A Review of Lyrics: Part 1
“Lilacs” by Specimen

I rarely publish the lyrics to songs I write, but have decided to start looking back at a few. In this post I am going to let you in on the song “Lilacs” which I wrote for “Electric Ballroom“, the Specimen album released in 2007.

Get the song or the entire album on iTunes or…
Original Demo & Full Song Download After the Break.

Before you read the lyrics, make sure you have heard the song first. I vehemently insist that the words used behind a voice on a song is dependent on the combination of words and music. Sometimes the way a word, or set of words, lay upon the notes is poetry itself – regardless of what that word is. It can be the way lips and tongue lick your ears that can make the lyrics profound rather than their literal (or metaphorical, of course) meaning.

I used to pride myself in never writing the emotionally promiscuous and easily tapped Break Up Song™. As it happened, I went through a rather rough break-up just as I was beginning the process of writing songs for the album. There was almost no way of avoiding the topic that was consuming my brain at the time, so I gave in. “Lilacs” is completely, from head to toe, a Break Up Song™ and I am proud of it.

If you are looking for more information about my involvement with Specimen I have a page already dedicated to the subject.

•Download the demo that I made in my home studio to present to the band:
“Lilacs” Composition Demo [MP3]

•Download the final product, which is also available on iTunes, that was released as “the single” from the album, “Electric Ballroom”, performed and recorded by Specimen:
“Lilacs” – Specimen [MP3]

(The recording process and the way that my demo crawled onto the album in the form above is another story all together!)

Lilacs
by T.bias

It’s hard to see
It’s hard to know
But I smell a candle with a faint glow

Lie back, turn back
Give it all away
Hold on, turn on
Fancy I’d like to stay
Bite down, rip out
All the petals from my stem
They could float down and cover my eyes
A gust of wind is all I’ve got to show for you

Lilacs, lilacs,
Fill my eyes
Lilacs, lilacs,
Oh, heaven’s best
Lilacs, lilacs,
Covered in dust
Lilacs, lilacs,
Oh, haven’t we had enough?

Pull back, lie down
The only way is west
Tie off, step back
Turn up the other cheek
Face east, in jest, and float up to my ear
Litmus lick test
Penciled in is all you get
Pulled down and hung dry is just too few.

Lilacs, lilacs,
Fill my eyes
Lilacs, lilacs,
oh heaven’s best
Lilacs, lilacs,
Covered in dust
Lilacs, lilacs,
Oh haven’t we had enough