We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Periwinkle

by Grotoko

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes with a lyric booklet. Shipping is included.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Periwinkle via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $20 CAD or more 

     

1.
It's dark at the end of the hall. It's been a long climb. I'm scared, now I'm falling down the stairs. With the wings beating the sides of my gut, you'd think that I could fly. They're eating my insides. There's a light at the end of the corridor shining through the gaps between the locks on your door. Laughter from my best friend and their better friends. I don't understand. Why do they go silent when I'm here? I think you know. Y'know, yenno. I think you know. All these strangers are telling me that you're not worth it. I don't believe that's true. Everything reminds me of you, and you're everything that pulls me through. All these strangers, telling me that you're not worth it. I don't believe that's true, 'cause even if there's nothing left, I'd still like to think I tried my best. I'd still like to think I tried my best. Cry, cry, cry, cry, and cry, cry, cry cry and cry, cry, cry, cry, and cry (I think you know, you know, ya know...) cry, cry, and never tell you why, cry, cry cry, and cry, cry, cry, (Evertyhing reminds me of you) cry, and cry, cry, cry, cry and cry, 'cause you're all that I ever could have wanted to have wished for. You'll leave in an hour or so. Never take me when you go. All these stings won't leave me alone and there's just no way I'm gonna make it home now! (cry, cry, cry, cry and cry...) but I can still believe that summer hides itself in dying leaves and I won't be cold, but I can't sleep here anymore, just to keep you trapped inside my dreams. You will always be here trapped inside my dreams, and I will always be here, trapped inside my dreams. All these strangers are telling me that you're not worth it. I don't believe that's true. Everything reminds me of you, and you're everything that pulls me through. All these strangers, telling me that you're not worth it, I don't believe that's true, 'cause even if there's nothing left, I'd still like to think I tried my best. I'd still like to think I tried my best, 'cause I swear I tried my best! (Cry, cry, cry, cry and cry...) You are all that I ever could have wanted to have wished for, all that I ever could have wanted to have wished for, all that I ever could have wanted to have wished for, all that I ever could have wanted to... (All these strangers are telling me that you're not worth it. I don't believe that's true. Everything reminds me of you.) cry, cry, cry, cry and cry, cry, cry, cry and cry, cry, cry, cry and cry, cry, cry, and cry.
2.
Tiny Fires 04:00
Lungs unempty with loneliness and a pocket full of broken glass. Maybe I'd better be sure that I'm still breathing. Roads revealed by window screens, it feels almost like a submarine; safe inside for now until you're leaving. It's leaking (in). It seems such a short time ago it was at our ankles. And seconds or so before at the soles of our shoes. Now soon all the fires all flickering over their candles, they won't know what to do. ...And you're swaying close in a rocking chair, as I wonder if I might have dreamt of your existence. I've been breathing in my cigarettes, and my thoughts have been stained with regrets, and I'm just not the same person you met those years ago. It's sinking (in). It seems only moments ago it was below our shoulders, and barely a minute before just above our knees. The candle fires claim to be fine knowing that it's all over soon. They say, ''keeping a chin up isn't easier than it seems when you know you're doomed.'' You're singing a tune. Guess now you know what I've always been hiding. You're always residing somewhere in my head. (You're always residing here) I guess now you know what I've always been hiding, you're always residing somewhere in my head. I guess I thought we could be friends… oh I guess I thought we could be friends...
3.
Bedrooms 02:36
We lie in bedrooms a distance apart. My secrets are hiding in the seams of my heart. Call me pathetic, I miss you like hell, and you haven't even left my hometown. Telephone, telegram, I will tell you somehow. Surely, you're not thinking about me now. I am invisible as I'm safe and sound here, inside my innocent childhood candlelit cell, looking out. If you were a bird, then perhaps I'm a tree, stuck in the ground as I lose all my leaves. Perhaps you'll be back when I wake in the spring, but you've got better perches and I can't sleep. You're not thinking about me now. I'm feeling hollow as I am wishing well, merely, wanting no more than to keep you here somehow, knowing you'll learn to live without. (Time goes by slowly...) Can't cry a river inside of a well as I tread all the words that I wish I could tell you. Cold as September, I just can't remember a time that you were not here. I think you are clever, I think you are kind. You will and have always been here in my mind. Candle lights glimmer, and candle lights glow, you're cities away, and I'm still as a stone here. ...And I'm feeling so very alone here, and I'm feeling so very alone right now, trying not to emote, trying not to explode...
4.
I'm on a swing in Charleswood. I gotta get down to Westwood. All the way down to the basement, underneath the layers of apartment walls all caving in. It is midnight. Soon the boys'll come out and start their brick fights my mother warned me about, but I don't wanna go to the basement, she'll stab me in the eye. Midnight is the prettiest of sights, but it'd be prettier reflected off your eyes. Midnight's the prettiest of sounds, but it'd be prettier with you around. I'm on a swing in Charleswood. Do they wonder what I'm doing here? ...As the rich kids peer, and the rich kids sneer, and the rich kids whisper in your ear about how you're seventeen, and I am a hundred and twenty-three. Well now you know that you're seventeen, and I am a hundred and twenty-three. Well now (you know that you're seventeen...) the rich kids run, the rich kids run the rich kids run and they rumour of the things you've done, and they run, the rich kids run, the rich kids run. Well now you know. ...That maybe I'm not innocent as I'm insane, (Now you know.) but I'm still here if you remember my name, (Now you know.) safe in the embrace of all my unseen friends. (Now you know.) You don't have to understand. (Midnight is the prettiest of sights, but it'd be prettier reflected off your eyes. Midnight's the prettiest of sounds, but it'd be prettier with you around...) I'm half-hoping that you'll take me in. Help me wash away my skin. This is nothing to be living in and midnight is the prettiest of sights, oh midnight is the prettiest of sights and midnight is now. The stars are bright, the clouds are clear, I'd be at home if you were here. Streetlights in the winter glow, you are gone. I am alone. You are gone. I am alone. You are gone. You are gone.
