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There Will Be No Intermission

by Amanda Palmer

supported by
Delenn
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Delenn So, here's my thing about this amazing thing. I've listened to every single thing of Amanda's that I could since 2008. So when I say I failed with this album, you'll understand how big that is. When this came out, I thought I'd get around to it later because I knew a bunch of the tracks on it already. I never got around to it. Now, I've heard it, and I'm broken. In the best way. I lost a dear friend this year, and I'm never going to get over it, but this album helps so much. Thank you, Amanda. Favorite track: Machete.
skyturtles
skyturtles thumbnail
skyturtles A classic in recent years for when my ears need a break from atmospheric death metal. Amanda Palmer is my favorite flavor of feminist poetry. Favorite track: You'd Think I'd Shot Their Children.
wheresdonnie
wheresdonnie thumbnail
wheresdonnie No better album to help with a terrible case of the past.
Favorite track: Machete.
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1.
2.
The Ride 10:13
Everyone’s too scared to open their eyes up But everyone’s too scared to close them Everyone’s frightened they don’t know what’s coming But everyone’s frightened of knowing Everyone’s reading the rules of engagement And everyone’s starting to doubt them Everyone’s reaching to put on a seatbelt But this kind of ride comes without them I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you I wish we could meet all the people behind us in line The climb to the crest is less frightening with someone to clutch you But isn’t it nice when we’re all afraid at the same time? And it’s just a ride It’s just a ride And you’ve got the choice to get off any time that you like It’s just a ride It’s just a ride The alternative’s nothingness, might as well give it a try Everyone’s terrified that they’ll be justified By the collapse that will happen Everyone’s placing their bets just in case The whole thing’s a profound disappointment Everyone’s trying to stay on the side Where the water’s just boiling more slowly Frogs in a pot, well that’s one thing I’ve got At least some of the frogs in here know me I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you The chain pulls us up and we know that we’re all gonna dive The blur and the noise of the screaming can blind and distract you But isn’t it nice when we all can scream at the same time? And it’s just a ride It’s just a ride And you’ve got the choice to get off any time that you like It’s just a ride It’s just a ride The alternative’s nothingness, might as well give it a try And as we all go down And as we all go round And as we pitch from side to side Everything is gonna be all right Everyone’s getting real scared to come out, Because coming out’s going down badly Feel the city breaking and everybody shaking, And I just want someone to hold me Some are too scared to let go of their children, And some are too scared now to have them Suicide, homicide, genocide, man That’s a fuck ton of sides you can choose from I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you I wish we could meet all the people who got left behind The ride is so loud it can make you think no one is listening But isn’t it nice when we all can cry at the same time? And it’s just a ride It’s just a ride And you’ve got the choice to get off any time that you like It’s just a ride It’s just a ride The alternative’s nothingness, might as well give it a try And as we all go down And as we all go round And as we switch from side to side Everything is gonna be just fine Everyone you love is gonna die Hopefully this song will come remind you That it’s just a ride It’s just a ride From the sister you miss To the father you don’t wanna write It’s just a ride It’s just a ride From the lover you left To the one that you’re frightened to find It’s just a ride It’s just a ride From the baby you lost To the one that you’re growing inside Come on out darling And don’t you cry It’s just a ride
3.
4.
You worship the sun, and you’re aching for change But you keep starving your heart And you used to have sisters, you don’t anymore You worship the sun But you keep feeding the dark And I’m out in the yard with my son and my daughter And the sky is all black and I think we should start running Running from the water And everybody’s yelling They’re yelling that they’re coming But I don’t see a single soul They’re all so busy yelling Not one of them is hearing The hissing from the bottom of the boat I got some feelings up my sleeve I got a compass in my arm I got a needle in my heart It’s gonna tell us where we are South by southwest, two miles from town I can’t get out, I can’t look down If you can hear, if you’re around I’m over here, I’m over here I’m watching everyone I love Drowning in the sound You