All Eternals Deck

Released: 2011

Label: Merge

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Liner notes

(sleeve):

the Mountain Goats thank all named above plus Alyson, Juan, Jacob, Adam, Boche, Mac, Laura, and Hate Eternal

The All Eternals Deck predates Crowley's tarot by at least ten years; its earliest known issue arises three months after the first recorded appearance of the Inhuman Impulse Deck, to which it owes stylistic debt. Beyond these few details, its exact provenance is less certain. The two differ in several ways: the IID was printed on rough stock in purple and black ink, the AED in full color on gloss; both decks are printed on stock sourced from the same supplier, but the former's press can't be identified, whereas the latter's has been positively traced to a pre-Depression print shop in Oklahoma City; the IID's instructions offer only one layout, the AED's three; etc.

The IID was a "trade" deck, sold by card-readers to other card-readers and to readers-in-training. It did not circulate among the general public. The AED, known to have been commercially available in various locations across the U.S., England, and in places farther afield (two decks, both heavily used, were found several years ago in Poland), may have been marketed to families as a parlor game, or to collectors of spiritualist arcana. The numbers in which it circulated are not known and estimates vary widely.

The cards themselves are derived from a common source (see several nearly identical cards, e.g. the Rose, the Cave-Dweller, and the Sick Twins) but seem to have been drawn by different artists. The IID's drawings are less detailed than its successor's. The AED is also more hopeful than its predecessor, which may account for its wider reach; even its least favorable readings can be left open to more cheerful interpretation. It shies away from calamity. The IID, on the other hand, was almost unique among fortune-telling devices in that it freely predicted dire consequences and unhappy endings.

While the original plates for the AED have been lost, secondary plates were struck in 1951 using careful tracings of the originals as models, and these in the main are the cards that have come down to us. Several copies of the deck's original instructions, which came tucked into the pack in the form of a miniature 12-page pamphlet in small type, remain in the hands of private collectors; they refer to a card called the Half-Dragon, which is not found in any surviving or catalogued copy of the deck.

(booklet):

the room filled suddenly with the sound of a passing train

(raps under table with fist: "who from future time dost summon, I slumbering in memory," etc ad lib)

check for something behind floral arrangement

most spirit guides instruct the novitiate to send away any demonic spirit animals. we trust the seeker

in a former incarnation you struggled but knew great joy

a person known to you will make sudden contact

everything eventually takes place on film

expiation candles available in bulk; our most popular candle

damn also their friends

re-scan everybody for disguises. somebody's hiding something

past life regression is your best vacation value

roughly equivalent to the Tower in standard tarot — avoid

turn over crossing card; pause

(booklet back):

'Fortune-telling cards with their evocative yet enigmatic images are signposts on the path to the inner self.'

from the preface to the instructions of the Biedermeier Jóskártya (Gipsy fortune telling cards), Hungary, year unknown

(vinyl back):

The tab on the tea bag said

"Love what is ahead

by loving what has come before."

But what came before was no dream

you wake from, it was human sacrifice...

Jean Valentine, 'Diana'

Related material

All Eternals Deck had foreign releases in Japan and Australia. Two songs were extras solely on these releases: Brisbane Hotel Sutra on the Australian release, and Used to Haunt on the Japanese release. The Japanese release of the album contained strikingly different liner notes. You can see the original Japanese text here. Thanks enormously to Andrew Fazzari for transcribing these! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find someone to translate these, and so there's potentially information about the songs hidden in the Japanese text. If you speak Japanese and would like to assist by translating the liner notes, please email me!

Early preorders of All Eternals Deck came with a bonus cassette, called All Survivors Pack, which included demos of many songs (Beautiful Gas Mask, Birth of Serpents, The Autopsy Garland, Estate Sale Sign, Soudoire Valley Song, Age of Kings, High Hawk Season, Never Quite Free, For Charles Bronson, and Liza Forever Minnelli) and several outtakes (Catherine Antrim's Kid and Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece). Finally, a fully unreleased studio recording of Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece exists.

