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Trading Graves

by 2 a.m. Orchestra

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1.
Loveless 02:18
Are you an angel sent to be with me in my darkest hours? One so lowly burns so slowly Loveless, lonely, unsatisfied Are you ready? Do you want to share the rest of our long lives? Will you leave your tiny footprints under the lids of my eyes?
2.
Home 02:52
High and low, deep and wide Down we go, and up we climb Place your hand inside mine Rays of love, tears of pride Like sun and rain, the steam will rise A spirit of hope through both our lives We will rise above our fears with hearts wide open And no matter where we go A friend is never far Just look beside you We’ll be each other’s home It’s time to grow into our dreams Our hearts are open And no matter where we are We’ll be each other’s homes Just look beside you A friend is never far High and low, deep and wide Down we go, and up we climb Place your hand inside mine
3.
In the Earth’s first days they were in plain site In mediaeval times, just came out at night In the modern age they live in our minds And a hero needn’t fight La de de da If you want to know what you can’t observe Tea leaves and tarot if you’ve got the nerve You’ll get what you need not what you deserve And that thing inside you grows La de de da Coursing through your veins Truths you can’t explain Sounds cliché to say But we’re all just energy Atoms taking shape Seems like solid state Just a fuzzy grid We’re much too close to see Forever, Forever young and dumb Eternal whores of Babylon Snakes with wings will weave you a brand new spine Flaming tongues will speak to your heart and mind If you just believe what you can’t define And willingly swallow lies La de de da Forever, Forever young and dumb Eternal whores of Babylon
4.
Not one original thought in your mind You just know you’re alive and you don’t want die You’re overcome by the need to rush out on into the streets and scream As if your childish shouting could shake and wake the world from its own dream You say “stop your busyness, your petty arguments don’t you get it? See this life takes place in time, as time moves on your life goes by before you live it.” The waiting is over We can take things slower In the long day that follows But we don’t see tomorrow Not two short years ago there was a night When you lay up in bed and you prayed to the light: “I’m overcome by the speed in which the hours turn to days and weeks The weeks to months the months to years, the years add up and then it’s time to leave Oh please stop this dizziness, if it’s some kind of test then I don’t get it See this life takes place in time, as time goes by your life moves on before you live it” The waiting is over We can take things slower In the long day that follows But we don’t see tomorrow
5.
The time of your life No wood in your eye A snow globe of cocaine A pillar of meaning And here comes the sun The day has begun Of age in the season Of folly and reason A broken syringe The end of a binge The colors start fading A product of aging And here comes the moon The night’s making room For old souls returning And fresh bodies burning I don’t know why I don’t know why I just can’t get it right And finally the light The end of a life The angels are waiting All participating in The ceremony Your final degree All will give you congratulations Your last graduation At last liberation
6.
Two brothers, one is living in the red The other sees but he don’t understand It’s not like you’re on vacation Just need rehabilitation He’s not quite sinking but he’s all right You’re out there swimming and it’s high tide He’s working just to earn the paper You swear there’s time to grow up later In the old days you could make do As a prophet or a recluse But now this world I needs ad men And soldiers That’s what happens when you get older And there’s no going back now Just get along with it or back down There’s always someone just behind you Willing to step up and continue With stronger hands and quicker thinking And that’s how the Earth’s reborn each day Seeds and skulls trading graves.
7.
Youth ain’t real when time stands still A life so long could do no wrong A boy who thought his time could last Threw up his hands and grew up fast And feeling now quite sober The nights are getting colder The girls are growing older I think that summer’s over Drawing blood won’t get you love Nor sympathy, nor help from me And feeling now quite sober The nights are getting colder The girls are growing older I think that summer’s over Youth ain’t real when time stands still A life so long could do no wrong A boy who thought his life would not End up like every other ticking clock And feeling now quite sober The nights are getting colder The girls are growing older I think that summer’s over
8.
Cheap white wine marks this time as a day to remember As the day when we wrote our names Boys decide to be men tonight ‘Cause when you put pen to paper You see your whole life made plain And you’re sure to remember Why it is that you wrote your name A line in the sand that we can cross The shape of a plan and its cost Call it a contact made between friends Call it a means to an end Your golden fleece is a Trojan beast So you gotta surrender That is if you give a damn Brothers three can guarantee When you put pen to paper It’s easy to understand I see my name and remember Who I am A line in the sand that we can cross The shape of a plan and its cost Call it a contract made between friends Call it a means to an end Getting sober, painting over the past Call it a vice from which we obstain Call it a hopeful thought for a change Call it a contract made between friends Call it a means to an end
