Joe Peppercorn
Darkening Stars album artwork: hand-drawn gold stars above a blue street

Volume I · Released collection

Darkening
Stars

The words to all thirteen vocal songs on the fourteen-track album, followed by seventeen additional songs from Joe’s lyric archive. The title track is instrumental.

Words by Joe PeppercornOfficial release · 2024
Listen to Darkening Stars on Bandcamp ↗
Album track 01 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Walked on the Moon

The stars are real oh the stars are my home
It's not just some idea I made up On my own
I navigate by the stars in the sky
The stars will be home until I die Til I Die Til I die

Noone left who walked on the moon
Noone left who walked on the moon
Darkness falling at the break of noon

And if you think you're something that You're not
Mistake a painting For a mirror
Waves wash away your scribbles now In the sand
Raise a glass and watch it all disappear

Noone left who walked on the moon Noone left who walked on the moon Darkness falling at the break of noon
Footprints stranded on the dust of the moon Footprints stranded on the dust of the moon Footprints stranded on the dust of the moon Footprints stranded on the dust of the moon
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Album track 02 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Weighed Down

All your nightmares Are getting easier to forget But your dreams linger In a haunted silhouette
Weighed down Weighed down Weighed down By a ghost
A porcupine crawls Across your liferaft And I misread you When you fake a heart attack
Weighed down Weighed down Weighed down By a ghost
Disappear In the back Of your brown eyes
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Album track 03 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Moon Dive

Turn all the lights out and leave me Dreaming of your arms Hang your chandeliers over my head When it starts to storm
I can't live without your private sigh And I'm drowning in your shadow When I'm swimming in Your love As the moon through your window Does a cannonball from a diving board Above
Close your eyes and you dream Of her hair in a fiery rain So you learn that desire Paves the road to pain
Like a fly Caught in a silver spider web And I'm drowning in your shadow When I'm swimming in your love As the moon through your window Does a cannonball from a diving board Above
I can't live without Your private sigh
Like a fly Caught in a silver spider web And I'm drowning in your shadow When I'm swimming in your love You blanket your red eyes with The knuckle of your green glove
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Album track 04 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Ghost Affair

I met you under the willow tree Studying your own headstone Startled to see me We died the same age Thirty years apart Still young enough to Burn fire in our hearts ' Walked round the cemetery every night Talking about our past lives Til the morning light Your husband stopped coming round one day Then we fell in love in our Ghostly way
Try to run my hands through your hair But I just caress the air
We don't age we don't change our shape And this awful cemetery we can never escape Don't wanna pretend to touch you anymore Hell is sealed shut and heaven closed its door
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Album track 05 / 14Hear this recording ↗

I Drown

You're a Juliette but I'm No Romeo Throw up my hands and You aim a cross bow The streets are decayed empty Desolate dead I only wanna count the cracks In the ceiling above your bed
Tonight I just wanna swim out deep Into the Ocean of your eyes Til I can't see the land And the tidal waves rise And I drown
Lay my head down upon your chest Quiet sussurations of your heart at rest They cry in a whisper that I can only hear Saying come one now why Not try something real
Tonight I just wanna swim out deep Into the Ocean of your eyes Til I can't see the land And the tidal waves rise And I drown
Tonight I just wanna swim out deep Into the Ocean of your eyes Til I can't see the land And the tidal waves rise And I drown
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Album track 07 / 14Hear this recording ↗

She Sparkles

Time, when we're young all we've got is time Now it's the one thing we never find And we spend every dime Wanting more time
She reminds me that I'm alive On an 18 hour drive She pulles out a mix tape From 1999 Yeah yeah
She sparkles She sparkles Oh she sparkles The world around her shines
We drowned out our loneliness With cacophonous miserable bliss A neon bouquet Curling round the lines of our face
You so beautiful I could cry For you I would surely die But I always choke when you ask You ask you love me why?
She sparkles She sparkles oh she sparkles The world around her shines
I love everything about you I'm still learning how to Change
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Album track 08 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Jenny with the Stars

The familiar four in the morning alone When your ghosts lean in and moan So alone I'd throw my arms around my bitter enemy Throw my arms round things only I can see
You left without saying goodbye Jenny with the stars bleeding in your eyes
We all can bleed any time we want to It's a choice to see the day through The smell of your skin folded in my pillow Your voice echoes in the leaves falling below
You left without saying goodbye Jenny with the stars bleeding in your eyes
"I love you Let's run away I love you Let's run away"
You left without saying goodbye Jenny with the stars bleeding in your eyes
You left without saying goodbye Jenny with the stars bleeding in your eyes
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Album track 09 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Juliette

