Charlatan brought such quality to the captivated crowd
But all along there were traps under their feet

In retrospect, there were such signs and signals
None of us recognized his photo on the walls
All we knew was that shiny things were so very pretty
Blanketed, choking on jewels in our jaws

Stop chanting and beating your chest
There's no cops
They've been chained in the cells and the stocks
Shut your eyes as the other shoe drops
Give a smile for the firing squad

Photographed, our mouths like open windows
Films and flags fought off the last of our resolve
The charlatan tripped the traps
We plunged feet-first into the gaps
Applauding as the earth collapsed

Pause
Your microscopes yield no fundamental flaws
Fall asleep to the clenching of jaws
When you wake up
Your eyes will be crossed from the blunt trauma of public relations

Charlatan brought such quality to the captivated crowd
But all along there were traps under their feet
Charlatan brought such falsity to the captivated crowd
But all along they were swallowing deceit
Charlatan brought such guarantees to the captivated crowd
But all along they were celebrating defeat
All along they were swallowing deceit
All along there were traps under their feet

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards | voice

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

paul ambro: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by various artists

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by various artists

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by various artists

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by anna harris

extra performance:

dennis harvey: keyboards

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering

...tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies with thick, smooth inner walls and warts. The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge. The flesh is a pale pinkish brown. The lower part is hairy. Moist fruit bodies can "bleed" bright red guttation droplets. The fungus is known by several names, "strawberries and cream", the "red-juice tooth", the "bleeding tooth fungus", and the "devil's tooth". It is usually densely covered with "hairs". Fresh fruit bodies exude a striking, thick red fluid when they are moist.

[from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii]

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards | noises

composition/production:

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar | voice

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards | voice

composition/production:

jason harvey: composition

paul ambro: composition

michael ambro: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording