Lovely Dark - Perfectly Alive

Filtered Clean

Never did I want it all

I never sought the truth behind those smiling eyes

Caught in a trap so small

Ensnared but felt communion flowing, blurred my edges all away

Sharp as a knife, I culled,

and carved my name beneath the oath of holy things

Did I not find a home

Blockaded by the darkened doors

Fall through

and wake up when the fever breaks, we drift until the silt is filtered clean

This will never end, he said

It will never end cause what I need is everything

Careful with those words now

That they won’t be misconstrued, the lies eclipsed, made visible

Did the truth just call you out

Or did it creep in while you were passed out on the floor

Love, will I see you more?

Careful what you’re wishing for

Fall through

and wake up with the fever breaks, we drift until the silt is filtered clean

Black Well

Slide into the skin

He’ll teach you to see like a raven

When the veil thins

You’ll know how much power you gave him

Tell me, what am I to learn?

By the path that you leave you will always return

Leave me behind, have your adventure

Reopen your eyes, let us be joined back together

Here’s where you begin

Right when your body collapses

She beckons you in

The universe turns on its axis

With only a song

Given to you for protection

Tell me, what am I to learn?

By the path that you leave you will always return

Leave me behind, have your adventure

Reopen your eyes, let us be joined back together

Hare Hunter Hound

Hare. Hunter. Hound.

The sun is rising

Your breath is on my neck and I’m

Lost in the avenues

Where I found just a bit of truth

Too fragile to wield

it tempers tempers

I feel you shiver, your smile fades

I know just where your body breaks

The lesser will overtake the greater now

Providence through your chemicals

Delicate and ethereal

The lesser will overtake the greater now

Salvation

But at what a cost

Adulation undone

We were young then

But old enough we thought

With everything we’ve had and lost

We’re smarter now but

We are not any better off

I’ll be your

Spirit of metal

The fire which does not burn away

The water as dry as bone

I’ll venture out alone

Through mountains and fields

So quiet, quiet

To contemplate a life captive

And turn fallow at the thought of it

The lesser will overtake the greater now

So create all your miracles

I’ll know that they’re just for show

The lesser will overtake the greater now

Salvation

But at what a cost

Adulation undone

We were young then

Old enough we thought

With everything we’ve had and lost

We’re smarter now but

We are not any better off

--- (better off)

Wild Enough

I prayed that they’d never dull you with praise and train you up hungry for their love

You’d stay like the savage creature you are: fighting and fierce, troublesome

A wolf is a wolf, no matter how small - baring your teeth, you’d fight them all

Am I wild enough to believe that I could rise back up

When every year that turns, my love, puts more time between the earth and us

The secrets whispered between the moon and the sun, these were your songs

The sands and the snows and the bending branches were your bed, they made you strong

We watched you dive and surface again - fearless as I was frail

Am I wild enough to believe that I could rise back up

When every year that turns, my love, puts more time between the earth and us

I will never forget…

Ten rings in the aspen hidden

By what seasons bring

ten rings in the aspen hidden

At the center of things

Am I wild enough to believe that I could rise back up

When every year that turns, my love, puts more time between the earth and us

I will never forget…

Weave and the Woven

Dear Mother, I called out to the callous ones

O! Now the weave and the woven

Dear Father, I called out lost names to the sun

Now what have I become? What have I just begun?

With my eyes closed tight, my eyes closed tight

One must be so careful these days

Dear Brother, I dream of the columbine

O! Now the weave and the woven

My Sister, it seems I’m destined to find

How our fates they entwine when your future meets mine

With my hands clenched tight, my hands clenched tight

One must be so careful these days

Together we find out what’s lost in the light

O! Now the weave and the woven

Dear Mother, I recite their names out tonight

Now what have I become? What have I just begun?

The three sisters write, the three sisters write

One must be so careful these days

The Only One

I kill the engine and comfort you

You’re now about a half mile from your home

Our bodies lay out

And I swear I’ll make everything brighter

Fix every crack with gold wire

And never doubt

I am the only one that could ever love you

Breathe it in, brace yourself

Breathe

Are you sure that they’ll believe you

And are you sure that you remember

It correctly

I’ll be the pillar and the chapel now

The pious portrait of a sacred vow

When it suits me

I am the only one that could ever love you

Breathe it in, brace yourself

Breathe

And we breathe it in

The Lights and the Wires

Are you a disbeliever

Or are you the same as me?

