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The Burning SeasonThe Burning Season

"Monica Richards and William Faith took their time when it came to following up 1999's Evidence of Heaven. They spent four years sifting through their wild imaginations and wide sonic palettes for a reason; they wanted to be ready to take on the shift in music and be powerful enough to stand alone. Faith & the Muse have never been ones to follow what's appealing on a mainstream level, but this time they embraced certain elements of dance and pop to create their best album in years. The Burning Season is an atmospheric soundscape, both gauzy and hypnotic with string arrangements and Faith's classic blistering guitar work. There's a newfound confidence burgeoning on this album as well, and the immediate kick-start of "Sredni Vashtar" represents the duo's desire to be taken seriously. They're not just another token goth rock act. Faith & the Muse are artists in the most literate sense; however, unlike their counterparts, they have a spark. The Burning Season is unapologetic in its dynamics. Richards is a temptress on "Boudiccea," a swirling shoegazing trip of fluid acoustics. Just when you think the band's got you in its circle, "Gone to Ground" switches things up. This is Faith & the Muse's own lounge selection, and again Richards is a siren. Fans who adore the band's incorporation of mythology and neo-classical folk will enjoy "Visions" and "Whispered in Your Ear." These particular tracks thrive on the band's roots, but with an electronic twist. The redesign is impressive. Ten years after their formation, Faith & the Muse have a firm grasp on what they want to be, and The Burning Season captures how unshakable they truly are as artists. Instead of making something curiously artistic just for the sake of it, Faith & the Muse are exquisite finding something fresh."

- MacKenzie Wilson All Music Guide


Track Listing (Lyrics linked to Titles) - Go to Music to hear Burning Season soundbytes

1. Bait and Switch
2. Sredni Vashtar
3. Boudiccea

4. The Burning Season
5. Whispered In Your Ear
6. Gone to Ground
7. Relic Song
8. In the Amber Room
9. Failure to Thrive
10. Visions
11. Prodigal
12. Willow's Song


Album Credits
All instruments and voices performed by William Faith and Monica Richards except:
Drums on Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 11 by Chad Blinman
Violins on 10 & 12 performed and recorded by Matt Howden/Sieben
at Redroom, Sheffield, England
“Gone To Ground” performed with the Happy One-Time Orchestra
at Cafe Society
Produced by Faith and the Muse
Additional programming and treatments by Chad Blinman
All songs composed by Faith and the Muse © Elyrian Music 2003, BMI except:
“Willow’s Song” written by Paul Giovanni
Recorded by William Faith at Wisperthal, Los Angeles, CA January - April 2003
Mixed by Chad Blinman at the Eye Socket, Venice, CA
Mastered by Joe Gastwirt at Joe Gastwirt Mastering, Oak Park, CA
Photos by Clovis IV • Design and Layout by Monica Richards

William Faith used Schecter Guitars exclusively for this album.

Original lyrics by Monica Richards, except "Failure to Thrive", written by William Faith.

Sredni Vashtar

Time to show some sharper teeth Time to grow a thicker skin
Time to drop the seventh veil and let some madness wander in
This is not a darker age Just the turning of the wheel
I am here to reassure we never really had control
This world was never kind
Separate your present mind
Time to show some sharper teeth Time to grow a thicker skin
Time to drop the seventh veil and let some madness wander in.
What is luxury today will be necessity tomorrow
This is not a way of life Your future past betrays its values
This world was never kind
Separate your present mind
Time to show some sharper teeth Time to grow a thicker skin
Time to drop the seventh veil and let some madness wander in
This is not a darker age Just the turning of the wheel
I am here to reassure we never really had control
This world was never kind
Separate your present mind.


