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1.
Deserted 03:17
Spend a week with yourself Or risk a tangle with death Take a dose of relaxation With your circulating breath If the calendar’s the same Then the time doesn’t pass Flicking through the days Another member of the cast Holding Out from your future in an echo chamber Strap in You’re gonna be waiting a long long time Island Living is what you always dreamt it would be Nowhere To land Take my hand No promises I’ve just got stories You’ll still be alone Did you recover something that Grew up alongside you Sitting on a shelf While the world passed by you An artifact of nothing With a can of gasoline It can’t cure your maladies But it sure can burn your dreams Crumble To dust at the touch of an invasive species Blocking Out memories from a time best forgotten Stillborn Into the world unharmed unbroken Nowhere To land Take my hand No promises I’ve just got stories You’ll still be alone
2.
Emily was sitting alone In the cafe Waiting on a change of heart She’s just afraid of being on her own Even for a day Who knows what trouble it could bring Gracie had just gone away She’d left a note Half-folded on the bedsheets That was still where it remained Only slightly moved Disturbed by a teardrop Sharing colors Across the sky Too much of a good thing Can never last Gracie crumbles In the night time While Emily longs for another try With a little less love Gracie’s out swimming again The water’s cold But she wants to be colder To forget about the nights that could’ve been She can’t be thawed With no one to hold her Emily looks down at her drink The surface is still But she knows a touch will Send a ripple that causes a spill So she stays away Convinced she doesn’t want to get burned Again Sharing secrets After school Careful not to go too far Gracie stands up On her own now Emily tries not to watch Gracie crumbles In the night time Emily doesn’t know She just looks down Into her coffee And tries to stay afloat
3.
Mary Byrd 05:40
Mary Byrd, Red Cross nurse Was the standard that others aspired to Daughter of mr and mrs so-and-so Perfect to her parents and her peers She could do no wrong No no Do no wrong Sleepless nights, they all had led to this Now she slept with ease and with comfort Knowing that she was doing her best One patient at a time she was laying the groundwork for A safer world A better world Mary was called in one night Interrupting her well-earned rest There’s a couple just arrived at the hospital they said We need someone to help see they’re awfully distressed And you’re the best You’re the best William M. Strowd Johns Was born that night to James and Billie Mary knew that something was wrong And the very next morning little William was gone If only Mary knew There was nothing she could do James and Billie tried to get across That Mary Byrd wasn’t to blame But somewhere in the tears and the screaming and the silence from behind the closed door The message was lost Then Mary knew And from that well Mary drew The next year came and James went to war Billie stayed behind and kept their lives in line but Mary Byrd, Red Cross nurse She didn’t have a system and was running out of time She was the best They knew she was the best Mary Byrd worked until the end She didn’t know what else to do She went to her parents and then to her friends They just laughed and cried impossible Mary Byrd doesn’t get blue Thank god prohibition was through Mary found herself in the cemetery She felt closer to those stones every day Some lines of prose stood out from a saintly man Before she’d gotten through it she was sprawled across the grave Soon enough it bore her name Mary Byrd, servant of today Red Cross nurse We shall love And we shall praise
4.
Lungs 03:18
Everyone I’ve ever met is coughing up a lung At least they’ve still got one to spare There’s a sickness going round it’s infecting the whole town And soon enough I’ll succumb to all these dirty stares I’m getting How dare you live the way you are I’m forgetting What it’s like to exist under constant pressure Next year I’ll have my own room with a nice big double bed You can come and stay the night if we’re together I still can’t turn my amp up loud the way I like to hear it But maybe in a couple moves we’ll have a soundproof studio So I hope you don’t have to take the fall When I go I’m balanced on one of those circus balls And for now I feel so tall So tall I can look and see the future It’s not murky anymore At least not in the parts that really matter Can’t tell what I’m gonna end up doing but I know it’s gonna be fulfilling With another hand to share the load there’s no need to see the ends of the road These clouds creeping in we’ll just push them out again That’s my view that they’re obscuring and the sun’s not getting in The little life that’s left is hanging on It’s hanging on, but I don’t know for how long My lungs are filling up with smoke from the fires of my past
Specters creeping up behind saying where do you think you’re going The ball and chain weighs heavier today Now I’m out of breath from dragging all this weight around It’s time to join the ragged choir for good, for good Yes it’s time to join the ragged choir for good
5.
Labor Day 03:50
Playing guessing games in a college bar They don’t cater to the sound of heart We’re welcome here but we don’t know who should start There’s a soccer match on the opposite wall It’s a rerun so they’re playing on I’m just watching so that I don’t have to talk I don’t forget the things you didn’t do Your apologies that never rang true A connection lost but you faked it one too many times And too late I saw through Late night journaling turns to Early morning stressing Trying everything to fall asleep Like I’m a kid again On Christmas Eve But there’s nothing waiting downstairs save a flash of real and a half-hearted grin All those same mistakes Every sullen face I think I’ve changed this time for good Spent all Labor Day Picturing you praying I don’t believe in god and I didn’t think you ever would I don’t forget the things you didn’t do Your apologies that never rang true A connection lost but you faked it one too many times And too late I saw through I was on the brink and you pulled me back time and time again I said butterflies but my face said lies oh I wish it hadn’t I wish I was fine With something great not something mine Never proud only sorry Don’t be sorry Don’t forgive me I don’t love I lie I don’t forget the things you didn’t do Your apologies that never rang true A connection lost but you faked it one too many times And too late I saw through
6.
Locked up in my chamber Got good people on the line Papers say the world’s on fire But in here I’m feeling just fine Jackie’s on the phone Says my music taste is great But it’s gonna take some time She’s 600 miles away My other friend is closer But she doesn’t like my tunes Think we’re better friends that way There’s nothing I can do Hold it, hold it Hold it together out there There’s something paranormal beyond our eyes I want something to go back to something I recognize Can’t watch scary movies Cause they’re getting in my mind Omega Man’s too real I don’t want to be the last line I missed your face before Right now I just want it gone Things that sometimes bring me joy Are switching off and on, off and on I’m sick of one word lines I’m sick of one word lines Maybe I’m not giving my all But you’re accusing me of not trying The cops are treading water We’re laughing at their plight But we’re not swimming smarter We’re just living longer lives There’s a piece of you sitting In the corner of my room I’m sure you’d like it to be more But I don’t want these ties in my tomb
7.
We drove out to where the houses came to an end You told me that you came out here often It’s not breaking in if there’s no one to defend This empty place that I’m sure once was something I’d like to say we hopped the fence it rolls off the tongue But there wasn’t much left to jump anyway I crept around dodging puddles with my new white shoes You said the path looked like a gateway So we crawled around in the dark Finding our way In a familiar place Navigating by starlight There were picnics here once, on hazy summer days Mosquitoes were never a problem, no not in this dream They held races, and contests, and fairs And the children ran free in the glen Now you turn and you ask me what’s hiding out there To invent a monster waiting in the grass Or the woods on the outskirts, denser than iron Waiting for the end of some weekend knitting class So I thought but I couldn’t come up with a thing Nothing that haunted me, no fears to sing aloud And I felt at ease in that uneasy realm Then you sighed and you called me back home But the people out here had no cares and no fear The car was warm safe and claustrophobic This message wasn’t meant for your ears It was guided by starlight And this time it got the wrong guy Shut it down Take the long way home tonight
8.
Subway Song 02:46
The train pulled around the bend I got a chill on the platform that left me shaking Left here on my own again In the city with no end I dreamt about your sister last night I hadn't seen her in years Trust me it was weird And Rachel says she knows where I should go But I don't quite believe her Oh Oh no no I caught myself looking through the window One more time Than I said I would yesterday I'm all out of reason--they're out of rhyme I've lost your cigarette to lead the way Have you ever escaped from a black hole I've been working for a year I'll tell you when it becomes clear And Rachel says she knows where I should go But I don't quite believe her Oh Oh no no I told Rachel that I don't like it here She said give it a year The clouds'll leave and the sky will clear And we'll clean up the mess You've made
