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submissions
Radical Face – Severus And Stone Lyrics 9 years ago
@[sarahw7:17845] this song has nothing to do with the Harry Potter series. The Family Tree trilogy deals exclusively with the Northcotes, a fictional family that Ben Cooper created and sings about.

submissions
Radical Face – Bad Blood Lyrics 9 years ago
@[zeroremission:10519] whether or not Ben ever intended this to be the final song for the project, to me it is a perfect summation of what this whole journey has been about. Especially that final verse. Even though this isn't my favorite song from the project, I don't think there's been a verse that Ben has sung that cut me deeper than that one.

submissions
Radical Face – Servants and Kings Lyrics 10 years ago
I think this song falls somewhere within The Family Tree, Volume 2, which has a song covering World War 1 on it. I believe this song, as well, is set during the war, only it follows a soldier who has fallen in love with a fellow soldier or his commanding officer. Unfortunately, both of them are men, and a homosexual relationship is simply unacceptable (due to the time period). The final verse of the song is the soldier recalling the day he tried to confess his love, and how the object of his affection didn't reciprocate, though the soldier doesn't regret having tried.

submissions
Coheed and Cambria – I Dissent (Justice Scalia's Dissenting Opinions) Lyrics 10 years ago
They should have called this "I Dissent: the Ballad of Justice Scalia"

submissions
Radical Face – The Dead Waltz Lyrics 10 years ago
All of the songs from Radical Face's Family Tree trilogy (roots, branches, and leaves) tell the intertwined stories of a single family's history over the course of a few hundred years. This song in particular tells the story of Abigail and a man named Tom (described as "simple" and referenced in the later songs Always Gold and Crooked Kind).

I don't have the full details, but, due to some of the imagery that Ben sings about my belief is that Abigail has some kind of supernatural powers, and that Tom, upon witnessing them, decides to protect her, instead of have her accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake.

submissions
Radical Face – Blind In One Eye Lyrics 11 years ago
This is a rare track released in 2007 on a Morr music sampler called "Foggy Notions" # 96. You can hear the track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjy4RHfsjD0

submissions
Radical Face – Mountains Lyrics 11 years ago
@[InscrutableTed:731] I edited the lyrics to reflect the proper ones. Just in case the edit doesn't go through (as it needs the lincensor's approval), I'll add them here as well for anyone to reference:

I was just a boy, my father seemed a mountain then
With a voice that could shake the seas
My mother's ghost hung across his shoulders, and
He said she was still watching over me

My brother was home, just returned on army leave
Told his stories with a distant stare
And as it snowed the wind was howling through the trees
And I spent my night just listening by the fire

Her hand smoothed the creases from my brow
Soft as a breath
Itched like a feather

I dreamed of a lonely voice that night
Quiet as death
Outside my window

It sang a sad and lovely tune
Clear as a bell
Soft as a shiver

It said, "I watch you all the time"
It said, "I watch you all the time"

Goodbye bad thoughts
I'm safe under covers
So goodbye bad thoughts
'cause I'm safe under covers

Now I can see you again

submissions
Jimmy Eat World – Higher Devotion Lyrics 11 years ago
This song is about juvenile difficulties faced by a couple once the "honeymoon phase" had ended. The song is told from the perspective of the man in the relationship, although it is not necessarily favorable to his state of mind.

The quiet should be nice, but isn't
I guess we're gonna spend the day like this
In psychic screaming

One of the first things that happens to struggling couples after the lust and magic of fresh love has faded is a breakdown of communication. This verse is the man making note that while once quiet was nice, and a mutual part of their relationship, he now knows that the silence is actually filled with thousands of judgments and harsh criticisms of their love.

Don't you feel my eye lasers hit?
I stare you down, but God your skin is thick
What's it take to notice?

This verse follows the same theme, with the man of the relationship recognizing that the silence betrays happiness, and whatever grudge and anger he carries is born by the weight and wrath of his stare. His woman, however, remains completely unaware of what is happening.

Show me you can read my mind
Give me something that I need
You're useless to me if you
Don't know the why or how
Or what my body needs
Give me something I can feel
Show me you can read my mind
Read my mind, read my mind

The chorus is the most telling aspect of the song. The man is claiming that his lover doesn't actually know anything about him. He wants her to prove her devotion to him, hence the title, "higher devotion," because he feels like she doesn't know what he wants, needs, or likes. Because of the tone the chorus is delivered in though, it is apparent that the man is actually as immature and unprepared for love as he claims his lover is. He wants her to go the extra mile, but he has done nothing to deserve it.

I'm tired of all the way you bring home
I command a higher devotion
Better get busy

Here is the revelatory statement, where the narrator, the man, reveals that he thinks he deserves a better, more dedicated woman. However, instead of realizing that relationships are mutual efforts, he shows his arrogance by simply commanding his woman to "try harder" at meeting his expectations.

