Nocturnal Leftovers
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Looking through these lyrics, I’m amazed at how true they are to the tone of Nocturnal itself.
Usually I fumble around for a specific direction when starting a new project. Although there’s some of that in a few lyrics that weren’t included here, the majority keep the feel of the main grouping. It’s a testament to the overall vision I had during this period, which is especially impressive since not all of these started out during the same writing sessions. (Yeah, I know… don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back, Marc.)
Anyway, Everybody’s Lost and If I Only both go back to Hard Fought Defeat. While the former didn’t change much along the way, extensive work was done on the latter to cover an entirely different situation. Everybody’s Lost never fit into the previous two groupings and If I Only wasn’t fleshed out enough or didn’t work when considered. The latter has been attempted since, but I’m not sure it’ll ever find a place on a main set of lyrics.
Out Of Time is a favourite of mine but was too difficult to place in Nocturnal. In my mind, it starts out with a dance club-influenced pop rock sound. As it gets closer to the middle, it deteriorates into a slow Counting Crows style piano ballad in the second part. It’s a cool idea that didn’t totally gel with everything else in my mind.
Crisis Of Conscience was one of the last things written as I struggled to finish the main grouping. Looking to fill a hole, it was ultimately scrapped when I came up with a better solution. The hole in question? That was created by cutting Can’t Stop The Noise at the last second. For whatever reason, it just didn’t fit like I thought it would.
Although I’ve tried carrying a couple of these forward, it’s hard separating them from Nocturnal. As a result, I don’t think they’ll ever be used for a future project. Still, you never know. (I’d say the Bloodhounds leftovers are a good example of that.)
Lyrics Content
01. Everybody’s Lost
02. Out Of Time
03. If I Only
Everybody’s Lost
First year gone now and nothing’s the same
We’re both still together but I’m one with the pain
While a few lost dreams can go a long long way
I’ll keep it all in my head so no emotion escapes
Lovely little robot, are you starting to rust?
This earth was made to crumble ’til it all turns to dust
My heart is always falling like a tree in the woods
Though if no one else can hear it, will it do any good?
I’ve been looking in the mirror, I’ve been looking in the rear-view all day long
I’ve been dying to confess, I’ve been trying to clean this mess from what went wrong
This mess from what went wrong
But everybody’s lost until they’re gone
Gotta find myself a memory just to keep me afloat
I’ve been searching for a punchline since the ending’s a joke
Now everybody’s running when there’s nowhere to go
Always drowning in the silence of a truth they don’t know
I’ve been looking in the mirror, I’ve been looking in the rear-view all day long
I’ve been dying to confess, I’ve been trying to clean this mess from what went wrong
This mess from what went wrong
But everybody’s lost until they’re gone
Everyone’s a star but we’re falling from the sky tonight
You know that we’ve been blowing out for years
I’ve been wondering what’s left to find on the other side
But lately I just want to get away from here
from here, from here
I’ve been looking in the mirror, I’ve been looking in the rear-view all day long
I’ve been dying to confess, I’ve been trying to clean this mess from what went wrong
This mess from what went wrong
But everybody’s lost until, everybody’s lost until
Everybody’s lost until they’re gone
Out Of Time
I’ve been calling to the back of the room
Everyone’s connected but I never get through
Something’s gonna hit them somehow
But now you know I’ve gotta get out, get out
Now you know I’ve gotta get out
From strangers in the glimmering light
Bathed in every colour when there’s something to hide
Bodies to distract from the sound
Why can’t you see I’ve gotta get out, get out?
Can’t you see I’ve gotta get out?
Modern love for modern times
For broken hearts, a nursery rhyme
Watch the clock, we’re running out of time
We’ll get lost inside the night
We’ll get lost inside the night
I’ve been screaming to the strains of our youth
Looking for some reason like I don’t know the truth
In panicked expressions, a vow
Somehow you know I’ve gotta get out, get out
Now you know I’ve gotta get out
Modern love for modern times
For broken hearts, a nursery rhyme
Watch the clock, we’re running out of time
We’ll get lost inside the night
We’ll get lost inside the night
We’ll get lost inside the night
We’ll get lost inside the night
…
With nowhere to hide, there’s nothing to see
Now that this life’s finally caught up to me
Lost in my head, I always just freeze on the spot
This shouldn’t be it, did you see me before?
Now it goes without saying that I could’ve been more
But what we expected to see wasn’t quite what we got
Everyone’s leaving while I’m left believing you’re not
It’s always repeating but I’m so self-defeated and lost
Now I’m lost
I’m so lost
Well I’m lost
If I Only
If I only knew the words
If I hadn’t broke your heart
I’d know just what I should say
Or at least know where to start
But I guess that’s not the case
I guess that’s not the case I should disarm
If I only saw some light
When I looked into your soul
Watching every flame ignite
Would you finally seize control?
Well I guess that’s not the thing
I guess that’s not the thing I need to know
If I only had a question
Would it add to my dissection?
To pick apart the parts that make us tick
It isn’t what I hoped, it isn’t what I wished
I think I must be sick
If I only knew a path
That could lead us back again
We could try and make it last
Or at least know where it ends
But I guess I should’ve looked
I guess I should’ve looked when we began
If I only had a question
Would it add to my dissection?
To pick apart the parts that make us tick
It isn’t what I hoped, it isn’t what I wished
I think I must be sick
Dropping from the ceiling once again
Making better enemies of friends
Awkward as the lines that stretch across
It’s another laboured process, all we needed was a pause
If I only had a question
Would it add to my dissection?
To pick apart the parts that make us tick
It isn’t what I hoped, it isn’t what I wished
It’s finally sinking in
It isn’t what I hoped, it isn’t what I wished
I think I must be sick
Crisis Of Conscience
She always had a phrase, she always used to say
Fuck you and the horse that you rode in on
She never did escape, she never got away
I bet she’s praying for that horse to turn around
She had the world in her hands, had the world in her hands
But she lost sight of the plan, she lost sight of the plan
Don’t you find it unnerving how they never return?
In an instant they’re gone with every candle still burning
Now we’re reading our palms, pressed together and calm
Though isn’t it strange to find out when you’re wrong?
She never knew the words, she never tried to learn
Kill the time softly humming in the dark
She rarely seemed uptight, she rarely got too high
I bet she’s waiting for the crash to bring her down
She had the world in her eyes, had the world in her eyes
Until she shut out the light, yeah she shut out the light
Don’t you find it unnerving how they never return?
In an instant they’re gone with every candle still burning
Now we’re reading our palms, pressed together and calm
Though isn’t it strange to find out when you’re wrong?
Isn’t it strange to find out when you’re wrong?
I can’t say that I cared, that I cared any more
I’m sure everyone else has heard this story before
With a crisis of conscience we’re all told to repress
It still rolls off the tongue when you’re prone to confess
It rolls off the tongue when you’re prone to confess
It rolls off the tongue ‘cause it’s all such a mess, let’s go!
Can’t Stop The Noise
Every bad decision in our minds
Looking to escape, they’ve been enshrined
Why can’t we all turn this corner, leave the past behind?
We struggle through the days
To come alive at night
Take these words and twist them on your tongue
Party tricks to shape what we’ll become
Did we even know a time before our time was up?
We’re vampires in the dark
We never get enough
But I can’t stop the noise…
Now I can’t stop the noise…
Still lacking concentration
But I don’t have a choice
Now I can’t stop the noise…
Hypnotic as a heartbeat
It echoes through the hum
While surging from the lamp posts
Like air inside our lungs
With nothing to hold on to
We search so hard for love
But I can’t stop the noise…
Now I can’t stop the noise…
I’m drowning in my sorrows
Removed without a choice
But I can’t stop the noise…
Now I can’t stop the noise…