered effect Got too many like manikins Fuck a tic toc challenge if I ain’t have the rent I’m hittin liqs calm down Hit the piff swallow pride Ask for help pick up shits Repress the stress No wait that’s how you get worked to death
6.
Let the bloody finger put the pressure to the mechanism Pyrotechnic cartridges flash, I was born for state terrorism Pistons retract, grab my back, then they shove me away Now I’m flying over Yemen like it's judgement day Thermal battery activated, I was made with hatred I’m coming to kill civilians someone in DC ok'd it Peace not today, I’m only a hundred knots away No due process, this is murder, no one's locked away 3 fins on my back, that's guidance control My nose is locked on a laser reflection I have no soul No brain I’m the million mother fucking dollar war head I’m the excuse for no healthcare, no budget to keep the poor fed To you, war is abstract, I’m the documentary in your head But in reality, I turn foreheads into four heads You see statistics, I put limbs in trees, everyday there's more dead But you just hear collateral damage, that's the propaganda that you're fed Turn the page, full of rage, I was born in 2015 In Garland, Texas at the general dynamics facility Forged from cursed steel I was the least loved My baby bottle was full of nun and priest blood They got arrested outside of my crib fuck what they did They came with a hammer they were yelling bout some kids Now I’m 300 pounds, my daddy Ray say I’m growing up He says I’m going to McAlester, Oklahoma on a truck They hang me nose down and they all gather round They give me 200 pounds of explosives and say choke it down I’m trying to cool down but I hate this, I’m full of hatred They only fed me tritonal and composition H6 Interstate 10, I’m in Tucson, at my daddy's home At Raytheon, they say you ain't unique, you're just an average clone In my room pacing, yelling why the fuck was I born? Ray says to pack up, you're going to Yemen in the morn Back where we started in the skies of Yemen I came out an F15s womb falling from heaven My nose smashes into a rock, tripping a fuse in my tail I detonate like 200 pounds of TNT with death on my trail I fracture into a 1000 pieces I’m the antonym of what peace is My shards go 8 times the speed of sound as destruction increases I don’t kill people, I rearrange them, I remove appendages Bashing through flesh I’m wild, I disassemble and dismember them Gas from my abdomen, ruptures ear drums and collapses lungs It causes internal bleeding I’ll turn your house into an oven My wind can take your leg off, erase your whole family with a cough I cause famine and cholera and a march won't make me stop The US blockades the supplies, complicit in genocide The US blocks the UN and the media tells the lies War is hell, states lie, the truth is gory They found my assembly code in some scrap that's why you're hearing this story I live on as shrapnel in the body of my victims My soul is dead, I’m just a product of the system I'm in a sauna in hell they say I’m being reincarnated I’m going back to Raytheon for a Palestinian vacation
7.
Look, there's pain behind the tears I cry A system we fell for years tried to scare my tribe Threw us inside a system you perceive it as perfect Come take a walk as I'll show, let you see it in person Take a look to the left that's a man just trying to provide Coming from work 12 hour shifts at night when he drives Pulled by a cop for no other reason besides his skin Reached for his license one shot he brought his life to an end Look to the right a young girl with so much potential The things she fights to avoid is all that shows outside her window And they aint' excuses they didn't know it was bad Gotta work twice as hard just to only half And imagine being judged off your color of skin Something that's out your control you got to struggle wins Murder, violence and drugs the only thing that seem real With death is like robbery either play sleep or get killed People are starving The rich gobble taxes That's why people are starving People rebel, the rich oppress them That's why people rebel People hold life cheap The rich make it too costly That's why people hold it cheap But those who don't live For the sake of living are worth more than the wealth seekers The cracker didn't have the TP in the back of the Acura His voice cackled dystopia to a settler that's factual A virus consumes its host with violence and leaves its transactional History isn't materialist, different realities are actual Don't you see hell in the Treaty of Tordesillas? Don't you see dystopia in Santa Maria? Don't you see apocalypse in the Mayflower's anchor? Don't you see sci-fi in the smile of a banker? George Washington said he was making providence But the Iroquois called him town destroyer And this country's been robbing sense At sand creek they saw apocalypse in the US flag The treaties were trash they need to just give the land back Thomas More's book Utopia was based on slavery No gods, no masters, no western thought papacy You must have copious amounts of myopia look up Cahokia Cuz what you call family history could be someone else's dystopia
8.
Clickity clack I miss the sound of that It woke me from my sleep I had to find where it was at I stumbled outside through the stripped sycamore trees The leaves all retreated from the January freeze Dancer in the dark I saw the fog of my breath I saw a flash in the park as a coyote wept I walked towards the spark to a cottonwood tree I saw an Olympia it saw a darkness in me Fermented dreams, it saw the rot inside of me It told the shadows I’m glad you brought him to me The metal was cold like a glock to my head That happened in 03 by now I thought I’d be dead I took the machine home, my mind started to roam The wind started to moan like a Wayne Shorter poem It said phantom navigator I will take you to Atlantis On a saxophone write this night dreamer anthem The machine kept clacking spilling its metallic history It said its great grandfather was Francesco from Italy It spoke of Pellegrino and a Brit named Henry Mill Chris Sholes, Glidden, and Soule, it had stories to tell It helped out the blind, it let people speak In 1874 I got my keys, you call it QWERTY