Table of contents

Damn These Vampires

Brave young cowboys

Of the near northside

Mount those bridge rails

Ride all night

Scream when captured

Arch your back

Let this whole town hear your knuckles crack

Sapphire Trans Am

High beams in rain

Drive wild broncos

Down the plain

Push up to the corner

Where the turbines hiss

Someday we won't remember this

Crawl 'til dawn

On my hands and knees

God damn these vampires

For what they've done to me

Tie those horses

To the post outside

And let those glass doors

Open wide

And in their surface

See two young, savage things

Barely worth remembering

Feast like pagans

Never get enough

Sleep like dead men

Wake up like dead men

And when the sun comes

Try not to hate the light

Someday we'll try to walk upright

Crawl 'til dawn

On my hands and knees

God damn these bite marks

Deep in my arteries

Crawl 'til dawn

On my hands and knees

God damn these vampires

For what they've done to me

Birth of Serpents

Let the camera pull back

'Til the fullness of the frame is clear and plain

Peer into the screen until you see it all

Like a vision in a crystal ball

Let it all fill with smoke

Is this somebody's idea of a joke

Let the fixer work until the silver's washed away

And take the picture from the tray

Look hard at what you see and then remember you and me

And let the truth spring free

Like a jack-in-the-box

Like a hundred thousand cuckoo clocks

From the Oregon corners

To the Iowa corn

To the rooms with the heat lamps

Where the snakes get born

Crawl through the tunnel and follow

Follow the light northwest

See that young man

Who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest

See the tunnel twist

Clutch your birthright in your fist

Let the camera

Do its dirty work down there in the dark

Sink low, rise high

Bring back some blurry pictures to remember all your darker moments by

Permanent bruises on our knees

Never forget what it felt like to live in rooms like these

From the California coastline

To the Iowa corn

To the rooms with the heat lamps

Where the snakes get born

Estate Sale Sign

Crude little wooden idols

And aviator shades

The trinkets and the treasures

We brought back from the crusades

Some guy in an Impala

Shakes his head when he rides by

But I remember when

We shared a vision, you and I

Worked hard to build this altar

We made it earn its keep

The cracks across its surface

Spiderweb while we're asleep

The sacrificial stains

All spreading out and soaking through

But I remember when

We kept it pretty, me and you

And high above the water

The eagle spots the fish

Every martyr in this jungle

Is gonna get his wish

Stock shots, stupid stock shots

From the Pomona mall

Set up like unloved icons

Gathering dust up on the wall

From films no one remembers

They call down silently

But I remember when their names

Were dear to you and me

Yeah

Pennies on the dollar

Everything's gotta go

The things that we can't even give away

I don't wanna know

Try to see if secrets burn

When you hold them up into the light

I remember when

We loved each other day and night

And high above the water

The eagle spots the fish

Every martyr in this jungle

Is gonna get his wish

Age of Kings

Halls of the stone tower in the foothills

Why should we hide from anyone

Held you in my arms for the first time that day

Felt like God's anointed when you didn't push me away

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

Lean on the concrete walls in shadow

Why should we wait to throw the switch

Felt your name burning like a tattoo into my skin

Rain on the clay tiles all night, your head nestled beneath my chin

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

In the lost age

Where the jewels hide

And the sword sticks

In the waiting stone

Still warm

Small chambers shrinking 'til they vanish

Wolves in the hallway gaining ground

Reach down to the moment when I should have said something true

Shadows and their sources now stealing away with you

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

Gold light shining on so many things

In the age of kings

The Autopsy Garland

One clear shot or else he gets away

Red sun high in the sky tonight

Look west from London down toward Hollywood

Remember the first days in California

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on

Fat rich men love their twelve year olds

Deco cuff links and cognac by the glass

Look west from London toward the Emerald City

Remember Minnesota

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on, or their gloves

Sweet spearmint and bitter tangerine

Bedside decked with roses

Look west, look west, look west and look away

From old familiar faces

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on

You don't want to see these guys

Without their masks on

Beautiful Gas Mask

Come hard through the fog

Blindfolded and bound

'Til we stand at the edge

Of a hole in the ground

We hold hands and we jump

And as we fall we sing

Paupers hammering the walls of the castle

Going to meet the king

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep

Never sleep, remember to breathe

Breathe deep

Crash in from deep space

Shot birds falling fast

Who will be there to catch us in his jaws

When we arrive alive at last

I can't hear you in the dark

Wish I knew where you'd gone

Know you're there, off in the shadows somewhere

Trying to soldier on

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep

Never sleep, remember to breathe

Breathe deep and breathe humbly

Secure your mouthpiece when you can

Toxic shapes adorn the walls

As we rise from our knees

Someone's coming to reward us, you wait and see

Or crush us both like fleas

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep

Never sleep, remember to breathe

Breathe deep

High Hawk Season

"One, two, three, and."

