Get all 7 dKOTA releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Red Shift, bio_[il]logic, shape shifter [album single / free download], live with coffee and wine in an apartment_ [free download], our analog technology_ [solo], our analog technology_ [band], and the self-dyssimilar.
1. |
xanthous
03:46
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xanthous [12_19_10]
another room lets go of its light
another child holds on
scared of the night
dreams through fragile eyes
broken like shattered glass
another room holds onto the night
another child lets go of setting things right
innocent and alone
ghosts are the ones that know
so sweet among the walls of fear
home to a heart that bleeds
deaf to all the noise outside
blind to all the pain in sides
form shapes to lock up damaged souls
with the color of light darkness won’t let go
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2. |
a shivvver too deep
02:45
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a shivvver too deep [11_01_06]
here comes that feeling again
i know it all too well i’ve been there before
like cutting glass-made silhouettes with your teeth
the empty body here that used to be me
and i bleed a burgundy wine
another glass and you’ll be feeling just fine
a long black hallway where i whisper to death
she whispers gently and then sends me to rest
i’m sleeping soundly in this heaven or hell
they’re each so lonely i don’t think i can tell
and yet you want me inside
to be my lovely arctic shine
your love is ice to melt my shivers away
a breath of moonlight to brighten my day
i fracture deeply into you
bleeding wine
the taste of your love
the color of a weeping sun
your love is ice to melt my shivers away
like cutting glass-made silhouettes with your teeth
the empty body here that used to me
stars are painted up above you and i
like fallen angels decorating the sky
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3. |
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in her silver dress [06_17_10]
we can sail away
lift our arms into the night
with your crescent eye
lazy like the distant morning light
so speak to me from the shallow of your breath
whisper dreams while you dance in your silver dress
steady like a prayer
frozen in time behind scared eyes
frozen and alone
your silhouette carves out the night sky
so speak to me from the shallow of your breath
while you dance with my dreams in your silver dress
so take me away
and show me where the stars fall to the ground
my wishes scattered around like loose change
i want to sail to the edge and look down into the night
so dark
except for you
we can drift away
push ourselves off from the nearest star
constellation lines
drawn in our wake from afar
so speak to me from the shallow of your breath
while i slip between you and your silver dress
oh, dear
i’m so cold
pick me up and take me in
your beauty warms me deep within my soul
i’m alive
i’m alive
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4. |
beauty when she cries
04:08
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beauty when she cries [08_27_10]
she’s beauty when she cries
like a rainstorm in july
to wash away the fire of a hurtful day
i just can’t deny those looks within her eyes
when she’s put herself out there on the line
i just want to be the one that she can see
when the world has left her blinded in the dark
and even if it’s me that’s weakening those eyes
her sunshine tears make me try again
she’s beauty when she cries
like the sun’s lonely goodnight
to lead the way for the hopes of another day
i just can’t deny that love within her eyes
when she shows up with no words left to say
so i just want to see the one that she can be
when the world has left her blinded in the dark
and even if it’s me that’s weakening those eyes
her sunshine tears make me try again
she makes me want to try again
don’t let her down
don’t let her down
don’t let her down again
she’s beauty when she cries
like an angel’s broken sigh
too light to fall and ever hit the ground
i just can’t deny that heaven in her eyes
when the clouds open to make it seem all right
it’s beauty when she starts to smile
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5. |
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if i could be [09_22_07]
just another night all alone
silent is the only mode on my phone
i guess that’s alright
sirens singing me lullabies
when the city streets laugh they sound like cries
i guess that’s alright
if i could be what you need
tell me please and i’ll try to succeed
that i can believe
that i can make you smile, and laugh, and sing
and want to lie with me now
i won’t touch you
i’ll just look at you and dream
just another night to lie in my bed
to dream about all those things that you said
i guess i’m alright
chords to play without a melody
but would you even listen if i could sing?
i guess i’m not alright
if i could be what you need
tell me please and i’ll try to believe
that i can succeed
to make you smile, and laugh, and sing
and want to lie here and be with me now
i won’t touch you
i’ll just look your way and dream
if i could lie to you
to get you to side with me
believe in us and in me just tonight
i’d take you home and sing to you
and be the song you never knew
if i could be yours for just tonight
i’d be fine
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6. |
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will you? [08_27_10]
will you love me as i am?
take me here and now
and show me what it means to share?
this time alone with you
to fill this empty room
and dream away the day for the night
i’m sorry that I’m scared
but i’m still wounded from love
will you let me sing a song?
and let me be the one?
i don’t want to die here all alone
i know i’m a little strange
a ghost to all the rest
but i hope that you can love me all the same
because i’m not a afraid to love
just afraid to lose
but i know i’ll lose your love if i don’t risk it all for you
so i’m sorry that i’m scared
but i’m still wounded from love
will you love me as i am?
and take me by my hand?
will you?
because I’m not afraid to love
just afraid to lose
but I know I’ll lose your love
if I don’t risk it all for you
so will you take me here and now?
though I’m different from the rest
but I hope that you can love me for it
and help me be my best
for that I’ll love you as you are
and help you be your best
i will...
will you?
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7. |
saved
04:14
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saved [11_10_09]
it’s been too long since I tried
it’s been so long since I felt alive
side by side under the moon
above night lights
sing to me and you
it’s your cue to run somewhere and hide
a swallowed key locks scars of disbelief
while i carve my silhouette into fake photographs
bleeding out yesterday
so do i let you sink down to the bottom
to find for yourself that it’s rotten
how many times do i stand aside
and watch you dive into the deep
asleep but so sweet
i promise i won’t let you down
if you promise to try and stick around
but i think there’s just one thing that you should know
that you can save yourself but still lose your soul
so say goodnight, sweet child
so i can cry all alone
just turn around and walk away
towards that fake tomorrow light
it’s as real as today
so do i let you sink down to the bottom
to find for yourself that it’s rotten
how many times do i stand aside
and watch you dive into the deep
asleep but too deep to wake
dear child
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8. |
no weather for the tired
04:36
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no weather for the tired [05_01_10]
would you like to sing another song for me dear?
‘cause i can’t hear my own voice
it’s drowned out by every prayer to the one
that answers only with noise
so all i can do is wait around for the rain
and pray that it can wash away pain
‘cause all i can see are the fields of yesterday’s refrain
would you like to stay another night with me dear?
‘cause i’ve got no one but the moon
her sole watchful eye paints the valleys below
with the dust of every hope for the muse
so all i can do is lie around in thirsty shame
and sip away minutes to daze
and all i can see are the sins upon the walls
trap souls in an impossible maze
yet i don’t want to be the one to write down how it ends
this ink ain’t that heavy with blood
so i’ll ride another night through the storm of my shame
for you
yet i’d rather die alone with my pen to forge the plan
than to live my life by someone else’s hand
so please bring the rain if that’s the weather that it takes
to carve pride onto my grave
would you like to sing another song for me dear?
because I can’t hear my own voice
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9. |
a cold kiss goodnight
05:24
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a cold kiss goodnight [05_18_09]
maybe it’s time for me to head on my way
because the way you look at me is more than i can say
but i’m not here to tell you where you think i am
i’m just here to leave
and i’ll tell you again...
that i’ll walk all over you
i’ll walk all over you
maybe tonight you think that i’ll be the one
but baby tonight i’m alone
and that’s the way that i want this song
you may be the love the set things on fire
because the way you kiss my lips
oh, sweet desire
but your love’s not a note that this song can sing
i’m just warning you
and i want you to see...
that i’ll walk all over you
and i’ll walk all over you
maybe tonight you think that the war is won
but baby tonight you’ve lost
and you’ll see it with the sun, alright
please let me go
because a cold kiss hello is how i say goodnight
baby, i’m not the one
so sleep well, my dear
and dream it up again
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10. |
alone, as we are
03:24
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alone, as we are [10_21_11]
the time is never right
the time is never right to let things go
let things go and give up the fight
there is no right or wrong
no one cares how you live until you die
we can never own
we can never own anything we believe
until we’d had to risk it all to survive
it’s the tears we cry to feel alive
so why do we cry when we die?
we are all alone
we are all alone to fight ourselves
to find ourselves in the night
daylight brings shadows
hope just lifts us up to let us down
so why do i try to feel alive?
moments pass along
breathing clouds and the rain
singing songs in the pain
to show us what we’ve gained
we can never know
we can never know what we can’t control
what we control is what we believe to survive
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11. |
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the sudden clamor of silence [08_26_11]
where will i run
where will i hide
when it’s time to look inside
where is the love
where is the light
without fear of what is right
when everything is all wrong
it’s so quiet outside
i hear everything
where will i fall
where will i land
without ground from which to stand
when everything is all air
it’s so quiet outside
so loud from torn insides
where will i fall when i run into the silence
of all that i’ve loved and lost
it’s a pretty violence
of everything
everywhere
all i fear
and all i hear
it’s too much inside
to let it out
let it out
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dKOTA Portland, Oregon
dKOTA explores expansiveness, dynamics, unexpected progressions, and heartfelt lyrical expression. The project is lead by songwriter and vocalist, Dustin Johnsen. Dustin’s songwriting layers an amalgam of sonic textures, dissonance and resolve, and intentional rough edges. ... more
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