Coming Up Empty

LYRICS:
In a car crash, you'll rearrange your head
And all the memories you wish you'd wish you'd never had
I told you how I'd been hurt before
And you'd hold me and say we're better for it now

I should know better
You, in your sweater

I was standing high up on the wall
Oh, I can still hear you from here, yeah, but if I listen, I might fall
No, you don't think before you speak your mind
And I don't think that I'll speak at all

You should know better
Signed, my dead letter

If I can't stop this, I don't want this
Tell me now before the silence
Cut me down and strike relentless
I can't stop this, I don't want this
Tell me now before the silence
Cut me down, me down, me down

You hurt me the way that you'd been loved
And it kills me that I cannot feel a thing
In a car crash you'll reassess your life
And my role in it.
We're gonna drift apart             in a car crash, in a car crash

I can't stop the growing fear that we'll waste all our golden years together
I can't stop this. First, you're gone then you appear, and now I know that it is clear
Tell me that I'm wrong, but I think that we're not meant to be

I don't want this, I can't stop this
Tell me now before the silence
Cut me down and strike relentless
I don't want this, I can't stop this
Tell me now before the silence
Cut me down and strike relentless.

Car Crash

"Do you Buy or Rent?" is a metaphor for the space in your mind that you often give to others. The song is debating this internal struggle and the thoughts associated with it. 

Some people take a lot of space in your head, while they're probably not even thinking about you. Perhaps it's time to take your power back? - WHISPER

Do you Buy or Rent?

Cold Room (Demo)

Scald is processing the end of a relationship between polar opposites, running through everything that was disagreed on. The second verse touches on the difficulty of accepting the end of the relationship even after it's gone. Every relationship changes us irrevocably and I found myself changing to be more like my ex-girlfriend after we had broken up. How much of this is nostalgic mimicry?

LYRICS:
You like the shower water hot, and I don't wanna burn
You never know just when to stop, and I don't ever learn
You always wanna order in, when I wanna go out
And when I don't know how to talk, you're always drowning me out
I'm used to sleeping with a fan, I'm guessing you'd rather not
But if you listened to my songs, you'd stop calling 'em pop
I know that we should call it off, but you keep turning me on
You never know just when to stop, and I don't ever learn

All these places I left my heart
Can't you see that I'm left crumbling, stumbling?
Cannot get a word out when you look at me
Why can't I seem to face the truth?
It's that we're just too different
Live a lie or say goodbye
Why am I not who I want to be?

INT. SHOWER - FLOOR
I grab the faucet and turn
Wrinkly fingers, threats of time, I'm enjoying the burn
And even though we called it off, you're still keeping me up
I'm still tracing all the threads from when you tangled me up
The truth is that we don't owe each other a lot
We're just rentals of a film we finally learned how to stop
I know you're thinking through the tears, but I'd still rather drink
Cause you don't know how to feel and I don't wanna think

All these places I left my heart
Can't you see that I'm left crumbling, stumbling?
Cannot get a word out when you look at me
Why can't I seem to face the truth?
It's that we're just too different
Live a lie or say goodbye
Why am I not who I want to be?

All these places I left my heart
Can't you see that I'm left crumbling, stumbling?
Cannot get a word out when you look at me
Why can't I seem to face the truth?
It's that we're just too different
Why am I, why am I, why am I not who I want to be?
Who I want to be

Scald

Headache!!

Drink my Coffee!!! (Extended Demo)

totally original no influence whatsoever by any insect named band

I Want You To Know (Demo)

The Future is Here

ONE LAST TIME 14_05

Like the ouroboros, Paper Anthem begins exactly when it ends, as American singer-songwriter Joseph Hitchcock abandons a near-decade of solo artistry for a fresh start in London, home to all the late noughties indie that inspired him. Here, Hitchcock meets the other three members of the increasingly international Paper Anthem lineup: guitarist Noor Harajli (Brazil), bassist Carlo Haltrich (Romania), and drummer Joe Spoors (Nottingham), all filmmakers who accidentally fell into the music industry. The fruits of an aggressive recording schedule were finally plucked in December 2023 with the release of their first EP, A Victimless Crime, merely a small taste of what they’re planning for 2024 as they continue swimming to the surface of the endless sea of noise that is the London music scene.

Scald

Paper Anthem

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