Yellow Ostrich

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Make it Make Sense (EP) coming out January 27  

‘Soft’ vinyl has finally arrived, get it here
Yellow Ostrich

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Like a Bird: An Alex Schaaf Anthology (2010-2021) coming out on March 26th.  

The Mistress Deluxe Edition out now, get the vinyl here


COSMOS


release date: February 1, 2014
as: Yellow Ostrich
on: Barsuk Records
format: digital, vinyl, CD

PURCHASE THE ALBUM





SONGS


Terrors
Neon Fists
Shades
My Moons
You Are The Stars
In The Dark
Any Wonder
How Do You Do It
Things Are Fallin‘
Don’t Be Afraid

LYRICS


Terrors

I know you wanted me to lay low
I know you ache for me, but don’t show
I know you wanna let go

The trip is quick, I promise you that
You barely notice a thing, so relax
I wanna make it easy on you

cause I’m the terrors in your eyes

The view is beautiful, can’t you see?
It takes the breath and the life out of me
It makes me wanna lie down
cause I’m the terrors in your eyes

Neon Fists

When I wake
I feel tired in a new, strange way
When I rise
I barely notice the neon fists in my way

And it all keeps turning round
And it makes me nervous now

There are walls
and there are windows
but I’m not afraid of them
cause I get stuck trying to tear down
all the doors into my head

So tell me you’re in control
Tell me you got my backup
Tell me you’re on a roll
Tell me you’ll never let up
Tell me I fucked it up
but you can make it all better
Tell me you’re on a roll
Tell me you got my answer
Say it

cause I’m fighting through the walls and doors
and I’m trying to get up off the floor
cause I send my love across the room

So tell me you’re in control
Tell me you got my backup
Tell me you’re on a roll
Tell me you’ll never let up
Tell me I fucked it up
but you can make it all better
Tell me you’re on a roll
Tell me you got my answer
Say it

Shades

I wanna sleep but I dream too much
I wanna think but I run too much
Is it true?
That little speck of blue?

I wanna scream but I know too much
I wanna cry but I’ve seen too much
is it true?
Is that for me and you?

Pull the shades down and never let go
You belong here so you don’t need to know why
they’re running headless now
Sit alone with the pictures that I drew
I can build any universe for you, see?

The stars are nice in a museum
but when you touch them you feel too much
is it true?
are they a part of you?

So pull the shades down and never let go
It worries me too but I will never show
See the way it bounces off
Sit alone with the pictures that I drew
I can build any universe for you, see?

I see you swimming in a sea of lava
My feet are tied to the shore
i see you flying in a burning missile
I see you flying in a burning missile, no!

So just try to close your eyes
All that shit, it never hits you
Just try to close your eyes
You don’t walk, you never fall through
So just try to close your eyes

Pull the shades down and never let go
It worries me too but I will never show

My Moons

Yeah I know that you’re busy now
Don’t you love when you can’t be found?
All alone in the orange night
Find a cave, and they’ll flush you out
But find a crowd ‘til you wanna shout
Hiding under the brightest light

My moons bring me silence
and I am glad for it
Your smile brings me sadness
but I do long for it

Can you build me a bigger house?
Can you work from the inside out?
I wanna see all the sky above
I try to like all the things you love
Does it hurt you when you get cold?
Does it kill you when you get old?
High above, you don’t ever know
High above, you don’t feel the cold

My moons bring me silence
and I am glad for it
Your smile brings me sadness
but I do long for it

I wanna float on by

You Are The Stars

You are the stars
that run and run through my veins
and I’m reaching up
to touch and feel on my face
I know you belong
to others, I’m not alone
but let me pretend
you’re all I ever have known

I can feel you
running much too fast
The race is long, you’ll never last
I can see you
Can you see me?

I lick the grass
I swim in the dirt
I spit in the air
I feel what it’s worth
So untie your shoes
and run and run through the dark
Don’t be too long
cause you’re all I ever have known

I can feel you
running much too fast
The race is long, you’ll never last
I can see you
Can you see me?

In The Dark

Set sail with me and I’ll let you run the wheel
I know it’s looking bad, but see how it feels
Float on alone and find out what you really need
in the dark

I can’t wait ‘til you see it all

We’ll float to shores that have no name in any book
They’ll write about us, how we helped the world look
With you beside me, I don’t care if I am found
in the dark

I can’t wait ‘til you see it all

Any Wonder

What is mystery
what is still unknown?
We can claim it all
We can close the door

But I wanna lay down
be swallowed by the sound
I wanna feel small, don’t you?

What’s beyond my scene
what I’ll never know
It escapes me
I’m trying to watch the show

I’m gonna try hard
to tear it all apart
I wanna be stunned, don’t you?

Is there any wonder?
(not here)

You’re my mystery
you’re my great unknown
You’re my foggy night
you’re my open door

I’m on a full sprint
to cover all of it
I wanna be small,  don’t you?

Is there any wonder?

How Do You Do It

How do you start when you know it’s gonna end?
How do you wait, if you never plan ahead?
How do you laugh when you see what makes you cry?
How do you sleep at night
when you know you’re gonna
die?

How do you do it?

How do you love when you know I’m gonna leave?
How do you walk around and believe all that you see?
I know you’re sure, I know you made up your mind
I won’t be next to you, but there’s gonna be a line

How do you do it?

It’s all been written down in stone
Not by a man, but by a code
This thing is built so that it’s always gonna fail
so how do you climb aboard when it’s flying off the rails?

How do you do it?

Things Are Fallin’

Things are fallin’
and I’m grinnin’
The police, they can’t reach down to scratch my eye
Things are fallin’
and we’re even
I won’t ask you to pretend or try to lie

Madelyn
Look straight up at the sun
I swear it hurts no one
but we’ll see

Things are fallin’
And I freeze them
Play them back at half the speed, we’ll make it work
They are flying
I am trying
to convince you that I’ve never been so sure

Madelyn
Look straight up at the sun
I swear it hurts no one
but we’ll see
Madelyn
I can’t begin to think
of how better off we’ll be
Can’t you see?

Don’t Be Afraid

Don’t be afraid
These people tear at you
but they don’t have time
to do more than try
so don’t be afraid

The city bleeds red
it takes more than I can bear
but outside these walls
a quiet voice calls
“don’t be afraid”

I know you are lost
I know there’s some kind of doubt
but if I am fake
don’t let me wake
and don’t be afraid

and all the things I said to you
and all the things I know you wanna do
They seem distant now
but soon they’ll be found
so don’t be afraid

Don’t be afraid
Don’t be so hard to find
You bring all your friends
when you reach the end
so don’t be afraid


CREDITS


Yellow Ostrich is:
Alex Schaaf
Michael Tapper
Zach Rose
Jared Van Fleet

Recorded in Brooklyn, February-October 2013.
Engineered by Beau Sorenson
Mixed by Paul Kolderie

Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Maria Rice

Additional recording by Darby Cicci
Additional drum recording
at The Drawing Room, Kingston, NY

Photograph [ Broken Fall (Geometric) Westkapelle, Holland, 1971 ] by Bas Jan Ader,
courtesy of the Estate of Bas Jan Ader and Patrick Painter Editions

Layout and design by Michael Fusco

We’d like to thank Ryan Matteson, Beau Sorenson, Paul Kolderie, Josh Rosenfeld and everyone at Barsuk, Trey Many
and everyone at Billions, Patrick Painter, Darby Cicci, Justin Rice, Darbie Nowatka, Michael Fusco, and all our family and friends.

VIDEOS