Isolated Incidence was written, performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Greg Goldman at Cedar Studios, St. Louis, Missouri.

Cover photo by Jenny Sarrat.

Special thanks to Charlie Campbell, Sarah Campbell, Jon Campbell, Liz Davis Goldman, Teddy Goldman, Sammy Goldman, and Ben Smith.

© Copyright 2021 Greg Goldman

Sheer Drop

You're getting closer to that sheer drop

I never imagined it'd be you

Just get yourself here, it's a straight shot

We are waiting for your cue

And the time

You've invested in the other

It's all fine

If you bring us all together

Just one more time

There are people who depend on you

To be there, once in a while

You've been reclaiming what you gave up

I'd never take that away from you

If there is reason when you wake up

To keep going, and not just through

But there's time

To be more than just a voice

Coming through the line

If you're expecting us to give you

Some kind of sign

You should know that's how it would be

If the decision was only mine

Here we go

Watching my brother absorb

His ninetieth major blow

While the world goes up in flames

Is hardly time to grow

And yet there's not much we can do

But batten down the hatches

And bide our time

We can only bide our time

Unimpeached

Let's check the score

That's two that you've won

But we've only begun to dig in

They've stuck to their guns

They'll choke on your pride

Just to stay on your good side

All that you are, all that you've known

Blown out of the sky like one of your drones

And I'll watch with relief in my heart

You who vote no

While you broadcast the hype

Are you playing to type or just dumb?

Must be a bluff

You pantomime pride

While you grin on the inside

All that you are, all that you say

Crumbles apart in the light of the day

You've no heart at all

All that you are, all that you know

Goes straight to the heart of what we've become

And we rot on the inside

Status Quo

I stare across at you

There's nothing I can do but take it in

I feel it all so strong

Back here where I belong once again

Ooh, yes I know

That there's nothing to be done anymore

But it don't matter

Seems all the same

In everything but name, isn't it?

Say our goodbyes

Leave us to our lives once again

Ooh, I should know

I can't go back and change it anymore

But ooh, let me go

Back to the almighty status quo

Cause it don't matter

Yeah, it don’t matter anymore

Persephone

Listening, distancing, fear-soaked thrall

On your knees, Persephone, heed my call

It's the day, whisked away to Hades' home

Here you'll stay, underneath the catacombs

And I knew you were cruel

But I don't understand

Hear my cry

Why, father, why?

What have I done that I

Should be a sacrifice?

What is your design here?

Welcome home, it's your own from this day

As they die you'll preside to show the way

You shall be a wife to me, and rule the souls

The kingdom of the dead is under your control

And I can't allow it to stand

Oh my poor innocent child

Hear my cries

The fields will all be dry

Till I am satisfied

Hermes, hear my plight

Bring back the spawn of mine

You shall not be denied

Demeter must provide

In winter she is mine

The year will be divided

Take these seeds before you leave

You'll return

Precarious

I don't believe the sun rises and falls

Most times I can't see how people can

Put their faith in anything at all

It's not like I have any bad intent

But ooh, it all seems precarious

I'll follow the path that you lay down

I'll stick with it till it seems to

Run itself right into the ground

I'll let it become my conceit

But ooh, it's precarious

I don't think our life is who we are

But I can't explain myself in any way

That doesn't involve a guitar

I'm fumbling through just like all the rest

And ooh, it's all so precarious

Reservoir

Give me shelter from my thoughts

Protect me from me

Hope is something I can't afford

Just like certainty

I fall so far, so far

Why don't you help me?

Well, you should help me

I got to live my life this way

Unless you help me

I can barely see the stars

I can hear you from afar

There's got to be a reservoir

Well, I'm dammed

Part of me and part of you

Are one and the same

That don't mean I know what to do

To stamp out all the shame

I fall so far, so far

Why don't you help me?

When will you help me?

