The Puny, Little Human Heart

Can you tell me what went wrong? Can you name the part that died?
That turned you from a blushing one into sorrow’s bride.
With all of these wise men searching for your light.
And you see the black sky only yields the night.

Even if the sky was filled with shooting stars,
You’d wish upon your puny, little human heart.
And you say even the Son of God is not good enough,
To save you, to save you now.

Mark off your penance with a cigarette lighter.
The note she left smells of her skin.
Your cauterize your heart with holy fire,
While the blisters burst and burn again.

Even if the sky was filled with shooting stars,
You’d wish upon your puny, little human heart.
And you say even the Son of God is not good enough,
To save you, to save you now.

If all you need is a song, a little time to be alone.
Then hide yourself in this one because it’s time to move on.
You drink yourself into oblivion and pray this is your last night.
The morning comes like cancer, the stubborn sun puts up a hell of a fight.

Even if the sky was filled with shooting stars,
You’d wish upon your puny, little human heart.
And you say even the Son of God is not good enough,
To save you, to save you now.

“Like Cancer” by Death Comesto Matteson

Too many times in our lives we try to fix everything ourselves. We convince ourselves that we have to carry the burden alone with no help from our Father, or anyone else, for that matter. So, next time you find yourself weighed-down by your struggles, heartaches, and fears, wish upon our “shooting star” from heaven–our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ–instead of your own “puny, little human heart.” If you don’t, failure is sure to follow.

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part VII: George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding

Okay, I’m finally back to this little Showbread project after a short break. “George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding” is the last in the four-song string of love songs. This song would make a fantastic video if given a decent budget, but I’ll let you see why by letting you read the lyrics.

I was looking for you when I first heard the sirens
The ambulances filled the streets
The masses screamed and called for help
You were no where next to me
The soldiers came to round up the living
And take them away to somewhere that’s safe
But if I cant find you there’s no place to save me
If you are gone then its too late

Night turns to dawn, and dawn into day
And the land overflows with the dead
Where did I last hold you in my arms?
What was the last thing that you said?
Some hide underground, others hide in a mall
I still drag myself through the streets
I life without love my love isn’t a life to me

I don’t believe that love can rot away
So first aim for the heart, then aim for the head

I wept bitterly and then I threw up
Something silver washed up in my lap
This metal thing, your wedding ring
Brought all of the memories back
I remember the bite, and breaking my teeth
I remember choking it down
Eating your fingers one at a time
I left most of you there on the ground

And it’s there that I find you, just as you were left
Writhing you rise to your feet
You come back to my side with very few insides
They’re still strewn about on the street

I have heard it said that love endures all things
And now I know that its true
Stronger than the grave, death cant put it out
Here I am, the walking dead, still next to you

I don’t believe that love can rot away
So first aim for the heart then aim for the head
If true love last forever, then love doesn’t die
It just becomes the living dead

Josh Dies, lead singer & writer, is an avid horror fan. The last Showbread album had a song devoted to the Evil Dead series of films, and this song is his tribute to Zombie movies. To put it in his own words, “The showbread song ‘George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding’ mimics classic Romero-Allegory style in weaving a tale a cannibalized wife into scriptures of ever-lasting love and forgiveness of sin.” Sweet, isn’t it? I think so.

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part VI: Sing Me To Sleep

“Sing Me To Sleep” is the gentle, melodic love ballad of the album. There’s no screaming on this one — just singing. It’s a very sweet song that would be great to sing-a-long with to your girlfriend… if you have one. Lyrics time…

Something keeps me awake, something outside is stirring
Through the dark and over the grass
The rabbits and snakes are concurring
They sing in the soil and bones rattle loud
They cry out as this they do see
Someone in those walls is suffering proud
For you are worth every ache within me

I don’t hear music, don’t hear anything
I see dirt, I see cement
What a troubled world it is when you’re outside arms length
It pulls out it’s teeth in dry irreverence

Come and find me on this floor
I am only a half, truth be told
Take away all the distance and say:
“my beloved, I’m here, and now you are whole”
If I turn and see your eyes in the dark I will know the blue in an instant
Never have they gone so far
Never has your face been distant
My life I will give you like a verse and a ring
I will be your only one
And what you ask of me will be yours until all is said and done

Your heart is a song that I hear Jesus sing
It comes over oceans to me
And the notes spell out messages in vibrant streams
And what’s written you show only me

But if you can’t close up all the gaps tonight
Put me to bed in your way
You see right through everything I am
For you my insides are displayed
Sing me to sleep my beautiful one
I will love only you for all time
Sing me to sleep my only one
With promises that you are all mine

Be still my heart, I hear your back cracking
It sounds like music to me
I see your face and I can hardly breath
It looks just like a song to me

Though you may find it odd, my favorite line in this song is, “Be still my heart, I hear your back cracking; It sounds like music to me.” Why? Well, it just shows how much the writer truly loves his girl — the things about her that some people may find weird, or even disgusting, are beautiful to him. Everything about her is wonderful to him, including the sound of her bones popping. I’m jealous. You can listen to the song by clicking here (requires a FREE Napster account).