Boudiccea

It's the impossibility of Womanhood that vexes me.
The child bride symbol
The ability to read eyes and minds -
Curves more fluid than desert waves,
The tiny bones of the wrist,
The organic movement to paint the lips.
But the heart
A woman's heart
Much older than the hollow'd trees.
I am the Queen who fell upon her sword,
My servants and descendants each took their turn a glorious wave.
But anger is such energy, beautiful if controlled,
A slow simmer, the sharpening of teeth.
But the heart
A woman's heart
Has the patience of the black, black sea.
Our hands are tied.
Our voices mute.
Such was our fate when they cut off our head.
Little sisters You seem so estranged.
Some may dress and act the glamour'd part but they'll never have
A woman's heart
A woman's heart
Burns deadlier than the sleeping beast.
Hang your head in shame
Every time you break another woman's heart.


The Burning Season

I'm having a weak moment
A moment that may not end
Lonely in my own skin
Everything is changing Everything seems changed
As if quietly replaced by something souless
Burn It Down
What happened to the spirit - with all its endless strength
Did they swallow her up and put me in her place
Did I grow within my shadow or simply melt around myself -
The human put back on the shelf.
Burn It Down
(I have seen through the eyes of the opposition.
The one who defines my failure
At touching that place in the heart
Where emotions bow their heads in wonder.
(Effortless Oracle - Keeper of Mysteries.)
You have encountered me, familiar with my immediacy:
In a wisp of melody, a neglected phrase unexpectedly heartfelt...
In this world I may tap you on the shoulder.

Ignite
Burning Down your Effigies
Ignite
Burning Down the Seems of Change
I inhabit that one region where the mind enthralls and lulls the image
Where my youth and life and bloom are forever fervent,
Where my eyes ignite with existence,
We are all of us a moment
Our lives a simple sum


Whispered In Your Ear

You've come this far
It's just a little further from where you are
Another hour, another mile, one more year
It might be easier to let yourself disappear.
Always on the outside
And all eyes turn away
All eyes turn away.
It's fragile work to keep your dream
But the older that we get the farther they seem
Don't give up, don't give out, don't give in
You've come this far, does it matter if they never let you in
Always on the outside
And all eyes turn away
All eyes turn away.
You've come this far
Another hour, another mile, one more year
Your older self may whisper in your ear
The effort is illusion
But later hold you in their arms with the gratitude
Of a person who lived without regret.
Always on the outside
And all eyes turn away
All eyes turn away.


Gone to Ground

I'd gone to ground
Thought I'd sleep forever somehow
So you flickered till you dimmed
And foolishly I let you in
I'd gone to ground
While you laid waste to my realm
Blew your friendly dust upon my face
I hapless rendered me to grave
Oh there are Truths behind the death in eyes
And Love may have no afterlife
Just a smile that spills its cracks
Dull but painted well
I'd gone to ground
Thought I'd feel more safe and sound
Then I felt your shadow there
Hoping I'd sleep unaware
Oh - I'd gone to ground
And you buried me deeper down
You Narcissistic murderess
Against my trusting Do-Nothingness
The Agony
To awaken from the dead
Resurrected with disgrace
My tomb plundered and ablaze
Oh there are Truths behind the death in eyes
And Love may have no afterlife
Just like wretched Lazarus
Dull but painted well


Relic Song
(Written for the Old School)  

The walls of my myth are closing in
Past a twenty year rebellion
And the song comes back again
I am a man and my blood is still running strong
We didn't realize we'd all live so long
When I revive my once youth nation
A Relic Song for the new generation
Another year and the bolder I stay bound
Punk Rock, Ultra-dark, Old School, Underground.
Corporate "punk" stars manufactured screaming
Miming our lyrics stripped of all their meaning
I may revive my once youth nation
A Relic Song for the new generation
The walls of my myth are crashing down
Past a twenty year rebellion
And the song comes back around
One step forward and two steps back
An old look, an old sound dressed new for the amnesiac
When I relive my Punk generation
A Relic Song for the Fad youth nation
For my crimes I may not be remembered
The Noble Primitive hardcore disrespected
I am a man - the world is alive
I am a man - the future's on fire
More than any man I am
I may revive my Punk generation
A Relic Song for the Fad youth nation
One step forward and two steps back
Things are looking up
Things are looking up
Things are looking up


In the Amber Room

In this heightened moment
I am with you, my Love.
In this Risen moment
Here with you, my Love.
Hold the hurt to heart,
Put the heart beneath a stone
And wait for the rain.
Hold the hurt to heart,
Put the heart beneath a stone
Another stone to step along our way.

