Mission Statement

I want something with less image and more substance                  
An item I can chew on that is not sugar coated     
I want meaning, something worth believing in
I’ll strive toward achieving it until we bestow it

Give me a three chord progression with heartfelt expressions     
Belted at the top of your lungs      
I love those simple melodies sung in three part harmonies       
They immortalize friendships in song

It took us years to find the right words to say
And only a moment for them to be written
The chorus is our banner, under it we manifest
We live in audio and die in the wake of silence

We communicate the unspoken upon our face
Your smile I’ll never forget
Locked in this sweet embrace, I never want to leave this place
I hope you feel the same sentiment

As we pilot our course, we’ll pay respect to the support  
In the autonomy that is sanctioned
The camaraderie extends a joyful welcoming 
I never want to take you or this for granted

And so this is our mission statement
Inclusive of a purpose and direction
This is where it begins, who knows where it ends?
We live in audio and die in the wake of silence

1. Mission Statement

Boots of our Youth

Deep down I felt it coming
The pieces fell to place
The backdrop and props took to stage
As I arrived at a coming of age

I went through the motions
And kept my conscience on guard
I gripped tightly to true emotion
As I answered to the call of arms 

Caught in a wailing thunderstorm - Heals kicked to the floor
I’ll feel it forever more - Heals kicked to the floor
Wearing the boots of our youth - Kicking in 4/4
Heals kicked to the floor

A decade of turning wrenches:
Breaking backs and digging trenches
All the labour aside, I’m humble
To see how we have grown

Because in all we hated
We fostered and embraced it
Then scratched away the surface 
To capture something to call our own

Caught in a wailing thunderstorm - Heals kicked to the floor
I’ll feel it forever more - Heals kicked to the floor
Wearing the boots of our youth - Kicking in 4/4
Heals kicked to the floor

And there you stood beside me 
Arm in arm
Your palms were bruised purple and blue
Cause you shook the tambourine so bloody hard

Then we lost each other
In a moment of our youth now gone
The soles of our shoes will wither but
The memory will always live on

Caught in a wailing thunderstorm - Heals kicked to the floor
I’ll feel it forever more - Heals kicked to the floor
Wearing the boots of our youth - Kicking in 4/4
Heals kicked to the floor

Heals kicked to the floor!


2. Boots of our Youth

“Hey Dynasty, Don’t Forget..”

If I’d to make a tally 
Of all the brilliant moments
This city has brought me
I’m not sure I’d know where to start

Was it by the river?
When we overcame our failures
And decided to never be
Anyone but who we are

‘Cause remember the early months
When overwhelmed by displacement
We were hungry and desperate but
Over-consumed by the hunt

Now the streets that we pave
Of achievements and mistakes
They permanently display
Your initials with my name

And we will champion our loses
Because that’s what the title means to me
I might have been born in the heydays
These streets aren’t what they use to be

Last night we scaled the siding
Until we reached the rooftop
Time sputtered with the neon lights 
Of the used car dealership’s lot

From the vantage point we could see
The city inhaling and exhaling
That’s when you took a breath of your own
And told me you were leaving

The move was out of necessity
To patch a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding
As the evening came to an end 
we hug then you waved goodbye to the Leg

On my quiet solemn walk home
I found voice in the wreckage
And sent one last demand
Sealed in a text message

“Promise me you’ll call me when
You come back to Edmonton”

Today I found a piece of paper
Tucked into the pocket of my coat
Inside the fold, your writing 
Addressed one last note

The blue ink instructed 
For me to follow
The two lines below:

“Don’t forget the words you sung,
 Don’t forget what makes you strong.”


3. "Hey Dynasty, Don't Forget.."

