FAWM: "For the ants"

For the ants

4 days ago by @theodamus

Skirmish: Sweets for ... (@wylddandelyon)

For the ants

theodamus

00:00

Liner Notes

The skirmish prompt was “sweets for….” eg Ice cream for bears.

It’s summer here and the ants are everywhere. My flatmates and I catch each other drumming little rhythms on the sink so they scurry away before we turn the tap on, gentle parenting them about water safety and trying not to leave anything out to set them up for success, but no matter what we do, even if we washed every single one away the ants will outlive and outsmart us all. This is for the ants. All sweets are for the ants. Everything is for the ants.

I’m not sure if it’s nonsense or an allegory.

Skirmish notes - I wrote it in the hour which fell really nicely between finishing work at 5pm then jumping into a meeting at 6pm - couldn't record during that time because work, so I came back and did more of a full job of recording later than I would have if playing properly by skirmish rules (recording took about an hour, so 2 hours all up)

Garageband drums are a placeholder, guitars and vocals me.
At this point I think I will be fully screaming by the end of FAWM, better go do some exercises

#rock #alternativerock #heavy

Lyrics

I wake up, it gets harder every time I do it, but
there’s a cup of coffee in my memory
that i’m trying to find even though I know that
I stopped drinking coffee a long time ago

I sit down, and its further down than I remember
being on the ground has always felt like coming home
even though it’s the lowest of the low
I made my peace with how much lower I could go

I’ve got everything I need and everything I eat I drop a little
every crumb a seed I watch you carry home
all for one for me, and all for free until I slip a little
pick it up and carry on

Wake me up, there’s a city in the polystyrene wall
shut it out, many thousands should be so so loud
loud enough to fell a forest by the tree
and loud enough to disappear without a sound

I’ve got everything I need and everything I eat I drop a little
every crumb a seed I watch you carry home
all for one for me, and all for free until I slip a little
pick it up and carry on

Comments

@zecoopMod 2d

I'm loving the minimalistic punky rock feel here. That solo is fire. Tons of emotion and intensity. Rough and ready - I loved this!

@djtjb 2d

Hell yeah! That chorus is powerful! Love the slinky vocal performance in the verses, it really builds tension up to that blistering chorus.

@cblack 4d

Love the rock vocals! Such energy! The line "I made my peace with how much lower I could go" is brilliant.

We've had 4 outbreaks of ants this summer, so I commiserate.

@yulian 4d

Heck yeah! I like your on the road to screaming voice—-Sick guitar licks too! Those ants should be very proud at being your inspiration! Your lyrics are so great. “being on the ground has always felt like coming home” really resonates with me. And pointing out the city living silently in the walls—-how is it that the ants are so quiet? They should be so so loud! I’m glad you went loud on this ode to them. Well done!

@alyxanderjames 4d

I love the vocal contrast between the verses and the chorus! This is great.

@nwhosings 4d

Early 2000's emo/punk vibes at the beginning. Instant nostalgia. Love the contrast between verse and chorus vocals.
Love these lyrics! Truth and allegory, why not both?
"All for free until I slip a little" is going to live in my brain for a while. What a line.