In this heightened moment
I am with you, my Love.
In this Risen moment
I am with you, my Love.
You are as I imagined
Full of love and hope
And life has yet to tear you down.
You are as I remember
Full of love and hope
And life will never tear you down.
Hold the hurt to heart,
Put the heart beneath a stone
And wait for the rain.
Hold the hurt to heart,
Put the heart beneath a stone
Another stone to step along our way.


Failure to Thrive

The season's over
The season's done
Too slow to notice
The fire's gone
So thin on the ground
With a chemical heart
And a cheap excuse
I've played my part
A torch to the error
And a cold hard look in the eye
I wonder why
You still wander 'round in rain
A torch to the error
And a cold hard look in the eye
I ask you why
You still wonder...
Run as long as you can
'Til you know what I mean
Not even the rain
Can make me clean
The content of those tiny hours
Contemplate the price of those shadows
Ever screaming toward the anvil
What was the price of those shadows, brother?
A torch to the error
And a cold hard look in the eye
I wonder why
You still wander 'round in rain
A torch to the error
And a cold hard look in the eye
I ask you why
You still wonder 'round in rain
A face to the terror
And a long sharp stick in the eye
I can't deny
My trespass in poor domain
A face to the terror
And a long sharp stick in the eye
I still decry
Your judgment
Your vanity
Your name
(Carry on)
I found a new ring; taught it to believe again
No broken memories remain -- no bloodsick "friends"
The years behind us have all taken wing
In ill-remembrance of a Mad Drunk King
Those who go hiding all their tears in wine
Will find that they've grown rotten on the vine
So carry on, dear brother -- I wish you well
(Just carrion)
With brighter days in mind -- so long -- farewell


Visions

I walk with phantoms and leaves are burning at my feet.
I walk with phantoms.
Sometimes they rage
Sometimes they fade.
Some must watch while some are
Singing
Singing the hum of the walking dead.
Singing
I walk with phantoms and leaves are ice at my feet.
I walk with phantoms.
Here is the truth:
Seven wonders.
Seven wonders and the will to live.
Singing the hum of the walking dead.
Thinking of every word that you said.
Singing as garden walls ripple with the blur of bees,
Sweetly singing as sunlight streams through the aching trees,
Voices trampling the exhausted wilderness,
Singing the hum of the walking dead.
Burning like the gaze upon a faithless friend
Burning down the lonely trees always in the end
Voices trampling the exhausted wilderness,
Dragging the heels of the walking dead.
Dragging out every word that you said.


Prodigal

Mother and Father, Sister and friend
It's not that I embrace the end
It's simply that I feel too deeply
Towards what I see around me
But this is not escape
This is my way
Oh Father, Mother I find
The people here are so unkind
And strangers trample blindly
They've lost all common courtesy
This is not escape
This is my way
When I was a child I knew I'd never die
Like an unknown god that was watching through my eyes
And I was strange and I was old
Watched the future past unfold
Their toys are getting complicated
But no one's any brighter
More doors are locked and bolted
But no one's any stronger
Oh Brother, Sister I see
You are not happier that me
But you will all pretend to be
To prove there's something wrong with me
But this is not escape
This is my way
And I may or may not change


Willow's Song

This song was written by Paul Giovanni for the movie, The Wicker Man.

Heigh ho! Who is there?
No one but me, my dear.
Please come say, How do?
The things I'll give to you.
By stroke as gentle as a feather
I'll catch a rainbow from the sky
And tie the ends together.
Heigh ho! I am here
Am I not young and fair?
Please come say, How do?
The things I'll show to you.
Would you have a wond'rous sight
The midday sun at midnight?
Fair maid, white and red,
Comb you smooth and stroke your head
How a maid can milk a bull!
And every stroke a bucketful.

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