On Botany
by Ferns
Matthew Nangle
Matthew Nangle
Initially, the only concept was to create music without the use of virtually any guitar distortion - to be kind to the blasted eardrums of our wasted youth. It was something unheard of for an independent rock band in Malaysia at the time, unless you played for free beers & salted nuts at the local drinking hole to an inebriated audience.
Little concept had we of what kind of sound we were aiming for, except that:-
1) It had to be catchy
2) Things sounded better swathed in buckets of reverb Favorite track: Disaster Strikes Again.
Little concept had we of what kind of sound we were aiming for, except that:-
1) It had to be catchy
2) Things sounded better swathed in buckets of reverb Favorite track: Disaster Strikes Again.
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1. |
This Sweet Refrain
04:06
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Verse 1:
Today you'll find
Another sad scene inclined
Make up your mind
All of us've gone through hard times
Chorus:
Grounded by a fevered rush
Collided with that first touch
Ignited in your charming ways
I'll sing this sweet refrain
Verse 2:
Before I die
I oughta tell you I lied
In case you tried
To leave misgivings behind
Chorus repeat
Bridge:
Sculpted sinews tied me to this place
Intervention's crushed her breathing space
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2. |
Disaster Strikes Again
02:56
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Verse 1:
Left to my devices
Sigh, a thousand million times
My clever turn of phrase
Led all to disarray
Chorus:
Do you want
A medal for all your pain
Disaster strikes again
Bridge:
Say you're sorry
Cause I'm not sorry
Say you're sorry
Verse 2:
An ounce of pleasure
For a pound of needless misery
What comforts may we bring
Enroute to suffering
Chorus:
Do you want
A medal for all your pain?
Disaster strikes again
Do you want
A feather for all your pride?
Who said it'd be so easy
Outtro:
Sincerity
Calamity
Sincerity
Calamity
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3. |
Wistful Thinking
04:22
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Verse 1:
An uncommon beauty graced this space
(O-o-oh O-o-oh)
Her lips were moving but she said nothing to my face
Left to battle with this haste
(O-o-oh O-o-oh)
The dreams I dreamt would count for something
Chorus:
Yeah
My shadow trails near you
All the time
I try to beseech you
In my mind
A star-glazed heaven
No earthbound whims could tear this down
Verse 2:
In uncharted regions of my brain
(O-o-oh O-o-oh)
A face reflecting some new meaning
In this glare
Still I stumble yet again
(O-o-oh O-o-oh)
Simple truths don't bear repeating
Chorus:
Yeah
My shadow trails near you
All the time
I try to beseech you
In my mind
A star-glazed heaven
Bridge:
All the time
Oh my, oh my
It's you I can't deny
Just try, just try
Believe this sincere lie
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4. |
The Western Front
04:04
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Verse 1:
Fell asleep on Saturday
Said to you dear "I'm not awake"
If this day should pass my way
I'd beg of you stop
Diggin' trenches round my brain
I can't bear to be alone again
Chorus:
I honestly believe
Momentum breaks my heart
So turn your guns on me
I was doomed right from the start
Verse 2:
Tried so hard to set things right
A victim born of frail delights
If your tears won't quell my fears
I'd beg of you stop
Diggin' trenches round my brain
I can't bear to be alone again
Chorus:
I honestly believe
Momentum breaks my heart
So turn your guns on me
I was doomed right from the start
I honestly believe
A fly could crush my heart
So draw a bead on me
I was doomed right from the start
Outro:
I honestly believe
This war was lost for me
I honestly believe
I could go home for free
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5. |
Dear Derelict
05:35
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Verse 1:
Once we were kings
Now we're all shipwrecked
So hard these days
to hold our heads up high
Birds pass us by
Reciting their lines unkind
For all those civil savants
who drink fine wines
Chorus:
Dear Derelict
You'll find your stride
Across the ocean tide
Dear Derelict
We'll bide our time
Then fly
Verse 2:
Of all that was fair
nothing remains
All our conviction made fiction
and we're to blame
Curse out their names!
