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How We Fade

by The Smivets

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1.
Galaxies 07:00
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When I woke I was on a high wire 100 foot drop Above a building fire One shoe missing And no idea How in the name of mercy I ended up here Oh Clenched my teeth Bit down the scream Surely that was consciousness And this is the dream What did I do To get this far? I must have had some kinds of skill But I don't know what they are Look at my galaxies, look at my stars Look at all my planets, Mercury and Mars Meanwhile my little world is fractured into shards Faces become blurry but the edges are sharp Look at my galaxies, look at my stars Look at all my planets, Mercury and Mars Meanwhile my little world is fractured into shards Faces become blurry but the edges are sharp Sail me back over the interstellar sea Spiral arms enfolding me Take good care wherever you need to be The morning star won't find me Oh Look at my galaxies, look at my stars Look at all my planets, Mercury and Mars Meanwhile my little world is fractured into shards Faces become blurry but the edges are sharp Look at my galaxies, look at my stars Look at all my planets, Mercury and Mars Meanwhile my little world is fractured into shards Faces become blurry but the edges are sharp
2.
Is This the Deal? 03:40
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Were those dreams, then? Is that what they were? More real than real life More compelling than theatre Perhaps they were side-effects of the Propofol Or maybe the Fentanyl Or some other stuff that they gave me Not entirely against my will I left my panelled library Through a tunnel of leather and red To a busy market street Where I lay helpless in my hospital bed And all the bright shop windows Were thick with nickel flies So I turned to the sun-baked cliff face Seeking guidance from the wise Is this how it happens? Is this how we fade From one world to another? Is this how the deal gets made? But the dreams are dangerous Enticing you on So by the time it's time to go You've already gone And I can't remember Stuff you just said from one moment to another Or whether I'm supposed to be alive or dead But these dreams (if they are dreams) Are still pin-sharp in recall And if I find the way to get there I might not come back at all Is this how it happens? Is this how we fade From one world to another? Is this how the deal gets made? But the dreams are dangerous Enticing you on So by the time it's time to go You've already gone
3.
Keep the Change 06:08
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Keep the change Some much hiding in that little phrase Three short words Summing up this unpleasant world Keep the change What is that really saying? Well it's saying: take what comes And be grateful for my crumbs Well I know it wasn't meant as an insult But it is one just the same Accepted as the default Given another name Well you can pray for different days You can cut against the grain But keep on keeping the change And nothing will Keep the change Doesn't that sound a little strange? Don't want to put too much on it But it just sounds oxymoronic Keep the change Permanently rearrange I might be thinking this too deep But maybe its better to change what we keep And if you're looking to find a reason How they keep you under the whip What if it was less to do with what they did And more what you would not And you're looking to make a difference Without straying from the script But if you do what you always did You're gonna get what you always got You can wring your hands and complain You can cling to what remains But if we keep on keeping the change Then nothing will Keep the change Embrace the strange Every welcome gain Don't ask who's paying And there's something that you might not want to face As you pull back the shroud Every flimsy silver lining Inhabits a big black cloud But luckily evil can be repainted As some kind of catalyst for good While the gears are lubricated by some other sucker's blood (yeah) That's when I'd had enough, I had to make my stand Gave the chief executive my final demand I said take it or leave it, I don't care which She said "Ha, now I've got you, you son of a bitch Because you're speaking my language now, you're part of the con But there's little time for pleasantries if we want to get on" So keeping the change Pleasure and pain Measure the main The treasure's in train Says you're insane But it's breaking my brain Again and again and again and again and again and again and again Wearing market stall knock-offs of the emperor's new clothes Plus ca change C'est plus la meme chose
4.
Snowflake 03:57
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I'm a snowflake From the snowflake generation I'm a snowflake I had the best education I'm a snowflake Beautiful and unique I'm a snowflake Delicate and oblique Don't smile, don't make fun Jokes might upset someone (who's a snowflake) I'm a snowflake Don't criticise please don't shout I'm a snowflake I might melt if the sun comes out I'm a snowflake Don't make me do my share I'm a snowflake If it's hard then it isn't fair Give me the respect my status brings 'Cause I'm destined for finer things as a snowflake We're snowflakes From the snowflake generation Snowflakes Citizens of the snowflake nation Now you've got nothing to say Better let us have our way I don't think you quite understand Your future's in our hands
