Credits
FAF is Edwin Roes (guitars, samples & loops), Hans van Lint (vocals, samples), Ed Wernke (drums, percussion), Clemens Steenweg (keyboards, backing vocals), Jan Nieuwenhuis (bass, pedals, 12 strings, backing vocals)
All songs written, arranged and produced by For Absent Friends.
Lyrics Hans, except The Poet (Clemens, Hans), Dreamer (Edwin, Hans).
Drums recorded at Emiel Zwaard Recording, Delft.
Demo’s, guitars and the rest at Moving View studios and in home studios spread across the lowlands.
Mixed at Moving View studios, Wassenaar.
Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, London.
Artwork & design by Bert van Dijk.
Band photo by Greet van Breugel.
1 / Magic [ 4:28 ]
that it’s hydrogen atoms
fusing into helium
and a blast of particles
doesn’t mean that
a sunset isn’t beautiful
it just means that we know how
nature conjures up its magic
and it’s front row seats for all
that it’s chemical
electronics
several billions
of neurons firing
don’t mean that
the love we experience
isn’t real
it just means that we know how
nature conjures up the magic
and lets us celebrate it all
the world is so much richer
when you got it wrong
just follow the
evidence
that it’s replications
of variations
under pressure
of selection powers
don’t mean that
our lives have been
robbed of all meaning
it’s the other way around
when nature conjures up its magic
and lets us celebrate it all
2 / Random Draw [ 5:57 ]
In all our lives
the one thing that we’ve all been given
is this deck of cards
this pool of genes and arbitrary lines
drawn in the sand
around the places we call home
that we mistake...
for castles that we own
In all our lives
the one thing that we’ve all been given
is this random draw
amongst the mums and dads
that were living
and they colored who we are
they took us places
that we call home
that we mistake for castles that we own
and we don’t
and I won’t sit here moaning
‘bout going out
the place to choose
while you’ve spent all your money
losing everything you’ve got to lose
It’s understood
the earth beneath the lives we’re living
is this pale blue dot
that’s spinning round and round
and round and round it goes
oblivious to monkeys
fighting for their rocks
that they call home
mistaking them for castles that they own
and I can’t sit here bloating
‘bout what I think I have achieved
while you’ve put all your money
on promises and wolves and thieves
and I won’t sit here moaning
‘bout going out and the place to choose
while you’ve spent all your money
losing everything you’ve got to lose
a few thousand miles
of air that we can breathe
less than one
out of a hundred cups of water
that we can drink
this random draw
is all we got
3 / The Poet [ 3:22 ]
the poet is blessed
with an aura like Jezus
with a handshake inspiring
both reverence and trust
addressing our needs
like a business man does
the best of the best
and the rest eats the dust
so here it goes
a poem sent down
straight from the tower
the poet dislikes
to be pushed for a truce
to settle for piece
when besieged by fake news
early reports really
don’t look that good
God bless the guns
that protect kids at school
so there it goes
a poem sent down
straight from the tower
two-hundred and eighty
magnificent strokes
it’s bold and it’s true
the hoax is Chinese
there’s a brave new world
waiting for you
so here’s to the women
free press
and to science
to stand-up
to reason
to love
to polite
to great-great-grandchildren
to life
to opt-out
to hope against hope
in a world gone crazy
and there it goes
some say it’s a fact
there’s a socialist pact
and a brave new world
waiting for you
the poet believes
in a world free of lies
in justice and frontiers
of blue-coloured stripes
impregnable values
the wrongs and the rights
America first
given male
given white
so here it goes
a poem sent down
straight from the tower
two-hundred and eighty
magnificent strokes
it’s bold and it’s true
be careful my friend
you’re missing a trend
there’s a brave new world
waiting for you
4 / Between The Lines [ 5:24 ]
if I ever had a chance
I just didn’t take it
the chance to say the words
I just didn’t say them
if I ever made us feel
coming second place
if I ever had
this distance about me
the air as if I
could have done it without you
if I ever made us feel
routine everyday
know that you were inside
like the drum of a heartbeat
in the air I breathe
in the water I need
just like poetry
you can read between the lines
if I ever gave you
the kind of love you wanted
if I didn’t understand
but still gave you comfort
if I ever did
keep it treasured in your heart
if the words that I’d say
were too easy then
too self-assured
to mean anything
if I ever let the doubt
take over you
know that you were inside
like the drum of a heartbeat
in the air I breath
and in the water I need
just like poetry
you can read between the lines
cause every time I thought I was lost
every time I thought I saw you
most of it was spots before my eyes
(in all my life
you were there
when it all was falling down)
every time I thought I knew you
I missed the tell-tale signs of our demise
(I was losing my ground
I am losing my ground)
you can read it
right between the lines
you can read it
between the lines
5 / Keytar [ 4:31 ]
(instrumental)
6 / Disappear [ 7:48 ]
what’s that noise
from down the hall?
