The Paralytic
U
Lyrics
[0:00–0:18 — FIRST PASS / STUCK TOO LONG] John five, eight through nine. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. [Start bone-dry and close. Phone-mic tenor, faint room hiss, one muted acoustic strum, low bass pulse and a distant electric-guitar harmonic. No full drums. Let “Rise” hit by itself. Keep “take up thy bed, and walk” short and direct. No inspirational swell.] [0:19–0:49 — SECOND PASS / COMMAND BECOMES MOTION] John chapter five, verses eight through nine. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. [Bring in dusty boom-bap drums, warm bass guitar, fast muted acoustic strum loop, foot stomp, hand percussion and wide alt-rock guitar haze.] [LEAD] Rise. [ONE ROUGH OFF-MIC VOICE] Rise. [LEAD] Take up thy bed— [MICRO-SILENCE] And walk. [ROUGH CREW — ONE SHORT PUNCH] WALK! [Move on immediately.] And immediately the man was made whole. [ACOUSTIC MICROBURST: one quick bright fingerpicked flourish after “whole,” then back to the strum.] And took up his bed, and walked. [Let “walked” get one quick imperfect upward run.] [0:50–1:16 — INTERLUDE / GET UP] Yeah. Ooh. Rise. [Keep the acoustic fast and dry while the boom-bap groove stays heavy.] Take up thy bed. [ONE LOW VOICE] Take it up. And walk. [ALT-ROCK MICROBURST: one brief overdriven guitar bloom opens wide for two seconds, then collapses.] And immediately the man was made whole. [PSYCHEDELIC MICROBURST: one reverse electric-guitar tail bends backward for half a second, then snaps forward.] [1:17–1:56 — THIRD PASS / NO MORE IDENTIFYING WITH THE MAT] The gospel according to John, chapter five, verses eight through nine. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. [Start with acoustic strum and close lead only. Add stomp, bass, boom-bap kick/snare, then wide electric haze. Let this pass feel more confident, not more polished.] [LEAD] Rise. [ONE ROUGH VOICE] Rise. [LEAD] Take up thy bed, and walk. [ROUGH CREW — ONE WARM RESPONSE] And walk. [No repeat.] And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. [Let the whole last phrase run quickly and cleanly over the groove.] [OUTRO] Ooh. Yeah. [No more scripture repetition. Let the fast acoustic loop ride under dusty drums, warm bass, foot stomps, hand percussion and wide electric shimmer. One friend claps late. Another hums low. Hard cut mid-strum.] [OVERALL VOCAL DIRECTION] [This track is about getting up from the place that defined you. Male tenor stays dry, grainy, breathy and conversational with fast-flow indie-folk phrasing, quick imperfect runs and loose urban swagger. Acoustic guitar is a true rhythmic layer, but boom bap remains the spine. Let “RISE / TAKE UP THY BED / AND WALK” land in short command-like pockets. Backup vocals sound like rough friends pushing you forward—low yeahs, worn oohs, late catches. Alt-rock appears as brief wide guitar blooms only. Psychedelic moments stay tiny: reverse guitar tails, tape bends, brief stereo smears. Avoid glossy folk-pop, polished CCM or bluegrass dominance. Raw, kinetic, restored, moving.]