SHORTER SOONER

Is it my imagination…

or are the days getting shorter sooner?

Should we feel a sense of station…

or are the days getting shorter sooner?

Is it my inebriation?

‘Cause everything’s getting shorter sooner…

ROOKIE MISTAKE

Don’t get too comfortable

You’re gonna be dead soon

Don’t seek the truth

It only evades you

Better safe than sorry in the end

Take some comfort in the curtains as they close

And until that time, better stay up on your toes

How indestructible is your delicate ego?

How did the future look so many years ago?

Intro/retrospection, reflection…

Take some comfort in the curtains as they close

And until that time, better stay up on your toes

AMONG THE SPIRITS

“There is nothing supernatural about it!”

“Rosabelle, believe.”

DAYDREAM

In a confined area

I had a cunning plan

Hold your breath-- Daydream…

In the folly of my mind

A rescue is at hand

Hope rescinds midstream…

Windowless room for one

Echoed words, “set for stun!”

Floating on a Star of Death

Haunted by heavy breath

Come and find me if you would

In two-one-eight-seven

Block AA-23

Windowless room for one

Echoed words, “set for stun!”

Floating on a Star of Death

Haunted by heavy breath

TO JESSICA

Instrumental

THE RIDE

Caught a ride home with a feeling

Walked a lap around the ceiling

Finally picked up all the pieces

Didn’t you see me?

Didn’t you hear me calling?

Never found that thing you left behind

Never thought to look inside my mind

I guess that was your plan the whole damn time

How did you find me?

How did you wind me up so bad?

Still I’m not impaired

I’d never hesitate to share my air with you

Nothing can compare

I’ll always sing to you about my love for you

It’s true… oh, it’s true…

Waking up in this dimension

Savoring every impression

Just what are your intentions?

You’re coming for me

You’re gonna take me far away

Still I’m not impaired

I’d never hesitate to share my air with you

Nothing can compare

I’ll always sing to you about my love for you

It’s true… oh, it’s true…

THE ASTER FLOWER

One summer evening, I set out on a walk. At first, I thought of nothing but the smooth summer air invading my lungs, and all the long, deep breaths that would surely be mine on this indelibly memorable evening. I notice a congregation of particularly sober birds, whirring rapidly as I paced easily upon the empty sidewalk. In this moment, it seems as though every thought I have is pure, righteous, and good. There are no questions in my mind, only the surrounding goings on of a summer-soaked neighborhood, populated by care-free souls and their joyous progeny. I stroll past a small garden with luscious purple aster flowers. As I am seduced into picking one, I raise the beautiful floret to my delicate nasal passages and am at once overwhelmed by the cloying aroma. My palate for sweetness is perhaps limited. But this particular flower is uniquely enticing. I again raise the flower to consume its scent, a scent which before caused me to recoil momentarily. Why would I do such a thing? What is the role of this strange flower in the scheme of an otherwise charming evening? My mind is corrupted by questions. I breathe in.

Suddenly, I am surrounded by a palpably eerie atmosphere of doom. The flower must be somehow enchanted by evil spirits! My pulse begins to race and I look around to see if the people nearby have noticed the change. Strangely, no one seems affected. Everyone is going about their evening as if everything were just as pleasant as before. I look back to the flower only to see that a tiny, dark figure has appeared on one of the petals. As he gaits toward me, I notice that he dons a cloak and wields a bloody scepter. He beckons to me and I fall to my knees. Is this the fabled Grim Reaper? Has Death come for me? I open my mouth to cry out, “what is happening?!” only to realize that I cannot speak! In an instant, the flower vanishes from my hand in a puff of smoke, the figure with it. I look up to the sky, and it has turned completely black, but again, no one nearby seems troubled by this. I turn to walk home, hoping that perhaps I will wake up in my bed and realize this had all been a nightmare, but instead I come face to face with the cloaked figure. He raises his scepter and closes his skeleton hand around my throat… I peer into his black, hollow eyes… He lets out a soft chuckle and lowers the scepter, cracking open my skull and splitting my brain in two. My soul is now confined to the evil garden which has always been, unbeknownst to me, the home of the soul collector. No one around seems to have noticed anything wrong. Their evening continues undisturbed.

LUMENS

Instrumental

FOR THE MOST PART

Notice the blinking light in the store sign

Pause now to meditate for the last time

You’ll notice the pressure but won’t feel the pain

The party of censors won’t drive you insane

We’re here for the most part

We’re alive and we can see

But as things fell apart, we lost interest

We are the flickering light in the store sign

The best of us burning out for the last time

When doublethink and Newspeak have done their worst

Our stratification will not be reversed

We’re here for the most part

We’re alive and we can see

But as things fell apart, we just got used to it

SNOWDRIFTS

Instrumental