OUTRUN THE REPTILE – Album Notes

TRACK LIST

1. Edge

2. Tiktok

3. Babel

4. Everybody’s Fault

5. No Such Thing

6. Displaced

7. Vandals

8. Tearing Myself Down

9. They Told Me

10. Among the Wolves

11. Astride the Earth

LYRICS

1. Edge

Out here on the edge they’re talkin’ ’bout hangings

A shift in soul, the walls are coming down

They’re lining up to pull the lever

A fraying soul is going going down

Two hundred years against the wall

Load the gun, eye against the sight

They’re lining up to pull the trigger

Convictions crumble, deep into the night

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE CASTLE’S COMING DOWN

KEEP THE CREATURE CAGED

BUT CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE ROUGH BEAST IS COMING ‘ROUND

CAN’T OUTRUN THE REPTILE

CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN

Just the other day, they were talkin’ ’bout killin’

Hands are steady, loading up the vial

They’re lining up to, to plunge that needle

It’s all too perfect, nothing missing but the smile

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE CASTLE’S COMING DOWN

KEEP THE CREATURE CAGED

BUT CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE ROUGH BEAST IS COMING ‘ROUND

CAN’T OUTRUN THE REPTILE

CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN

Ready, Aim, Liar!

You wanna call me out – thinking I’m a hanged man

Don’t see it happening – cause I’ve done up and changed plans

See all you politicians on a plane you think is higher

Acting like your ideologies are something we admire

Trial after trial – prison after prison

We’re talking like a motherfucker but you fail to listen

Check it – let’s put the focus real issue

He’s got a plan – I think we all can agree

And when you’re gone, now tell me who’s gonna really miss you?

We all return to the dirt – eventually

And that’s real

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE CASTLE’S COMING DOWN

KEEP THE CREATURE CAGED

BUT CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE

THE ROUGH BEAST IS COMING ‘ROUND

CAN’T OUTRUN THE REPTILE

CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN

Ready, Aim, Liar!

2. Tiktok

White lines

Blurring into streaks

Red embers and burning eyes

But the goal’s out of reach

Speed’s killin’ on a night like this

But the pedal’s down all the way

Rain pounding as you float through the curve

Wheels above the road

Road signs

Lost in the haze

You can’t afford to get lost now

Cause you don’t know the way

Too fast for a night like this

No matter, you’re already late

Rain flashing as you float through the curve

Wheels above the road

Not every moment needs a song

But every solution can’t be wrong

You’re the only loser

When you run out the clock

Even a dog has its day

When every good thing fades away

You’re the only loser

When you run out the clock

You’re the only loser

Well, you’re running out of time

You’re the only loser

It’s all in your hands

You’re the only loser

There’ll be no bodies left behind

You’re the only one

Deadlines

Lying in the streets

Running through the soles of your shoes now

And you can’t use your feet

The end is calling, wondering where you’re at

And you got no reply

Wind whipping as you float through the curve

Wheels above the road

Not every moment needs a song

But every solution can’t be wrong

You’re the only loser

When you run out the clock

Even a dog has its day

When every good thing fades away

You’re the only loser

When you run out the clock

You’re the only loser

Well, you’re running out of time

You’re the only loser

It’s all in your hands

You’re the only loser

There’ll be no bodies left behind

You’re the only one

3. Babel

She hasn’t said a word

For twenty-six miles

And the scrub brush and dead trees

They all look the same

Dead trees all look the same

I haven’t said a word

For twenty-six miles

And I feel like I need somebody to blame

Fuck it, I need

I need, I need

Someone to blame

Outside the wind blows

Like the breath of the Devil

Like a scouring lash that opens old sores

Every mile

Opening more

Inside just the engine

Over poisonous silence

The barbs are imagined

It’s real blood that pours

Oh, the blood pours

The fireball is sinking

The red clouds are boiling

As we cross the Nevada state line

As we cross the line

The first drops are falling like

Hammers on anvils

And I open my mouth up to ask why

Why, why, oh why?

