Forever Is A Feeling: The Archives

by Lucy Dacus

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xsweetclementinex
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xsweetclementinex I love how Lucy writes about love. It is so cool to see her growth as an artist. This is a great album, and the addition of the archives makes it even sweeter. Very difficult to pick a fav track!! Favorite track: Best Guess.
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doodledootunes
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doodledootunes AHHHHHHHHH
saw this live and it was somehow EVEN MORE AHHHHH
I LOVE LUCY DACUS Favorite track: Lost Time.
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Mordalo
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Mordalo I love her voice and her sound. Soothing and relaxing and so full of life and energy. Favorite track: Come Out.
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Anthony B Cook
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Anthony B Cook Forever may be a Feeling, but the Archives gives you Forever and beyond.
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ruthpo
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ruthpo Lucy's lyricism is so delightful. The detail wrapped in with the beautiful instruments is incredibly soothing and comforting Favorite track: Modigliani.
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1.
2.
Big Deal 04:19
Flicking embers into daffodils. You didn’t plan to tell me how you feel. You laugh about it like it’s no big deal, crush the fire underneath your heel. I’m surprised that you’re the one who said it first. If you had waited a few years I would have burst. Everything comes up to the surface in the end, even the things we’d rather leave unspoken. We both know that it would never work. You’ve got your girl, you’re gonna marry her. And I’ll be watching in a pinstripe suit, sincerely happy for the both of you. So what changes, if anything? Maybe everything can stay the same. But if we never talk about it again, there’s something I want you to understand. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You knew when you caught me reading at your show. I knew when you came to visit in the cold. We could have done something that we’d come to regret. Do you remember? You say, how could I forget? We both know that it would never work. You’ve got your girl, you’re gonna marry her. And I’ll be watching in a pinstripe suit, not even wishing it was me and you. So what changes, if anything? Maybe everything can stay the same. But if we never talk about it again, there’s something I need you to understand. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal. You’re a big deal.
3.
Ankles 03:11
What if we don’t touch? What if we only talk about what we want and cannot have? And I’ll throw a fit if it’s all I can do. If it’s the thought that counts let’s think it through. So bite me on the shoulder, pull my hair, and let me touch you where I want to- there, there, there, there, there. Pull me by the ankles to the edge of the bed and take me like you do in your dreams. I’m not gonna stop you, I’m not gonna stop you this time, baby. I want you to show me what you mean, then help me with the crossword in the morning. You are gonna make me tea, gonna ask me how did I sleep. Agent of chaos, angel of death, one of three ancient fates playing with your scissors again. How lucky are we to have so much to lose? Now don’t move when I tell you what to do. Pull me by the ankles to the edge of the bed and take me like you do in your dreams. I’m not gonna stop you, I’m not gonna stop you this time, baby. I want you to show me what you mean, then help me with the crossword in the morning. You are gonna make me tea, gonna ask me how did I sleep.
4.
Limerence 03:12
Natalie’s explaining limerence between taking hits from a blunt, high as a kite, while Roddy’s playing GTA. I swear, why is he so good at this game? It should be cause for concern. I’m just shoveling popcorn into my mouth so I don’t say the things that I’m thinking out loud. I’m thinking about breaking your heart someday soon. And if I do, I’ll be breaking mine too. If I stay busy, maybe I’ll forget how I feel and go on living life as I planned it. So bring on the parties, I wanna go dancing, my arm ‘round the waist of a friendly acquaintance, toeing the line of betraying your trust. Why do I feel alive when I’m behaving my worst? Is there a difference between lying to you if it feels just as bad as telling the truth? I know that there is, and I’ll know what I’ll pick. I want what we have, our beautiful life, but the stillness, the stillness, might eat me alive.
5.
