the cycle
The loop nobody escapes cleanly: carry everyone's weight, pass hurt downward, feel better: smile, shake it off, try not think too much.
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ISRC QZFYZ2461802 (soundexchange)
Track three on I, the album’s sharpest honesty about cycles. The title echoes the planned Möbius architecture (MÖB, I, US, MÖBIUS), but here the cycle is personal and ugly, not mythic. The confession is that pain rolls downhill: get older then I’ll be hurting people below me / and feeling so much better. It isn’t an endorsement, just a naming, and the song knows it’s posturing too. Mercury retrograde becomes an excuse you don’t fully believe, a reason for abuse, and the coping stack (smile shake it off / smile have a drink) repeats until repetitious becomes the point.
On an LP mostly about u, travel, and tenderness, this is the crack where the singer admits how harm propagates and how easy it is to numb past it. It sits after daydreaming and before ez pz; neither solves the loop, they alternate with it.
Lou Roy, background vocals.
Written, performed, and mixed by Luke Francis Walton. Mastered by Riley Knapp. Artwork by Grizzard Graphics.
Lyrics
Everybody's got their Own shit they're dealing with My own burden carrying The weight of everybody Pressing on my shoulder Get older then I'll be Hurting people Below me And feeling so much better The cycle goes on and on Is that a little repetitious? Well welcome to my life Yes, i'm being dramatic But a retrograde's to blame No I don't really believe it But I like a good excuse A timeline to get better A reason for abuse Smile shake it off Smile have a drink Smile try not think too much Everybody's got their Own shit they're dealing with My own burden carrying The weight of everybody Pressing on my shoulder Get older then I'll be Hurting people Below me And feeling so much better The cycle goes on and on And on and on and on and on and on And on and on and on and on The cycle goes on and on And on Smile shake it off Smile have a drink Smile try not think too much Try not think too much Try not think too much