bookmark_borderWay Off

[Intro – Clean Guitar, Soft Keys]
Compass spinning in my hand
Lines erased we thought were planned
Every mile feels unsure
Nothing pointing like before

[Verse 1]
We were certain at the start
Every map a work of art
But the road began to bend
And we lost it in the end

Every sign we passed on by
Now just questions asking “why?”
Every turn we didn’t take
Feels like some forgotten stake

[Pre-Chorus]
If direction’s just a guess we made
Then maybe we can still unmake the maze

[Chorus]
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)
Of course…
(We need to find our way)
So far gone, what can we say
(Lost the path along the way)
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)

[Verse 2 – Drums Enter Lightly]
We keep tracing steps in sand
Trying hard to understand
How the lines we thought were true
Faded into something new

Every wrong begins to show
Places we don’t want to go
But the further that we stray
The more we learn along the way

[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe every detour has a cost
But not every turn means we are lost

[Chorus]
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)
Of course…
(We need to find our way)
Drifting farther every day
(Still we try to navigate)
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)

[Bridge – Piano + Ambient Pads]
If there’s no clear line to follow
Do we lead or do we borrow
Every step a leap of faith
Through the doubt we can’t erase

Maybe wrong is just a view
From a point we once outgrew
Maybe lost is just a sign
We’re ahead of our own time

[Build – Full Band Rising]
No more waiting for the chart
We redraw it from the heart
Every path we carve ourselves
Is the truth we never felt

[Final Chorus – Big, Layered Vocals]
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)
Of course…
(We need to find our way)
Through the night into the day
(We’ll create a brand new way)
Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)

Oh, no we’re way
(Off course)
But maybe that’s the way
(To find a better way)

[Outro – Guitar Arpeggio, Soft Fade]
Off course…
(Reality rehearse)
Still moving…
(Toward proving)
Still choosing…

[Silence]

From the album Exit Strategy

bookmark_borderTrapdoor

[Intro – Low Drone, Sub Bass, Slow Metallic Percussion]
Dust in the light, no sound to hold
Air feels heavy, thin and cold
Every step just echoes back
Along the same invisible track

[Verse 1]
Walls don’t move but they close in
Like they know where I’ve been
Every room feels twice its size
But there’s nowhere to hide inside

Faces fade into the floor
Like I’ve seen them all before
Time keeps slipping out of reach
Leaving nothing left to teach

[Pre-Chorus]
I keep searching through the seams
Of these repeating dreams

[Chorus]
Is there a trapdoor
In this floor
(’cause I can’t stand any more)

Is there a trapdoor
Anywhere ’round here
(So that I can disappear)

[Verse 2 – Rhythm Enters, Tension Builds]
Footsteps follow, though I’m still
Standing perfectly still
Like the room is breathing slow
And I’m the only one that knows

Every corner looks the same
Every exit calls my name
But when I reach, it’s just the wall
Closing in and that is all

[Pre-Chorus]
If escape is just a thought
Why does it feel like I forgot

[Chorus]
Is there a trapdoor
Beneath me here
(’cause I can’t think clear)

Is there a trapdoor
Some hidden seam
(Inside this dream)

Is there a trapdoor
Anywhere ’round here
(So that I can disappear)

[Bridge – Sparse Piano + Echoing Vocals]
Maybe it’s not in the floor
Maybe it’s something more
A fracture in the way I see
A break in continuity

Maybe I don’t need to fall
Maybe I just need to call
To something underneath the skin
To let the outside in

[Build – Percussion Intensifies, Synth Rising]
Every surface starts to bend
Every loop begins to end
Something shifting out of view
Like the room is splitting through

[Final Chorus – Full Band, Heavy Atmosphere]
Is there a trapdoor
In this floor
(’cause I can’t stand any more)

Is there a trapdoor
Right beneath me here
(To erase the fear)

Is there a trapdoor
Anywhere ’round here
(So that I can disappear)

Is there a trapdoor
Or is it me
(That sets me free)

[Outro – Sound Diminishes, Ambient Fade]
No door…
No floor…
Just the thought of something more…

[Silence]

From the album Exit Strategy

bookmark_borderBackdoor

[Intro – Funky Bassline, Muted Guitar, Light Drums]
Every entrance looks the same
Different sign, same old game
Front row seats to the parade
While the exits slowly fade

[Verse 1]
Locked into a grand display
Smile like it’s all O.K.
But behind the velvet rope
I’m just scanning lines for hope

Every hallway leads to more
Of what I’ve already seen before
Every answer dressed in gold
But the truth is getting old

[Pre-Chorus]
If there’s a way around the scene
It’s somewhere in between

[Refrain]
Doesn’t any place
Have a backdoor
(Any more)

Some way to get out
When in doubt
(Shout!)

Need a no doubt route!
(Backdoor!)

[Verse 2 – Groove Builds]
Every spotlight feels too bright
Every day turns into night
Every rule I didn’t write
Still defines me left and right

Whispers travel wall to wall
There’s a way beyond it all
Not the path they advertise
But the one they keep disguised

[Pre-Chorus]
Not every exit’s in plain sight
Some only show when you don’t fight

[Refrain]
Doesn’t any place
Have a backdoor
(Any more)

Some way to get out
When in doubt
(Shout!)

Need a no doubt route!
(Backdoor!)

[Bridge – Breakdown, Percussion + Organ]
Check the corners, check the seams
Hidden in the in-betweens
Every structure has a flaw
Every system breaks a law

Pull the curtain, find the crack
Every “forward” leads you back
Unless you step outside the frame
And stop playing by the game

[Build – Full Band Rising]
If the front is all a show
Then the side is where I go
If the path is all mapped out
Then I’m taking the way out

[Final Refrain – Big, Layered Vocals]
Doesn’t any place
Have a backdoor
(Any more)

Some way to get out
When in doubt
(Shout!)

Need a no doubt route!
(Backdoor!)

Find the hidden detour!
(Backdoor!)

[Outro – Bass Groove + Guitar Fade]
Every place…
Every space…
There’s a backdoor…
(Like before)

[Silence]

From the album Exit Strategy

bookmark_borderWhich Way Out

[Intro – Low Ambient Pad, Distant Guitar Echo]
Footsteps fade on hollow ground
Every answer circles round
Signs keep pointing everywhere
But nothing really takes me there

[Verse 1]
I followed lines that felt so sure
Every promise sold as cure
But every cure just masked the ache
Of every choice I didn’t make

Walls keep shifting where I stand
Like they’re drawn by someone’s hand
Every map I try to read
Leaves me more than I can need

[Pre-Chorus]
I keep thinking clarity will break through the noise
But every silence feels like borrowed voice

[Chorus]
Which way out
(Turn left or turn right)
Figure out
(Does the tunnel have light)
Which way out
(Or is it all the same)
Figure out
(Who’s calling my name)

[Verse 2 – Drums Enter Softly]
Every corridor looks new
But they all lead back to you
Or the version that I knew
Before I lost what felt like true

Doors are open, doors are shut
But I can’t tell what’s what
Every step I try to take
Feels like ground about to break

[Pre-Chorus]
If direction is a lie we tell ourselves to cope
Then every step I take is just another rope

[Chorus]
Which way out
(Turn left or turn right)
Figure out
(Does the tunnel have light)
Which way out
(Is it escape or disguise)
Figure out
(Or just closing my eyes)

[Bridge – Sparse Piano, Reverb Heavy]
Do you know
(Which way to go?)
I’ve been circling the edge of everything I know

Do you see
(What’s left of me?)
Or just reflections of what used to be

Do you know
(Which way to go?)
Or is the answer something I can’t know

[Build – Guitar + Percussion Rising]
Every signal turns to noise
Every choice destroys the choice
Still I move without a plan
Trying just to understand

[Final Chorus – Full Band, Layered Vocals]
Which way out
(Turn left or turn right)
Figure out
(Does the tunnel have light)
Which way out
(Or is there no door)
Figure out
(Am I lost or just more)

Which way out
(Still searching the signs)
Figure out
(Where the end of the line)

[Outro – Guitar Fade, Soft Synth Drones]
Which way out…
Or is there no way out at all…

[Silence]

From the album Exit Strategy

bookmark_borderExit Strategy

[Silence]
[Instrumental, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Synth, Bass, Percussion, Drums]

[Intro]
Which way is out
(I’m trying to find out about)
Which way is out
(Echoes in the dark, no doubt)
Which way is out
(Every turn just spins me ‘round)
Which way is out

[Instrumental, Guitar Solo]

[Verse 1]
Running through the echoes of a plan gone wrong
Every door I open pulls me further along
Shadows on the ceiling sketch a fractured truth
Every step I’m taking feels like wasted youth

Signals in the static, breaking up the line
Every reassurance just a thin disguise
Maps without a legend, roads without a name
Every path I follow circles back again

[Pre-Chorus]
If there’s a way out, it’s buried deep inside
Beneath the fear and everything we try to hide

[Chorus]
What’s the exit strategy
(Locked in our own cage)
Can we avoid tragedy
(Despite all of our rage?)
Searching for a remedy
(While we turn the page)
What’s the exit strategy
(From this endless stage?)

[Instrumental, Guitar + Piano Riff]

[Verse 2]
Conversations looping like a worn-out tape
Every explanation just another escape
Truth is in the tension that we never face
Fighting for a freedom we refuse to trace

Building up a fortress just to keep us in
Walls we thought were armor wearing thin and dim
Every contradiction stacking up inside
Every quiet moment something else to hide

[Pre-Chorus]
If there’s a way out, we’ve buried it alive
Under all the reasons we pretend to thrive

[Chorus]
What’s the exit strategy
(Locked in our own cage)
Can we avoid tragedy
(Despite all of our rage?)
Clinging to a memory
(From a distant age)
What’s the exit strategy
(From this endless stage?)

[Bridge – Piano, Organ, Minimal Percussion]
No map, no guide
(Just a shifting tide)
We justify the fall
(Like we designed it all)
No key, no code
(Just a heavy load)
We carry what we chose
(But no one really knows)

[Build – Full Band Rising]
Which way is out
(I’m trying to find out about)
Which way is out
(We scream and we shout)
Which way is out
(When the lights all fade?)
Which way is out
(From the plans we made?)

[Final Chorus – Full Arrangement, Layered Vocals]
What’s the exit strategy
(Breaking through the cage)
Can we rewrite history
(Or just disengage?)
Facing all the entropy
(As we disengage)
What’s the exit strategy
(At the final stage?)

[Instrumental Outro – Guitar Solo, Piano Underscore]
[Silence]

From the album Exit Strategy

bookmark_borderFolklore

[Intro]
[Acoustic Guitar, Low Drone, Wind FX]
Whispers carried through the trees
Stories riding on the breeze
Once dismissed as something old
Now they’re breaking through the mold

[Verse 1]
Tales we told to pass the night
Shadows dancing in the light
Legends etched in fear and flame
Now they’re stepping out by name
Warnings buried, brushed aside
Truths we chose to let them hide
Every myth we laughed away
Has a voice we hear today

[Pre-Chorus]
What was fiction starts to form
Out beyond the quiet norm
Every doubt begins to crack
As the past comes rushing back

[Refrain]
No, it ain’t folklore
(Any more)
Oh, woe, can’t you see
(It’s turned into reality)
No, it ain’t folklore
(That’s that’s for sure)
Now it’s inevitability

[Verse 2]
Creatures crawling from the page
Ancient scripts in modern age
Every symbol, every sign
Falls into a perfect line
What we feared but never knew
Now is standing in full view
Every legend finds its place
Written on the human face

[Pre-Chorus]
Echoes louder than before
Knocking hard on every door
Every myth we tried to store
Spills out onto the floor

[Refrain]
No, it ain’t folklore
(Any more)
Oh, woe, can’t you see
(It’s turned into reality)
No, it ain’t folklore
(That’s that’s for sure)
Now it’s inevitability

[Bridge – Minimal, Haunting Vocals, Distant Percussion]
We told ourselves it wasn’t real
Just a way to make us feel
Safe inside a story’s frame
Now we only have ourselves to blame

[Breakdown – Drum Pulse, Low Chant]
Folklore… no more…
Folklore… no more…

[Final Refrain – Full Arrangement, Rising Intensity]
No, it ain’t folklore
(Any more)
Oh, woe, can’t you see
(It’s turned into reality)
No, it ain’t folklore
(That’s that’s for sure)
Now it’s inevitability

[Outro – Wind FX, Fading Acoustic Guitar, Whispered Voices]
Stories (told…)
Truths (unfold…)
Nothing left…
To call folklore…
(No, not any more)

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderYou Don’t Say?

[Intro]
[Light Funk Guitar, Bass Groove, Snare Rim Clicks]
Uh-huh…
Really now?
Tell me more…
(More than before)

[Verse 1]
Standing there with knowing eyes
Acting like it’s no surprise
Every word already guessed
Like you’ve passed some secret test
Nodding slow, like you’ve been told
Stories newer, somehow old
But I’m hearing this for the first time
Tryin’ to catch the punchline

[Pre-Chorus]
You lean in like it’s breaking news
But I’m just trying to choose
If I should laugh or play along
To this “truth” that feels so wrong

[Chorus]
Oh, is that so
(You don’t say)
Whoa, I didn’t know
(You don’t say)
Funny how it comes and goes
(You don’t say)
Like everybody else supposed
(You don’t say)

[Refrain]
What’d he say
(He didn’t say)
Day after day
(He doesn’t say)
Lost in what they claim to know
(But nobody saw it go)
Round and round the same cliché
(You don’t say)

[Verse 2]
Rumors dressed up as advice
Recycled truth, overpriced
Everyone’s an expert now
On when, where, who, and how
But when I ask for something clear
It disappears into the air
Suddenly no one was there
Or nobody will swear

[Pre-Chorus]
Funny how it all depends
On who retells it to their friends
Same old story, slightly bent
By the time it’s re-presented

[Chorus]
Oh, is that so
(You don’t say)
Whoa, I didn’t know
(You don’t say)
Breaking news that’s overplayed
(You don’t say)
Like it’s something freshly made
(You don’t say)

[Refrain]
What’d he say
(He didn’t say)
Day after day
(He doesn’t say)
Everybody’s got a way
(To misquote what they convey)
Truth just slips and walks away
(You don’t say)

[Bridge – Minimal Groove, Spoken/Mocking Tone]
Oh really?
You don’t say…
No, I would’ve never guessed…
Amazing how that gets expressed…

[Breakdown – Bass-Driven, Half-Time Beat]
Say it again…
But different…
Change the end…
It’s distant…

[Final Chorus – Full Band, Bright but Sarcastic Energy]
Oh, is that so
(You don’t say)
Whoa, I didn’t know
(You don’t say)
Everything is hearsay
(You don’t say)
But it’s gospel every day
(You don’t say)

[Outro – Fading Groove, Repeated Whispered Hook]
You don’t say…
You don’t say…
Funny how it goes that way…

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderWeird

[Intro]
[Static Sweep, Radio Chatter, Warped Synth Pad]
Signal breaking through the air
(Are you even there?)
Coordinates unclear
(But you’re drawing near)

[Instrumental – Pulsing Bass, Stutter Beat, Filtered Guitar]

[Verse 1]
Shadows moving out of phase
Twisted logic in a maze
Every sign points somewhere else
Nothing lines up with itself

Gravity just lost its hold
Future acting way too old
Time skips beats, repeats the scene
Reality is off the screen

[Pre-Chorus]
Step inside, but don’t assume
Anything obeys the rules
Every answer shifts its form
All the rules set by fools

[Chorus]
Your landing has been cleared
(If you’re prepared to land?)
This place is beyond weird
(Do you understand?)
Signals bent and reappeared
(Nothing goes as planned)
Every truth has disappeared
(Slips right through your hand)
… weird….

[Verse 2]
Voices echo out of sync
Say one thing but make you think
Every face a different mask
Every question dodges “ask”

Up is sideways, down is wrong
Short feels endless, right feels long
Common sense got left behind
Somewhere no one’s gonna find

[Pre-Chorus]
Try to map it, you will fail
Every path’s a broken trail
Every time you think you’re near
Something else just interferes

[Chorus]
Your landing has been cleared
(If you’re prepared to land?)
This place is beyond weird
(Do you understand?)
Nothing’s how it first appeared
(Shifting like the sand)
Every system’s disappeared
(Unmanned, unmanned, unmanned)
… weird….

[Bridge]
[Glitch Breakdown, Sub Bass Pulse, Reverse FX]
Don’t take me to your leader
(’cause he ain’t sane)
Just a nightmare feeder
(… a national shame)

[Build – Rising Synth, Snare Rolls]
Broadcast looping fear
(Again and again)
Everything you hear
(Just bends and pretends)

[Breakdown – Minimal Beat, Whispered Vocals]
Weird…
So weird…
Nothing here is what it appears…

[Final Chorus – Full Arrangement, Layered Vocals, Driving Drums]
Your landing has been cleared
(If you’re prepared to land?)
This place is beyond weird
(Do you understand?)
Every boundary’s disappeared
(No control at hand)
Welcome to the atmosphere
(Where nothing goes as planned)

[Outro – Synth Fade, Distant Radio Signal Returning]
Signal lost…
(Tossed)
Signal found…
(Sound)
Spinning nowhere… round and round…
(Round, round, round)

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderThe Grapevine

[Intro]
[Muted Electric Guitar, Walking Bass Line, Light Snare Brush]
It starts as nothing, just a word
Something half remembered, half heard
Then it grows without a sound
Spreading outward, all around

[Verse 1]
A glance, a joke, a passing line
Gets rewritten every time
What was said becomes what’s claimed
Truth gets stretched and slightly maimed

Every mouth becomes a wire
Passing sparks that climb up higher
No one checks, no one knows
How the story twists and grows

[Pre-Chorus]
One becomes a dozen more
Changing what it was before
Every retelling bends the frame
Until no two are quite the same

[Refrain]
Do you suppose it’s true
(Comin’ all this way from you)
Whisper down the lane
(Will never be the same)
Spoken half in doubt and clue
(Lost in what we think we knew)
Carried fast, but never plain
(Through the grapevine’s chain)

[Chorus]
Time after time
(Caught up in the grapevine)
‘Nother victim, ‘nother crime
(Caught up in the grapevine)
Truth gets redefined
(Through the tangled line)
Facts begin to unwind
(Caught up in the grapevine)

[Verse 2]
Rumor dressed in borrowed clothes
Nobody knows where it goes
Every step it multiplies
Hidden under casual lies

What begins as simple talk
Turns to something you can’t block
By the time it reaches ears
It’s been shaped by hopes and fears

[Pre-Chorus]
No beginning you can trace
No original face
Only echoes of a claim
Carried on without a name

[Refrain]
Do you suppose it’s true
(Comin’ all this way from you)
Whisper down the lane
(Will never be the same)
Every turn it gets renewed
(Twisted, bent, and misconstrued)
What was fact is now in pain
(Inside the grapevine chain)

[Chorus]
Time after time
(Caught up in the grapevine)
‘Nother victim, ‘nother crime
(Caught up in the grapevine)
Lines begin to intertwine
(Bound up in the design)
Lost between yours and mine
(Caught up in the grapevine)

[Bridge – Breakdown, Whispered Vocals, Echoed Claps]
It said this…
(What?)
No, it said that…
(What?)
Wait—who told you that?

It spreads so fast…
You can’t go back…
Once it’s off the track…

[Breakdown – Minimal Instrumentation, Bass Pulse]
Grapevine…
Grapevine…
Nothing stays defined…

[Final Chorus – Full Arrangement, Driving Rhythm, Layered Harmonies]
Time after time
(Caught up in the grapevine)
‘Nother victim, ‘nother crime
(Caught up in the grapevine)
Truth gets redefined
(Through the fractured line)
Nothing left to realign
(Caught up in the grapevine)

[Outro – Fading Guitar Harmonics, Tape-Style Degradation]
What was said…
What is heard…
Never match…
Not a word…
(So absurd)

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderOld Wives’ Tales

[Intro]
[Fingerpicked Guitar, Light Percussion, Whistling Melody]
Passed along from tongue to tongue
Half remembered, half unsung
Truth gets twisted, stretched and spun
Before you know it, it’s begun

[Verse 1]
Knock on wood, don’t break the chain
Step on cracks, invite the pain
Black cat crossing, turn around
Lost and never to be found

Salt thrown over your left shoulder
Keeps the creeping darkness colder
Every charm and every sign
Draws a shaky, fragile line

[Pre-Chorus]
What we fear and what we trust
Settles deep in all of us
Every whisper grows a trail
Between the truth and fairy tale

[Refrain]
It came through
(Without warning)
Take two
(And call me in the morning)
Feed a cold
(Starve a fever)
Growing old
(Are you a believer)

[Chorus]
Old wives’ tales
(About old wives’ tails)
A wild rumor pales
(More lore never fails)
Passed through veils
(Where logic derails)
Truth rides rails
(On improbable trails)

[Verse 2]
Don’t go out with wet hair
Night air’s waiting unaware
Eat your carrots, see at night
Simple tricks to set things right

Full moon rising, strange behavior
Blame it on a cosmic flavor
Every cure and every claim
Different story, same old game

[Pre-Chorus]
Some survive and some persist
Clinging tight in every twist
Every doubt begins to bend
When the stories never end

