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Nighttime Heists / Daytime Getaways

Red Graves

April 4th, 2025
9 tracks
41:35
Nighttime Heists / Daytime Getaways
Nighttime Heists / Daytime Getaways
Nighttime Heists (feat. Luke Emerson)
0:00
4:14
Nighttime Heists (feat. Luke Emerson)
Red Graves
[Cass] Take a breath and taste that bitter air The sun descends and paints your world in monochrome a portrait of despair Every passing year reminds you Just how far you've had to stray To see another day But tonight The stars have all gone dark And yesterday's disgraces snake like chains around your heart Every step you take is wasted Every effort made is strained But you know you must persist Praying there's a better way than this There's no seat at the table for the guilty and afraid To stake your claim and win it all What would you give away? Would you leave behind your name? And cast your soul away? To take what you've desired all your life? There's no safety on the path you'll tread And most who walk it end up dead But we could rewrite history tonight You've lived what feels like centuries alone And there's never been a place that felt like home The time has come to take a stand I know this isn't what you planned So come my love and take my hand I'll show you there's a better way than this Oh there's a better way... We'll be known by greater names And cast our sins away Become the very things that we reviled There's no hand above to stop us now We'll kill the kings and take their crowns And when we die we'll do it with a smile I'm not ashamed of what we are We'll paint this sky in brilliant stars You're the one they worship now Your head alone can bear the crown The night is yours to do with as you please So bring them to their knees Bring them to their knees [Solo: Ahmed] Oh I am yours and you are mine I give to you this love divine The night is ours to do with as we please All because [Luke] We left behind our names We cast our souls away Snuffed out the light of day And revelled in the night
4:14
No Gods Before Me
Red Graves
[Cass] It started as a dream That trickled through the floor and found you in your cell You named me god and prayed that I should save you from this hell (save me from this hell) And in your arms I felt my wickedness dissolve into the air Despite your faith in me it's you that held the answer to my prayers You've gone right to my head And every day I lived before I met you feels a sacrilegious waste (sacrilegious waste) You put my ghosts to bed And I don't think I'll ever come down From your embrace And as I look to you I see a purity That asks for nothing more than love and turns it to divinity Those selfish eyes that worship you would use you they please To keep you by my side I slit God's throat, brought heaven to its knees But in the aftermath When all was said and done Reflected in your eyes I saw the devil I'd become (devil you'd become) My twisted heart still beating as your bloodied hand unfurled If only I could make you see the darkness of this world It's all gone to my head And every day I live without your love I feel that coldness take its place The dream is at its end But I know you won't ever come back So I embrace Myself
3:00
Mute
Red Graves
[Cass] As the sun Descended on our crime In blasphemy you lied to me And told me you were mine I set the world ablaze to burn your every sorrow Oh, but pure intentions led your heart astray I've only done what must be done I chased the moon you chased the sun And in its light you found your truth apart from me Enticing words that spoke of trust Have fallen quiet with our lust And in betrayal left me mute Countless years Wasted on a dream Cut to shreds by the one That meant the most to me All I ever wanted was To carve a world for both of us To drink our fill and spend our nights Entwined beneath the moon But my affections can't outshine the sun [Solo: Ahmed] I've grown addicted to the noise My creaking bones have been destroyed Since that sadistic day you stole my voice Cold hands cemented to the floor In death becoming something more In playing god, you had your fun But there'll be no chasing of the sun Did you expect that I'd allow you to go free? There yet lives love amidst my hate I found my plot, accepted fate But don't forget that you belong to me To give to you the moon I came undone But my fall from grace was for nothing My love chose the sun
4:51
Song of the Stranger
Red Graves