Juliette never flinches Juliette could stare down the sun Her heart weeps into the gutter Where cigarettes are put out in her tears
Every day, it's like you're further away From where you were yesterday
She runs through the dark of the morning I dream of an open window thunderstorm Her dignity in silence Against cruelty, and violent storm
Every day it's like you're further away From where you were yesterday Devils sneak in through a crack in the door Try to put them back, you let in more
Juliette doesn't know me She's a ghost in the attic fumbling for a taste of eternity Her shadow always haunts me Pure darkness enclosed by a light I live to see
Every day it's like you're further away From where you were yesterday Devils sneak in through a crack in the door Try to put them back, you let in
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Album track 10 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Lean Against Me

When the rain blows wild and hard
Knocks you off your guard I'll be a shelter from the storm
When the waves crash on your ship And all your senses slip Like Christ I'll make the waters calm
You can lean against me When the world tries to knock you down
When your demons start to moan You feel helpless an alone I'll stare those demons down
When your friends all disappear And you dread the bathroom mirror Look into my eyes
You can lean against me When the world tries to knock you down
When you feel cheated you feel used Suffer all the world's abuse Know I could never do you harm
When dust coats your wedding gown And life has let you down Let's make tomorrow new
You can lean against me When the world tries to knock you down
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Album track 11 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Branches

Beyond where we can feel any pain You welcome the rain To wash the blood off the streets
Skeletons shiver in the west wind When it blows through their bones When it blows through their bones
Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches
I'm a kite tangled in your upper reach I'm the fragment of a shell Buried on your beach
Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches
Now all we feel is sorrow Now all we feel is sorrow
Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches Sifting through the leaves Falling from your branches
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Album track 12 / 14Hear this recording ↗

I Don’t Need Myself Anymore

I fall into your arms And all my fears disappear I get used to the smell of your hair And forget the taste of my tears
Every breath is yours Every move is yours All of my blood is yours I don't need myself anymore
I look up at the stars the same my ancestors did And wonder the things they know now The clouds keep hid (from us)
Every breath is yours Every move is yours All of my blood is yours I don't need myself anymore
Every breath is yours Every move is yours All of my blood is yours I don't need myself anymore
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Album track 13 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Floor of My Heart

Celestial stains yellow on your cheek Your kisses cracks in eternity Through which I desperately peek
On the floor of my heart Underneath the dust Are your permanent footprints And your name written in rust
I try and drape a new skin Over my corroded bones Run a comb through the stars Decipher their coded moans
On the floor of my heart Underneath the dust Are your permanent footprints And your name written in rust
On the floor of my heart Underneath the dust Are your permanent footprints And your name written in rust
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Album track 14 / 14Hear this recording ↗

Never Be Ready to Say Goodbye

Somber clouds hang from Your eyes The morning breathelss cries Through the window Gnashing its teeth And barely let's the sun fall across Your skin I'm in love with you now I've been in love with you since I was born
I'll never be Ready to say goodbye to you
The waves crash in your mouth The moon reflects on your cheek Everything I want is buried
And lost in the shadows behind your eyes Don't let me grow old Without you And if I leave this world before you NAme a star after me
I'll never be Ready to say goodbye to you
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01 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Valerie

Valerie, it's no secret all the good guys lose
It's the price we pay I guess for all the chains
That we refuse

I'm forgetting what it's like to be closer to you
I'm forgetting what it's like to be closer to you

Valerie oh we're so rich for being poor
When I look up to the sky I see the outline
Of heaven's door

I'm forgetting what it's like to be closer to you
I'm forgetting what it's like to be closer to you
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02 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Snow Falls Around You

Snow falls around you
Melts in your hair
You soak my pillow wet
You know I don't care

I wish you'd take my scarf
Wrap it tight around my head
Drag me by it down the boulevard
Tie me to your bed

Snow falls around you
Catch a flake upon your tongue
Make me envy that snowflake
Floating round your lungs

I wish you'd take my scarf
Wrap it tight around my head
Drag me by it down the boulevard
Tie me to your bed

Snow falls around you
Kick a tree to knock it off your boots
I'm like that tree there
Desires tapping now against my roots

I wish you'd take my scarf
Wrap it tight around my head
Drag me by it down the boulevard
Tie me to your bed

Snow falls around you
Melts in your hair
You soak my pillow wet
You know I don't care
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03 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Live Again

Everyone's born perfect
Then the slow steady decline
Decay is nature's code
And our design

Don't tell me I've been
Dreaming alone
Don't tell me I'm dreaming alone
Give yourself a chance to live again
Give yourself a chance to live again

