DECK: DIAMONDS

June 13, 2025

Cover art

Available on Bandcamp (including a limited edition double-LP pressing) and streaming services

Recorded at Machines with Magnets, Pawtucket, RI
August 3—10, 2023
Engineered/produced by Seth Manchester
Overdubs done at Puritan Garage, Charlestown, MA and various locations Summer/Fall 2023
Mixed by Seth Manchester
Mastered by Amar Lal, Macro Sound, Oakland, CA

Backing/Gang vox, unless noted otherwise, is: Ryan Connelly, Joseph Marrett, Brian Rutledge, Ryan H. Walsh, & Nicholas Ward.

All songs written by Ryan H. Walsh
All songs arranged by Hallelujah The Hills

Copyright ©2025 Reverse The Tape Decks ASCAP

Gimme Midnight (Ace of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitars, Samples
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
David Michael Curry - Viola
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Brian Rutledge - Synthesizer
Nicholas Ward - Piano, Electric Guitar

With:
Dana Colley - Baritone Sax
Peyton Pinkerton - Slide Guitar

Beaten by the day
Within inch of my life
Choose a way out and then
Don't think twice

The only thing that helps
Is 'pretend it's a dream'
When the sun starts settin' won't you play my theme?

Oh! Gimme midnight
Sick of the light
Gimme midnight

Dwellin' in dusk
Cigarette lit
Wanna be there when the day gets hit

There'll never be another one precisely like this
Adieu, farewell, let the darkness speak

Oh! Gimme midnight
Sick of the light
Gimme midnight

Joke's on You (2 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Samples
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Ed Morneau - Guitar
Emma Westling - Vocals

I hate you
You're a coward's coward
And when I was down
You just overpowered

But Time will tell
The truth just rings a bell
And everything I promised
Will come true

Joke's on you
I thought you knew
When everybody's laughing
They're laughin' at you

This wheel's on fire
Now you're sayin' that you're tired
When everybody taps out
I'm just coming alive

Time's running out
You keep moving your mouth
And the bullshit that comes out
Removes all remaining doubt

Now that time has passed
All the people you harassed
Are now way stronger than you

This wheel's on fire
Now you're sayin' that you're tired
When everybody taps out
I'm just coming alive

Fake Flowers at Sunset (3 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Samples, Synths
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar, Piano
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Joseph Marrett - Bass
David Michael Curry - Viola
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet

With:
Cassie Berman - Vocals
Jonah Sacks - Cello

I love you like a human being does
I love you like beyond repair
I love you inside out and falling
So, doubters, please beware

We wonder where all of the time goes
We look and it's not there
We waste our time keeping track of time
We know that time don't care

We know that time don't care

Fake flowers at sunset
Cuz earthquakes don't apologize
And rivers never tell no lies
The wind it never stops and cries
But I do

So, I love you like a human being does
I love you like beyond repair
I love you inside out and falling
So, doubters, please beware

Doubters, please beware
Doubters, please beware
Doubters, please beware
Doubters, please beware

Rebuilding Year (4 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Synths, Samples
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Ezra Furman - Lead Vocals

Sometimes I stay up all night
Sometimes I'm in bed before ten
Sometimes I'm not really sure
If it's ever gonna end

Caught you at the carnival
Cotton candy in your hand
Swore we'd never speak again
So like where does that stand?

What are you doing here?
Watch my cool just disappear
You'll have to pardon my appearance
Cuz it's a re-building year

Well Ravi moved to Iowa
I lived with Gary till he married Nance
What's it even matter though?
I see no ring on your hand

I put mine in a deposit box
Tried to forget that I was happy once
Then I stopped getting haircuts
Then I stopped giving any fucks

What are you doing here?
Watch my cool just disappear
You'll have to pardon my appearance
Cuz it's a re-building year

And what's his name can go fuck himself
I froze his name in a wishing well
Trying to get better, dear
Trying not to disappear

Don't wanna live in a nightmare
I'm just trying to get out of here,
I'm just trying to make it through the year

Well it's a rebuilding year
And it's neither here nor there
Trying to climb back to zero
Cuz it's a rebuilding year

Alone, in Love (5 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Samples
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Tyler Derryberry - Synthesizer

Oh hi there, hello, I didn't really hear you come in
If you stay real quiet, I'll tell you about the fever within

Try as you may, it's a bust
But surprise, turns out, I'll never give up

I'm alone
I'm in love
I can barely keep up
I thought I overdid it but I guess I didn't do it enough

Now that you made it this far, you wanna show us how it went down
But no one likes a chatty magician in this part of town

So keep it with yours, it's a win
But the next day you'll need to start all over again

I'm alone
I'm in love
I can barely keep up
I thought I overdid it but I guess I didn't do it enough

I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough
I thought I overdid it but it turns out it wasn't enough

Grateful Dead Sweater (6 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Chimes, Samples, Piano
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Piano, Piano
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
David Michael Curry - Viola
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet

With:
Josh Kantor - Organ
Ed Morneau - Guitar
The Epoch House - Choir Vocals

I know we only just met
But I like your smile
I been lonely for awhile
And that's a fact

You think I'm stuck in the past
That I'm still tied to the mast
But I been movin' on
And that's a fact

Nothing still makes me dream of Heather
No sunny skies or even stormy weather
Now there's only one feather
In my hat during these days so better
'Cept when you're wearing her Grateful Dead sweater

Don't know why she left it behind
She's still seeing the shows
Still trading the boots
And that's a fact

I couldn't bare to give it away
Hand-crafted macrame
That her grandma worked on for a year

Nothing still makes me dream of Heather
No sunny skies or even stormy weather
Now there's only one feather
In my hat during these days so better
'Cept when you're wearing her Grateful Dead sweater

No 'Box of Rain' or that one about a train
Besides "Ripple," they never really grabbed me
But there's something about
That one item, gives me doubt

Your know, it's Janie wearing heather's Grateful Dead sweater
It's Janie wearing your Grateful Dead sweater

Too High to Say Hello (7 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Samples
Joseph Marrett - Bass, Vocals
Nicholas Ward - Electric Piano
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
David Michael Curry - Viola
Brian Rutledge - Synthesizer

Time moves fast
These hours always right up on my ass
But it seemed like no time at all
When I spotted you at the Beacon County Mall

Our farewell, left me unwell
Spent too many nights at my favorite bar in hell
Couldn't rally, couldn't start again
I spent most of my time in ways I can't defend

I was too high to say hello
I was too high to say hello
And I thought you'd just like to know
I was too high to say hello

It's easier to write
I can work on a single phrase the entire night
And I realize
That's not your style
Cuz you always went non-verbal after awhile

You were too high to say hello
You were too high to say hello
And I thought you'd just like to know
I was too high to say hello

Superglued to You (8 of Diamonds)

Nicholas Ward - Piano, Organ
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Samples, Guitar
David Michael Curry - Viola
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet

With:
Lydia Loveless - Lead Vocals
Ed Morneau - Synth Guitar
Jonah Sacks - Cello

How long has it been now?
It feels like maybe two years?
You could tell me ten, I wouldn't blink an eye

Well, ain't you a million dollars
Do you still call 'em gentlemen callers?
Has your drama cup been filled up to the brim?

I knew this story about two people
And their love was overwhelming
It's was a 'will they won't they...destroy each other?'---kind of deal

Horoscopes told 'em to get out
With fortune tellers spitting their tea out
Both contrarians, they didn't paid it any heed

So what are we gonna do?
Turns out I'm superglued to you

She said "Spoiler alert: I'm a river
And you can never step in me
And expect to find the same things you found before."

He said, "How am I supposed to get any footing?
If the ground beneath me keeps shifting?"
And what happened next was a very special episode

So what are we gonna do?
Turns out I'm superglued to you

No use in saving face
There's no rapture to replace

So what are we gonna do?
So what are we gonna do?
Turns out I'm superglued to you

What are we gonna do?
Turns out I'm superglued to you

No use in saving face
There's no rapture to replace
The way I feel about you

So what are we gonna do?
Turns out I'm superglued to you
Turns out I'm superglued to you

Old Feelings, New England (9 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar, Organ
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Tanya Donnelly - Vocals

I shout / off stage
"Can someone please tell me my line?"
I look around to find there's nobody else here
Just me and some history

Oh Winona! Oh Rita!
Shall we reenact our old routine?
You could enter stage right turn on the kitchen light
Announce we're all just trapped in the dream

Take bows, curtain call
I spent a decade in a liminal zone
It's while I'm drifting down some lost highway
That I try to remember your name

Is it Lazarus?
Is it Betsy?
Could I come in person, ask you tonight?
I remember the street, I remember the door
I could be there just before the daylight

So can you hear me calling, Kansas?
Indiana, I've got plans tonight
There's a hole in my heart, Ohio
Allentown, PA well there's nothing more to say

Old Feelings, New England
It's where I'll end up, if I'm in good with The Fates
Cuz I'm the man with the Massachusetts plates

I'm coming home,
Radio on.

Samantha, You're the Only Mistake I Know How to Make (10 of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar, Organ
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Strings by Doublesharp Productions
Violin by Giorgio Abbadessa
Strings recorded by Federico Tiero
Arrangement by Nicholas Giadone Ward & Stefano Tiero

It's over, guess 3rd time's the charm
And though it caused so much harm
Feels like I lost my right arm
But Sammy, I think I figured you out

So if you're ever in doubt
What was this all about
Know that I don't wanna give up
And even though we know what awaits
Samantha, you're the only mistake I know how to make

You're an unforced error / A tiny terror / A wallflower set to attack
I'm the unmade bed / A luxurious dread / And you know we have to go back

You know that I just don't seem to know when to quit
And even though we know what awaits
Samantha, you're the only mistake I know how to make

Every autumn
You know that nature does cry
Look at how beautifully I
Temporarily die

And I'm just like those leaves
And though I fall from the tree
Samantha, it's the only place I wanna be
Samantha, it's the only place I wanna be

This is a Song (Jack of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Piano
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Ezra Furman - Vocals
Seth Manchester - Vocals

You think you member each song that you love
But you begin forgetting and then forget forgetting
You could summon the old ways
For a new composition
Intro, a verse, then the chorus, now listen:

Dirt to dust / hammers and hatchets
And this is a song
Country codes and flower based tombstones
And this is a song
What you gonna tell em back home?

That you loved to surf? That you were left for dead?
I was running on empty
I was dumb as a moon rock
I was always in motion
I was never pretending

Dirt to dust / hammers and hatchets
And this is a song
I'm alone in America
I'm alone in the song
I'm out here clicking heels chanting "Darling, there's no place like home"

You're alone in a crowded room
You're alone in the song
You're hoping somehow you could make some rights outta all of these wrongs

We're alone in America
We're alone in the song
We're all stuck inside just waiting for the world to turn back on

We're all stuck inside just waiting for the world to turn back on

Here Goes Nothing (Queen of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Nicholas Ward - Electric Guitar
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
David Michael Curry - Viola
Brian Rutledge - Synthesizer

With:
Patrick Stickles - Vocals, Guitar
Noell Dorsey - Opera Vocals
Jonathan M. Matthews - Opera Vocals

I remember being downgraded to a tropical storm
Or passing out in the exact spot I was born
There's a penalty for perjury so you know this is fact
Since I'm sticking around, guess I'll clean up my act

Here goes nothing
I'm gonna witness all the weirdness and wild
No one can turn me around
Here goes nothing
I'll make every single weakness a win
Stand there and watch me begin
Fuck, I'm starting over again

I remember almost dying in expensive hotels
pathetic whimpers followed all my rebel yells
I could check out if I wanted, guess I finally did
Now I'm back to make my rivals all hate me again

Here goes nothing
I'm gonna witness all the weirdness and wild
No one can turn me around
Here goes nothing
I'll make every single weakness a win
Stand there and watch me begin
Fuck, I'm starting over again

Fuck, I'm starting over again
Fuck, I'm starting over again
Fuck, I'm starting over again

Follow the Foreshadowing (King of Diamonds)

Ryan H. Walsh - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar
Nicholas Ward - Electric Piano, Piano
Ryan Connelly - Drums, Percussion
Joseph Marrett - Bass
Brian Rutledge - Trumpet
David Michael Curry - Viola

With:
Peyton Pinkerton - Guitar
Noell Dorsey - Vocals
Cassie Berman - Vocals
Josh Kantor - Organ
The Brendan Behan Pub Singers: Ryan Connelly, David Michael Curry, Chris Devers, Aiden Gerstmyer, John Halloran, Anne Jarek, Luke Landherr, Erick Liddell, Lisa Rodrigues, Mike Sakraida, Brad Searles, Christopher Taylor, Dan Tebo

"Who are you?"
Just a narrator in search of a song
"Who are we?"
The same old Greek chorus we've known all along
"No escape"
There's no escaping so you've got to be brave
"And this is why"
I left you out in the wind and the rain

But I don't wanna be lost and found and returned to go
"What I want?"
All I'm asking for is ultimate revenge
"To what end?"
Well, it's better than never having loved at all
"When was that?"
I can't remember, it was some time in the past
"Can you start again?"
Well buddy, what do you think this even is?

I'm inviting you into a story that I been telling myself
Destruction and the dynamite
Is one way to make it through the night
In hindsight
I knew it'd be alright
Just follow the foreshadowing