Get all 11 Penelope Swales releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Captains of Industry, Legacy: Two Decades of Topical Writing, Skin: Deep, Archive Vol. 2: Songs from the Borderline 1989-1992, Monkey Comfort, 'Archive': Demos, Out-takes and One-offs 1995-2000, Justifying your Longings to the Doctor, Homemade Wine, and 3 more.
1. |
Captains of Industry
04:25
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Captains of Industry
©2023 Penelope Swales
Ohhh...
Captains of Industry
I'm tending my silverbeet
Aware of a shift in the world
Not just down here with the roots and the hyphae
But up in your capital halls
I'm not good at reading the financial pages
But I know the true news of the world is there laid
And even my layperson's ears hear
What some of you are saying
Captains of Industry
Some of begin to see
That without our beautiful world
There's be no more profits
That's the bottom line
No future for the empires you lovingly build
A dirt farmer, I watch
The clash of the gods
Between those who would change it
And those who would change us
Between the lords of extraction
And the long-sighted faction
Not so different here on the ground
Ohhh...
Captains of Industry
How clear it does seem to me
That you have been running the world
All our pathetic attempts at democracy
Can only be said to have failed
While Broadbent and Barnaby ignore our plight
The head of the IMF can't sleep at night
And Scomo goes to Glasgow
With the same tired lies
That we hear at home
Here in the bushfire zone
Ohhh...
Captains of Industry
An anomaly it seems to me,
That we should be relying on you
If our leaders won't lead us
Or follow our lead
Can your business plans punch a way though?
While Adani and Palmer want business as usual
Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes make a bid for AGL
Gina Rinehart feeds her pets
While Larry Fink tells the rest
To save the world, for Capital!
While the Dons of Disinformation
In league with the Proud Boys of Persuasion
While the Sovereigns of Sophistry
Pay the Doyennes of Data
For the key biases of the Nation
While the cliches are hitting the hustings
The big end of town does the costings
Some place a bet each way
While others try to save the day
And we don't know who we can trust in
And still our leaders prevaricate
Stuck in the pockets of their mining mates
Telling us we can't put food on our plates
If we save the world we're enmeshed in
Oh, Captains of Industry
Who'll be the ones to protect me?
Oh, Captains of Industry
Who'll be the ones to protect me?
Ohhh...
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2. |
Always Will Be
06:00
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Always Will Be
©2023 Penelope Swales
Verily, I know myself to be
One of the luckiest people ever born
I step out every day into the fog and rain
into the sparkling calm, into the storm
I hear the birds, I smell the wind
I touch the soil, I feel the sun
I kiss the ground, I sense the seasons turn
And deep in my heart, my heart, I know
Deep in my heart my heart, I know
And our legal system tells me - this is mine
All unencumbered, no one can take it from me
The Titles Office tells me this is Freehold
No bank, no government, no mortgagee
But my good fortune springs from someone else's suffering
My franchise from their dispossession
And deep in my heart, my heart I know
Deep in my heart, my heart I know
That this always was, and it always will be
It always, always was
Yes, it always was and it always will be
It always, always was
And who’s going to listen, who’s going to listen now?
Who’s going to listen, who’s going to listen now?
And I’m aware, not 30k’s from here
This land’s people live in hardship and despair
I know they struggle, and I know they fight
And now they know 60% of us don’t care
Perhaps some harboured hatred, or simply couldn’t see the need
Have never seen first-hand the inequality
Or Perhaps let the ideal get in the way of the achievable
Or embraced some sinister conspiracy
But deep in their hearts, their hearts they know
Deep in their hearts, their hearts, they know
That it always was, and it always will be
And it always always was
Yes, it always was, and it always will be
Yes it always always was
And who’s going to listen, who’s going to listen now?
Who’s going to listen, who’s going to listen now?
