The Salesman, The Husband, The Lover

although you dont have the lyrics up yet, the guys from The Receiving End of Sirens said that this was about kids with divorced parents

This is definitely my favorite track on the record. The lyrics are amazing and the music flows effortlessly. The guys wrote this after extensive research on children with divorced parents. I guess it really paid off.

Baby boy had a big ol’ heart, Large enough to tear apart And split evenly in two Evenly in two

Mom and Dad had a rocky start Too much head too little heart Soon one turned into two One two

Dirty hands made separate beds And folded sheets in which they slept Oh what’s a boy to do? What’s a boy to do?

When daddy finds ten dollar whores And liquor stores Can offer more Than his family More than his friends More than the woman that he wed

“O no. What a shameful seed I’ve sown.”

Then one day daddy walked away From his wife and the child they had made It must have been too much It must have been too much

Mommy tried her best to pay The bills so that her son could stay In the house that he was raised The sons fight the father’s war

You shadow, you ghost Look how crooked I’ve grown What a shameful seed you’ve sown What a seed you’ve sown

The place where love grew too old Too old and broken to appraise

Court ordered visits meant weekends with his Dad Where he learned his share of lessons on how to drink like his old man

Back home his mother packed her bags And the dreams That she watched drown For a single room apartment in the seedy part of town

Baby boy became the dad His family had always lacked A spitting image of the man Down to the way he turned his back

He inherited his cheating; an heir to his drunken breath His father willed him arrogance and passed down his empty chest

“Be a lightbulb” I’m a wishbone “Be a rifle; a telephone” I’m just here for you to use I’ve got nothing left to lose I’m the wardship battle I’m the remnants of the precious metals That weigh you both down We are heavied o’ so heavy We are heavied o’ so heavy

Brendan had this to say:

"...researched a lot of websites about the effect of divorce on children. That is where the lines about the light bulb, wishbone, rifle, and telephone came from. This is how children described themselves when dealing with divorced parents. Some felt like things came out of the dark when they were around, some felt like they were being torn in two, some felt like the communicator, and some felt like they were used as fodder by one parent to hurt the other. ...it is the first narrative look into our character's life. This is a good reason for all of his remorse, regret, and guilt the record goes on to talk about."

I've only heard the album once through since I bought it today.

Right off the bat i'm thinking the album is centered around this song...

I must say this song is one of those that can give you the chills...

I really like this this a lot! Those last lines about what the son has inherited really does send chills as -ZERO- mentioned above.

Really resonates through me. My dad spent not only my whole life adulterating but I'm sure the better part of his life being unfaithful to all those around him that he claimed to be his one an only, my mom, God, my stepmother, me, my sister and my two brothers. After finding out officially what he's been up to for so long, I can only say that I feel like this song screams what I've been through for the last two decades.

Seems uncharacteristically literal for a TREOS song. Oh well. I still like it.

"too much head, too little heart"

hehe. clever clever.