Strange Birds

Release Date: March 27, 2007

Where to Buy:

iTunes – Canada | Japan | Sweden | UK | USA
MapleMusic Store – Canada

Label: MapleMusic Recordings/Universal Music Group
Producers: Byron Wong

Track Listing (Click song titles to show/hide song lyrics):

The Music

don’t be late
the world is ending i can’t change
the way i feel about you now
new york is cold as ever
but still i go out every night
and hide myself among the lights
bathe in all the pretty things the city brings
the bodies glisten and they shine
like the stars we’re born to die
and like these roses we all will fade
i’m counting the cars on the freeway below
lost in the music all the foolishness of our lives
speeding out of control
lost in the music in the music

please don’t cry
wipe the guilt out from your eyes
and leave your conscience on the bed
there’s no one innocent here
in the mirror you’ll find faith
plastic flowers never fade but we all turn to grey

i’m counting the cars on the freeway below
lost in the music all the foolishness of our lives
speeding out of control
lost in the music in the music

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Piano; synths; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums; percussion
Julia Galios: Backing vocals
Ugly Is Beautiful

day by day we fall apart
disintegrate the lightning rains across the sky but comes too late
to change the mood and save us now
it’s criminal the way we love
the way we hate it’s almost human
eyes are opened wide
stood on the rooftop scream at the sky again
dance to the radio end of the world we know
ugly is beautiful beauty in stereo
thinking of you
just like the early spins high as a kite again
there with the river flow end of the life i’ve known
ugly is beautiful beauty so terrible
thinking of you

all the words we throw away
like paper cuts they just keep piling
higher and higher throughout the day
illogical the script we’re writing
it’s chemical they way we love
the way we hate it’s quite inhuman
eyes are opened wide

stood on the rooftop scream at the sky again
dance to the radio end of the world we know
ugly is beautiful beauty in stereo
thinking of you
just like the early spins high as a kite again
there with the river flow end of the life i’ve known
ugly is beautiful beauty so terrible
thinking of you

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Synths
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Julia Galios: Backing vocals
Brian Malouf: Additional production
Brilliant

so far so good
stumble through life so complicated it’s nearly impossible
and i lost my way like i knew i would and keep it together somehow anyway
and i remember you and me
climbing over backyard fences diving naked in the swimming pool
all those faces friends those memories fade so fast
like every love song on the radio
is it brilliant where you are
where the lights are low
is it brilliant where you are
where the lights are

through a million days through a million hazy nights
we sit amusing in our politics
through wine and talk through sex and art we fill our time
and numb ourselves with what’s to come
but i’m older now got a little girl of my own
and her fears are my fears now
i know that it’s the end of days for moderates
but thinking people are thinking still

is it brilliant where you are
where the lights are low
is it brilliant where you are
where the lights are

so far so good
stumble through life so complicated it’s nearly impossible
and we lost our way like i knew we would
and keep it together somehow anyway
woke up from an impossible dream
and we talked and we spoke and we drank and we sang
and we danced and we live and we love and we give
without question or faith then we fight ‘til we hate
and we hope and we pray that this violence will fade
it’s always the same it’s the same life

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars; backing vocals
Kevin Young: Wurlitzer; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion; backing vocals
Julia Galios: Backing vocals
Michelle Laidman: Backing vocals
Byron Wong: Glockenspiel; additional keyboards; backing vocals
So Far Down

scars are piling high
like fashion magazines
read between the lines
so desperate for release
get your new tattoo
so we’ll all look the same
take the chemicals
that help you through the day
step outside your door
do we all look the same?
no one says a word
we all get by
above the lights
and it seems so far down and it’s so far
this city tonight
we are on fire
and it seems so far down and it’s so far

sell yourself so cheap
i’ll buy another round
i swear we’re getting out
still we choke it down
coming up for air
been weakened at the knees
no one says a word

we all get by
above the lights
and it seems so far down and it’s so far
this city tonight
we are on fire
and it seems so far down and it’s so far

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Keys; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Byron Wong: Additional keyboards
Spotlight On

caught on the train
amuse myself and eavesdrop on those japanese girls party-planning
chic and lovely broken english
she smiles at me and mouths that we’re all fools
that’s new york style
endless nights keep rushing by
we wander out onto the sidewalk
cigarettes are piling high
hustlers and the queens are singing

still we are
invincible
we thought we’d be forever young
standing here beneath the sign
with spotlight on

missed the rain
coming home it’s early morning
wait outside the sunshine market
desperate in our invitation
asking all those lovers just to stay
drift away
through the buildings dawn is breaking
all the people line for coffee
read about the days disasters
hustlers and the queens are singing

still we are
invincible
we thought we’d be forever young
standing here beneath the sign
with spotlight on

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Piano; synths; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Michelle Laidman: Backing vocals
Byron Wong: Additional keyboards
Science

i’m stuck here in the middle of
this mess that i don’t understand
come on wake up
open my eyes
it’s raining on fifth avenue
the lovers have all gone to ground
i know you’re crying
but i don’t ask why
make pleasantries with everyone
we’re cruelest to the ones we love
just keep smiling now
your science is breaking my heart in two
and i know that we will soon be enemies
time will tell

i’m watching too much television
they tell me all the news is bad
i don’t even care
i don’t ask why
we used to want the same things
we never want the same things now
come on wake up

all of the stars are falling from the sky
these oceans open wide
and drag me under
as these rivers start to green and the waves keep crashing in
and drag me under

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Keys; synths; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion; backing vocals
Julie Galios: Backing vocals
Lindsey Hilliard: Violins
White Flag

took the acid in the afternoon
just to be part of the scenery with all the lonely people there we are
took a trip out to the galaxy
i’m not looking for salvation just a taste of liberation
i said my friends
like to sit all day and watch the stars bend
i can see your white flag flying in the distance
i know that it’s lonely there where you are
if everything is perfect tell me why you’re hurting
it won’t be long

took a trip out to the girly show
it was there i talked to jesus he said christ don’t you believe it
another drink and we talked all night
i asked does it hurt to be you he said boy it hurts like hell
he said my friends
like to sit all day and watch the stars bend

i can see your white flag flying in the distance
i know that it’s lonely there where you are
if everything’s so perfect tell me why you’re hurting
it won’t be long

three am and the light’s so strange
little rosa’s started dancing now with all the lonely people there we are
leans to me asks for a cigarette
i asked does it hurt to be you
she said boy it hurts like hell
she said my friends like to sit all day and watch the starts bend

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, acoustic and bass guitars
Kevin Young: Organ; synths
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Michelle Laidman: Backing vocals
Byron Wong: Piano
Life Of Bees

always believed we could fly through this life of bees
seems so illogical
withered and worn you decide to burn off your wings
i’ve grown so uncomfortably numb
with the skin i’ve been living in
the wings they uncurl
like the strangest of birds
we’re all breaking down again
as i look to the sky
through the fallout tonight
we’re all breaking down again

quietly the blind leading the blind deny all our senses
feels quite unusual
pretending the cruelty is kind still you defend it
and i feel so uncomfortably numb
with the pain that you’re living in

the wings they uncurl
like the strangest of birds
we’re all breaking down again
as i look to the sky
through the fallout tonight
we’re all breaking down again

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric and acoustic guitars
Kevin Young: Piano; synths
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Julia Galios: Backing vocals; synth bass
Lindsey Hilliard: Violins
Happy Endings

so this is midnight
i can feel the coming storm
my perverted butterfly
you begin to be transformed
and we are drained out
emptied in the atmosphere
fashionable as suicide
never thought it’d feel so real
these happy ending are just illusions
dying every day that we go by
here i’m stripped naked for the conclusion
it’s killing me a little at a time

in this silence
we design a different life
strategies of compromise
lovers lose their appetites
and we are hopeless
underneath the diamond shy
longing turns to bitterness
modern love just can’t survive

these happy ending are just illusions
dying every day that we go by
here i’m stripped naked for the conclusion
it’s killing me a little at a time

and i walk and i fall ‘til i can’t feel a thing
i am sick of the sound of my own shattered mind
i don’t know who i am
i don’t know where we all will be

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Acoustic guitars
Kevin Young: Mellotron; keys; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Julia Galios: Backing vocals; synth bass
Blue

breathe blood is in the water
hold on tight i’m coming
i’ll be there soon
keep your eyes high on the horizon
all the clouds are falling
between me and you
and you’ve grown so cold
too numb to notice
that the sky has turned so blue

fight even underwater
struggle makes it harder
there’s nothing left to do
don’t close your eyes even for a moment
even for one second
i’ll be there soon

and we close our eyes
too numb to notice
that the sky has turned so blue

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric and FX guitars
Kevin Young: Piano
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion
Julia Galios: Backing vocals; synth bass
Lindsey Hilliard: Violins
Some People Say

still the snow keeps falling
til we can’t keep out the cold
but they don’t know
that my back was broken there
i’m so numb i can hardly move
you don’t know
and so you give love too easily some people say

and i dreamt i was flying
and i left you so far below
where i can’t see
when the world is crumbling
it’s so hard just to watch you bleed
but you can’t see

and so we give love too easily some people say

and my back was broken
i’m so cold i can hardly breathe
you can’t see

don’t give up

David Usher: Vocals
Jonathan Gallivan: Electric, FX and acoustic guitars
Kevin Young: Keys; backing vocals
Chris Taylor-Munro: Drums and percussion; backing vocals
Byron Wong: Bass; piano
Matt Matteer: Percussion

Credits:

All songs written by David Usher (Aranya Music/SOCAN)
except #11 by David Usher (Aranya Music/SOCAN) and Byron Wong (S.T.N. Music Publishing/SOCAN)

All songs arranged by David Usher, Jonathan Gallivan, Kevin Young, Chris Taylor-Munro and Julia Galios
except #4, 7, 11 by arranged by David Usher, Jonathan Gallivan, Kevin Young, Chris Taylor-Munro and Byron Wong

Produced by Byron Wong
with additional production by Brian Malouf

Mixed by Brian Malouf
except #11 mixed by Byron Wong

Engineered by Byron Wong with Ruben Huizenga
Assistant engineer: Matt Matteer

Mastered by João at João Carvalho Mastering

Photography by Rapheal Mazzucco
Layout and design by Jonathan Gallivan

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