← more from
Household Ink Records
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.

post​-​Polka

by Headless Household

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8.50 USD  or more

     

1.
Days of the Week 05:31
lyrics
buy track
Days of the Week J. Woodard You woke up in a sour manner, a touch of evil in the morning air Confusion breeds contusions, nothing that a day won't cure I woke up in a suit of armor, I had it marked up on the calendar Bad Tuesday, your bad news day, tell me when the fury's over CHORUS: Why do the days of the week have such control of our lives? You don't have to speak, before you know which day's arrived From Monday to Sunday, from fallow to fun day We're taken for a ride By the days of the week, those crazy days of the week They've got us numb and hypnotized No one is homesteading the future No one has eyeballs on the great unknown But days come and weeks go like dizzy dancers, toe-to-toe We learned the hard way about feelings They ride the roller coaster day-to-day Feel this you feel that, they're Nothing more than feelings that day BRIDGE: Hypnotized, no explanations necessary Mesmerized, life doesn't seem like it's so scary In your eyes, I see a new tomorrow A new sunrise just like the old ones that we used to know copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
2.
A World Without Polka 03:33
lyrics
buy track
A World Without Polka J. Woodard There is something so cold and so bleak About a world without polka You can keep your cheek-to-cheek We'll polka 'til the break of day This world is like a dizzy puzzle The pieces fit together On the table, if you're able Find the logic--that's the polka There is something so bitter and so sweet About the world within polka It's not only music, don't refuse it Accordions are phones from heaven Grab your glib and swanky partner Head down to the Lodge Where joints are lubed and limbs are loose That's the high life--that's the polka BRIDGE In a world without polka, there's no reason to believe We're lumbering through mazes, suffering through crazes In a world without polka, it's a paler shade of white The scenic routes have all been closed, the beer's out for the night There is something so tender and dear About a room chock full of polka You bind your feet to bouncing beats Dance your way to polka heaven copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
3.
Wyatt's Burp 02:41
info
buy track
4.
Puck's Polka 04:51
info
buy track
5.
Moderate Moderation 04:00
lyrics
buy track
(Rota-polka style) Moderate Moderation J. Woodard Intro (with whistling, chromatic harmonica, and/or female voice): E6 / / AbM7 / / F13 / FM7/6 / F6 / F 6 (b9) / F m6 / F m6 (M7) / Ab + / / E6 / / AbM7 / / F13 / FM7/6 / F6 / F 6 (b9) / F m6 / F m6 (M7) / Ab + / D + G13 A13 If I could moderate moderation, oh what a blissful thing D7 Ab 7 (b5) I’d wear a different outfit daily B 7 (b9) E 6 Ab M7 I’d know exactly when to grin, and precisely when to flash a scowl F13 / FM7/6 / F6 / F 6 (b9) / F m6 / F m6 (M7) / Ab + / D + If I could navigate conversations, and know when the laughter comes I’d be a happy campout sailing I’d know exactly how to please, and understand the need to be the one E (add 9) D 13 B/C# C# 13 I’m looking at the sky, with eyes so tightly closed F# m9 C 6 + B sus 13 B7 My feet are gripping earth, but floating in my toes If I could stop trying to remember, and trying to trace my roots And be the sunshine on my skin I’d brush away these pallid blues, oh, you can never know the shape I’m in It’s like I’m doomed to this moderation, a life in the middle zone I know exactly what I’m not But don’t expect me to reveal, the inner truth of how I really feel I’m looking at the sky, with eyes so tightly closed My feet are gripping earth, but floating in my toes copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
6.
Of Waltzes 03:20
lyrics
buy track
Of Waltzes J. Woodard I could write waltzes for you Until my heart was turning blue I dream of dancing a roundelay Spinning 'til the emptiness goes away I could sing waltzes for you Until your ears are turning blue I sold my soul for a song Now I'm looking just to pass it along Picturing us in a room Softly discussing the moon Matching my east with your west Putting this thing to the test I could dance waltzes with you Until the hour was turning blue Call me romantic or coy Just liberate the heart inside this little boy copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
7.
We're on Another Level 02:18
info
buy track
8.
Turnip of the Year 01:44
info
buy track
9.
Spencer the Polka Dispenser 03:31
lyrics
buy track
Spencer the Polka Dispenser J. Woodard There is a man, does every little thing he can For a touchy-feely frenzy He's the nighthawk's pet He'll take a stand for the rights of party omnivores He's a warrior of pleasure He's a gardener of delights (Polka, polka, polka party poopers) Are you a man or a marionette? Life in a puppet state of bliss In the gospel accordion to the polka party bible There is a stage, it's full of open microphones Vienna to Valhalla, the endless beat goes on This little town could barely keep from blowing up But the merriment dispensers are keeping up the fight He's just the boy with the two big heads, painting the town again In the gospel accordion to the polka party bible If the squeeze box is too intense And the tuba's refrain is too insane Heed the gospel accordion to the polka party bible copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
10.
Picture of Health 05:37
info
buy track
11.
Divertimental 04:04
info
buy track
12.
Splinkety Polka 03:03
lyrics
buy track
Splinkety Polka J. Woodard Pernickety folks and splinkety polka Live on the other side of town Swapping their licks in lickety splitsville Salivaton on the run Rickety theme parks, hawking their thrills Selling adrenaline highs Snicker at danger, snuffing out anger Singing major scales at night Down in the underground, underneath the things we know What is it, “on the town,” when no one’s really running the Show Bridge: You never know a tune until you steal it And then you have to face the music police They’re listening and on the patrol Sniffing around the world for larcenous tunes Alter the melody and shuffle the beat And still you may be culpable Until you confess your original sin, until you confess your original sin Hocketing tunes and pocketing grooves Sweat ‘n’ sound confectioneers Splitting the difference of musical inference With a mind to keep the peace Doing our time in splinkety polka Life in another universe Swapping our riffs in riffety splitsville Celebration on the run copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
13.
Here's to the Heimlich Maneuver 04:29
lyrics
buy track
Here's to the Heimlich Maneuver J. Woodard (A Dance Hall Parable) Let's hoist back a few until we are in view of forever, Of forever They say heaven is a place where nothing ever happens If you're clever, if you're clever Meanwhile, back here on earth, the hot pursuit of mirth Is a fever Desire is a bad and wondrous river CHORUS Here's to the arms that give a little squeeze Here's to the birds that contemplate the breeze Here's to the mind that takes its own sweet time Here's to the Heimlich maneuver We could be dancing along, with spirits in some other dimension When flesh turns to butter and skeletons are turning into rubber You're weak at the knees, your sense are seized by a vision Or is just a mental collision? CHORUS BRIDGE Here's to the arms that give a little squeeze Here's to the birds that contemplate the breeze Here's to the mind that takes its own sweet time Here's to the Heimlich maneuver Here's to the lips that say "here's to the lips" Here's to the sight of swaying little hips Here's to the floor that holds my love-in-store Here's to the Heimlich maneuver We could be lost in a song, delivered like a box of silly putty When the feeling comes on, a tickle in the bones of everybody The flailing of limbs can make up for your sins, it's a given Hugging like your life depended on it CHORUS, OUT… copyright 2003, by Joe Woodard
14.
Bolka 05:50
info
buy track

about

For its sixth feature-length album, "post-Pplka," Headless Household gets deep into the business of polka, as theme, variation, and landing strip. Two years in the making, Headless Household's newest CD is a set of variations on a polka theme, traditional and utterly otherwise... with multiple guests, including Julie Christensen (The Divine Horsemen, Leonard Cohen), Tom Buckner, Nate Birkey, Jeff Elliott, Jeff Kaiser, Glen Phillips, Spencer Barnitz, Ellen Turner, Allegra Heidelinde, Shelly Rudolph, Tom Ball (Ball and Sultan), Bill Flores, Sally Barr, Jim Connolly (bass and musical saw), Kenny Edwards, David Piltch, and others...

From Greg Drust's liner notes:

“One of the last unexplored realms of Americana is the rich and colorful tapestry of European-American polka music. Charlie Mingus was to have said, `White man, study your polkas.’ Here Headless Household playfully has opened the songbook…This project is buoyant, contemporary and original. Influences from the German, Polish, Scandinavian, Tejano, Klezmer and American Country/Western polkas are obvious. Yet all of these elements kaleidoscopically dance and blend in a joyous celebration of life and music…”

--Greg Drust, Milwaukee-based Polka DJ/ scholar, in his liner notes for "post-Polka"

credits

released June 5, 2020

Cover photo by Richard Ross, CD design by Ted Killian

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Headless Household image

Headless Household Santa Barbara, California

New music combo Headless Household (b. 1983) slices across genres and pursues better living through eclecticism. Discography: Balladismo (2015), Basemento (2010), Blur Joan (2005), post-Polka (2003), mockhausen (2000), Free Associations (1999), ITEMS (1995, Inside/Outside USA (1993), and Headless Household (1987)... all on the in-house Household Ink label. ... more

contact / help

Contact Headless Household

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Headless Household, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now