What makes you think I'd give in for this?
I'm only happy with my happiness
If you push me over, it's over

Continuing his egotistical rant, the man goes on to proclaim that the only thing he finds pleasing is himself, and what he can do for himself. Her "nagging" and "complaining" (the "war" she brings home) does nothing to reinforce the love that is supposed to exist between the two of them.

The repetition of the chorus serves to reinforce that the relationship has truly begun to die, and the man will never be satisfied by his woman's devotion, for the sole reason that he expects more from her than he deserves.

submissions
Radical Face – Second Family Portrait Lyrics 11 years ago
Here are the proper lyrics, in the event that the lyric change request doesn't go through:

My life started slow, in a town of idle minds
Where daydreams filled the space between our simple dramas
And my mom was strange, but she always liked to sew
And all my clothes smelled like the room I was born in

And my dad was calm, never used two words when one would do
And my brother's hands were mischief bent, with no will to stop 'em
And on the whole we lived simply, and day to day
Our fears were trivial, they always died with every sunset

When I was twelve my affliction came to light
And I was told that some things I heard were only there in my head
But I couldn't tell which were real and which we not
And the question loomed over all I did, whether I could trust it

And I guess over time it became too much
And I was sent away at my mom's behest
'cause she'd grown to fear me

Now I live up north, in the house for the broken heads
And my father comes and visits me whenever he can afford it
Sometimes at night, when the voices quiet down
I find I hope that I am missed, and that they haven't forgot me

submissions
Radical Face – Second Family Portrait Lyrics 11 years ago
Thanks for the head's up on that. I know when I originally submitted them they were the correct lyrics. I re-submitted them just now with the proper lyrics again, but Songmeanings said they were being "sent to the owner for approval." Perhaps something in that process is resulting in the mix-up?

submissions
Radical Face – Sisters Lyrics 11 years ago
Thanks for the input, I think all of your lyrics make a lot of sense. I revised the lyrics to reflect all of those changes, and look forward to any further updates from Ben himself. Feel free to edit them once you know, I don't mind being wrong so long as we get to the right words in the end.

submissions
Radical Face – Living In A Vacuum Lyrics 11 years ago
This song is from the 2010 album "Lawson Graham" by the Canadian hip-hop artist Factor. Radical Face sings the chorus, and the American hip-hop artist Sole is also featured on the track.

submissions
Portugal. The Man – Lay Me Back Down Lyrics 11 years ago
This song is about the American slave-trade, specifically of Africans. It isn't that hard to work out really:

I remember things, not many things
I don't remember where my feet touch the ground
but I remember every word and every sound

This is about the confusion that surrounds the gathering of slaves when they're kidnapped from their homes. As it was often a quick and merciless process, many simply disappeared, ambushed by slave-traders who absconded with them into the night. The narrator doesn't know much of what happened, but he remembers every sensation of being kidnapped and branded.

I remember things, not many things
I don't remember when the ships hit the sea
but I remember my name and what they paid for me

This part should be obvious. Slave-ships, prices paid to buy another human being, the whole abominable practice. I don't see how anyone could misinterpret this verse for anything other than the transport and sale of slaves.

I remember things, not many things
I don't remember presidents or what they did
but I remember the wars and just who profited

Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist movement against legalized slavery in America. This is a rather cynical and pessimistic look at the prices paid during the American Civil War, but also not untrue, as racism and prejudice weren't entirely stamped out, despite the attempts of great men.

I remember things, not many things
I don't remember places in time
but I remember the love and just who gave me it

Any number of things could be covered here. The Underground Railroad, the abolitionist movement, the men and women who died to end legalized slavery, the love and kindness of supporters. The idea isn't where or when, but who, and the narrator is saying that it wasn't a place or a time that freed them, but the actions of individuals.

Lay me back down
in the bed with the cold hearted people
Listen to them work
Lay me back down
in the holes and the warmth that we've warmed up
Lay me back down

Some of this is poetic symbolism, of the endless work of the slave, whose trials and tribulations don't end just because his life has. Laying them down (planting them in the Earth) beside the "cold-hearted" people (slave-traders) so that they can "listen to them work" in the afterlife.

I hear them calling me back to the ground
I hear them calling me back where I belong

Tribal belief systems, ancestral worship, nature-based religions. The ancestors are calling home the spirits of the now-freed slaves, beckoning them back to the Motherland, from which they were ripped and torn. A very spiritual ending to the song, really.

submissions
Prize Fighter Inferno – Blood Machine Lyrics 11 years ago
While this song and "Run Like Hell" are considered Prize Fighter Inferno demos, there are other ways of interpreting them as well. We know that this song was being worked on during the album "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3", and that album has a three-song suite (the Camper Velourium trilogy) featuring Al, a psychopathic serial killer.

