These are the OFFICIAL lyrics of our proper releases, folks.
If there are typos, they are OFFICIAL typos.

2017: American Goblin, True Romantics
2018: EXPOSURE!
2019: Shapes & Colors, What's Next
2024: Worksong

All words are by Andy Waldron unless otherwise noted.

American Goblin (2017)


01. "Teleplay"

Your red burns through my head
Before I close my eyes
RECORDs of the real world

I had dreams of what seemed, oh-oh
Like the real world, like the real world

You make me watch chemistry
Test patterns that we can't see
It's all that you writ
It's all in the script of the teleplay

I heard they can get by through
Life without drugs, oh-oh
In the real world, like the real world

They don't need to PAUSE their scene
To regain their normalcy
I know, I know, I know, I know

You make me watch chemistry
Test patterns that we can't see
It's all that you writ
It's all in their script of the teleplay

If we're so off, why can't we turn it on?
Going through motions 'till we break static dawn
Channel flipping, tidal-shifting, should we STOP?

(back to the top)


02. Capoeira Class
Words by Alex Mercuri and Andy Waldron

Don't feel bad, it's really not your fault
I just hate everyone when I'm alone too long
And I can try and dance around it all
But I can't be cool if I'm dodging your calls
Fell asleep at the bar and woke up in
Capoeira Class
I was wearing your lipstick, I think
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class

You left your eyelash on my chest
I kept it there -- love being your mess
Tried to sleep but potential's in my head
Stared at the wall while thoughts ran 'round the bed

Fell asleep at the bar and woke up in
Capoeira Class
I was wearing your lipstick, I think
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class
Capoeira Class

(back to the top)


03. American Goblin
Words by Alex Mercuri and Andy Waldron

Down, down in the underground, he's looking so profound
Lack of chill with a five band bill he booked
These guys from out of state are running unfashionably late
The American Goblin hobbles back to look

And see if Suzy Lee has answered his eight texts
While his PA plays some Replacements
Complains in vain to some friend through his vape pen,
"This is what The Scene's all about: none of the twist but all of the shout!"

"Come thru!"
"Come thru!"

You can tell by the overalls, devilock, insecurity
All he's sewn proudly on his sleeve
Halfway through a Facebook post, beggin' for community
She walks on by with a bass, his gaze reaches to her knees

Asks the girl in the Erg t-shirt if she's heard of Mikey Erg
She sighs and rolls her eyes, see ya's and beelines
He can't believe she's the instrumental lead
The only thing built to spill out his dictionary mouth:

"Come thru!"
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)

"Please, please, please, let me be misunderstood"
"She's actually pretty skillfully"
"Tattoo across my left shoe: Morrissey, Mac, Jeff and Magnum, Brian"
"Tattoo across my left shoe: Rivers, Issac, Henry"

He'll gargle his strife to cut through the noise like a butter knife
In a funhouse mirror to an audience of one
We'll bite our tongues to sing without doing anything
Pay to play our place, the space is safe if it is for him

Well, whatcha gonna do?
"Come thru!"
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)
"Come thru!" (Please, please, please, let him be misunderstood)
"Come thru!"

(back to the top)


04. "Science Fiction / Double Feature"
Words by Richard O'Brien

Michael Rennie was ill the day the Earth stood still, but he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear; Claude Rains was The Invisible Man
Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong, they got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace, it came from outer space, and this is how the message ran...

Science fiction, double feature
Doctor X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh
At the late night double feature picture show

I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel when Tarantula took to the hills
And I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills
Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes, and passing them used lots of skills
But when worlds collide, said George Pal to his bride,
"I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills"
Like a...

