Get all 10 Ola Onabulé releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Point Less, It's The Peace That Deafens, Love For Sale - An all-Vocal Track, SEVEN SHADES DARKER, THE DEVOURED MAN, IN EMERGENCY, BRAKE SILENCE, AMBITIONS FOR DEEPER BREADTH, PRECIOUS LIBATIONS FOR SILENT GODS, and 2 more.
1. |
Throwaway Notion
05:19
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Throwaway Notion
Ola Onabule
Comfortably broken
On abdicated throne
Selectively outspoken
Clutching what's no more owned
Broken bits of rules for one and all
Sharpened for that lonely crawl
It's not decline, we call it a dignified fall
Then race that to the bottom, Oh oh!
Let’s burn Arcadia, throw away da nation
Wake all it's dreamers,
Fleece it’s shackled till sheep
Turn upside down all it stood up to be,
Throwaway notion, our new found destiny
Intolerant of difference
That built for what we stand
We'll threaten all existence
And bite the very hand
Raise the threshold never raise the bar
Give that plenty owning few
Over do excess, then take it way too far
sell what’s leftover to whom it harms most, Oh oh!
Let’s burn Arcadia, throw away da nation
Wake all it's dreamers,
Fleece it’s shackled till sheep
Turn upside down all it stood up to be,
Throwaway notion, our new found destiny
If the future comes calling asking what we did
We’ll just say we got rid of the things it needs
Possibility, opportunity, destiny….
Let’s burn Arcadia, throw away da nation
Wake all it's dreamers,
Fleece it’s shackled till sheep
Turn upside down all it stood up to be,
Throwaway notion, our new found destiny
So to be placed on history’s rubbish heap
Throwaway notion is the way we should be
Ad Libs out
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2. |
The Old Story
05:22
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The Old Story
Ola Onabule 2018
Owo pupa, O wo aso dudu
Oju fun fun, Oso kun morun
Every night, tormented by apparitions,
In forms that moved like an ancient masquerade,
Bloodied vizards whisper: "These are not delusions, No...
Just the just deserts of past deeds that overstayed"
I Hear them cry
We don't do scot free.
No checking out, doubting what will be
The dance presages all of we
Cursed generations will repeat
till in lock step with history's beat...
We'll tell the old story:
Owo pupa, O wo aso dudu
Oju fun fun, Oso kun morun
As I dim his lights, they shine a dawning,
This promised land of beginnings, delivered his end
And from that revelation I divined a meaning, I...
Nurture a truth starved of meaning, A lie that pretends
He heard me cry
I don't do victim but why
Must I exist, just to tell a man
I must prepare him to die
I planned to live, not live the plan
I try, but never do all I can
Trapped in the old story
Owo pupa, O wo aso dudu
Oju fun fun, Oso kun morun
As I dim his lights, they shine a dawning,
This promised land of beginnings, delivered his end
And from that revelation I divined a meaning, I...
Nurture a truth starved of meaning, A lie that pretends
He heard me cry
Owo pupa, O wo aso dudu
Oju fun fun, Oso kun morun
Ad Libs out…
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3. |
Point Less
05:31
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POINTLESS
Ola Onabule 2018
Pointless, is the point of it all,
To hold you down where you fall,
On the fragments, of a dream, you saw come true.
But wasn't meant for you.
Point less, those shattered fingers of blame,
You were never in their game
Like the echo, of a lie, you tell yourself.
When no one's there to hear,
I am pointless
Naked in leaden rain,
Raised by betrayal’s pain,
Watch the children come enrolling,
Down degradation’s drain,
Gouged out of hollow frames
All too soon, they’ll come to see hope's...
Pointless, is the point of it all,
To hold you down where you fall,
On the fragments, of a dream, you saw come true.
But wasn't meant for you.
Point less, those shattered fingers of blame,
You were never in their game
Like the echo, of a lie, you tell yourself.
When no one's there to hear,
I am pointless
Red, white and blue, her ghosts
Lives that once mattered most,
Locked in hearts, too late for houses
Ruthless this ebb and flow
Uneasy status quo
Far too late, she knows that love is…
Pointless, is the point of it all,
To hold you down where you fall,
On the fragments, of a dream, you saw come true.
But wasn't meant for you.
Point less, those shattered fingers of blame,
You were never in the game
Like the echo, of a lie, you tell yourself.
When no one's there to hear,
I am pointless
With pyrrhic advantage,
And reason held hostage
By counterpoint,
The victor seems victim
If truth lies beside him
On our worlds disjoint
What you went looking for?
