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Before We Are Epitaph feat. Vanessa Kisuule

from Boat Building by Tongue Fu

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  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition black vinyl version of our new album. Mastered by Grammy Award winning Lewis Hopkin. Colour sleeve and label. Designed by David Cuesta of Creative R&D. Limited to 300 copies.

    Please note - postage costs to UK are 1st class standard. If you'd like it sent second class, please reduce postage by 65p. If you'd like it sent registered/signed for please contact us directly.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Boat Building via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 300 

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition black vinyl version of our new album. Mastered by Grammy Award winning Lewis Hopkin. Colour sleeve and label. Designed by David Cuesta of Creative R&D. Limited to 300 copies.

    PLUS download

    PLUS Limited Edition 40 page book with all lyrics from Boat Building album and introduction by Chris Redmond. Signed with personal message from Chris Redmond.

    PLEASE NOTE - Postage in UK is first class, standard. If you'd like it sent 2nd class, reduce the P&P by 65p. If you'd like it sent tracked/signed, please contact us directly to arrange.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Boat Building via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 300 

      £23 GBP or more 

     

  • Limited edition 50 page book with all lyrics from Boat Building album and introduction by Chris Redmond. Signed with personal message from Chris Redmond. Design and artwork by David Cuesta.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 200 

      £6 GBP or more 

     

lyrics

The hole at the bottom of the boat
was small at first.
Started off the offspring of a pinprick.
There were rumours of a storm up ahead
but how could that have been?
The sun was flirting with the sea's surface,
we were beautiful and endless.
Couldn’t hear the steady hiss of water
over the songs we were singing.
Childlike, we let the tide mother us,
sing us to a stupor,
until it had reached our toes,
had reached our ankles,
had made a well of our chests.
The hole became a tunnel, became a mouth,
became a wound, became a geyser.

Now we scoop out water with cupped palms
and it returns twice fold.
The thirst of the hole, now, unquenchable.
And as the boat drinks, we sink
and all the songs we sang sink with it.
We barter and blaspheme for one more glimpse of sun.
We turn to each other, wonder who is to blame,
who to throw overboard.
The hole became a gap, became a lack,
became a scream, became a prayer to a god
who has already condemned a lost cause
to a flood before.
We have been here before.
We will be here again.
Please listen to us,
before we are epitaph,
before we are sediment,
before we are footnote.

You must understand,
the hole at the bottom of the boat
was small
at first.

credits

from Boat Building, released November 27, 2020
Words - Vanessa Kisuule
Music - Riaan Vosloo, Arthur Lea,

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about

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Tongue Fu Bristol, UK

For over a decade Tongue Fu have built a cult following at their live shows where people expect the unexpected. Writer, musician and founder, Chris Redmond, invites poets, comedians, storytellers and rappers to take risks, re-working material live with improvised soundtracks from fleet footed, genre-crunching musicians.

Previous collaborators include Kate Tempest, Soweto Kinch and Akala. ... more

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