[Refrain]
It came through
(Without warning)
Take two
(And call me in the morning)
Feed a cold
(Starve a fever)
Growing old
(Are you a believer)

[Chorus]
Old wives’ tales
(About old wives’ tails)
A wild rumor pales
(More lore never fails)
Built on details
(That truth impales)
Yet it prevails
(When reason derails)

[Bridge – Playful Breakdown, Hand Claps, Call-and-Response Vocals]
If it works, don’t question why
Pass it on, let logic die
Every myth a thread we weave
Only real if we believe

[Breakdown – Minimal, Whispered Voices]
Tell it again…
Say it out loud…
Truth or pretend…
Lost in the crowd…

[Final Chorus – Full Band, Upbeat Energy]
Old wives’ tales
(About old wives’ tails)
A wild rumor pales
(More lore never fails)
Through the details
(Confusion sails)
Story prevails
(As reason exhales)

[Outro – Whistling Returns, Fading Guitar]
Old and new…
Tired and blue…
Rarely a few…
Really come true…

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderHeartless

[Silence]

[Instrumental, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Synth, Bass, Percussion, Drums]

[Intro]
[Minimal Beat, Sub Bass, Spoken Vocal]
That’s insane
(He has no brain)

[Instrumental, Guitar Solo – sharp bends, glitch delay, tension build]

[Verse 1]
Cold as static in a broken wire
No spark left, no inner fire
Eyes wide open, nothing there
Empty pulse in vacant air

Words fall flat, they hit the floor
Meaning lost forevermore
Every signal misaligned
Disconnected state of mind

[Pre-Chorus]
Try to reach but there’s no response
Every chance is a lost-once chance
You can scream but it won’t impart
Anything to a missing heart

[Chorus]
Oh, what a mess
(He’s heartless)
See if you can get his heart
(… to start)

A contradiction
(Stranger than fiction)
Running on without ignition
Lost in failed transmission
(Stranger than fiction)

[Bridge]
[Synth Lead Duel with Guitar]
[Drums Double-Time, Organ Glide]
That’s insane
(He has no brain)

Circuit overload, but nothing feels
(Spinning gears with no real wheels)
All reaction, no reflection
(Trapped inside disconnection)

[Verse 2]
Built of logic, stripped of soul
Half a system, missing whole
Every answer pre-programmed
Every feeling counterfeit and damned

Touch the surface, cold as steel
Nothing there to sense or feel
Human shape, mechanical core
Less than zero, something more

[Pre-Chorus]
Try to find what isn’t there
Trace the void back to nowhere
Every beat just echoes faint
Like a ghost that never was a saint

[Chorus]
Oh, what a mess
(He’s heartless)
See if you can get his heart
(… to start)

A contradiction
(Stranger than fiction)
Perfect flaw in composition
Living without condition
(Stranger than fiction)

[Breakdown – Minimal Beat, Pulsing Sub Bass, Glitch Effects]
No pulse…
No spark…
No signal in the dark…

[Final Chorus – Full Arrangement, Heavy Drums, Layered Vocals]
Oh, what a mess
(He’s heartless)
See if you can get his heart
(… to start)

A contradiction
(Stranger than fiction)
Endless loop of malfunction
Human without function
(Stranger than fiction)

[Outro – Instrumental Fade: Distorted Guitar Harmonics, Fading Synth, Slowing Beat]
Flatline rhythm, fading art
Nothing left… where was the heart?

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderFriction

[Intro]
[Percussive Scrapes, Muted Guitar Chugs, Hi-Hat Groove]
Feel the drag…
Feel the pull…
Nothing moves when it’s too full…

[Verse 1]
Every step meets some resistance
Measured out in small persistence
Push ahead, but not so fast
Something’s holding from the past

Roughened edges, surfaces meet
Heat builds up beneath your feet
Try to glide, but you’ll confess
Nothing’s ever frictionless

[Pre-Chorus]
Slide or stick, you feel the strain
Losses adding to the gain
Every motion leaves a trace
Energy you can’t erase

[Chorus]
What can be stranger than fiction?
(Friction!)
What’s a beyond bizarre affliction?
(Friction!)
Every move meets contradiction
(Friction!)
Built-in force of opposition
(Friction!)