Al, an intelligent card-shark, kidnaps women whom he thinks look like Luci, his ex-girlfriend, and mental-obsession. These women are then restrained with a potent knock-out drug, put on ice, and hanged from hooks in the freezer aboard his ship (see Issue 11 of the IKSSE3 graphic novel).

I believe that "Blood Machine" and "Run Like Hell" may have originally started as demos for the Camper Velourium saga. This one, the earlier of the two, would have given the listener a bit more insight into the character of Al, who, throughout this song, is seen killing people, using formaldehyde to preserve their bodies, and generally playing with their corpses. A very morbid and unsettling set of images.

submissions
Bleubird – Time 4real Lyrics 12 years ago
I discovered Bleubird through this song because he paired with Radical Face (one of my favorite artists) to produce it. I'm not at all familiar with Bleubird's music, but greatly enjoyed this song, and as such, did my best to transcribe the lyrics. If you find errors, please feel free to correct them, as I myself would like to know what exactly is being said.

submissions
Brand New – Daisy Lyrics 12 years ago
And we sing this morning that wonderful and grand old message
And I don't know about you, but I never get tired of it
Number 99: "Just As I Am"

I'm a mountain that has been moved
I'm a river that is all dried up
I'm an ocean nothin' floats on
I'm a sky that nothin' wants to fly in

I'm a sun that doesn't burn hot
I'm a moon that never shows its face
I'm a mouth that doesn't smile
I'm a word that no one ever wants to say

Beyond the standard lot of desperation, loss, and not living up to your full potential, there's an interesting layer to these initial verses, at least to me. As a mythographer (someone who studies world myth and religion) it is interesting that Jesse chose a mountain, river, ocean, sky, sun, and moon for the analogies, as all of those were once personified as deities in almost all of the Earth's ancient cultures.

The god of the mountain, the god of the river, the god of the sky, and all the others also share a common thread though: they're all dead and gone. A sun that doesn't burn hot is a dead sun; a moon that doesn't reflect light is one that has no sun; a mouth that doesn't smile, and a word that no one wants to say: dead; dead and gone.

From a mythographers perspective these two verses are all about the things that we, as a people, once put our faith in, and now no longer believe in.


Uh, by the will of thee
He wasn't finding anybody when he was on a shelf
I saw him when I dreamed

I'm a mountain that has been moved
I'm a fugitive that has no legs to run
I'm a preacher with no pulpit
Spewing a sermon that goes on, and on, and on

Continuing with the theme of "faith lost", Jesse is here bringing us forward, the idea of "moving mountains by prayer alone" coming from the Bible. But, like the "dead gods" of the ancient faiths, Jesse compares his faith to a preacher without a pulpit, an endless sermon without a congregation. These notions make him a "fugitive", a heathen, a faithless among the faithful.

This, however, segues into the ending of the song.


Well, if I take all these things and then bury them fast
And then pray that they turn to seeds, to roots, and then grass
It'd be alright; it's alright; it'd be easier that way

Or if the sky opened up and started pouring rain
Like it knew it was time to start things over again
It'd be alright; it's alright; it'd be easier that way

All of which are statements of renewal. Not complex renewal though, not the intricacies of modern faith, with its dogma and rhetoric and layered creeds. What Jesse is expressing here is a simpler faith, a more holistic approach of natural growth and experience.

The process of grass growing is not wild or dense, it is simple and straightforward. Life grows, life is beautiful. That is the message Jesse is trying to get across, in opposition to the winding paths which modern religions offer to salvation.

Further support for this may come from the backing vocals, which, admittedly, I may have wrong, but, this is what I hear:

You don't have to be saved
But you are gonna miss out
We don't know our right

But He's the greatest of love

Don't say you aren't scared
And don't mention all it took
And don't say He's not love

He's the greatest of love

Again, the idea comes back to a simple, core truth: love. Nothing more, nothing less. Forget being "saved" or all that salvation takes. Love is all you need. Love is everything. Daisy, ultimately, being a song about renewal. Our movement from a simple faith, to a complex and dense one, and back to our roots (quite literally the "grass roots" of faith).

submissions
Radical Face – If You Come Back to Haunt Me Lyrics 12 years ago
Two versions of "Patients" currently exist. The first appears on "Patients,Vol. 1", released in 2009. The second, an almost acoustic version, appears on "Once A Hue, Always A Hue", a Japanese compilation album that saw limited release in 2010.

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Radical Face – Cinnamon Lyrics 12 years ago
Available on the 2002 album "Typecast" by the embryonic Radical Face vs. Phalex Sledgehammer, "Cinnamon" is currently unavailable for purchase.

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Radical Face – Missing Teeth Lyrics 12 years ago
This song was briefly available on iTunes as a part of the 2010 compilation "Do Fun Stuff, Vol. 1" but has since been removed from iTunes, and is (as of January, 2014) no longer available for purchase.

submissions
Radical Face – Southern Snow Lyrics 12 years ago
According to an interview with Paste Magazine this song began as a memory of the one time in his life that Ben experienced snow while living in Florida. Unfortunately, Ben didn't elaborate on the more mysterious elements of the song during the interview.

