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Hopeful Monsters

by The Arts and Sciences

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1.
Someone’s draped the hive in black and no one’s sleeping well tonight now that bad news has come There’s a thing that won’t be said A truth I’ll hold until the clouds finally withdraw And maybe the lie won’t help the framework to stand But sometimes evasion is all that’s at hand I won’t tell a soul A brilliant space in any case An opportune ‘by the way’ will help to distract Weak support collapsing from inside The floors are sagging but I can keep up the act I hear the humming from outside enough to know what it implies Someone’s draped the hive in black and no one’s sleeping well tonight now that bad news has come And if the lie won’t hold the present back and I’m the last one between the tale and the fact I won’t I won’t I won’t tell a soul (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
2.
What she kept was a fire escape of a love A safety net you can only reach from above not from the ground And what she left wasn’t mine What she left behind was something you want but you don’t but nothing I ever could own What she kept somehow silhouettes all the things it belies Situations of obligations of separations of miles What she left wasn’t mine What she left behind was more than enough to get by but just short of coming in time She bought out all of the slums just when I wasn’t looking Ignores my history and sells to the gentry and I’m displaced and lost What she kept wasn’t something built just for show What she kept I would long regret that I found and never would know What she left wasn’t mine What she left behind is shocking but somehow well-known It’s something you want but you don’t And nothing I ever could own (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
3.
It's a little surprising that you would've ever let your sentiment show Sent off in writing My predestination that will never get told I kind of like you All the same I wish you'd learn to quiet your head It's all true but I don't want to wake up to the things I've said I don't want to wake up to a dark double bed All the perfect graceless things that you did aren't enough to settle up with Cupid Nothing else will be the same again And again This is everything I can't control Battles I'm not fighting Make believe that I haven't sold I kind of like you Even though there's nothing that I couldn't pretend It's all true But I don't want to wake up to the places I've been I don't want to wake up So I will hold myself before I go in To hear the note that rings and leaves me knowing Nothing else will be the same again I can’t take these snapshots of my downfall though someone’s eyes How long ‘til a swift blow might make me realize All the perfect graceless things that you did aren't enough to settle up with Cupid So I will hold myself before I go in To hear the note that rings and leaves me knowing but I don’t want to wake up I don’t want to wake up (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
4.
O Columbia 03:02
She wakes up slowly Hides the paper just like yesterday Her friends are there but cautious A bit embarrassed but too afraid to say She may stumble but the weight she will throw she'll blame on someone else Oh, Columbia, I do love you but less than you feel for yourself She stands up boldly Quick to point out she's been wronged before Her friends are there but silent Too afraid to suggest she ought to know What did you expect would happen when you pushed them to the floor? Oh, Columbia, I do love you but I’ve seen this scene before She slaps them down with every act Yet, she’s surprised when they swing back A hit no one deserves, but only she could’ve missed it coming Oh, Columbia, I’ve been quiet now for far too long Oh, Columbia, I do love you but that doesn’t mean that I can’t see when you’re wrong She won’t even hear me She’ll draw the covers and snuggle back to sleep (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
5.
This song is a new one Sit down, settle in There’s not much chance that you’ve heard it before so let’s just begin I can’t say that I blame you when you’re not surprised to see her unwittingly claim me and watch me hide her in this line The chorus has come and I’ve yet to begin to explain and I’m starting to lose my nerve But a self-stolen chord change can’t do enough to cover your impatience Please let me name it first “You Are Her(e)” I should be more clear now the second verse has started But I’m thinking of her in her room Now she’s hearing this song for the first time It’s so hard to follow I know This chorus is lost in the sheets and the curve of her leg Maybe you’ll strain to hear My words are obscured as they trail down the small of her back and disappear You are here The message I can’t deliver maybe this song will surrender “All the lives I could have led begin here” In the light inside her secret sphere Maybe your finger hovers an inch above the power switch when you find this self-stolen chord change can’t do enough to cover and you’re surprised to find that you are her You are her (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
6.
Gravel Queen 03:56
I would never have chosen a fire this sad and golden but now I'm curled around a heat I've learned to hate and I'm choking on the dust I generate I know now just where your heart has gone So pick it up from the gravel where it's fallen Anyone that knows can tell that I could never have seen through what could ever have kept you I'll stamp your face in tin just to buy the hope that you'll know just what this worthless currency is for I'm so cold I can't make it to the phone I'm weighted down by the gaps that I've ignored Anyone that knows can tell that I sometimes think my whole life hinges on just what anyone envisions Have I sold two years of my life for keeping up that part? Sweep it up this time I've crumbled to the floor I don't know why you'd wait around for more This kingly little crown has slipped a well-known drag that no one gets You've got a right to know just where your heart has gone So pick it up from the gravel where it's fallen One more chance to keep it hid in any little hole that fits (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
7.
Fluoxetine 03:37
Here’s my companion Ageless and old, hovering behind It’s in the house but in some other room that I never find I’m too numb to see through its simple disguise Something is moving Another dark thought that it will surround It might mean release but I’m miles away when it comes around combing through pieces I don’t recognize And all that I want is to leave all the big questions open So take my unknowns to buy all that somehow could be owned with patents on my mixed emotions What gets to me is What if it’s all I’ll ever be again? A dose of defenses A daily dissolve of anything within A chemical façade for anything I might devise And all that I want is to leave all the big questions open So take my unknowns and patent all my mixed emotions And all that I want is to somehow feel something forever but all I know is that I don’t I can’t even write what I’m feeling I can’t even write what I’m feeling I can’t even write, I’m not feeling (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
8.
Fall Down 03:28
Alright you said “goodbye” but I’m so tired and I’m still tied Tied to the phone I hum with the dial tone that same lost song I’m sure you can sing along Last time I call Last time I hold the line Last time I fall Fall like that stupid rhyme Ashes, ashes, fall down Somehow your light’s on even now Does he know about the fresh tale of the hour? Has he been hit by the smile of your precious gift? A best friend kiss for a loss you’ll never miss? But last time you said Last time you gave your word Last time I prayed but even hope seems to burn Ashes, ashes, fall down Last time I call Last time I even care Last time I fell but this time I came prepared Ashes, ashes, fall down Ring around the rosie a pocket full of posies for you A scent to hide the poison I bring for you (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
9.
Boom Echo 03:47
Maybe between us we’ll find that we’re gold when what we’ve in common is just that we don’t It’s so funny that I never knew you well Since now I feel like the ghost of your mouth is shaking chains deep inside my redoubt and it’s not too bad for what I have never felt I am the man in this song now who knows that I am the man in this song with no hope of making sense of the scenery And you’re waiting to hear that I might stop or just be circumspect and let it drop The thing I can’t forget about is that you would even think about us and what I want could be just this simple I want to see you I just want to see you, I only want to see you I only want to see you now (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)
10.
Did you know I’m terrified to write this all down Like somehow I’ll just keep it around A metaphor to leave myself out of Did you know I’ve strung the ropes as tight as they’ll go Braced the floors just to keep it below to dance myself through one more dumb show But every page I have found leaves one more hasty brick wall on the ground I lay curled up from the sound I’m afraid of what’s at the end of the book Did you know my weaker faith can’t really compete with my own skill for self-deceit The only things that dent are concrete You wouldn’t know that every musty corner was mine that what I fear I simply imply Every song was true, every word was a lie They had it right when I was five And I’ve got no call to be surprised by everything I despise But I’m afraid I’m afraid I’m afraid that what’s at the end of the book is just me (©2005 UbikMusik, BMI)

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released March 18, 2005

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Paul Melancon Atlanta, Georgia

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