Below are all of the lyrics I composed for TRIAL BY WIRE’s 2011 LP album. Listen to and learn more about the band on my music page.
ALL OR NOTHING
first I lost my heart
then I lost what I knew best
i’ve traveled oh so far
to simply pass below the waves
i’ve never been that good at saving myself
after all this time you’d think I’d know how
throw me a rope and I’ll play along
i’ve gotta say it’s so damn hard to figure it out
just what i want
throw me a rope and ill play along
i’ve gotta say it’s all or nothing this time around
except i’ve got no time at all
now the days are long
spend them all inside my head
traveled way to far
to find that i’ve got nothing left
LIGHTS OUT
come along, take my hand and i will show you
something you’ve never seen
something impossible
there is no reason to be scared. you can trust me
i’ve got a secret i’ve been hanging on
way too long
my eyes must give me away
but my hands on your skin
feel just like they belong there
there’s nothing that we need to say
so take it off dear and
do everything that I tell you
i don’t think that you know what you are in for
make sure we’re not followed
cause I’m headed for the back door
you bring the oil and I’ll bring the spark
we’ll take it to the back room and
set it off
you don’t know what this is
but you know that this isn’t love
FALLEN
we revolve and the years pass by then
there’s nothing left for us
even stars fall from the sky and
our fire burns to dust
emptiness inside our minds
echos the madness we incite
when will we learn to seize the day?
maybe we’ll float away
weightless and born astray
catch a final glimpse of
what could have been of us
this constant disarray
becomes too much to save
i’m a fallen man with
nothing left to lose
we dissolve as the years pass by then
we hide from the end
we always dream into the night but
we never reach within
emptiness inside our hearts
echos until we fall apart
when will we learn to seize the day?
i wish I had known
there was no going back
i have nothing to show and
my world has gone black
we have fallen below and
we’ve vanished to them
hollow essence will swallow
everything
ALL FALLS DOWN
rows of silence roll out before my feet
as I try to see inside everything
behind those eyelids unfolds your every dream
realize the end in sight before this
all falls down and we become the cold
i will remain ’til you come around
expose the pain below
there will be nothing left for us to hold
you never saw it fall through
your fingertips now asleep becoming cold
and you cant feel it fall away
years of blindness appear so obvious
now that I see inside where we’ve been.
i’m reminded of all we had become
i’ve realized that all this time was wasted
how you find yourself believing that we’re even
lately I find myself reaching for the meaning
show me comfort in conclusion
show me that there will be
nothing left for us to hold
VOLCANO
don’t react
quick! lock the windows
don’t react
just bolt the doors
fall asleep
sweat through the bed sheets
fancy this: a conversation
i’ve come along and come a long way
to be fair game
your words are caught
the plates are locked
molten inside
it feels like you’re boiling
just dying to eat me up
it feels like you’re collapsing
just dying to eat me up
the animals are in a panic
the earth beneath my feet
it shatters
don’t inhale this air turned toxic
don’t exhale the last that you’ve got
fall asleep. retreat as a tactic
fancy this: a conversation
the earth beneath my feet shatters and
I slip unseen between the rocks that
line the words; the way we talk
around the bend, back to the start
all the while, it’s make believe
thoughts that we would be okay
ashes, winding from our lungs into the dirt
we crumble
TURN AWAY
the thought of being someone else
lingers deep inside yourself
waiting for the time to run
from who you’ve become
you always seem to find a way
to hide yourself from every day
longing just to be the one
the essence of us all
i can’t assure you that
with every breath that you take
you’ll find what you’re looking for
it’s time to break. it’s time to make
your move and rise above yourself
it’s time to take what you have made
and turn away
it’s hard to find the words sometimes to
hide the meaning of your life
but trust yourself just long enough
decide who to become
to bear the the truth you know tonight
is what it means to be alive
it’s never clear to anyone
the essence of us all
feel yourself bleeding
let yourself run dry
feel your faults leaving
the pain you hold inside
and then you realize
MY GOODBYE
there’s nothing left at all
but the writing on the wall
it won’t be long til the floor caves in
with nowhere left to stand
my memories of the past
become more than clear to me
hold on to me cause i’m falling
it seems you cant bear the weight
of my days gone by
just hear the words that i’m calling
they’re not poetry
they are my goodbye
i’ve done all that I can to
help you understand that
here and now is not where I have been
but it haunts you like a demon and
i want you but i’m leaving
i’ll be gone til you can see me
for who I really am
A QUIET REVELATION
today we’re farther from the truth
fettered hands and folded flags
tattered skin and poison dreams
the window panes are laced with dust
today we shiver in the cold
ruins alight and tidal touch
self-opulent who drink too much
in all this pain a wealth of loneliness
welcome to the deconstruction
superficial architecture
we’ve got no bones, we’ve got no heart
i wish we could just have one another
disassembled, naked liars
we’ve got our stones, we’ve got our faults
we’re waiting on a revelation
today is in between the lines
unencumbered and contrived
beating drums; lasting reprise
through all this pain we pine to overcome
don’t hold your breath
whispers never last long in a flame
today if we went to sleep forever
would we dream of words we never said
we’ve got our stones, we’ve got our faults
we’ve got no hope, we’ve got no cause
we’ve got our ghosts, we’ve got our flaws
we’ve got to know we’ve got our shot
we’re waiting on a revelation
it never comes
SPARK
frustration is a mixture
of the motion of your heart closing
and mine gone missing
the foundation is the cracking
of a notion of the devotion
that you were lacking
it has been a long time
since i’ve turned my back on you
(well, here it is)
i have realized something
about all those years
through the cold you’ll find
that you had the answer
a choice to light that fire
at every fork in the road, cause
I was the spark you were waiting for and
now it’s gone.