The transitory nature of our
Desolate breath
Hands in the air we dance
A desperate arabesque

Don't tell me I've been
Dreaming alone
Don't tell me I'm dreaming alone
Give yourself a chance to live again
Give yourself a chance to live again
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04 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Give Up the Ghost

My heart is desiccated
A field of dead trees
Waiting to be set on fire
Kindled by the breeze

Give up the ghost
Once again
The sun will rise
And our shadows
Will take on the shape
We recognize

Our small shadows
Cut wrinkles into our brow
Pulling down our weight
Til the moon makes us bow

Give up the ghost
Once again
The sun will rise
And our shadows
Will take on the shape
We recognize
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05 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Weeds in the Gallows

I was standing at the stations tonight
A cold rain blowing
Swirling around the neon
Gas light

Shadowy lady
Pulls up in a black car
She'd run from her husband she said
With her daughter, not far

Weeds growing in the gallows
Trembling in the wind
Everyone's asking will they
Cut them down again?

She said she needed
Thirty seven dollars for a room
I gave her fourty
She looked like a ghost
Who'd seen her own tomb

Weeds growing in the gallows
Trembling in the wind
Everyone's asking will they
Cut them down again?

Weeds growing in the gallows
Trembling in the wind
Everyone's asking will they
Cut them down again?
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06 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Rely

You're the only thing on which
I rely
I send the world a line
Always no reply

Yellow weeds bloom
in the spring
They leave their wishful skeletons
They blow into the brink

You're the only thing
On which I rely
The clouds corrupt the prayers
We send up to the sky

The temperament
of the sun
Tears fall into the sink
When the day is done

You're the only thing
on which I rely
I send the world a line
Always no reply
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07 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Why Do You Want to Work Here

Tell me about yourself
How do you establish relationships with your coworkers?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What's your greatest weakness?
What are your strengths?
How do you see yourself fitting in here?
Describe your most recent position
How did you hear about this job?
What do you know about this company
What is your greatest professional achievement?
Tell me about a challenge you faced at work and how you dealt with it?
What's your dream job?

Why do you want to work here?

What kind of pay scale are you looking for?
What time of work environment are you looking for?
Tell me about a time you exercised leadership
How would your boss describe you?
Tell me about a time you overcame adversity?
Can you explain this gap in your employment record?

Why do you want to work here?

How do you deal with stressful situations?
What do you like to do outside work?
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08 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Need to Bleed

You're a ballon in a child's hand
Hovering under a ceiling of nails
You're a power line weighed down
By a caravan of snails

You're a grain of sand
Stuck on Christ's sandal strap
As he wandered through the desert
Hazily by the devil's traps

We all need to bleed sometimes
We all need to bleed

You're the grains of coffee discarded wet into the dirt
You're the microscopic hole
That made me throw out my favorite shirt

You're the lightbulb over the bathroom mirror
The only light I look good in
You're the temptation and then the atonement for
My sin

You're a dead leaf buried under a welcome mat
In the spring
You're an unwritten melody
Nobody but the wind remembers how to sing

We all need to bleed sometimes
We all need to bleed
We all need to bleed

You're the fossil of a bullet
Whose tragedy diminishes with time
You're a sweet and innocent charity with
The face and facade of a crime

You're the coin I've stared at for years
Trapped inside the heating vent
You're the selfish lover
We forgive so easily once they repent

We all need to bleed sometimes
We all need to bleed
We all need to bleed

You're the girl at the table
With the guy with the distinct drunken howl
I hear him every time I listen to a live jazz album
Drowning out Coltrane's growl

You're a matchstick struck three times
And then discarded and thrown away
You're a beautiful word to hard to know
To hard to pronounce that noone will say

You're the thumbprint on the glass
Of a ferris wheel car
You're a distant planet
Mistaken in a telescope for a shimmering star
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09 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Dark Leaves

We need things we can cling to
Songs we can sing too
Eyes we stare into
That don't want to see our skulls caved in

Resentment bubbles
Under words and smiles
Of friends and family
Who crave blood and suffering now

We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
Through the dark leaves now

The red sun takes off his shirt
The red moon makes its bed
The stars all line up at the counter
Staring at their phones now

We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
Through the dark leaves now

We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
Through the dark leaves now

Take it all for granted
And then it's real
It's hard to find something real
You forget how hard it is

We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
We can see the blue sky
Through the dark leaves now

Don't let it go away
Your love is real
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10 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Tiptoe

I'm not feeling right
The birds have lost their song
Sometimes too much light
You see clearly all is wrong