But knowledge is class war they made the imperial brand Then came mass war, they made royal for the material man Used in world war 2 we bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki too They used the Corona 3, typing destruction with me When hitler needed help, IBM had the remedy Holocaust helpers made the Selectric in the 70s Crying ink it said you humans made a mistake Using computers but showing no love to Ada Lovelace Its ribbon ran dry it had rubber scarred feet I put my ear to its spool and heard a heartbeat I changed its ribbon and said thanks for the knowledge you've given It said there's a soft typewriter tapping the lives we're living 1984 was written on a Remington The bell tolled for Hemingway he was gone with the setting sun Popping black beauties, Jack wrote on a scroll Orpheus Emerged from his underwood though Baldwin wrote another country with an SM7 Gonzo typed his last letter and took a cannon to heaven Kaczynski used a Montgomery Ward standard Plath pounded on a Hermes, searching for the answers Leonard Cohen drowned his in the Aegean sea It sunk like a beautiful loser as it rusted in peace Thank you for finding me in the park your light was strong Creation has the courage to say you might belong I swear at night machines come alive, I might be wrong But last night I watched the Olympia type this song
9.
Some stories are too true to tell, like how I wished your life was hell Like how I couldn't forgive myself, when I threw my inner child down the well Deep breath, let me release this, this thesis is a beast kid No need for telekinesis, your silence is where the beef is Been vegan for a while cuz I don’t like killing babies or the earth But it seems like being an American does all of that and much worse It's hard to look in the mirror and search, what you'll find is fear and hurt This year has been a blur, friends dying from xans and percs But you're never lonely in Babylon that's why I’m trying to travel on You can't judge me your gavel's gone, up shit creek I paddle on Poets are always complaining, rappers are always bragging I sewed them both together and turned them into a dagger And into my back I stabbed, I am judas, I am brutus I'm a poem that was never written in the pen of Pablo Neruda Pass me another plate of friends, I’m tired of making them I didn't forget those memories I assassinated them These stories are too true to tell, like how you gave up on your health Like how you pickled your liver with liquor, pills and everything else Some aren't afraid to die, they're afraid to live They don't want any help, so all they do is give You're too faded to cry, the sky's a gray abyss I hope these words are felt, I’m trying to get through to chris Are you living or existing? thriving or surviving? Quitting can be risky, when you're lying about trying Lately you've been distant, your problems I can list them Why are you wishing for the Sistine when your paintbrush is nonexistent? Are you a fading phantom or an opium ghost? Lately I've been feeling like a has been at this podium of hope I seem to always hang myself, my friend sold me the rope You invited me to your pity party and told me to host I'm a paradox that breathes, I'm a blinking contradiction I was looking for the truth but now I'm sinking in fiction Some stories are too true to tell, like how I always lie to myself Like how I treat rap like a therapist and put my problems on the shelf I never sold out a show I just sold out my soul When I started working for a wage 15 years ago I’m out here trying to pay dues but what do you do when the dudes You pay dues too despise and hate you? I'm depressed and eating grapefruit The past is a dime store novel, a sink film, a bad mystery When the karaoke bars all close they'll forget about you, even history Vultures circling around me, I'm screaming I’m not edible Sharks circling me in the pool with agents who aren't credible The hunt continues after the capture, the hunter becomes the hunted inside it all happened that's why your spirit is numb and stunted I see chem trails writing in cursive, spelling out the end times Shaky pen trail, I'm nervous but these words are enzymes I'm trying to break reality's ligaments, grizzle, and tissue Dear truth, I'm looking for you, I'm trying to find you, I miss you
10.
We were talking about making new songs last week But last week was like 8 years it's funny how time sneaks Rhymes compete I was blind from this seat It took a punch in the face to teach my ego defeat But here I am, back on my chucks I'm running up We said we would make it with this rap shit and my time ain't up This ain't no pop shit or weird shit its no vet shit or rookie shit This some fuck Sal's pizza shop breaking windows on some Mookie shit We here we been here, 10 years bad luck but we didn't break a mirror This ain't bad luck, this is destiny, the mirror's a window its so clear I've written poems, I've written articles but never suicide notes I've received death threats but threw them out the capsized boat Here we are swimming, the future's still grinning Last show we did AwareNess was in the background the bass had me spinning The numb from a show still feels the same like when we were in high school Music was my true inspiration, meeting other artists my true education Self-expression, speaking out my truest lesson Forgiveness will be my final lesson, until then that punch to my face was a blessing Guns to our face we threw rocks on 38th My car window got broke, the cops came but we escaped Thoughts from an adolescent, depressed with no anti-depressants Just a notebook, just a pen, and a flow that was aggressive Face covered in acne, MC Pepperoni Lungs kept popping, I was pot washing, out the hospital and bony Perfected the craft, Points used to make me laugh This was before they imprisoned half the lab When I got arrested my mom paid the fines I got a job and paid her back with money that was mine I'm here cause somebody loved me they put no one else above me I'm just trying to show that to someone else who's life's been ugly Life got real, it's funny how time steals I look in the mirror I touch my face but can't feel Some way down there I was running down this road, this road Some way