Get all 8 Gretchen's Wheel releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of such open sky, Stuck On You, Moth to Lamplight: A Tribute to Nada Surf, Black Box Theory, awry, Sad Scientist, Behind the Curtain, and Fragile State.
1. |
Invisible Thief
03:00
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INVISIBLE THIEF
An invisible thief stole my identity
All the things that used to define me
Years of possibility consumed in a moment of rest
They say there’s no cure but you can take another test
I only stopped to catch my breath
But a lifetime faded in the mist
I only buried my head in the sand
Cause it was too heavy to lift
The sabotage was coming from inside
Wreaking havoc that couldn’t be denied
A perfect disguise, a slow and silent progression
A lazy march in no particular direction
A little folding of the hands
A little canceling of plans
A little lowering the mast
A little getting old too fast
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2. |
Younger Every Year
03:58
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YOUNGER EVERY YEAR
All the time I’m gaining reasons
To turn away from days and seasons
The view outside’s desaturated
And what’s to see
Are there any more traditions
I can purge and lessen tension
Decorations, affectations
Are not for me
I’m gonna lie in wait
While the sun sets at 4 and there’s frost every morning
Want to leave the state
Find a warm place away from obligations and
Forget the date
In a world that’s getting younger every year
Cinnamon scenes flicker in dreams
Were they really all that they seem
Memories are weights on my chest
And I can’t breathe
I’ll never recreate the tableau
Can’t take the emptiness that it shows
And now I can feel giving up
Coming on again
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3. |
The Good Things
03:52
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THE GOOD THINGS
Misdirected then overcorrected
Your folly is ever before you
Numbers in red always filling your head
Dusty boxes that will never be opened
To hold on to the good things
In your mind
You could count them one by one
Make a list of all the times
You were glad you weren’t done
You were not done
Not sustainable, not even attainable
Shouting til you lose your voice
Letting go, looks like you’re missing the show
A slow blink and a shrug of your shoulders
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4. |
Live Through You
02:59
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LIVE THROUGH YOU
Ought to leave the house just to prove that I still can
In the interest of self-preservation
Ought to try to find the way to clear my mind
Of all these mismanaged expectations
For now I’m doing nothing
Because there’s nothing I can do
Maybe I’d rather live through you
My half-empty nature will ruin every memory
If I keep going the way that I go
I’ll forget about all of the better days
If I keep doubting the things that I know
For now I’m doing nothing
Because there’s nothing I can do
Maybe I’d rather live through you
There’s no reason to think, no reason to think
Next time I’m on the brink, there’s no reason, no reason
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5. |
Birds of a Feather
03:51
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BIRDS OF A FEATHER
The day we knew would come
Is at the door
The promise is too hard to resist
So you won’t anymore
You’ll follow that siren song
Into the dark
Here’s hoping the mistakes you’ll make
Won’t leave a mark
Birds of a feather
You’d rather live in a lie
Birds of a feather
Of course you want to fly
Your innocence has run its course
Doesn’t fit anymore
When you pack for your long journey
You may leave it in a drawer
The little girl who never recovered
From a real nightmare
Is going to run to the ocean to find
No answers there
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6. |
This Petrified Heart
03:34
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THIS PETRIFIED HEART
Did it weather endless ages
Or a single catastrophe
Is it evidence of a cataclysm
Or many years lost at sea
Did it fly too close to the sun
And in flames fall like a stone
Did it burn up from the inside out
From unbearable dreams alone
Buried in ruins, they could find it one day
Cause it didn’t obey the law of decay
This petrified heart
It’s been lying dormant all its life
In fact, it never lived
The condition’s mint, well-preserved
So much left to give
Confounding all the instruments
Readings are off the scale
Tests are inconclusive
The methods have all failed
If there’s something engraved, it can’t be distinguished
Cause the passage of time has finally extinguished
This petrified heart
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7. |
Vapors
03:56
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VAPORS
I’ll turn it over and over in my mind
To keep it occupied
Feel the shape and file down the corners
Until it fits inside
Like a memory
Like it really happened to me
Like I understand
And know the way to hold it in my hand
To hold it in my hand
I don’t deal in dreams, I shuffle papers
Living through a screen
So the world is both bigger and smaller
And it goes further than it seemed
Is it vanity
To want reality
Want to understand
And know the way to hold it in my hand
To hold it in my hand
I’m reminded of it every day
Time and chance have had their way
They’ve had their way
I can’t hold it in my hand
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8. |
Try to Make It
03:47
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9. |
Behind the Curtain
04:34
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BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Just one day I ventured into confidence
Stood on the edge of relevance
I had so many lucky breaks
But they didn’t outweigh the mistakes
I dream what my eyes will never see
Seems like a good reason to stay asleep
Going back to the disease to find the cure
It’ll turn out better this time, I’m sure
Now that it’s all said and done
The parts were greater than the sum
I dream of things I’ll never be
Seems like a good reason to stay asleep
If anyone had told me not to look behind the curtain
I’m not sure I would have listened anyway
I had nothing to lose but my favorite illusion
And to find myself living a cliche
I dream of an endless melody
Seems like a good reason to stay asleep
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