Walker, Scott - Clara Lyrics






Birds
Birds
This is not a cornhusk doll
Dipped in blood in the moonlight
Like what happen in America
This is us
Our eyesides snagged
Dipped in mob in the daylight
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth are too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
She knows this room
She can navigate it in the dark
She entered the Palazzo at night by a side door
To ascend to a lift in the upper floor
She lies on the bed
Looking up not yet seeing
The signs of the zodiac painted in gold
On the blue vaulted ceiling
His enormous eyes as he arrives
Coming nearer in the surrounding darkness
His strange beliefs about the moon
Its influence upon men of affairs
The danger of its cold light on your face
While you were sleeping
She'll eclipse it with her head
Stroke him 'til he sleeps
Until he has nothing to do among men of affairs
Sometime before dawn
Her bare feet cross the floor
She gazes from the window
At the fountain in the courtyard
Sometimes I feel like a swallow
A swallow which by some mistake
Has gotten into an attic
And knocks its head against the walls in terror
This is not a rabbit skinned
With a body of silver
Like what happen in America
This is not a terrapin
With its shell torn away
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth are too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
The mood soon changed
In the clear morning air
A man came up towards the body
And poked it with a stick
It rocked swiftly
And twisted around at the end of the rope
Finer than a hair from every side
Finer than a hair
Birds
Birds
This is just a cornhusk doll
Dipped in blood in the moonlight
This is just a cornhusk doll
This morning in my room
A little swallow was trapped
It flew around desperately
Until it fell exhausted on my bed
I picked it up
So as not to frighten it
I opened the window
Then I opened my hand





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Walker, Scott Clara Comments
  1. D.... ....

    Holy shit, that tone shift at 9:23 is unnerving!

  2. D.... ....

    I watched an interview w/ Scott a while back, he referenced Knut Hamsun as someone who influenced him, "Hunger" most probably...it just makes me impossibly sad that w/ his death, Scott takes a Universe w/ him...he WOULD have to have a thing for Hamsun, he just would...

  3. t.... m....

    the sun ain't gonna shine anymore. No shit, he wasn't kidding

  4. K.... ....

    I haven't known about Scott Walker for long. I only discovered him the day after his death when a local independent radio station played a song of his in tribute. Except I tuned in after the song started and missed the fact that it was Scott Walker and that he had died recently. So I'm driving and listening to this strange song, thinking "man is this guy doing an imitation of late-career David Bowie??" (I meant his voice, lol... Bowie's vocals on Blackstar remind me a lot of Scott Walker's voice)... and then out of NOWHERE this intense wall of sound hits and I was terrified. Couldn't wait to get home. Anyway I wish I could remember what the exact song was that they played on the radio, but I'm pretty sure it was this one or something else from this album. Listening now, it still utterly terrifies me but there are some moments of beauty. RIP Scott Walker.

  5. w.... j....

    Beautiful man beautiful voice ❤️ RIP Scott 💔 Outstanding creator of sound - we are still listening 👏😢

  6. a.... ....

    First time I've heard this. Honestly, I'm shocked! Weirdly amazing.

  7. F.... L....

    Just rediscovered his music...incredible

  8. m.... ....

    The Drift is an astounding piece of music and poetry. Impossible to compare with anything - other than modern classical music perhaps? Whatever it is, my cat went berserk and ran about the living room whilst it was on! Perhaps she KNOWS something us humans don’t! 😆😳

    m.... ....

    I like to think this music the equivalent of james joyce's Finnegan's wake or John Coltrane's ascension. Rest in peace 30th century man

    m.... ....

    Holden Caulfield yes rest in peace Scott. When he passed, his friend Jarvis Cocker’s tribute on Instagram was “Scott has the key that will open your mind.”

    m.... ....

    My cat is just sleeping.

  9. �.... �....

    RIP Scott

  10. D.... P....

    ¡Dios llévate a Alex Rose (el que cantó Toda) pero devuélvenos a Scott Walker!
    Saludos desde Perú

    D.... P....

    Tal cual diego!!

  11. w.... s....

    genius.

  12. F.... W....

    I can see how he influenced Bowie.espicially his last ...