Modigliani 03:06
"Loving father, friend, and son” printed backwards on my shoulder blade from leaning back on a plaque on a bench. I carry David’s name until it fades. Why does it feel significant? Why do I have to tell you about it? Trying to fall asleep, back flat on the floor while you are eating continental breakfast in Singapore. You make me homesick for places I’ve never been before. How’d you do that? How’s tomorrow so far? Meeting your family was a trip, seeing what you got from them for better or worse- a blessing and a curse. You don’t need to love them but you do. You can take off a year or two. We’ll all be here when you get back. When you told me ‘bout your new man, it wasn’t news, cause you’ve got all these mannerisms that you never do like rolling your eyes and laughing real dry like you were trying him on for size. And even if it doesn’t fit you’ll wear it, cause if it’s what you want, you’re gonna get it. I’ve heard this anecdote at least a dozen times. Yeah, I know every word and inflection as if it were mine. I like watching you win over a new crowd. You can make ‘em go wild, you can leave ‘em spellbound. But you will never be famous to me. You will never be famous to me. I should know my neighbors names. I should not stay up so late. Modigliani melancholy got me long in the face. But I feel better when you call just to tell me how you are. How’d you do that? How’s tomorrow so far? You make me homesick for places I’ve never been before. How’d you do that? How’s tomorrow so far?
6.
Talk 03:17
Driving up the mountain, ears popping as we climb. It can be risky after sundown when the roads turn serpentine. We run out of conversation. The day runs out of light. Silent, watching high beams interrupt the night. Why can’t we talk anymore? We used to talk for hours. Do I make you nervous, or bored? Or did I drink you to the last drop? Your body looming like a spectre, hungry as a scythe. If you come reaping, I’ll come running. I still know what you like. But just like they say, that you can never go home, I could not love you the same way two days in a row. Why can’t we talk anymore? We used to talk for hours. Do I make you nervous, or bored? Or did I drink you to the last drop? Why was our best sex in hotels and our worst fights in their stairwells? I was by your side, eye to eye, when you thought you were living in a private hell. I didn’t mean to start talking in the past tense. I guess I don’t know what I think ‘til I start talking.
7.
For Keeps 02:11
If the Devil’s in the details and God is everything who’s to say that they are not one in the same? But neither one of them were there in the mezzanine cheap seats or waking up in dirty sheets. We were not something. We were not nothing. We were in between things that make sense. But you wanted it, and I wanted it, and that’s the only thing that mattered in the end. If the Devil’s in the details, then God is in the gap in your teeth. You are doing the Lord’s work every time you smile at me. I don’t believe in anything anymore except you and me supremacy, but I still miss you when I’m with you cause I know we’re not playing for keeps.
8.
I crossed a line and you followed close behind. We were cherry red in your forest green 1993 Grand Cherokee. You knew the scenic route. I knew the shortcut and shut my mouth. Isn’t that what loves about? Doing whatever to draw it out. This is bliss. This is Hell. Forever is a feeling and I know it well. I’m no good at faces or names, At places or dates, zip codes and time zones. But I remember everywhere we’ve ever been and when. I remember thinking you were pretty when we met. I’m reading you like road signs. Tell me where to go, my wrists are in your zip tie. 25 to life, why not? Yeah you’re smart, but you’re dumb at heart. That’s a good start. This is bliss. This is Hell. Forever is a feeling and I know it well. Forever is a feeling…
9.
