"The Alphabet of Me" is a song by British progressive metal band Haken. It is the third track on the band's 2023 album Fauna.
It was the second single released for the album, releasing on 9 December 2022.
Basis
According to Ross Jennings, the song is heavily inspired by the 1982 movie Blade Runner, specifically the synthetic animals featured in the story.
Production
The innstrumentation began as a three minute drum solo performed by Ray Hearne, which was taken and used as the base of the song.
On 24 November 2022, the website "h7ken.com" would be unveiled by the band, featuring a slide puzzle of the artwork of Fauna. When the player beat
the slide puzzle, they would be rewarded with a snippet of the single. A second snippet was later released on 7 December, with the single being released two days later on 9 December 2022.
Lyrics
| "The Alphabet of Me" lyrics [Click here] |
It's time to wake up and die or regenerate
You're never gonna retire your power games
Power games, no
Slip from the scene of the crime like a rattlesnake
From all this deafening silence I walk away
Walk away, walk away, oh
In the red and the grey
I'm the sage on a ship of fools
There's a tear in the rain, momentary pain
I will feel till the end of the road
To be born falling into line or fall like dominos?
We fall like dominos
In the blink of a spark
When the links to our past ignite
Burning half as long as the fire in my soul
That is blazing twice as bright
Paper dreams wouldn't change anything
I would hurt the ones I love
To protect the ones I loathe
It's time to wake up and die or regenerate
If you're part of me, quit me now
We're never gonna reform if we replicate
Replicate, replicate, no
I'm reaching my breaking point
Object of my affection
Am I still drunk on the memory of us?
How instant our connection
Perfected then lost
A room without a view
A version of the truth
Is all I am to you
I'd flee if I wanted to
Retire from being used
Even if I could bleed
All you would see
Is the alphabet of me
What more can one do
When years define you?
It's time to wake up and die or regenerate
If you're part of me, quit me now
We're never gonna reform if we replicate
Replicate, replicate, no
I'm reaching my breaking point
I feel it's time to move on
But we're all in a state of retrograde
Ride the anarchy, live your truth
Object of my affection
Am I still drunk on the memory of us?
How instant our connection
Perfected then lost
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Personnel
Haken
- Ross Jennings - vocals
- Richard Henshall - guitars, keyboards
- Charlie Griffiths - guitars
- Peter Jones - keyboards
- Conner Green - bass
- Raymond Hearne - drums
Production and Design
- Crystal Spotlight - producer (music video)
- Miles Skarin - director (music video)
Quotes from the Band
"When composing and presenting initial song sketches, we very much had an 'anything goes' mentality, and whilst sounding atypically Haken, it was a piece that was all exciting us to explore and integrate into our song canon."
-Ross Jennings
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| "The Alphabet of Me" |
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| Single by Haken |
| Released |
9 December 2022 |
| Album |
Fauna |
| Genre |
Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock |
| Length |
5:33 |
| Live Plays |
0 (#54 [tied]) |
| "The Alphabet of Me" music video |
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