Crack the Necronomicon it’s just about time

To get the volume bound in flesh opened at the spine

Cuz too many times I’ve let the words fade

Runaway- before I get them on the page

And we come face to face: got some things I wanna say

But now I’ve forgotten probably wasn’t anything.

So it’s a rarity I jot down what I feel

And none of it’s graceful so you know it’s the real deal

That’s why all these words must seem so repetitive

And stupid and childish, it’s ok, I bet it is

While other rappers talk about how all they do is get it in

I just want it out: all these words, this cave I’m sittin’ in.

Cuz caves are for animals that’s just what I am

Crawling and desperate, bones exposed on my hands

Cuz I’m just grabbin’ at what I thought just may be the truth

And I still haven’t found it, but tell me is it you?

Who shows me where to go & where the Father is

And all I hear is “no”, make me feel like garbage

Cuz I’ve been thrown out and I have been disposed of

I’ve been abused even when I do the things I’m s’posed ta

So smile for the camera and frame this photo

So I can burn it with the rest when this house blows up

When I give it my all, I’m exhausted, now I’m dyin’

Killin’ myself’s what seems to come with tryin’

Cold shoulder, frozen over, oh we’re doing this again?

Just what I get, crawlin’ back into the thick again

Make me feel so ignorant, got me in a rage

That I will hold in, let it ferment into shame

Cuz I’m the only one who I can make change.

He’ll never mature, he’ll never act his age

He’ll never be anything, he’ll always be deranged

Well I said I’d never care and I said I’d never hate

But it looks like that don’t matter so I’m through saving face.

Now I’m tearing out my heart- couldn’t get any harder

Talkin’ with you, had to strap on all my armour

So can you tell yet that these lines have a target?

And it’s finally on you- shootin’ in the dark.

Like a fish in the barrel, just like I was

Back when I was foolish enough to trust

Naive enough to try, and dumb enough to love

But now I’m mad enough just to let that light snuff.

I’ll find my own way out though I may not find it

I’m a creature of insanity, no use tryna hide it

My fists are tight and clenched- don’t you mind ‘em

I’ve all but lost my mind, don’t let me know if you find it.

When I give it my all, I’m exhausted, now I’m dyin’

Killin’ myself’s what seems to come with tryin’

Cold shoulder, frozen over, oh we’re doing this again?

Just what I get, crawlin’ back into the thick again.

Now the message is sent, didn’t need Nyarlothotep

But to see what I said, let’s go back a few steps

The very first line was a reference

To a book of terror, stories fictitious.

But I thought you knew me better than to leave it at that

Call my hit, and step up to bat

Then just step down, get booed from the stands

Here is the reason that I’ve been driven mad.

From me you never expected anything

Except for when I couldn’t give it, then you wanted everything

This was our routine- did it to me everyday

S’posed to bring me close to God, instead you just pushed me away.

But I still know that Jesus lives and that he loves me

But hearing it from you’s like taking rehab from a druggy

It’s crazy, right?

So yes, I’ll bite

Jump in the hole you dug me

I need approval oh so bad, I just need you to love me.

And there you go, I must say, I knew it all along

I called it, chargin’ extra, cuz the distance is long

And it may sound funny cuz it has to rhyme for this song

So I’ll say it now: if you think I love you, you are wrong.

I couldn’t care less about if you lived or burned

Because the weight is on you as to why I’m so disturbed

As to why this thing in my head does these flips and turns

It’s still jumping through your hoops while you still are not concerned.

I know I didn’t make the cut

I wasn’t chosen for your love

If we’re standing on the edge of the abyss

I’d give a shove

To myself to make a point

Never want to disappoint

The self-righteous Wicked King

Of compassion so devoid.

Yes that is my reasoning

You are my insanity

Wish life got better once you’re gone

You’re my Necronomicon

Kevin: As I mentioned in the breakdown of World of Nightmares, this is the most directly Lovecraftian song of the album. It’s also the song that went through the most iterations. It was the last song I wrote for the album, and part of it seemed obligatory; I realized that not much of the album had much to actually do with Lovecraft’s writings, so I wanted to devote a song to that. The first attempt was 3 verses long, and was basically an onslaught of references. The last verse of that song, though, is the same last verse of this version. However, once I sent it to Nathan, we milled it over and decided that it really didn’t belong with the rest of the record- it was more or less a parody and, as it fit into the album as an element of the over-arching story, it was really detrimental to the message. However, Nathan did say he liked the last verse, so I reworked the song to reflect that more, while still having a Lovecraft-y tone.

That being said, I sorta played Lovecraft’s themes to my own purposes. It’s time to get blunt. Like in Paint the Town Red, this song is mostly directed at those who I’ve felt push against me, whether that’s in faith or otherwise. Particularly, I went kinda Taylor Swift and had my old youth minister in mind during most of the writing of the song. Let’s back this train up a smidge cuz I don’t want to jump in and make you think “Man, Kevin is bitter and has jumped to conclusions way too heavily.”

As I may have mentioned, this album was conceived during my sophomore year of high school, during which I went through a bout of depression. I don’t like to make any sort of big deal about it because it really wasn’t one compared to most cases of depression. No medicine, no therapy, not much of anything, really. But I’m absolutely convinced that that was, in part, because of my youth minister who, for the sake of anonymity, we’ll call Wes. Wes was the kind of guy who played favorites, and in my sophomore year when this was happening, I was in need, more than any other time in my life, of affirmation. I was rising as a leader in my youth group, but I needed reassurance that I was suited for that role, that I was capable. The problem was, I wasn’t one of Wes’s favorites. Now, he wasn’t rude to me or anything, but it was evident that I was not in favor. On top of that denial of affirmation, the older kids who I looked up to were in the inner circle, so that left me wondering, among other things, what I was doing wrong. What was I missing? What would it take for me to not only get noticed, but to be viewed in favor? The answer was that there was no answer. He had his favorites and they graduated, and he left the following summer, the burden of a painful separation lifted from his shoulders now that maybe 2 people remained in the group that he actually cared about.

With that in mind, I feel like the lyrics carry a lot more weight. It’s not only accusatory, but it’s final. The damage is done and it can’t be taken back, and more importantly, I won’t let it. I refuse to say this is a grudge (though I’m sure it seems like it is) because it has been so formative for me. I think it taught me a lot about self-actualization. In the end, I don’t regret that time; experiences are valuable, good and bad, and as the cliche goes, I wouldn’t be the me I am today if this had never happened. But as it pertains to this story, yes, that whole pursuit and lack of closure drove me insane. It was infuriating to me, and I harbored nothing but hate and resentment toward him for the longest time. And though that’s turned to gratitude now, I can’t say it’s a pure gratitude, or one I can necessarily be proud of.

The long and short of it is that sometimes it just takes a crappy person to make you a better one.

Nathan: Like the lyrics, the music of Necronomicon went through several iterations as well. It started out with a drum beat and a bass part, with some synthesizer parts on top. I added an electric cello line as the last part of the demo before showing it to Kevin. If I recall correctly, he liked it, but this was at the point in time that we weren’t sure if it would be on the album, so I put it away to work on the rest of the songs. When I came back to it, I didn’t like it as much. So I stripped away everything except the bassline and drums, and built it back up from there via improvisation. The reason I chose to write it that way instead of my normal method of having the final product almost completely composed before recording is twofold: 1, I haven’t really done that before, so I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do it; and 2, Because this song is an outburst of emotion and anger (not that other songs on EPL aren’t like that too), I wanted the music to really come out of the lyrics. What I mean by that is that I’d read the lyrics each time I went to work on the song to get into that headspace, if that makes any sense. Eventually I had put together a beat I was happy with and felt that it fit the song.

Now, between the making of the demo and when I reworked the song ,Kevin sent me the revised first and second verses, along with the chorus. The thing was, I thought he had scrapped the third verses, and the new new ones were the whole song. Which means that the beat I had to put together was too short. When we first went to record the song, I had it playing and Kevin was practicing with it. When it got to the end, Kevin stood there for a second, then said something like “So, is there more, or….?”

After a couple minutes of discussion we figured out that I misunderstood what all was replaced by the rewritten 1st and 2nd verses, and didn’t have anything for the third verse. I asked if we could go ahead and record it with just a click track, and I’d make something for the third verse at home, but Kevin said that while the tempo was ok for the first two verses, it was two slow for the third one. So we decided to move on to a different song, leaving Necronomicon for a later session.

I went home and quickly came up with a riff on my bass for the third verse, wrote a drum part, opened up the Logic file and started recording. Almost everything (except the drums) in that third verse was improvised, even the synthesizer stuff (which I normally just write beforehand, export a MIDI file and let the Macbook “play” it).

I still needed something to bridge the gap between the two sections of the song. After toying around with some ideas, I decided to have some fun and do a wild, Kirk Hammet-style electric cello solo. I quickly wrote a chord progression, laid down a bass part and an electric guitar part, then sat down and improvised for about an hour. After that, I went in and put together a rough cut from the material I had come up with. I then taught myself to play the solo all together, and recorded it. And that was the last addition to the song.

You and all your pride
Couldn’t put that aside
Just this one time
Never dream to confide

This doesn’t make sense
None of it ever did
Run inside of a maze- a labyrinth

I fall to the floor
Phase down to the core
Where the earth is hot
And I have been before.

Just let me out
I just wanna go home
Don’t know where that is
But we’re ready to blow

Line ‘em up tight all around the world
So none of you can get the last word
The earth cracks in two
Never know what to do

—————————————

Kevbot: I don’t want to get too deep and sentimental about this one in particular, if not just because I would feel slightly silly for doing so. I’ve subtitled this one “The Source” because in the narrative that sorta goes along with the album [here: http://goo.gl/U8eEz ], the Chaos Engine is more or less the source of the nightmare. That’s wy lyrically it’s minimal and the stuff that is there doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I just put down these random non sequiturs of angst and vague anger. It doesn’t have a target and it doesn’t have a particular method; it’s just a cesspool of frustration. I do, however, like the idea of the Chaos Engine itself, and it’s one I wish I could explore more, especially visually. I tried to draw it once, but it was just too much. Just imagine this semi-biomechanical machine rising from the ground, constantly churning and screeching, spewing out pollution, but totally self-sustaining. I dunno, I think it’s cool.

