Get all 9 Sidetrack Walker releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Sickness, Time and Place (Pressed for Time Edit), Broken Barrel, Deprivation, The Art of Starvation, The Host, Come What May, Mirrors and Mirages, and 1 more.
1. |
Running Out
04:54
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January 2021
we have the cunning of thieves
we have the instincts of beasts
we have the purpose of jetsam in the flood
we let our minds be sidetracked
and hide behind each other’s backs
we run a tight ship on an ocean of blood
if we won’t seize the day
if we while it all away
we’ll be running out of clever things to say
if we won’t face the truth
that we’ve got everything to lose
we’ll be running out of foolish things to do
we have outrun our selves
soldiering on towards the knell
praised be the living dead
our unbecoming shells
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2. |
Favourite Illusion
04:42
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11 February 2018 / 17 November 2020
how can I sing
when the world is screaming
sing about my regrets
my woes and selfish dreaming
how can I dream
when there’s this looming nightmare
encroaching on our “sacred soil”
where no one really cares?
even if I go down with the sinking ship
I’ll still be looking for someone to go down with
‘cos everybody says it’s human
and everyone thinks that these things matter
and this is my favourite illusion
the one that never really shatters
how can I grieve
when the dying has just begun
and the battle for our lives and goals
can nevermore be won
how can I live
when there’s no fate better than death
to stop the drums of nothingness
that are beating in our chests
even with the rubble crashing down on me
I held on for dear life to my selfish dreams
‘cos everybody says it’s human
and everyone thinks that these things matter
and this is my favourite illusion
the one that never really shatters
‘cos everybody’s only human
and everyone thinks that they should matter
and this has become my last illusion
the one that remains when all else shatters
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3. |
Am Ziel
05:28
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(13 April 2021)
Lange warst du da,
immer schon am Ziel,
zu dem ich blindlings strebte,
strebsam wie ich war.
Ein Gipfel in der Ferne
zog aufwärts stets den Blick,
sein heimatliches Glimmen
überstrahlte alle Sterne.
Heut’ nun bin ich da,
am Ziel, zu dem ich strebte,
am Gipfel ohne Kreuz,
der einmal Heimat war.
Das Glimmen, nun von Nahem
nur spiegelnder Kristall,
der Schwerkraft längst erlegen,
die wir nie kommen sahen.
Lange warst du da.
Heut’ bin ich am Ziel,
von dem ich dich verdrängte.
Der Blick nun endlich klar:
Der Blick nach vorn und aufwärts
ins sternenlose All.
Was bleibt, ist nur der Abstieg
ins heimatlose Tal.
Was bleibt,
das bleibt der Fall.
Was bleibt?
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4. |
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15 December 2020 – 04 January 2021
I step outside with half a heart
and let the back door stand ajar
so the wind can carry back to you
my ghostly echoes from afar
I left my coat and keys behind
and my left heart for you to find
a piece of art rather than a piece of mine
I clean the slate to find some peace of mind
a mind in a failed state
that mocks every concept of fate
a constant state of paralysis
stalemate
that defies all analysis
fallacies revealed leave no sense of reality
so I’m leaving every stone unturned
and tomes unopened storing loads of lessons learnt
connections I once yearned to make
are breaking as all bridges burn
the sickness took me in
a constant almost like home
so call me when I’m gone
chasing echoes to find out where I went wrong
delirious
my ramblings droning on
a wrecked train of thought rolling on
so call me when I’m gone
stop me in my tracks
the sidetracks I walk with no turning back
there’s no such place as home
so long
and not much point in holding on
unborn is how I find quietus
devolving to a crumpled fetus
of what I might have become
I broke the rules of engagement
stoked the flames, fuelled ‘em with depleted patience
soul-shaking self-annihilation
the scorched earth of this heart-breaking conflagration
I’ve taken to the road of ghosts and wayward souls
paved with the cold coals of vain goals
the faint glow of spent hopes beneath my soles
I look back and find the back door closed
the sickness took me in
no snake oil left to draw on
so call me when I’m gone
painting shadows to find out where I belong
oblivion took me in
no concept remains of home
so call me when I’m gone
chasing echoes to remember where I’m from
painting shadows to find out where I belong
we enjoy each other’s song but we’re alone
chasing echoes to remember where I’m from
…and the ghost of me will tell you to move on
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5. |
Ticket into Hell
08:57
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13 November 2020
running round in circles
hoping death will catch us
shining lights through tunnels
so the end can find us
spilling half-filled glasses
to proclaim them empty
saving up our good intentions
to earn our ticket into hell
the road to hell is lined with cheesy gift shops
the boat to hell is run by Captain Jack
the train to hell is busy running over
the riff-raff creeping in on the sidetrack
the shores of hell are cleaned by Mr. Proper
as body parts of refugees keep washing up from the ragged cliffs
the cork of hell is supervised by Jacob
the swords of hell are forged by Agent Smith
the skies of hell are closed from the waist downward
with belts that slice through those who try to soar
the hounds of hell are sweet as cotton candy
and our sweet tooth will crave them evermore
hell’s sentries are a squad of yummy mummies
that rain hellfire down from sulfurous breasts
it’s best to take them out with stealthy headshots
then sneak in through the cracks between their legs
the gates of hell have built-in body scanners
that grade your sex appeal from one to ten
and those who score too high will be charged extra
intentions just won’t cut it in the end
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6. |
To Boldly Let Go
04:13
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18 August 2018 / 09 November 2020
fending off all solace
breaking every spell
scraping the paint off every wall
taken home the prize of defeat
over the fences and into the trees
to boldly let go of what’s already gone
it’s all over now
gone and never been
it’s all overcome
I’m all over me
I’m all over now
gone and never been
I am overcome
I’m all over me
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7. |
Song of Longing
06:48
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22 December 2019 / January 2021
it’s autumn again
and the scent of freedom
is rotting again
along with the leaves
it’s darker again
and the song of longing
is fading again
along with the light
endless winter waits for you
endless winter waits for you
endless winter waits for you
when there’s nothing left to do
it’s autumn again
and the inner shadows
grow longer again
along with the nights
it’s colder again
and the chilled emotions
are screaming in vain
against the roar of the world
nothing better waits for you
nothing better waits for you
nothing better waits for you
winter has nothing left to do
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8. |
Broken Barrel
05:51
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May/June 2021
a lost cause hoping for rebirth
from this relentless thirst
life leaking from a broken barrel
returning to the earth
there’s a hole in my soul, my unwholesome leak
hope leaves, draining me of sustainable energy
and the hopeless belief that one day I may breathe
free to choose what it means to be me
from your high horse you’re asking how I’ve been
and I say never better
from my place in the shredder
my lifeblood running redder
every minute I’m feeling deader
resigned to climb the ladder
leading down to my death bed
I’ve had enough of being branded the bad guy
in other people’s story of my ‘sorry and sad life’
the guilt that I was feelin’ just held me back from healin’
and sheltered the true villains: the sickness, the mad strife
never dreamt that I’d end in a place like this
where every droplet on my lips tastes of piss
cold facts punching deep holes in the face of bliss
there’s no escaping this
survival in this age of dearth
has claimed the last reserves
they pour into the broken barrel
then trickle to the earth
with your god of high horses as witness
you’re branding me listless
and keep asking what this shit is
it’s my art and my heart and hardly your business
twisting heartstrings, you’re part of the sickness
a sickness that starves me and tears me apart
cramming art into the confines of business
denying all riches, indifference the only reward
by your god of horseshit, I’m not gonna miss this
I raise my fists in defiance
authenticity triumphs in the den of blindfolded lions
I whitewashed the dark signs for so long
to shine and grow strong, the reckoning is on
I set myself up to fail and be bested
in a contest where all the wrong traits are tested
the lifetime I invested is resting
in a pest-ridden prison cell, rat-infested
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9. |
The Sickness
05:58
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10. |
All the While
04:41
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03 December 2020
all the while
tears have been dry
this well of life
evaporated
all this time
no reason and no rhyme
the book of life
incinerated
all the while
the pain subsiding
this sign of life
eradicated
and tonight
the dying embers rise
bidding to life
their farewells belated
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11. |
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17 April 2021
there’s a time and place
for all we need in life
how much of life we waste
hoping for them to synchronize
and there’s no understanding
the paradise we never found
we find ourselves forever stranded
on blasted middle ground
there’s a time for love
no clock can ever know
all our hope is not enough
to find a place where love can grow
no, I’m no good at living
but better now at spotting lies
there’s no denying that my breathing
sustains a rotten compromise
there’s a place where pain dwells
but there’s no time to grieve
there’s always time for strangers
but there’s no place for peace
there’s a time for living
and there’s a time for death
the time has come for leaving
to seize what little time there’s left
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Sidetrack Walker Kiel, Germany
Sidetrack Walker is an independent music project focusing on atmosphere and honest, emotional songwriting. Headed by German
artist Dominik Sonders, it draws on genres such as Art Rock, Trip-Hop, Drum’n’Bass, Dark Folk and Modern Classical.
(Photo: Nikita Mädge)
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