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The Patterns of the City

by Tea Leaves

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1.
Into the patterns of the city we plunge, as we’re sucking in death with these half-collapsed lungs. Spitting out hate with our twisted tongues and our minds are all lost down some unmarked street. The alleys have eyes and the walls are alive. The buildings are standing in line side by side. The houses are empty, they seems strange and dull, and that thought leaves my brain all alone in my skull. The air is polluted, it poisons my veins. All the ghosts won’t stand still and they look at me strange. The moon seems deflated and slightly frustrated. The stars are all clouded, they leave me sedated. This city is scaring the fuck out of me, so I try to stay at home and just watch my TV. I don’t want to get swept up into all the madness and become just like these ghosts, with their passive sadness. I'm lost in the patterns of the city. I'm stuck in the patterns of my mind.
2.
Death Drive 01:44
As I’m driving down the highway, I notice the leaves are starting to change. I’ve just left town; you’re on your way back home again. My back is sweating; it’s sticking to the seat. I’m finding it hard to concentrate; I’ve been feeling strange in this heat. You’ve been sending me texts all day, telling me to come home early. I don’t think I will, 'cause I know you would never do the same for me. She’s always gone and I’m always drunk. And I’ll continue to drink because I know that winter's coming strong. Yeah, I’ll stay drunk 'cause summer's almost gone. She’s changing like the seasons; her leaves are beginning to fall. I think I see a mirage in the road ahead of me; caught up in places I’ve never been, this death drive has got its hold on me. I think I see a mirage in the road ahead of me; caught up in places I’ve never been this death drive has got a hold on me.
3.
I told you my views on evacuation. You told me your opinion on eastward migration. We talked about going on an early vacation and staying gone. But it seems like we’ve waited too long; wasting our time in this dead fuck city. By now the pollution has gotten to me and I’ll die here. I’ll stay here for the rest of my life; dying here for the rest of my life. I told you my hands were like the dying leaves and you told me we’d be flying towards the end of the season. The bottom of the bottle is our idea of retreating; some kind of romantic getaway. But it seems like we’re just awaiting the reasons. The only thing my friends will talk about now is leaving, but they choke on every word; the air is too thick to keep breathing. We’re dying here. I’ll stay here for the rest of my life; dying here for the rest of my life.
4.
Wet Cement 02:53
Bottle of liquor numb to the touch, my vision is skewed but I can't see much. Jokes, and idiots sifting through shit, I'll pull off your skin; I'll see you're rotten within. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. They've lived and died without you. Too drunk to see straight but I'll never lose sight. I'm too drunk to talk straight but I'm feeling good tonight. So set those clocks back and we'll flip that hour glass. We're hoping this will last as we watch the night run out. Why did you kill and where did you lay? In wet cement in newly built caves? Death is among us and we shiver in it's wake, so run to your fathers and hide in their graves. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. Your memories are dead they've been taken from you. They've lived and died without you. your memories are dead they've been taken from you your memories are dead they've been taken from you your memories are dead they've been taken from you they've lived and died without you they've lived and died without you
5.
Don’t ever open your eyes and hope for the night. Don’t ever lose sight because the moon is so warm and bright. It hangs low in the sky because it knows we’re passing by. So don’t put up a fight and don’t pretend to be alive. But now the night has gone long on and the skies warmth is done. The moon is beginning to depart; I see it scowling through the dark. Waves of fear wash right through me, and now I’m starting to grind me teeth. But I know that the sun can revive the sky. I’m not pretending to be alive. So if you’re not busy tonight, I wouldn’t mind if you stopped by. We can close our eyes and turn off the lights. We won’t pretend to be alive. We can stay out all night and the moon will be in our sight. If we don’t put up a fight, we can get so high-- we'll change the shapes in the sky. And all the colours will start to fall, but we won’t feel anything at all. Once the sun is back in the sky, that warmth will bring us back to life. We’ll come back to life. We won’t pretend to be alive.
6.
Interlude 01:44
7.
Everybody's hardwired to the machine. Everybody's hardwired to the machine, and when the Devil pulls the plug you'll know what I mean, when I say we're all hardwired to the machine. When the sky turns to black from an envious green, you'll see your whole life flash on the TV screen. They say "the end times are coming!", "Just listen to the soldiers drumming" Somewhere a preacher is pissed, drinking his graveyard mist, while one father nails another to the crucifix. Staring up at a pale blue sky. Staring up at a pale blue sky, they said "the famine is a sign of the ending times." Staring up at a pale blue sky. All the priests and false prophets starve together in line; your son is gripping your hip as the church bells chime. So, say goodbye to your first-born son. Say goodbye to your first-born son. He won't be coming home until the fighting's done. So, say goodbye to your first-born son. When the flags unwind- holding onto your gun- the stars will start falling one by one. (And he won't be coming back.)
8.
Florida 01:32
I’ve been working too long so I’m in a daze. Barely even living; making minimum wage. I miss you like crazy, you’re so far away. I wish you would come back home from Florida. Are you happy there standing on your feet? Are you drinking a lot and do you like the heat? I have to admit that I have never felt worse. I wish I was the wind so I could travel on currents to you. I've been feeling sick; the devil is in my sight and he’s laughing at me In the middle of the night. I want to see what you dreamt sleeping on that plane; thousands of feet in the air while I was going insane. Now you’ve been gone too long and it’s scaring me, like a room at night with no TV screens. I want to feel your heat I want to hear you breathe. So please leave Florida and come back home to me.
9.
Even though I think I see you here and there, I’m scared that you are everywhere. And when I trace my steps back home, sometimes I swear that I can see your ghost. But I know that you have moved well on and I thought that I had done the same. But I was wrong, I’m always wrong. My blood has grown quite cold. I think I saw my future once; it was a long and distant road that led right back to where it began. I seem to understand that it was always me. In the mirror, in the house, inside that home. I guess that I have always known that I’m the ghost.
10.
If war is coming then we better leave town. There’s no use getting sentimental about a stretch of ground. I’ve flipped that hour-glass. I’ve seen that sand fall. I don’t have much time left so I can’t be waiting around for the bombs to fall. I know those bombs would fall on me. Well I’ve been searching for solid ground; hoping not to hear that horrible sound. But if I’ve left my ideals behind, why the fuck would I believe that peace can still be found? So let those rays of hate delve into me. Just let those rays of hate delve into me.

credits

released July 12, 2013

All songs written and recorded by Tea Leaves
Art by Paul Jacobs

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Tea Leaves Windsor, Ontario

Southern Ontario folk rock for the guilty and the damned. The forest is always watching.

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