We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

arrive (and) depart

by Stephen Gerard Hiscox

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Purchasable with gift card

     

1.
Trying to navigate the waves But we can barely keep afloat. The mad captain's at the helm Of the burning boat. He's saluting all the passengers, He thinks he's still in charge While the water's pouring through the holes In this rusty, leaky barge. The weather's looking threatening, We're heading for a storm. The crew are all crossing themselves, Wishing they'd never left the port. Meanwhile in the captain's lounge He's bursting into song. The wine is going to his head And he thinks there's nothing wrong. You can turn a pearl into an oyster And a diamond into dirt. Precious into worthless, A butterfly into a worm. No matter what you turn your hand to Bad turns into worse. Now the debts are piling up And the bills keep rolling in. The people want what they are owed, Their patience wearing thin. But you're ignoring all the warning signs And it just won't sink in. You just carry on regardless Until you've lost everything. You can turn a feast into a famine And a harvest into drought. Abundance into deficit, Till everything runs out. We know that it will all go wrong, The only question is just how. You can turn a limousine into a hearse And turn a rainbow grey, A thing that once was precious Into one you couldn't give away. Now we're salvaging what we can save Before it all goes down the drain. A pearl into an oyster And a diamond into dirt. Precious into worthless, A butterfly into a worm. No matter what you turn your hand to Bad turns into worse.
2.
Go Quietly 04:24
It's the line of least resistance, It's the point of no return. You have to make your own mistakes If you're ever gonna learn. If you want to go forward, If you want to get somewhere. Well I can safely claim That I've made more than my fair share. It's the worm that eats the apple, It's the locust in the corn. If you venture out into the night You have to dress up warm. It's the evening that creeps up on you, It's the night ahead you fear. The curtain descends once again And it gets so dark in here. It looks real from the outside But I just feel like a fraud. So I guess I'll just go quietly, Leave no mark upon the world. Go quietly, go quietly, go now. It's the devil in the detail, It's the dirt under my nails, It's the medicine I depend upon And the cure that never fails. It's the skin that I keep shedding, It's the lines drawn on my face, It's the things I never missed Until they were gone without a trace. Now the papers rise like pigeons As they're lifted on the breeze, And I depart discreetly, Close the door behind me. Go quietly, go quietly, go now. It's the pages of the calendar, And the turning of the clock. It's the slowing of the engines And the grinding to a stop. I once did this for pleasure Now it just feels like a chore. So I guess I'll just leave quietly And softly close the door. It looks real from the outside But I just feel like a fraud. So I guess I'll just go quietly, Leave no mark upon the world. Go quietly, go quietly, go quietly, go quietly, go now.
3.
Aether 03:34
The waves roll in and kiss the sand, The they roll away again And say good-bye to the land. We'll pour all these moments into a bottle and keep them, Save them for later And take them out when we need them. We'll send a tune out into the aether See if it finds an ear. It can tell us all about all the things that it's seen If it ever finds its way back here. I'm sitting here and soaking up all I smell and hear and see. Imprint it on my mind And turn it into memories. Why did you have to go when you did? Things could have been different If you'd waited a little bit. We'll send a tune out into the aether See if it finds an ear. Throw it into the water like a message in a bottle And see if it washes up somewhere. We'll send a tune out into the aether See if it finds an ear. It can tell us all about all the things that it's seen If it ever finds its way back here.
4.
The blinds are drawn against the heat. The backyard path can burn your feet. My grandfather's praying while Grandma listens to the races. We creep out the backdoor, not leaving any traces. Past the trees all ripe with peaches, we steal three or four, Down to the ones where nothing grows anymore. The daylight it can blind you, but it's cool and dark in here, In amongst the brambles and briars where no-one else comes near. Where the grass won't grow Where no-one else goes, We hide underneath the mulberry tree, The mulberry tree, the mulberry tree. Down at the end of the yard, where we're not meant to go, By the broken fence where they tethered the goat. He's bucking and braying and tugging on the line, He's watching us close with his one good eye. We don't have a name for the thing between us. Forgive us our mortal sins and all our misdemeanors. When the heat lets up and the sky turns black, As the rain starts to fall we hurry quickly back. Where the grass won't grow Where no-one else goes, We hide underneath the mulberry tree, The mulberry tree, the mulberry tree.
5.
The televisions flash like lightning from behind the curtains. The world's chaotic and nothing's certain. When the ground keeps shifting under your shoes And you can see the way out but it's hard to get to, When everything you believe in gets eaten by doubt Just hold my hand when the light goes out. When you keep looking backwards it gets hard to see. Nostalgia's not quite what it used to be. Time gets ahead of you and you can't keep up, You lie curled up in bed like a question mark. When the moon disappears behind the clouds Be near me when the lights go down. You're neither here nor there but somewhere in between. You feel like you're stuck in someone else's dream. You go back where you came from to find out why you left. You start out full of hope and you end up bereft. Now the memory is fading but something remains, Stay with me while the light fades. When the moon disappears behind the clouds Hold my hand when the light goes out.
6.
Come Down 04:31
