Shadow puppets from the ceiling were diving into my eyes
Rolling with it was suffocating, I would have sworn I’d soon be dying

Dionysius crossed the emptiness waving Michael’s sword
I was so thankful to be awakened by my Marina

In the carousel spinning around me were swarms of hags and flies
I was wide awake without seeing that just above them was my Marina

Dionysius crossed the emptiness Gabriel showed her the way
I was so thankful to be awakened by my Marina

Swarming when nobody else could see
Airborne and bubbling up from the ground
Their growing numbers dragging me down
Disbelief intensified my experience
Cornered by overwhelming armies within
I was buried then rescued from my own skin

By morning I could hardly believe it myself
As I laughed at the cynical parodies and smokescreens
That were everywhere making a mockery of my experience

After it all, when she found me
I would have sworn that I was floating
Over my own body
When she found me
The fog slowly lifted
As weightless I ascended
And my life flashed before my eyes
I regained control of my senses
But my words cannot fully express them

The waves were relentless
I fought until I was
Nearly consumed by their hunger
I was losing the battle for possession
To the ravenous swarm
When out of the corner of my eye
I caught a faint but profound glimpse of hope
I wonder did it have to take
Swords of light driving legions away
To get me to be willing to change

The light that had pierced the blinds disappeared
When the swarm filled the room
The floor gave out from underneath
It happened so fast that my flesh was left behind

No longer recognizing silhouettes once familiar
Closing in and shape-shifting, halfway hidden half revealing

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

david beck: drums

mohadev bhattacharyya: guitar

jon beal: keyboards | voice

composition/production:

jason harvey: composition | mixing | production | recording

mohadev bhattacharyya: composition | recording

david beck: composition

jon beal: composition | recording

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing

The money's gone, she said
Instead, the money was in the car
We carried on like this until anguish made this language scar

We told the sky to fall
A call no one could hear from inside
Our tongues were sly
Fiendish English made this shameless language stainless, painless, bright

I wanted news of you of whom the ticker tape told me tales
I sold the stock and left all of my stuff behind
In case you'd ask me to take your cue
But there were no words for me
Only a thousand books written in code for someone else
With patience, I'd make these useless words bright

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording

i see you across the bar
sipping ginger and jack
contemplating the bartender
buff butch and black
in a stupor i stumble up
like i'm on crack
and you smile
and i freeze

now i am caught
with my tongue on permanent display
while my head scrambles
for something witty to say
but i can't think of shit

i see you later
two weeks after i drop the ball
we say hi
say goodbye
and look back when we're walking away
in opposite directions
i inquire later how you could possibly
be interested in me

then there's the wedding
the flowers the people the rings
two canaries together
i whine and you sing
this is not going to last

i organize an attack
on my identity
i create holograms of myself
just to see what you'd do
if i ran around naked in a mall
would you think less of me

i see the signs passing by
with swift kicks to my head
i ignore them
we spend all our time in the bed
until even attraction is useless and dead
then we call it a draw

now we don't talk
we don't fuck
we don't carpool to work
you call me unromantic
i call you a jerk
all of this is your fault

you're sending the signal
as you light your cigarette
what i want
what i don't
you suddenly forget
your role here is as a punchline
i'll never get
have a wink and a smile

take photographs while you can
soon the doors will be closed
come again
don't forget to forget me as you go
this was not meant to last

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording

extra performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

performance:

jason harvey: backing voice

paul ambro: backing voice | guitar

michael ambro: voice

dennis harvey: backing voice

composition/production:

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

michael ambro: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by various artists

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

matthew mccrary: acoustic guitar | voice

dennis harvey: keyboards

composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

This track is a live performance or was recorded in one take.

crash down
feel the wood of the floor
under the bed
feel the pillow and the blankets
where you'd been
birds are chirping outside
in perfect unison
to the echo of a car alarm

she said
it hadn't been as gray as this for years
pulled the blanket to her chin and frowned
looked out the window where i stood and stared in
i shivered once and leaned against the glass
men screamed below if i come down no one will be hurt
12 feet below the surface of the skin
she was watching the sky behind me turn gray
as the hair on my head

there's some money in a box on the desk
take it away
since i haven't any use for it
now that you've gone
there's a camera in a case by the bed
take out the film
since i have no one to photograph
now that you've gone
there's an alvarez guitar on a stand
tear off the strings
since i have nothing to sing about
now that you've gone
don't forget to get some pins and a match
and brand new cloth
since your voodoo doll is wearing out
now that you've gone

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | mixing | production | recording

performance:

paul ambro: guitar | voice

composition/production:

paul ambro: composition | production | recording

extra performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

dennis harvey: drums

extra composition/production:

jason harvey: composition | production | recording

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording