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better, or the next best thing

by How I Became Invisible

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1.
I’m coming clean, I’m coming out right I’m being up front as I can There is no truth in my cowardice Nothing there of who I am Because space is just a metaphor Science is just a game And I’m not finding hope in carrying on I can’t even use my name There’s an end to all this artifice An end to all my lies But I can’t find the strength to power through To be louder than my cries Of voyagers and altered parallels Of a world beyond my mind I don’t mind, I don’t mind anything Just let me stay alive I’ll stay alive So I climb out of the abstraction And pull myself into the real I’m not ready for the abject Not ready for the feeling Of the ghost haunting the morning Next to someone I can’t see It's nothing new, I guess I’m used to it Every day a new defeat And the truth is I’m not anyone A blank slate to draw upon Picture yourself in its borders Leave your mark and then move on I’m covered up in scribbled art In bloodied prints and painted scars And that’s all I’ll have to last me Til the last shred falls apart I’ll fall apart But I’ll make it art I’ll fall apart And leave my mark I’ll fall apart But I’ll make it art I’ll fall apart And leave my mark So call me anything you want to I’ll take it with a smile Degrade and confiscate my everything Use me as your denial I know there’s someone else inside Who just keeps fucking up my life So I’ll keep moving on in time And just keep running to stay alive And say goodnight
2.
invisible 01:14
Hello to the morning To another day Stuck within the aftermath of things caught in the way Of knowing what I’ve wanted is now in my hands But here I stand with no demands on my long long debated plans “Or maybe they’re lying to you” And I can’t see That everything Is waiting there in front of me Waiting for the future that I need And I can’t see Myself to be I’m everything I’ve wanted And I’ve waited And I’ll ever get to be Is right there in front of me
3.
I’d like to know where we go When we end up on our own Walking down the endless road With no map left or sign of home It fades away… The lights that guided you are gone It fades away… The lights that guided you are gone It fades away… The lights that guided you are gone And so this dark and empty road That lead us out into the unknown Is not the making of our own But a never ending source of loneliness Of loneliness I’m so afraid of fucking up the good things So I stand still And they fade away Staring out at all of the lost dreams That have fallen by As I walked away Sticking to the guidelines we’ve made up Hasn’t gotten us More than far away Climbing out of the hole that we dug ourselves Only finding Another alleyway So afraid of fucking up the good things Only finding another alleyway (I’ll swim alone)
4.
better 04:18
This hospital room Says "Don't worry it's too soon" And the lights outside say "You'll get out alive" But the shivers and the shakes Are still keeping me awake And I'm losing more of me all of the time All my friends say "It gets better" But better never seems to ever show So I pull myself in tighter and tighter Until there's nowhere left or anywhere for me to go The early sunrise Masks the tears in my eyes As the beat goes on and on and on and on It repeats in my head Absent of anything I've said "I can't make it through this alone" No, I don't think so All this time later It still rings in my ears "I guess we'll just have to adjust" I love you I love you Wish you were here And all our yesterdays turn back to dust And it's hard to hold on When you've no idea what is real or true And it's hard to hold on When the world keeps turning back on you So I guess there's nothing left for me to do I'll just sing hallelu like it means something to you 'Cause I can't bury myself and I won't bury you I'll just sing hallelu like it means nothing to you 'Cause I can't bury myself and I won't bury you I'm not bitter I've just been better I wish that what I did would matter The world revolves and Nothing resolves and I'm not better I'm just better than I used to be
5.
codex gigas 00:36
I sleep too much I don’t sleep enough I sleep too much I don’t sleep enough Too self absorbed and too self aware Too self important and too fucking scared I sleep too much I don’t sleep enough I sleep too much I don’t sleep enough All my best work comes from challenge and spite But I keep falling backwards every time I fight So I will keep digging til I find the sun Or the center Of the Earth
6.
There’s several ways to say I’m sorry But I haven’t said a thing So it’s back to what we’ve settled on today Reading through my phone nightly For what I’m supposed to be happy enough to say Is the reason I keep living And it’s stolen one by one Can we take this back to anything Back to what we’d said Back to when we’d make it on our own Living through the first of several ongoing ends of the world I’m tired of asking what’s the point When there’s no point in even asking We’re on islands alone We’re on our islands alone We’re all tired We’re sick of being lied By the same voices that tell us we’re ok We’re not ok And it’s fine There’s no point in getting better When better’s just another word for “Still alive today” We’re not ok I’ll wait for another life I’ll wait for another try I’ll go on and tell another lie That I won’t burn it down And then we’ll light it up We’re all tired We’re sick of being lied By the same voices that tell us we’re ok We’re not ok And it’s fine There’s no point in getting better When better’s just another word for “Still alive today” We’re not ok And that’s fine We’re not ok And that’s fine We’re not ok
7.
I keep thinking of the future The way it keeps moving never slowed Because moving on is easier said than done I’ve never wanted to kill myself But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to die Waiting around as the minutes counted down Never looking anybody in the eye Taking the time to mourn the life That was never really mine Pretty soon you’ll arrive in the future And you won’t even know it
8.
lateral move 02:34
My name is not my name But I still hear it all the same It’s swinging back and forth like a street sign In a late fall hurricane Just another tiny island In a vast binary sea I can’t relate to that right now I’ve got bigger fish to leave My name is not my name It’s an echo of who I used to be It’s sitting there between my legs Where your attention shouldn’t be “What you got under your skirt?” None of your fuckin’ business, man Whether sir or ma’am or that one there I’m whatever I say I am And don’t forget it Here lies the boy who thought it would all fall into place Here lies the girl who never found what she thought was the way Here lies the secret: they’re both one and the same And if no one’s ashamed Then no one’s to blame
9.
I had a dream we were old Well, older A Rittenhouse that don’t exist Park benches and pigeons Small hands holding on Watching sun pass through branches Joyful noise and traffic passing An autumn afternoon In an autumn that doesn’t exist anywhere A small smile on your lips It was a nice dream…
10.
I’ve seen the future and it’s caving in I’ve seen my past stretched out before me like a misshaped mirror It doesn’t matter if you live or sin All that matters is the world gets one over on you Sing it so loud That they can’t ignore you anyway Sing it so loud That no one can ever ignore you I’ve seen tomorrow and it’s caving in I’ve my yesterdays turn into moments left inside my mind I’ve seen tomorrow and it’s caving in Right there with the future staring back into a mirror Sing it so loud That they can’t ignore you anyway Sing it so loud That they can’t ever hear you Say That it’s your time Say That it’s your time now It’s your time now
11.
synthesis 01:33
"welcome to the ever-present specter of annihilation"
12.
ellipsis 04:33
I don’t know Where I’m going or where I’ve gone But I’m going on anyway Take it slow Find the real path, find the road Keeping my eyes pointed away From the reasons that I’m running From the reasons that I hide Look away enough And they end up staying inside I prefer the darker corners Keeping well out of the light Maybe I’m the one who has to change Maybe it’s time I’m still afraid Of fucking up all the good things But I see them now and keep them close at hand I’m still afraid Of losing everything again But that’s not stopping me from loving all I can I know my way out is through at last I know my way out is through at last I know my way out is through at last I know my way out I know my way out is through at last I know I don’t have to outrun the past I know with light and love I’ll make it last I know my way out I know my way out is through at last I know my way out is through at last I know my way out is through at last I know my way out I’m still afraid Of fucking up all the good things But I see them now and keep them close at hand
13.
Is it getting better Am I alive Is it getting easier Will I survive Is it just a moment Just another day Is it getting better Will I stay Will I stay Awake And tell you everything Will I stay Today And hope that you can stay Awake Is it getting better Who’s to say

