Nothing Would Come Out — Classics in the Key of Post-Hardcore

The Texts

The Original Poem & The Adaptation

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (key passages) — T.S. Eliot, 1915

Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table;

In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”

For I have known them all already, known them all: Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two,

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Nothing Would Come Out — post-hardcore, 155 BPM, male vocals

Verse 1

It's two AM and the only light is the phone against the ceiling I scroll through birthday parties I was not invited to Weddings and group photos and people holding people I open up a comment box, I type something, I delete it I type it again and I delete it again I have measured out my life in infinite identical midnights Do I post this, do I send this, DO I DARE I put the phone down and I pick it back up in eleven seconds

Verse 2

A couple on the bench outside the coffee shop are sharing headphones Two friends at the next table haven't stopped laughing since they sat down A woman on the sidewalk runs to someone and they hold each other I am not the main character, I'm the person in the background I am the blur behind the couple in a stranger's photograph They are all singing to each other, every single one of them But they are not singing to me

Bridge

I almost said hello today today I opened up my mouth but nothing would come out I had the words, I had the moment I WATCHED IT CLOSE

Final Chorus

THEY ARE ALL SINGING TO EACH OTHER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM THEY ARE NOT SINGING TO ME AND THE ALARM GOES OFF AND I DROWN IN ANOTHER MORNING

How the structure maps

The Core Structural Engine

Eliot built Prufrock around a man who cannot connect. He measures his life in coffee spoons — tiny, repetitive units of nothing. He hears mermaids singing but knows they won’t sing to him. He is not the hero of his own story.

Nothing Would Come Out uses the same engine in a modern setting. The singer scrolls through other people’s lives at 2 AM but can’t participate. He types messages and deletes them. He watches people connect around him but is not part of any of it.

Measuring a Life in Small, Pathetic Units

Eliot’s Poem

“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” — Prufrock’s life is measured in the smallest possible unit of routine.

Nothing Would Come Out

“I have measured out my life in infinite identical midnights” — the direct adaptation. And: “I put the phone down and I pick it back up in eleven seconds.”

Eliot’s coffee spoon is a unit of empty time. The song gives two measurements: “infinite identical midnights” (the big unit) and “eleven seconds” (the small unit, the gap between putting the phone down and picking it back up). Eleven seconds is the modern coffee spoon — a tiny, pathetic interval measuring a life going nowhere.

Do I Dare

Eliot’s Poem

“Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?” — Prufrock asks whether he dares to act, to speak, to enter the room. The question repeats because the answer is always no.

Nothing Would Come Out

“Do I post this, do I send this, DO I DARE” — the same question, applied to a comment box on a screen.

Prufrock’s “dare” is about entering a room and speaking. The song’s “dare” is about pressing send. The act has gotten smaller but the paralysis is identical. The ALL CAPS delivery is the moment the song directly quotes Eliot’s structure.

The Mermaids Singing

Eliot’s Poem

“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. / I do not think that they will sing to me.” — beauty and connection exist. They are not for him.

Nothing Would Come Out

“A couple on the bench are sharing headphones / Two friends haven’t stopped laughing / A woman on the sidewalk runs to someone and they hold each other / They are all singing to each other / But they are not singing to me”

Eliot’s mermaids are mythical. The song makes them real: a couple sharing headphones, friends laughing, a woman running into someone’s arms. These are happening right in front of him. He watches all of it. He is not part of any of it. “They are all singing to each other” uses Eliot’s exact image but makes it physical.

Not the Main Character

Eliot’s Poem

“No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; / Am an attendant lord” — Prufrock is not the hero. He is a minor character in his own life.

Nothing Would Come Out

“I am not the main character, I’m the person in the background / I am the blur behind the couple in a stranger’s photograph”

Eliot uses Shakespeare — Prufrock is not Hamlet but a background lord. The song uses social media — the singer is not the subject of the photo, he is the accidental blur behind someone else’s couple shot. He exists in someone else’s image but not in their life.

Drowning

Eliot ends with “Till human voices wake us, and we drown.” The dream is interrupted by reality, and reality kills.

The song ends with “AND THE ALARM GOES OFF AND I DROWN IN ANOTHER MORNING” — the alarm clock is the human voice that wakes him. Another morning is the drowning. He will scroll again tonight. He will delete the message again. Eliot’s drowning is the end. The song’s drowning is the beginning of another identical day.