LOVE, LIES AND FIREFLIES, 2009

This eight song album was the first official release from Defending Otis. The CD features both new and old material that spans the many different stages of the band. The concept of the album is rooted in acoustic jam sessions held back in the winter of 2006, and grew into a collaborative project of old bandmates and friends. The CD features bass tracks by Dan Roberts, percussion by Brad Weber and guest vocals by Emma Acott.

HOLD ON - I’ve got this feeling and it won’t stop. I keep on rising then straight to the rocks. You got this look and it’s pulling me in. I got this hope and it’s wearing me thin. You can be patience and I’ll be fate. Some things are hopeless but hopeless can wait. You got this hook and it’s tearing me up. I’ll turn my back but I’m not giving up. The night goes down, so long. Our lives rewound, holding on. I’ve lost this ground, holding on. Your actions are weightless and fading away. The night’s getting restless and breaking to day. I go to speak but these patterns are lost. I’ll turn my back and I’ll burden this cost. You can be patience and I’ll be fate. Some things are hopeless but hopeless can wait. You got this hook and it’s tearing me up. I’ll turn my back but I’m not giving up. You’d say that our lives are fully spent holding on, hold on, holding on. I’d say that our lives are fully bent on holding on.

LAST ONE STANDING - You search the world to find it. You failed to recognize it. You spend your whole life hiding. This pain is not refining. Take pride in innovation. You’ve lost the concentration. And when the world’s forsaken, I’ll be the last one waiting. You smell the truth that’s burning. You feel my time returning. And in these risks I’m taking, you’ll see the world I’m making. Take pride in innovation. You’ve lost the concentration. And when the world’s forsaken, I’ll be the last one waiting. When the whole world gets you down, I’ll be the last one standing. When you fall short and hit the ground, I’ll be the last one standing.

HOME - I couldn’t speak the words convey the thoughts for the best part of the year. I couldn’t hide myself, beside myself, just to wake up insincere. I couldn’t grasp the concepts - sort the logic, washed out on my own. I couldn’t hide myself, beside myself just to make my way back home. I never felt this broken, all washed up and left out in the fray. I couldn’t hide myself, beside myself when you said I’d be okay. I couldn’t grasp the concepts - sort the logic, washed out on my own. I couldn’t hide myself, beside myself just to make my way back home.

THE MAN WHO IS GREATER THAN - Lost in these eyes, there’s more. Washed up with the tide and the things he has restored. I know that I’m meek and poor. It’s a faith in a God that’s more than a doubt or that thought which I’ve dreamed about. Have you ever contemplated the way? We live in a world with an endless pace. Even forces may pull you astray. There’s a man who is greater than in a place, in a circumstance, and it’s more. Don’t turn your back as he knocks at the door. In a sea that rages there comes a cost to ignore. Don’t walk away from the reality of way I say. It’s just the truth that sets the blind man free eternally.

CONTRIVED - You can be a laminate version of self, maybe this can bring democracy disease. You can leave every little sentiment of wealth but now you can’t see the freedom for the trees. You can be the very black faction of self - maybe this will bring your compatriot disease. You bleed every little sentiment of health but now you can’t see destruction beyond the trees.

NEVER LOOK BACK - The cancer is taking her fast, and I’m all alone just a mess. I can’t let go of the past, and I can’t hold on to what lasts. Her heart beats are ticking away, and I’m getting lost in this day. And I can’t let go of the past, and I can’t hold on to what lasts. Just take my hand and never look back. Her heart beats are ticking away, and I’m getting lost in these days. I can’t let go of the past, and I can’t hold on to what lasts. Take my hand and never look back. Just take my hand and never look back.

RISE - Said it before that everything’s fine. I will not be restored and I will not be revived. Your enemy’s trust is slamming the door. The greed and the lust - so who can you trust? I will not be revived. I’m afraid of the world. And everyone’s wrath, you’ve heard it before. Well I sleep in the math and wake on the shore. In everyone’s wrath - well you’ve heard it before. I will not clear a path, I’m afraid of the world. Rise. I will not be revived, I’m afraid of the world. Rise.

A LONG WAY FROM FREEDOM - We’re a long way from freedom when every single day I’m just lost in this crowd. Have you seen them with their cold-hearted glares as they try to sort us out? I’m still dreaming that when night falls I might find a doorway out. Yes, I’m leaving. They won’t notice I’m gone when they come to sort us out. I want to run. Far away from here and feel the sun on my back. If God does exist, can He take me away, before those trucks roll in at the end of the day? For whatever my wrong to find me into this place, I promise you this, God, I’m not a life to waste. I want to run far, far way from here. And feel the sun on my back.