A comprehensive playlist of all Adam Tell songs on SoundCloud!

Adam Tell: Complete


I'm no angel, I have a history
Of acting on impulses of jealousy
I said some things that I know will haunt me to the grave
But there's nothing to do about a lit fuse except look back and wave...

Waiting at a stop sign, I can't relax
I've never been more cautious, she's like walking on glass
This girl is giving me a taste of my old self
I've been made the fool playing under her rules, and now I'm going on the shelf

Other end of the switch
She's cutting the lights and I can't see anything
Heading straight for the ditch
She set the hook and I'm tied up
Divide up what's left of our shares
She's getting them all cause I gave her everything
There's no way to repair a heart that's stolen away

Walk through the sequence and check the time-logs
There's gotta be a punch out when she turned off
Hiding in the fine print is a silver lining
She's taking me in, trading all of my sins, my bad karma's released

Other end of the switch
She's cutting the lights and I can't see anything
Heading straight for the ditch
She set the hook and I'm tied up
Divide up what's left of our shares
She's getting them all cause I gave her everything
There's no way to repair a heart that's MIA
A heart that's stolen away...

Download

Other End


I could feel I'd fallen into a hole
Things stopped making sense a while ago
People leaving quicker than they'd appear
Won't you stick around and tell me things I don't wanna hear

I was getting good at lying low
I think my indifference was starting to show
Made me wonder why you came onto me
But I'm ok with leaving it at serendipity

I'd be lying if I said that I don't love it when you scramble my head
You're always testing my restraint, you let me loose then you pull back the reins
When you catch me feeling down, you know exactly how to bring me round
No you're nothing but bad news for the self-destructive guy you rescued

It'd be easy to fall back on my face
If you weren't here beside me sharing your grace
There were times I couldn't get out the door
Now I'm begging you to show me why we're sprawled on the floor

You've been saying it's so lovely to see
That I'm the one creating positive energy
When you found me I was working uphill
Keeping distances and promises I couldn't fulfill

I'd be lying if I said that I don't love it when you scramble my head
You're always testing my restraint, you let me loose then you pull back the reins
When you catch me feeling down, you know exactly how to bring me round
No you're nothing but bad news for the self-destructive guy you rescued

You couldn't stay away, no alibi would do
You wouldn't let me go 'til I wanted you
I began to see a different point of view
I was breaking down, now I'm breaking though
Turn the music up 'til we blow a fuse
Sing along with me, we'll make our big debut
Don't deny it girl, you're the perfect muse
You're the only one worth singing to

You're bad news for the old guy
But you're a great excuse to start a new life
We'll go slow, take the long way
"Nice n easy does it," just like they used to say
Let's shake down all the goodbyes
Close the chapter, and skip the reprise
Throw all the bad things in the archives
Nothing but you and me in the headlines

Bad News


Woke up in sweat
My body's way of making sure that I can't forget
The dream is the same
You're always gone when I call your name

The world was afire
We were young and getting high on desire
No, but you didn't stay
And I'm still trying to recalibrate

It ended with me and what I believed
Was hiding underneath the surfaces of relief
You offered me peace, I gathered for war
I didn't even know what I was fighting for
I was looking for clues that didn't exist
A superficial smile, a hesitated kiss
I had it all wrong, and you made it right
You showed me the truth in what I lost that night

Play it again
That's the melody we lived in when we were friends
Four minutes of you
It always ends before I want it to

Savor the sky
This shade of blue could take me back to July
Summer was so long ago
Now I'm drowning in April snow

It ended with me and what I believed
Was hiding underneath the surfaces of relief
You offered me peace, I gathered for war
I didn't even know what I was fighting for
I was looking for clues that didn't exist
A superficial smile, a hesitated kiss
I had it all wrong, and you made it right
You showed me the truth in what I lost that night

It ended with me and what I believed
Was hiding underneath the surfaces of relief
You offered me peace, I gathered for war
I didn't even know what I was fighting for


Surfaces


Facebook: www.facebook.com/AdamTellMusic
Twitter: twitter.com/aTellTweets

Mastered by Recursion
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamrecursion

Available for purchase on iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon, and other digital distributors.
Any support is greatly appreciated :)

Let's not dwell on this; mistakes happen, let's move on
We shouldn't take tallies. They proved that system wrong
If you wash your hands, use my dirty water
We can come clean and we should do it together
We've got stories, roller coaster stories
And we can make this moment a tale of conquered seas
Cause I would cross an ocean of all our worst emotions
To never lose the feeling your smile gives me

We're standing on a solid base
This house just needs a coat of paint
Attention falls on tainted walls
If we can't look away, we'll lose it all

Conversation crash, never mind, that came out wrong, don't listen to me
Let me rephrase the way I sing your song
Everything to lose, I won't take you for granted
Why say it plainly over something romantic
We've got mem'ries, disenchanted mem'ries
But we can overwhelm them with time we frame today
And give us new perspective for when we feel reflective
We can't be naive but we can meet halfway

We're standing on a solid base
This house just needs a coat of paint
Attention falls on tainted walls
If we can't look away, we'll lose it all

All we know is what we choose to see
And all we are is whom we choose to be

We're standing on a solid base
This house just needs a coat of paint
Attention falls on tainted walls
If we can't look away, we've already lost it all



Coat Of Paint


If there's anything that you want me to do for you, tell me now
I wanna get a head start. I've cleaned myself up, turned myself around
You make it easy to being glad. You are the love I've never had

I love it when you laugh at me. I'd make myself look a fool to make you smile
Your love is like ecstasy. I'm digging your details, I love your style
You make it easy to believe that you and I are meant to be

So many things that I've said are simply not what I meant
So put this on the record: You make me who I want to be
You make the best person out of me
You make it easy

You brighten up my Mondays. They don't feel like they're the end of my life
I love our sweet goodbyes, with none of that stupid, "say you love me twice!"
You make it easy to forget all of my closely held regrets
All of my, all of my, all of my...

So many things that I've said are simply not what I meant
So put this on the record: You make me who I want to be
You make the best person out of me
You make it easy
The best person out of me
You make it easy
The best person out of me, yeah

Who I am now is not who I was then
I'm moving on to much better things
If you'd ever known me you'd walk right past me
But while my heart is healing stay close to me

So many things that I've said are simply not what I meant
So put this on the record: You make me who I want to be
You make the best person out of me
You make it easy


You Make It Easy


15 minutes gone, lost myself again
I'm thinking negatives, forgetting all my friends
Scared of where I'm going, hating where I've been
Wishing I could be in someone else's skin

Dreams are going great but then I spring awake
If I can leave my room, I might make it through the day
I need a new routine, I need something to say
I need to show myself an unfamiliar face

It's hard to train a train of thought that goes to places you don't wanna see again
Too many things to criticize. Somebody let me know I'm overthinking
It's hard to find some peace of mind when you're at war with who you are and who you've been
I've run it through a million times. I'm too convinced I'm not just overthinking

"Don't you ever change" is too common a phrase
That friends and family give out without delay
I need to shift my sails, face the other way
I'm tired of living life like its a losing game

Maybe I need a drive under the moon all alone
Maybe I'll clear my head all the way 'til I get home
But when the sun peaks through I know what he will say,
"You shouldn't let the stars steal away your days"

It's hard to train a train of thought that goes to places you don't wanna see again
Too many things to criticize. Somebody let me know I'm overthinking
It's hard to find some peace of mind when you're at war with who you are and who you've been
Cause I've run it through a million times. I'm so convinced I'm not just overthinking

No, I'm not just overthinking...

It's hard to train a train of thought
Too many things to criticize
It's hard to find some peace of mind
I've run it through a million times



Overthinking


We were a good team, we had public passwords
But plans went sideways and we went backwards
"Yes"es were "not now"s, "easy" was "somehow"
I tried to bring you in, but you just pushed back out

No explanations, only referring
No expectations on your returning
Yet here you stand with cheeks stained in sadness
Come in and dry your eyes

Love, don't speak
Keep your eyes right here, resync
Love, unwind
Gimme your eyes right here, you'll be fine

Do you remember this elevation
You were fearless, no hesitation
There might be questions you haven't answered
But I will help you relight the lantern

No better stories than second chances
We'll start a fire from broken branches
Can't wait to see you fly off the pages
This kind of freedom is so contagious

Love (I still love you, 'course I love you), don't speak (don't you say a word about it)
Keep your eyes right here (lock 'em in and don't you worry), resync (take a deep breath and bring it in)
Love (Love I know you've got this in you), unwind (don't you think it's time to let go?)
Keep your eyes right here (focus on me, don't you worry), you'll be fine

No one needs to know where you've been
Just leave it alone and take my hand
Cause there's a good life with your name on the side
It's easy to see, just open your eyes

Love, don't speak
Keep your eyes right here



Eyes Right Here


Ordinary evenings
Blasé days repeating
Maybe I'm just in-between two meanings
Creation still employs me
But passion must avoid me
Where did all this time go is still the mystery

Seeing a past life under streetlight is a harmless distraction if played right
Jump the fences, and tap your senses. Remember when you felt alive
Keep it back there for when you need it, but don't give in to temptation and feed it
It will consume you, just might kill you under its weight
Death by nostalgia

