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1.
oh, the city burns! nero would be proud my mouth fills up a eulogy comes out what a waste of breath! spoke, but nothing else my heart pours out slow down put your head in clouds oh no! (i am alone)
2.
oh sure, you can look for reasons and try to be them, for a while but you know you can't be her answer she was never after truth will your mother still blame youif she knew all the words that she said drove you here? a half a world away destroying your body to get back for every word she said but it won't change the way she is and it won't change a thing she did so calm down sleep now forget all the things that she said
3.
found out how scared you were to ask how I knew everything but not how I ever blamed you. I know you were never aware, So how could you say "Sorry, how could I take and take and never think of you? I'm not sorry I don't care about you." Found out how little I felt When I stepped back and heard you say,"It's not my fault- I was raised this way." And I'll be damned if I pity you Like I used to do When I still loved you.
4.
your hands were broken but you wouldn't cry out as we tore your heart apart should i thought of you with sadness? (such small, small, price to pay) but you should have known better oh, i admit to no wrong! you should have understood i had no choice, no choice all winter you told me, "it's never enough to stay still" i thought you'd be proud of me should i spell it out, spell it out now? you'll never be good enough so i'm getting out, getting out
5.
you were a secret kept far from my heart i know i should have wept but no tears found their way out you were an avalanche a sharp decent with fast words, deliverance (i will not be ashamed, i will move perfectly now) and i, the minuet kept time by sorrow spent spoke soft, stood down (step away, step away, i will hold in my place) and i have been losing sleep so i can't be trusted to know every time you cry out you say, "not enough, dear" would i change pace- move air through empty lungs? oh, compose yourself and know that all you'll be is a secret left upon my lips for now
6.
Don’t say goodnight. Is this your life, or are you holding on? Dear it’s alright to say enough! To let your body break down. And they will never know what broke your heart. If only I could say how sorry I felt. Don’t turn your head- it’s hard enough to know it’s all my fault. Yes, I regret I laid myself out when your eyes cried, "please help me darling’. Don’t say goodnight! It’s not enough to get me through this night. Don’t say goodbye, it’s not alright to know you’re hurting and I cannot help you. And they will never know what broke your heart. And all the words escape from out of my mouth.
7.
Will I ever understand how anything gets done? I tied a knot in my heart for you, thinking that’s what you wanted. I tried to make my voice sincere (tell everyone how hard it was!) And anyway, I could never reach your ears, like the weight of its wings were clipped when they hovered near you. Should I tie your arms afloat to its melody, and anchor my heart to you in hopes I’ll climb out your mouth? I was so sure you wanted love, how could anyone find doubt? I tied a knot in my heart for you, though it’s not what you wanted. (Wear your heart out for me)
8.
you had made plans for the colder months ahead and braced yourself for disappointment michigan winters have such a way of isolating breath from your body but they were such strong traits that your father passed down to you and when they wore you out, they won out so how could i look at you? you are what you feared you'd turn in to but if you change your mind, i will forgive you (and all will be undone)
9.
fold your arms like an aeroplane cast over seas you could not navigate for fear of an entry point dear, do not go quietly! do not go, do not go at all! (you are needed here) you were strong but your body wasn't and even if i know it'll still hurt to hear it from you so when you go your arms will not part the sea or even support their own weight but it is time (and even i know!) but it will still hurt like hell when you go
10.
Jacob's Song 03:13
They were constants, at best that kept you with him The air returns to my chest, fighting for breath (like the love you let go, and did not come back) If it still remains, You must force this line out, "Be still my heart!" And though it may never heal It will hurt less in time
11.
oh, you had littered your clothes across the floor where we last met. like a trail of things we never said- but what have we ever said? still, it was 1998, and we had plenty of time to reconcile. but i was more concerned with what came next then i was of forgiving you. but you had not forgiven me, and you would not allow your teenage heart time to mend or time away. oh, what an ugly sight it was to see! so you told them all about me- and all the things i hadn’t done. and the little white lies that birthed from your mouth turned into such an avalanche. then, your voice became so small, or everyone else’s grew large. but it was far too late to pull the words back. they were gone. so no one will hear you scream, “no one will love you like i do…”
12.
nurse your wounds, you are no soldier we are not men of faith. so that, when we die, the only thing that touches you will be the worms of earth, turning earth over earth. i have not forgiven you i don't think that i will. will you ever know how hard it was to say, "you are a lost cause, and i can't save you now." i have not come to set things right. i have come to say goodbye.
13.
we have been watching you for weeks, getting weaker this time next month you'll be gone how do you say goodbye? how do you spend time waiting for... i should be home with you
14.
15.
all the streets had emptied, spilling forth like a parade, and you were eighteen and i was eighteen. then, all of east lansing was littered with collegiate speak and irony that slurred new beginnings with tired speech. now, it serves as a constant reminder of how youth is wasted on youth.
16.
a borrowed prayer died before it hit your lips your grandfather was the one who taught you it (to speak in troubled times, to carry you to port) now mechanical, it seems so meaningless and what do i think? death is death is death. and no amount of prayer will change that and anyway, time is better spent on things you can change
17.
i watched your cheeks flush, colored by an air from a calgary cold front your breath made ghosts spill into the night, and gather as if they might not disappear. i had heard a rumor you were moving back home! but even if it was true, i did not expect to hear it from you so bluntly. so it hung in the air like a fever, or a slow moving front and i would not find shelter here, so i braced myself "out!" i cried, "out! are you running to or are you running from? or does it even matter if it won't change your mind?" when you put you hand on mine, i knew.
18.
At twenty years old, A renaissance birthed by poetry and colligate confessions Your baritone droned in 4/4 time Painting verse after verse Like a landscape or a wake Remember when I recited Lowell from memory? Our professor’s eyes temporarily swallowed by faulty cataracts As I almost blatantly read “Water” Word by word from the book And although every last person in class knew, Not a soul breathed a word to her I think it was almost too absurd to mention out loud

about

This is a complication record with music from
- When the Sea Became a Giant
- Year of the Rabbit
- What It Takes to Move Forward Bonus Tracks
- Football, etc. split
- Into It. Over It. split
- Clippers/Grown Up Split
- Keep It Together Comp
- Early Discography Comp
- Bonus Track Exclusive to this

credits

released July 12, 2011

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Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) Fenton, Michigan

Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) is a band from the tiny town of Fenton, Michigan that started in 2006. Keith plays guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, cello, etc and sings. Cathy plays guitar.

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