worship the sun, but the moon’s in the way So get your armaments out She’s always looking for trouble She’s gonna get what’s been coming to her She’s switching the tides And we can’t have that shit around The television They’re blaring out a warning That our natural state is drowning That our natural state is burning And you’re trying to help And you’re clicking for change And you’re calling it out And you’re adding your name And you’re marching for peace But you’re lynching the bitch That got up in your face How else they gonna take you seriously? South by southwest, two miles from town I can’t get out, I can’t look down If you can hear, if you’re around I’m over here, I’m over here I’m watching everyone I love Drowning in the sound Your body is a temple And the temple is a prison And the prison’s overcrowded And the inmates know it’s flooding And the body politic is getting sicker by the minute And the media’s not fake It’s just very inconvenient Do you ever feel like this should be officially the end? And that you should be the one to do the ending, but you can’t? Do you ever feel like everyone is slowly letting go? Do you ever feel that, that incredibly alone? And they’re saying not to panic And it’s like a broken record As if anybody knows what that is And they’re saying that we’ll manage It’s the hottest one on record And they’re saying that that’s just the way it is Now I can taste it coming, I can taste it with my tongue And my children are so heavy, but I pick them up and run And I know I’ll have to swim soon, when the water gets too high I’ll keep holding them above me, I keep holding them and crying South by southwest, two miles from town I can’t get out, I can’t look down If you can hear, if you’re around I’m over here, I’m over here I’m watching everyone I love Everyone I love Everyone I love Drowning in the sound You worship the sun, and you’re aching for change But you keep starving your heart You used to have sisters, you don’t anymore You worship the sun But you keep feeding the dark
5.
6.
I have loaned a lot of things to a lot of friends Like dresses, and records, and books And a lot of the time, I never see them again And in a weird way I think that that works Cos the thing about things is they start to turn evil When you start to forget what they’re for So if you’re not sure what you did with my sweater I’ll just have to love you a little bit more I had a ring that belonged to my grandfather He was a Mason and gay And he was distant and bitter for all of my childhood We never had much to say He wasn’t the type to give tokens of affection So I stole the ring when he died And then twenty years on, when I lost it in a bar I thought “That’s fine, I don’t want him in my life” Cos the thing about things is that they can start meaning things Nobody actually said And if he couldn’t make something mean something for me I had to make up what it meant I can carry everything I need in one collapsing suitcase I can carry everyone I love in one phone application Built to maximize the face time Of the friends I’m bent on making Actually, I want to be alone To mourn the loss Of what it cost I think it’s a poem, and I think it keeps going And I’ve borrowed and loaned lots of things And three nights ago, in the bar where I lost it The bartender gave me the ring And I lay in bed with my phone in my hand Thinking “What can I fix with which app?” And I call my grandfather, but he doesn’t answer And I have to make peace with that fact Cos the thing about things is that they can start meaning things Nobody actually said And if you’re not allowed to love people alive Then you learn how to love people dead The thing about things is that they can start meaning things Nobody actually said And if you’re not allowed to love people alive Then you learn how to love people dead
7.
8.
Judy Blume 06:45
People keep asking me why I do things like I do And in all of this measuring influence I forgot you You and me lying behind the Monhegan Hotel And you told me things that nobody around me would tell That was the summer when everyone touched me at once It was like one day they ignored me, the next, they were all down my pants But you were in bed with me, safe, before anyone else You open beside me and held me when I needed help You and me lying together at night in my room You’ve been inside me forever, Judy Blume I couldn’t carry a tune but I thought I could sing And no one had told me yet thoughts were a good or bad thing But I started noticing grown-ups would smile and cringe And you taught me that you could say anything you could think I don’t remember my friends from gymnastics class But I remember when Deenie was at the school dance, Buddy feeling her up in the locker room Margaret, bored, counting hats in the synagogue Davey was stirring the tea that she wouldn’t drink Tony was watching his so-called friend shoplifting All of them lived in my head, quietly whispering: “You are not so strange” I don’t remember the details of seventh grade All I remember is lying and being afraid But I won’t forget Katherine and Michael going all the way Steph on the scale in the bathroom alone that day Karen pretending to puke so her dad would stay Margaret arguing with God while she masturbated All of them mixed up in my head like a love letter All of them saying, “Amanda, you know better You are not to blame The world’s a frightening place So go on and think how you want You will not be alone with your thoughts Well you will but you won’t in a way ‘Cause a girl thought it too in a book that the library bought” People will keep asking me why I do things like I do And from now on I’ll tell them Nick Cave, and I’ll talk about you Judy, I can’t believe sometimes that I’m an adult And the girls like I was think that I have this shit figured out You and me lying together at night in my room You’ll be inside them forever, Judy Blume
9.
10.
You’d think I’d shot their children From the way that they are talking And there’s no point in responding Cos it will not make them stop And I am tired of explaining And of seeing so much hating In the very same safe haven Where I used to just see helping I’ve been drunk and skipping dinner Eating skin from off my fingers And I tried to call my brother But he no longer exists I keep forgetting to remember That he would have been much prouder If he saw me shake these insults off Instead of getting bitter I am bigger on the inside But you have to come inside to see me Otherwise you’re only hating Other people’s low-res copies You’d think I’d learn my lesson From the way they keep on testing My capacity for pain And my resolve to not get violent But though my skin is thickened Certain spots can still be gotten It is typically human of me Thinking I am different two Friends hooked up to hospital machines To fix their cancer And there is no better place than From this waiting room to answer The French kid who sent an email To the website late last night His father raped him and he’s scared He asked me “How do you keep fighting?” And the truth is I don’t know I think it’s funny that he asked me Cos I don’t feel like a fighter lately I am too unhappy You are bigger on the inside But your father cannot see You need to tell someone, be strong And somewhere, some dumb rock star truly loves you You’d think I’d get perspective From my view here by the bedside It is difficult to see the ones I love So close to death All their infections and prescriptions And the will to live at all in question Can I not accept that My own problems are so small? You took my hand when you woke up I had been crying in the darkness We all die alone But I am so, so glad that you are here You whispered we are so much bigger on the inside You, me, everybody Some day when you’re lying where I am You’ll finally get it, beauty We are so much bigger than Another one can ever see But trying is the point of life So don’t stop trying, promise me
11.
12.
Machete 06:09
I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight What do I do with this stuff? It seems like yesterday I called you up I had a terrible case of the past I didn’t know how to get it off I didn’t know how to get it off And you took your machete And you sliced through the vines that wrapped around me And you said, “I don’t know what I’m doing So I’ll just keep on cutting It’s worth a little blood to get your arms free” I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight What do I do with this stuff? It seems like yesterday I was in love I kept on hardening the soft spots up I didn’t know how to get them off I didn’t know how to get them off And you took your machete And you hacked through the wood in the surrounding And you said, “I don’t know where I’m going I just know that I’m heading From the dead things piling up behind me” And you took your machete And you carved out a path to my chest And you said, “See? There’s nothing not worth keeping You’ve felt so many beatings But nothing’s gonna work if you believe me Nothing’s gonna work if you believe me” I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight I have never liked the box of knives You said was a paradox because you’re kind But withstood a childhood that robbed you blind Of love that was safe and so you learned to fight I have never liked the box of knives I took it to the oceanside the day you died I stood out on the dock, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t drop it in and I collapsed and cried What do I do with this stuff? It seems like yesterday you were alive And it’s as if you never really died And it’s as if you never really died And you took your machete You said, “Boo, guess who But seriously, beauty” You said, “See? You get the drill now, don’t you It’s not a will or won’t you Can’t keep making symbols out of nothing” So I took your machete And I sliced off your head And you laughed, and you said, “See? It’s just like anti-matter It’s Dumbo’s magic feather You don’t need me here to cut you You don’t need me here to cut you You don’t need me here to cut you You don’t need me here to cut you You don’t need me here to cut you free”