Progress quickly slows
Straight lines start to bow
Cynical thinking creeps in the shadows
Too young not to buy
A fabricated lie
To camouflage the reason why you're not letting go

Seeing a past life under streetlight is a harmless distraction if played right
Jump the fences, and tap your senses. Remember when you felt alive
Keep it back there for when you need it, but don't give in to temptation and feed it
It will consume you, just might kill you under its weight
Death by nostalgia

Death By Nostalgia


There it is, I finally figured it out
Gimme just a second, let me jot it down
I won't let another moment slip by

It's right here, no more searching anymore
It checks out by the happy couple next door
They use this answer all the time

I'll try it out, it can't be that hard to do
The first week, sure, like breaking in new shoes
But it won't be long before it's second nature

I feel calm. It's given me clarity
Shaping all my words and carrying my feet
Never been so hopeful of the future

I know I've made progress, but I want it to breathe
I haven't been sharing it with anybody but me

I'm being critical, retuning my strings
Don't we all have boxes full of broken things
I've got the song, I've found my words
I need to open up my ears and do some listening
I need to do some listening

Stay sharp, and handle yourself with care
Search for the truth, and don't chase the dare
You can so lost without warning

Have faith in the people who taught you well
And don't ever stop listening to yourself
You both know what's best for your journey

So step up, make your case, and take aim
Shoot down your guilt, release the blame
Cause I'm done with counting the score

I think back on the night I took you home
And we dragged the fighting to the phones
What the hell were we arguing for?

I'm taking my heartbreaks and setting them free
Cause none of that matters where I'm going to be

I'm being critical, retuning my strings
Don't we all have boxes full of broken things
I've got the song, I've found my words
I need to open up my ears and do some listening
A little more listening

I know you think you've gone too far
Too much remorse, too many scars
It's such a shame you've been so vain
But it's not too late to turn around
Backtrack, and take the higher ground
Everyone you love is waiting

I'm being critical, retuning my strings
Don't we all have boxes full of broken things (full of fixable things)
I've got the song, I've found my words
I need to open up my ears and do some listening
I need to do some listening



Listening

The world is cold at rest on your shoulders
And we feel strangely pressed to grow older
The finite spring of youth won't matter
When all you have are never afters

Don't just stand there, take a bow
You came out on top some how
Surely, you won't miss your friends
They where whom you fought against

Our situations change and we follow
The terms we laid won't last 'til tomorrow
The white flags flew too late for kneeling
So strike your swords and start the rebuilding

Don't just stand there, take a bow
You came out on top somehow
Surely, you won't miss your friends
They were whom you fought against

State your name for the record please
You've been charged for your treachery
Do you have any witnesses
Who can speak for you and your innocence
Such a shame there's an empty stand
No one spared from your master plan
Give us time now to deliberate
Your sentencing while you just wait

Whom You Fought Against


So young, soft tongue
Who knows what she's gonna do
Bu there's cake and she wastes
No time at all to tell you
She'll be sweeter than mom
And much stronger than daddy
But there's one big wish
She saves every year for the fire
They know her desires
Her wishes come true
She believes that they do

Wish (Intro)

Written, arranged, produced, mixed, and performed by Adam Tell
Mastered by Fox Stevenson

Lyrics:

Crack the code, and cut the wire
Build a bridge, and start the fire
You say you’re home, but you’re a liar
Pack it up, it’s time to leave
Nothing here but disbelief
A heart that turned into a machine

Hold back, how you wanna react
Keep it from front lines, in the back of your mind 
You’ve been trying to outrun, what you wanna become
It’s all gonna catch up, catch up
You crowd it, doubt it 
Give it a room where it can change clothes, but you know
You’d rather die before you outrun, what you were born to become
You might let it catch up, catch up

Ring it out and let it dry
Wait and see what’s left alive
But be be prepared to be surprised
Did you forget the way you came?
Did your regret give you a name?
This where you change the game

Hold back, how you wanna react
Keep it from front lines, in the back of your mind 
You’ve been trying to outrun, what you wanna become
It’s all gonna catch up, catch up
You crowd it, doubt it
Give it a room where it can change clothes, but you know
You’d rather die before you outrun, what you were born to become
You might let it catch up, catch up

Close your lips and try to speak
All the words you couldn’t breathe
Close your eyes and you will see
Face ahead and take it in
A lifetime of medicine
Isn’t out of the question


When you feel you’ve lost it all
When there’s nowhere left to fall
It’s time to rise above it all

Feel the rush in laying down
See their faces turn around
As your feet leave the ground

Hold back, how you wanna react
Keep it from front lines, in the back of your mind 
You’ve been trying to outrun, what you wanna become
It’s all gonna catch up, catch up
You crowd it, doubt it
Give it a room where it can change clothes, but you know
You’d rather die before you outrun, what you were born to become
You might let it catch up, catch up
It’s time to let it catch up, catch up

Support

Outrun

Written by Imogen Heap
Arranged, produced, mixed, and performed by Adam Tell
Mastered by Fox Stevenson

Where do we go from here?
How do we carry on?
I can't get beyond the questions

I'm clambering for the scraps
In the shatter of us, collapsed
It cuts me with every could-have-been

Pain on pain on pain, repeating
With a backup makeshift life in waiting

Everybody says that time heals everything
But what of the wretched hallow,
The endless in-between
Are we just going to wait it out?

