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Spoken version
A recorded reading of “Where My Face Should Be”. If the player does not load, use the original audio source.
The roof keeps its red teeth closed under my shoes. I pull the wool around my ribs as if a cardigan could teach a body where its edges are. My white skirt catches on a rusted lip. The wind reads it, misreads it, lifts the page again. I left my name in the stairwell. It is still there, leaning against the bannister, small and breathing. Inside, my phone lies face-down, ashamed of its own light. Someone calls from the pavement. I hold still and let the ringing climb past me. I am not waving from the roofline. I am trying not to leave. Each breath grows blue. Then bluer. Then large enough to rent the space where my face should be. A cloud arrives with no weather behind it. It does not cover me. It practises me. From the street I must look almost fine: two boots, one skirt, a careful pair of knees, hands tight on the wool like buttons could hold down thunder. The sky greys itself in a basin of old water. The block forgets its windows. A bird on the gutter tilts one black question towards my missing mouth. I wish I knew how to answer when the world asks whether I am fine. I am not crying. I am weather. I am not gone. I am the room behind the smoke where your voice still moves the furniture. Do not ask the sky what I could not say. Hold out your hand. Somewhere inside the cloud, my name begins to find its bones.
Instructional lyrics
[Intro 4b analog pad tape wow] [Tag 2b softer] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me [Verse 1] Roof tiles cold under my shoes I pull the wool around my ribs White skirt caught on a rusted lip Wind keeps lifting what I hid I left my name in the stairwell left my phone face-down inside Someone calls up from the pavement I hold still and let it ring twice [Pre rise piano ostinato] I’m not waving from the roofline I’m just trying not to leave Every breath gets big and blue till it covers all of me [Break 2b stop] [Chorus bigger double vox] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me I look fine from the street but I’m hard to reach Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me Say my name, say it clean bring me back to me [Verse 2] My hands are tight on the cardigan like buttons could hold me down The sky is grey as bathwater the whole block makes no sound There’s a bird on the gutter tilting one black eye I wish I knew how to answer when the world asks if I’m fine [Pre rise sub swell] I’m not crying, I’m just weather I’m not gone, I’m halfway through There’s a room behind the smoke where I still remember you [Break 2b stop] [Chorus bigger double vox] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me I look fine from the street but I’m hard to reach Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me Say my name, say it clean bring me back to me [Bridge strip to vox+pad] Don’t ask the sky what I couldn’t say Hold out your hand and I’ll find the shape [Break 2b stop] [Chorus stacked chorus] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me I look fine from the street but I’m hard to reach Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me Say my name, say it clean bring me back to me [Chorus x2 bigger] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me I look fine from the street but I’m hard to reach Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me Say my name, say it clean bring me back to me [Tag 2b reverb tail] Where my face should be there’s a cloud over me [Outro 4b hall reverb tail]
Song info
Dark alt-pop / indie dream, ~92 BPM, minor; lofi drums, soft sub, clean gtr pulse, piano ostinato, analog pad bloom; intimate close vocal in verses, bigger double vox in choruses, airy BVs late; slap delay on lead, plate verb, tape wow, reverb tail; roof-cold cinematic mood, fragile-to-huge arc; Intro pad -> Tag hook -> V1 -> Pre rise -> Break stop -> Chorus -> V2 -> Pre -> Chorus -> Bridge strip -> Final Chorus x2 -> Outro.
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