I've taken things for granted
Haven't sown the seeds you planted
Washed away by the rain on hard ground
Strewn across the landscape never to be found

Live a life I learned by rote
Surface deep yet stuck in my throat
You must be sick at the sight of me
I know I am and always will be

But there's still time to turn this around
Thirty years to change gears makes quite a sound
You might strive to reach the profound
But trivium's all that you're allowed

There's always gonna be things you want to change 
But it's always better to do it face to face
You don't have to feel stuck in one lane
Who puts the barriers up: us or them?

Idling

Quick attempt at playing the notation from the supposed Arcade Fire postcard:

https://www.reddit.com/gallery/t5o73i

In my hurry I accidentally played it on my D standard tuned guitar without a capo on 2, so it's actually a whole step down from the notation. Oops! Sorry Win and Regine (and Will and Richard and Tim and Jeremy and Sarah and...)

Arcade Fire Postcard 1

Made a quick loop track around the second Arcade Fire post card notation sent out:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FM8S3OQXsAgfFfo?format=jpg&name=900x900

The bass uses the notation from the postcard with the Mellotron strings echoing it. The rest of the track is my improvisation around it mostly using guitar.

Arcade Fire Postcard 2

The 3rd Arcade Fire postcard sent out:

https://i.redd.it/g1zoq594k8l81.jpg

This one has lyrics and a melody. I fit chords underneath to see what the potential song could sound like, which you can watch me play here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOPaQxAEvag.

Arcade Fire Postcard 3 (Unsubscribe)

My interpretation of the 4th Arcade Fire postcard sent out:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNLPUoPWUAA-lhu?format=jpg&name=900x900

The synth and bass follow the notation as given. I added a subtle(?) guitar part over the top following some sensible chords that work(?) to flesh it out a bit and went through the notation as given twice ignoring the empty bars at the end.

It was tough to know what to do with this one as the melody alone sounded unsatisfying, but it was also quite difficult to work with as well and without any tempo or anything else to go off who know how it'll end up. It is what it is. I quite like it though.

Arcade Fire Postcard 4

Frustrated and docile
Stimulated for the meanwhile
But there will come a time 

They're at the borders 
At the doors
I'm coming in
This life is yours
Do as you please
You cannot be serious

As long as you can
Is it so hard to understand?
I'm still your man if you want me

I'll see you down in the lobby

I can't breathe
No luxury
I hope we 
Get some relief

I'm coming in.

Richard Pugh: Chords, lyrics, guitars, keys, bass, drums, mics and computers
Fred: Chords, guitars

I'm Coming In

Don't want to hear about your fucking problems
Are you so afraid you'll figure out how to solve them?
Stuck in the same rut for the thousandth time
Did you make it out or did you give up again this time?

I've seen the forest it's all trees
Save your platitudes
Let me wallow in peace

Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum

I turn the volume up to drown it out
I focus inwards count my breaths and quell the doubts
I cook I clean I eat I sleep I walk I talk
Still I feel the dread rising from the pit of my stomach

Is there nothing we can do?
Every day for a year no improvement

We will overcome
But loss and suffering'll
Weigh heavy on our hearts
Long before it's done

Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum
Ad nauseum

Adnauseum

Make a decision
The choice is yours
Yours alone
There's no wrong answers
No shades of grey
Just permutations
Mutations
Pros and cons
Juxtapositions
Inertia is an illusion
When it's all in your mind
There is no harm
In realising
You are wrong
It is the only way
To be right all the time
Eliminate fallacy
See what's left behind
Be prepared to change your mind
Hear that a choice unmade is
A barrier to progress 
More than hate
Indecision is an infection 
That leads nowhere
Nobody matters
Nobody really cares
What clothes you wear
The colour of your hair
We just despair
That nobody cares
Live and let live
Requires living to start
Those who harm others 
Are empty of heart
Even in isolation
Know you're a part
Of something greater than yourself
Or anybody else
You may think
Therefor be
But the real realisation
Is it's not I
But we

Not I

Not I

Intricate, delicate
Free from free form
In the lane, can't complain
Swept along the endless plain

Set in stone
That won't erode
A sense of purpose 
When I'm alone

I find myself
Where I find myself
Every day with you is

Now or never
Do or die
Doing never
Lets me hide
Ask forever
Who am I?
 
Abundancy
Of self belief
Nagging at my heels
As I turn to leave

A coral reef
Forever bleached
By rising heat
And your acidity

One more push
Try not to look
Behind, below
Affronts to my ego

My affinity
For being me
Makes impossible
The ways easy

Now or never
Do or die
Doing never 
Lets me hide

Right or wrong 
I don't belong
To anyone else
But my own

I will never
Do or die
Live forever
Don't ask why

Alex Wilson: Chords and guitars
Richard Pugh: Lyrics, vocals, slide, keys, bass, drums, mics and computers

Now Or Never

GENERAL ALARM

BEARER OF BAD NEWS

Wait for it, I will wait for you.
Like a light in the dark,
So bright it will blind you.

Living in the dark,
So much for the sun.

You can say what you want,
But they're still only words.

Stop.
Listen to what you have to do,
Do not question the truth we have laid out for you.
We know everything,
And it's about damn time that you did too.

Living in the dark,
So much for the sun.

www.facebook.com/FirstCircles
FIRST CIRCLES:
Richard Pugh - Vox, Guitar
Jon Hill - Guitar
Louis Barnes - Bass
James Rolph - Drums

Recorded at Futureworks with Scott Vaughan.
Mixed by Richard Pugh
2012

First Circles

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