Sérieusement, je n’étais plus capable de résister. Il faut absolument que je parle du nouvel album de As Cities Burn (dont vous avez pu voir les paroles sur mon blogue la semaine passée). L’album s’appelle « Come Now Sleep » et est sorti le 14 août 2007 sous l’étiquette « Solid State Records ». Le titre de l’album vient de la dernière chanson, s’appelant « Timothy » qui parle de ce certain Timothy qui serait mort et qui serait vraisemblablement en enfer selon le chanteur :

It’s not the sound keeping me from sleep,
It’s what Jesus said about hell underneath.
I think I’d rather believe it’s some imaginary place,
Made up to make children behave,
So our souls are safe to wander off,
Wherever they might please.
Your soul is safe wherever you might be.

Come now, sleep.
Come, now sleep.

Tell me I’m only dreaming.
Tell me he’s just sleeping.
And when morning comes,
We’ll both wake up to see the sun,
And love that’s enough to keep our friends alive.

Je ne devrais pas commencer par la fin, mais c’était une simple mise en contexte.
Je dois vous avertir que ça me sera impossible de ne pas citer les paroles de cet album (et que ça sera probablement tout ce que je ferai). L’honnêteté, la sincérité a toujours été un élément qui me fait apprécier la musique, la musique est rehaussée par les paroles (mewithoutYou et cet album de As Cities Burn sont des exemples parfaits).

L’album commence par la trop excellente chanson « Contact », un cri du coeur à Dieu. Cody (le chanteur) doute que Dieu l’entende vraiment :

Remember we used to speak.
Now I’m starting to think,
Your voice was really my own,
Bouncing off the ceiling back to me.

God, this can’t be.
God, this can’t be,
God, could it be that all we see is it?

Come down, heaven.
Won’t you come down?
Won’t you cut through the clouds?
Won’t you come down?

Oh, my heaven, why do you have doors to close?
Do you have clouds to stop his voice on the way down?

[...]

God, does grace reach to this side of madness?
‘Cause I know this can’t be,
The great peace we all seek.

Vient ensuite le single (je crois) du nouvel album, « Empire » :

Cause I was a pharisee,
I never saw my need for grace;
Then your love came to me
stood next to mine, and I saw that I was poor.

Show me I was poor.
Show us we are,
show us we are.

Glory, glorious.
We are glory, glorious.
Not from what good we have done
but from being the least. [x2]

Glory, glorious.
Oh, I don’t know how I was made.

« The Hoard » :

They say that good boys walk straight on white lines.
Good boys keep their livers clean,
And smoke out of their lungs.
‘Cause it’s all about what you’ve done,
Good boys don’t make mistakes to learn from.

‘Cause when heaven comes,
They won’t be caught being young.

[...]

‘Cause when heaven comes,
I swear it comes in love.

Grace make your way to the well,
To those who deserve it.
After all they’ve earned it.
But vain, it’s in vain,
‘Cause they don’t need it.

Now I let go of your hand somewhere between,
Love and what it demands of me.

En passant, ce ne sont pas les paroles complètes.
« This Is It, This Is It » :

We’ve got prices on our heads
and millstones around our necks
We try to live forgiven but they won’t let us forget
The bodies we’re still in
The bodies that we still war against

Son, this is it, this is it
You’re gonna sink for your sins
Unless grace be the wind
Son, this is it, this is it
We’re all sinking for our sins
Unless grace be the wind

Forget about being honest
Forget about being passionate
Wear that smile like you feel it
Even when you don’t
Forget about being honest
Forget about being passionate
I think they forgot about Jesus
Seeking us out

« Clouds », cette chanson commence avec des enregistrements de gens qui répondent à la question, « Qui est Dieu pour toi? » La réponse est dans les paroles de la chanson :

Is your love really Love?
Is my love really Love?
I think our love isn’t Love,
Unless it’s Love to the end.

Is your god really God?
Is my god really God?
I think our god isn’t God,
If he fits inside our heads…

« New Sun » :

But I’m just tired of walking upright.
When I don’t mean right,
I just want to look right.

« Wrong Body » :

If I make it to heaven
I may be as bloody as hell.
Would you still take me?
I’m afraid that you might say,
« Depart from me, I never knew you. »

I’m in the wrong body.
I’m in the wrong body.
I’m in the wrong body.
I must have stumbled in.

All the love I want to give,
Gets caught between every rib.
What does that make me?
I have good intentions,
But no exit for them to come out right through.

I’m in the wrong body.
I’m in the wrong body.
I’m in the wrong body.
I must have stumbled in…

« Our World Is Grey » :

I’m sure if you wanted to stop love,
You could just untie your end and let it go.
But, my God, you don’t.
Yeah, I think I love you for it.

You’re still sending cells to their rightful places,
When forming more likely to escape.
Such a narrow way of life.
What’s it look like from your side?
From here I can’t see why it’s worth
One more coming out cursed?

Say it, say it!
Say what this is all for!

[...]

He’s shooting god up in his arm through a needle.
And she’s putting cuts on her legs to bleed out the devil.
« Surely you will not die, eat and be like God. »
What have we done?

Say it, say it!
Say that this is all for redemption.
Say it’s redemption.

Vient finalement, la chanson de 12 minutes, « Timothy ». La fin de la chanson étant plus instrumentale est probablement une des raisons pourquoi j’aime tant la musique, ça ne s’explique pas, il faut l’écouter.
Un des meilleurs album de 2007.