The Second Hand

STUDIO ALBUM

Released 23rd May 2017

The Second Hand is Anubis' fourth and current studio album. It is a 65-minute concept record about the fall of a media mogul, named James Osbourne-Fox who, after a severe brain injury, is left paralysed and imprisoned in his own body and left to contemplate the ultimate futility of his life of corporate success, greed and massive acquisition of wealth.

It seeks to address the notion of balance, where the wealthy elite control such a massive stake of the media that it can influence those that consume it, through fear-mongering, cynical manipulation and hysteria that benefits nobody but those who sign the cheques. The lyrics may pre-date the rise of Donald Trump, the hysteria of Britain's vote to withdraw from Europe, the re-election of the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison government in Australia and the world media's constant character assassination of prominent progressive politicians, activists and voices for change, and yet the lyrics still echo the way the world has grown to become in 2017, with the blame firmly placed at the feet of the wealthy, aging white elite who invest their money in politics to delay any real change and to consolodate their power and influence.

Musically, The Second Hand - like it's predecessor A Tower of Silence - borrows much from the symphonic progressive styles of the early 1970's. Using microphones, in spaces, on acoustic instruments and valve amplifiers, over 30 guitars, almost entirely analogue synthesisers, Electric and Acoustic Pianos, Hammond Organs, Effects Pedals and a real Mellotron 400 (one of only a small handful of working examples in Australia). The album was written and arranged from predominantly group improvisation, and recorded as a performance record with the only concessions to digital technology being the computer it was recorded on. Even though The Second Hand is a contemporary album recorded for 2017, it's hard to imagine it sounding or feeling significantly different if it had come out in 1977.

The Second Hand

It ends this way 
All alone again 
Vacant yet alive, departed, trapped inside 

Left estranged 
Turned to stone, disengaged 
The memories I retain 
Numb but still in pain 

The light burns my eyes 
And the hum intensifies 
This life of cold and twisted pride 
Left me betrayed, trapped deep inside 
These machines that force me to breathe 
Dragging this on until I can leave 

The smell of the pale bleached floor 
A clock ticks above my door 
Footsteps recede down the hall 
As I’m left retracing my world’s downfall 
To feel the rain on skylight above 
I’d give all I had, I’d give it all up 

But time ticks away 
These memories, the darkest dreams are all I see 
As time ticks away 
My legacy of constant greed won’t set me free 
As time ticks away 
The agony is no-one sees what’s left of me 

Time wastes away 

I search for the reason, the emptiness in my soul 
Every hollow prize is there upon the wall 
All I ever strived for meant nothing at all 
But time ticks away 
These memories, the darkest dreams are all I see 

As time ticks away 
My legacy of constant greed won't set me free 
As time ticks away 
The agony is no-one sees what’s left of me 

Time wastes away

Fool's Gold

Let me show you endless wealth and power 
The magnitude of my insolent desire 
I’ve no time for God, nowhere above 
Have no ties that bind. My true love 

Twisted truths and secrets, narcosis remains 
No remorse or regret, you’re helpless again 

Now I own you, consume until it hurts 
Your need to be used, this weakness is a curse 
Red top fear parade, scandal and lies 
Raising threats again, you run and hide tonight 

Twisted truths and secrets, narcosis remains 
No remorse or regret, you’re helpless again 

…it’s what keeps you alive 

I have no need for self control 
Your world is mine, your world I hold 
No need to face the dark of night 
I bow to none, like a bird in flight 

That’s me the world I built beneath my feet 
Control your future while you sleep 
It’s all distraction and sovereignty 
Abusing wealth for eternity 
Gag the voice of empathy 
Break the man’s diversity 
Raise a glass to human error 
To fear, to panic, to sweet despair

These Changing Seasons I

Lights bounce off the lake, 
Shimmers in my eyes 
Wind still fascinates, 
The clouds hypnotise 

Held in this landscape, 
Hummed lullabies 
Savour the sweet taste, 
Of your appetite 

Seasons have changed 
Daylight remains 
Memories float away 
And fade

The Making of Me

Stepping out, emotionally unstable 
Journey is unknown, a family’s sacrifice 
Stripped back down to the bare essentials 
Impose a classist nature 
The blank page nullified 
They dictate elitist inclination 
With all sincerity formula is prescribed 
All alone, I faced the unknown 

Single voices rendered silent 
Surrender to disorder, old line fortified 
Separate the radical’s perception 
Fear of the extremes creates tribal divide 
The pain reveals the inside of us all 
What they find is masked from the outside 
Far from home, heart turns to stone 

They classify and ‘purify’ 
To occupy the young mind 
They terrify, then pacify 
To satisfy the party line 

Both hands tied and neutralised 
Crucified and forced to lie 
Piece by piece destroyed and broken down and ready to define 
The world that I see 
That’ll soon belong to me 

They classify and ‘purify’ 
To occupy the young mind 
They terrify, then pacify 
To satisfy the party line. 

