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Dead City Dreamer

by Zia Zaidi

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1.
City Sounds 01:37
2.
The Streets 02:44
Open up your eyes Peer a little inside Of the streets And maybe you'll see you Rustic are the streets Mystic are the words That they speak And they don't mind if you're through Dance in summer rains But when winter days come You'll be in With the rest of your crew Crashing through your gates Are the waves of memory And the things We used to do It's been a long time since we've been young But it's a simple thing to miss the day's we knew The streets that once knew our names Have now become All but memories of all that we outgrew And once I almost heard them Once I almost heard them calling out That they'd been young once too Welcome back my friend It has been a long time coming But back you came In the end Don't forget your mask It'll go a long way towards Helping you To pretend Broke your back on the way Well let me tell you this This town will always Be there to blame Spare a thought to the rich In their looking glass shells That say their castles remain It's been a long time since we've been young But it's a simple thing to miss the day's we knew The streets that once knew our names Have now become All but memories of all that we outgrew And once I almost heard them Once I almost heard them calling out That they'd been young once too
3.
He may not be what you'd want to see At least he's not what he used to be We make a point of living in history How we've come so far is a mystery to me Now I'm well inside my mind Now that I've stepped out the land of the blind And if you look you just might find The pieces of all the memories I left behind Na na na na, na na na naaa I don't mean to rock the boat but we're living a lie The apple looked good but man was it rotten inside We are the ones who resist to assist to defy The dogma shoved down our throats by the dogs in the sky Now I'm well inside my mind Now that I've stepped out the land of the blind And if you look you just might find The pieces of all the memories I left behind Na na na na, na na na naaa
4.
We’re more highwire than trapeze In this circus of forgotten dreams And is it really so surprising that we found it hard to swim upstream And that we’re missing all the walls on which we used to lean We’re made of stronger stuff than chromium steel Or so our egos lead our hearts to believe And is it really so surprising that we couldn’t find the courage to breathe And that we’re missing all the walls on which we used to lean And slowly we realise It’s not the words how they rhyme It’s the sounds that we hear And there’s no need to compromise When time after time reason slips out our ears And maybe one day we’ll look back and laugh At the gaps and the cracks In our shiny veneer And maybe that day we’ll sit on our thrones Made of marble and bones And forget we were ever even here If life’s a circus All it’s games are a lie And dreams are veils that keep the mystery alive And are you ready to despise the thread that’s keeping all your clothes in line Or are you ready to be nude before the world and its eyes Our thoughts awake Only when innocence dies And we’re the ones that we grow up to despise And are we really meant to be the ones that all but us would get to decide Or are we sheep with wool that’s slowly grown beyond our eyes And slowly we realise It’s not the words how they rhyme It’s the sounds that we hear And there’s no need to compromise When time after time reason slips out our ears And maybe one day we’ll look back and laugh At the gaps and the cracks In their shiny veneer And maybe that day we'll sit on our thrones Made of marble and bones And forget we were ever even here
5.
They know that sleep is his only escape So they got pills to keep him awake His only crime was wanting to choose The manner in which he would get used They say reason is the only way But they don’t need a reason to take it away Their only crime was trying to lie About all of the truths they have disguised And we are the rope! In this tug of war Yeah we’re just joke Just their two dollar whore She traps herself in a prison of dreams So they got pills to put her to sleep Her only crime was having the will To rise above the run of the mill They say seasons are bound to change Well that’s easy to say when you’re a lightyear away The only reason they have let us survive Is that they’ve already killed us inside And we are the rope! In this tug of war Yeah we’re just joke Just their two dollar whore Can you not see how we’ve decayed? Can you not see what we’ve become? We have receded into an echo of life We push our own necks onto the sharp end Of the knife And so we push on like legless men in a marathon Our bones worn down to the joints and yet still we carry on Our only crime is we don’t see how far back we’ve gone Fuck it I’m tired of writing the lyrics to this song And we are the rope! In this tug of war Yeah we’re just joke Just their two dollar whore Yeah we are the rope! In this tug of war This has all been a joke I hope you didn’t get bored
6.
Be As Us 04:53
Feeding on the hungry Make them grateful They exist as shit Leave it to the only Ones who know me Say I'm born to this Maybe we're the fathers Of the harder ones That came this way Praising their endeavors That we may excuse Our chances missed Never mind his open eyes Our solution is to crucify The ones who'd save us all Never mind your will to rhyme You will find that it will fade in time And You Will Be As Us Revel in your greyscale Inhibitions that Lead you astray Read into the shapes Give birth to sounds Give way to how we pray Maybe we're deserving Of the scorn We deign to sanctify Righteously rewarding All the apathy That we deny Never mind his open eyes Our solution is to crucify The ones who'd save us all Never mind your will to rhyme You will find that it will fade in time And You Will Be As Us Cobwebs inside my head Ghosts walking in my stead You smell of future now Fix it but don't ask how Cobwebs inside my head (this is all we know) Ghosts walking in my stead (this is all we're told) You smell of future now (low your head and pray) Fix it but don't ask how (he'll listen someday) Cobwebs inside my head (this all you know) Ghosts walking in my stead (this is all you're told) You smell of future now (low my head and pray) Fix it but don't ask how (he'll answer some day) Never mind his open eyes Our solution is to crucify The ones who'd save us all Never mind your will to rhyme You will find that it will fade in time And You Will Be As Us
7.
We're sleeping through the halcyon of a genocide A firmament to distance us from what stings our eyes We've lost our heads and it don't make sense That we've found bliss in ignorance And I know it's coming down We've traded in our blood and bones for a plastic throne Thrown away our hopes and dreams for fools gold A diamond mine for a hollow pit And regret is a luxury that don't exist Now I know it's coming down What's that?! Well I don't know Some kind of revolution Or so I've been told What's that?! Well I don't know There must have been a sale On cautionary drones What's that?! Well I don't know A masochistic people With a thirst for more What's that?! Well I don't know A systematic shutdown Of our moral code We fail to see the common disease in the wars we've fought Conveniently ignoring the cost of the things we've lost A chess game made out of people's lives And escape is a thing toward which none of us strive Till we know it's coming down We revel in the furtherance of a hollow cause Justify the hate we feel using godly laws And iron ship on a sea of glass And holding it together is a difficult past Now we know it's coming down What's that?! Well I don't know Some kind of revolution Or so I've been told What's that?! Well I don't know There must have been a sale On cautionary drones What's that?! Well I don't know A masochistic people With a thirst for more What's that?! Well I don't know A systematic shutdown Of our moral code God will save us God will save us Amen!
8.
My eyes have been glued shut Cos they're not good at seeing much I'm shown a future as bright as day They see a present in disarray I must have been out of my mind to doubt The promises they had made with such clout I'm just glad they didn't kick me out I'm just glad they didn't kick me out I never thought to think of myself As a donor of my sense of self I sacrifice my own free will For the good of the hope they instil I'm such a fool to ever have thought Such things make our weak minds take to rot I'm just glad they didn't kick me out I'm just glad they didn't kick me out We lie between two worlds Never fully awake And yet never truly asleep They say that sleep is for the weak But we're too weak to wake up just yet But I'm sure that some day they'll let We must have faith that some day they'll let Us (out?)
9.
This scripture might as well be in greek I've yet to learn what I've set out to teach I find no solace in dressed up words I was a shepherd til I slaughtered my herd I've learnt I should tie down my birds by their bones I've found that no freedom is set in stone I rest on laurels of worms They'll give no comfort when I'm sent to burn I found no solace in cryptic verse I was a sinner, but now I'm cursed I've learnt I should tie down my birds by their bones I've found that no freedom is set in stone I've learnt I should tie down my birds by their bones I've found that no freedom is set in stone
10.
Hide behind the silver bars Never seeing them for what they truly are You curse yourself for waking up so late Must have been those sleeping pills you ate And open minds in see through jars Relics that we forgot We thought ourselves into this rut With empty castles to show for battles we've fought And so goes life You found yourself a nice little wife And a nice little home But sown was strife Not long ago when you dropped the knife And sold off your bones Open eyes and sleep at once Your faith's a costume for an audience But once a while you catch a glint of hope A dream of children and post bath robes And so goes life You found yourself a nice little wife And a nice little home But sown was strife Not long ago when you dropped the knife And sold off your bones And oh sweet children Of whom I am but one We weren't cut out for getting old Oh sweet child You weren't meant to get old You weren't meant to get old

about

Hello. I'm Zia. This is an album I made. It is about Karachi, a city I love and hate. It is also about me, in a way. It is also about you.

Thank yous:

The munners, for all the mammaries
Hamza for teaching me how to hold a guitar
Ammi and Papa for not killing a brat like me in my sleep

credits

released July 30, 2014

Written and Composed by Zia Zaidi
Artwork by Asmer Asrar Safi
Produced by Ali Suhail
Lead guitar on tracks 3, 5, 6 and 7 by Maaz
Lead guitar on track 9 and guitar solo on track 5 by Ali Suhail
Rhodes piano on tracks 2 and 4 by Ali Suhail
Percussion on track 8 programmed by Ali Suhail

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Zia Zaidi Karachi, Pakistan

i like to think i'm a musician.

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