Isolated Incidence
Lyrics & Liner Notes
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