Opuses for Outcasts

by Waiflike

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1.	Erase 04:39	lyrics	buy track
Erase your crime for all that you steal (it's worth) You'd better find out what's wrong there in your sick little world You've got to make some concessions Now the tables are turned For Heaven's sake, you're possessed boy, will you never learn? Well, I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home Erased my mind just to let go of your hurt You're going to spend all your life (clown) crawling, dreading the dirt I should dissolve my investments in these grudges harbored We made a settlement high so now, I'm resting assured Well, I'm strumming on home. I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home It's funny now, like a past life left you, waiting to yearn It's funny how freaks will change after the meetings adjourned So if you call, don't expect to hear a ring in return And don't assume anyone will have any ounce of concern Well, I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home I've seen the opening I'm strumming on home
2.	Sucker 03:59	lyrics	buy track
So many friends were fair-weather, and they were so insincere We were stuck in this together I watched you all disappear Your broken, meaningless power just took a look in the mirror Your token leaning old tower is just an old souvenir It's a distressing existence but we act so cavalier Like there's no point in resistance, so useless to interfere You bent my ear for an hour, and you were so indiscreet Your darkest fear in your tower is that you're so incomplete Sucker...on the gravy train... Sucker...with your ball and chain... Sucker...choking on champagne... Sucker...going down the drain... Sucker...chasing the cocaine... Sucker...stick it in your vein... Sucker Sucker Sucker Sucker Sucker
3.	Cheer Capsules 03:26	lyrics	buy track
Oh please don’t take my cheer capsules away…oh no Or I’m gonna turn battleship gray again You’re like a virus spreading, leading astray…oh no A hit-and-run window display Just keep your post-traumatic clamor at bay…oh no You paper thin promise parade has-been Just like antiques playing a young man’s game…oh no I see you push your poisonous marmalade Why are you feeling so-so and like you’re caught in a net? Is this a picture show for all your regret? Can you go with the flow like it was no sweat? And can you let it all go? Oh please don’t take my cheer capsules away…oh no Or I’m gonna turn battleship gray again You’re like a virus spreading, leading astray…oh no A hit-and-run window display Just keep your post-traumatic clamor at bay…oh no You paper thin promise parade has-been Just like antiques playing a young man’s game…oh no I see you push your poisonous marmalade You were the talk of town and such a squeaky wheel But sleeping around was your Achilles’ heel Like merry go round on a Ferris wheel And you're a hole in the ground How does it feel? How does it feel? How does it feel? How does it feel? How does it feel? How does it feel?
4.	Fly Away 03:20	lyrics	buy track
Obtain...yeah...propane...yeah... Retrain (flee from vacant souls forsaken) the brain Spread your wings and fly away Fly away It's just a little bit of residue Fly away Complain...yeah...in vain...yeah Insane (deals are made and dreams all fade away) Abstain Spread your wings and fly away Fly away I've seen you begging on the avenue Fly away I've seen you leaping like a kangaroo Fly away I see you skipping all the interviews Fly away Fly away I see you stealing all the revenue Fly away You're like a book that's decades overdue Fly away I know about your secret rendezvous Fly away
5.	Slow Down 04:19	lyrics	buy track
I took a trip, threw my soul away and slowly realized a ton of lies Life is a gift, but you row away, competing, terrified, until you die Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Bright as a whip, though you've gone astray, conceit is never mine, so color blind Time slowly drifts but you keep the pace controlled It blows my mind It blows my mind Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Time is a gift, and we float in space, revealing what we find It's in our minds Try every riff; what you've thrown away is the meaning of our time, our precious time Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down I took a trip; threw my bowl away and slowly realized I was paralyzed Life is a gift, but you tow the weight, defeated, and petrified...until you die Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down Slow Down
6.	Peasant Wannabes 04:11	lyrics	buy track
I see you tearing yourself apart It seems to bring you relief I see comparing yourself to martyrs could never teach you a thing You can't fool me anyway Vacant tools, you're all the same Just some clueless peasant wannabes I feel you hating Man, you think you're so smart That's what keeps you serene Still, you're waiting for a reason to starve yourself of any signs of release You can't fool me anyway Vacant tools, you're all the same Just some clueless peasant wannabes Just some clueless peasant wannabes Just some clueless peasant wannabes
7.	Grey Sky Blue 03:46	lyrics	buy track
We can imitate the atmosphere of radio We can terminate the insincere in stereo We can aggravate the auctioneer of the puppet show Once we nominate a puppeteer, it's time to go We can imitate the atmosphere of radio We can terminate the insincere in stereo We can aggravate the auctioneer of the puppet show Once we nominate a puppeteer, it's time to go I was feeling so tight, couldn't sleep through the night until I ran into you, oh... Someone so out of sight with a similar plight made my grey sky so blue now You came and turned on the lights Now they're burning so bright I was stuck in a queue, oh You could read me my rights I wouldn't put up a fight and I might like the view now
8.	Running in Place 04:17	lyrics	buy track
Running in place Fear in your face If it's just a phase, then why don't you change? Why is it so strange? What can you sell me when I'm freaking? I'm dying inside and I feel like I'm sinking from flying too high Would you swim a mile to put a grin on my face? My spirit seeks survival but I'm running in place I'm growing with shame and flipping out again, yeah... Would you take me away and make me OK? Why is it so strange? What can you sell me when I'm freaking? I'm dying inside and I feel like I'm sinking from flying too high Would you swim a mile to put a grin on my face? My spirit seeks survival but I'm running in place Digging for a file but I'm in disarray Sick is so in style, and I know I'm running in place
9.	Mallory 03:44	lyrics	buy track
Mallory...you used to wine and dine To a VIP, you were a valentine Mallory...you need the anodyne like a chimpanzee in a picket line Mallory...you were custom made to be an MP3 that was so overplayed Mallory...you were so well to do...a busy bee, sniffing crazy glue Body and soul, fading away, out of control, out of the way It's the deterioration of the center of attention It's the rehabilitation of an honorable mention It's the deterioration of the center of attention It's the rehabilitation of an honorable mention
10.	The Saddest Trade 04:59	lyrics	buy track
Age is just a state of mind Caged and your soul's confined And you're a slave in how you live your life Walk with a cane 'cause you ain’t got no spine So open wide up and see like me and punch the clock of insanity Open wide up and be like me, no demon's walk robot routine Open wide up and breathe like me and have a moment of clarity You trade your bread for serenity The saddest trade their fates for job security, like me, oh... Saints pay for all your crimes Flakes with artificial pride But you're a snake, selfish slither slide And like a flame, you're burning out with time So open wide up and see like me and punch the clock of insanity Open wide up and be like me, no demon's walk robot routine Open wide up and breathe like me and have a moment of clarity You trade your bread for serenity The saddest trade their fates for job security, like me, oh... Hate to read between the lines? Were you so tame before you lost your mind? Because you're insane and you wonder why the saddest trade is such a compromise of what you've got inside
11.	All Fall Away 04:54	lyrics	buy track
Laid down today My mate next to me I gave all away I gave it all away All away Fall away Saved little wage Paid, no so great Make all OK Take all away All away Fall away All away Games we create make us relate Fame What a waste Decaying all away All away Fall away All away All away Fall away All away
12.	Sand 04:20	lyrics	buy track
I'm in my own little world Yeah, but it's running through my hands I'll build a castle of love Yeah, but you turn it into sand I built me to knock me down, but we'll meet on common ground I want to turn to the sand Yeah, sometimes it's hard to find A place to bury my head Yeah, a place for me to hide I built me to knock me down, but we'll meet on common ground I built me to knock me down, but we'll meet on common ground I built me to knock me down, but we'll meet on common ground