combustion is the picture;
is the burning; it’s the world turning
onward after you
and hindsight left me tempered;
left me open to keep on going
toward all I’m after
i was the spark you were waiting for
for a fuse now stretched so thinly
in the dark, you know I was
the torch that left you blinking
what I thought that we’d become
was nothing more than dreaming
that I stopped once I saw
that I am the one who’s leaving
DISAPPEAR
slip inside your mind
dissonance subsides
just one fleeting moment of respite
rooted in your chest (do you feel it?)
a muse to let possess (do you feel it grow?)
and grow until you’re bursting at the seams
violent inhibitions fall
weakened for a loss of control
(won’t you) twist up from the dirt
promise to never let the dust settle
there is not a circumstance
to ever hold you back
it’s all a matter of regret
and fear to just let go
i’ve been trying all this time
to cut through my own shell
and make it disappear
take a step back, take a minute
take a deep breath, take it all in
feel the rhythms of your heartbeat
and the drums becoming one
swells of passion swirl in your veins
you bend and spin and get carried away
your soul is bursting out your rib cage
like the sun through the shades in the morning
let it loose, let it go, let it free
feel it bursting at the seams
let flashing lights be all you know
let your footsteps be all over the floor
let your voice soar up from your throat
let yourself know what it’s like to let go
SINKING THE MARIPOSA
i’m not the only one of flesh and blood;
of the air and smoke;
the world up-heaving
the tides are in and we’re wading
up to our necks, but don’t think I’m leaving
you say you’ve had enough of me
stop blaming me for everything that you are
the lights are low but you’re suffocating
and your reaching; waiting for a hand in the dark
have we left it behind
the sins of a stark reminder
ignorant without an eyeful
the hands of our design
without the bricks and mortar
while your sinking underwater
your tears are running dry
i’m not the only one of bone and skin;
of the dust and earth;
the sands are shifting
the grains dissolve and we’re sinking
up to our necks, but i won’t stop breathing
there’s frost on the candles
a time capsule of disaster
the rot of the floorboards
the depths of your basement are rising
ARMISTICE
another armistice, another final breath
stood up, the safety’s on
just time enough to clear my head
of the history we have repeated
and the line we held before you spun around
despite the ammunition and tears we left this on
i wish that you could see me now
rid of your apparition
revel against the odds
i wish that you could see me now
another fight, another wounded left for dead
place your bets in the face of
everything that I have said
to prove I’m marching now, pace by pace,
across the floor
know I’ll never spare another shot now, no more
no you don’t know this but
i don’t pretend that this is
something that i never feel
but now i’ll tell you what:
once you notice loss
know I never think of you
REFLECTION
look inside of yourself
help it find its way out
let us see you for what you are and
who you used to be
stare inside of me now
perceive the way that I felt
you seem to have become
your own worst enemy
you say that i cannot remember
but you’re the one who has let it fall away
before the consequence of never
you’re on reflection will show you who to blame
deep inside of your soul
dissect the lies that you told
don’t try to frame me in your faults
just turn and face them
we tried to let you know and
it is starting to show
you seem to have become
your own worst enemy
tear apart all you have become
be assured that you are not the one
here i stand before you now and I’ll say:
throw it all away