Is what’s missing inside you
You couldn’t see it,
But we knew it’s all ver when,
That little baby just watched her daddy die
Oh no, oh no,
you all saw it but you just walked on by
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4. |
And Yet
05:31
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And Yet
Ola Onabule 2018
Staring down a barrel again
Staring down a barrel again
Don't blow Mister, Big controller, do the rags bother
Maybe I could lose the hoodie for ya
Calm down will ya, Don't get triggered, Keep your cool holstered
We all know you wield the rod of power
Just speak clearer, Never louder, I just want to re-
dress the balance in survival's favour
Drag breath deeper, stop, consider, how could we differ
If the past has bound our fates forever...
...more... than forever more,
like our bones of contention lining beds of the ocean
...more... to fade never more
Like stains on the cotton that enshroud the forgotten
I couldn't be braver, Faster or stronger… And yet
I'm staring down a barrel again
I couldn't be gentler, studied and lettered… And yet
I'm staring down a barrel again
What’s up with ya, Why so bitter, What’s enough for ya
Where's the part where someone else gets better
Have no fear, You're in the clear, No one's coming for ya
If that's why you cocked that happy finger
I'm aiming elsewhere, what dya care, Please don't end me here
Just so you fulfil that deadly quota
Exhale slower, then consider, how do we differ
If the past has bound our fates forever...
...more... than forever more,
like our bones of contention lining beds of the ocean
...more... to fade never more
Like stains on the cotton that enshroud the forgotten
I couldn't be braver, Faster or stronger… And yet
I'm staring down a barrel again
I couldn't be gentler, studied and lettered… And yet
If I was a leader that never made drama, You guessed
I’d be staring down some barrel again
And if I’d been falling, I shouldn’t start rising, or foreign and winning
Before way too long I’d be staring down a barrel again
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5. |
Exit Wound
05:21
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Exit Wound
Ola Onabule 2018
Ti le, le le nyo
I know nights surrender to dawns
As in hackneyed 'silver lining' songs
Not when grief mauls your heart
Abandons you on the path
To where that faith you lost was.
Be strong, pick your heart up, survive
Lucky, alone, but alive,
Though all those you’d lived for
Stood no chance past that door
Luck sure ain’t what it once was.
I'd die to un-dream my reality,
And wake, running free.
I’d kill for unfettered humanity
Murder each sin,
That conspired to break me...
Don't send me all your thoughts and prayers
If they make it, they'll be no use here.
Too late has come too soon
Now I'm just an exit wound
Other side of the truth of what we are...
Vulnerable yet the sum of all fears,
Tolerable as long as no where near
No emergency room
This side of an exit wound
Someday, what we were, will return,
Reclaim us from apathy's concern
Shades of lighter heartache,
Naiveté to awake,
On old battle fields
New blood may assail the old status quo
To wash it away,
A force wielding powers they'll never know,
Pray they prevail,
but if they don't then
Don't send me all your thoughts and prayers
If they make it, they'll be no use here.
Too late has come too soon
Now I'm just an exit wound
Other side of the truth of what we are...
Vulnerable yet the sum of all fears,
Tolerable as long as No where near
No emergency room
This side of an exit wound
Ti le, le le nyo
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6. |
What The Heck
05:58
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What The Heck
Ola Onabule
We go through, never go round
Always headed up, we don't do down
Oh yeah, everyday's a win, Losing is a sin,
Born to rule that higher ground
We never stop, We don't know how
We never change, No way, Not now!
Oh yeah, hope is for the weak, losers lucky streak
A dream is but a broken vow
Okay sometimes , We do at times,
Lose all that we held with our arms,
To murdered meaning.
Kings of new climes, turned slave to crimes
Rolling into sight from the past, slowly reckonings
We have...
And the tears from our eyes
flow to hearts long gone to seed
But we never sow love,
what the heck are we crying for.
Off to plant that flag,
Where we left those kids to bleed,
But we never grow peace,
what the heck are we dying for...
We go hard, or we go home
We get it done, locked in the zone.
Oh yeah we never compromise, don't apologise
Lead it all or stand alone.
We win big gain, we fear no pain
Don't be the target when we're taking aim
Yes, our goal is never missed, foolish to resist,
Be sure before you play our game
Maybe sometimes , We can at times,
Trade in what we get from our arms,
For murdered meaning.
Gods in our time, turned pawns to crimes
Rolling into sight from the past, brutal reckonings
We have…
And the tears from our eyes
flow to hearts long gone to seed
But we never sow love,
what the heck are we crying for.
Off to plant that flag,
Where we left those kids to bleed,
But we never grow peace,
what the heck are we dying for…
Dying for , what is more
What’s worth living for!
Tears from our eyes flow to
hearts long gone to seed
But we never sow love,
what the heck are we crying for.
Off to plant that flag,
Where we left those kids to bleed,
But we never grow peace,
what the heck are we dying for...
But if we meant to do that
what the heck we been waiting for...
When it’s easier than
kicking down an open door
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7. |
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Ballad Of the Star Crossed
Ola Onabule 2018
Don't you let go
Just to be free of their world
There's no us beyond the veil
Of this woe
And if you fade, right where you fall
That's all they'll tell of our tale
Far too late I see, what was, ever will be
Help was never gonna come,
From those who create it’s need
I dreamt we broke the code,
Along a bloodless road
But where you lie, that quest will die
along with all its hope, less you...
Hang on, hold fast the light,
Beg life linger, till memories fade
And sorrow floods my days
Won't you please hang on,
Lets cheat our tragedy out of the deal it's made
Please find a way to stay
How did we come so far and end at the start,
Hunted by the foolish fears
That others are haunted by
When all here's said and done
The last word is their gun's
There in that might, the twisted right
That's dimmed your precious light, less you…
Hang on, hold fast the light,
Beg life linger, till memories fade
And sorrow floods my days
Won't you please hang on,
Lets cheat our tragedy out of the deal it's made
Please find a way to stay
Don't you let go
Just to be free of their world
There's no us beyond the veil
Of this woe
And if you fade, right where you fall
That's all they'll tell of our tale
Choruses and ad libs out
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8. |
I Knew Your Father
05:15
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I Knew Your Father
Ola Onabule 2018
I knew your father, well kinda sorta
simply got caught in the fray, stolen away,
Pain must be murder
I hear your mother , Pulled back the cover
Over the secrets of lies, and the truth dies,
Without it’s camera
We watched a world watching on
At bewildered stupor
Nought to do for
Kin clinging on
United in these states of
Cold fear, burn of the brand, severed hand dealer
Old fear, cull of the clan, studded man killer
I knew your father, unafraid fighter
Doing the best that he knew, keeping it true
Tryin’ to do better
That such a brother, had no protector,
Would have no-body to fight, none but his wife
out of his corner,
A Headless world lurches on
With bewildered stupor
Stoop and cheer your —
war raging on
Where each soldier fights against stone
Cold fear, burn of the brand, severed hand dealer
Old fear, cull of the clan, studded man killer
We watched a world watching on
At bewildered stupor
Nought to do for
Kin clinging on
United in these states of fear lurching on
With bewildered stupor
Stoop and cheer your —
war raging on
Where each soldier fights against stone
Cold fear, burn of the brand, severed hand dealer
Old fear, cull of the clan, studded man killer
Ad lib...
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9. |
Suru Lere
05:37
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Suru Lere
Ola Onabulé 2018
Lets go to Suru Lere,
It's far, but won't feel a long way
Pay attention, it dwells in your heart
You were of Suru Lere,
Before the past pulled today's seams apart
Patience is waiting's one gain
Why waste it waiting in vain
Still clinging wide eyed to pledges unmade
Come back to Suru Lere,
Naked and human, and no more afraid
Disquiet and presentiments
Immediately fly away, oh far away
Celebrate, in your element
Get stronger each passing day, day by day
Breathe, when you breathe,
Soon you'll live, not barely survive
Soon you'll feel alive
You can't go to Suru Lere
I guess I've been talking grand,
Here's where he fell, here you'll make your last stand
You'll build a Suru Lere
All of your own on this sleepless land
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10. |
Tender Heart
05:21
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Tender Heart
Ola Onabulé 2018
Tender Heart, careful how you ache,
Don't look down, don't look round
Weave an art, of those smiles you'd forsake
Seems there's no one you can call
No outstretched arms to break your fall,
When those you show scars that you bear
Say your story's no longer there
But solace in despair
Brought all this on your tender heart.
Tender Heart, Here's a torch for you
Do you stay and fight or merge into night
It's your path, light a way to the truth,
You might be providences choice,
Go Be the future we'll rejoice,
Quell discoveries dragged from the mire
Only love can free and inspire
Calm that raging fire
That burns within your tender heart
solo…
Seems there's no one you can call
No outstretched arms to break your fall,
When those you show scars that you bear
Say your story's no longer there
But solace in despair
Brought all this on your tender heart.
Ad libs out…
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11. |
Conceive It
05:01
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Conceive It
Ola Onabulé 2018
Talking about the way things be….
Can you conceive it?
A world where a guardian angel, steadily takes aim
At our baby’s deadly toy, primed for the end game
With gods, in camouflage, murdering the old shame
And they'll conceal it,
Not with loud words, of an enemy, but with gold silence
Of a cold society, hardened to violence
Where to speak of unity only makes no sense.
And unreason grinds coarse words to fine
Stench of anger suffocates young minds
Oh I know you struggle to believe it,
Still can’t see it
But your brain quite quickly will concede it
You’ll conceive
It’s how things already be!
The lie that's believed is,
long ago was for them, that bastion of safeness
The main goal of the cause, return to that greatness
By wrenching hope from claws, of dreamers till stateless
So you might perceive this,
As a tale meant to foretell what you will soon hear
They’ll be all they can, when you can no longer
You're short of ideal, ideal is you’re not here
Where delirium drives dissent benign
your continuum becomes broken line
Oh I know you struggle to believe it,
Still can’t see it
But your brain quite quickly will concede it
You’ll conceive
It’s how things already be!
