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Too Much World

by The Tiny Mummies

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1.
The Downpour 03:32
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The downpour takes me, it wakes as it shakes me; breaking dark sculpture overtakes the city Lifeline teeters, falls out of reach, stretch and beg to just touch on its leash Smell the approach of the wet black sash, a gash in the clouds with a flash and a crash Patiently wait for the storm to grace me; its cold wet touch potent with agency The downpour finds me, clears my mind as it binds me; soaked with a smile the storm it reminds me Penetrated by black rain that’s flooding my brain, I crave a smoke so urbane – I restrain To dance with my arms open wide to the sky, I feel so alive I feel I could fly To celebrate that I feel cold and feel wet, I’m able to draw a breath as of yet High-pressure wash An army of cups Mighty brown rivers Carry away The filth of the city and the Beautiful people The downpour demands a stand, a slow hand; an unhurried walk ‘cross urban marshland Those that remain are the stains: the pained, barely sane, those who’ve failed to attain Shadows that lurk in the cracks – haunting the city from makeshift scrap shacks Wearing their uniform: dark hoodies and caps, a few other rags to help fill in the gaps The downpour cleans torn jeans of the teens and me and the silent that teem ‘neath the scenes They haven’t slept and they look unkempt; I am their kind they seem to accept As I step by they laugh and they nod – I’m not part of their squad, a façade of the odd Nursing cheap beers in the rain, back on their game, the beautiful hidden again
2.
There You Are 02:19
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I walk in and there you are Laughing with your friends sitting at the bar Frozen in the headlights staring at the rushing car The rushing car You glance You know Pretend Not to know You glance You know Pretend Not to know While I walk back out in the cold and the snow While I walk back out in the cold and the snow While I walk back in the cold and the snow A messy old memoir, nothing more to know
3.
When This Clown Is Gone 04:48
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Counting withered ash trees while descending a hill Picking a raw skinned knee from so many falls The end of a long journey finally in sight How is it that I wandered the whole way? It could have been a much better trip If I’d spent some time planning it No one will know I’ve been there When this clown is gone Try to hear the dying echoes Of some unheard song In the stillness of air fills a song that everyone knows Far down the path, crickets play their lonely tune And toads cry a beautiful chorus of deep longing Forlorn rays of dying sunlight Tickle cotton billows with purples and peaches Reflecting my own fading embers of blaze and wonder No one will know I’ve been there When this clown is gone Try to hear the dying echoes Of some unheard song
4.
Going Down 03:26
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5.
El Gordo 03:08
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El Presidente addresses the state The people plan a massive fiesta El Gordo sings to honor the man A ten piece band sets up on the stand Has them dancing from here to Oaxaca This big fiddle man who hails from Chihuahua Guards stash machine guns and pistols Ready to protect their Los Pinos Chief ends to rousing applause The people unaware they’re caught in his jaws Has them dancing from here to Oaxaca This big fiddle man who hails from Chihuahua El Gordo gets his famed violin Backstage they see nothing within No fiddle, instead a handgun Seven twenty-five and it’s all done Has them dancing from here to Oaxaca This big fiddle man who hails from Chihuahua
6.
Attentionista 04:03
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Gentle so gentle So as not to startle Extract you from your Tiny black coffin Unpredictable Unpredictable Into the drab world Drab world You’re not ready yet You keep pulling back Gratification Instant soothed ego Proof you are special Left silent and still Come away with us Throw off your lifeline Live the ragged life Full of random luck Make one for yourself My little Attentionista
7.
Two Women Overheard in a Greasy Spoon 03:59
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8.
Moving Through 04:31
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Lonely minds wander Fight to keep focus
9.
Witness 06:30
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Struggle for breath make it one more day Bleeding to death brittle bone skin grey Witness stand there Catch my death in pictures and posts, pictures and posts Witness stand there Merchants smile while collecting their gold, collecting their gold Parasites can’t get it – they’re killing the host They say they help the ones they’re hurting the most Witness stand there Kill time while the experiment fails, experiment fails Witness stand there Pour your greed right there on the scale, there on the scale No funeral, mourner, or wreath A new crop of homeless with mouths to feed Counting bullets stab a brother for bread Lemmings miss the poison spread to the head Spread to the head

about

      The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness
      And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,
      And for me, now as then, it is too much,
      There is too much world.
      -Czesław Miłosz, The Separate Notebooks

I was introduced to this poem in the first few pages of "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" by John Koenig. This book was in turn was introduced to me by Cameron aka Venus Theory, a sound designer, musician, and YouTuber. IMHO both are excellent, although I recognize not everyone would be as smitten with them as I am. That's the beauty of the world's incredible diversity.

This poem, and specifically the phrase "too much world" really struck me when I read it. After learning a bit more about Czesław, it also seems very appropriate for his life. A Polish-American poet, diplomat, and professor, he survived WWII as part of the resistance, lived in several countries afterwards (including being stateless), and won a Nobel Prize for Literature. A life that I could see might sometimes be too much.

I don't think "too much world" is necessarily bad. It's not overwhelmed, but a melancholy on how vanishingly small our perspective is. We'll never know a fraction of what there is to know. We will never experience what the world has to offer except through a tiny peephole. It makes me want to open that vista wider, much wider.

This album is a blink of an eye I offer you through my peephole.

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released November 8, 2023

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The Tiny Mummies Ottawa, Ontario

The Tiny Mummies is an ongoing musical project by Andy Gryc, who is endlessly inspired in the pursuit of creative musical expression.

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