Crocodiles

by @sailingmagpie

Crocodiles
sailingmagpie
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Liner Notes

I feel like I often use story songs as a bit of a crutch, as I find writing to structure quite easy. I've therefore decided to challenge myself to write more oblique lyrics this year (or these lyrics are just a load of nonsense and I'm only saying that to make you think there's some reasoning behind it. I guess you'll never know for sure and I hope this doesn't keep you up at night).

Also, I wanted to do a song that might be on a goth's mixtape in 1981.

So this is both of those things.

#newwave #postpunk #dreampop

Lyrics

You're chlorine tears
Accumulate
Bleach your cheeks
It's not too late
To commiserate
And to rescue this tawdry scene

That high pitched whine
Builds in your ears
Can't stand no more
You will always be
Wracked with fear
But you can never be ignored

You won't find crocodiles
You won't find crocodiles
You won't find crocodiles
But crocodiles might find you

I don't know which one is worse
Being me or loving you

Can't sate your hunger
Can't quench your thirst
Can't sate your hunger
Can't quench your thirst
Can't sate your hunger
Can't quench your thirst

Comments

[avatar]
@mikedebenham
Co-dependent teary non-crocodiles. The way we grow around around lacks and absences. Oblique perhaps, but plenty to chew on. Great atmospherics. Love it when you go spooky.
[avatar]
@oddbod
I like the Bauhaus misery of this with that simple beat and bass. Some lovely synth/strings additions. Sounds on the money for inclusion on Now That’s What I Call Depressing Music 7.
[avatar]
@tcelliott
What a great opening line. The oblique seems to agree with you, I'm finding myself intrigued right from the start. The doubled vocal is perfect. That middle couplet is perfect.
[avatar]
@theenglishassassin
Wonderful eerie string sounds that work so well with your vocals.
Perfect bass sound to these 80s-loving ears.
This was goth before some people started calling it darkwave.
Glorious.
[avatar]
@thedutchwidows
Being on a goth's mixtape in 1981 is such a worthy aim, and I'd reckon you'd be there with this. It's spooky, unsettling and yet has that insistent bass that exemplified so much gothiness at that time (not goutiness as autocorrect insists on changing it to, though 1981 goths maybe more interested in gout these days). Oblique lyrics are great, beautiful and evocative.
[avatar]
@owl
Lovely sense of creepy tension, I really like the haunting feel of this one and the sort of unexpected but menacing crocodile imagery.
[avatar]
@antlion
I really like the wide harmony line here, and the bass line. This song feels very... sonically spread out? Like being on a plain. Great vocal and I like the sparse, evocative lyric.
[avatar]
@afterschoolclub
Ooh, I really like the lyrics in this one! The whole thing has a moody and at times unsettling quality that really appealed to me. That bass guitar is a really solid foundation musically too. Enjoyed this!
[avatar]
@vomvorton
This bassline rhythm always reminds me of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, perhaps the most goth song of all time. Also the very start of this song reminded me of @afterschoolclub for some reason, just the sparse intro and first line harmony. I'm having such a hard time writing anything at all that I'm consumed with jealousy over you having an easy mode to fall back on but kudos for pushing out of it because this is really nicely done.
[avatar]
@oatsg
Had a big pre-FAWM chat with my buddy / collaborator about lyrics, and we agreed that elliptical lyrics are where it’s at! In also like the repetition you’ve used. Well done for capturing that early 80s post punk vibe. I have definitely heard songs like this on party mixtapes.
[avatar]
@spikedirection
Something of the early Porcupine Tree about this, haunting, ominous. I love a song with a narrative tbh, but this a very successful experiment at going the other way. I hope you like what you get out of it, because I do!
[avatar]
@balancelost
I'm definitely a fan of oblique lyrics. I think it's nice to let the listener take whatever meaning they want from them and it's harder to do that with story songs. This is not a million miles away from the Cocteau's darker moments, albeit with much clearer lyrics, and I think those set serve the music really well, plus I can sing the final chorus when I've just consumed an inadequate snack.
[avatar]
@mobiusx2
Definitely feels like something on an old mix tape. Love the dark atmosphere.
[avatar]
@chariotbaldwin
As a kid from the 80's ... you rocked this big time (lyrically) - Great chorus, brilliant bridge, powerful first verse, slightly confusing second verse - unless that was intentional?

It's good that you're giving yourself personal challenges creatively. that's where a lot of growth and skill develops. I did a Death Metal song in my first FAWM and had a blast doing it. It was fun reading and learning about that songwriting style.

Keep writing!
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