1. |
String Theory
03:28
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STRING THEORY
Intro:
G#m, C#m, D#maj 2x
Vs.1
G#m,
Sometimes at night / Alone on a highway
C#m,
what's been and what's nigh
D#maj G#m
collapse to the middle from left and from right
C#m
squeezing like bookends for blood, (it's a vice:
D#maj G#m
a habit to harvest my pain)
Vs.2
G#m
septic and sweet, the tragedy i just can't
C#m
sweep off my feet:
D#maj G#m
what would i be if i weren't incomplete?
C#m
logic has left us for dead in the street
D#maj G#m
it's watching me break my own heart
Chorus:
C#m, D#maj, G#m
what if the past were not past?
C#m, D#maj, G#m
and the future was here all along?
(walk - up ) C#m, D#maj, G#m
every picture and song was not holding your place in a line but
C#m, D#maj, G#m
reminding you it was al - ways here
time is a one-way street
and we're all strapped in to the rear-facing seat
the street still existed with all of its secrets
before we could see it
and the places we pass
we just see through the glass
but we can't go back
someone's foots on the gas
but we're screaming directions and hoping for best
and we'll measure success by results that we get
but we're all strapped in.
what if the past were not past?
and the future was here all along?
every picture and song was not holding your place in a line but reminding you it was always here
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2. |
(The Butterfly)
00:52
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THE BUTTERFLY
D#m B
Net aloft, I sang my stealthy song
D#m B
The Butterfly and I would soon belong
D#m B
Colors like some cosmic spectral pool
D# A#
This conquest will be my crowning jewel
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3. |
Goodbye, Vivian
04:03
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Intro
C#m(Synth)
(setup)F#m / G#maj
(riff) C#m, C#m, A / C#m, A / G#maj
During verses, chord top stays C#m, bass line walks all the way down to E in half-steps, only skipping F. "*" notates step down.
Vs.1
C#m * * *
And even if you called me right this minute, said "come back! all
* * * * *
is forgiven!", I know my response would be "we burned those bridges"
C#m * * *
It took me twenty-seven months of swinging and hard living
* * * * * C#m
to convince myself everything's working out the way it's meant to be
Chorus
G# C#m B E G#
I finally figured out just what my parents meant
C#m B E G#m
With all that talk about not settling for less
C#m E B Am
I think I'm gonna buy a ring, and finally let myself be happy
Vs.2
My downward spiral finally found a ring of fire
twenty years and almost twice as many broken hearts to find her
but every second's worth it; every scar, and every hurt, and
every time I tasted dirt (and told myself that i deserved it)
Chorus
I finally figured out just what my parents meant
they always said I shouldn't settle for less
I think I'm gonna buy a ring, and finally let myself be happy
Outro: B
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4. |
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And so...
Am C
The chemicals collide in some location just outside
E F
the place where things like love and fear and rage are formed.
Am C
Coursing through each vein and artery to nerves in every part of me
E F
that struggle to interpret all the combinations formed.
And reactions come off mixed: my jaw is slack, my muscles tense
and my heart begins its struggle to break free
from the cage of my own chest in an attempt to come to rest
somewhere it's certain that your heart will also be
Chorus
F
We're tornadoes when we dance
Am
high winds concealed in slow romance
F
uproot the world beneath our paths
Am
uncover Heaven with our hands
Vs.2
The magicians in your eyes make the world disappear from mine
they make the weight of life vacation for awhile.
And while the music in your kiss begins to sing the minor 5th
our fingertips conduct a symphony in style.
And by the second movement in, houses are whistling in our wind
branches are snapping in our spin and skin is twisting against skin
and I am flying, so it seems, foundations bursting at the seams
the sky is manic with our song, I am frantic, we are strong.
Chorus
We're tornadoes when we dance -
high winds concealed in slow romance
uproot the world beneath our paths
uncover heaven with our hands
Outro:
C, C, E, F
Am, Am, C, E
F, F, Am, C
E, E, F, F,
Am for all hits!
Cm, F
G#, F
C#, F
G
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5. |
Drink (Drink, Drink)
02:49
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Vs.1
Dm Dmaj9(no3rd) C6add9 (no 5th)
Drink, drink, drink
Gsus2 A#maj7, D5, )
(whether it proves or solves a thing
A#maj7, Dmaj9(no 3rd
is not the point).
Dm Dmaj9(no3rd) C6add9 (no 5th)
I'm just trying to forget
Gsus2 A#maj7
that I've got things to forget
D5 A#maj7
so if I just avoid the gin
Dmaj9(no3rd)
I'll be the heartbeat of the party
(start progression at beginning on "so"
...in an hour or so
Vs. 2
Gone, gone, gone: not just some girl, but more my pride
it's proof no matter how I try, most things are out of my control.
so let's make it uniform: I can't play, but i'll perform
for anybody who doesn't ask for one thing more
Chorus:
A# F
One more // One more //
Gm Dm
One more and I'll be through.
A# F
And you'll go home, and I'll go home
Gm A7
And I'll have one more ...or two.
Vs.3
Drink, Drink, Drink! I know my Dad would not approve,
but he don't hurt the way I do.
Drink! Drink! Drink until tomorrow tucks me in
and as the room begins to spin
I hang on and I pretend...
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6. |
(The Beast)
00:45
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(same chords as the Butterfly)
My net has drained the color from your wings
Purpose must be in some other thing
So I jumped atop the wildest beast on earth
to break its will before it breaks mine first.
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7. |
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A Asus2 A Asus2
Oh, they're gonna love me when I look them in the eye and say
Dm
"I'm damaged, but I'm hopeful!" "I'm gonna keep on trying because
A Asus2 A Asus2
love is really all we need! Love's the snake oil tonic that will
Dm B C#
cure our every evil!" (and I'll sell it like I mean it from the stage).
Vs.2
I'm vulnerable, approachable, your folks would probably love me
and your imaginary conversations probably sound like this:
They've got some very valid questions about my songs and my intentions
and the fact I've never settled down; "isn't anybody wondering where you are?"
Chorus
D E
This is home: the stage, the States
A
all I own in one suitcase
Amaj7 A6
all the people that i've loved left back
F# Bm E
in places I've called home
Vs3
Am
Let's play truth and consequences? First the truth: I'm not that interested
Dm
I've been burned a couple times, so now I'm the one who starts the fires
A Dm
And I probably still believe in love; the problem is, I just can't trust
E
So where does that leave us? (well) How about those consequences?
A
I've got this moat around my heart
Dm
chock full of mud and monsters
and my archers never sleep, so use your powers of observation
A
this stage is more than just the lights and all the adulation:
Dm Bm E
it's the only place where I can be alone... without --- being alone.
Chorus2
D E
This is home: the stage, the States
A
all I own in one suitcase
Amaj7 A6
all the people that i've loved left back
F# D E
in places I've called home! Someday, I'll stop this war
Amaj7 A6 F#
Someday I'll fall in love, and know what love is for
D E
but for tonight, I'll sell the box and keep the contents under lock and key
Amaj7 A6 F#
and by the time you realize you've lost the game, I'll be
D E
another several homes away, up on some solitary stage
A, Asus2
alone again.
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8. |
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Intro:
G -> Em -> Bm, Bmaj
Vs1.
C G
I am a cup of rotten coffee, my thoughts are floating on my head
C G
and if you drink them in and chew them up, they're only gonna make you sick
E Am
I've lived my life like blackout bingo; trying on each home I thought might fit.
F G C
Now there's a bean on every square, but someone's telling me I still can't win.
Chorus
Eb A#
I've left // When I thought leaving made things right.
Eb A#
I've quit // When quitting meant I didn't start a fight.
Gm Gm/F Eb
I've spent // Half my wrist erasing what I write
Gm Gm/F Eb
half my days ashamed of half my nights
Gm Cm Gm // G
half my life escaping from my life.
Vs.2
I've paid admission to the places I have loved by pawning off pieces of my heart
til I'm smeared across a globe with little hope of recovering half my parts.
I've spent entire years behind a wheel wondering why it is I drive so hard.
til I'm no closer to an answer, ten years later, than the day I tried to start.
Chorus2
I've left // When I thought leaving made things right.
I've quit // When quitting meant I didn't start a fight.
I've spent // Half my wrist erasing what I write
half my days ashamed of half my nights
half my life escaping from my life
Bridge:
Eb A#
Sometimes I'm certain I'm a train filled with strangers
Eb A#
And we're all searching for a home we've never seen
Gm Gm/F Eb
So I'll keep whistling my so-ong low and pretty
(walkdown) Cm
And we'll keep stumbling through the night
Gm
like tunnels searching for the light.
Chorus3
I've left // When I thought leaving made things right.
I've quit // When quitting meant I didn't start a fight.
I've spent // Half my wrist erasing what I write
half my days ashamed of half my nights
half my life escaping from my life
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9. |
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all bass notes in intro/verses are over a Bm
Intro: B, C#, D, A, G
Vs1&2
B C# D A G
I built this house but it fell down before I got one night of sleep
B C# D A G
So how does that beat all the fools who never tried
They missed the moon in rented rooms, traded stories over food
I worked alone, broke my bones with all my pride (hang on G)
I desired royal attire, so I acquired the emperor's skin
held a parade & begged the world to look inside
I wanted fame, 'cause I thought fame could prove to me that I was great
it never came; I was a failure to myself
Chorus
(G,F#,G,A) F# G
It's the way of the world to swallow you alive
F# G Bm (walk) G (2x)
The way of the world to swallow you alive // spirit first.
Vs3/4
It's been so long singing songs I couldn't possibly still mean
i guess they're lies if they've lost the truth they had
and it's so hard to get well, writing postcards home from Hell
I'd rather pack; I'd rather leave this all/
Chorus
It's the way of the world to swallow you alive
the way of the world to swallow you alive // spirit first
Bridge
G Bm
Whoa, Whoa, I give up (2x)
G Bm
Ooo - ooooh // I give up.
Vs5
You get one life, and I spend mine chasing highways made of ghosts
now I don't know the way home from where I stand
And I believed I was free, til I forgot what I believed
now I don't even need chains to hold me down.
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10. |
(The Bird)
00:43
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Intro: D#sus4 / D#m (2x) C#
D#m B
I held on til I lost the count of days
D#m B
And when I lost my grasp, I narrowly escaped
D#m B
on wings of a bird who promised me the sky
D#m A#
I cursed my conquests as we took to flight
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11. |
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Intro: Bm, E (3x) F#, B
E
I can self-destruct just fine all by myself
I don't need your help to destroy my mental health
I drank enough tonight to kill me
let's take one more shot and we'll see
B
if this hurt i've got will stop there at the grave
Chorus
E (walkdown)Emaj7 C#m
Well hey, if you can toss your better sense aside
E (walkdown)Emaj7 C#m
and you can turn the world into a ride
G#,C#m G#,C#m (F#, B)
So can I -- I // I -- I
Vs.2
I've worn regrets like they were patches
for broken hearts i've worn like badges
I've got medals, self-accusing
from wars I've lost and those I'm losing
but there's no valor to my candor
don't pretend it's something grander
I'm just done with fighting demons
behind the curtains of the saints
Chorus
But if you can bring yourself to say you tried
and you can pass your shame for some kind of pride
So can I -- I // I -- I
Bridge
E G#7
And it seems hope is right around the corner
C#m A
but i've got some disorder that pushes straight instead
E G#7
the worse the sin is, the more the consequences
C#m A
the more i'm on a mission to tally-ho ahead!
(Instrumental) E, G#7, C#m, A (chord climbs to E major)
back to half-intro: Bm, E (2x)
Vs3
I've been drunk while I was preaching
I've backslid while still believing
i'm still fighting off those demons
and i've tried fighting off the saints
and i've been told i've got a purpose
but i think everyone on earth does
but that don't keep us all from hurting
so i'm no more or less deserving of this
Chorus
But if you can see the truth behind the lies
and you can come out on the other side
So can I
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12. |
Apostate
04:09
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D G D
Disappointment is a bitter pill to swallow
G D Bm A
paying back the hope I borrowed from someone I never knew
D G D
and it's a poor fit: humans in the suits of heroes
G D Bm A
undressed by whispered conspiracies and inquests for the truth
Chorus
G A D D/C#
but if the truth is what you're looking for
G A F# G
you don't get to choose the answers anymore
Em A F# G Em B A
so tell me do you really still believe that the truth will set you free?
G Gm
I do. I do.
Vs2
Paranoia: i related with his struggle.
Does that mean that I'm in trouble if he finally lost the faith?
Are my questions hopeless if I'm angry at the answers?
Are my doubts all so disastrous that they'll ruin me someday?
Well if the truth is what I'm looking for
I don't get to choose the answers anymore
So tell me do I really still believe that the truth will set me free?
I do // I do.
Bm Bmaj9(no 3rd) Bmin7 G
Am I honestly aiming for answers
Bm Bmaj9(no 3rd) Bmin7 G
if I walk in, conclusions drawn
Bm Bmaj9(no 3rd) Bmin7 G
If I stumble, If I falter, If I wander…
Bm D F#
then I wonder: will truth hold on?
G
No, I believe
Em Bm A
that the truth will set me free
G Bm A
Yeah the truth will set me free.
So if the truth is what we're looking for
We don't get to choose the answers anymore
G Gm
(but I do… I do.)
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13. |
Good From Evil
03:07
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Intro: D#, A# (2x)
D# A#
I often think that the worst of the curse
Cm Cm/A# G#
Is nothing to do with these clothes or childbirth
D# A#
the bruising of heels or the tilling of earth
Cm Cm/A# G#
but the fact that the fruit didn't keep to its word
G# G#m
'cause sometimes I can't choose good / sometimes I can't choose good from evil
Well there's logic and faith, and there's trouble with both
I feel like the child of a rotten divorce
where custody's settled in some awful court
and one gets my mind, and the other my heart
still, sometimes I can't choose good, sometimes I can't choose good from evil
Cm A# G#
Ooo - ooo - oooh (3x)
So I doubt what i know, and I doubt what I can't
I doubt what I do, and I don't understand
still, I doubt the earth's salted from shaking these hands
and I doubt I can ever be happy with that
sometimes I can't choose good / sometimes I can't choose good from evil.
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14. |
(The End)
02:25
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Intro: Ebm
Ebm B
When the butterfly is faded / and the beast shows you the dirt
Ebm B
when the bird has died somewhere mid-flight, and you crash down to the earth
G#m Ebm G#m Ebm
when you're incomplete / will you try your feet?
G#m Ebm A# Ebm
or will you find your knees / and admit defeat?
B Ebm
Oooh (repeat)
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15. |
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Vs1
Bm F#
Every hour at the chalkboard taught me more about the things I knew
F#
But couldn't prove to anyone demanding
F# Bm
proof until I had a few things all worked through
G Em
And so I labored through the night until my fingers turned to white
D
I tried to package you
F# F#7 Bm
and you eluded me each time as if to say I'd never find a box you fit into
Vs2
I abandoned social norms, I became a man absorbed with needing evidence
I even tried a couple times to pretend i could deny an answer could exist
I plugged in faith and hope and love (at least the closest I could come)
and each one wrecked the ship
and with each night and each skipped meal
Mr. Hyde would take the wheel a little bit
Chorus
G Gm D
The answer looks / an awful lot like another question
Am G D
A grim reminder that our design is limited
G Gm D
Every answer looks a lot like another question
E G F#
But I can't stop asking / I can't stop asking
Vs3
I started swearing at the walls and as my chest would rise and fall
it seemed to taunt my brain
till in a fit of rage, I clawed to put a silence to the hollow hope that screamed my name
But with each piece I could extract, each finger-full continued asking me
to show my work
Til I collapsed upon the floor, naked and sore and sure I could not even
prove it hurt.
Vs 4
Then lying face-up on the floor, once more I looked up at the board
and i began to cry
there amidst the chalk and slate, some wayward blood had found its way
and now it caught my eye
and the spatter spelled out clearly
"everything you know is theory (even your own name)"
you don't need proof to have some answers
to the questions you've been asking all along the way.
Chorus
The answer looks / an awful lot like another question
A grim reminder that our design is limited
Every answer looks a lot like another question
But I can't stop asking / I can't stop asking
Outro
You'll always be // a little incomplete // but don't throw away the things you do know.
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Levi Weaver Dallas, Texas
Every dollar I make from this site until (at least) 2020 (after bandcamp / paypal / shipping fees) will be donated to rstx.org
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