these muffled voices
calling someone
where’s a telephone
when you need one?
the place it looks familiar
but something crucial
is missing here
this unexpected mist
that’s moving in
makes me disappear
where are you?
are you there?
why these violent
sentiments
I didn’t do nobody wrong
where’s a loving arm
when you need one?
the room the shadows
on the floor
the walls they look unnatural
this unexpected madness
in the air
makes me disappear
where are you now?
are you there?
I’d like to tell you
just how wonderful it was
to get to know you
but I don’t remember
and I can see the weight it carries
when I don’t recognize
your faces anymore
I disappear
where did all my family go?
I’ve got to let
my parents know
someone should be
calling 911
that silhouette
behind the door
is making me
uncomfortable
this unexpected
violence in the air
make it disappear
makes me disappear
7 / Conversation [ 4:08 ]
in a conversation
that we never had
we were talking
about our childhood
that outside our lives
were worlds apart
and inside
so much felt so alike
and the truth was
something flexible
and it seemed we
laughed and talked
for weeks on end
about the stuff you made
from scraps and shambles
worth all the money
ever spent
and I could see you
so much clearer than
I ever did before
in a conversation
that we never had
we were talking
of boys becoming men
of all the first times
and the last times
how they shaped our lives
our confidence
there were silences
they were comfortable
some things
are better left unsaid
but we could read
between the lines
we knew exactly
what the other meant
and I could hear you
so much louder than
I ever did before
in a conversation
we never had
we looked back at 1981
when I lost my faith
in what is good
and what is right
and you felt you lost your family
and I asked you how and why
and you told me you were sorry
and so did I
so did I
so am I
in a conversation
we never had
I told you how much I love you
how much I’d miss you
when you leave
how much of you I find in me
and I could see you
I’d see you
I see you
so much clearer now
than I ever did before
you stopped breathing
8 / 58 People [ 6:38 ]
58 people on a tram
staring rumbling
in their pockets
work and calls and busy tunes
they fit inside a wafer can
58 people on a tram
look like me
and look at me
weary gaze and vague expressions
climbing up the food chain
58 people on a tram
hasty I love you’s
silent hums
and it’s us and them
man to man
this is here
this is now
completely lost
inside a crowd
this is here
this is now
let me out
58 suits no 59 or 60 something
I’ve lost my count
chasing numbers
like sharks in the shallows
waiting for the kill
58 people on a tram
skip their breakfast
without a blink
and it’s us and them
man to man
this is here
this is now
completely lost
inside a crowd
this is here
this is now
let me out
and let me
see you again
let me
feel you again
58 people on a tram
don’t have a clue
just where I am
close your eyes
and I’m home again
this is here
this is now
completely lost
inside a crowd
this is here
this is now
let me out
9 / Dreamer [ 4:28 ]
I used to dream
flying across water and land
leaving my footprints in the sand
everywhere I’d been
that I was the one
who decided where the wind would blow
making the sunshine, rain or snow
and paint colours into trees
(in every colour that I please)
there’s enough fire to light
enough of this dream to life
there’s enough space and time and strings
to pull us through these waters
if I was the one
who decided where the wind would blow
making the sunshine, rain or snow
everywhere I’d been
I flew to deserts
carrying clouds upon my back
and a rainbow caught up in my sack
to turn sand into green
(some of the brightest that I’ve seen)
there’s enough air to breathe
for all of this life to live
there’s enough space and time and strings
to pull us through these waters
there’s enough fire to spark
enough of this dream to life
there’s enough space and time and strings
to pull us through these waters
there’s enough air to breathe
there’s enough fire to light
there’s enough space and time and strings
there’s enough for us all
there’s enough air
there’s enough for us all
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