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Radical Face – The Gilded Hand Lyrics 12 years ago
At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago where Ben premiered this song he explained that it is about the early 1900s, before child labor laws had come into existence and relieved children of hard labor. According to Ben it is meant to convey the hopelessness and horror that accompanied that period in American history, and serve as a warning to the future about the need to protect children.

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Radical Face – Always Gold Lyrics 12 years ago
At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben said that Always Gold was about the adventures of two brothers, one who is good and caring, the other who is mischievous. He explained that plenty of songs deal with the latter brother, and all of the trouble he gets in to. Few songs though, according to Ben, deal with the former brother, who always has to stay at home and be an anchor for his troubled half. Always Gold is about the love between two brothers, and the extent to which they will go to take care of each other, no matter how serious the bad brother's problems become.

While not explicitly stated, I believe that "The Crooked Kind" from the second Family Tree album follows up on these two brothers as their lives have advanced. Mainly I believe this because of the line in Always Gold where Ben sing:

"And they said you were the crooked kind
That you would never have no worth
But you were always gold to me"

In "The Crooked Kind" the brothers get into some serious trouble that may, or may not, involve the massacre of several other people. At the end of the song the good brother comforts his other half while sitting in a pile of bodies and absorbing the bloody and tragic history of his family.

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Radical Face – Ghost Towns Lyrics 12 years ago
At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben explained that Ghost Towns is about a drifter who has left behind his family and friends. He now travels across the country by train, taking odd jobs and refusing to settle down. The song deals with coming to terms with the finite nature of life, and that all things eventually go away. On the second album of The Family Tree the song "Reminders" revisits the character from this song, and explains how he has become a bitter, jaded, cruel man after abandoning his family and losing his belief in the inherent good in men.

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Radical Face – A Pound of Flesh Lyrics 12 years ago
At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben opened with this song and explained that it was about a man who had just committed his first murder. The title is a reference to the pound of force required to break the skin. The song deals with overcoming the weight of a guilty conscience that accompanies having just committed such an atrocious act.

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Radical Face – Black Eyes Lyrics 12 years ago
At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben elaborated on this song. According to him the song is about spousal abuse. Specifically, it is about an abusive alcoholic who beats his wife. One day, fed up with taking it, she packs up all her belongings and flees. Outraged by her unwillingness to be submissive he sets out to find her and punish her for disobeying him.

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Radical Face – West Lyrics 12 years ago
I agree that it ends too soon. My theory though is that this song leads directly into "The Crooked Kind," which I also believe is a follow up to the characters from "Always Gold." The coda of "The Crooked Kind" features the two brothers from "Always Gold" sitting, laughing, surrounded by bodies of something that they've killed. Possibly the wild dogs that attack them at the end of this song. Just a theory, of course.

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Radical Face – Second Family Portrait Lyrics 12 years ago
In an interview with Paste magazine, found here: http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2013/10/album-stream-radical-face---the-branches.html

Ben Cooper does discuss how a lot of The Family Tree trilogy began with real life events, which he then turned into music and stories.

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Anatomy of a Ghost – Birth Of A Mile Lyrics 12 years ago
It's unfortunate I discovered your comment here 6 years after the fact. More so that I didn't actually discover the band until nearly a year after they had disbanded. I would have loved to take you up on the offer in this comment, because I feel this album is an unsung masterpiece of conceptual work.

Oh well, c'est la vie!

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Port O'Brien – Tree Bones Lyrics 12 years ago
There are several versions of this song floating around, on a variety of releases from Port O'Brien. On the "official" version, from their final album, "Threadbare," the song has a lo-fi outro of Cambria singing:

Mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm
You still fluttered home with me

submissions
Coheed and Cambria – Carol Ann Lyrics 12 years ago
This was probably one of my three favorite songs off of the complete Afterman experience. Oddly, it's one Coheed chose not to include on the main album. I personally feel like this song belongs between "Vic the Butcher," and "Evagria the Faithful"

The basic story line, I believe, follows the events of a girl named Carol Ann, a young lover who dies tragically in an unexpected, violent, car accident. Perhaps the car accident element, which shows up as a main theme in the second half of "Descension" is why Coheed left this one off?

Interpretation:

These are the words, from my Carol Ann
The girl I broke in half
Of her, I'm afraid there's nothing left
No pieces to put back in place

I was the monster
The things that I did
I regret, I dismiss

Oh, it's a shame about Carol Ann
And all she could have been
She soared with such grace as her body sailed
Through the windshield from the passenger seat

I was the monster
Through neglect I replaced her love
For these lonely days

These are Sirius' interpretation of what is happening: his soul is being invaded by a new entity, that of a young girl who died in a car accident, thrown through the windshield. He, Sirius, is also reflecting on how his own soul is trying to reject her's; someone who has suffered and hurt so much that they've become content with their labyrinth. First he dismisses what happened, and then he realizes his dismissal has changed her contentment with being dead into something else.

Oh, she'll be forgotten...
Oh, she'll be forgotten...

A moment of grim honesty perhaps? That the greatest of personal tragedies, in the afterlife, is meaningless. However haunting and horrible what happened to Carol Ann was in life, no one knows who she is, or was, now. She will be, and is, forgotten. Her death no more meaningful than the next girls'.

Young hearts belong, to a love that everybody wants
But we can't have it all, so we take what little we can

This is coming from the entity again now, she's again being honest about her existence in the Keywork. Pure, unadulterated love is something which both the living, and the dead, want, but cannot necessarily attain. When humans cannot, they cause grief; when the dead cannot, they take it from the living. Which is why the entities are digging into Sirius: he possesses love, and life, and all those things which they lack.

Mother, did you see him coming; did you see him?
Mother, did you see him sneaking through the back door?
Stealing the time we wish we spent, but lost it all

Mother, did you see him coming; did you see him?
Mother, did you see him sneaking through the back door?
This time, we'll reinforce the walls

I'm not sure who "mother" is, but I believe that this addresses the other entities of the Keywork. Carol Ann is essentially saying: Did anyone see the living man come in? How could we have missed his entrance? Let's reinforce the door, this way he can't get out again.

Don't turn the page, love
It's words don't hold your fate
But soon we'll become one
And from their world you'll escape

The final revelation: the entity wants Sirius' body, his vitality. It will take his body, and escape from the Keywork; free to live again. His fate is not set in stone, because while his individuality, his personality, will wander among the Keywork forever, his body will live; with a new soul in it.

Through the walls of your heart
I will tear you apart
Through the walls of your heart
I will tear you apart
Through the walls!

The entity is digging in, clawing its way into Sirus' body, his heart; his soul. It's going to remove his essence from his body and escape with it. This also gives new meaning to the opening lines of "Evagria: the Faithful" where Sirius says: "sinking warmth through obscurity," caught between "where you are (Evagria)" and "What you're doing (Carol Ann)"

And that's my interpretation of what I like to think is "Key Entity Extraction IV: Carol Ann"

submissions
The Receiving End Of Sirens – Intermission Lyrics 14 years ago
We could be anywhere but here…

We have tested
The buoyancy of loyalty
You left our lungs for canteen
You left our ankles for anchors

We thought your arms
Were tied behind your back
But elastic bands tied your hands
You swim with reckless abandon

Abandon ship!

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Greek Fire Lyrics 15 years ago
You're welcome. There's some extra lyrics at the end of "Tanzih" as well. Unfortunately I can't quite make them out just yet.

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Grounded, I Am Traveling Light Lyrics 15 years ago
So, we were living out our days
In an old abandoned palisade
Sweepin' chimney 'til our backs hurt
And singin' 'til our throats were dry
Scraping the red from every rusty nail
Stitching the carpet's tails
We kept our salty voices hushed
You looked loveliest all dressed in dust
I cleared the cobwebs while you slept
Set a fire that we both regret
You woke up coughing up a storm
And we never made it out the door

'cause I, for one, was taking my time

I think it's time you and I
Should come home
It's been three years
And I can feel it in my bones
If turning back means
I am turning back alone
Then I guess I'm on my own
I'm on my own

It was six-hundred degree
We had nothing to protect our feet
From the glowing embers hot under our soles
Our burning bed of coal
But that fever that we shared
Wsn't nothing that we couln't bare
Yeah, we just wrapped around each other
And we sweat it out, our worst nightmare
And that's when I was born
In your arms during a firestorm
We were perfectly in place
We were filling up the empty place

But you were tired of wasting your time

Your spirit fled from
All those bad ideas we bled
I twisted up all of your words
And I turned to brass
While you were tearing down the past
Now I'm trailing, I'm traveling light
And losing my memories

I think it's time you and I
Should come home
It's been three years
And I can feel it in my bones
If turning back means
I am turning back alone
Then I guess I'm on my own
I'm on my own

There you go man, nice job otherwise.

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Greek Fire Lyrics 15 years ago
The ending of this song is actually...

(When you wash up, I will fold my hands)
(And contemplate the ways)
Through all that pitch and resin
(To keep you in your place)
You were somehow still breathing
(To keep you in your place)

But why have you been mourning
(When you wash up, I will fold my hands)
Ever since we fixed your head
(And contemplate the ways)
We're nothin' but receding figures
(To keep you in your place)
Robbing each other of our final thoughts
(To keep you in your place)

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Oarsmen Lyrics 15 years ago
Thanks for offering your corrections.