5.
Paper Plans 03:32
Four origami birds are sitting upon the very top of a fence made out of cardboard. Should the wind ever softly blow, they will feel a little colder and one of them will fly away or fall. I stall, for I may never see your face again. I worry. I'm certainly not in a hurry to simply leave this here, and I may never see your face again. (Paper ripping sounds.) Three origami birds are waiting upon a table top where my friends were once around it. I could've sworn that there were five some time ago. Two of them have been missing, and one of them is losing hope. ...For all of these plans; all prettily painted on pages of white. At the very edge of the end, I'll fold them their phony wings and promise them that they can fly, if they try. I may never see your face again… I may never see your face again… I may never see your face again…
6.
I live in a broken shack, I set fire to myself, just to stay warm, and I am dressed in black, so you can't see that I'm still rotting and discoloured from the inside out. And you live in a house. Stained-glass windows, and floors, stretching upwards towards the clouds, glowing with colours that I cannot be sure that I've ever seen. I see nothing past. Da dum dum dum, dum dum dum, da-um dum, dum da dum, da-um, dum dum… At night you'll hear me cry, and you'll hear me shout. Sometimes I wonder why you never come out. Sometimes I swear I hear you thinking out loud. Between mutters I can hear your doubts. Between mutters I can hear your doubts. (I can hear your doubts.) I imagine you are dressed in white. Your shoes are clean and shining and they're tied up tight. Mine are falling off my feet, and yours tread on carpet. Mine walk lengths of concrete. I wonder what the difference is sometimes. Sometimes it seems as though, I can hear you thinking and your thoughts sound an awful lot like mine, sometimes it seems as though, I can hear you thinking and your thoughts sound and awful lot like mine. I can hear you thinking, I can hear you thinking, I can hear you think, thinking out loud. Thinking out loud. (Thinking out loud.) I still believe that there are reasons to be sad and those reasons remind me of you. (Thinking out loud.) I believe that there are reasons to be sad, it makes me wonder if I'm one too. (Thinking out loud). I believe that there are reasons to be sad and those reasons remind me of you. (Thinking out loud.) I believe that there are reasons to be sad. It makes me wonder if I'm one too. And I can hear you thinking, I can hear you thinking, I can hear you thinking, (Those reasons remind me of you.) I can hear you thinking. Dum da dum, da dum dum dum, dum da dum, dum da dum, da-um dum dum (bum ba dum bum bum bum bum...)etc...
7.
8.
I can build a boat of the plank that you made me walk, to fall on overboard. This is not my sea to haunt. It's hard to drown when you're already dead. Forget me, you will have nothing to forgive. Now that I'm drowning, well at least I'm happy that I'm drowning, 'cause man, it really surely beats burning, as everybody here is turning to face me. I feel a swelling in my throat, as I hear your voice say, ''I've taken all I can''. ''Things are different now.'' Some days, I feel like I'm a ghost. Why did you have to leave when I needed you the most? (Alright.) Alright I will leave you be. Alright, alright, I will leave you be. Alright, alright, I will leave you be. Alright, alright, I'll... (Why did you have to leave when I needed you the most? I don't blame you, I just wanted you to know… Why'd you have to leave when I needed you the most? I don't blame you...) I am fine. Why does everybody say that I'm a liar? They used to hold me up, just to leave me more room to fall. It's not my fault! I love you too. (''I love you too.'') I love you too. (''I love you too.'') I loved you too. Now at a distance, man, it really felt like an instant, the rotting over time, to the accusee of a crime. Now that there's silence, man, it really feels like a silence, at the very edge of the end of the promises that we bent. But why did you have to leave when I needed you the most? I don't blame you I just wanted you to know… Why'd you have to leave when I needed you the most? I don't blame you. (Alright, alright, I will leave you be Alright, alright, I will leave you be Alright, alright, I will leave you be Alright, alright I’ll…) I just wanted you to know, I don't blame you, I just wanted you to know, I don't blame you. (Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright!) ''Things are different now.'' Now that I'm drowning, well it really feels like I'm drowning, (Why did you have to leave etc...) but at least I'm happy that I'm not burning, as everybody here is turning to face me. I feel a swelling in my throat, as I hear your voice say, (Alright, alright, alright!) ''Things are different now.'' ''Things are different now.'' ''Things are different now.'' ''Things are different now.'' Things are different now.
9.
Holes 06:13
