Artist Bio:
Not to be confused with Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), The James Clark Institute is a lyrical Toronto band compared to Bob Dylan circa 1966 meets Elvis Costello. Singer/songwriter/musician James Clark confronts the ghosts from his past and puts them to song, twisting and turning his own personal demons into witty, rootsy pop tunes.
The James Clark Institute’s latest CD 'Sideshow Unattraction', is a theatrical, esoteric journey into a world of carnival illusion, heartbreak, melancholy wit and bitter double entendre. Upon its release in May of '08, the CD charted on Canadian campus radio and has recently been added to Not Lame Recording’s roster of independent releases.
2004’s ‘Home is Where the Heart Attack is’ received airplay on campus radio across Canada and charted in Ontario. Tracks from the CD also received airplay and widespread recognition on several internet radio stations. ‘The Worst Photograph Ever Taken Of Me’ hit #5 on MP3unsigned.com operating out of the U.K. and the CD reached #3 on the Pop Album charts of MP3.com.au based In Australia.
James Clark is joined by Michael Hussey, formerly of the iconic garage trio the Sin-Tones, on guitar; Toronto based folk punker Timothy Cameron on bass; and Brad Holy, drummer for local singer/songwriter Amer Diab.
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Song Information - credits, lyrics, album:
| » Splinter In The Soul |
| Album: |
Son Of A Sideshow |
| Label: |
Room 5 Records |
| Genre: |
Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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When rejection becomes obsession your whole world is consumed,
With photographs and epitaphs and her face painted on the moon.
When rejection becomes obsession you waste away the afternoon,
Listening to Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ and stepping on balloons.
When rejection becomes obsession you’re awake in the wee small hours.
Like Sinatra in ’55, over your own Ava Gardner.
When rejection becomes obsession your disposition turns so sour.
You lose all will to live like her fading favourite flower.
Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
You only need one good pull to be free.
Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
You only need one good pull to be free
When rejection becomes obsession your blood is on the tracks,
And the walls and the bridges and anything by Bacharach.
When rejection’s your only connection to a checkered past,
You become the forgotten forgetting nothing ever lasts.
Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
Like a splinter in the soul, like a splinter in the soul.
TV’s a drug that makes you dumb but if it helps me forget you then give me some.
TV’s a drug that makes you dumb but if it helps me forget you then give me some.
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| » A Terrible Beauty |
| Album: |
Son Of A Sideshow |
| Label: |
Room 5 Records |
| Genre: |
Acoustic |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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So she said I was gracious and gallant as she lowered the fatal mallet.
There lays her hidden talent, softening the blow.
With the jangling of the bracelet upon her wrist, she sat down to pen her alphabetical list,
Of every pathetic reason why I exist, so I laid low.
Now she’s a terrible beauty and I’m terribly stoned.
Upon receiving her parting birthday card, I checked myself into the ward,
While she left to accept her awards and her kudos and her accolades.
Forfeiting my invitation I did not receive and with the potential of being asked to leave,
I ignored the card up my sleeve and I missed her parade.
Now she’s a terrible beauty and I’m terribly afraid.
She said it’s easy to speak well of the dead,
So I have nothing but good words for her in my head.
The miles I made for my appearance in the end didn’t make any difference.
I was looked upon as interference as sure as I’m alone standing here.
I know I could have been her Hercules, but I just couldn’t get up off these knees.
Stuck in this pattern it would seem in the museum of her.
Now she’s a terrible beauty and I’m terribly scarred.
Yes she’s a terrible beauty and I’m terribly inferior
According to her. According to her.
My terrible beauty.
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| » Lake Monona Last Night |
| Album: |
Unreleased |
| Genre: |
Folk Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Something crashed in Lake Monona last night.
A twin engine Beachcraft in Lake Monona last night.
December waters are cold, Lord have mercy on the king of souls soul.
Something crashed in Lake Monona last night.
My heart sank in Lake Monona last night.
She made me walk the plank on Lake Monona last night.
She said to quote the song, shed been loving me too long.
Something crashed in Lake Monona last night.
Down down down like a song in the charts.
His crown was found by some record sharks.
