1. |
Budweiser
03:22
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24 Budweiser cans
to drink over the weekend
while I watch Chopped in my basement.
A text to Emma says
“Hey, how are you doing,
and remember we were friends?”
And in a couple days,
I think I’ll be just fine to get back out there in the fray.
And if we’re all alone,
then there’s no need to change or find something clever to say.
Doesn’t mean much anyway.
Need Lamaze class but for men.
My version of birth is seeing old acquaintances.
“What are you doing man?”
“I don’t really know, can we start this over again?”
But it’s mostly in your head.
Walking down the street I mutter,“Life is not so bad”.
See movies on my own,
eat some lunch with Mike and play 2K with Land at home.
And in a couple days,
I think I’ll be just fine to get back out there in the fray.
And if we’re not alone,
then there’s no need to change or hide your feelings as they lay.
Doesn’t matter anyway.
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2. |
Nominee
03:17
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I’m ready to become a rockstar-
I’m already great at the meltdowns
and the divisive personality.
Just give me a couple of people
with low enough expectations.
I bet i’d put on a show to see.
Again, again,
we stumble and look for your friends.
Again, pretend
I’m tired of playing pretend.
I’m ready to become a popstar.
I’m already a dead empty vessel
ready to serve whoever entitles me.
Just give me some clothes and some makeup,
and shine some bright lights in my face.
I’m ready to be pretty.
I’m ready to win my Oscar.
I’m already such a performer .
Lying is kinda just like acting.
Just strip away all my emotions,
then laugh as I cry at the podium.
Accolades barely make me happy.
Again, again,
we stumble and look for your friends.
Again, pretend
Fucking tired of playing pretend.
And then, we’re friends,
until the next time we offend.
Again, pretend
I’m tired of being your friend.
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3. |
Pizza Roles
03:08
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Fly into pieces at the first sign of distress.
Call in the guard to fight off your unrest.
“Get out of bed, son, and clean up this fucking mess.”
You’re inessential,
Central to the void.
You are a blunt tool,
ready to destroy.
You told a story,
It was so boring.
And in the morning,
you’ll hate the words you make.
Fill in the gaps to see the lapse inside your functioning.
Stupid enough to pretend that more shame is luxury.
Fill in the lapse to see the gaps between your two bodies.
Face to the mat, foot in your back.
Reeling around until you find something to prove.
Wait for a place that someone else will choose.
Without the structure, you don’t know what to do.
Crying in baseball,
crying in the car.
You’re driving away,
but you’re not getting far.
At a gas station,
you lost your patience.
Your chips are scattered
across the pavement.
Bored to run across the alleyways;
a chore to navigate.
You think you know your fate.
To hear is what you say.
Everyone knows exactly what to do.
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4. |
Pancakes
04:08
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I spent most of last summer wearing black
And cleaning up puke in a Fridays bathroom
Hoping there must be more to life than that
Sweeping the floor wishing I had a vacuum
So i could suck my problems up
Instead of pushing them away
I’ve had enough I know that much
Still waiting for better days cuz
Nothing’s ever black and white
No matter how flat the pancake it’ll always have two sides
So ask me how I’m doing and I’ll tell you that I’m fine
But the world keeps leaving me behind
I always try to keep on looking up
But all I see is falling birdshit
And even when my best can’t make the cut
And i start to question if it’s even worth it
I won’t allow it to get me down
The way it might have used to
I’ve come around and I know now
That I’m gonna live however I choose to
Nothing’s ever black and white
No matter how flat the pancake it’ll always have two sides
So ask me how I’m doing and I’ll tell you that I’ve won
We’re in the clear pass me a beer the better days have come
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5. |
Mildew
03:10
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Think about the phases that you see at night.
Just about the same, but it isn’t right.
Leaves not falling in autumn,
dogs won’t come when you call them.
Latent manifest the pressures of the day.
Trudging through the traffic just to find a way.
Looking over your shoulder,
chasing after your boulder.
Try to find a way that you can get more free.
Playing with the spaces in the in between.
Freaking a little bit faster,
Breaking out of your plaster.
When flying out of windows starts to feel the same,
you’re looking at your fingers trying to ascertain
some way that you could land and never feel the pain.
For lack of everything trying ever again.
Dad is driving too fast so you look behind
out the back of the car, feel surprised to find
Seams of the dream are showing,
Whites of their eyes are glowing.
Kind of hard to realize there’s no master plan,
so you cash and carry everything you can.
Don’t feel good but I wanna
sleep too long in the summer.
When flying out of windows starts to feel the same,
you’re looking at your fingers trying to ascertain
some way that you could change and never feel the same.
Holding hands with the girl.
Floating over the world.