out there I've been looking for a golden soul You can cage the singer but you can't cage the song This is for Robert, man we love you stay strong I spit these bars to break yours, I hate yours I pray yours, break down, I'm faithful, I'm hopeful not hateful Close your eyes and float through the city, I see you in the astral come fly with me You hand me a pen it's made out of quartz you tell me love's worth more than a Porsche You tell me to write and fight these feelings, meditate and levitate to the ceiling You say burn some sage when you're up on stage, use your anger, recycle your rage Compost all your anger, use it for your garden Water your seeds with gratefulness, forgive and never pardon Messed up people mess up, too many wolves are playing dress up With rent they wanna stress us, with debt I'm playing catch up The studio's my confession booth, AwareNess' beats bless us The sidewalks a scantron the state just wants to test us Each verse is like a diary, books lit a fire in me From Baldwin to Conrad to Hooks they inspire me Speak to the beat like a therapist, we all know how rare that is My heart's my ghost writer, vulnerability's where the marriage is I'm anti past I'm anti future I'm anti now I'm pro void Cause i just want to exist somewhere, are we all droids? I'm not saving hip hop it saved me Then it took all my money and gave me a pile of maybes But I'm an alchemist I could turn a probably into a positive Words are magic that's why you have to spell to make oxygen We all have wounds and if you're breathing they're healing Who cares what they think, guilt is another word for stealing Some would rather feel pain than nothing at all I cried when I read that painted on a wall
11.
Don’t forget to smell the flowers Don’t forget to smell the flowers Just remember what I say I’ve been feeling tired, I don't feel normal A branch handed me a coffee bean I entered into a portal They said, what you consume is your medicine Stop treating symptoms find the cause for your betterment Here's some marshmallow for that cough and broccoli for the lungs Some kale for those prime times you smoked when you were young Here's some turmeric for that swelling and inflammation And here's some ginkgo tea to remember this information Curry for the pancreas and saffron for the brain And some rhodiola tea to ease the mental pain Fight the blues with some greens here's some seeds for serotonin Here's some cabbage for the kidneys and goji for melatonin Hears some radish for warmth and ginger for the stomach Here's some ashwagandha for when your spirit plummets Here's some walnuts for the mind and have some ginseng Here's some sorrel for a salad and one more thing Don’t forget to smell the flowers Don’t forget to smell the flowers Just remember what I say You were sleeping for a while here's some lemongrass to wake up Here's some thyme for your lungs we're glad you never gave up Here's some rose for your emotions add some honey to make a potion We see there's screws in your knee here's some arnica for motion Here's some dandelion to detox the Percocet and dilaudid Here's some nettle tea to applaud the fact that you fought it Here's some hawthorn for anxiety and to heal the heart Here's some garlic from your grandma to give your garden a start Here's some jasmine leaves she said thank you for the song And here's some comfrey root to keep your bones strong Here's some willow for the migraines and yarrow for the sprains And here's some tea for tension it's made from ylang ylang Here's some mandrake to keep you safe when you travel the underworld Here's some acorns for energy and some for the summer squirrels Here's some burdock for the burns and tulsi for the grief And remember to do this, whenever you need relief
12.
I was born in Aurora, north Denver’s where I reside How many times have we done this before, how many times have we died? Tetsuo city I see brown streaks like the bridge was crying rust Trying to find nostalgia, but just breathing melancholia’s dust Blood on my cheek, metal in my knee, think of it as jewelry Sleeved and resleeved, deceived, unsleeved and relieved Past lives retrieved, besieged by grief, madness achieved Demons and greed, sipping tulsi, found a teacher in a willow tree Bardo dreams, 49 days but I won't return, I don't believe No more jobs, no more debt, no more people robbing me Time indefinite, there's no linear time, that cycle I left it I made sad realms and hell worlds, the lord of death is my own projection Do not stand by my grave and weep, I am not matter, I am not there My stack is shattered, 4 elements, consciousness comes after air Sometimes you need to devour yourself to keep something else alive So help me unbuild these walls, hold my hand, let's climb inside When I leave this world My bodies gonna break and burn Who am I gonna be when I unfurl? What is real life, real death, rebirth You gave me your story I didn't know they'd come and cut you down I heard when kings would ride under you, your branches would knock off their crowns rain drops from your leaves, fall like tears it makes a type of tea Your bark cures pain, your branches are tendrils, each one's a memory But you're still alive in a different form I’m climbing your roots like a ladder The moon pulls our tears, fearful thoughts I let them all shatter Take these branches to the underworld, bend and sway with them like the wind Make a harp from them, then play a hopeful song for a friend Desperate thoughts turn to demons, gluttony is where sharing ends But these are just our masks, we forget we are wearing them If we don’t care for others we can’t know our own minds To evolve is to be dispossessed, even from cycles of time Let stems rise from my coffin sprout and give me boundless compassion I went to hug her and only found leaves and the wool of catkins Sometimes you need to devour yourself to keep someone else alive So help me unbuild these walls, hold my hand, let's climb inside When I leave this world My bodies gonna break and burn Who am I gonna be when I unfurl? What is real life, real death, rebirth I know when I leave this world My bodies gonna break and burn Who am I gonna be when I unfurl? What is real life, real death, rebirth What is real?

