Beach House Collectors Set

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Beach House Collectors’ Guide 02

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is like taking a punch to the face from a

loved one and wanting, even needing, more.

Within the warm and gentle contours

of their sound lies a dark and unsettling

undertone. Exploring universal themes

like sadness, heartbreak, and hope, Beach

House is guaranteed to make you feel the

emotions you don’t necessarily want to feel,

but need to feel.

The dreampop duo consists of vocalist

states, Legrand met Scay and their decade

so closely share an aesthetic, if one of us

and keyboardist Victoria Legrand and

long journey commenced.

ndsasongwelike,there'saninety-nine

guitarist Alex Scay,whoformedtheband

Though the pair have insurmountable

percent chance the other person's gonna

in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004, shortly

chemistry, one of their least favorite

like it too.”

aerthetwonishedcoege.Though

pastimes is explaining to media that they

Legrand was raised in America, she was

are, in fact, not a romantic couple. Rather,

born in Paris and even returned to the

they prefer to exert a their intimacy into

country to attend Theatre school. Ca it

their true passion: the band and its music.

cosmic irony or raw human intuition, but

Even just a surface experience of these two

something kept caing Victoria back to

ethereal musicians can give way to just

the American subculture scene, and more

how much intimacy the two share — they

importantly, the Baltimore music scene.

jump at each other with complementary

Meanwhile in Baltimore, Scay was working

jokes and parael thoughts that perfectly

Beach House while recording

Depression Cherry.

2015

as a carpenter on weekdays and drinking

on weekends. Shortly aerherreturntothe

mirror each other. Scay recounted this

in an interview with Pitchfork, stating, “We

Promotional image for the band's

summer tour for 7.

2018


It is this attraction between the duo that not

only produces the most intense, heartfelt

music of modern day, but also results in

the most aestheticay consistent band in

independent music. The band has toured

extensively through the years, performing

not only their own tours but also at count-

less festivals around the world. The feeling

when witnessing the pair perform is unexplainable

in words; like their recordings,

it’s something you need to feel for yourself.

The band always starts out enshrouded in

darkness. As their sound s the venue, they

slowly reveal themselves, bathed in clouds

of moody color. The show always evokes the

same dream space felt in their music, using

various lighting structures and instaations

to convey their otherworldly aesthetic. Put

simply, watching Beach House perform live

is like experiencing a far out universe

through a dream.

Beach House playing at Pitchfork

Music Festival in Paris.

2015

Pitchfork, paving the way for similar recep-

Despite their summery name, Beach House

creates music that is shadowy, hazy, and

auringlyhypnotic.BeachHouseisone

of the most musicay dense and textured

bands of the century. Using experimental

riffs on the guitar, keyboard, and drums,

the band produces musical contours that

can convey and evoke emotion better than

any words ever could. The dark, unsettling,

yet somehow dreamy sounds can make

you feel ethereal, or as if you’ve completely

ascended the earthly plane into some

kind of space-like dream sequence.

“One thing Victoria and I can agree on

is that our music is its own world. And,

I think that’s very much what the ‘Beach

House’ feel is: going off to a different

world,” says Scay.

The band’s rst release, the self-titled

Beach House album in 2006, received

acclaim from indie reviewing powerhouse

tion for future releases including Devotion

in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010, Bloom in 2012,

Depression Cherry in 2015, and 7 in 2018.

With each release, the band pushes the

envelope more and more, exploring even

less tangible themes and further obscuring

their meaning. Songs from Beach House,

such as “Master of None,” speak directly to

the feelings associated with specic, though

relatable, events — or, rather, as directly as

Beach House can be. Between wailing synth

and punchy lo- drum patterns, Victoria

chants, “You always go to the parties / To

pluck the feathers off a the birds / On

your knees / I would not beg you please,”

signaling the emotions of indelity of

young lust, or — to speak to something even

more painful — the indelity of a budding,

unrequited love. The idea is reinforced by

a music video showing vignettes of young

adults at a party.