13.
14.
Jill, it’s Amanda, just waving from London I know that you’re going tomorrow, the hardest decision And I’ve been on the side of the phone for a month And I know you’re in hell and you know that I know what you’re feeling Life’s such a bitch isn’t it? When you have a baby, they throw you a party And then when you die they get together for a cry But no one’s gonna celebrate you No one’s gonna bring you cake And no one’s gonna shower you with flowers The doctor won’t congratulate you No one on that pavement’s gonna Shout at you that your heart also matters I’m not sure that you’ll get this in time, I don’t know if you’re checking your voicemail at all, but in case it’s the morning And you’re off of the green line and walking through Copley I want you to stop for a second, I want you to listen You don’t need to offer the right explanation You don’t need to beg for redemption or ask for forgiveness And you don’t need a courtroom inside of your head Where you’re acting as judge and accused and defendant and witness It’s a strange grief but it’s grief Look at all the women in the street You know the statistics, Jill Even though they may not help Isn’t it amazing How we can never tell Who is in an identical hell No one’s gonna celebrate you No one’s gonna bring you cake And no one’s gonna shower you with flowers The doctor won’t congratulate you No one on that pavement’s gonna Shout at you that your heart also matters No one’s gonna compliment you No one’s gonna nod their heart And wink in league with what you are pursuing No one’s gonna tie surprise balloons Onto your desk at work And no one’s gonna ask you how you’re doing But I’ll be back in Boston by next Thursday Why don’t I come over? I can bring some friends if you want us to come We can bring you cake and we can bring you flowers We can bring you wine and we can talk for hours Ukulele by request We’ll throw you the best Abortion shower
15.
16.
Our son is four months old, his name is Anthony, or Ash for short And he’s too small to do things by himself We were in L.A. over Christmas in a rental and we jury-rigged A place to change his diapers on a shelf I was peeing in the bathroom and had left for just a second Cos I thought he couldn’t move and he was safe As I came out I saw him falling in slow motion to the floor It was probably the worst moment of my life And then I accidentally stole a thing of ChapStick from the Safeway I didn’t see it ’til we got out to the car I would have usually returned it But I was overwhelmed and late to take the baby to my cousin’s Up in Carmel Bay In my defense I’d bought like 87 dollars worth of groceries And the ChapStick was a dollar ninety-nine I know it wasn’t the right thing to use my newborn child as an excuse But it felt like a good reason at the time And as I pulled out of the parking lot I cried And as I pulled on the highway I said, right At least the baby didn’t die At least the baby didn’t die And then we went to Sarasota To see Neil’s cousin Helen for her birthday She’d just turned ninety-nine We were also there for Sidney, who was ninety-four two days before But he was sick so mostly it was Ash and Helen time She survived the Warsaw ghetto, and she always says “I love you” When she sees you cos she knows you never know She’d worked for months while I was pregnant On a gorgeous handmade blanket Her almost-hundred-year-old hands crocheting every row I’d been emailing her pictures of the baby and the blanket Every day since she had sent it in the mail But they were of one that someone else had knitted She was really nice about it Then I went and shoplifted a pair of ugly sunglasses from Goodwill They were on my head I’d tried them on and left them there But that’s not really bad compared to When we left the baby in the car At least he wasn’t in there very long And not directly in the sun And thank God no one walking by happened to notice what we’d done I’m even scared to put these lyrics in a song But everything is relative And everyone’s related I can’t do that much right now But take care of this baby I figure everything is technically all right If at least this baby doesn’t die And then I took a plane to Washington alone so we could visit Jason Webley who’s his godfather and plays a mean accordion I couldn’t wait to see him and share tales of our disasters Over dinners in his houseboat When I saw I’d lost my passport So I got a rush appointment At the place where you replace them And I drove the baby in And on the way I got a speeding ticket When the cop came to the window I was shaking and I