9.
We haven’t hung the hammock in the lawn Today’s a perfect day; I haven’t processed that he’s gone Only met him twice but I could feel it The twisted insides tucked away, did you steal it Your expression’s locked up in a tower It’s been a while but I still remember How you turn when you’re feeling bothered A shadow falls, wishing you had daughters But you don’t And a melody plays Alone together in an unsolvable maze Explaining to my new friends but they never understand The pale horse’s rider black is no more than a man An architect creating works of beauty One thing they could never house, a family Build your own A melody plays They came from out of nowhere looking for a place to stay On that day the cool passed on for good What else is there to learn? I’m sure he’d teach it if he could Empty streets, the wind plays like an evening song Parallel to the rules there’s nothing wrong At the end we all were forced in line Helpless watching as our idols crumbled and died God’s improvisation has betrayed us And haphazard structure cannot save us Today the room is empty for the pictures on the walls No more shouting no more music fills the halls The people who were in charge say they’re coming back Will the names etched into the desk still be intact We’ll be there A melody plays Even without him it goes on anyways Still it sounds A melody plays We’ll be listening somewhere for as long as it stays It’ll play
10.
Been seeing ghosts for the last week or so People I love but mostly people I don’t know They’re appearing in the places I’m scared to go now Passing my nights in a daze til tomorrow Counting a million ways to put off all the things I gotta do Forgot them all after one and two If I’ve told you this before don’t remind me Too close I might just slip and lose it all You’re nothing but a figment Something deep inside of me So what do you think you’re doing Showing up outside my dreams My skin is crawling crawling That’s not how it’s meant to be I swear I didn’t think That you meant that much to me Saw Mike he looked like Ethan in a dream Hanging in the royal suites with the queen The train to London lost my gaze in the steam And I drifted off Had my amp too loud and I coulda sworn That I was hearing voices through the door They were mad, the walls are thin But I wasn’t plugged in My memories don’t align with what I’ve seen I can’t handle any more of these strange scenes Don’t want to unearth the blank space underneath I’m filling space
11.
Time Travel 03:42
Go out to a country town But not to get away Quarantined against your will Supposed to call them family All the shitty drinks in the cooler Can’t get you through Christmas dinner So you end up in a moral debate With the side of you that would turn into a sinner But you cannot fix what’s broken with a dark room And you cannot mend your wounds with wine A telephone can’t transport you out of there Can’t travel forward to a better time If you could travel through time Tell me what good would that do Do you think it would really help you Where would you go? Any place draw a line on the map From here to there If you could go anywhere All those essays about Greece Don’t strike your fancy Sit among the olive trees Teach a few things to Socrates But think of who You’d leave behind People out there who care I promise this time You cannot stop what’s hurting with a beach You can’t just shut the world out with a mountain retreat A cry for help can bring a temporary salve Don’t sell your soul out for the here and now If you drop out cause you don’t have a plan Then what was the point? If you block out the voices around you There’s no one left to disappoint In the dingy bars you’re still breaking hearts But no one can get to yours Give someone a chance on solid ground To know you cared you’ll have to stick around

about

Aiaia was recorded during April, 2020, with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a microphone. Nine of the songs were written within the prior three months, while the other two were pulled from the *extensive* Marine Anthro back catalog. I hope you enjoy it.

credits

released May 12, 2020

All songs written, recorded, and produced by Eli Thayer

Cover art by Sophia Mohammed and Isabelle Molinari

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Marine Anthropology Washington, D.C.

Band split between DC, New York, and Scotland. We'd like to be experimental. It's hard.

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