I heard the wings beat on the wind tonight

As the heat stole power from the darkening light

I saw the streets fill up with people that I knew

People who looked like you

Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake

We are young supernovas and

The heat's about to break

Drift through the streets, walk between the cars

Newborn sons and daughters spat forth from distant stars

The summer will reveal itself to those whose hearts are true

And to the faithless few

Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake

We are young supernovas and

The heat's about to break

Who will rise and who will sink

Who's going to stand his ground

And who's going to blink

Surge forward from Van Cortlandt Park like frightened sheep

Spirit throngs that hoist us high, three thousand warriors deep

Spray our dreams on any surface where the paint will stick

Try to time the rhythm, listen for the click

Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake

We are young supernovas and

The heat's about to break

Prowl Great Cain

Gather jewels from graveyards

When I get home bury them again

Wonder if you'll ever get the chance

To ask me why I turned you in

I saved my own skin but I live to fight

I live to fight another day

Still remember how brave you were

When they came to take you away

And I feel guilty

But I can't feel ashamed

Prowl through empty fields, great Cain

Thought I'd seen the ghost up on the boulevard

Between the broken bits

It's hard to tell gifts of the spirit

From clever counterfeits

Sleepwalk through my days and mark

The hours until these dark times fade

Like a caterpillar

Crawling out along the surface of the blade

And I feel guilty

But I can't feel ashamed

Prowl through empty fields, great Cain

Rummage through the gutted storehouse now

And lick the sweat from my brow

Saw the trucks roll out this morning

Not sure when they're coming back again

Feel the prickings of my conscience

In my chest every now and then

Sometimes a great wave of forgetfulness

Rises up and blesses me

And other times the sickness howls

And I despair of any remedy

And I feel guilty

But I can't feel ashamed

Prowl through empty fields, great Cain

Sourdoire Valley Song

Bang the small rocks on the big ones

Til the small ones are sharp and clean

Catch something, kill something

New blade cuts real keen

And then the grass grows up to cover up

The firepit and the forge

Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Chew these roots for a toothache

Chew these ones for atmosphere

Dream the pleasant dreams that people dream

When they grow up down here

And then the grass grows up to cover up

The firepit and the forge

Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Take care of the old man

See if he's in pain

Have somebody stay with him

Comfort him when he complains

Keep to ourselves mostly

Few friends and fewer closer friends

Lead a long life if you're lucky

Hope it never ends

And then the grass grows up to cover up

The firepit and the forge

Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Outer Scorpion Squadron

If you really want

To conjure up a ghost

Cultivate a space

For the things that hurt you most

Rake the sands until they surface

Blind their tiny eyes

Stake out your position

Let your armor fall

Stay put til they find you

It won't take long at all

Rake the sands until they surface

Up they come, gone translucent

They're coming up no matter what

Fools rush in and the doors slam shut

Ghosts of my childhood

Stay with me if you will

Find a place where there's water

Hold you under til you're still

Rake the sands until they surface

Don't let anybody call them ugly

For Charles Bronson

"This song is called For Charles Bronson. One, two, three, and."

