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The River

by The Dark Backward

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1.
I'll never feel bad for this heart that I have beating Not even for one second, my dear I'll never feel guilty for listening to my body The way our nature taught us to feel But just animals connecting, it loses all its sexiness I've always been a fan of the chase So let down your defenses, I'll show you what romance is An angel with a devilish grace Let the music awaken your body Let the rhythm envelop your soul Let the fire that's burning inside you Erupt and take total control (Chorus) Just want to make you move Just want to make you feel Astounded by the truth (I mean it) It's electricity through every bone and every beat I'll show you love, I'll show you heat Electric moans, the wood it groans, as it bends to meet the tone The tension so thick I can taste it But I've got the means to make you weak at the knees It has a startling effect I pull you close, and bite your tongue It speaks in song It's the one that you will never forget It doesn't take a lot to make connections It doesn't take a lot to cause a spark But once you've built a ship, you've built a shipwreck We've created a disaster from the start Now we're at each other's buttons like our jobs depended on it You know I'm going to work to earn that raise Another piece advances in this game that's left me speechless Show me what you've got Is that all you've got? It kind of works like that Just move your feet like this Taking now the lead Dancing on my skin Start to feel the beat Open up and sing You might not know the words but I love the way you breathe Brush your fingertips Right under my seams Keep stitching from within One day I'm bound to split (Chorus) Just want to make you move Just want to make you feel Astounded by the truth (I mean it) It's electricity through every bone and every beat I'll show you love, I'll show you heat Electric moans, the wood it groans, as it bends to meet the tone The tension so thick I can taste it But I've got the means to make you weak at the knees It has a startling effect I pull you close, and bite your tongue It speaks in song It's the one that you will never forget
2.
Water & Rye 06:25
Things don't seem to hurt the way they used to I guess that there is something to keeping up routine I need some separation, I always get lost in the day-to-day I want to clear the smoke to give myself some space I don't feel the way I used to; I used to sometimes fear the future Painfully aware of death and one day losing all of this and That alone had kept me chained into one place, until one day Still wet from birth, my early words...spoke of who I would become! So I opened up my eyes Painful as it was to see I can form the route of every channel to the sea A part of everything But where do we begin? There's a counterbalance, always two means to an end I've only got so much so self-control It fights in me like a rabid dog It's primal and impure, at worst At best it's out of line This wasn't meant to be, it growls A conscience lost is a guilt new found It's a feeling caught and then beaten down Another tragic case Open up your mouth so I can reach Deep enough inside your soul to pull out any demons you might keep Lately I've been quite surprised by every time you speak One day you'll run out of lies and finally cease to be Who has these conversations? Scripted to the letter How's the weather? How's your paycheck? How's the new year? Still surviving? I hate to ask, but who have we become? Approve then disapprove Inside our separate rooms Assume you lack a voice and soon You will collapse under your secrets I thought that we'd be more than this by now (I thought that we'd be more than this by now) I'm not giving up, I'm sure as hell not giving in I want the honest truth, that's all I ask of you From water and from rye, a feeling drowned inside A part of me was taught to never back down from a fight Is this what I deserve? It's only getting worse Were you not the one who told to me not to choose my words so lightly? Flawless at reciting, lines you've practiced for me I've had enough this time Still flawless at reciting, lines you've practiced for me I've had enough this time Here I find an end Before another path begins Perhaps I'll listen to myself for once Sew up any wounds Show me what you've got to prove Perhaps you might step up to this for once Keep your weather, keep your paycheck Keep your small talk, I've stopped listening Perhaps I'm finally coming loose If all the pieces came together Imagine what a great adventure Tell me what we've got to lose I'm tired now of self control Now I think the beast has won I'm think he's quite romantic, but always a faux pas I hope but can’t assume, that it will back away and soon But never trust a wolf licking its teeth...
3.
Proper Tense 05:45
We made our lives an open book Open you up to take a look The text connects in proper tense In sync with every breath I've never been someone with something to prove I'd rather bite a bullet than ever lie to you Let's get our clothes out of the way And try and keep the pace Fall back on the sheets The life I borrowed but I don't deserve The time you have, each second past Leaves me guessing what I'm worth And I'm guessing all the time these days Why break my winning streak? Pressure built to fractures now And bound to cause a leak (Chorus) We can't write the time line We just fold under its will, you see It has no ulterior motive Or desire to be still It think that fate is just for those Who can not see how far they've come Our paths could cross forever Where they'll end, I'll only know if I follow What road is this that we have found? It's like the forest opened up and spilled it out over the ground A world completely underwater, a world inside a bubble All that incessant outside noise completely drowned out Where it could go, I could not measure Such uncanny coincidences I questioned then the proper tenses Which intertwined each instance And then counted all the strands of All the best laid plans that had compelled us here Endless combinations; woven in an endless constellation Each exceptional in elegance; I can't believe we're here at