The production of this song was really cool, too. I feel like Nathan really enjoyed working on it, and, at least to me, this track is one of the most replayable. The filter on my voice is pretty shnazzy and the beat’s just cool, going all over the place. It’s one of those pieces that, to me, seems like it’s really concerned with rhythm and how everything plays together (or, in the spirit of the song, doesn’t play together). There was even a point where Nathan and I were debating whether we should’ve put the track in reverse or not, but I think ultimately we decided that incarnation of the song sounded a little too much like something summoned out of a pentagram somewhere in the Mojave desert by a goat-eating cult. That being said, we’re pretty darn happy with what we got.

Nathan: When Kevin sent me the lyrics for the track he told me that the title - Chaos - was what he wanted the music to be. So that’s what I did. Lots of just plain noise, some notes that don’t fit in with what’s going on around them, sampled steam engine hisses, et cetera. The part where Kevin raps is one of my favorite bits on the album, the way his voice is distorted and how the last line echoes sounds frickin’ awesome, if I do say so myself. Several parts on this track are me doing a little improv on a midi keyboard hooked up to my macbook, and throughout the track you can hear me scratching on my guitar while rocking back and forth on a wah pedal. This was a fun one to put together.

I watch the record as it spins
The needle scratches without end
I silently sit
And do my best to listen
To the words I’ve heard them say
While I’m sitting in my cave
I’m too scared to go back there
But why am I so afraid?

Never used to be this way
But it seems that nowadays
I spend all my time running
Like I was some sort of renegade.
In this place the ceiling drips
It’s cold and musky, I barely fit
The roof and walls close around me
Getting claustrophobic

I’ve taken one too many hits
And I’ve been conditioned
If the world hurts this bad
Then do your best to run from it.

So I curl up in the dark and pretend that I’m fine
Like I’m not blown apart, watch out: land mines
And running from terror in the mirror: Frankenstein
Always keeping up with me, always keeping in time.

He knows he runs my life and knows he’s in control
Knows he’s got me held tight in a chokehold
And while I fear the looking glass- nobody has to know
The secret’s safe here, locked up inside my home.

So this is what I am, what I’m reduced to
Crippled by my fear, total yellow, no blue
Wishing I could get out, but words are misconstrued
Now I’m all alone again, but I’ll be back soon.

Can you say anything to ease my paranoia?
I’ve given you everything, gave it up for ya
And given up my custody - somebody get a lawyer
Cuz there’s nothing left here, but broken spirits longin’ for ya.

Makin’ you a promise, but there’s no guarantee
Paired with that you’ll even want to see me
When I come back from all my groveling
Cuz once the fear is out, the rage comes round and you will bow to me.

———

I’ve been so broken up about it, all these words we never shouted

Now cannot get any louder, into hate I’ve been rerouted

No heart, no mercy, I’m the walking dead

Fueled not by hunger, but by raging blood red

It pumps in my veins, every single word said

My life was taken from me, I’ll have yours instead

I must admit, I was close, paralyzed by my fear

Wanting just to sit and run away from here

But taking your own life’s a coward’s way to escape

And all of this power would’ve just gone to waste

I will give my heart and soul to killing blind rage

And to tear down all of these kingdoms that you made

I will take my slaves and make my demands

Instill a new order, and kill when I can

Life is what I want, to take it with my bare hands

I tried to control this fury; now it’s all I am

So I will make you pay in blood, cuz nothing else costs enough

Don’t care how deep your pockets are, cuz I am no sub.

No chance at compromise; if you can’t pay the fine

I will take everything you love and make it mine

Has the heat left your veins, does the cold make you nervous?

Do the words and the pain let you know you deserve it?

The blood on your hands that you thought you could hide

Had a trail of their own leading right back to mine.

I’m lettin’ you know that you are the reason

My soul’s cold as winter- the infinite season

We’ve all caught cold and we’ve all shared diseases

Shaken hands, made deals, embraced all my demons

Is it just greed, is he out for revenge?

Or am I also standing trial cuz I love to sin?

And take a stab at who stands judge, jury, execution

But taking stabs is how you got here and now you’re making these excuses

No chance at retribution, I have found the best solution

I have burned this constitution, it’s a futile revolution

All these words are just pollution, no matter how I use them

Everything’s just so confusin’, it’s my mind that I am losin’

All these sides that we are choosin’, pointing fingers and accusin’

How’s it feel now that the glove is on the other hand?

That you should have prevented this when you had the chance

The dust explodes the buildings crumble, all you once knew

Falls apart altogether, everything that you

Put forward into this empire thatcha grew

I’ve held it in as best I can, but I gotta let loose

Being powerless to stop this from falling apart

Look inside your hollow shell wishing you’d had a heart

Heart enough to think it out

And heart enough to care

And it’s hard enough to live this life when things are so unfair

But there’s no heart in your shell, now tell me, is there?

It’s dark inside- just like mine- so we just have to stare

Into the abyss that we only wish would stop

Next time watch who you’re stepping on while climbing to the top.

Has the heat left your veins, does the cold make you nervous?

Do the words and the pain let you know you deserve it?

The blood on your hands that you thought you could hide

Had a trail of their own leading right back to mine.

I’m lettin’ you know that you are the reason

My soul’s cold as winter- the infinite season

We’ve all caught cold and we’ve all shared diseases

Shaken hands, made deals, embraced all my demons.

——————————————-

Kevin: I subtitled this song The Metamorphosis for what I hope is an obvious reason. There’s a distinct change in tone between the two parts, namely from fear to rage and hate. The name comes more or less from the Green Lantern Emotional Spectrum of coulours. Go ahead and google that if your mind is utterly baffled by it, but to somewhat sum it up, it basically goes on the principle that on the basic 7 colour spectrum, from warm to cool colours, emotions become more and more endearing, beginning with red which represents rage and ending in violet which represents love.

Hence, I wanted to show this relationship. Yellow is fear and I wanted to show how, forgive the second nerd reference in the explanation of a very dark and serious song, “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate.” Likewise, I wanted a song that simply just raged; where I could just vent anger and yell and scream as much as I wanted, regardless of if the words had any target in particular.

This song went through the most rewrites because I just couldn’t nail it on the first few drafts. It was largely on the Paint the Town Red portion. Anger’s never really been a huge issue for me. Obviously I get angry, but I don’t really ever legitimately rage, at least not to people. So it was difficult for me to actually try and make that feeling coherent, let alone honest. However, to an extent, I think that that small measure of emptiness and artificiality serves to add to that section of the song, even if only on a personal level. That’s something I can identify as loathsome- that I will never let myself become. It’s empty, unbridled rage for the sake of rage.

This song is definitely one of my favorites (of course, I love them all). To me, it’s one of the ones with the most replay value. When I started rapping the Red verse, I went as far as I could without messing up or taking a breath and when Nathan cut the music, he opened the studio door (my closet) and just stared and was like “So are you gonna do that for the whole section?” I nodded and and he was like “awesome. Lemme just turn down the mic sensitivity real quick cuz you were about to make that thing blow,” an accomplishment I am exceedingly proud of. I say this over and over, but I really mean it when I say that Nathan is a phenomenal musician. Not just because of his wide array of instruments he can play or his natural sense for rhythm, notes, harmonies, and whipping up a full dramatic piece in a matter of hours. All of that’s good a well, and largely impressive, but the thing that I find invaluable is his ability to tell a story. There’s always this moment while we’re recording where I think “man, I could not be rapping, and people would still get what this album is saying.” Like, I said, I love every song on this album, but the Yellow Caverns portion of this song was really the moment that I really crapped myself because of how precisely and strongly he hit the nail on the head with what I wanted for the music. 

Nathan: When Kevin sent me the rough draft of the lyrics for this song, he said he wanted a creepy/eerie-ish sound for the “Yellow Caverns” part, and a really heavy and loud sound for “Paint the Town Red”, so that’s where I started from. I honestly don’t remember much about writing the track, but I do know I spent a lot of time on the instruments of the non-melodic backing parts of Yellow to get the creepy sound I wanted. For Paint the Town Red I used mostly cellos with some really heavy distortion on them. I went for a decidedly metal sound, with a main riff that sounds like something Metallica might have written in their early days. I really loved Kevin’s performance on this, the almost-whispering voice of Yellow Caverns and the infuriated screaming on Paint the Town Red really complete the song. I’d write more, but I’m super-tired for whatever reason so I cant really think straight at the moment.

You can’t be different

Don’t you dare break the mold

Follow all the other kids

And do as you’re told.

Don’t ask too many questions

Stay on the right side of the road

And you don’t need a thousand words

Just use the picture that you’re shown.

Don’t take a look around, no need to explore.

We will watch your every move like 1984

And, dont worry, no, you wont get hurt

just so long as you keep wearing that bright red shirt

Do you feel special, do ya think you’re something new?

Hahaha….

You? You? You won’t mean nothing once we’re through.

Don’t ever wonder if there is another way

Of thinking and believing Heaven or a hot fray

Staying frayed at the edge we’ll fix you right up

We’ll take away your following, starting at the front.

You have no escape from all this this burning cold

don’t discover yourself until you’e too old

you cannot think on your own, lost all your sight to see,

Nothing left to guide or help you, wandering eternally.

Do you feel special, do ya think you’re something new?

Hahaha…

You? You? You won’t mean nothing once we’re through 

All it takes is one person to think differently

To start screwing up our perfect society

But has it occurred to you that you might be wrong?

That your grip on reality just isn’t that strong?

That no one - even you - is right all the time

So all of you stop acting just like you’re Divine

You judge others but ignore your own deeds

You holding up a standard but ignore your own greed

You give me all these rules just to trip me up

If you think thats ok, then you need a checkup

Dying heart and rotten soul, I can hardly stand the smell

Send me down, burn me alive, eliminate every cell

I’m not just a number, I have a personality.

I’m opening that door and slamming it behind me

I’m not laying low anymore to fit in

Not gonna ignore you like I have been

I’m gonna say how I feel, don’t know where to begin

Cuz I gotta let it out

I wanna scream and shout

I’m tearing off the mask

Showin’ who I really am

I’m through with all your crap

And living life a sham

I’m tearing off the mask

Won’t cut you a deal

Cuz I’m gonna be me

And show ya how I really feel

——————————————————-

Nathan: This is the other song that I wrote lyrics for, and this time most of them stayed in the final product. Like some parts of Fallen, The Mask deals with my frustrations with not always feeling like I’m allowed to be myself and share my opinions and beliefs because those around me would more than likely have a very adverse reaction. So I took those annoyances and put them into writing a set of lyrics. There are two distinct sections to the song. The first half is vocalizing (with a little bit of dramatization to make the point clearer) what I feel like certain groups of people have been telling me: Don’t be different. We’re right, so you’d better agree with us or you’ll be outcast. Don’t think for yourself, we have all the answers you need. So don’t question what we’re telling you. You can be yourself, so long as you do what we say and are exactly who we want you to be and not who you actually are. And by the time that you figure out that we don’t know it all, then it’ll be too late for you to discover your own personality.

And it pisses me off that I feel like I can’t just be myself. That it seems that I have to bottle my viewpoints up and hide under the proverbial Mask of quiet compliance, not saying what I want to say.

So the second half is me lashing out internally. Screaming that maybe they don’t have it all figured out. I reference the book on theology Snoopy is once shown writing, “Has it ever occurred to you that you might be wrong?” , cuz sometimes I wonder if some people I know ever think of that. I’m tired of the people who ignore their own hypocrisy and act like its their job to judge others and give out rules, when God is the only one worthy of taking on that role. So I want to be through with pretending to be okay with all that crap. I want to be myself. I don’t want to be a caricature. I am my own person, with my own thoughts and beliefs. And if you don’t like it, thats not my problem.

(My apologies if the above paragraphs come off as a little too harsh or self-righteous or overly victimized. A lot of anger and pain went into writing this song, so whenever I think about what’s behind it I get all worked up again.)

Now, about the music. It’s almost exclusively cellos, drums, and bass, with very little in the way of synthesizers. Almost the entire piece came out of a long improv session I did. The main riff of the first half just came to me one night, so I sat down and started playing and jamming with it. Then I came up with the chord progression for the verses. I definitely aimed for a distinctly evil sound, using tritones and dissonance to create a clashing, unsettling vibe. Then I worked on a riff for the second half of the song before opening up my laptop and fleshing out the music in full, with heavy drums, a chugging bassline and finishing with a cello solo. The creepy distorted sounds that you hear throughout the first half were Kevin’s idea. He had me make a filter in Logic that really messed with the audio, shifting the pitch down several octaves and adding in echos. We then recorded about 5 minutes of us talking into the mic with creepy laughs and voices, grabbing things that were lying around his room and using them in conjunction with the filter to create somt really weird-sounding stuff. Those noises complete the song for me, they really give it a nice extra touch of creepy. I’m extremely pleased with how The Mask turned out.

Kevin: The best thing about E.P. to me was how Nathan and I grew and developed as a team. He sent me these lyrics when we were recording KRK!!! and we had the option of putting it on that album. Thematically, it could go either way, but we decided to put it on E.P. because it was darker and we were pretty much ready to finish KRK!!! and put it out there. Seeing how it turned out, I’m so glad that we made that call. Even though it’s more or less “victorious” at the end, it’s so dark and raw. I have one sole regret when it comes to this album. Nathan’s original lyrics for the “1984” line were “There’s no woman with a hammer like it’s 1984,” referencing the famous Apple commercial. Problem was, I wasn’t aware it was a famous commercial and instead thought it was an obscure reference, thus changing it to a 1984 reference instead. For shame, me, for shame. But I digress.

It’s awesome seeing Nathan put out lyrics. Between the two of us, he’s more politically minded than I am, and probably more socially conscious which is awesome. The lyrics are more raw, too, which I love. I have nothing but good things to say about this guy.

The song itself was a blast to record, too. I think it was the second or so song we were recording that days and we were going to do World of Nightmares afterward, but I straight up wrecked my voice on this track and it was awesome. I’m not even sure if it comes through in the final product, but I was going for a scratchy, raw sound in my voice and by the time I did that for the whole thing, the throat was a mess. The chorus was interesting, too, because there was a weird amount of empty space in it, which is where the what I will call “scary voice” or “drop-octave” voice came in. That was another thing I felt I got to introduce Nathan to. It’s fairly common in rap and such to have a line or two dropped way down an octave or two, so we did that on certain keywords and phrases in the song, as well as the “hahahas” to both make the vocal side of the song more dynamic, but also utilize that common tool in a significant way, here serving to add to the sinister character of the song. Making the whispers and creepy sounds was also super fun. We were just picking up toys in my closet and making them make sounds and talking and such.

All in all, I’m just as happy as Nathan is with this bad boy. Just like with the rest of this album, it’s so fulfilling to make something that we like listening to while still knowing what it means to us and the message behind it. I subtitled this one The Lie because that’s exactly what it is. We betray ourselves to mesh with society, ultimately answering to a collective ideal rather than our own. That is the most dangerous thing we’re capable of- willingly abandoning ourselves in favor of what is expected or demanded from us. When that happens, we’re putting on a mask, sometimes without any intention of ever taking it off. But it’s not your face, it’s not you, and it never can or will be. Tear off your mask.

Open the gate and open it wide
Cuz we’re not in a place where you can easily hide
But you can still run or at least you can try,
You may not get anywhere, but neither have I
Just a maze from which I will never escape
Trapped inside nightmares and dreamscapes
Where shadows are alive and my fate
Is already decided and I just can’t wait
For the day I get out, and I’m allowed to leave
But day never breaks and the night breaks me
So these dark thoughts come and grow like weeds
Blocking all of the light and life from me
I do my best but I just can’t ignore
The brokenness of the hope I’d held to before
And I cry out for God but he’s not here anymore
I guess it serves me right for putting him in a drawer
But oh my Lord; why have you left me here
To eternally run and live with my fears
Thrown in the teeth of 2 heavy gears
Cast off the edge of a cliff so sheer
So shear me, shave me, cleanse me white
But everything is dark coming into my eyes
If we fear what we can’t see then I am terrified
Cuz at this moment I’m just as good as blind
So do you think you can relate to me?
So funny but now do you see
What I am inside? So have mercy
I’m just a lost and lonely boy trying to get free.

Don’t find me here (This is not the real me, believe me I swear)
It’s ok to be scared (Cuz you’ll find out life’s hardly ever fair)
This is not the real me
Nothing’s ever as it seems,
So welcome to my world of nightmares

The cold creeps in and screams ring out
The silence is crippling, but everything is loud
And if I am a cripple - if I am singled out
I’ll drag myself along just to go with the crowd
Because we’re always taught to go with the flow
But if the flow doesn’t know where we’re supposed to go
Then a riot breaks out and I am trampled to and fro
Left crippled and abused and horrified all alone.
And the monsters have surrounded, they have me pinned
And I have no one else on which to depend
So I have a fleeting thought to just give in
But I can’t, not now, I gotta see the end
But I already know what the end holds
I’m a monster already, yeah, even though
I do my best to hide it so that nobody knows
I’m fighting for a lost cause 6 feet below.
The void and the cold they bite all around me
And leave their marks I do a poor job of hiding
This world that I’ve created where no one can find me
Will manifest itself in me and tie and bind me
Because nothing ever changes, the monsters always win
And the monster always rages and always sucks me in
So all that’s left to do is pray for all my sins
Cuz I never will escape, this is where the end begins.

Don’t find me here (This is not the real me, believe me I swear)
It’s ok to be scared (Cuz you’ll find out life’s hardly ever fair)
This is not the real me
Nothing’s ever as it seems,
So welcome to my world of nightmares

———————————

Kevin: This piece is probably the most directly Lovecraftian (it could be argued that Necronomicon is for obvious reasons, but I sorta have my doubts about our audience’s Lovecraftian knowledge anyway, so I digress) on the album. Once we were preparing to release the album, I thought up these little pseudo-subtitles for each song to sort of describe the theme or setting of the piece. It seemed only appropriate that World of Nightmares would be “The Gate.” Now, Fallen more or less gives an overview of what you’ll be hearing, but WoN is the first one that really delves into anything specific. It’s the first one I wrote for the album, back when I was intending for it just to be a handful of tracks and an actual E.P. That being said, it also went through a good few rewrites before even sending the lyrics to Nathan, and then again afterward. I didn’t even realize it, but it serves as a nice transition away from KILLER ROBOTS KILL!!! in that it’s jarringly different, but still thematically similar. While on KRK, I was talking about being yourself and not conforming, here I explore my isolation from a better version of myself and how it ultimately leads to me being sucked into the darkness.

The number one problem I faced with these songs was trying to get an honest and emotional feel to the songs, while still making it eloquent and easy to listen to. I think in regards to that task, I did a fairly hit-and-miss job. Some of the imagery, especially in this song, is admittedly sorta awkward and seems like it’s trying too hard. But that really is how it needs to be, I think. I wrote this album in the midst of when I was truly feeling these emotions, which led to much less eloquent verbiage- I just wanted to get these words out and show what I was feeling. After I wrote them, that’s when I went back to try and make it presentable. So all the monsters are really just like the robots- they’re metaphors for reflections of myself. Just about all of my conflicts are self-inflicted. I wanted to convey the helplessness I felt to be able to stop myself and the world around me from providing more fuel for my self-destructive nature. This is also where the image of the Swordsman plays in for me. I slightly blame comic books for a lot of my character and values, the most prominent being Peter Parker and his relentless optimism, and Hal Jordan and his unbreakable Willpower. So, my character, the Swordsman, is one who is naturally a steadfast moral fighter, but the goal here was to show him/me in a light where that does no good.

The main message there was that this is a world of my own creation, so if you’re expecting a happy ending, you’re in for a disappointment. Because my world isn’t one that you would probably expect. In my own realm, I don’t get to win, I don’t get peace of mind or contentedness. The worst day in the real world is better than the best day that I spend in my own thoughts. That’s my World of Nightmares.

