Originally written circa 2013 for Stories Don’t End, “As If By Design” was put off over and over again until 2016 when it found its place as the closing track on We’re All Gonna Die. A notable feature of this song is the staggering, swinging barrelhouse blues-jazz piano, in contrast to the straight...
[Verse 1]
The stars were just the holes punched in the shoebox
That gives the creature all the air he needs to breathe
As if every constellation was just a form of inhalation
From a captor too enormous to conceive
[Verse 2]
The moon beamed like a coach from junior high school
When players hacked their way through each opposing team
And the brighter it was shining, felt like the wider he was smiling
On a season that he loved too much to leave
[Chorus]
When you stare off in the night sometimes you see a little too much
Sometimes there's a world behind the mirror, sometimes a razor and a toothbrush
And in those fleeting moments when the stars all seem aligned
It all runs together, as if by design
[Verse 3]
The boat out in the middle of the ocean
Is like the butterfly just breathing on the sea
Giving all of its attention to this new and strange reflection
Not recognized as what it used to be
[Chorus]
When you stare off in the night sometimes you see a little too much
Sometimes there's a world behind the mirror, sometimes a razor and a toothbrush
When in those fleeting moments when the stars all seem aligned
It all runs together, as if by design
[Bridge]
Every day getting a little
More aquainted with the riddles
Until I'm looking for them everywhere I go
[Chorus]
When you stare off in the night sometimes you see a little too much
Sometimes there's a world behind the mirror, sometimes a razor and a toothbrush
And in those fleeting moments when the stars all seem aligned
It all runs together, as if by design
As if by design
As if by design
Dawes released As If By Design on Fri Sep 16 2016.