These Things Are Ours

by Why Make Clocks

These Things Are Ours cover art
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1.
2.
3.
04:18
4.
03:06
5.
03:59
6.
04:39
7.
8.
04:24
9.
02:25
10.
06:31

credits

released 14 August 2009
All songs written by Dan Hutchison 2009 BMI, arranged by WMC

for more info visit whymakeclocks.net or sleeponthefloor.com

Dan Hutchison: vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, microrg
Will Tarbox: drums, percussion, Casio, backing vocals, microrg, keyboards
with:
Eric Kennedy: additional guitar on tracks 1 & 10
Luke Tweedy: additional noise on 6

Recorded & Mixed by Luke Tweedy
Flat Black Studio, Iowa City, IA
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun, Focus Mastering, Omaha, NE
Front/back cover art: Anthony Pontius
Additional artwork/lettering: Kim Hutchison
Layout: Erich Ernst

Thanks to:
Kim Hutchison, Jasper Farlow, Luke Tweedy, Tim Beachy, Eric Kennedy, Austin & Cassie Semerad, Anthony Pontius, Chuck Hoffman, Leah and Wesley, Emily Kist, Nate Thrailkill, Erich Ernst, Bill Henss, Cortnie at White Rabbit, Jeff Olinger at Tri Point Audio, & Doug Van Sloun

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Track Name: Self Impressions
I am here, you can’t see me
I’m not what I appear to you
Misguided by my perception
Misunderstood direction
What I do remains undetected
Disinfected by myself
Assembled the same
Distortedly tame

I can’t get across the river
That lies frozen between us
And why is it so hard
To penetrate your defenses

The months pass and nothing has changed
Yet I keep pressing on
Receiving signals you may never have sent
I’m looking for answers
And you’re watching what you say
Letting you get to me is driving you away

I can’t get across the river
That lies frozen between us
And why is it so hard
To penetrate your defenses
Track Name: This Is Just A Test
If using it has caught another
Then I’m sure you’ve got it covered
There’s one thing left to discover
If you’re going to recover
Lying there, completely still
What stops the chill
That emanates from a broken will?
You could be powerless without it,
But somehow I doubt it

This lie must be bright enough to shine through

You can use it as a guide
Feel it from the inside
There’s a forgiveness they’re faking
(And if I’m not mistaken)
A long, forgotten corner
Waiting to awaken

When luck has finally run out
And you’ve passed all the tests
They’ll put you out like all the rest

Under the bright light of inspection
There was a cold, soft impression
Beneath the footsteps you left
Where I thought I’d felt connected
It’s always been an empty promise
One that’s always descending
It was all just a test
This is just a test

This lie must be bright enough to shine through

You can use it as a guide
Feel it from the inside
There’s a forgiveness they’re faking
(And if I’m not mistaken)
A long, forgotten corner
Waiting to awaken
Track Name: Bitter
I’ve got pictures on the wall
From when we still knew how to smile through it all
Time can make that all change
It’s funny how a thing like that can get so rearranged
I used the run my fingers through your hair
It sounds so cliché to say it made me feel you were really there

Are we just ex-ing out the days?
Or am I just netting out the waste?
Are you really through with love?
Or getting used to its bitter taste

When the only path you have left
Is the one that leads straight through unhappiness
You can’t go through it two steps behind
The only one true thing you’ve been able to find

If either of us should ever feel it inside
That one of us is going to have to be the one to decide
Just remember who you take along for the ride
Because you’ve got to take them on side by side
Track Name: Boots
Feeling crooked, I can’t get straight
If I’m out of time, it’s ‘cause I hesitate
It’s all I can do to keep this together
When all it would take is the weight of a feather

You don’t see the how or why
And sometimes I wish you and I
Could take this rickety old sideshow
And head off down a road we’ve never known

A happy hour we spent together
Somehow made my life so much better
I’ve come so far, and still can’t measure
The value of a hidden treasure

A melody and a rhyme
A couplet sung in 4/4 time
Helps me fill the space
Between your heart and mine

Given, taken, something inside is breaking
Swollen up and broken down
Defensive, aggressive, end of the session
So long, good night and goodbye
Track Name: Pet Project
We said goodbye
At least you think you tried
You’ll see access denied
Once people start taking sides

