Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker recorded HEY WHAT while trudging through an era heavy with death: the hibernation months of 2020, when every venture into public, every encounter with friends or strangers, hissed with the threat of infection. During this quiet and frightening time, the couple worked piecemeal with producer BJ Burton, furthering the explorations into distortion, corrosion, and erasure they had begun with 2018’s Double Negative. HEY WHAT pushes harder, gets louder, dragging Low’s most explosive impulses into an apocalyptic arena. Guitars trill, occasionally gentle and unblemished; more often, they blister and steam past recognizability. Artifacts that would end up trimmed from a more traditional recording—blasts of static, spectral overtones, whirring feedback—form the weathered architecture at the center of Low’s compositions.
Lyrics:
White Horse:
The consequences of leaving
Would be more cruel than if I should stay
Though it's impossible to say I know
Still, white horses take us home
There isn't much past believing
Only a fool would have had the faith
Though it's impossible to say I know
Still, white horses take us home
Still, white horses take us home
Still, white horses take us home
Still, white horses take us home
Still, white horses take us home
Still, white horses take us home
I Can Wait:
I can wait, I can wait, I can wait, I can wait, I can wait
But I can't wait for it all
And I can't wait too long
I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake
Must be another day
How long must I wait?
How you say, how you say, how you say, how you say, how you say?
I can't sail any more
Like a ship to the shore
I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid
A mistake has been made
There's a price to be paid
If I could trade, I could trade, I would trade, I would trade, I would trade
I would give you a break
Help you carry the weight (https://stubhub.prf.hn/click/camref:1100lqTK8/pubref:category/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2F_C-260598)
I can take, I can take, I can take, I can take, I can take
And I can give it away
I could leave or stay
My mistake, my mistake, my mistake, my mistake, my mistake
Just get me out of thе way
Somebody else takе the stage
All night
All night
All night
All Night:
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
You fought the adversary
It was no ordinary fight
In flight
Inferring on the silent
I tried to make my mind add up
Don't hide
Your secret's safe inside
I see a shadow in your eyes
Come find
Held up and tripped behind it
I tried to be so quiet
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
You fought the adversary
It was no ordinary fight
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
All night
Disappearing:
Somewhere out on the ocean
Across the waves, the rise and fall
Deep beyond imagination
Some kind of madness, I don't know
Every time I see that ship go out
It feels like everything's complete
But somebody somewhere is waiting
Some other ocean at her feet
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
That disappearing horizon
It brings cold comfort to my soul
An ever-present reminder
The constant face of the unknown, unknown
Hey:
Hey
Hey
We didn't get past Michigan and Lake
Before we found ourselves beneath the weight
Hey
Told me that I never could contain
Went back and wept in the car beneath the shade
Hey
What does it cost you to give it away?
You never wanted it any other way
Hey
Speaking more and asked that you should pray
Maybe that's the last thing you should say
Hey
Hey
We didn't get past Michigan and Lakе
Before we found oursеlves beneath the weight
Hey
Told me that I never could contain
Went back and wept in the car beneath the shade
Hey
What does it cost you to give it away?
You never wanted it any other way
Hey
Speaking more and asked that you should pray
Maybe that's the last thing you should say
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey what
Days Like These:
When you think you've seen everything
You'll find we're living in days like these
They say you only take what you bring
Maybe that's just the way they speak
Know that I would do anything
Is it something that I can't see?
Everybody just chased by dreams
That's why we're living in days like these again
It isn't something you can choose between
It isn't coming in twos and threes
Always looking for that one sure thing
Oh, you wanted so desperately
No, you're never gonna feel complete
No, you're never gonna be released
Maybe never even see, believe
That's why we're living in days like these again
Again
Again
Again
Again
Again
Again
Don’t Walk Away:
Don't walk away
I cannot take anymore
Won this game
I cannot play anymore
I have slept beside you now
For what seems a thousand years
A shadow in your night
The whisper in your ears
I have slept beside you now
For what seems a thousand years
The shadow in your night
The whisper in your ears
So don't walk away
I cannot take anymore
Won this game
I cannot play anymore
More:
I gave more than what I should've lost
I paid more than what it would've cost
You have some of what I could've had
I want all of what I didn't have
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
I learned more than what they ever taught
They thought I could never pull it off
I saw more than what I ever sought
I should have asked for more than what I got
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, ooh (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off):
I put a lot of thought
Into the price you pay
To hear the morning come
Keep the ghost another day
I don't have to pause
To feel the magic burn
Deep within my heart
'Neath the surface of the earth
And I know what they want
To forget the hurt
But either side you're on
You get what you deserve
Take you at your word
And I know what you want
To forget the hurt
But either side you're on
It's not what you deserve
Take you at your word
I know it sounds absurd
I know it sounds absurd
I know it sounds absurd
It must be wearing off
It must be wearing off
It must bе wearing off
It must be wearing off
