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Ghosts of the Future & Past [ALBUM]

by Gozer Goodspeed

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1.
Fortune smile at me I could be good if I could run free and Favoured winds, blow my way Cigarette ends in an old ashtray And make it please, this gambler's last day Lady luck, fickle but fair Strip away all these debts we wear Wash us clean with one freak wave Clutching tight what we need to keep safe And make it please, this gambler's last day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man Fate please come to my aid Don't judge me by mistakes I've made You bet your house, you bet your bread I don't want to end up dead So make it please, this gambler's last day I had a friend who put it all on black Found him at the bottom of a river in a sack I was at his house just that day Cigarette ends in an old ashtray So make it please, this gambler's last day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man Fortune please, come smile at me Fortune please Don't go away, like you did to the gambler that day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man
2.
Well it's been years of looking like a state Patching it together day by day Oh, let me count the ways I need escape Distractions and diversions Hopes and accommodations Can you kill the boredom dead for me? I've been a reveller, a slacker, a no-hoper, a naysayer, a cynic, a game-player But always the optimist inside, at odds with the world I'm asking for you love in my dry voice Oh can you tell me, can you tell me where we are? I'm amazed at the state of my own face Charlatans and hypnotists are now on every corner Charlatans and hypnotists trying to do us over I've been a stubborn man, and try as I might, and I have, I could never yield I've been a ball of energy caught in a stasis field, honestly yeah, I know I have I hold my hands up to that It's easy to get deadened and weird and strung out and pseudo-scientific Caught up and all apocalyptic, but there are pockets of relief and joy Can you show me the way to those? Oh can you tell me, can you tell me where we are? I'm amazed at the state of my own face Charlatans and hypnotists stand on every corner Charlatans and hypnotists trying to take us over And I sing for all the things that I can never say And as I gaze into the eyes of the hypnotist I don't want to be another sucker, I don't want to be another sucker, I don't want to be another, be another, be another sucker I sing for all the things that I can never say And as it turns out, I cannot say a lot I need a map I need directions, a statement of intention An answer sheet that says, "Frequently Asked Questions" It's been years of looking like a state Patching it together day by day oh, let me count the ways I need escape Distractions and diversions, I'm knocking at your door Hoping the weather will change Hoping the weather will change
3.
Well I hope you don't hear my bones rattling As I bob and weave and dodge and duck and dive I crave peace, it's peace I seek Under the eaves I plot a peaceful life I feel monochrome or black and white You're my colour, wash over me tonight And I hope you don't see my face reddening As I pick among the dry bones of my past I needed you, it's you I sought All my old issues seem so overwrought I feel monochrome or black and white You're my colour, wash over me tonight Don't ever tell me, don't ever tell me, don't ever tell me I'm wasting my time I feel monochrome or black and white You're my colour, wash over me tonight They said, hey Rattlebone, you got that troublesome blood I feel monochrome or black and white You're my colour, wash over me tonight
4.
I get a loose tongue in good company Said the man with the ruined knee Drinking more as I age Never wiser, never more sage But when I go out by the coast, I hear ghosts in the sea When I go out by the coast, I hear ghosts within me And what am I to make of this man with the ruined knee? What am I to make of the man sitting next to me? He said, I left my wife on the church steps Fled the country to Marrakesh I lost the use of my knee When her family caught up with me But when I go limping in the woods, I hear laughter in the trees When I go limping in the woods, I hear them laughing at me What am I to make of this man with the ruined knee? What am I to make of the man sitting next to me? He said you don't know the road 'til you're on it He said you don't know the road... The road He said I was on a 'most wanted' list The FBI took a shot but missed There's a trick I learned after all these years It's always better to disappear But when I go out by the river I hear whispers in the water When I go out by the river, I hear whispers What am I to make of this man with the ruined knee? What am I to make of the man sitting next to me? What am I to make of anyone? What am I to make of the setting sun?
5.
Don't get any weirder, world of mine I can't even remember a stranger time And all the old certainties fell in the sea And on reality, we can't agree The devil's in the details He's hanging on your coat-tails Hoping your train derails But I am always on by your side As we barrel headlong into the night Don't get any smaller, land of mine We're building walls and drawing lines Are all the good people now just anomalies? When the truth looks the same as conspiracy The devil's in the details He's hanging on your coat-tails Hoping your train derails But I am always on by your side As we barrel headlong into the night And I'm searching out, searching out I'm scanning the sky for a light I'm reaching out, reaching out As we barrel headlong into the night
