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By Choice or Design

BY CHOICE OR DESIGN

First LP from Anecdata, released May 1, 2016.

DOWNLOAD / STREAM: BANDCAMP – YOUTUBE MUSIC – ITUNES – AMAZON – DEEZER – SPOTIFYTIDALAPPLE MUSIC

TRACKLISTING

1. Interroduction
2. We’re Not in Love With Earth
3. Silent Invasion
4. State of Mind
5. EPZ
6. Dead Dog Road
7. Interrolude
8. Brand New Illusion
9. Still Seeking
10. Meta
11. The Time Traveller’s Dilemma
12. Aphasia
13. By Choice or Design
14. Interroclusion

plus Bandcamp-only tracks

15. By Choice or Design (1999 demo)
16. Dead Dog Road (2006 demo)
17. Meta (2007 demo)
18. The Time Traveller’s Dilemma (2013 demo)

All songs written, recorded, mixed and mastered by D Satherley / Anecdata

VIDEO

REVIEW

From the Hamilton Underground Press
(Courtesty of the Hamilton Underground Press)

 

 


LYRICS

WE’RE NOT IN LOVE WITH EARTH

what if the answer came and we weren’t ready?
what if the pizza’s hot

but we’re not hungry for the knowledge of the new world
it’s coming to us, it’s going to be

believe in aliens or gods who don’t care
i know which i would pick in truth or dare

but i have never come across a
or come across b
open your eyes and see how

we’re not in love with earth
in fact it is the worst planet we have been on
far from slice of heaven

i want to blow up the world now

you can’t do that
we still live here
well okay, i won’t

they’re not all romulans, nor are they vulcans
we aren’t the federation

nor would we want to be the referee of the stars

it’s coming to us, it’s going to be

believe in aliens or gods who don’t care
i know which i would pick in truth or dare

but i have never come across c or come across d

open your eyes and see how

we’re not in love with earth
in fact it is the worst planet we have been on
far from slice of heaven

i want to blow up the world now

you can’t do that
we still live here
well okay, i won’t

SILENT INVASION

save myself, do not give up
crucifixion mailbomb
no sun without apathy
kamikaze a nun

silent invasion
silent invasion

set phasers to stun and shoot to kill

courtesy implied above
tick the box and never run
no fun without misery
you can never outrun

silent invasion
silent invasion

set phasers to stun and shoot to kill

underlying optimism
product of the Key regime
brighter future for everyone
gibberish for fun

STATE OF MIND

i won’t have any fear
any fear of whatever may haunt me
i will shout out aloud
silence, the harbringer of an early death

anonymous times will soon be gone
forever and ever and ever and ever and never be gone
oblivious minds cannot hang on
forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and that carry-on

paranoid, here we go
i knew i couldn’t get away from you
entertain, le coup de main
why do we play this neverending game?

anonymous times will soon be gone
forever and ever and ever and ever and never be gone
oblivious minds cannot hang on
forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and that carry-on

there is no love
there is no hope for me
there is no time
no time to turn would-be
into can-do
into will-do, it’s true
there is no love
it’s a state of mind

EPZ

scatter-bomb the town, leave no corner out of sight of it

logo is all
it’s all we see
it’s all we see in you
it’s all we want now

and don’t forget to lose it
and don’t forget to lose your sanity
and don’t forget to lose it
and don’t forget to keep your vanity

foreign EPZ, it’s slavery
nothing you and me will ever see up close
it’s all we need from you

and don’t forget to lose it
and don’t forget to lose your sanity
and don’t forget to lose it
and don’t forget to keep your vanity

we have no idea of what it takes to change
or what it means to be this underpaid

we don’t have a clue just what we’re meant to do
and it hurts our hearts but our profits too

i want to be free from this EPZ
it’s slavery and you know it too well

repackage the world as if i never died
resurrect the worst excesses of Genghis Khan and friends

i want to be free from this ABC
it’s slavery and you know it too well

DEAD DOG ROAD

they’re never gonna split us up
they’re never gonna shut us down
they’re never gonna tell us the future that will kill us
they’re never gonna shut us up