[Refrain]
It can rub ya the wrong way
(So they say)
And, slow ya down (way down)
Down, down, down
But, hey!
(What can I say)
Upon introspection
(Friction!)
Stops the rain
(From penetrating my brain)

[Verse 2]
Microscopic mountains grind
Jagged truths you’ll always find
Even smooth is rough below
More than what the eyes can show

Kinetic slip and static hold
Stories physics always told
Breakaway or stay confined
Depends on how the forces bind

[Pre-Chorus]
Push it harder, feel the heat
Energy turns incomplete
Lost to motion’s hidden tax
Never getting fully back

[Chorus]
What can be stranger than fiction?
(Friction!)
What’s a beyond bizarre affliction?
(Friction!)
Every system, every depiction
(Friction!)
Driven by this quiet restriction
(Friction!)

[Bridge – Half-Time Groove, Spoken/Layered Vocals]
No escape…
No clean line…
Every surface intertwined…

Push and pull…
Gain and loss…
Every motion pays a cost…

[Breakdown – Percussion Only, Rhythmic Stomps]
Stick… slip…
Grip… flip…
Hold… release…
Never peace…

[Final Chorus – Full Band, Driving Rhythm]
What can be stranger than fiction?
(Friction!)
What’s a beyond bizarre affliction?
(Friction!)
Universal contradiction
(Friction!)
Every path meets interdiction
(Friction!)

[Refrain – Extended, Layered Vocals]
It can rub ya the wrong way
(So they say)
And, slow ya down (way down)
Down, down, down
But, hey!
(What can I say)
Upon introspection
(Friction!)
Stops the rain
(From penetrating my brain)

[Outro – Fading Percussion Scrapes, Low Bass Rumble]
Nothing moves… without a cost…
Every gain… a little lost…

About – Scientific Note
Friction is a fundamental force described in classical mechanics, primarily studied within Physics. It arises from interactions between surfaces at a microscopic level, where even seemingly smooth materials exhibit irregularities.

There are two primary types: static friction, which resists the initiation of motion, and kinetic friction, which opposes motion once objects are sliding. The force of friction is commonly modeled by the equation:

F = μN, where μ is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force between surfaces.

Friction converts kinetic energy into thermal energy, which is why surfaces heat up when rubbed together. While often seen as a hindrance, friction is essential—it allows us to walk, grip objects, and control motion. Without it, everyday life would become physically unmanageable.

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderMore or Less

[Intro]
[Soft Piano, Subtle Bass Pulse, Light Hi-Hat]
Somewhere in between…
Not quite what it seems…
(In a dream obscene)

[Verse 1]
Half a truth in full disguise
Measured out in compromise
What you see and what you guess
Never quite align—more or less
Edges blur, the center shifts
Meaning bends in subtle drifts
Every answer, incomplete
Standing on uncertain feet

[Pre-Chorus]
Say it once, then say it twice
Turns to something not precise
Every version slightly changed
By the way it’s rearranged
(Deranged)

[Chorus]
Is that true
(More or less)
Point of view
(Askew)
Confess
(More less)
Nothing’s new
(Second guess)
What you knew
(Undress)
Confess
(More or less)

[Verse 2]
Facts reduced to fractions now
Broken down to fit somehow
What was clear is undefined
Filtered through a different mind
Every claim a sliding scale
Somewhere right, somewhere pale
Truth gets trimmed to fit the frame
Close enough to keep the name

[Pre-Chorus]
Shift the angle, change the light
Suddenly it’s not quite right
Every line begins to bend
Toward whatever serves the end
(Click unsend)

[Chorus]
Is that true
(More or less)
Point of view
(Askew)
Confess
(More less)
What you prove
(Still a guess)
What you lose
(Address)
Confess
(More or less)

[Bridge – Minimal Beat, Spoken Layers]
More…
Or less…
Somewhere between a lie and a guess…
More…
Or less…
Truth compressed, under stress…

[Breakdown – Pulsing Bass, Sparse Piano Hits]
Less is more…
More is less…
Nothing settles…
Nothing rests…

[Final Chorus – Full Arrangement, Layered Vocals]
Is that true
(More or less)
Point of view
(Askew)
Confess
(More less)
All we do
(Reassess)
Nothing through
(Progress)
Confess
(More or less)

[Outro – Piano Fade, Distant Echo]
Close enough…
(In the rough)
Not exact…
(Just “about”)
Truth fades out…
(In the rough)
Between the facts…

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderAutobiography

[Silence]

[Instrumental, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Synth, Bass, Percussion, Drums]

[Intro]
Here we go
(Auto…)

