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The Neverknown

by Daniel Wagner

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Mara Weatherford
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 CAD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, I produced a small run of CDs of "The Neverknown" and there are still some available!

    Comes in a 4-panel digipak, with graphic design by Daniel Giesbrecht.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Neverknown via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 CAD or more 

     

1.
Rebellious Punk Song No. 5 02:38
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REBELLIOUS PUNK SONG NO. 5 Hey, I’m sorry I can’t be Everything you want of me This is my soliloquy, it’s me Hey, I’m tired of being you And all you want me to live up to Think that I have come unglued Had a coronary [chorus] Now I’ve become a sacrifice On the altar of your wasted life It’s all nothing to do with me Tired of taking all your tests Just to prove that you know best Can’t be good enough, I guess that’s yes Can’t be everything you want Can’t be somebody I’m not But facing up to you’s a daunting task [chorus] Now I’ve become a sacrifice On the altar of your wasted life It’s all nothing to do with me
2.
Building a Better Martyr 03:10
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BUILDING A BETTER MARTYR I miss the comfort of being apathetic Life’s so much easier when you’re not living it Pour me out like wine on dry ground Intoxicate the earth for a moment Then will you be my eulogy? Will you be my epitaph? I’m tired of dying for myself I guess I’ll die for someone else Stone me, strike me down Drag me out of town I’ll die for this, I’ll die [chorus] Building a better martyr It’s never cool to be innocent Only breaking rules by accident I’ll break a solemn vow over your sinking ship Then watch the sun extinguish itself Then will you read the eulogy? It’s much too late for that I’m tired of dying for myself I guess I’ll die for someone else Stone me, strike me down Drag me out of town I’ll die for this, I’ll die [chorus] Building a better martyr
3.
G.I. Jesus 03:19
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G.I. JESUS Now you know And knowing is half the battle The other half is bombing the hell out of people you’ll never get to meet You see, the axis of evil Is the axis of people just like you And the cross on your steeple Has become like an idol That doesn’t mean anything anymore Jesus is still knocking on your door But you don’t care Because he’s dressed like a stereotypical terrorist He’s lost and he’s homeless, he’s not on your guest list He’s living in poverty, a wartorn refugee Immigrating illegally, dying with both hands raised Whatever you do to the least of these Whatever you do, you’re doing to me Now you know
4.
Dark Sky for a Dark Heart 03:46
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DARK SKY FOR A DARK HEART You cast away your indifference Floating on a raft in the ocean You poured water into the wound And buried yourself in the sand You cast aside your intolerance Burning on a pyre in the desert You cast your ashes to the wind And floated back to the beginning again [chorus] Dark heart for a dark sky You rolled the stars into a bundle And you drowned them in the lake Now you watch the sky dying Dark sky for a dark heart
5.
Everyone Else is Asleep 04:43
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EVERYONE ELSE IS ASLEEP There’s a light left on in your apartment When you said that you were going to bed as soon as you got home And you hoped that I wouldn’t notice How you never keep your promises even when they mean nothing to me [chorus] You say you’re happy That you have everything But instead, you’re crying for hours while everyone else is asleep And you’re hiding behind a window Pretending that the world can’t see you with the blinds wide open And you’re crying out for their attention But their eyes never leave the sides of their loved ones, laughing as they pass by [chorus] You say you’re happy That you have everything But instead, you’re crying for hours while everyone else is asleep Every little wishing well’s run dry Because you were unprepared for love The mind left to wander Becomes horny and depressed But you won’t take this fight out to the world Sequestered in the corner Of your bedroom trying to sleep But you won’t take this night off from the world [chorus] You say you’re happy That you have everything But instead, you’re crying for hours while everyone else is asleep
6.
Learning to Cope with Never Having Any Hope 03:12
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LEARNING TO COPE WITH NEVER HAVING ANY HOPE The city streets are filled with sirens So keep your head down, keep your distance It’s been so long since I slept in silence But it’s too late to make a difference
7.
Emo for Tough Guys 03:14