Conversely, on the band’s most mature

release, 7, Legrand’s voice is help captive

by creeping synth, hypnotic chimes, and a

singular looming drum pattern on the

track “Black Car,” cooing, “We want to go

inside the cold / It’s like a tomb, but it’s

something to hold / And in the time before

it ends / When the stiness bends/I skipped

a rock and it fe to the boom.” Even

more perplexing is the accompany music

video, which merely shows close up shots

of a driverless black car. Despite the mystery,

the song transcends concrete experience

into raw thought and sentiment of that which

is a dark, dim void speckled with hints of

linguistic light.

Though there is a clear emphasis on the

texture and density of the sound and music

itself, clearly one of the most intriguing

things about Beach House is their lyrics.

Victoria’s haunting yet hypnotic voice

keeps you enthraed, whilethepoeticbut

punchy lyrics absolutely wreck your brain.

Somehow, the band can articulate seemingly

inexplicable deep human emotion, oen

using single words enshrouded by dreamy

synth or fragments of ctional events

pieced together like some kind of sick montage.

For example, on the track “Space

Song,” Victoria echos, “Fa back into place.”

The lyric has little context, but somehow it

o f f

t o

a d i f

f e


r e n

has so much meaning and feeling. And when

coupled with wavy, beachy synth, you begin

to feel yourself suspended in space, driing

from a place you don’t belong back to where

you came from. As the lyric repeats, you can

visualize the times you overstepped, the

times you took chances and experienced rejection,

the times you thought you weren’t

good enough to be somewhere or be in the

company of someone. A these experiences,

thoughts, and feeling are encapsulated by

this single line. Despite the feelings and

emotions this might evoke, one can nay

take some comfort in realizing they are

not alone in this human experience.

t

w

o r l d

Victoria playing live

on Letterman.

2012

Shots of Victoria from various

international tours.

2012-2018

Despite such haunting, dreamy, and even mysterious lyrics and

imagery, the members of Beach House have been described as

nothing but curious and warm. They joke about their indie fame,

poking fun at the idea of a come down. In fact, Victoria has

admitted that she in no way tries to seem so distant. Rather, the

words and sounds of the band are an attempt to quantify and

articulate intangible feelings and emotions — a catharsis of sorts.

Though this reach sometimes comes across as a jumble of

uninteigiblewordcoages,theysomehowmakeperfectsense

when presented with the whole that is Beach House. Perhaps

Legrand herself put it best when she stated, “It’s a lot easier just

j

u

to feel it.”

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Beach House playing

live at Coachella.

2014


h e a

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Songs on Heartache prompt feelings of

desperation, loneliness, rejection, and

loss. As you listen through each recording,

you wipeekintovignettesofthestages

of a failed romantic relationship — from

the high point of the relationship in

“Somewhere Tonight,” to the point when

things start to sour on “Other People,”

to later bitterness with “Astronaut.” The

variations between slow and aggressive

tempos, partnered with scattered synth

and piano melodies, create the same

neuroticism felt within these events. Join

the record as you, too, romanticize the

nostalgia of a past failed relationship.

This song depicts one moving through flings,

but is left feeling empty. The title relates to

“jack of all trades, master of none” referring

to many lays but lack of a companion.

You always go to the parties

To pluck the feathers off a the birds

On your knees

I would not beg you please

I want your picture but not your words

You know they’d want it but there’s no rst

On your own

You cannot ca it your home


We always rub our hands too much

We know the reasons but such and such

Master of None Beach House 3:19

On your own

You winotcatchyourownbone

We run our ngers together

You know it’s easy

The devil’s plan

On your own

You cannot ca me your own

Jack of a trades

Master of none

Cry a the time

‘Cause I’m not having fun

You always want to be forgiven

The devil does what you ask of him

On your knees

You cannot

You are not for free

Space Song Depression Cherry 5:20

It was late at night

You held on tight

From an empty seat

A ash of light

It witakeawhile

To make you smile

Somewhere in these eyes

I’m on your side

You wide-eyed girls

You get it right

Fabackintoplace

Tender is the night

For a broken heart

Who widryyoureyes

When it fas apart?

What makes this fragile world go round?

Were you ever lost?

Was she ever found?

Somewhere in these eyes

The song is about isolation

from a lover. She

seems rather somber due

to the fact that her

former lover had never

returned the same

dedication to their

broken relationship.

