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.

the rebirth bug

by Olivia Blumenthal

supported by
Erin Sky
Erin Sky thumbnail
Erin Sky a raw and sugar-sweet narrative thru the cyclical nature of life. this album awakens my inner child. Favorite track: spirits like moths.
/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      name your price

     

1.
olivia: what does “rebirth” mean to you? diana: well, you can take rebirth in a magical sense, like “oh yes, i lived in other (past) lives”, but you can also take it from a scientific point of view, for example, genes.
2.
nice to meet you, what do you do? and where do you go to school? is that where, you learned to walk? where you learned to talk? or did you ever? she never did, cuz she’s an astronaut, school was on the moon, not enough gravity to walk, not enough air to talk, so she just sings, and paints herself green, paints herself green. they said not one tree left behind, and they cut down every child, and everybody got one piece of paper, that told them, all that they would ever be, but it will be, signed and dated by, signed and dated by, me. nice to meet you, how much debt are you in? and when does your life begin? they always say not until graduation, everything before that was just a test, i hope that you did your best, that you did your best. you can't cure a sick tree by pickin' off a bad fruits, the only place is to start at the roo tzell you what a brain is a terrible thing to waste, but not as bad a wasting your precious time you've got a gun in your hand but you value life nobody knows what you are fighting for. she held me up to the fire escape so I could kiss her lover, and she said, defer your loans till the revolution, she said defer your loans, till the revolution, we climbed up the fire escape, so we could kiss each other, she said defer your loans till the revolution, she said defer your loans, it's for our evolution.
3.
lost boys 05:16
in a world where freedom is outlawed, only the outlaws will be free, so grab your best dress baby, and wear an ideal with me. and i don’t care if you wear it right, or if you wear it so so so so tight, all i really wanna know is if you’ll put up a fight for, put up a fight for, put up a fight for, fight for what? fight for who? fight for when and where? fight for how? fight for why? fight for how? fight for why? cuz it goes round and round and round and round // whatcha’ gonna do? when ya’ gonna do it? and how long untill you stop runnin' your mouth about all the things you say you're gonna do whatcha’ gonna do? when ya’ gonna do it? and how long till you do one of the things on your to do list tou said you were gonna do last week goddammit don’t grow up grow all around, cuz what goes up, it always comes down, so get back down here baby, and get real with me, and I don’t care if you do it right, or if you do it so so so so tight "daughters of the tropics, we should love our region as it is and be capable of guarding it against these civilizations of the golden calf, where hundreds of men oppress millions of salaried slaves, and people live in an agitated hell of perpetual, covetous misery. driven by the fear of hunger, a civilization under the sway of bank, church, barracks, saved only by the handful of wise wombyn, artists, and dreamers, who cover so much nakedness with the vestment of the light of an ideal." cesar zumeta, 1899.
4.
during the spanish conquest natives were striped, hung and burned the cries i heard never made me much concerned. i’ve trampled every last corner of the globe in guise of bravery relegated birds beast rivers and trees, human beings to slavery wide lawns and narrow minds are my reality. i am the paranoia that creates police brutality. my face is is almost beautiful, made perfect by cosmetics, i am the father of the manipulation of genetics. i'm prone to stuffing humans into locked rooms with little air, and absolutely no voices. i’m your boss, i’m your landlord, i’m the judge and such, i'm the one making sure that your children never amount to much. and i killed the Indian and i didn't save the child, i had my reasons why, i just can't remember.
5.
sear messenger bird, your sickness is anger i heard, messenger bird, your sickness is anger i heard, but whatcha gonna do black blood, oil in your feathers, blood in the gas tanks, makin’ changes in all the weathers, but whatcha gonna do black blood, oil in your feathers, blood in the gas tanks, makin’ changes in all the weathers. they try to tell you you’ve got just one mood, but be careful all those pills they give you, really aren’t your food, they’re gonna, fill your bones, make it so you can’t fly, it’s just a little part of one big, lie, lie, lie, miss you.
6.
get lost in the black hills baby, tie your kite to a fishing pole, and, if you wait oh so patiently, somebody might bite moons in aquarius, house of cards we’ll never see, moons in aquarius, constellations in your tea. good luck in the black hole baby, your didn’t know you’d never real me in, you were afraid of the darkness in me, but darkness is filled with stars. sun on the event horizon, light of the day to guide the way, you’ll never do me slow and steady like a sunset in me, your forgot to say my name, say my name.
7.
loose womyn 05:59
i can fit more love inside if i learn to open wide you can’t break me cuz i’m too free i showed you my secret smile and we got lost for a while but you bever found yourself te encuentras tan perdido buscando tu alma en mi umbligo escupes veneno y mentiras en todas las vaginas soy el universe entero como el mar lleno de misterio tu te ahogaste en mi no sabes nadar nunca aprendiste a navegar y te perdiste de mi ser profunda es mi vagina llena de magia guarda la muerte y la vida le sangra inhala el dia exhala la noche y si quiero te cojo en mi coche loose womyn only we define ourselves// we can fit more love inside if we learn to open wide they can’t break us we are the universe dios te salve maría llena eres de gracia el universo esta contigo; bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres, y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, la vida. santa maría, madre de dios, ruega por nosotros, pecadores, ahora y en la ahora de nuestra muerte. aaaaaawomyn "i strike terror among the men. i can’t be bothered what they think. que se vayan a la ching chang chong! for this, the cross, the calvary, in other words, i’m anarchy. [in other words i’m menarche] i’m an aim-well, shoot-sharp, sharp-tounged, sharp-thinking, fast-speaking, foot-loose, loose-tounged, let-loose, woman-on-the-loose loose woman. beware, honey." (por Sandra Cisneros) aaaaaawomyn
