Tracklist
| Feathers - Oar - Blades | 4:30 | ||
| Alas Dies Laughing | 3:38 | ||
| It's All But An Ark Lark | 8:06 |
Credits (9)
John Madden (6)Engineer
John FryerEngineer [Uncredited]
BilBo (3)Lacquer Cut By
Elizabeth FraserPerformer [Uncredited]
Robin GuthriePerformer [Uncredited]
Will HeggiePerformer [Uncredited]
Notes
Released October 1982 (later than first album).
Versions
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4 versions
| Image | , | – | In Your Collection, Wantlist, or Inventory | Version Details | Data Quality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Lullabies 12", 45 RPM, EP | 4AD – BAD 213, 4AD – bad 213 | UK | 1982 | UK — 1982 | ||||
 | Lullabies 12", 45 RPM, EP, Maxi-Single | 4AD – 151.089 | Netherlands | 1982 | Netherlands — 1982 | New Submission | |||
 | Lullabies 12", 45 RPM, EP, Test Pressing | 4AD – BAD 213 | UK | 1982 | UK — 1982 | ||||
 | Lullabies CD, EP, Reissue | 4AD – BAD 213CD | UK | 1991 | UK — 1991 | Recently Edited |
Recommendations
Reviews
referencing Lullabies (12", 45 RPM, EP) BAD 213
“If ya got a box, you gotta open it.” – A Pan Door
It’s all but an ark lark.
Lullabies is a remarkable 4ad 12” EP. The sound emerged from nowhere, hardly giving hint of what Cocteau Twins would bring. The cover image, the dancer and the lily; this the soil, the roots of it all.
The three songs are sort of litanies, chants, complex repetitions, musically and vocally interweaving, on and on. With Heggie’s resounding bass, thrashing drums, scratching harps (?) and twanging strings. I can’t help but imagine the songs are entreaties to something. Calling something, weaving into creation.
The first 40 seconds of Alas Dies Laughing is intoxicating string work, sour notes entwine, create something strange, then Liz sings . . .
It’s All but an Ark Lark is the track I played the most (I wonder what that says of me). It doesn’t have the immediate beauty of Alas’s intro, its power is more relentless, it goes on for ever. It still has me mesmerised as I listen to it now. Liz trilling, the drum beating and whipping, the strings twanging and screeching.
Below are what I found of the lyrics. I can hear some of it (and understand a bit), but I also hear other things. Such as: instead of, “All for my” [repeated], I would always hear “Open my, open my open my . . . “ as in illuminated eyes (in Ark Lark).
Alas Dies Laughing
Flaxen, the dress is born
Crush a crushing stone
Tie a starching walls
Wake takes a mumbling form
Wake takes a mumbling form
Flaxen, the dress is old
Fingers, this dress is tied
Tie a starching walls
Wake takes a mumbling form
It's All But An Ark
Heel to toe to hair and hoof
And it’s head over heels
And it’s all but an ark-lark
Kicked all from my curtsies
This mockingbird
My lullabies
It's all for my
All for my
All of my
All of my
Charisma
Charisma
Charisma
Charisma
It's all for my
All for my
All of my
All of my
Charisma
Charisma
Charisma
Charisma
Barking, biting amongst ourselves...
It's all but an, all but an ark lark [All but a Catholic joke?]
referencing Lullabies (12", 45 RPM, EP) BAD 213
My copy has the A side listed as "It's All But An Ark Lark" on the disc label, and "All But An Ark Lark" on the sleeve.
And "Feathers - Oar - Blades" on the sleeve, unlike the note (no dashes on the disc label).
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