Tiptoe around the dragon at your door
Tiptoe around the dragon at your door

Serenade the swelter of silence that
Makes you feel so lonely
You look at me and say
You see no trace of reality

Tiptoe around the dragon at your door
Tiptoe around the dragon at your door

Turns out I don't mind
The knives you keep
Under your pillow all the time

Tiptoe around the dragon at your door
Tiptoe around the dragon at your door
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11 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Stay at Home Dad

My son turned 8 today
i swear it was just yesterday
The first time
Our apartment felt so small

Now a stay at home dad
Tending bar it isn't bad
Except for the dirty looks
From suspicious moms

Things are changing all the time
We don't really see them change
Try to trap the ghosts of memories
While they're in our range

Home at 4 and up at 8
What I'd give to sleep late
We just get used to
Tired all the time

Little fingers Little toes
Milk stains on all my clothes
Everything is familiar
But feels new

Things are changing all the time
We don't really see them change
Try to trap the ghosts of memories
While they're in our range
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12 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Apollo and Daphne

I felt a sting when she came in my sight
Wind in the leaves swaying shadowy light
Her flashing eyes like fire in the sky
Lips only seen, give up and die

Had a dream she ran away from me
I reached out for her she turned into a tree

She saw me and ran, her gown round her knees
All of my pleas drowned out in the breeze
Her boucning hair, the ribbons tangled there
I toucher her gown, she let out a desperate prayer

Had a dream she ran away from me
I reached out for her she turned into a tree

Had a dream she ran away from me
I reached out for her she turned into a tree
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13 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

This Aggression Will Not Stand

Should have moved to California baby
When we were young and we had the spark
I know I'm stumbling in the dark
No use looking back now

French dude comes in for a last call
Gives me trouble now I wonder what life is for
I know there's something better for me
I know you only get what you give

This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand

I'm fumbling for my keys up the sidewalk
I'm trouble for the dead leaves under my feet
I know I love the smokescreen of the fall
And I fall for October's slight of hand

This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand

This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand
This aggression will not stand
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14 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

If the Rain Falls Hard Tomorrow

if the rain falls hard tomorrow
and the wind tears the branches from the trees
and lightning rips the sky
and the floodwaters rise to your knees
if the rain falls hard tomorrow

if the locusts come tomorrow
and fill the fields and cover the sun
and their hiss drowns out our cries
and everything
if the locusts come tomorrow

love can feel meaningless in the face
of things you can't control
it's easy to be cynical
it's so hard to be kind all the time

if the rain falls hard tomorrow
don't forget who you are
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15 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

My Phone

Carry it round everywhere
Reflecting my eyes torn
Sleep with it next to me
Check it first thing in the morn

My phone my phone
Makes me feel so alone
Alone alone
Every day with my phone

Ignore my kids for a while
Read about people I don't know
Forget about the moon and the sun
Head down glued to the glow

My phone my phone
Makes me feel so alone
Alone alone
Every day with my phone

I wrote the words to this song on it
I would have done fine
With a piece of paper and a
Creative fit

My phone my phone
Makes me feel so alone
Alone alone
Every day with my phone
My phone my phone
Makes me feel so alone
Alone alone
Every day with my phone
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16 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Untitled #3

The wind draws its breath
Swallows my song
It blows in the void now
I live in the void

Perform CPR
On the ghosts
Wandering your hall
Awaiting your call

The path to paradise
Begins in hell
And when you cross the borderline
Of heaven you can't even tell

Trembling cold
Under my eyes
All of the time
Now all of the time

Your fate is a gift
It can't be taken away
You shake it and pray
A phantom or a ghost will stay

The path to paradise
Begins in hell
And when you cross the borderline
Of heaven you can't even tell

The more perfect you are
The more you feel pain
The more you live in pleasures
Surrounding you
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17 / 17 additional lyricsFrom Joe’s archive

Pendulum

I'm in my cell
Carving your name and counting
Hash marks

I'm in the darkness
Collecting whispers
And fumbling for sparks

My shadow asks me
Is this really what you
Want to be?

You remind me there's more
To this life than the things we
Can see

There's a place we can go
Where nothing will change
And our memory doesn't pounce
On experience and reaarange

I kissed you and lost my breath
Under your parents' cherry tree

You remind me there's more to this life
Than the things I can see

There's a stark pendulum
Swinging wild and free in your heart
With a blade fixed on its end
Slowly cutting my guts apart

Go ahead cut me
Tear my flesh
Tear my beliefs
Tear everything sacred to me
You remind me there's more to this life than the things
I can see
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