last. Time isn't slow, it's a breakneck speed It's the endless race of a human heartbeat It doesn't stop for anyone, but it'll let you tag along And one year turns to twenty, but that seems so far away I'll never know of the what could have been But it doesn't hurt to wonder now and then What's one more dance with me completely unadorned? People spend their time just wasting time Instead of living while they can I'm not satisfied with growing old but never growing up Or living in pretense, I always end up Holding cards close to my vest until I want to make a deal This method always ends in wreckage Drag last night's mistakes out to the street and beat them dead I've never been a man that likes to glorify regret What said and done is said and done Or done and justified instead Time just keeps going It just keeps going (Chorus) We can't write the time line We just fold under its will, you see It has no ulterior motive Or desire to be still It think that fate is just for those Who can not see how far they've come Our paths could cross forever Where they'll end, I'll only know if I follow
4.
So, I don’t think you know what you are saying, dear Your words are awful slurred And marked with signs of bitter thoughts And secret men I’ve never Heard of such a lie, or such a truth But I can never tell with you So close those pretty eyes and think of times When love was something pure I’m feeling like this pain could drag me under Feels just like the blood’s ice in my system Holding onto to all my memories before they’re gone So days and weeks and months will pass With every single night just like the Lasting taste of shame that you Will shake your head at until it passes The ring around my finger Chains the guilt around my ankles And the current’s swift So you won’t have to worry anymore about me! I’m feeling like this weight could drag me under Feeling like my blood’s sludge through my system I’m holding on to all my fantasies before they’re gone And in the end, after all is said and done You’ll find me on the floor Learning to swim for the time when the river must answer for the live that she’s taken! Oh, then you’ll say to me... Oh, then you’ll say to me... It’s finally...over. I remember Paris in the summer I remember flowers, strewn across a bedside table I remember long abandoned vineyards I remember poetry, and how it felt when you lied to me You are now the spirit of this river You are now the storm that rocks the boat and throws me over Feeling now, the undertow I try to swim, but you’re too strong And now I’m going under...and now I’m going under... So we have both fell victims to this current Drunken sailors making waves across the icy water Reaching out for something to hold on to Blind to all the fucked up things you always said or put me through You are now the weight that drags me under You are now the victor of another endless struggle Clutch my throat, and smile sweetly And stroke my cheek and say to me “You’re just another silly scene, in another stupid movie” She was the east river She was the east river She was the east river She was the east river The forest gives the air to breathe The river gives the growth it needs Each branch as far as it can reach Singing melodies And now that I have become one With who I am and what I've done I'll stretch each branch out to the sun Living fearlessly And so for every bated breath We lose a chance to take a step We must convince our roots to dance Alive and finally free Never settle, never be a victim to the life you lead Gather now the will to scream, I'm listening Who could've guessed? Who would've thought that I'd keep on treading water? Not convinced, not amused by your better than thou demeanor And honestly, it never looked good on you Apologies are cheap these days, they're never quite worth the cost we pay It was my fault, it was my curse, it was a cheap attack on all we were Flex your claws, watch me squirm, no longer afraid of getting hurt But honestly, what damage could you do? I know that you have thick skin, but now I'm looking through you And look how you've destroyed what never happened And look how I've rebuilt my ship from scratch Without a story, you can't write an ending The river swift, it picks it's pace, there is no time for looking back And I can not remember how this happened And who I might have been before the crash But now I've washed ashore among the wreckage My lungs welcome a needed breath I gasp for breath, I gasp for someone Away from where the mesas touch the sky About forty-five from Santa Fe I left that place so far behind My childhood dissipated Away from where the freezing cold Convinced me I'd been left alone To flood tomes and alcohol I hate the Colorado winter But now the sky -- It rises up? Or down? I can't tell which -- to meet the water Flowing through my every inch The rain the skin I miss when absent Replace my arid and dusty bones With soil and silt from down below In the Northwest I found my soul You'll find me up the river

about

The Dark Backward’s explosive second release, “The River”, documents the struggle of human connection, and how looking for love can quickly turn from a rambunctious birth to a vicious end and then back again.

This is an all too familiar, yet uncomfortable, concept for those of us who have loved intensely and then lost – "The River" attempts to make peace with the transformative nature of connection.

credits

released October 14, 2016

Written and performed by
The Dark Backward

The Dark Backward is
Jordan Ryker Daniel - Vocals, Guitar
Alexander Marble - Bass Guitar
Phillip Walsh - Percussion

Recorded at Black Diamond Recording Studios
Portland, Oregon
Mixed and mastered by Andrew Shartle

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about

The Dark Backward Portland, Oregon

Portland-based rock band The Dark Backward was founded by Jordan Daniel and Alex Marble, previous members of Jane Lane and Sudden Epidemic. The Dark Backward plays original compositions of honest, emotional music that makes audiences want to move and exorcise their demons. The band plays rock and roll that incorporates all musical genres, including blues, jazz, punk, pop, and electronica. ... more

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