[Cass] My sweet child, have a seat I found you on the streets A broken man, abandoned and alone But I know just what you need Our kind are a different breed The penitent at home upon our knees We serve a patriarch of tender love and care Our silent saviour soft of skin and dark of hair Each and every one of us have set our pasts aflame Now hand in hand we praise his name You've spent your days seeking the divine Well I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine Give your hand to him and leave the rest behind He built this kingdom out of ashes and the blood we spill is just to fill his glass For when he drinks we all will share The bliss You've spent a lifetime of agony Making unfair choices in a world of thieves To give your heart to him Is the only choice you need We built this church upon the ashes of the loyal dead And they will raise their glass In service to the one that calls us friend His love shall never end He looks deep into our eyes And sees right past the lies Into our twisted souls And our repressed desires He washes clean our sins and takes us in his arms And although you might be scared Our stranger wouldn't dare To keep you here with force, no The choice is always yours But once you've had a taste of his embrace You won't resist his charm [Solo: Ahmed] Now that you've heard our piece Tasted his love so sweet The time has come to fall upon your knees We all prostrate ourselves and offer up our throats Our silent saviour on his own won't make a note But when we congregate in prayer for his strings They coil around our necks and through our voice he sings You've spent your days seeking the divine Well I'd be happy to say that you're a friend of mine Just hand the reins to me and leave all doubts behind I built this kingdom of the loyal and the lives you take will be to share the spoils For when I drink we all will have our fill Sing, my children! [Cass and Ahmed] You've spent a lifetime of misery (We've spent a lifetime of misery) Making unfair choices set for you by thieves (Making unfair choices set for us by thieves) Just give your heart to me (We give our heart to him) And I will see them bleed (And he will see them bleed) I built this church upon the ashes of the endless dead (He built this church upon the ashes of the endless dead) And they will raise their glass (And we will raise our glass) And sing a song of worship unto their (And sing a song of worship unto him) Beloved stranger
5:36
Red Graves
Red Graves
[Lead: Cass] [Cass] Remember to take your time Though it feels so long As we amble and cut through the years too fast to breathe We lose our chance to grieve the red As if we were dead As if our sins could be so simply shed We're so far from the promises made, but we left those that killed them behind With decades of scraping and morbid reshaping and turning blood back from wine All our mistakes Our pains and our aches The constant reminders of days long gone So easily taken for granted But we can paint over what we got wrong And forge a world of our own design Oh [Lead: Ahmed] I had to forget myself So I could be free It only takes seven years To see a stranger reflected when I stare in of the mirror to ask Is this a mask? And is it worth asking at all? Trapped in the corner Till something took over We hurt from a distance Like arrogant soldiers We thought we'd be dead But reborn in red Stand above them all Reciting the threat Though we'd love to forget The constant reminders of days gone by (I cast my soul away) As we live out the sentence we're handed We have to find meaning before we die (You won't see me beg for life today) If we are to be reborn Though you tell me it hurts (I did what all have done for you) It could be so much worse So I'll paint a future in red for you
4:15
Oubliette
Red Graves
[Cass] I've come too far to get caught up in the stream Of longing, and lonely days gone by There was a time that the world felt so small I swore to you that we could save it all We were sure those days would last forever That all we'd done was only the start I wish it'd been betrayal That something simple Forced our hands And tore our souls apart But people aren't so simple Love is never simple Heartbreak would feel better than decay I don't want your face to fade away I lose you to my mind each passing day With every step I'm closer to the self I was before we met How could I forget? [Lead: Cass] I can't recall your favourite song Remembered voices sound so wrong Everywhere that I go Everything that I taste Eats into the memories Paving over your face People talk about you Like you're still there Like I'm supposed to see you everywhere I can't tell who I am anymore Just holding on to memories of you
3:41
Thick as Thieves (feat. Luke Emerson)
Red Graves
