1. |
Coughing
02:16
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it breaks my heart to hear you coughing. it breaks my heart to see you cry. it breaks my heart to hear you coughing in the middle of the night. the beeping’s getting louder. there’s a hole in your insides. it breaks my heart to hear you coughing in the middle of the night.
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2. |
Wires
04:04
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name recognition! it will all be okay. do they really believe in anything? a little bit of sugar helps it go down a touch. get to feeling better, but never too much!
feedback loop, you know it’s a secret, but it’s out in the open air. you can’t always see it, but you always know that it’s there. go! turn the corner, and you’ll know it’s better with the wires exposed.
“all out of lifeboats,” they sigh as they say, “thoughts, prayers, and wishes, if you’ll just go away!” i saw them laughing, and you saw it, too. the ship might be sinking, “but at least,” they say, “it moves.”
feedback loop, it’s all a secret, but it’s out in the open air. you can’t always see it, but you always know that it’s there. go! it can be upsetting, i know, but it’s better with the wires exposed.
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3. |
Riverbank
05:48
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4. |
Mask from a Magazine
05:04
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i wish that i could turn myself off sometimes. i wish that i could burn myself down sometimes.
i want to give you space you don’t want, a break from my own face, but you say that’s no good. i want to vanish for a minute. there is no other way to spin it. just why?
i’ll pay to talk about the things that haunt me for my sake, and yours, and future parties’.
i want to find a way to fix this, or at least keep it just my business, but you say that there’s no reason i should hide out, and there’s no threshold to the amount you’ll listen in.
you say you are not going anywhere. my mind plays these tricks on me, and you help to bury them. it’s the same thing. it’s the same thing every time.
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5. |
Radio Kisses
04:04
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radio kisses upon my brow tell me you love me, and show me how. you hung my drawing upon your wall.
on tuesday, we’ll wake up. you’ll put on your makeup. it’s only just a day or two till i come back around to touch your face.
radio kisses are smoky skies on tragic evenings for satellites.
on thursday, i’ll find you. the world might unwind you. it’s only just a day or two till i come over to sing you to sleep.
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6. |
Tilt
05:35
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we can see in every direction, ninety-three floors up, and looking down. buying drinks and sitting at small tables, i’m still surprised at where we exist now.
all of the words you have read and passed onto me play back with echoes of the clinking of the ice in my tea.
we took a boat across town on the river, sort of sad to be let off so soon. it’s a perfect outing for a birthday, white city on a wednesday afternoon.
no matter where you might go, i’ll be, too. a new place, or one known by just us two, i will find you.
here, i kiss you, misted by a fountain while cyclists roll by with their bells untuned. twenty-six and ready for all futures, white city on a wednesday afternoon.
i will find you.
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7. |
Saint Cargo
06:10
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i only want to see you day and night, and hold you, baby. and if i need a reason why: given a moment, it won’t subside.
i’ve only got the time for you.
i don’t really want to drive for two straight weeks away from your direction. and i’ll see you in every light, commanding high over every intersection.
i’ve only got the time for you.
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8. |
The Glow
06:15
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good’s not good as it was anymore, your jawbone pulled out and laid on the floor. the pay rate is high. it meets all your needs. at night, you walk out and light up the streets.
the dust, it gets all over your skin. it won’t come off, so you wash it again. these days, you’re tired of losing friends you don’t know, and you’re tired of the glow.
the grit in your teeth, the taste of the paint—how lucky you’d be if those were the worst things! the leak of the wounds, the holes in your face—even you don’t recognize yourself much these days.
you don’t look like you in old photographs taken only months or weeks in the past. you hate the way you’re changing fast, and you know that you really hate the glow.
shine for a moment. shine for a day. shine for the last time in your favorite way. shine for an evening, in town, on a date. shine on your deathbed. light up the place. shine for your lover. shine for your friends. shine till the morning when the evening ends. shine for the thrill of it and for your own sake, for your bones that are breaking and for ruined x-rays.
does anyone think there’s a point anymore? you’ve won all the games through the darkroom doors. oh, where is the glory? and the effort or war? you don’t know, but you’re dying from the glow.
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Ben Ricketts Memphis, Tennessee
musician. songwriter. visual artist.
another memphis noisemaker.
Digital releases on this page are organized from newest to oldest.
Ben Ricketts recommends:
Becoming Bastian Salazar
by Drew Danburry
Drew was one of my first major influences, and I'm happy to have collaborated and toured with him. This is one of his many diverse and awesome projects.
go to album
My favorite band in Mississippi released their debut album, and it rules.
go to album
I recently found this album while floating around on Bandcamp Discover, and it's the perfect mix of great songwriting and eerie production.
go to albumIf you like Ben Ricketts, you may also like:
Rockets Bells and Poetry
by The Toy Trucks
supported by 5 fans who also own “Songs for Ruined X-Rays”
Memphis 100💯 pure original rock and roll! Love every track ❤️
go to album
Catholic School
by Catholic School
supported by 4 fans who also own “Songs for Ruined X-Rays”
Excellent debut of this wonderful band. I've been listening to it on loop since it was released. The only pity is that the cassette was released by the label Cercle Social Records, run by a person who is a rip-off and rude. I bought the cassette and they never sent it to me.
go to album
Kingdom Starlight Bliss
by PERHAPSY
Perhapsy’s latest—which is also available on translucent cyan vinyl—draws from shoegaze & dreampop, and tells a wrenching true story.
go to album
