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Codes and Keys

by Death Cab for Cutie

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1.
Sleep with the lights on Shuttered with shades drawn There's too many windows Noise -- cars on the freeway Tempting a clean break But there's nowhere left to go Watching the roots weave Through cracks in the concrete Plates they will shift Houses will shake Fences will drift We will awake Only to find Nothing's the same Home is a fire A burning reminder Of where we belong, love With walls built up around us The bricks make me nervous They're only so strong, love Yes they're only so strong love Plates, they will shift Houses will shake Fences will drift We will awake Only to find Nothing's the same As yesterday
2.
We won't get far Flying in circles inside a jar 'Cause the air we breathe Is thinning with the words that we speak That we speak, you and me You're on the floor Fearful of what's outside your door But the codes and keys They can't protect you from the pangs of jealousy And when you scream, love you seam Like a child throwing stones at the sky But when they fall back to earth As minor chords of major works Separate rooms, a single life We are one, we are alive!
3.
Some Boys 03:10
Some boys are filling a hole They're making a killing at the top of the billing It's their role and that's all that they know But some boys don't listen at all They don't ask for permission They lack inhibitions: no walls And they get what they want But some boys don't know how to love Some boys are singing the blues Joylessly flinging with the girls that they're bringing to their rooms And then leave when they're through But some boys are sleeping alone 'Cause there's no one that's keeping them warm through evening And they know that they're on their own 'Cause some boys don't know how to love
4.
Isolations -- dotted lines Seas of concrete -- with wild eyes Streaking colors -- blur to one Always moving -- in blinding sun Coldest comfort -- safety glass Seasons turning -- dying grass California -- gilded crowns Mile markers -- counting down Somewhere down in the ocean of sound We'll live in slow motion and be free With doors unlocked and open
5.
When there's a burning in your heart An endless yearning in your heart Build it bigger than the sun Let it grow, let it grow When there's a burning in your heart Don't be alarmed When there's a doubt within your mind 'Cause you're thinking all the time Framing rights into wrongs Move along, move along When there's a doubt within your mind When there's a burning in your heart And you think it'll burst apart Oh There's nothing to fear Save the tears, save the tears When there's a burning in your heart And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born then it's time to go And define your destination: there's so many different places to call home 'Cause when you find yourself a villain in the story you have written then it's plain to see That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemption Would you agree? If so, please show me
6.
There's no eye in the sky Just our love No unobstructed view, no perfect truths Just our love And there's no verse, no monument of words For my love For they can't hold all I know About my love Storm clouds break Pools remain Memories flood Earthen graves Evaporate To up above Where they become New love
7.
She may be young but she only likes old things And modern music it ain't to her tastes She loves the natural light Captured in black and white She sees mirages and mountain ranges Within the blink of her eye it changes Back to the open plain Oh no she can't explain I cry out love keep your arms around me I am the bird that's in need of grounding I'm built to fly away I never learned how to say The night is gonna to fall and the vultures will surround you And when you're looking in the mirror what you see is gonna astound you But all these lines and greys refine They are the maps of our design Of what began on the Monday morning The night is gonna fall and the vultures will surround you And when you're looking in the mirror what you see is gonna astound you But all these lines and greys refine They are the maps of our design Of what began on the monday morning Oh yes the night is gonna to fall and the vultures will surround you And when you're looking in the mirror what you see is gonna astound you And while the glow of youth in time eludes It's burning on inside of you It all began on a monday morning
8.
Portable television shrouded in snow In a raggedy van on the side of the road The night it had frozen through my little bones So you took me in your arms you squeezed out the cold Upstate New York Autumn brightly colored leaves Oh, the hills were on fire They burn for you and me And where we were going it was built like a lie But as sacred as the Bible So we didn't question "why" They sodded the soil just recently Where the rows of teeth they grow in fields of infinite green And here laid the father And here stood the son Where the road meets the horizon for everyone Portable television take us away From this burden of reflection we've carried today Oh the generator's running but there's nothing on the air But the static is a comfort so we huddled round and stared
9.
Lying in a field of glass Underneath the overpass Mangled in the shards of a metal frame Woken from the dream by my own name Oh I was such a wretched man Searching everywhere for a homeland But now we are under the same sun Feel it through the leaves let it heal us We are the same We are both saved Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We were both broken in our own ways Sifting through the rubble for the wrong things I know you've got a vengeful heart And that I cannot be stopped as soon as I start But you have seen your darkest rooms And I have slept in makeshift tombs And this is where we find our peace Oh this is where we are released We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore
10.
St. Peter's Cathedral built of granite and ever fearful of the answer When the candle in the tunnel is flickering in sputters and fading faster It's only then that you will know what lies above or down below Or if these fictions only prove how much you've really got to lose At St. Peter's Cathedral there is stain glass, there's a steeple that is reaching Up towards the heavens such ambition never failing to amaze me It's either quite a master or just these chemicals help us understand That when our hearts stop ticking this is the end There's nothing past this
11.
Life is sweet in the belly of the beast And with her song in your heart It can never bring you down Lost in a maze of 1000 rainy days But when I heard her voice Oh it led me to the end 'Cause when she sings I hear a symphony And I'm swallowed in sound as it echoes through me And I'm renewed Oh how I feel alive And through autumn's advancing We'll stay young go dancing As the music plays Feel our bodies sway When we move as one We stay young . . . (go dancing!) Life is sweet in the belly of the beast And with her song in your heart It can never bring you down 'Cause when she sings I hear a symphony And I'm swallowed in sound as it echoes through me I'm renewed Oh how I feel alive And through winter's advancing We'll stay young go dancing

credits

released May 31, 2011

Death Cab for Cutie are Benjamin Gibbard, Nicholas Harmer, Jason McGerr and Christopher Walla

Words by Benjamin Gibbard

Produced by Chris Walla

Performed by Death Cab for Cutie except strings for 'Codes And Keys' and 'Stay Young, Go Dancing' performed by the Magik*Magik Orchestra; arranged and conducted by Minna Choi, and played by Liana Berube, Philip Brezina, Jory Fankuchen, and Michelle Kwon.
Recorded by Walla and Beau Sorenson at: Sound City, Van Nuys, CA; assisted by Sean Oakley and Dave 'Squirrel' Covell; Second assistants, Sally Pickett and Mark Richards. The Warehouse, Vancouver, BC; assisted by Jackson Long. Tiny Telephone, San Francisco, CA; assisted by John Vanderslice and Jay Pellici. Bright Street Recorders, North Hollywood, CA; assisted by Pierre de Reeder. Jackpot! Recording, Portland, OR; assisted by Kendra Lynn. Avast Recording, Seattle, WA; assisted by Stuart Hallerman, Johnny Mendoza and Cathy Ferrante.

Mixed by Alan Moulder at Assault & Battery B in Willesden, London, UK; assisted by Catherine Marks; second assistant, John Catlin. 'Home Is A Fire' mixed by Chris Walla at Avast B; 'Codes And Keys' mixed by Chris Walla and Beau Sorenson at Avast A. Mastered by Roger Siebel at SAE Mastering, Phoenix, AZ.

Front Cover and Coin Slot photographs by Nicholas Harmer. Additional photography and design by Storey Elementary.
Management: Jordan Kurland for Zeitgeist Artist Management, assisted by Joe Goldberg.
Legal: Gary Gilbert and Craig Marshall for Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Business Management: Zeisler, Zeisler, Rawson & Johnson LLP.
Booking: Trey Many for The Billions Corporation.
UK/Europe Booking: Chris Myhill for The Agency Group.
A&R for Atlantic Records: Sam Riback.

Extra support and logistics: Adam Katz and Dana Childs at Tsunami Entertainment; Justin Little, Leslie Connolly, Matt Shay and Matt Ginnard at Zeitgeist; Andy Hayward, Rachel Allen, John Vanderslice -- thank you.

Jason uses Ludwig, Paiste, Remo, Vic Firth, and DW hardware
Ben, Nick and Chris use D'Addario strings
Codes and Keys was recorded with Logic Pro

Thank you to our families, friends, and everyone who makes this possible.

deathcabforcutie.com

Songs by Benjamin Gibbard, ©2011 EMI Blackwood Music Incorporated on behalf of itself / Where I'm Calling From Music (BMI), except 'Home Is A Fire', 'Unobstructed Views' and 'Underneath The Sycamore' by Benjamin Gibbard and Christopher Walla, ©2011 EMI Blackwood Music Incorporated on behalf of itself / Where I'm Calling From Music (BMI) / Please Pass the Songs (BMI)

©2011 Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States.

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Death Cab for Cutie Seattle, Washington

Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band is composed of Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr, Dave Depper, and Zac Rae. They have been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. The band’s tenth studio album ‘Asphalt Meadows’ is out now. ... more

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