Get all 17 Ian Rutherford releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Picture of Dorian Gray, 2023, We're All Mad Here, Festering 2021, Baching Mad, Kubla Khan, Street Lights, The Notes Between The Notes, and 9 more.
1. |
Riverbank
04:09
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On riverbank, on a drowsy afternoon
A book without pictures has little charm
and the sight of a rabbit with a watch and vest
for some reason doesn’t cause alarm
In pursuit of the rabbit, Alice plunged down the hole.
Adventure seemed to be calling
No way to know how deep it goes
but Alice is a long time falling.
So much to see on the sides of the well
Maps and pictures, jars on shelves
The fall is long and the hole is deep;
Who knows whether we wake or sleep?
Who knows whether we wake or sleep?
In a hall with all the doors locked
A curious girl finds all ways blocked.
Till a labelled bottle invites her to drink
and find out whether she’ll grow or shrink.
Always too big or perhaps too small
Size is relative it seems
For one situation far too tall –
Is this real, or is it a dream?
Drink me, eat me
Shrink or grow
Dreaming or waking?
How to know?
How to know?
How to know?
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2. |
Pool Of Tears
03:23
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Was I right to be suspicious
of that currant cake
even though it was delicious
did it make
me nine feet tall –
My head on the roof
of the hall?
Dear oh dear!
everything is queer.
And I think I heard the rabbit
say the Duchess
will be savage
he dropped his fan
I watched
as he ran.
How long before
he finds
He left his fan
and gloves behind?
Dear oh dear -
it is all so queer.
I’m so tired
of being alone here.
I’ve cried so hard and long
because it has all gone wrong
The fan has made me small
and I can’t be sure at all
who I am, or what I feel
what to do, or what is real.
Dear oh dear,
everything is queer
now I’m
swimming in my tears.
There’s a pool of my tears
from when I was tall
and I’m not the only
one to fall.
And it’s crowded in here
with the Mouse and his fears,
a Duck and Dodo,
so it appears
A Duck and Dodo
so it appears
A Duck and Dodo
so it appears
I had hoped to explore
hoped to go
through the door
But my only choice now
is to swim for the shore.
How strange to be here
in a pool of my tears.
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3. |
A Caucus Race
03:21
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The Mouse made a speech
the driest thing he knew
but we were still
wet through and through.
It fell to me
to solve the case
and organise
a Caucus race.
A Caucus race
goes round and round
and who knows when it ends?
It has no rules
It has no start
It’s hard to comprehend
A Caucus race
takes half an hour
I cannot tell you why.
But I can tell you
what to do
and at the end we’re dry.
The Mouse told his tale
his own history
although in part
a mystery
Alice managed
to offend
referring to
the tail’s bend
It will not do
with birds and mice
to tell them that
your cat is nice
or that her claim
to great renown
is how fast she
can chase us down
And so with haste
we ran away;
our fear ensured
we could not stay,
but Alice may
have heard the sound
of footsteps
falling on the ground.
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4. |
Transformation
04:32
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Alice tried to help the Rabbit
find his gloves and fan
but he mistook her
for Mary Ann.
Upstairs in his house
near the looking glass
an unlabelled bottle
a tempting flask.
Everything I eat or drink
Causes transformation
Bound to be interesting
a new temptation
Shrink or grow
Bizarre sensation
An arm out the door
and her head on the ceiling
perhaps it’s not
a comfy feeling
Pebbles turn to cakes
and so she’s thinking
another bite
might lead to shrinking
Everything I eat or drink
Causes transformation
Bound to be interesting
a new temptation
Shrink or grow
Bizarre sensation
Past the angry mob
Getting smaller
Fending off the dog
Time to be taller
Nothing looks right
to eat or drink
Lean on a mushroom
stop and think
Everything I eat or drink
Causes transformation
Shrink or grow
Bizarre sensation
Changes who I am
Leads to stimulation
Shifting size and scene
a revelation.
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5. |
Caterpillar
02:36
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On my mushroom throne
I’m the ruler of my home
And I know just who I am
Can’t be shaken by a change
She was looking for identity
and bothered by my certainty
she found me contradictory
annoyed at my complacency
Fast changes in her day
normal size can never stay
hear me when I say
keep your temper
Who she is she cannot say
but she wants to find her way
I will help her if I may:
Keep your temper
Three inches tall
is not too small
for what may befall
all that walk or crawl
To achieve the size
that a girl desires
using either side
has its own downside
But she’ll find her way
through this changeable day
if she hears me say
keep your temper
As I crawl away
she should hear me say
in this passion play
keep your temper.
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6. |
We're All Mad Here
02:35
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How comical these footmen are!
A frog and a fish, I do declare!
If this is where the Duchess lives
I wonder, should I go in there?
Did someone throw
That plate at his nose?
It’s hot in the kitchen
with pepper and rage
as the cook once more
goes on the rampage
while her anger’s difficult
to assuage
I’m a Cheshire Cat
and I don’t engage
The baby howls
in the Duchess’s arms
and I’m sure that Alice
feels alarmed
I don’t feel the pressure
because I’m a Cheshire
and little pepper
won’t do any harm.
