Bloodhounds

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If you want to hear a tale about trying to run uphill against the wind, you’ve come to the right place.

After the debacle known as Synesthesia, the shit was on to follow it up with something really great. Unfortunately for me, I had no clue what that was. With my mind being pulled in a million different directions, it left me really scattered in terms of themes to explore. As crappy as it was, Synesthesia felt like the end of a chapter, so I definitely didn’t want to revisit what I’d already covered since In Times Of Transition.

That left me struggling and resulted in the longest gap between groupings to date. To be fair, 2010 had me doing a lot of work on my Seasons In Colour side project (now available in the library,) but still. Even taking that into consideration, it took me a good four years to finish these lyrics. Some of that is because of the aforementioned issues and the rest is due to the worst writer’s block I’ve ever had.

Given this, it’s no surprise the grouping isn’t very cohesive. Skimming through everything I wrote during this period, every idea imaginable was explored and scrutinized with several unreleased versions. It’s a wonder that I managed to put anything together at all really. (Trust me, there were points where I considered scrapping the project and just carrying some things over to a different concept.)

In the end, I’d say the thing that pulls it all together is the fact that nothing does. I don’t think these lyrics have any theme that connects them all. It results in a feeling of chaos and that represents my life at the time. A sense of looking over your shoulder and wondering who you can trust also runs throughout everything so I guess there’s that. During these four years, I got engaged, married, lost my dad and dealt with the changing dynamics of several relationships. That’s a lot to cover in a grouping of 10 things.

Despite the scattered nature of how they came about, I have many favourites from these lyrics. Those include Paranoid Thoughts, Rambling Man And The Holy Ghost, End Of Days, Little Daggers, Life On Sundays and Bloodhounds. Waiting Alone (Haley’s Song) and Untitled were both finished right after my dad died, the latter being written in the morning before his wake. As a result, those two things hinted towards what to expect from Hard Fought Defeat, which would be sent into the wild a year later.

(On an unrelated note, I really wish I’d used Paranoid Thoughts and Rambling Man And The Holy Ghost to inform the rest of this grouping. The former was written late in the process, but man… those two things feel really fresh when revisiting it now.)

For those interested, you can find the original version of these lyrics in the Fireteddy National Library. Be sure to check out some stuff that didn’t make the cut here as well.

Lyrics Content

01. Paranoid Thoughts

02. Rambling Man And The Holy Ghost

03. Survive Or Burn

04. Waiting Alone (Haley’s Song)

05. End Of Days

06. Untitled

07. Little Daggers

08. Life On Sundays

09. Every Measure

10. Bloodhounds

Paranoid Thoughts

Baby can you feel it coming?

Is it shaking down through your bones?

A melody you can’t stop humming

Destruction in the strangest tones

Nothing really makes it better

When every day’s an open wound

It’s relative to what you’d weather

But the final part’s out of tune

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Paranoid thoughts take awhile, take awhile

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Gonna be gone for awhile, for awhile now

Darling can you hear the sirens?

Do they wake you when you’re trying to sleep?

Loyalty directives in your wiring

A promise that you couldn’t keep

Nothing here will lead to reason

Enlightenment or true beliefs

Not everyone can purge their demons

In fact it’s looking pretty bleak

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Paranoid thoughts take awhile, take awhile

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Gonna be gone for awhile, for awhile now

One two three, won’t you look at me?

Won’t you look at me? Won’t you look at me?

Four five six, what a lovely trick

What a lovely trick, now it makes me sick

Choking down the apathy, it isn’t what we have to be

Now, now, now, now, now!

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Paranoid thoughts take awhile, take awhile now

Paranoid thoughts little child, little child

Gonna be gone for awhile, for awhile

Back to lyrics content

Rambling Man And The Holy Ghost

Points to the one who can talk the most

Like a rambling man to the holy ghost

Looking for some answers underneath the trash

When everybody hides what they refuse to ask

Find all the terms in the third degree

Gonna burn, gonna burn in hypocrisy

Sheltered in a bunker from a dying star

Like the flames and the wreckage of a burning car

So round up everybody, try to tell them where to go

You know it’s all the same to me, it’s just another tragedy

It isn’t all that different, gonna hang off the resistance

From this distance you can see, it’s just another tragedy

Cheers to the one who can smile the best

With a black heart hidden in an armoured chest

Searching for some beauty underneath the dirt

When everyone knows who they refuse to hurt

Watch as the fear trickles through to breed

Gonna drown, gonna drown in some new disease

Shaking in the closet from the great beyond

With some bones and the ashes of a useless con

So round up everybody, try to tell them where to go

You know it’s all the same to me, it’s just another tragedy

It isn’t all that different, gonna hang off the resistance

From this distance you can see, it’s just another tragedy

Don’t go leaving me, don’t go leaving me now

Don’t go leaving me, don’t go leaving me buried underneath the ground

Rambling man, it’s like a rambling man

A rambling man and the holy ghost

Rambling man, it’s like a rambling man

So tell me rambling man, what do you fear the most?