Aaaand here’s Nathan:

Nathan: When Kevin sent me the lyrics for World of Nightmares he told me he wanted a symphonic-metal type sound, something in the vein of Within Temptation and Evanescence. I already had a riff in that style that I had in my inventory of “ideas-I’m-going-to-use-in-a-piece-at-some-point”, so I figured that this was the perfect place for me to use it. I wrote a short intro, then I conferred with Kevin about the tempo and I realized that speed of the piece was way too fast. The riff didn’t work at a slower pace so I threw everything out and started from scratch. I sat down with my cello and improvised a new riff at a much more rappable tempo, made a couple adjustments to it, then put it down in the Sibelius (composing/notation program I use) file. I still needed an intro to the song, so I did some more improv until I came up with a suitable melody. After that, I don’t really remember much about writing the piece. After I finished composing I sent the MIDI (computer-generated instruments) audio of it to Kevin. He liked it, but said that the opening sounded a little too sad (at that point, I had violins playing the melody with cellos in the background, no piano, and it did sound pretty mournful). I realized it would sound cooler if I had a piano playing the lead, so I reworked the intro, and it sounded much better. The last instrumental addition to the piece was the bassline. I had already had a bass guitar part, but it was rather straightforward and boring. After listening to a lot of Evanescence I figured out that their bassist(s) had a knack for playing these cool, expressive parts that really grooved. So I rewrote the bass part to be more in that style, and I think it’s one of my better bass guitar grooves. It’s most evident in the part just after the first chorus where it’s just the bass, drums, and Kevin.

This is also the first time that I’ve ever sung on a recording, and the live debut of the piece was the first time I’d ever sung in a solo capacity in front of people. I haven’t had any real training in singing, but due to my musical background I’m pretty good at harmonizing when singing at church. I originally intended for our roles in the chorus to be the reverse of what they ended up being - Kevin was supposed to sing and I was going to do my best impression of an attempt at rapping the two lines in parentheses, but when I was teaching the melody to Kevin we discovered that I had written the line too high for him (his range is more like a baritone or bass, I’m definitely a tenor). I tried singing it once and it worked, so we decided to switch.

There’s this thing seems to keep happening to me. I look around and everything just appears dull and numb and I can’t really process anything anymore. Good, bad, whatever it is, it’s just… nothing now. And then that hollowness just sits there in my head until it drips down to my heart and through my whole body and there’s nothing left of myself. So I look around at everything, everyone, in this light of just numbness that’s been sitting there for so long that it’s turned into resentment and bitterness, which at this point are the only emotions that can thrive in this environment that I’ve made for myself. So I let it thrive, and I let it grow, until little else remains of what I was before.

Fallen, I’ve lost the way

I see only cold shades of gray

I need Your guiding whisper

Because I’ve gone too far astray

The best part is trying to hide it. People ask what’s wrong and, we’ve all been there, it’s nothing, I’m just tired. I’m fine. I’m fine. But I look around and I’m just disgusted by everyone and their lifestyles. The fact that I can get a reprimand and criticism for every little misstep I take and yet the rest of the world is off scot free. You are hypocrites, you are frauds, you are contemptible. I want to shout it, I want to scream it at everyone I meet with my hand at their throat, to get all of this weight that I’ve been forced to carry out of my heart and distribute it among these vile, deranged people who claim to love me, who I’ve come to loathe and despise. We both know that love is what makes us human so we both know that we’re something less than that. And all of this builds and multiplies until I realize, as I always do, that I am no better.

Fallen, I’ve lost the way

I see only cold shades of gray

I need Your guiding whisper

Because I’ve gone too far astray

This pain has no end in sight

And I’m losing my will to fight

Your love is what I need tonight

But I’ve fallen too far to find Your light

These words are not my own. They’re from somewhere darker than myself. Regardless, I am the one who is speaking them and I’m the one who must be held accountable for them. A burden that I am too weak to bear, but am too proud to otherwise shed. So I drag it with me wherever I go. I’m looking for God, and truth, and some sort of escape. I continue my journey, climbing mountains, scaling walls, seeking a place where He remains. Even when it all goes unspoken, it is there. And even when people don’t believe that these are my true thoughts, it’s there. So say what you will, because this isn’t yours and it never will be. It’s my own personal crime and my own personal penance, my refuge and my condemnation. It’s always been my nightmare. 

——————————————————————————-

Dang, lots of heavy stuff in there. Let’s delve into it:

Nathan: Fallen came about as an idea that popped into my head just before I went to bed. I had been listening to a lot of Apocalyptica and Avenged Sevenfold, and I decided I wanted to write a big, long, cello-based epic. So the next day, after I had done some school, I sat down and began to write. After a few hours, I was done. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use it for an NPI rap, maybe spoken word, maybe just an instrumental, but after listening to it a couple times I definitely felt that it belonged on E.P. Later that night I decided that I would try to write a spoken word for it. I hadn’t been having the best of weeks, so I intended for it to be about depression (as a way for me to deal with my hard times in a healthy way), but it quickly became about my frustrations with the intolerance of people around me. One of the cornerstones of my Christian faith is that love is the most important thing we have. But it seems that so many people forget about love when it comes to those who disagree with them. I often feel like I cannot express my opinions and beliefs because they are at odds with what the majority of the people I know think and believe, and if they knew how I feel about certain issues I fear that they would react with vitriol and anger. Because from discussions I’ve heard and what I’ve seen on facebook, people around me often judge and shun others who have different beliefs about politics, science, and other things without actually taking the time to get to know the person. And that isn’t love. So I sometimes become disillusioned with the religious establishment, with people whose use Jesus to support their opinions without accounting for what Jesus actually said. Forgetting that Jesus was about Love. That’s what a lot of the song became about for me. After I finished the spoken word and added in a chorus, I sent the MIDI of the piece to Kevin along with the lyrics to see what he though of it. I was figuring this could fit into the album somewhere in the middle or towards the end, but Kevin was like “Shoot, man…this is track 1 material!”. But he did want to rewrite some of the lyrics, and I gave him the green light to do so. He ended up rewriting just about all, which was a bit of a shock to me at first, but after reading it alongside the original text a couple times, I liked it a lot. The spirit of what I wrote is still there, it still deals with the same issues and frustrations, but it says it more eloquently than I could, and brings it more into line with the rest of the album. There are a couple spots, though, that my original lyrics are still in there. Kevin didn’t change the choruses, and the “climbing mountains, scaling walls” bit I put in as a reference to U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, which is one of my favorite songs of theirs. So yeah. Now here’s Kevin.

Kevin: Man, where to start, where to start. This song was a fairly late addition to the album, given that all the other songs were actually written by the time KILLER ROBOTS KILL!!! was released. That’s why, if you’ve read the accompanying short story “The Swordsman and the Spellcaster,” there’s not really a section that pertains directly to Fallen (Oh, you haven’t read that short story companion at all? Well here ya go: http://nopunintendedrap.tumblr.com/post/19990693047/the-swordsman-and-the-spellcaster ). However, when Nathan sent me the instrumental and the accompanying lyrics, I couldn’t say no. This album means a whole lot to both of us. In case you couldn’t tell, it’s really just us pouring out all our frustrations, fears, anger, insecurities, and anxieties for about 40 minutes. The material is a drastic departure from what we’d done before and I don’t think either of us could be happier about it. That was vehemently apparent in this song when he sent it to me. It was awkward asking him if I could rewrite it, because I knew how personal it was to him, but at the same time, it was personal to me as well. Nathan and I are very similar in our theological and philosophical beliefs. Therefore, it was very easy to relate to the words he’d sent me. There are so many people at school, and even in church who are just hard to be around because of how intolerant and unloving they are. Now, warning, this album is also more heavily based in our faith, so let me officially put it out there: Nathan and I are Christians and we very much want to convey that in our music. There’s no reason to make it if it’s not for God. But, our overlying motivation and belief in our Christianity is that Love is the absolute most important and powerful force on the planet. So this song is all about seeing that love absent around us, whether it’s reflected in others’ narrow-minded views religiously, socially, or any other facet, we’re just sick of seeing that light of Love obscured by people’s own ignorance and personal agendas. That’s not what Love is at all. At the same time, though, one reason I wanted to rewrite it was because originally, it made the speaker (me, but also Nathan) sound, I felt, overly victimized which I wasn’t a fan of because I cannot try and preach something and claim that I am in the right. An overlying theme of the album is that I’m not, I’m also wrong and to blame. So I kept the themes of each section, changing it to sound somewhat more eloquent, but also adding a measure of confession into it- I’m not perfect either, and I am willing to change, but I can’t promise it will be graceful. With close-mindedness and intolerance, Love cannot truly flourish. That’s the idea here. And without Love, we can’t exist, and, perhaps more importantly, we don’t want to. Without Love, we’ve Fallen, but we’ll still fight to try and get back.

     It begins with a messenger and his partner. And, as many things do, with a gate. A word of warning and the rods of iron swing open to lay the pattern for the near future. Things will be darker here than previous adventures the two had experienced, the stories more personal and honest. We’re introduced to a realm of monsters and demons, some of which are being fought, others still reigning without challenge, few subdued. But as they walk through the gate and become accustomed to the world they now find themselves in, they begin to combat these things. Recognition, resent, refutation, redemption. That’s what they search for in the first place. But such things are not simply found and achieved. They have come prepared- one carries a sword, the other a book of old magic.

     Next there is a hallway. It stretches out as far as the two travelers are able to walk and along the walls of this corridor are masks. Thousands of masks, staring either aimlessly across at the opposite wall or following the strangers. But they aren’t strangers here. They too obstruct their features with faces not their own. They recognize each other and attempt to assist in the removal of the masks, but they can’t. One tears at his face, searching for the seam between his flesh and the edge of the flat and sneering fake face but is unable to find it. The two are molded together, fused to each other- 2 identities permanently bonded together under one appearance, one that all can see and hate. The blade cannot slice away his own face and a spell cannot be cast upon one’s own person. So they turn, as so often they must, to each other to see through their apparent lies and tear away each others burdens so that others might see what truly lies under.

     But there lingers still a fear. A deep yellow plague that cripples the soul and withers the heart. It is in the midst of this fear that the swordsman will crawl into a cavern and huddle in its corners. Every shadow, every whisper, every twitch and action is another pin stuck into him. He is at his most vulnerable. Every word spoken is shouted and every action made is violent so as to resonate in his mind and slowly erode everything he once felt about himself until there is nothing left of what little there was to begin with. Until at last the erosion grinds down to the core where the same violence sparks against his bones and blood to catch on his thoughts and grow into a steadily increasing flame. And as it grows, red and glowing as a sun, so too does the the swordsman’s rage until his body can no longer contain it and, along with the cave, is blown apart to reveal a terrible new entity. The steel it grasps is no longer a vessel to combat the evil and defend the true & righteous, but instead one of nothing other than destruction and terror. The target is no longer monsters or demons, but cities and organization. A blind lusting for revenge for crimes that were fabricated by his own imagination is what drives him and he swings his blade madly, making the cities crumble and the very earth crack. The spellcaster wishes to stop him but can’t. He can only appeal to the splinter of the swordsman that still remains in the back of the destroyer’s mind. But still that splinter fights as it always has and always will until the end.

     The blade is thrust into the ground as the swordsman battles for control once again. And out of the ground rises a new creation. A mass of gears and clockwork mechanics, it has great smokestacks that sporadically issue great towers of flame and smoke as energy is converted, utilized. It is an engine of sorts, risen from the very core of the earth. Its precise purpose is unknown, but the mass of gears and pistons make it nearly impossible to approach. It can only serve as visual focus and auditory mess as the swordsman continues his flurry to reclaim his blade. All of his thoughts, his inner conflicts and outer hatreds and shortcomings are channeled through the machine. It absorbs his confusion, converts it and metabolizes it, issuing more flames into the air until the destroyer is done away with and the swordsman stands once again next to the spellcaster, blade in hand. The smoke being issued from the engine still reeks of the red he had escaped, but they must press on. They find an opening in the machine and step inside as it begins to descend once more to the core.

     Within, the red becomes more focused. The chaos of the earlier incident and confusion from the machine’s appearance has disappeared and is instead more concentrated and coherent. In the center of the machine lies a book- one as old, but far more sinister than the one carried by the spellcaster. The tomes, in fact, are brothers. Written simultaneously by a Mad Arab centuries ago. One written in a terrible fit of insanity and horror, speaking of ancient evils and cosmic gods of suffering, the other- the spellcaster’s- a volume detailing how to combat such insanities and satanic powers spoken of by the other. Despite the presence of the good brother, though, the terrible book still holds power and dominance over men. Insanity and wrath, wickedness and hatred still reign supreme in the world. But as is their method, the spellcaster and swordsman acknowledge this power as immortal and unchanging. They cannot themselves deny it, but they can deter it. Though as of now, it is not the most pressing matter.

     The swordsman is now in a position, inside of the engine, to recognize and consider the fear that before had crippled him. The fear of mistaken identity and intent. The role he had made for himself and the contradiction it held with his desires. The hopeless future he foresaw and loathed, but saw no other route but to accept. However, this is all he ever wanted: to show others that he could recognize this role and to ask for their forgiveness and understanding of the matter. He sought not to change his ways for he now recognized that this was who he truly was. But he refutes the associations that come with the title and vows to hold himself to a higher standard, regardless of whether or not he can succeed in this. As the engine surfaces again in their hometown, the spellcaster and swordsman step out and meet a crowd. The people had heard his revelation and accepted it.

     The journey was long and tiresome and the swordsman feels unwell. He collapses and next awakens in a hospital bed, the spellcaster by his side. They both knew this time would come. The realm at the gate was gone now. All that remained was the real world. The book was locked away somewhere thousands of miles away and the sword was in a case somewhere along with it. The spellcaster vanishes as the swordsman’s life comes to a close, only to reappear once again with the others that the swordsman had loved. He looks at them all and sincerely asks forgiveness and acceptance for what he’s done, but it is already given. A man in a white shirt steps forward and puts his arm around the swordsman’s shoulders and smiles. The weight falls out from under him and he’s led to the other side of the room where a door is waiting. No gates, just the uncertainty of a door- not knowing what waits on the other side. But he does know what’s on the other side. He knows he’s been forgiven and redeemed by the man in white who led him there and he’d be a fool not to follow him now. It was the man in white who watched over him and the spellcaster throughout their entire journey and who was now guiding him to redemption. And so he takes the door handle, turns it, and opens the door and is free.

Download Race to Fame here: http://nopunintended.bandcamp.com/album/race-to-fame-single

Lyrics:

Chase it, face it, I’m never gonna make it
Like a little kid, picture the audience naked
Don’t have what it take to ever get famous
Heck, I bet half of you don’t know what my name is.

I always told myself I just wouldn’t care
But now I’m thinking this just isn’t fair
I’m pouring out my heart, putting all of it out there
And all I get in return is nervous blank stares.

I started doing this just so I could tell stories
But feedback’s telling me that I’m boring
I’m writing new material that’ll get me touring
Cuz this is quite a Situation: now I’m Jersey Shoring.

“The Fame,” said Gaga, like it’s a separtate entity
And now I know it is cuz it’s slowly seeping into me
And it has made me see that I’m my own worst enemy
Blowing up the track, you can call it basic chemistry

Like flasks and Beakers, but I am not a muppet
Gotta bare my teeth and show off all my toughness
Nathan, change the beat and get some fists pumpin’
This wasn’t working out so it’s time for us to jump ship.

Cuz I’m sinking- 2 halves- call it Titanic
Toss and turn at night before I wake up in a panic
Rappin’ can’t change me, reassure me, can it?
Cuz I will keep on changing ‘till I’m the best one on this planet.

Turn to the dark side, nowhere to hide
It’s a great divide personality wise 
And I can not deny; that there’s been a change
If it means getting fame, I’ll endure the deepest pain
Like I will bring to you if you’re standing in my way
It’s all disease to me, diagnose me, Dr. Dre.

Bring an umbrella, stand beside me when I’m spittin’
I’m a king cobra cuz I’m just spittin’ venom

But you can’t bottle all’a this sheer power
Called up Father Time, told him gimme back the hours

So I can live forever man I’m talkin’ eternal youth
I’m at the top of my game brother tell me where are you?

Yo wassup, girl, I heard that you’re a dancer
Let’s getcha to the bar and getcha all messed up
Then get back to my place and get you undressed up
And I’ll forget to mention you when I go to confession.
Talked about you to my therapist at our last session
Said you’re just a part of my imagination:

A figment in my head like these girls in my bed
And my beast of an ego gotta keep it well fed.
I will shut you out if you say it’s in my head
And I am not a genius so don’t call me TED.

I am just a rapper don’t expect me to sing
And don’t expect these words to mean anything.

Is this where I’m headed? Or what I will become?
Say it isn’t so and if it is then I am done.
If my raps are the bullets and I am the gun
Then I will keep them separate for the safety of my son.

Yes I am aware that my soul could stand some cleaning
That all my dest intentions couldn’t slay my demons
God, give me new words and give ‘em new meaning
And help it be my true voice that comes out when I’m screaming.

So lace up your shoes and go a new direction
Cleaning up my act so I can pass inspection

My traction was lackin’- straight lost in action
So I slipped and fell when I was brought to reaction.

Keep me on Your path and running round the bend
So I can be proud of the words from my pen
So I can be strong when The Fame hits again
Cuz when you’re racing just to win, it’s a battle to the end.

Meaning:

Well, what a doozy, eh? You may be concerned about some of the content here. Don’t worry, it’s still your friendly neighborhood No Pun Intended. Let’s jump in.

Kevin: For me, this song is a good transition into what our next project (which is well underway and in production in case you were wondering) will be like. Not necessarily for sound, but as far as shifting our lyrics some and the ideas we explore. This song in particular is about my own struggle with ego and rapping as a whole. Fact: I rap because it’s something I enjoy and I think I have at least a sliver of talent in it. Still, though, I have this need in the back of my head to be the best and this song was about me trying to pursue that and how it’s a conflict of interest to what I want my raps to be for.

So, understand this song is somewhat of a dark parody, especially the first part of the second verse. I tried (and mostly only half-succeeded) to use a deeper voice for this part to imply that it’s not really me rapping there, rather it’s all the parts of me that I hate rapping- my own personal “Wolf Haley” if you will. So by that phase of the song, it’s really a hypothetical: this is what I could be or what I will be if I decide that people liking my raps and getting famous and popular with others is more important than using my raps for God and to get out a message/story. That is the reason for the more jarring lyrics (messed up, undressed up, ya know). That’s what the typical idea of rap is and in that portion of the song, I’ve surrendered to it.

When I first heard the instrumental, I immediately loved the “redemption” portion as I came to call it (where I start with “Is this where I’m headed…”) where everything else drops out and it’s just a simple melody. I immediately knew that would be the part where I’d make things right and I hope I did it justice because when Nathan sends me music, I love all of it and I always want to make sure I do right by it.

I don’t think I’ve missed anything, but as always, feel free to contact us and give us feedback and such. I look forward to seeing y’all soon when we release our second project!

Nathan: This is the first No Pun Intended song whose music was composed in its complete form before the lyrics were written. When I wrote the music for what would become Race to Fame, I was wanting to write something that would be an epic show-opener, starting off with a quiet introductory bit before fading in the first riff then kicking in the drums. While I was writing, I realized another riff that I had come up with before I had the idea for this piece would work perfectly in the “A” part of the song. So I put it in, wrote what Kevin calls the “redemption” part to give it a little more variety, and finished it up. This track kind of composed itself, so I don’t have a lot to say. I was just going for a big, cool, lets-kick-some-butt sound. I imagine a wild and crazy light show going with this song. When I first heard the lyrics, I had some doubts, but after taking time to comprehend the message, I think Kevin did a fantastic job with them. I can’t wait to finish the next project. It’s got a lot more cello-oriented music, and I play guitar on a few tracks as well. Stay tuned for more info as we get it all recorded and mixed!

Just a typical, ordinary day like any other for

Friendly robot Johnny when all of a sudden,

A slight flutter; broke out through his circuits
Not much of surge, just a weird wire twitch.

People are givin’ him glances like he’s evil
Like a robot like him has no place among these peope
As if he’d cursed the name of God standing underneath the steeple
And any excuse provided would be far too feeble.

But he just shrugged him off, kept walking down the street
With his headphones jammin’ and rockin’ to da beat
Far be it from him to let them knock him off his feet,
So run your cursor over em, highlight ‘em, hit delete.

But he does understand the reason for their concern
After all the bad robots, that’s the title that he’s earned
Thought it can’t be rightly said that it was well deserved
To say all robots are the same would just be absurd.
But we’ve heard; ‘bout how they were at the start
How their programming was overridden by their heart
And suddenly we felt that they’d tear us apart
But Johnny was different, he refused to wear the mark.

Despite how he tried, though
His motherboard was set, yo
And as he walked so happily, he tried so hard to swallow
The feeling of his shift, but it was all in vain, though
Let out a billow; Collapsed to the ground
Didn’t want to be transformed, the commands grew so loud
So he had no choice but to become the bane of the town
So he cried out with a roar and rose above the crowd.