8.
pick my butt 05:23
we used to climb the trees, a pair of little monkeys, we used to climb to the top, just to see the top, you used to pick my butt and i would pick yours too, back when the only think we had to do, was just to be me and you. then we got wireless internet in the tree, oh all of the small things that just weren’t meant to be, soon we found wikipedia and searched every word we knew, tree, leaf, me and you, cloud, blue, oh all of the things that it knew. you used to pick my butt and, i would pick yours too, back when the only thing we had to do was just to be me and you. so we kept on clickin’ on all of the little blue words, till we got to the one that really put a start to our search, it was evolution, what the hell is that? i was under the impression that we were already where it was at. and the questions arose, and so did the moon, and luckily wikipedia’s server had sufficient room because we searched, we searched, we searched, we searched, we searched the night away// and the morning came, as did the answers to our questions, and they all seemed to point in one very specific direction, we had to ditch the tails, get out of the trees, cuz, you can’t answer questions when you’re just a pair of simple monkeys, we had to walk on too feet, use our fingers to solve puzzles, we had to walk the dogs and when they bit, we had put them in muzzles. so we moved out of the trees, we bought a house and two cars, and on friday and saturday we would, hit all the bars, you said you liked your job, i lied and said that i liked mine, but the truth is all it seemed to was just waste all my time. one day you invited your boss over for dinner, you said you liked her company, but I knew you were just kissin’ ass. you all were talking about some very important matter, when out the corner of my eye I saw something in your butt, i went to pick it out and that’s when, you started to shout, you said, i don’t pick your butt no more and you can’t pick mine, the truth is we only need to do that kind of thing, just from time to time, now i only pick your brain, and you only pick mine too, but the only thing its seems to do is leave us feelin’ oh so blue feelin’ oh so blue.. (homo sapiens pant hoots)
9.
principito 04:47
10.
el aborto 05:56
antes de que, nos podemos matarnos entre todos, la tierra nos mato. no fue solita fue con la luna, comadre bruja limpiando con la ruda. ves, ta tenia un montón de niños a cuidar, los del aire, la tierra, y el mar. y siguiendo la ley, un aborto fue legal, siguiendo la ley, un aborto fue legal. llena me, lléname con tus cañones, pero mátame, mátame, si no te pido permiso, si no te pido permiso pa’ entrar. quizás fue la caja de Pandora, o alguna araña galáctica, pero en todos modos se fue la esperanza, bien enrollada en una tela araña. pero sigo, sigo yo, creyendo en alguna diosa, sigo, sigo yo creyendo en algún dios. aunque se fue la esperanza, en una tele araña, no te preocupes. porque, mi madre, teja, teja mi madre mía, mi madre me teja, mi madre me teja el corazón, sl suyo. lléname, lléname con tus cañones, pero máteme, máteme si no te pido permiso, si no te pido permiso, pa’ entrar, si no te pido permiso pa’ sacar, tu oro, tu plata, tus huesos, tu petróleo, tu sangre, tu alma, mátame, mátame, mátame.
11.
drive on sleep walker just don’t forget your dreams, when you wake up cuz last night while you were sleeping the sky fell apart at its seams and all the ants carried the pieces off underground water they couldn’t drink was all that they found who’s gonna carry your body back? if all you do is just frick, fuck, frack, baby girl send your daddy off to fight the wild fire he’ll be back big beige tanks, block your view, ghosts of buffalo, see right through, what they see, don’t ask me, i'm not your mom, and i get all my information at studyfracking.com (a website very biased in favor of fracking-- check it out to see how much money oil and gas has to make a shiny website, and then broaden your research resources if you get the chance.)
12.
the spirits guide us through this day, while the round-up ready changes all our DNA, we will survive, if we listen. they all live within the caves, of hieroglyphics hidden deep within the mazes, of our hearts, they tell our stories and can we read what’s written on the walls, of all the pink packed folds, of our brains, how will we use them? we must tell our stories before we’re gone, cuz they won’t listen, if we don’t speak will they build a wall so tall, to block the monarchs in their flock, or will they hear us, and will we grow wings cuz don’t they know that butterflies, carry with them the joys and sorrows of our lives, and if they don’t come north, how much we will loose but we don’t give up and we gather round, and in the center of the circle there’s a candle on the ground, and it draws out our voices like moths, no we don’t give up and we gather round, and in the center of the circle there’s a candle on the ground, and it draws out the spirits like moths.
13.
algo natural 09:30
