Artist
Jeff Carl
Jeff Carl
"Along with the personal journey of finding myself, there's been a parallel journey of finding my sound — of finding the best home for my songwriting. I feel like I've finally found that now, and I have a lot I want to say." - Jeff Carl
Known for his captivating voice, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jeff Carl blends piano-driven melodic ballads with sparse alternative production-- an equally hooky and cinematic combination. His upcoming release "Buried In New York" steps away from his piano-centric roots, layering some of the synth-laden alt-pop we loved from his Cages EP. Keeping the lush vocals and soul-searching lyrical content we know and love of Jeff Carl, this EP is a step in a new direction that is definitely worth following!
For fans of: Jon McLaughlin, Ben Rector, Andrew Ripp, Cody Fry, Coldplay
Featured Placements:
"We Will Rise" - Siren (Freeform)
"Here I'm Home" - Marketing campaign for Liberty University
"Here I'm Home" - Marketing campaign for Aztec High School in California
Check out Jeff Carl's "Live Where You Do" stripped live session:
Discover more by this artist
Official artist website
Albums
Songs
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Versions
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full-length
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full-length instrumental
Writers
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 33.40% / Ronell Coburn (ASCAP) 33.30% / Nate Dodge (ASCAP) 33.30%
Description
Thinking that you left a relationship in the past but it still haunts you
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Buried in NY
V1:
Thought by now, I’d be out of the waters of you.
Don’t ask me how I moved on, ‘cause it’s been with more than a few.PRE:
You got me sippin’ on the same drink,
I think I keep on trippin on the same thing,
I sink To my lows when I’m high,
And you know that I’m highest...CH:
When I’m a temporary lover
Livin’ in the shallow end of the pool.
What I’ve been lookin’ for in others
Is something that I only had with you.
I thought I buried you, thought I buried you
Thought I buried you back in New York,
So why are you, so why are you still
Where it hurts?V2:
Let it go, ‘cause I know that it wasn’t you.
All we used to do was keep it true, but nowPRE
CH(bridge interlude)
CH x2
OUTRO:
Thought I buried you,
Thought I buried you back In New York -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This track is about finding freedom and finding a place where you can be yourself.
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“Roam”
V1:
It’s amazing to me that I lose myself When nobody’s around.
I’m the tree that falls in the woods, But no one hears the sound.CH:
I’ve gotta find somewhere to call my own, I’ve gotta find somewhere to roam,
I’ve gotta find some peace of my mind, I’ve gotta find somewhere to roam.V2:
Takes a river to see that life carries on,
Whether you do or not.
Takes a man to understand that the cards in his hand Aren’t the only ones he’s got.CH: I’ve gotta find...
BR:
Here we go, here we go again. We end where we begin,
And I know I will fall again
And pick myself back up again.CH: I’ve gotta find...
OUTRO:
I’ve gotta find somewhere to roam I’ve gotta find somewhere to roam. -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This is an empowering track about carrying on and finding yourself even though you might not always succeed.
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“Carry On”
V1:
This is it, a glimmer. Dim lit, a shimmer. Just sit, do not move. Feel it, the empty,
Fill with the mess we... Let it all pass through. Let it take you.CH:
This’ll be the chorus that I choose,
Finding purple from my red and blues.
I think it’s a heart that can not lose that carries on. There will be some rhythms that are lost,
Some highs with higher cost,
Some roads you’ll never cross,
But carry on.V2:
Trouble is, I wander.
I live like water,
Finding all my lows.
But I’m on the brink of something I don’t know. It could be nothin’, but I’ve gotta go.
I’m on the battle lines of an ever-changing war. CH: This’ll be...BR:
Back to where I started,
This is where my heart is.
Now I know.
Some say broken hearted.
I say I’m just starting to let go.
I’m on the brink of something I don’t even know. It could be nothing, but I’ve gotta go.
I’m on the battle lines of an ever-changing war.CH: This’ll be...
OUTRO: This is it, a glimmer. Dim lit, a shimmer.