Merchants and pirates the same
We ain't no better
but we'll enjoy our fame
Chorus:
Dear Derelict
You'll find your stride
Across the ocean tide
Dear Derelict
We'll bide our time
Then fly
Till all your fears subside
Part 2:
I thought I really was insane
Turns out it wasn't always this way
Still we just cling to dreams of better days
We might've fallen from Your sight
I'll do my best to make it alright
Still we just cling to dreams of better days
And now I feel really alive
I know it can't always be night
Still we just cling to dreams of righteousness
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6. |
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Verse 1:
Thought I was just an amoeba
A speckle in your eye
But your heart will thaw in November
One vessel at a time
Pre-chorus:
And we threw
Dust, dust on our sleeves
Draped in our dungarees
Finding love in a handful of beans
Verse 2:
O what a bountiful season
Go forth and make some hay
You know I can't rhyme nor find reason
In all the things I say
Pre-chorus:
And we threw
Dust, dust on our sleeves
Draped in our dungarees
Finding love in a handful of beans
Bridge:
Tell me I'm the one
A lowly farmer's son
With my hand upon the plough
I'll fix it all somehow
I'd like to recommend
An acre for your hand
We'll harvest all our love from a handful of beans
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7. |
I Won't Forget
03:26
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8. |
Citadel
04:47
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Verse 1:
I saw unfurling shapes of waves
One could get lost at sea for
Days without end
Drifting around the bend
In time all things will pass their way
I pondered what it meant to
Stay, to try stay
Anchored backwards
Chorus:
Long into the night, far from their sight
Your secret's by my side
I'll gaze into your fairy eyes, and tell you twice
That we'll not come down
Verse 2:
I sought that penetrating gaze
A meager glance instead to
Capture your face
Capture some saving grace
In time all things will pass their way
I pondered what it meant to
Stay, to try stay
Anchored backwards
Chorus:
Long into the night, far from their sight
Your secret's by my side
I'll gaze into your fairy eyes, and tell you twice
That we'll not, come down
Long into the night, far from their sight
Your secret's by my side
I'll gaze into your fairy eyes, and tell you twice
That life just isn't very fair
Bridge:
So we try
To forget all we have done
So we try
To blanket out the sun
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9. |
Death of a Lifetime
03:47
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Verse 1:
Pleasantries
Signal to me
To take leave of this
Company
Was it a dream
Of somebody's
Chorus:
Lifetimes
Don't you forget
What's yours is mine
Is loneliness a virtue?
Verse 2:
Lost on me
Your intricacies
So vital so pure
Presently
I turn to face
These yearnings for
Chorus repeat
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10. |
When We Die
05:13
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Part 1:
Some say
Romance and tragedy
Are not the same things
We used to dream about
And when we die
Do all our hopes survive?
Will all the fires in the sky
Extinguish with our dreams alive?
Some say
It's just futility
This fleeting feeling
Enroute to suffering
And when we die
Do all our hopes survive?
Will all the fires in the sky
Extinguish with our dreams alive?
Part 2:
Beauty tread upon a trail of ashes
We could steal some sentiments to hold us
But when we die
No one cries
When we die
No one cries
Outtro:
No one cries
When we die
No one cries
When we die
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about
'On Botany' was written in the aftermath of devastating band lineup changes following several floundering flirtations with various awful forms of heavy rock music.
Initially, the only concept was to create music without the use of virtually any guitar distortion - to be kind to the blasted eardrums of our wasted youth. It was something unheard of for an independent rock band in Malaysia at the time, unless you played for free beers & salted nuts at the local drinking hole to an inebriated audience.
Little concept had we of what kind of sound we were aiming for, except that:-
1) It had to be catchy
2) Things sounded better swathed in buckets of reverb
Along the way, terms such as "accidentally twee" and "indiepop" started getting thrown our way from eager listeners, though we genuinely had absolutely no idea what it all meant. This nice group of people with great taste in music gave us lots of lovely support. And we got some nice press out of it, too.
Though sadly, this was not enough to fund the Ferns's dream golden yacht (that's a story for another day).
