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Strong Enough

by The Ready Aim Fire!

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  • Comes in shrink-wrapped jewel case and includes a 6-panel insert with complete lyrics and original artwork by Joseph Gonzales.

    Please email theband@thereadyaimfire.com if you would like your copy signed, in which case it would not be shrink-wrapped (unless you don't plan on opening it, in which case you should make sure to mention that so I can sign the shrink-wrap, but that's weird).

    Also includes immediate download of 13-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
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1.
So now, I'm a traitor. Yeah, the worst kind. I've been playing both sides the entire time. I even fooled myself, so when I sold you lines, I was sure I was right. But all my favorite writers believed in fate and it's just too perfect for me to take. I mean, believe what you need, whatever helps you cover up the taste. So we met like cadavers, our gurneys passed in the hospital hall. Yeah, we were riding that elevator down as far as it goes. And you spent a week in hell with the devil slipping you pills to keep you scared, to keep you there. And you spent a week in hell with the devil slipping you pills to keep you scared, just to keep you there. And there were beautiful bodies thrown across my bed and I just panicked, so now everyone is screaming and their guns are drawn but you still heard me whisper, "Yeah, go on, go on, go on. We were never in love." Yeah, we were never in love. I mean, I don't know, I never knew, but I just held my tongue. But it was never enough, you're still squaring me up. So I just blacked it out and you snuffed it out til there was nothing left to speak of. We were never in love. Yeah, we were never in love. I mean, I don't know, maybe I never will, so I'll just hold my tongue til we just can't call it love. Aw, we just can't call it love, and if that was my chance, yeah, if I fucked it up then I guess I will never be in love. Yeah, I will never be in love.
2.
We were strung out art students, sick with ambition, but so tired. We were teenage lyrics, stumbling and naïve, but so inspired. And it tasted like poison but we still drank til we were full, cuz we had that death wish and it was inescapable. And we both could've sworn it was love. Yeah, we both could've sworn it was love. But there are strangers in our beds now, and that poison's left our heads now, so we're both strangers now, now, now. Yeah, there are strangers in our beds now, and new poison's filled our heads now, so we've become such strangers now. It was an urgent note that can't help but be off-time. Now it's a bitter cold that keeps the warmth out of our nights, and we never knew how wrong we were, yeah, we never knew how wrong we were, and I still don't know how wrong we were. Yeah, we never knew how wrong we were, yeah, we never knew how wrong we were, and I still don't know how wrong we were, but if you're really never coming back, just tell me that you love me. I don't care if you mean it, just tell me that you love me, yeah, and you always will. But there are strangers in our beds now, and that poison's left our heads now, so we're both strangers now, now, now. Yeah, there are strangers in our beds now, and new poison's filled our heads now, so we've become such strangers now.
3.
Skip Town 04:16
The nights were all electronic, the earth was a pixilated comet, my voice was all ones and zeroes til you showed up. This whole goddamn city is a desert, the air is suffocating, it's aching with desperation. Yeah, I'm all choked up now, I'm all choked up now. Now that you're the lyric I could never cross out, yeah, you're the book I could never put down. I'm just scared when I wake up in the next town, you'll forget I was ever there at all. Oh, she gets cleaned up and I'm stuck in time. "Let's get out of here, let's get out of here. Oh, let's not wait too long, let's get out of here, let's get the fuck out of here." I said, "Oh, there'd be nothing in our way, like swimming in the ocean, you could just keep on going, so let's just keep going." But we just drift through the night, drinking all we can. Yeah, we drank all we can, yeah, didn't we, love? Yeah, we tried to forget: soon we'd be just tears in airport terminals, gasping for breath. And when the dawn crept up, my eyes refused to adjust to this empty bed as that silence poured in. I said, "Oh, let's get out of here." I said, "Oh, let's get out of here." I said, "Oh, let's not wait too long, let's get out of here, let's get the fuck out of here." So kiss me. Let's skip town.
4.
LA 04:23