"I woke up sweating on the calming mountain wilds"
"my granite heart will not forget what it once was"
"a coffer full of your love that I couldn't bury"
"we were unnerving earth before the first unsettled word fell"
"they drew the devils out of secrets between your brow"

After listening again, with your ideas in mind, that is what I got and have edited it so.Any idea on the ending screaming section? I have no idea.

submissions
Coheed and Cambria – Elf Tower, New Mexico Lyrics 15 years ago
I'm going to guess no one looks at this song for lyrical interpretation anymore, but, here's my stab at it after siphoning down some of the noise/static to try and get his voice clearer. Before I really knew about Coheed and Cambria a friend of mine used to play this track, and the acoustic release of "Junesong Provision", so this has always been one of my favorites from them. It's a shame they never fit it back into the storyline. Anyway, here you all go, my stab at the words:


Elf Power… New Mexico…
Elf Power… New Mexico…

Well, thank God you’re still angry at me
I’ve got a better chance of seeing you
Dead in the rain, yeah
Thank her for this one last big mistake
It’s your turn, come shoot for me
If you win, well
You can lead the way, yeah
Midday subway into New Jersey

Did you think… maybe I…
Was doing quite well
Without you in the frame

Stay… I killed in defense
Caught with a cold, you run up to her
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

‘til then pretend
You’ve touched me for your last
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half
Here in New…
Well, I merely came here, in

Elf Power… New Mexico…
Elf Tower… New Mexico…

Stay here in our last standing
Hourglass circumstance
Devoted here in the midst of the wearied eyes
Lost and buried here
In your big surprise in the ground
Will your fingers find my bag
Familiar fit in the questions
That I had to ask

Did you think… maybe I…
Was doing quite well
Without you in the frame

Stay… I killed in defense
Caught with a cold, you run up to her
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

‘til then pretend
You’ve touched me for your last
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half
Here in New…
Well, I merely came here, in

Elf Tower, New Mexico

Oh, farewell, tonight
You are run out of air

Well, I’ll give my words in one lesson
Dear God, before I heard
That this is your intention
Before I could have figured out
Over and over, see
Dear, there’s Coheed and then Cambria
An innocent merger
Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Thank God they recovered
Your body in New Mexico
Three days it spoiled, love
I miss you in every way
You could have been dear
Wish you were here
Still in the frame

Stay… I killed in defense
Caught with a cold, you run up to her
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

‘til then pretend
You’ve touched me for your last
I’m giving you up, go on, find someone new

Dear Nikki, what
What if I could have found a better half
Here in New…
Well, I merely came here, in

Elf Tower, New Mexico

submissions
Thursday – Time's Arrow Lyrics 15 years ago
Anyone else get all fancy like me and take Geoff's writing of the song literally? The song is actions played in reverse, culminating in the event occurring. So I popped the song into Audacity and played it backwards. Sure enough, the second half of the song has backing vocals and music that play forward when run backward.

When played forward the lines

"The slap got pulled right off of it
We all fall back into bed again"

are repeated numerous times backward. Anyone else notice this?

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Oarsmen Lyrics 15 years ago
I know several of these lyrics are wrong, so if anyone has any info on what is being screamed in the [?] lines I'll edit it. Also, some of the second verse doesn't sound right to me, but I can't make out everything they're saying during this part.

Any corrections would be much appreciated.

submissions
Coheed and Cambria – Far Lyrics 15 years ago
Anyone else catch the backmasked part of this one around 2:45ish? Claudio sings the chorus and then very lightly whispers the word "listen" before there's a weird electronica-sounding segment, then the song picks up again. I reversed it and he sings:

Lord, we are damned, save us

Not sure if it adds anything to the interpretations, but, thought people might like to know.

submissions
Band of Horses – (Biding Time Is A) Boat To Row Lyrics 15 years ago
Here's my stab at what he's sayin' in this one:

Dilly I, I never wanted you
Sleeping out on the ground tonight
Day now, now that I'm coming home
Dilly, you got someone to answer to

Fallin' out in our way
Clothes are on
Fallin' out and around
Companions now

Dilly I made up
My mind long ago
Shoulda known
Shoulda known
I shoulda known

Dilly I, I never wanted to
I'll tell, won't lie to you
Dilly I, I ain't ashamed of you
It's a pity I broke my fist in two

Strung out no where
Clothes are off
Fuckin' around no where
Close my eyes

Dilly I made up
My mind long ago
Shoulda known
Shoulda known
I shoulda known

Biding time is a boat to row
That's you and I
Shoulda known
Shoulda known
I shoulda known

Dilly I made up
My mind long ago
Shoulda known
Shoulda known
I shoulda known

Biding time is a boat to row
That's you and I
Shoulda known
Shoulda known
I shoulda known

Dilly you, you've been called lazy boy
Starin' out at bedroom walls
Anytime you feel like comin' out
I ain't too proud, ain't to proud

To say hello

submissions
Manchester Orchestra – Shake It Out Lyrics 15 years ago
I suspect that "make it clean" is the appropriate lyrics. But part of me wants to believe the line is:

