ALBUM: “Shut The Mind Down” 2020
LYRICS:
Shut The Mind Down
Exorcise my expectations, my suspenders are feeling the strain
Exercise, but never with caution – this guitar was built to cope with pain
Reaching out across the nation, we’re think we’re all special but we’re all the same
Exorcise our expectations, dance like we’re all watching and fuck your claim to fame
Ooh ooh, shut the mind down – what is there?
Decompartimentalise, trust everybody, we are all exactly how we say it
We’re the ghost-writers of our own story, and we’re neatly stacked up on the shelf
Ooh ooh, shut the mind down – what is there?
Reach out and touch another body – you think it’s a stranger but it’s yourself
Waiting for the next satori – let’s all fall off the carousel
Ooh ooh, shut the mind down – what is there?
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2015
Enough
There’s this app on my phone, says that rain is coming, though it’s never enough
Trying to write a song, sounds like something Blur did – not good enough
How does one quantify things like rain and music? What’s not enough? How much is enough?
Now, numbers aside and creative self-pity, I’ve had enough that nothing’s enough
Let’s not ask why there’s only a certain amount of things
Where would you start counting, and where would you stop?
Rather ask why we can’t deal with the fact that everything was never for this one species to count along on our way to nothing
There’s the world on my phone, and it counts for nothing – that’s well enough, well enough…
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2019
House Cleaning
I could vacuum all day long, I’m better at it than writing songs
There’s always longer hair than mine around, even when I’m all alone
Time to clean the toilet bowl, I’ve written more shit than it can hold
But that’s a dangerous path to walk down, especially when I’m all alone
Laughing in the sunshine was never for the likes of me
Singing in the rain is not something I can see myself doing
You better come on in my kitchen, there’s bound to be no cleaning at all
I’m so worried about surfaces and dishes, maybe you could cook a storm
I’m too busy making a living to be working at dying
Though sometimes the lines are so blurred and I’m not sure which I’m doing
Walking in a straight line was never for the likes of me
Reveling in pain is not something I can see myself doing
Lyrics & music by Julien Castegnaro © 2019
Ever Since
Words fail me – fallen on the wayside
I just can’t see it – ever leaving your side
So much love, so little time
All we’ve built together, none of it is mine
Ever since I’ve found you, my mind’s been lost
But ever since you’ve loved me I’ve not once mourned the loss
Love fills space if we just let it
Light fills the darkness if we just let it in
Ever since I’ve found you, my mind’s been lost
But ever since you’ve loved me I’ve not once mourned the loss
Lyrics & music by Julien Castegnaro © 2018
ALBUM: “Failure & Masterpiece” 2018
LYRICS:
Snow Tracks
I once remember my mind was a hill covered in the purest snow
Then I slid on a sleigh, and it carved out a track
And the track was the world, until I wished there was more
I couldn’t carve a new one if I tried, I couldn’t make the sky snow
Sometimes the habit is mightier than love
And some people get married, some people get babies
Some people get addicted, some people get nothing
Then you brought the spring along, and it melted the snow
Now my mind is the green grass, and the hill is a meadow
You make the flowers grow – come the sun, fall the rain
In the fall you shed my thoughts – let it snow
Sometimes love is mightier than the habit
And no one gets married, no one gets babies
No one gets addicted, and no one gets nothing
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2014
Migration
And we were born amongst the fields, in the sun-dried earth we lay
We learned to walk amongst the hills and in the groves we learned to play
And all the seasons were in order, the swallows flew away in winter
We had a fire, we had the sun, there were no reasons not to stay
Then all the fields had to be hardened and all the hills had to be flattened – yes and the groves had to be cut
Then our hearts had to be hardened and our lifelines to be flattened – yes and our tree-house to be cut
Oh the breeze threw us to our knees and the dust it raised, never to settle again
While all the seasons were in order we took the chance to fly in winter
Through the snow we chased the sun, there were no reasons now to stay
We flew across the borders and our hearts remained the same
The grass is never greener, it’s just a different shade
And we were born amongst the fields; under a ton of bricks they lie
What did we learn up in the hills that could inspire us to fly?
And all the seasons are in order, the swallows fly towards the summer
We have the fire of the sun, we’ve got no reasons not to stay
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2012
Do The Maths
There are a lot of drinks to be drunk, a lot of songs to dance to
People who require special attention, there’s a lot more to me and you
1000 skills to be taught, one million mistakes to learn from
Add it all up and it may come to naught, there’s more than one rhythm to this song
Oh… you do the maths, I’ll let you do the maths
They all want to start on the One, regardless of what’s come before
Let’s give it a try; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Oh what the hell did you do that for?