So we drove through LA until eight in the morning and ended up at my house, passed out on the couch. Yeah, we spent every night in the city, we spent every morning in my bed and you wish you could forget, yeah, you wish we never met now that the metaphors peeled off like a lover's wet clothes. The cold has soaked you to your bones so now you shake when you're alone. And I was so damn scared that you would prove me wrong and you were so afraid that I was right, you proved me wrong every night. So dance it off, warm your blood, yeah, they can look, they can touch. You can be anything they want. You can be anything they want when the clubs let out and you are safe, but the stars are wide awake. They saw every move you made, yeah, I know every move you made. And we heard gunshots down the street and you stumbled to your feet like you expected me to let you go. The city lights were at war with the sky, the kids were running for their lives. I never thought we'd make it through the night, yeah, but you said you weren't afraid to die, but you kept waiting for your rearview to paint your face with reds and blues. Oh, you got away with something, didn't you, didn't you? Yeah, you kept waiting for your rearview to paint your face with reds and blues. Oh, you got away with something, didn't you, didn't you? Didn't you? So dance it off, warm your blood, yeah, they can look, they can touch. You can be anything they want. You can be anything they want when the lights go out and you are safe, but the stars are wide awake. They saw every move you made, yeah, I know every move you made. Yeah, I know every move you made. Oh, and I should've let you go. And I should've let you go.
5.
Well, baby, I thought it just got easier til that guilt fades out into a ghost under their beds, but that empty heat won't let you sleep, so you've been trying to burn it out, but you still can't seem to stop freezing, and this time you're shaking next to me. But baby, it just dulls the pain of that constant ache that you can't explain. There's still that fear that you won't name, there's still that truth that you can't face. So you can't burn it out, you'll never burn it out. Yeah, you can't burn it out cuz there's nothing there. Oh, it was never there. It's just your clothes torn on the floor at two a.m., and you start to feel sick when you finally see it. Yeah, you can leave, but you never tried, and you say, "Baby, I've come back to you again, don't you wanna ask where I've been?" Baby, no, I don't. Baby, no, I don't. It's too late to be tragic, it's just another hole in your fabric, so baby, no, I don't. Baby, no, I don't, I just know you're an escape artist now, so I'll never need to know how. But baby, it just dulls the pain of that constant ache that you can't explain. There's still that fear that you won't name, there's still that truth that you can't face. So you can't burn it out, you'll never burn it out. Yeah, you can't burn it out cuz it was never there. There's nothing there, oh, it was never there. Baby, there's nothing there, it was never there.
6.
I was fucked up in the back of a speeding car, lit up by the reds and blues that still haven't caught up to you. I was falling apart onstage, singing, "Don't worry about me, don't worry about me." "Oh, don't worry, I won't." The streets were just echoes of beauty like your taillights in the morning, but I just let it go, yeah, I'm a coward, I always do. "This better be the last time, alright? Our eyes won't align at all hours of the night. Are you alone? Are you alone? Yeah, neither am I." So it's mouthfuls of whatever alcohol I can find. I'm still waiting to be saved, I've been waiting all my life. I've been waiting all my life, and I swore I was fine but I lied, yeah, I lied, yeah, I lied. So goddamn, I can't forget your taste. Yeah, I can't get anywhere around this state without you there. But it still won't change a thing. No, this changes nothing. We'll both still let the phone ring til it sings, til it screams. So goddamn, I can't get around this place without seeing your face, without you there, without you.
7.
The streets spoke for us since we kept our mouths shut and got lost in the black and gray. Our cigarettes lit the sky since the stars are all lies, but we'll be as dead as they are someday. So I've given up on running and screaming, yeah, now I'm fighting back. And their lips taste just like wax, but I'm still melting, I'm still melting. And there are things I tell them I believe in, and then there are fears I don't dare say aloud. Even though the stars still die alone, at least they shine for years, all bright and proud. I thought I found truth in a beautiful woman, and our clothes would decorate the floor, but she said God told her that I'm wrong, and life is nothing like a song, you can't hide behind metaphors. Yeah, she dropped His name like they were just in the ladies room doing lines and chasing death. So I tried to catch up, I was still trying to catch up until I finally ran out of breath and we were alone again. Yeah, we were alone again. It just follows us. Yeah, goddamn, it found us again. So come on, come on, come on, the truth is a satellite. So come on, come on, come on, it'll always be there, but we can try to leave it behind. So we tried to leave it behind, but you can never leave it behind. So it goes. Cuz we move and it moves with us, just like you moved with me. So come on, come on, come on, death is a satellite. So come on, come on, come on, we still tried to leave it, we still tried to leave it behind, and we got so close, yeah, we got so close, yeah, we got so close. So it goes.
8.
