Empathy Test released a double A-side single, Demons | Seeing Stars on September the 9th, 2016, which featured featured remixes by Sidewalks And Skeletons and MNYNMS, before embarking on a European tour on 16th September. Empathy Test recruited live drummer Christina Lopez and keyboard player Jacob Ferguson Lobo to accompanying Isaac on the tour. They continued to perform with Isaac until April 2017, when Jacob was replaced by Sam Winter-Quick. The band then released another single, By My Side with b-side Vampire Town and remixes by New Portals and Papertwin on February 17th, 2017. A third single, Bare My Soul was released 21st April, 2017, to coincide with a second European tour.
Empathy Test are currently crowd funding two debut albums plus a final single via PledgeMusic: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/empathy-test-album/. They are slated for release on 17th November. The first album, Losing Touch, will feature all the original 2014 EP tracks plus Demons and two previously unreleased tracks, Siamese and Sleep. Safe From Harm will feature all the singles (minus Demons) plus new tracks Safe From Harm, All It Takes, Trampoline, Everything Will Work Out and Burroughs & Bukowski. The band previously stated that Safe From Harm, the album title track, would be the final single. However, it is now looking like the final single will be Everything Will Work Out.
Hope for Me
Empathy Test Lyrics
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And I know how far, away we are
And I know that you need someone
Who worships you.
But I think that you know by now
That's not, what I do, or who I am.
Let's not try to change each other
And every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
Every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
I know how you want me to be
And I know how far, away I am
And I know that you need someone
Who cares, for you.
But I think that we know by now
That when, I'm up, you're always down.
How can we be together
But still, feel alone.
And every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
Every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
In these lyrics, Empathy Test's singer is acknowledging the gap between the expectations of their partner and the reality of who they are. The first verse describes how the partner desires someone who worships them and fits a certain ideal, but the singer acknowledges that they cannot fulfill that expectation. Instead, they suggest that they accept each other as they are and not try to change each other. The chorus repeats the phrase "every time you hope for me, this is what you get from me," which suggests that the partner's hope for change or idealization will never be fulfilled.
The second verse shifts the focus to how the singer perceives their own distance from the partner's needs. They recognize that their partner needs someone who cares for them, but the singer admits that when they are up, the partner is down, making it difficult for them to be together without feeling alone. The repetition of the chorus reinforces the idea that there might be inherent conflicts in their relationship that cannot be easily resolved by hoping or wishing for change.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of acceptance but also resignation, suggesting that the singer and their partner might have irreconcilable differences that cannot be fixed through changing each other or wishing for something different.
Line by Line Meaning
I know how you want things to be
I understand your ideal vision of things.
And I know how far, away we are
I acknowledge the distance between our current state and your ideal vision.
And I know that you need someone
Who worships you.
I recognize your desire for a partner who puts you on a pedestal.
But I think that you know by now
That's not, what I do, or who I am.
I suggest that you may already know that I am not that kind of partner.
Let's not try to change each other
We are, who we are.
I propose that we should accept and cherish each other as we are.
And every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
Every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
I repeat that I can only offer you my true self, and nothing else, no matter how much you hope for more.
I know how you want me to be
I am aware of your desired image of me.
And I know how far, away I am
I acknowledge the gap between your ideal image of me and my actual self.
And I know that you need someone
Who cares, for you.
I understand your longing for a partner who genuinely cares about you.
But I think that we know by now
That when, I'm up, you're always down.
I suggest that we may have learned that when one of us is happy, the other is often sad.
How can we be together
But still, feel alone.
I ask how we can be in a relationship yet still feel lonely and disconnected.
And every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
Every time you hope for me
This is what you get from me.
I repeat my message that I can only offer you my true self, and nothing more, no matter how much you hope for it.
Writer(s): Adam Relf, Isaac Thomas Howlett
Contributed by Isabelle B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.