Miserabilism
INTROSPECTION WITH AN EDGE
Since the brooding concept album “Myotonic“, State of Mind has ruthlessly explored the darkest corners of the human psyche.
But the new digital release – the ironically named “Miserabilism” – adds an edge of defiance to the gloom. The rhythmic feel has become more direct – occasionally bordering on upbeat. And the distorted guitars (first introduced on the sonic experimentations of “Why Can’t This Noise“) adds noise pop and krautrock aesthetics to a the electronic soundscapes. Especially on a number of songs featuring guest artist Morten Barnekov Johansen on bass.
Interspersed between the songs are short, improvisational interludes named “Promenades” (after the similar movements of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhitibition”).
But as always, the impact of the album relies on the art of classic songwriting – indebted to gifted outsiders like Daniel Johnston and Serge Gainsbourg.
Tracks
- The Mess You Made
- The familiar feeling
- Promenade #1
- It Wasn’t Me
- When I’m Gone
- Promenade #2
- How Can Anyone
- The Purpose of It All
- Promenade #3
- My Little Centre of the Universe
- It Can’t Be Done
- Stay Where I Am
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The Mess You Made
Step into the parlour
The writing’s on the wall
I heard you saying
You’d illuminate us all
About the mess you made
About the mess you made
We’re not pointing fingers
And we hate to place the blame
But every search we do
Just comes up with your name
And the mess you made
And the mess you made
You’re only faking
But one day you’ll have to learn
You’ve been around the world
But you can not return
To the mess you made
To the mess you made
This is so painful
That it soon becomes a bore
We talked for hours
Then we have to talk some more
Of the mess you made
Of the mess you made
The winner takes it all
And someone has to lose
You must have heard
There’s no legitimate excuse
For the mess you made
For the mess you made
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The familiar feeling
The familiar feeling
That you don’t really know
You can say that you lost it
But it won’t let you go
The familiar feeling
Now it’s all said and done
You would think it was over
It’s not even begun
The familiar feeling
And it comes down to this:
Now you got what you wanted
You don’t know what it is
The familiar feeling
All the time that you spent
Wishing you were somewhere
Only not where you went
The familiar feeling
Of directions gone wrong
You call this your home town
But you do not belong
The familiar feeling
And it comes down to this:
Now you got what you wanted
You don’t know what it is
The familiar feeling
But before you can speak
Find the strength you require
To admit that you’re weak
The familiar feeling
That the passage of time
Has erased every memory
Of a horrible crime
The familiar feeling
And it comes down to this:
Now you got what you wanted
You don’t know what it is
The familiar feeling
And it comes down to this:
Though you took what you wanted
You don’t know what it is
×
Promenade #1
(Instrumental)
×
It Wasn’t Me
You say he hurt you
You say that he’s to blame
For your suspicion
That in the end we’re all the same
It’s hard to fight it
When the fear is strong
But if you let me
I’ll try to prove you wrong
That wasn’t me
It wasn’t me
I don’t know who
Did this to you
It wasn’t me
It wasn’t me
Your accusations
You know they hurt me too
Why was I drinking?
I didn’t know what else to do
I can’t remember
What on earth that knife was for
You were still breathing
When I left you on the floor
That wasn’t me
It wasn’t me
Who lives instead
Inside my head?
It wasn’t me
It wasn’t me
×
When I’m Gone
Life will go on
Without me
You will have fun
Without me
You’ll hardly know the difference
When I’m gone
The sun will shine
Without me
You’ll be just fine
Without me
Pretty much as usual
When I’m gone
You’ll never get a second try
So just stop asking why
Don’t live your life without regrets
You’ll need all you can get
It’s not the end
Without me
You’ll meet your friends
Without me
It’s no change to speak of
When I’m gone
You’ll start again
Without me
I can’t say when
Without me
Life goes on forever
When I’m gone
Whether I am here or not
Won’t really change the plot
What if I died years ago
And I’m the last to know?
×
Promenade #2
(Instrumental)
×
How Can Anyone
You might call it hope
Call it ignorance so far beyond belief
But I see it helps you cope
As you face a world of grief
With all the sadness in their eyes
With all the lonely tears they cry
How can anyone, how can anyone
With all expectations gone
How can anyone, how can anyone
Keep calm and carry on
Does it mean that you are strong
That your actions carry force and consequence?
Or would it just be wrong
To pretend you’re making sense?
With all the sadness in their eyes
With all the lonely tears they cry
How can anyone, how can anyone
With all expectations gone
How can anyone, how can anyone
Keep calm and carry on
With all the sadness in their eyes
With all the lonely tears they cry
How can anyone, how can anyone
With all expectations gone
How can anyone, how can anyone
Keep calm and carry on
×
The Purpose of It All
The morning sun will find you
Thinking back on when
You had something to give
You lock the door behind you
And tell yourself again
That you’ll just have to live
Without ever having known
A space to call your own
Without ever having felt
That you were not alone
Without ever having found
A way to break your fall
Without ever having seen
The purpose of it all.
The night will find you right there
After one more day
You could not comprehend.
Here comes your usual nightmare:
That it will be this way
Until the end.
Without ever having known
A space to call your own
Without ever having felt
That you were not alone
Without ever having met
The one to break your fall
Without ever having seen
The purpose of it all.
×
Promenade #3
(Instrumental)
×
My Little Centre of the Universe
My little centre of the universe
So how are you?
Is everything okay?
My little centre of the universe
Do you like it here
Or have you lost your way?
With strangers all around
You really cannot say
If anyone will ever be your friend.
And as you realize
You’ve made it all this way
You’re wondering how it will end.
My little centre of the universe
You had a dream
That you would take it far
My little centre of the universe
But aren’t you proud
You got to where you are?
Born into this world
Where no one has to care
You made the rules up on your own
Then you realized
There’s no way to compare
When in the end it’s all you’ve ever known
But as the centre of the universe
How can it be
You feel you don’t belong?
My little centre of the universe
Don’t say a word
We knew it all along
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It Can’t Be Done
If I could write a book
To tell you what I know
You’d think that I was mad
You’d never see below
So what?
I never will
It can’t be done
It can’t be done
If I could paint a picture
To show you what I’ve seen
You’d just close your eyes
And label it obscene
Who cares?
I never could
It can’t be done
It can’t be done
If this song could make you
Feel the way I do
You’d wish you never heard
Regret you ever knew
But no
It’s not this one
It can’t be done
It can’t be done
×
Stay Where I Am
Over the hill
I see a light
That must be the place
Where everything’s bright
And if I go there
All will be well
Forever and ever
And I say to myself
Better stay where I am
Better stay where I am
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