If I’m not mistaken
More care should be taken
Not to hurt the baby
Cook seems really vicious
Hurling pots and dishes
Everyone is crazy.
I think she just said
“Off with her head!”
Fading in and fading out
What was a nose
is now a snout
Fading out and fading in
the last thing to go
will be my grin
The baby’s turned into a pig
and now I’m wondering
where to go
If I should ask
the Cheshire Cat
I wonder would he know?
Whichever way you go
We’re all mad here, you know
Off to the Hatter
or to the March Hare
either way
you should be aware
it’s absolutely clear
we’re all mad here.
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7. |
Tea With Crazy People
03:26
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They offered me wine, but there was none
The Hatter seems odd and rather rude
The March Hare too – this is no fun
I do not like their attitude!
Having tea with crazy people
Rudeness tends to cause offense
Conversation is a struggle
None of what they say makes sense.
A disputatious trio! Finds fault with all
They contradict everything
“mean what I say” and “say what I mean”
Are not so different
Having tea with crazy people
Watches that don’t tell the time
Riddles that don’t have an answer
Different words for nursery rhymes
Here we go ‘round the table
Time is stuck at six o’clock
After yet another insult
I’ve had enough – I’m off! Yes I’m heading off
Surely only crazy people
Stuff the dormouse in the teapot
How to handle this upheaval
Caused by having tea (with that lot)
silly as a goose and vain as a peacock -
takes more patience than I’ve got
Having tea with crazy people
Puts one in a tricky spot.
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8. |
Off With Their Heads
02:13
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Watch me leading my procession
Never showing my aggression
Gracious in benign oppression
Graceful in my self-possession!
Roses are white but should be red?
Off with his head!
Who is that child defending him?
Off with her head!
Surely croquet is what I’m craving
After spending all day slaving
My flamingo’s misbehaving
It’s enough to send me raving.
Play too well, you’ll make me shout
“Off with his head!”
Watch me cheat and stamp about.
‘Off with her head!’
‘A head with no body? Off with its head!’
It’s a sight that’s rather curious
Just enough to make me furious
An excuse that’s simply spurious
Time for something quite injurious
A cat with no body?
Off with its head!
Don’t be a noddy –
Off with its head!
You heard what I said:
Off with its head!
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9. |
Pardon Me, Pardon You
02:51
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Although she’s quick to find a moral
and she doesn’t wish to quarrel,
Still the queen remains displeased
so the Duchess has to leave
When the queen becomes aggrieved
she wants heads to come off
they are all so relieved
when I say it should stop.
Pardon me?
Pardon you?
Let me see what I can do.
'Though the roses were the source
of some trouble in the garden
there’s no sentence to enforce
if the king provides a pardon.
Pardon me?
Pardon you?
Let me see
what I can do.
Pardon me,
that can be
if the queen
doesn’t see.
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10. |
Lobster Quadrille
01:29
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The lobster quadrille
is squishy and swishy
(requiring skill)
and just a bit fishy.
In Wonderland
be on your guard;
to understand
can be quite hard.
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11. |
Trial
02:59
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A hatter giving evidence
shows little evidence of sense
A lizard with no writing tool
is swiftly proved to be a fool
No one here’s as smart as me
That is very plain to see.
To tolerate
this pack of fools
can irritate
the born to rule
A guinea pig that’s unimpressed
is liable to be suppressed
Little girls who grow too tall
Are not reliable at all
No one here’s as smart as me
That is very plain to see.
To tolerate
this pack of fools
must irritate
the born to rule
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12. |
Wonderland
04:09
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If you should dream
of Wonderland
for a drowsy
Afternoon,
of a Hatter, a hare
and a pack of cards
and a salty tear
lagoon;
If you should dream
of a shifting shape
and a size that shrinks and
grows,
you may chase a rabbit
then help to change
the colour of
a rose.
If you should wake
on a river bank,
head in your sister’s
lap
and wonder at
the strange events
that can occupy a
nap;
occupy
a nap
then the tale you tell
will be one to share
as a wondrous source of
pleasure
That will endure
throughout the years
as a memory to
Treasure
On riverbank, on a drowsy afternoon
A book without pictures has little charm
and the sight of a rabbit with a watch and a vest
for some reason didn’t cause alarm
So much to see and under-stand
Crazy people – Wonderland
The fall was long, the hole was deep;
Who knows whether we wake or sleep?
Who knows whether we wake or sleep?
wake or sleep
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Ian Rutherford Melbourne, Australia
Ian is a Melbourne keyboard player and songwriter.
The Plus Five band is a range of
mainly vocalists, drummers and guitarists that perform my compositions and augment my keyboards.
Nickname: Rutherz
... more
Ian Rutherford recommends:
I'm the keyboard player for Mu-Theory. This is our second album and features two tracks by me - Soul Mates and Mu-Theory.
go to album
Check out Ten A Penny & Lonely Life for more of my compositions
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