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No True Magic

by a Jigsaw

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1.
I dreamt the night would let me be awhile with the sweet gust of earth from the mouth of the rain but the end was creeping ‘round my door I welcomed him in and asked for more Have you come to take my ghost? Have you come to wake my memories of hope? Would you forgive that howling host? Oh you heard me. Would you believe the lies he told? And while I have read of darker gods this was the one who’d fool the odds How innocent the sleep in the darkness of my mother And how wicked I had turned when the end came for me But I know in my veins, that this road was meant for me And though he whispered no lies, I knew I would lose everyone Oh I dreamed I would leave before they would rise, rise with the thunder But there are no tricks left to play and no miracles left to believe And while I have read of darker gods this was the one who’d fool the odds Now there’s a blood thirst in my eye, with the will to live beyond my death So why would I promise you my ghost? Oh you heard me How could you believe the lies he told? And while the end was creeping ‘round my door I welcomed him in and asked for more But there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic in here Oh there is no true magic for me
2.
I stopped for a moment on the threshold of your house Over your bed, you were counting up your fears It’s a long way up, down to where I stand In turn my lips began whispering You will pay with a wound, for the wound that you forgot Over and over again All your dreams will fade, save for the one with the black jewelled moon I lie awake with the necklace of your hands, woven tight with promises unkept. I heard the warning and I’ll take the blame Oh tender blood, you broken girl, where have you gone? Up and down by the brook, he’ll take you home All your dreams will fade, save for the one over there, outside in the meadow, where flowers wither in the springtime And I’m free at last from this senseless speech If you run to the brook from where the moonlight springs Make your peace, for I will wait you there Come hither child, you’ll be long gone Oh tender blood, you broken girl, where have you gone? Up and down by the brook, he’ll take you home Oh tender blood, you broken girl, where have you gone? Up and down by the brook, you’ll go alone All your dreams did fade, save for the one with the black jewelled moon
3.
All things under the moon, they have my memories, Of how I wolfed my dreams too soon. They belonged to another but I will dance with you again You’re afraid of going back to god, with those empty hands But a flash of bright light came to wake me from my death oh I will dance with you again so we became the knives, my dear love, that would cut those lonely hearts How angels spoke of us… you’d be ashamed You were once my true brother – Well some things run in the blood. Oh someone did me in, and it’s your fault, not of another But I will dance with you again How did you carry on, I wonder? How could you walk away from my grave You saved your song for the boatman, of how Good had no brother So now I turn to you again We used to dance into the night my dear, And how we danced into the night, I guess we’ll never know while you renounced the dark with my death, I embraced your empty light and the days turned to dust without my prize. So we became the knives, my dear love, that would cut those lonely hearts How angels spoke of us, you’d be ashamed that you would dance with me again that you would dance with me again Oh you will dance with me again
4.
I’m already in my grave, you’d better cool down I’m standing in the shadows, I can’t move you around Somebody I’m told, will follow me down Your days are numbered from one to seven But you’d better count them from seven to one Your unclean lips will keep you undone Somebody is calling you from the midnight rain “How is your love affair with the people down below? I will break you in a matter of hours from dusk ‘till dawn” Ah that’s just something you heard, that’s an old magician’s tale Of how everything I made was covered with a golden veil But that’s the thing about tales, they breed in the wind Your days are numbered from one to seven But you’d better count them from seven to one Your unclean lips will keep you undone Somebody is calling you from the midnight rain “How is your love affair with the people down bellow I will break you in a matter of hours from dusk ‘till dawn” Somebody is calling you from the midnight rain How is your love affair with the people down below? If I’m the one with words, then allow me to begin Greater light, Lesser light, is there nothing more to behold? I don’t care for animals nor your pretty road show So that’s the thing about tales, they breed in the wind Your days are numbered from one to seven But you’d better count them from seven to one Your unclean lips will keep you undone Somebody is calling you from the midnight rain “How is your love affair with the people down below? Well I’m not one to brag… Somebody is calling you from the midnight rain “How is your love affair with the people down below? If I’m the one with words, then I bid thee farewell
5.
Stranded against the crowd, with all eyes vacant as the wind Lo, what a strange hour for thieves So I took the first step His eyes were a flame of fire, his voice the sound of many waters “I’m the first and the last. And I hold the keys of your door” But I have the need of nothing So I’ll take them fine bullets to my grave I’ll take them fine bullets If all I have done is cruel Then all I could say would break you asunder And I took another step With those bullets of longing for my most splendid guilt, I’ll have their sweet taste of honey and the bitter aftermath So I took the last step I have earned my rope, though it slithers off my fingers Lo, what a strange hour for thieves But I have the need of nothing So I’ll take them fine bullets to my grave I’ll take them fine bullets If all I have done is cruel If all you have said is true Then after you’re done Oh I will move, ‘till I stop Underneath the gallows-tree where silence is king Since I have the need of nothing I’ll take them fine bullets to my grave I’ll take them fine bullets to my grave
6.
