Wolkenvelden

01. A Slight Change of Plans
02. Big Apple Big Deal
03. Birds Fly
04. Respiration
05. Trainers
06. Escape Velocity
07. Single Quotes
08. Heels over Head
09. Genuine Blues
10. Statistics
11. Weights & Measures
12. White-Bread Gangster
13. An Insult

A Slight Change of Plans (DOWNLOAD 4.7 MB MP3)

I know you were too light-hearted for my Smiths records
And I too brooding for your 'la-di-da'
But I remain convinced we can meet somewhere in between
I'll read to you from High Fidelity

Your kindness was stunning,
So I thought I'd love you like I'd never been hurt
But then I told you the story, so that when you finally did
At least you knew that you weren't the first to

There's a lot of things in life I may never understand
But then I saw Josh Ritter explain one to me:
See, the thing is, you've got wings
And it's hard to find a thing with wings that stays

Oh it's nothing, just a slight change of plans
It's no big deal, just a whole new life
A new direction, and a new pair of eyes
And a brand new brand of lies that I cannot deny -
A completely new language between you and I.

Big Apple Big Deal (DOWNLOAD 3.7 MB MP3)

Stuck in the bowels of summer
And planes mistaken for stars
Tired of these dashboard confessions
And wondering where the hell you are

I'm not scared of no jet lag, time zone
Gridlock, pay phone
The world is my playground
But you don't care how I feel:
'Big apple, big deal'

I admire your talent for making sure this heart keeps breaking
Well, it's not as if the world would stop turning
It's just that our lives are burning to ashes

I'm not bothered by no grey clouds, touchdown
Train ride, hometown
Or this endless hanging around
But you don't care how I feel:
'Big apple, big deal'

I'm glad to be home - how about you?

Would you care if I wouldn't be anywhere,
Just vanish into thin air?
Or would you just stand and stare?
While I've got pictures to steal -
Big apple, big deal.

Birds Fly (DOWNLOAD 5.2 MB MP3)

Coming home I realise that I still love the rain and clay
And the light as it shines only on Holland
That turns everything into the greatest grey

I didn't mind the trip back home
But still I am derailed and reeling
And not knowing what to do with these feelings
Leaves me pretty good at staring at the ceiling

We've got jet planes
We've got big cars
And still they leave

How could I surprised?
Birds fly, it's just what they do

So I try to mould my thoughts into verse
But it comes out a campfire song
I'd rather have it not be;
It should rather be a bonfire of the vanities (especially mine)

We write these songs
We've got big plans
And still they leave

I shouldn't be surprised:
Birds fly, it's just what they do
It's a simple fact of life
That birds fly; it's just what they do

I mean, what would you do if you had wings?
Would you stay put? Would you stay home?
No, I didn't think so

So why am I surprised
Each time a bird flies
When it's just what they do?

Respiration (DOWNLOAD 4 MB MP3)

If you want to knock a gravestone over,
Break a mirror, call me up
'Cause I am all bad luck

But say I'm looking for a four-leaf clover
Before it's over, where do I go?
'Cause I don't really know

There's a fire somewhere, 'cause I have seen the smoke
But when I get too close I'm too afraid to choke
And when I think out loud I'm quite the living joke
So help me breathe - I'm just trying to sleep
And I need firm ground under my feet

You're butter, cream and peaches to me
But tell me: do we pass the test?
'Cause this place is a mess

And I'll be gone before you know it
You can love me and show it but I'm gone
And you'll know you were wrong

Firmer ground for smokers in their pavement isolation wards
Thanks for nominating me for such a prestigious award:
'Outstanding Achievement in Outstanding Debt'
(imagine my acceptance speech)

I need firm ground under my feet.

Trainers (DOWNLOAD 4.9 MB MP3)

God kicks, and blood sticks
Nothing there that we didn't know
When push comes, shove runs
We've learnt all that a long time ago

Isn't it hard sometimes
When all you've got is suburbia and lust
To come home to at the end of the day?

Paranoia sets in, squelched by Ibuprofen
If I were a superhero I'd be you by day and me by night
What is it you hope to find then -
Someone to roll your eyes at?
Someone to drag by the hair out of the warmest bed?
Well that's too bad 'cause it ain't me,
You'll never understand

Well deep cuts, and tears, guts
Won't justify these plans for war
'Cause I'm wicked and cunning
Skills I've honed a long time before

So isn't it cold sometimes
When all you've got is christmas lights and beer
To come home to at the end of the year?

Acrimony kicks in, fueled by heady mixes
Well if life were a cartoon,
I'd drop an ACME anvil on your head
Where is it you'd like to go to?
Somewhere to be the real you?
Some place to live your humdrum truths for all of life
Well, that's alright but it ain't me,
You'll never understand

So many things to make with your bare hands
And take no heed of what they'll say;
You know I'll find a way

So son, throw on your trainers,
Get out and hit the pavement.

Escape Velocity (DOWNLOAD 4.9 MB MP3)

Come drag me along
Pull me through this alienation
Try not to measure just how wrong we are

Surprised look on your face makes me want to say
'I know it all, it does not matter'
Please ignore how out of place we are

Tears have dried before they reached your eyes
I can tell; I've been there once or twice

A mistiness awaits those who don't hesitate
But I'm too heavy-hearted just to give in
To this lust that's unsatisfied and always gets recognised
Even in foreign eyes

If you're so clever, why don't you cloud my mind?
'Cause it's working overtime

If all you want is to hide away in me
Could you be my escape velocity?

