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Somewhere Close to Near

by Stephen Rippy

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lamplighting, Anvil: War of Heroes Original Soundtrack, Chemistry of Confusion, Dungeon Boss Original Soundtrack, Mainland Static, Points, Diplomacy of Distance, Somewhere Close to Near, and 1 more. , and , .

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1.
Lights go out The street winds down just out of sight Listen to you breathe As the sky meets the night A dream set in red, black, and white To the wilderness and back We carry on Torn apart and turned around Nowhere is too far away To find the best part of a perfect day And chase it down Hours pass While you rise above the routine Threading through Gunmetal gray, emerald green The best looking part of the scene Sort the diamonds and debris For what it’s worth Silver stars from rusted ground Nothing is too much to pay To find the best part of a perfect day And chase it down In your moment of weakness, I’ll be strong Be my voice of reason when I’m wrong Sunday gold and nocturne blue My friend, my love, my life is here with you Giving years to memory We make that trade As the clock becomes unwound No time is too much delay To find the best part of a perfect day And chase it down
2.
Hidden messages in signs along the freeway Made up from the letters that burned out Loaded question from an accidental asker: “Is this really what your life’s about?” Claiming a peak that’s always just out of reach When the valley’s so low, the climb so rough Afraid that the weight of years will wear you down ‘Til nothing feels too bad or good enough Seemed like more when you were younger - Eyes out the window, heart in your mouth Knocked around, you cut off your dreams To spite your soul and soon headed south So often, the ID thieves and hangers-on They manage to monopolize the day And for every time they drag you down to this point You’re surprised at what you gave to stay Gone away, she’s gone away But, of course, you know She’s surely out there still Gone away, she’s gone away And though you could not keep her Someone else surely will The echo of her voice is all she left to hold Caught by the tape recorder, stopped from growing old History and heartbreak, regret in solid-state 11:55 - just missed her at the gate Aching starts behind your eyes and swells like feedback The crest of a wave that could split glass Afraid that the weight of miles will wear you down You turn around under the overpass Patina of noise and flutter Starting to color your way-back-when Lost in that magnetic moment Rewound and played again and again
3.
Kinetoscope pictures strung out in a line Parceled-out images, focused and fine For all of the mistakes that may have been mine Know this is not what I meant The great traitor of my personality Taking on more than could be good for me Well, though it’s not much of an apology Know this is not what I meant No, this is not what I meant For more than it’s worth to hold onto this life You shelter your family, your child, your wife Forgiveness and fear balance on the same knife But this is not what you meant I know this is not what you meant In the stillness between second hand stops Breaking into a thousand regrets When the penny drops Kinetoscope pictures strung out in a row In the direction this time has to flow The flash and the silence and nowhere to go Know this is not what I meant If the bridge holds, if this moment won’t stop There’s no turning around for us now In the stillness between second hand stops Breaking into a thousand regrets When the penny drops
4.
Cut back all the weeds That had grown through the floor Filled in a few walls That weren’t there anymore I’m better than I was Maybe not what I used to be Especially at night When the quiet gets the best of me No heralding wind For an oncoming train It’s heavy and dark But it’s out of the rain Some days you cross my mind But those are thoughts I can’t allow ‘Cause if there’s blame to spread You know I could have found it by now Got to cauterize the past It’s the only way to last In the exclusion zone The day the sun touched the ground The day the forest took back the street The day it all turned around Should have watched what I wished for The loneliness takes my breath This shell of my home Echoes laughter and tears Stopped counting the time Since someone knew me here Seems like a waste to pay Attention to all that tension Whatever happened then Here and now is my own invention Sticking to the substantive It’s the only way to live In the exclusion zone
5.
Clouds roll in and the air blows clean Balance of gunmetal gray And emerald green Clouds roll in just like every spring But somehow the ease of familiar Doesn’t offer anything I’m so sorry My heart breaks for you To the north for a change of scene Balance of gunmetal gray And emerald green To the north, now the years have flown Still not enough time to prepare you Even if you could have known I’m so sorry My heart breaks for you Well, sympathy’s no solution Regret isn’t restitution Cold comfort’s no contribution But they’re all I have to give Such is life: jagged velveteen Balance of gunmetal gray And emerald green Such is life; so easy to say But even the best of intentions Will not will the worst away I’m so sorry My heart breaks for you
6.
Portmanteau 01:59
7.
Glass Empire 04:09
