1. |
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In our temperamental social state
We must not diverge
Waste no time now, don’t create
Pragmatists converge
But what of the artist
Whose soul won’t congeal?
He’s waking the sleepers
And making them feel
We’ll distract the lot, they’ll sit and watch
Gross displays of fame
Best laid plans, afraid to botch
Everyone the same
But what of the artist
Whose soul won’t congeal?
He’s waking the sleepers
And making them feel
Shopping malls and politics
Keep them cowed and meek
Keep their heads as thick as bricks
Soon our words they’ll speak
But what of the artist
Whose soul won’t congeal?
He’s waking the sleepers
And making them feel
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2. |
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N/A
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3. |
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Where do you see yourself?
What are your goals?
We work for fortune here
Never mind souls
List your priorities
Tell me your strengths
We’ll need your loyalties
At any length
Keep your name safe on a tag
Mind your feet, don’t let them drag
Straighten, clean, and never lag
Fix it all again!
Slave away to claim your pay
Clock in, work your life away
Never having any say
Human is a sin!
Sell your humanity
Sweat till your death
Live for a paycheck from
Breath till last breath
Half of a thought in mind
Time slips on by
Hours, eight at a time
Don’t wonder why
Keep your name safe on a tag
Mind your feet, don’t let them drag
Straighten, clean, and never lag
Fix it all again!
Slave away to claim your pay
Clock in, work your life away
Never having any say
Human is a sin!
Climbing the ladder up
Right to the ground
Rise to incompetence
So safe and sound
Tearing your spirit down
Try not to drown
Rise to incompetence
You’ll come around
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4. |
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N/A
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5. |
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It’s a hard line
Rise up to the top
Such a wild time
And I’ll never stop
Grab a gold key
And open the lock
To a new life
A future in stock
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
Greed is a gift that just keeps giving
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
I’m bleeding green but I can’t stop living
Got a closure
An equity loan
Under oak desk
Adulterous moan
Buy a gold watch
A new motorcar
In a new suit
Top shelf at the bar
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
Feed on the rush that just keeps gripping
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
I’m falling slow when the noose starts slipping
In a stone cast
A black eagle eye
With a dark glare
A half-broken sigh
Get a cold heart
That will never thaw
On the fast track
And you’ll be in awe
Walk a long road
And walk it alone
For the good life
Made all on your own
Play your cards right
Your numbers will fly
Take a hard look
And ascend to the sky
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
Greed is a gift that just keeps giving
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
I’m bleeding green but I can’t stop living
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
Steel to my lips, a trigger teasing
No glass ceiling, no more feeling
I’m breaking down but I can’t stop!
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6. |
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Where do you see yourself?
Where is your head?
If you can’t pay your bills,
You’ll wind up dead
Be realistic now
Don’t be a fool
Your passion amounts
To a drop in a pool
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7. |
Sketches, VII: War Song
05:58
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Thoughts you must collect, we can direct your life my boy
If you choose to serve you will deserve your worldly joy
To teach you how to kill, your social will we must destroy
But it’s only for a bit then you can quit your dark employ
Widows cry and good men die
Still we fight and don’t ask why
Senseless crime with no reason or rhyme
The war song sung as the death tolls climb
Marching through a haze, a distant gaze with tired eyes
Chewing on their fears from all the years of constant lies
Leaders fueled by hate cannot abate the endless cries
Youth with lives delayed are now afraid of their demise
Mothers cry and good men die
Still we fight and don’t ask why
Senseless crime with no reason or rhyme
The war song sung as the death tolls climb
On the evening news, the camera crews shoot grizzly scenes
For the viewers to digest as they rest at TV screens
In between the ads to sell them fads and new blue jeans
No one seems to care, they’re unaware of what it means
Children cry and good men die
Still we fight and don’t ask why
Senseless crime with no reason or rhyme
The war song sung as the death tolls climb
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8. |
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In search of ways I could refresh
I fled from such a broken nest
Awake, I set out in distress
To find a place where I might rest
I’m lost inside an open mind
Illusion overwhelming flesh
The real and thought are intertwined
And tangled in my mental mesh
Where echoes sound of past romance
And sorrows of my heart can bind
I’m out of time without a chance
Against the grain I fell behind
I never knew what would remain
From lonesome nights lost at a glance
Not sure that I could bear the pain
Or plot a grander circumstance
We play our games and tell our lies
But never can we clear the stain
A passion thought to tantalize
Was just a heart that cried in vain
With memories of friendship lost
The residue of half-held tries
How can I ever pay the cost
Of broken spirit’s slow demise?
I’m at a loss with blood run dry
Necrotic, lying in the dark
While deaf and blind to every cry
And sure to never leave a mark
Resigned to live a life of ease
To go to work and earn my pay
To never do just as I please
And struggle all my life away
But can I just exist at best
And never live the life I seek
Within my soul I must invest
Escape existence dull and meek
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9. |
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Sound advice I just won’t take
While these fractured thoughts remain
Help me be what I must be
Don’t let the breaking be in vain
Endless dreaming as I wake
Cause reality to fade
As I live and breathe I see
The role I feel I should have played
I find I cannot tear my eyes away
I have to search for something else to say
A losing battle I fight every day
But I will persevere and find a way
To compromise is no small feat
Yet so desperately I seek
With lips that smile, eyes that frown
A way to change my fate so bleak
Though in myself I felt complete
Misery loves company
And so, my darkness dragged me down
To compromised humanity
Though my emotions are in disarray
I’ll find my strength; look to the skies and pray
My love for life will change but not decay
Forever broken, I will not break away
Ache of love still not forgotten
Sting of friendship ill-begotten
Burn of lust that’s seldom spoken
Pain of heart forever broken
Needle’s bite so cold, yet pleasant
Weary mind on past and present
Bill of health a passing token
Sense of self forever broken
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10. |
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Moving on in silence
Can’t leave the past behind
Lost in pure resistance
Just waiting for a sign
Crying out for something
Can’t make myself forget
Lost in isolation
A victim of regret
Living out a nightmare
Can’t fall into my stride
Lost within delusion
And so, my time I bide
Giving up my hunger
Can’t seem to keep my pace
Lost my will to struggle
I feel like a disgrace
Forced to paint your pretty pictures
On a vacant wall
Playing notes for absent faces
No one there at all
But what of the artist
Whose soul won’t congeal?
He’s waking the sleepers
And making them feel
Walk along the lifeless trenches
You don’t have a prayer
Learn that time’s a fickle mistress
Wasted without care
Taking no more chances
Can’t face the ticking clock
Lost inside a shadow
With no more light to block
Bleeding for an answer
Can’t race the sands of time
Lost my sense of being
My fortune is sublime
Clock hand like a rusting needle
Scratching at your brain
Dig it in a little deeper
Drain away the pain
But what of the artist
Whose soul won’t congeal?
He’s waking the sleepers
And making them feel
Step beyond the sterile darkness
Searching for new light
Learn that life’s a lengthy battle
Lost without a fight
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11. |
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Awake another day
Suburban slow decay
With both feet on the ground
And head so far away
Nametags and checkout lines
No plans or grand designs
To ticking timeclock bound
My life, my job defines
Deceit and venture bold
A fortune mine to hold
Behind a thin disguise
A heart that’s long been cold
At war, shipped overseas
With victims on their knees
Well-fed on fear and lies
Against false enemies
Chart the course of your life
Fill your sails and find your light
Overcome clockwork strife
Push on through the lonesome night
Alone until the end
Deriding every trend
Outpaced by falling sand
A will that cannot bend
My love so hard to quit
Unable to commit
Alone but firm I stand
Content to be unfit
Chart the course of your life
Fill your sails and find your light
Overcome clockwork strife
Push on through the lonesome night
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12. |
Sketches, XII: I Will
02:21
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We must learn how to relate
Different paths aside
Waste no time now, must create
No more need to hide
For I am the artist
My soul won’t congeal
I’m waking the sleepers
And making them feel!
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Amalgam Effect Denver, Colorado
Amalgam Effect is a band in celebration of unification and amalgamation. Their genre is progressive rock at its core, but the emphasis falls on the progress of music and art for the future.
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Oct 27, 2023
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The new live EP by Ryan W. Stevenson's project reminded me, that this debut album must have been gone down the wishlist... If instrumental Canterbury stuff is your thing, this should be a no-brainer. Firmly rooted in the past (late 60s, 70s), nevertheless with a fresh sound. Guests incude The Tangent's Andy Tillison and Soft Machine's Theo Travis.
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