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EMO FOR TOUGH GUYS Hemoglobin is a common factor Everyone has it And yet somehow it’s unsatisfactory To know you’re not the only one Who feels this way Who breaks down and cries out Who dies inside Who faces all the cliches and finds that they are true [chorus] Loneliness is universal Even tough guys cry A broken heart takes no rehearsal It’s natural to die Disappointment is ordinary You cannot escape it And though you try to overcome it The only thing you do is fail To make the best of your life Don’t you know you do not live inside? Every time you trust your own strength Your weakness will prevail [chorus] Loneliness is universal Even tough guys cry A broken heart takes no rehearsal It’s natural to die Garrison your emotion inside
8.
Wrong About You 03:21
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WRONG ABOUT YOU I’ve been meaning to take your picture down from the wall And place it a little closer to me I’ve been meaning to write you a letter or a postcard But I wrote this song for you instead Maybe you will forget I never wrote you when I said I would [chorus] I’m getting back to getting somewhere I’m getting where the getting’s good I hope to god I’ve got a good thing going Because it feels right But I’ve been wrong before And I don’t want to be wrong about you I’ve been waiting for hours just to hear your voice To make me feel you’re a little closer to me I’ve been ignoring all my friends to wait for your phone call And hanging up on anyone else This distance is disaster But it’s all made up for when you say, “I love you” [chorus] I’m getting back to getting somewhere I’m getting where the getting’s good I hope to god I’ve got a good thing going Because it feels right But I’ve been wrong before And I don’t want to be wrong about you I’ve been staying up late just thinking about you And I think it’s starting to affect my health I can’t wait for the nights that we’ll spend together Sleeping in will be so sweet [chorus] I’m getting back to getting somewhere I’m getting where the getting’s good I hope to god I’ve got a good thing going Because it feels right But I’ve been wrong before And I don’t want to be wrong about you
9.
Every Other Emo Kid 03:12
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EVERY OTHER EMO KID I don’t have a good breakup to whine about I guess I’m just a better judge of character than every other emo kid I’ve never had my heart ripped out Just gently replaced in better condition than it was before I have nothing to complain about Except for the fact that I have no material to write new songs [chorus] No one’s going to feel sorry for me But I don’t need the pity I don’t have to rip my heart in two To prove I love you I have a well-practice pout And a perfect whine that I never get to use except on my girlfriend That’s right, I’ve got requited love And our PDA is the envy of all our single friends [chorus] No one’s going to feel sorry for me But I don’t need the pity I don’t have to rip my heart in two To prove I love you
10.
A Bad Day for the End of the World 05:23
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A BAD DAY FOR THE END OF THE WORLD When the stars leave their posts and tear open the sky Leaving darkness so deep it becomes like a mirror Will you stare with me, like a dare to the dark To swallow us whole, if our souls miss the mark? And as the mountains rage and the oceans boil We’ll bury our sins in a half-inch of soil If the blood in our veins turns to wine We’ll walk hand-in-hand across the line If we have been grafted in the vine We’ll break your body, drink your wine When the trumpet sounds this one last time We’ll tip back our cups, then leave them behind When all the world has returned to dust And formlessness, what will become of us? [chorus] All that remains is faith All that remains is hope All that remains is love And the greatest of these is love The trees are skeletons stripped of their skin Bearing all to the sky, begging for the end I’ll hold your eyes in mine until their stolen away By a thief in the night, but the sun in the day Now there’s nothing left of nothingness And nothing could matter any more or less [chorus] All that remains is faith All that remains is hope All that remains is love And the greatest of these is love Light a single candle Maintain a night vigil We’ll wait for you until We run out of wax and string [chorus] All that remains is faith All that remains is hope All that remains is love And the greatest of these is love This is a bad day for the end of the world If the blood in our veins turns to wine We’ll walk hand-in-hand across the line If we have been grafted in the vine We’ll break your body, drink your wine
11.
We're All Going to Die! 04:14
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WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! The canary stopped singing and fell to the floor But we just ignore the warning We’re all going to die! But if we don’t admit it We will be all right I know why the caged bird died It’s for me and mine He sang his last to save my life But I don’t feel like living tonight The canary stopped singing and fell to the floor But we just ignore the warning We’re all going to die! But if we don’t admit it We will be all right There’s a white flag flying half-raised over the battlements I wonder what it meant as I go back to sleep There’s a ravaged wasteland playing out inside my head I’d rather be dead than living here We’re all going to die! They handed me a slice of life and I feel fine I broke my back in half trying to be upright And it’s all right with us That we’re all going to die

about

ABOUT THE NEVERKNOWN

Ever since I was six, plinking out “Lean on Me” by ear on a pink piano in Australia, I’ve loved playing music. After twelve years of piano lessons, I finally picked up a guitar and it was love at first strum. I started my first real band in college: The Neverknown.

The name represented us well: we played a lot of shows and had a lot of fun but we didn’t exactly become well known, and we never got around to doing what I always wanted to do, which was record an album.

Around seven or eight years ago, I dug up the songs I wrote for The Neverknown. I found that I still really loved and believed in these songs, so I started recording them in my spare time, rewriting and tweaking along the way.

When I wrote these songs, I was inspired by so many of the bands I was listening to at the time, like Say Anything, Sleater-Kinney, Saves the Day, Sum 41, Switchfoot, Starflyer 59, and even a few bands that don’t start with “S.”

Gradually, an 11-song, 40-minute album came together. These are songs about life and love, death and depression, the end of the world and the beginning of a new relationship. There’s anger and angst, but also tongue-in-cheek humour.

Returning to these songs after so many years was like collaborating and having a conversation with my younger self. And what I learned about my younger self is that he was really preoccupied with death. It was like, “Hey younger self, are you okay?” and he answered, “No, not really.”

Recording these songs was therapeutic, in a way. I was able to examine who I once was with a new lens and it helped me process my life in a new way.

credits

released March 18, 2022

THANK YOUS AND CREDITS

Thanks, mom and dad for putting me in music and piano lessons all those years ago and for always encouraging me in my musical endeavours, even when they were loud and obnoxious and you couldn’t hear the lyrics. Thank you, Forrest and Feather for letting me borrow your CDs and cassettes when I was a kid.

Thank you, Rachael, for your love and support and for enduring the repetition of the same riff over and over while I’m writing a song. Thanks to me kids for listening to the album in the van while I was working on it and not immediately hating it.

Thanks to the members of the band The Neverknown, particularly Tyler Chamberlain, whose drumming was the inspiration for so much of the drums on this album, and bassists Curtis Nikkel and Brendan Braun.

Special thanks to Brandon Quek, whose mixing advice was invaluable. This album would have never been finished without you.

To all my Kickstarter backers, thank you so much. You helped make this dream come true. Extra special thanks to Dan Ellingsen, Laura Fern, Eugene Chin, Brandon Quek, G. Martinelli, Gary Wagner, Gloria Wagner, Ken Bennett, Feather Wagner, Harrison Mooney, Tyler Chamberlain, Samantha Chang, Brent, Trantor, Hayley Bartsch, Dan Murphy, Steve Younger, Emanuele Iacono, Lachlan Irvine, Sydney "Got Coffee For Bob Rock Once" Hughes, and Joey Hansen. You are my favourites — don't tell the others.

All songs written, performed, and mixed by Daniel Wagner and were recorded in several different basement suites from 2013 to 2021.

Additional vocals on “Rebellious Punk Song No. 5” by Ozzy Wagner.

Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music.

Graphic design by Daniel Giesbrecht.

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Daniel Wagner Surrey, British Columbia

Daniel is a dad and a punk, but mostly a dad.

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