[Verse 1]
Pages turning in a borrowed name
Every memory reshaped by flame
What I was and what I became
Don’t always answer to the same

Footnotes whisper what I left out
Silent chapters built on doubt
Ink bleeds where the truth should be
In the margins of identity

[Pre-Chorus]
Every line is a version of me
Edited by what I choose to see
Somewhere between fact and confession
Lies the shape of my progression

[Chorus]
An autobiography
(Stranger than fiction)
Personal history
(Full of friction)
Written in contradiction
(Marked by flawed precision)
Truth in slow collision
(Stranger than fiction)

[Verse 2]
I recall what I want to recall
Build my story around the fall
Heroes carved from broken stone
Villains made of flesh and bone

Time rewrites what I believed
What I gave and what I received
Even silence tells a tale
When the details start to fail

[Pre-Chorus]
Every truth has a shadow line
Running parallel through time
And what I swear I know for sure
Changes shape behind the door

[Chorus]
An autobiography
(Stranger than fiction)
Personal history
(Full of friction)
Edited in repetition
(Rewritten by recognition)
I am the flawed narration
(Stranger than fiction)

[Bridge – Spoken/Whispered, Sparse Piano]
If I am the author…
why do I forget the plot?
And if this is my story…
why does it feel like it’s not?

[Final Chorus – Full Instrumentation, Rising Intensity]
An autobiography
(Stranger than fiction)
Personal history
(Full of friction)
Every page a contradiction
(Every truth a new condition)
I exist in my description
(Stranger than fiction)

[Outro – Instrumental Fade: Soft Piano, Tape Hiss, Distant Vocal Echo]
Who I was…
(Just because)
who I am…
(where I’m goin’)
somewhere in between the two…
(Loving it with you)

From the album Stranger Than Fiction

bookmark_borderStrange Brew

[Silence]

[Instrumental – Psychedelic Guitar Swirl, Warped Organ, Pulsing Bass, Loose Drums]

[Intro]
[Slurred Spoken Vocal, Echoed]
Pour more flow… don’t need to know…
Just drink it down…
(And, pass it ’round)

[Glass Clink, Reverse Cymbal Rise]

[Verse 1]
They lined it up in crooked rows
Nobody asks where it goes
Red in color, sweet in taste
But something’s off in mental waste

Eyes get heavy, thoughts get thin
Truth dissolves and slips right in
Smiles get stuck a little too wide
Like something else is on the inside

[Pre-Chorus]
Every sip takes something more
Than you ever bargained for
Til the world begins to sway
And logic slowly fades away

[Refrain]
I don’t know about you
But they’re drinking
(A strange brew)
Reality’s shrinking
(Drinkin’ a strange brew)
More red Kool-Aid
Watch sanity fade
(Strange, strange brew)

[Chorus]
Sip it down and don’t resist
Taste the edge of what exists
Every drop a new belief
Hiding deeper underneath

Strange brew in the air tonight
Blurring wrong and turning far-right
Nothing here is what it seems
It’s dissolving all your dreams

[Instrumental Break – Acid Guitar Solo, Swirling Synths, Reverse Echo Drums]

[Verse 2]
Now the room begins to tilt
Built on something poorly built
Words repeat but don’t align
Spinning out of space and time

Crowds are laughing just the same
But nobody recalls their name
Every story starts to blend
With a loop that won’t end

[Pre-Chorus]
What is real and what is sold?
Something warm but growing cold
Every thought begins to bend
Til it breaks or can’t defend

[Refrain]
I don’t know about you
But they’re drinking
(A strange brew)
Reality’s shrinking
(Drinkin’ a strange brew)
More red Kool-Aid
Watch sanity fade
(Strange, strange brew)

[Bridge]
Is it poison? Is it peace?
Is it just a false release?
Every answer starts to blur
In the taste of what they stir

[Breakdown – Minimal Groove, Whispered Vocals]
Drink it slow…
Don’t let go…
You won’t know…
Til it shows…

[Final Chorus – Full Psychedelic Explosion, Layered Vocals]
Sip it down and don’t resist
Nothing here is what exists
Strange brew in every vein
Riding down into the brain

Strange brew, don’t ask why
Watch the clear turn into lie
Strange brew, drink it deep
Til reality won’t keep

[Outro]
[Slow Fade – Warped Organ, Dripping Sound, Distant Laughter]
I don’t know about you…
(But I hope to make it through…)

[Silence]

From the album Stranger Than Fiction