The Universal Lie

by T.O.L.D.

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about

I originally wrote this song in the English countryside in 2013. I heard a rumour that Oasis wrote all of their biggest hits in their first few years, releasing them gradually over the next decade or so. I decided to leave this one to mature in the old hard drives. Eight years later, we were recording some drums in LA when our drummer Rhythm Luna asked if I had ever heard Oasis. Something clicked in my head and I played him the demo I had recorded eight years before. The song was reborn as he played along to it, nailing it on the first take.

It’s a melancholic yet uplifting pop jam, inspired by the existentialist writings of jean paul sartre, and the absurdism of Albert Camus. It’s about learning to accept the world for what it is, to stop trying to escape all of the time. So what if nothing makes sense most of the time? There is a strange beauty in the Universal Lie.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” - Albert Camus

lyrics

Living in the body of an English man
I'm an English man
Stuck within the window of perception
I'm an English man

And I sink into the sadness of your eyes
If there's no truth then it's all lies
Such as
I don't drink my coffee in the morning
No I don't feel nothing anymore man
Just live a universal lie
This is a universal lie

I can see there's something on your mind
Will you let me in
You're the only place the sun don't shine
Can you let me in

And I sink into the sadness of your eyes
If there's no truth then it's all lies
Such as
I don't drink my coffee in the morning
No I don't feel nothing anymore man
Just live a universal lie
This is a universal lie

I don't drink my coffee in the morning
No I don't feel nothing anymore man
Just live a universal lie
This is a universal lie

credits

released April 27, 2021

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about

T.O.L.D. Los Angeles, California

The Order of Life and Death or Daniel James Smith, is a British singer, songwriter and record producer based in Los Angeles.

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