1. |
First Transmission
05:10
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“First Transmission”
© 2010 C. Rose
we
who kneel at the edge of nowhere
opposite sides
the same great divide
pray
soon we will spark the contact
a future is near
waiting to hear what we've made
____________________
switch
one frequency for another
look to the sky
await the reply
sound
closing the space between us
i'm holding you tight
we're crossing the ocean tonight.
______________________
transmission
first transmission
it moves across the sea and air
it finds you there
transmision
first transmission
it's crossing over earth and sea
to you from me
_______________________
we
finally break the silence
something is there
a-wing is the prayer
________________________
transmission
first transmission
it moves across the sea and air
it finds you there
transmision
first transmission
it's crossing over earth and sea
to you from me
_________________________
once we were lost now we are found
[freed by sound]
________________________
transmission
first transmission
it moves across the sea and air
it finds you there
transmision
first transmission
it's crossing over earth and sea
to you from me (beautiful machine)
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2. |
Messages, Pt. 1
04:17
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“Messages”
© 2010 C. Rose
is it a language that you speak
or do you just pretend?
for I don't always understand
the messages you send.
_____
i can always hear your words
but I don't know what you say
it is alien to me.
will I crack the code today?
i am starting to believe
the solution has to lie
in a knowledge unreceived
or just locked inside my mind.
_____
is it a language that you speak
or do you just pretend?
for I don't always understand
the messages you send.
_____
this behavior that you seek
is remaining undefined
as I lose the will to speak.
is the problem yours or mine?
how can I decipher these
messages you send to me?
when you seem to change the code
the passage, and the frequency.
without telling me…
_____
while I think I know the plan
and I've memorized the rules
i cannot apologize
for a cypher built by fools.
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3. |
Looking Glass
05:41
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“Looking Glass”
© 2010 C. Rose
you’ve been walking through fields of gray alone
wondering where the air has gone.
it has been at least one hundred years
that you have lived inside the fear
lost and suffocating.
seems like another life ago
that you tripped and fell down the rabbit hole.
battling demons from your past
now you found your way back to the looking glass.
step through, and everything is waiting.
you have looked into the dragon’s eye
through with finding places you can hide.
we’ve been sending messages inside.
telegraph your morse code in reply
and i feel the wires shaking.
you can live outside the fear.
believe.
But I can’t be the first one here
to breathe.
a heart can beat inside of there.
you must only taste the air
to mend a soul in disrepair and need.
seems like another life ago (i can hear you)
that you were tripped and fell down the rabbit hole
(i have seen you) conquering demons from your past
(and i know you) finally found your way back to the looking glass.
step through, and everything is changing.
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4. |
Birmingham
05:26
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“Birmingham”
© 2010 C. Rose
on the road to Birmingham you held my hand
telling me that we were more than friends
questioning the truth about my innocence
the night was black and cold but you were warm.
something in the darkness of that lonesome car
a kiss I think we finally understood
a dream I thought that I had learned to live without
but that was long ago, so long ago.
_____
pray these roads never take us home
for the stars to burn until we’re far away from all we know
may this night never break for dawn
we have come too far to surrender our tomorrow.
_____
all the way to Birmingham you held my hand
telling me that we were more than friends
testing every truth about our innocence
the night was black and cold but you were warm.
_____
pray these roads never take us home
for the stars to burn until we’re far away from all we known
may this night never break for dawn
we have come too far to surrender our tomorrow.
_____
near Birmingham you held my hand and turned away
the car was fast, the alcohol was slow
and the words intoxicated finally came
without the insecurity of shame.
_____
pray these roads never take us home
for the stars to burn until we’re far away from all we know
may this night never break for dawn
we have come too far to surrender our tomorrow
we have come too far
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5. |
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"She is Beautiful"
© 2010 C. Rose
on this evening
there is cause to celebrate
as the body joins the soul
nothing's broken
no one here needs to be saved
a funeral without mourning
without pain
burning pieces
another life, another name
another spark to rise and feed the flame
__________________
she is beautiful tonight
___________________
such a plain and ordinary boy
you could have made
suffocating who you are
touch the mirror
trace the lines perfect the shades
infinitely nearer now to god
burning pieces
another life, another name
here in ashes ever lies the shame
__________________
she is beautiful tonight
she is beautiful in shadows and in the light
she is beautiful tonight
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6. |
Absolute Zero
04:31
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“Absolute Zero”
© 2010 C. Rose
stop talking stop moving
it's perfect just the way we are
this moment this instant
to think that we have come this far
______________
the logic should dictate
the quest for true stability
is fragile if not futile
we need only fear the entropy
________________
so can we just go to ground now
at absolute zero
freeze this moment in time
at absolute zero.
