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Splendid Isolation

by Henry Bateman

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1.
Lewisham, 1940 03:22
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Radio goes dead I’m frozen in my bed Can hear the sound of guns and engines overhead Bombs are falling close The walls begin to glow My head is full of noise as I start to taste the smoke The nurses take me down to a safer room below Mummy I’m scared I wanna come home I wanna go to school Mummy please come and get me Come and get me Please come and get me There’s one just outside I hear the nurses start to cry Oh when they’re really near You don’t hear them You just feel it deep inside Oh Mummy please just save me from this hell Mummy I’m scared Wanna come home to you Wanna go to school Mummy please come and get me Come and get me Please come and get me Are you scared too Mum? Are you alright? Mummy are you still out there?
2.
Breathing Underwater 05:05
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Like a fist on the door when I’m half asleep Like a tidal wave humming through the trees This is not how my life is supposed to be Breathing underwater I’m pushing back the truth I’m hiding things from you Guess my love for anyone is like a forest floor Just one eye through the letterbox when she’s at my door In my home I can’t pretend I feel like I did before Breathing underwater I’m pushing back the truth Breathing underwater Look at what I have to lose To protect myself from you I will stand on your shore So we can say we tried But it your eyes There’s no compromise And we’re stuck before the dawn
3.
Coronation 04:58
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The London sunset feels cold Coming through the drapes A white-gloved jeweller greets her and opens up the case Feels the weight of her fate Pressing through her skull Walks to the mirror, lets out a shiver Can't hide the repulse There's a sight I hoped I'd never see There's a sight I hoped I'd never see It was him, he should have been king But the crown's come for me And I'm gone There's a sight I hoped I'd never see There's a sight I hoped I'd never see It was him, he should have been king But the crown's come for me The crown's come for me And I'm gone A smile and a wave I am just an empty space Put the oil on my face and I drain I am the disguise The painting we hide behind Ideals that lead us all Are not real A boy stands quietly at her knee as she tries the robes When you die Mummy, Will it be my go?
4.
Plastic Life 03:51
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Here with my TV This show always comforts me As I go to sleep Though I still make plans Watch time run through my hands like sand I’m out so deep I can taste you on my tongue God knows I need someone Spend weekends on my own Guess I’m living in a plastic life Goes down to the bone Guess I’m living in a plastic life Trying to make this house my home Somehow it never feels right Never felt so alone Guess I’m living in a plastic life Living in a plastic life I feel nothing at all Come round I’ll let you paint my walls Any colour you like I can taste you on my tongue God knows I need someone Spend weekends on my own Guess I’m living in a plastic life Goes down to the bone Guess I’m living in a plastic life Trying to make this house my home Somehow it never feels right Never felt so alone Guess I’m living in a plastic life There’s something in my blood That’s not getting used up I don’t feel human When I lie in my bed Sometimes I feel half dead Like your long lost friend Come and touch me again Spend weekends on my own Guess I’m living in a plastic life Goes down to the bone Guess I’m living in a plastic life Trying to make this house my home Somehow it never feels right When you live alone Muted feeling only grows Guess I’m living in a plastic life
5.
Cri De Coeur 04:44
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The dog knows something's wrong Scratching at her door Doctor steps out the shock is visible The amount she took was quite critical Then her brother saunters in Scrolling through his phone He floats around and lands behind her bed and helps her light a cigarette He cracks a smile then laughs and says Well you always were A little attention seeker Oh you can never frighten me Oh you always were A little attention seeker Dressing up like some cheap pantomime dame Coming home off your head on champagne You've only got yourself to blame You always were A little attention seeker Oh you can never frighten me You always were A little attention seeker Oh you can never frighten me You always were A little attention seeker I was just a little girl Sat on the stairs waiting for my family to come home At weekends they'd leave me on my own And I said Daddy look at this drawing I've done' He looked at me and said I only ever wanted a son' My brother You stole the light from me, you took up all the light My brother Look what you've done to me, this is what you've done My brother You stole my light from me, all my life you've taken all the light My brother You stole my life from me
6.
Brand New 04:13
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Out on the swell Trusted you the most I showed you my darkness Got too close Now your words are brittle Wish we'd met on dry land You cut off emotion With one confident hand But tomorrow I'll wake up Thought I'll still long for you I'll feel the heat come through the blinds And look out at the view And it feels brand new Won't stay just to breathe in The dust from what we broke No I'm not afraid of the unknown Tomorrow I'll wake up Thought I'll still long for you I'll feel the heat come through the blinds And look out at the view And it feels brand new

credits

released November 25, 2022

Words & music by Henry Bateman
Orchestration & string arrangements by Henry Bateman
Produced by Jacob Clarke & Henry Bateman
Mixed by Patrick Phillips
Mastered by Taylor Deupree (12k Mastering)

Thank you to all of the wonderful musicians who have played on this record (they are individually credited under each track). Thanks to Evoke studios, and particularly to Jacob who has dedicated so much time and energy to this record. This album was written during a 3 month period of near-total isolation in Spring 2020; it's what I got up to in that very first UK lockdown. I love this album. It feels like the end of something, and the start of something too; it really projects the transitional stage of life I was in. I hope you love it half as much as I do.

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Henry Bateman England, UK

Henry Bateman is a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist from Gloucestershire, currently based in Leeds.


"Not so much a breath of fresh air - more a full force musical gale that
lifts you to places you didn't know existed. A very extraordinarily gifted
young man; one of the coming musical generation's front-runners in the
making" - John Drummond (Promoter for Brewery Blues, Cirencester) ... more

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