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So Far From Home

from A Decade Into Darkness by Shock Octopus

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Mark Allen
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about

The lyrics to this song were inspired by the Carlos Castanedo novel ‘Journey to Ixtlan.” In the novel, a Yaqui shaman shares a story of a man who was flung to the other side of the world and has to find his way back home. All the while he has to avoid being fooled by phantoms along the road that appear to be people and places from his former life but are just apparitions to distract him from his path. It is strongly implied that this story is an allegory for the lonely path of the shaman, or more broadly for the price paid for wisdom and experience and the loss of innocence.

It is perhaps also an allegory for the journey that this band has taken in the last 10 years – we parted physical ways when I moved to Melbourne and David to Japan, however we still maintained a ‘long distance relationship’. The latest EP ‘Enter the Exit’ is a testament to technology in swapping music files across borders – almost too unwieldy to be practical when the band started in 2010!

This song also serves as testament to the personal journey I have taken with this band. Shock Octopus has taught me so much as a singer, a songwriter, and an arranger. ‘So Far from Home’ is a culmination of learning how to fit the sounds together to create something truly cinematic. I think it stays true to the bands ‘cut up’ technique of song writing and structure. Tonally, the band has changed over the years. We started off spiky and angular and have finished up reflective and melancholy. I look back at some of our early live footage and find myself nostalgic for a time that can never be recreated.

lyrics

Such a feeling, just a blink, a dervish jolt
Which spun me so far away (so far from home)

The things I’ve seen, oh god how I’ve grown
But I’ve grown weary now, I just want to be back home

Another day on the lonely road
I am only trying to find my way back home
Another year another tear
The road is so long I can’t find my way back home

It looked like home - I could have sworn
The square, the chapel, the garden my house
She smiled like mum – he laughed like dad

But their smiles and laughs were wrong some how
Their eyes their faces rang hollow, dull white
Oh never fall for the phantom call
So I carry on into the night

And the people you knew will pass away
And the home where you grew will rust and fade
But the spirit wanders on and on
Nostalgic, forever, down the lonely road

And the flowers of spring that winter greyed
And the gardens you grew till weeds decay
But the only ghost does wonder on
Nostalgic, so lonely, forever

credits

from A Decade Into Darkness, released May 29, 2021
Music and Lyrics: Michael Bayliss

Michael Bayliss: Vocals, keyboards, sound effects
David Blair: Bass
Benji Miu: Guitar, drum programming

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Shock Octopus Perth, Australia

Contemplative, Existential, Art Rock.

A collective stream of consciousness and social commentary by Michael Bayliss, David Blair and Scott Andrews.

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