lyrics

We’re dropping feathers everywhere now
We’re dropping leaves and seeds and scales
This biome is itching with parasites
And we’re scratching
And they’re harvesting whatever we leave on the trails
There are darker places we could be
Under different trees
And I think we could breathe there
Without the spores that fill our lungs
Without the nanobots nipping our fingernails
We’re harder to see there

How will we know what the rules will have been tomorrow
When they make a new one about yesterday?
The lines we leave are all indelible but the context is eroded
Innocent actions are maliciously encoded

But this has gone beyond escaping now
There is no uninfected ground
The symptoms are not always obvious
Unknowing carriers
Recording every sight and every sound
And we don’t see who stands behind
The edge of our minds
Can’t feel them enfold us
Can’t separate our roots from theirs
Don’t know till we try to turn around
How closely they hold us

They’re creeping in, they’re creeping in, they’re creeping into everything

**Note: I wrote this in November 2019. Imagery reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic is therefore somewhat eerily coincidental, rather than awkwardly intentional.

credits

from Five Thousand Feathers, released October 4, 2024
Helen Bell: vocals, vocal sample percussion, keyboards, EWI, violin, viola, drum sequencing, synth sound design
Xenogon: bass guitar, drum sequencing, synth sound design, cello
Words and music by Helen Bell; arranged by Helen Bell and Xenogon

All content © H. Bell 2025 | 100% human – no AI is used to make this site or its contents

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