9.
You start out walking a road in which you do what you’re told You keep your eyes on the line, you keep the rules on your mind You keep the law on your tongue, keep distance from everyone While you’re growing up The years go by you’re unsure about your place in the world All you thought was your own was just a product of home Home’s a product of state and state’s a product of hate A dark tradition of competition So your sedition begins You’re writing letters, signing petitions, mailing them to the man The man who works for the state, the state’s a product of hate Here we go again In end in sight and no sign of the end We’re just doing the best that we can It’s not a perfect world it’s just the one that we’re living in Then you’ll find someone who can share the burden with you Your situation won’t change but you’ll escape from the pain You’ll stay young and in love until enough is enough ‘Till you find the other’s a product of mother and father and family and home A home controlled by the state, the state controlling your fate Here we go again In end in sight and no sign of the end We’re just doing the best that we can It’s not a perfect world it’s just the one that we’re living in You’ll watch the world getting poor but you won’t care anymore You look at your face in the mirror and can’t believe you’re still here That life has gone on this long and all you thought turned out wrong Nothing learned, no confidence Same old shit, different circumstance Life is not but a plan hatched in the mind of a man Who’s trying all on his own to find a feeling of home But home’s a product of state, state’s a product of hate The hate that God has for man - man who failed in his plan To build for himself a soul, to find a feeling of home But you can get what you want, what you want in the end ‘Cause there’s no soul to be got, you just gotta pretend. Here we go again In end in sight and no sign of the end We’re just doing the best that we can It’s not a perfect world it’s just the one that we’re living in
10.
Sweet Pea 03:45
It’s not easy to escape from all the hum drum To escape from all the hum drum is not easy If you want to, I can show you how to get there I can show you how to get there if you want to Just close your eyes and sleep Just close your eyes sweet pea It’s not easy to block out all the voices To block out all the voices is not easy If you want to I could tell you how to do it I could tell you how to do it if you want to Just have another drink Just have a drink with me And close your eyes sweet pea What you make and what you take always even What you take ain’t always even with what you’re making If you want to, I could help you pay the difference I could help you pay the difference if you want to Just sign it all to me Just sign it over please And close your eyes sweet pea
11.
Justine 04:19
Wake up now Justine Come outside and see The Earth will know your pain The honeymoon can wait Justine pour the wine Sit with me this night What hides behind sun? What evil have we done? What star can you trust to stay fixed in the sky? We’ve all got our reasons to cling to the lie: Never could our planets collide The animals all know And the trees all look like bones The atmosphere grows thin A message in the wind What angel could trust you to tell them truth? We’ve all got a stake in it, something to prove Reflecting the light of the moon Go to sleep Justine We all know what is coming The cave will keep us safe The afterlife can wait What star can you trust to stay fixed in the sky? We’ve all got our reasons to cling to the lie: Never could our planets collide
12.
Free 02:28
For years I was haunted Afraid of what I wanted It took a new set of eyes to see That I’m free, free now The time spent with my head turned Was a waste of all that I had learned It makes me want to be a better man I’m free, free now As big as a titan Wiser than an Olympian Beyond me, beyond morality I’m free, free now
13.
Take my blessing go I know it’s more than just a little restlessness With your brothers build new homes And start another life out west Take a wife and plant a tree Work the land as family Nurture all that you’ve planted I’ll be looking down from the branches And at summertime’s reunion The priest will give communion We’ll watch the people dancing Our prayers won’t need any answering Out a ways from the house Is a rock – it’s covered in green moss – where the water flows A guardian of this great land that all the old folks know And that’s where we’ll go Elizabeth, I promise It’s make believe but honest A tree don’t need a reason And we need the rain this season The cattle all are dying Joseph is still trying To force the clouds, he’s praying And he won’t come down ‘till it’s raining The ending I know The land it is my own I am the rock, I am the plane I am the tree, I am the rain

credits

released February 21, 2020

Produced by David Kelley
Co-produced and mixed by Joel Halford
Mastered by Chris Chetland

Engineered by David Kelley and Joel Halford

Nick Jones played violin and viola
All other instruments and vocals by David Kelley

Additional engineering by Adam Grant, Nathan Snowball, and Gwen Norcliffe

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2 a.m. Orchestra Auckland, New Zealand

"Dark harmonies and compelling melodies performed with equal parts sombre emotion and stark perfection." (NZ Musician Magazine)


"2 a.m. Orchestra has delivered an album that is worthy of superlatives. Impermanence deftly translates the chaos and elation of life, into uplifting and well-arranged rock songs - songs fused with eclecticism, vigour and exuberance."
(Get Frank)
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