Catch a lucky break

Try to make it last

Rig a blanket curtain up between

The present and the past

Play my lucky numbers

For most of what they're worth

Lie about my age right down

To my last day on this earth

Set your sights on good fortune

Concentrate

Pull back the hammer

Try to hold the gun straight

Hit the gym each night

Stay cool and seldom speak

Keep the heart of a champion

Never let them see you're weak

And whatever they say

On your page three mention

Focus on the parts that make you feel good

Be grateful for the attention

Set your sights on good fortune

Concentrate

Pull back the hammer

Try to hold the gun straight

Try to hold the gun straight

And true

And steady

Let the frame find you

When the cameraman's ready

Work until I drop

Drift from place to place

Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania Scratched into my face

Set your sights on good fortune

Concentrate

Pull back the hammer

Try to hold the gun straight

Try to hold the gun straight

Never Quite Free

It's so good to learn

That right outside your window

There's only friendly fields

And open roads

And you'll sleep better when you think

You've stepped back from the brink

And found some peace inside yourself

Lay down your heavy load

It gets all right

To dream at night

Believe in solid skies

And slate blue earth below

But when you see him, you'll know

It's OK to find

The faith to saunter forward

With no fear of shadows

Spreading where you stand

And you'll breathe easier just knowing

That the worst is all behind you

And the waves that tossed the raft all night

Have set you on dry land

It gets OK

To praise the day

Believe in sheltering skies

And stable earth beneath

But hear his breath come

Through his teeth

Walk by faith

Tell no one what you've seen

It's so good to learn

That from right here the view goes on forever

And you'll never want for comfort

And you'll never be alone

See the sunset turning red

Let all be quiet in your head

And look about

All the stars are coming out

They shine like steel swords

Wish me well where I go

But when you see me, you'll know

Liza Forever Minnelli

There's the part you've braced yourself against and then

There's the other part

Steal up inclining northward streets

With some weird sickness in the dark

Saw your name on the sidewalk

Saw your brave face in my mind

If you're gonna sit next to the dealer

You get to bet blind

Never get away, never get away

I am never ever gonna get away

From this place

Lay down on the street

My eyes toward the sun

Your star next to my face

The compasses I came into this world with

Never really worked so good

Gentle shadows spilling down the hills

Up on Mulholland at Ledgewood

Turn back, turn back

Find someone to tell your secrets to

Dream past an old hotel on Ivar

And seconds later I saw you

Never get away, never get away

I am never ever gonna get away

From this place

Lay down on the street

My eyes toward the sun

Your star next to my face

Let the camera track me

From the footlights to the wings

Let me set aside an hour or two

In memory of sweet things

Regrind the lens again and again and again and again

But still the picture flips

Anyone here mentions Hotel California dies

Before the first line clears his lips

Never get away, never get away

I am never ever gonna get away

From this place

Lay down on the streets

My eyes toward the sun

Your star next to my face

Brisbane Hotel Sutra

On the crooked road that took me north

And brought me home again

From the pit of writhing serpents

Out to the lion's den

Where the labyrinth is lightless

And the faithless wander crazed

Let the light rise from the darkness

Let his name be praised

From the sunrise of my childhood

To its premature demise

From my mother's best intentions

To my stepdad's seething eyes

From the hidden self-inflicted wounds

That flowered in later days

To the folly of their learning

Let his name be praised

In the holes the worms have eaten

Through all once-treasured things

From the wet mouth of the vulture

To the red tips of his wings

In the dazed eyes of the penitent

Emerging from the maze

In his wordless explanations

Let his name be praised

Used to Haunt

Tunnel down to the core

Climb through the trapdoor

Soft pink sky full of rumpled clouds

Radio up loud

There's a pop in the speakers

Where I hear your voice come through

So brave and true

When did I lose sight of you

Come and rattle your chain

All you want

You're always gonna be welcome

Here in the hallways that you used to haunt

Ride the sentimental rodeo

Down to where the shadows grow

Long while since I felt this way

Stand by the window, wait for day

There's a pop in the speaker

Where I hear your voice come through

So brave and true

Let me never lose sight of you

Come and rattle your chain

All you want

You're always gonna be welcome

Here in the hallways that you used to haunt

Credits

Thanks enormously to Andrew Fazzari, who painstakingly transcribed the Japanese liner notes. If you speak Japanese and would like to translate these, please let me know! Thanks to Flynn Germain for helping with some of the lines. There's clearly writing in the Japanese liner notes that are not contained in the English version.

Thanks also tremendously to Thomas Fidler (Drumhax on the forums), who transcribed and began these annotations, and as always, did an amazing job. Finally, as always, Caliclimber is my hero, whose outstanding collection of album art provided the images used here.