Just sit, do not move. -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song, while pulsing and energetic, is actually asking listeners to stop and think of all the dreams they won't reach, of all the places they'll never see, and of all the people they have hurt. It asks listeners to accept the decisions they have made despite their regrets.
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Think of all the things you will never do
all the places you will never go
Think of all the right moves you will never choose
all the lovers you will never knowThink of all the knowledge you will never learn
all the problems you will never solve
Think of good intentions you will never yearn
all the walls that are too resolvedDo these horrible thoughts make you sad?
Me tooThink of friends and family you have written off
all the bruises that have not lost blue
Think of your fears building up dust
all the dreams that you let haunt youDo these horrible thoughts make you sad?
Me tooYou could spend all your life being sad
Or learn to live where you do -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
In this pop rock track, Jeff Carl describes breaking out of cages, opening doors, and finding freedom.
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“Cages”
INTRO:
I wanna leave a trail of all my cages. I wanna be real, lose all my faces.V1A:
In a world built on strange exaggerations, Boys and girls are told to believe
In the hope of their highest aspirations. “There is nothing that you can not be. You are something, born to be free.”V1B:
So you run in the race with all the others. Everyone seems to know where to go.
In the maze, they see ways, you just see colors. “Is there something they have that I don’t?
I could follow their paths, but I won’t.”CH:
I wanna leave a trail of all my cages.
I wanna be real, lose all my faces.
I’m tired of the floor. I want more. If I’d just open the door, There is something inside of me...
V2:
Feel the wind. Let it wind it’s way around you.
Breathe it in. Try to ask yourself why
You make it all about a million reasons.
Does a bird ever ask how to fly?
Only one way up to the sky.CH: I wanna leave a...
BR:
That just needs to be free. (x4)OUTRO:
I’m tired of the floor. I want more.
If I’d just open the door, there is something inside of me... That just needs to be free. -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This bittersweet track is about reminiscing on the past yet still being hopeful for the future.
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“Comeback Song”
V1:
I hate songs that start with “here I am again.” What are wrongs if we’re never righting them? Enemies make for better friends.
Usually, it’s cause we’re just like them.
Why have roads? I seem to only know one. Heaven knows that I’m not the only one Who needs a light. I try to be my own,
But tonight, I need a hand to hold.CH:
Here’s another comeback song
For the summers come and gone.
I’ll keep believing that the cycles of our sleep
Will keep on leading to the winters that we need...V2:
I’m alright. Nothing ‘bout this is new.
There is light always surrounding you.
It’s only night, ‘cause the caves we choose
Seem more right the further in we move,
But there are friends, and there are mothers.
There are men who become lovers.
There are mountains, and oceans, and flowers to hold, Movies, and music, and books we can know.CH:
Here’s another comeback song
For the summers come and gone...CH:
Here’s another comeback song
For the summers come and gone.
I’ll keep believing that the cycles of our sleep
Will keep on leading to the winters that we need to know, To the waters that we need to grow.
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about moving on from a dark or broken past while reminding yourself that to change is to survive.
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V1: I've been all broken, sad of myself.
Outwardly Heaven but inwardly Hell,
Askin' for open but answerin' shells,
I am weak. I am weak.V2: Yesterday's long gone, tomorrow's too late,
Today is my swan song if I do not take
Control of my demons, they all have my face,
I am weak. I am weak.CH: But I wanna change my mind.
I think that it is time.
How can I survive
If I'm not alive?V3: I smoked with the notion that I could escape,
Got lost on the ocean of all that I drank,
Life in slow motion, so I didn't have to think,
I am weak. I am weak.V4: Been lookin' for lovin', but all I've done is pour
All of myself into holes in the floor.
I got in the boat, but I didn't have the oars.
I am weak. I am weak.CH: But I wanna change my mind.
I think that it is time.
How can I survive
If I'm not alive?BR: Oh these years have had cost that I can't 'fford to pay.
Gotta swallow the loss and try better today.
Friends who I've wronged with my silencing ways,
Love that has gone, 'cause I turned it to waste,
Parents who've longed for their son to find peace,
Skies with no son and no color just gray.OUTRO: I wanna change my mind.
I think that it is time.
I wanna survive.
