Dave Rideout

Below are all of the lyrics I composed for DEAR LOVE’s 2014 EP album. Listen to and learn more about the band on my music page.

DON’T MISS THE BRAKES

the clock counters itself, like we’re caught
trapped playing your games when I just want you to talk
was it something I said, or something you’ve gone and done?

cause baby we’re a wreck if I’ve ever seen one
so twisted and sick, and hard to believe in
something seems so wrong here
what’s going on here?
don’t you see what this does to me?
the way you’re making me bleed?

is this what you wanted?
is this how you wanted it to be?
(just think about it)
tucked down in the back of your mind
by things you don’t want me to find
you’re shaking and shivering

next to the wrongs you’ve done. You’re overrun
and hoping that I never miss the brakes
my adrenaline’s high and I think I just might
leave you like a hit and run

it’s so fitting
tangled up steel and misery
uptight around the collar, you’re colder
all those nights when you’d call, I’d come hold you
and try to figure out what you’re missing
turns out you’re never missing me
why you never listen?
deep down you had a mystery
one I’d been solving for so long, I’d almost forgotten
if I was ever really yours cause you seemed to have lost it

---

SICK WITH THE SAME THING

the sky keeps on pouring
and i keep on pouring
whenever i hit the bottom
unless you say you got it

do you forget why we do this?
i forget quite a few things
once the night becomes morning
i don’t know how we got through it

turn the lights off while the sun rises
and we might see the dark when our eyes meet
take your clothes off, lie down beside me
like we’re trying to fix us but
it won’t make any difference

i think we’re sick with the same thing
and we found a medicine in every sip and
between our skin and our hatred
we found the side effects and
the very best of our worst

my mind is all blurry
but we’re in no hurry
it’s like we do this for pleasure
but we both know that we’re hurting
i swear there was something at the start,
like a spark, instead
we tried to cover up our scars with the shots
got the whole world weighing on our hearts, but we’re lost and there’s no trying to fix us cause
it won’t make any difference

---

LOST

there’s a haunted place
deep inside my chest
where you lose your way
when you trust a friend

look me in the face
is this for the best?
this wounded heart’s going grey
and all I can say is you got me spinning

around and around
I start to wonder why
I’m always left behind here
clinging to something
that keeps me giving up
parts of myself to
branches upon the sky
the white around your eyes, red
I’m lost and I’m lonely
you got me spinning

until I feel sick
with your twisted words
and your mal-intent
and your crooked grin

telling me everything is gonna be alright
thought you had my back but now I know
this wounded heart’s going grey
and all I can say is you got me spinning
around and around

i stumble on
every step feels like the one before
nowhere to go and I’m alone

with few stones left to roll
both my soul and my feet are sore
yet your voice still echoes through the wood

sing me to sleep

---

MOVE CLOSER

so near, something to see and touch
your face in the mirror
your shape in the mattress

just hear rhythms up from our lungs
carved deep into silence
that stayed for too long

heads up, eyes ahead
one of those things you don’t forget

move closer (we got it right where we want it)
move closer (don’t even need a reminder)
move as close as you can, it’s not over yet
move closer (no need to wait any longer)
move closer (this’ll be just as I promised)
move as close as you can and take it all in

it’s real – shivers gone unrehearsed
guessing game hands
and toe-curled feet

so still – apart from hearts intertwined
a surreal interruption of melted time

heads up, eyes ahead
one of those things you won’t forget
one of those things you don’t forget

stolen from the tips of tongues
this loss for words is comfortable
these ghosts of ours have come back home
unto their flesh and blood and bones
wrapped up in skin and sweat and glow
just us alone

---

STOP ME

we used to be like gospel
a constant star I followed
always overhead

like light inside a vacuum
a tree and a fallen apple
it wasn’t blood but it was family
that i thought you’d protect

so where were you when I needed us?
who’d you trade me up for?
now that I’m gonna walk out the door
you won’t stop me, stop me

way back when things were so innocent
when it all felt so sure
now that our paths don’t cross anymore
you won’t stop me, stop me

we were a safe confession
a bond I never questioned
ground broken in youth

like life and death both have us
a crawl before we stand up
universal truth, one i thought you knew

when it all turned in
i hid your blame
you hid your face
i bore the weight

and you let me sink
under their shame
i keep the pain
as all that’s left of you

---

BRIDGE

we’re sick and tired but
there’s a reason and a rhyme
inside of us all

yours has you stacking bricks on the shoreline
mine’s got me digging down to the sea
i know exactly what you want in me but
your bridge is a road that I can’t journey

earth is tearing through your skin, i’m sorry
there’s an element of spite to this
used to think we knew what love meant
but I cannot feel a thing
cannot feel a thing for you

we don’t have a long way to go

while you’re scaling up the walls and the wires
i’ve been carving mortar out underneath
you thought you had a plan up for me but
your bridge will erode into the sea

you’ve been alone,
i’ve been around
what you think you know
i’ve figured out
what you see in me
i’ll find in someone else

you always seem to make believe
that this was something meant to be

but I am crawling from the outside in
dust and gravel blowing in the wind
i’ve got a heart for someone else to mend
and your bridge will crumble to your chagrin