Smokescreens
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So if Trial Of Errors and Constantly Travelling had a love child, it would probably be Smokescreens.
Written from February to March of 2003, these venture back into the abstract. Without any obvious meanings or metaphors, they’re a bit hard to follow. Still, nothing was done without a reason and it all has just as much purpose as the preceding group of lyrics for me: I just chose to use language that was less direct this time around. The idea was to give the grouping a sense of uncertainty and darkness.
Getting a bit more experimental with structure, these lyrics also rely more heavily on repetition, syllable counting and how the words flow in general. My goal was to create something more rhythmic and I think it was a success. A side effect of this approach was that everything was kept really concise too. Unlike Constantly Travelling, the lyrics all had a bigger impact and didn’t come across as half-baked ideas instead. This is most likely a testament to the fact that I spent more time refining what appears here.
As far as favourites, I’d say that it’s a bit hard to choose. For me, Smokescreens works because everything included connects together in order to really thrive as a whole. If I have to choose though, I’d go with Perfectly Constructed, Drifting, Out Of Control, Andy Wisdom, Vampires And Angels, Seeking Attention and One Last Secret.
For those interested, the original version of these lyrics are available in the Fireteddy National Library. Everything that didn’t make the cut can also be found here.
Lyrics Content
02. Behind You
03. Drifting
05. Out Of Control
06. Andy Wisdom
08. Waste Away
10. Getting Out
12. One Last Secret
Perfectly Constructed
Perfectly conducted
Through the math of your destruction
You’ve been hunting on the grounds
Well look at what you’ve found
Take it all off and back again
Take ‘em all on because you know you can
Perfectly pronounced
A declaration to announce
A nation to destroy
With the casualties employed
Take it all off and back again
Take ‘em all on because you know you can
Take it all off and back again
Take ‘em all on, take ‘em all
Give me your thrown aways
Hand me your lazy days
And I will hand them back
Always hand them back
Give me your tortured life
Hand me your rusty knives
And I will hand them back
Always hand them back
I’m never gonna be like that
Never gonna be like that
I’m never gonna be like that
Never gonna be like that
Perfectly constructed
Our thoughts have been abducted
To worship in a mass
I knew it couldn’t last
Behind You
Is that woman staring at me?
Looking close, well what does she see?
She’s looking too long, not part of the plan
Out of her purse, is there a gun in her hand?
Look behind you
Look behind you
And all of my friends, are they really that proud?
With their secret encounters hiding under their shrouds
Who knows what their saying when I’m not in the room
Lies, are they lies? Conspiracies bloomed
Look behind you
Look behind you
Now break
Mushroom clouds
Mushroom clouds again
With letters that
We never meant to send
We never meant to send
We never meant to send
I’m sure you’ll go on like everything’s fine
You say there’s no way to get past that line
It’s funny you hang to the thoughts you’ve been fed
Surrounded by sheep, all easily led
So look behind you
Look behind you now
Look behind you
Look behind you
Then break
Drifting
Well I find it pretty strange
That there’s nothing left to change
There’s nothing but destruction
And it’ll never be the same
Now we’ve finally made it here
To watch the bullshit re-appear
Pretty soon it all implodes
Until it’s only smoke and mirrors
Tied up and I’m bound
Now there’s no one else around
Would I change this if I could?
Well I don’t think that I would
They’ve got narrow minded answers
Ones I’ve never understood
Could it be that I was wrong?
Only messed up all along
Now the gears are slowly grinding
As they play our final song
Tied up and I’m bound
Now there’s no one else around
I’m tied up and I’m bound
Now I’m drifting underground
I went drifting around
I went drifting around
Looking for a purpose
Searching for a sound
I went drifting around
I went drifting around
Until I finally realized
You were nowhere to be found
Now I think I’ve lost control
I’ve gotta get out of this hole
The Past Contracts
Set me up and ease your mind
Clear the conscience you can’t find
The words are out of reach
But am I still intact?
It’s a shame that you were lying
To get the time that you’ve been buying
To let the past contract
To let the past contract
So tell me what you’d like
Because these days I’m not sure
These days I’m a joke
And these days aren’t so pure
Trade me off to help the cause
I’m paranoid and at a loss
I guess I’m out of touch
But am I still alive?
It’s a shame you’re not denying
And one you’re justifying
From what I’ve derived
From what I’ve derived
So tell me what you’d like
Because these days I’m not sure
These days I’m a joke
And these days aren’t so pure
So tell me what you’d like
Because these days I’m confused
These days have been hacked
And these days get abused
To let the past contract
To let the past contract
Out Of Control
I’ve waited 8 hours, in the end I’ll just crawl
With the falling of towers, a constant withdrawal
As it all seemed to crumble, with the wreckage below
I’m still lost in the smoke, but I want you to know
It doesn’t matter what you do
Life is always changing you
So I’m out of my head and out of my soul
Is there hate in my heart? Well the past has been sold
Out of control, it’s out of control
Always conflicted
I talk in my sleep
Hoping for changes
For something to keep
Caught in a hailstorm
When will it pass?
With the feelings I felt
That weren’t meant to last
And it’s funny
Ain’t it funny?
Isn’t it funny?
Don’t you think?
Outside interference
Terms of endearment
And i’m absorbing it all
i am absorbing it all
In My hands
In my hands
So I’m out of my head and out of my soul
Is there hate in my heart? Well our past has been sold
This is out of control, all out of control
It’s out of control, out of control
This is where it all explodes, this is where it all explodes
Still trapped in the smoke, but I think you should know
It doesn’t matter what you do
Life is always changing you
Andy Wisdom
Did I cut you up in pieces?