The story now unfolds 
The beast assumes the control

While Rome Burns

These pictures I paint, the images seen 
Burn your eyes and mark your soul 
The instinct to run and hide and seek 
As you lose self control 
Imposing my will, to gain further still, from you all 
Trapped in a world of painful beauty 
Shocked, offended and appalled 

Trust what I tell you and get out alive 
Swallow your reason, we don’t recognise 
We’ll give you the world I feel you deserve 
An empire of lies, the truth goes unheard 

Trust what I tell you, you’ll get out alive 
Consume all we feed you, consume to survive 
And live in the world I feel you deserve 
An empire of lies, and truth goes unheard 

Sights and sounds and crimson words 
We’ll chill you to the bone 
Scandals of flesh that we infer 
The truth remains unknown 
Invading your homes, I’ll make them my own, justified 
By the freedom of press, a game of chess, with kings that I decide 

Trust what I tell you and get out alive 
Swallow your reason, we don’t recognise 
We’ll give you the world I feel you deserve 
An empire of lies, the truth goes unheard 

Trust what we tell you, you’ll get out alive 
Consume all we feed you, consume to survive 
And live in the world I feel you deserve 
An empire of lies, and truth goes unheard 

You need it. This fear machine, eternal fortress 
Demand it. It breaks you down, the pain is endless 
Devour it. Those who prey, remaining faceless 
Accept it. Submit to fate, you’re cheap and helpless

Blackout

Time speeds past, navigating through this blur 
Then I see your face, gotta bury down the hurt 
I foresee a life of regret awaits 
Suffer in the comfort of its embrace 

Blackout, as you drift away 
Blackout, a love that must decay 
Blackout, a force that cannot wait 
I’m blacked out and broken away 

It was plain to see commitment had me afraid 
Looking past the greed, I was disengaged 
Lied to myself that I could have been anything 
A nightmare calling 
A lonely echoing 

Blackout, as you drift away 
Blackout, a love that must decay 
Blackout, a force that cannot wait 
I’m blacked out and broken away

These Changing Seasons II

These memories stare at me, I recognise 
They remember me and I realise 
That loyalty is pain, a burden to our lives 
A casualty of change, an endless slow demise 

The hurt can break up who you are 
The loss, it fills you full of scars 
Dishonesty becomes a part of who you are 
Re-forms the soul and redefines the spark 

The seasons have changed 
The daylight will fade 
Memories still float away 

The seasons have changed 
The daylight evades 
Memories still float away 

The seasons have changed 
The daylight will fade 
Memories still float away 

The seasons have changed 
The daylight evades 
Memories still float away and fade 

It ends this way 
All alone again 
Vacant yet alive, departed, trapped inside

Pages of Stone

It’s off the chain; the beast is deranged 
Broken out, no longer contained 
I can’t explain—the fear is ingrained 
Fall from fame, pieces to be claimed 

This resignation 
My paranoid fixation 
Fractured and shameless 
The ruins I created 

This Invitation 
Frozen numb sensation 
Fractured and shameless 
Blamed on my temptation 

Accept this fate, endless parade 
Kings I made, thrones they will reclaim 
My worst mistake, weakness has tainted 
The wire, a noose, no longer evades 

This resignation 
My paranoid fixation 
Fractured and shameless 
The ruins I created 

This Invitation 
Frozen numb sensation 
Fractured and shameless 
Blamed on my temptation 

You want me to entertain you 
With fear and devastation 
Blinded by the anger, you still asked for more… 
The bribes the fraud the notion of corporate extortion 
The wolf is at the window 
The pig is at the door 

The world within stopped turning, this nightmare’s still recurring 
Take a look inside of this dark, rotten core 
I can still stake my claim to focus on all your pain 
Keeping you awake at night if you explore… 

Betrayed my ways 
No light inside 
Jealousy and greed 
Made a travesty of me 
Young, alone 
A stranger’s bed, mislead 
No power, no dignity, 
I've dragged it all back to me 

This empire of my creation, devours my imperfections 
Bonds have been broken, won’t take me alive 
Moments of shallow glory finally come back to haunt me 
Scandalised and destitute with nowhere to hide 

(Avoid it) 
This fear machine, eternal fortress 
(Ignore it) 
It breaks you down, the pain is endless 
(Escape it) 
Those who prey, remaining faceless 
(Destroy it) 
Submit to fate, I’m cheap and helpless 

Fold beneath the weight of it all 
Blood runs cold and the fear takes control 
It’s here in these walls as this cage becomes my home 

Turn, turn the pages of stone 
The story untold like the dusk turns to dawn 
Eyes beneath the blindfold as this cage becomes my home 

Stripped from the towers above 
A fallen icon, taken down from my throne 
The seasons change, I am left alone

These Changing Seasons III

We have lost control, torn ourselves apart 
We cannot face the light, crawling through the night 
To hide the scars 
The script is written out, creating the divide 
We all had parts to play, another line to say, and so 
We take a side 

Seasons have changed 
As we reclaim our hearts, unchained 
We can always put aside 
All the differences inside 
And reach out, we cannot hide 

We can’t descend to greed, lose humanity 
The choices that we make, what to give and what to take 
Is all we leave behind 
Ruthless, flawed and weak, frightened and untamed, 
Turn another page, the reasons need to change 
So we can see again 

Seasons have changed 
As we reclaim our hearts, unchained 
We can always put aside 
All the differences inside 
And reach out, we cannot hide 

It ends this way, all alone again

Lyrics (c) 2017 R. J. Moulding and D. Eaton

All titles written by Robert James Moulding/David Eaton/Douglas Skene/Dean Bennison/Anthony Stewart/Steven Eaton

The Second Hand

Anubis

'The Second Hand' is Anubis' fourth studio record, and marks a return to the narrative driven concept album format. It charts the downfall of an aging media mogul, James Osbourne-Fox, who, after a severe brain injury is left paralysed and imprisoned in his own body and left to contemplate the futility of his life of corporate success.

The album
'The Second Hand' is Anubis' fourth studio record, and marks a return to the narrative driven concept album format. It charts the downfall of an aging media mogul, James Osbourne-Fox, who, after a severe brain injury is left paralysed and imprisoned in his own body and left to contemplate the futility of his life of corporate success.

The album seeks to address the notion of balance, the media's influence on those who consume it, and how the bias and hysteria benefits no-one but those who sign the cheques, dividing people and leading to political turbulence and unrest. The lyrics - written very early in 2016 - had, by the end of the year and recording process, become seemingly even more prescient with the media and moneyed interest's roles in influencing the results of referendums, elections and even conflicts worldwide.
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