Diana: My mom told me that my dad liked to travel a lot, and that he liked to travel and do things, like more freely. So I think that maybe I wars re-birthed in a way- like that my dad was re-born in me. And that explains a big part of the genes that you can have scientifically. For example- I don’t know, but maybe you don’t look a lot like your parents, but instead maybe like someone else, grandparents, great-grandparents- and lets say they liked to draw, for example. Then that would explain your liking of certain things- like this book for example. I don’t know, like, I don’t think you like to do things just because. I think there has to be a more logical explanation. Or, fore example, let’s say you are at a window, and all of the sudden you stat watching the rain come down and it evokes a certain sentiment. Why? Because something had to have happened- so I think there is something very magical and very mysterious, that we haven’t discovered yet, but I think it has something to do with rebirth in some form. Not precisely like in the body, in another life- that could be one explanation- but I think there are some very strong precedents, that you could call rebirth. Olivia: And with people with whom I’ve been talking to, they also always mention dying, or the death that has to happen before rebirth- right- and so in this case, like you were saying with the genes (masculine, feminine?) the genes, like from grandparents, great-grandparents that means that something had to die before it could be re-born in you? D: Ah, well, not precisely- because for example, maybe it didn’t die, and precisely because of that it transferred to…. Well we could talk about some things, but there’s also…for example- there’s this song that I really like that’s called “Memories of the future”. Well, it’s not actually the song, it’s the melody. And so when I listen to that melody, it’s like things that already happened in the future. So, you can imagine, for example, feeling the sensation of something that you will experience in the future. It’s a little hard to explain, but I don’t think that with the majority of things- when you’re talking about rebirth- have to die to later be re-born. I think it’s also possible that this is kind of like a circle more or less, that it’s connected because… I don’t know- it could be like having 10 people inside of a circle, for example. It is possible that somebody who is in front of you will pass all those memories to someone who is behind you, and just like that successively- so there will always be a future connected with something like the past I think, because if it’s like a circle, then it doesn’t have much of an end…like that. O: Hmm, ah (laughter) And that’s something that could happen between people as well, its not just… D: Yes, ya it can happen, even for example, with people, with the earth- for example, it’s really interesting that in the universe, many planets have similar characteristics to planets like in a previous order- for example, Mars has a very frozen climate right now, like it can’t really support life, at least not specifically the type of life that Earth has. But Venus has very similar conditions to those that Earth had many, many years ago. So, we don’t really know, but it could be, for example, that life also came down, jumping, bouncing from place to place. And it will always be like that, a circle O: Continuously turning D: Continuously turning and turning like that. And you can also see it in certain animals and things like elements of nature that once were one thing and then another. For example: carbon. How is it possible that it can turn into a diamond after many, many years? And successively like…I don’t know, it’s like a circle I think (laughter) O: And do you think, that well… I was thinking, and talking to Willie too- that the Earth is going through the process of a birth right now, and just like always with a birth, there are screams, there is pain, there is sweat, there is all that stuff, right? D: Well a lot of times I would like to believe this. For example the date when the thirteenth Baktun (Mayan calendar) was completed, well there were a lot of people who were expecting a very big change O: And a fast one D: Yes and a fast one, and I would like to believe- I don’t know if its like this- but I would like to believe- that in some way a small change began, that really is very, very small. Like, for example, you know the butterfly effect: the theory where something very small can create something very large. That’s why I’d like to believe that after the Baktun ended we had the opportunity to change things through a very, very small change that we didn’t even see. For example- it could have been a word that somebody said that will make something really big happen, or a very, very small action or an idea that formed… I’m not sure if its exactly like that, that the Earth is in a birthing process, like you said, but I would like to believe that that is happening- because if that is not happening, then the other option is that we’re seeing like a downfall (doom, destruction) and it’s not good. So, you have like two options, to think that this is a moment of transformations, if not it’s like a moment of going into a void (ruin). But I don’t want to think that, I prefer to thing that this is a moment a little bit like of decisions, of struggles between many things that are going to have a result, but I don’t know- something like that. O: Do you think there are, like you said, decisions?I was talking just now with Eduardo, and he also was talking about the decisions within rebirth. Do you think rebirth, to be reborn, is something that we can do, that we have to do with in intentions and decisions, or do you think it is something that just happens on it’s own? D: I don’t think so, specifically, I think rebirth is something that just happens- including for example, if I were to think that the earth, or perhaps humanity, only were to have a little time left, it wouldn’t be bad necessarily, because we don’t know what would take place. For example, if we as humans have- I don’t know- like 10 million years left, then… O: What years? (or what year) D: Ya, it’s like someone could think “Oh no, that’s so little (time)” but I think that we don’t know what would cause this. It’s like when sometimes we think that bad things happen to us, but those bad things then cause something new to happen, which, is possibly going to be much more, much better, or much bigger. That’s why I think that it’s like a process that should happen for a reason- like everything in nature. For example, a butterfly doesn’t decide if… or a caterpillar doesn’t decide if it wants to be a butterfly, its just something that…And with us too, its like, well ya some things are in our hands, like having children or something like that, but inevitably we are going to die which leads to new people and new things. We leave a job and we leave space fore other people- and just like that- I think it’s something very natural.

