Cactacus, by Ruth Theodore

Animation by 'WHATTHEHUMP' PRODUCTIONS - c&p Kate Theodore

Cactacus

by Ruth Theodore

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Cary Christian An outstanding album.from an outstanding talent !! Favorite track: The Carcass And The Pride.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Extraordinary 8 panel concertina packaging which acts almost like a rubix cube allowing the image to be viewed in a variety of ways. Includes full song lyrics and note book illustrations. Features image by photographer Peter Ashworth.

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Screen printed black T-shirt with Cactacus title on the chest.
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Full Digital Discography

11

releases

Get all 11 Ruth Theodore releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Cherry Picker, People People, Full Metal Jacket, Thompson (SINGLE RELEASE), Cactacus, You Can't Help Who You Love (Single Release), Volume One: 'Earth to Shovel' EP, Dear Lamp Love Moth, and 3 more. , and , .

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1.	Buffalo 03:13 video	lyrics	buy track
i saw you there in your fancy dress with your feet on the chair looking bored to death i had a brand new pocket with the same old holes and i felt like a whale in a goldfish bowl and i said ‘let’s send a message into space tell them we need sugar and a bit more bass come and wipe your smile across my face ‘cause Buffalo you know you love this place ‘cause there’s nothing to do around here but go hanging round the drink like Buffalo and death is coming for us all with the force of a ten pin bowling ball so let’s send a message into space tell them we need sugar and a bit more bass come and wipe your smile across my face oh Buffalo i want to take you home’ i said ‘consider this if no-one knows what could be lurking in those shadows... and resentment grows between the sheets but out in the open nothing keeps let me lead you astray yeah me bury you out there i want to lead you astray yeah Buffalo i want to take you home’ you said you’d be gone when morning broke and the sun was warm by the time i woke so with the words left in my throat i wrote you a poem on a ten pound note it said ‘this is a message into space to tell them we need sugar and a bit more bass but just keep that smile upon your face and Buffalo Buffalo you’re gonna love this place’ ------------------------------------ (C&P Ruth Theodore 2015)
2.	You Can't Help Who You Love 04:42 video	lyrics	buy track
over loads of under tones pull you into the throws of hopes and dreams and no you can't help who you love despite all your genius when that rooster crows oh heaven knows you can't help who you love enter swarms no herds of birds and bees like you wouldn't believe and still the thought of these makes you weak in the knees and her touch could make you blush yeah light up like a lantern cause you can't help who you love you can't help so you love and you love and you love and you love and you love so you love and you love and you love and you love sweeping feelings under rugs and then one day you’re slamming door and passing bucks just like everyone does and drained as leaves in tea cups you're making up from storms with hugs you can't help who you love finding lumps in thunderbolts and lightning strikes the grip of a nightmare grasps you tight and life goes bump in the night and its sickness come to frighten us take me take me you’ll beg you’ll plead you can't help so you love and you love and you love and you love and you love so you love and you love and you love and you love finding comfort in strangers voices in angels you’re told you’re too close to turn to and that’s when they hurt you yeah that when they push you away and it’s cruel life and its strength is such you hate its guts you care so much you can't help who you love and so you nod your head behind the scenes like you know what it all means keep things sterile clean and although you’ve never been one to believe all that new age stuff you thank your stars that someone does you can't help so you love and you love and you love and you love and you love so you love and you love and you love and you love skin as pale as paper thin that you’re injecting in once glowed now at best you s’pose that you cushion the blows cause you know as well and those drips and drugs that you do not ease it nothing does day to day dawn to dusk life to death dust to dust you can't help who you love you can’t help who you love you just love who you love you just love who you love so just love who you love
3.	Loop Hole 02:01	lyrics	buy track
keeping me afloat is the courage of the ocean coming on in waves as i come crashing through this old town rubbing into trouble curve of the earth salt of the sea lining my pockets with rubble from the deep but i’m pacing out my boot soles living in a loophole just staring into space grateful for the stars that i’m not the only one shooting in the dark hanging round in crowds going round in circles higher than the houses happy just to be drifting through a sea full of bigger fish than me while they were swimming round in high schools i was hiding in the rock pools now they’re raking in a living watering the arts pulling up the flowers potting up the parks planting out the people living in a loophole now i could fall for your charm i could dance on your feet i could stay here in your arms i could do it in my sleep but i’m trying to feel the earth spin higher than the houses up there with the stars where i’m not the only one shooting in the dark so i just kiss you on your big heart and go back underneath the radar
4.	Scavengers 05:05	lyrics	buy track
i head back from the firing line you win this time but i am indestructible too sunshine so run rings around me a thousand times and still the trouble is you rich kids you never put your mouths where your money is all this talk about spines just to roll up like porcupines and it’s so absurd when i feed the birds you say I'm encouraging the scavengers but as foragers and gatherers we should know by now we're a polished act that any politician looking too relaxed behind our backs is acting like an alley cat fighting over scraps and when you say scavengers you mean us buskers and travellers us daydreamers and imaginers oh yeah i dream that one of these days the wolves you’ve raised are swallowed up by a blaze of dancing flames ‘cause your fate is in the hands of of those you think you're better than but when caught between finger and thumb i’ll be the one throwing you crumbs but if i had the time that time affords i'd be a pretty little body on a body board bobbing back and forth wondering what the worry's for i’d be like “who cares what the trouble is when the trouble is where everybody else lives in the bins and burrows and the bushes?” but i’m a dab hand where i am yeah i’m a river rodent with a rowboat tan and you’re in my home so you can eat your own words straight off the bone cause the trouble is you rich kids you never put your mouths where your money is all this talk about spines just to roll up like porcupines and i dream that one of these days the wolves you’ve raised are swallowed up by a blaze of dancing flames but would you just listen to us two squabbling birds fighting over who gets the final word
5.	The Carcass And The Pride 06:04	lyrics	buy track
the land is left with the stretch marks of a summer that somewhere far away still beats down upon her but what’s wrong and right here is black and white as skin so if water cleanses us of sin then it’s a good thing the rain is coming ‘cause i have lived nights not even the cactus could survive and all the fireflies they were burned alive now i am the Carcass and you are the Pride but it was suicide yeah i am the Carcass and you are the Pride but it was suicide so set light to this song when i’m gone set light to this song when i’m gone beyond the acacia tree we lie beneath is the biggest stretch of blue sky i’ve ever seen but what’s wrong and right here is black and white as skin so if water cleanses us of sin then it’s a good thing the rain is coming so set light to this song when i’m gone set light to this song when i’m gone ‘cause i am the Carcass and you are the Pride but it was suicide yeah i am the Carcass and you are the Pride but it was suicide and the land is left with the stretch marks of a summer that somewhere far away still beats down upon her but what’s wrong and right here is black and white as skin so if water cleanses us of sin then it’s a good thing the rain is coming
6.	Man Of The Land 06:06	lyrics	buy track
a long time ago long before time God made the earth and God made the sky He screwed up a newspaper tennis ball tight named it the Sun and set it alight and just as the light of the last Day diminished God made Man in his own image He blessed the Earth and all that was in it looked down on his work and declared it was finished and God gave Man dominion on Earth gave all of his Creatures hunger and thirst He put pride in the heart and fear in the herd He gave Venom to the bite and flight to the Bird “Oh Lord what do you have for me wrapped up underneath that apple tree? give me wings, let me soar and i’ll be yours forever creator” but God gave Man the concept of dreaming opposable thumbs and delicate feelings, an Imagination fit for believing and a Sense of his own existential being “oh thank you” said Man and left with a Smile and he entertained himself for a while he made Fire and rhythm and paintings in sand yeah Man of the Land his gift on his hands and Man made a book that spread from village to village depicting guardian angels in his own image in his own image except for one thing fanning out from his spine grew a divine set of Wings. ‘cause when Man saw the Bird and how happy she sings he made his bed in her feathers and dreamed of her Wings and made up untold unnecessary things in search of the Song her happiness sings “oh Icarus, i’m just like you never doing what i’m supposed to do. i make it up half of the time and soak my feathers, melt my wax and tear my twine” but with anchors for ankles Man became bored so Man made the lock and Man made the door and Man made the telescope and through it he saw… more! so Man made the cockpit and the vacuum tight door and the radio magnetic indicator and then defying all standing natural law he took to the Clouds and beyond them he soared and saw that by Stars and by Planets the Sun had been joined some spun out like spinning tops some tossed up like coins into a Galaxy splintered with Light flung out like a boomerang into the night oh but up in the sky Bird saw the Man and saw for herself the hole in his plan and knew before long he’d be where he belongs humming his sad and maudlin song still back to the other Birds she did report “one of those ‘deep think’ creeps of the crooked claw! one of them from all-fours up here in the sky making one of those big bright white ‘stiff bodies’ fly” And they sang “why Pegasus its just as well he can’t get off your carousel ‘cause ever since he left the ground he’s been up and down and up and down” so Man made the map and on it he drew which bits of the Earth were belonging to who and found in the weak a Spirit so strong that man made the gun and Man made the bomb but an eye for an eye and Man began to cry and through quivering lip gave it one last try he thrust his arms to the sky and into it he screamed “WHY?” and his cry shook the Earth and ruptured the Stone until out fell the Fossils the Gems and the Bone that told a story of Time as sad as his own and for the very first time he did not feel alone and those Constellations in the dark started setting of their shooting Stars saying “we’ve been here right from the start we’ve been watching over you like Guards”. and then man heard the distant firing of canons heard every war cry and every national anthem and high in the sky the little Bird sing “if only his maker had given him Wings”
7.	Kissing In Traffic 04:20 video	lyrics	buy track
Oh benny bear the soul you cage there’s barely been a night i’ve not played a show til late and stayed awake to watch you drive so i’m nothing love if not on your side through this howling wind that’s travelling wherever you decide ‘cause i used to live for night life now there’s nothing quite like sitting at a red light caught in your stare knowing that i’m going nowhere cause as luck would have it there’s something magic about kissing in traffic so send up a flare cause i swear we might yeah we might be getting somewhere but benny listen to me i’m still shaking off the mud from a love that all but buried me a love that beat me up but i’ve got nothing love if not guts so no howling wind is scaring us oh come and pick me up ‘cause i used to live for night life now there’s nothing quite like sitting at a red light caught in your stare knowing that i’m going nowhere cause as luck would have it there’s something magic about kissing in traffic so send up a flare cause i swear we might yeah we might be getting somewhere ‘cause ounce for ounce it’s the best seat in the house so pick me up pick me up yeah and i’ll give it up sadness can eat my dust eat my dust eat my dust (if we’re short of space this could finish here… if not….continue) Oh benny bear the soul you cage there’s barely been a night i’ve not played a show til late and stayed awake to watch you drive yeah cause ounce for ounce it’s the best seat in the house so pick me up pick me up yeah and i’ll give it up sadness can eat my dust eat my dust eat my dust
8.	Wishbone 05:06	lyrics	buy track
oh lucky you you lucky charm walking round town with a girl on each arm dressed to the nines looking alright yeah lucky you between pendulum beats drifting to sleep with a kiss on each cheek from two heavy hearts p a c i n g apart but i see it now how we’ve deepened your frown seems a girl on each arm can start weighing you down and i’ve got this sinking feeling that Wishbone you are the one that will be broken you are the lucky one we’ve both pinned our hopes on only one of us can win and still we stand to gain whilst the one we’re prizing open must fracture all the same and Wishbone you are the one that will be broken so set me sail while i’m still taking stock while i’m still sure and still sorry you’re not before the ink in your skin sets in yeah set me sail let me slip from your side while it’s all just a dream while you’re still blurry eyed but it’s so clear that if i stay here then Wishbone you are the one that will be broken you are the lucky one we’ve both pinned our hopes on only one of us can win and still we stand to gain whilst the one we’re prizing open must fracture all the same and Wishbone you are the one that will be broken but i don’t mind i’ll be here on the side lines holding my breath too long for you sometimes i don’t need lines i don’t need rings no i could own england and still owe you everything but tonight i’m drunk and i’m seeing double and i’ll scream there’s your trouble there’s your trouble there’s your trouble there’s your trouble there’s your trouble... Wishbone you are the one that will be broken you are the lucky one we’ve both pinned our hopes on only one of us can win and still we stand to gain whilst the one we’re fighting over must fracture all the same and Wishbone you are the one that will be broken
9.	Everything Is Temporary 05:05	lyrics	buy track
you and me we go up and down with the pound in this make believe currency where we are more aloof that we can afford to be but investment is a risky thing when you’re not sure what you’re worth especially if you do business like me and feed all your chips to the birds yeah especially if you do business like me and feed all your chips to the birds but oh virtue has its perks but the bubble bursts eventually everything is temporary and i see people go around arm in arm like parts in a machine and they make each other come with these lifetime guarantees but oh you ask anybody over in new orleans there’s no insurance on our homes and our cars everything is temporary there’s no insurance on our homes and our cars everything is temporary so don’t say you’re mine ‘cause i want to take you one day at a time yeah show me that line and i’ll sign and i’ll sign and i’ll sign and i’ll sign and i’ll sign i cook you stolen food on this squatted land with my borrowed time most of which is deemed a crime in this nation of mine where my hands have held other’s hands and i don’t want to know where you’ve been cause strictly between you and me everything is temporary yeah strictly between you and me everything is temporary