I can see, I can see
Standing, we were seventeen
Naked, clean

Anyone else think so?

submissions
Manchester Orchestra – Shake It Out (Acoustic) Lyrics 15 years ago
Youtube - Andy Hull - Shake It Out - ZIA Records 2 performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsFxyYlTOY4&feature=related

He doesn't have any of the lyrics wrong. The one off of "Fourteen Years of Excellence" is not acoustic, it is the alternate version.

submissions
Modest Mouse – The Whale Song Lyrics 15 years ago
There are three vocal portions to this song. Naturally, everyone can only ever seem to transcribe the first two. The original vocal track sings:

I guess I am a scout, so I should find a way out
So everyone can find a way out

And I know I am a scout, and I should find a way out
So everyone could find a way out

I know I am a scout, I should've found a way out
So everyone can find a way out

The second vocal layer sings:

They keep us in, to pull us out
I'm rising up, wish I was sinking down
And it's not like there was warning, we were happy
And it's not like there was mourning in the warning

Instead of seeing a neighbor out
God, I wish I would've found a way out
It's the last time we were happy, ever happy

But there's a third "megaphone" voice, singing something else between these two. I can't make out all the words, but it sounds like he's singing something along the lines of:

No one's going to find a way out
No one get's out on the first try

Anyone have a better time deciphering it then me?

submissions
Modest Mouse – You'll See Lyrics 15 years ago
I don't gurantee complete accuracy, but I've sat down to listen to this song a lot. Here's the best I could get for what he's saying. I think they're incredible lyrics:

------

In the faces you see
You’ll see, you’ll see
You’ll see the place
Where you’ll die

And you’ll see where you want to be
And every place you go
You’ll see the faces
Of the people you know

And you’ll see, you’ll see
You’ll fall in love and die
On a place you know
And our heart and souls

You’ll rust, you’ll rust
You’ll rust and sleep
You’ll rust, you’ll rust
You’ll rust and sleep

In the places you go
You’ll see you know

You’ll see you know
You’ll see you know
You’ll see you know
You’ll see you know

You’ll see you owe your friend and
You’ll see you are your friends and
You’ll see you are the place that you live in

You’ll see you know
You’ll see you know

You’ll see you know you are
The friends that you met
And you are; you’ll know, you know

You’ll know you own, and you know
You’ll know you are the place you live in
And who you met, and I can

You’ll see; you’ll see you’re getting’ nowhere
You’ll see; you’ll see you’re nowhere

You’ll see you are my army
You’ll see you’ll know you knowing
You’ll see when you die knowing
On the last second of life, you’ll see well

You’ll see you are your mother
You’ll see you are your father
You’ll see you are your friends
You’re all the city you live in

You’ll see you’ll need it
You’ll see anything you want to
You’ll see you are all the people
Who you ever met and

You’ll see you are all the people
You loved the life you hate now
You’ll see you’re all you needed
I know where you end and you’ll see

In the last seconds of your life
You’ll see who you are
They’ll show you how it works
They’ll show you how it works
And you’ll see

You’ll see you’re all you needed
You’ll see you know you got it
You’ll see your family sitting down
You’re ugly just like they were

You’ll see where you need to be at
You’ll see your grieving cousins
You’ll see the things you wanted
You’ll see you hate, not loved it
You’ll see why you were going

You’ll see why you were talking
You’ll see why you were walking
You’ll see why you were working
You’ll see why you were thinking
You’ll see why you went to see that movie

You’ll see why you were listening
You’ll see why you were takin’ that photo of me
You’ll see why you were standing
You’ll see why you were waiting
You’ll see why you were
Looking out at the trees and

You’ll see you need a part-job
You’ll see you are a part of
You’ll see you are a part of all our cities

You’ll see you were a wash-out
You’ll see you blamed the wrong folks
You’ll see you sat on your head
You’ll see you mean to love and
You’ll see you need to die and
You’ll see it while you’re waiting

You’ll pace around this building
You’ll pace around this planet
You drive around for hours
You never take no showers
You’ll take a million showers

You’ll bleed your mother’s blood and
You’ll bleed your own blood and
You’ll breathe Napolean’s air
You’ll see why you weren’t thinking
You’ll see why you weren’t the only one
You’ll see, you’ll see
You’ll see, you’ll see

submissions
Coheed and Cambria – The Black Rainbow Lyrics 15 years ago
You were all that we needed
To believe in our doubt
The hurt we allowed

We had sworn to believe them
And scattered across
Our memories found

You were all that we needed
To believe in our doubt
The worst, I’m afraid
The hurt we allowed

We defined the lines and crossed
Into a great unknown to read all
The words we left out

In all we are, we’re truly afraid
In all we are, of the one thing we can make
In all we are, we’re truly afraid
Wishing one day we could be stronger

