1. |
We are the Stories
03:50
|
|||
|
We are the Stories
V1
Once upon a time in a fairy-tale, we followed love like the Holy Grail. We made our way through the cold and dark, we found our feet and we left our mark.
We are the stories of young and old, stories of people who were brave and bold. Stories like yours, stories like mine, we are the stories we leave behind.
Oh Oh We are the stories we leave behind x 2
V2
Some days we act like we’re deaf dumb and blind, we are the products of our own design, selling this world at our own expense, screaming in vain sitting on the fence.
We are the stories captured in song, voices of spirits from the great beyond. Stories that lasted the test of time, we are the stories we leave behind.
Oh oh we are the stories we leave behind x 3
V3
We lose the plot; forget the signs, when we’re not reading between the lines. We make our choices, we take the risks, we are by nature dramatic twists.
We are the stories you share around, stories of lives in an average town. Stories of hearts that are intertwined, we are the stories we leave behind.
Oh oh We are the stories we leave behind x 8
|
||||
2. |
A Cluster of Narratives
03:51
|
|||
|
A Cluster of Narratives
V1
I’ve been lucky to say the least; I’ve spent years taming the beast. I’ve been high and down so low, I’ve been afraid of saying no.
V2
I’ve been selfish and unkind, I’ve squandered money and wasted time, while I admit to all my wrongs; I leave the past where it belongs.
My whole life, I have had a cluster of narratives in my head, asking questions that I don’t know, some might stay but some must go. Oh Oh Oh…
V3
I play my heart out on these strings I hold. I let the story progress and unfold, I wrap my words up in melody. I rest my soul in the space between.
V4
I lose my way from time to time, the clouds won’t lift and the sun won’t shine, but I’ll keep singing my songs for you, the only thing I’m compelled to do.
(Chorus) (Bridge) A Cluster Of Narratives … (Chorus x 2)
|
||||
3. |
A Day Away from Madness
03:54
|
|||
|
A Day Away From Madness
V1
I get up on the wrong side of a fold out sofa bed, a day away from madness and beyond.
Plagued by paranoia and a heavy sense of dread; a day away from madness and beyond.
Fear splits me in two like a chainsaw to my skull, a day away from madness and beyond.
Minutes drag like hours, paralysing dull; a day away from madness and beyond.
V2
Face down on the pavement, December on my back; a day away from madness and beyond.
Hanging by a thread over the infinite black; a day away from madness and beyond.
Flashbacks to oblivion a t-shirt stained with blood; a day away from madness and beyond.
Sifting through the debris like the chaos from a flood, a day away from madness and beyond.
CHORUS
ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh ooh ooh a day away from madness and beyond.
V3
Hijacked by my ego and stripped of self-control, a day away from madness and beyond.
These demons they’re relentless, they are tragic and they’re cruel, a day away from madness and beyond.
If my head goes under once more I’ll be gone, a day away from madness and beyond.
I’ll have crossed the threshold to the point of no return, a day away from madness and beyond.
Chorus same
V4
Anxious for the future but still I’m looking up, a day away from madness and beyond.
There’s another life that’s waiting and I can’t afford to stop, a day away from madness and beyond.
There’s a change on the horizon and its dragging me along, a day away from madness and beyond.
It seems like something right in the midst of all that’s wrong, a day away from madness and beyond.
Chorus same
|
||||
4. |
Greatest Escape
04:36
|
|||
|
Greatest Escape
V1
What can I say? but lately, I was burning the candle both ends, day after day like crazy, surrounded by fair-weather friends. Searching for rhyme and reason, in something outside of myself, taking the beatings over and over again.
Chorus
Sometimes I think of your kiss love, Sometimes I think of your smile, If everything’s better like this love, why is my conscience on trial?
How do we overcome distance when we were always so close? You were the greatest escape love that’s what I’m missing the most.
V2
Facing reality, naked and over exposed. Life is so bittersweet the truth is that nobody knows, if we’re awake or dreaming or caught by the web of time. Is life an illusion? Or just a trick of the mind.
