thedropofahat
I really loved this track, Padraig. A new favourite. Loved the way the music falls apart at the end. Loved all the card metaphors too. Reminded me of a cards-themed track I wrote back in the day. I was proud of it at the time, but it never really made it off the page.
Favorite track: House of Cards.
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This is a song about a love affair with lots of card metaphors thrown in. It has nothing to do with Kevin Spacey. It features yours truly on vocals, acoustic guitar and glockenspiel, Matty Tyak on electric guitar, bass and drums, Kat Lumen on flute, and Sarai Martin on backing vocals. The umbrella moniker for the band/various people who play with me is The Band of Cloud. It was produced by Kester Jones and myself, and it will be on my upcoming new album Somewhere Between a Bar and the Stars.
The cover art comes from Boris Karloff's comic series Tales of Mystery issue #11 - House of Cards - 1965. The artist who painted the cover for the original comic is George Wilson.
Hope you enjoy!
lyrics
It was an illusion, a love of confusion, words and a place, a time and a face, with all of them fusing spinning into one it all came undone, back when all of the House of Cards came down
Everything blurred, everything I heard, all of the words got slurred as soon as you twirled around with me in that bar I knew I would fall hard, I knew that all of the House of Cards would come down
Chorus 1: I loved you baby, but it was paper thin, and you played that game with me,
And someone must win when life is a game, but it was not the same for me as for you
But I can’t blame you, you see you don’t have all 52
You’re a few cards loose of a full pack, but you didn’t crack, just picked yourself up again, up again…
I went looking for you, you’d turned out the lights, there was nobody home to the untrained eye
Well nobody waits, you’d already closed the gates, and all of the House of Cards had come down
Well Babylon man and a woman who don’t understand when he speaks all she hears is squeaks
Is it a man or a mouse with his watery eyes, she sees he’s already drowned and that all of the House of Cards has come down
Chorus 2: Well loved you baby, but it was paper thin and you played that game with me,
And someone must win when life is a game, but it was not the same for me as for you
Well you can’t blame me, you see I don’t have all 52
I’m a few cards loose of a full pack, but you didn’t crack, just picked yourself up again
And all of the diamonds, with all of your heart,
Pick up a spade go right back to the start
Join the club everybody gets mixed up sometimes,
Once upon a time you were the king
Back when all of the House of Cards was standing
Chorus 3: Well you loved me baby, but it was paper thin
And I played that game with you, and someone must lose when life is a game
But it was not the same for me as for you
Well you can’t blame me, you see I don’t have all 52, I’m a few cards loose of a full pack
But I didn’t crack, just picked myself up again, up again, up again, up again
And just like that in slow motion, but in reverse, everything that happened was undone like a curse
And when I turned to face the table I saw each and every one of them
All of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men
All of the House of Cards was standing up again
credits
released October 20, 2022
Padraig O'Connor - vocals, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, Matty Tyack - electric guitar, bass, drums, Kat Lumen - flute, Sarai Martin - backing vocals
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