_______________
the science is faulty
it can't preserve the symmetry
in digital or analog
even with eidetic memory
__________________
can we go to ground
at absolute zero
freeze us both in time at absolute zero
_________________
stop talking stop moving
it's perfect just the way we are
how can i just absorb this
knowing every ending has a start
__________________
can we go to ground
at absolute zero
holding sight and sound
at absolute zero
freeze us both in time
at absolute zero
everything is fine
at absolute zero
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7. |
Houses
03:58
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“Houses”
© 2010 C. Rose
the walk to your house from mine is quick
but it is very cold
and fingertips will sometimes break and bleed
the walk to your house from mine is brief
but it is tiring
the echoes of their words inside my head threaten to deafen me
at your door step I will wait for your room to light
inside your house my frozen ears will thaw and burn
the walk to your house from mine is quick
but it is very cold
and fingertips will sometimes break and bleed
once winter takes its hold
on your door step I will wait for your room to light
inside your house their wicked world will cease to turn
here in your home I will forget the apathy I fight
and in your room this frozen heart will thaw and burn
the walk from your house to mine is long
and full of suffering
and I can feel the deathly breeze of dawn tearing through
everything.
back at your door step I will wait for your room to light
inside your house their wicked world will cease to turn
here in your home I will forget the apathy I fight
and in your room this frozen heart will thaw and burn
now I am home.
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8. |
Lost Satellite
05:31
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“Lost Satellite”
© 2010 C. Rose
so this is how
you stop the world from turning
even for an hour
anything to stop the hurting
in the absence of our words
does the prayer remain unheard
ever caught between the earth and sky
a lost satellite
so this is where
you find the safety from the
thoughts you cannot bear
where everything can disappear
in the absence of the light
everything will be alright
living here between the earth and sky
lost satellite
you will find a receiver
lost satellite
you know I'm a believer
so this is why
we've been receiving those transmissions out of time
the signal's faint, but it won't die
in the absence of the Word
will our prayer remain unheard
caught for now between the earth and sky
lost satellite
you will find a receiver
lost satellite
in the absence of the light
everything will be alright
living here between the earth and sky
lost satellite
you will find a receiver
lost satellite
you know I'm a believer
lost satellite...
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9. |
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“Messages, Pt. 2-Telemetry”
© 2010 C. Rose
do you study me with telemetry?
because there’s no evidence
that you’re seeing me.
not really.
you may understand the physiology.
but can you see what truly lies inside of me?
________________
the contact has broken
though the words remain unspoken.
my persistence
your resistance
and a distance that is already starting to grow.
_________________
do you study me with telemetry?
because there’s no evidence
that you’re seeing me.
not really.
________________
in the program
interference
or maybe it’s an incoherence.
not a virus
or a cancer
and the answer may not even lie in the words.
_________________
do you study me with telemetry?
(is there a secret lost within the system?)
because there’s no evidence
that you’re seeing me.
(or is it one you choose to hide?)
you seem to feel safe inside of your machine
but I have found the sound it makes is deafening.
__________________
do you study me with telemetry?
because I feel this distance may be killing me.
it’s killing me.
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10. |
I Have Stopped
03:19
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“I Have Stopped”
© 2010 C. Rose
i have stopped going through
those photographs i took of you
last time that you
were home
you were not the only one
who had a plan or a dream undone
but you have left this place
without a trace
no promise made to write to call
to never let the distance ever build a wall
this wide this strong so high
it obfuscates the sky
now i can see new york from here
but I can't feel you any nearer to me
to home
to the place
you always said you'd live
your life
i have stopped listening
for the telephone
that never rings
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11. |
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“Ghost in the Transmission”
© 2010 C. Rose
you said that you'd never want more than I had to give
was there a miscommunication
did we lose the will to live
we can't go back in time or re-write history
but you must know
a message never sent will never be received
_________
there was a weakness in the system
there was a ghost in the transmission
_________
we wondered what it was that we were building then
(and would it last)
what would I give if I could hear your voice again
__________
there was a weakness in the system
a ghost in the transmission
a failure in the circuit that we made
where was the fault in the connection
the fatal contradiction
the rent that caused the signal to degrade
__________
an image dispossessed will haunt a silent screen
the question asked, is this the story
or the story in between
__________
there was a weakness in the system
a ghost in the transmission
a failure in the circuit that we made
where was the fault in the connection
the fatal contradiction
the rent noise that caused the signal to decay
___________
this time I hope that you can hear me
i just want you near me
while the ghost in the transmission starts to fade.
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Maxwell's Complex Амхърст, Massachusetts
Electronic music progenerated from early 1980’s synth-pop examining the complexity of human communication; how we relate, connect, and manage the inevitable failures inherent in all fragile machinery.
Maxwell's Complex recommends:
This Year, Next Year, Sometime . . . ?
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The music of Mirrors just blows me away...old school analog synths and sequencers...compelling and plaintive vocals...it's everything synthpop should be.
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The Majesty of Our Broken Past
by Color Theory
Synthwave at it's absolute finest. Check it out!!
go to albumIf you like Maxwell's Complex, you may also like:
On their 10th record, the Glasgow-based group serves up more wonderfully menacing, gothy synthpop, perfect for dungeon dancing.
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The debut full-length from noted game composer Megan McDuffee is slick and moody electropop with more than a hint of darkness. Plus vocals!
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The great Cat Temper does it again! 10 more synthpop bangers with titles like “Growls on Film” and “Electric Pawpurrella.” Instant classic.
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All Hope / Runaway
by FLOR DE LUX
A pair of beautifully ghostly songs from this Philly group that set haunting and mysterious melodies amidst drifting rivers of electronics.
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