Portland’s very own TK & The Holy Know Nothings
Song Hell of a Time (with lyrics)
When they aren’t on the road, frontman and songwriter Taylor Kingman and his band of fellow working-class musicians, The Holy Know-Nothings, can often be found hanging out at the Laurelthirst Public House, Portland’s oldest independent music venue. And if you don’t know who The Holy Know-Nothings are, you should.
Kingman calls his music “psychedelic doom boogie,” but it’s really more than that. This is music that goes back to the heart of what true country music was meant to be – not the pop version you hear on the radio today, but Roger Miller songwriting-brilliance of the days gone by. If you have a literary bone in your body, this music is for you.
Kingman’s lyrics are powerful, full of depth (sometimes hidden underneath a seemingly shallowness), irreverent, intelligent, “intensely honest, full of all the lessons learned and ignored” and just plain damned good.
You want to listen so you can catch every word.
There isn’t an overdub on any of the songs on their newest album, The Incredible Heat Machine. This is raw music at its best, recorded live at the OK Theatre in Enterprise, just after touring.
The Hell of a Time lyrics go deep into the mind of someone who’s very disturbed, yet, in a way, they touch on a part of all of us who have sat in front of the TV for great lengths of time basically wondering why we are spending so much time watching the tube. Thankfully, most of us don’t delve that deeply:
And now I’m haunted by some boosted Panasonic
With exotic electronics
That I can talk to God with
And he says he’s made mistakes
Not every bird deserves its wings
And sometimes he needs help
And he likes the way I think
TK and the Holy Know-Nothings Band Members
Taylor Kingman – vocals, songwriter
Tyler Thompson – drummer
Jay Cobb Anderson – lead guitar, harmonica
Lewi Longmire – bass, guitar, pedal steel, flugelhorn, mellotron, lap steel
Sydney Nash – keys, bass, slide guitar, cornet
Hell of a Time
About a year ago this winter
When I hadn’t had my dinner
And I was feeling low
Just as low as I could figure
Hey as much as I could muster
Was a packet of Heinz mustard
And I wished I had some ketchup
But it wasn’t in the budget
I saw an ad in the paper
Offering up awful high prices
For people who hunt people
That you find in high places
So I called up that number
That backwards revelatory
And he showed me the way
To that holy elevator
I’ve been killing angels
I’ve been killing time
Got a pocket full of halos
Got a pound of Holy Light
Gonna feather up my pillow
See if anyone bites
Yeah I’ve been killing angles
Having a hell of a time.
I’ve worked behind the counter
And I’ve worked inside the stable
And I’ve pulled my weight across this
Long white table
And now I’m haunted by some boosted Panasonic
With exotic electronics
That I can talk to God with
And he says he’s made mistakes
Not every bird deserves its wings
And sometimes he needs help
And he likes the way I think
So I just sit and listen
To my color television
And as long as I am patient
It tells me who to visit
I’ve been killing angles
I’ve been killing time
Got a pocket full of halos
Got a pound of Holy Light
Gonna feather up my pillow
See if anyone bites
Yeah I’ve been killing angles
Having a hell of a time.
Yeah I’ve been killing angles
Having a hell of a time.