said, “I’m sorry” but you couldn’t hear me That’s how loud the sound of screaming was Cos he was hungry and I think that I was speeding Cos I panic when I hear him cry My God, what kind of mother am I? And as I pulled out of the breakdown lane I cried And as I pulled out on the highway, I said, right At least the baby didn’t die At least the baby didn’t die While I was waiting for my passport I was hungry so I twittered For a coffee in the neighborhood, and there I saw a woman Who was sitting at the bar And it was noon and she was drinking And she called across the diner to me, “How old is your baby?” And she smiled at us nursing and she said she had a daughter Who was grown and then she paused and said she also had a son And when I’d paid and was about to leave I picked him up and crossed the room and touched her sleeve I said, “Hey, this baby wanted to say hi” And she held him tight and started to cry And I’m sorry that this story’s gotten long And that everybody’s crying in this song And then I got back to the car and I turned the radio and heater on And sat there with the baby in the back And they were talking about Syria and climate change and ISIS And the candidates’ positions on Iraq I feel so useless in this universe I know I could be doing worse I’m trying hard to stay at peace inside I know it’s hard to be a parent But this mess is so gigantic I wonder if I should have had a child And as I pulled out of the parking lot, I cried And as I pulled out on the highway I said, right At least the baby didn’t die Right, at least the baby didn’t die At least the baby didn’t die At least the baby didn’t die I may not make it to the passport place on time (At least the baby didn’t die) And they might revoke my license for a while (At least the baby didn’t die) And I might get caught for retroactive theft (At least the baby didn’t die) And I might get turned into the DSS (At least the baby didn’t die) But at least the baby didn’t die
17.
18.
Remember the fair, mum? The two of us there, mum By the merry-go-round I stood there entranced As the bright horses danced To a magical sound Just a dollar for pleasure untold And I rode in a whirl of scarlet and gold Look mummy, no hands I’m riding the roundabout all by myself Look mummy, no hands I called as I passed her, faster and faster Hold on tight darling, she called out in fear But I laughed and pretended that I couldn’t hear How careless we are when we’re young Remember the years Of the sulks and the tears? Do you recall? I hated you when you said Be back by ten I knew it all Always asking to know what I’d done When as far as I knew, I was just having fun Look mummy, no hands I know how to take good care of myself Look mummy, no hands Please don’t be a bore, cos I know the score She tried to warn me, but I didn’t heed her I was grown up, and I didn’t need her How careless we are when we’re young Remember the daughter? And all that you taught her? She’s grown up at last With a child of her own She struggles alone As the years all rush past But now you’re not there to answer her call You’re not there to catch her when she stumbles and falls Look mummy, no hands I’m having to do it all by myself Look mummy, no hands I used to dismiss you, now I just miss you As my child grows away from me, I feel my heart sinking I look back and smile, and I find myself thinking How careless we are when we’re young
19.
20.
Death Thing 05:00
Let’s try to end on a pleasant note You’ve ended endless things, and you know how it goes You lick your wounds, put them in a jar on a shelf You lick a stamp on a letter to your old self You always liked being good at things, didn’t you? Isn’t it funny what a person can get used to? And now, just look what you’ve done I hope you’re happy, you’ve beaten everyone I think it’s fair to say the word is all over town Did he answer? No Did he answer? No Did he answer? No Not even a whisper, no So it’s over, yes So you know the drill You’re the expert You’re the expert You’re the expert Congratulations You’ve really got this death thing down You’re really good at making introverted people calm First grade fourth place standing broad jump Violent and velvet painting, slaughtering an ego taming You clocked a thousand hours baby, you can master all of them You can take an everlasting love and you can have it You don’t always get to pick what you get good at Now, look how far you’ve come You used to need them, and now you could lose everyone Without even blinking an eye So go on, put on your crown Did she answer? No Did she answer? No Did she answer? No Not a single heartbeat, no So it’s over, yes So you know the drill You’re the expert Congratulations You’ve really got this death thing down You’ve really got this death thing down You’ve really got this death thing down You’ve really got this death thing down Jai guru deva om Yeah, you’ve really got this death thing down