Science fiction (oh oh oh) double feature (wanna go)
Doctor X (oh oh oh) will build a creature (RKO)
See androids fighting (oh oh oh) Brad and Janet (the back row)
Anne Francis stars in (oh oh oh) Forbidden Planet
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh
At the late night, double feature, picture show, I wanna go!
At the late night, double feature, picture show, in the back row
Oh oh oh, to the late night, double feature, picture show

(back to the top)



True Romantics (2017)


01. "Behave"

Hello, hello, hello, is this first time that you're here?
The dead look in your eyes tells me this is not too queer for you

You dress so vanilla but you've made the switch
From one who follows orders to the office bitch
You choose to abuse the exact same way
Your boss does to you with a higher salary

The whips, the chains, the tension enslaves
The lips remain, directions, behave
The whips, the chains, the tension enslaves
The lips remain, directions, behave

Tied around your collar is the sweat of all your peers
Cufflinked in your H.R.? A report of all your fears

You walk around on fours like an Irish bull
You made sure to consent 'cause you're not an animal
You tag the motivational poster to say:
"There's power in love, but not the other way"

The whips, the chains, the tension enslaves
The lips remain, directions, behave
The whips, the chains, the tension enslaves
The lips remain, directions, behave

The whips, the chains, the tension enslaves
The lips remain, directions, behave
The hips, the brain, the tension enslaves
The whips remain, directions, behave

(back to the top)


02. "Half-Life"
Words by Alex Mercuri and Andy Waldron

Hooked up to a sensor just to show you how I feel
The words they just come easier prescribed

Something unidentified, sometimes I feel the same
The half life's getting shorter every day

There's something in our skies my lizard brain cannot convey
Exhausting to explain the way the saucers rise and fade

Another half-life! Another half-life!
Another half-life! Oh-oh!
Another half-life! Another half-life!
Another half-life! Oh-oh!
Another half-life! Another half-life!
Another half-life! Oh-oh!

(back to the top)


03. "Young Adult Novel"

Do you ever feel like the walls they built around our town
Are a bit too high and are never coming down?
Do you ever feel like the broadcast systems that play on the hour
Are a bit too loud to resist 'em?

'Cause I've been watching, and they've been talking
And we've been wanting to get away from the fallen

Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Or is that just the bottle?

Do you ever feel like the feeling when we hold hands
Is, uh, somethin' indescribable to any of our friends?
Do you ever feel like there's some narrow narrative that we're supposed to follow --
Some heteronormative imperative?

'Cause I've been watching and they've been talking
And we've been wanting to get away from the fallen

Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Or is that just the bottle?

If you're the chosen one they seek
If you're the king, I'll be your queen
If you're the sunken hero, I'll be the comic relief

The speech you gave at the promenade
Knocked us over with a wind that could blow the good wall down
My fear lies in the aftermath
Well, do you have a plan? (And do you ever feel?)
You know, I'd hate to ask, is any of this real?

Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Do you ever feel like we're living in a dystopian young adult novel?
Or is that just the bottle

That you refused and I did drink
For all these thoughts, I doublethink:
Why'd we disappear when it's damn near utopian here?

(back to the top)


04. "Teleplay"

Your red burns through my head
Before I close my eyes
RECORDs of the real world

I had dreams of what seemed, oh-oh
Like the real world, like the real world

You make me watch chemistry
Test patterns that we can't see
It's all that you writ
It's all in the script of the teleplay

I heard they can get by through
Life without drugs, oh-oh
In the real world, like the real world

They don't need to PAUSE their scene
To regain their normalcy
I know, I know, I know, I know

You make me watch chemistry
Test patterns that we can't see
It's all that you writ
It's all in their script of the teleplay

If we're so off, why can't we turn it on?
Going through motions 'till we break static dawn
Channel flipping, tidal-shifting, should we STOP?

