Vienna Teng Lyrics
I'm trying to get all the lyrics for Vienna Teng's Inland Territory. I'll be updating this at various points throughout the next few days. It's mostly for my own reference, but feel free to use/correct me if there's any mistakes! I'm occasionally referencing lyrics posted here but mostly this is for me to try to learn them by figuring them out. Plus, being obsessive. ^^
The Last Snowfall
if this were the last snowfall
no more halos on evergreens
if this were my last glimpse of winter
what would these eyes see
if this were the last slow curling
of your fingers in my palm
if this were the last i felt you breathing
how would i carry on
this is not the last snowfall
not our last embrace
but if i were that kind of grateful
what would i try to say
White Light
all of a sudden the conversation turns
and everyone concerned is looking down
the guilty party is right here in the room
but no one can assume the higher ground
oh it almsot caught up with you
caught up with you then
oh you should have thought of this my friend
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
and it feels so good to feed a habit
you're just making the most of your borrowed time
waiting for a white light
so heading home you swear that you'll be good
do everything you should and know the facts
but in the morning you're back to petty needs
tragedy receeds to photographs
oh it hasn't caught up with you
caught up with you yeah
no it hasn't taught you when to quit
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
is it okay because everybody does it
the whole party is rolling on borrowed time
waiting for the white light
shine down, wipe it all out again
show me how
it doesn't matter in the end
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
is it okay because everybody does it
no laws are broken if we're all committing the same crime
i knew it was wrong why did i do it
i don't know, i didn't mean to, it slipped my mind
it takes so much to break a habit
you know i'm aware that we are out of time
am i waiting for a white light?
Antebellum
in the fall we circle through the leaves
and talk about the little ones
and we smile but never say too much
the moment always vanishing
one by one the neighbor's lights come on
our october day is almost gone
and i know the borderlines we drew between us
keep the weapons down
keep the wounded safe
and i know our antebellum innocence
was never meant to see the light of our armistice day
in the spring we climb the rolling hills and talked about our budding plans
and we smiled our faces like a mirror showing us our secret selves
but then the fight the sharp words splintering the night
how i couldn't be what you'd need
but oh how i could make you bleed
i know the borderlines we drew between us
keep the weapons down
keep the wounded safe
i know our antebellum innocence
was never meant to see the light of our armistice
but how much would i give to have it back again
how much did we lose to live this way
you'll go home
i'll stay here
seasons keep on marching
i'll stay here
you'll go home
with only strangers watching
In Another Life
in another life
you and i worked west virginia coal mines
side by side
collecting the black dust like sin
the day the main shaft came down
i caught tyour eye
as the lantern light guttered out
and the after damp swallowed us slowly
i gripped your hand and caught a glance of the next time round
in another life
you and i were red guards in training
side by side
we marched on tiananmen
turned our own parents in for hoarding rice
and in the great leap forward
we crawled on our bellies and died
and a blood orange sky gave a cry of the next time round
and in another life
i was married at thirteen
you were killed at twenty-one
on a minor battlefield
i was buried beside my second stillborn child
my last thought it seemed
a fever dream
now we sink into a summer afternoon
central park in june
marveling at the bounty our days contain
and we feel it like the shiver of a passing train
that other life
deep under ground
you and i
side by side
we are the next time
St. Stephen's Cross
he was there the night the wall came down
he lost her in the endless crowd
in the shadow of st stephen's cross
he sent cries aloft for his fellow man
his fingers slipping from her hand
and the rain clouds prowling overhead
she was there the night the wall came down
she faded into that newborn crowd
like a warning of what could be lost
through the perforated night she ran
her fingers slipping from his hand
and she breathed in freedom before daylight tread
they were there the night the wall was drowned
in the surging of that tidal crowd
an old world made new
on same holy ground
she found him standing looking lost
in the shadow of st. stephen's cross
and he closed his eyes and heard no sound
but her breathing warm against his mouth
The Last Snowfall
if this were the last snowfall
no more halos on evergreens
if this were my last glimpse of winter
what would these eyes see
if this were the last slow curling
of your fingers in my palm
if this were the last i felt you breathing
how would i carry on
this is not the last snowfall
not our last embrace
but if i were that kind of grateful
what would i try to say
White Light
all of a sudden the conversation turns
and everyone concerned is looking down
the guilty party is right here in the room
but no one can assume the higher ground
oh it almsot caught up with you
caught up with you then
oh you should have thought of this my friend
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
and it feels so good to feed a habit
you're just making the most of your borrowed time
waiting for a white light
so heading home you swear that you'll be good
do everything you should and know the facts
but in the morning you're back to petty needs
tragedy receeds to photographs
oh it hasn't caught up with you
caught up with you yeah
no it hasn't taught you when to quit
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
is it okay because everybody does it
the whole party is rolling on borrowed time
waiting for the white light
shine down, wipe it all out again
show me how
it doesn't matter in the end
if you knew it was wrong why did you do it
you don't know, you didn't mean to, it slipped your mind
is it okay because everybody does it
no laws are broken if we're all committing the same crime
i knew it was wrong why did i do it
i don't know, i didn't mean to, it slipped my mind
it takes so much to break a habit
you know i'm aware that we are out of time
am i waiting for a white light?
Antebellum
in the fall we circle through the leaves
and talk about the little ones
and we smile but never say too much
the moment always vanishing
one by one the neighbor's lights come on
our october day is almost gone
and i know the borderlines we drew between us
keep the weapons down
keep the wounded safe
and i know our antebellum innocence
was never meant to see the light of our armistice day
in the spring we climb the rolling hills and talked about our budding plans
and we smiled our faces like a mirror showing us our secret selves
but then the fight the sharp words splintering the night
how i couldn't be what you'd need
but oh how i could make you bleed
i know the borderlines we drew between us
keep the weapons down
keep the wounded safe
i know our antebellum innocence
was never meant to see the light of our armistice
but how much would i give to have it back again
how much did we lose to live this way
you'll go home
i'll stay here
seasons keep on marching
i'll stay here
you'll go home
with only strangers watching
In Another Life
in another life
you and i worked west virginia coal mines
side by side
collecting the black dust like sin
the day the main shaft came down
i caught tyour eye
as the lantern light guttered out
and the after damp swallowed us slowly
i gripped your hand and caught a glance of the next time round
in another life
you and i were red guards in training
side by side
we marched on tiananmen
turned our own parents in for hoarding rice
and in the great leap forward
we crawled on our bellies and died
and a blood orange sky gave a cry of the next time round
and in another life
i was married at thirteen
you were killed at twenty-one
on a minor battlefield
i was buried beside my second stillborn child
my last thought it seemed
a fever dream
now we sink into a summer afternoon
central park in june
marveling at the bounty our days contain
and we feel it like the shiver of a passing train
that other life
deep under ground
you and i
side by side
we are the next time
St. Stephen's Cross
he was there the night the wall came down
he lost her in the endless crowd
in the shadow of st stephen's cross
he sent cries aloft for his fellow man
his fingers slipping from her hand
and the rain clouds prowling overhead
she was there the night the wall came down
she faded into that newborn crowd
like a warning of what could be lost
through the perforated night she ran
her fingers slipping from his hand
and she breathed in freedom before daylight tread
they were there the night the wall was drowned
in the surging of that tidal crowd
an old world made new
on same holy ground
she found him standing looking lost
in the shadow of st. stephen's cross
and he closed his eyes and heard no sound
but her breathing warm against his mouth