This wasn’t the first time for you
Yeah, I know, I’ve been there too
I’d say I’m glad you’re getting by
But I’ve never been good with lies

Everyone knew before we knew
Long before it took its toll on you

What comes around goes around
Who’s been comin’ ‘round has gotten around
How are you going to make it through
What our mutual friends are gonna say about you?
You did your best work on me
A pet project you’ll never complete
A service you provide for free
It really did a number on me

Everyone knew before we knew
Long before it took its toll on you
So desperate now you try
to find a way to live with a lie

So, this was all a part of the plot
Don’t say it’s all my fault
Don’t make this into something it’s not
Because you’re the one who got caught
Track Name: Checkmate
I’m learning how it feels
Reaching for the unavailable
Under its spinning wheels
The strain is undeniable

Do you see the position
I’ve put myself in?
Checkmate once again

Do you feel my hands
Reach for you in the dark?
If you’d only disappear
To where I can’t get to you

This is for your own good
I don’t want to have to do this

Can’t you see
I could lose my self control?
I don’t need surrounded by a panel of my peers
Am I getting through?
Would it all just fall apart,
Or could this be the excuse
Everyone’s been looking for?
Track Name: Emotional Audit (Facing The West)
Facing an emotional audit
I’m not sure how they caught it,
But they’re at my door
You won’t see me any more
On the way back
Searching their faces
I must’ve slipped
Through the spaces

And lost all memory of who I thought I’d be

Sun up, sundown…
Does every dream die?
We hope for something better,
But are afraid to try
Sun up, sundown…
That’s how it begins
Biding time ‘till free time
It’s you that never wins

I lost all memory of who I thought I’d be

Until we find out what we’re wasting
Until we find we’re ready to change it
We’re facing the west,
Turning our backs on how we began

It’s just as much a mystery
As a lottery of misery
To me this sometimes seems
Like a cruel machine

That spits us out
Nothing more than debris

Until we find out what we’re wasting
Until we find we’re ready to change it
We’re facing the west,
Turning our backs on how we began
Track Name: Circles
You’ve got me running in circles
Trying to find the start
To find what holds it together
And remove what could split us apart

It keeps me running in circles
Wearing a hole in the path
To find a way to move forward
And remove what’s holding us back

Round and round
It wears me down
And I don’t know how long it can last

Moving in circles
Being so hurtful
Is killing me fast

It keeps me thinking of circles
How they never go anywhere
Eventually there will only be
One of us standing in this game of musical chairs

Round and round
Is wearing me down
And I don’t know how long we can last
Picking up the slack
Don’t know what’s holding you back
The only thing I can do
Is to go another round with you
Track Name: Distant Sea
You went away
For a temporary change
A chance to travel
And think about things
From the very first day
You felt misplaced
Now in your new life,
Everything has space

Somewhere across the ocean
On the shore of some distant sea
I hope you’ll look to the sky
And think of me

Once you came to visit
And shared with your friends
All that you’d learned
In the short time you spent
You didn’t stay long,
You spread yourself too thin
And before I knew it
You’d gone away again

Somewhere across the ocean
On the shore of some distant sea
I hope you’ll look to the sky
And think of me
Track Name: Sometimes
Sometimes this feels right
Sometimes it feels like I’m falling apart
Sometimes I know it’ll work out
Sometimes I need a fresh start
Today I’m going to pull it together
Today I’m going to put it off
Today I’m going to find what’s missing
Today is going to be a day I’m lost

Do I hate you?
Do I love you?
Am I going to wish I never see you again?

Am I happy?
Am I sad?
Was it really ever that bad?
Does anyone really matter to me?
What would I do without you?

Some days I’m right on top of it
Some days I’m so far away
Sometimes I’m too serious
And sometimes I don’t mean what I say
Sometimes I couldn’t make it without you
But for some things, I can’t forgive you
Sometimes I can’t picture your face
And sometimes I want away from this place

Do I hate you?
Do I love you?
Am I going to wish I never see you again?

Am I happy?
Am I sad?
Was I really ever that bad?
Does anyone really matter to me?
What would I do without you?
Some things I say are wrong
Some things I say to hurt you
Some things I do because I love you

And yet sometimes I just want to forget you