My heart drowned in Lake Monona last night.
Not to be found in Lake Monona last night.
Submerged, it succumbed, like the silencing of Mr. Jacksons drums.
Down down down like this song in the charts.
His crown was found by some record sharks.
Something crashed in Lake Monona last night.
Something crashed in Lake Monona last night.
December waters are cold, Lord have mercy on the king of souls soul.
Something crashed, something crashed.
Something crashed, something crashed.
Something crashed, something crashed.
Something crashed, something crashed.
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| » Sleeping In My Favourite Shirt |
| Album: |
Sideshow Unattraction |
| Label: |
none |
| Genre: |
Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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Sleeping In My Favourite Shirt
I can’t remember the last time the drapes were pulled,
Open to reveal the outside world,
And let the sun warm these shattered nerves.
I can’t remember the last time the sheets were washed.
I can’t remember the last time the teeth were flossed.
I can’t forget when and what I lost.
Now I’m sleeping in my favourite shirt.
I keep having dreams where I don’t hurt.
Sleeping in the bed I made,
And I’ll be sleeping for a thousand days,
Sleeping for a thousand days in my favourite shirt.
It’s been a long time since my face last showed up,
Reflected in your best plates and cups.
These days they’re down in the sink with my luck.
Because I’m sleeping and nothing is better.
When I’m sleeping there’s no better place.
If I’m slumbering the reasons are out numbering the creases on my face!
La la la la, la la la la la. La la la la, la la la la la.
Lullabies and good riddance.
‘Cause I’m sleeping in my favourite shirt.
I keep having dreams where I don’t hurt.
Sleeping in a bed I made,
And I’ll be sleeping for a thousand days.
Sleeping for a thousand days in my favourite shirt.
The neighbour’s dog howls outside my window.
Amongst the grass that remains unmowed.
And I’m oblivious to the world I used to know.
‘Cause I’m sleeping in my favourite shirt.
I keep having dreams where I don’t hurt.
Sleeping in a bed I made,
And I’ll be sleeping for a thousand days, sleeping for a thousand days.
Sleeping for a million days, sleeping for a billion days,
Sleeping for a zillion days,
Sleeping in my favourite shirt.
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| » Monstrous |
| Album: |
Sideshow Unattraction |
| Label: |
none |
| Genre: |
Folk Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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MONSTROUS
The bees are bad this year. They buzz around my beer.
Making it hard to appear sincere but I am.
The stewardess was there. She let down her hair.
She was putting on airs though she was firmly on land.
Cindy Sherman’s ears must be burning.
This fairy tale’s turning monstrous.
In a cab on Williamson, it all came back with a grin.
While I reached in for $15.50.
‘Neil Young’s Greatest Hits’, and R.E.M. on cassette.
The soundtrack I won’t soon forget, believe me.
Cindy Sherman’s ears must be burning,
This fairy tale’s turning monstrous
You share the same qualities as the damsel in distress.
I wear the same monogrammed handkerchief as Jesus.
Yesterday I sat in a Vaughn Road Laundromat,
Accepting that that is that and washing you away.
Cindy Sherman’s ears must be burning.
This fairy tale’s turning monstrous.
Monstrous….Monstrous.
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| » Kangaroo |
| Album: |
Sideshow Unattraction |
| Label: |
room 5 records |
| Genre: |
Folk Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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With the seasons changing in reverse,
You found your reasons for leaving me immersed.
And because it’s winter in July,
Your heart wins the ice sculpture prize.
With your totem pinned to the wall,
You left me holding on and pinned to the fall.
The distance between us paralleled,
The damage done to my ventricles.
Kangaroo….Kangaroo…It’s all thanks to you.
Up and away like you’re some kind of super girl.
And I’m your Kryptonite waiting on the other side of the world.
You’ve been checking into ways to leave.
I’m checking out just like George Reeves.
Kangaroo….Kangaroo…It’s all thanks to you.
With the seasons changing in reverse.
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| » Nonetheless Happy |
| Album: |
Sideshow Unattraction |
| Label: |
None |
| Genre: |
Folk Rock |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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Nonetheless Happy
It’s the end of September, it’s the end of an error.
We put the game pieces away.
Attempts have all failed to get myself out of jail.
You took the money and away…
…you went tired and spent but nonetheless happy.
It seems you have a new opponent, one I have never met.
I’m not the competitive kind.
No strategy is the word; it’s why I’m always in third,
Almost every single time…
I play, a sore loser but hey you’re nonetheless happy.
While I’m nonetheless empty, nonetheless destitute.
Nonetheless bereft of anything remotely cute.
Nonetheless broken and I’m nonetheless blue,
And I’m nonetheless in love with you.
It’s August 12th, I’m back on the shelf.
Popamatic trouble indeed!
I’m off the board and your winning score
Has brought me more trouble than I need…
…today but I guess I’ll find a way to be nonetheless happy.
Nonetheless happy.
Meanwhile I’m nonetheless empty, nonetheless destitute.
Nonetheless bereft of anything remotely cute.
Nonetheless disheveled and I’m nonetheless blue,
And I’m nonetheless in love with you.
Nonetheless in love with you.
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| » House for Sale |
| Album: |
Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is |
| Genre: |
Pop |
| Lyrics:
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Click To View Or Hide Song Lyrics
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Leave the grease and grime and erect a sign.
Drive it straight through my heart then you drive away the car.
Without me without you, things have come unglued,
And I get the feeling the ceiling's falling in on me...
In this house for sale in a very pleasant neighbourhood.
There's a house for sale, you know I'd stay if I could.
But there's just too many bad memories that hit me rough,
'Cause there was never any love in this house for sale.
No electricity just like between you and me.
I'm in the dark with my ears, sounds like I've been there for years.
Now with eyes wide open I see a happy home that's broken,
And I get the feeling the ceiling's coming down on me...
In this house for sale in a very pleasant neighbourhood.
There's a house for sale, you know I'd stay if I could.
But there's just too many bad memories that hit me rough,
"Cause there was never any love in this house for sale.
You need a change of address.
I need a change from this stress.
Home is where the heart... home is where the heart...
Home is where the heart attack is!
Without you, without me, the white picket fence is peeling,
And I cannot stop this feeling oh no, oh no!
In a house for sale in a very pleasant neighbourhood.
There's a house for sale, you know I'd stay if I could.
But there's just too many bad memories that hit me rough,
'Cause there was never any love, no there was never any love
Well there was never any love in this house for sale.
James Clark |
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| » Bud & Lou |
| Album: |
Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is |
| Label: |
Independent |
| Genre: |
Indie |
| » What Katy-did |
| Album: |
The Land That Tim Forgot |
| Label: |
Independent |
| Genre: |
Pop |
| » I Breathe You |
| Album: |
The Land That Tim Forgot |
| Label: |
Independent |
| Genre: |
Indie |
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Get This Band's Songs As Digital Downloads:
Get This Band's CDs:
 |
| Price: |
9.97 (USD) |
| S&H: |
0.00 (USD) |
Grab It: |
| CDBaby.com |
|
Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is
Canadian singer/songwriter/musician James Clark confronts the ghosts from his past and puts them to song on the clark institute's second CD release, Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is.
Planting his tongue firmly in his cheek, James takes his alias from Toronto's infamous Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. James finds inspiration in his personal traumas, twisting and turning them into witty pop tunes. Whether it's the delight of returning to prison to be with "bad" friends in "Home Again", the sting of a love's infatuation with insects in "Crawl and Creep", or the shame of a high school photo resurfacing to embarrass him in "The Worst Photograph Ever Taken Of Me", James exposes his own special perspective on life and love through his music.
The seven tracks on 'Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is' cross several genres, paralleling James's personal music history. He creates solid acoustic based rock songs, but his country and pop roots show through on the CD in "No One Like Me" and "House for Sale". |
 |
| Price: |
9.97 (USD) |
| S&H: |
0.00 (USD) |
Grab It: |
| CDBaby.com |
|
Sideshow Unattraction
The James Clark Institute’s latest CD 'Sideshow Unattraction', is a theatrical, esoteric journey into a world of carnival illusion, heartbreak, melancholy wit and bitter double entendre. |
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