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Empty Vessels

by The Republic Of Wolves

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1.
I'm shrugging off the cold Just to be polite I'm living like a prophet With stage fright I'm falling into place But still the timing's not right Yeah that's a fire I just can't seem to light Never wanted to repeat myself It's better now to just say nothing Been living off of borrowed words For way too long But have you had the honor yet Of ever being truly hopeless? Have you just been pretending like me? I'm tracking down the cold Now that it's finally gone I'm living like a prophet Who can't move on I'm falling into place But still the timing's all wrong Well I guess I just can't wait that long And I feel like I'm always running out My palette's gone all gray again So it's no surprise that all we heard Was the screaming of the wind 'Cause that is all I've ever been Feels like I'm always running out My palette's gone all gray again So there's no surprise when all you hear Is a record on repeat 'Cause that is all I'll ever be.
2.
A pastor swept away my wrongs, He put my mind at ease He cannot do that for himself He cannot change what he's seen. So he and I drove to the creek, And fished out some poor souls The men who'd seen a bit too much And couldn't keep their mouths shut. But I guess it's fair enough. I'm a fortune they never told, Afraid that I won't come true I've been copying out the charts I found And stole from you How can anyone face a consequence They can't understand? I had a dream that nobody could fall asleep And it was all my fault, for all my disbelief Some original sin I couldn't take back Said I was sorry, "but maybe it's meant to be." And you were there, Telling me how ashamed you were And suddenly I felt no more guilt. A chemist pulled me to his side, Said he loathed what he had done He had worked away his days To give my God a different name. We built an orchard out of words That had left their meanings And since I felt their shade, I've found that everything is sickeningly simple When you strip it down. And I think that everybody goes home alone When the daylight dies. Did you know that we don't make sense When you bring us into the light? How can anyone face a consequence? I just don't know. So I'll hide away my name Until I finally hear the letters breaking down, Until the consonants and vowels resemble us.
3.
You thought you could free the slaves By filling out the proper paperwork 'Till you turned out all your pockets And realized they never were You pulled your kids out of the public school And resigned to your irreverence And you set a torch to the old duck blind Where your heartache took up residence You were all dressed up But you didn't know what All the commotion inside you was for What did we expect After all that shame? Some familiar stretch of crippling faith? What did we expect After all that fear? Some inheritance To make the past run clear? Thought we could concentrate just hard enough To let those feelings in We were both stuck in the turning lane But that's where we've always been I guess we took our love in one big dose And retired to the peasantry Saying "paradise exists But it is locked away inside our memories" You couldn't sit still Not while you knew well That all the commotion Was held in your name.
4.
I was up to my neck in apologies For the war they had waged over me Two ill-tempered ideas Tearing down the house Guess I've been loaning it out To the wrong crowd So there's another heart That plays the part of mine Forgetting all the lines But it beats right And I'm off to the side Or somewhere in the seats Just trying to keep the peace Did we forget the cost (Something got me to give you up) Of living good and lost? (Someone told me there's no "enough") Our loyalties divided (Somehow took it to mean the worst) And cast across (If there's a reason just make sure that you get there first) I was down with the strays seeking charity Wondering if I could seem deserving Couldn't see what became of the family crest A realization my pride couldn't digest But if there's another key That gets you through the door You won't know what it was for 'Till it's too late 'Cause I'm diving through the trash And there's nothing but belief All rotten in the heat I couldn't get it past you The pain that had gotten used to me While you planted salt like seeds In my every open wound The tireless glare of the brake lights The collars that hugged us too tight The crack of my caustic voice Made a mockery of me A travesty of what I tried to be But did you get there first Or did the vessels burst? Did we offend the water And die of thirst? My head is going south Just trying to hammer out A less complicated route To the wrong place And I couldn't bear the cross So I'm holding it aloft Just auctioning it off.
5.
We're all holding onto banisters 'Cause it's a long way It's a long way down And the enemy of common sense Is a loose grip in a steep stairwell So toss me to and fro 'Till I condemn the very scent Of being still And we'll litter all the way Shed all our trappings For the rest to wade through No matter how narrow is our path And we could never name our burdens Still they pained us all the same I never knew my context But that's just fine Yeah I'm stuck outside of my shaking mind I never felt an insight So ill-defined Never compromise if you've still got time So we're all ordaining ministers 'Cause we can't keep No we can't keep clean We've been deferring to a hypocrite With a kind voice and a loud idea He divided up the races With a pencil and the book of Genesis And sorted us into companies and colonies All pitted up against each other No matter how common is our cause I was a visionary 'till I sold my vision You were a missionary who misplaced your mission I collected up my fillings and my crowns And went to sleep without a sound To distribute all my thoughts Among inanimate depictions Of myself.
6.
There's a flock that I must tend Where each looks the same as the next But there's some that don't belong And I'm smoking them out Still I'm afraid that it might hurt 'Cause they've all been with me since birth An assignment that I wish I had declined I've been strung up in my belief A humanism that does not apply to me That makes excuses for my knees Like I've been leaning on the inconsistencies There's a cold that I must catch Living well in all that I've said And I feel it coming on Unless it's all in my head But you were up at 2 AM Figuring out what it meant That all those sins were really sicknesses And nobody's to blame Oh, if I could go an hour Without wondering what chapter I am in Maybe I'd find the plot There's a flock that I must tend Grazing inside of my head But there's some that don't belong So I'm giving them hell.

about

"Empty Vessels" is a Digital EP of acoustic/alternate versions of songs from The Republic Of Wolves album "No Matter How Narrow."

credits

released December 16, 2013

All Songs Written by The Republic Of Wolves.
Produced By The Republic Of Wolves
Mixed and Mastered by Mason Maggio
Cover Art By Billy Duprey

The Republic Of Wolves is: Gregg Andrew Dellarocca, Mason Maggio, Christian Van Deurs, and Billy Duprey

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