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In The Snow + Concrete Zoo

by Owen Radford

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1.
What’s my life like at this moment? It’s Christmas shopping and anger potent Cuz the only man I’ve ever never known Just flew off for a brand new home And the only woman i know right now I need to talk to but I don’t know how The words will not come out the right way And even if they do will she understand what I’ve said? Feels like my future’s just an endless hallway Filled with people that I hate There’s never any rooms on either side of the aisle It’s nothing but an endless wait When will things turn out alright? The road does not exist The end is nowhere near in my sights Not even a mocking kiss I guess I’ll start all over again There’s nothing wrong with visionless friends Where did I go wrong? I guess I don’t need to know I’ll start all over again At the behest of those in their dens The way forward is waiting in the snow They say I should write a new song That might cheer me up One to usher in the holiday season But the thought of that makes me want to throw up And now my life right at this moment Is scurrying back and forth like a rodent And pretty soon I’ll set a trap off There’s no distress like an unending cough And now the world is so much older While I remain a child Naked and afraid underneath the stars That have shone down for a while Don’t sit underneath the lights Or you’ll turn me to stone Should I give her a chance? I damn well might And no longer be alone I guess I’ll start all over again There’s nothing wrong with visionless friends Where did I go wrong? I guess I don’t need to know I’ll start all over again At the behest of those in their dens The way forward is waiting in the snow I’ll no longer be alone Oh, I’m through with broken bones I’ll start all over again Over and over again Over and over and over again Over and over and over again
2.
Concrete Zoo 07:49
The film’s opening scene shows a lonely broken store With the owner testing out some tones and preparing for war His business is always booming but his employees are underpaid And as the years went by he dissolved away since his soul had never stayed His brother’s a bum on James Street And he lives in a cardboard log And he has no life laid out for him Because he loses every job With gas prices jumping and the pavement cracked We cover the world in fog They’re all locked up in prisons in a concrete zoo And they’re no different from me or you They get whipped and bled while we stare along And we don’t consider what we’ve done wrong We’ve got ghosts in our heads and they don’t mean well They just want the present to go to hell Now I’m dead inside as I walk on by And I wish the human race could cry As the city drowns in endless grey and the students run across the road There’s a man in black that’s here to stay and he carries a heavy load He’s a man who never asks for much as the money burns in his eyes And he shuts the world down just this once, as a bullet pierces through his hide Over on the corner of Third Street There’s a hole in the attic shop Where there’s a man who hourly slaves away With his hands wet from a mop As cement rains down on every head The beggars rise to the top They’re all locked up in prisons in a concrete zoo And they’re no different from me or you They get whipped and bled while we stare along And we don’t consider what we’ve done wrong We’ve got ghosts in our heads and they don’t mean well They just want the present to go to hell Now I’m dead inside as I walk on by And I wish the human race could cry Sleeping safe in an old hotel room There’s a man with an average job He’s just whistling his own tunes And he’s working with a mob But from the other room comes a muffled cry That he tried hard to supress There’s a woman who he left there to die But you’ll never hear him confess There’s a kid with a terminal illness Rotting in a hospital bed While the doctors all feign wellness As they drain blood from his head Yet even he laughs as he walks past All of the living dead As the workmen walk on by they talk down to them all They lead them around on wired walks and they don’t give them a call While these people sit around their souls twist and congeal One day they’ll wake, no longer hide They’ll show us what is real They’re all locked up in prisons in a concrete zoo And they’re no different from me or you They get whipped and bled while we stare along And we don’t consider what we’ve done wrong We’ve got ghosts in our heads and they don’t mean well They just want the present to go to hell Now I’m dead inside as I walk on by And wish the human race could cry They’re all locked up in prisons in a concrete zoo And they’re no different from me or you They get whipped and bled while we stare along And we don’t consider what we’ve done wrong We’ve got ghosts in our heads and they don’t mean well They just want the present to go to hell Now I’m dead inside as I walk on by And wish the human race could cry
3.

about

My latest single, and my first and only release for Robo Jack Records. It’s a double A-side single of two songs that have finally crawled out of development hell to see the cold grey light of day!
The first of the two songs is “In The Snow” a collaboration with my good friend Jebb (surprisingly, this is our first collab in my solo work), as well as the very talented Ezra Olson of The Sane Riot and Hazy Wave on drums. Originally written in October/November 2021 and originally titled “I Will Never Write A Christmas Song, Fuck Off”, this song is a bluesy, jazzy romp through a lyrical bout of winter depression and frustration with the holiday season. So, a perfect song for the summer! And yet, despite the song’s cynical lyrics, it still has hope shining through, both musically and lyrically.
The second of the songs is “Concrete Zoo” a near-8 minute epic that takes my usual lo-fi piano pop and combines it with shoegazey guitars, using that as the backdrop for lyrics that paint the picture of a broken, shattered city and the hope for a better future that shines through in the city’s most unlikely of residents. This song was originally written in 2018, and then I slowly added onto and changed it over the course of two years, before finally recording it in 2020… and then I shelved it for yet another two years. But it’s finally seeing a release now, at long last.
The b-side of the single is my original piano demo of “In The Snow”, which is significantly different from the final version. When I sent this to Jebb I told him I wanted him to do whatever he wants with it, and as a result he took it and turned into almost a completely different song. That’s why on the final version of the song he’s credited as co-writer.

Stay tuned for more music and big things to come in the future!

credits

released May 26, 2022

PERSONNEL

-In The Snow
Written by Owen Radford and Jeremy Edmond
Produced by Owen Radford and Jebb
Owen Radford - lead and backing vocals, piano, organ, horns
Jebb - guitars, bass, mandolin, backing vocals
Ezra Olson - drums

-Concrete Zoo
Written by Owen Radford
Produced by Owen Radford
Owen Radford - vocals, piano, guitars, percussion, sound effects

-In The Snow (Demo Version)
Written by Owen Radford
Produced by Owen Radford
Owen Radford - vocals, piano

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Owen Radford Dayton, Ohio

Singer-songwriter from Dayton, Ohio.
Solo artist, frontman of Dr. Deceptive, and the man behind Fly’s Eyes.

Link to the Dr. Deceptive and Fly’s Eyes Bandcamp pages are below, as well as my social media pages.

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