1. |
The Old Fox
03:29
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If we die before morning saves us
We’ll haunt this town screaming our curses
Tonight - through the sky
If we can’t leave it behind
I thought I had it all in suburban sprawl
I made a pact with myself to leave
That I keep breaking
The clock winds before the sunrise
We hit reset - try to forget
The clock winds before the sunrise
We hit reset and start again
Every night we sing...
Now it’s just us and the old train cars
Broken down on the depot grounds
And we’re rusting out
But we’re still around
The years go by
There’s no getting out
It’s like waking up
And we wipe the crust from our eyes
In a stranger’s house
Every night we sing
Me and all my friends
We’ll never get out again
We’re sinking in
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2. |
Clinic After Hours
03:17
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It’s a long drive on 80
From Pittsburgh to Jersey
Hit trouble as soon as we filled up
Merged onto the highway
Past tollbooths screaming
Trying not to cause a wreck
Now I’m counting the miles to state lines
Waiting for tensions to dissipate
And all of the seams are wearing out
And you’re digging in your heels
Hey - is it better to be stuck in one place?
Or better to get lost along the way?
When there’s no turning back -
Nowhere to stay
And the cracks are forming underneath
We booked the last flight of the evening
From Oakland to PDX
No wifi or drink service
So I settled for panic
We hit turbulence touching down
And you made last call last a couple rounds
I’m just trying to blend in
You’re starting fights with the locals
We’re stacking up bricks on shaky ground
We’re putting down roots just to rip them out
Hey - is it better to be stuck in one place?
(With the devil that you know)Or better to get lost along the way?
(To face it all alone)
When there’s no turning back -
Nowhere to stay
(When the solid ground erodes)
And the cracks are forming underneath
Look out below...
Paralyzed by refusing to take the reigns
Hesitation to move and get out of the way
To make it work - or make a change?
Hedging your bets begets the same
Is it better to be stuck in one place
(With the devil on your shoulder that you know)
Or better to get lost along the way
(To face uncertainty all on your own)
There’s no turning back - nowhere to stay
And the cracks are forming underneath
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3. |
Insurgents
03:07
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Songs of my father’s convictions
Caught in the back of my throat
We either outlive and outlast the victims
Or we die by their torches and rope
Oh no - don’t look now but
We’re coming to cut you down
We’re storming the stairs in the castle
The knives are out
And aren’t you proud?
And it’s far too late to take it back
The cards have been dealt from a deck
That’s stacked against us
And we’re finding out
A generational divide
The spectacle of youth
Forgotten, put on trial
Now you’re quaking in an easy chair
Glued to a screen, growing confused
Deeper down this rabbit hole
Just getting high on toxic fumes
Turn both deaf ears to the rattling rancor
Getting closer down dark corridors
Smoke’s filling up the echo chamber
You’ve been living in
And the burning in your lungs
Is getting harder to ignore
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4. |
Tunneler
03:23
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Are all the choices I make or have made
A lens that was shaped while I was
Standing just out of frame
(out of focus again)
It’s one and the same
A feeling I can’t shake
Separated by the time it takes to
Plot out a proper escape
Resigned to my fate
And burned at the stake
Are we who we are
Because or in spite of
Everyone we love?
‘Cuz I’m wondering
Where is the line between
What’s mine and predefined
Any excuse left to sell --
Look what we built
I keep caving in on myself
There’s no parables to prepare for
The wrestling doubt instilled
By the bonds we share
Is this a smash-and-grab
Or did I leave any goods on the shelf?
Did you orchestrate the whole damn thing?
I read the instructions
The blueprints create the illusion
There’s blame to share
And I don’t fit in anywhere
All these spare pieces in the box -
It’s troubling...
Sit back and watch it burn
Or get trampled on
Waiting your turn
Every crack in the foundation wall
Set me back on this path
And I can’t avoid all the hazards
By knowing what happens in the end
I keep caving in
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5. |
Oubliette
03:07
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Spiraling out
You spent your last days in the depths
Where you lost control
And all of the whispers keep getting louder
A sickness that’s growing in your bones
You keep crossing lines to stay in disguise
Still-faced in the silence
Her screams still chased by the sirens
Unraveling, vacant
Still waiting for you to wake up
On the run from the houndsAlone in the alleyway
There’s no one left when your blood turns cold
And all of the footsteps keep getting closer
There coming to take back what you stole
I remember the call that day
Didn’t care to know
Who you were with or what you did
Didn’t believe a word you said
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6. |
The Thread
02:40
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Rise and repeat
Advance and retreat
Select-all and delete
(At least once a week)
We’re all co-conspirators
In the comfort of closed doors
The conditioning complete
No use in resisting my worst impulses
We’re hanging on by a thread
We’re pouring gasoline on the fire pit
We’re hanging on by a thread
We’re playing catch-and-release
With liabilities
I’ll take my share of the blame
(I’m dragging my feet)
An engine choking on the wake
A new excuse is taking shape
And if anyone asks
We went down with the ship
Unchecked irreverence
Taking turns in the driver’s seat
But if I’m taking a step off the ledge
Then you’re all coming down with me
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7. |
Errors
03:48
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Nothing like cold concrete
For a pounding head or a spinning room
All the things I said started flooding back
Without a good excuse
I was sick though
Shoveling rain down the drain in the basement
A stubbornly drowning subterranean
Breaking his ankles
If I’m gonna peel myself off the bathroom floor
Find the strength to climb up the stairs
In between blackouts at work
And pregnancy scares
You gotta stop coming back around
And I can’t keep falling back down
I’m still clutching fearlessly to hope
And I can’t see where this is going
I don’t believe the future’s firmly out of reach
I’m not slowing down
Now I’m dialing your number
Several hours after it’s socially acceptable
Leave a message to a machine
Moments after you pressed ‘ignore’
But no-one’s waiting at home
And I can’t stand to listen to neighbors
Moaning through the bedroom walls
Hey can you come and
Pick me up from Bay Ridge?