Next thing that you know you’re waking up again.
Don’t think about it too hard, it’s a
Go up, come back, feel the pain
Lay down, get up, feel the same
I don’t know how to explain
Maybe one day it’ll fade
Even then some things can change.
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6. |
Attention Shoppers
02:34
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Thought I fell in love when I was fourteen.
I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to chase that feeling.
But i’ll never feel as tired as I am now,
eyes glued open, staring up at the ceiling.
And I think that I would drive across the country
just to plunge my car into the fucking ocean.
And I’d never see another human being
just to show the world my true devotion.
Well, I guess if i am really such a loner
I should shed my things and move up to the mountains.
When I finally get some Divine Inspiration
I think I’d look up the sky, and hear a voice that just says, “Don’t.”
I was a teenage nihilist.
No, wait, I was a teenage bore.
I was a baby shitting his pants,
and now I’m still no more mature.
I guess that was the mistake,
22 year long piss take,
and it’s hard to keep thinking
when your thoughts are a headache.
He’s in his feelings again.
He’s scaring all of his friends.
See, that’s just what the world needs.
More angry white men.
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7. |
Rubberneck
03:09
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Wake up on a pile of clothes
And my bags already packed
Don’t remember doing that
Why am I still wearing my socks
No alarm its 8 o’clock
This must be some act of god
Keep your eyes straight ahead
I despise you rubberneck
Don’t concern with them
They all wanna see you dead
Go for a swim in the red sea
Of a hundred growing lights
Average speed of 25
Feels like I’m jogging in place
So much time lost track of states
I’ll never get home at this rate
Keep your eyes straight ahead
I despise you rubberneck
Don’t concern with them
They all wanna see you dead
They all wanna see you dead
Keep your eyes straight ahead
I despise you rubberneck
Don’t concern with them
They all wanna see you dead
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8. |
Wet Spot
03:07
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You’re going to the show to see some band
but as soon as you walk in
Some motherfucker is there
Waiting to get under your skin.
Power, scene trash, not caring.
Hands on your back, we’re staring
at the places we escape to find it’s only just the same.
I’m going to the bar
With my buddies just do have a drink, but, wait.
One too many
And the night has turned into dystopian hellscape.
Gin and tonics, we’re sipping
Watch out, wet spot. You’re slipping,
Head cracks open on the floor and then
They all leave you for dead.
Cuz your accessible space
is filled with unsafe faces,
but the posturing is nice.
Cuz when we harbor abuse
We’ve got nothing to lose
But they are going to pay the price.
Cuz your accessible space
is filled with unsafe faces,
but the posturing is nice.
Cuz when we harbor abuse
We’ve got nothing to lose,
Or, are we going to pay the price?
Don’t be like them,
I promise.
If I don’t act,
this song is all some bullshit
I’m no better than the ones I rail against.
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9. |
Pistachio
02:41
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It makes me happy
That I can say
I’m never gonna see that girl again
Throw off my chains
Set me free
I’m never gonna live in that world again
And I know, I know, I’m not coming home
She held me under
I held my breath
Sometime I gotta come up for air
I couldn’t take it
Another minute
So I got the hell out of there
Now I’m living in a place where she can’t get to me
Feels so good to know she’s gone
And I don’t care what she said to me
And I never will again from this point on
Now I’m not perfect
I’ve got my problems
Got a whole lot less without her
And I take pity
On the next guy
Who probably still thinks he so lucky he found her
Now I’m living in a place where she can’t get to me
Feels so good to know she’s gone
And I don’t care what she said to me, she’s dead to me
And I never will again from this point on
No never again from this point on
No never again from this point on
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10. |
Every Night
04:16
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Erudite, anodyne.
Take a stub, get in line.
Look at your phone until you get up to the front.
Picaresque, picturesque.
Post it all for their interest.
But they don’t like it cuz it’s not in the right font.
Well buddy, if you’ve got something to lose,
it’s the methods and disguises that you use
to shield the fact that what you’ve really got
isn’t that much more at all, but still a lot.
Cuz I feel so insecure,
but I know what I can be.
Look at them, their fists are shaking
cuz it’s not there for the taking.
But these assholes, they don’t know
what’s good for me.
Curb appeal, fallow field.
Pastoral just to reveal
that you can really rock a pair of overalls.
Passively, pensively.
Ate in Europe just to see
that it’s no better than a pretzel from the mall.
Well, if there is something grand to comprehend,
it’s that there is no amount that you can spend
to make them act the way they think you should-
and even so, why would you if you could?
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Middle Relief New Jersey
Like so many other things, Middle Relief was borne out of the curious need for a creative outlet for a bunch of dudes in a suburban New Jersey basement.
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