I've got this sinking feeling that now that our eyes are capital letters, the arctic surge won't make it better. Your father burned the house down years ago, and your mother's still smiling in the ashes, swearing nothing happened. Oh, God knows what brought us here. I know our love is engineered and we're too far gone to try to steer. So, God knows how many years til we disappear, til our worst fears quit whispering in our ears. So you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, but you would never sleep, you would never sleep. So you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, but you would never sleep, yeah, you would never sleep, you would never sleep. Whatever's running through our veins, what's got us swerving through the lanes can't save you from the screams when you come home, when you come home. But the chemicals in your purse have brought our bodies closer, and we forgot when morning comes, we'll be alone, we'll be alone. Oh, it's not strong enough, it's not strong enough. It's never strong enough, is it? Our blood was never strong enough for this shit, for the ghosts that keep our tired eyes open. We were never strong enough for this shit, so you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, but you would never sleep, you would never sleep. So you would spend the whole night, yeah, you would spend the whole night, but you would never sleep, yeah, you would never sleep, yeah, you would never sleep, yeah, you would never sleep. Whatever's running through our veins, what's got us swerving through the lanes can't save you from the screams when you come home, when you come home. But the chemicals in your purse have brought our bodies closer, and we forgot when morning comes, we'll be alone, we'll be alone. So we drowned that sinking feeling, yeah, we made do, we always seem to. But when you come down, yeah, whenever you come down, it'll be there waiting for you.
9.
Then the drinks sank in and we drowned in them. My hip dug into your side. There were ghosts dancing under streetlights and they were singing, "I was in love once, yeah, yeah, I was in love once." And the smoke rolled out your mouth like a girl I sang about, but now every word is hollowed out, like echoes in an empty house. Yeah, I was in love once, and it was nothing like this, but I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind. And we detoxed in your bed til it soaked through the mattress. You thought the world had ended, so you slipped out of your dress. You were covered in bruises that you don't even try, that you don't even try to hide, yeah. Well, we tried to quit til we ached for it, til the heat burned through our clothes. Our shadows were pulsing with the lights, the ghosts were screaming all their lines, but their voices sound, oh, yeah, they sound just like our own, singing, "This is a shell of a building, this is a frame of a bed, this is a silhouette of sex with no context, with no context." And your nails dug into my back. "Baby, the world has ended and we, we fell through the cracks, yeah." Oh, if there is a heaven, we would never have got in. We're both covered in bruises that we don't have to try to hide.
10.
Here, no one has ever said a word that wasn't sharp and well rehearsed, but you were rumors of knives. Yeah, you were rumors of knives. But that summer we owned every goddamn street until the jealous heat melted the concrete. You were the sun at the time. You were the sun at the time, but you still found a way to place the blame on me, yeah. Yeah, you swore you were crime dressed in white, you were a virgin's last night, but we're all so insignificant, it didn't quite work out, did it? You are a broken headlight. You are a lie stretched too tight. We all sing and no one listens, so it didn't quite work out, did it? Did it? So you sold me out. Yeah, you took my advice, so I tried not to mind, it was just a matter of time. I just thought you were a snapshot of blurs, a moment of beauty that will never reoccur. Yeah, you fooled me, you had me convinced, and I hate to admit, I still miss it, but I just miss the colors that were never there, but you still swear you were the name they recite, you were an atheist's first night, but we're all so insignificant, it didn't quite work out, did it? You are a ghost in the light. You are the lines I rewrite, and none of us will ever mean shit, so it didn't quite work out cuz now I can tell a wolf, I can tell a wolf by their eyes. Yeah, now I can tell a wolf, I can tell a wolf by their eyes, by their eyes, yeah. Give up. So give up, I can tell a wolf, I can tell a wolf by their eyes, by their eyes. Yeah, now I can tell a wolf, I can tell a wolf by their eyes, by their eyes, yeah.
11.
So I've been slipping in and out of that static snow, blaming the black or the gray or the white, whatever was dancing in front of my eyes at the time, and I finally disappeared between the lines, I've been drowned out by the digital whine, and I'm alone with that indifferent silence I wasted my life trying to hide. I'm a broken down limousine, baby. I was hoping for some help with that. I spent twenty years on the side of the road watching the cars pass. Sometimes I'd wake up to new breath in my bed, a beautiful girl to fill my head, breathing, "Baby, give up, don't leave, quit running from those words, oh, they've already been said." And it's like fighting sleep, I always lose, and an ocean up rises up around our room, and when I finally drown in it, I won't have an excuse, cuz I lock the doors from the inside, oh, I lock the doors from the inside, so my eyes, my eyes, my eyes will drift below, below sea level when she asks, when she asks, "Don't you love me? Don't you love me anymore?" Well, I don't, I don't, I don't. I never loved anyone, maybe I never loved anyone. Maybe I just needed to so bad that I thought I did. Maybe I never loved anyone, maybe I never loved anyone. Maybe I just needed to so bad, so bad, that I thought I did. Well, I thought I did, well, I thought I did. Well, I thought I did, I was so sure I did, I was so sure I did. And I end up back on the side of the road waiting for my heartbeat to sink into the asphalt and reaching out into the traffic. It's a sad excuse for romance and I don't stop, but I'm gonna stop. Well, I'm trying to stop. I mean, goddamn, I keep breaking my arms, I oughta be more careful cuz there are things that don't ever, ever heal. So when the morning comes this time, I wake up on my own and I swear I don't mind, I'm not afraid to be alone, but I'm stuck under the sheets like they're made of lead. I'm still stuck under the sheets like they're made of lead. And now that fear is crawling back into bed. Yeah, now that fear is crawling back into bed. I say, "Darling, that fear has crawled its way back into our bed," but she's gone now, but she's gone now, but she's gone now, but she's gone now, so it's just me. So it's just me, so it's just me. So it's just me, so I scream, "Baby, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I've been wrong." But I've known I was right all along. I never believed in those love songs, but I wanted to. Oh God, I still want to, but this is it, this is it, I'm done. So please, don't help me out of this hole, this hole I've dug into my stomach, I haven't been taking my pills, I keep trying to forget that it's there, but I know, but I know, but I know that it is. But I know, but I know it's there, and it's my own fucking fault, so I'm done pretending that some love can fix it. There is nothing, no one, no love that can fix it, so I'm done. Now I'm done. So I'm done, so I'm done, so I'm done, now I'm done. So there's nothing, no one, no love that can fix it. There's nothing, no one, no love that can fix it, and baby, if you can't fix it, then I'm done. Now, I'm done.
12.
I Just Can't 04:18
Honey, what new chemicals are calming you now, for every night you can't block out, for every time they held you down? But there will always be a shadow eating at you, some fresh darkness screaming loud, and you'll still be so goddamn proud. "Baby, you run on gasoline, I run on empty, yeah, beat that, beat that. You run on gasoline, I run on empty, yeah, beat that, beat that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." And you were once young poetry, simple and pure, but you said, "Pure? Pure? Nothing is anymore." Yeah, you said, "Pure? Oh, pure. Nothing is anymore." Yeah, you said, "Pure? Pure? Nothing is anymore, there are no unopened doors that we're still searching for, the pain always becomes too much to ignore." You said, "Pure? Pure? Nothing is anymore." Once I thought that was true, but now it's tearing through you and I just can't. I just can't. "You run on gasoline, I run on empty, yeah, beat that, beat that. You run on gasoline, I run on empty, yeah, beat that, beat that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." You said, "Pure? Oh, pure. Nothing is anymore."
13.
I fought it off til I became a professional at losing traction and calling it fashion. They wish that you were, they wish that we were something we aren't. When the room fills with smoke, they'll be watching you choke, they'll be watching us choke. And when the pills stop working, I'm so scared we won't know. And if we live to get old on our own, against that cold, I'll be there too late. You'll be frozen in place, standing up straight, ruined and brave. I'll be there too late. You'll be frozen in place, standing up straight, ruined and brave, but they'll see that. But they'll see that, and they'll know that you couldn't fight it off. If I see that, if I see that, then I'll know. If I see that, then I'll know that I, I couldn't help you fight it off, but I tried.

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Debut album from The Ready Aim Fire!

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released June 14, 2008

All music and lyrics written and performed by Dave Trautz.
Except drums written by Donavan Foy and Dave Trautz and performed by Donavan Foy.
All songs copyright 2008.

Produced and engineered by Dave Trautz at The Wire in Upland, CA.
Mixed by Beau Burchell at Infrasonic Sound.
Mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Mastering.
Artwork by Joseph Gonzales.

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The Ready Aim Fire! Walnut, California

Synth-driven indie rock from Walnut, CA.

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