Chorus
Bridge
I am not perfect nobody is. Each day I grow a little stronger than this
V3
Fearing myself getting older and knowing there’s so much to do. As I look over my shoulder, there’s a lingering shadow of you. It was an awkward journey, and I went the long way round. Today it was worth it all for this peace I have found.
Chorus & Outro
|
||||
5. |
Good Old Days
03:29
|
|||
|
Good Old Days
V1
Before the shutters come down and the lights are switched off, before I throw the towel into the ring.
I want to sing like birds sing, no matter who listens or what they think.
V2
Before they plant the bones of a weathered old man, before the flesh and blood become clay,
I want play like children play and leave touch this world in my own little way.
Chorus
The price of living comes with a cost, so is gained while so much is lost. Some things can never be replaced.
Remember these are the good old days.
V3
Before the journey has ended and the engines have seized, before they’re ringing the closing time bell.
I want to bloom like flowers bloom and leave the story I’d be happy to tell.
Chorus
|
||||
6. |
Dark Side of The Rover
05:37
|
|||
|
Dark Side of the Rover
I miss you I love you, takes more than words to explain.
The anger, the laughter, the forgiveness and the blame,
This picture of summer, washed denim blue against white sand,
It’s colder the water, it doesn’t always go to plan,
And I know it wasn’t you, inner conflict took over, when you failed to make it through, the dark side of the rover.
An actor, a teacher, the greatest friend the childhood foe.
A human, the process of holding on and letting go,
And I know it wasn’t you, inner conflict took over, when you failed to make it through, the dark side of the rover.
Threading the water, through and endless sea of doubt, I know exactly what those feelings are about.
Running the gauntlet between pleasure and pain, crossing the borders of deranged and insane
And I know it wasn’t you, inner conflict took over, when you failed to make it through, the dark side of the rover.
|
||||
7. |
Average City Street
03:58
|
|||
|
Average City Street
V1
Traffic passing, blue lights flashing, the sound of rain against concrete, the slow decay of a reckless day on an average city street.
V2
Fairground posters, roller coasters, shop front signs say up for lease. Graffiti masters on damp grey plaster, on an average city street.
Chorus
Knowledge is a fibrous root, each new generation will stem from. An old man said the essence of youth, is wasted on the young.
V3
Dealers dealing, squealers squealing, lovers argue as they meet. Daydream dreamers, and late night schemers, on an average city street.
V4
An angry heart, a troubled start, tattooed tears and blackened teeth. The grip of time and the life of crime on an average city street.
Chorus Same
V5
The pretty people’s park is a no go after dark and the grounds keepers ringing his bell. Its cardboard and bridges, needles and stitches. This is where the fallen have fell. The moonlights a sliver, dancing on the river and the water is a no man’s land. The harsh reality between pain and ecstasy is coming together hand in hand.
Chorus Same
|
||||
8. |
Working Class Waltz
04:58
|
|||
|
Working Class Waltz
Chimney stacks, power lines, sky satellites. A murder of crows keeps a watch from a height. White tumbler pigeons perform summersaults, clapping their wings to the working class waltz.
Back gates and laneways, mad dogs and stay cats, mattresses wheelie bins bikes and black sacks. Bowels of the neighbourhood nobody wants, garnish the beat to the working class waltz.
The working class waltz it gets up your nose. The working class waltz clings to your clothes
The working class waltz gets under your skin. The working class waltz is born from within
Shuffling with babies, soiled nappies and prams, young single parent’s cigarettes in their hands. No aspirations and no second thoughts, comfortably numb in the working class waltz
The working class waltz it ebbs and it flows. The working class waltz reclines and regrows
The working class waltz never wants you to win. The working class waltz is born from within
Tracksuits and hoodies who procrastinate, council house backdrops are sealing their fate. Laying down bricks to build mental walls, a fortress of pride in the working class waltz
The working class waltz it gets up your nose. The working class waltz it clings to your clothes.
