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Amanda Palmer – DEMO: Drowning In The Sound

— AN OFFICIAL PATRON-SUPPORTED RELEASE, AUGUST 31st, 2017  —

AFP-93 - Drowning In The Sound - FINAL

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, taken by Staff Sgt. Oscar M. Sanchez-Alvarez/Released. This has been modified from the original. Creative Commons.

this song was written as a two-day songwriting exercise on august 29th and 30th, 2017, using input/inspiration/comments from over 600 patrons (you can read those here). it wound up being a response to the insanity of internet politics melded with the recent total eclipse and the devastation of hurricane harvey….and, y’know…other stuff.

if you love this song, please consider joining my patreon to support me, my team & collaborators make MORE THINGS.


-THE LYRICS-

you worship the sun and you’re aching for change
but you keep starving your heart
you used to have sisters
you don’t anymore
you worship the sun….
but you keep feeding the dark

and i’m out in the yard
with my son and daughter
and the sky is all black and i think we should start running…..
running from the water

and everybody’s yelling
yelling that they’re coming
but i don’t see a single soul
they’re all so busy yelling
not one of them is hearing
the hissing from the bottom of the boat

i got some feelings up my sleeve
i got a compass in my arm
i got a needle in my heart
it’s gonna tell us where we are

south by south west
two miles from town
i can’t get out
i can’t look down
if you can hear
if you’re around
i’m over here
i’m over here
i’m watching everyone i love
drowning in the sound

you worship the sun
but the moons in the way
so get your armaments out
she’s always looking for trouble
she’s gonna get what’s been coming to her
she’s switching the tide and we can’t have that shit around

the television they’re blaring out the warning:
that our natural state is drowning
that our natural state is burning

and you’re trying to help
and you’re clicking for change
and you’re calling it out
and you’re adding your name
and you’re marching for peace
but you’re lynching the bitch
that got up in your face
how else they gonna to take you seriously?

south by south west
two miles from town
i can’t get out
i can’t look down
if you can hear
if you’re around
i’m over here
i’m over here
i’m watching
everyone i love
drowning in the sound

and your body is a temple
but the temple is a prison
and the prison’s overcrowded
and they know about the flooding
and the body politic is getting sicker by the minute
and the media’s not fake
it’s just very
inconvenient

do you ever feel that this should be officially the end?
and that you should be the one to do the ending but you can’t?

and do you ever feel that everyone is slowly letting go
do you ever feel that…incredibly alone?

and they’re saying not to panic
and it’s like a broken record
not like anybody know what that is
and they’re saying that they’ll manage
its the the hottest one on record
and they’re saying that it’s just the way it is

and now i can taste it coming
i can taste it with my tongue
and my children are so heavy
but i pick them up and run
and i know i’ll have to swim soon
when the water gets too high
i’ll keep on holding them above me
i’ll keep on holding them and crying

south by south west
two miles from town
i can’t get out
i can’t look down
if you can hear
if you’re around
i’m over here
i’m watching
everyone i love
everyone i love
everyone on earth
drowning in the sound.

you worship the sun and you’re aching for change
but you keep starving your heart
you used to have sisters
you don’t anymore
you worship the sun….
but you keep feeding the dark

-THE CREDITS-

music, lyrics, piano, vocals: amanda palmer
engineer: eli winograd @ lone pine studio in kingston, NY
special thanks to ben folds for texting with me before his show in little rock, arkansas, and making me change one rhythm and cut two useless repetitions before the first chorus
all photos by amanda palmer unless credited otherwise

 

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photo by Hayley Rosenblum

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