I need my gravity re-centred, please don't punish me
For apples falling from different trees
So I'm pinned between these lovers
A problem Sir Isaac never knew:
To die unspoilt, such luxury

And if I'll fall down and you don't rescue me
Would that be just physics without any chemistry?

Single Quotes (DOWNLOAD 4.9 MB MP3)

So this is supposed to be 'the good life'
But it's no fun being alone in paradise

I may have got the antidote:
I'll put your name in single quotes
And we'll see if that might cure
This pain I've felt before

Reaching out to someone new
Eradicate the likes of you
By means of punctuation
What a pathetic situation

I'm not sure, but I think I've heard this song before
Boy meets girl, and girl becomes a chore
Why don't we step down and tally what we've got
This sentence has come to a full stop

Maybe I'd feel a little better
If I just threw out the numbers and the letters
That I write and sing; they don't mean a thing
The letters that I've written, the numbers that I've sung
Meant nothing all along

I'm not sure, but I may have heard this song before
Girl meets boy, and boy becomes a bore
Why don't we step down and add up what we've got
This sentence has come to a full stop

You've dotted all the 'I's
And though I'd love to see your eyes again,
I guess that's closure in disguise

I've lied and cried and I almost died
God knows that I've tried
But you just went ahead and put dots on all the 'I's
So goodbye.

Heels over Head (DOWNLOAD 2.2 MB MP3)

I don't know what sleight-of-mind you employed
To plant these ideas in my head
'Cause my brain's lagging metres behind
While my body's all heels over head

Don't mention love
Just phone me

I spend my days on a stringent diet
Of caffeine, websites and bread
But you drag me out, put my feet to the fire
While I was thinking I'd be better off dead

And we talk about all the things in the world:
Food, culture, whatever, boys and girls;
And you don't mention love once,
You just phoned me.

Genuine Blues (DOWNLOAD 6.7 MB MP3)

These hands - remember what they used to make?
These arms, I knew them slung across your back
Heaven knows they miss you,
And that's not even talking about me

My eyes are bloodshot, with pupils like pins
This song's out after dark and gone missing
Notify the next of kin
And that's not even talking about -

All this time I've tried to set things right
And read between the lines, God knows I've tried and tried

While you just sat there, and lived right along
And I counted the days you've been gone

You see, every time you lose is a genuine blues
That I refuse to sing for you

I hope you know that my mouth tastes like other girls now
But these lips can forget that taste somehow
Heaven knows they miss you,
And that's not even talking about me

My brain need its 'OFF' switch repaired
It keeps spewing catastrophic thoughts into thin air
Heaven knows it misses you,
And that's not even talking about me

These words, sincere as they may be, they die out
As soon as they're sung they cease to be
And heaven knows they miss you,
And that's not even talking about me.

Statistics (DOWNLOAD 3.6 MB MP3)

I've thought it out, and I came to the conclusion
That there is no conclusion to find
But that's alright, if you believe in numbers
That shape the world, like statistics and other kinds of lies

28%, error margin of 2,
Of all the things I'm told aren't really true

Statistics won't fix this hole in my brain
That causes significant pain
What is it that moves us to believe in love?
The one thing you can prove

I'm giving up: there's no instrument or theory
That could quench the questions of my life
It leaves you stuck inside one thing that matters
And perhaps a hundred things that might

51%, or more often than not,
Statistics are just made up on the spot

99%, plus maybe one or two,
Of everything I am believes in you.

Weights & Measures (DOWNLOAD 5 MB MP3)

Here we are: intoxicated, and proud owners of human brains
(or is that both the same?)
Look at us: little cosmopolitans
In post-communist karaoke bars
Tonight home don't seem that far

And they laughed so loud at my jokes, you know
But what does that buy me without you to hear the sound?

There must be an easier way to describe this
Boil the gist of it down and convert it
To weights and measures tonight

He's got greater ambitions and bigger plans
Than I could ever say (but this time I'm not afraid)
I mean, you've only got 600,000 hours before
The light goes out
So you'd better live it down

The pain, the pleasure
Like the gears on clockwork
Until years of hard work pay off.

White-Bread Gangster (DOWNLOAD 4.2 MB MP3)

I've been wanting to experience anything
But I've learnt that that requires my getting out of bed
I feel entitled to one more contemplation phase
And when I'm ready I'll already be dead and gone

'Cause I'm a white-bread gangster

All my ambitions are collections of what-ifs
But I've learnt there's no such thing as a hypothetical past
So I'm left pledging allegiance to C₂H₅OH
And hoping somewhere I might find something that lasts
And lasts, at last

But I'm a white-bread gangster

You'd better pay heed, 'cause I'm packing heat
Prowl on the scene with my baby Gs, come on, check me out
But reality is: babe, I'm in need
Of anything good to motivate me to get out of here

This situation has turned mildly explosive
It would be best if I just fled this locale
What rests now is to face what waits at the doorstep:
Rain, cobble, and splendid canal - I shall

Still I'm a white-bread gangster.

An Insult (DOWNLOAD 3.5 MB MP3)

I've got a guitar - I know a few chords
I've got an endless list of clichéd feelings to put to words
I've got some DVDs - I've seen them all twice
I've never been to Paris but the poster sure looks nice

You becoming a song is an insult to who you are

I've got a great plan - but really no clue
I've really got to stop thinking of what might become of you

You becoming a song is an insult - but here we are.

APOSTROPHES & CATASTROPHES

UNRELEASED TRACKS.