Inner Aesthetics
Our heads are held high into every combat and we’re never looking back with every counter-attack. No one can take it away - the message we embrace. How I hope it’s something more than a dead useless cliché. Plug in, no sound check, we’re amplified and singing from what’s inside. From our hearts to our mind, no word could ever describe the emotion and infinite possibility that one has when instrument is in hand and under total control. My energy provokes a lightening fast stricken tempo. The electricity flows through the veins and communicates with self and others. The magnitude could never be measured. Fist in the air and larynx-strained voices to sing with is all that’s needed. Armed with the power to express, we have the strength to convey clarity through distorted means. Within a network of channels, we are connected by a common ground. I stand here with more in mind than a faded piece of wood with words and strings. Together we can inspire and create an impact. Together we’ll set the effect into air. 

4. Inner Aesthetic

Boundless Rocketeers

The city lights
Steal and hide
The illumination from 
Our skyline

Let’s steal ‘em back
Every star intact
We’ll retrace the escape
We’ve outlined

Chorus 

Because we’re both in this together
For now, here, and forever
Until the moon breaks its last quarter

Grab ahold of my hand
And squeeze it tightly my friends
The sky has no boundaries, no order

From left to right, the coast is clear
Onward to anywhere but here
As your partner have nothing to fear
We are the boundless rocketeers

Point A is set
Point B is undefined
As is the path we’ll travel
Between as the connecting line

I don’t need to know it right now
Just need to get above the ground
The fuse has long since been lit
And we’ve exceeded the countdown

Later in air you shared your anxiety
Of heights while staring far beneath
The best way to overcome fears you said
Is to lift-off and dance with them

Chorus

When our backsides are to the earth
Our eyes are locked in with the low lit stars
Under a blanket of sky we are wrapped 
Comfortably no matter where we are

Friendship is taking flight
Amongst the northern lights
Across the atmosphere 
We are the burning meteorites 

And if this fuel expires
We will ride out the fire
We’ll never abandon
Each other while crash landing

Chorus


5. Boundless Rocketeers

Never Lose Your Shine

Shimmers dance and sparkle
On the surface side
Of new and the glare is stunning
Never lose your shine

Vision was bleak once
To the point of near blind
Life changed when the light came
Don’t ever lose your shine

In awe we watched 
A path close behind
Fresh ink illuminated to
Never lose your shine

Emotions cascaded 
Sincere tears in eyes
Never surrender the feeling and
Never lose your shine

So glow on pretty penny
You’re buff like a new dime
Utilize lady luck for your own right and
Never lose your shine

‘Cause there ain’t no deny
You’re buff just like a new diamond
So come out of hiding for all to find and 
Never lose your shine

You are the brightest beacon
Amongst the dark sky
Guide on with confidence and 
Never lose your shine

‘Cause dent, dulls, and darkness
Relentlessly arise
Keep the flame a-flicker and 
Never lose your shine

Nothing is more defeating
Than affection that fades with time
Polish up your ambitions and 
Never lose your shine

When you hold a key
One that opens closed minds
You have to enlighten your thoughts 
and keep them a-glow and never lose your shine


6. Never Lose Your Shine

Only Gets Better

You said you can’t love me anymore 
As tears come falling out your eyes
So I packed up my bags and I walked out your door
When I’m gone there’ll be no more lies

Now I’m chugging along on my bicycle
I’m pedaling fast for the pain to go away
Wishing I was kid on my tricycle 
Naive of how things end this way - completely naive

Of some things you do and you can’t take ‘em back
Only some many time you’ll be given a chance - she said this is your last chance
And that life is kind of like a railroad track
It’s always pushing forward in advance 

You have to learn from your experience
It’s a shame I had to learn from you
To still be together is my preference
But it looks like there’s nothing I can do

Except write and play and sing everyday
I have a feeling that it only gets better - i hope that’s a fact
Because the one I love is the one I betrayed
And all I can do is write her a letter - and she won’t right me back

All day long I lie in bed
Awaiting for my heart to mend
I replay what I did inside of my head
Over and over and over again

As of late I’ve been losing my mind
And there’s nothing that I can do
There’s no reason to my rhyme
All I want is to be with you

