Artwork by Jamie-Lee Love
1//After the Fog...Air
Bathroom tiles crack
Echoes out
Nothing comes back
And I so wanted
To communicate something
Anything to you.
But you say you're not taking incoming calls no more.
And the last time we spoke you were mumbling
Something about chemicals in the walls at home
And I don't want war just to communicate
I so want us to be unified again
Oh and if you need to feel the air just breathe
And if you need to take some time,
Just be
Always the cracks in the wall that scream your pain
Another summer last to the screen again
Once Upon a world everything was new
Brighter than today
I promise that it's all still waiting there for you.
Tell me how it felt,
Left out on the shelf, staring at yourself?
How could anyone imagine that for you.
After the fog…air
After the rain clears
After the lions share
Know, that there’s a love waiting there for you
After the wave breaks
After the high stakes
After the shame…
joy
Oh and if you need to feel the air, feel me
And if you need to take some time, I'm free
2//The Urge to Pray
Tell me more about ‘your worries’
How the ‘sun don't shine’ for you?
Come to me apparitional
Trust grief, the last great miracle
Breeze blocks of lucid visions oh
You got this! why so miserable?
We kiss like kindred spirits though.
Lips sealed, the bliss of letting go.
Speak not your words of sacrifice.
Laid bare the facts, laid bare the lies.
You fall for all my different ways.
Loose talk and certain disarray
I call it unpredictable
You say it's something spiritual
We touch, the tremors shake us down
Skin blushed, and jealous of the sound.
Speak not, your words are biblical.
Laid bear I guess I'm cynical.
Tell me more about ‘your worries’
How the ‘sun don't shine’ for you?
I assume, because I always assume.
You believe because you do.
I choose not to dabble in magic
I tried it before, it was tragic
Alone with the light and a matchstick
Spark it and watch it catch fabric.
Learn how to feel from the outside
Learn how to deal with a torn mind
Find apparitions in plain sight
Fear of the daylight
Primal, the urge to just pray. Right?
(He wants the love he wants,
She wants the love she longs for)
Make superstitions of grudges
Curse it, cause that's not what love is.
Learn how to feel for the sake of
Learn how to deal with the payoff
And never know how to break up.
Guilty for all I consume, and for all that I do.
Guilty in every room, and for what I go through.
So tell me more.
Tell me more about ‘your worries’
How the ‘sun don't shine’ for you?
I assume, because I always assume.
You believe because you do.
3//Steel and Shame
Been so long, on your own
Why not take some time off with me?
Morning breaks
You take up space
Why not let the day dissipate?
You say you're in pain and you need the world to know your name
But you won't take that guard away.
And you've been building bricks cause you feel afraid
And you think the stone can keep you safe
But it won't till you sit in your grief .
That must be why you lie awake at night
Silence doesn't make you feel satisfied
That must be why you lie awake at night
Oh I love you, please don't slip away
Don't slip away.
I know nothing really stays anymore
Take some time, rest your eyes
The morning always comes around again.
You say it's a play
So you learn the script and take the bait
But you treat words like enemies.
And you've been building bricks cause you feel afraid.
Something about ‘the fight resolves the pain’?
But it won't
Till you sit in your grief.
That must be why you lie awake at night
Silence doesn't make you feel satisfied
That must be why you lie awake at night.
And never learned how to get out your own way
And try and accept what you can't change.
So, living your life in a mournful refrain.
And we all do the same, cause we were born in steel and shame
Wide and open space
I love your songs in the key of pain
Wide and open space
I love you.
4//My Anchor
Without
My anchor
My failsafe.
The skin
Behind
My sail
Brakes
And all
At once,
The sea seems scary
As if
The storm
Won’t see me safely
Without
My anchor
My tail spins.
A sense
Of living
Incarcerated
And all
At once
My time seems wasted
As if
The song
Won’t sing me safely
And I love you on your hard days
I love you when the ground falls away
I love you in the hard ways
I love you when the ground falls away
The ground falls
Without
My anchor
My failsafe
The skin
Behind
My sail breaks
And all
At once
I'm ordinary
As if
My anchor
Fabricates me
Even without you, never without you.
(they say what we feel is wrong,
we'll find safety from the storm)
5//You Give me More
We meet and in hand. Comfortable chaos.
Our feet sink like sand, as the memory takes us
Taste the bones of you, my imagined betrayer
No stone unturned
Burned in the walls of the breakup
Give me just a sense of you
Maybe that instead of you
Tell me how it tastes when the love you make gets the best of you
And the night calls out to you
Give me just an inch of truth
See the other side of you
Imagine how it feels when your flashes turn to fears
And your lips drop blood in the streets that divided you.
If every day could be the last day, thank God, I made you.
Cause every day feels like the last day in isolation.
And you give me more.
I’m telling stories now, of war and lust
And I don't really know you now
Though I crave your touch.
Wasted words on you, hard lanes disappear.
No bridge to sell
Sheltered in the memory here
Give me just a sense of you
Everything that's left of you
Remind me how it tastes when the love you make gets the best of you
And the night calls out to you.
Give me just an inch of truth
See the other side of you
Imagine how it feels when your flashes turn to fear
And your lips drop blood in the streets that divided you.
If every day could be the last day, thank God, I made you.
Cause every day feels like the last day in isolation.
And you give me more
6//Patterns in the Shadows
Through the walls your resistance just smells like burnt toast.
Territory lines bleed into stop signs and petrol
Definite decisions turn left to ‘never knows’
Learning the pattern of the lights won't mean they'll be the same tomorrow
You know, patterns in the shadows
Feel slow beauty and the shadows
You know patterns in the shadows
Bow down to the place you call home
You were my enemy line carved into the shadows
Hold out for the ones you love most
You were my enemy line
Turned into the warmest glow
You know, patterns in the shadows
Feel slow beauty and the shadows
You know, patterns in the shadows
You hold patterns in the shadows
See more beauty in the shadows
You held it.
I thought about the things you said but probably not enough
It was the days without you that made me want the sun
And I excel in spaces, you leave behind
My mind's eye calibrates horizon lines
And I've watched you for hours sitting in the dark
Your face turned to the window
Your light left its mark
You always read the small print
So easy to miss
But you didn't see this coming, you didn't notice this.
And it’s strange.
You know, patterns in the shadows
Feel slow beauty and the shadows
You know, patterns in the shadows
You hold patterns in the shadows
See more beauty in the shadows
You held it.
7//Addicted to Nostalgia
You say ‘it's all about art’
I like the way that you make that sound true
I'd say there's more than just a little work of art about you
Maybe it's more about timing
You play it out with a temporary smile
Fighting not to be blinded
Hiding out in the silence
Maybe it's a long shot, but I just want to hear the notes you do
Tell me it's a lost cause but tell me in a way that gets us through
It's like I'm 19 going all night in my head
And I'm addicted to nostalgia
Something stupid
Someone dead
19 going all night in my head
And it’s the words you say
The way you play
And it just goes round again
Revolutionary
Like it's happening the first time
And all the pieces just full right into place
Show me love in surround sound
Making meaning out of nothing for the sake of feeling something
Like we’re 19 going all night in my head
And I'm addicted to nostalgia
Something stupid, someone dead
19, going all night in my head
And it's the words you say, the way you say them.
The songs you sing, the way you play.
Could these notes be the last ones that I sing?
Do they mean anything?
The scribbles of a nearly someone.
Take these chords, let the major sevenths ring.
I'm addicted to nostalgia to nostalgia
I'm addicted to the drama
Sing me something make it matter.
8//The Wood Between the Worlds
Would you board my boat to the wood between the worlds?
I hear it's calm there.
I hear it's calm there.
Sure, the storm comes and goes (mostly comes)
Sometimes swallows, sometimes swirls
But you could be my passenger
At least until we get there
And if you fear the wave, at least you know you feel.
Would you take me home to the wood between worlds?
I could be gentle
We could be safe there
And if you feel afraid, at least that's something real.
In the word between the worlds
We can hear the trees grow, the roots breathe
We could have time; we could take time.
Would you board my boat (sinking now) to the wood between the worlds?
I hear we all go
We all go in the end.
And if you fear the wave you'll never be the wave
And if you can't escape you never feel afraid
And wouldn't that be such a waste?
Wouldn't that be such a waste.
Would you board my boat to the wood between the worlds?
9//Ancient Love
Life is long
And love is ancient
But I don't write those songs anymore
My timing's gone
My lungs are vacant
Suffocated words can never flow.
Since I've given up on fate (just like the plans we made)
Well, I feel like I'm fine with that.
And when I'm craving the touch, I don't react too much.
No, I don't pay no mind to that.
It just keeps pushing me, pulling me down
All the things we talk around
Can't shame a sun for shining
Can't blame a heart for trying
Pushing me, pulling me down.
I don't have a single doubt
I'm here wasting energy
No Fear, just breaking my back for love.
And sometimes I think that you and I are so In-Sync
And then the bubble bursts why wouldn’t it?
And sometimes I feel awakened by the moments that we steal,
Then the bubble bursts why shouldn't it?
Can't stop a bird in flight
Can't sleep a wink tonight, but we don't have no time for that.
So, when the feeling’s too much.
I deal in simpler stuff, and I keep it close to my chest.
For when it's pushing me, pulling me down
All the things we talk around
Can't shame a sun for shining
Can't blame a heart for trying.
Pushing me, pulling me down
I don't have a single doubt
I'm here wasting energy
No Fear, just breaking our backs for love (Turning away),
Breaking our hearts (turning to fate)
And maybe it's not fate,
It's ancient love
Why’ve you got to be so cruel?
No one under me but you
10//Obligatory Love Song
‘Just one more line before I go’ you said,
And I remember your face so clearly,
Cause no one ever touched my hand like that.
‘Do not deny the beating drum that fills your heart and lungs,
Off to war against yourself, my love
War that you would wage across the sky,
Do not lay before me, unless you plan to adore me’
So, I packed my bags and headed for the door that I created
Lost myself again amongst a million changing faces.
‘Do not lay before me?’ Do not lie!
And though I cannot judge him, I have only ever loved him
Still, I left him on his own to face the world without a hand to hold.
In haste he said, ‘I cannot tame your raging head’
So, I found myself a stranger's bed, to kiss the shame away.
And ‘do not lay before me, if you would just abhor me’.
So, I rambled for a while into his sad brown eyes
Before kissing him goodbye.
Found myself a little room to rent beneath a far-off sky.
All this time…
Am I in love with you or my imagination?
Always infatuated.
Our time, so precious, thin.
And I have made my mountain
And built my world around him.
But if you called me up and you said it was our last chance,
Would I find myself in love with you?
And if you lay before me now, could we draw the line again?
Could we remember how?
Those brown eyes
The beating drum
Oh, my love
11//Take it to the Radio
Take it to the radio.
Talk is cheap, it could cost me.
Keep it in, someone stop me.
Sink or swim in the offbeat on the edge
In my head, confusion.
Bite my tongue, don't use it
Keep it down, cause you've said enough for the world.
Say something, let it be pure.
Or say nothing but be sure.
Take it to the radio,
Let the people know how you feel.
Talk is cheap, coming at me
No foundation, something concrete
Shifting shapes, give me nothing to believe in.
So say something, let it be pure
Or say nothing, but be sure
Take it to the radio
Let the people know how you feel.
Save me from your words, false wisdom
Filtered not raw, can't listen.
If this is all it takes, in a fraction of a second.
Say something (let it be pure)
Or say nothing (but be sure)
Take it to the radio
Let the people know how you feel.
Take it to the radio
12//Smart Words
Wake me up when this part's over.
Say my name again when your lips curl round.
I am very good at the fun stuff, the smart words
But I'm stumbling in the dark, breaking your heart
Discovering mine.
Curse me out if I've misspoken
Let me loose if it's too much to bear.
Cause you are very used to the hard stuff, the sharp words
And it's frightening when you think everything's moving on fine.
Do you want me to beg, do you need me to bleed?
Give me a sign that it's OK.
Doesn't need to be deep, I'd be eager to please.
I'm shallow enough when you know me well
Oh, to bathe, in the smile lines on your face
Oh to be saved, by the last gasps of your grace
Anything you want to say, anytime of day
I can make time
I can take time
All for the sake of the love songs that we've still to make
All of my life getting to know you and needing to know you
But you don't know me. X4
Oh, do you need me to bleed?
I'm bleeding now
Smart words down on the page
When all I needed to say was, I love you
I'm sorry, it's all been too much to take.
I'm a mess, can you lead me?
I'm scared that I'll lose my way
I could take time for me
For the sake of the love songs that we've still to make.
