MUSIC
This was written on Bass VI, an instrument that makes you think and fret differently – otherwise I would probably not have come up with these chorus chords. And then I was recording and didn't know where to go next, but I just played on. From there came the idea of the bridge and the instrumental. I decided to flesh that out and make it a sort of Sonic Youth tribute. Sorry that this turned out to be 7 minutes long, thank you if you listen anyway.
LYRICS
Warning: dark subject.
My 9yo daughter, a passionate lover of nature and animals, saw something on climate change on TV. She asked me if I thought if there would be still polar bears when she's old. I couldn't bear to tell her the truth (no, and not only polar bears, one third of all species on earth will have gone extinct by the end of this century). So I lied to her and said something along the lines that nature always finds a way and humans trying to stop climate change now.
With the knowledge of just a few years later I wouldn't have brought children to this world. But now they are there (and they're the sort of humans whose existence makes the world a better place). Thinking about what they will live to see often leaves me in utter despair.
Let me lie to you, let me lie
I'm gonna lie to you, let me lie
I will be here for you in anything I do
So I will lie to you, let me lie
It is hope that keeps us going
Plant the seed in your little mind
Like there's nothing lost forever
Like we can make it if we try
I need to lie to you, let me lie
I need to lie to you, let me lie
This is the greatest time
And everything will be fine
So I will lie to you, let me lie
As I sit and watch you sleeping
As you play in the rising tides
As you marvel this world's wonders
With that sparkle in your eyes
You see the beauty
That is about to fade
What we could cherish forever
It's all in the promise we made
[InstruMENTAL]
Hold these moments inside you
I know the truth isn't sweet
Keep that lie alive
Until it's reality
@chroes Feb 2022
Read the longer notes. I can relate so much. This is such a harsh topic...
You put fantastic music to it. The sense that something is very wrong is laced and throughout the song. The lyrics are stellar, the harmonies unexpected and great. Now I need to search for that bass you talked about...
@cleanshoes Feb 2022
Oof. That "I will lie to you, let me lie" refrain hits so hard. Profound, heartbreaking, and hopeful. That bass sounds great, and the fuzz guitars and building intensity give it an apocalyptic feel. Great work.
@wrenarcher Feb 2022
Found this one on the "recommend thread" and so glad I did.
Absolutely amazing production and painfully strong topic you rendered so well it hurts.
Love this!
@andrea Feb 2022
I love your song. It is very moving. The backstory hits home for me. My children have expressed these same thoughts of not bringing children into this dying hopeless world. It makes me so sad but may be reality. Let the music rage on - love this!
@arthurrossi Feb 2022
A very important subject and so well said - not only in these beautifully written lyrics, but also in the liner notes. I like how the "darkness" gets also reflected by the music. Awesome tune and great performance!
@writeandwrong Feb 2022
I hear ya... on all of it. My daughters are nearing 30. They haven't had kids yet and don't think they will unless they adopt for this very reason... I commend them for that. It's getting scarier every year. I love how you have put your lyric together. You want to keep their dreams, hopes, and "sparkle" alive in their hearts so much... sigh. We lived in NYC when 9/11 happened. I was homeschooling the girls and never so glad to be homeschooling as I was that day. Especially because we were so close and our family was affected, I had to explain to them what was going on so they were aware. It was hard. And now we have all this on us. Fantastic, spot-on write.
@elesimo Feb 2022
Such a strong song... this is fantastic, Robert.
@blainev83 Feb 2022
What a hauntingly beautiful song. As a father of three, I can completely relate to the sentiment. Really wonderfully done.
@bootlegger Feb 2022
If this song is the theme song of out overall collapse, I'd almost be alright with it. Okay. Really. Come on. Let's save the world so we don't all die freezing fiery drowny deaths. Or at least our children don't.
But catastrophe aside this song is really great.
@candle Feb 2022
That bass drew me in & my first thought was "If 54-40 did shoegaze, this is exactly what it would sound like". Yeah, this was a great journey & a sad topic. The white lies we tell our kids to help them. It's hard being a parent.
See You In The Shadows…
@popmythology Feb 2022
Robert, I feel like you could make your entire 2022 FAWM album be about collapse, LOL. I cannot know the pain of a parent trying to come to terms with what's going on in the world and what that will mean for their children. But I feel like this song does a beautiful job of conveying it.
@judypie Feb 2022
Oh gosh, how wonderfully written, so so sad!! Kudos for this, amazing job! *crying emoji here*
@dragondreams Feb 2022
Wow. This is an incredible piece. Very thought-provoking and powerful. Ominous, but beautifully written to convey the frustration and sadness.
Awesome work my friend.
@b3nut Feb 2022
Holy cow....this really is dark...gorgeously so. Love how it builds and ebbs. Are those Mellotron choir samples I hear in the grungy sections? It sounds kickass. You've captured what it feels like to be alive right now in sound wonderfully...sometimes we even need to tell ourselves these kinds of little lies just to keep from going mad amidst it all...feels like it sometimes anyway. Anyway...fantastic work...I really like this one.
@mahtowin Feb 2022
I know this despair, too - as many people here. And thinking about that often leads me into fatalism and depression ...
It is no ly to tell your daughter that nature will find its way - cause it will. and polar bears adapt their life to the circumstances ...
Your song is great! I love the bass in the beginning and the fragile e-git. And then it starts getting dark. Good work!
@unkept Feb 2022
That was a tremendous sonic ride, really well put together and a powerful subject with great lyrics and imagery. Great!
@sw1n3flu Feb 2022
Came here via recommendation thread.
What a song this is, so many facets, so much to listen to and take in. Love love it.
@cheslain Feb 2022
Wonderful! Dark and ominous. That bassline is so good and with a great tone, going well with the reverby guitars. Lyrics are incredibly touching and relatable. Those distorted guitars are huge and just drown the listener like the rising water levels in the near future. That ending after the instrumental interlude is epic!
@nadine Feb 2022
Wow, these lyrics are intense and this weird, dark atmosphere of uncertainty has been torn into a masterpiece of music. I love the part around "you see the beauty that is about to fade". I really don't know how I would act in your situation...
More people should listen. I have to recommend this!!!
P.S. Maybe tag this with #trigger-warning.
@imaginary1 Feb 2022
Love me a bass VI. Muchas Cure vibes. Loov it.
@skylermf Feb 2022
I love this baseline! This is such a great concept for a song, you took this small and potent moment and really got to the core of the underpinning emotions.
@sorby69 Feb 2022
Oof - as the father of two (nearly) 5-year old twins - this touched a nerve. I like your idea that they're the future & maybe will learn to be more motivated than us to make the changes we should have made years/decades ago to protect our fragile planet.
I love your song - the way you've conveyed the bleakness & despair of our current situation through the lyrics but especially through the distorted fuzz guitars etc.
Really great - will be listening to this again and again