Now delivered to the flock
You say you preach forgiveness
But you never wanna talk
Oh razorblades and ice cream
You’ve got a little bit of both
Well isn’t it a nice dream?
The one that hurts the most
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
I’ve seen inside your valleys
With landscapes made of trees
Quiet now, just like a mouse
Spreading your disease
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
Get a little bit of wisdom
Get a little bit
How’s it working out for you?
Write it down and save your soul
The pigeons read, your life, a clown
As you struggle for control
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
Oh yeah, yes I know
You get a bit of wisdom, and you watch it grow
Get a little bit of wisdom
Get a little bit
Vampires And Angels
I live in a town
Where there are vampires and angels
Where my life is always tangled
In their fights
I live in a town
Where there is no one around
At least not when you need ‘em
Well not tonight
They fall and then they climb again
And the stitches come unsown
They have some thoughts that they defend
But I’m sinking like a stone
It’s not something to condone
I’m not someone they condone
I live in a town
With crosses and stakes
Intentions to fake
But today I’m leaving
Fucking leaving
She falls and then she climbs again
As her stitches come unsown
Leaving me and this dreamless town
Still sinking like a stone
It’s not something to condone
I’ve got nothing to condone
But I guess that’s all I’ll ever be
And it’s all I’ll ever know
It’s the only thing I’m good for
And now it’s time to go
Waste Away
Are we growing, or just showing?
Decay, we’ll wait another day for this
As you take your final bow
Wonder how you change your mood, maybe eat some Chinese food
It’s always reaching through you
And you find it long enough to
Waste away
Waste away
You’ll wake another day
But for now you’ll waste away
Is it cracking, or reacting?
We laid out plans, your hands were tied for this
Another fine recital
The spiral of our downfall, a little sex and that’s all
It’s always reaching through you
And you find it long enough to
Waste away
Waste away
I’ll wake another day
But for now I’ll waste away
So I don’t want to stay here
And I don’t want to see this
Just as much as you do
But I guess we’re gonna have to
It used to be so simple
But maybe I was wrong though
I said I wouldn’t be like that
Do you really wanna be like that?
We’ll wake another day
But for now we’ll waste away
For now we’ll waste away
Picking Up The Pieces
The life you led, it sold you out
You’ve been messed around, always lurking about
The day you woke, they turned the screws
Left you picking up the pieces from the moment that you knew
In the end, you’d be okay
In the end, you’d be okay
Elaborate on these thoughts you have
Another guinea pig left stuck inside the lab
I know you’ll defecate another year
Slowly purge you of this cancer through the drums inside your ears
Patience…
Patience…
In the end, you’ll be okay
In the end, you’ll be okay
All your defiance
Will lead to reliance
And you know
Still you know
You’ve been flirting with brilliance
So show the resilience
Then let go
Now let go
In the end, you’ll be okay
In the end, you’ll be okay
In the end, you’ll be okay
In the end, you’ll be okay
Getting Out
Is this what we needed?
I’m thinking that it’s not
They say it’s only distance
But I think I need a lot
Nothing really changes
There’s nothing here to change
Looking through and looking through
Well everything’s the same
It’s all been said and done before
Back to me, I’m getting out
It’s all been said and done before
Back to me, I’m getting out
Is this really what you needed?
Well I’m not sure that it is
Each cycle gets repeated
Then it finally gets dismissed
Now some things still aren’t changes
They’re all cemented in my skull
To take them in and take them in
Predictable and dull
It’s all been said and done before
Back to me, I’m getting out
It’s all been said and done before
Back to me, I’m getting out
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this
And now I wish I could forget
Well there’s nothing too revealing
Only feelings to reset
Seeking Attention
December nights and April winds
Take them back and out within
What’s with the attention?
What’s with the attention you need?
Welfare celebrity
Stay away from me
You’re staring at the wall
To complicate your days
With all the time you’ve wasted
You’re wasted in a haze
There’s always someone new
In your raging weekly wars
From every fight you’ve started
It’s all been done before
I’m no actor in your plot lines
Your plot lines are a bore
December nights and April winds
Take them back and out within
What’s with the attention?
What’s with the attention you need?
Pickpocket comedies
Seeking attention, seeking attention
Fading drama queen
Get some attention and stay away from me
Stay away from me
One Last Secret
under limelight
I’ll fade back
to a former self
fade to black
With these memories
All jaded now
And as for you? Yes you
You’re fading out
This indifference is hell
With these secrets we tell
Are you so jaded as well?
For this one last secret
One last secret
For this one last secret
One last secret
Afterschool Special
Well here it is, I can even hear the voices
In this dark room, all out of tune
Music is coming through the speakers
To turn me on to something
Something I’ve been missing
To live a life of bliss, momentary bliss
Well here it is, an afterschool special
No heartaches, no drop offs, not in afterschool specials
Well there it is, I can even see it changing
In the twilight, I just might
Get myself out of here
To get me back to something
Something I’ve been losing
Not living out a loss, no momentary loss
Well here it is, an afterschool special
No dying, no crying, not in afterschool specials
I must have been a masochist
To live like that and talk like this
I’m packing up my bags again to touch down somewhere new
I’ll promise not to live here
In past regrets and wasted tears
I’m packing up my bags again to finally see it through
Well there it is, I can even see my choices
In the wake, a road to take
To get ourselves out of here
To turn us on to something
Something we’ve been missing
Let’s drive out of here tonight
Until we finally reach the light