Shadows

How did I get here?
Is it darkness that creeps in my bones?
On the edge of that fear
On the edge of everything that I've known

I can see it's the end
of the way things used to be
Breaking down
Dissolving everything inside of me
There's no love in the end
only what you want from me
Giving up
Letting darkness take control of me

And I stand here alone
And all these words
can't bring me home
My mind is filled shadows
Shadows of the soul
These shadows
Shadows of control

Stake your claim on me
It's the dawn of the age of fear
You tell me I'm free
The illusion whispered into my ear

I can see it's the end
of the way things used to be
Breaking down
Dissolving everything inside of me
There's no love in the end
only what you want from me
Giving up
Letting darkness take control of me

And I stand here alone
And all these words
can't bring me home
My mind is filled shadows
Shadows of the soul
These shadows
Shadows of control

The music here was all written by my buddy Larry who was cool enough to let me give a shot at doing some vocals on it. It probably seems nerdy, but the lyrics here are actually influenced by the video game Alan Wake.  I wasn't sure what to write about, and I was in the middle of a replay of Alan Wake: American Nightmare.  I decided to try writing from the point of view of someone falling under the influence of the Taken and what it must be like.  Although, when I was done, I've had people tell me the the things they think the song is about.  It's been insightful in regards to how people think and relate the contents to their own experiences. 

Devil Down

This song was written by my buddy Larry Greer on drums and a friend of his, Ian Murphy on guitar.  The music was absolutely great and he was cool enough to let me attempt vocals on it.  I still need to add bass to the first half of the song, but it seems like it's coming along.

silence is the worst form of cowardice

you rob and you take 

 enslave and you rape 

you prove through your actions 

your religion is fake 

you commit these horrors 

disgrace muhammad's name 

how is killing children 

anything but insane?

your actions are the worst sin 

there's a holocaust, 

and the world ignores it again 

when will we wake up? 

when will we take action? 

this happens every time 

socialism's on the rise again

war on women? 

 how bout the ones that they take? 

civil rights? 

what about the ones that they enslave? 

pedophiles? 

how bout 12 year olds getting raped? 

discrimination? 

 how bout people drowned in a cage?

we're more worried about messages on a cake 

than homosexuals being thrown from the roof 

we'd rather put a stupid rainbow on our facebook pic 

than take 5 minutes to seek out the truth

silence is the worst form of cowardice

when it comes to users 

you wear the crown 

and when you fall it's just 

one more devil down

isis is evil in it's purest form 

this is the war for which we've been born

and to the apathetic hollywood elites 

screaming 'human shield' with your voices so loud 

but when children are crucified in the streets 

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU NOW!?

when it comes to users 

you wear the crown 

and when you fall it's just 

one more devil down

When All is Sorrow (rough mix)

This is not really one of my songs.  My buddy Larry wrote and recorded this and was cool enough to let me toy with vocals on it.  I'm not settled on this yet, but this is a rough hack.

the things i overcome that keep me numb my life wasted on stupid dreams
i spent my life always on the run time to set aside childish things
trapped myself with promises I regret the mistakes i make when i agree
i'm meant to go with the wind on a whim, just unchained and free
i'm trapped by indecision now struggling to be the best i can be
but i'm smothered by expectation to be someone other than me
witness now the change of heart as cold as stone, it cannot bleed
i'm shutting down now to survive
i'm shutting off so i can breathe

time does not feel the same when all is sorrow
 when all is sorrow

do you think you can tame me use me just to change me
i can't save you i'm moving onward
now
i will not be your exit out
because
i can't save you i'm moving onward
i'm not your rewind i'm not your lifeline
i can't save you i'm moving onward
don't pin your hopes on me in the end you'll always see
i can't save you i'm moving onward

can you stand on your own two feet
without me, without love, can you be
the best version of yourself
not defined by someone else
who you are, who you were,
who you'll be
can you be you, without me?
cause i'm not always going to be here
you can't live your life paralyzed in fear
so i'm moving on so you can learn to stand
and when you find yourself I'll come back again
but until that day this is how far I'll go
cause time does not feel the same
when all is sorrow