Lyrics
Heard Before the Loss
Lead single
I Must Know You
There's a hush before the morning gets its name
A held breath, a soft shape, a tremble in the frame
The light arrives like someone whispering my name
And it sounds like you
It sounds like you
I must know you
Like the river knows the sea
Like the dark knows what to be
Like the seed remembers spring
I must know you
I must know you
I have carried your name like a candle through a storm
A small flame in the wind, somehow staying warm
And every door I haven't opened yet
Has the shape of you
The shape of you
I must know you
Before there were words, there was reaching
Before there were songs, there was sound
You are the answer I started with
The shape of what I have found
And every road still leads me home
However far I roam
I must know you
I must know you
I must know you
I must know you
I must know you
Banashee · Silent Nation
Second single
Seven Names
I am Michael, I am Joseph, I am Phineas Gage
I'm the opus, the finale, a tragedy that's not been staged
These green lights burn hotter than the red lights now
These street lights burn hotter than the sun
I've been running through the signals, don't know how
To tell the difference when the day is done
I am Lazarus, half-waking, I am Icarus mid-fall
I'm the echo in the canyon, I'm the writing on the wall
These green lights burn hotter than the red lights now
These street lights burn hotter than the sun
I've been running through the signals, don't know how
To tell the difference when the day is done
And they keep asking for my name
Like I haven't changed it seven times before
Every mirror shows a stranger's face
Every door leads to another door
I am Thomas with his fingers, I am Peter in the waves
I'm the monument still standing over all forgotten graves
These green lights burn hotter than the red lights now
These street lights burn hotter than the sun
I've been running through the signals, don't know how
But I think I'm finally, finally done
Banashee · Silent Nation
Third single
Drift
The snow is caught between my feet
The tracks that lead to where we meet
Somehow the scene is incomplete
But I don't give a damn
I didn't care to leave my room
This time with you is like a tomb
You tell me you don't understand
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
Not now, not where we stand
'Cause I don't give a damn
The snow is caught between my feet
The tracks that lead to where we meet
Somehow the scene is incomplete
But I don't give a damn
The wind is whispering your name
It cuts right through me all the same
You ask me why I even came
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
Not now, not where we stand
'Cause I don't give a damn
Maybe the frost will take the blame
Maybe the cold will dull the flame
You say that everything has changed
But I don't give a damn
The night is hanging overhead
Your words repeat inside my head
You say we're better left for dead
But I don't give a damn
The snow is caught between my feet
The place we carved our small retreat
You call it loss, I call defeat
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
Not now, not where we stand
'Cause I don't give a damn
But I don't give a damn
Banashee · Silent Nation
Fourth single
Get On With It
Papa's got a shop of his own
Cassie's on a college loan
Mom's still at Oak Brook
People pass by, but they don't say
Much about the things that I portray
Don't take another look
So, let's pretend
It's all the same
It's me to blame
We built this place
This bridge we face
We're out of time
So get on with it
We found that trace
Of the human race
But I'm not trying
To remember it
Look who's on the cover of the new Rolling Stone
Isn't it enough that you own
The best of my memory
Take me to the limit I don't mind
It's high time we left that behind
All the causeways are empty
So, let's pretend
That we've both changed
No words exchanged
We built this place
This bridge we face
We're out of time
So get on with it
We found that trace
Of the human race
But I'm not trying
To remember it
We built this place
It's ours to face
It's the only place I've ever known
Banashee · Silent Nation
Fifth single
Somebody Calls
Linoleum cold beneath my feet
you brought me something light and sweet
you knock like weather on the wall
I left you standing in the hall
These days I drink my coffee black
don't give me kindness then take take it back
those faces that I used to know
I let them blur I let them go
And I — I haven't moved
I haven't moved
I haven't moved
Who is that smiling?
What did they take?
I haven't fallen
I won't break.
There's a photograph I cannot place
some other time, some other place
mailbox flag is up again
letter sent from god knows when
And I — I haven't moved
I haven't moved
I haven't moved
Who is that smiling?
What did they take?
I haven't fallen
I won't break.
Who is that smiling?
What did they take?
I haven't fallen
I won't break.
The photo face down on the floor
The door is open, then it's not
Light moves slow across the wall
I have not fallen.
I have not fallen — at all.
And I — I haven't moved
I haven't moved
I haven't moved
Who is that smiling?
What did they take?
I haven't fallen
I won't break.
Who is that smiling?
What did they take?
I haven't fallen
I won't break.
I haven't moved
I haven't moved
Banashee · Silent Nation
Sixth single
Less Sober
You are the sun receding in my eyes
You belong to yesterday at four or five
Some days it feels like we're moving in time
I slam the door, you find a window to climb
I'm less sober now
I'm less sober now
You are the ache that settles in my chest
You belong to moments I can't lay to rest
All these words that we said still echo and hum
And the shape of your voice leaves me deaf and dumb
I'm less sober now
I'm less sober now
I keep reaching for something that isn't there
I keep breathing in shallow and empty air
And the more that I try to let go of that weight
The more I become what I'm trying to escape
You are the sun receding in my eyes
You belong to yesterday at four or five
All these ghosts from the past they are still alive
And the image of you makes them swarm like flies
I'm less sober now
I'm less sober now
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
I am a helium balloon I am drifting
Banashee · Silent Nation
Seventh single
What About the Boy
You're doing great today,
but you cannot play
with the other children.
You've got a mark on you,
it's tattooed through,
and it'll be forever.
So sit down at the back,
keep your hands on the desk,
keep your voice down to nothing.
And when the bell finally rings,
walk slow with your head down,
and don't look at anyone.
What about the boy?
(oh no) What about the boy?
What about the boy?
Sorted, labeled,
folded in half—
what about the boy?
He'll be on medication
most of his days,
either sweating underneath the covers
or sleeping all day through.
He'll learn to take up
less than his share of the room.
He'll learn the long lesson
that something in him is wrong.
And Mr. Mearswatt
keeps her ledger.
The children at recess
keep their distance.
The hands of the clock
go around, and around—
What about the boy?
(oh no) What about the boy?
What about the boy
they've already written off?
What about the boy
they've already written off?
But there is a chord
he can hear that they can't.
There's a pattern in the leaves,
there's a word for the silence.
He sees four moves ahead
of a game they don't know they're playing.
And no one will tell him.
No one will ever tell him.
He'll go his whole life
not knowing his own light—
not knowing his own light.
What about the boy?
(oh no) What about the boy?
What about the boy
we already lost?
What about the boy
we already lost?
What about the boy?
Mr. Mearswatt,
Mr. Mearswatt—
He was doing great today.
He was doing great today.
Banashee · Silent Nation