I fell asleep on the subway car
Expectations folding under all the weight
Like a rust-belt bridge left in urban decay
Grow up or you don’t - you get old either way
It’s a slow crawl to the grave
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8. |
Cover Up
02:17
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A face I haven’t seen since -
A picture losing focus
And if I squint hard enough
It’s like we’re back on the island
Playing tricks on my mind and
I’ve tried moving on but I can’t
I’ve been tearing this place apart
Trying to scrub every room of your memory
Paint the walls to cover the stains
They’re bleeding through
The numbers attached to names
But I can’t catch you - or even hope to
They’re bleeding through
New voices still sound the same
Echoes caught in cobwebs
Almost don’t remember
The way that your voice sounds
Over phone lines and late nights
That we don’t share anymore
Not sure if we ever did
Like a sunspot searing out the back of my eyes
Even the space you vacated
Burns up the air when it’s quiet
And I’m suffocating
So paint the walls to cover the stains
They’re bleeding through
The numbers attached to names
But I can’t catch you - or even hope to
They’re bleeding through
Only have myself to blame
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9. |
Two Zero One One
02:18
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The lizard men are crawling out
From their holes
Subsidizing market share
For rounds of venture capital
Steeped in the tradition of for-profit business
It’s growth with no vision
Cost savings, efficiency
And every good thing that we make
Turns to ash in our hands
Take the bridge to the past and burn it down
What if we never left 2011?
Making progress the same as change
And you won’t be content with less
The FTC is stepping in
To take a look at your financials
No more disrupted industries
Forced through intermediary agencies
The aggregated service sector
monetized through hidden fees,
$60 pizza delivery and stolen brower history
The bright future that was promised
A house of cards about to fall
Take the bridge to the past and burn it down
What if we never left 2011?
Making progress the same as change
And you won’t be content with less
And it’s been in decline ever since
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10. |
Tool vs. Weapon
02:39
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You’re yelling into nothing
No, no one else is coming
Punch your ticket, say your prayers
The doors are locked -
We’re trapped in here
The die is cast in the furnace fire
The seeds you plant, you can’t rip out
They’ve taken root deep underground
So you close your eyes
Faith feels like a frayed rope
That you’re hanging from
Dissent’s a sharp edge
Between a breath and a fall
It might not be enough
When you can’t see it through
Just let it go -
But you keep hanging on
Cement that pours over the past
You’re standing still - it’s setting fast
Don’t let it bury you alive
The seeds you plant, you can’t rip out
They’ve taken root deep underground
So you close your eyes
Just keep hanging on
Faith feels like a frayed rope
That you’re hanging from
Dissent’s a sharp edge
And then it’s curtain call
It might not be enough
If you can’t see it through
Just let it go -
But you keep hanging on
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11. |
Plod Along
03:23
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You want a sure thing
I feel more like a long shot every day
You make the best of a bad situation
What’s left here to make you stay?
With all the small mistakes and rules to break
The wide-open cabinet doors
The calls that never came through
To say I’d be home late
What are you worried for?
And we move on slowly
10 months went by - we sat stagnant
All that changed was the weather
How many more apologiesBefore I’m back in your grace?
You’re counting second chances
Like you’re keeping track on a ledger
How many more apologies
Until I’m out of the red?
I can’t help feeling like every step that we took
Left me further from my youth
Would I trade it all to go back now?
Can I tell you the truth?
They’re just words
It’s just air moving past my lips
And through soundwaves to your ears
Does it surprise you to know
That I’ve been listening all along?
And we move on slowly
But I still wake up
Feeling the chill of the bathroom floor
You said you’d come home
I said I’d keep the light on
And I still lie awake
With the weight of the world on my shoulders
You said you’d come home
I said I’d keep the light on
Keep the light on...
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12. |
Keelhaulin'
03:36
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Desperation calls for help
But you turn goodwill into a chore
And honestly, we’ve been running in place
Maybe I wavered
Increasingly distant behavior
But you drew the line
You can’t cross it and act surprised
When somebody holds you accountable
You’re dealing in double-standards
But I’m over accepting all your responsibilities
We can say our goodbyes
When you drop off the keys
Got the sun in my face
Got the wind in my sails
I won’t be tied to an anchor
You compromise just like a wave
That only breaks in one direction
Leaving me choking for air on the sand
Now you’re turning our home into
A hostage situation
You’re calling the shots but no one’s left
To make demands
I’m finished collecting dead weight
So say your goodbyes
Got the sun in my face
Got the wind in my sails
I won’t be tied to an anchor
I’m taking back the wheel
Got the wind in my sails
I won’t be tied to an anchor
Co-efficient of friction, always playing the victim
The questions were piling up
I was scouring for answers
You knew where they were
And you were holding them for ransom
Only notice you’re gone
When the winds and the tides begin to shift
Only notice you’re gone
When the ship is set adrift
You can cast your curses on the way down
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Port Maria Union, New Jersey
Union, NJ and Pittsburgh, PA punk
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