6.
What you got going on, Lewis? Heard you got caught with your hand in the jar How you spending your time now, Lewis? Rolling fags and stealing cars Okay What you got going on, Lewis? What you got going on underground? I hear you got some suspect fluids Stinking up your townhouse Oh yeah Well I got nothing to say that can't be unsaid But you know baby, you make your own bed What you got going on, Wendy? Heard you had a fight in a pub How you spending your time now Wendy Passed out in the hot tub All right What you doing there now, Wendy? Why you dragging yourself on the ground? What you doing in that couple's garden Breaking in their townhouse? Oh no Well I got nothing to say that can't be unsaid But you know baby, you make your own bed Uh-huh And I don't mean to cast the first stone but you're looking kind of crazy I don't mean to cast the first stone but you must be out of your head I don't mean to cast the first stone but these moves are kind of crazy I don't mean to cast the first stone but you make your own bed What've I got going on, Lewis? I wish that I could tell Why you giving me the evil eye, Wendy? You say you'll see me in hell... well 'Cos I got nothing to say that can't be unsaid But you know baby, you make your own bed
7.
Ronnie's got the jitters and he He said he saw her Well he's been quite the mess now since she told him where to go Ronnie's fallen over he's got Quite the obsession yeah He calls her Headshrinker and he's the Blue Man again No-one wants the Blue Man No-one wants the Blue Man when he's in this kind of mood When the Blue Man met the Headshrinker Well all hell Well all hell broke loose Yeah Well the Headshrinker's got a real name - they call her Jamie and Jamie can't take Ronnie when he's drinking all the time Ronnie's got a mouth on him But Jamie gives it back and then some And I sit in the corner wondering where to draw the line 'Cos no-one beats the Headshrinker No-one beats the Headshrinker when she's in this kind of mood But when the Blue Man met the Headshrinker Well all hell Well all hell broke loose Yeah Oh yeah Na na na na You got to get away from each other - or get a pair of rings And I say run don't walk Ronnie run don't walk Ronnie run don't walk Ronnie Run don't walk Jamie run don't walk Jamie run don't walk Jamie yeah 'Cos no-one wants the Blue Man, no-one wants the Blue Man No-one wants the Blue Man when he's in this kind of mood And no-one beats the Headshrinker, no-one beats the Headshrinker No-one beats the Headshrinker when she's in this kind of mood When the Blue Man met the Headshrinker Well all hell Well all hell broke loose Yeah
8.
Some things are impossible to pick up They shapeshift and slip out of reach Some things you let go and something else steps in the breach Some names you call in the middle of the night Some you invoke in a crisis Some you invoke when there’s never been another moment like it Give me something I can see Give something I can feel and believe Give me something I can hold in my hands Give me something I can still understand Some things feel impossible to give up But you quit them after one last blast Some things you let go ‘cos they tie you too much to the past I can’t take more shadows or illusions I’ve lost my appetite for games I can’t swallow dogma, buy into your feathers or your flames Some things are impossible to give up Some things are impossible to drop
9.
Betty likes to inhale her mixture She looks for omens and signs She has her epiphanies, baby she’s got nothing but time I just want to feel better I want to bend and not break She says life will throw at you every last thing you can take She says You fell in the swamp, it’s swallowing you up Bit by bit, you need wings to stay above it But you’re a survivor by habit She sits so quiet by the gasworks But she can’t look you straight in the eye Always listening to her ever-present spirit guide Well I can’t bring myself to believe In visions and afterlives When I just see money and angles and a tissue of lies She smiles and says You fell in the swamp, it’s swallowing you up Bit by bit, you need wings to stay above it But you’re a survivor by habit
10.
Rolling around, rolling around The key broke off clean in the lock You’ve been stumbling around the cold wasteground It’s where you come when the wheels fall off And I’m on the outside but you’re on the outer rim You’re looking at me as I look at you looking in Rolling around, falling down Stairs that join stairs that join stairs You’ve been stumbling around, tumbling around Trapped in a Penrose nightmare And I’m out of the loop but you’re endlessly looping I’m looking at you as you look at me looking in Maybe behind this door is something you haven’t already got But your key broke off clean in the lock Maybe behind this door is something you haven’t already got But your key broke off clean in the lock The size of this, the shape of this Head swimming, high in the night Details swapped out for silhouettes Your victories feel so slight Well I’m on the outside but you’re on the outer rim And you’re looking at me as I look at you looking in Maybe behind this door is something you haven’t already got But your key broke off clean in the lock Maybe behind this door is something you haven’t already got But your key broke off clean in the lock
