Burn Pygmalion

Tracklist + Lyrics:

1. Community Gardens (ft. Louie Zong)

   full disclosure, i am a monster
   a creature of despair, not that that should be a cause for concern
   if there's one thing i've learned in all my years here
   it's that despair is less abundant in those who understand
   how to plant their hearts in community gardens

   you'll be fine you honeycomb
   who could ever hurt you? who could be so cold?
   you'll be fine oh honeypie
   who could ever hurt you? who could be so unkind?

   the culmination of man's mistakes
   came the day the sun ran so hot, it turned the desert to glass
   if there's something to be learned from all these LOSERS...
   it's that the price that you pay
   for arrogance and a false sense of immunity
   is to face the wrath of a dying star

   you'll be fine you honeycomb
   who could ever hurt you? who could be so cold?
   you'll be fine oh honeypie
   who could ever hurt you? who could be so unkind?

   the years have been hard on this lonely heart
   if you want to know the truth
   there's no more community gardens
   so i guess i'll have to settle for you

   (this is dolly parton, singing "jolene"
   yep!
   we should cover that.
   we should.
   1 2 3 4!)

2. Death, Thrice Drawn

   hotshot, have you got a clue how long i've been pining for you?
   spent so many sleepless nights in unbaptized decline
   but in our parallel minds, we were just killing time
   til our collision catalyst

   the awful truth has eluded you for too long
   uh oh, everything you know is all wrong

   there is no substance left for the wyrm to eat itself
   such callow uncertainty in these pantomime end times
   sucks to be an optimist in this listless dissolution
   it's just a triptych in decay

   the awful truth has eluded you for too long
   uh oh, everything you know is all wrong

   i hope you know
   that you can trust me, baby it's just me
   i hope you know
   that you don't owe me, oh girl you own me
   i hope you know
   you're really special, you're so next-level
   i hope you know
   how much i believe in you

   it's quiet now, i doubt if any thoughts will ever come again
   but there's a sense of some lone consequence, wheezing down my neck
   it's fine, we're fine, i'm doing everything i'm supposed to do
   i'd burn it all, i'd set the world on fire
   just to be with you

3. Do You Believe Me

   my internal compass is all askew
   i know it's got nothing to do with us
   right?
   never felt so messed up over anyone
   i know it's got nothing to do with us
   nothing to do with you

   but things will calm down soon
   i'll drink up every second i have with you

   do you believe me when i tell you
   your light outshines every person i know?
   do you want to go to the party?
   i want to show you off to every person i know
   don't hide yourself
   don't hide yourself from me
   are you coming to my show?
   no, you don't have to go

   do you believe me?

4. Jeanine

   jeanine, you're being followed by the ghost of what i can't absolve
   say you wanna go somewhere?
   so do i
   by now we're often saying our closing thoughts
   but tonight... something's hanging off of your tongue

   do you find yourselve at the edge of my ocean?
   tip-toeing 'round the broken glass in the sand?
   when you're feeling well
   maybe we can do something together

   jeanine you're giving off these psychic waves
   have you heard the news? no one's doing that these days
   let's not play these games
   (jeanine)
   love is just a name
   (why don't you ever say what you mean)
   for you to call me by
   (are you frightened of me? or the person you're leaving behind)

   i milked a fable from your eye
   the rawness of it made me cry too
   but to be honest i would like it if you would cry more than you do

   i'm just barely keeping up with my constant unraveling
   you're so together, it embarrasses me
   but your grace in the face of my apex terror
   makes me feel so secure

   guess it doesn't really matter if you're open or not
   i'm verbose enough for the both of us
   and we can't all be open floodgates after all
   but you don't have to be a dam for me

   just like the smote cedars in the yard
   i've fallen so hard for you
   don't you know i'm obsessed with you too?
   when i told you i get crushed by my own ambitions
   you said "girl, ain't you ever happy?"
   (no)

5. Pygmalion

   stealing a part of pygmalion's heart
   isn't so hard if you play your part
   and you're not afraid to disengage

   you stab at your prize, chiseling fear in her eyes
   you know it sounds bad, but you love seeing her sad
   you love someone you can shape
   who has no will to escape

   but you know she's not selfish
   like everyone else is
   she won't leave you lonely
   she's gonna make you whole
   but how do you know she won't seize control?
   she ain't worth a goddamn
   in anyone else's hands

   you've got real potential
   but you lack the essentials
   you're just a monster with a BFA
   she wants to claw your eyes open
   so you can see, she's not a plaything

   you covet her warmth, like a wolf at a corpse
   so it's fair to assume, your intent's to consume her
   and she lets you feed cause her love's in need

   and you don't even panic when her flesh turns to granite
   'cause girls of her kind are so easy to find
   you think that you're such a star. ha!
   what a fraud you are.
   the only gift you possess is your viciousness

   you've got real potential
   but you lack the essentials
   you're just a monster with a BFA
   she wants to claw your eyes open
   so you can see, she's not a plaything

