Rapa Iti

from Victory At Sea by vee device

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$1 USD or more
Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

The night was quiet--just like any other--
save for the physicist who came to me.
He gave me lessons in another language
Whispers in my dreams.

I liked the language so I spoke it daily
though I knew no one else who understood.
And those who heard me thought that I was crazy
Always knew they would.
Always knew they would.

Saturdays alone
with my books at home.
Read of lives away
from this village I was born in, but never meant to stay.

It was just a passing phase, the neighbors counseled.
But how could I give up my native tongue?
As the story spread the people shook their heads and said
“Oh, to be so young.”

My language stuck and soon displaced my French and
I horrified them with my stubbornness.
It took me twenty years to finally find a friend
I expected less.
I expected less.

Spoke on microphone
Analyzed my tone
Tried to calculate
phoneme approximations, but never found a mate.

In a bar with some Tunisian sailors
the barkeep said he’d heard my words before.
He led me to the harbor where I found my wife
we spoke ten hours or more.

In the Pacific on a ridgeline, rising,
a ring of fortresses surround the sea.
And on that shoreline a Tahitian choir
sings us all to sleep
Sings us all to sleep.

credits

from Victory At Sea, released February 5, 2016
Dennis Bigelow: Electric Guitar, Organ, Accordion, Vocals
Kat Ernst: Cello
Sam Ernst: Vocals, Guitar
Caitlin Morris: Trumpet

license

about

vee device Fort Collins, Colorado

vee device are a landlocked band who've made an album all about remote islands and the people who inhabit them. Go figure. The music is jaunty, but not in a sea-shanty kind of way. The lyrics are detailed, but not in a "let's pull out an encyclopedia" kind of way (unless that encyclopedia is full of short snippets from Wikipedia, of course). vee device love songs about places they will never see. ... more

contact / help

Contact vee device

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like vee device, you may also like:

IMMEDIATELY Remixes
by Perfume Genius

Perfume Genius recruits A.G. Cook, Boy Harsher, Jenny Hval, and more for a remixed edition of 2020's acclaimed "Set My Heart On Fire." Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 17, 2021
go to album
Terns in Idle
by Rain Recordings

This collaborative project offers a fresh twist on classic indie sounds of the early 2000s with hooky choruses and quirky instrumentation Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 13, 2024
go to album
Wooden Cave
by Thin Lear

Thin Lear's sophisticated rock music is tempered with soaring chamber pop accents and an undeniable gift for melody. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 30, 2020
go to album
Aidan Knight
by Aidan Knight

Canadian singer-songwriter Aidan Knight makes indie folk-rock that's sophisticated, but never loses its sense of genuine intimacy. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 30, 2020
go to album
This Month
by Stone Irr

Recalling a month of dreams and nightmares, Bloomington, IN, songwriter releases cassette of fireside ditties. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 23, 2015
go to album
Each Other
by Aidan Knight

featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 3, 2015
go to album
Somnium
by Jacco Gardner

A new record of swirling and hypnotic psych-prog from Jacco Gardner that celebrates the immersive magic of the album format. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 14, 2018
go to album