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about
Was the first single and video from the 2001 album Phanerothyme.
Treading a fine line between Burt Bacharach-pastiche, Love-tribute and a proper Motorpsycho song, it embraces a few elements contemporary listeners found a bit saccharine, but today sounds like yet another classic tune from the first era of the band.Originally this was a promo-only one-song CD single on Columbia Records and Stickman Records in 2001.
lyrics
- THE SLOW PHASEOUT (Ryan,Sæther)
there's nothing I can do to begin to understand
I wouldn't dare to get near that quicksand
I'm watching your thrills from my home in the hills
to me it seems so bland
I look down from my mountain, see lives passing by
on that four lane deep stirfry
seeking sainthood, seeing human driftwood,
I feel like an alien spy
why do you do the things you do?
why do you do the things you do, you say...
there's no single reason, it just happened that way
now my mind is turning into clay
all of my days drift by in a daze while I wish myself away
the blood on my hands will never fully dry, I mislaid my alibi
the grail lost its sheen, now I just feel unclean
decomposing with a sigh
why do you do the things you do?
why do you do the things you do,you say...
withdraw to where I'm free from doubt
to simmer in this slow phaseout
beyond the point of caring
to simmer in this slow phaseout
awoken from these dreams
there's nothing I can do to begin to understand
I wouldn't dare to get near that quicksand
I'm watching your thrills from my home in the hills
to me it seems so bland
why do you do the things you do?
why do you do the things you do, you say...
withdraw to where I'm free from doubt
to simmer in this slow phaseout
why do you do the things you do
withdraw to where I'm free from doubt
to simmer in this slow phaseout
why do you do the things you do, you say...
credits
released September 1, 2001
Bent Sæther - bass, lead vocals, percussion, mellotron
Hans Magnus Ryan - electric & acoustic guitars, mellotron
Håkon Gebhardt - drums, percussion
Baard Slagsvold - fender rhodes, vocals, horn/reed arrangement
Mathias Eick - trumpet & flugelhorn
Line Horntveth - tuba
Ketil Vestrum Einarsen - flute
Lars Horntveth - tenor sax & bass clarinette
Produced by Motorpsycho & Deathprod
Recorded by Ulf Holand, Lydlab
Assisted by Georg Tanderø & Jon Marius Aareskjold
Mixed By Ulf Holand with Helge Sten, Lydlab
Mastered by Bjørn Engelmann, Cutting Room
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supported by 5 fans who also own “The Slow Phase Out”
'Illusory Motion' will always hold a special place in my heart: standing next to the river, blazing up for the first time in weeks, with beautiful sunshine, back in my city after 13 years abroad, thinking "Yeah, this isn't so bad. Life is good." And now, while I listen to this song again for this review, I'm embraced by the same memories and atmosphere, as if transported back to that magical moment. If done right, stoner rock hits different. Obsidian One