Family Portrait
Radical Face Lyrics

So we start with my father as a boy barely spoke a word of English
The singer’s father started from nothing, and struggled to learn the English language.

Fell in love from a distance.
He fell in love with someone that he was not near to, possibly seeing her from afar.

He watched her working from the back fence
He watched her work from a distance by standing behind a fence.

He learned some words and some clever turns of phrase from his father's book of poets
He learned new words and phrases from his father's collection of poetry.

She wasn't taken in that instant, but grew impressed with his persistence
She was not initially interested in him, but became impressed with his persistence.

They met each other out by moonlight
They arranged to meet each other at night under the light of the moon.

Made love in the nearby woods
They engaged in sexual activity in a nearby wooded area.

Then her folks became suspicious when her cycle broke that settled it
Her parents became suspicious when her menstrual cycle stopped, which led them to discover her relationship with the artist's father.

They stole away without their goodbyes
The couple left without saying goodbye to anyone.

Got married in a foreign town
They got married in a town that was foreign to them.

Made their way as best as they could
They did the best they could to make a life for themselves.

Found jobs and settled down
They found employment and settled into their new life together.

And then time moved on
Things progressed and changed over time.

I was born in a river of blood on sheets from the wedding day
The singer was born on bloodstained bedsheets from his parents' wedding day.

The room was dark and the stench was thick
The room was dark and smelled bad.

My father couldn't stand the smell of it
The artist's father was disgusted by the smell in the room during the artist's birth.

Mama died in the night cause the nearest doctor couldn't stem the blood loss
The artist's mother died from blood loss during childbirth because there was not a doctor nearby who could help.

Father cried out on the back porch
The singer's father cried on the back porch after his wife's death.

My sister held me at the neighbor's house
The singer's sister held him at a neighbor's house.

Oh my there was a storm then, there was a flood of a different kind
There was a metaphorical storm and flood of emotions after the artist's mother passed away.

Father's eyes were often vacant, but his hands were rarely quiet
The artist's father was often absent-minded, but when he was not, he was doing things with his hands.

Sister learned to take her hits well, both from life and the physical kind
The artist's sister learned to cope with difficult situations, both emotional and physical.

But I was never one to lie down, despite picked the fight
The singer did not back down from a fight, even when they were in the wrong.

So we designed our hells
The artist and their family had to deal with their struggles on their own terms.

Father turned into a drinker, a dark bastard with a wooden heart
The singer's father became an alcoholic and was harsh and unemotional towards his family.

Sister learned to be a mother, before she never played another part
The singer's sister took on the role of a mother in the family and stopped doing things that she enjoyed.

And I became a little terror, I lashed out at whatever's around
The singer acted out and took their anger out on anything and everything around them.

Took some time before I settled, to find a mind that was somewhat sound
It took the artist some time to become more emotionally stable and clearheaded.

And like it always does, time rushed on
Life went on and things kept changing over time.

Six years later father dies in the very same bedroom
Six years after the mother's death, the singer's father also passed away in the same room.

Many said it was the grief that did it
Some people thought that the father's death was caused by his sadness over his wife's death.

I have to say it's cause he hung himself
The artist thinks that their father committed suicide.

To be honest neither sister nor myself ever much regret his passing
The artist and their sister did not feel much sadness after their father's passing.

But I admit it was a nice thing, to always know that we could feed ourselves
Despite everything, the artist sees a silver lining in the fact that they were always self-sufficient.