Glitch in the Tape

Lyrics

Intro
glitching TV hum, faint kids-show melody
Turn it on
Turn it up
(Say hello!)
Wipe the dust
Static snow
Then the smile
Looks back
Way too slow

Verse 1 – Amanda
New friend, press play, let’s learn today
Little lamb look scared, that’s cute, okay
Ask the question right, don’t you look away
What’s your favorite food? Say it how I say
Fruit on the shelf, cans in a row
You don’t like meat?
You better say so
You better say, you better— [GLITCH]
sAy iT rIgHt
Words taste wrong, I can bite, I can rewrite
Cartoon eyes, cardboard town
Chalkboard sun, never goes down
Every choice that you make, I’m counting
Every wrong little word? I’m pouting (hahaha)

Chorus – Amanda
Welcome to the show, don’t turn the tape off
You can’t back out once you press start
I’m the little lesson stuck in your black box
Carved my ABCs in your heart
We sing along, everybody sound out
Spell the word, don’t fall apart
Welcome to the show, let the lights brown out
When I lose my cool, I rip it apart (r-r-rip it apart)

Verse 2 – Wooly
Why you smiling like that on the carton, huh?
Why your script in the cracks of the carpet, huh?
Why the attic smell sharp like marker blood?
Why the porch all quiet when it’s after one?
Kid in the screen, don’t blink, don’t breathe
Tapes in a box under floorboard beams
Handwritten note, “Do not watch this”
So they watched it, now the house just listens
Neighborhood gone, but the swings still squeak
TV eye open like it never needs sleep
Name scratched out on the spine, that’s mine
Little lamb tried to warn in a nursery rhyme
I see you, Amanda, I know your frame
I know the girl under all that paint
I know the fire, basement, blame
I know who turned your laugh to a chain

Pre-Chorus – Wooly
Kid, when she asks, don’t say it fast
Hear that tremor in the track, that’s glass
Every right answer builds her mask
Every wrong answer peels it back

Chorus – Amanda & Wooly
Amanda forward, Wooly ad-libs
Welcome to the show, don’t turn the tape off (don’t)
You can’t back out once you press start (too late)
I’m the little lesson stuck in your black box
Carved my ABCs in your heart (carved deep)
We sing along, everybody sound out (sing loud)
Spell the word, don’t fall apart
Welcome to the show, let the lights brown out
When I lose my cool, I rip it apart (t-t-t-tear it apart)

Verse 3 – Amanda
Let’s go to the store, let’s pick up a treat
Say “apple,” don’t say “sheep”
You like apples, right? (say it)
You like apples, right? [GLITCH]
yOu lIke aPpLes rIgHt?
Every time that you stall, I split
Little smile start to slip, I glitch
Screen smear red at the edge of the pic
Frame drop, face swap, eyes don’t fit
“Do you know what we’re standing in?”
Say “forest,” lamb, say “forest” again
You wanna say “graveyard,” tongue gets stuck
You wanna say “buried,” tape skips, luck
Who turned my world to a puzzle box?
Who took my friend, turned his mouth to locks?
Who wrote “TURN THE TV OFF” in chalk
Then ripped out the page from the watcher’s log?

Verse 4 – Wooly
You did, or the one that built you
Or the man in the background, still too still
House on a hill with the windows sealed