When I’m with friends it ain’t so bad
It’s the time alone that is the killer 
I can’t help but to think of what we had
My heart is empty and nothing will filler 

Only the thought it might get better


7. Only Gets Better

For What It’s Worth

Overcast Sunday - the advertised park bench is where I lay with my eyes into the sky from the clouds to the graffiti walls and to the broken asphalt where I’ll discover an abandoned piece attached to the sole of these shoes that will take me from the impatience scene and toward the high level isolation of betrayal. To crash and burn, piloted with lessons that I’ve learnt and for what it’s worth, the price exceeds what I’ve earn. With the gaps between us and the shallow waters below the past experiences can no longer accompany me home. Take this, my last change, and drive it as far as it’ll go. 

8. For What It's Worth

Piloting A Vehicle Of Audible Expression

A fifty-two cent postage stamp 
carried across the continent
Sealed aid in a brown-stained envelop
It reached the ports of a familiar regional time zone

It read a scribbled name that of which
Could have only been written by a left handed
Boy you were close with before you left
The stompin’ ground foundation we jointly built

Drunk dials and calling cards were spent
For others to toss or collect
Out-of-touch confessions due 
To lack of following through confidence

But I’ve come to repair those breakdowns 
By replacing them with wrecker parts gone astray
It was only a matter of time before our 
Integrities were displayed

And it showed us both something 
We’d already known for some time
That your heart is not in it for the 
Same reasons as mine

A simple recognition of a handshake
To gesture godspeed to parting ways
Would have completely avoided
The turmoil leak

Of all we’ve been through
It doesn’t make sense
How you handled yourself
before you abandoned the ship

Old co-pilot, he said
“Terms aren’t worth anything”
It was a solid blow
To everything we had been

But I’ll keep guiding this rocket ship 
Fueling my passions into the belly of it
And I’ll keep guiding this rocket ship
There is a strength in sound and I think I found it

With open hearts and open minds We’re strong enough to guide
A vehicle of audible expression

The methods for achieving higher altitudes
are scratched as blueprints 
in our notebooks and they
entail great magnitude

What we think, what we feel
What we believe, what we hold, 
What we question in mind

What we trust, what we oppose,
what we love are all carriers inside  
A vehicle of audible expression

With open hearts and open minds
We’re strong enough to guide
A vehicle of audible expression


9. Piloting a Vehicle of Audible Expression

This Audio..

My dear friends 
It’s been so long
How goes the struggle?
Meanwhile the conflict remains

On our home fronts 
Separated my miles
It could never defeat us 
As eternal allies

Thank you for breaking the silence
Over a distorted and static frequency
Although mid-awakening, I appreciate the thought
And wouldn’t trade it in return for the lost sleep

So cheers on the other end
From the bottle neck to the forgot foam
We’ll discuss moments of weakness,
Shortcomings, and triumph
With laughter interjecting frequently 

With the taste of Arthur G. 
And the sound of Gable’s voice
It brings light to reflect 
In a faded polaroid 

This audio is silent without my friends
This audio is silent without my friends
The pulse rate of this audio beats with emotion and honesty
This audio is silent without my friends

My dear friend, 
It’s been so long
How goes the battle? 
Figurative as it may be

We’ll pick up just
Where we left off 
Without ever breaking stride
To maintained this connection as eternal allies

Now words never came easy
But I think you know exactly what I mean
Our relationship I cherish so deeply within me
Because people like you are few and far between

While arm in arm and flush in face
Invincible we felt, at least until sun break
I wish to savor these moments
And memories forever 

This audio is silent without my friends
This audio is silent without my friends
The pulse rate of this audio beats with emotion and honesty
This audio is silent without my friends

And we’ll set up on sidewalks and we will sing our songs
Around bonfires and in basements we will sing our songs
Off key and triumphantly we will sing our songs together  

10. This Audio

Audio/Rocketry

Related tracks