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Smole​ń​ska

by Bornwithhair

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1.
Kotwica 11:38
Today is the day For us to fight Tomorrow is the day For truth Today is the day For death to bleed For fires to relish The flesh Today is the day For the endgame Victorious We are the privileged Victorious We are the witnesses Vainglorious They will perish in the streets Ignominious They will die by our own hands Kept me in port as the lightning flashed Victorious We are the privileged Victorious Today is the day For us to fight Tomorrow is the day For truth Today is the day For us to fight Tomorrow is the day For truth In life In life, he was my anchor I am awake in university I am lying on my bed staring at the wall The sun casts shadows through the window I am alone, drawing an anchor in a storm And in the dream I am on my own Where the struggle is only in my head And all the ideas remain ideas And I can be who I was before this began Victorious Victorious Victorious We are the witnesses Vainglorious They will perish in the streets Victorious We are the privileged Victorious We are the witnesses Victorious We are the privileged Ignominious They will die by our hands They will die by our hands Today is the day For us to fight Tomorrow is the day For truth Today is the day For us to fight Tomorrow is the day For truth
2.
Our education It brought us together Sown under Occupation We were one fecundation Under fertile cover of school We learned to build hand grenades Learned violence and sabotage Learned to use intelligence Learned that the free mind sings Gaining power from the truth And how to kill a Nazi spy This was our education We learned to hone the art of death Learned violence and sabotage And how to kill a Nazi spy This was our education We learned to hone the art of death Learned to use intelligence Learned that the free mind sings Gaining power from the truth In knowledge of one's own fears And the solidarity We gathered between us Gaining power from the truth
3.
I. House of the Professors The whole of it I never really knew Though there was some chemistry Even in my family When it came to artistry Organically I plied my fingers And I etched with chalk in grease Drawing a universe of mermaids This is the only history left This is the tale of a white stork In days past we went sailing In sync off the amber coast He was father And I was his daughter He – the respected chemist I – his mermaid with smeared hands Trapped underneath the lightning Professorship A ship that has no port Professing all my yearning To a ghost who blithely haunts The bleak house on Dzielna Street Where they took him from the prison cell And they shot him through to death Trapped together, a nightmare Capsized in the freezing blue Here the dead live So do watch their ashes closely Ashes scattered by the enemy Forgotten Here the dead live Forgotten by the glorified And sanctified – But we will avenge This is the only history left My hands are clean You can hear me breathing Behold the Mermaid of Warsaw All I touch is sabotaged You can hear me breathing I draw the winds closer now I squall across the balance of death II. Józef the Cop Józef, did you know your neighbors? Yes, I knew what they were hiding But, Józef, they had children in there Yes, but they had changed their names Józef, did you work the Ghetto? Only when I needed money Józef, did you help the Germans? I helped no one but myself You were busy there in school For me, no such luxury So when they offered money I sacrificed my conscience The Jews would not have lasted We all knew this was the case And if it had not been me Then it would have been someone else Józef, you are breaking my heart Then you never should have loved me Józef, you have blood on your hands We all have blood on our hands Józef, you are the enemy So you know the enemy’s heart Józef, join us and be redeemed Too late, I am broke apart
4.
Sing with me tonight for Elżbieta who was shot And let’s raise a glass to her memory With warmth in our hearts Let’s take to the streets And tear down every Nazi poster From the Ghetto to the Old Town We’ll paint turtles all the way down And leave invites to hell for the Nazis Meet me by the factory wall After you’ve wasted the day away After you’ve wasted the day away After you’ve wasted the day away Meet me by the factory wall After school, we sent letters to the security forces Claiming to have seen some Germans collaborating With Poles whose names we made up Tonight, I’m visiting with Andrzej’s mother I’ve a note that he wrote her from prison He says men were taken to the edge of the forest And never returned And never returned Tomorrow we’ll tear down their flags For what they did to Poniatowski After we’ve wasted the day away After we’ve wasted the day away And we’ll play Tango Milonga On commandeered German megaphones They tried to steal Copernicus Claim him by decree as one of their own But Dawidowski and his gang Gifted laughs to the Varsovians After school, let’s take rifles to the underground armory Whisper the new password and scan the busy sidewalk For SS dressed like all death Tonight, I’m visiting with Cibor’s brother I’ve a note for them to read in their cell It says men were taken to the edge of the forest And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned You can battle fear with humor And you can seal then a grave with a kiss And then even on nights like this You’ll have a joke and a good reason To no longer waste your day away To no longer waste your day away And so, sing with me tonight for Andrzej who was shot And let’s raise a glass to his memory With warmth in our hearts Let’s take to the streets And tear down every Nazi poster From the Ghetto to the Old Town And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And never returned And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And so, sing with me tonight for Andrzej who was shot And let’s raise a glass to his memory With warmth in our hearts Let’s take to the streets And tear down every Nazi poster From the Ghetto to the Old Town And for Cibor who was shot Let’s raise a glass And let’s take to the streets And tear down every Nazi poster From the Ghetto to the Old Town We’ll paint turtles all the way down Designate lamp posts for the Nazi necks And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away And we will not waste our day away