Coming up: George Romero will be at our Wedding

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part V: Oh! Emetophobia!

“Oh! Emetophobia” is the fourth track on and the first single (you can watch the video at the bottom of this entry) from Showbread’s “Age of Reptiles.” I think it was a good choice for a first single as it is a well-rounded song to represent the “new” Showbread — less screaming, more synth, but still raw. Let’s look at the lyrics.

Dance with me baby, let me hear your voice
Oh if I didn’t wanna fall for you I never had a choice
Smear the makeup on my face
run your fingers through my hair
I can not keep my heart from you and I don’t even care
Yeah, you turn me inside out
You make me shake and I can’t stop
You give new meaning to drop dead gorgeous
And I’m about to drop

You are a song to me
And every note of every chord will set me free
There’s no time before you came alone
Three cheers for the end of twenty one years
Nothing else is going wrong

Reverberate and complicate my evenings and my days
And I will only love you more
I will count the ways
Dance with me and when you see my pulse beneath my skin
It’s racing now, I don’t know how to hold the burning in
You’ve taken from me my defenses
My will is under attack
And baby when I wrap my arms around you
I feel the bones in your back

Oh yeah, your voice is like music
It’s music to my ears
I’m not dying anymore, I’m alive baby!

Like the previous track, this is a love song — in fact, it’s part of a four-song run of love songs on the album. Yeah, some of the lyrics may be a little weird, but it’s basically just a song about how the writer’s one true love makes him feel. The one thing I don’t really understand, and continuing with the recurring reference to vomit, is the title of the song. Emetophobia is “an excessive or irrational fear of vomiting.” How that relates to this song? No clue. Got any ideas?

Next: Sing Me To Sleep

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part IV: Your Owls Are Hooting

“Your Owls Are Hooting” is the third track on Showbread’s latest release, “Age of Reptiles.” This song eases the album’s frantic pace of the previous two tracks with its slow tempo, but “slow” doesn’t necessarily mean “quiet.” It’s still a rocker with it’s pounding percussion and arena-like guitar during the chorus. Now on to the lyrics…

This letter won’t make it to you in time
Introverted by your distance from me, and by mine
But the chameleons who sift through the trees
Are garnering a bouquet in my head’s faculties
And its filled with scales and perfumes wearing thin
There is no flaw in you, there is no sun on your skin
Where have you been all of my life?
I hear a lizard tongue above my head
Will you be my wife?

Skin and bones and things that make my heart beat
My possession my obsession, everything to me
The sound of your voice and all your fingertips
Is like a bible verse spilling right across your lips

Waiting for my bride no longer taking it’s toll
Like a great horned owl swallowing fruit bats whole
Now that you’re here I feel a presence that I didn’t before
I feel your love I feel the warmth I’m feeling so much more
No more stiff joints, no more skin dry and rigid
You’re like a funnel in my heart
No longer artic and frigid
I’m indebted to you, you are my only one
Straight from the breath of the almighty Father, Spirit and Son

Although the many of the lyrics are pretty obscure, it’s pretty clear that this song is about the writer finally finding the mate God has prepared for him. Agree? Disagree? Do you even care? You can hear the track here if you want.

Coming up: Oh! Emetophobia!

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part III: Pachycephalosaurus

“Pachycephalosaurus,” the second track on Showbread’s new album, “Age of Reptiles,” has a lot in common with its lead-in, “Naked Lunch.” It has a speedy pace and an extremely catchy chorus. Better yet, the song features a very nice, “chunky” bass line as well as a heavy dose of synth… both of which I love. Okay, time to look at the lyrics…

Good God, where does it end?
You have been waiting in line
To have a phone chord or a cable fed right down your throat
Don’t struggle or it will bend and be a waste of time
To drain the depth of you from somewhere there
You’ll only choke
What seems to be the problem? We can’t dig up anything
Only dust and spit, and some pictures of you
You’re choking on the wires and still trying to sing
It seems that no one could ever love you
As much as you do