I’m talking past her

And she’s talking faster

We speak the same language

We use the same words

But when the talking’s all over

Nothing’s been heard

It only takes two

To build a tower

Two to stop building

When words fail to work

I’ve pulled the car over

And the shouting gets louder

There’s no consideration

Of the damage we do

Oh, the damage we do

Like a nuclear test ground

With scorched earth for miles

We’ve defeated no enemy

We’ve poisoned ourselves

Oh, poisoned ourselves

It only takes two

To build a tower

Two to start building

After words do their work

It only takes two

And, babe, if we can make it,

There’s nothing – nothing we put our minds to

That we cannot do

4. Everybody’s Fault

Soon as the sun goes down I’m coming out

The TV’s putting words into my – into my mind

There’s only so much I can tolerate

So I’m going out tonight, collect a pile of talking heads

I hear the pundits talking sacrifice

Shouting from the rooftops, shout it all day long

I hear them screaming for a sacrifice

Funny when the number drops, it’s always someone else

Am I insane

Or so deranged

To think that I

Did this by myself

Are we this lame

Dole out the blame

I’m so ashamed

This one’s on all of us

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

I hear them talking ’bout a middle way

Halfway between, no matter how far one side goes

Funny how they never seem to take a stand

Each madman on a soapbox seems to have a worthy plan

Am I insane

Or so deranged

To think that I

Did this by myself

Are we this lame

Dole out the blame

I’m so ashamed

This one’s on all of us

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

IF IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S ALL MINE, ALL MINE, ALL MINE YEAH