Smokes and Mirrors; a deck of cards to pass the time Yes, that was your beating heart inside the box She clawed with all might against the walls, ‘till she remembered the thrusting knives. Thereafter she caved back into the black People go from bad to worse When truth quickens at the sight why would you come here to collect on the greatest trick of all With cloaks and daggers; some woofle dust to fool the eye I whispered “to the left, that’s where it all ends” I drew the old moon down to your lap, if you believe my magic spell But you keep on dancing the tune your mouth sang People go from bad to worse When truth quickens at the sight why would you come here to collect on the greatest trick of all The truth is closer than before, and I know my time is nigh, but I made sure my sins were put to bed So I drove those knives up to the hilt. She chose the first to move aside and I took the last one to be my bride People go from bad to worse When truth quickens at the sight why would you come here to collect on what you gave The greatest trick of all was in your mind before I spoke. It was my beating heart inside the box
7.
Thy beautiful hymn has flown deep into my veins With a voice clear as rain, you poured the poison to quench my need of you And with time you made me yield So I became a fearing man Blindness came to me as a dream. So did silence, save for your word You told me silence was golden, but it’s a cold stone that brought me to my knees Now your tides of summer, they are gone And with them my trust in you Your command is not of my concern Though I trembled in the shadows of death Was my faith not enough for you? Was my pain not worthy of you? It was enough. It was enough All the lies are born, oh all the lies are woven with the truth. from the truth Thy woeful hymn has drowned with a whimper, with a mewl This revelation woke me up like a thunder, it was loud enough to make me bleed So I rose to the mountain to see the word: I would bring it down to his knees Now your tides of winter, they have come And with them, your revenge on me Your command is not of my concern Though I trembled in the shadows of death Was my faith not enough for you? Was my pain not worthy of you? Your command is not of my concern Though I trembled in the shadows of death Was my faith not enough for you? Was my pain not worthy of you? It was enough. It was enough, It was enough. I was enough
8.
I’m waiting outside the gates of heaven I’ve been on your trail since the last we spoke Oh brother, heaven is just a word I’m counting the days of trust lost with fate And since you’ve been praying outside the wrong gate Let me tell you brother heaven is just a word Oh you’ve been looming by the gates of hell and it’s not my kind to refuse a wretched soul Oh brother hell is not a word I’m taking my time to take you to dryland And isn’t that a sweet promise, to hang you where you stand? Oh brother, hell is not a word oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray “Death, be my friend” but you’d better run, run My hands are on fire, from crawling down below, So I’m going up to heaven to bring you down home And when the angels find I’m coming, oh brother they’d better run, run oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray “Death, be my friend” I’m on my knees, begging you please, please I’ve been up to heaven to seek the greater god But brother, heaven was just a word Now I raise my cup to the next god in line, but I’m doomed to be myself for evermore Oh brother, what if death is just a thought? Would that move you? Move you? If you see him coming, you’d better run, run Just keep on waiting by the gates of hell and it’s not my kind to refuse a wretched soul Oh brother this hell is not for show My hands are on fire, from crawling down below, I would go up to heaven just to bring you down home Oh brother, death is not a thought oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray oh when the devil comes down, you’ll be on your knees and pray “Death, oh Death be my friend”
9.
On the third day of my lord, There came about the stone cold hearts of men “draw out now” out with the blood and come forth the good wine I came to you as a beggar, when the night fell down my house Take my word, and leave this ground – your faith will suffice I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness By the grace of god you’ll see greater things before this curtain Make way, make straight the way of the lord I spent my life withering by the lake, Praying for the season of the angel my body gave out - still I wait; the flood won’t answer your prayer They all came out and sat in wonder Over the green grass up on the hill The day was come, he was a king shying from the crown I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness By the grace of god you’ll see greater things before this curtain Make way, make straight the way of the lord He found them toiling in the waves, Lost with fear and weary eyes Now you’re adrift hoping my hands will carry you back ‘twas not the sin of the mother ‘twas not the sin of the father That made the light your foe. Oh believe, darkness has an end Rise up my little girl Come forth my dear friend Time has come to reclaim my crown I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness By the grace of god you’ll see greater things before the curtain falls down Make way, make straight the way of the lord Make way, make straight the way of the lord
10.
Under the trees, where I buried my eyes there was gold There it was: your gold mine Strange though it may seem, I thought it was a dream until you spoke What are you doing my friend, in my coal mine? That’s not my fault, your old dream has been dreamt out Oh you fooled me, you fooled me somehow Your words fell on deaf ears. Your words fell on deaf ears I carried on into your gold mine And I will fool you, I will fool you somehow Underneath the pale light I’ll carry my hands Underneath the broken light I’ll bury your name I’ll bring you roses, bring them roses when I’m done I wondered if you knew the pain with which I wove the night It was all for you So over the time, secluded by my crime, you preyed on me While you were burrowing in my gold mine Oh you fooled me, you fooled me somehow I went down to the mine, I went down to the mine To find redemption and the hope to carry on Oh I’ll fool you I will fool you somehow Underneath the pale light I’ll carry my hands Underneath the broken light I’ll bury your name I’ll bring you roses, bring them roses I saw your arms around the trees, like words with lies around me I saw your words tearing by the seams, and they broke their arms around me They fell down, betrayed, by my side
11.
It was a cold heart break that caught up with me. I was under the spell that as death grew near I could pretend it was hardly my prayer There’s a lonesome cry that parts with my mouth, when I confess That all I did was tending my shame for closing my hands Around my last word Around my last word I’ll confide in the roots down here: Entwined with my hope, my heart was a well Where I lost myself, where I lost myself, when I swam to the bottom Right as rain, I am the colour of nothing, I’m at the right of no one. So I will lose myself, oh I will lose myself for the hand on my shoulder You have my last word You have my last word When it’s over and done, you’ll be second to no one Right as Rain, I’m the colour of nothing