It’s over, it’s over; it’s all coming apart
While you were sleeping
We were stealing your home
It’s over, it’s over; it’s all coming apart
Now I’ll never let this go, I say

It’s over, it’s over; it’s all coming apart
While you were sleeping
We were stealing your home
It’s over, it’s over; it’s all coming apart
Now I’ll never let this go, I say

It’s over, it’s over; it’s all coming apart
(coming apart, coming apart)
While you were sleeping
We were stealing your home
It’s over, it’s over; no more, truly no more

It’s over, it’s over; coming apart
You know, you know, you know

(it get’s too garbled for me to make out individual lines anymore after this)

submissions
The Republic of Wolves – Wood/Bricks Lyrics 15 years ago
Excellent song.

submissions
HRVRD – An End Weight Lyrics 15 years ago
The line you're unsure about is:

I keep cool like a fool with a stitched mouth

submissions
Archers of Loaf – Dead Red Eyes Lyrics 16 years ago
Dead, red eyes - flickering half bright
Went on for a ride in slick silk
They were onto my circumstantial slide
Blow by blow, chip off shell and bone
Trip and talked around it
Could not fall through a crowd of
Careful lies busting open wide
Sensible, fact or fable
Watched us fall from your favor
Since you knew too much about it
Dressed in wax, you lit the town in
Candle light, flickering half bright
Well, I held it in my hands
And now it's gone, gone, gone
Saw it with my own two eyes, just pass me by

Took a walk, through a town of half-stoned
Cold, bound and gagging
Joke, by joke, they spot erase you
Heard their news, but it did not phase you
One little bit, not one little bit
So I meet you by the light of main street
Stranded ghosts where I've been waiting
Kill it fifty times or more
Before I'm through, I'll kill it fifty times more
Just to bring it back to life
And bust it open wide again
Well, I held it in my hands
And nwo it's gone, gone, gone
Blinded by the neon in your dead, red eyes

submissions
Mansions – All Eyes On You Lyrics 16 years ago
Anyone know what he's singing in the backing vocals during the chorus? There's 3 lines and I can't figure them out.

submissions
Manchester Orchestra – Where Have You Been Lyrics 16 years ago
The lyrics on this one change all the time. Here's a combo of some live versions, the studio, and acoustic performances of the song. Make what you will of it:

** [studio version] **

They call holidays an option for a reason
And I heard you're coming back to life just for the Fourth
Well, I've been catching all your ghosts for every season
And I pray to God you won't come back here anymore
Do you pray with Him too?

Well, they should deliver all my blessings
In small, brown, paper handbags near the porch
Oh, I wished I'd known that you were bleeding
While I sat and watched you reading with the Lord
You know, I read with Him too

'cause when you look at me I'll be digesting your legs
'cause I can hardly see what's in front of me
These days, and those days too

I've got to take what I'm making
And turn it into something
I've got to take what I'm making
And turn it into something for you

I've got to break what I'm making
And turn it into nothing
I've got to break what I'm making
And turn it into nothing for you

'cause when you look at me I'll be digesting your legs
'cause I can hardly see what's in front of me
These days, and those days too

If they call holidays an option, it's pretentious
So I'll deliver all my presents for the Christians
With those lions a'comin', oh, they're comin'
Those lions a'comin', oh, they're comin'

** [studio version] **



** [Coachella Festival 04/27/2008] **

And this is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns I'll take to push You away
This is the fashion-conscience religion about You
And this is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns it takes to push You away
This is the fashion of conscience, religion

Oh God, it's true

This is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns it'll take to push You away
This is the fashion-conscience religion, or is it true?
This is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns it'll take to push You away
This is the fashion-conscience religion

Oh God it's...

This is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns it'll take to push You away
This is the fashion-conscience religion
This is the price I pay
I'm not ashamed of the guns it'll take to push You away
This is the fashion-conscience religion

Oh God, it's true

** [Coachella Festival 04/27/2008] **



** [The END 11/09/2007] **

God, where have You been?
God, my God, where have You been?
And God, where have You been?
And God, God, my God, where have You been?
And God, my God, where have You been?
And God, my God, my God, where exactly have You been?

Child, my child, where have you been?

And God, my God, my God, where exactly have we been?

** [The END 11/09/2007] **



** [House of Bricks 12/02/2008] **

And I woke alone for an hour or so
'til you began to fill the room with Your Holy Ghost
Just because I did not see the man that I was being
It doesn't mean I won't ever see You

I don't mind if you arrive soon
I wouldn't mind hearing from you
'cause I sit nights, wondering bedside
Not sad, or even happy, just kind of mixed up

And I hope that you still love me
The way I love you
And I hope that you still need me
The way I murdered you
And I hope that you still eat me
The way I ate you
'cause in the end we're just dogs
Through and through

'cause in this moment I am alive again
And now I need You all the time
'cause in the moment I was finally alive again

** [House of Bricks 12/02/2008] **

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