I did the maths; you told me to do the maths
Hang the accountant with a long thick rope; wash his body with a bar of hope
Divide and fail – waste it if you multiply; take away the numbers and now you do the maths
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2015
Don’t Hold On To The Feeling
Sheltered in my car after the gig, all the lights are out, where do people disappear?
There’s nothing in the stars to tell me how to live – I’ve given it all out; I’ve got nothing to fear
Don’t hold on to the feeling, never hold on to the feeling
Don’t hold on to the feeling, don’t hold on to the feeling, no
On the side of the stage, there’s a black box; open it up, it feels like being shot
I never want to know, I’ve made a pact, sheltered in my car, ready for the next act
Chorus x 2
Sheltered in my car, after the fact; driving round and round, all the lights are out
There’s nothing in the stars to tell me how to live – I’ve given it all out; I’ve got nothing to fear
Chorus x 3
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2015
Skywatching
Sitting in the garden I have grown for you, my love, I have grown for you
You are never quite free of me, but neither am I of you
The sun is setting and the sky is exploding, the sky is singing, the sky is in love
Here’s a toast to the evening I will spend with you my love, I will share with you
The red in the sky is refilling my glass, and your eyes have swallowed the sun
I feel we should both sit still now, even though we both want to run
I want to spend the next phase of my life sky-watching, sky-watching
The first stars are gleaming and your coat is turning silver, it’s turning silver
I never could see well in the dark, and so you guide me home
The fire is burning, your brother is dreaming, your father is singing, I’m in love
Here’s a toast to the evening I will spend with you my love, I will spend with you
The red in the embers is refilling my glass and your eyes have swallowed the flames
I feel we should both sit still now and at last we both want the same
CHORUS
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2015
Mythology
Dawn light reels in through the carriage windows
Sifting through our stiff necks still in a dream state
Our destination is hanging in a haze
Trust the rail company to take us safely there
Back to the tenements, grey as the sky
Across the green hangs a mirror as big as our building
Escape is free for the body but expensive for the soul
But we did leave and we’re now coming back to laugh at it and sing
Close your eyes, gently jolting
Your dreams are over — what will you make of it\
You say the city was mad but I was not sane
It fulfilled no promises but the ones we were asking for
I wanted nothing and was given everything
And that was tough enough but that was fair enough
I was closing my eyes, jumping and jolting
My dreams were over — what did I make of it
Doing what we do best, beautifying memories
Living up to the golden standards of our mythology
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2011
Stripping All Patterns Down
What wouldn’t I give for… What wouldn’t I give for you?
Stripping all patterns down, all the posing and pretend
Waking from the dream time, feeling all the love that’s left
What is it that we live for? What is it that we live for?
The truth we’re looking at is all the stories in our head
I’d rather see nothing, now, are you singing this as well?
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2015
Sundown
Sundown over the garden, too dark to see the flowers but they still grow
So with you and I, the sun may be coming down but we still grow
Just because we can’t see our love doesn’t mean that it’s gone, no
Just because we can’t see our love doesn’t mean that it’s not growing
Moon up over the garden, moonshine in our tired eyes – all we see are shadows
So with you and I, the night may be soft and bright, on our face it doesn’t show
CHORUS
Sun up over the hill, half of this was a bad dream, the other half was…
Here we go you and I, looking into each other’s eyes, looking into the years
CHORUS
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2014
Where The Night Might Lead You
Don’t leave the lights on, turn your fire down low
Where the night might lead you, you’ll never know
There’ll be a silence, or a sound, that you’ve never heard
And someone will sing a new song and you will know the words
Drink it slowly, one heartbeat at a time
Say it only when you’re sure it will rhyme
There’ll be the ghost of a face that you’ve never seen
And it’ll look like it’s after company but it’s not not what it seems
Oh you never know where the night might lead you
And it’s time to go when everyone says they need you
Leave the back door unlocked for when you lose the house key
Take some spare cash for a hearse for when you’re dead on your feet
There’ll be a moment or an hour when you’ve misplaced your home
And the maps will have changed, and the streets, and the feeling in your bone
Oh you never know where the night might lead you
And it’s time to go when everyone says they miss you
Lyrics & music: Julien Castegnaro © 2014
Failure & Masterpiece
Time to say hello, time to crack a smile
They’ve all come up to the show and you’re still trembling in the aisle
Things to celebrate, you didn’t know you had
Time to re-calibrate – oh come on now it’s not so bad
The room is full of mirrors, each with a stranger behind
Do you spot the seven errors? Do you blush at what you find?
The stage lights are too bright, jump off to the floor
Look back, what a sight — You join the chorus for an encore