[Cass] Take me back to Carrol street and tell me it was right Cloaked in smoke we'd hide ourselves from the horrors in the night You told me I could speak the truth but a threat hung in the air I try and I try to forget your voice but still hear it everywhere [Luke and Cass] Alluding to some perfect past well I don't know what you're talking about Things I used to cherish leave a bad taste in my mouth Rewriting my life to make the man that you were desperately trying to be You pissed away your hopes and dreams, don't take it out on me [Cass] I'm getting tired of caring Of doing everything right just to get kicked aside again Your love is so unusual Hate me? The feeling's mutual! Don't try to play the victim when you turned on me How did you manage to convince yourself you were some martyr I betrayed? I was nothing but a game to you 'til I learned how to play Now I've seen the truth behind that smile you always wear Gilded eyes so condescending There never was a happy ending [Luke] There's no path for me to tread without guilt, abuse and pain I'll ask no forgiveness no permission start doin shit my way You carved a matching scar into a child that didn't know how to fight For every day I took your pain I give it back tonight [Cass] I'm growing bored of caring Of bleeding myself dry just to get left behind again Your love is cold and biblical Don't fucking call me cynical You never gave a damn so don't ask me to grieve [Cass] I'm sick to death of hearing If I keep taking the high road then I'll get what's owed to me I'm done with empty promises Turncoats and faulty harnesses How did we stray so far from living thick as thieves? How could I ever learn to love myself when all I am was stripped away? You swore to God that I was everything Till I was in your way [Solo: Cass] [Solo: Ahmed] So drown your sins in holy houses Paper dreams and plastic spouses Take the fools for all they're worth And do it all again Eat your fill but don't forget I haven't taken my cut yet And no amount of praying's gonna keep me away [Luke and Cass] Don't try to tell me that you've always loved me There's no excuse in hell that could save you now There's nothing you can say to me to make amends The only thing I want's your fucking heads
5:45
The Dance
Red Graves
[Cass] The earth will bare constructed fangs against its prey The sunset paints it all a cold and disaffected grey And when it's soaked in red by distant hands we all just turn away No one gives a damn about the history, their eyes blur on the page, oh His soothing voice permits the violence done But when he comes for you, you turn your tail and run And now you're dancing to try to forget I can't accept this is as good as it gets, no As if the things I've done, the things I've said Could be so meaningless And all your tears in this malevolent rain Nothing changes in his childish game, no As his malignant chorus sings a song of pain We dance ourselves to death [Solo trade: Cass and Ahmed] [Solo: Ahmed] As the curtain falls the old are far too tired to pray The young will try until the years have burnt their faith away You can count the days ahead By the honours they deny the dead Ooooh as he dances in the red The living fall in line and bow their heads And there will be no one left to forget Cause you accept this is as good as it gets, oh And every thing you've done, each word you've said Was all so meaningless I've had enough of justifiable pain I'll raise my voice until they take everything, oh And when my time is done I'll take a bow in vain And dance myself to death [Lead: Ahmed]
6:20
Daytime Getaways
Red Graves
[Solo: Cass] [Solo: Ahmed] [Cass] Take A breath And taste the salted air Did you ever think you'd make it here? How many times did they knock at your door? And you thought you'd reached the end? How many nights have you gone without rest, my friend? I remember you chilled to the bone Conflicted and wracked with shame Before that night you left behind your name There's no price that a devil like you could pay to see another day Tell me now, after all these years Did you find your better way? Oh I cast my soul away (I had to throw it all away) And you won't see me beg for life today (I won't beg another day) And I did all I have done for me, just for me And if I could I'd do it all again (I'd do it all again) I won my prize and as I die I'll die with a smile Into the crashing waves I'll walk my final mile No more excuses, no regrets I left my mark and no one will forget
3:53

Credits

Red Graves are:
Cass Redgrave - lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitars, acoustic guitars, bass, piano
Ahmed Hasan - lead and rhythm guitars, drum programming, backing vocals on 'No Gods Before Me' and 'Song of the Stranger'

Additional performances by
Luke Emerson - harsh vocals on 'Nighttime Heists' and 'Thick as Thieves'
Daphnee Vandal - fiddle on 'The Dance'

Writing credits
Music written by Ahmed Hasan and Cass Redgrave
Lyrics written by Cass Redgrave
Drums on 'Mute' written by Veil and programmed by Ahmed Hasan

Production
Mixed and mastered by Anthony DiGiacomo
Artwork by Trent Bos

With thanks to Diana Costa, Connie Barnett, Veil, Jose Pagan, Shoumik Banerjee, Calder Dougherty, Midtown Radio, Gabriel Petitpas, Ahmed Amer, and the UofT Greenhouse jam band.