Track #10 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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When I meet my end
Bury me in the Arboretum
So I can grow into something stronger than I was
So I can stand tall among my brothers
No different than all the others
And I can grow as old as I should've with you, love

Young lovers walkin' hand in hand
Autumn leaves rustle underneath 'em
And I'll watch over like a four leaf clover does
Let them can carve all their initials
among my branches and my bristles
So I can hold on to that old song with you, love

Oh, oh, ooh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, ooh
Oh, oh, oh

I used to be like them 
I was young and I was foolish
To think think these stones could've been a home for the two of us
But for all my turmoil
His arms are warmer than soil
I won't hold you to that old view of us, love

Maybe I'll build a house someday
For your grandchildren to live in
Maybe I won't have any say in it at all
Tear me down to build condos
And I'll finally see Toronto
I'll be warmer to know I'm closer to you, my love

Oh, oh, ooh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, ooh
Oh, oh, oh

When I meet my end
Bury me in the Arboretum

Strangers I Used to Love

The Arboretum

Track #9 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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I forgot what it tastes like
The salt air on a cold night
Running to catch the last bus home

My lungs were burnt and my fists were bruised
We inhaled alcohol and we exhaled youth
Tried to cover up the damage that we’d done

From fighting the kids in the other schools just for fun
Stealing packs of cigarettes from your parents
I thought I’d be young forever

When you and I were together
It was us against the world
We read books about our idols
And we clung on to every word

Running through the graveyard
After Church on Sunday mornings
My older sister bought us liquor
For the fireworks up the road

But I can’t picture the house I grew up in without closing my eyes
Goddamn, I wouldn’t recognize it now
I thought I’d be young forever

It doesn’t feel like home anymore
It’s ten letters put together, and it makes a word
I say it to myself if I ever return
Everyone I know has moved on
Some have kids and some got married
Some are long since dead and buried

The rain, the cold
Hiding in the underpass
Beneath the weight
Of all the guilt that’s coming back
Remember when
You and I were kids
The dark is closing in again

I see your face
Reflecting in the broken glass
The memory fades
Like a dream I never had
Remember when
You and I were kids
Running till the daylight ends

The Underpass

Track #8 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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Last night I dreamt that I had drowned
I woke up screaming but you weren't around
As I was gasping for your love, I watched from above as we drove into the river's mouth

I worked myself into a state
I left my home and said it couldn't wait
Cause I've been dreaming that the roads that lead to your ghost might start to deteriorate

But if the Rockies knew how much love it took to leave you
They'd show me how a heart could break away for a highway to weave through
Cause soon there'll be Canadian Shield 'tween my home and my heels
And thousands of miles to deny how it feels
The mountains all don't stand half as tall as we used to

Three hours behind, six days away
You made the mountains tremble in those days
The sun was setting on your time quicker than mine but I held tight anyway

I went expecting revelations from those hills
Looking for sympathy for my impatience until
Tectonic plates rose up like ancient faces indifferent to stasis and steering wheels
Asking me how a goddamn mountain's supposed to feel

If the Prairies knew what I oughta do to forget you
They'd send me down that straight and narrow road that the great plains wrest through
Cause I've been putting thousands of fields 'tween my home and my heels
I'd cross them again to deny how it feels
The Prairie song don't feel half as long as the days do 
When I'm without you

I couldn't drive to where you stood
Highway collapsed into the raging flood
I wasn't fast enough to strand myself in the grandeur of what never was

I watched those mountains disappear
I ground them down inside my rear view mirror
I thought that driving to the world's ending would mend me, but I'm empty without you, my dear

So if Ontario knew how far I'd go to be near you
She'd know just how the 401's setting sun stretches longer than years do
But I'm the farthest from home that I've ever known
I won't be returning till I let you go
A part of me died in the Golden skies that revered you

And if the Rockies knew the love that it took to leave you
They'd send me down one great landslide to set my mind at ease, too
If I'd left a few days sooner I'd be buried under
The comforting rubble of our days of thunder

I'm too late to change how it ended
And all those miles I chased couldn't mend
So let the end of Highway 1 be ending of us, too

The End of Highway 1

Track #7 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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I’ll put the kettle on, let me hang up your coat
You’re soaked to the skin from your walk home
Why don’t you sit for a while?
I can see you’re tired

How was your day?
Mine was okay
It’s not worth talking about anyway
Can we stay up for a while?
Forget how hard we’re tryin’

I’m afraid of losing
I’m afraid of our bad habits
I’m afraid of falling in the ordinary mess of mid-week sadness
Are we moving backwards?
Runnin’ in the wrong direction
I’m afraid of nothingness in everything before everything comes crashing

If tomorrow’s more than we can take
Tonight, let’s just stay awake
Hold back the daybreak

Let’s turn off the TV
And get into bed
Gotta work in the morning and it’s getting late
Try and close your eyes
Forget it’s nearly sunrise

We’re talking about moving out, getting sober
Watched the lake freeze up, thaw out twice over
I’ll hold ya
Well if this shit’s getting old, then we’re older
(Yeah we’re older)

I’m afraid of losing
I’m afraid of our bad habits
I’m afraid of falling in the ordinary mess of mid-week sadness
Are we moving backwards?
Runnin’ in the wrong direction
I’m afraid of nothingness in everything before everything comes crashing

If tomorrow’s more than we can take
Tonight, let’s just stay awake
Hold back the daybreak

If tomorrow’s more than we can take
Tonight, let’s just stay awake
If tomorrow’s more than I can take
Tonight, I’ll just stay awake
Hold back the daybreak

Hold Back the Daybreak

Track #6 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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How much longer is this gonna take?
Darling, I don't know, how long can you wait?
It seems to me you've made your decision
And now you're getting ready to leave

Without me, that's fine, I'll stick around
But I don't have the energy to let you down
You're only dead set on solitude if somebody's there for you
When you finally come home

And I
I barely remember what we're doing this for
Oh why?
It used to be obvious
It ain't anymore

Sometimes
I can't stand myself and in
Hindsight
I'm not sure if I ever did
The best of me is somewhere left behind

Wherever you are, I'm never quite there
Begging you to wait up feels a little unfair
I try my best to be better
But you said that makes me naive

I think deep down this might never work out
And there ain't much that I can do about
Making amends with who I was when I was twenty
'Cause I buried that person alive

And I
I carry it well but damn this shit is heavy
Sometimes
I lie awake at night
What is it that I'm missing?

Sometimes I can't stand myself and in
Hindsight
I'm not sure if I ever did
The best of me is somewhere left
Behind here
A thousand miles from anywhere and
I'm scared
Of never catching up again
The best of me is somewhere left behind

And I
I carry it well but damn this shit is heavy
Sometimes
I lie awake at night
What is it that I'm missing?  

Sometimes I can't stand myself and in
Hindsight
I'm not sure if I ever did
The best of me is somewhere left
Behind here
A thousand miles from anywhere
I'm terrified
Of never catching up again
The best of me is somewhere left behind

Somewhere Left Behind

Track #5from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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Home in the morning
I know that you hate waking up alone
I’m sorry
I lost track of time, so please don’t mind
The stories I’ll tell
About the perfect little hell we’re livin’ in
It’s a song in our heads
Stuck on repeat
Too angry to fight, too tired to sleep,
Are we alright?
Are we alright?

You held me when my hands began to shake
I loved you when you thought your heart would break
There must be something here for us to save
I’d listen but my words get in the way

This lifestyle’s getting old
I slept too long and the daylight’s gone
Now the saddest of souls
Can pretend we’re friends, while I’m here prayin’
You’ll show up tonight, and make this alright

You held me when my hands began to shake
I loved you when you thought your heart would break
There must be something here for us to save
I’d listen but my words get in the way

There must be something here for us to save
I’d listen but my words get in the way

You held me when my hands began to shake
I loved you when you thought your heart would break
There must be something here for us to save
I’d listen but my words get in the way
My words get in the way
My words get in the way
My words get in the way
My words get in the way

Words Get in the Way

Track #4 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, for release April 12, 2024

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I,
I'm gonna turn it all around
And I can't stand the thought that I might let you down

And I,
I'm gonna make a break for it
I've been tryna play the hometown hero, and it's all bullshit

We're talking it out
Trying our luck
I know I have a tendency to fuck these things up
But I swear to you right now
I'm gonna turn it all around

You,
Haven't had your chance to run
There's a fury burning inside you, it's like a setting sun

And you,
Always saw the best in me
Now the weight of the world feels a little less heavy

Talking it out
Trying our our luck

You don't have it in you to give this all up
But I swear to you right now

You're gonna get your chance to run
I know
I know I look like a mess

Like I'm retracing all of my steps but I swear I'm making progress
You moved on
Moved on to live
And I'm sure you'll tell all of your stories to all of your grandkids

I'm losing my mind
Are we losing touch?
The distance between us is a little too much
Instead of saying that
This is the end
I'll scream at the top of my lungs
"Here's to you my friend"


I'll turn it all around, I'll have it figured out
(I'll turn it all around)
I won't let you down, I'm just a mess right now
(I won't let you down)
You'll get your chance to run, far from everyone
(I'll turn it all around)
Screaming at the top of my lungs
(I won't let you down)


I'll turn it all around, I'll have it figured out
(I'll turn it all around)
I won't let you down, I'm just a mess right now
(I won't let you down)
You'll get your chance to run, far from everyone
(I'll turn it all around)
Screaming at the top of my lungs
(I won't let you down)

Turn it Around

Track #3 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, to be released April 12, 2024.

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The Garden of England was burning all around me
There were boarded up buildings and the orchards all were empty
And I walk past the oak tree
Where we spread our dog's ashes in the breeze

I ran along the footpath between the fields
Retracing all my steps to see how it feels
And I got lost, and I hate that
I asked for directions, now I can't get back

If I lived there my whole life, would I be the same?
Drying out in the heat and soaking up the rain
Looking the wrong way when I cross the road
The traffic lights turn red and I'm on my own

Listening to all the songs we wrote
When we thought the world was ours, but we should've known

It all comes flooding back
The fistfights in the locker room
I feel my fist collide with you
There was anger in your eyes
Baptized our youths in bloodshed
To prove ourselves for nothing
To prove our worth to no one
Vacant fathers, violent sons

I stand up straight, get back to work
Didn't care how much it hurt
Tried to be a man and toughen up
With blood stains leaking through my shirt
No wonder we grew up so fast
Youth washed away by the broken glass
The pounding pints and the kickings and beatings
Dragged out wounded, limping, wheezing
I cracked jokes and I couldn't focus
My temper made my parents nervous
The teachers told them I was useless
And I still don't know what the truth is

I thought that I could breathe but now I'm drowning
I got lost in the landscape and somehow it still found me
Now I'm standing at the top of the hill
My lungs are on fire, the air is still

Garden of England

Track #2 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, to be released April 12, 2024.

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I wanna do drugs with Rick Rubin
And do yoga in Malibu
I want ten million fans on Instagram
I’ll teach the Dirt to Mötley Crüe
I wanna be like you
Yeah I wanna be like you

I’m gonna have a meltdown in the city
Be on TMZ’s front page
Expensive rehab in the desert
Come back with tattoos all over my face
I wanna be like you
Yeah I wanna be like you

They’ll give you cocaine
And alcohol
And it’ll make a fool out of you

But I’ll sign my name on the dotted line if you
Turn me into

A socialite, superstar
And gimme my name on Hollywood Boulevard
Yeah!

I’m gonna kill the paparazzi
On my way to church with Tom Cruise
I wanna crash fast cars and get kicked out of the bars
‘Cause I’ll be drunk every afternoon
I wanna be like you
Yeah I wanna be like you

They’ll give you cocaine
And alcohol
And it’ll make a fool out of you

But I’ll sign my name on the dotted line if you
Turn me into

A socialite, superstar
And gimme my name on Hollywood Boulevard
Yeah!

I’m gonna die at twenty-seven
The world will wake up to the news
They’ll say “That’s too bad, I don’t understand
why he was taken from us too soon”
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
I wanna die like you
But I–I never wanted to

Influence the internet
I wanted you now I have nothing left
I hated the fame and the neon signs
And now I’m here without you by my side
I don’t know who I am, I’m stumbling alone
My mama keeps calling me to come back home
The world’s gone mad, and I’m still crazy
Fuck you all
That’s showbiz, baby

(Fuck your daddy's credit card)
(And fuck your catwalks)
(And fuck your TikTok dances)
(And fuck the record label advances)
(And your fucking addiction to celebrating yourselves)

Hollywood Boulevard

Track #1 from "Strangers I Used to Love", the Wilderness's sophomore album, to be released April 12, 2024.

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I'm making small talk with strangers who I used to love
About Canadian winters and how much it hurt
To get those tattoos on my fingers and what it means
Do they see a stranger when they look at me?

We took my mum's car
I thought you'd ask me
Where we were going
But you slept in the back seat
I rolled down the window
Drove 'cross the country
There's some places I want you to see

The house in the hills
Where I spent my summers
It's hotter than hell
And it keeps getting hotter
There's a town in the valley
With cobblestone streets
I'll skip rocks in the river
While you lie next to me

We bump into someone who reminds me of something
I try to explain because now it means nothing
I'm making small talk with strangers who I used to love
About Canadian winters and how much it hurt
To get those tattoos on my fingers and what it means
Do they see a stranger when they look at me?

Life has been good
Nothing too crazy
My sister got married
She's having a baby
It's so good to see you
How've you been lately?
My mum's doing well
And my dad fucking hates me

We talk about someone it reminds me of nothing
I try to remember am I supposed to feel something?
There's a voice in the air and I've heard it before
I spilled my guts and now
The anger's not the same anymore
Oh

I'm making small talk with strangers who I used to love
About Canadian winters and how much it hurt
To get those tattoos on my fingers and what it means
Do they see a stranger when they look at me?

I'm counting all my blessings and cutting my losses
I'm letting go of anger and the time that it cost me
Fell in love with my regrets, I'm sick of the shame
I'm living, breathing, screaming, I've got blood in my veins

Do you need me here?
Should I come home?
Do you need me here?
Should I come home?

Do you need me here?
(I'm making small talk with strangers who I used to love)
Should I come home?
(About Canadian winters and how much it hurt}
Do you need me here?
(To get those tattoos on my fingers and what it means}
Should I come home?
(Do they see a stranger when they look at me?}

The Wilderness

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