about

We started recording Opuses for Outcasts in the autumn of 2015. It all began with a chord progression I had stuck in my head, and I asked Scottish McMillan if I could drop by his house and record this earworm. That first recording session was fruitful and yielded the song "Mallory." Other new songs include "Sucker," "Cheer Capsules," and "Grey Sky Blue." I had recorded alternate versions of songs like "Erase, "Fly Away, "Slow Down, "Peasant Wannabes, "Running in Place," and "All Fall Away" years ago and wanted to reimagine them with a baritone electric guitar. I used to play the songs "The Saddest Trade" and "Sand" with my band, God's Green Earth, in the 1990s. I listened to a lot of music from the Pacific Northwest back then, and I'm sure it's apparent. I still vouch for this music. These songs tackle lighthearted subjects like brinkmanship, castaways, delusions of grandeur, energy vampires, fair-weather friends, misers, trust fund babies, addiction, and redemption. Some lyrics are angst-ridden and melancholy, while others are intentionally nonsensical and perplexing, and I wouldn't change a thing. Scottish and I had a great time recording this album in the comfort of his home studio, and I am grateful that he wanted to play bass. He is one of the most gifted musicians with whom I have had the pleasure of working, and I hope you enjoy listening to these songs half as much as we enjoyed recording them. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred.

credits

released April 8, 2022

All vocals, guitars, drums, and keyboard noodling are by Richard Neal Miller. Bass and percussion by Scottish McMillan. All music was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Studio Shmudio in Des Plaines, IL, by Scottish McMillan. All songs were written by Richard Neal Miller except for "Sand," which was cowritten with Rick Lyons, Michael Dabetic, and Miroslav Krivens.

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about

Waiflike Chicago, Illinois

Rich began singing in the Chicago rock band God's Green Earth in 1992 when he was 18 years old. After 5 years of focusing his energy on writing, recording and performing original songs with God's Green Earth, Rich left the band in 1997. Rich released "Elysium" under the alias Spill in 1999 and "Waiting for the Tide" in 2002 under his full name, Richard Neal Miller. In 2004, Rich formed Waiflike. ... more

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