there’s not a hope
there’s a sign
there’s not a chance they’re gonna split us up at all

we’ve got to get out of here
let’s live down dead dog road
no junkies, not at all
we’re getting stronger every day

there’s nothing like wooden floors
two cats and summer sun, no hallway, not a door
we’re getting stronger every day
stronger every day
old in every way
yes it’s such a cliche

we’ve got to get out of here
let’s live down dead dog road
no junkies, winos, whores
we’re getting stronger every day

there’s nothing like wooden floors
two cats and summer sun, no hallway, not a door
we’re getting stronger every day
stronger every day
old in every way
yes it’s such a cliche

dead dog

BRAND NEW ILLUSION

liverpool echo, it’s all been done, it’s all been done
brand new illusion, it seemed so new, it seemed so new when i was young

money gun theatre, it’s wearing thin, it’s wearing thin
all over again, you shot me once, but not again, it’s not lightning

brand new illusion
same old confusion

brand new illusion, in spite of sight, i see again
all over again, it’s all been done, it seemed so new when I was young

another mass shooting, it seems insane, collective fame
brand new illusion, it’s all been done, it seemed so new when I was young

if you want an autograph then just say so
if you want to shoot me dead then you better go

STILL SEEKING

i’m the secret terrorist
natural-born illusionist
everything they say is true
we control whatever you do

there’s no need for violence when you breed malevolence
in the silent majority
common knowledge monopoly

look at me, look at you
it seems we’re not so different

terrorist, masochist
ah hell
i might as well die

time alive, i’ve got too long
can it be, it all went wrong?
lost a lot but i’ve loved so few
am i young? well that’s the rule, eh

charismatic until the end
aristocrats my only friends
in the silent majority
ever-present monotony

look at me, look at you
it seems we’re not so different

terrorist, masochist
ah hell
i might as well die

i’m not in love with you any more

META

i’m gonna write a song
it’ll be two minutes long
there will be just one guitar
a drum machine, and an organ part

if i find the right words they may just make this song
if i come across words in an order that hasn’t been done yet

and it might have a bridge

it needs a second verse
with the same tune as the first
but a different set of words
and it doesn’t really have to rhyme

if i find the right chord, it might just make this song
if i come across notes in an order that hasn’t been done yet
this song might be as big as king kong

this is unexpected
this is not how it should end
but i said it would take two minutes of your life
and now it has and it’s the end

THE TIME TRAVELLER’S DILEMMA

a carousel in space curving back upon itself
will you even notice if i went back in time
and told you your long-lost past is your future
will you prevent all this?

and if i tell you anything, will you pretend surprise?
if the space-time continuum collapses, will you cry?

it took a lot of mass squared with light
don’t mind the cost of the trouble
the tumbling dollar is nothing

and if i tell you anything, will you pretend surprise?
if the space-time continuum collapses, will you cry?

so if i can’t, can’t bring her back to life i know now
there’s nothing here for me

and if i tell you anything, will you pretend surprise?
if the space-time collapses in, will you dream of androids?

APHASIA

i wish i could know
i wish i could see

i wish i was near
i wish i was there

and you don’t know what i will do
and you don’t know what i will say

i wish i was one
i’ve done what i can

i wish i could start
all over again

and you don’t know what i will do
and you don’t know what i will say

BY CHOICE OR DESIGN

and by choice or design
or by any other way
i will get what i want, i will get what i need

no – we will not pay
we all need to stay afloat
and when i rule the world you can drink from my moat

but it’s not like that anymore
you won’t get away with that anymore

is there no other way to placate the thirsty crowd
but to sell them a life?
is empathy not allowed?

and by choice or design, will the message overcome?
as you see, i can hold a grudge
will you budge, or be dumb?

but it’s not like that anymore
you won’t get away with that anymore

but it’s not like that anymore
you won’t get away with that anymore
and it’s not like that anymore
you won’t get away with that anymore

by choice or design, life will find a way

Kosh Records 2023