LYRICS: SMIGE
MUSIC: THE EXHAUSTED

If victory eludes you, then take it on the chin
With every loss we’ll tell you that soon you’re gonna win
We’ll fill you with conviction and watch as you grow tall
And we will wait for you to fall.

We’ll cheer you from the sidelines, and when this battle’s won
We’ll pat you on the back and say “Congratulations, Son,”
We’ll kneel down before you and cry “Long may you prevail,”
But we’re all willing you to fail.

The Rival

LYRICS: SMIGE
MUSIC: THE EXHAUSTED/LEO C-B

Memories of moving forward stand within your thoughts entwined 
With thoughts of all the precious things you couldn’t bear to leave behind
Your dreams were in slow motion while the world around you changed so fast 
And what you saw as loyalty, they saw as living in the past

And your only consolation is that memories don’t die. 

Television had you fooled until you learned the painful way 
That love was an invention made by businessmen with bills to pay
Who spread their propaganda through your radios and movie screens 
And made a tidy profit by exploiting all your broken dreams

Well you’re not the only person; there are millions like you 
Who let themselves be fooled by a lie they wished was true -

But I don’t want to be a part of this conspiracy 
That everyone believes, because everybody leaves
And we’ll be left behind to end our hopeless days 
Wishing on a star that’s already burned away. 

If I could paint a picture I would show you what you want to see 
But every looking glass betrays the way things sadly had to be 
'Cause all must perish, all must pass – and yes, I know it seems unfair
But close your eyes for long enough and maybe you’ll find solace there 

And maybe you’ll remember how the glory used to feel

But I don’t want to be a part of this conspiracy 
That everyone believes, because everybody leaves 
And I’ll be left behind, but I will firmly stay 
Gazing at the light at the end of the bay 
And when the curtain falls, I will end my days 
Wishing on a star that’s already burned away.

Conspiracy

LYRICS: SMIGE
MUSIC: THE EXHAUSTED

She was sitting on her bed sipping a Chardonnay on Saturday evening
And she was flicking through a diary she wrote when she was seventeen
And she thought of all the things that never came her way
With a longing for the lovers that she hoped would stay;
On every page she’d written a reminder of what might have been

Fed up with her life, she closed her eyes and tried to dream of the future
But the ghosts of those who trampled on her heart are all she ever saw

She was standing at the back of the Basement when the feeling hit her
That not a single Stevie Wonder song could make her feel less alone
And in the darkness of the disco-light she couldn't see
That there was gonna be a way out of this misery
She made her way back up the stairway, grabbed her coat and cried the whole way home

Nobody can tell her what she’s worth because she won’t believe you
Nothing you can say will ever change the way she sees herself
You think your mind’s your ally but it’s on a mission to deceive you
To think that you can never live and love like everybody else

But it’s fine – 
We’re all facing the tide
Cold and crippled inside
And we’re all nervous like you
Scared and fumbling through
And I just wish you could see
You’re more than they’ll ever be
You’re burning bright in your prime
You can’t afford to waste time

Now you know I can’t pretend I’ve never met our mutual friend, old Sorrow
I’ve been lonely, I’ve been lost and I’ve been longing for the end to come
But I honestly believe that we can make it through
And the hardest part is gonna be convincing you
That the future is unwritten and together we can overcome

Maybe you were right to say that some of them are out to hurt you
But the armour that you wear will only drive the ones who care away

But it’s fine – 
We’re all facing the tide
Cold and crippled inside
And we’re all nervous like you
Scared and fumbling through
And maybe one day you'll see
You’re more than they’ll ever be
You’re burning bright in your prime
You can’t afford to waste time

Things are getting dark and if I overstepped the mark I’m sorry
You know I understand if you don’t want to put your hand in mine

Yes, it’s fine – 
‘Cause I’m just facing the tide
Cold and crippled inside
And I’m as nervous as you
Scared and fumbling through
And I just want you to see
You’re more than they’ll ever be
You’re burning bright in your prime
You can’t afford to waste time

You can’t afford to waste time

Basement Blues

MUSIC AND LYRICS: CALUM BURNS

Take a step right back and look at everything we had
And count on your fingers all the moments we have lost
It took us so long to get here, I don’t plan on turning back
The places, names and faces change, but you know that some things stay the same

The end of the world can wait

Let the morning rise over darkened skies
I hear you calling but I’m still broken, yet
In these city nights lit by candlelight
We’re burning everything we had

And if you really missed it all that much, you’d have run away
But I bite my tongue and I hold my nerve for I fear that day
So don’t you listen to a word those bastards say
They only try to break you, but sympathy will never save you

The end of the world can wait

Let the morning rise over darkened skies
I hear you calling but I’m still broken, yet
In these city nights lit by candlelight
We’re burning everything we had

And it’s all so wrong, but let the reds all fade to blue
It’ll all be right, and in time we’ll be back again

And I never meant to break you
No, I only tried to save you
No, I never meant to break you
I only tried to save you

Take this as whatever you want it to mean:
I can’t hold anything at all
You’re not suffocating
And all of these doubts mean nothing at all

The end of the world can wait for us

Let the morning rise over darkened skies
I hear you calling but I’m still broken, yet
In these city nights lit by candlelight
We’re burning everything we had

And it’s all so wrong, but let the reds all fade to blue
It’ll all be right, and in time we’ll be back again.

The End Can Wait

LYRICS: SMIGE
MUSIC: THE EXHAUSTED/LEO C-B

Throw me in a cell and lock the windows
I don’t want to taste the summer air
I will dwell in solitude and silence
Until someone stops to listen to my prayer.

"Will he swim or will he drown?
Will he jump or come back down
And does he even know he has the choice?

"Will he win or will he fail?
Will he live to tell the tale
Or will his words be lost within white noise?"

Well I’ve got wrongs to right and scores to settle
And many old misfortunes to avenge
But your breath revived the life they’d stolen from me
And your lipstick was the taste of sweet revenge

So now I’m taking back what’s mine
You’ve had your turn but now it’s time
To separate the men from the boys

And I’ll keep fighting to the death
And as you take your final breath
Your last words will be lost within white noise.

White Noise

LYRICS: SMIGE
MUSIC: THE EXHAUSTED

You wanted to be righteous but your soul cried out for sin
Waged a war against your instincts you were never gonna win
You said, “If I resist temptation, then what’s in it for me?
Is it worth seeking salvation if the price is misery?

“And who will gain if I abstain?”

If I wear the angel’s mask can I repress the inner beast?
Am I absolved of all my sins if I confess them to a priest?
And if hypocrisy is human, then how can I be true?
And if I’m a hypocrite, then Father, what does that make you?

You made me free then punished me.

Now I have faltered - forgive me Lord
I tried to live for you, but I got bored
And if Saint Peter turns me away
Well maybe that’s the price that free men pay.

Forgive Me Lord

Recorded live at Firebug, Leicester, 04/02/2014.

LYRICS:

The future was a promise that the present had to break
We used to be dreamers, but now we’re wide awake
And restless we have wandered, and sleepless we will lie
Lest we accept the bitter truth and let the feeling die

Let the feeling die

Journals and posters and postcards
Souvenirs from brighter pasts
Photos of faces we can’t name
Throw it all onto the flame

The radio is playing a song we used to love
But the heroes of our childhood, they no longer speak for us
And the rainbows we were chasing have faded in the sky
We’re never gonna reach them, so please let the feeling die

Let the feeling die

Journals and posters and postcards
Souvenirs from brighter pasts
Dreams of succeeding here somehow
They mean nothing to us now

The Exhausted