Don't ever go...Don't ever leave me...

Cum Laude

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Released on June 28, 2006 in Japan and to be released on July 25, 2006 in the US.  All music by the Velvet Teen. Lyrics by Judah Nagler. Recorded by Ephriam Nagler and Judah Nagler. Additional vocals on "False Profits" and "Noi Boi" by Ashley Allred.

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01. 333
02. Flicking Clint
03. Rhodekill
04. False Profits
05. Tokyoto
06. Noi Boi
07. Spin the Wink
08. Bloom
09. Building a Whale
10. In a Steadman Spray
11. Around the Roller Rink
12. GyzmKid
13. No One Gets the Best of Me*
14. Spin the Wink (Little Cat Mix)*
15. False Profits (Cute Version)*
 
* Japan-only Bonus Tracks
 
00. The Raining Curtains (Cum Laude Vinyl release)
 
01. 333
 
i took the pain out of my pen
i took my self out of my selfish ways
and wrote all
 
i took the heat off of my hen
and took my place upon the roof instead
and crowed and crowed
 
i've made a satyr from a saint
i've made a nun out of a lesbian
you are the person you've been always
you were just too young to know yourself back then
and if you think that you can change, well
then i hope you're right
not even god can change your nature
but you can hold back, right?
 
i took the greed out of my grin
and sunk my teeth into my work instead
and they followed
 
i took my seat upon the stand
gave my account of what happened
and swallowed
 
i've made a satyr from a saint
i've made a nun out of a lesbian
you are the person you've been always
you were just too young to know yourself back then
 
and if you think that you can change, well
then i hope you're right
not even god can change your nature
but he can hold out alright
 
02. flicking clint
 
you choked
but i will not be as weak as your throat
i don't care, i was on your side
as soon as we met
 
you complain, this heart's had its beating
but i will be your faith
who knows when it will end
you're going to live through me
and i will be over it
as soon as i can
 
i've known pain
but never as much as on my first day
i don't care, i do not remember it
and soon i'll forget this as well
 
you complain, this heart's had its beating
but i will be your faith
who knows how long it will last
you aren't going to live through this
but i will be over
as soon as i can
 
soon as we turn in
 
03. rhodekill
 
i woke up
i woke the dead up
i was a child
who never wanted to grow up
 
i used to drink
until i'd throw up
to quicken the day
i never thought you would show up
 
so when i run
i run until dark
so i can't see
the mess i make
 
oh foolish, it's too late
foolie-coolie, it's too late, too late
 
i will walk
in a straight line
how could i not
now that you're mine
 
our love
is a fire
it can't be controlled
sometimes you've got to go slow
 
will i be outdone
have i gone to far
i fear the fates
the lie-in-waits
 
oh foolish, if it's too late
foolie-coolie, it's too late, too late
 
it's where you are
not where you're going
not where you're from
you are what you love
and that is all
 
04. false profits
 
i saw it coming
this is what they write about
it's all coming down
we have been warned about it
 
but let not the romans
ruin our romance as well
how will we know when it's over
they have not tamed us yet
 
tell them, go waste your time
on tomorrow
my love, you don't have to wallow in your sorrow
my love, you don't have to steal or borrow
go waste your time
 
i tried to speak up
but i was cornered with a fool's dunce cap
yeah, i may be dumb
but i still have ears to listen
 
and i heard a rumor
you're made achillean with the school budget
taxing the people
from which you already profit
 
so where does it end?
don't waste your time
it is hollow
my love, you don't have to wallow in your sorrow
my love, you don't have to steal or borrow
go waste your time
 
05. tokyoto
 
oh, my home
is a frozen lake
shadows skate past
figures, i say
i laughed out
at the lines they made
while overhead
they flicker and dissipate
 
saying, i was born a spark
and i burned
burned, myself a watermark
i left, myself a trail
to find my way
when i fell, a stray
 
and i walked a whale
didn't rest, for many a day old
to sing, to say, oh
i will be again
i have already been
 
oh, i know i am going home
but i don't know when
i don't know when
 
the foolish crack
but i will be here again
to ruin and spit in
 
06. noi boi
 
you look almost dead
face down in our bed
our heads full of seditives
we rest
 
you're sweet like a child
and wild as the devil
heaven surely sends its regrets
but we rest
content
 
cos if we die tonight, i do not care
there will be no need to be scared
yeah, if we do not make it, i don't mind
all i want is to sleep by your side
too many people live imprisoned
stuck somewhere between the is and isn't
the night will pass and we'll no longer think on
what it was or what it wasn't
 
i may never win this race
i may never have money on me
it all seems a lottery anyway
i got a job that pays my rent
and i can take you out now and then
it's all about the time we spend together anyway
 
and if we die tonight, i do not care
there will be no need to be scared
yeah, if we do not make it, i don't mind
all i want is to sleep by your side
too many people live imprisoned
stuck somewhere between the is and isn't
the night will pass and we'll no longer think on
what it was or what it wasn't
 
07. spin the wink
 
no matter where you are
no matter how close or far
i will make you throw your hands near
 
i will make you turn my way
and staring at you for years
means too many chances
have passed me already
oh darling, let me come call on you
when you're not here
you won't forget what you are to me
 
and i won't change your mind
no, i will make you certain
no surer will you have been of anything
 
i will make you turn my way
and do it all on purpose
too many chances have passed me lately
 
darling, let me come call on you
when you're not here
you won't forget what you are to me
and we'll spend the week
not sparing a wink
 
here, love, oh, ooh, love
here, love, oh, ooh, love, oh
when you're here love, oh, ooh, love
here love, oh, ooh, love, oh
 
give me your hand
come one, come all
 
darling, let your fate come call on you
when you're not here
you won't forget what you are to me
and we'll spend the week
not sparing a wink
 
here, love, oh, ooh, love
here, love, oh, ooh, love, oh
say what you want to me
here love, oh, ooh, love
here love, oh, ooh, love, oh
 
08. bloom
 
oh, how i long to get my feet wet
cried and yelled the ice as it melted
but will i know it when i see it
or will i miss the only chance i ever had
 
no calendar can keep a secret
time will tell, yes time will tell
and this moment, you can keep it
only for a while, and it will go
but you'll be thankful
 
that you are
not only judged by our messes
and not every word you say embarrasses
not every wound received needs carresses
some lessons are best learned
though having less
and listening
 
so listen, listen
 
i do not care about tomorrow
i have seen the future
and we are falling down
to the earth, we'll retreat without a sound
spinning round
the sun will come to greet and touch the ground
singing, come along with me
come along
come with me
 
cos not all those fallen seeds will one day bloom
and not every rotten tree will root again
you live, so what use have you to pretend
there must be something better once this ends
 
for not all the folks you'll meet have seen your face
and not every road that leads you knows your name
the real ones will always be glad you came
not every turn you take leads to a dead ending
 
09. building a whale
 
cheer up, cherub
why's your halo burning out
a mutual friend
it makes me scream and shout
 
you hear the creaks above your bed
you hear my girlfriend cum laude
kiss her hand in front of me
and take her out when i'm not around
 
so? well?
is there a lie that you will not tell
there's no reversing the spell
of if you don't who will
 
my body is a building
and i am burning down
i will burn, burn, burn
until i hear no sound
 
i ask my friends for their advice
they say, boy, what goes around
little by little they lift the veil
that you wear so well
 
so? well?
is there a lie that you will not tell
there's no reversing the spell
of if you don't who will
 
so win, we will
is there a lie that you will not tell
there's no reversing the spell
of if you don't who will
 
10. in a steadman spray
 
it doesn't matter what i say
cos every sentence ends
in a steadman spray
forefinger blackened in song
broken blood from an empty vessel
 
they will say what they will say
but i've worked as hard as anyone else
got the same fire in these veins
copper cords, yeah, electric tape
 
chains and tires
till you can't sleep
and all this to someday never wake up
and it never ends, no, it never ends
 
it just hits harder every day
and the corporate hands tighten their grasp
how can i say anything
got no funds, no representation
 
let them take what they will take
as we say, thanks so much
yeah, everything helps
just be grateful you are free
to do anything they say
 
oh, the wait this year
for the new sundance independent films
oh, it never ends, no, it never ends
 
and whow can we ever expect we're getting out
when we can't even see what we're inside
you've spoken for us, will you speak to us now
can we mellow out, will you settle down
are we just fooling ourselves
too elite for us now
you think you're so separate
 
do you hear us down here
can you feel it now
 
have we all gone too tourettes
to make sense of anything else
they can't steal your suffering
they can't steal your memories
 
oh the world's gone mad
can you feel it now
 
11. around the roller rink
 
let's stay in bed
for the whole day
don't want to go
don't want to go
 
we won't regret
what we're wasting
and i know now
where i fit in
 
and though the day
we slowly sink
in the time it takes
to swallow or blink
if you have a thirst
but you do not drink
what use have you
come, fill your glass
with me
 
surely, i would pass away
if i let you go
if i let you go home
 
without me
it's an addiction
just one more time
just one more taste
 
and though the dance
is as slow as sleep
and i don't know
whether i follow or lead
it's the best thing
that could ever be
just to hold your hand
and waltz around the roller rink
 
12. gyzmkid
 
have you made your peace with fate
have you resolved all of those hated mistakes
are you banking on a bank
to withdrawal all of the statements you made

do the things you desire
let you remember what you wanted them for
when you’ve finally laid your claim
do you find that you just search all the more

well, not me cos i have you
and you’re all i could ever want
in this eternal moment
to have and to hold
as our bodies burden
this returning torrent

if my mother had stayed away
from my father
would she have been more happy
if they both had stayed in the ring
would they clown now
or find crowds less clappy

do the people you love
still come greet you like you’d never left off
or has your skin become too rough
is it too hard to even keep in touch

yeah, i try my best, but when i can’t
and i’m away, know you’ve all my love
in this sea turtle moment
to have and to hold
as our bodies burden
this retarded chorus

and you will never forget to laugh
made with hands that will so playfully ask
to touch and yes, to grasp
at all the more ways for us to feel and react

oh i know, oh i will
i know i will

trust yourself and the one that you love
 
13. no one gets the best of me
 
(see Elysium for lyrics)
 
14. spin the wink (little cat mix)
 
(same as above)
 
15. false profits (cute version)
 
(same as above)
 
00. the raining curtains
 
i found my author
over the water
we don't need no other
i exclaimed
why bother!
and i refrained
 
and i turned my back to the wind
to keep my light burning
i spent the night awake
tossing and turning
all these thoughts inside my brain
till one thing was certain
when it all ends
the raining curtains
 
so i made my offer
laid my self on the altar
without my mother or father
i am orphaned
and no friend offends often
lest his shell soften
 
and in this hell i, ben, haunt in
this son keeps burning
and i spend my days awake
coughin' and cursin'
all these thoughts inside my brain
still one thing is certain
when it all ends
there'll be no hurtin'