5.
I. Arresting Propaganda If it were not for this gag My voice would bellow Through the halls of Hell Through shattered Heaven Through the bowels of Death If it were not for this gun Did we have neighbors who gave up their neighbors? We did not collaborate, but did some of them collaborate? Did we have neighbors who gave up their neighbors? We did not collaborate, but did some of them collaborate? Who among us are collaborators? Who among us are gory sycophants? Who among us are unworthy bigots? Who among us are the opportunists? If it weren’t for this flogging My body would rise To the mountaintop To the highest cloud To the source of light If it weren’t for the torture I would eat dinner But I’ve been a saboteur, I’m a scout I’ve been arrested, I will surely die But I will not let myself lose my hope Who all among us are losing their hope? I won’t lose hope Will I lose hope? II. Cruel Fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate Cruel, cruel fate
6.
I know, I don’t know Anymore I know, I don’t know But I I did not give anyone up I held my own I held my own They did, they did not Let up at all But I, I did not Give anyone up In Pawiak I held my own I held my own I don’t know Anyone Taking a train To terminus Straining my eyes I saw the smoke I did not show any fear And then I saw nothing You can rip my arms From their sockets You can bash my eyes And take my shoes So, bloody my nose And shave my hair Give me a number And kill my god We suffer as one I know, now I know Everything We die together I know, now I know Number our lives They did, they did not Know this at all But I, I will not In death forget I know, now I know Murderers I know, now I know Genocide They did, they did not Ever think twice But I, I will not Ever forget Number my life Number my name Number my grave We are numbers We suffer as one We die together Number our lives Number our names Number our graves I know, now I know All you’ve done But I, I will not In death forget I know, now I know Genocide Genocide Genocide Number my life Number my name Number my grave We are numbers We suffer as one We die together Number our lives Number our names Number our graves I know, now I know Everything I know I know I know
7.
Within our hearts, we learned that… This was our education We learned to… Warsaw in occupation We were to focus on our breath Beyond these walls lie enemies Beyond these walls, our own dead This was our education We learned to hone the art of death This was our education We learned to reap the source of breath This was our education This was our education We learned to honor sacred oaths This was our education We learned we were the source of faith This was our education
8.
I. Death War In the dream, there was a warehouse Within which we found a store of Nazi uniforms We covered our flesh in their own And returned to the street to kill Throw pianos on the barricades! They met their deaths blinded by the muzzle blast And bewildered by the dazzle of their own shiny buttons Anything to keep on fighting Anything to keep on fighting Keep fighting and do not give ground Anything to keep on fighting Keep fighting and do not give ground In the dream, I’m there in Old Town Watching as the buildings turn to rubble in the street I may die before we reach the sewer’s end We may all die in the annihilation of our city There is a boy dressed in his scout’s uniform He rushes out of a building holding a bag The artillery gunner never seems him As he hurls himself over the barricade and explodes Rubble covered in skin and blood and baby teeth Go away from here This is pointless This is the Death War The war to end all life Go away from here This is the Death War The war to end all life Go away from here This is pointless This is the Death War The war to end all life Go away from here Die Suffer Run Suffer Hide Suffer Die In the dream, there was a squadron In the dream, there was a squadron Barreling over the bridge and led by their steel tanks We waved to the heroes of the Red Army And the heroes of the Red Army left us for dead Left us to die under German bullets Waiting to take the city of corpses Throw pianos Throw pianos on the barricades! The ones who will survive the German bullets Will suffer the cold and the oppression of the Russian camps Go away from here This is pointless This is the Death War The war to end all life Could we have done more? Did we move too fast? Did we move too slow? Could we have helped the Jews? Did we put our neighbors in danger? Did we do the right thing? We wanted to do the right thing Did we want to do the right thing? Did we do the right thing? Could we have done more? Should we have done less? In death, will we find peace? II. I Imagined a Future I imagined a future Where you can not imagine the future I imagined a place Where you could neither live nor die That place is here That place is here I imagined myself In a place where I could not imagine myself That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here That place is here

about

REVIEWS

"Emotions and movements anarchically crash together within each track. The band utilise just about every resource in distortion and synth, and compact their sounds into dense and ever-changing layers. At over an hour, the album’s narrative is epic. It contains all the progressive hallmarks of the bombastic colliding with the peaceful... The musicianship and composition is, without doubt, extremely well orchestrated. The depth and layers contain uncountable treasures, and atmospherically, it is as deep and explosive a plummet into the human psyche as one can hope for." — Everything Is Noise

"Smoleńska is a staggering piece of creative lunacy... If Bornwithhair can focus this almost ridiculous level of creativity, so their work has more clarity, then they could be on to something really special. I get the feeling that this album is a stepping stone towards something really special, a learning experience that they needed to go through before they can reach their potential. This may be the band learning their craft before releasing an album that will be seen as a classic. Personally I can’t wait to hear what they do next." — Musipedia of Metal

"This wonderful creation is Bornwithhair’s second release this year. A metal album born out of a DIY aesthetic it’s been much played here over the past month or so… What keeps me coming back is how unhinged it is, like a black metal Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter in some ways, totally out there, never predictable, always engaging." — Vogon Laundromat / I Heart Noise

"It is a fucking treat." — Fistful of Doom

"Smoleńska is avant-garde music that is very different from the norm... an apocalyptic feel." — Heavy Music Headquarters


THE BAND

Bornwithhair is an Avant-garde Metal band hailing from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. While grounded in a cacophonous form of heavy music incorporating elements of the Black, Death, and Sludge varieties with a hint of Industrial, the band’s sophomore album, Smoleńska, draws on the history of Metal while connecting with and combining facets of Noise, Psychedelia, Freak Folk, and Free Improvisation.

At the core of Bornwithhair are the duo of multi-instrumentalists Weirding and Jean Farraige. Known for a strictly DIY approach, the pair recorded and produced the new album themselves in a 19th century Maryland farmhouse along the river that spills into Baltimore Harbor.


THE ALBUM

Featuring protracted song lengths, non-traditional compositional structures, cut-up studio techniques, and nearly as many subdued acoustic guitar figures as crushing riffs and flailing electric guitar solos, Smoleńska nonetheless has a feeling that should be familiar to fans of underground metal. “The goal wasn’t to alienate the listener through the use of these extended techniques,” said Weirding, “But rather was to create a unique and cohesive sonic world into which the listener could disappear as if being immersed into a movie.”

Having released a pair of singles in 2019, the duo issued a well-received debut album called Radical Moon in early 2020.

"Radical Moon is one of the most unsettling (and compelling) avant garde releases heard in some time... This is a record that requires (and deserves) repeat listens. It’s Big Black, but if Steve Albini had been locked in the Unabomber’s cabin." — Astral Noize

The new full-length has the earmarks of a concept album while maintaining the uncompromising lo-fi and homemade aesthetic that characterizes the band’s earlier work. That aesthetic, which exploits rough-spliced edits, disembodied and incongruous voices, and cheap microphones, helps ground Bornwithhair’s music in an historical space populated by mutant studio manipulators and outsider sound engineers.


THE SONGS

The songs on Smoleńska tell the impressionistic and allusive story of a young artist and her design of a simple emblem that will become synonymous with the heroism and tragedy of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. “The story of the Uprising itself tends to be something that is either ignored or told as some sort of jingoistic fantasy where everyone’s a hero,” said Weirding whose songwriting often uses historical events as a starting point. “We wanted to use it as a way to explore some complex sensibilities about place, purpose, and the emotional toll of committing to a cause.”

The new album’s historical allusions, art-house approach, and unrelenting parade of dark lyrical images may not suit the fancy of every listener. But they do conjure a hellish literary vision of resistance and death situated before the fiery backdrop of a war-ravaged city. “This album is not a collection of short stories,” said Farraige. “It is a novel.”

Smoleńska will be released on Bandcamp as well as on the major streaming services on September 11, 2020.

Contact: weirding@bornwithhair.com

For more info, see: bornwithhair.com

credits

released September 11, 2020

Players: Weirding and Jean Farraige.
Music by Bornwithhair. Lyrics by Weirding.
Copyright 2020 Bornwithhair / Weirding, BMI.

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