Green Light

2 weeks ago by @adforperu

Liner Notes

Christ, this went through a few iterations. This started out as a fuzzy power-pop guitar song with some ridiculous melisma going on. Then I found this lovely synth pad that I liked - then I decided I didn't like the vocal melody - then I decided the beat was too much - then I binned off the vocals completely and thought about it being an instrumental - BUT THEN.. I remembered how much I've loved doing spoken word songs over the years. I've been uploading some of my short stories to Substack (https://substack.com/@adamfollett909020), most of which were written at least a year ago. However I started a story about a month ago that I've been refining, and I decided I wanted to adapt it into a song. So here it is! If you subscribe, you'll get to read the proper full story itself when I get round to finishing it..

I'm not going to tell you how to enjoy my song, but maybe reading along with the lyrics as I speak them is probably the best way

#spokenword #synthwave

Lyrics

i shouldn’t tell you this story
it’s uncomfortable, and messy
the kind of story you’d bet your house on being fiction
but it’s the god’s honest truth

Two teenage brothers
four years between them
their parents, both astronauts, dead.
halfway to the stars
a single firework in the sky
now the boys live with grandma

the older boy
once a bookish 17 year old
now a school drop out
smoking
drinking
petty crimes
the younger boy
a recluse
locks himself away
plays a video tape of his parents aboard the international space station
on repeat
dad holds the camera
mum weeps
as they look out the window back at earth
“look, boys” mum says “the sky is alive"
it’s the aurora borealis
the northern lights
the younger boy’s face up against the screen as
ribbons of green aura dance above the curve of our planet
he rewinds and watches it again

the older boys runs away from home
he’s staying with a girl in the next town
weeks pass
months
then one night, 2am
stones against the younger boys window
“let’s go to the countryside, bro” says the older boy
“high chance of solar activity”

they steal grandma’s 5-seater
they punch the postcode of a reservoir into the sat nav
older boy drives, younger boy navigates
the older boy, three pints in his system
craning his neck, eyes fixed on the sky
misses the stop sign
misses the red light

grandma’s 5-seater kisses a drystone wall
flips
rolls
and the brothers, no seatbelts, are thrown from the car
older boy hits the asphalt
a sickening crunch
the younger boy
lighter, projected further
back crack against the traffic light post
no movement
but with brotherly telepathy
they open their eyes at the same time
smile at the absurdity of it all

younger boy looks up
the pole swaying
and the traffic light falls upon him
his head punching through the back
the unit resting on his shoulders like a bizarre fancy dress costume
flashing red, then amber, then green
“aurora borealis!” he screams
over and over and over
hoping his brother could see them too

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