11.
You went looking for luck and fate Conveyed you to a place where you changed your name And anyone with any answers seems insane But you feel better and no-one feels fake There's a man who for better or worse Is talking about the heat death of the universe In the blink of an eye he says, we'll be long gone But the wheel keeps turning and the river runs on Oh hey oh how You're running with the outliers now Free yourself from the idea Says the woman so frail That you were born to succeed or born to fail You are neither the hammer nor are you the nail And the cosmos is a snake that will eat its own tail Oh hey oh how You're running with the outliers now She says you've never been here but you've been here forever Oh hey oh how You're running with the outliers now
12.
Been dreaming of a puma sitting on my chest Staring right into my eyes, cutting off my breath And I just don't know, which way it's going to go Will it let me live? Will it run away? Will it savage my body? I just can't say Sometimes I'm the one sitting there Sometimes the one who's pinned Some days I'm gasping for air Some days I'm in the wind And I just don't know, which way it's going to go If I lose myself, will you pull me back? If you lose yourself, I'll grab you with both hands Been dreaming of a neon sign Lighting up the sky Falling slowly onto my head Burning in my eyes And I can't discern any of the words Can the words be read? Is there a message written? Is something being said? Will it always stay hidden? If I lose myself, will you pull me back? If you lose yourself, I'll grab you with both hands Pumas and neon signs Blowing through my mind If I lose myself, will you pull me back? If you lose yourself, I'll grab you with both hands
13.
14.
15.
Well the killjoy bulletin Is coming at you from all sides The killjoy bulletin now Is coming at you from all sides Can’t escape the killjoy bulletin yeah Coming at you via every single device And all you want to do is get away... Well I try to find a black spot To escape the signal and go Yeah I try to find a black spot To escape the signal and go But sure enough here comes the killjoy bulletin Over my radio I swear there’s no getting away now But you got the love, oh yeah Mmm-hmm, you got the love for disaster yeah yeah You know what I'm saying You've got the love now baby, for disaster yeah yeah You know it And I want to slow, slow down, but the world Keeps on getting faster yeah yeah Well they say no news is good news And good news is in short supply They say no news is good news now And good news is in short supply I feel like I should put on the killjoy bulletin But I can’t think of a single good reason why Maybe it’s the conditioning... maybe ignorance really is bliss
16.
Every day I take myself to task Pull my head out of the past Roll the dice, roll them fast I've got questions still to ask There's a path I can discern Past the bridges I've burned I carry their ashes in an urn People say I never learn Then you realise The future's arrived and the natives are speaking in code Then you read the news The future's arrived and now's not the time to lay low Every day I take myself from home Drag myself into the zone Choose the colours, choose the tone Choose what ideas to disown There's a saviour round the corner So they say, so they warn you You can run towards that sound I'll find my own way around Then you realise The future's arrived and the natives are speaking in code Then you read the news The future's arrived and now's not the time to lay low So don't undersell yourself You've been waiting to be free Don't undersell yourself You've been waiting, you've been waiting And now's not the time to lay low Then you realise The future's arrived and the natives are speaking in code Then you read the news The future's arrived and now's not the time to lay low
17.
Fortune smile at me I could be good if I could run free and Favoured winds, blow my way Cigarette ends in an old ashtray And make it please, this gambler's last day Lady luck, fickle but fair Strip away all these debts we wear Wash us clean with one freak wave Clutching tight what we need to keep safe And make it please, this gambler's last day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man Fate please come to my aid Don't judge me by mistakes I've made You bet your house, you bet your bread I don't want to end up dead So make it please, this gambler's last day I had a friend who put it all on black Found him at the bottom of a river in a sack I was at his house just that day Cigarette ends in an old ashtray So make it please, this gambler's last day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man Fortune please, come smile at me Fortune please Don't go away, like you did to the gambler that day Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man built to last Ghosts of the future and past, make me a better man, make me a better man