about

The fourth full length record from acclaimed musician and songwriter Ruth Theodore. This record is the fruit of a collaboration with producer Todd Sickafoose (Anais Mitchell/Ani Difranco).
Ruth travelled and played her way through California and up into Oregon to work alongside a stellar cast of musicians including organist Rob Burger (Tom Waits, Willie Nelson), percussionist Mathias Kunzli (Regina Spektor, Lauryn Hill), and Violinist Jenny Scheinman (Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed).

“Her new record’s a killer” - fROOTS

credits

released September 23, 2016

Words and music by Ruth Theodore

Produced by Todd Sickafoose

Ruth Theodore: Vocals, Guitar, Slide, Piano, Harmonica
Todd Sickafoose: Double Bass & Electric Bass
Mathias Künzli: Drums & Percussion
Wayne Thompson, Neil Thurston, Jigh Ejakpovi: Backing Vocals
Rob Burger: Organ, Accordion, Fujara
Mike Gamble: Electric Guitar
Jenny Scheinman: Violin
Annissa Olsen: Viola
Kelly Quesada: Cello
Tony Glausi: Trumpet

Recorded by Billy Barnett @ Gung-Ho Studio (Eugene Oregon USA) and Todd Sickafoose @ Earycanal.
Additional recording by Ruth Theodore @ River Rat Records and Duncan Thornley @ Map Studio.
Edited and Mixed by Todd Sickafoose @ Earycanal.
Mastered by Alan Douches @ West West Side Music.

All vocal and string arrangements by Ruth Theodore.
Additional arrangement by Todd Sickafoose.

Copyright River Rat 2016. Released under licence by Aveline Records

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about

Ruth Theodore UK

Establishing her own unique sound and signature guitar style whilst busking in doorways on detuned guitars. Ruth has gone on to perform alongside legendary artists Ani Difranco, Dar Williams, Nick Harper & Hamell On Trial. Collaborating with multi award winning producer Todd Sickafoose.

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Ruth Theodore recommends:

Tiny Resistors
by Todd Sickafoose

Amazing textures as always! I love the materials Todd can cunjure in my head out of literally thin air. Ruth Theodore
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Educated Guess
by Ani DiFranco

I guess I love that this is self produced and has some off the wall production ideas. I hear someone expressing ideas quite purely and I love that. Ruth Theodore
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Bricks and Feathers
by Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies (2015)

Harry is family so I have to give him a thumbs up but mainly because his songs are always genuine to who he is. Ruth Theodore
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Cactacus

by Ruth Theodore

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

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Cactacus

by Ruth Theodore

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credits

license

tags

Tags

about

discography

contact / help

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

£10 GBP or more

Streaming + Download

£7 GBP

T-Shirt/Apparel

£10 GBP or more

£39.10 GBP or more (15% OFF)