Wage III of 3 · Ninth Circle Records

Sabbath Ended

2001 · Ninth Circle Records · 4 tracks

The farewell EP. Four songs; the shortest and slowest they ever recorded. Released three weeks before September 11, 2001. The band played the songs live twice and then stopped forever. Boyd said in the studio that the message had gotten as many amps behind it as it needed.

1. 01The Congregation Left5:15
   Words as entered

   (single clean guitar note with fuzz swell, bass enters low, slow brushed drums, one hit per measure)
   
   They did not leave all at once
   That is not how a room empties
   One family moved for the work
   One family stopped explaining why
   And the back pew went first
   The back pew always goes first
   
   He counted them every Sunday
   He never said the number out loud
   He would say the Lord does not take attendance
   And then he would count them again
   
   The congregation left
   The congregation left
   Nobody slammed the door
   Nobody slammed the door
   
   The hymn book stayed
   The hard hat stayed on the seat where he set it down
   The furnace stayed cold in the basement
   And the sign out front still said
   ALL ARE WELCOME
   And it was true
   And it did not matter
   
   A town does not decide to end
   A town runs out of people who remember why it started
   That is slower than a closing
   That is worse than a closing
   
   The congregation left
   The congregation left
   Nobody slammed the door
   Nobody slammed the door
   
   All are welcome
   All are welcome
   All are welcome
   And nobody came

2. 02Silo6:40
3. 03Sabbath Ended7:20
4. 04The Wages Are Paid8:05
   Words as entered

   (single low guitar chord swelling and receding, no drums, no bass, just breath and fuzz — for the full ninety seconds)
   
   We wrote seven songs
   And meant to stop
   We wrote six more
   And meant to stop
   We wrote four more
   And this is the last one
   
   The wages of vice
   Are not paid at the register
   The wages of vice
   Are paid at the community
   The wages of vice
   Are paid one house at a time
   
   The wages are paid
   The wages are paid
   The wages are paid
   The wages are paid
   
   You don't get out of the story
   By closing the book
   You don't get out of the vice
   By naming it and moving on
   You get out by doing the harder thing
   Every day
   For as long as you're standing
   
   For as long as you're standing
   
   The wages are paid
   The wages are paid