5.
To the Fires 05:48
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Let me go, let me go To the fires down below For the shores of the Elysian sea Hold no resting place for me Now the reckoning time has come For the things that I have done And the miseries I have wrought Return to hurt me Oh, my dear demons You have served me well Keeping me off the straight and narrow And on the crooked road to Hell Making lots of lovely money Which turned out just as well Because the lifestyles of the wicked Don't come cheaply I've lived a life of infamy, The serpent by my side Evil was my mistress Iniquity my bride Could I have been a viler villain? That's for the jury to decide But I don't expect they'd ever care To meet me Let me go, let me go To the fires down below For the shores of the Elysian sea Hold no resting place for me Now the reckoning time has come For the things that I have done And the miseries I have wrought Return to hurt me And if I did it all again What could I improve? I loved every dirty deal I did Every underhanded move And heartless schemes so devilish clever Old Nick himself would approve Though they do say greedy prey Make easy quarry I've scammed and I have swindled Embezzled and I've lied Even stolen the identities Of people who have died And darker deeds I dare not mention And many worse beside But the one thing that I've never been Is sorry Let me go, let me go To the fires down below For the shores of the Elysian sea Hold no resting place for me Now the reckoning time has come For the things that I have done And the miseries I have wrought Return to hurt me Well don't think that it's so easy Living a life this deep in sin Always putting yourself before others Always cheating so you can win And always having someone's back So you can stick your flicknife in It's exhausting how much forethought Is spent on malice Trying to recall what lies you told And who you told them to Whose lives you ruined Or who you sold them to Then dreams so bad that you fear falling back to sleep Will wait for you. Oh, Eternity's inferno Bring me solace! I don't believe in judgement day So I've nothing to fear You can't send me to Hell Because I'm already here Let me go, let me go To the fires down below For the shores of the Elysian sea Hold no resting place for me Now the reckoning time has come For the things that I have done And the miseries I have wrought Return to hurt me
6.
Alpha Male Arse 03:43
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I go to the gym Of course I take the car So the girls can admire My SVR It doesn't quite fit In that blue badge space So I park across two Just in case you didn't know I was an alpha male arse I'm an alpha male arse Me first you last Yeah I'm an alpha male arse It's a lonely life up here At the top of the food chain But it beats being down with you bottom feeders Know what I'm saying? You know my opinions If you don't you must be deaf So nod your silent agreement Or risk being bored to death By an alpha male arse I've got a massive fart motorcycle Does 100dB Ain't no way You won't notice me The only thing I know That makes more noise Is the lovely sound Of my own voice Yes I'm an alpha male arse I'm an alpha male arse Me first you last Yeah I'm an alpha male arse etc
7.
Cutting the Cord 04:10
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One bright kingfisher morning This unfortunate made a decision Oh what did you let him do that for? It was met with nothing more than derision But like my fine blue-feathered friend Who fishes where he chooses I no longer need depend On the big book of excuses I held Solomon's sword Against the cord And made the division. I lied to my dependants about The nature of my job for ages So they weren't sure what I did But they certainly enjoyed the wages After that in all honesty I had to admit deceit OK not the best policy But it kept the flip-flops on our feet It's not as bad as things look It's the same book Just different pages Note to self: Decide, you fool, decide Don't let the whispers of vested interests Be any kind of guide Whip out Ockam's razor And swipe it side to side No-one ever got fired for making a decision (Unless of course it was the wrong one) Oh dear So now you know the plan I guess our vessels are on course for collision You might not like the outcome But at least you understand the position Ulterior voices From the scaly throats of reptiles Sometime our choices Are better much spent on ourselves Sorry, this is my call So sod you all It's my decision It's my decision I'm cutting the cord. I'm cutting the cord.
8.
England Sleeps 05:50