~WHAT THEY SAY~
One of Rolling Stone's Top 25 Best Bands on Myspace - Rollingstone.com
"On Botany" No.9 on Pop 'n' Cherries' Best Albums 2007 list - Pop 'n' Cherries (popncherries.skynetblogs.be)
"...you'll get exactly what makes Ferns a great, not just simply good, band" - Jakarta Post, 17/12/2007
"...this could be one of the best twee act release this year from South East Asia.." - On Botany album review (8.2/10 rating), Deathrockstar
"...definitely one of the best unrecognized releases so far this year; a sleeper hit for anyone that really digs pop music." - Green Clothes Music, 15/4/2007
"...if they were swedish, everyone in the indiepop world would love them already” - On Botany album review (4/5 rating), One Chord To Another (www.onechord.net)
“...captures the sound of young broken hearts...strong songwriting” - On Botany album review (4/5 stars), The Star, Malaysia
“Astonishing debut…The best Malaysian album of the year” - On Botany album review (4.5/5 stars), Junk magazine, Malaysia
Initially, the only concept was to create music without the use of virtually any guitar distortion - to be kind to the blasted eardrums of our wasted youth. It was something unheard of for an independent rock band in Malaysia at the time, unless you played for free beers & salted nuts at the local drinking hole to an inebriated audience.
Little concept had we of what kind of sound we were aiming for, except that:-
1) It had to be catchy
2) Things sounded better swathed in buckets of reverb
Along the way, terms such as "accidentally twee" and "indiepop" started getting thrown our way from eager listeners, though we genuinely had absolutely no idea what it all meant. This nice group of people with great taste in music gave us lots of lovely support. And we got some nice press out of it, too.
Though sadly, this was not enough to fund the Ferns's dream golden yacht (that's a story for another day).
~WHAT THEY SAY~
One of Rolling Stone's Top 25 Best Bands on Myspace - Rollingstone.com
"On Botany" No.9 on Pop 'n' Cherries' Best Albums 2007 list - Pop 'n' Cherries (popncherries.skynetblogs.be)
"...you'll get exactly what makes Ferns a great, not just simply good, band" - Jakarta Post, 17/12/2007
"...this could be one of the best twee act release this year from South East Asia.." - On Botany album review (8.2/10 rating), Deathrockstar
"...definitely one of the best unrecognized releases so far this year; a sleeper hit for anyone that really digs pop music." - Green Clothes Music, 15/4/2007
"...if they were swedish, everyone in the indiepop world would love them already” - On Botany album review (4/5 rating), One Chord To Another (www.onechord.net)
“...captures the sound of young broken hearts...strong songwriting” - On Botany album review (4/5 stars), The Star, Malaysia
“Astonishing debut…The best Malaysian album of the year” - On Botany album review (4.5/5 stars), Junk magazine, Malaysia
credits
released January 1, 2007
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Ferns Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ferns is a Malaysian indiepop band formed a score of years ago in suburban Kuala Lumpur. Two of our previous albums earned
top spots on a number local and foreign publications’ year-end Best Ofs. Our latest EP, Navalgazing is out now on CD, digital and streaming.
- Warren Chan (vocals, guitar)
- Abby De Vries (keyboard, vocals)
- Adrian Yap CK (bass)
- Johan (guitar)
- Rudy (drummer)
... more
discography
-
Aug 2020 -
Dec 2011 -
Jan 2007
contact / help
Ferns recommends:
-
Yesterday is a Distant Dream
by OJ LawAn all-in-one-man-band in the most exemplary sense. Imagine the production chops of Dave Fridmann with the songwriting and vocal mettle of Prince-meets-Buddy Holly-meets-Brian Wilson.
go to album -
Our favourite new act of the year. Superb song-writing. Exceedingly charming and lovely to a fault. Very excited to see where they go from here.
go to album
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-
Indietracks Compilation 2012
by Various Artistssupported by 9 fans who also own “On Botany”
Great value and these comps really do highlight just how much good music is around.
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This time she has drums & bass, and all the better for it. Lo-fi bedroom pop with a couple of nice instrumentals.
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1980s Bubblegum
by The ParticlesIndie pop is actually punk and exhibit A is the Particles, whose music gets a welcome reissue on Australian indie powerhouse Chapter Music.
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IV
by Letting Up Despite Great FaultsOn their latest LP, the Austin group peel away the synth and distortion to highlight the jangly melodies at the core of their songs.
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