Disc 1 ( Deform to Form a Star )
All songs written by Steven Wilson
published by hands off it's mine
exclusively administered by universal music publishing group
Grace for Drowning
( Instrumental )
Piano Jordan Rudess
vocals (40 tracks), keys - SW
Sectarian
( Instrumental )
guitars, keys, autoharp, bass guitar - SW
soprano sax - Theo Travis
clarinet - Ben Castle
stick - Nick beggs
drums - Nic France
Deform to Form a Star
oh once in a while
I learn how to smile
Horse's shadows and rain on stone
No God here I'm sure
This must be the cure
For all this carrion and aimless drift
Retreat from the begging
And invites to the wedding
Revelation means nothing here
In time we forget our
Need to devour
All the stories of tortured souls
Crawl into your arms
Become the night forever
Coiled and close, the moment froze
Deform to form a star
Here on earth together
I got time to share and a well used stare
This smile isn't pure
Certain or sure
Cold precision was never there
The way we uncoil
Return to the soil
Flaws are everything and chaos reign
vocals, guitars, keys - SW
piano - Jordan Rudess
clarinets - Theo Travis
bass guitar - Tony Levin
drums - Nic France
no part of me
I feel worn out
There's no point drinking
When life slows right down
And holds you up above the water line
So sleep will never come
One last time then
Before I lose you
You don't have to pretend
I know that love for you was just security
There's no PART of me in you
vocals, keys - SW (and some percussion claps...etc)
acoustic + electronic drums - Pat Mastelotto
U8 touch guitar - Markus Reuter
bass guitar solo - Nick Beggs
warr guitar - bass guitar - Trey Gunn
saxophone solo - Theo Travis
strings - london session orchestra (arranged + orchestrated by Dave Stewart)
additional production by Pat Mastelotto, thanks Pat!
Postcard
I think it's time that I got off the kitchen floor
But is there really any point at all?
Waking up this morning felt the same
Better sleep while life is so mundane
It could gave been yesterday that I locked the door
I blocked the windows up so I can't be sure
Now I haven't even got the will to eat
I'm lame and self-obsessed, that I will concede
I'd like to light a cigarette but I cannot
The lighter's dead and the gas has been cut off
I'm the one you always seem to read about
The fire inside my eyes has long gone out
There's nothing left for me to say or do
Cos all that matters disappeared when I lost you...
vocals, piano, keys, guitar, bass - SW
drums - Nic France
strings - london session orchestra
choir - synergy vocals
strings + choir arranged and orchestrated by Dave Stewart
RAIDER PRELUDE
( Instrumental )
piano, gong - SW
choir - synergy vocals (arranged by Dave Stewart)
Remainder the Black Dog
Scintilla falling behind
Did you arrive at the place that you came from?
A cultivator of dread
The paranoia took root in your cold heart
Neurotic up with the dawn
Prescription pills to ignore, the map is useless
If you would dare to dissolve
You'd get the thing that you craved for so long now
vocals, piano, keys, glockenspiel - SW
guitars - Steve Hackett
flute, clarinet, sax - Theo Travis
stick, bass guitar - nick Beggs
drums - Nic France
Disc 2 Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye
Belle de jour
( Instrumental )
guitars (nylon strings), keys, autosharp, bass - SW
strings - london session orchestra
(arranged and orchestrated by Dave Stewart)
TRACK ONE
Fall of winter
Fall of all sundowns
The treachery of the coldness of your smile
Violator, among the trees they hide
Perambulator, fade into the night
Buzz killer stride, fall into the tide
Headlong
Twin sister stars, bouncing off cars
Head strong
vocals, guitars, keys - SW
drums - Nic France
INDEX
I'm a collector, I collect anything I find
I never throw anything away that's mine
An d I'd collect you too if I was given half a chance
And trap you under the glass and add my autograph
I catalogue, I preserve, and I index
And file you in to my collectible Rolodex
I keep the rubbish wot other people give away
And keep all of the pieces in a metal tray
HOARD - COLLECT - FILE - INDEX
CATALOGUE - PRESERVE - AMASS - INDEX
I'm a collector and I've always been misunderstood
I like the things that people always seem to overlook
I gather up and catalogue it in a book I wrote
There's so much now that I forget if I don't make a note
If I collected you and put you in a little cage
I could take you out and study you every day
It isn't easy being me, it's kind of lonely work
My obligation to collecting is my only thirst
vocals, keys, guitar, autoharp, programming - SW
acoustinc + electric drumming - Pat Mastelotto
strings - london session orchestra (arranged by SW, orchestrated by Dave Stewart)
RAIDER II
A fist will make you understand intention
To raise alarm is underhand, so I cut off the phone
I bind you up with tape and catch some TV
It's getting late, the shadows in the street are watching us
Check for fibres in the gaps between the teeth, the floorboards
Check the fingerprints, go through the trash
Maybe I just wanted some attention
Compulsion seeks its own way in rejection of the light
Every story needs to have an ending
We might as well give up all this pretending and clear the air
The night is crawling closer to the action
Your mouth is driving me into distraction, you talk too much
well every story needs to have an ending
we might as well give up all this pretending and clear the air
A plague inside your home, I'm raider
Defiling all you own, raider
A cat among the crowns, I'm raider
The butcher and his prose, I'm raider
vocals, guitars, piano, keys, harmonium, percussion, bass (2nd half) - SW
clarinet, flute, saxophone - Theo Travis
piano solo - Jordan Rudess
guitar - Mike Outram
acoustic guitar - sand snowman
stick, bass (1st half) - Nick Beggs
drums - Nic France
sound design (coda) - Dave Kerzner
choir - synergy vocals (arranged by Dave Stewart)
Like Dust I have Cleared From My Eye
Well that's something that you're laughing at me
And I hope you know what it is that you're laughing about
Cos it wont be too long now 'til they're reeling you in
The same situation, the same disappointment you bring
So I hope you're happy with the impression you made
Deep in denial, like you planned it this way
But you're lost to me
Like dust I have cleared from my eye
Your words have no meaning
So I stare up into the sky
BREATHE IN NOW - BREATHE OUT NOW
( Instrumental )
vocals, guitars, piano, keys, harmonium, autoharp - SW
bass guitar . Tony Levin
drums - Nic France
grace for drowning was written and recorded during the period jan 2010 - june 2011.
produced and mixed by SW at no man's land, hemel hempstead, Koolworld, luton, + angel studio, islington.
additional recording made by the musicians on location in the UK, USA and Germany.
engineer at Koolworld: Mat Collins
mastered by Paschal Byrne
management - Andy Leff for acme music, assisted by Alex Leeks.
photography + films by Lasse Hoile
assistant to Lasse - Bettina Ejlersen
artwork + design by Carl Glover for aleph
special thanks to my main collaborator on this project
for his incredible work, Lasse Hoile
and to all the musicians involved for their inspiring contributions.
thanks also to: Doug Rogers, Andy + Alx, Ray Matter, Wnn Krozac, Michale Lavigne, all at kscope + universal, T + Milly.
jacket designed by Eya Sigal.
SW uses: PRS guitars, Alumisonic guitars, Babicz guitars, spector bass guitars, Daddario strings, Bad Cat amps, Hughes + Kettner amps, Source Audio pedals.
dedicated to my father, Michael George Wilson
- 1938-2011, without whom...