6. Starstruck

   sylvia, you are a fugitive on the run
   not sure from what
   every day, you're like a different girl
   who are you trying to fool?

   sylvia it's such a pleasure to know the real you

   i still get a little starstruck
   baby you shine so bright
   and you still give me butterflies
   oh baby you shine so bright

   sylvia, do i measure up
   to the monolith of celebrity?
   though i do feel rather leviathan
   as a faithful shadow in your burning glow

   sylvia, please tell me the rumors aren't true
   sylvia, it'd be such an honor to meet the real you

   i still get a little starstruck
   baby you shine so bright
   and you still give me butterflies
   oh baby you shine so bright
   bright enough to light me up

   oh, you are my one true believer
   i am your timid ambassador
   i'll talk you up baby
   then they'll all know you're the real thing

   i'm gonna find you looming
   turning the fog silver and alive
   oh, i could die under your sightless glow

7. Your Vicious Kin

   you promised me you'd never be my torturer
   for such a nice girl you sure do talk like a freak
   i started out as estelle, now i see myself as more of an inez
   honey you've really brought out my inner sadist

   we've got hearts of children
   but children can be so malicious
   your vicious kin are infecting me
   now i'm becoming one of them

   caught in the grip of the icy fingers of malaise
   "honey you should've known better than to trust her"
   it follows me like a second self, a malignant shadow
   honey it couldn't be better than it is with you

   we've got hearts of children
   but children can be so malicious
   your vicious kin are infecting me
   now i'm becoming one of them
   one of you

8. Admire the Architecture

   meanwhile, on the roof
   jeannie considers the vastness of the countryside
   the darkness of the mountains
   jeannie's accustomed to bright lights and people
   she finds the quiet emptiness unnerving and impervious

   she's only staying her cause sylvia asked her to
   now that she's gone away, what's she supposed to do?
   tend to the garden and admire the architecture...
   while her personality pills like a worn-out t-shirt

   she was a journalist - wrote for the sunday pages
   'til a young starlet captured her fascination
   still caught up in the whirlwind, the past months are a blur
   she tries to trace the lines... they tangle in her mind

   she only loves her 'cause she's beautiful and sweet
   complex and mysterious, and mildly delirious
   she's also something of an exhibitionist
   but jeannie loves her and that's all that matters to her now

   hey there superstar, don't forget you made you what you are
   who put you on their radar?
   sweet talk on the phone
   ugly doubts that won't leave me alone

9. Sylvia's Just a Dying Fad

   meanwhile, on the roof
   jeannie considers the vastness of the countryside
   the darkness of the mountains
   jeannie's accustomed to bright lights and people
   she finds the quiet emptiness unnerving and impervious

   she's only staying her cause sylvia asked her to
   now that she's gone away, what's she supposed to do?
   tend to the garden and admire the architecture...
   while her personality pills like a worn-out t-shirt

   she was a journalist - wrote for the sunday pages
   'til a young starlet captured her fascination
   still caught up in the whirlwind, the past months are a blur
   she tries to trace the lines... they tangle in her mind

   she only loves her 'cause she's beautiful and sweet
   complex and mysterious, and mildly delirious
   she's also something of an exhibitionist
   but jeannie loves her and that's all that matters to her now

   hey there superstar, don't forget you made you what you are
   who put you on their radar?
   sweet talk on the phone
   ugly doubts that won't leave me alone

10. Jeannie... You're a Tragedy

    what's up with you, girl?
    yeah, i know, you're such a superstar
    does it make you feel like you really made it
    when you leave me hanging like this?

    well, i'm not gonna make the first move
    if you don't even give a goddamn
    god DAMN, what's happened to our friendship?
    like, i miss you all the time, but

    girl, don't you do me wrong
    girl, don't you do me harm
    girl, don't you do me wrong
    girl, you do you

    don't do me wrong, girl
    shit, i can't even score an RSVP
    to the balls you throw for charity
    say i'll "distract from all the tragedies"

    don't do me wrong girl
    why do you crop me out of all of our pics?
    you make me call you through your publicist!
    it breaks my heart

    i don't mean to be bitter
    i just feel a little insecure
    but when you send me love from your podiums
    it does help to reassure

    i know my survival is like, so boring
    but i've got nothing else to give
    and if you came calling, honey
    oh, i'd come running back
    every time, although...

    girl, don't you do me wrong
    girl, don't you do me harm
    girl, don't you do me wrong
    girl, you do you