And In the end perhaps it’s not what you believe
But why you choose to believe it that belies
There’s those out there who know the formula
Know your weaknesses, whisper your favourite lies
Whether it’s guilt or fear or outrage,
Mistrust, ignorance or ego
They know how to work your biases
Until your vote is harvested, yes, just like your data is
While you're turning in your echo chamber sleep
How do we come back from this, how do we move forward? How
can we hope to heal the past when the present is so flawed? I thought
we had so much to gain, so little to lose
But in the aftermath I see their pain and grief at what so many choose
Now we are stuck in this discomfort til we find a way to move
'Cause deep in our hearts, our hearts we know
Deep in your heart, your heart you know
That it always was, and it always will be
And it always always was
Yes, it always was, and it always will be
Yes it always always was
Aboriginal land
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3. |
Passionflower
05:33
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Passionflower
©Penelope Swales
Just once more before Summer turns to Autumn
I long to drink deep again the heady scent,
The belladonna sweetness, the daytura reek
Of the Passionflower
Passionflower, bloom in my heart once more
Save me from myself, my stupid longings
Like an addiction, you simplify it all
Though I know you to be a nightshade that bears no edible fruit
I long to feel your roots
Sink deep into my heart
Even though I know the pain when they're ripped loose
Will tear me apart
Passion is a weed, a bramble
Like cleavers, blackberry, burrvine, lantana
Like wandering trad, it makes my poor old dog itch
To see me in its throes
But Just once more before Summer turns to Autumn
I long to drink deep again the heady scent,
The belladonna sweetness, the daytura reek
The long, pale, sickly flower
That makes my dream seem real
Your vine runs everywhere, Passionflower
Binding and smothering, Passionflower
The rootstock defeats the graft and runs amok
You threaten to tear down my old grey house, Passionflower
But I know you have a limited life
So go ahead, choke everything and then yourself
Leaving only the plain, healing plants
Dock and nettle protect the damaged soil
Blackwood feathered seedlings
Dreaming of a canopy
Where I will hide my head
Nostalgia is a poison, treacherous memory
I drift in dreams recalling with wistful fondness
The loves that hurt me most
Recalling the glorious night of passion but not the gritty dawn
The sweat but not the stain
The feast but not the bill
If lust for life is really just a lust for love
Of a love of lust
Or a love of something more dangerous than lust
Because lust, after all
Can be satisfied
But Just once more before Summer turns to Autumn
I long to drink deep again the heady scent,
The belladonna sweetness...
I find in this my fifty-somethingth year
hat I'm frustrated in my explorations
By the lack of fellow adventurers
Bold enough to cover uncharted terrain
While my contemporaries are settling down
With their fields and their farms
I long to rush into the arms
Of the dragons drawn on the white portions of the map
But even in these unsounded oceans
I would always find a way back home to you
No shipwreck could ever be so great
As to stop me lashing a raft together
And sailing back home to you
But Just once more before Summer turns to Autumn
I long to drink deep again the heady scent,
The belladonna sweetness..
Passion is a virus, I've heard it said
That no one would have fallen in love
If they hadn't read about it first
Who's idea is this anyway?
It's not a good basis for family
It's not conducive to stability
It's certainly not what you'd call sanity
It seems to breed more misery than happiness
Yet still we crave it
We here in the West
That have nothing better to do
But to beat our breasts
And sigh, and sigh, and sigh
For the heady scent
Of the Passionflower
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4. |
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Cambridge Analytica
© 2018 Penelope Swales
Can’t you see you’re being played for fools?
Can’t you see you’re being used?
By those grey, ambitious men who seek to redefine the rules
Those who encourage you to feel so bruised.
They will follow you and lead you
They will court you, dog-whistle you and feed you
But only while they need you
Can’t you smell danger in the air?
It’s not what they’re telling you
Telling you beware the stranger that compassion isn’t fair
Look beyond the line they’re selling you
They will stroke your anger
They will stoke your panic to invoke their own agenda
But only while they need you
These are the days
When Lord Commander Marmalade
Rides to glory on ignorance and fear
And Dutton’s super-ministry
Scares the bejesus out of me
Can you not see a pattern here?