about

Lights And Lines is delighted to present Ghosts of the Future & Past (LAL-001), a retrospective and expansive collection of songs by Plymouth’s most distinctive and imaginative songwriter - Gozer Goodspeed. Gorgeous 4 panel digipak CDs are available to order now in addition to digital downloads. This album is available exclusively on Bandcamp until 27th August 2021 when it will be available on additional streaming platforms as well.

The album recontextualises Gozer Goodspeed’s incredible back catalogue for listeners, and introduces some brand new, never-before-released tracks at the same time.

"...a mammoth work... most impressive ...a fine way to provide an introduction to a talented artist you might not have heard before" - Fatea Magzine

This collection has been lovingly put together to introduce you to an artist with an extraordinary voice, a deep love of folk music and storytelling, and a strong affinity for the sounds of the blues.

With Ghosts, listeners can deep-dive into Gozer’s back catalogue and immerse themselves in a selection of remastered tracks from all 5 of his recorded releases to date, discovering some ultra rare and previously unheard songs along the way. This is emphatically not a ‘best of’, but rather a carefully curated selection of songs that highlight the artist's unique verve and versatility.

Highlights from this unique 17 song collection include the previously unreleased Charlatans and Hypnotists - a pivotal pre-Gozer song that helped develop him into the artist we know today; a live bootleg version of The Killjoy Bulletin, a popular mainstay in Gozer’s live show that he has never recorded in the studio; a brand new remix of 2019’s Gamblers Last Day by Chris Love from Whistlewood Studios; and Now’s Not The Time To Lay Low, an unreleased acoustic demo version of a track from a brand new Gozer Goodspeed album expected to be released in 2022!

The release also includes digital liner notes presented as a podcast on Lights And Lines ‘The Inner Sleeve’ - now available on Anchor and soon on other podcasting apps (when approved!)

The Inner Sleeve on Anchor - anchor.fm/lights-and-lines/episodes/LAL-001-Gozer-Goodspeed---Ghosts-of-the-Future--Past----a-retrospective-and-expansive-collection-of-Folk--Blues--and-slightly-psychedelic-tunes-e152r3q

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About Gozer Goodspeed:
Plymouth-based singer/songwriter Gozer Goodspeed's songwriting is unique - he tells tales of fortune, hope, sadness, and loss in a way that feels entirely his own, and yet wholly relatable to everyone. Weaving elements of folk, blues, rock and psychedelia together across an impressive back catalogue of EPs and albums, Gozer is no stranger to making music characterised by the way it makes you feel, rather than the category you put it into. More info at www.gozergoodspeed.co.uk.

About Lights And Lines:
Lights And Lines is a music collective and record label where curation sits at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is to share new and exciting music from the underground with music lovers everywhere, providing some unique and exciting experiences along the way. We also run Brighton's best live music event, Off The Record Independent Music Festival. More info at www.headlightsandwhitelines.com.

credits

released July 30, 2021

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Credits:

The collection has been remastered by One Blind Mouse as part of the Lights And Lines collective - www.oneblindmouse.com

Cover design by Mike Five and Gozer Goodspeed. Additional artwork elements by Susan Omand - www.omandoriginal.com

Tracks 1, 11, 12 and 13 produced and recorded by Chris Love at Whistlewood Studios, Plymouth, 2019. These tracks originally appeared on the 2019 album ‘Running with the Outliers’.

Track 2 produced and recorded by Kristian Sharpe at Lion House Studios, Plymouth, 2006

Tracks 3 - 10 produced and recorded by Josiah Manning at Momentum Studios, Plymouth, 2016 - 2018. Tracks 3 and 4 originally appeared on 2016’s ‘The Rattlebone Colour EP’. Tracks 5, 6 and 7 originally appeared on 2017’s ‘Barrel Headlong Into the Night’ EP. Tracks 8, 9 and 10 originally appeared on 2018’s ‘Impossible to Pick Up’ EP.

Tracks 14 and 16 recorded and produced by Gozer Goodspeed in The Bunker, Plymouth, 2021. Track 14 originally appeared on the 2021 EP ‘Rebuilt and Remade’.

Track 15 recorded by Luke Stratta at The Palladium Club, Bideford, 2018

Track 17 produced and remixed by Chris Love at Whistlewood Studios, 2021

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Personnel:

Tracks 1 to 17 - all guitars and vocals by Gozer Goodspeed, except track 17, which contains additional guitars by Chris Love

Track 2 - keyboard elements by Kristian Sharpe

Track 5 - mandolin by Gozer Goodspeed. Bass and percussion by Josiah Manning

Track 6 - piano and bass by Josiah Manning

Track 7 - bass and percussion by Josiah Manning

Tracks 8, 9, 10 - bass, percussion and keyboards by Josiah Manning. Mandolin on track 10 by Davey Dodds

Tracks 1, 11, 12, 13 and 17 - bass by Matthew Avery, drums by Mike Roberts, keyboards by Chris Love. Track 13 piano and strings by Chris Love. Track 17 additional percussion by Chris Love.

© 2021 Lights And Lines. All rights reserved.

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Gozer Goodspeed Plymouth, UK

Gozer Goodspeed is a Plymouth-born indie blues-folk-rock singer/songwriter. Likes: caffeine, hats, and guitar strings that don't break easily. "Gozer Goodspeed is a major talent" - MicroMusicReviews.com

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