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1.
Still thinking of the Sixties Now you’re in your sixties. History made a plaything of your past. Feeling sad about the moment Feeling sad about the dream It hits you like a fist, it hits you like a fist Crying for her memory, While she’s lying there beside you. You’re missing her madly, As you touch her sleeping face. You should have got kinder Not stranger and stranger, But nothing you ever did was fair. You should have tried harder, But you couldn’t be bothered. You don’t know what you missed, You don’t know what you missed. Crying for her memory, While she’s lying there beside you. You’re missing her madly, As you touch her sleeping face. Bernard in the arms of his father, Renee in the wreck of a car - The things that made you what you are. How quickly it goes. How quickly, how quickly it slows.
2.
I take the city bus and I think of us - Before the cracks appeared, Everything seemed easy. I still remember when you looked like mine - I felt secure, I felt defined. There was you and me among the flowers, The bricks and cooling towers.   There was you and me among the flowers, The universe was ours. The boy from yesterday Is knocking on your door.   Driving through familiar streets, Our past plays on repeat.   The songs I played you at the start Are slowly tearing me apart Worlds can change, then change right back again - Anger rise, then disappear.   There was you and me among the flowers Before the sweet turned sour. I was dazzled by your super-power, You could talk and talk for hours. The boy from yesterday Is knocking on your door. The boy from yesterday Is asking you for more. There was you and me among the flowers I could stare at you for hours. There was you and me among the flowers I could stare at you for hours. The gecko in the hotel room, My heightened sense of gloom. The money that was coming soon. The harmony that slipped out of tune.
3.
It started with a feeling, In the days when we were clean. I’d dropped the noise for silence, You’d quit the party scene. It ended in an instant. I was joking, you were pissed. Outside the bar, shaking, You wiped away my casual kiss. The street light glare, The late-night bus. The unknown future, The end of us. ---------- It’s daylight And you’re making your move.
4.
blog remember, blog remember me - all the little things I did. blog remember, blog remember me - all the spaces where I hid. that me has gone and that me has gone and this me is here just for now. that me has gone and that me has gone and this me is here, and i don’t know how. a mixed-up young man’s ghost in a broken old man’s shell, spouting ancient kiss and tell. angry cries in the night and temporary flights, just to prove I once saw the light. blog remember, blog remember me - all the hunger in my heart. blog remember, blog remember me - all the endings, all the starts. the things that seemed important, no longer seem important. the things that seemed important - no longer seen.
5.
Your Dad forgets his lines And looks towards the wall. Before the tell-tale signs, He stood so tall. The weather-beaten face; Dead flowers on the ledge. He always feared this place Would drive him to the edge. Weak now, a freak now. Struggling down the stairs. Old now, alone now, The man who left you scared. His words could rip you up, His looks could tear you down. You never joined his club, You had to leave his town. You had to leave this town. Rain falls. He looks small. You wish you didn’t care. Ride it, don’t fight it, The love is always there. There’s something in the eyes, The pull of family ties. Despite what you despise, The love is always there.
6.
The kind of woman men don't see, You were always meant for me. A frozen hometown memory - You found a way to set me free. I’ll take you to the place, That loud and awful place; Those rooms that marked us forever. I’ll take you to the place, That dark and dirty space. This time, we'll walk out together. City sounds bruise empty nights, The great adventure’s lost its bite. I’ll choose you if you choose me. I’ve taken down my defences. We were always meant to be. I’ll take you to the place (It’s such an awful place) - We’ll stare at the cowboys in leather. I’ll take you to the place, That dark and dirty space. This time, we’ll walk out together.
7.
cold night, no stars: old men sit in old men’s bars. hunched head, low cries, you raise your hand to shield your eyes. you take the long walk home alone, watch the tv, getting stoned. your friends moved on, your parents gone, your crowded world reduced to one. slow life remains - hairline cracks and bathroom stains. old dreams, new strains - silent obstacles to change. the gifted child, the favourite son - lost before the race was run. put on a front and pass the time, it’s getting darker all the time. slow life. to fade.
8.
A slave to the moment, You cry in the night. You drink yourself senseless Remembering old fights. You put the cards on the table, Raise your hands, touch your hair. For as long as you’re able, You’ll climb up those stairs. No-one cares what you stand for, No-one knows who you’ve been. You’re a ghost in the city, Alone and unseen. You put the cards on the table, Raise your hands, touch your hair. You miss your rides in the country, You miss the two-bit affairs. You had kids, you had sparkle, You knew love, you had time. You found light in the darkness, Now you’ve nothing to find. You’ve reached the finishing line. You’re a ghost in the city, Alone and unseen.

about

18 years after the duo’s debut California, Norfolk, Tim Bowness (No-Man) and Peter Chilvers (Brian Eno/Karl Hyde) return with the exquisite melancholy of Modern Ruins.

Mixed by the legendary Peter Hammill, the album alternates between fragile piano-led songs and atmospheric Electronica-infused pieces which take the duo’s music to new levels of accomplishment.

A CD edition - in rigid matt-finish Japanese-style card sleeve - is available from burningshed.com/artists/PeterChilvers

credits

released May 1, 2020

Tim Bowness - Vocals, Lyrics, FX
Peter Chilvers - Instruments, FX
Peter Hammill - Mixing, Stealth guitar on Blog Remember Me

Mastering - Giancarlo Erra for The Bench Music
Digital images - Peter Chilvers
Cover design and layout - Carl Glover

Written and produced by Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers.

Published by Real World Works Ltd/Sony/ATV Music.

The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers under exclusive licence to Burning Shed.

p 2020 Burning Shed. c 2020 Burning Shed.

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about

Peter Chilvers Ely, UK

Peter Chilvers is a musician and software designer, best known for collaborating with Brian Eno on the iOS applications Bloom, Trope, Scape and Reflection. He has also toured with Karl Hyde (Underworld) and recorded both instrumental albums and collaborations with vocalist Tim Bowness. He continues to work with Brian Eno, finding creative new uses for technology. ... more

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