This post is part of the ongoing blog breakdown series where I dive into the official lyrics, stories and thoughts that inspired the lyrics for the recently released Throughfare EP. If you haven’t yet, give the record a spin on bandcamp and jump back to the first blog on this record by clicking this handy link.

Today we’re talking about track 3 on the record: For Nothing.

Listen to the album in full on bandcamp!

Stream “For Nothing” and then read on for the official lyrics and my blog breakdown.

For Nothing (Official Lyrics)

Cup a glass to the door
Muffled voices keeping score
A crash as it hits the table
A leg too short to be stable
Throwing drinks across the room
Cutting in way too soon
Jumping in, Out of conclusions
Moving points to mask who’s losing

Can’t remember anything
But that look up on your face
Like you knew that this was coming
Pulling cards from the deck
Taking hit after hit
Knowing not to make assumptions
Proving that you want it more
Digging through every drawer
Steady during each disruption
Taking off with the bag
Empty purse left instead
Knowing when it’s all for nothing

The thump of it against your feet
Winding through the narrow streets
Left with only what was needed
Wouldn’t have been any different
Watching as they turn away
Repeating every word they say
Making sense of convolutions
Moving without restitution

Can’t remember anything
But that look up on your face
Like you knew that this was coming
Pulling cards from the deck
Taking hit after hit
Knowing not to make assumptions
Proving that you want it more
Digging through every drawer
Steady during each disruption
Taking off with the bag
Empty purse left instead
Knowing when it’s all for nothing

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In a continuation of the story that we’ve presented to you so far, we now find ourselves out of the under/overpass and inside a home. 

There’s a poker game going on over drinks but, we’re not taking part in the game. Instead, as tensions rise inside, our curiosity gets the best of us and we listen in. 

We’re not sure exactly what sparked the confrontation but the conversation is heated and it sounds like someone with a smart mouth is about to regret their choice of words. 

As we peer in we catch a glimpse of how bad things have gotten, and we’re a little glad that we declined the initial offer, to be frank. 

In the chorus we get a better understanding of how this has all played out and one of the poker players is feeling a little haggard already. 

They’ve been caught cheating and they’ve got the bruises to show for it. 

As they made their dramatic escape before being pummeled into oblivion, their partners desperate greed proves it knows no bounds as while everyone else was distracted by the fight, they ransacked every drawer leaving an empty purse on the table (this song is all about gambling and these worse choices are no accident). They, in spite of the chaos, remain as calm as anyone could in this situation, though they are a little careless, leaving the empty purse in plain sight like that – though it does make for a dramatic discovery.

In verse 2 we follow our deranged cheaters as they make their leave, running full speed through the streets outside, certain they only took as much as they needed and not a penny more, as though that makes the theft morally right. 

So they get away with it, but what happens next?

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Next time, we tackle track 4: Simple.