So don’t try to fight back
Your system’s under attack
Follow the program
Cuz the odds are stacked

This ain’t a matter of will
You may try but still
It’ll stay the same in the end:
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

Go on, take this pill
Tell me have you had your fill
Of this mechanical thrill
What else would you expect?
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

At that very moment, little Johnny starts to grow
20 stories high and next thing ya know
He’s knockin’ over buildings like Lego Duplo’s
Smashing cars underfoot and they start to explode.

The sparks are flying- off’a his head
Why be a little robot, you could kill instead
Doing his best to keep his bloodlust fed
Thought process hanging on by only a thread.

Somewhere inside, ya see, Johnny still remains
Tryin’ hard to get out and rackin’ his brain
For ways to pull through and stage an escape
But he’s a  killer robot now so it seems too late
To set the record straight; Show that he can do right
That not all robots want is to kill and fight
But despite all his efforts, try as he might
He became the way they saw him through their eyes

So fine! if this is what they want him to be
Time to embrace it so maybe they’ll see
The monster they created: their own folly
So Johnny let out a laugh so diabolically.

Looked over his shoulder, others had joined too
They all started shootin’ lasers pew-pew-pew
The fires and destruction, they grew, grew, grew
And the Killer Robots kept on killin’, doing so in lieu

Of the fact that the army had been called in
As the tanks and infantry came around the bend
A scene that had been forgotten since
The Great Robot War of way back when.

Johnny knew about that war from his dad and his mom
And now the army coming with their guns and their bombs
Let him know the real battle was on!

So don’t try to fight back
Your system’s under attack
Follow the program
Cuz the odds are stacked

This ain’t a matter of will
You may try but still
It’ll stay the same in the end:
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

Go on, take this pill
Tell me have you had your fill
Of this mechanical thrill
What else would you expect?
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

As the streets explode with fiery rage
With all the sure signs of the End of Days
While the lasers and mortars are being exchanged
Like an old book with a torn out title page

You couldn’t tell what it was, least not at first glance
All you knew was it made you freakin’ pee your pants
Turn tail and run, get outta there fast
Cuz if you don’t now, you may never get the chance.

The general called out as the shots rained down
The robots came in and began to surround

The units, the tanks, grabbed jets out the air
Just one more thing to get outta their hair
Right there and then, it all seemed set
The bots still standing, many soldiers dead
With knocking down the buildings and causing all the wrecks
Feeling even edgier than Boba Fett

And that’s saying a lot, in case you didn’t know
But caught up in the moment, Johnny took a blow
Right to the chest, blew up his circuit, yo
And suddenly he started to glow

The others looked at him, not knowing what to expect
Until a countdown popped up and started to tick
So now the army fell, not looking so slick
But so too did the robots and no one could fix

This thing that was now laying there trappin’
Everyone in while they were all zappin’
Worse yet, Johnny was no longer laughin’
Then it all went up in flame as if it never happened.

And in the last instant before he left the earth
Johnny made peace cuz now he knew what he was worth

So don’t try to fight back
Your system’s under attack
Follow the program
Cuz the odds are stacked

This ain’t a matter of will
You may try but still
It’ll stay the same in the end:
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

Go on, take this pill
Tell me have you had your fill
Of this mechanical thrill
What else would you expect?
KILLER ROBOTS KILL!

About the lyrics: Well here we are. The post where I explain it all. As I’ve mentioned before, the theme of the album is nonconformity and taking a leadership role. This song does the best job of getting that message across. Johnny is a symbol for us. Christians, teenagers, whoever you are, Johnny the friendly robot represents you. Every time you try to set yourself apart, hold yourself to a higher standard, be unique, go against the flow- that’s what Johnny is. He refuses to be thrown in with the rest of the “evil” and “rebellious” robots. But tragedy befalls him as everyone surrounding him defines them on their own terms. I think I made the message fairly clear in the “despite all his efforts…” segment. My point throughout all of this is:

Be yourself. Don’t care about what other people want from you. Follow what you know is right and what you know you’re called to do. Don’t know what you’re called to do? That’s ok. Most people don’t. But the fact is we can’t just come up at a loss like that and then resolve it by going with the flow or what people expect from us.

In Bible Study, we’ve been discussing a book called Do Hard Things which focuses heavily on teenagers fighting against the low expectations of others. We’re not expected to be anything other than reckless, stupid, irresponsible consumerists. But we’re called to be so much more and the most important thing we can do in this stage of our lives is to hold ourselves to higher standards than what’s expected of us.

I wrote a monologue that we decided to exclude from the album called “Be the Glitch” which discussed being a spark that breaks that low expectation and the “numbness” if you will that our culture seems to be experiencing. It’s time to stand out and show that we are not Killer Robots. No one, teenager or otherwise has only one function and that function is certainly not to just kill, destroy, or otherwise conform to any pattern this world shows us.

To summarize (cuz I know I got a little long-winded):

-Be who you want to be

-It’s ok to not know what your calling is because you will find it one day

-Hold yourself to a higher standard than what’s expected from you

-You decide who you are; don’t let others transform your character

About the music: The theme that first shows up being played by the high-ish guitars in verse 1 is actually the first bit of music I ever wrote. I think I came up with it while messing around on our digital piano sometime in 2004. Only problem with it was that I couldn’t find an appropriate piece for it, it didn’t fit in a classical setting, but it was too pop-ish for my cello metal/rock solo project (shameless self promotion: My solo album Fusion was released two weeks ago, the easiest way to get it is itunes or amazon mp3, just search “nathan berry”. We now return you to your regularly scheduled white-rap programming). So when Kevin sent me the lyrics for this along with what he wanted the music to be like, I immediately decided that I had finally found the song for this theme. I wanted the opening of this track to start with a bass line, similar to how Metallica’s “King Nothing” opens, so I took this melody and adapted it to be all 8th notes with the added notes outlining the chord progression. After that, the intro and the first verse pretty much wrote itself. I composed a bridge section and a chorus section pretty quickly. After taking a couple days off of composing, I came up with this (if I say so myself) awesome riff that had abunch of (for lack of a technical term) “flicks” in it. I added a techno-type beat to it, and it immediately became my favorite bit of music on the album. At first the A-minor bridge section followed it with regular drums, but I didn’t like the transition so I composed a second part of the techno-y bit, which fitmuch better. After that I finished the track, and that was that!

Alrighty, so thanks for listening and reading, we hope you like our album! We’re about to start working on our second project, which we plan on having out by the end of the year. See y’all around!

About the music: This is the instrumental track of the album. When I first wrote it i hadn’t intended it to be for anything, I just really like the theme songs of the NFL broadcasts, especially FOX’s theme, so I wanted to write something like that. The original version was about 30 seconds long (ending where the break is in the final track) and was just guitars, bass and drums. One time I was listening to it, then started to hum this counterpoint melody and realized I could add strings to it. So I composed the string parts and expanded the piece by another minute or so. The final bit I added to the track were the horns that you hear in the second part of the track. I had forgotten that we were planning on having an instrumental track, so when Kevin brought it up I had him listen to Countdown to see if it would work, and he said it would, so thats how it ended up on the album.

I’ll just lay it on the line, this wasn’t my day

no one even tried to stop me slippin’ away.

I’ve fallen astray, now I stand at the gate,

I wish they were pearly, but they’re rusted all the way.

I can’t say I’m surprised, I’m just one of those guys

Who’s set to lash out with anger on the rise

I know otherwise and I try to hold back

But I always am feelin’ like I’m under attack

This never used to ever happen to me,

I always was fine, and ran home free

But somewhere on the road there was a sign I didn’t see

I chose to be lost, didn’t know there was a fee

My wallet is fine, but this is taxing on my mind

I’m wandering on this street that winds and winds

Don’t be surprised, I tend to lose sight,

I’ve made this madness mine cuz it’s a journey not a fight.

Olly Olly Oxen Free

I’m just here for you to find me

Don’t know where I am, just know what I see

Gotta get home, but I’m in no hurry

Cuz the longer I spend here, the better it gets

And I know that I’m lost, and I know that I’m spent

But I’m not concerned about where I went

Cuz the road keeps going so it’s mine to invent

Thought I found a map, but not the right one

And this road never ends even though I run

Like I’m in a race that can never be won

This was ok at first, but now it’s no fun.

Like a little boy lost his mom in the store

But now being lost’s something I can’t afford

I wanna know where I am, what I’m headed for

You know I like options, but there’s too many doors

Which one to choose? Don’t ask me

How am I supposed to go where I can’t see?

So maybe crack it open and take a small peek

and take a deep breath and count it down to 3…

1-2-3

The road goes on and it’s dark all around

I can’t believe I ever said I didn’t wanna be found

It had so much potential, but I just fell on the ground

that’s just what I get for refusing to be loud

Olly Olly Oxen Free

I’m just here for you to find me

Don’t know where I am, just know what I see

Gotta get home, but I’m in no hurry

Cuz the longer I spend here, the better it gets

And I know that I’m lost, and I know that I’m spent

But I’m not concerned about where I went

Cuz the road keeps going so it’s mine to invent

This road is mine to invent, it’s mine to have

and for once I will take this opportunity to  stand

up for myself, reach out and grab this place where I was lost and mold it in my hands.

Change fear to will, and never try to kill

Keep my hands clean so they never have to spill

Blood on the road; no one has to know

That this place was ever dark, that it didn’t always glow

So cold that it froze; I was never found here

Now it’s so great, it’ll bring you to tears

No more fear; the only thing left to do

Is to open the curtain, show the road to you

That place where I was lost but still refused

To be found by anyone and guess what I grew

At first I just hid, yeah, that’s what I did

What else could I do, I’m just a kid

But that’s what we all do when we get sick

And I was lucky enough not to let myself quit.

On that road I got lost, for you to consider

Cuz we all suffer loss, and we all get bitter

But next time you wanna tap out and be a quitter

Take a breath, count to 3, and try to reconsider

1-2-3

Olly Olly Oxen Free

I’m just here for you to find me

Don’t know where I am, just know what I see

Gotta get home, but I’m in no hurry

Cuz the longer I spend here, the better it gets

And I know that I’m lost, and I know that I’m spent

But I’m not concerned about where I went

Cuz the road keeps going so it’s mine to invent

Olly Olly Oxen Free

No one ever could find me

But now I’ve grown just like a tree

And because of that, I am a better me.

