The Valley of Ashes

from In The Twelfth House EP by Dystopiana

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about

Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald's descriptions of the "valley of ashes" in The Great Gatsby

lyrics

a child stares through a glass darkly
across the valley of ashes
as the workday starts on time

his father says to him
one day you too, my son,
will work the factory line

"ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys
and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort,
of ash-grey men, who move dimly and
already crumbling through the powdery air" (Fitzgerald)

this is the valley of ashes, yes
this is the valley of ashes, yes

and through the eyes of a boy
the world is changed to sleeping toys
who can't remember how to play
and live a waking dream of the same dark day

the trains are made of matchwood
and the cars are all made of clay
the houses are made of paper mache
and the heavy velvet skies are always gray

ashes to ashes we fall
and turn into ashes
and we are living in ashes
and we are feeding on ashes

ashes to ashes we fall
and turn into ashes
and all the words into ashes
and apples red and ripe fall into ash

and ashes to ashes we fall
and ashes to ashes we fall
and we all fall, we all fall, we all fall,
we all fall, we all fall

the factories of the valley
are scale models, with grayscale cogs and gears
the workers are made of plastic
and the looks on all their faces have been the same for years

and through the eyes of a boy
the world can change, the sleeping toys
can start to wake up and play
and begin to dream of a brand-new day

the workers of the valley must unite
and the people of the valley must unite
to bring back the light...

do it for the boy, do it for the boy
do it for the boys and the girls
who must inherit this make-believe world

the valley of ashes

credits

from In The Twelfth House EP, released January 23, 2015

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Dystopiana San Francisco, California

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