Attempting to be credible, I’ve resisted melodrama
Not wanting to weaken my own arguments
But just a little lately, yeah
I’m really starting to wonder
If the logical trajectory
Of where my country’s taking me
Isn’t more terrifying than the past
Because this is the age
Where Lord Commander Marmalade
Rides to glory on ignorance and fear
And Dutton’s super-ministry
Scares the bejesus out of me
Can you not see a pattern here?
And they’ll tell you you’re the ones that are suffering
They’ll tell you your values are being undermined
They’ll tell you anything they need to
To get that marginal seat over the line
They’ll lay it out so nice and easy
Tasty soundbites there on 2GB
Manipulative memes on social media
Ricochet around your echo chamber
They will follow you an lead you
Fire your nationalism, congratulate and yes-indeed you
Analyse the data, anticipate and read you
But only while they need you
Only while they still need you
Only 'til they no longer need to.
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5. |
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Redemption
©Penelope Swales
What do I need more than anything else?
Redemption. redemption
I so crave the chance to prove myself
To the ones who love me most
Redemption
Believe me, I'm a true unbeliever
Redemption is no simple matter
No one can say to me: Just say your rosary
And Big Daddy will grant you Redemption
Redemption, redemption
Where there's love, there's pain
Always there, somewhere for someone
Someone must pay the piper
If not now, then later
To play the Jiggy Reel of redemption
They say love's the new secular religion
Redemption in a lover's arms
Fall from grace with one deity
Soon find another to believe in
To believe your gospel - it's a lot to ask
Of a mere human
So does that make me a sinner or a preacher?
Redemption is no simple matter
One only has to read the headlines to know
What goes on beneath the robes
You can't tell me my crimes
Are comparable to those
No, you're an adult
If you wanna join the dancers
You pays your money and you takes your chances
And if your heart gets broken or maybe just sprained
Well, there's always blame
Someone right there to blame
And that'll be me, then.
Oh, I'm always to goddam reliable
Always ready to take the blame for any hint of trouble
Perhaps I feel if I believe
That the problem lies with me,
Then I can fix it, I can attain
Redemption
Redemption, redemption
Where there's love, there's pain
Always there, somewhere for someone
Someone must pay the piper
If not now, then later
To play the Jiggy Reel of redemption
Redemption, redemption
Where there's love, there's pain
Always there, somewhere for someone---
Must pay the piper
If not now, then later
To play the Jiggy Reel of redemption
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6. |
Getting Back On
05:46
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Getting Back On
© Penelope Swales
There comes a time
And maybe that time is always now
Where you have to follow your own heart and your own path
And just stop worrying ‘bout how
It’s gonna look to the people ‘round
Coz if you know
Then you know what you need to do
It doesn’t matter two cents if it doesn’t make sense
To the majority of the people around you
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
Like anyone else I have my fears
And it’s like anyone else I tumble off
But I’m getting back on
There is a point
Where most people, even brave ones, will turn back
And anyone you meet out past that point deserves your respect
For just being on the track
There’s a frontier
That you won’t find on any chart
No the dragons drawn there writhe and spawn
In the domestic cartographers nervous heart
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
Like anyone else I have my fears
And it’s like anyone else I tumble off
But I’m getting back on
Coz there is a place
Beyond the badlands and the wilderness of doubt
A high point where you look back on your journey
Shake your head and wonder how
You made it through
The point is, you made it through
And stand or fall or win or lose
There’s none that can take that away from you
And if you think I’m intrepid
Well, I can only say that I do my best
I’ve had my failures, I’ve had successes
I’ve hurled my curses, but I’ve been blessed
In the end if you want adventure
You take the risk and accept the cost
Coz if you’re gonna head into unknown territory
You might get found, or you might be lost
But you’re taking the chance
You’re taking the chance
Coz when you’re lying there on your deathbed
Well this is the question
That’s waiting for you
Do you regret more
The things you did, or
The things that you didn’t do?
