Paper Saints - Reckoners of the Afternoon - The Gone Kids

[Intro – Percussion Loop, Guitar Layered Delay] Matchbooks in the drawer Ash on the floor Notes from no one Taped to the door Crosses cut in notebook lines Prayers scribbled without spines We swore we'd never fake it Then sang it like we meant it [Verse 1] You lit a candle in your shoe Said it made you run more true I wore a medal under my shirt Like a shield, like a curse Sunday talk in hallway tones Bless me, brother, I’m alone We called ourselves the hopeful few But mostly we just blew through [Pre-Chorus] And every song was almost belief And every riff a stolen grief [Chorus – Youth Swell, Male Voices Dominant] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We were paper saints Folded but devout (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Taped our sins to speakers And played them loud [Verse 2] You said faith’s just practice pain So we rehearsed again and again You crossed your heart, I crossed the wires We both sparked, we both got tired The pulpit was the rooftop edge We preached in jeans and lack of pledge No sermons, just distortion No guilt, just absorption [Instrumental Interlude – Feedback Harmonics + Snare Rolls] [Guitar loop echoes twice] [Snare rolls into silence, then returns] [Bridge – Dual Male Vocals, Low Harmony] We built altars from old amp stacks Bent the light, but it never bent back Swallowed the smoke, screamed the refrain Tried to exorcise your name [Chorus Repeat – Full Layer Return] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We were paper saints Cut from magazine praise (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Preached in lowercase Then burned the page [Breakdown – [Empty Room Swell], No Words, Instrumental] [Bass pulse + muted guitar tremolo] [Snare rolls again, tighter] [Re-entry into final chorus] [Final Chorus – Loud but Broken] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We were paper saints Cracked but proud (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We lost the faith But kept the sound [Outro – Instrumental Fade, Tape Hiss] [Tape click, slight delay, amp noise fades]