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Survive Or Burn

From my seclusion now I’ll gladly let you in

You want some more, kick down the door and let’s begin

I swear I’m not a fraud and you won’t break my skin

It’s not ideal although I feel it wearing thin

So as the wheels all turn, I’ll survive or burn again

As the wheels all turn, I’ll survive or burn again

Well now you’ve made it in, don’t question my beliefs

The mirror adheres to what I’m sure you thought you’d see

As sunlight flickers through with mock sincerity

I’m oddly grounded by the thought of this release

So as the wheels all turn, I’ll survive or burn again

As the wheels all turn, I’ll survive or burn again

You know it’s true, this world’s a pretty fucked up place

And I’ll see more before my dying breath escapes

Until the time I find my final resting place

Nobody else will get to compromise my fate

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Waiting Alone (Haley’s Song)

Are you asleep?

Or trying to find the words to explain

A practice to keep

Keep me from slowly going insane

In trying to find this, I won’t falter behind it again

When coming to grips with the noose as it slips

I can see that it’s not sinking in

Make your way if I can’t reach you

But don’t pause to stay when we’re beneath you

Wait to play, you’re always running for home

Can you respond?

With numbers to blink for yes or no

I’ll Move right along

Looking for signs of life as I go

While stopping to seize it, I could never believe how it ends

In coming to terms with each lesson we’ve learned

I’ll return when I’ve slowed my descent

Make your way if I can’t reach you

But don’t pause to stay when we’re beneath you

Wait to play, you’re always running for home

Crash and burn, if you don’t want to

But you’ll soon discern the ghosts that haunt you

As these seasons turn, I’m always waiting alone

Waking up and taking off, baby

Watching every inhibition slowly coming down

I’m pretty sure that everyone’s gone crazy

Trying to make it through Until we find some solid ground

Now there’s no one left around

Well there’s no one left around

Make your way if I can’t reach you

But don’t pause to stay when we’re beneath you

Wait to play, you’re always running for home

Crash and burn, if you don’t want to

But you’ll soon discern the ghosts that haunt you

As these seasons turn, I’m always waiting alone

I’m always waiting

Crash and burn, crash and burn

Crash and burn, I’m always waiting alone

I’m always waiting alone

Back to lyrics content

End Of Days

I’ve been living in a land of confusion

And now it’s feeling like the end of days

We try so hard not to change this image

But it’s our efforts that get in the way

I’ve grown so tired of reflecting on it

While on and on it goes

Still wasting time on avoiding these battles

And when we fail, then it all comes to blows

I’ve been trying to calm my beating heart

But now it’s come apart at the seams

So somewhere lost inside this war of words

Are the most absurd casualties

When the sun settles in for the evening

Do you spend your time counting the ways

Every instance you could never make sense of

Or are you going through another phase?

I get so tired of reflecting on it

While on and on it goes

We spend our time with these useless questions

But in the end, we’re still all alone

Won’t you come and calm my beating heart?

Because it’s come apart at the seams

Now somewhere lost inside this war of words

Are the most absurd casualties

You say your life has finally landed

So now it’s mine twisting up in the air

It feels exactly like the worst complication

Because I don’t seem to fit anywhere

I get so tired of reflecting on it

While on and on it goes

We spend our time always fighting these battles

And where it stops, well nobody knows

I’ve gotta work on a life worth living

A life worth living out

I’ve gotta work on a life worth living

It’s a life’s work living now

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Untitled

Now I’m sitting down

Trying to find the words

Gotta let it out

Never to be heard

Voices in my head

Little bits to play

I swear I’m gonna turn this around someday

I don’t really know where I can find you

I don’t really know where I can go

I never want to go and undermine you

But I don’t really know where I can find you

Kicking up the dirt

Who will play the clown?

Waiting for some word

No one’s left around

Counting down the nights

Made to take what’s left

I swear I’m gonna outlive my regrets

I don’t really know where I can find you

I don’t really know where I can go

I never want to go and undermine you

But I don’t really know where I can find you

In the morning, we’ll awake

I’ll try my best to still be brave

I can’t say what I’ll become

But I’ll try hard to carry on

I’ll make you proud, I’ll make you proud

Sleep dust in my eyes

I know you’re leaving soon

Beauty in disguise

Wrapped in a cocoon

Watching every move

With sunlight peaking down

I swear I’m gonna build on what I’ve found

I swear to God I’m going to make you proud

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Little Daggers

Don’t lose your head on the things you can’t find

No time to waste now on worrying why

When gagged and bound, both feet tied to the floor

You can’t turn back to await your reward

Not sure what we’re expected to do

So we’ll watch as some thoughts get the better of you

Coming in hot, every weapon disarmed

A staggering smile that won’t do any harm

You’ve got a hole now, a hole in your heart

Headed for the light, neon signs in the dark

Throw away these little daggers that have ripped you apart

Can’t stop to guess every hint to conceive

It won’t make sense but in time you’ll proceed

If pushed to shove, from this loss of control

Throw on a smile and pretend you don’t know

Not sure what you’re expected to feel

So we’ll watch as your thoughts are unwound and revealed

Coming in hot, every weapon disarmed

A staggering smile that won’t do any harm

You’ve got a hole now, a hole in your heart

Headed for the light, neon signs in the dark

Throw away these little daggers that have ripped you apart

We all get lost sometimes

Searching so hard for the things we can’t find

We all get lost sometimes

Throw away these little daggers and come back to the light

We all get lost sometimes

Throw away these little daggers and come back to the light

Searching so hard for the things you can’t find

Throw away these little daggers and come back to the light

Back to lyrics content

Life On Sundays

Baby’s got an answer, got an answer for the rest

Every bit of paranoia made to break down in protest

Living life on Sundays, so she always wears her best

But it’s more than I’ll digest, so much more than I’ll digest

Caught up in the masses, in the masses to ignore

Any sense of desperation from these grifters and the poor

Self-proclaimed a martyr, made a mission to adore

Never once to find the floor, now it never finds the floor

Life on Sundays to prevent, present all enemies as friends

Life on Sundays in contempt, resenting demons we can’t spin

Devil’s in the details, in the details we omit

Always fed by self-involvement here to call us hypocrites

Falsify an image while reality sets in

Can you tell me where it’s been? You can’t tell me where it’s been

Lovely words we pass along

Never once to say who’s right or wrong

Life on Sundays to prevent, present all enemies as friends

Life on Sundays in contempt, resenting demons we can’t spin

So now I’ve found a life worth living

Although I’m living life in sin

Tell me what the fuck’s the difference?

When we all end where we begin

Life on Sundays to prevent, present all enemies as friends

Life on Sundays in contempt, resenting demons we can’t spin

Life on Sundays to prevent, forget all enemies as friends

Life on Sundays in contempt, resenting games we’ll never win

Lovely words we pass along

Never once to say who’s right or wrong

Back to lyrics content

Every Measure

We can’t watch as you do this again

Your covered face, veiled paper thin

No one knows when change is gonna come

But it’s finally sinking in

It’s finally sinking in

What exactly are you waiting for?

Stranger love, your heart’s adorned

Everybody knows it’s done but still

Do you have to wait until?

Do you have to wait…

Until I stop to meet you

Down the aisle to kneel half way

Now there’s nothing much to pray for

When there isn’t much to say

Now we all go away

A perverted kind of pleasure

Coming down from every measure

You would take to set it straight

While disowning such confusion

For the rules of each exclusion

But I guess it’s in your fate

A perverted kind of pleasure

Coming down from every measure

From this circle made to break

While disowning such confusion

For the rules of each exclusion

So there’s no reason left to stay

There’s no reason left to stay

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Bloodhounds

I’ve been failing in this failsafe

To claim a life with no false plans

You know that dealing in dishonesty

Can’t stain a hero’s bloody hands

So now make your heart a villain

If you can’t split yourself in two

Nickels and dimes for amateurs

Take this sword and run it through

Always headhunting for a reason

When there’s more ways to skin a cat

Preserving wounds to start your bleeding

But what’s respectable in that?

If fake thieves don’t steal their honour

Then for liars, there’s no end

All excuses trapped in cages

Beaten down since God knows when

Rising above it, though never explained

How simple solutions can go up in flames

With stars all exploding, we learnt how to pass the blame

I wish I could keep you locked up in this room

But you’d suffocate fast in your little cocoon

Dense in the head but I’ll come around someday soon

Deep in the woods, sounds pierce through the air

Cut down through the frost, every animal stares

We’re rabbits to bloodhounds, still trailing a scent

Brought up from these Burroughs, flushed out to repent

It’s not something I regret

I know exactly what I meant

It’s not something I regret

I know exactly what’s ahead

Pale as the moonlight, these years to confess

Bunkers for demons maintained in unrest

Wiping them clean when the past can make such a mess

Where you find smoke, a dragon breathes fire

Feeding it oxygen, the flames will burn higher

Wandering lost but I know how to spot a liar

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