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Songs For The Newly Reclusive

by Actor|Observer

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1.
Fool's Gold 04:47
All my friends are overworked and underpaid 
Resigned to think that it will always be this way
 The storefronts change But our problems stay the same
 And if you stay here long enough Soon you won't recognize a face

 We have been let down By a place that never promised us a thing
 For our wasted loyalty To a city of thieves 
Take it back Take it all back You can have your legacy No one said you had to stay here You could've left You wanted this Your captive audience awaits But no one stays No one stays Borrowed time We're here on borrowed time The first to know But always the last to go But I can't take anymore Of this revolving door This isn't a home This is fool's gold
 We are too far gone Desperately thought We could make a change But it's all too little too late This town can't be saved 
Take it back Take it all back You can have your legacy No one said you had to stay here You could've left You wanted this Your captive audience awaits But no one stays No one stays Take what you can And leave like all the rest You'll be replaced And those who stay Will continue to bear the weight In a land of opportunity Borrowed time We're all here on borrowed time We dragged our weight in gold And tried to call this home But there's no golden road And there's no place like home
2.
Arm's Reach 04:39
Arms reach Keeping you at arms reach Won’t open my heart again Won’t open my heart again 
Lonely Afraid of being lonely But company’s not everything It’s safer underground 
Arms reach Keeping you at arms reach Won’t open my heart again Won’t open my heart again 
Trusting 
I used to be so trusting Now I can’t trust in anything again

 This world is full of leaches And open hearts are worse for wear I’ve learned there’s nothing wrong 
With being so withdrawn
 I’m running out of pages
 Flipped through and frayed by flippant hands Can’t close an open book The binding’s been ripped off So many other people’s thoughts Forced in my head I’m getting lost
 Which are my own? 
Which are my own?
 I used to thrive in crowded halls Now I favor narrow walls of solitude instead

 This world is full of leaches And open hearts are worse for wear I’ve learned there’s nothing wrong 
With being so withdrawn
 I’m running out of pages
 Flipped through and frayed by flippant hands Can’t close an open book The binding’s been ripped off More alone with company
 Than when I was held in isolation Bloodletting my need for your validation Drop me back down 
Into the hole That I crawled out of 

You have to be Within arms reach In order to push someone away You have to be Within arms reach To push away from everything
3.
Man, Enough 04:57
(Malignant code Stunted growth A chromosome Is not an oath) Tell me all the ways That I am not a man Tell me all the ways So you can help me understand The value in denying me My full humanity Because if that's what makes a man That's not what I want to be I'm not giving in to any law Created by a fraternal cult I'm not listening to anyone Who measures others by "man enough" Malignant code Breeding sleeper cells Stunted growth Taught only violence to express themselves Is this what you wanted? Bitter resentment For what I see in you I see inside me too I'm not giving in to any law Created by a fraternal cult I'm not listening to anyone Who measures others by "man enough" I am the ire Behind every virile fight I am the shame That keeps you up at night I am the pride Behind every bloody war I am the reckoning That's knocking Knocking at your door I am the loneliness Behind every stoic face I am the trap you set That's keeping you in place I am the child who's been Neglected from the start I am the privilege that you embrace In exchange for your own heart I am my brother's keeper You are your father's son We are forever wounded Our suppression Serving no one Unlearn Unleash me from the limits Of the king's right hand I'll write my own damn definition Reject That which serves you not And reverse the harm That we all have caused Can't rebuild Until you know What you've lost
4.
Cargo Cult 04:16
That’s what I get For worshipping false idols Drunk selfish twenty-somethings Seem pretty wise When you’re young and blind We paid the fines Blew past the warning signs To be successors To the unsuccessful Peeled back their skin To stretch over our limbs But it don’t fit Don’t feel the way that it should I tried my best Not to be a walking cliché But the carpet was rolled out In front of me The life we think we’re owed Isn’t what we’re led to believe In spite of what you’re told This is not where you want to be Go on Follow in the footsteps Of those long gone This is the way We are prisoners to integrity We’re held captive By a self-fulfilling prophecy All this time spent Convincing ourselves It’ll work out in the end The life you think you’re owed by now Isn’t the life you lead In spite of what you’ve sold This is not where you want to be All this time spent The sunken cost The lives we’ve lost All this time spent Defying odds How could we throw it away? How could you throw it all away? The throne is vacant So where do we go from here? The road is changing So where do we go from here now? We’ve all been waving Signaling from dire straits We’ve all been waiting Waiting for the clouds to break
5.
What does it say That I️ only speak of you In the past tense What could I say to you That wouldn’t just be Wasted breath You communicate through music But you never really listen So what’s the difference Between another song And all the words left unsaid? 

