The Stranger

by The Ready Aim Fire!

The Stranger cover art
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about

The songs in this EP were originally written and released when I had just turned 19 years old, working alone under the name ...fire! They were simple and electronic, and everything in the world was always charming all the time. Now I'm 22, and at the suggestion of some kind long-time fans, I decided to revisit the songs and see how they've been holding up. It was an experiment, to be sure, but it turned out to be a hootin-hollerin good ol' time. As for the new versions and the success of the experiment, I can't really say. In my old age, I've lost interest in predicting success or failure. However, since this EP is free of charge, you'd be quite the asshole if you didn't even give them all a good once-over. In any case, I hope all is well with you and yours.
Til next time,
Dave

credits

released 28 July 2009
All music and lyrics written and performed by Dave Trautz (BMI),
Except drums written by Dave Trautz (BMI) and Donavan Foy and performed by Donavan Foy.
All songs Copyright 2009.

Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Dave Trautz at The Wire in Upland, CA.

Artwork by Dave Trautz.

tags

tags: electronic indie pop rock acoustic california dave trautz folk free indie slide guitar the ready aim fire! the stranger walnut Walnut

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Track Name: I Thought I Heard Sirens
You'll never look as beautiful as underneath that buzzing streetlight
Shouting curse words at the night sky with tears streaming from your eyes
But in true classic fashion, I couldn't take cover fast enough
And the falling voices just fell back onto me

I said, "Things'll make more sense when we're back in California"
Yeah, I guess I don't make much sense when I'm not in California

But little did I know that you're composed entirely of cigarettes
And the angry vows you screamed that night were a symphony of empty threats
Oh, but you had my toes tappin, honey
And the melody is still stuck in my head

So I fear the only thing that'll let me get some sleep
Is the music box I found in your chest when we were lying in the street
But back on the coast, it seems your blood boils to electro beats
There's nothing classic about it, there's nothing classic about it

Your words are washing up on the beach
Please stop making sense, please stop making sense
I can't stand it

You said, "Love has this cruel habit of
Not lasting the night, not crossing state lines

So come on,
There are no sirens sounding,
There are no burning buildings falling around us,
So that's not love at all, no, not at all

So come on,
Your lungs aren't collapsing,
I mean, if you're still breathing,
Then really, come on now,
That's not love at all, no, not at all"

Your words are washing up on the beach
Please stop making sense, please stop making sense
I can't stand it
Track Name: Die Young, Get Free Drinks
The haunting view of the girl you left in the rain
The haunting view of that girl that you left in the rain

The boy was high on cheap electric thrill
He felt the rush of moving in for the kill when he said
"There's no one here who knows the things that you feel
I got the same black feeling, got that same black feeling"

He took his guilt and tucked it into a song
And sang it every night like nothing was wrong
Everybody in the joint was always humming along
"I think I know that tune, I think I know that tune

It's been keeping me awake
There's something off that I can't shake
It's been keeping me awake"

The morning that she woke up by his side
He sang the tune that he had wrote that night
And in the melody were all his lies
And the rest of the nights of the rest of her life

Every line brought out another cloud
The chords were wringing all the water out
Beyond the bedroom was a flooding town
"It's really coming down, it's really coming down"

The haunting view of the girl you left in the rain

The whole city's gonna drown tonight
Thanks to you, thanks to you
Track Name: Dept. Of Errors
Keys in the ignition
A passing view of police
A cheap scrap metal ring

And the warmth kept inside

The frost chill on the windshield
Features blur and reshape
Headlights wash the ceiling

To a slow song soundtrack

Oh, low voices, confessions
Quietly tremble
Here it means everything

A stretch of road where no one slows

Watching stars through the sunroof
The distance between us
Track Name: Zero Hour (No Bombs In Sight)
Take two steps back
Mutter something though
There's no one in the room who can hear

And get the hell out of there
But it seems awfully routine
And so you pause at the stairs
Amidst the hospital scene

Turn around, kid

And just pray that she says,
"I'll be your penance, baby, if you need
Although your lifetime of blindness nearly buried me
It's just a goddamn shame that this is what it takes to see"

But you're still in the doorway of that stairwell thinking, "Wouldn't it be easier..."
With your toes hanging off the first step, gravity is on your side, pulling you
'Cause anywhere is better than that hospital bed with the woman that you put in it
But sometime, something has got to change for good.

Turn around
Track Name: In The Diner
At five past midnight
Under a flickering "OPEN" sign
That went out just as soon as I walked through the door

In the diner in late july
I found the meaning of life
And what every patron and waitress that night was waiting for

I sat alone in a back booth
Stumbled over some half truths
About how I was expecting someone, and I'd be needing the extra room

The waitress was listless
Working overtime and double shifts
And staring longingly at the door

The tragic parody of adult life
Was playing out in front of me that night
Like a dream where you wanna run, but your legs have all but died

And I could've sat with some old friends near the front
The uninvited guests in the town we're from
And shared the lives we've lived with the strangers we've become

Or I could've sat on a barstool and had a drink
To forget the things I had to do that week
All the hearts I'd have to break, and all the homes I'd have to leave

Or I could've called over the waitress who came undone
Confessed that I'm not waiting for anyone
And if you'd like, I think you oughta sit with me when you're done

But the door had just finished swinging shut
And the manager was spitting and cursing her luck
The waitress was already gone
Track Name: It's All Under Control
Before long
Things start rusting
Falling apart
"Out of order"

A satellite grown obsolete
Machine guts vs. eternity

But it's only cost efficiency

The engine is tired
Of moving forward, of moving forward...
Of moving forward...
Towards what?
That broken elevator life?

Sometimes two kids wanna fall in love so bad, so bad

Put on your headphones
Go ahead,
Disappear