I can't live my life this way

You gotta help me

I have never seen the stars

I have heard you from afar

When you find a reservoir

I'll be dammed

Surrender

I want to see you as my equal

I suppose my pride gets the best of me

Don't want to fear you but I seem to

This isn't how it's supposed to be

Two people venture off together

What are the chances that they stay that way

The thing about that word, "forever,"

You have to take it by the day

There's a tension between

The life that I dreamed

And my surrender

Well, the love that you give

Would be more than enough to live

If I surrendered

Been thinking 'bout more ways to trust you

It wasn't easy in the best of times

So when I see I was right not to

Can't just remove that from my mind

If there's a straight line between

The life that I dream

And my surrender

I must need safety so bad

To stake everything I have

Against surrender

You know, whenever there's a choice

I try to have a voice

But I just surrender

I want to give you all I can

I will meet all your demands

Except surrender

There's Always Something

Now you know what they've been saying

They don't believe what you claim

And we all know you didn't make it up

Ain't this just how it's been going

Well the cards are shown

And they've got a trump, yeah

There's always something that's gone all wrong

You've been up there for far too long

Girl, come on home

And you know we're always there

We fight to give you all we can

But is that all we can ever be for you

Not always clear you also care

Well, the more I know

The less you've shown to me

There's always something you don't let on

That makes me feel that I don't belong

And if there's something I've done so wrong

Can you just tell me or would it take too long?

Should I go home?

Well, the longer it goes

The more you have to wonder

There's always something that's going wrong

There's always something gone on too long

You're always somewhere you want to be gone

It's far too much to fit in just one song

Girl, go on home

Sundown

It's a fine line

Between cynical and realistic

You gotta stay on the right side

We gotta stay on the right side

It's a hard road

Any contact could be deadly

We try to keep to the outside

But there's diminishing sunlight

Ooh, swallow

Check if anything feels wrong

Ooh, wallow

In a fit of ennui at home

Ooh follow

As it changes all the year long

Ooh hollow

If we don't all keep being strong

We'll never make it the end

We'll end up in piles

We'll be stacked in piles

Stalemate

Ever since you left here

Been tied up in knots

Can't stand how we left it

It just feels wrong

Not sure what I'm doing here

Can't trust my thoughts

Should I reach out with a white flag?

Has it been too long?

And what you see is

That I'm not turning back

And I'm not backing down

And I can't let you win

At whatever game we are playing

God knows we've played our share

And that monkey on your back

Has been riding you hard

You admit it's there

But you don't own it

And I have never preached to you

And I don't want to start

But there's a fine line where I can share mine

Or condone it

Cause what I see is

That you're not turning back

And you're not backing down

And you can't let me win

At whatever game we are playing

God knows we've played our share

I know I've got a role to play

You know I'm no innocent

I know you won't believe me when I say

I don't hold it against you

But what I see is

That we're not turning back

And we're not backing down

And we can never win

At whatever game we are playing

You know we've played our share

But not since you left here

Through the Unknown

These are the days

You'll look to when all is said and done

Memory decays

The feeling, it stays, to rise with the sun

And what indicates

That it's the same person you knew

Clues in the gaze

They're buried in haze and uncomfortably few

And what is your role, now that you've grown

Steer through the pain and through the unknown

So here you must stay

And be everything to everyone

Counting the days

Your life out of phase, your time overrun

This is your role, now you're all grown

Navigate pain, grasp the unknown

Where is my friend, now that you're home

Braving the pain, into the unknown

Displaced

You won't stop for months now

I stand by in a haze

Time and time again now

It's the same

And I can't hear it anymore

Call me staid or overloaded

You're betrayed

But I miss my friend

All-in's impressive

I can't relate

You weave time from nothing

So there's grace

But I just can't hear it anymore

Call you crazed or devoted

You're betrayed

And I've missed my friend

Ooh, don't come all the way down

Ooh, I'm not saying be complacent

Ooh, and your reasons are sound

But I just can't hear them anymore

If I'm displaced or demoted

It's all the same

Let's just skip to the end

Undeniable

All of the worry

That I have poured into this bottle

Oh, don't hurry

Letting it out

Pouring it out

You, you will be special

Don't you know

You, you won't be able

Not to show

All of the heartache that I have

Set there on the table

Try not to pick it up

Let it stay

Leave it be

You, you will be something

To behold

You, you won't be able

Not to show

You, you will be special

Don't you know

You, you won't be able

Not to show