I Know You—Now Run [OCTOPUS POP — 108 BPM • 8/8 body pulse beneath 3+3+2 accents and delayed 5+3 undertow • royal chamber-pop gradually infected by uncanny organic movement] [EIGHT INSTRUMENTAL ARMS] [1. Prepared piano carries the central melody.] [2. Bowed glass bends its final three notes.] [3. Fretless bass follows the 5+3 undertow.] [4. Muted viola regenerates a severed fragment.] [5. Skin drums maintain the 8/8 body pulse.] [6. Sucker-clicks migrate between sustained notes.] [7. Reed organ shifts the harmony’s color.] [8. Formant-treated strings merge with the vocal.] [INTRO — Arms 1, 6 And 8. Formal And Delicate.] My mother pinned a medal Where the first green bruise appeared Said, “Stand straight for the portrait— Let them see you’re persevering.” The painter packed his brushes When my pupils split in four I smiled because a prince should While my nails scratched through the floor [VERSE 1 — Each Line Grows Less Stable.] First, sugar tasted copper Then the copper tasted sweet Then every servant’s heartbeat Had a flavor and a beat The doctor touched my forehead Then forgot his daughter’s name By supper, he was coughing Little pieces of the same They stitched my sleeves together So my hands would stay concealed But the thing beneath my knuckles Learned exactly how they sealed [PRE-CHORUS — “Know” Begins Human And Ends As Arm 8.] Then you walked into the chamber Still wearing my old ring And every mouth inside me Stopped rehearsing how to sing I knew the crooked finger I knew the bitten thumb I knew—oo—oo— [Vocal “knew” becomes plucked strings.] But knowing didn’t make me numb [CHORUS 1 — Arms 1, 3, 5 And 8 Carry The Hook.] I know you—now run I know you—now run My teeth remember tenderness My blood remembers none Don’t ask me to come closer Don’t prove what I’ve become I know your face, I know your name I know you— Now run [POST-CHORUS — Sucker-Clicks Detach From “Run” And Enter The Bass.] (Ru-uh-un) (Ru-uh-un) (Ru—) My body takes the word away And finishes the hunt [VERSE 2 — The Hook Splits Across Arms 2, 4 And 7.] They burned the western bedding They boiled the silverware The captain kissed my signet Now he’s nesting in the stairs The cook grew extra elbows The priest forgot his prayers The guards all share one fever And keep smiling in their chairs I used to bless the newborns From the balcony at noon Now mothers lock their windows When they hear me clear my throat [REGENERATIVE PHRASE — Arm 4 Rebuilds “Clear My—” Differently.] Clear my— Clear my thro— Clear my throat and hold it shut Clear my name from every cup Clear my face from what you loved [PRE-CHORUS 2] You raised your left hand slowly With that scar beneath the gold The one you got from climbing Through my window in the cold I knew where you would touch me Before your fingers moved I knew—oo—oo— [Vocal becomes bowed glass, then returns.] And still, I lunged at you [INK-CLOUD — All Eight Arms Conceal The Music.] Don’t let me— I can smell the— Take the stairs, not— If I call you darling— [The cloud clears. The hook relocates into bass and sucker-clicks.] [CHORUS 2 — Vocal Avoids The Full Hook Until The End.] Your coat is in my fingers Your pulse is in my gums I’m crying like the man you knew While something makes me come Closer than you asked me Faster than I should I’m begging through a borrowed jaw That never learned “enough” [Only Arm 7 remains.] I know you— [All eight answer.] Now run [BRIDGE — Harmony Changes Color Without Changing Chords.] If I bite you, will you know me When your tongue begins to change? Will you recognize my footsteps When your ankles bend the wrong way? Would we bow across the ballroom With our fever dressed in lace? Would you love me if my hunger Learned to imitate my face? No— Don’t answer, darling That was not a lover’s question That was appetite discovering A more convincing inflection [JET-PROPULSION — All Eight Arms Compress Into One Impact.] I KNOW— [VACUUM SILENCE.] [Dry, close vocal on one trembling pitch.] You. [FINAL CHORUS — Each Arm Receives One Fragment Before Interlocking.] [Arm 1: “I know—”] [Arm 2: “—you”] [Arm 3: “now—”] [Arm 4: “r—ru—run”] [Arm 5 turns it into heartbeat.] [Arm 6 races ahead.] [Arm 7 shifts tender into dangerous.] [Arm 8 merges with the prince’s vowels.] I know you—now run Though my knees remember kneeling Though my hands remember yours There are teeth behind the feeling I know you—now run Take the passage through the wall If you hear me call you sweetheart Do not turn around at all I know the crooked finger I know the bitten thumb I know exactly who you are— [Vocal splits into all eight instruments.] And I still cannot stop— [OUTRO — The Severed Decoy Continues Alone.] I know you— I know you— I know— [The true melody regenerates elsewhere.] Now— [One sucker-click lands behind the listener.] Run.
