Body Horror
A subgenre of horror that evokes fear through transforming, destroying, mutating, or otherwise changing the human body to create unease or disgust in the viewer.
Now, I don’t think any songs on this EP are that extreme, and to be fair, they aren’t trying to be. But when I was writing most of these songs they were coming from a place of real hurting. I had a deep, unsettling kind of anger and sadness that made me feel fundamentally changed. My body, mind, and soul didn’t feel like they belonged to me, and the idea of Body Horror came to me as a way to confront all of that. Changing my body into this off putting or even grotesque thing as a way to show on the outside the way I felt on the inside. But as I healed and rediscovered purpose within myself, I didn’t have that urge anymore. I don’t need to prove my pain to anyone. I just need to exist as I am, body horror and all. I hope you find your own beauty amidst all this.
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Ava Simone
Credits
Produced by Ava Simone, Paige Rooney, and Greyson Gainey
Engineered by Greyson Gainey and Paige Rooney
Mastering by Austin Bennett
Recorded (mostly) at Columbia Studio A, Quonset Hut, and Garden House Studios in Nashville, TN
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Body Horror
Written by Ava Simone and Paige Rooney
Drums: Christian Bojorski
Bass: Ava Simone
Guitar: Jo Corso, Ava Simone
BGVs: Paige Rooney, Greyson Gainey
Vocals: Ava Simone
Mix Engineer: Paige Rooney
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Someone Lived Here Once
Written by Ava Simone, Greyson Gainey, and Kelsi Towle
Drums: Austin Bennett
Bass: Luke Huff
Guitar: Ava Simone
Piano: Ava Simone
Violin: Greyson Gainey
Ukulele: Ava Simone
Banjo: Greyson Gainey
Melodica: Ava Simone
BGVs: Ava Simone
Vocals: Ava Simone
Mix Engineer: Greyson Gainey
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Blue Yodel Epilogue
Lyrics by Ava Simone
Music by David Hilderhoff
Guitar: David Hilderhoff
Vocals: Ava Simone
Mix Engineer: Paige Rooney
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Thyme On My Hands
Written by Ava Simone and Paige Rooney
Aux/Foley/SFX: Ava Simone, Greyson Gainey, Claire Edelen, David Hilderhoff
Drums: Christian Bojorski
Bass: Ava Simone
Guitar: Jo Corso, Ava Simone
Violin: Liz Moss
Cello: Grant Brown
Banjo: David Hilderhoff
BGVs: Ava Simone
Vocals: Ava Simone
Mix Engineer: Paige Rooney
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Daybreak
Written by Ava Simone, Paige Rooney, Greyson Gainey, and Kelsi Towle
Aux/Foley/SFX: Ava Simone, Greyson Gainey, Claire Edelen, David Hilderhoff
Percussion: Greyson Gainey, Ava Simone
Bass: Ava Simone
Acoustic guitar: Ava Simone
Electric guitar: Ava Simone
Banjo: David Hilderhoff
Mandolin: David Hilderhoff
Harmonica: Greyson Gainey
Chorus vocals: Ava Simone, Paige Rooney, Greyson Gainey, David Hilderhoff
BGVs: Ava Simone
Vocals: Ava Simone
Mix Engineer: Greyson Gainey
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Special Thanks
To my producers and besties, this project would not exist without you.
To the Barrett Clan, for being my launch and landing pads.
To Anna, for seeing me through the worst of it with wine and flowers, and stepping up when I needed her.
To the Chrusciel Group, for doubling my immediate family.
To Cate, for being the best and most unexpected friend and walking with me through so much change, one coffee at a time.
To all my friends and professors at Belmont, for everything you taught me.
To Mackie, for being a curmudgeon.
To David, for being weird with me.
Lyrics
Body Horror
Verse 1
Tell me what you want to change
I’ll break myself down into cents
Spent and dented, forged in flames
Spit-shined for your opulence
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Verse 2
Put your ring around my neck
I suffer through a poet’s prose
Words that mean more in their death
Debated, defined apropos
Pre-Chorus
This can’t be it
You’re not that innocent
CHORUS
Walk to the river
Hope I’m delivered
My hands are spotless
But my lungs still fill with water
Who am I blaming
I’m self forsaking
I let it happen
But your hand still forced the dagger
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Verse 3
It’s body horror, count the scars
The sword fell soft upon my throat
You promised not to leave a mark
Does it count if no one knows
Pre-Chorus
This can’t be it
You’re not that innocent
CHORUS
Walk to the river
Hope I’m delivered
My hands are spotless
But my lungs still fill with water
Who am I blaming
I’m self forsaking
I let it happen
But your hand still forced the dagger
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​Someone Lived Here Once
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Verse 1
The shades are drawn, lawn is overgrown
The air is still, the dust is thick as foam
Foundations slowly crumbling beneath these aching bones
My head is just a vacant lot but it used to be a home
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Pre-Chorus
You saw me as a trophy
Now you can’t see me at all
I scream and I riot
But it’s quiet in these halls
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Chorus
I whisper to the mirror
Trying to bring back what was lost
I thought that hell was hotter
But my breath just turns to frost
I’ll haunt this house till the walls come down
Searching for who I was
I know you don’t believe in ghosts
But someone lived here once
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Verse 2
hands on skin, back on bed
The candles burning low
I wish their scent was strong enough to cover your cologne
I watch the spinning ceiling fan
Waiting for it to end
I’m just your afterimage now
But I used to be your friend
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Chorus
I whisper to the mirror
Trying to bring back what was lost
I thought that hell was hotter
But my breath just turns to frost
I’ll haunt this house till the walls come down
Searching for who I was
I know you don’t believe in ghosts
But someone lived here once
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Bridge
I trusted you
I trusted you
I trusted you
I trusted you
I trusted you
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Outro
I know you don't believe in ghosts
But someone lived here once
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Blue Yodel Epilogue
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Brought up wading through mississippi mud
First thing my tongue ever tasted was blood
Oh i never could catch my breath
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On the run, chasing air that won’t kill me
How i’ve made it this far is a mystery
With more hurt than one man can take
​
Life had me howling through holes in my lungs
I've been chewed up, spit out, under the gun
I got songs you can’t cut outta me
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They’ll be sending my body down your way
Take one last journey on one last train
You won’t hear me singing no more
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Thyme On My Hands
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Verse 1
He left me while I was cooking his food
There was someone else he begged me to be cool
I kept my calm but forgot to close the jar
Thyme spilled on my hands and I can’t get it off
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CHORUS
I bite my nails til there’s nothing left
Then I go after the skin
Bones hanging on by a thread
Necrosis in my head
You swallow the words I said
And I die where I stand
With thyme on my hands
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Verse 2
Standing in the kitchen just before I heard
You talk with a smile about another girl
I hate the lashing out inherent in me, but I’ve got
Thyme on my hands, dried flakes you cannot see
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CHORUS
I bite my nails til there’s nothing left
Then I go after the skin
Bones hanging on by a thread
Necrosis in my head
You swallow the words I said
And I die where I stand
With thyme on my hands
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Bridge
Thyme on my hands
Felt it then ran
All the trauma
Get it off the
Jars and bottles
Our tomorrows
Should get another chance
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Post-Chorus
Where I don’t die where I stand
With thyme on my hands
Daybreak
Verse 1
Your skin, warm under my fingertips
Tracing veins on your neck with my lips
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Pre-Chorus
Then the background shimmers
And your outline shakes
And I beg my body
To let me stay
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CHORUS
Heart jolts and spotty dreams
It won’t stay dark enough
Can’t force you to love me
Or force my eyes shut
I can’t stay asleep but
I can’t stand to be awake
Drawing a dotted line to daybreak
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Verse 2
Clocks tick, how long can I live like this
Unrest makes its home under my bed
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Pre-Chorus
Toss and turning
Fighting hard for sleep
If I win the battle
Will you come back to me
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CHORUS
Heart jolts and spotty dreams
It won’t stay dark enough
Can’t force you to love me
Or force my eyes shut
I can’t stay asleep but
I can’t stand to be awake
Drawing a dotted line to daybreak
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[Instrumental]
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CHORUS
Heart jolts and spotty dreams
It won’t stay dark enough
Can’t force you to love me
Or force my eyes shut
I can’t stay asleep but
I can’t stand to be awake
Drawing a dotted line to daybreak
​
Heart jolts and spotty dreams
It won’t stay dark enough
Can’t force you to love me
Or force my eyes shut
I can’t stay asleep but
I can’t stand to be awake
Drawing a dotted line to daybreak