Work Is Work
from Winged Victory by Willi Carlisle
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumIncludes digital pre-order of Winged Victory. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.shipping out on or around June 27, 2025Purchasable with gift card
$15 USD or more
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumLimited-edition opaque mix- Grass green
Includes digital pre-order of Winged Victory. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.shipping out on or around June 27, 2025Purchasable with gift card$30 USD or more
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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/44.1kHz.
$1 USD or more
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Pre-order the Full Digital Album
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 5 Willi Carlisle releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Winged Victory, Tales From Critterland, Critterland, A Higher Lonesome, and When The Pills Wear Off.
Purchasable with gift card$24.30 USD or more (10% OFF)
lyrics
Work is Work
This town is over,
It fell into the sea.
All the rich folks come
Vacationing.
Where the clown’s laughing
At his own joke.
At his wounded pecker
And his tortured throat.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work
Or it wouldn't pay.
A bitter morning,
The sun is dope sick
And all the world is
Tied off for its fix.
At the casino,
Where all the scene girls
Say they don't mind
Turnin’ tricks.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work
Or it wouldn't pay.
Eye of the needle
Wide as the steeple,
Cash and heaven
Are inbred friends.
Your mother's suffering
That came to nothing,
You never asked to be
Born again.
But skin is thin and thought is silken.
Reluctant pilgrim, your blood is milk and
The worm is turning, so happy in his burning.
Unknowing, impermanent,
And spitting gold.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work or it wouldn't pay.
Work is work or it wouldn't pay.
This town is over,
It fell into the sea.
All the rich folks come
Vacationing.
Where the clown’s laughing
At his own joke.
At his wounded pecker
And his tortured throat.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work
Or it wouldn't pay.
A bitter morning,
The sun is dope sick
And all the world is
Tied off for its fix.
At the casino,
Where all the scene girls
Say they don't mind
Turnin’ tricks.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work
Or it wouldn't pay.
Eye of the needle
Wide as the steeple,
Cash and heaven
Are inbred friends.
Your mother's suffering
That came to nothing,
You never asked to be
Born again.
But skin is thin and thought is silken.
Reluctant pilgrim, your blood is milk and
The worm is turning, so happy in his burning.
Unknowing, impermanent,
And spitting gold.
Haul the ashes, fire the clay
Love grew ten feet tall
In the time you were away.
Did you heed the call?
Were you led astray?
Work is work or it wouldn't pay.
Work is work or it wouldn't pay.
credits
from Winged Victory,
releases June 27, 2025
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Willi Carlisle Missouri
WILLI CARLISLE is a poet and a folk singer for the people, but his extraordinary gift for turning a phrase isn't about high
falutin' pontificatin'; it's about looking out for one another and connecting through our shared human condition.
For Carlisle, singing is healing. And by singing together, he believes we can begin to reckon with the inevitability of human suffering and grow in love.
... more
discography
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Jun 2025 -
Aug 2024 -
Jan 2024 -
Jan 2024 -
Nov 2023
contact / help
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