about

dearest listener,

i feel excited, scared, blessed, privileged, and vulnerable to share with you what is "the rebirth bug." it's an album that is made up of memories from a combined millennium, was written in two years, was recorded in two weeks, and will you take you one hour to listen to (yet they say the universe is exploding...?).

in the spirit of gettin' shit done and not dwelling on each moment where my voice doesn't hit a note perfectly, where the guitar buzzes, or where a word strays form a well thought out lyric, what you will hear here is not perfect. it is however a true record; a record of hundreds of conversations, a record of thousands of miles of birth canal, a record of the living, a record of the dead, and finally a record of a musical midwife gracefully helping me give light to a baby that has been incubating in my entire body for some time, all in a garage situated behind a giant raven on prince st. in berkeley, california between february 16 and february 29, 2015. push... breath...

i hope this sound offers inspiration to imagine what kind of record you are birthing into the constellation like web of humanity. you star, you.

love, olivia

credits

released May 4, 2015

guitar and vocals: olivia blu
musical midwife: ethan stark starkstudio.org
charango: mer-maid from the republicoflight.com
interview with: diana pastor (gata)
recorded, mixed, and mastered at stark studio in berkeley, california

license

tags

about

Olivia Blumenthal Guelph, Ontario

a human mother and forest nymph cryptically teaching kindergarten with a jazzy-folk delivery.

contact / help

Contact Olivia Blumenthal

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Olivia Blumenthal, you may also like: