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Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen

by Unwoman

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silverwarrior
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silverwarrior It's a masterstroke of self-expression. However dark some of the statements may be in many of these songs, I love to hear Erica find new ways to tell the story of living in this world of trial and stupid asses -and decent folks. I enjoy the reality, but I find when I travel about, I thrill to the sound of optimism that "When We Were Young" exudes. I picture the dance floor at a Columbian Exposition, as we all pat ourselves on the back 'cause we are so exceptional - even if it ain't exactly true. Favorite track: When We Were Young.
dreamingdenizen
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dreamingdenizen This is Unwoman's magnum opus and without a doubt one of my favorite albums of the year. I got heavy Rome (another great musician) vibes and the production is just stellar especially when combined with the dreamy cello (only Unwoman can turn this instrument into a weapon of fantasy) and moving and allegorical lyrics. I recommend this heavily! Favorite track: Cultivate.
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  • Streaming + Download

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

    CD has full lyric sheet and there is a pdf version for the download, in addition to lyrics included in each individual track. When I was a kid I always felt ripped off if I bought a cassette and it didn't have lyrics printed.

    Why are there 16 tracks? Why are my albums so dang long?

    When I started on the DIY music journey 20+ years ago, CDs were expensive, and the idea of a moment of wasted time, on a disk that could hold 74-80 minutes of music, made me clutch my cheap imitation pearls. Now that I have a stable income thanks to Patreon it would be a mature choice for me to edit myself a bit. But nah, I'm still making monster albums. If you only have a CD player in your car, like I did in my touring vehicle till 5 years ago, this is a great choice for long trips! ... more
    Purchasable with gift card

      $3 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD in gloss digipack with full 8-panel lyric sheet. Can not ship outside the US.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 500 

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • USB Flash Drive + Digital Album

    Crystal USB with red LED and 8GB capacity. Shiny clear acrylic & brushed steel, laser-etched with Unwoman logos. Contains 24+ hours of Unwoman's music including Desire Paths, Uncovered thru Volume 7, Selected Songpoems, both regular & instrumental versions of four original albums, several other original and covers albums & EPs including Everything Is Awesome and Snuggle, the dark-ambient EP IDTWS, and bonus tracks not available anywhere else. Does not contain the newest subscription-only songs or anything that was up temporarily on bandcamp.

    Files are very high quality 320 kbps mp3s. If you would prefer FLAC files, please purchase my complete discography on here and arrange to pay $12 + shipping for the USB -- write orders@unmediated.net

    I don't ship anything outside the US.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $50 USD or more 

     

  • Poster/Print + Digital Album

    A poster with the same photo as the cover of Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen, but taller and less glossy than the digipack. Thin paper but good print quality. Can be signed by Unwoman or not.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 100 

      $8 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 35 Unwoman releases available on Bandcamp and save 75%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Music to Pine for Your Old Lady to, The Lemon Blossom, Desire Paths, Instrumentals: Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen, Wallflower, Everything Is Awesome, Music to Snuggle Your Old Lady to, Uncovered Volume 7, and 27 more. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

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1.
Did you you come to me To hear songs of peace Or do you want to know the truth about this world? It’s bleak sometimes, it’s cold But there’s one thing I can assure you of: I’m in the gutter with you! And we can open our eyes and look at the stars I’m reaching out my hand to you Whoever you are! If you know you know Life is one big joke And we laugh at it from the palaces and slums And we live through it until we don’t You already know Life is one big joke But your nonchalance is just for show And you’re desperate for any kind of hope If you know you know Life is one big joke And our children stand upon our backs And we wish they’ll have everything we lack
2.
Cultivate 04:08
I want to dance to the beat Of someone else’s mind This body’s too alive To be kept confined  Am I not allowed to want what I want? Now I’ve run out of the shame that I was taught Telling me to settle for just enough But it’s infinite when I make my own love And cultivate some beauty  Where there was none but dust and guns To leave a trail of petals where I’ve gone To reach beyond what we’ve been shown To touch the dark but feel the spark To bring the acolytes of life along This may be a warning or a treasure map But it’s not the territory or the fact Songs are just like candy if you don’t dig deep Tarantella looking just like ecstasy (but we can dig deep, we can sing in the dark and still breathe) So cultivate some beauty  Where there was none but dust and guns And leave a trail of petals where you’ve gone And reach beyond what you’ve been shown To touch the dark to feel the spark To bring the acolytes of life along
3.
Thorns 04:01
All around the castle the queen once sent men To dig up the vines that choke and starve the garden But the prickliest hedges yield the sweetest scent So she decreed the roses were her protection “I have every right to be here And this place is mine alone If you leave me the gods will keep and feed me: I will stay on my throne” Cold and forgotten she remains with just one Pity or loyalty, or a twisted kind of love Impassable hedges enclose mossy stone And rise over towers and block out the sun Now she declares all the roses were made just for this: Pick them and strip them, adorn her for worship Let the thorns grow for the promise of a rose But roses grew thorns so we wouldn’t disturb the flowers Command all you want, your beasts men and gods Green growing things obey only their own laws! And the pretty ones get to keep their thorns But the prickly ones have beauty all their own “I have every right to be here And this place is mine alone If you leave me the gods will keep and feed me: I will stay on my throne” “Oh curse this broken ground bones and thorns and dust who will dig them out — the histories of us?”
4.
I have appeared at last before the king And while I still can, I must sing I sing through smiling lips and pretend I don’t know it’s the end I can’t stop this gift of vision I can’t help but see what’s coming And I’ve never been given A faustian bargain ‘Cause no one wants what I’m selling (Souls are a dime a dozen) Everything happens Not for a reason But it has to happen to someone I used to have a potion To quiet the visions But now even our poison is poisoned And I was never aspirational Only living as a cautionary tale Having to dance and beg on my knees My only chance at dignity And to pretend these scraps are enough To appease the lords above But of my own space and time I am queen And while I still can, I must sing I sing the truth: Death comes for us all And now she stands in your great hall!
5.
Bright-towered by the sea Can you see the city now? Horses and children in procession Laughter and music fill the air No king or knights, no guns or bombs And no guilt, only joy There are some who walk away alone Into the unknown If you accept this city, this bliss That’s the end, don’t read any further But if you are one of those Who thinks happiness dull or impossible Then they torture a child for you And because they torture that child Some must walk away alone Into the unknown I was one of them I gave up security and sunlight The comforting knowledge that My child will never be the one sacrificed I walked away to build something unimaginable Into the unknown There are some who walk away alone Into the unknown
6.
We walk hooded Blinkered by mirrors In separate voids Convinced we are lone sorcerers [And that knowledge is power] Old tongues cluck remonstrance We’re such bad bitches Yet it’s permitted So we are toothless Yes we bite the hand that plans to be bitten A rising demographic of nasty little women So don’t give me that line that I’m somehow better I am a typical girl we’re all in this together Atypical girls create, rebel Take no shit and give ’em hell Lean in, fearlessly Their bodies offer no apology The male gaze can’t touch They've overcome so much Atypical girls wear their damage Like Girl Scout badges Atypical girls are typical girls now A rising demographic of nasty little women [Feeding the system] So don’t give me that line that I’m somehow better I am a typical girl we’re all in this together I don’t deserve more because I seem to demand it Take your reluctant respect and shove it Maybe it’s OK to be fragile Maybe it’s OK to be helpless Maybe we don’t each need to be the strongest Maybe we’re all just basic witches (And maybe that’s OK)
7.
This world is filthy and full of shit Yet I've been told to stay clean This world is dangerous and wants me dead Though I was promised safety When I was young I was taught my job was To make this world a beautiful place But what can one person do besides Planting flowers on top of heaps of toxic waste? A song is just a song, it won’t help to turn the soil Unless it’s sung while digging And these bards and I are still Singing on behalf of The Revolution Because it’s something we can sell you on Without sullying our delicate hands [Resistance will always be sexy, that part is easy And it’s our bread and butter In this, the golden age of circuses] Yes this world is dangerous and wants to kill you But you should survive anyway, live to fight another day Because it’s your job to make this a beautiful place To spread the lie that we can be safe A song is just a song, and it doesn’t bring upheaval Unless it’s the gravedigger’s hymn A story about utopia is still just a story Unless we write it in blood
8.
When we were young Every chord, every phrase was precious We didn’t know when the next one would come When we were young Every kiss every touch was sacred We didn’t know whom the next would be from But we sang the night away We sang right into the day We sang all our hopes out though We had nothing new to say We thought we made it up Believed we invented love We tried to capture it in rhyme Like every poet has done When they were young When we were young We kept notes on each other’s potential Anticipating such music to come When we were young There was nothing we couldn’t accomplish Once all the promise of our song was sung What are we learning What is our place in the world Will we be children forever Singing forever?
9.
Black flowers in my hair (As I walk the streets of memory) I replay two figures moving through winter’s air (The sweetest place I’ll ever be) We drink in the back room of the bar across the street (Now I walk the streets of memory) Like I don’t know it’s the last time we will meet here (The only place I want to be) I did not think I’d find it in dive bars or swingsets But now it’s gone, maybe that’s where I left it [I didn’t think I found what I was looking for in dive bars or swingsets after dark But now they’re gone I know I’m missing something — is it just the seeking of a chance to seek a spark?] I had always hoped love would be the answer Where is my contentment ever after? Black flowers, black flowers on the ground (As I walk the streets of memory) I cherish them much more now: the lost and found (The sweetest place I’ll ever be) Boards cover up the windows of that old dive (Now I walk the streets of memory) Timelessly in my mind we all survive (The only place I want to be) I pound my boots over the little hill we once stepped So I never lose this place in my head
10.
The Waves 05:16
These days are gonna leave a mark Just to survive is a heavy task It’s a big big thing, this change We can’t see where it’s gonna lead Wake me up Every ugly day Oooh I lie in the sand And the waves pour over me Oooh I don’t leave a trace All my words have washed away I’m learning to resist longing Just to touch a friendly hand To sit on the grass with somebody else near To dance close to a stranger To sit at the bar and hear a tale of adventure (we used to — remember?) To plan my own like I have a future Dream for me (I’m going nowhere — now and here) Of a better time Oooh I lie in the sand Let the pain wash over me Oooh it’s a sacred thing To be scarred by history I swear I am OK I only mean I don’t want sympathy I won’t ask you if I’m still enough when I’m useless Hitting bottom yet again I’m still here and now There was a better time someday Oooh I lie in the sand And the waves pour over me Oooh I don’t leave a trace All my words have washed away Oooh I lie in the sand Let the pain wash over me Oooh it’s a sacred thing To be scarred by history
11.
There are no good and evil But on my shoulders sit two angels Oblivion and creation Someone will approve Either way I choose Oblivion or creation And I flatter myself This brinksmanship Is a way to touch the infinite A delightful delusion Though meaningless We still have our aesthetics I trace the labyrinth To find my own voice And it rings out: hollow Could I just disappear? Once I thought I’d have it all Now I stand outside this person's work And weep at its insignificance When will I meet that timeless self again Wise and uncaring in Oblivion? The pull or the drive The war in my mind Oblivion and creation Is the divine right To shape the rubble mine Indulge myself in creation I don’t want to write another verse There was never any truth in words So I peel back the layers To find my center — it was never there Should I just disappear? Once I thought I’d have it all Now I stand outside that person's work And weep at its insignificance When will I be egoless at last Undriven by creation? …Careless in oblivion
12.
The High Priestess or the Beast in me I am sworn to secrecy We could just decide to insist upon happiness But the farther we are from it the harder to chase It is now time to put down the master’s tools of loss Walk with me and stoke our flames or just observe the chaos The High Priestess or the Beast in me Responds to tragedy The High Priestess or the Beast in me In rising clarity If this life causes you to doubt what you should believe Ride with me to find the secrets now millennia buried We ride till we piss ourselves and then we ride some more When our horses tire we sleep on the forest floor The High Priestess or the Beast in me I once swore secrecy The High Priestess or the Beast in me In each hand a different key (So we dig softly through the worms Creation takes many forms) NOTHING -- AND SOMETHING FROM IT!
13.
[Words by Emily Dickinson] If you were coming in the Fall, I'd brush the Summer by With half a smile, and half a spurn, As Housewives do, a Fly. If I could see you in a year, I'd wind the months in balls--- And put them each in separate Drawers, For fear the numbers fuse--- If only Centuries, delayed, I'd count them on my Hand, Subtracting, til my fingers dropped Into Van Dieman's Land, If certain, when this life was out--- That yours and mine, should be I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind, And take Eternity--- But, now, uncertain of the length Of this, that is between, It goads me, like the Goblin Bee--- That will not state--- its sting
14.
Home 03:57
In my youth I preferred love that fed on distance I was connoisseur of such bad boy kisses Whenever four walls stood around me it felt like a cage And I would bite my own leg off to escape And kill every jailer — I didn’t need a savior but I fought to free myself And now I run run run into your arms Oh how I wish these walls will become our home I could never have one until I had someone with which to build Who would set me freer than I ever did I was careless who I pretended to be And every change I made betrayed some past version of me But if each self I choose is some kind of charlatan I may as well pick the kind worthy of your devotion We’re far from perfection But yes we can rest with Constant companions And all of their blessings And I needn’t run away anymore Now I just run run run into your arms Oh how I know these walls have become our home I could never have one until I had someone with which to build Who would set me freer than I ever did
15.
Hearts 05:40
[Words by Nikki Stein] Women on the walls, women in novels—freeze me kissing fabric, freeze me among flowers that are not in season. You trace my spine and tell me that this is what it would be like to have the Nile running through my blood; you look me in the eye and say that my veins are the remnants of great civilizations flooded by angry gods. My collarbone is at odds with your lips, and I’ve had total war raged on my hips, and I’ve read plenty of books about love, but none of them ended like this: the hollow of my throat pillaged and bruised, a hundred thousand skin cells lost to the greater good, a city of romantics subdued in their little homes of shattered bone, and crescent moon scars that wax and wane in hot water— Women who drink hot water to feel the weight of warmth on the first morning of the third winter; sometimes I play a game from the window seat: how many passerby show signs of having cried, and bowing their heads try not to take the storm personally. The East Coast is no permanent address for lovers craving boiling blood. Think of all the things that have hearts but don’t cry; think of all the things that have hearts that yield to knives; think of all the things that don’t attribute worlds to their hearts. Think of all the things that have hearts and go their whole lives without even knowing it.
16.
Autumn 07:02
We recline on the ground in the orchard at dusk Fruit falls, already fermented We are drunk and sated We share with the fat worms who will eat us -- later We need never work again There is pleasure and song now And this intoxicating harvest  And winter so long we’ll never see Spring again —Soon Winter so long we will never see Spring again Wrap me in deep velvet  Let me smell the decay on your breath As we consummate this futureless lust As we sink slowly into the earth Do we desire a sturdy coffin for two  Or to let scavengers clean our bones? Any way we decompose will be so beautiful Nothing is ugly, in the Fall Flowers faded long ago and we still love them Let others remember us  With all our sorrows and decadence As shamelessly and without regret We dissolve (We need never work again There is pleasure and song now Forever)

about

This is my eighth original album. I am 40. I've seen some shit, now, and honed some skills.

It is my BEST album. [Edit October 2023: my best album SO FAR! Desire Paths is even better - Erica] Decades of practice and thought have gone into this work, and I've given it the care it demands. I did almost everything myself, so if something sounds bad, at least it's consistent with my vision. My terrible, horrible vision.

This is a dark album but ultimately uplifting. It holds your hand in the gutter as we gaze at the stars. It paints the mysterious and divine as we struggle to justify existence with what little humans actually understand. It leaves you, finally, in the comfort of intoxicated rest... forever?

My subscribers *here or Patreon* -- no need to preorder :)

credits

released August 4, 2021

Songs by Unwoman (Erica G. Mulkey, ASCAP) except:
"If You Were Coming in the Fall," has words by Emily Dickinson; "Hearts" has words by Nikki Stein.
Performed, engineered, and produced by Unwoman
Digitally mastered by David Din @ Corrosive Audio
Madonna Inn stairway photo by Tom Cavnar
Other photos and layout by Unwoman

Enormous thanks and love to Kat Mulkey, Tom Cavnar, Laura Perlin, Melanie Dawn, and William Horne, as well as everyone who listens and/or gives me money to keep making *exactly* the art I want to.

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Unwoman San Francisco

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Unwoman is a self-produced cellist-singer-songwriter. Layered with skillful cello, rich vocals, and electronically arranged beats, her solo music is a futuristic homage to her classical training. Unwoman has been featured at steampunk, goth, and sci-fi-related events all over North America and has collaborated with many notable acts. ... more

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