about

The album is an ode to a willow tree, which was the main collaborator on the album with AwareNess and I. I used to drive by this willow tree on my way to work, it lived at Bowles Grove Park. I found comfort in this tree and had written the song conversations with a willow tree and after recording the song, the tree was cut down. I feel it was one of its last messages to share. The album dives into failed friendships, betrayal, climate catastrophe, capitalism, colonialism, the war machine, the violence and beauty of typewriters, medicine and plants, and dealing with death.

credits

released January 1, 2022

Produced by AwareNess

Mixed and Mastered by Kyle Jones from Sleeping Brotherhood Studios

Album Artwork by Peter Cizmadia: thefarcountry.studio/about

Thank you to all the artists who contributed to this project!

TAMARA: open.spotify.com/artist/3ZXW9AlL2FvivcHeGcL67S?si=zQkMBIRcQ0i0CgGpGiCwPw
Niko Is: www.sofrito2020.com/shop
Myka 9: myka9.com
Lee Reed: leereed.bandcamp.com/album/murder-hornet-landlord
namebuddha: soundcloud.com/buddhaheis
Che Noir: www.che-noir.com
Erica Zandelin: soundcloud.com/lionflysecrets
Oatmeal Queen: oatmealqueen.bandcamp.com

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Time Denver, Colorado

Time was deemed the future of independent hip-hop by VICE and URB Mag. He has been called the Radiohead of rap and the love child of Neil Young and Andre 3000. He was named one of URB's next 100 artists in alongside Drake, Kid Cudi, and U-N-I. He has done songs with Kool Keith, Sole, and Onry Ozzborn and engineering work for Common. ... more

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