about

please note:
bandcamp did not demand, like other services (*cough* itunes *cough*), that we censor the cover artwork here. but people were trying to share this bandcamp link on facebook, etc, and their posts were getting flagged and/or deleted, so we threw up the censored artwork.

to learn more about this making of this record, go here:
www.patreon.com/posts/there-will-be-no-25219616 and go to www.AMANDAPALMER.net NOW to learn everything about the ALBUM, the ARTBOOK and the global song & storytelling tour.


this album, and all of the art i've been making over the last four years was funded by my patrons on patreon. people there support me, my staff, and my collaborators so we can draw a sustainable salary to MAKE ALL THE THINGS. come join to help me make MORE THINGS and get special merch, tour pre-sales, and all album news first for as little as $1/month. patreon.com/amandapalmer

credits

released March 8, 2019

musicians:

jherek bischoff - double bass, guitar, vibraphone, prepared piano, backing vocals
john congleton - drums, synths, sequencing
max henry - synths
amanda palmer - piano, ukulele, organ, synths, vocals
joey waronker - drums
jason webley - accordion

there will be no intermission was produced, mixed and engineered by john congleton
studio assistant: tyler karmen

recorded at: 64 sound, los angeles
mixed at: elmwood west
mastered by greg calbi at sterling sound, new york

all songs written by amanda palmer, published by eight foot music
administered by kobalt songs music publishing
except "look mummy, no hands" written by dillie keane

…….

all inter-song instrumentals were arranged and mixed by jherek bischoff

vibraphone, double bass, sub bass synth, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel recorded by jherek bischoff
violin, viola, and cello recorded by jaron luksa at the rattle room, los angeles

inter-song instrumental players:

double bass, sub bass synth, cymbals, bass drum:
jherek bischoff

cellos:
april guthrie
aniela marie perry

violins/violas:
laurann angel
madeline falcone
nicole garcia
paris hurley
rachel iba

vibraphone & glockenspiel:
jodie landau

the “baby didn’t die” choir:
anthony palacios
carly d. weckstein
charlotte kaufman
david goren
ian michaels
jherek bischoff
joy craig
kale chase
lisa schneider
marvel star de la cruz
michelle gibson
paul bellantoni
phoebe pinder
sara bartel
simon vance
theresa richardson
vanessa rodriguez
xine trevino


the original “machete” string players, sampled for this version of the song:

violin: crystal brooke alforque
viola: lauren elizabeth baba
cello: aniela marie perry

“machete” string arrangement by jherek bischoff
originally recorded by jaron luksa at the rattle room, los angeles

…….

sleeve photography: allan amato
insert photography: kahn & selesnick
stylist on kahn & selesnick shoots: regina harris

on the set:

piano stewards - ngo’e crossan, julius ross bright, philip marshall, nico deslis, joe yarabek and ben ranes

library dept.: justine marzack, ash

dress on inner sleeve designed by: marc littlejohn

album artwork designed by: andrew nelson at down in the valley creative

…….

thank you to my husband, neil gaiman, and to my son, ash-for-short david karl gaiman. i love you both so much.

special thanks to ben folds for the songwriting help on “drowning in the sound”, to my patrons for the lyric help on “drowning in the sound” & “the ride”, and to dillie keane for letting me cover her song. thank you to marco benevento for letting me borrow his studio for “the ride” songwriting session. and a huge thank you to all the engineers and musicians - all over the world - who hosted and worked on the extensive collection of recording demos for this record.

thanks to martin & everyone at cooking vinyl.

a massive, heartfelt thank you to the extended members of team AFP, all of whom worked with me over the course of the last seven years:

sean francis, eric sussman, superkate slepicka, bill hartman, jordan verzar, hayley rosenblum, alex knight and michael mccomiskey.

at fame house: nick rizzuto, brittney bomberger, megan rondeau, braxton carter, courtney catagnus, and mike sachetti.

you can always find me on the internet: @amandapalmer and at amandapalmer.net or just google, it’s 2019.

i love you all. we’re gonna be okay.

it’s just a ride.

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Amanda Palmer Boston

performer, writer, giver, taker, listener, love-lover, rule-hater and co-founder of the Brechtian punk cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls.

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