The Process #9 — Dead Center

Posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 // 0 Responses.

Name: Dead Center
Date Written: 12/28/10
Date Recorded: 4/7/11
Written for: LP4

Kids, today we are going to talk about types of songs. At the base level, there are two main categories: singles and album tracks. Look at Blink-182. Their setlist is 19 versions of “All The Small Things,” and “The Rock Show.” There’s no “Zulu” or “Lemmings” and there never will be again. So just get over it and stop expecting impossible things. Do you really still care about Blink that much, Adam? Jesus.

In my experience, I know when I’m writing a single. To a certain extent, the song writes itself. I wrote “Ellis Island Blues” in an hour. The second it was done, I knew I had a special song. In the months before we arranged it as a full band for the first time, I would keep myself awake fantasizing about how great it would sound when it was finished. People who don’t like much of my other music tend to at least like that one. That’s how singles work.

Then there are the album tracks. They aren’t universally loved, but there is a certain kind of person (their favorite Say Anything song is “Slumming It With Johnny” and that person is me) for whom the album track is more interesting. I work harder on my album tracks so they’ll be able to stand next to the singles. Some of them will never be played live (I hate when bands do this. Is it filler or a song you’re proud of? Make up your mind). Such is the plight of the album track.

Album tracks come in all shapes and sizes. Some are a little too subtle to be singles, some are too abrasive. Some are both. I believe that the album is a particular kind of art form and that there will always be people who appreciate it. This song is definitely an album track. It’s not for the singles people. I’m glaring at you right now. One day I’m totally going to pull a Nirvana (not like that!) and not play the singles at the show. But come see me anyway! Okay enjoy.

Lyrics:

Is it possible
The statues you sculpted from stone
Are just patterns of sand?
From cradle to casket
A carnival trick, slight of hand

Concepts created for comfort from chaos
A cordoned off section from something forbidden
A fruit or a feeling, a favorite fiction
An alternate ending

Is it possible
That a balance this callous
Could portion a peace for us all?
Each insidious image
A visage towards which to crawl

Robust in its bluntness and battered by boredom
A battlefield bloodied before the beginning
A comma or coma, an angry addiction
An alternate ending

It’s possible
That the world keeps on spinning
Despite your decision to stall
It’s almost biblical
The brand recognition
Nostalgic affliction
The cynical cyclical sprawl

But these days it’s tough to self-sabotage and feel like it did
Back when stomping out fires you’d previously lit
Was a safe and surefire way to steal back a few seconds
The storm cellar locked, stocked with ample supplies
Lest the sight of the sun strike blind both of your eyes
To protect against progress, to obscure the obvious

I studied symmetry for centuries in search of a symbol
To untether my tendencies and ties to the treadmill of time
And unwind and differentiate inside from outside
A fruit or a feeling, a favorite fiction
A comma or coma, an angry addiction
I haven’t moved for months