We’re building up a sick new parasite

Grows fat on our attention, feeding off our eyes

But we decide whether they live or die

We can starve them out or keep on paying to hear their lies

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

IF IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S EVERYBODY’S FAULT

IF ITS EVERYBODY’S FAULT

THEN IT’S ALL MINE, ALL MINE, ALL MINE YEAH

5. No Such thing

Each night her thoughts return

Return to darker days

All the madness and the wonder

She never left behind

Read the silence in her eyes

The lies, the lies

The truth behind her cries

Bare footprints on wet sidewalk

A handprint on a rail

Across the street through the downpour

She saw him standing there

Drops of darkness in his eyes

The cries, the cries

A broken body lies

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MOVIN’ ON

WHEN YOU CAN’T FORGET, NOTHING’S EVER GONE

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MOVIN’ ON

Another city in the winter

And another after that

And every night rediscovered

She sees what she saw there

She sees the darkness in her plan

Her hands, her hands

It’s more than she can stand

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MOVIN’ ON

WHEN YOU CAN’T FORGET, NOTHING’S EVER GONE

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MOVIN’ ON

Drop down turn around

Pick up all your feelings

Your blood-pressure, heart rate

Done hit the ceiling

It’s a black day, heart break

Oh what a feeling

He took it all away and now the damage is done

You wish you had a gun

Or maybe you should run

Tell momma all about it

No but that ain’t your style

You thought he was the one

He came out under-done

And now it’s looking like you ain’t gonna eat for a while

Secret places

Hidden work

Covered up

With leaves and dirt

She left that night, never said a word

She never said a word

6. Displaced

That place is burned, she said

Left the red bricks of home

For a grey rainy city

Where the street signs and bars

Don’t haunt her days

Like murderous ghosts

She don’t see the bridge

Where she kept him from falling

She don’t see the street

Where they had their last fight

THIS ISN’T HOME

That place was a bad dream

A dream in the womb, before I was born

It can’t haunt me no more

Not even when I see

Lights in the rain

Not even when I hear

That song in the car

Or the cops on the street like the time that they stopped us

You were playing John Lennon and driving too fast

THIS ISN’T HOME

THIS ISN’T HOME BUT THE GHOSTS ARE ALL QUIET

SHE’S MAKING NEW DREAMS AS EVERYDAY PASSES

OF A JOB IN AN OFFICE WHERE SOMEONE SENDS FLOWERS

WITH EVERYDAY THOUGHT AND POINTLESS DECISIONS

THIS ISN’T HOME

And every day can’t be the same

And all the houses can’t be so brown

And I just want to feel the rain

And my feet upon the ground

This is the place, she hopes

Where new memories

Devour the old ones

Every day

She walks around corners

To find something better

THIS ISN’T HOME

THIS ISN’T HOME BUT THE GHOSTS ARE ALL QUIET

SHE’S MAKING NEW DREAMS AS EVERY DAY PASSES

OF A BROWN-HEADED BOY IN A HOUSE WITH WIDE WINDOWS

WHERE SHE LOCKS ALL THE DOORS AND CLOSES THE BLINDS

THIS ISN’T HOME

7. Vandals

Look how far we’ve come

Full circle to another gilded age

Look how far we’ve come

We’ve handed over the keys to our gilded cage

We gave the Vandals the keys

They walked right in, without a sound

Said they could rule the empire

Said they could rule, if they’d just keep our taxes down

They’re vandals, aren’t they

Tell me what we’ve learned

Joined forces with the lender and the priest

And in the end we got burned

The blade slipped when we could afford it least

We gave the Vandals the keys

We showed our disease, they put us down

We put our thumb on the scale

Never thinking it could knock the whole thing down

They’re vandals, aren’t they

Keep keep keep coming around and around

Round and around

Keep keep keep coming around and around

Round and around

Real killers don’t make a sound make a sound

Don’t make a sound

Tell me what we’ve gained

From our sacrifice to Mammon and his kind

Tell me what we’ve gained

We’re the sacrifice, the blind leading the blind

We gave the Vandals the keys

And on Visigoths’ heads, we put a crown

Gave free rein to our feelings

Our impulse just to burn the whole thing down

They’re vandals, aren’t they

8. Tearing Myself Down

Thought I’d go someplace different

Far away

But the hooks are dug in deeper every day

Thought I’d change my meaning

Change of place

But I’m dragging that shit behind me every day

Every day’s no better

Than the day I left

Cuz I changed my scene but I didn’t change myself

Goin’ in with a hammer

Crowbar and a knife

If God is good I won’t come out the other side

TEARING MYSELF DOWN

AND WHEN I PUT ME BACK TOGETHER

I’M GONNA LEAVE A FEW THINGS OUT

Tear down the things that don’t matter

Take them all away

Take my spiteful tongue, tear down my feet of clay

Tear down inclinations

That drive me to wound

Take my self absorbed, my self-inflicted doom

TEARING MYSELF DOWN

AND WHEN I PUT ME BACK TOGETHER

I’M GONNA LEAVE A FEW THINGS OUT

I’m not a victim

I’m original

It’s not a perfect system

I’m just a flawless flaw

Like a walking schism

Like to put up walls

What’s the fucking difference?

Don’t come looking for me now

TEARING MYSELF DOWN

9. They Told Me

Dust swirling down another hurricane’s ravage

A storm-savaged blow

A false equivalence, the call of cowardice

From a broken radio

Con artist talking just as fast as he can

The man puts money in his hand

The channels are open, and you know they’re all hopin’

To get their nut before the storm hits land

Sweat drips down maskin’ tears on my face

Another body out of place

It’s the same song – pretend to get along

For goin’ on like three decades

The facts of the matter getting kinda loud

And they think they can shout it down

Say it all again and it’s still not true

Is it warm in here, or is it everyone but you?

THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME AGAIN

CLOSE MY EYES AND IN A LITTLE TIME IT WILL ALL JUST GO AWAY

THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME AGAIN

AIN’T NOTHIN’ CAN HURT YOU IF YOU JUST KEEP LOOKIN’ AWAY

Twenty years from now I’ll be hell with a cane

And not a thing will have changed

Demons and heretics – it’s just the politics

Empty words from the criminally insane

My legs get weary from the weight in my head

Somebody please put these kids to bed

Enough with the soft-shoe – we let you slip through

We should have listened to the words unsaid

If the first press release doesn’t do what you need

Just buy a lobbyist or three

Your think tank’s in the tank – don’t forget to thank

Your boys Valdeez, and B.P.

Rain pours down as we pick up the mess

Will anybody confess?

Turn off the radio – break the status quo

Don’t need a goodnight and God bless.

THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME AGAIN

CLOSE MY EYES AND IN A LITTLE TIME IT WILL ALL JUST GO AWAY

THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME, THEY TOLD ME AGAIN

AIN’T NOTHIN’ CAN HURT YOU IF YOU JUST KEEP LOOKIN’ AWAY

10. Among the Wolves

Leaves home before the traffic starts each morning

Wears his armor, wears his armor and his gun

Passes by a man waiting on the corner

Waiting for something, watching for something unknown

SOMEONE ON EVERY CORNER

TRYING TO TAKE HIS SOUL

AND HE FEELS AS THOUGH HE’S WALKING

AMONG THE WOLVES

Hat pulled low crouching in missed directions

Sweat’s dripping, heart’s racing now

Too afraid to take his hands off his weapon

Can’t let his guard down, can’t let his guard down, can’t let his guard down no

THEY COME FROM ALL DIRECTIONS

TRYING TO BURN HIS HOME

AND HE FEELS AS THOUGH HE’S WALKING

AMONG THE WOLVES

What’s the worst they can do?

Run for cover!

Every flag is an enemy flag

Is an enemy flag

Run for cover!

Every face is the enemy face

Is the enemy’s face

Motherfucker!

Dead eye of a hurricane of violence

Seems calm now, seems so safe

Already thought of the worst thing that can happen

Thinks it’s better if he pulls that trigger first

THE NEIGHBORS KEEP THEIR LIGHTS ON

WHENEVER HE’S NOT HOME

CAUSE IF HE’S OUT PROWLING

THEY’RE AMONG THE WOLVES

11. Astride the Earth

Word on the street is that the money men have spoken

The gods decreed that “your ass is mine”

They hold your fate, so put your nose to the grindstone

Watch ’em play games with your life

Better cash the fuck out while the wheels are on this wagon

Someone else will surely hold the bag

That’s how goes son, the gap’s getting wider

Just keep your head down and try not to look back

THEY STAND

ASTRIDE THE EARTH

ON THE BACKS OF THE MILLIONS

THEY SCREAM

THEIR BATTLE CRY:

“…CAUSE I’VE GOT MINE”

Bridges crumble and the trains run off their tracks

History says that’s what we get

These days I wonder if the gods are that evil

And has the time come to cast them down

It’s that devil workin’ his overtime

It’s that evil lurkin’ within our minds

It’s that burnin’ burnin’ – it’s constant

No more learnin’ learnin’ – it’s a mindset

THEY STAND

ASTRIDE THE EARTH

ON THE BACKS OF THE MILLIONS

THEY SCREAM

THEIR BATTLE CRY:

“FUCK YOU CAUSE I’VE GOT MINE”

Five men on a bench

Rolling back the quo

Who’s gonna speak up

When the big boys buy the vote?

Don’t worry, Congressman

Your district’s safe and sound

We’re gonna shut that shit down

THEY STAND

ASTRIDE THE EARTH

ON THE BACKS OF THE MILLIONS

THEY SCREAM

THEIR BATTLE CRY

THEY STAND

ASTRIDE THE EARTH

ON THE BACKS OF THE MILLIONS

THEY FALL

THEY FALL TO EARTH

WHEN THE MILLIONS FINALLY STAND

CREDITS

Darren Harty – Vocals, bass guitar

Jamie Schultz – Guitar, background vocals

Phil Robertson – Drums

Drums recorded by Phil Robertson

www.e-studio-drummer.com

Everything else recorded by H&S Salvage at the House of Stray Voltage

Engineer: Jamie Schultz

Assistant Engineer: Darren Harty

Produced by H&S Salvage

Cover art by Robin Ludwig

www.rldprint.com

Mastered by Bob Ohlsson

www.audiomastery.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Jamie: Holy shit, it’s done! I’d like to say thanks to Darren for countless hours of writing, re-writing, kicking my bullshit lyrics into shape, doing take after take in the vocal booth while I make fun of you over the talkback mic, fixating on that one cool throwaway lick I did in a version of a song that’s nineteen freaking months old and immediately forgot and making me go find the scratch recording so I can play the final version just like that, and pretty much being a hell of a guy who’s fun to work with and drags the best out of me, often kicking and screaming. I would also like to thank my wife, Jenny, for putting up with countless hours of me locking myself in the studio and vibrating the walls with weird sounds. Lastly, thanks to Phil Robertson for throwing down some freaking amazing drum tracks.

Darren: Huge thanks to Jamie for conceptualizing, organizing, resourcing and altogether facilitating this project. The man is a beast when it comes to getting things done! Writing, performing, engineering…I couldn’t ask for a better partner-in-crime. Thanks too, to Jenny, Inti, Loki and Freya for putting up with our special brand of weekday mayhem – I love you guys! Thanks to Phil for being a badass and also, a big thanks to Eva Marie for being my musical release-valve and talking me through those long drives home!