credits

released September 26, 2023

How I Became Invisible is:
Emily Rose Reed - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keys, programming

Featuring:
Mark Bancroft - guitar (track 4)
Cyn Ketner - vocals (track 4)
Joe Howland - vocals (track 4)
Candace Michelle - vocals (track 4)

All songs music and lyrics by Emily Rose Reed, except track 14, music and lyrics by Adam Schlesinger

Recorded and produced at Wayward Studios, NJ
Mastered by Bill Henderson, Azimuth Mastering, www.azimuthmastering.com

Cover photo by Emily Rose Reed
Cover design by Bernadette Vitale

THANK YOU to A Few Good Records.

Special thanks to Cyn, Cole, Fina, Jo, Mom, Dad, Cait, Jay, Ryan, Alex, Bennett, Mark, Joe, Candace, Noonan, Jake, Tom, Joseph, Nakul, Rissa, Casey, Noah, Andrew, Mandy, Geneva, Michi, Diglo, Veronica, Vi, the discord, Danger Club, Take Today, Mega Infinity, Paper Geese, Booze Radly, Full Blown Meltdown, Saint Judas, Valeri Legasov, Griffin McElroy, David Bowie, David Tennant, estradiol valerate, and the ever-present specter of annihilation.

As always, I love you Jessica, I love you Jared.

Be kind to each other. We're all out here alone.

www.howibecameinvisible.com || www.afewgoodrecords.com

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How I Became Invisible Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Trans punk space emo songs about science, sadness, anger, and transition. we're all in this together. so raise your fist and start to sing.

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