The Reds Of Our Eyes (Two Thirds Of Our Lives)
Max out the hose, and bang a gong(No sleep until we are dream-fulfilled)
We've been adoze for damn too long
Soak up that oxygen
(Flame strong)
Wind up your time again
(Game's on)
Now is the finest when
Just try to fire as you spy the reds of my eyes at dawn
I'll weather the hail, lest I find two thirds of my life are gone
Keep stoked the fires behind the reds of your eyes at dusk
Keep clenched the fingers of time before they refine to dust
The unforseens are commandeering charge
(Still shakin' these harsh awakenings)
So gnash your teeth, then don your spear and targe
Fed up with bawlin' fits
(Hearts strong)
Chin up; no callin' quits
(March on)
Now we are all in this
Just try to fire as you spy the reds of our eyes at dawn
We'll weather the hail, lest we find two thirds of our lives are gone
Well-stoked, the fires behind the reds of our eyes at dusk
Well-kept, our capsules of time, until they decline to husk
Well, as we've seen, priorities'll change
Let not your prime focus be estranged
Take the lead while no act's prearranged
(Fuel-pump all your veins)
Vice-squeeze your fate
(Pale-knuckle the reins)
Reseize the day
For once in my life
I am alive
For once in our lives
We are alive
About the song
Restatement of thesis. Carpe them diems!!As with "Constellations Below", by the time I started writing lyrics for this song, some crucial things had happened in the country, including the pandemic, BLM, and women's rights marches. The reason I backburnered the album for the umpteenth time in 2020 was because I felt it would be borderline insulting for me to release a concept album about trimming the excesses of one's life in order to operate at full capacity, when people were struggling to just *not die*. Once I started up again, I chose to turn the lyrics inward to be more self-motivational, which could hopefully be inspirational to others as well without seeming preachy. Nailed it hopefully?
PHUN PHACT: Kevin Kirk, who provided backing vox for much of the album, and whom you oldheads may know as TLD's live violinist at one point in time, arranged the vocal finale entirely of his own volition. Originally meant to be used in the breakdown around the middle section, I opted to cut most of the harmonies to make it more of a unison shout, but there was no way I was going let that arrangement go to waste. Before receiving his tracks, Luiza and I had been wracking our brains as to how to end the album with more grandiosity than just a final instrumental hit, so Kevin to the rescue! Now it happens to be an unintentional ode to my favorite album ending of all time: "The Canyon Behind Her" from El Cielo by Dredg.
Check out Kevin's band The Day After here!