  13. D.... ....

    Good bye, Scott- and thank you so much for what you left us...

  14. o.... ....

    Scott was the Ezra Pound of pop music. The things that were thought to happen only in uncivilized, populist America happen to Clara in Mussolini's Italy. This really should be classified with modern opera.

    o.... ....

    Yes that’s what I thought. With the likes of Marc Anthony Turnage or John Adams! There’s an interesting interview about Tilt where Scott describes his composition process and it sounds like he was going more and more down the path of using notation and selecting musicians who could “read” (music) as he put it and not just chords. Shame we lost him as I’m sure there would have been a lot more interesting work to come.

  15. n.... ....

    Rest In Peace legend

  16. m.... f....

    Awesome listening to this again. RIP.

  17. L.... S....

    Scott Walker 1943-2019 R.I.P.

  18. p.... h....

    The sickly feeling when sloathing along the boundary where Dear language risks slipping into the abyss of it's opposite?

  19. J.... A....

    That may be the most terrifying piece of music I have EVER heard.

  20. p.... h....

    Inner praxis sometimes damands something triple fingered

  21. r.... d....

    Just a natural progression from his earlier works. I can't see why some folks want him to stay in one groove.

  22. G.... A....

    I don't think I was ready for this the first time I heard it.... I bought it and marvelled at it and was profoundly confused about what it all meant... Amazing the different a decade can make. This is a masterpiece...

  23. N.... F....

    If you really want to experience the full effect of this song, look up Clara Petacci (the subject of the song) on Wikipedia and look at the picture of her and Mussolini's dead bodies being suspended upside down over an angry crowd. Truly haunting.

    N.... F....

    yeah, no, no thanks bud.

    N.... F....

    It's the picture of them after they'd been cut down that I found particularly compelling...

  24. S.... ....

    Anyone know what he means by "like what happened in America"? I know the basic premise of this song but I don't know how it ties into this mantra.

    S.... ....

    I love that line.

    S.... ....

    I think something similar to Clara Petacci's execution happened in America. Or likely it could refer to the fact that people get sentenced to death in America.

    S.... ....

    She was airhead like almost every American. She was obssessed with celebrity and had pictures of Mussolini (who liked to make poses as every fascist - look Trump or Boris Johnson) on his wall.

  25. L.... P....

    Bornlivedie in this intro. Brilliant.

  26. E.... M....

    4:42 ... Shivers down my spine. What a soundscape.

  27. J.... M....

    man i can think of few things in modern music more disconcerting than the career progression of Scott Walker

    J.... M....

    It was truly beautiful wasn't it?

    J.... M....

    What the hell was "disconcerting" about it??? No artist I can think of ever went from the most accessible Pop to the most uncompromising personal vision ever, not even Nino Ferrer...

  28. N.... ....

    First heard The Drift in 2007...and to this day its effect is not reduced appreciably. It remains about as far as one can go to the edge of what might still be termed music.

    N.... ....

    I think the Shaggs went beyond what can be termed music.

  29. K.... L....

    This is the most eerie and terrifying song I've ever heard. Just the mere sounds of it evoke in me a sense of frantic panic.

    K.... L....

    You simply have to take 68 minutes and listen to the entire disc uninterrupted. Perhaps with the lights off and the volume keyed up...for the "proper" effect. It is rather unrelenting for the entire length...a labyrinth of maniacal sensibilities put to audio in ways no man has ever done. The 18 minutes of Cue and Jolson & Jones is probably the highlight of the disc in regards to sheer theatrics (of terror).

  30. T.... ....

    his enormous eyes as he arrives

  31. H.... L....

    His enormous eyes as he arrives, coming near in the surrounding darkness plus the incredible background music, I find it utterly engaging.

  32. M.... W....

    Amazing...

  33. H.... S....

    2:00 - Scary shit man. :-o

  34. d.... ....

    I love the way how he uses "a miracle" as a homophonous to "america". Maybe Scott's an MC in disguise? Great song. The chaotic soundscape kicking in at the second verse almost give me a panic attack every time I listen to this track.

  35. R.... C....

    I remember reading about Scott's concern about a return of fascism when this came out

    R.... C....

    He should have won the presidency

    R.... C....

    +Ryan Campbell He knew.

  36. H.... R....

    This goes well with a shot of absinthe. Brilliant work.

  37. E.... N....

    Ha ha ha this video has one of the great comment strings of Youtube

  38. C.... ....

    Rotten!

  39. g.... h....

    cardinal album cardinal piece, and also in my opinion a great and elegantly anti-fascist song [also, by the way, I want to see irony and fun, because I think there's often irony and fun, in Scott Walker, and of the most refined type: and therefore, punching a pig's carcass as parts of the sounds of this piece seems appropriate, to me].

  40. A.... M....

    brilliant track of such depth .

  41. y.... ....

    Unusual piece of music, dark yet wonderful.

  42. k.... ....

    I don't know why but somehow I link this to the year 1937 in the Soviet Union, the climax of the Stalinist terror.

    k.... ....

    it's about fascist Italy, specifically Mussolini's mistress. but you're on the right track.

    k.... ....

    It's about Mussolini and his mistress' corpses being strung up and beaten by random people. "The old man's back again" is about Stalin.

  43. K.... D....

    perfecto

  44. S.... S....

    I know it's coming, but I still shit myself everytime the strings kick in.

    S.... S....

    Simon Simon What happens when you hear the donkey come in on “Jolson and Jones”?

  45. p.... ....

    close your eyes and listen on headphones if you must
    but listen, always listen.

  46. J.... R....

    @6:50 they're slapping a quite big raw slab of meat

  47. b.... ....

    How unsettling.

  48. Z.... F....

    beautiful and interesting piece of work

  49. K.... N....

    It doesn't get better than this! 30 Century Man came through my door yesterday. The wrapper immediately came off.

  50. C.... O....

    Ufff... Amazing!

  51. P.... C....

    Incredible - dark but beautiful. 

  52. m.... ....

    My heart is pumping.

  53. Z.... ....

    sometimes I feel like a swallow...

  54. A.... T....

    Such beautiful ugliness. Unfortunately, I feel that Sunn O only contribute ugliness to Soused. Not that it's for me to question Scott Walker but just what exactly is it that they brought to the party? I bet they couldn't believe their luck!

    A.... T....

    I think I agree. Their sound wasn't subtle enough, especially on the first track. 

    A.... T....

    I like them.

    A.... T....

    not my favorite record Sunn worked on, but they have some great stuff. Check out Monoliths and Dimensions.

  55. N.... ....

    i fucking cried without shedding tears if that makes any sense.. when those strings set in abruptly i just get hit with a wave of incredible despair and sadness. Scotts Music is so powerful 

    N.... ....

    +NotApianist YES. this album made me sob lmao

  56. J.... B....

    Forget the drinks... Smoke a joint and go for a walk alone in the woods at night with this playing.

    J.... B....

    But not abeat box?

  57. M.... S....

    Dare I say scary

  58. R.... ....

    I'm going to sing this at my wedding.... whilst performing an autopsy on a dead cat.

    R.... ....

    ROGAN invite me

    R.... ....

    As long as the cat is dead...

    R.... ....

    Are sure you're going to have a wedding?

    R.... ....

    Only cats can perform autopsies on cats. When humans do it, it's just a dissection.

  59. M.... R....

    amazing

  60. M.... A....

    SHITS GODDAMN TRAUMATIZING I NEED A DRINK

  61. T.... R....

    Glorious. It would take Scott to make Mussolini relevant to the Post-Pop era, ca. 2005...

    T.... R....

    Mussolini is always relevant anyway

  62. S.... D....

    genius 

  63. p.... ....

    A work that doesn't bear logical analysis. But sufficient to say the passage that begins " She knows this room"  is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful pieces of poetry and music I have EVER heard. A perfectly rounded masterpiece.

  64. W.... ....

    Listening to this while eating chicken. I feel filthy.

    W.... ....

    What you feel is not wah wah.

    W.... ....

    Listen to it while eating a side of pork- that weird percussion is the sound of a guy punching one.

  65. N.... B....

    Up until I heard this I always gave the award for "Transcendent Perturbation" to Captain Beefheart's "Bat Chain Puller." It's safe to say that this (and likely all of Drift) will never be a co-opted soundtrack to market some must-have gewgaw on TV. Scott has created an irreproducible standard.

    N.... B....

    I now dream of one day creating a product that this would be an appropriate marketing tool for.

    N.... B....

    Irreproducible? Bollocks, you or anyone could knock out this entire record in a day or two.

    N.... B....

    Noe Berengena The Drift makes Bat Chain Puller sound like a Debbie Gibson album!

  66. p.... s....

    gorgeous.

  67. B.... S....

    Perfect for Halloween. Absolutely chilling music.

  68. T.... ....

    What an awesome ending. The rawness of grief.

  69. I.... W....

    reminds me too of 'Drag Ropes' from storm corosion, and the SOundtrack of the game 'Amnesia:the dark descent'.

  70. I.... W....

    well, thats not the kind of song that i would like to have in common with my name haha

  71. I.... W....

    really cool, and really dark and heavy, but i don't think it's as much inovative as people say, to me sounds like late 60's early 70's psychedelic music, stuff like penderecki's 'dimensions of time & silence' and psychedelic parts of prog songs, but with very sad and eerie vocals that reminds me of nick cave. really cool.

    I.... W....

    Scott walker predates nick cave's musical output by a decade. Respect your elders

  72. E.... K....

    That's a perfect atmosphere to listen to this music!

  73. D.... N....

    Listened to this last night with two friends of mine at 3:00 am outside in a tent, a night well spent!

  74. J.... S....

    WAT THE FUCK

  75. W.... ....

    This song makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

  76. O.... ....

    Listening to this while watching that video of a sloth and cat where the sloth looks like it's half hugging the cat/half attempting to kill it.

  77. c.... b....

    awww a song about me :3

  78. L.... L....

    .Muy interesante!!!

  79. K.... ....

    Quite intriguing and amazing, isn't it?

  80. R.... P....

    This gives me the willies

  81. C.... D....

    i came here looking for punchmeat

  82. C.... H....

    im getting this album!!!

  83. C.... H....

    i love the soft/loud contrast, the effect it gives, and even tho ive no idea who Clara is, i love the creepy narrative. btw i dont think storm corrosion ever meant to sound like Scott Walker...i think there may have been some influence from him tho...

    C.... H....

    Clara is none other than Clara Pettaci, the mistress of Mussolini who got executed and then her body got mangled by a crowd. Look it up. It's disturbing.

  84. J.... P....

    This makes storm corrosion sound like a pop band

  85. L.... ....

    You should check out Ulver. Their first 3 albums are black metal, but there later stuff is a lot like Scott Walker. A Quick Fix of Melancholy in particular has such a painful, sorrowful feel to it.

  86. E.... ....

    This song would give Satan goosebumps and make him shudder.

  87. S.... ....

    I agree whole-heartedly. Opeth is a great example of that, I'm glad you mentioned them.

  88. m.... ....

    While I agree with you to some extent (the emotive quality), all of those bands do make quite atmospheric music actually, especially Meshuggah at their most abstract.
    Also, there are plenty of extreme metal bands that display both atmosphere and emotional intensity; Neurosis, Blut Aus Nord, Wolves in the Throne Room, Burzum, Death, Agalloch, Opeth...extreme metal is a much more varied field than most people know.

  89. P.... K....

    Let's face it: all those extreme metal bands like Meshuggah, Cryptopsy, Nile (for example) are not about emotion and building atmosphere, which is the strongest point of Scott's art.

  90. b.... ....

    i first listened to this track on headphones turned up quite high due to the quiet start. then the meat bashing bit kicked in and nearly jumped out of my skin! not recommended. great track though, looking forward to bish bosch.

  91. b.... ....

    hey bish bosch is nearly here!!!

  92. t.... ....

    The Devil finds Scott Walker's music disturbing.

  93. u.... ....

    sounds good! except, please don't do the pooping part.

  94. H.... I....

    this ADS gives me nausea.