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.
/

  • 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

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

In 1609, it was a starving time. In this story, powder is not makeup but salt. Also, the word carbonado'd meant barbecued. By the way, it is said that one of the supply ships, Sea Venture, which didn't make it to Jamestown was the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest. Thus, I included a few lines from the Bard of Avon.

lyrics

1. The Powdered Wife (1609)

There was a beggar by the name of John
Opened his ear to a promoter
For the Virginia Company
“Come to the New World
See for yourself
The fortunes that await”
The beggar boarded the ship
That set sail
On a venture
Full of hope and fear
After docking in Jamestown
John kissed the ground
Chased prosperity
And a sweet wife
Rather than toil for a golden vegetable
The people prospected metal
They packed a ship
Sent it back home
Only to learn it was fool’s gold.
A supply ship left Plymouth
But it was swallowed by the sea
Its people’s bones turned to coral
Their eyes to pearls
By the winter of 1609
It was a starving time
Of naked misery
One man pilfered two pints of oats
The company made him rue the day
They punctured his tongue
Chained him to a post
Left him to starve to death
Hunger seized everyone
The horses, cats, and dogs none were safe
They cut up the leather of their shoes
And had nothing to drink
But brackish water
The hunger pushed beggar John to think
Of his sweet wife
She was so sweet and savory
In her sleep, he took her life
Chopped her into pieces
Powdered each one up
One night he roasted her steak
The next boiled some cheek
Finally, he found her best carbonado’d
The rest of the company
Grew suspicious
Of his lusty looks
Most pernicious
The company put him on trial
Then argued over his fate
Of the monster they said
They did not create
Bash in his skull
Stab him in the belly
Instead they tied him to a stake
Stoked a raging fire
As he was burning
His gut was turning
All of the Virginia Company
Heard his cry:

“So much pain and misery
For trying to live happily
No today
No tomorrow
Where can we drown our sorrow
So much woe and misery
Chasing prosperity
What is here today
Is gone tomorrow
Hunger only brings sorrow”

credits

from Weird, Sordid, & Deadly But True Tales of America (1609 - 1906), released January 29, 2015

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Peter Ellis image

Peter Ellis Los Angeles, California

When not suffering from moral turpitude, morbid fixations, and delusions of grandeur, I am taking my coffee very seriously.

My favorite albums of 2014:

Ariel Pink's Pom Pom,
Luluc's Passerby, Real Estate's Atlas,
Stephen Malkmus' Wig Out at Jagbags, Pallbearer's Foundation of Burden,
Ty Segall's Manipulator,
and
J Mascis' Tied to a Star ... more

contact / help

Contact Peter Ellis

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Peter Ellis, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now