There's nothing to see here now
Turning the sign around
We're closed to the Earth 'till further notice

Stumbling cliché case
Crumpled and puffy-faced
Dead in the stare of a thousand miles

All I want is only one street-level miracle
I'll be an out-and-out, born again from none more cynical

Everybody says that time heals everything
But what of the wretched hallow
The endless in-between
Are we just going to wait it out?

And sit here cold
We will be long gone by then and lackluster
In dust, we lay around old magazines
Florescent lighting sets the scene
For all we could and should be being
In the one life that we've got...

Everybody says that time heals everything
But what of the wretched hallow
The endless in-between
Are we just going to wait it out
And sit here, just going to wait it out
And sit here cold, just going to sweat it out
Wait it out

Wait It Out

Written, arranged, produced, mixed, and performed by Adam Tell
Mastered by Fox Stevenson

Lyrics:

An open-heart policy
We made an honest fantasy
Our oldest secrets thrown away into the stream

We’re different now than when we met
We break, we fight, we get upset
I know the signs, but I can’t stand to lose you yet

Thread the stitch, don’t rip this wide open
Patch it quick before we find what’s broken
Holding onto fiction in the fire
Keeping calm while we burn, while we burn

Bleeding out, caving in
Running low on safety pins
We took the good and wore it down to the skin

We let it leave without consent
We bet it all on good intent
And now we’re left with love’s lament

Thread the stitch, don’t rip this wide open
Patch it quick before we find what’s broken
Holding onto fiction in the fire
Keeping calm while we burn, while we burn

That flicker in your eyes
Can we keep this fire alive?

Holding onto fiction in the fire
Holding onto fiction in the fire   

Fiction In The Fire

Written, arranged, produced, mixed, and performed by Adam Tell
Mastered by Fox Stevenson

Lyrics:
The situations turning red
We’re deconstructing in the bed
But keep connected in our heads
Our inhibitions disappear
Communication’s crystal clear
We’re diving in this new frontier

The puzzle contained in these sheets
Is ours for the night to complete

Waking up to the sunrise freckles, linen circles
We’re lying on the same page
Forget about the morning decay, coffee cliches 
No pressure to close this case
   
Pillows coated in perfume
The night is scattered round the room
We’re coming back down from the moon
I’m learning you from the inside
I’m memorizing your design 
I’m finding answers in your eyes

The moment we fall into sleep
My mind rewinds, you’re on repeat

Waking up to sunrise freckles, linen circles
We’re lying on the same page
Forget about the morning decay, coffee cliches 
No pressure to close this case

There’s no mistaking where we stand
And no projections for an end
We’re moving faster than we planned
You’re feeling warmer when you sleep
It’s getting colder when you leave
Your kiss has never felt so sweet

These changes aren’t anything more
Than precisely what this love calls for

Waking up to sunrise freckles, linen circles
We’re lying on the same page
Forget about the morning decay, coffee cliches 
No pressure to close this case

Purchase

Close This Case

Written, arranged, produced, mixed, and performed by Adam Tell
Mastered by Fox Stevenson

Lyrics:

We kept our intentions in the dark
and separated the tinder from the spark
I’m sure it’s obvious to them
that we’ve been selling ourselves as just good friends
It doesn’t matter how we plead
You’re wearing my name, I’ve got your fingerprints on me
Sure, it’s been fun to play the game
But it’s time we called this by its real name 

Don’t overthink the way we feel
Anticipate the slow reveal
We’ve engineered the perfect tale
We only need to part the veil
To see what’s been there all along
See the truth behind the song
The preparations have been made
For the welcoming parade

Let’s take a walk and talk this through
Relay the messages of love we hid from view
We should be clear about one thing
There’s gonna be kisses flying all around the ring
Don’t be afraid to lose control
Sit back, relax, and watch the fireworks show
The idea’s always been the same
But it’s time we called it by its real name

Don’t overthink the way we feel
Anticipate the slow reveal
We’ve engineered the perfect tale
We only need to part the veil
To see what’s been there all along
See the truth behind the song
The preparations have been made
For the welcoming parade

Adam Tell: Complete

Laika