1. |
Distortion
02:13
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feel it all slipping
unraveling once again
fourteen years going
we fought for the day and lost again
I know it feels it'll last forever
but soon enough we both will be just fine
we stood there blinking
hollowed out, nearly blind
but listen close the dark is rising
and in time this broken world will seem so far
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2. |
Another Day
02:54
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wasted years in the August sun
and you've been dreaming of the places that you can run to
but the oracle's spoken and it looks like smoke
all the way down from the headlines to the horoscopes
as a kid you prayed it wouldn't come
if it did you'd let yourself grow numb
another red sunset another day
and the colour of the year is antiseptic gray
now will you sleep through summer like you slept through spring
and in the fog of that fever see the shape of things to come
and go
don't you know this happened once before
I suppose it'll happen evermore
time stands still
time beholds the bodies on the hill
years go by
leave us staring at the sky
time will wait
out the drift in secondary plates
shape and shake
we'll never see it coming
wasted years in the August sun
sixteen centuries come and gone
another red sunset another day
another red sunset another day
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3. |
First Light
03:05
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thunder crashes in the sky
dailies flash across my eyes
past and plans and awful things
loose ends like lanterns flickering
I think the snowdrops are in bloom
but there are no windows in this room
and I can't tell the time or anything
turn off the lights but the shadows cling
I shake and burn up cold, cold sweat
I light another cigarette
and take shallow asthmatic puffs
the anaesthetic's wearing off
as first light seeps through the gaps
here's sleep
I take shallow asthmatic puffs
the anaesthetic's wearing off
and first light seeps through the gaps
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4. |
It's All Over
02:32
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her bruises crust
the mirror bright with dust
she just stands and cries
"there's no use
my dreams all lack conclusions and I don't know why"
always head in hand
past the forgeries of fear
I peaked over the hedge of years and saw
through the dark and muddy night
frozen fields aflood with light will thaw
traffic lights swaying in the night
as she speeds ahead
they'd fled suddenly
with bread in the oven and a table set for three
that's the way you go
in sober moments now and then
my mind trips over when you were a child
sunny skies and teenage flirts
you flick flies off your summer skirt and smile
it's all over now
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5. |
Ready to Dissolve
03:40
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the sun goes black
the picture cracks
and folds with the falling ceiling
echoes crawl around what remains of the walls
and I can hardly describe the feeling
everything tastes like ashes
the very sky could crash
it's strange to watch the day slip
we're going where the wind blows
out of the hatchback window
cars in the tunnel look like spaceships
and we're speeding away
I can't hear a word that you say
catch anything your glances imply
the tail lights dance before my eyes
I watch the air glow and the particles decay
still and all I wish I'd stayed
kiss my eyes and sing me to sleep
we won't be around within weeks
hold me through the fog and the fall
I'm almost ready to dissolve
we haven't learned much of anything at all
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6. |
Ink
03:18
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well that's where it started
and I guess that's how it ends
rummaging through mystical ruins
rescuing tokens of friendships lost
if the past is a jigsaw puzzle
these are its pieces lying about
I've kept restaurant bills and ticket stubs
but most of the ink has rubbed out
and I've always been pretty nostalgic
but I'm also allergic to dust
so I sneeze as I cradle old photographs
my eyes redden when I think of us
armed with stapling guns
we begged for permanence
but you left on that day in the fall
and I haven't seen you since
an old calendar wheel from my mother
stretching some fifty odd years
and her casual remark that she'd be gone by then
that brought and still brings me to tears
I chew on these moments slowly
watch them unfold and unfold me
time and again, till my throat hurts
the air bloats and it all starts to blur
I'm taken to every fork, every accident
every new morning was sweet as it came and went
but all things' finality makes me feel a mess
slightly meaningless
askew
is this just all it amounts to?
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7. |
PQRST
03:30
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heavens charred, river spoiled
the daily drops left metal in the soil
and so here nothing grows
spit out blood into your fist
watch the morning struggle through the mist
still it comes, I suppose
the rubble scrapes my knees
go to bed fully clothed
count the candles
think of those we lost
toss, turn
amidst alarms and battle calls
I felt the silence dripping on the walls
the walls...
one more to the sea
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8. |
For Air
02:41
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oh, sweet bells jangled out of tune
and my heart swells with each new quarter of the moon
and through the fog, in dreams, again
your face wedged between the frames
I gasp and grasp for air
curtains torn and defences breached
and your hand ever so slightly out of reach
I'm squinting back against the glare
but what once was isn't there
I gasp and grasp for air
oh, sweet bells jangled out of tune
and my heart swells with each new quarter of the moon
squinting back against the glare
what once was isn't there
I gasp and grasp for air
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9. |
Some Ghosts
03:00
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you just needed someone to soften the pain
your life's been devoid of much sharing
and it scares me
but I brush it away with a wave of my hand
then find myself thinking about it
and I remember
yes I can almost remember how it felt
narrow and breathless and looming
embattled but blooming
the stomping of hooves the clasp of a belt
crusted with tears we were stranded
and I couldn't understand
the anger that coursed through our bones
the nights you spent crying alone
each house that called itself a home
getting in fighting trim I try to stay strong
but this blood and this body are useless
and the truth is
I've been turning away from this for far too long
I'm tired of making excuses
so just hold me
'cause I'm falling apart
some ghosts never depart
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10. |
Weight of Winter
04:06
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your wristband's getting thicker
and there's a rock there on your chest
that's tied to your ankle
that's tethered to your bedframe
that's pointing to the west
we swear not to speak of the past in present tense
there are no new ways of living
there's only new mornings to set our lives against
gathering our loose ends
we plotted our escape
and spoke of our dreams again
but they've had patents pending
since they started taking shape
we staggered through the jetway
past the windows wet with rain
you put on Metal Machine Music
to drown out the rumbling of the engines on the plane
in spite of the weight of the winter
in spite of it all
you waited for the snowfields to thaw
and aimed up at the surface
with your arrows tipped with purpose and resolve
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Interbellum Beirut, Lebanon
Project helmed by Lebanese songwriter Karl-Mattar. Sophomore album Dead Pets, Old Griefs was released by Lebanese label Ruptured in 2018. A follow-up is slated for release on April 7th, 2023.
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In Parenthesis Vol. 1
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Drony ambient songs by the Lebanese dream pop trio
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