There's a hole in the plot. Let's put a pin in that thought. Pierced my heart, sprung a leak. It made me feel like a freak, when all my secrets crawled out. I wonder where they went. And the first guard always had to kiss me as I fell asleep, and they'd tell me about all the colours they see. Orange and lavender, we were talking on their porch. Now they are gone but I am grateful that they happened to me. The submarine filled up with smoke, (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) So I broke a window. (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) Reality burst its way in. (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) The doors wouldn't open. Let's open our eyes in the morning but lay still until the sun goes down. Let's realize once its over and then let's just let it go… Don't blink, here it comes. There's a hole in my thoughts Terry looked through time again. He tried to pull me right out. How did now come from then? There's a hole in my heart where I held all the loose ends. Guess they must've crawled out. I wonder where they went. And the second guard was always there for those in pain. Green and violet lit the candles on the cake they made. And the actor said that I should eat it's been three days. And the hatter must have seen if I had gone insane. At his slumber party, Jenkin somehow thought I was dead. ''Am I helping?'', asked he, drunkenly, and drunkenly, he pet my head. Purple got stuck in a garbage can at 1AM. I'm still hiding in the hole somebody cut out in the picture frame from then. (''You are so pretty and I want to be your best friend. Your voice is a comfort to me.'') ''You've ruined everything.'' It went dark when the flames fell asleep. The plans that we made were in pieces. (I did this to myself.) If things couldn't get any worse, I must've lead all the leeches to shore. (Oh way to go, Oh way to go!) Our Lifeboat was no more by then. (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) They must've chewed up a hole in the floor. (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) And then the fish ate all the pieces of bread. (Oh way to go, oh way to go!) But you sang me a song at the end. How could they do what they did? How could you do what you did? I guess that I'll build a bridge, and I will get over this. Let's open our eyes in the morning but lay still until the sun goes down. Let's realize once it's over and then let's just let it go. Are you ready for it? Don't blink, here it comes. There it goes.
10.
Sardines 04:37
Am I the only one who understands this game? I must've searched in every corner, must have turned through every leaf and every hallway. But if you teach a fish to climb a tree, it'll learn to fly eventually. All the good things last forever only in my dreams. If there's room here for forgiveness, why no room for me? Where did everybody go? Where did everybody go? Sardines growing teeth and pointing hands. Sardines swimming in the garbage can, with the hours in the dark (the hours in the dark) and the hours in the dark (and the hours in the dark) and the dreams that held us safely in their arms. It's time to let go. (Just let it go!) Take the time to grow a tree. It'll be burned down eventually. But you'll always have the day that you held the seed. There's no time left here for beating and no room indeed. But why, oh why, oh why'd you let me down? Oh why oh why oh why'd you let me down? Oh why so fearful of the dark, so scared to open up your head and your heart? I don't want to be a part of that too. Oh why so fearful of the dark, so scared to open up your head and your heart? I don't want to be a part of that too. I only got what I deserved. (I only got what I deserved.) Oh, I only got what I deserved. (I only got what I deserved.) I only got what I deserved, oh, I only got what I deserved. (I only got what I deserved.) I only got what I deserved. (I only got what I deserved.) Where did everybody go?
11.
The rain came down. Things got awful damp. The rot came 'round, and it seeped into the sand. You carried me, in the palm of your left hand. I slipped right out into what I really am. Let's not cross out names. There's no room for shame. We all know the truth, so put your makeup over your bruise. I will let you in, when I find my scene. I will be your friend, just as you were home to me. Just as you were home to me. Was I really the first to hope that you would understand, as I sifted through the dirt, that had swallowed all the plans? It seeped into my skin, and it stained my porous heart, and the hairs grew on your chin, and you left me in the dark, about what we really are, with our makeup on our scars. Let's take a walk, (through the playground) and maybe then you'll see… There's no need to run. (I won't follow you now.) There's no need to run. And when you look behind you… (I won't be there then) When you look behind you… (You can't see ahead.) da da da dee da dee da da da dee da dee, dum... etc...
12.
Here we go again. You've got a firm hold on my hand and we're sinking through the sand. I suppose I should know to let you go, but are you indeed my friend? And if you are indeed my friend, will you stay or will you abandon me inside my head? ...and who could have known that a home could feel so alone, so safe in the dark and cold? Can you hear them crawling overhead, whispering the barbed wire that is entangling your bed? ''Never again'', ring the liars' cries from underneath my skin. ''Never again'', they lie. We sigh. Little did we know the way to go was always further below. There is a light underneath the dust. There is a home waiting in the undertow. Little did we know, the way to go was always further below. There is a light underneath the dust. There is a home waiting in the undertow. ''Never again'', ring the liars' cries from under their disguise. Never understand as it melts before our eyes, and crumbles into sand. ''Never again!'' the liars cry and hide under the bed.
13.
I'm counting the minutes. I'm sitting comfortably on the carpet to your right, in a dark room, shared between eight on this rainy, mid-August night, and the walls are lit with the colours of a single lamp's rotating, circular lights. All the while, I'm wondering what I am worth, silent beside you, only for so long. And it wasn't until now that I've become aware how many circles interlock with the space of a room so perfectly square and it's got me thinking how perfect this is and so unfair. And my thoughts call me strange as six have subtracted themselves from the room. And we're side by side, a left and a right. Here comes the ghost to take all hope and there it goes. And your fingers are fixing my hair. We're only friends if anything if you were a circle, I'd be a square 'cause I am going nowhere. Nowhere.