About the lyrics: This one was written over the course of 2 days which accounts for the 2 fairly distinct tones of the song. The first 2 verses are fairly dark, talking about basically how much my situation sucks and alluding to the rusty gates of Hell. I knew I wanted a more serious/darker song for the album, but that it had to be honest like the rest of it. That’s why despite the serious motivation behind it, the lyrical choice is frankly a smidgen lacking in my opinion. But that really turned out for the better I think. How’s that, Kevin? Tell me more! Well ok.

A lot of the time I find that I fabricate most of my own problems through paranoia and cynicism. Completely out of character for me, I know, but still what happens. This song was started in the midst of such an event so everything’s blown out of proportion. I’ve only written one other rap during the events that inspired it (not counting Let’s Bring This Back) and I scrapped it because when I’m in that position, I just can’t get the words right or where I want them. The following day, though, I wrote the second half of the chorus and the second and last verses. It took a more positive spin and provided me with an answer for a question i was asked shortly after we released this as a single. My friend asked me in the hall “Dude, what the crap is it even about?” And by then I’d decided that it’s about making the best of a bad situation. My “problem” that seemed so terrible and winding like the road I refer to throughout virtually disappeared the following morning, so I wanted to show that it’s up to you to make your situation better and not to linger on the bad things but look forward to what you can change and try to shape your own attitudes because that’s what will give you problems most of the time.

About the music: This is the first piece of music I wrote specifically for No Pun Intended. I came up with it near the end of last summer on my keyboard. I put the verse and chorus sections back to back a couple times, then added a coda of strings playing a simple chord progression with the drums and synthesizers accenting. When it came time to expand the music to a full track I realized I needed to double the length of the verses, so I wrote another section, anchoring it in the D minor chord. I also added a melody to the “coda” before the last chorus to make it sound fuller. When practicing for our live show I realized that I couldn’t play the bass part on my bass, nor could I play the entire melody on my cello, so I came up with a line for the cello that took things from both parts and added a cool phasing distortion effect using my pedal, and it turned out really neat.

You’ve always been true, from the very start

You seem to know me and you seem to know my heart

But now it looks like it’s falling apart

You said that you would always be there

And at times it felt like only you cared

And as the others just sat and stared,

You wouldd sit and listen to what I had to share.

I was scared, but somehow you eased the pain

Your words and smile, they cleansed the bloodstains

That I’d left on myself from day to day

You would always bring me back when I fell away.

 But somewhere along the way we lost our touch

And I don’t care to mention when I think that was

Because I’ve made it clear that I disagree

Go ahead, go on and pin it on me

Of course I’m the reason that we are losing

The power we had, the power of we

There’s nothing left to do, so I’ll fall down and sing:

Where’ve we gone, and how’d we get this way?

How’d we let ourselves fall this much astray?

We pushed each other away, and we had something great,

And the one thing it’s never ever been is fake.

We need each other, we can get this back

If we just ease off, cut each other some slack

Cuz we each know what the other lacks

I’m on my knees now, let’s bring this back

How did this happen? Where did we go?

Don’t ask me cuz I don’t even know.

If I had to make a guess, I’d say it’s all for show

But then I can’t explain the heart that’s colder than snow.

Maybe the problem is we were close too much

And we’re both so stubborn and we refuse to budge

And I never have, never will hold a grudge

Can’t say the same for you cuz when push came to shove,

 You took a long look, then pushed me over the edge,

You said I did the same, but that is over my head

Feeling like John Cusack, I’m Better Off Dead,

Cuz I’m sick of losing sleep, lying in my bed

 So I’ll give up for now, the next move is yours,

Now we’ve both burned some bridges from shore to shore

And I’m living my life like it’s a wide-shut door

We talk so little now and I want more

Because this is a problem we can’t ignore.

Where’ve we gone, and how’d we get this way?

How’d we let ourselves fall this much astray?

We pushed each other away, and we had something great,

And the one thing it’s never ever been is fake.

We need each other, we can get this back

If we just ease off, cut each other some slack

Cuz we each know what the other lacks

I’m on my knees now, let’s bring this back

We’ve been the best of friends like PB and Jelly

And I miss the days when we could laugh and be silly

Where we could mess around and give each other wet willys

And even though it was gross, but I felt like I hit a milli.

 So can you see now? I think I spelled it out.

The reason we need to sit and talk this out.

Cuz others are watching to follow our lead

And if we are fighting, they will follow indeed,

So if you want me to surrender, that’s what you need,

Then I will swallow my pride and get on my knees

I will open my lungs, I will start to scream

And with all of my heart, I will utter my plea

I will let it all out, I’ll say I’m sorry

I will beg for and cry for you to forgive me.

Cuz I will do anything to get you back to me

Get back to the times when we were friendly

Where I’d say I love you and you’d say you love me.

And we’re still just friend but that don’t mean a thing

Cuz we’ve apparently lost it and I want to retrieve

What we once had, please say that you’re listening.

(cello solo)

Where’ve we gone, and how’d we get this way?

How’d we let ourselves fall this much astray?

We pushed each other away, and we had something great,

And the one thing it’s never ever been is fake.

We need each other, we can get this back

If we just ease off, cut each other some slack

Cuz we each know what the other lacks

I’m on my knees now, let’s bring this back

Let’s bring this back

About the lyrics: Right. So obviously this song is a complete 180 from everything else on the album. I wrote it one morning after a falling out with one of my best friends and the whole song is about how helpless it feels to be losing a friendship and doing whatever you can to keep it from falling apart. I didn’t necessarily have a distinct beat in mind and when we recorded it, I pretty much had to make up the rhythms as we went which should account for the couple of awkward rushes there are. This was the second song I ever wrote and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I even wanted to do anything with it, but (as frivolous as it may sound) I decided I’d spent that much time working on it, it may as well see the light of day. Nathan’s cellos suit it well and the sad tone, while probably out of place on the album, was really the only option for the song. It’s definitely the saddest and most serious track, but it was also the most therapeutic. Also, said nameless friend and I are all good now, so we brought it (not “sexy”) back.

About the music: Obviously this is a powerful and emotional set of lyrics, so I felt that cellos would be the best choice for the job. When I first sat down to write the music, I played around with a few ideas until I came up with the motif you hear at the beginning where one cello starts on a D and the other plays the E below that, creating an unsettling minor 7th. After that theme ended I created a lengthy chord progression for the verse. We were thinking of having some singing on the chorus, so after writing the music for the intro/first verse I wrote a melody for it. We eventually decided to just have Kevin rap the chorus so I changed the vocal line to a cello part, and you can kind of hear the words in that melody (“where have we gone, how’d we get this way?…”). The final part of the initial composition was the breakdown for the leadup to “please say you’re listening!”, so I just had the drums go crazy and the last little bit ended up sounding something like a film soundtrack riff. The last thing that was added to not just the song, but the entire album was the cello solo right after the breakdown. I had been thinking that a solo from one of my solo album’s songs could be cool to put in there for live performances, but I discovered that the tempos were too different. I still thought a solo would work really well there, so I asked Kevin if he thought it’d sound cool and he okayed it. I think I wrote and recorded the solo section in just a couple days before I made the final mixes of everything.

Just regular people like you and me,

Never notice a difference when you’re shootin’ the breeze

You would never know lookin’ at them in da streets

That they have got secrets that they gotta keep

Maintain a normal life as a civilian,

Don’t stick out as one in a million,

Cuz if his face seems too familiar,

Time to blend back in and play the chameleon,

Billions, of people on the planet,

Some of em have powers, wond’rin’ who planned it

Who made them special, and as for the pressure can it

Push you over into evil if you can’t stand it?

Well yes, it can, but don’t worry your head,

True heroes will do right till the day they lie dead,

In the grave, rather choose death instead,

Of costing other people’s lives, keep ‘em awake in their beds.

So then why is it we never see ‘em out?

And whenever we’re in trouble they never seem to be around,

What’s wrong, man, can’t they hear people shout?

Why do we have heroes if we have to go without?

Well it’s not- who suggested that its right?

It never seems fair when someone loses their life,

But it’s for their own good that they coop up and hide

Cuz they’ve seen their fair share of battles and fights.

Oh ok, well I can understand that…

No, I’m just kidding, now throw me my hat.

Where ya going? On a search, I may not come back

But I gotta find out where all the heroes at

I think it’s about time for a golden age revival

Prove to everyone words of heroic survival,

And even though your cape lies underneath a pile,

Let’s get back out and show you still got style.

Get back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson,

It’s Heroes 101 and class is in session.

Back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson,

It’s Heroes 101 and class is in session.

Alright, let’s get this started tonight,

If heroes are back, that means villains are too, right?

Cuz you need two opposing forces for a fight,

And since evil never sleeps, then neither does crime,

So now it’s time; to comeback, time for me,

For the darkness that once made everybody flee,

Cuz nothing’s lovelier than a civilian’s scream

As innocent blood is spilled like a river in the streets.

So here we go, sound the alarm,

And get ready to break some arms,

We’ll start with petty crimes like: stealing cars,

But before you know it, this world will be ours.

We’ll take control, no need to take it slow

We set the pace now, we determine the flow

So can you hear it, can you feel it? Pumpin’ in your veins,

That prelimenary feeling right before it starts to rain,

Cuz now we start our reign, we will take everything,

By the time we’re through, they will never wash the stain

Faster than a speeding bullet

With great power comes great responsibility

More powerful than a locomotive

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

In brightest day, in the blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight

Hey whats this? chaos was supposed to rule,

Guess you haven’t heard, heroes are back, fool

Bout to take you back to school; learn you a lesson,

By now you know the drill, man, class is in session.

I think it’s about time for a golden age revival

Prove to everyone words of heroic survival,

And even though your cape lies underneath a pile,

Let’s get back out and show you still got style.

Get back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson,

It’s Heroes 101 and class is in session.

Get back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson, 

It’s Heroes 101 and class is in session.

So now the people watch as the beatdown begins

As we’re searching for the answer to that one question:

In the battle of good vs. evil, who will win,

Well I guess it all depends; On your foundation.

That’s what it comes to, the principle of the thing

Of rather you would rather destroy or save

What matters more, being rich or being brave?

And when things get rough, will you run or will you stay?

Don’t fake; don’t think; just do what you know

But make the call before ya choose start the show

Cuz those guys with capes that are taking all the blows?

It was set in destiny that they’d be heroes.

