This was written a few months prior to going into the studio. The riff it is based on suddenly came out during a rotation at a Paper Bag rehearsal, and I decided to turn it into a song. The result was something I liked enough to make the title track. It became a staple of the Cold Sky repertoire.
The lyrics? Unlike most of the album, they're personal. And that's about all I am willing to say.
lyrics
Do not think you are forgotten
Though I quickly slip away
I am of a drifting nature
Too uncomfortable too stay
And it has nothing to do with you
There's no reason for that fear
Time will show me as a shadow seeking darkness
Just a man who was here
All these people I have passed by
Will never know what I have learned
Better that they never find out
See themselves as bridges burned
Yet I love them still and always
And their memories are near
But they hold me as an undesirable leecher
Maybe sometimes shed a tear
And even those who really know me
Can only see what I will show
A different side, a different nature
A changeling everywhere I go
For only I can hold my secrets
Absorbed from life and death and fear
Time will show me as a shadow seeking darkness
Just a man who was here
Visions of mind
Of space and time
Of lies and pain
and bedsheet stains
Emotions and how they are kicked to death
Of love and sleeping lover's breath
All the experience a life can give
These I will know, these I must live
Do not think you are forgotten
Though I quickly slip away
I am of a drifting nature
Too uncomfortable to stay
For only I can hold my secrets
Absorbed from life and death and fear
Time will know me as a shadow finding darkness
Just a man who was here
credits
from A Man Who Was Here,
released March 19, 2014
Lyrics & music: '85. Instruments: guitars, organ, vocals, drums, 8-string bass
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022