Fell down in the deep, dark water when i tried to become holy.

Don’t you look back from a dream now

Don’t get caught in their pageantry

Every fool will have his reckoning

No darkness

Can hide us

Bring the lights and the wires

Follow me

Cannot hide from the sunset

Cannot hide from this history

Where nothing’s ever laid to rest and nothing’s forgiven wholly

I call to the wild-eyed children

I mark false kings and queens

And you will not see me surrendering

No darkness

Can hide us

Bring the lights and the wires

Follow me

(The edge of the jungle and the mountains began / I have come to take it back)

Moonlight

My naked feet burn on the pavement

But I can’t stand another minute in that house

I always break

I always run

And you run after me

Come find me

Was it stupid to believe

That you could somehow be immune to

The tugging of the tide, the influence of moonlight

Moonlight

Turning you

You always think when I’m terrified

That’s when you have control

But I’m stronger than I’ve ever been

And still you don’t know

Something inside of me

Is waking

Were you stupid to believe

That you could somehow be immune to

The tugging of the tide, the influence of moonlight

Moonlight

Turning you

You make the path by your steps alone

You’ll never know what you’re not meant to know

( I don’t trust you around what I’ve become

I don’t trust me when my actions are undone)

Maidenhood

Their kingdom was impressive once, I heard him say

We’re lying now 10 feet above their unmarked graves

And I’ve never been so weary of my maidenhood

They’re drumming the serpents to life inside my blood

Whatever you do, don’t hold out for me

I have too many of my mother’s tendencies

(hey hey hey)

Have you ever been so perfectly alive

So certain and so safe, you know that you would survive

One more time

Come and die with me

I feel like I’ve given my whole life with this first breath

Hatched from the egg only to fall from the nest

I’ve never been so weary of my heart’s human weight

Let’s go and do something tonight to test our fate

Whatever you do, don’t hold out for me

There’s way too much of my father in me

(hey hey hey)

Have you ever been so perfectly alive

So certain and so safe, you know you would survive

One more time

Come and die with me

The Mountain

I’m no longer a storm chaser

I’m seeking softer skies

Voices calling from the heavens

Choruses and lullabies

I stand with the clouds behind me

Dried leaves scatter in the wind

I am done with counting victories

In a game I’ll never win

I say come down to the fountain

Drink to the river’s flow

Come now, come down my bright-winged child

Let the summer night swallow you whole

Am I fool for being happy?

For dreaming easy in the night?

I won’t come down from the mountain

But I’ll be holding up the light

I say come down to the fountain

Drink to the river’s flow

Come now, come down my bright-winged child

Let the summer night swallow you whole

(and i know i know

Then i know i won’t

I won’t ever be the same)

Here

Well I died so many times to get here, on this road

Left so many crooked crosses, where I mourn

What I buried, what I carry, still

Am I the one you waited for who never showed?

And I’m not afraid to disappoint you I am not the one

Here I am

Tonight

Here I am

Every day there’s some new wound, a sacrifice

Every day I try to keep my face turned towards the light

Another sunrise, and a sunrise

Oooohhh

There is order and control but I swear it will never be mine

Or yours…

Ohhhhh

And I’m not afraid to disappoint you I am not the one

Not the one I might have been

Here I am

Tonight

Here I am

Bones

There and I’m caught again

It’s as simple as anything

To drown was as simple as sinking

Your mouth on my mouth

Stealing my oxygen

It felt impossibly right

As my limbs became heavier

My bones

Rattle against the hull

Bones

My bones

Nothing so beautiful

Bones

Oooohhhhh

Drag me with you

Put me back together

You, lover of flesh and of blood,

You never expected this

You were waiting for someone to show you how

Tangled

And misunderstood

The state of my heart as it siphoned yours

I swear

No use fighting it

No use holding back

Drag me along with you

Lovely Dark is:

Sonia Even: Vocals, Lyrics
Travis Even: Guitar, Synths, Samples, Vocals, Lyrics
Al Erbach: Bass, Vocals
Tony Spaaij: Guitar
Ben Johnston: Drums, Aux Percussion, Handpan
Max Becker: Drums

Engineered and mixed by Joe Mabbott at the Hideaway Studios
Produced by Travis Even and Joe Mabbot
Mastered by Bruce Templeton at Microphonic Mastering

Illustration by Travis Even