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Watercolor Lies

by EE Beyond

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1.
Blazed days cooling off fine as the sun slips to the westside Moonshine filling our eyes sip a little more roll it up right Steady tryin'a bring us low We don't really care though Never forgetting where we come from Dreaming of the things that we all want Scape goat to the world put your problems on us problems are us Gotta find a way to let go of problems on us before we get stuck Don't forget to see with me The beauty and the blood of we Never forgetting where we come from running from the things that we all want Oooooo... I gotchu I gotch Oooooo... I gotchu Don't you let em, catch you sleeping, catch you slipping Even on the weekend It's what they tell us, what they teach us Go and fix your face it's only weakness Go ahead and let it go Ain't nobody gotta know Never forgetting where we come from Running from the demons laying in us Oh I don't know when, it became so important To act like, we're fine, ain't nothing wrong All the while, just trying, to keep pushing on Why's it, so hard to admit when we're wrong Never forgetting where we come from Running from the things that we all want Dreaming of the things... Blazed days cooling off fine as the sun slips to the west side
2.
I remember 24/7 I was by your side since the very night you came up to me and you told me That you like my style It was more than that the way you look at me so deep gave me a heart attack Music Soulchild spinning in the back, you took my hand we sang along and I knew for a fact that I could lose my soul, though I’d give it all rip out my heart as an offering and let it bleed To you to you to you to you you know this all has been For you though we been going through these dark places that lovers Do they do I know they do But I’ve been feelin’ so low Afraid of losing our love And in the dark of my mind I get lost maybe we were too high Too high off the lovin’ Too high off the smokin’ Too far gone to see through true eyes When the smoke begins to settle the light begins to tremble will you recall the story of us Maybe we were to high... Maybe we were to high... Do you remember me talking in my sleep I’d be so far gone The way you lay it down you put me out without a doubt Your hands on my body felt just like a dream everything I ever wanted and could ever need And now we barely speak so far gone though you’re right there next to me Emotion killing me and I over think goin’ crazy search your phone analyzing everything You do, you do, you do, you do Just trying to find a way to break through the darkness in the room I know that we been going through thangs It’s true that lovers do But I’ve been feelin’ so low Afraid of losing our love And in the dark of my mind I get lost maybe we were too high Too high off the lovin’ Too high off the smokin’ Too far gone to see through true eyes When the smoke begins to settle the light begins to tremble will you recall the story of us Maybe we were to high... Maybe we were to high… How many times have I sought this perfect picture of us Futality reality starts bleeding through Just want a moment for us to remember our love Or is a memory the only thing that we cling to Too high off the lovin’ Too high off the smokin’ Too far gone to see through true eyes When the smoke begins to settle the light begins to tremble will you recall the story of us Maybe we were to high... Maybe we were to high…
3.
Is this how it’s going to be the rest of our lives, working three jobs just trying to survive Well don’t mind me just over here dreaming of watercolor lies Entertaining thoughts we’ve been fed by the system our entire lives Another day just like yesterday wake up work hard for the monies I’ve been feeling a little invisible under indivisible and feels like I’m drowning Sometimes when I’m walking down the street, I like to pretend I’m living the American dream access to the finest things like food for my family, and they said If you work real hard and get a degree, you’ll find your dream job and you’ll be happy That’s what I believed for so long, so wrong Is this how it’s going to be the rest of our lives, working three jobs just trying to survive Well don’t mind me just over here dreaming watercolor lies, entertaining thoughts we’ve been fed by the system our entire lives You know when you’re giving more than your best and people look at you like where is the rest that you have to show where did your dreams go... where did your dreams go I work so hard, I got a degree, aint got the job, and I’m not happy Wanted to believe I wanted to believe It gets hard out here in the streets, trying to come up into better things Should I even try to chase the dream, privilege is iconic We getting shot out here in these streets, by our own and authorities Even though we can’t afford bleed, isn’t it ironic Is this how it’s going to be This is how it’s going to be Don’t mind me just over here dreaming watercolor lies, entertaining thoughts we’ve been fed by the system our entire lives Don’t mind me just over here dreaming watercolor lies, entertaining thoughts we’ve been fed by the system our entire lives The system, the system What’s on the menu today The system, the system What’s on the menu today
4.
Enemy 03:16
Breathe, that’s what I tell myself but I Ain’t trying to hear myself right now Just trying to feel myself Loosing strength with every minute You hunt me down you know you’re winning Inside my head inside my heart when you’re inside of me Ooooo I know I need you like a drug Strongest addiction of love Got me feigning, got me feeling, got me tripping over you While you play me a fool I know I’m not the one I’m just a little fun I know I’m fucking up Hate that I’m fucking up I’m my own worst enemy can’t you see I can’t control myself, you get the best of me I’m my own worst enemy can’t you see I can’t control myself, you’ll be the death of me See, that’s what I tell myself but I Ain’t trying to hear myself right Gonna take the hard road When ya act dumb and give it up to hold on to the one you love When you know they ain’t doing nothing nothing Heart blind that it’s clear as day that They ain’t never gonna see things your way Ain’t religious but got ya on your knees Praying I’m my own worst enemy can’t you see I’m my own worst enemy can’t you see You get the best of me Praying

about

In a political and social climate that instigates varying, majorly negative sentiments at a daily rate, finding a mode to articulate simultaneous anger, disappointment, and consequential gratitude for existing comforts is a formidable feat. Enter EE Beyond, the Los Angeles-based soul and R&B singer/songwriter whose sonic influences stem from Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, and whose lyrical inspirations arise from the fictions she and her peers have been told. Oscillating from a voice that is soft and gentle to one that can be sharp and biting, Elaine Faye, the brainchild behind the project, tackles her frustrations over personal and national circumstances with an admirably controlled urgency.
EE Beyond’s debut EP, Watercolor Lies, shares the stories of the “pretty lies” of Faye’s life–as a woman, as a person of color, as an American, as a dreamer. “It’s a collection of a few different stories that are all based around lies that you’ve let yourself experience or expected yourself to have at any point in time,” Faye says. With aide from producer Solomusiq, né Malachi Clark, a fellow alumnus from Faye’s alma mater, the Musicians Institute, EE Beyond takes Elaine Faye’s soul band origins (she previously performed in L.A.-based weareTheBigBang) and expands them through hip-hop production and the occasional trap beat.
Home studio-recorded, Watercolor Lies begins with a community, homebase perspective on “Dreamers Howl,” produced by Dane Diamond. “[The song is] about experiencing frustrations as a minority...the idea of growing up having dreams and growing up thinking that there was a way to get out of a situation, and a lot of times for people of color living in impoverished areas, that’s just a really difficult possibility,” says Faye, who is originally from Port Orchard, Washington, and moved to Chicago as a teenager. “When we’re experiencing it together, you realize that what I’m experiencing, you’re experiencing, too. It sucks, but at the end of the day, we’re not gonna let it be the final blow to us, let it be the final say in our story.” Above syncopated claps and an acoustic guitar strum are layered vocal harmonies, emulating what sounds like a tribal chant. The
refrain of “I’ve got you” conveys EE Beyond’s communal experience of feeling lied to, but overcoming it as a unified group.
On Watercolor Lies’ title track, EE Beyond sheds light on a lie that rarely receives musical attention and treatment. Like many other young working people in the United States who graduated from college at the time of the recession, Faye found herself frustrated with a lack of job opportunities, despite pursuing everything she had been instructed to do to achieve success. “You’re taught about the American dream and you’re taught that anybody can change your circumstances and make things different with hard work and education,” she says. “It’s kind of like the American dream has changed.” “Is this how it’s gonna be the rest of our lives? / Working three jobs just trying to survive?” EE Beyond asks in the track, later accompanied by a staccato flute. “It’s almost like you’re running in one of those hamster wheels,” she says.
EE Beyond confronts different kinds of lies on relationship-based tracks “Too High (The Story of Us)” and “Enemy,” the EP’s final track. The former uncovers lies the media provides audiences with about love. Having grown up in a broken home–Faye’s father went to prison when she was seven years old; her mother passed away when she was fourteen– Faye recalls never receiving a proper “talk” about navigating relationships. “It’s not what you see in Disney movies growing up. It kind of becomes a bit of an expectation given a lot of the things that we see and experience on TV, especially as a young woman,” she says. On “Enemy,” a climactic piano ballad, Faye considers the lies she’s told herself to stay in a relationship. Deep bass and piano chords accompany her profession, “I’m my own worst enemy/ Can’t you see? / I can’t control myself/ You’ll be the death of me.” “You’re allowing yourself to be in a situation that you know you shouldn’t be in, that you know is not good for you,” Faye says about the track’s meaning. “You want that feeling of love; you want that feeling of something more than what you have. You are creating your own false narrative in order to deal with the effects and the consequences of allowing someone else to use you.”

These false lies and social ironies are what EE Beyond questions and confronts throughout Watercolor Lies. As the artist prepares for the EP’s release and tour, she hopes that listeners will not feel down about the content of her new tracks. “The EP is rather dark, but I don’t think it’s dark, necessarily, in a depressing way,” she says. “I think it’s a state of mind I was just trying to explore...Why are things like this and how did it get here?” Watercolor Lies is a body of music that exposes the lies EE Beyond has realized over time, but but its mission is perhaps an optimistic one–not as much an exposure of lies, but a quest for truth.

credits

released September 14, 2018

Produced by Dane Diamond and Solo Musiq

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EE Beyond Los Angeles, California

LA girl by way of Seattle and Chicago. Music is life~

eebeyond.com
IG: @eebeyond
Twitter: @eebeyond
FB: @eebeyondmusic

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