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A Triumph Herald Soft top down Crests the rise On the A361 The boy's not optimistic That this one'll pick up hitchhikers But she stops And says come on And England sleeps Well you can walk for miles And feel like you haven't gone anywhere You can sit stock still And feel like you've seen the world Well I've travelled the earth Flown my banner in a hundred countries But I always seem to fall back To the place where it first unfurled Where England sleeps Perchance to dream The finest place on earth So it might seem England sleeps But have no fear I'm not some swivel-eyed zealot I just quite like it here Where England sleeps Is England sleeping In Merlin's hidden cave With a hundred of King Arthur's finest Waiting to ride out and save the day? Well I heard that rumour But I know that it can't be Because I know where she is sleeping And it's right here It's right here, deep down within me Well you can talk about the Beatles And Tim Berners-Lee Talk about William Shakespear Giants of their day But if you walk the green back lanes And the ordinary streets You'll see a thousand years of footprints That guided their way To where England sleeps Perchance to dream The finest place on earth So it might seem England sleeps But have no fear I'm not some swivel-eyed zealot I just quite like it here Where England sleeps
9.
My New Car's a Pair of Shoes 02:22
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I asked my baby where she wanted to go I said Baby, let's take it slow Now here's the thing You can go anywhere you choose Anywhere you choose But my new car's a pair of shoes I said Baby, love isn't a race. Let's take it at walking pace Now here's the thing I don't need the blues I ain't got the blues 'Cause my new car's a pair of shoes I got no driver's licence No road tax No insurance Baby just relax I disregard every traffic sign Lawman tells me "That's just fine" No 20 zone, no red light I can go just as fast as I like They tried to give me a parking ticket I had to explain where to stick it Now here's the thing Don't you follow the news? Have you heard the news My new car's a pair of shoes? I got nothin to lose My new car's a pair of shoes Well I ain't got the blues 'Cause my new car's a pair of shoes Yeah
10.
Tulips 06:31
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Gratefully awakened from troubled dreams She lays seige to the day Bent on its surrender But not letting it escape But the night stands behind a different chair Rides in upon a different mare Unwelcome Like an eerie uncle You try to avoid but still keeps turning up Each hour and minute slip through our fingers Like match-smoke in the air Had them here solid in my hand Now it's as if they were never there But a flick from the tinderstick Has the smoke retreating See how all life is fleeting But it's all right No cause for worry It isn't a problem cause it can't be solved Aren't the tulips fantastic this year? Isn't the cherry blossom the best you've ever seen? Now your future is perfectly clear Clear as your plate - licked clean Do you feel you're constantly under attack? You want someone to come to your aid but they won't? Tulips are perennial, they're supposed to come back Just sometimes they don't So here we are, facing each other Across No Man's Land Neither side risking advance Neither showing their hand But this fight is one that can't be won Pointing that gun at your own reflection So just leave it Stop wasting time Cause that's the one thing that you won't get back Aren't the tulips fantastic this year? Isn't the cherry blossom the best you've ever seen? Now your future is perfectly clear Clear as your plate - licked clean Do you feel you're constantly under attack? You want someone to come to your aid but they won't? Tulips are perennial, they're supposed to come back Just sometimes they don't Aren't the tulips fantastic this year? Isn't the cherry blossom the best you've ever seen? Now your future is perfectly clear Clear as your plate - licked clean Do you feel you're constantly under attack? You want someone to come to your aid but they won't? Tulips are perennial, they're supposed to come back Just sometimes they don't Just sometimes they don't

about

Well here it is (cheesy fanfare) - the 17th Smivets album all ripe and ready to rock your various worlds.

Most of these tunes were written in 2021 and, although not intended as any kind of concept album, they do seem to hang together nicely as a song collection with some common themes running through.
A lot of it concerns the nature of dreams of various sorts and whether they end up becoming your reality at some point. Plus the usual rantings of a grumpy old bugger.

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released September 30, 2023

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The Smivets Uttoxeter, UK

The Smivets are Steve Smith, a songwriter, guitarist, singer and musical dabbler from Staffordshire, UK.
Leaning heavily towards the music of the 70s, there's a cavalier disregard for any rules of genre. One minute it might be hard rock, the next pop, or prog-rock or punk or anything, but all with depth - they'll take your heart if you let them.
Press play - you never know what you'll get. ... more

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