Don Johnson Big Band: All Hope

The 13 minute final track from Don Johnson Big Band's fourth album Records Are Forever (2009).

Featuring: Emma Salokoski (vocals), Pekka Kuusisto (violin, piano, guitar), Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Olavi Louhivuori (drums), Martti Ronkainen (vocal modeling), Teemu Korpipää (gunshots).

Lyrics:


ALL HOPE


quiet clicks, and the sound of his breathing
tired fingers ache, he says:
my addiction is all i am proud to believe in
and lingers awake
and the thicker his skin, the worse it burns
his icarus wings will fail
an indicative fling turns to a curse
and he sees everything through a veil
all to no avail, what's the use
to surrender and pour your heart out
if it gets abused by an army of strangers
chopped to pieces and carved out
the knife might as well be real
when it twists inside his wound
he was tied down long ago and can't feel
what it's like not to live in a tomb
people have tendency to point and assume
and to avoid what is doomed to despondent failure
better cast it aside before it can bloom
that night was the tipping point
to become a man and get pushed right back
dropped down from the arms of his savior
everything changed
just like that


leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope behind the sun


the morning froze my steaming breath
and no one knows, they dream instead
my palms are hot, i've seen it all
no qualms, just a plot
and its repeated call
my force is great
it's orchestrated morbid ways to imagine
no more frustrated, forced and labored
wars to attain attachment
to anything, i am setting myself free
and letting them know
there's only one purpose i serve now
to be ready to go
i am become legend
i am become fiction
a story that only has an end
i only wish i could see it be written
but my kind will know me as a king
slowly i begin, the moment has come
run for your life, i'm giving you a head start
and start with a backwards count from 10 to 1
time to get smart


leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope, your time has come


now they all explain
and try to comprehend his decisive moods
in comforting phrases and look dismayed
when the truth eludes them
maybe it was always in him
or maybe it was all just a mood swing
some lady on the radio said
we got lucky we only had to lose ten
as things have turned out
from official statements to word of mouth
the invisible ones you don't learn about
sometimes won't turn around
at the final minute or the sight of pain
a chaos of pleading voices
when the mind is committed to blind disdain
it's deaf to reason or choices
you'll never know more about the world
than you did at 17, a grown up kid
children have slid far from the days
of innocent play and they're harder to raise
yet who here would take a hold of us
who would be bold enough and willing to admit
that no one is ever old enough
to keep their heads all happy and fit
most who have grown here don't stick around
they escape the unbearable weight
and all that's left now are cuts in the ground
another empty slate
and his steps disappear with the melting snow
there's a puddle on the doorstep
to accept this fear is a terrible blow
if we don't, we have lost it


leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope behind the sun
leave all hope, your time has come


being angry for the sake of being angry
brutality as a justification for greater brutality
loud talkers refusing to listen to quiet talk
pursuing profits for personal pleasure and calling it something else
acting like the past or the future are different from the present
having children to feign responsibility
refusing to see governments as an image of ourselves
trusting words too much
equating charismatic with credible
doing less than what's required when requirements are low
listening to music with your eyes open
supporting war
not being able to look at pictures of dead people
politics as a playground of the highest bidders
praising childhood and stripping it away from children
decaffeinated coffee
giant supermarkets with millions of tiny packages
food without origin
acting like responsibility is a burden
trying to kill pain with a chemical substance
diagnosing discomfort
gender roles as an explanation for anything
pretending to believe as a form of consolation
the thought of thoughts after the brain has died
valuing life only when it is valuable
technology as a substitute and not a tool for understanding
the failure to talk and listen to young people
arrogance masked as affection
violence and love in the same sentence
giving off the air of infallibility
treating art as property
only making records if records are forever
if records are forever
records are forever

Category:

Music

Tags:

• don
• johnson
• big
• band
• all
• hope
• djbb
• records
• are
• forever
• emma
• salokoski
• pekka
• kuusisto
• verneri
• pohjola
• olavi
• louhivuori
• finnish
• finland
• hip
• hop
• rap

[Sinbe85]

Right up there with "Jack", one of their best.

[rvlationofpain]

Best song on the album. It's just too damn amazing.