There's a storm building up The sky's as black as a bruise. There's a crackle in the air Like the flash from a fuse. The atmosphere's so thick You could cut it with a knife. It'd only take a spark To set the whole thing alight. So come down, come down, come down, come down. Lie down on the grass in the shade on the ground. Come down, come down, come down. We go chin to chin And pound for pound. We step into the ring And we go fifteen rounds. Now we're black and blue And bloodied and battered. We fought it out to the end And none of it mattered. So come down, come down, come down, come down. Take a walk in the quiet evening streets of the town. Come down, come down, come down. Watch the sun sink into the sea Till it boils. Watch the colours swim Like a rainbow on oil. You built yourself a wall Now it's grown far too high. The world's caving in Till it could bury you alive. Everything is in spiral And it's dragging you down, Let me throw you a line And turn you around. So come down, come down, come down, come down. Find the stillness at the centre, while everything else spins around. Come down, come down, come down. So come down, come down, come down, come down. Lie down on the grass in the shade on the ground. So come down, come down, come down, come down. Find the stillness at the centre, let everything else keep spinning 'round. Come down, come down, come down.
7.
The birds on the telephone wires Look just like crotchets and quavers. The evening's about to arrive And I'm afraid there is nothing will save us. Now I know what it's like To be cut down to size And everything's finally clear And I had honestly no idea. I'm sorry for all that I've done And for all of the things that I should have. I let everything come undone And I didn't patch it up when I could have. Now when the sadness subsides There's a hole left inside And outside I can hear the birds call As the snow starts to silently fall. Now it's cold and quiet at home But I hope that it's warmer where you are. You can get used to being alone It's forgetting that seems to be so hard. Would you recognise me If we passed on the street? Will you think of me now and then When the weather turns warm again?
8.
Like Christmas and the seasons It keeps on coming 'round. The fragile tower we built up All comes crashing down. Clouds gather in the distance The wind's announcing trouble And all that's left for us to do Is to clear away the rubble. The rooms are getting emptier And it's all wasting away, But sometimes a sudden death Is better than a lingering decay. And it's so hard to hold yourself up And keep yourself alive When you depend on someone else And all you get is lies. I tried to put my faith in you Now I don't believe a word And everything you swore was true I'll pretend I never heard. Now we're sifting through the wreckage And scraping off the rust But just perhaps there'll be a diamond Buried in amongst the dust. Sometimes sometimes precious Is worthless to someone else And when it all gets thrown away You lose a small piece of yourself. And it's so hard to hold yourself up And keep yourself alive When you depend on someone else And all you get is lies. Sometimes sometimes precious Is worthless to someone else And when it all gets thrown away You lose a small piece of yourself.
9.
From the penthouse to the pavement, The boulevard to the backstreet, It's a long, long way to fall, You can only hope you land on your feet. When all your stocks have plummeted And all you ever had is gone, Everything that was valuable Ain't worth the paper it's printed on. The road is strewn with obstacles, Pitfalls and potholes. There comes a time when you have to pay For every single thing you stole. From the champagne to the sediment, From the caviar to the stew, You watched the others stumble And you never thought it would happen to you. From the bungalow to the barrio, The upper deck to the underpass, You find out where you've ended up When the dust settles in the aftermath. The road is strewn with hindrances, Potholes and pitfalls, The higher up that you can climb, The further you can fall. The road is strewn with obstacles, Pitfalls and potholes. There comes a time when you have to pay For every single thing you stole. The road is strewn with hindrances, Potholes and pitfalls, The higher up that you can climb, The further you can fall.
10.
I thought I'd stop by To see what I'd been missing. But my biggest wish Is to just stop wishing. I wanted to find out What I'd been waiting for, But nobody knows how to wait anymore. But you and I We're not as young as we were, And it takes longer and longer To get anywhere. You and I We're not so young anymore, And everything looks different From the way it did before. This is where I come To get away from myself, This is where I come When I want to be someone else. I've got too much to think about And nothing to say. I'm just anxious and angry And a long way away. You and I We're not as young as before. In fact I'm starting to wonder If we ever really were. You and I We've been gone for years. In fact I'm starting to wonder If we were ever really here. You and I We're not as young as before. The past is catching up with us And the future's getting shorter. But you know and I know It's not so bad getting older If you've got a firm hand to hold And you can lean on a shoulder. You and I We're not as young as we were, And it takes longer and longer To get anywhere. But you know and I know It's not so bad getting older If you've got a shoulder to lean on And a firm hand to hold. You and I We're not so young anymore, And everything looks different From the way it did before. But you know and I know It's not so bad getting older If you've got a firm hand to hold And you can lean on a shoulder. You and I We don't need much these days, We just want to see the horizon With nothing in the way. But you know and I know It's not so bad getting older If you've got a shoulder to lean on And a firm hand to hold. But you know and I know It's not so bad getting older If you've got a firm hand to hold And you can lean on a shoulder.
11.
Wave 03:55
Climb on our bikes by the side of the shed, Follow the track beside the shallow river bed. Over the bridge at the edge of town The first glimpse of the ocean and the road carries us down. The river slows down and spreads out to inlet, The ocean calls louder, the nearer that we get. We dive under the waves and gasp for air as we swim, The current is strong and it drags us in. Salt in our eyes, Sun on our skin, Sand on our feet, And the waves call us in.

about

Recorded sporadically over the last three or four years using GarageBand at home in Vienna. I played and sang everything.

Also includes a video I made for my song "Rearview Mirror".

credits

released May 12, 2012

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Stephen Gerard Hiscox Wien, Austria

I'm from Sydney, Australia, I live in Vienna, Austria. I write songs, record them at home, and sometimes I make videos for them.

contact / help

Contact Stephen Gerard Hiscox

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

Stephen Gerard Hiscox recommends:

If you like Stephen Gerard Hiscox, you may also like: