Ghost in the Cityscape
from Scenes from an Art Heist by The Eighty Six Seas
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about
Oddly the most personal song on the record. When I set out to complete the trilogy (alongside Coffee and Art and The Day I Die) I wanted some sense of catharsis and redemption. Contributing art (a song in this case) back to the world where it had been removed seemed to be the best way to do that. I originally based this on a live version of a Mountain Goats song where there's a slow octave piano part in A. Adding the drum machine loop came out of my solo shows where I needed something to drive the rhythm. Dave added a guitar line and hook that just tied it all together.
lyrics
Five weeks out of prison
I tried to write you a song
Bursting with major fourths
And seven or eight verses long
The next day I just threw it out
The words didn’t sit quite right
After the last thing you said on the courthouse steps
Echoed in my head all throughout the night
Five months out of prison
I tried to paint a portrait of you
It was full of color, full of light
Porcelain and auburn hues
The next week I just shredded the canvas
You see I’m all in my head
Are your eyes green or are they blue?
When I last saw you they were red
You’re my ghost in the cityscape
Always haunting me
Even here on the outside
I'm never quite free
Five years out of prison
I finally wrote you a song
This is what I came up with
Not sure what took me so long
Somehow I doubt that you’ll hear it
It’s really just for me
When the melody bursts and escapes my throat
Then I’m finally free, now I’m finally free
I tried to write you a song
Bursting with major fourths
And seven or eight verses long
The next day I just threw it out
The words didn’t sit quite right
After the last thing you said on the courthouse steps
Echoed in my head all throughout the night
Five months out of prison
I tried to paint a portrait of you
It was full of color, full of light
Porcelain and auburn hues
The next week I just shredded the canvas
You see I’m all in my head
Are your eyes green or are they blue?
When I last saw you they were red
You’re my ghost in the cityscape
Always haunting me
Even here on the outside
I'm never quite free
Five years out of prison
I finally wrote you a song
This is what I came up with
Not sure what took me so long
Somehow I doubt that you’ll hear it
It’s really just for me
When the melody bursts and escapes my throat
Then I’m finally free, now I’m finally free
credits
from Scenes from an Art Heist,
track released January 31, 2024
Nick Stevens - vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, drum machine programming
David Anthony - electric guitar, synthesizer, drum machine programming
David Knox - bass
Chris Anthony - drums
Ben Trigg - cello
Nick Stevens - vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, drum machine programming
David Anthony - electric guitar, synthesizer, drum machine programming
David Knox - bass
Chris Anthony - drums
Ben Trigg - cello
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
The Eighty Six Seas Brooklyn, New York
The Eighty Six Seas is the moniker of Nick Stevens, a Brooklyn-based artist who weaves a tapestry of indie rock, indie pop, indie folk and folktronica into a sound all his own. Decorated with sweeping strings and poetic stories, it’s a sound shaped by influences as wide-ranging as The National, Frightened Rabbit, New Order, Belle and Sebastian, David Byrne, The Mountain Goats and Bon Iver. ... more
discography
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Feb 2024 -
Feb 2023 -
Jul 2022
contact / help
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