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  1. Tracks
  2. Cursive
  3. Domestica
  4. The Martyr
The Martyr by Cursive

TRACK

Cursive

The Martyr

Release date: 18th June 2000

From Domestica
Track 2
3:57
AlternativeMusicIndie Rock
Spotify Apple Music More on Cursive

About This Track

‘The Martyr’ by Cursive is an alternative track on the 2000 album ‘Domestica’. The lyrics sketch a grim, domestic birth scene, with intoxicated, degraded aftermath and a religious-tinged sense of condemnation, phrased through a bloodless but graphic image cluster. The vocal narrative shifts between grotesque tenderness and spiritual rebuke, closing on a half-spoken plea, “This is year one”.

"The Martyr" is a track by Cursive, from the album Domestica, released 18th June 2000. The track is 3:57 long. It's filed under Alternative. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Cursive.

About the Artist

Cursive

Cursive

Lyrics

The Martyr

And so it's begun
This is year one
The birth of a child in the form of a man
Wrapped in towel
Passed out on the floor
These drunken hours -- graces deflowered

Cast down by an angel
She used to kiss his weeping eyes
Depressed in her bosom
Tears roll off her nipple

Sweet baby, don't cry...
Your tears are only alibis
To prove you still feel --
You only feel sorry for yourself
Well, get on that cross
That's all you're good for...

And thusly it ends
Depression seeps in on a lonely messiah
Now he drinks with the lepers
Losing a limb, his better half
A glass once half full
A head hung half-mast
He claims he's the victim
Strangled by the nine-to-five
And a pattern of stillness
That haunted this still life

Your tears are only alibis
To prove you still feel
You only feel sorry for yourself
And that's how you thrive
Your sorrow's your goldmine
So write some sad song about me
Screaming your agonies, playing the saint

The Martyr...
The Martyr...
The Martyr...
The Martyr...
The Martyr...
Uh huh...

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Domestica

3:572000
Listen
Album
Domestica
Domestica
Cursive
19th June 2000
Track number
2
Release year
2000
  1. 1The Casualty
    3:30
  2. 2The Martyr
    3:57
  3. 3Shallow Means, Deep Ends
    3:37
  4. 4Making Friends and Acquaintances
    2:59

More from Cursive

Albums & EPs

Devourer
Devourer
2024
Tides Rush In EP
Tides Rush In EP
2020
Get Fixed
Get Fixed
2019
Vitriola
Vitriola
2018
The Sun and Moon / The Cat and Mouse EP
The Sun and Moon / The Cat and Mouse EP
2012
I Am Gemini
I Am Gemini
2012

Explore

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  5. Dead End DaysDevourer
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  6. ImposturingDevourer
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  7. RookieDevourer
    5:02
  8. The Age of ImpotenceDevourer
    3:42
  9. The Avalanche of Our DemiseDevourer
    3:01
  10. The LossDevourer
    4:38

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    • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Clint Schnase, Matt Maginn, Ted Stevens, Tim Kasher
    Producer
    Mike Mogis
    Bass
    Matt Maginn
    Drums
    Clint Schnase
    Guitar
    Ted Stevens, Tim Kasher
    Background Vocals
    Matt Maginn
    Lead Vocals
    Ted Stevens, Tim Kasher
    Mixing Engineer
    A.J. Mogis, Mike Mogis
    Recording Engineer
    A.J. Mogis, Mike Mogis
    READ MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVE
    READ MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVEREAD MORE ABOUT CURSIVE
    Cursive - Devourer
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    'Devourer' is a knotty, visceral listen.

    11 Nov 2024 • 12:21 pm
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    No genre, no problem: Cursive's decades-long musical defiance

    For nearly 30 years, Tim Kasher and co. have challenged genre conventions, keeping Cursive's sound fiercely unpredictable.

    11 Nov 2024 • 10:07 am
    Cursive: "When I'm wagging the finger at others, I'm also wagging the finger at myself"
    Features

    Cursive: "When I'm wagging the finger at others, I'm also wagging the finger at myself"

    Indie-rock stalwarts Cursive are back with their first album in six years. With society falling apart around us, it's a suitably vitriolic reaction to the state of the world.

    8 Oct 2018 • 10:24 am
    Cursive - Vitriola
    Reviews

    Cursive - Vitriola

    ‘Vitriola’ bubbles and boils with anger and simmers with regret and futility.

    3 Oct 2018 • 1:50 am