Oceans cut the land Into pieces on which we stand We gave it a try Lost the map before the ink was dry Heat wave settles in How long ‘til the bloodshots begin? A night for eyesores All the damage makes me miss you more Meteor shower falls on the hour Hands out to hold back the wind It’s my glass empire to defend March through the malaise This job’s never worth what it pays Cinder blocks laid bare Flashes hanging frozen in the air Passing time peeling paint from the ceiling Snapshots paid for on the lend Were our glass empires to defend Well, I may not be the voice of my life and times But I’ve got a feeling it’s enough to be here The fight and the fear My heart hangs heavy And you’re nowhere close to near My long memory Isn’t what it’s cracked up to be Just second-hand blue Wish I could have done better by you Staggering from those collateral blows Love is fragile ‘til the end It’s a glass empire to defend
8.
Letter to you, whom it may concern A message from the outside 10:06 and all is well for now Godspeed the rest of your ride That easy weightlessness I want it, I confess ‘Cause me, I’m grounded by anticipation Consider this an open invitation To crash my life Memo to an endonautic friend With whom I’ve much to discuss Soon they’ll be lined up around the block But for a time it’s just us This quiet’s not by choice I think you lost my voice But still, offered without qualification, Consider this an open invitation To crash my life Every now and then The crows go walking by my eyes And time and again My comb finds a silver surprise Well, I’m not old yet, child I’m gonna make it worth your while To begin to be And grow up with me So to conclude before Signing off truly yours Forget about a prior reservation Consider this an open invitation To crash my life
9.
Rain to bus to rain, pavement, and sky Radio crackles a blue streak These aching temples give no quarter Long way to come to feel so meek Don’t even know if you’re awake But something in me says it just might take Six months to notice that I left this week Music filtered through the gauze of time Exotic shadows smile at me The diplomat bar asks no questions ‘Cause atmosphere is currency It’s double what I can’t afford Jetlag-wasted and a little bored I find the elevator and my key Heart full of clouds again Head full of doubt It’s been too long For my excuses to ring true Heart full of clouds What did I get myself into? Looking for a view not of you Footsteps of an improbable past Up a stairway that never ends The top of the world knows no borders And makes no enemies or friends I wonder which you think I’d claim Though being lonely was never my aim How often do we get what we’d intend? Heart full of clouds again Head full of doubt But then, they’ve wandered that way More times than a few Heart full of clouds Until the reckoning is through Looking for a view not of you I’ll make my peace with this Whatever else I do Looking for a view not of you
10.
For all the damage that was done We leave a lot of good For all the dreams that this would last Of course it never could If it’s my nature to be surprised It’s sure not my intent ‘Cause change is something to expect When the money has been spent Brighter times are coming I’d like to think that’s right But for now I’ll settle in And wait out this long night There was a truth to separate From all the lies that bind There were the promises we made And never got behind If it’s my nature to hold a grudge It’s sure not my intent Don’t want to push back memories Just to wonder where they went Brighter times are coming I need to have that hope But for now I’ll settle in And find my way to cope The ship has left the harbor and sailed to sea Good luck with what you’re searching for Good luck to me And should we meet on some unexpected day I hope we’ll have it in us Not to look the other way However many years have passed With nothing much to show However wronged we may have been It’s time to let it go If it’s my nature to have regrets It’s sure not my intent There’s nothing reached for wishing There’s nothing left in that lament Brighter times are coming I do believe that’s true So for now I’ll settle in And count on something new
11.
Early in the year But closing out the day You arrived on the wind That swept the swirling sand away Six and thirty Thursdays Counted off the time The ticking of the tempo Reaching for a love sublime Now the weary world winds down The sun sheds one last beam Turn your face toward the stars And with the angels, dream Rubber to the road Headlong into a wait Genetic disposition Suggested you might be late Six and thirty Thursdays Crashing with the tide A lunar pull to see all of this From another side Evening shadows swell the banks To float the light downstream Turn your face toward the stars And with the angels, dream Slow dissolve to nocturne blue While silence sets the theme Turn your face toward the stars And with the angels, dream

credits

released March 10, 2009

Recorded, mixed, and lived with by Stephen Rippy at:
Big Al Productions Studios (McKinney, TX)
Big Al Productions Studios (Plano, TX)
November, 2006 – March, 2009

Cover design and photography by Stephen Rippy
Band photograph by Herr Kamerageist

BIG AL
Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Acoustic and Electric Pianos, Basses
Drum Kit, Mandolin, Melodica, Organ, Percussion, Synthesizer, Vocals

Music and words by Stephen Rippy (ASCAP)
©2009 Big Al Productions
“Thanks for listening!”

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Stephen Rippy Dallas, Texas

Stephen Rippy is a Texas-based game soundtrack composer; notable releases include the "Age of Empires" series, "Halo Wars," "CastleVille," and "Dungeon Boss."

Maintaining a separate body of work as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Stephen has independently released numerous solo albums as well as 2 EP's with Dallas band The Presumptions.
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