How can I conceive it, when I can't believe it
Aaaaaahhhh
Open up your eyes and see
It’s already happening.
It’s how things already.
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12. |
So They Say
05:55
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So They Say
Ola Onabule 2018
So they say, is a thing they say,
When they say things they should not say,
As to declare it the subtle way,
While hoping you will be just as they
Are choosing to say
Say, filling the world with the things they say
Yeah, shaping your world out of things they say
Oh, for all those tuned in to our hear say
Oh, We say the things that they'll come to say
So astounded to hear what you’d heard of me
Are things I can't believe you’re inclined to believe
Makes it easy to say what they say of you is true,
When facts are few, you’ll stoke a brew, of myth’s anew
So they say, is a thing they say,
When they say things they should not say,
As to declare it the subtle way,
While hoping you will be just as they
Are choosing to say
Say, filling the world with the things they say
Yeah, shaping your world out of things they say
Oh, for all those tuned in to our hear say
Oh, We say the things that they'll come to say
Clutch a bag close full of fearful streets you crossed,
I'll perceive of you my preconceptions worst,
In the absence of a presence of a shred of truth,
With facts are few, I'll stoke a brew, of myth’s anew
So they say, is a thing they say,
When they say things they should not say,
As to declare it the subtle way,
While hoping you will be just as they
Are choosing to say
Solo
So they'll say, they've heard people say
You’re not like us in anyway
Then they'll say, we don't mean to cause dismay
You’re not an equal us, but a lower other we call
‘they’, filling the world with the things they say
Yeah, shaping your world out of things they say
Oh, for all those tuned in to our hear say
Oh, We say the things that they'll come to say
Ad libs
You accountable for each of all of you
Me indictable for everything we do
One and all exemplars and inculpable
So they say, these are the things they say…
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13. |
Pas Famille
04:49
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PAS FAMILLE
Ola Onabulé 2018
These days the world seems out of kilter
I don't know, which way up is.
I saw you stare into the mirror
Yet miss our, fate's what yours is.
Then you say kneeling down is
As much of a crime, as standing up is
Grind that dirt, into the grain and,
Rake that hurt, across the pain and,
Saying what ought, is just the same as
What it's not, And more's the shame, where...
Pas famille,
Don't make like you're my brother,
Sail on to your merrily,
Once you sell me down the river
Betrayal, is a roulette wheel
That makes a vixen outta karma
As it turns, it comes around
To afflict its hapless dealer
Your self loathing is unbound,
So you're ever Pas famille
You know the things your kinfolk need,
But bring them barbarity.
Who traumatized you without heed
You yield to ab-normality
We've all been where you've been,
But treat each other with fidelity
Still you cheered, at spirits broken
With them sneered, at truths unspoken,
One fine day, You'll find your way,
Back home to stay, But until then you're...
Pas famille,
Don't make like you're my brother,
Sail on to your merrily,
Once you sell me down the river
Betrayal, is a roulette wheel
That makes a vixen outta karma
As it turns, it comes around
To afflict its hapless dealer…
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14. |
You Can't Depend On Love
05:42
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You Can’t Depend On Love
Ola Onabulé 2018
You can't rely on hope
First it's lost, then it fades.
Until you find a soul to give some to
You'll find,
You can't rely on hope,
People, are not what they used to be,
They seem to have no use for people,
Empty, is something to fill lives with,
Replacing faith with fear, the new faithful
As long as someone must lose
It’s going to be a race no one wins
Some kinda victory it's bound to be
if the vanquished is...
your brother or his neighbour or her sister's fellow man
You can't rely on hope
First it's lost, then it fades
Until you find a soul to give some to
You'll find,
You can't rely on hope,
People, can't seem to see any one
Before they place a worth on people
Difference, plays the deciding hand
In the game of divide the vulnerable
But if no one gets out alive
Why work so hard to keep another down
Some kinda difference it's going to make
if the trampled is...
your brother or his neighbour or her sister's fellow man
You can't rely on hope
It gets lost, then it fades
Until you find a soul to give some to
You'll find,
You can't rely on hope,
You can't depend on love,
First it’s blind and then it wanes
Until you find a heart give yours to
You'll find,
You can't rely on, I'd never bet on, You can't depend on love.
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Ola Onabulé UK
Ola’s new album, POINT LESS has been critically received worldwide. The new
album is on the DownBeat list of Best Albums of 2019. .
Onabulé is a rugged individualist, a deeply soulful musician. Possessing an emotional intensity and vocal virtuosity, a poignant storyteller and capacity to cross cultural and musical boundaries with an unflinching lyrical pursuit of truth and justice.
... more
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