Instinctively good or bad, either way you chop it

There are heroes up there that will never stop it

Fight to the end, do right and never drop it

Lookin’ down the barrel of a gun, make sure youcocked it.

Cuz it’s not easy always dodgin’ bullets

It’s a rough job, but someone’s gotta do it

And Captain power takes down Dr. Kill, tells him to cool it,

Invincible man looks at the trigger, will ya pull it?

Kapwing! Bounces off, never had a doubt

And one quick punch puts that guy’s lights out

One last throw from the sky to the ground

Ends the fight, guess these heroes were found

I think it’s about time for a golden age revival

Prove to everyone words of heroic survival,

And even though your cape lies underneath a pile,

Let’s get back out and show you still got style.

Get back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson,

It’s Heroes 101 and class is in session.

Back in your tights, show these bad guys a lesson,

Heroes 101 and class is in session. 

So that ends class for today, got a taste

Of what heroes may do, and what they might say

But that wasn’t much, that was just the base,

Just the prologue, scratched the surface, just you wait!

About the lyrics: Sort of along the same lines as Steampunk’d this was a song spawned by the list of themes and such. Comics are such a huge part of my life I’d be insane not to devote a song to superheroes. The title comes from this sort of dream I’ve always had of teaching a basic “Superhero Principles” sort of class. Talk about specific heroes and their characteristics like it’s a legit school class. That’d be sweet. At first I didn’t really know what I wanted as far as background music, but I knew I wanted 2 specific sections- 1 for the heroes part and 1 for the villains, and since it was sort of a shot in the dark as far as me knowing what I wanted, I think it’s become my best song vocally. Hopefully I can harness that sort of vocal intensity more consistently in the future.

About the music: This was the last song to have music for it, but I wrote the bass riff that I started composing the song with during church nearly a year ago. There’s two sections of the riff, the first based in E and the second based in A. I’m pretty sure I wrote the rest of the song in one sitting. The guitar solo originally had different chords and notes in some spots, but it felt a little weak so I changed it up to make it flow more nicely. There are two backup vocals on “scream” in the second verse, one of them is me screaming that word and the other is a scream by Alexis Walter in “Heading North”, a short film Kevin and I, along with a bunch of people from our youth group, made for LTC. I was in the middle of mixing the vocals and thought “ooo, Alexis’ scream would be awesome there,” so I edited the scream to make it shorter and added it to the song, and I think that it sounds fantastic (good job Alexis!). This is actually one of my favorite raps Kevin is done, I can’t exactly pinpoint why, but his vocals and they way they fit with the beat just sound cool. Heroes 101 will be a blast to play live!

Narraration: The tales of robotic oppression span back farther than most people give them credit for. Yes, mechanical invention and interception has roots that stretch very deep. As deep, even, as the turn of the century, the Industrial Revolution. Beginning with the dream, the simple idea of one Reginald Howard Steam.

Begin rap:

Yes, that’s right, everyone gather ‘round
Because I am quite giddy to share what I’ve found.

 This new latest craze of steam that’s on the rise

Why it’s given me an epiphany, it’s opened up my eyes.

 Surprise!; Oh I can’t help myself

But I must try to stay calm for the sake of my health

You see, as of late, I have fallen somewhat ill
Had to write up my last testament and will

So what is left of me?
What will be my legacy?
Well with the help of this new power of steam
I will show to you without further ado
The heir to my name, the walking talking steel machine
The crowd let out a scream, They were all shocked
this thing before them was so great that they could barely talk
Never seen a piece of steel that could get up and walk
After all, this was the first time that they’d seen a robot.

 “What is this monster? What have you made?”

“That thing is hideous!” The crowd exclaimed.
“And here you thought this beast would bring you fame?”
“You’ll go down in infamy for this thing you did create!”

“No, people, please!”
Pled Mr. Steam,
I understand your fear and apprehension indeed,
But give me a moment and I’ll explain what I mean.

Despite his obvious girth and composure,
You’ll learn to love him all the same after some exposure.
Run your hand on him, go on take a feel

Is he really any different from an automobile?

I will do you one better, he’s only here to serve
So while you relax, he’ll do all the work.

See, it’s all part of the program in his head
That keeps on track, keeps him looking ahead.

“Wait, so what you’re telling me is that,
“He will do every single little thing that I ask?”

Yes, precisely, action without a thought
He will do anything that you say you want.

So now the crowd calmed down, and took a liking to
The details of lasers in his arms and jet boosters in his shoes
And so began robo phase 2
When the robot population grew and grew.

Steampunk’d, man,
When things are outta whack,
When at the same time they first laid train tracks,
We were also shooting lasers and flying jetpacks,
When time period and technology don’t exactly match

 That’s when things get fun, it’s ok, we can retcon

Anything that goes wrong, cuz this is just a song

 ‘Bout the world that coulda been

Cuz sci-fi’s gone straight-up Victorian.

Narraration: So before people even realized it, robots ended up everywhere. In a period where people’s status and quality depended on the luxuries and commodities they possessed, these mechanical servants were a dream come true. While they toiled away all day dusting venetian blinds and refueling the family’s rocket blimp, the humans sat around playing shuffleboard and going to laser pistol shooting ranges. Machines had successfully integrated into Victorian human society, and Mr. Steam finally had something to be proud of.

Rap:

Oh, just look at them, bustling everywhere!
While other men have children, I created my heir.

Now come, look at this, Steam summoned his machine,
Look out that window, Steel 4 dash 5, and tell me what you see.

The robot looked out in the street through his eyes
And much to Steam’s distress, his creation up and cries.

He never would have thought a robot could shed a tear
And it was just oil, but there was something here.

Why, son, what is it? What troubles you?
Tell me what’s wrong, is there something I can do?

The robot looks at the man, looking rather grim,
“No father, don’t do a thing, it’s what you did.”

The man looks up surprised, but the bot continues on
“Here you told me this would be good, but it was just a con.

Now look out that glass, tell me what you see
Nothing but work being done by the machines
Meanwhile all the people sit in their luxuries,
Not a care in the world, for them life is easy

You were accused of making monsters once,
Well look at you now, it looks like you’ve won.
You have the name you wanted, known by everyone,
But as a result, you’ve lost your son.

Mr. Steam looked astonished, couldn’t believe his ears
By the time he could, Steel 4 dash 5 had disappeared.
Thought to himself, there’s something else working here
Emotion’s not in their programming, oh d-d-d-dear dear

So Steam rushed out to see the other bots,
But 4 dash 5 was faster, he’d already got

A group together, they were running away
Sick of doing man’s work most everyday

So Steam called the army said they were outta control
And now the soldiers and tanks are out on patrol
Found the robots headed north, going for the snow
Try to find refuge in the Arctic Circle.

When the army arrived, they but up quite a fight
Trying to destroy every robot in sight.
And with their rocket shoes, they all took flight
Shooting laser beams and battles raging until the  night.

The dark was lit up with the battle’s heat
Neither side convinced that the other was beat.
Jet planes exploding and as for the infantry
The bullets bounced off and they were crushed under feet.

The robots fought only outta self-defense
Said men brought this on themselves when they made the decision

To make them personal slaves ‘till their robo graves
But they weren’t humans so that was centuries away

In the end, the robots came out on top
Didn’t turn out the way the humans had thought

So many soldiers lost and wreckage left behind
That the general decided that it was time to

Count it as a loss and erase every trace
That robots had contact with the human race.

So they took every evidence, took it from history
Threw it away along with their steampunk technology.

And the robots after all the battle’s events,
Made it to the North Pole and they’ve been there ever since.

Steampunk’d, man,
When things are outta whack,
When at the same time they first laid train tracks,
We were also shooting lasers and flying jetpacks,
When time period and technology don’t exactly match

 That’s when things get fun, it’s ok, we can retcon

Anything that goes wrong, cuz this is just a song

‘Bout the world that coulda been

Cuz sci-fi’s gone straight-up Victorian.

Narraration: That’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. The robots never meant any harm, but somehow, somewhere along the way, they developed components independently from their predetermined programming to parallel emotions felt by their human masters. Inside their metallic bodies, robots seem to feel and they knew what was best for them. But because of that, an entire chapter of history had to be rewritten for the betterment of humanity. So no, those old sci-fi books weren’t jumping the shark. It’s 2011 and we should darn well have freakin’ jetpacks by now. But it looks like we all suffer for one man’s mistake. The mistake of thinking that a robot developing emotion was a crime.

About the lyrics: Going into this whole album, I had a list that basically summarized what I wanted to be on it. I think of this album now as a bit of an “appetizer” for things I really wanna say and rap about and my next 2 projects I’m looking forward to are gonna be a lot more organized. On this list was one of my favorite subcultures: steampunk. Now I would tell you to google steampunk to see about it, but frankly as with comics, there are a lot of people who go way over the top with cosplay and whatnot and it’s almost embarrassing. But for real, the whole concept of the genre totally blows my mind and I think it’s the best facet of sci-fi aside from post-apocalypse. But yes.

I sat down one day after putting off my steampunk song for weeks and just said “Alright, let’s do this bad boy.” And do it I did. In all honesty, the purpose of this song is solely storytelling and for that I am immensely proud. That’s been my whole angle in just about everything creative that I do. I texted Nathan after I finished and warned him with something along the lines of “I hope you’re ready to write, cuz I just wrote a friggin’ long robo ballad origin story”. I originally wanted it to have a sort of industrial feel, but when Nathan sent me the demo, as with every other song, I realized why he’s the musical master and I’m the lyricist. The feel of the music and the events in the story sync up so perfectly that, despite it being the longest song we’ve done (and may ever do), I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would just sit and listen to that instrumental over and over and just get super pumped to record it and I’m very satisfied with the way it came out.

About the music: When I first got the lyrics kevin said that he wanted something like a small band playing on the corner down the street with steam whirrs and clanks and stuff. I tried to write something like that and all I could come up with was this jazzy piano riff (it’d kind of buried in the mix, but you can hear it in the chorus). So after a couple days I said “screw it” and just wrote whatever came to mind. I started with a saxophone part that became the narration theme, a guitar riff and a synthesizer part. Suddenly I was getting a bunch of cool ideas in my head, and after a few hours I had written 6 minutes of music that wasn’t at all what Kevin had said he wanted, but I thought it sounded good so I imported it into logic and mixed it all together before sending the demo to Kevin. He really liked it, so I guess it worked. I think this is the longest piece of music I’ve written.