Come Out 03:48
I missed your call because I was in a boardroom full of old men guessing what the kids are getting into. There was a cardboard cutout of a cowboy in the corner pointing his gun at my face. I don’t belong here. Nobody does. Except maybe those old men, collecting dust. Why am I not wherever you are? There is no distance that wouldn’t be too far. Even on opposite sides of the room, I am orbiting you. So come out, come out, wherever you are. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you in my arms. I wanna be that man on Main Street with a megaphone screaming obscenities to the toddlers and their scandalized moms. I wanna scream from the bottom of my lungs. I wanna scream my throat raw. And if that means I never sing again, at least I’ll know I went out with a bang, screaming my favorite things about you, screaming your name, your name, your name. So come out, come out, wherever you are. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you in my arms. So come out, come out, there’s no need to hide. I want you, I want you, I want you by my side. Waking up in a new city everyday makes me believe more and more that they’re all the same. It’s just a pharmacy, coffee shop, bookstore, and bank, and a tourist attraction that most locals hate. I hike up a hill where they say there’s a view cause the sky around five might remind me of you. There’s a couple divorcées on a bad first date and an elderly couple with nothing to say. I used to think that’d be the worst, to grow old and run out of words. Now I have seen some incredible things I could never describe if I tried. So come out, come out, wherever you are. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you in my arms. So come out, come out, there’s no need to hide. I want you, I want you, I want you by my side. Come on, come on, I’m ready for you. I can wait, I can wait, but I don’t want to.
10.
Best Guess 04:00
Clasping your necklace, zipping your dress, hands on your waist, kissing your neck. I love your body. I love your mind. They will change. So will mine, but you are- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. Tracing your tan line, making you mine. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll lose my mind. And after a while I will be fine, but I don’t wanna be fine. I want you, you, you are- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. Here is the church. Here is the steeple. You were looking for saints but you only found people. Ain’t that just the way it goes? I watched you fall from grace, you were graceful. After all, it’s a small world You may not be an angel, but you are my girl. You are my pack a day. You are my favorite place. You were my best friend before you were- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. You are my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet.
11.
Heard you got a job as a mailman. Heard you’re playing around in a couple bands. Wish I could come to the show but I understand. Can’t just walk in like any other fan. But I always loved the way you play guitar. You’ve got style. No one’s doin’ it like you are. In many European cities there’s a bridge where lovers put locks on the rails and throw their keys into the river beneath. We were two such suckers. But the metal weighs down the bearings and the city has to cut the bolts. If our spell wore off, maybe it’s all their fault. You’re a bullseye and I aimed right. I’m a straight shot. You’re a grand prize. It was young love, it was dumb luck. Holding each other so tight we got stuck. I’ll miss borrowing your books to read your notes in the margins, the closest I came to reading your mind. The answers to the questions only made more questions. I hope you’re never fully satisfied. But I wanted to be there the day you figured it all out. Whoever is, I hope they’re proud. You’re a bullseye and I aimed right. I’m a straight shot. You’re a grand prize. It was young love, it was dumb luck. Holding each other so tight we got stuck. Found some of your stuff at my new house. Packed it on accident when I was moving out. It’s probably wrong to think of them as your gifts to me. More like victims of my sentimentality. Man, it’s hard to quit while you’re ahead, letting the best laid plans become empty threats. But I meant every word I said when I said it. The world that we built meant the world to me. When one world ends, the other worlds keep spinning.
12.
I never thought I’d see you looking at me this way. Almost vulgar and out of place, like seeing the moon in the day. I find it hard not to look away. Hard to believe it’s the same face I saw twisted in anger. I thought you’d hate me forever. Now I feel your hand under the table at the fancy restaurant gripping on my inner thigh like if you don’t I’m gonna run, but I’m not going anywhere, least not anywhere you’re not. Got me wrapped around your finger tied in a double knot. Just like our legs all double knotted in the morning at the Ritz. 700 dollar room, still drinking coffee from a Keurig. We’re soaking up the luxury on someone else’s dime, living the dream before we fully pass our prime. And when we do, I’ll have time to write the book on you. Time to write the book on you. Time to write the book on you. Sitting on the kitchen counter counting bug bites on your thighs. Just another southern summer sweating bullets in the highs. Watermelon drippin’ down your chin, laughing til you cry. Sweetest tears I ever tasted, kissing salt out of your eyes. I’ll keep circumventing your pet peeves, bending over backwards every time that you say please. I just wanna make you happy. Will you let me spend a lifetime trying? And if you do, I’ll have time to write the book on you. Time to write the book on you. Time to write the book on you. Finally, time to write the book on you. I still believe in God sometimes. It always takes me by surprise to catch myself in the middle of praying. But I thank God for you when I don’t know what else to do. Don’t know where the words go but I still say ‘em. If it’s not God, it’s Fate. If it’s not Fate, it’s Chance. If it’s my chance I’m gonna take it. Cause who gets the chance like the one that I have- to catch the most wanted man in West Tennessee. If you let me write the book, open the hood and take a look, I promise anything you give to me is something I will keep. We can burn it when it’s done. Soot and cinder in the sun. Nothing left for anyone to read and weep.
13.
Lost Time 04:43
The sky is grey. The trees are pink. It’s almost spring and I can’t wait and I can’t think. The sidewalks paved with petals like a wedding aisle. I wonder how long it would take to walk 800 miles to say I do, I did, I will, I would. I’m not sorry, not certain, not perfect, not good. But I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is lost time. Now I’m knockin’ down your door cause I’m trying to make up for lost time. Wish you were here. Wish I was there. I wish that we could have a place that we could share. Not only stolen moments in abandoned halls, quiet touch in elevators and bathroom stalls. But I will, I would, I did, I do. For the thrill, for my health, for myself, for you. Cause I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is lost time. Now I’m knockin’ down your door cause I’m trying to make up for lost time. Nothing lasts forever but let’s see how far we get so when it comes my turn to lose you I’ll have made the most of it. Our formal attire on the floor in a pile. In the morning I will fold it while you get ready for work. I hear you singing in the shower. It’s a song I showed you years ago. It’s nice to know you listen to it after all this time. I put your clothes on the dresser with your 60 day chip and your broken gold chain, your unpaid parking ticket. I notice everything about you. I can’t help it. It’s not a choice, it’s been this way since we met. Cause I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is a crying shame. It’s a crime. A waste of space. Lost time.
14.
Clasping your necklace, zipping your dress, hands on your waist, kissing your neck. I love your body. I love your mind. They will change. So will mine, but you are- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. Tracing your tan lines, making you mine. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll lose my mind. And after a while I will be fine, but I don’t wanna be fine. I want you, you, you are- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. Here is the church. Here is the steeple. You were looking for saints but you only found people. Ain’t that just the way it goes? I watched you fall from grace, you were graceful. After all, it’s a small world. You may not be an angel, but you are my girl. You are my pack a day. You are my favorite place. You were my best friend before you were- my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet. You are my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best bet.
15.
Heard you got a job as a mailman. Heard you’re playing around in a couple bands. Wish I could come to the show but I understand. Can’t just walk in like any other fan. But I always loved the way you play guitar. You’ve got style. No one’s doin’ it like you are. In many European cities there’s a bridge where lovers put locks on the rails and throw their keys into the river beneath. We were two such suckers. But the metal weighs down the bearings and the city has to cut them off. If our spell wore off, maybe it’s all their fault. You’re a bullseye and I aimed right. I’m a straight shot. You’re a grand prize. It was young love, it was dumb luck. Holding each other so tight we got stuck. I’ll miss borrowing your books to read your notes in the margins, the closest I came to reading your mind. The answers to the questions only made more questions. I hope you’re never fully satisfied. But I wanted to be there the day you figured it all out. Whoever is, I hope they’re proud. You’re a bullseye and I aimed right. I’m a straight shot. You’re a grand prize. It was young love, it was dumb luck. Holding each other so tight we got stuck. Found some of your stuff at my new house. Packed it on accident when I was moving out. Probably wrong to think of them as your gifts to me. More like victims of my sentimentality. Man, it’s hard to quit while you’re ahead, letting the best laid plans become empty threats. But I meant every word I said when I said it. The world that we built meant the world to me. When one world ends, the other worlds keep spinning.
16.
Losing 02:03
I’m losing myself into anyone else. And it's nobody's fault but my own. I used to cut deep, now I'm losing my edge. Knife dulling on stone. And the fault is my own. The worst thing about losing your spark is not having the drive to get it back. So I’ll keep letting go till there's nothing to lose. And I’ll be alone by no fault but my own.
17.
18.
If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do. Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away. Just to spend them with you. If I could make days last forever. If words could make wishes come true. I'd save every day like a treasure and then, again, I would spend them with you. But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you wanna once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with. If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true. The box would be empty except for the memory of how they were answered by you. But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with
19.
I held your hand on the bus back to Richmond from New York on New Years Day. Last night we forgot the champagne so you drank a 40 and bought me a nasty rosé. We watched the ball drop from Brooklyn, the East River shining a sloppy display. Watercolor fireworks far away. Midnight hit and we didn’t kiss. I kissed Mackenzie and Carson and tried not to look in your eye. Your hopes were high and I hate falling short. Back at the flat of your friends, a studio loft by the Williamsburg bridge, we danced ourselves clean, got more drunk than we planned. Eight of us left to one bed and the floor and the futon that sunk in the middle and so we were closer than ever, foreheads aligned, your hand in my hair, promising things. I was so unprepared. Just waiting for you to lose steam but it seemed you were fighting for your life. You wanted to see what you always believed about me. You said, give me a chance. You didn’t know that I already had.
20.
Just a mattress on the floor and an empty pizza box in an empty room, in an empty house, under a crescent moon in a brand new town. We lit a candle on the sill and I pulled you to the bed, and you caved to my will. We forgot to blow it out. By the morning it had burned all the way down. You don’t talk much and that’s fine. Most days are dull and that’s alright. We both forget to be nice sometimes. We don’t make sense from the outside. It all started by mistake, getting tipsy by the lake. When our knuckles brushed, you thought I meant it. I thought you meant it, but it was an honest accident. Still, it opened something up, like melon rind around the fruit. And I looked at you and I felt dumb cause I trusted you without trying to. I have known you for so long. You know I’ll admit when I’m wrong. So I’ll admit I never thought we’d be a thing. I’ve never been happier to be wrong about anything. When you die, I’ll be a wreck. When I die, don’t pine until you’re dead. But until then, do you want to be more than friends?
21.
The sky is grey. The trees are pink. It’s almost spring and I can’t wait and I can’t think. The sidewalks paved with petals like a wedding aisle. I wonder how long it would take to walk 800 miles to say I do, I did, I will, I would. I’m not sorry, not certain, not perfect, not good. But I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is lost time. Now I’m knockin’ down your door cause I’m trying to make up for lost time. Wish you were here. Wish I was there. I wish that we could have a place that we could share. Not only stolen moments in abandoned halls, quiet touch in elevators and bathroom stalls. But I will, I would, I did, I do. For the thrill, for my health, for myself, for you. Cause I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is lost time. Now I’m knockin’ down your door cause I’m trying to make up for lost time. Nothing lasts forever but let’s see how far we get so when it comes my turn to lose you I’ll have made the most of it. Our formal attire on the floor in a pile. In the morning I will fold it while you get ready for work. I hear you singing in the shower. It’s a song I showed you years ago. It’s nice to know you listen to it after all this time. I put your clothes on the dresser with your 60 day chip and your broken gold chain, your unpaid parking ticket, and the photo you framed from when you were a kid. To remember where you came from, as if you could forget. And your hand-me-down pick up pull a girl on the dash Tape on the bumper, more than one crash And it's always an accident, it could always be worse. Scars healing over, but the memory hurts. And I trace them with my finger. Touch them with my mouth. Then the lines around your eyes. The furrow in your brow. Your face is a language. I’m fluent by now. You can tell me the whole story without saying it out loud. I notice everything about you. I can’t help it. It’s not a choice, it’s been this way since we met. Cause I love you and everyday that I knew and didn’t say is a crying shame. It’s a crime. A waste of space. Lost time.

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released October 10, 2025

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