I am alive. -
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full-length
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about growing apart from someone you love while you're still in a relationship with them.
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V1: Do you remember the beginning,
The words you said at the start?
We were so lost it felt like winning,
But you warned me of the heart.PRE: That it changes, that it moves,
Rearranges with the moons,
And I thought that I could prove you wrong, but...CH: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I think you're feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you.V2: Blame it on the timing,
Blame it on the scars.
Blame it on the yawning
Of my life compared to yours.CH: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I think you're feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you.BR: Look at me before it's over.
Meet my eyes, don't look away.
I have loved you like no other,
And that won't stop after today,PRE: But we are changing, we are new,
Always making ourselves truer.
All that we were was the best we could have been.CH2: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I know that you've got something on your mind.
It's just that it feels different this time,
Because I'm feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you. -
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full-length
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full-length instrumental
Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about not loving someone as much as they love you.
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V1: You told me to be honest. Well, here's honesty.
I don't think I love you quite how you love me.
Don't search for a reason, 'cause none you will find.
Believe me, I'll try for the rest of my life.CH: I'm sorry for the love wasted on me.
Am I just a mountain made out of leaves?
I didn't know just how this would make you bleed,
And I am so sorry.V2: Yet still are the waters that envelope my mind
That norm provoke oceans so fierce and divine,
So though you're a wonder, ev' one hard to find,
I don't think your wonder is quite right for mine.CH: I'm sorry for the love wasted on me.
Am I just a mountain made out of leaves?
I didn't know just how this would make you bleed,
And I am so sorry.BR: You saw the deepest hole and jumped right in.
Well now I feel so low, 'cause I didn't let you in.
'Cause I didn't let you in...CH: I'm sorry for the love wasted on me.
Am I just a mountain made out of leaves?
I didn't know just how this would make you bleed,
And I am so sorry.
Yea, I am so sorry. -
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full-length
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about doubting a past lover's love for you.
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V1: Did ya wanna really think this through?
Hit ya is what I really wanna do.
Missin' ya is what I'm really tryin' to lose.
It's a shame that I never got to choose.CH: Did ya really love me? Did ya even know how much I cared?
Did ya really know me? I'm feelin' so unprepared.V2: How'd I not see this possibility?
Should I have jumped less far and not so deep?
Gimme a reason that I should have seen
That this was not to you what it was to me.CH2: Did ya really love me? Did ya even know how much I cared?
Did ya really know me? Oh, I'm feelin' so unprepared.
It's getting harder to breathe. We had such good, why did you leave?
What did you think that you need that you couldn't find it in me?BR: I think the hardest part of letting go is admitting the grip.
It's just I didn't think that I was alone in feeling this,
But you've proven me so wrong, and now I see it.
Just wish it didn't take so long for you to admit...CH: That you didn't love me, that you didn't know how much I cared,
That you didn't know me. I'm feelin' so unprepared.
It's getting harder to breathe. We had such good, why now did you leave?
What couldn't you find, couldn't you find?CH2: Did ya really love me? Did ya even know how much I cared?
Did ya really know me? Oh, I'm feelin' so unprepared.
It's getting harder to breathe. We had such good, why did you leave?
What did you think that you need that you couldn't find it in me?OUTRO: Why did ya leave? What did ya need?
Why did ya leave? What did ya think you needed? -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about hope, knowing that one day everything will be better.
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V1: What is it 'bout love that spins your head around?
Lifts you so high up, then slams you on the ground.
Makes you scream, makes you silent.
Makes you dream, then makes you forgetPRE: That these are the years of love.
These are the tears of love.CH: And a day will come.
We will answer for love,
And I hope I've been enough,
'Cause a day will come.V2: What is it' bout love that keeps us hangin' on
When we soften all the right and harden all the wrongs.
Always new, always changin',
How do you and I keep makin'PRE2: All of these years of love?
All of these tears of love?CH: 'Oh a day will come.
We will answer for love,
And I hope I've been enough,
'Cause a day will come,BR: And I want you to want it all, 'cause I want it too.
No, I need you to need it all, 'cause I wanna give it to you.
Oh, sit and sip a little longer.
I think the love of our hearts has made us stronger.
Don't you wanna live life through with me,
Cause I wanna live life too with you.
It'll all be gone too soon...OUTRO: 'Cause a day will come.
A day will come. (x8)
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
This song is about utilizing your potential to its fullest and becoming the best "you" you can be.
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V1: Bein' young doesn't make you young.
Bein' old doesn't make you done.
You make you, and you're always changin',
But only you control your makin'.V2: Lost of won, what all have you done?
How many of your songs have you sung?
Who are you, and why should they listen?
Well it's not you that needs the reason.CH: You'll never reap what you don't sow.
You're always thinkin' that you know it all,
And you do. You do. You do.
You know it all. Sure, nothing's new.V3: Yet another day turned into night.
Just another baby bird postponin' flight.
Isn't it absurd you're living up so high
When no one has heard you, and you won't try?CH: You'll never reap what you don't sow.
You're always thinkin' that you know it all,
And you do. You do. You do.
You know it all.V4: It's true that it hurts every time you fall,
That before you run, you've gotta learn to crawl,
That before you get, you gotta give it all,
That the tallest mountain started out small.CH: You'll never reap what you don't sow.
You're always thinking that you know it all,
And you do. You do. You do.
You know it all. Sure, nothin's...CH: You'll never reap what you don't sow.
You're always thinkin' that you know it all,
And you do. You do. You do.
You know it all. Sure, nothing's new. -
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
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V1: I'm sitting here hungover
From the drunk of today.
Watching him and you
Has made me feel so strange.PRE: Don't get me wrong, I know I had my chance.
It's just I fear I let you go before we got to dance.CH: The truth is it'd be easier just to
Forget it all, point at here or there,
But when it comes down to it,
Though it's sad to say,
Sometimes the best we ever have
Is first to get away.V2: I guess it's best to assume
The position I have tried.
Watching from a distance,
Forced to swallow my pride.PRE: Don't get me wrong, I know I had my chance.
It's just I fear you're worth too much to waste your heart
On his dance, on his dance, on his dance.CH: The truth is it'd be easier just to
Forget it all, point at here or there,
But when it comes down to it,
Though it's sad to say...CH2: The truth is it'd be easier
Just to forget it all, point it at here or there,
But when it comes down to it,
Though it's sad to say,
Sometimes the best we ever have
Is first to get away.
Sometimes the best we ever have, oh.
Sometimes the best we ever have......Is first to get away.
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full-length
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full-length instrumental
Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
Description
An alternative pop remix of Jeff Carl's emotional original.
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V1: Do you remember the beginning,
The words you said at the start?
We were so lost it felt like winning,
But you warned me of the heart.PRE: That it changes, that it moves,
Rearranges with the moons,
And I thought that I could prove you wrong, but...CH: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I think you're feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you.V2: Blame it on the timing,
Blame it on the scars.
Blame it on the yawning
Of my life compared to yours.CH: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I think you're feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you.BR: Look at me before it's over.
Meet my eyes, don't look away.
I have loved you like no other,
And that won't stop after today,PRE: But we are changing, we are new,
Always making ourselves truer.
All that we were was the best we could have been.CH2: Am I sleeping with a ghost?
'Cause I'm feeling so cold for someone with a body so close.
I know that you've got something on your mind.
It's just that it feels different this time,
Because I'm feelin' it too,
So let me say it for you. -
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Versions
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full-length
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full-length instrumental
Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
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V1: We are experts at disappointment,
Lousy extraordinaires,
And the amusing thing about
Is we were taught to live how we dared,PRE: So though it's hard to see,
We're finding who we're s'posed to be.
We've spent some time,
But I know we'll be fine.
We've made our choice,
Our stomping grounds for now,
Virginia life.CH: Here's to life, and here's to Lynchburg.
To the years we spent together.
I don't know when or how we gathered,
But I know I'm home.
So here's to love, and here's to the heartache,
All the laughter, every mistake.
I don't know how our lives will be changed,
But here I'm home.V2: Now's our time to unwind, fill our minds with a
Kind of a love that we know is enough, 'cause we've
Grown it for years, spoken for it in tears,
Broken our hearts in fear, sold our souls to these years,PRE: And though it's hard to see,
We're finding who we're s'posed to be.
We've spent some time,
But I know we'll be fine.
We've made our choice,
Our stomping grounds for now,
Virginia life.CH: Here's to life, and here's to Lynchburg.
To the years we spent together.
I don't know when or how we gathered,
But I know I'm home.
So here's to love, and here's to the heartache,
All the laughter, every mistake.
I don't know how our lives will be changed,
But here I'm home.BR: In the battle for a good time, we are the front lines.
In the battle for a good time, we are the front lines.
In the battle for a good time, we are the front lines.
In the battle for a good time, we are, we are...
...the front lines.CH: Here's to life, and here's to Lynchburg.
To the years we spent together.
I don't know when or how we gathered,
But I know I'm home.
So here's to love, and here's to the heartache,
All the laughter, every mistake.
I don't know how our lives will be changed,
But here I'm, but here I'm home.Here I'm home.
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Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
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V1: I have heard that we're lonely.
It's been said we're losing sleep.
One even complained about the ocean.
Said something 'bout cold feet.You will say that you mean to.
Well, you're running out of time.
You will say you will once you.
Well, get in line.CH: But I will be gone tomorrow, far from this life.
Oh, I will be steppin'a outta bounds, 'cause I've heard it's alright.
Oh, I will be gone tomorrow, far from this life
Of I wish.V2: I hear the music's good in Nashville.
Been told 'bout sunshine in the West.
High times aboundin' in Denver.
Perhaps that L.A. is the best.Family residing down in Houston,
San Fran, Bar Harbor, Charlotte too.
West New York, Boston, Philadelphia.
Well now, that's just to name a few.Chorus
V3: The truth is I am getting tired
Defining myself 'hind closed doors.
Maybe when this thing is over,
I'll be a better me than before, because...BR: I need a little time to read my mind.
I've got to figure this out.
Why don't you come along, follow this song,
And find me out?Cause I...Cause I...Cause I...
I will be gone tomorrow,
I will be gone tomorrow,
I will be gone tomorrow,
I will be gone.I will be gone.
(Oh, I will be gone.)
Oh, I will be steppin'a outta bounds, 'cause I've heard it's alright.
(Oh, I will be gone.)
Oh, I will be gone, be gone, alright.
(Oh, I will be gone.)
Oh, I will be gone. -
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Versions
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full-length
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full-length instrumental
Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
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V1: Let's just sit here, you and me. Nothing can go wrong.
Though strangers we may be, we sing the same song.
The wind is beautiful; it beckons a flight,
But time is critical; it beckons the fight.CH: Hello lonely bird, finding your way.
Loss of vision, hard decisions, along the way.
Hello lonely bird, what do you say?
Make a nest, sit alone, or fly away.
Make a nest, sit alone, or fly away.V2: Stormy clouds give way to rain. The right path seems to fade.
They fear just what we'd gain if we chose to forbade
The chains that hold us down. The world to explore
Is simply what we've found needed to restore our sound.BR: Nothing can go wrong.
Nothing can go wrong. They keep sayin'
Nothing can go wrong. I know!
Nothing can go wrong...But this could be so much
Better, so much better, so much
Better, so much better
Ooh...CH: Hello lonely bird, finding your way.
Loss of vision, hard decisions, along the way.
Hello lonely bird, what do you say?
Make a nest, sit alone, or fly away.
Make a nest, sit alone, or fly away. -
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full-length
Writer
Jeff Carl (SESAC) 100%
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V1: Suddenly, it takes you by surprise,
The way the walls seem to die.
Oh to escape into the dusty landscape,
Or to fall deeper into the shadowy blue.CH: Not this way. The world's stopped.
Some new day this has turned out to be.
A helpless moment of history.
History.V2: Take a hit. Stay a little longer.
Taste the air make you a little stronger.
Try to forget the way you said it would be.
Just let yourself be.CH: Not this way. The world's stopped.
Some new day this has turned out to be.
A helpless moment of history.
History. -