about

CONCEPT:
"No True Magic", is a work about the suspension of mortality. Maybe we will believe until the end in the promise of miracles - or the supreme miracle, that one of immortality. In magic, when the process of the trick is finally revealed, it ceases to be magic and turns into illusionism. In 1817, the poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined the term "willing suspension of disbelief" – in literature, this is what allows the reader to his suspension of judgement regarding the implausibility of a particular narrative. This album is about our suspension of judgement regarding the inevitability of death, thus exploring the belief in the existence of this so called “real magic” and the acceptance of the terms of our mortality.

credits

released October 24, 2014

There is a feminine side to this Album: the North-American Carla Torgerson (The Walkabouts, Tindersticks) that joins João Rui in the first single “Black Jewelled Moon”.
No TRUE MAGIC was recorded in Coimbra at the “Blue House Studio” by a Jigsaw and João P. Miranda and it was mixed and mastered by João P. Miranda at the Attack-Release Studio in Portalegre. Besides playing the more than 20 instruments that live in this album, Jorri and João Rui also took the role of its production. Alongside Carla Torgeson, a Jigsaw also had the precious help of Guilherme Pimenta in drums and percussions, Miguel Gelpi, Pedro Serra e Gito Lima on double bass, Susana Ribeiro on the violin and Glockenspiel, Maria Côrte on the celt harp, violin e viola, Lauren Rossi on French Horn and Hugo Fernandes on the cello.
The design of NO TRUE MAGIC is signed by Gito Lima and in charge of the photography work was Miguel Duarte, Paula Lourenço and Sofia Silva.

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a Jigsaw Coimbra, Portugal

In 2012 the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles wrote that a Jigsaw was a band to follow. In 2014, the specialized magazine that puts a Jigsaw together with names such as as Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, returns to warn their readers to not let this Portuguese duo out of their sight. 3 after the debut of their third album, Jorri and João Rui reveal their fourth studio Album “NO TRUE MAGIC”. ... more

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