1. |
Burn
02:57
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It takes two clever feet to walk so they can't hear.
It takes two steady hands to not betray your fear.
Move quickly. Don't be swallowed.
The creatures here have appetites.
Go places they can't follow.
We're alive, and there's nothing left to lose.
Is there nothing left to gain?
Is there nothing left to say?
We're alive, and we smell like gasoline,
And our hands were never clean.
Is there nothing left to lose?
It takes a level head to plan this sort of crime.
It takes two watches synchronized in perfect time.
Move quickly. Don't get caught now.
The creatures here have sharpened teeth.
They're faster than we thought now.
We're alive, and there's nothing left to lose.
Is there nothing left to gain?
Is there nothing left to say?
We're alive, and we smell like gasoline,
And our hands were never clean.
Is there nothing left to lose?
Look out, everyone, get down.
This place is burning tonight,
Because we're burning it down.
This place is burning tonight.
Look out, everyone, get down.
This place is burning tonight,
Because we're burning it down.
This place is burning tonight.
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2. |
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I stared into the eyes of countless monsters I imagined,
When I had nought but just this wooden sword.
I gazed into the darkness, and I will never blink again,
'Cause what I saw was both unsettling and true.
And they are scheming, and they are feeding,
And I am bleeding out.
And I am feeling like retreating,
But let's try to see this one out.
Let's try to chase the monsters all out of our little heads now,
And tuck them safely underneath the bed,
So when we wake up in the morning and we let our feet hang down,
They might get bit or we might walk away unscathed.
And they are scheming, and they are feeding,
And I am bleeding out.
And I am feeling like retreating,
But let's try to see this one out.
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3. |
The Haunting of 1993
04:50
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I read the markings on the bottle,
Before I rolled it down the hill,
Outside the house we used to run from.
Do you recall the haunting of 1993?
That was a pretty bad year.
Now I think in retrospect, I'm glad we all survived,
Some of us, I guess, better than others.
I wonder what went right that we came out the other side.
I'm blaming dumb luck and our moms.
There was graffiti on a stop sign,
A broken window near the porch,
And another one out back.
I remember how strange sounds came through,
The cracks where all the bats and spiders hid.
The darkness took our flashlight beams and ate them.
It was a special sort of fear.
The floorboards creaked beneath our adolescent weight.
We were all skinny back in '93.
We thought we found it in the basement,
But then again, I'm not quite sure whose story I believe,
After all these years.
We watched too much TV back then and had imaginations,
That often led us on.
Still I think about it, and I can't remember why,
We just wanted to believe in more than voices on the wind.
Still I think about it, and I can't imagine why,
I'm still wanting to believe in more than voices on the wind.
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4. |
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I was king of the castle before there was a war.
The enemy had trampled everything worth fighting for.
I heard a trumpet sounding as an arrow pierced my heart.
I was king of the castle until it fell apart.
I was king of the castle before they tore it down,
They ransacked my belongings, and they stole my golden crown.
The catapults had failed to keep the enemy at bay.
I was king of the castle, but only for a day.
Please let me remind you all that nothing good will last.
Just ask those who, like me, had a castle in the past.
You might feel discouraged, heavy-hearted, or depressed.
The ups and downs might kill you --
Scratch that, they're going to kill you.
The ups and downs will kill you, and then you'll just be dead.
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5. |
Black Mage
03:32
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There's a dark cloud where my mind lives,
And it fogs up my perspective,
So it's hard to see as clearly,
As I used to. Please forgive me.
I was not always this way.
I don't know what sparked the change.
I hardly ever leave this place,
The floorboards creaking where I pace.
And the pixels dance across the screen.
And my blinking eyes take in this scene.
This apartment hasn't been clean,
Since February, 2018.
There are piles of dirty laundry,
In all the corners, and they taunt me.
I was not always this way.
I don't know what sparked the change.
I hardly ever leave this place,
The carpet thinning where I pace.
And the pixels dance across the screen.
And my blinking eyes take in this scene.
The black mage in the party,
Never casts a proper spell that I can count on,
In a pickle, and this doesn't work so well.
So I'll waste a little time, as I watch another week go by.
And I'm still alive, if you could call this living.
In the meantime, I wish he'd stop being so fickle.
I wish he'd cast Fire or Firaga and just scorch these icy beasts,
Or just stun them, or maybe use a Phoenix Down,
To revive our fallen friends and bring them back into the fight.
The black mage in the party,
Never casts a proper spell that I can count on,
In a pickle, and this doesn't work so well.
So I'll waste a little time, as I watch another week go by.
And I'm still alive, if you could call this living.
And I'm still alive, I guess.
The black mage just stands staring at the wall.
I should have brought the healer after all.
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6. |
Rattle the Bones
01:52
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Let's sing a song about the darkness,
You know, the one that's been eating us alive.
Let's shout it out so the whole world knows,
And let's all raise our voices to the sky.
Now let's sing 'til our voices are weary,
And let's sing 'til our throats are all dry.
Let's sing 'til we feel like it's better,
Even though we know it's meaningless to try.
I'm tired of pretending that I'm fine,
When I can't expel the darkness from my mind.
It's making me so sick that this world's a sinking ship.
Let's all shout it out, and let's survive.
Let's sing a song about the darkness,
You know, the one that's made a home inside our skulls.
Let's rattle all the bones in these skeletons,
And let's screech and squawk and squabble like the gulls.
Let's talk to ourselves in the shadows.
Let's whisper out the words that make us ill.
Let's eulogize the ones who've been defeated,
And rejoice that we're the ones left standing still.
I'm tired of pretending that I'm fine,
When I can't expel the darkness from my mind.
It's making me so sick that this world's a sinking ship.
Let's all shout it out, and let's survive.
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7. |
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I used to sing this at the crowd and then the crowd would sing along,
But now the crowd has all gone home.
So now I'm singing at the wall because I've got so much to say,
And I'm just sitting here alone.
If you've never heard a song that saved your life,
You'll never understand,
How I persist and sing and spit and shout,
While these two aching hands,
Scratch out another note, another line, another scribbled page.
And it will never be enough.
I sing these words so loudly that they echo off the wall.
It's a little like the wall's singing along.
I write this all so quickly, 'cause this manic state won't last,
And I could use another brand new song.
If you've never heard a song that saved your life,
You'll never understand,
How I persist and sing and spit and shout,
While these two aching hands,
Scratch out another note, another line, another scribbled page.
And it will never be enough.
Hey, man, do you get it?
It's okay, man, just forget it.
Hey, man, no one gets it.
It's okay, man, just forget it.
Hey, man, do you get it?
It's okay, man, just forget it.
Hey now, you just said it.
It's okay now. I think you get it.
Jay Jay, we promise we get it.
You'll be okay, man, and don't you forget it.
Jay Jay, we promise we get it.
You'll be okay, man, and don't you forget it.
Jay Jay, we promise we get it.
You'll be okay, man, and don't you forget it.
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8. |
Bug
01:06
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There was a guy, and he turned into a bug.
His family didn't love him anymore.
'Cause that's what happens when you turn into a bug:
Nobody loves you anymore.
He crawled around on the floor, and it was kind of gross,
And all his cravings got quite weird.
He hid behind the desk, and he hid under the bed,
'Cause that's the stuff you do when you're a bug.
And when he died, they laughed and laughed,
And laughed and laughed and laughed,
And they broke out the alcohol.
And when he died, they drank and drank,
And drank and drank and drank,
'Cause no one really wanted him around.
There was a guy, and he turned into a bug.
His family didn't love him anymore.
That's what happens when you turn into a bug:
Nobody loves you anymore.
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9. |
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Buckle up, and join us for the ride.
There's no point to any of our lives.
You're gonna live a while and then you're gonna die,
And even worse, most of your memories are lies.
Buckle up.
What was that? Yes, I've been reading some Camus,
Psychology, and some neuroscience too.
Listen up, I've got some awful news for you:
Your brain's an organ that evolved to lie to you.
Buckle up.
Autumn leaves us cold, and winter leaves us bitter.
I need a hand to hold, but darling, I'm a quitter.
Autumn leaves us cold, and winter leaves us bitter.
I need a hand to hold, but darling, I'm a quitter.
There is no sunrise through these clouds --
At least I've given up on waiting for it.
Now that the world is burning down,
I've given up on saving it, and,
See the rubble on the ground.
Know that it is beautiful, and,
Let's call this broken glass profound.
I need a hand to hold.
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10. |
The Slough of Despond
04:06
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Welcome to the Slough of Despond,
Where the fresh, young pilgrims fall.
Mr. Worldly Wiseman says,
"Turn around. There is no hope at all."
Oh, how that Wicket Gate shines in the sun.
The path is straight and hard and true.
Know if you linger here, this all will come undone.
Look straight ahead and follow through.
Welcome to the Slough of Despond,
Where the wretched things conspire,
Where your fear, your hopelessness, your doubt,
Will drag you down into the mire.
Oh, how that Wicket Gate shines in the sun.
The path is straight and hard and true.
Know if you linger here, this all will come undone.
Look straight ahead and follow through.
For 1,600 years it's claimed the lives of weaker men.
I won't turn away, I promise. I won't be like them.
For 1,600 years it's claimed the lives of weaker men.
I won't turn away, I promise. I won't be like them.
Welcome to the Slough of Despond,
Where the fresh, young pilgrims fall.
Mr. Worldly Wiseman says,
"Turn around. There is no hope at all."
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11. |
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These past few years have meant nothing to you --
Just hailstones tossed out of a storm.
I'm writing this all down before it's forgotten,
Just vanishing into the void.
These words are just vapor until they're on paper,
But the context is covered in blood --
The measureless toil of churning the soil,
For a flower that's never to bloom.
A flower that's never to bloom.
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12. |
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I've forgotten most the dreams I had when I was small,
Since I found bigger words with broader definitions for them all,
And picked up ambiguity and sarcasm and snide,
Little jokes about the things I'd rather bottle up inside.
Sometimes the sadness keeps me warm.
It's the fire that persists through the storm.
I'm breaking off the wishes that I said but didn't mean,
Since I lost my youth and, with it, idealistic POV.
I'm watching those things vanish over distant grassy hills,
And I'm dreaming up some new ones that I know I won't fulfil.
Sometimes the sadness keeps me warm.
It's the fire that persists through the storm.
I want nothing more than just to find myself a dream,
That I can chase around the world 'til it's completely beaten me.
But I shake off things so easily, like a dog after a bath,
And I've never found a single thing in life that ever lasts.
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13. |
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Let's sing another song about monsters.
Let's sing another song about love.
And we can all sing in time together,
'Cause we can feel it in our bones,
That we can never go back home again.
Let's sing another song about monsters.
Let's sing another song about love.
And we can all sing in time together,
'Cause we can feel it in our bones,
That we can never go back home again.
Let's sing another song about monsters.
Let's sing another song about love.
And we can all sing in time together,
'Cause we can feel it in our bones,
That we can never go back home again.
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A Sunken Ship Irony Minneapolis, Minnesota
Like an old ghost ship rising from cursed waters, A Sunken Ship Irony emerges once again. We are soaked, old, and bruised, but we're still alive (if you could call this living).
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