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A String That Picks Up Everything

by Progress Band

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    A String that Picks up everything professionally mastered CD in matte paperboard case with lyric booklet, design and artwork by Danielle Bedick.

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1.
Of the two I would take both of you give me the chance to have it all like I used to in youth burning full My arms can still lift this weight Wait I'll still make it out someday My body still looks the same But it feels different today Sublime it was when I worked so well to have food on the table I believe in love it seems to me but love cannot get here Now I work for the man, a stepping stone on the way to somebody else's plan paved with cement boxes and bodies bloated to the skin with pain and vulgar language essence/fluorescents take me home
2.
Yes or No 03:39
I can never just say yes or no I never know where my heart will go My past is a feeling my future is gone If you have the answer won't you let us know We're two people waiting for the snow to go, two people waiting for the snow to grow cold I can never just say yes or no I never know where my heart will go I couldn't see you are the only one, the only you in this sky of election Instead I've been raining all down on my body with the fire of a dying prodigy I can never just say yes or no I never know where my heart will go You had the choice with the dead or undone I've endured them like friends in the run all on their way to the man with his gun but you took your patience, kept your head in the sun
3.
I thought I'd play by the rules, but the rules played me You made me a criminal for wanting to be free Dark obsessions won't help anyone. Canister shot in the dark, old dog lying down to die in the car's park I was a man of the sea, but the ground was supporting my feet The moon I ran into you was the same my mind stopped obeying me And health is a black hole meant to suck up all this alcohol not unlike the one you gave to me When the clock goes off I walk to the bus stop I watch the birds fly by, I listen to their cry Sometimes I lie in bed trying to keep an empty head or talk to the sunshine kids about the weather Oh material world, why can't you leave me be I've been done by every lie you've made people feed me and I've no need of you or your society You were lying where I'd left you when all of those leaves had fallen down and there was nothing I could do to sweep away all of that awful brown Horror and animals from my past were giving me dreams I could not say And how you cut your life in pieces, things I could never understand The comfort that you lay beside me; I became a feather of a man When I woke from the drunk, I thought I was always asleep My soul was not made for your taking it's the only thing I was not faking Oh spiritual world, why can't you leave me You've made my consciousness a string that picks up everything Everything everything everything everything
4.
Three years ago I walked into a trap that I had set for you I don't know where I was to go I just know what I have to show Now I have a memory of the mess I'd made They told me to, they told me no I just said I was the one to know I had the time, I drank it down the time it took me to get on the ground I had the time, you gave it to me the time it took to understand your body I took the pill, I stood up straight I tried to be the man I was too late Three years ago I walked into a trap that I had set for you Your youth was mine, a crying shame we walked back through dishing out the blame You were my friend, I hated you You tried to run, I tried it too And now we are the stars in the sky surrounded by the black unending night And now we are just two stars in the sky surrounded by a black unending night I tried to walk, you gave the shove but I could never get our feet unstuck We had our fun, we had our doubts none of which we knew a thing about It's blame for me, but more for you, can't you see it's everything you do? Can't you see your red and I'm blue? I compromised, you closed your eyes now I can't forget what I want the times you spent sitting by my side the times I had with you by my side the times I had sitting by your side
5.
City Gritty 04:16
Filling all your time with diseases and pain 'cause there's nothing you know but the rain Walking all night below fluorescent lights just thinking of reasons to fight You have a black-blood taste in your mouth but it might just be something you ate And a kitchen that'd make lucifer laugh but you're not worried 'cause you guard well your gate And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your ontology that keeps you on the brink And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your history that keeps you at the sink A letter called you up to the throne of the city a step and a stumble, every footstep gritty but for a second your eyes strayed from the ground and you wouldn't admit it, but your god you had found And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your ontology that keeps you on the brink And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your history that keeps you at the sink I must sleep off the death hanging over me 'cause I have been poisoned by life I've been listlessly listing the things that have hurt me I must sleep, I must eat, I must dream And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your ontology that keeps you at the brink And it's everything they told you it would be and it's your history that keeps you at the sink
6.
I had a friend who put his faith in a faith that he made up and it was good as long as he stayed an alien to love but along came a spider gave hime fangs, heart and soul He pulled his arm away in time but the throbbing never dulls Now we have the freedom that comes with the alternative to being dead She said all I want is to be free from fear of death I said no you don't that could be all you have left I disappeared, when I returned she would not speak to me though she had everything she wanted as far as I could see Johnny left his room only once a day to pick up a sandwich from the deli down the way and once a month to keep his innocence away Until his momma found him and had him taken away (now we don't see you no more johnny) Now we have the freedom that comes with the alternative to being dead A rich and sickly girl told me that I know how it starts and if you want to see the ending it isn't very far But she escaped, she made the break and she cured herself and now we have a new beginning to rise above the filth Now we have the freedom that comes with the alternative to being dead We once had a love that could not be held in our hands Our families told our history and the future was made of plans But time rolls forward eating the road we walked up from and now there's a gap in language and a blur where we came from And now we have the freedom that comes with the alternative to being dead

about

A String That Picks Up Everything takes a toned-down approach to gloom. “Of the Two”, a duet with firebrand singer Sven, jumps straight in with a lamentful tune about factory work and the loss of youth. The new album is very clear and intimate, a mood piece with carefully chosen finger style guitar riffs, a little bass here and there, a few duets, and a quiet guitar solo for the dedicated listener. The album demands attention through its sparsity and tip-of-the tongue lyrics, reminiscent of Elliott Smith or Sun Kill Moon. The additional vocals from solo artist Sven can't be ignored, and the album has a catchiness in spite of the gloom. The album, which the band describe as “gothic-western,” mirrors the mood of the Coronavirus pandemic, with reflective songs about past mistakes and isolation, and hints of paranoia from living at the whim of the state.

credits

released August 28, 2020

Cover art by Danielle Bedick
Recorded and mixed by Stan Wright and Derek Leisy at Buzz or Howl Studios, Portland, OR
Mastered at Stereophonic Mastering
Zarko: Guitar/vocals, Sven: Vocals, Scott: Bass

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Progress Band Portland, Oregon

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