"When you hardly have a heart. But you need it just to break. When I haven't let my guard down. Just give me time to think."
This is one of my favorite tracks off of "War Paint" from The Dangerous Summer. What is it about songwriters that makes wandering such an enticing subject matter? It's something we all must feel at one time or another, the want to get away. The Dangerous Summer are masters of capturing this, encapsulating the feeling of sinking so far into your own head that it takes cold, unfeeling realities to snap you out.
Lyrically, I think it's beautiful. We must not overlook the allusion to their first album title in the chorus, a hidden thread and reminder that what they play is what they feel.
Speaking performance-wise, I think this song goes above and beyond what you'd expect to hear from a band like this. The pace is measured, it rises and falls. The lead-in to the first chorus, and well-timed "yeah" is a reveal, same with the extended line before the second chorus. The lead guitar does beautiful, beautiful things throughout. The drum hit before the last two choruses is one of the more well-executed rock ballad moments that, again, you might expect to hear from a band like this. I could listen to this song over and over again and just get lost in it. I'm pretty sure I just did.
"I’ve seen my words carved
In the arms of a stranger as they let me know
They watched their love die
But picked it up later when they found that rope
Some say you need to bleed to believe in hurt
Some say you have to scar to belong to her
I’ll live alone and find my peace
I will slip into a coma
Found somewhere north of Florida
But just south of Tennessee
‘Cause the sun I finally reached it
Give me reason to move on now
But there’s something in this heart I lost
Somehow
I’ll set it down for you
I wouldn’t lie to you, now would I
I built that road from the beginning with my hands
When you decided to take it
What did you take from it?
Was it worth the heart involved
The obstacles, the chemicals
I need to know what you’re trying to see
I’ll live alone and find my peace
I will slip into a coma
Found somewhere north of Florida
But just south of Tennessee
‘Cause the sun I finally reached it
Give me reason to move on now
But there’s something in this heart I lost
Somehow
Are they slipping through
All those messages I sent
I will cart across to every single city and their states
When you hardly have a heart
But you need it just to break
When I haven’t let my guard down
Just give my time to think
Well does it start to murmur?
It just needs some time to breathe
And in the light of murder
What if it carried me
Just to find that water
(I found the patterns release in me)
Just to find that water
(I found the patterns release in me)
Can I find that water?
(I found the patterns release in me)
Can I find that water?
(I found the patterns release in me)
I’ll live alone and find my peace
I will slip into a coma
Found somewhere north of Florida
But just south of Tennessee
‘Cause the sun I finally reached it
Give me reason to move on now
But there’s something in this heart I lost
Somehow"
~Everyone Left
The Dangerous Summer, War Point