Hey misses hopeless, the world will catch up
With your intrepidness, I hope you know this
There’s no one like you, it’s so oppressive
You can even spell your own name, how impressive

I want what I see, I want something shiny
I want the one who stand in front of the biggest crowds
If we are to be, there will be more eyes on me
There will be more for everyone to talk about
It all leads to me, independent and free
It all comes back to who will say what I want them to say
Not complicated, keep it simply stated
There’s only so much that I can understand
Before it’s all wasting away

But don’t forget I can have what I want
And I want to be everything and everywhere

Say I’m smart, say my skirt is so short
Say I’m different, say I’m one of a kind
If I’m on TV maybe you will love me
There’s not another reason I can find
And if you only reject, there’s still these tubes in my neck
There’s still cigarettes and four letter words
And I’m sure that you’ll pick such a plain jane
To think the world goes on without me just seems so absurd

My thoughts? Well… it seems to be about a girl who will do anything and everything to get the attention of a guy she thinks will bring her fame and fortune. Fortunately, the guy isn’t falling for it, but she keeps persisting nonetheless. Agree? Disagree? It’s just my opinion, but the meaning of the song’s title may support my theory… Pachycephalosaurus means “thick-headed lizard.”

You can listen to this track at http://www.purevolume.com/showbread. Feel free to share you own thoughts on the song.

Next up: Your Owls Are Hooting

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part II: Naked Lunch

“Naked Lunch” is the first track on Showbread’s new album, “Age of Reptiles.” I must say, this song freakin’ rocks… definitely one of my favorites on the record. The guitar hook kinda reminds me that of a Jet song, which I will not name here. The chorus is extremely to sing/yell along with and the guitar solo near the end is very “arena rock.” Anyway, on to the lyrics…

I want to throw up, but for now I hold back
I can’t express just how I’m feeling, its true
You want to grow up, but there’s a problem with that
There’s no where to go for someone who’s as stunted as you
Its true that I’m disgusted with myself as well
My tongue cannot be tamed
It’s on a fire straight from hell
I eat the dirt you kick up, and flay the chord that resonates
A gentle word I cannot find a way to enunciate

You make me, you make me oh so sick
Oh so sick
You make me, yeah you know you make me
Sick, sick, sick I get sicker every day

Still your voice, pump your stomach
Set the garbage free
Oh I know you don’t get drunk
You just drink socially
Your reasons are all invalids, they can’t stand up
And when you talk I hear the brain cells die
So keep your mouth shut
I didn’t wake up to find myself as a bug
I’ve been one for much longer than I care to recall
I’m not a junkie lost in interzone or under the rug
I just eat the bug powder then I climb up the wall

Hmm. Some Showbread songs, like this one, can be pretty difficult to interpret. My best guess? It seems to be about someone whose words don’t match up with their actions… a hypocrite. Not only that, but writer’s struggle of putting up with it while still trying to control his own speech toward such a person. I can totally relate to this… all of us probably can. Who isn’t tempted to just tell-off someone constantly spewing hypocritical garbage from the mouth? I know I am.

Another important thing to notice is the writer’s admittance that he’s not perfect either and isn’t proud of the things he’s tempted to say (“Its true that I’m disgusted with myself as well; My tongue cannot be tamed…”). One more thing, this song kicks-off an often recurring theme on this record… vomit. You’ll see…

You can hear this song, as well as a few others, at http://www.myspace.com/showbread. Listen to the song, read the lyrics, and feel free to share what you think the songs means.

Next song: “Pachycephalosaurus”

 

“Age of Reptiles” by Showbread – Part I: Introduction

After spending a few days with Showbread’s latest album, “Age of Reptiles,” I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. Although they are not exactly the same band I fell for a couple of years ago with their debut, “No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical,” the message, creativity, and “raw-rockiness” are still intact. This is a much more accessable album–less screaming, more melody.

Being signed to Tooth & Nail Records, it was understood by many that these guys had some sort of Christian faith behind their music, but like most bands on the label, it wasn’t completely obvious to the average listener on their previous release (with the exception of one track). This is no longer the case on “Age of Reptiles.” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are very present on this record, but luckily not in that lame, CCM, Stephen Curtis Chapman sorta way.

Anyway, over the next several days, I will be reviewing each track individually. I will share the lyrics to each song and discuss my own interpretation of their meanings as well as the musical styles displayed. I’ll continue this series of blogs on Monday with the first track on the album, “Naked Lunch.” Stay tuned…