Duck vs. Decorated Shed
from Ghost Palace by The Burning Hell
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift cardDownload available in 24-bit/48kHz.
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Buy the Full Digital Album
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumGhost Palace on spacey black vinyl! With spot varnish cover on the sequins and beads hand-sewn for the cover by our own Ariel Sharratt. First 100 pre-orders come with a paper cutout Ghost Palace by Noah Bender.
Includes unlimited streaming of Ghost Palace via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.ships out within 10 daysPurchasable with gift card$24 CAD or more
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumIt's Ghost Palace on Compact Disc! Comes with a lyric booklet, and a shiny circle with all of the music!
Includes unlimited streaming of Ghost Palace via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.ships out within 10 daysPurchasable with gift card$16 CAD or more
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lyrics
Gather round all you humans, I’ve a tale to pass on down
About two architects: Rob Venturi and Denise Scott Brown
In Las Vegas, in the 60s, they took an extended trip
They were looking at the buildings all flashy on the strip
Casinos with their Eiffel towers and tacky Parthenons
Each one a basic structure with rhinestones added on
Versus the duck egg store shaped like an actual duck back in New York
In which everything is subservient to this one symbolic form
Well I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
Now I am well aware that this particular metaphor
Is meant for architecture and really nothing more
But I am a songwriter and not an architect
So this is undeniably beguiling, if not entirely correct
Most folks are office buildings, made of concrete, steel and glass
You see a thousand of them but never notice as you pass
Others show their colours in a way you don’t forget
What you get is what you see and what you see is what you get
That’s why I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
You can bet the piano-key window building sells pianos
And a man who’s like a frozen banana stand might be bananas
I’ve got a friend who’s a hot dog cart shaped like a giant wiener
You feel as if you know her just as soon as you have seen her
But it’s not about your hairstyle or the novelty glasses on your nose
It’s about how to wear your heart on the outside of your clothes
So if you’re sweet, don’t be a afraid to be an ice-cream-cone-shaped truck
Tell the world: “I am a duck, I am a duck, I am a duck!”
I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
Yes, every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
About two architects: Rob Venturi and Denise Scott Brown
In Las Vegas, in the 60s, they took an extended trip
They were looking at the buildings all flashy on the strip
Casinos with their Eiffel towers and tacky Parthenons
Each one a basic structure with rhinestones added on
Versus the duck egg store shaped like an actual duck back in New York
In which everything is subservient to this one symbolic form
Well I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
Now I am well aware that this particular metaphor
Is meant for architecture and really nothing more
But I am a songwriter and not an architect
So this is undeniably beguiling, if not entirely correct
Most folks are office buildings, made of concrete, steel and glass
You see a thousand of them but never notice as you pass
Others show their colours in a way you don’t forget
What you get is what you see and what you see is what you get
That’s why I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
You can bet the piano-key window building sells pianos
And a man who’s like a frozen banana stand might be bananas
I’ve got a friend who’s a hot dog cart shaped like a giant wiener
You feel as if you know her just as soon as you have seen her
But it’s not about your hairstyle or the novelty glasses on your nose
It’s about how to wear your heart on the outside of your clothes
So if you’re sweet, don’t be a afraid to be an ice-cream-cone-shaped truck
Tell the world: “I am a duck, I am a duck, I am a duck!”
I’d rather be a duck than a decorated shed
Form and function integrated in my heart and in my head
Every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
Yes, every person must decide before they get too old and dead
To be a duck or a decorated shed
credits
from Ghost Palace,
released March 7, 2025
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
The Burning Hell
The Burning Hell is the ongoing musical project of songwriter Mathias Kom and multi-instrumentalists Ariel Sharratt and Jake
Nicoll, often including additional comrades and collaborators.
Their densely populated genre-shifting songs are packed with an abundance of literary, historical, cultural, and pop-cultural forebears, heroes and villains, subjects and objects, stories and hooks.
... more
shows
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Apr 23Kiel, Germany
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Apr 26Bremen, Germany
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Apr 27Bremen, Germany
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Apr 28Houten, Netherlands
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Apr 29Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Apr 30Haldern, Germany
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May 1Cologne, Germany
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May 3Schorndorf, Germany
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May 4Munich, Germany
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May 12Vienna, Austria
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May 13Vienna, Austria
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May 18Berlin, Germany
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May 19Hamburg, Germany
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Aug 26London, UK
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Aug 27Brighton, UK
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Aug 29Norwich, UK
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Sep 2Edinburgh, UK
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Sep 3Glasgow, UK
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Sep 4Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
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Sep 5Manchester, UK
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Sep 6Hebden Bridge, UK
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Sep 7Coventry, UK
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Sep 9Southampton, UK
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Sep 10Cardiff, UK
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Sep 12Nottingham, UK
discography
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Mar 2025 -
Mar 2024 -
Jun 2022 -
Oct 2022
contact / help
The Burning Hell recommends:
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New Cologne
by Stanley Brinks & FreschardConsidering that Stanley Brinks and Freschard have two million albums, it's hard to pick just one, but this is my fave. "The Lottery" is one of the best songs ever written.
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The Volume Wars
by Construction & DestructionWe've toured with them, covered them, and organized a tribute album to them - Colleen and Dave (Construction & Destruction) are amazing!
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It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003)
by Jeffrey LewisJeffrey Lewis is unquestionably one of the best songwriters walking the planet. "Don't Let The Record Label Take You Out To Lunch" is one of my personal anthems as a musician.
go to album
If you like Duck vs. Decorated Shed, you may also like:
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The Convincer (20th Anniversary Edition)
by Nick LoweReleased in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery.
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