credits

released December 16, 2022

Grotoko is:

Blue McLeod - lead vocals, other vocals, guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, viola, piano, glockenspiel, synthesizer, toy piano, singing saw, guitalele, accordion, flute, tin whistle, third trash can, tap shoes, bowed cymbal, bowed trash can lid, service bell, folding chair, spoons, door knock, water glasses, paper, typewriter, body percussion, rain sound effects, wind chimes

With help from:

Mark Bannister - drums, vocals, marching snare, first and second trash can, cabassa, shaker, djembe, actual fire

Shoshana Goldberg - viola (parts one and two in "Circles and Squares", shout vocals

Greg Rekus - shout vocals

Aaron Mainville - spoken line in "Holes", rain sound effects

More rain sound effects by Jordan Kling, and Maxwell Hamilton

Lyrics by Blue McLeod. Music by Blue McLeod and Mark Bannister
Engineered mixed and mastered by Mark Bannister
Artwork by Blue McLeod

Special thanks:
Yamin Weiss, Kade Reimer, Ophelie Petite, Martin Howell, Jesse Stein, Gabriel Frank, Micah Erenberg, Liam Duncan, Jay Joblinski, Katie Keeper, Kalvin Dzeidzic, Devin from Double Fang, Rish Hanco, Shane Patience, Cameron Cannon, Tannis Kelm, Paige Drobot, Jordan Kling, Allie Varey, Cody, Jeremy Simpson, Jeremy Carnigie, Kailtlyn, Jean, Sarah, Benjamin Hill, Jerry Semchychyn, Mackenzie Murta, Graham Hnatiuk, Derek Cherpako, Adam Cherpako, Andrew Morican, Shea Johnson, Brett Kartinen, Vanessa Clarke, Robert Mackey, Carson Mauthe, Bailee Woods, Anne-Marie and Blair Hill, Sydney Martens, JKS, Greg Rekus, Jesus the punkrocker, Aaron Mainville, Shoshana Goldberg, Maxwell Hamilton, Mark Bannister, Grotoko's listeners, and everyone else who donated to help with this project. Merci

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Grotoko Winnipeg, Manitoba

Grotoko is an art rock project, drawing inspiration from punk, grunge, and classical music. Its name is a collage of the words "rococo" and "grotesque".

Using melodic lines and a confessional, sometimes sarcastic, non-sense lyrical style, it is a celebration of emotions, attempting to create something mildly beautiful from some uglier things in human experience.
... more

contact / help

Contact Grotoko

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Grotoko, you may also like: