Get all 17 The Songs of Tom Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of My Lovers and I, Sanity, The Whole World is Telling Me Lies, Spaceship Toga Party, The Dandy at the End of the World, Techno Alien, Rock n Roll Rooster, Help Yourself, and 9 more.
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Matt Love has done a great electronic version of a song from The Techno Alien project (songs about technology, alienation, space travel/colonisation etc). Subsequently we have gone on the record the entire album together.
For this project, I'm so thrilled to have Matt do one of my songs. His band Even As We Speak were a big inspiration to me back in the late 80s when I found a bunch of their singles and EPs in an Adelaide record shop on Rundle Street (name currently escapes me).
I always thought of Even As We Speak as a Sydney/London band but when I moved to Brisbane was amazed to discover Matt had moved back to his original hometown and was doing a low-key gig with Mary Wyer at the Jubille Hotel. I kept contact and have loved doing gigs with them both subsequently (duo and solo).
Lyrics:
Sent as cheap labour out into space
We started to breed and they forced us to stay
The mega-rich have the same DNA
We’re all from Earth only some will remain
CHORUS
Aliens they call us but we came from Earth
We came from Earth we will return
We tried peaceful tactics if humans could learn
Aliens evolved from Planet Earth
Fluid all goes to your torso and head
Muscles reduce, less blood in the legs
3 months in space if you ever get back
It’s a year to recover your bone muscle mass
G-Force Zero brain process impaired
Co-ordination boosted instead
Intelligence wanes, happier breed
Recruiting our athletes to play in their teams
CHORUS
Finally we moved out to Kepler 10C
17 times Earth’s gravity
Shorter but stronger evolving robust
Cognitive process beyond human grasp
Fight amongst themselves, just watching their wars
Humanity’s just a dwindling resource
Let them think they’re retaining the power
The Earth will survive just watch them die out
CHORUS
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This is also from the Techno Alien album. So chuffed to hear Matt Harris' (aka Dredge) Krautrock take on it.
I first met Matt playing gigs in Adelaide in the 90's when he was playing in his band Mobile. We've only really got to know each other well since I moved to Brisbane, ironically.
Now he has contributed to the 2013 recording project You Do It I Can't Be Bothered and played live with Songs of TS in Melbourne and Adelaide. Always such a generous collaborator and inventive musician, Matt has just resurrected another of his old bands, The American Public with longtime collaborator Ben de Hoedt.
Lyrics:
However far I roam you’re with me, in virtual space
If I’m late you know I’m busy, just a message away
Lonely at my table sitting, so many contacts to be tried
These r the days we’re keeping busy, a tribute to you that I find the time
I got the world at my fingertips, keep up the pace
I send a message, let it rip, just in case
I get stuck in deathly silences, face to face minimized
Count on a phone for interruptions, a tribute to you that I find the time
Chorus
I could live forever
Virtual reality daze
Killing time for pleasure
Without measure or trace
Killing time forever
Virtual reality daze
See it lighting up my dashboard, mesmerised
Beeps and colours, message flashes, time to fly
Through the wonder of technology, we’ll be in touch by and by
These are the days we’re keeping busy , a tribute to you that I find the time
Chorus
Bridge
I could live forever in a daze
I could live forever in a daze
I could live forever in a daze
Forever in virtual space
I don’t have to know you’re conscious, I could sense you there
If you programmed your responses, I wouldn’t care
I interact with your vision, keeps you alive
These are the days we’re keeping busy, a tribute to you that I find the time
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Johnny SeaGull has pulled off a heartfelt version of a song about a topic close to his heart. It is one of bunch of songs written as a spin off to the Camp Cowboy Preacher character. We ended up recording this song as part of The Mad Preacher album. The Mad Preacher character is prone to speaking in tongues, frothing at the mouth and falling prey to the devil in its many forms. It is a commentary on the partnership of right-wing religion and politics.
I first met Johnny in the 2016(?) Adelaide Fringe when he had just arrived in Australia and was looking to play some music. We were putting on Rock n Roll Orgy and through Jason Bootle's connections
it had been suggested a few of us might be able to help him find some collaborators. We were probably the first people he got to know in Adelaide and our musical partnership has been incredibly fruitful and feels like it has only just begun.
Lyrics:
Tender warrior Jesus/We need our story fixed
To redeem a world so random/A rock where history’s built
Christ in the middle classes/Each family with a man as head
The Earth it is God’s Kingdom/He will love it to death
CHORUS
As it strikes you down, God’s Justice will be swift
My authority allows, as it strikes you down
Ever since the Depression/FDR’s New Deal
We need Discipline and not Mercy/His Right Hand will redeem
His left hook’s thrown in Judgement/Kennedy went splat
Vietnam, Crack and AIDS/9/11 and Iraq
CHORUS
Bridge
Oh America how I let you down
Look what I created, see the mess I made
Get your ass outta there
Jesus the experiment has/failed
We need another 9/11/Do you get my point?
A full revival of the spirit/ Really rock this joint
History’s horrors are just like God/when he spanks a child
Obedience is a gift from Him/The Holy Spirit will provide
Deny my time to speak/And the right to bear all arms
Judgement will rain down hard/But I am feeling calm
The trumpet sounds alarm/Before the Lord you stand
Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho/This is the Promised Land
CHORUS
Bridge
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I first met Marc Cheeseman at a crazy gig we did at the Junk Bar with a totally one-off version of the Songs of TS.
Some band members were traumatised by certain events that night but Marc loved what he saw and said he'd be keen to collaborate on future projects.
Him joining the band has inspired me to write a set of psychedelic songs which should be recorded and released end of 2021 ish
Lyrics:
Every morning a traffic jam to work
Like so many other liberal intellectual automotons
In a 5 hour mushroom trip
I learnt more about the brain than years of research in psychology
CHORUS
If you wanna use your head
You have to go out of your mind
Take responsibility for your own mind
Or be programmed by the interests of corporate government
They sacked me from my academic post
For giving staff and students psychedelic substances
CHORUS
LSD was illegal I made it
A League of Spiritual Discovery sacrament
The psychological test they gave me
In prison was the very one I had fashioned them
I falsified the questionnaire
To make myself conformist and conventional
So they put me in a low security prison
I escaped the US to French Algeria
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I had a serious issue with shoplifting, especially vintage and collectible vinyl LPs. 15 years ago I managed to ween myself from this shameful and somewhat secretive behaviour.
Papa J aka Jason Bootle got caught in the middle of a very awkward situation as a result of my actions. He gives us his version of my confession/song of shoplifting from a respected and well-loved record shop owner and member of my own music community. It's taken more than 20 years for this story to surface. Hopefully this is part of a healing process...
Jason Bootle is one of my oldest and best-loved musical collaborators. We were in Adelaide band The Moonies in the mid/late 90s. His presence in the band lifted us to a new level of focus and visibility with his stylish bass playing dress sense song writing and visual design talents. Jason now lives in London and we have been separated for over 20 years. But this song has resumed our collaboration. Miss you Jason...
Lyrics:
CDs aren’t in cases, you want one you gotta buy it
Vinyl is too big for stealing, surely no one would try it
Your method, it is simple, you choose a pile then stash it
Buy some $2 records then go back and fill your bag up
The shop is owned by Hector, he was in your favourite band
You saw every gig back then, sometimes their only fan
If you got to talking music, the magic could be gone forever
And make it all the more less likely, he puts 2 and 2 together
You’d be banned from your favourite record shop for stealing
Rupert was a bloke who worked there/sussed out you were Tommy/Smith
You talked about your band The Moonies, still you were oblivious
Next time you were in the shop, he made sure you overheard him
‘Shoplifters can be spotted’ but nothing could deter you
Like when you’re banned from your favourite record shop for stealing
The Moonies brand new bass player, Jason didn’t mean to dob
You thought you were invisible still, got talking in the shop
When you finished catching up, you take your stash and leave
Rupert asked him if he knew you, that you were a thief
You’ll be banned from your favourite record shop for stealing x2
Well, the worst thing was he suspected me all along but he was too/ embarrassed to say
He thought maybe I was sneaking 1 or 2 records/ not 10 or 12 in one go!
And when he bought The Moonies up that was just so/ I knew - he didn’t have to stock all our merchandise
And when he announced, ‘shoplifters can be spotted’/ well, they’d knocked a whole wall out
You know, to get a clear view from one room into the other/like they’d done it all because of me
………… maybe they had
Next thing Jason tells you Hector wants to see you
Maybe he’ll give you a job there, that’ d put a stop to the thieving
He offered you a cigarette, waited for your confession
Like taking money from his purse, when he considered you a friend
Now you’re banned from my favourite record shop for stealing x4
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So excited to reconnect with Jordan Howard after quite a few years. We first met through Anna Harch and we all started playing together in Handbag.
He initially played drums in Handbag but this recording gives him a chance to stretch out and show us how he can conjure the magic using all the other instruments at his disposal.2 days in the desert our senses well deprived
Lyrics:
On Hashish and Mescalin now look me in the eye
Draw the circle round myself and leave you on the edge
Summon Choronzon, dweller of the Abyss
CHORUS
You’ll serve my purpose and my desire
Once you have looked deep into my eyes
I found my shortcut through Magic and Desire
In mastery with the gods unite
Come together as beasts I will take you from behind
At the point of climax, look me in the eye
Kill your own heart, prostitute and serve
Be shameless before all men and creatures of the Earth
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7. |
Jaguar Gods (Dredge)
05:09
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This is a very exciting collaboration for me. Matt Harris has done a very Stereolab style version of the song Jaguar Godz. And check out the Liam Gallagher vocals, ha ha.
The great thing about this project is the way it's keeping us all connected and creative. A further dimension to the collaboration is that the song is inspired by our mutual friend Rich Gohl and the story he wrote in his novel Digital Venous
Lyrics:
No one hates the subs more than me, but the Jaguar Gods took it to extremes
Is that what you call getting real?
Don’t care for history or recognize, the first century of my life (get real)
No one hates the subs more than me
But the Jaguar Gods took it to extremes, is that what you call getting real?
People used to live under blue sky
Eat, drink, have children and die, people used to live under blue sky (get real)
Is that what you call getting real? (get real)
CHORUS
Beyond mere fantasy now at last you’re free
Is that what you call getting real? (get real)
Is that what you call getting real, the Jaguar Gods took it to extremes
No one hates the subs more than me,
When food ran out on the surface, we merged technology in life eternal (get real)
If you’re too poor don’t blame me, Nano Enzyme Therapy, no limit to the virtual sky, get real
The scum all went Subterranean (get real)
Underground for the old ways again, the scum all went Subterranean
Is that what you call getting real? (get real)
CHORUS
No one hates the subs more than me, but the Jaguar Gods took it to extremes
Wanna live forever, then get real
Physically augmented weirdos, not just any ol’ fashionistas (get real)
The Jaguar Gods took it to extremes,
Your mandatory daily Telesync, is that what you call getting real?
Play a game: torture, rape and murder
But Jaguar Gods aren’t into virtual, they’re gonna get real when they hurt ya (get real)
Is that what you call getting real? (get real)
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8. |
I am Judas (Randall Lee)
02:14
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Randall Lee (Ashtray Boy) also contruibutes 2 songs to this collection. Very chuffed about these songs. I've followed Ashtray boy for years now and finally got to do a gig with them a few years back. We've kept in touch and done more gigs/collabs since.
For these songs, his idea was to just look at chords/lyrics but not listen to my demo. For this song, his verse melody is similar to mine (just better) but the chorus is quite different.
Lyrics:
As a love letter you can read this
Or a suicide note
Me and Jesus were the only radicals
Standing up to Rome
‘Can you take the blame for me, can you take it?’
Was the last thing that he asked
Carry out my final command
You’re the only one I can trust
CHORUS
I am Judas, his star pupil
his deepest secrets to keep, Only
I understand Jesus
No one understands, no one understands
(Me)
I handed over Jesus to the Romans
On the orders of Jesus himself
No it was not a betrayal
Just obedience to his request
You’re arrested as a Christian
What are you gonna do?
You can die for your beliefs
That is up to you
CHORUS
He was not resurrected to Heaven
Nor was he the son of God
Jesus was not born of the Virgin
He gave me a wink and a nod
Can you take the blame for me, can you take it?
Was the last thing that he asked
Carry out my final command
You’re the only one I can trust
CHORUS
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David Laczko gives his psychedelic treatment for this song soon to be recorded by the Songs of Tom Smith band (folk/psych incarnation). He brings his usual love of sonics and buzzsaw guitar/effects to this version.
Look out for his debut solo album My Mechanical Frame out now on Bandcamp
Lyrics:
The voices in my head speak the emotions I won’t feel
The fire hydrant was a runaway nun
Tells me of St Sebastian, I will die as a martyr too
Every sinful thought is the pain you can shun
Bridge 1
JFK, assassinate! Over the school intercom
Whispering my name
I know that I’m to blame
And never speak for shame
Verse 2
The voices in my head speak, I am mute instead
Talk to me I stare straight ahead
They start calling me zombie, about me talk all the time
Make me feel real I don’t mind
Bridge 2
With my shades on protecting me, I shield you in your innocence
I burn my forehead red
Putting out cigarettes
The Devil marks an X
Middle 8
The trauma I want to acknowledge
I will no longer pretend
Reclaim the voices and see them
Through the healing lens
Verse 3
The voices in my head speak the emotions I won’t feel
A voice told me to build the human being
Hospital staff disapprove but it speaks for me when I’m mute
I sculpt the death and set the martyr free
Bridge 2
Middle 8
Verse 1
The voices in my head speak…..
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10. |
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Franco Parella's beautiful version of Be My Guest, recorded in his cellar in the Adelaide Hills.
Franco is currently working on recording some of the songs I think from his massively successful Adeliade Fringe Show Giri. He took some time out to record this great version of a song that has a lot of personal significance for me. i love his version which has a touch of the Rodriguez/Jose Feliciano about it.
It's a song I wrote about the privilege of hearing people's stories and working with them to turn them into songs, which is something i get to do a lot of.
The twist is the story in this song is my own. So its a song about myself that I wrote about writing songs for other people performed by someone else again! It contains memories of early adulthood in Adelaide and going back to childhood haunts looking for clues in places to find they have all but evaporated.
it's a bit like a weather cycle. some of the things you thought were important evaporate only to reappear when you least expect it. You can hear the rain in the background of Franco's version bringing me back full circle to Adelaide and the people that nurtured, shaped me and help me grow. Thank you Franco for re-affirming my bond and all of the connections we share.
Lyrics:
In a house with red roses I never thought to pick for you
I cannot recall the view from a single one of those rooms
U really wanna feel ur sure, moment you walk through the door
When we moved the furniture in, it’s beginning and it’s ended
So we meet just you and I, I feel like I’m stealing time
Doors n floors n the creak of doubt, in the garden u hear me out
CHORUS
Be my guest, come sit down
Take these words, Throw them round
The rent was cheap, street lights shone in the flat above the charity shop
I love a hum, high street racket, who wants curtains when u got no brackets
If the draught blew under the door, the bar heater never kept you warm
Whats the smell at the bottom of the stairs, did a tom-cat spray scent down there?
Tried too hard wanted it too much, so I kept you from each other
I stand before you as I am now, I’d give it all back if you’d allow it
CH
Bridge
Make some space, hear these thoughts
Give them meaning and a voice
Make some space, hear these thoughts
Give them meaning and a voice
I come home to my childhood haunts, never knowing what I wanted
Shadows blend, path grows dimmer, c the light thro stained glass window
M’ childhood self ran right past me, by the look on his face he was laughing
I don’t know if I got the joke, wherever he was heading I couldn’t go
When it stops being all about me, a space and freedom I bequeath
I love to see you come together, I know you’ll accept my blessing
CH
Bridge
Be my guest…
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I really love this ambient/noise version of Let the Rain Come Down with the vocals buried deep in the mix.
I first met Carla Bruce-Lee (Ms Starla) when Songs of TS played with Ashtray Boy at a pizza bar in Brunswick (or the vicinity). We've played at 2 or 3 Adelaide Fringe Rock n Roll Orgies and Melbourne gigs together in the meantime and always love to see Carla as her alter ego Cougar Vox. She is a great creative soul and a generous community minded believer in the performing arts.
Lyrics:
Dark skies are overhead and the waft of the wind’s enchanted
Like a tropical dusk after the clear air of the day
Above the din no need to speak as a reprieve is granted
No one else on the balcony, there’s nothing at all to say
CHORUS
Let the rain come down, let the sky open up
Water is rushing down the drain
It’s Heaven and Hell and the gutters will swell
Everything will soon be washed away
Taking moments in, before their memories I’m holding
Clear skies, warm dry days, children in the distance playing
Like a mirror to our faults, too consciously we mold them
I went to hold a little bit back, for myself to save
CHORUS
Pushbikes with flat tyres and a treehouse falling down
No children are here now, when the broken can’t be mended
Like a mirror to our faults, the silence won’t be stalled now
You can take the time for the tears you never shed
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Check out this suitably sombre version by David Laczko. it really suits the song.
I first met David when he joined Community Project Whoopee-Do Crew. Since then we have collaborated on The New Middle Class and many Songs of Tom Smith projects.
Lyrics:
Woman do you idolize your father like the model of a perfect man
You have found it impossible to please
Happily I stand in his place
Cos a woman like you could love a bastard like me
You have found it impossible to please
Woman you want to bring him back but I cannot right his wrongs
He is gone and there’s only you and me
I’m not gonna stand in the way
Cos a woman like you could love a bastard like me
He is gone and there’s only you and me
CH
For I am known here/don’t set me in steel
I am my own man/don’t set me in steel
Woman do idolize your father and I cannot right his wrongs
I am not the bastard that you think
Don’t have to stand in his place
Cos a woman like you could love a bastard like me
I am not the bastard that you think
CH…..
Cos a woman like you could love a bastard like me
I am not the bastard that you think
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This is Randall's second song for the project: for this one he also never heard my version and went one step further and gave up on my chords and just made up his own!
Its about the great plague and he sounds like the Cowboy at the End of the World!
Lyrics:
Neither beast nor bird would touch the sheep 5000 lay there rotting
No one tended livestock or fields, cattle wandered through the crops
The King commanded routine wages but the Lords had to pay us triple
Who cares about following the law when there’s no one to administer it?
CHORUS
Between God and me and the cobblestones
After all the plague wiped out
If I’m the only one, I’m the chosen one
Take his word against mine now
We had no money to bribe marauders when they threatened to infect us
My father ate lunch with his family; by dinner time he joined the ancestors
The Pope gave power to priests to absolve every sin except debt
Who cares about paying money back when you know you’ve reached the end?
CHORUS
Bridge
The last man stands! x 2
I struggle to carry the corpse through the village; I’m the only one left alive
I couldn’t bear the cemetery stench; left the body on top of the pile
Lawyers refused to make wills for the sick for fear of infection
Who cares about the family legacy when there’s no one to inherit?
Travelled town to town, white robes, red cross for the sins that cause the plague
Singing and sobbing and scourging each other, in your town square twice a day
The Pope tolerated our penitence until it threatened his power
Who cares about the authority of God; his spokesman inspires such doubt?
CHORUS
Bridge x 4
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The Songs of Tom Smith Brisbane, Australia
The Songs of Tom Smith is a recording and performance project created by Tom in 2012. It has a large pool of musicians across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
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