Fabackintoplace

Out in the heartland I looked in your eyes

Asked are you ready —

Ready for this life?

Did you see it coming?

It happened so fast

PPP Depression Cherry 6:09

Timing was perfect

Water on glass

Like tracing gureseightsoniceinskatessowe

And if this ice should break

It would be my mistake

Between the cities and between the thrills

There’s something inside you

That doesn’t sleep we

It won’t last forever

Or maybe it wi

The white clothes they gave you

You wear them so we

Someone once told me

In love that you must

Place a you’re given

In innite trust

Yet I’m tracing gureeightsoniceinskates

Oh we

And if this ice should break it would be

My mistake

PPP stands for “Piss

Poor Planning”, a term

widely used in the 60’s

and 70’s. The couple in

the song are getting

married, and one of them

is having doubts about

whether or not they were

ready for the plunge.

Walk in the Park Teen Dream 5:23

You go for a walk in the park

Cause you don’t need anything

The hand that you sometimes hold

Doesn’t do anything

The face that you see in the door

Isn’t standing there anymore

In a matter of time

It wislipfrommymind

In and out of my life

You would slip from my mind

In a matter of time

The face that you saw in the door

Isn’t looking at you anymore

The name that you ca in its place

Isn’t waiting for your embrace

The world that you love to behold

Cannot hold you anymore

In a matter of time

It wislipfrommymind

In and out of my life

You would slip from my mind

In a matter of time

More you want more

You te me

More

Only time can run me

This song is about losing someone that you

were in love with and how you move on. The

walk in the park represents a meaningless

activity because you might feel empty and

without purpose after the loss.

Somewhere Tonight Thank Your Lucky Stars 4:14

Pink and blue were dancing

Empty oor

Shadows lancing

Somewhere in a baroom tonight

Red and blue combination

Old man finds elation


Love, see what I see tonight

Let us nd elation


Nowhere on an ordinary night

Pink and blue are representative of a girl

and a boy. They are dancing in a ballroom, but

images of anger and aggression emerge.


This is a look at the

mental state after a

breakup. It describes

the destruction of

looking at love in the

romantic, innocent,

pure way.

The rstthingthatIdo

Before I get into your house

I’m gonna tear off a the petals

From the rose that’s in your mouth

Beyond love

We reaywannaknow

We reay do agree

The last thing that she sees

Before they turn off a the lights

Was there a man up in the corner

Beyond Love Depression Cherry 4:25

You wanted to nd Elvis

And I didn’t understand

They take the simple things inside you

And put nightmares in your hands

Beyond love

With the spiders made of light

Beyond love

AIknow’swhatIsee

And I can’t live without this

Could you ever believe

This man comes to me

Heartbreak did this

He was made to believe

That he should live without it

Beyond love

I reaywannaknow

AIknow’swhatIsee

No change in this

Visions born in the dreams

Of a world le without it

The lyrics discuss the end of a relationship

due to the development of feelings towards

other people.

Other People Bloom 4:25

So you thought it would happen

Good love, goodbye

I know where no one can reach you

It’s your world — why would you fake it

These days go by as you turn around

Other people want to keep in touch

Something happens and it’s not enough

Never thought that it would mean so much

Other people want to keep in touch

Heaven won’t keep us together

Right place at the wrong time

It takes a kinds of weather

Distant new skies

Somewhere nothing can reach us

Was it ever quite enough?

Come over to my house

I’poursometeaforus

One sugar or two

Your hand is right in front of me

Your nger fragile

Holy on my side

This is about coming

home to a long time

lover, but worrying

that the other person

could have moved on.


Faster than an astronaut

Who’s coming home to what

He le long ago

I’ve made this brand new bed for you

Real Love Teen Dream 5:20

I met you somewhere

In a he beneath the stairs

There’s someone in that room

That frightens you

When they go boom

The color you say is black

Is the one you might lack

In the size of your eyes

Is there a righteous prize

There’s something wrong

With our hearts

When they beat pure

They stand apart

In the black room, the light

Watch the seabird fa

Real love

It nds you

Somewhere with your back to it

We know, we know

We belong

By the street and to the dawn

The song depicts the

feelings between two

people who are seemingly

drawn together, but

unable to stay together

long enough for it to

work out.

Astronaut Devotion 5:05

I trust the things we do

Holy or not

Open the gate, ’cause you’re already late

At the end of the lane

Is a glass of lemonade

Keep on the path

When you hear the laugh

In the white of her palm is your heart

I’bebraveforawhile

I won’t bring you down

Any more than you are

Please be my baby

Don’t mean maybe or not

Look out the window

There’s a bright yeow cat

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Melancholy surfaces feelings of existential dread,

indifference, sadness, and longing. Each song

witakeyouthroughadifferentrealm:experience

regret about the past and wasted time with

“Gila,” resurface emotional distance and longing

for understanding on “Myth,” and the act of

performative indifference in “Girl of the Year.”

As you let the waves of haunting guitar and

dark, secretive synth wash over you, you wi

come to peace with these feelings.

Driinginandout

You see the road you’re on

It came roingdownyourcheek

You say just what you mean

And in between

It’s never as it seems

Help me to name it


If you built yourself a myth

The song discusses the

course a person’s life

is taking. When we

finally reach a destination,

it often seems

to never be what we

thought it was.

Myth Bloom 4:19

You’d know just what to give

What comes aer this momentary bliss?

The consequence of what you do to me

Help me to name it

Found yourself in a new direction

Arrows faingfromthesun

Canyon caing

Would they come to greet you

Let you know you’re not the only one

Can’t keep hangin’ on

To what is dead and gone

If you built yourself a myth

You’d know just what to give

Materialize or let the ashes y

Help me to name it

Gila Devotion 4:46

Man you got a lot of jokes to te

So you throw your baby’s pennies

Down the we

Give a little more than you like

Pick apart the past

You’re not going back

Gila…

Sure you’ve got a handle on the past

It’s why you keep your little

Lovers in your lap

You give a little more than you like

Pick apart the past

You’re not gonna last

Don’t you waste your time

Gila…

Hoping for the last ship to arrive

I been blessed with a kingdom, half mine

Gila-la-la…

Gila is a song about a lover who foolishly

thinks that they can recreate the past.

As a result this ends up damaging their

future, and the future of their children.

Zebra Teen Dream 4:49

You know you’re gold

You don’t got to worry none

Oasis child born and so wild

Don’t I know you better than the rest?

Adeceptionfromyou

Your love is stag

In the white sand

Wilderness for miles

Eyes so mild and wise


Adeceptionfromyou

Anyway you run

You run before us

Black and white horse

Arching among us

Your love is stag

In the white sand

Oasis child born into a man


Adeceptionfromyou

A dark and dim song that describes the

familiarity of holding onto something

toxic.

This describes a person who seems melancholy,

untouchable, and altogether alien, but posses

an elusive beauty within them.

Black Car 7 4:11

We want to go

Inside the cold

It’s like a tomb

But it’s something to hold

And in the time

Before it ends

When the stiness bends

I skipped a rock and it fe to the bottom

Each time I’m walking at night

And I can’t close my eyes

I skipped a rock and it fe

Each time

At night

I close my eyes

to the bottom

Drunk in LA 7 3:59

According to Victoria, this song is about “an

old starlet sitting in a bar in the dark by

herself; someone who maybe had an insane life

that no one will know about because there’s

no one to talk to but themselves now.”

Can’t help seeking corners

Of dark and dead end rooms

Where the drinks keep pouring down

And the candles keep me warm

Isolation tenders

Something fragile coming soon

Skinny angels making eyes at cameras

Perched in every room

I had a good run playing horses in my mind

Lemyheartoutsomewhererunning

Wanting strangers to be mine

Memory’s a sacred meat

That’s drying a the time

On a hiside I remember

I am loving losing life

Strawberries in springtime

Pretty happy accidents

My awareness that I’m lucky

Roing clouds over cement

Maybe there’s a screenplay

Or a bathroom I can hide

Down the haways of a high school

And the dances le behind

I would climb the Eiffel Tower

Write letters on the sky

How many turns it took to reach you

I had a good run playing horses in my mind

On a hiside I remember

I am loving losing life

Inspired by Edie Sedgwick, this song

describes the downfalls of stardom and

loneliness and melancholy it can instill.

Girl of the Year 7 3:51

You slide out on sunset

Head west on bedrest

On your own

Get dressed to undress

Depressed to impress

A night long

Turn on the TV

They awannaseemecomeundone

Pick athepetalsoffathedaisies

One by one

The feelings here

The pattern caught in a faing tear

And in the waves

One goes and the other one knows

Baby’s gone

A night long


Tokyo Witch Beach House 3:42

In a dark wintry Tokyo

In the mahjong parlor he waits

Severed past running through his hands

Glory comes to the one who waits

In the haways they’re lying there

In the red blossom of the days

In your arms there is nothing le

Who you are is run away

My whole life is a mystery that I can’t break

Our aims is a Calvary of our mistakes

I would love to heal you now

In a dark wintry Tokyo

In the mahjong parlors they wait

Severed past weaving through their hands

Glory comes to the ones that wait

In the art of the arm

Red blossom of the days

AIwantedtoseeisthatIambetter

AIwanttobelieveisthatIambetter

Round and round

AIwantyoutoseeisthatIambetter

Round and round

Tokyo Witch compares life and relationships

between two characters while playing a game

of Mahjong, a game of bets.

10:37 Depression Cherry 3:49

Chances are like night

You’ disappear

Caught in the atmosphere

Where you go she casts no shadow

Stiyouknowshe’snear

Here she comes

A parts of everything

Stars in the motherhand

With the dark thunder above you

Come to us soaring

Chances are

10:37

House made of the dawn

Disappears

According to the band,

this song is an homage

to toy soldier drum

beats and a subject

that casts no shadow.

The song discusses a

longing for something

or someone, painting

the scene in dreamy,

majestic images.

Bluebird Depression Cherry 3:55


Light that comes upon the ceiling

My mouth

These arms hold a feeling

Even I can’t control my nature

If they should come up much before you

I would not ever try to capture you

Bluebird

Where you gonna go now

Lead me to the gaows

Where out the corner of my eye

There’s something

That’s puing me back

From nothing

Scenes change before they are over

p r

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e

Promise provides a more hopeful outlet, dealing

with emotions pertaining to desires and

anticipations. This record presents only the

chirpiest synth, powerful drum beats, and

hypnotic melody patterns you can dance along

with. From metaphysical empowerment

discussed on “Lemon Glow,” to the reward of

the emotional closeness that comes with act

of caring for another on “Take Care,” to the start

of new beginnings evoked with “Sparks,”

these tracks wihelpservetouplianylistener.

Lazuli Bloom 5:02

This song is a mood piece about Lapis

Lazuli, a rare semi-precious stone.

It evokes the beauty and wonder of

the stone.

In the blue of this life

Where it ends in the night

When you couldn’t see

You would come for me

Wonder eyes, motion high

And we don’t dare slip on by

Make us suffer like no other

Is nothing like lapis lazuli?

Let it go back to me

Like no other you can’t be replaced

Is nothing like lapis lazuli?

Let it go back to me



Wildflower Depression Cherry 3:39

No better color

Looked everywhere

Driving home every night

Shadows stay by your side

You built a city a in your head

Triangle of ever light

It turns you on every night

Need a companion

A hidden prayer

You know you’re not losing your mind

What’s leyoumakesomethingofit

The sky and what’s le above it

The way you want nothing of it

No better color

Look everywhere

Wildower

Depicted in this piece

is the thought of

being unintentional

and organic. The

song considers what it

means to exist free

from overthinking and

redefines freedom.


Read my fortune too

You see through me

This song is about

general mystery and

the empowerment of

one’s mind. The mind

has much to be seen.

Go and explore it.

Lemon Glow 7 4:05

Temewhatyousee

Cross it like a t

It’s athesametome

This game I play — I do it everyday

Then promise i’ be ne

Bear it every time

When you turn the lights down low

Lemon color honey glow

See this state I’m in

Is crawling in my skin

Fevers took me back

And turned me inside out

It’s what you do

This pus me through

To the other end where it begins

Stiit’scomingback

I come alive

You stay a night

You feel it coming right through you

The color of your mind

You feel it coming right through you

It’s on the other side

It doesn’t have to be this way


It’s what you do

This pus me through

I come alive

Candy-colored misery


Dive 7 4:25

Te her something

Tehernothing

Teherthatyou’rewaiting

And I know you like it

So you try to hide it

I was looking out the window

Athepeoplewaiting

Te her something

Tehernothing

Teherthatyou’refading

And I know you like it

So you try to hide it

And you know I like it

So I dive to nd it

In eyes, lost in confusion

Golden hearts, le a iusion

Is it my imagination?

Shadow, icker creation

In high over the ocean

Waves crash

Mechanical motion

Le a iusion

Says Victoria, “You can listen to Dive and

feel whatever you want—be that rebirth, where

you’re on the point of a change—it’s the

politics of nature, the predestined, inevitable

sign-waves of things.”

The way this song keeps going until it leaves

you or you leave it signals meanings about

the future. The song discusses promises to take

care of someone, even if they have to wait

until a future date.

Take Care Teen Dream 5:48

Stand beside it

We can’t hide the way you make us glow

It’s no good unless it grows

Feel this burning love of mine

Deep inside the ever spinning

Teme,doesitfeel

It’s no good unless it’s real

Hisides burning

Wild-eyed turning

Til we’re running from it

I’d take care of you

If you’d ask me to

In a year or two

You say swimming in the lake

We’comeacrossasnake

It is real and then it’s fake

Feel its heartbeat

Feel what you heat

Far so fast

It feels too late

I’d take care of you

That’s true

Alien Alien 4:03

City night

White on white in your eyes

Steals your gaze

Anything

Before it steals away

Paper dosonthewires

Set on re

Take each coal between us

Takes us a away

Sorry, sometimes I get carried

Up on the movie screen

Black beauty limousines for you

These dreams of chasing days

Fake owerstothegraveforyou

Helpless and glimmering

Dear some days, up a night with you

Sorry, sometimes

I get carried away

Sorry

I get carried away

This piece considers

the idea of leaving

everything behind and

being taken away—with

nothing to hold you back.

away


You and me

With our long hair on the gold wa

Aermidnightwecouldfeelita

I’d go anywhere you want to

You should see

There’s a place I want to take you

When the train comes I wi hold you

’Cause you blow my mind

"Levitation" transcends the worldly body

and suggests elevating one’s mind to a

far out dreamscape.

Levitation Depression Cherry 5:55

On the bridge

Levitating ’cause we want to

When the unknown wi surround you

There is no right time

The branches of the trees

They wi hang lower now

You wigrowtooquick

Then you wigetoverit

There’s a place I want to take you

When the unknown wi surround you

Were you high

When they knocked on the door

Looking for you

Take my hand

As our bodies li up s l o w ly

We drive around this town

Houses melting down

A vision turning green

Is awe’veeverseen

And then it’s dark again

A new development

Wishing that it meant

Something natural

Don’t we know it’s cruel

And it goes dark again

Just like a spark

Haucination comes

Think of everyone

That never shared before

No one around

And then it comes again

And then we’re vanishing

You go to school

You foowatherules

You live inside

Realize there’s something

In your eyes

You’re back again

From the spine rising

Through the mind

You give it up

It’s a gitakenfromthelips

You live again

This song is about denial and belief in the

positive. The narrator denies the obvious,

looking instead to hopeful alternatives.

The heart is a stone

And this is a stone that we throw

Put your hand on this stone

It’s the stone of a home you know

They say we wi go far but

They don’t know how far we’ go

With our legs on the edge

And our feet on the horizon

They say we can throw far but


From my mouth to yours

They don’t know how far we throw

And then it’s dark again

It can’t be gone

This song is dedicated

to the ever changing

nature of life. It suggests

the inevitable

fading and entering of

Sparks Depression Cherry 5:21

people and feelings

in a positive light.

Just like a spark

And then it vanishes

10 Mile Stereo Teen Dream 5:04

We’re sti right here

It took so long

Can’t say we heard it a

Limbs parael

We stood so long we fe

Tear a moment from the days

That carry us on forever

This push and pu is the force

Of a wave of time

In the heat of a night we would cry

You are not mine

Bright pyramids at night

That carry us on forever

Love’s like a pantheon

It carries us on forever

Beach House Collectors Set

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