11. Emotional Vagrant

    i hear you're still living as an emotional vagrant
    with bright red vacancy signs blaring in your eyes
    well my heart might be shot, but at least i've still got one

    maybe you should try meditating on your wrongs
    i do it all the time and it really helps me calm the urge
    to desert my woes
    cause if i did, who knows
    what awaits behind the gates of this limbo

    it must be hard to stay ahead of such deadly apathy
    when you become bored so easily
    and every new fixation feels like it'll fix everything

    but you're always finding new ways to feel defective
    is your failure to connect just your way of protecting yourself?
    when your attention starts to wear
    you just can't bring yourself to care
    but in time you're gonna find yourself
    ensnared by your own self-absorption

    can't seem to hang onto a decent mood
    they pass right through you and then fade like a dream
    leaving only hypnopompic howls
    to follow you around all day
    and they don't go away, they just gnaw at you
    until the next soft-hearted sucker comes your way

12. Sleepyhead

    some days life's gonna wear you down, gonna wear you down
    some days life's gonna wear you down, gonna wear you down
    there's dust upon the stairs, the mansion has the air of a tomb
    she hardly leaves her room some days

    i have never been the type to go to church
    and i have never prayed for anyone but her
    but i pray for her each night, dreaming that it might catch her ear
    i hope, my dear, life doesn't wear you down

    the wind is rising
    the sun is shining
    the dawn is breaking
    the world is waking

    the church bells ring
    the choir sings
    the people pray their sins away
    and you feel so odd, so far from god

    the days are dark
    the nights are long
    your heart is tired
    of being strung along

    get out of bed
    you sleepyhead
    it's another chance to start again
    please don't forget that i'm your friend

13. Wrath of the Termite King

    oh no
    looks like it's coming round again
    your vengeful parasite rearing its head
    come to tear us from our high

    how long has it been since you held it close?
    seems like six blissful lifetimes ago
    ah, but that's just how it goes

    it burns me to the core
    but i don't wanna think about it anymore
    it'll render us so precarious
    termites inside our walls

    goddamn! i always hate to let down a fan
    and this is really messing with my head
    i keep zoning out on set

    how long will this follow you?
    it's so bitter that it's lost control of you
    and it thirsts for your destruction

    yeah, it disgusts me to the core
    but you don't have to think about it anymore
    'cause it renders us so precarious
    termites inside our walls

    do you think people are kindness wells to suck dry?
    i hope you shrivel up and die
    you can't touch us here, we're ethereal
    you're just immaterial

14. No Leverage / No Pleasure

    i know you really must feel sorry for me
    'cause i just can't have a normal heart
    and i get so deeply poisoned by love
    so please don't go away and leave me with nothing

    i have no leverage, so i feel no pleasure
    if i can't have you to myself, how can i be happy?
    so please give me kisses, i won't break my promises
    i can be a person if you give me the chance

    yes, i am ascending to a new low
    yes, i feel it spiraling out into everyone
    can you feel me gnawing away at your heart
    and can you hear me when i scream

    i love you

    oh, can you see, you took over me
    you hijacked my mind, not that i want it back
    i want you so bad, i know that it's sad
    it's just how i deal, i can't help how i feel

    look i have no doors, i've torn through the walls
    i've ripped up the floors, laid waste to it all
    i burned up my body, now i have nobody
    can i have you? and can you be everything i need?

    yes, i am ascending to a new love
    yes i feel it spiraling out into everyone
    can you feel me gnawing away at your heart
    and can you hear me when i scream

    i love you
    i need you

15. Crushed Out on Soda Beach

    i tried just burning the whole thing to the ground today
    but decisiveness is such a foreign tenant to my psyche
    it violently and immediately began to reject it
    so i had no choice but to salvage the ravaged remains of our history

    i danced with you in a nightmare
    i was dragging you across the floor
    the radio disrupted by some voyeuristic spirit
    i could hardly stand under the weight of my little crush on you
    and you, so limp in my arms, hardly helped
    so, all that i could do was collapse under you

    you called my bluff, i love you too much
    would you please stay with me?
    cause after all is said and done
    i want you here, stay with me
    i showed my hand and i don't give a damn
    shut the door, stay with me
    cause after all is said and done
    i need you here

16. Bets Against the Void

    these days, your light beams penetrate
    the sorrowed skin that i've been living in
    but still i wait for the piercing pain
    i'll feel when your feelings fade
    i feel so good today

    the sun is just a copper coin
    i flip in bets against the void
    imitating choice
    til i feel good again, i'll keep them in a tin can
    then i'll have copper coins to spare

    will you remember me when our spirits scatter off?
    i know i'm an artist cause i just can't stand the thought
    that a love as beautiful as ours could be
    forgotten