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it so easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
And anyone else might think I’m delirious
And anyone else might think I’m wrong
But I’m getting back on
I’m getting back on
La-da-da……
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7. |
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The Ides of March in Christchurch
© Penelope Swales/Matiu Te Huki
The first-person shooter
switched on his head-cam
sent his manifesto out
to all his mates on 8Chan
Showed off his graffiti
Gave his running commentary
Set off on his fantasy
His real-life Call of Duty
Seventeen minutes of live-streamed horror
1.4 million shares in an hour
Pumped on the airways by Fox and Seven
Despite the pleas of a traumatised nation
The twisted boys in the darkweb cheer
Change their profile pics to his grim leer
They think he's a hero for doing it for real
how the hell did we get here?
The Ides of March in Christchurch
Tell me that didn't look familiar
The Ides of March in Christchurch
That gamers-eye view of real-time terror.
And all our Conservative politicians
Who've been gaily exploiting fear and division
Are suddenly singing from the same hymn-book of tolerance
Change your tune by all means
It's long overdue
But spare me the hypocrisy
Don't pretend you weren't part of what enabled this
The Ides of March in Christchurch
I wish I had an egg for every cynical head in that House
The Ides of March in Christchurch
Oh, Egg-boy, you should grow up
So I can vote for you!
Ohhh – Scomo
Your tilt at statesmanship don't fly
Not after all those years
Of fearmongering about refugees
You want to see what leadership is
Take a look across the ditch
See the pain on Jacinda's face
See her take that widow in her embrace
The Ides of March in Christchurch
But see you here
The wave of love that washes Aotearoa clean
It's no soft target Christchurch
When hate walked through that open door
It only made people love each other more
That strong woman, she rose to the occasion
Put on a headscarf and took that widow in her embrace
Those young men, they danced the Haka
To tell their countrymen and women
You are welcome in this place.
Bikie gangs did security for Friday prayers
“As long as needed” – just to help them feel safe
Piles of flowers in the streets
Tears flowing down every face
Singing outside every mosque
Regardless of faith or race
Now, would you see that in Australia?
(spoken) Now would you?
Or would we see other things?
Let's hope we never find out
Now see you here (te aroha)
Now see you here (te aroha nui)
Now see you here (te aroha)
Te Aroha Nui
Te Aroha Nui
Now see you here (te aroha)
Now see you here (te aroha nui)
Now see you here (te aroha)
The love that washes Aotearoa clean
Aroha ki nga tangata
Nga tangata katoa
Aroha aroha e
Aroha ki nga tangata
Nga tangata katoa
Aroha aroha e
(Translation: The love, the great love. Love to the people, all the people, love, love)
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8. |
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Lyrics Jim Mc Lean/tune John Cameron
Hush, hush, time tae be sleepin'.
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creepin';
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby.
Once, our valleys were ringin'
with sounds of our children singin',
but now, sheep bleat 'til the evenin'
and shielings stand empty and broken.
Where stands our fierce Highland mettle?
Our men, once sae feared in battle
now stand, bowed, huddled like cattle,
and wait tae be shipped o'er the ocean.
Hush, hush, time tae be sleepin'.
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creepin';
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby.
We stood with our heads bowed in prayer
while Factors laid our cottages bare.
The flames fired the clear mountain air,
and many were dead in the mornin'.
Hush, hush, time tae be sleepin'.
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creepin';
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby.
Nae use greetin' or prayin' now.
All Gone. Gone, no hope of stayin',
sae hush, now. The anchor's a-weighin'.
Don't cry in your sleep, bonny baby.
Hush, hush, time tae be sleepin'.
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creepin';
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby.
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Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia
Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more
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