When I'm Awake and the City Sleeps

by Ryan Stanley Shodine

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1.
My head’s dipped in chemicals, they cause a haze to view. Beige walls blur, and radiator burns. This mattress is my tomb. Poison has rot my gut, now pain’s a form of wealth. So tear it out, piece by piece, in an attempt to better myself. Watch the lights pass head to toe and lose track of where I am. I get the spins and where I’ve been is lost, once again. The days turn into weeks, now time is hard to tell. Here it comes again, let’s make it rain in an attempt to better myself. The answers that I seek aren’t in the sky. I won’t hear back from ceiling tiles. If there’s no faith to test then why ask why? Why ask why? Breathe fresh air on the street, look like anyone else. Who’d have thought this last? Now two seasons past in an attempt to better myself.
2.
Snow Song 03:21
I cup my hands around your face, now you’re a picture inside of a frame. I put you up on the wall in my mind to cover the cracks that are hidden behind. The snow fell and painted the trees, as we stood there frozen, on the corner of the street. All of the while you didn’t know what to make of how I was standing there, just holding your face. I’ll find a space that’s in between when I’m awake, and the city sleeps. These symptoms, I’m sure, will lead to the cure for memories. If memories haunt, and they often do, then ghosts are filling and filled up this room. With every kiss, another knock at my door, one more phantom that I can’t ignore. The buildings I see, and pothole filled streets, churches built turn of the century. The back lanes I walk, and they all do talk and tell every story. The past doesn’t quit, but it also won’t stay. Today was tomorrow, just yesterday. I’ll keep on moving away from the start. With ghosts put behind me, I’ll keep you in my heart.
3.
I know that I swore I’d never tell, but I lost my heartbeat for a little while. Seemed such a waste, nothing but silence in its place. Without a flicker of any sound, I watched the bombs drop to the ground. This means war on everything I was before. Bad blood spills, and stains my mouth. Only these days, I don’t have enough to go around. When all is said and done, is it worth fighting for, this concept that no one believed before? So we carry on, not remembering how this had begun. Yet it remains, in the background. Just barely there, the faintest sound. It comes in and out, as if to reassure all of my doubt. I know there’s no way for me to tell, but I don’t think my heartbeat will come around. If that’s the case, I guess it was never in the right place.
4.
The stars in the sky don’t want to align. Where will they be one day from now? You lay awake in bed, contemplating where you will be one day from now. If those stars don’t shoot by, and keep giving you those lies, then I’ll give you my shoulder for your head and let you cry. If winter is ending, if spring will come somehow, you’ll be ok one day from now. Don’t shut out that light that’s still inside your eyes. Keep it shining one day from now. Don’t let the clouds bring you too far down. The sun will shine one day from now. I knew it from the start, before we got too far, so let’s go get some harder drinks to cure these heavy hearts. We’ll find what we’re looking for inside the lost and found. We’ll be ok one day from now. I can’t wait to see you one day from now. I know I’ll be seeing you one day from now.
5.
I Do My Best 03:16
I do my best to make sure that laughter is all that will bring tears, and to tell myself I’m so much more than the sum of all of my fears. Modern mystics are but charts and graphs. They predict, and we believe. But the future hangs over our heads, the one truth we cannot see. They call for sun for everyone. For the next five days, into their words, we put our faith. The clouds roll in and the rain begins, drops bounce off the pond. The mark they make, the ripples stay, after the storm has gone. I do my best to believe in god, because I’m told, then they’ll be all right. With her blood cured, and him standing tall; how they live inside of my mind. I’m down on my knees but nobody sees. Given the choice, I will raise my voice. As ancients go, this idea I will hold, words on the tip of my tongue. I won’t let them die for the second time, their names will echo on.
6.
I grew up on Headmaster Row. A neighbourhood named after teachers and principals. The sky was dark, and then it burned bright red. Sat in the car, watched falling stars at summer’s end. Wishes piled up in a fountain. Coins sitting there, I can count them. All thrown away, I won’t make that mistake; maybe I should open my mouth, be someone that’s brave. Ain’t it funny, how the days last so long? Then before you know it, night has come and gone. For a moment, it seemed, life would never get that hard. The crime of passing time, before we knew of broken hearts. Wishes piled up in a fountain. Coins sitting there, I can count them. Take mine away, or I’ll make that mistake; maybe I should shut my mouth, do something brave. All smiles fade, now the lines remain. When I look in the mirror that person ain’t the same. So many chapters went missing from this book. With every loss, we paid the cost with the toll it took. Wishes piled up in a fountain. Coins sitting there, I can count them. All thrown away, having made that mistake; I guess I’m still figuring out how to be brave.
7.
I watch the sunrise from the corner of this room. My eyes are heavy, forever on you. A new day gained while the old one’s been lost. I’ll give you what I never had, and everything I got. Move ahead while paralyzed, and forget fear. Let it out and dry your eyes, I’ll wipe your tears. Pushed away, with head held high, I’ll keep you near until I’m caught by all these years. I want to lift you up so you don’t need me anymore. I’ll help fight the battle, so you can win the war. There’s not a lot I know, but one thing that I’ve learned; if you want love, then give it, expecting nothing in return. One day you’ll pay for the sins of our past. I hope you know you’re more than the dye that’s been cast. And when you’re old and standing in the middle of the street, I will apologize that water is to your knees.
8.
This picture, it ain’t perfect. But it’s the best that I can paint. It looks like the devil, but it could be a saint. The colours, they bleed and form something in between. If we had the patience to wait, then maybe, we’d be amazed. You’ll stay in one place like a summer leaf if you don’t understand outside of your beliefs. So I look to the sky as seasons pass us by, hoping to see less green. I’m waiting for a change in the trees. All that doesn’t move will surely die. Now I feel like I’m living on borrowed time. As I watch the days pass, I’ll break free from this cast and let out a collected sigh. Comfort can be found in goodbye. So it took that death to teach me how to live. Now I won’t take for granted one word that was said. They’ll ring in my ears, and wipe my tears. I won’t forget, but forgive now that I see how the end will begin. Let the fire and the ash burn through the past, as we leave all that was behind. It falls to ground, and smoke covers us now. Leaves its sent on our clothes, and burns our eyes. The wind carries it away, but leaves a piece to learn from some day.

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Debut album

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released February 8, 2019

All Songs and lyrics written by Ryan Stanley Shodine

Ryan Stanley Shodine-Guitars, harmonica, bass (except This Means War),vocals
Tom Saj-Drums
Blue McLeod-Viola (composed and performed), vocals, bass (This Means War)
Nicholas Friesen-Recording, mixing
Jamie Sitar-Mastering
Art-Bryan Neufeld

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Ryan Stanley Shodine Winnipeg, Manitoba

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