The mainland

from Tourism by Andrew Eaton Lewis

	/

Streaming + Download

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

Purchasable with gift card

£1 GBP or more
Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

A long time ago
I lived on the mainland
A place in the cloud
Off the edge of the map
Where people live in tribes
Each with their own language
Avoid each other’s eyes
Type instead of talking
So no one ever knows what they’re really thinking

They eat out of boxes
While staring at computers
In the middle of the night
The lights are always on

But some of them are haunted
by things they can’t explain
A feeling of unease
That burrows through their brain

Like mechanical diggers
Moving soil aside
To put in pipes and cables
And tunnels to provide
For the needs of the mainland
But the deeds of the mainland
are drilling tiny holes
in everybody’s souls.
That’s why I had to go

I live in a hotel
I struggle with the language
I’ll always be a tourist
A boat on the sea
Adrift from the mainland
But not of the island
And I can live with that
If it can live with me

Like everyone I’m looking
For somewhere to call home
I’m from so many places
I barely even know
I'm a swimmer in the mainstream
A ‘normal’ kind of guy
Trying to tune in
Unskillfully
to the song of the sea

I don’t have a solution
Other than to swim
Live as if I’ll die
If I don’t dive in
Swim from the mainstream
away from the mainland
Out into the sea
Into the darkness
Into the unknown.

credits

from Tourism, released March 18, 2022

license

about

Andrew Eaton Lewis Scotland, UK

‘Exhilarating… stirringly fresh and smart.’ The Independent

'Adult pop with heart and brains.' The Guardian.

'Like minimalist classical composers working on adventurous ballads for R.E.M.' The Herald. ... more

Recommendations

contact / help

Contact Andrew Eaton Lewis

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

Andrew Eaton Lewis recommends:

The Demented Poets EP
by Deepness Dementia Media

New project I've been working on, writing songs with people with dementia. Andrew Eaton Lewis
go to album
Dead Orchestras
by Swimmer One

My old band. Andrew Eaton Lewis
go to album
There is no authority that we won't argue with (EP)
by Seafieldroad

My first solo project. Andrew Eaton Lewis
go to album

If you like Andrew Eaton Lewis, you may also like:

The Winter of 88 (album, 2015)
by Seafieldroad

supported by 7 fans who also own “The mainland”

A beautifully crafted dreamy album pwillmott
go to album
Seafieldroad (album, 2011)
by Seafieldroad

supported by 6 fans who also own “The mainland”
go to album
I'M NOT SURE AT ALL
by Marlody

The classically trained English musician inhabits the in-between on her meditative, alt-folk debut. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jan 10, 2023
go to album