I wish you the best
 But I won’t hold my breath Sometimes I forget You’re still out there Just making ends meet
 Feeling more sorry for yourself Than you’ve ever been to me But I can’t get blood from a stone By throwing coins in a well So I just leave it alone With all of those Stories that you tell 
I wish you the best
 But I won’t hold my breath

 I hope you’re relieved The apple fell far from the tree Don’t call me up Just to say nothing The day I was born Had a noose ‘round my neck
 You feared for my life then Now each year you forget But the elephant in the room Remembers everything Like when I sent you to bed on my birthday Eyes bloodshot Lips babbling I felt the weight Of generational pain And so with that I vowed to break the chain Til the rot from the roots Has been purged from the tree And all the hurt that he caused you It ends with me I hope you’re relieved The apple fell far from the tree Don’t call me up Just to say nothing Say nothing The saddest funeral Was the one that never happened No sermon, tears or rituals Just fire and a casket All we’re left with now Is the shadow of a man A catalyst for so much Yet forgotten in the end It doesn’t have to end the same for you It’s in your hands I’ve tried to find forgiveness But I don’t know if I can 
I don’t know if I can 
I don’t know if I can
6.
White Mare 04:52
Tracks mark the snow Not a car on the road Sullen moon is hanging low
 Over sleeping pastures Post-disaster 
What could it be That scared the mares and morgans When all seven of them Rushed the frozen pond 

A cold quiet town With no witnesses around Haunted by that fateful night When all the horses drowned With a crack of the ice The fray of hooves and neighing 
The desperate plea of beasts Who roamed too far from home 
 And the hopes of a girl
 Unaware of the accident Dashed When her parents told her That the one they promised her Had fallen victim To this wicked world 
 Tune out the clash of broken silence Cover your ears to the death and the violence You can try to deny everything
 But they were still finding bodies well into the spring Families rest their heads on beds made of cotton Stolen foundations are withered and rotten While we wait to be devoured by the horsemen Delivered to the grave in the cradle we were born in 
 The time of heeding warning has passed We looked death in the face and we laughed Now the ice has been breaking 
And the plague has been taking You better hope the next horrid flood is the last 
In a clamoring world 
Full of fear May the bastards Breathe faster And say their prayers Gnawing on each other’s throats To steal the final gasp of air
7.
Worry Stone 04:10
(The weight of your eyes Growing greater with time Relax your mind Fall asleep and be free) Show me The bleakest picture And I’ll give it a frame Adorned with sweet ribbons From my mouth So eloquent In the art of persuasion That I fail to notice The taste of Snake oil On my own silver tongue I’ve always had a way with words But this time the words have Got a way with me 
Hypnotized in a way that I can’t explain Have I been lying to myself? Whatever helps To keep the dream alive Sleeping safe and sound From the world outside But tell me Where’s the line Between hope and denial Finding truth in delusion By forcing a smile 
Nothing’s getting better We’re just staying home This will all blow over Find your worry stone 
Pacing in the kitchen Talking myself down Found my new religion 
Blocking it all out Keep on dreaming This too shall pass 
Hypnotized in a way that I can’t explain Have I been lying to myself? Whatever helps To keep the dream alive Sleeping safe and sound From the world outside So tell me where’s the line Between hope and denial I’ll bide my time
 Til all the wells run dry Emerging when I am Not hypnotized anymore

credits

released November 4, 2022

Recorded February 2022 at The Halo Studio in Windham, ME
Produced, engineered, and mixed by Kevin Billingslea

Mastered by Jake Checkoway
Album art layout & design by Dylan Sylvester
Additional vocals on "Man, Enough" by Chris Preece of Inspirit (formerly Vanna)

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Actor|Observer Boston, Massachusetts

Actor Observer from Boston, MA have become a well-respected musical force throughout New England. Their dynamic sound and electric live performance are charged with a visceral sincerity and vulnerability that many audience members find refreshing in the current age of post-hardcore. Their newest album "Songs For The Newly Reclusive" may be their most powerful offering yet. ... more

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