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1. |
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I’ve got this recurring dream
Always comes back to me
Where I’m just running away
I’m just running away
I’m not sure what’s giving chase
It’s got no name, got no face
But my legs are failing me
So I turn around
To throw a punch without impact
But it seems so real to me
Don’t go quietly
Don’t go quietly
I’ve got this pain in my chest
Might be all in my head
But I’m so in love with the pain
I’m so in love with the pain
I’ve got this fantasy
Alone in the driver’s seat
Where I let go of the wheel
Until I fall asleep
I don’t know if it’s psychosomatic
Or premonition
But it seems so real to me
Don’t go quietly
Don’t go quietly
Don’t go quietly
Don’t go quietly
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2. |
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It won’t be long
Before you have to face it
The flood on your lawn
Leaks into the basement
Someone’s got to dig these ditches
Might as well get paid to do it
Where do you go
When you’ve got nothing left?
What do you sell
When nobody’s buying?
Someone’s got to dig these ditches
Might as well get paid to do it
Someone’s got to dig these ditches
Might as well get paid to do it
Someone’s got to fill these ditches
Profiteers and politicians
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3. |
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Scratches in the back
Scrapes on the skin from the dragging of concrete
Cuts on the lip
From biting down hard to keep it in
The rasping of voices
Strained from shouting, trying to be heard
The cracking of bones
One by one, the body crumbles
We only witness
What we choose
We only see
What we want to
Ten seconds to
A midnight black as oil
Sprung fresh from the earth
A piercing alarm rings in the ear
Like a siren on shore
Drawing us nearer to the end
We only witness
What we choose
We only see
What we want to
It’s not enough
For it to be how it was
It’s not enough
To hope for a better world
It’s not enough
For it to be how it was
It’s not enough
To hope for a better world
A better world
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4. |
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This is a knife fight
That we weren’t prepared for
That we could not fathom
When we started
This is a firing squad
Arranged in circle
The thief is in the house
And always has been
Sunrise
In the morning sky
Through the blinds
Hits your daughter’s eye
This is a collage
That we could not salvage
Held aloft
In memoriam
Sunrise
In the morning sky
Through the blinds
Hits your daughter’s eye
Sunrise
In the morning sky
Through the blinds
Hits your daughter’s eye
Sunrise
In the morning sky
Through the blinds
Hits your daughter’s eye
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5. |
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Brush your hair
Snake the drain
Wash your skin
Touch up paint
When you go home
You’re never really there
When you’re alone
There’s always somebody else there
Scream into the void
Throw bombs in an empty street
The walls are thin
They might as well hear you clearly
I know you’re listening
There’s nowhere left that’s safe
Each misfortune an opportunity
Never let a crisis go to waste
Tear it down
Build it again
Tear it down
Build it again
Data points in isolation
Made whole in pretty pictures
Open arms and empty hearts
Truth in advertising
Padlocks and deadbolts
Your whole life on the wire
You’ve got nothing to fear
If you’ve got nothing to hide
Just one prick, you won’t even feel it
A better future to keep you safe
Tear it down
Build it again
Tear it down
Build it again
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6. |
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7. |
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It’s two a.m.
The refrigerator air filter clicks
I blink my eyes clear
In the glow of the router
A friend’s baby nearly a full day old
My wife in the throes of the common cold
It seems strange
To be okay
In a moment like this
Am I okay?
Young men say, “Frances,
I think I love you
But I’m so damn scared
Of what that might mean
Because the thought of commitment
Leaves me weak in the knees
And the thought of you leaving
Just seems too perfectly bittersweet”
It seems strange
To be okay
In a moment like this
Am I okay?
It seems strange
To be okay
In a moment like this
Am I okay?
Why am I okay?
Am I okay?
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8. |
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This has all been so nice
But I want it to mean something
Just one time
I want it to mean something
I really should be going
Maybe one more wouldn’t hurt
I’m overcompensating
And overstaying my welcome
I’m doing fine
I’m falling apart
They’re both true at once
Not the other more than one
It’s a miracle
I’m smiling at all
It’s a shame
I can’t enjoy the trivial
Is it okay
Not to be angry for a day?
To sink into
A dream
I’m doing fine
I’m falling apart
They’re both true at once
Not the other more than one
Sometimes I wonder
How nice it might be
Not to come home at night
Pitch black at four thirty
A copper-colored whiskey in my hand
Watching red and blue lights flash in evening traffic
I’m doing fine
I’m falling apart
They’re both true at once
Not the other more than one
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9. |
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So this is how it happens
Not with a whimper
But a rag
Full of chloroform
My head, light and queasy
Lagging behind
The darting glances
Of my squinting eyes
You didn’t know
What you had
When you left home
Your loved ones rag’d
By the guard at the gate
And the louder they scream
The more helpless you feel
Like you’ve been injected
With a dirty syringe
And each beat of your heart
Pumps fear in your veins
You didn’t know
What you had
When you left home
Broken wrists
Quivering lips
Overwhelmed
Insignificant
You didn’t know
What you had
When you left home
You didn’t know
What you had
When you left home
When you left home
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10. |
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Knock, knock on the door
They’re here
The light breaks the threshold
They’re here
Take the kids out back
Take the kids out back
It’s best they don’t see
What happens next
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11. |
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The pastor preaches hate from the pulpit
Parishioners repeat it in the pews
He strips the women bare and then he fucks them
To the singing of the strangest hymn:
“String him up
Let him choke
Let him bleed from his nose
String him up
Slit his throat
Let the blood saturate his clothes”
The sound of cackling
Echoes to the rafters
Don’t you worry
They can’t hurt us anymore
God will be there
When this is over
I know it looks bad now
But it needed to be done
String him up
Let him choke
Let him bleed from his nose
String him up
Slit his throat
Let the blood saturate his clothes
String him up
Let him choke
Let him bleed from his nose
String him up
Slit his throat
Let the blood saturate his clothes
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12. |
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This is just rented space
A notice on the door
This is just rented space
Doesn’t matter anymore
That the roof leaks
The foundation’s crumbling
The floorboards creak
There’s water in the basement
Time to go
We’re leaving, my love
Time to go
We’re leaving, my love
This is just rented space
A notice on the door
This is just rented space
No longer mine, no longer yours
We patched the holes
From our old picture frames
Forward the post
And scratched out our names
Time to go
We’re leaving, my love
Time to go
We’re leaving, my love
The longer we let this go
The harder the goodbye
Take one last look
And turn out the lights
This is just rented space
A notice on the door
This is just rented space
No one lives here anymore
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13. |
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An advertisement in the graveyard
A sample final resting place
A distorted reflection walking past you
Pointing a stick at Saint Matthew
Birds chirping over bodies
Buried firmly in the ground
Like angels down from heaven
Serving papers
And as they sing
We sing
And as they sing
We sing
We sing
“I’m not, I’m not, I’m not
Ready to go
I’m not, I’m not, I’m not
Ready to go”
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
They only let the right kind
Of people in here
But the rest won’t be forgotten
No, the rest won’t be forgotten
No, the rest won’t be forgotten
Unless we let them go
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14. |
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Rented Space is a concept album about the fragility of the human body, ownership, and death. The central theme of rented space refers to our relationships to our bodies, the idea being that this relationship is more akin to a rental over which we have little control rather than something that we own. Prompted by the health issues of several of Alex's family members, the theme is carried throughout the album both lyrically and in the parenthetical titles for each song. Though each song has its own subject, they are each related back to the idea of rented space through their alternate title, with lyrical references to the grander theme throughout the album.
Rented Space is dedicated to the loving memory of Charlotte Hartle.
released February 18, 2022
All songs written by Alex Hartle
Horn arrangements by Tyler Handyside
Alex Hartle: guitar, synthesizers, vocals
Ryan Miller: guitar
Destin LeCornu: drums
Travis Ankeny: bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11)
Zach Zelenak: bass (4, 10, 12, 13, 14)
Tyler Handyside: Saxophone
Adam Bleil: Trumpet
Recorded by Destin LeCornu
Mixed and mastered by Alex Hartle
Album artwork by Michael Seidl