The working class waltz gets under your skin. The working class waltz is born from within.
|
||||
9. |
Victims
03:11
|
|||
|
Victims
V1
There’s an elephant in the room, need to be addressed.
Paedophiles and rapists hidden among the blessed, Call it what you want blasphemy or worse, surely it’s the victims we should be putting first.
V2
Who will be the voice for the ghost of the child? Who’s suffered the abuse in silence and denial. What about those infants buried under lies? Innocent and helpless wasted little lives.
Chorus
But that’s ok, the saviours on his way, to shine a light on our darkest days, preaching forgiveness unity and love, a frail attempt to patch things up.
V3
An ancient land built on blood and tears, rising from the ashes of dark oppressive years.
Hijacked by religion, borrowed sold and bought, beaten to submission by the so called men of cloth.
Chorus
Bridge
We don’t need salvation we can find it on our own.
No more the fallen nation that you bullied and controlled.
We are not the subjects praying to be saved,
unlike those generations that you brutalised and shamed.
Chorus
|
||||
10. |
Why did she stay?
04:33
|
|||
|
Why did she Stay?
V1
He swept her right off her feet with all the flowers and charm, but soon came the jealous streak, black eyes and a fractured arm. He swears that he’s going to change; he’ll never do it again. She pretends on his behalf, denies the truth to herself.
Chorus
Scenes of fear and tragedy, played out behind closed doors. With the last of her dignity, she picks herself up once more. As if it was her own fault neighbours say;
Why did she stay?
V2
On the evening of that last time, the silent scorn got so loud. He slammed the kitchen door in her face knocking her to the ground. All the pain she had ever felt boiled up inside her veins. Holding the bloodied knife she yelled; he’ll never do it again.
Chorus same x2
|
||||
11. |
Ask for Help
03:47
|
|||
|
Ask For Help
When you’re knocked down off your feet, by an unexpected twist and you really can’t get over all the chances that you missed,
When you’re spinning round in circles with the black dog on your tail, when you’re not fully prepared but you’re still prepared to fail.
There’s no shame in crying, I often do, just keep on trying, keep pushing through
When you can’t take it all by yourself, don’t be afraid to ASK FOR HELP.
When the odds are stacked against you and you’re on a losing streak, when you’re stuck without a paddle in the middle of shit creek.
When you’re hit by a tornado and its ripping through your soul when your head is in a spiral, and you’re slipping down a hole,
There’s no shame in crying, I often do, just keep on trying, keep pushing through
When you can’t take it all by yourself, don’t be afraid to ASK FOR HELP.
When your mind is out to get you, and the voices speak too much, when you’re kicking at a dead horse, but nothing seems to budge.
When you’ve got nowhere to turn and no place you can hide, when you’re absolutely crippled by the thoughts of suicide...
|
||||
James O' Connor Ireland
James O’Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter, performer and recording artist. His upcoming album ‘A Cluster of Narratives’, releasing in July, is a folk rock journey that celebrates the joy of living. O’Connor’s latest music is defiant and rousing, with unabashedly honest lyrics and a melodic Irish lilt that sets him apart. ... more
If you like James O' Connor, you may also like:
Danielle Durack's emotional music is both gentle and steely, moving from intimate bedroom pop to powerful rock in the blink of an eye.
go to album
Live at Le Trabendo
by Merryn Jeann
This four-track live EP from singer Merryn Jeann has a sense of otherworldliness in its mystic, magical compositions.
go to album
Johanna Samuels writes introspective and empathetic songs that explore authenticity with lovely, low-key pop melodies.
go to album
A delicate and ethereal album, gracefully blending dreamy melodies with hushed guitar & introspective lyrics.
go to album
Heart-on-sleeve indie from beat radio pairs candid and confessional lyrics with rugged and determined rock arrangements.
go to album
This debut from the Paris-based American artist showcases his genre-fluid sound.
go to album
The Hour Between Us
by Anna Smyrk
A long-distance relationship is the main theme of this sprawling third EP from the Australian indie-rock artist.
go to album