(back to the top)


05. "No More Heroes"

To idolize and lionize, to elevate or alienate
To speak truth to power when their truth is hate
When they can't be bothered to fairly pay the sewers
Of fatal curtain calls in their safe space

No! No more heroes
No! No more heroes
In a culture of comic books, here's the lesson you can take:
No more heroes 'till we all get capes

When the Duke and his horsemen storm the castle at night
When the only lesson they can teach to the working classes is to blow out this little light
Your silence is a siren I can't make out
From all this white noise in Dolby Surround

No! No more heroes
No! No more heroes
In a culture of comic books, here's the lesson you can take:
No more heroes 'till we all get capes

So forgo and embrace your reality 'cause you know it needs some love
When the phone booth to change consists of windowpanes -- nowhere to run
Become a vessel and levitate us to a higher ground
Learn when to shut your mouth and when to join the chorus and shout

No! No more heroes
No! No more heroes
In a culture of comic books, here's the lesson you can take:
No more heroes 'till we all get capes

No! No more heroes
No! No more heroes
'Till the institution of discrimination meets its crumbling fate
No more heroes 'till we all get capes

(back to the top)


06. "True Romantics

We choose to violate what we used to hide
We have a knack to wrestle it back through pantomime
Ain't it something to be: a kindhearted oddity?
It seems what's next isn't as clear cut as it seems

And I don't ask for much
And I don't want much more
Than all of you on the floor

If everything's up for grabs, you better get first pick
I'll take the public display while you affect the transit
Ain't it something to be: some kind of curatorial me?
Who says a collage don't got soul when the bits came from a whole?

And I don't ask for much
And I don't want much more
Than all of you on the floor

Gunpowder as foundation: the true romantic trust
You'll find your guts when you make kingdom come for once

And I don't ask for much
And I don't want much more
Than all of you on the floor
And we don't ask for much
And we don't want much more
Than all of you on the floor

(back to the top)


07. "Sweet Talkin' the Void"
Words by Alex Mercuri and Andy Waldron

You make me feel dumb in the best way
And I could stare all night and read what you say
My heart is sunk, before it wrecks
I lick the envelope with my baited breath

It's like we're falling into something real
But babe we're so beyond that tired, old lust
So let's make like shadows on the wall
And get vicarious

Sweet talkin' the void
Profess your love in a vacuum
Means nothing at all
Kind of fun to lay it all on you
So here we go

Sweet nothings, specters of affection
Haunt the LED's, but babe I'm crashin'
Crush the glass, try to see it clearer
But what's underneath looks like a mirror

It's like we're falling into something real
But babe we're so beyond that tired old lust
So let's make like we're our only ones
And get vicarious

Sweet talkin' the void
Profess your love in a vacuum
Means nothing at all
Kinda fun to lay it all on you

She said that you only like it because you can project yourself on me
(You only like it because you can project yourself)
She said that you only like it because you can project yourself on me, a prototype for something real
At least, I think she'd say that

(back to the top)


08. "Formaldehyde"

Oh my love, it's been so long since you've spoke your mind
When your jaw unhinges you leave a few stitches in my side
Oh my love, it's been so long since we've seen any sun
So hold me close 'cause what's a funeral without any fun?

If I could have my way, I'd sew your eyes from lookin' anywhere else than at mine

Formaldehyde to keep this love lookin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love from burnin' alive

Oh my love, it's been so long since we took the time
Remember how when we wrote our vows we forgot a punchline
Oh my love, I wouldn't say our flame has died
But all our friends are pitchin' in and buying black ties

I got some baby's breath and buttercup, so slap some lipstick to make it up

Formaldehyde to keep this love lookin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love from burnin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love lookin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love from burnin' alive

We cannot DENY the ANGER that's been
Pervading our hearts, kept us BARGAININ'
To REASON our sin

Nothing can hide a deep DEPRESSION
To unspool the lie, we must admit our deficits
Nothin' could stop Lazarus, EXCEPT--

Formaldehyde to keep this love lookin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love from burnin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love lookin' alive
Formaldehyde to keep this love from burnin' alive
Ooh

(back to the top)


09. "Strong Enough"

Do you want me? Is my love allowed?
Do you want me? Then come on, show me how

Here's a match, strike the fire
Burn it down if you desire
This is a notice of introspection
In your self-described imperfections, I find affection (oh)

Do you want me? Is my love allowed?
Do you want me? Then come on, show me how

You put the heart in a cage wen you need to
You are the architect, can't curb the beat too
Strong enough to affect me
You're strong enough to reject me

So, do you want me? Is my love allowed?
Do you want me? Then come on, show me how
Do you want me? Is my love allowed?
Do you want me? Then come on, show me how

(back to the top)


10. "Orbit"

Withered, tattered truth in winter
Red and white delivers the space to say
Warmth lies underneath your dead eyes
Running thoughts crystalize -- come at no surprise

Our lips in orbit
Our lips in orbit
Our lips in orbit

Heavy pressure left you weary
Pushed me towards some theory
Led to an eclipse
When there's doubt about our distance
Shadows cross in the midst of changing light
(Don't lose sight!)

Our lips in orbit
Our lips in orbit
Our lips in orbit

So I cling to the orbit and try not to stray
As we get further from each other everyday
You brought the sun when it felt man-made
It feels like summer again

So I cling to the orbit and try not to stray
As we get further from each other everyday
It will never seem so far away knowing we'll be close again

(back to the top)



EXPOSURE! (2018)


01. "Exposure"

I'm immersive, subversive, incomplete
Innovative, come come rinse me then repeat
Always lookin' for more, I disassociate to get closer
Celebrate the status quo 'till it hurts no more
I lust chaos 'till it finds me

You want exposure
You got exposure

Can't connect so I bought a submarine
I sink in my teeth 'till I finally feel deep
Apply me to your community
Investigate and participate 'till I find harmony

You want exposure
You got exposure
You want exposure
You got exposure

You want exposure
You got exposure

(back to the top)


02. "Do You Like Sonic Youth?"
Words by Alex Mercuri and Andy Waldron

Do you like Sonic Youth?
I've been trying to get to them too
I saw Lee Ranaldo at Kino Kimino
So I figured I'd ask you, where should I start?
'Cause I only know "Superstar"
Is there someone I gotta prove?
And so I wanted to ask you

Do you like Sonic Youth?
I got Kim Gordon's memoir
Haven't read it yet, but it's spent sunsets way back in the armoire
Next to a copy of "M Train" lying on my bedside and my Mike Kelley MoMA PS1 Exhibition Guide
If I buy five of your zines, can I be a part of your scene, and do they like Sonic Youth?

Hey, you in the Guided By Voices t-shirt, you know, every time I try to ask someone where I should start listening to that band, they give you, like, SIX albums.
And, you know what? I don't have the time or energy to listen to, like, SIX.
I mean, I got bills, I got thrills – I'm just tryna listen to music that my friends believe in so maybe I could understand them a little better, y'know?
But it's people like you and your gatekeeping crew, with your BIG record collections that are just bringing me down, man.

Do you like Sonic Youth?
They've been hounding me all my life!
They've influenced every band I like since they blew up in marital strife
I've heard Thurston's a bad guy and I know all punk's not white
But I think context is vital, so I'll be sure not to idolize

See no evil
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
See no evil
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
See no evil
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
See no evil
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
See no evil
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
(Hear no evil)

(back to the top)


03. "(This Is) The Dream of Alan and Mike"

Surreal, don't you feel?
Our lives pictured in more than one reel
This scene, it seems the perfect backdrop to our sanity

All this construction, brick by brick, seam by seam
I could barely function
You knew the, you knew the --

I just don't know
If I hope so
Maybe there's no
I just hope so

Extremes, between the only life for me
Making calls to action, exhausting and thrilling

All this construction
Brick by brick, scene by scene
I could barely function
You knew the, you knew the --

I just don't know
If I hope so
Maybe there's no
I just hope so

I just don't know
If I hope so
Maybe there's no
I just hope so

(back to the top)


04. Cold War Love Song

We were planning some kind of future, but it's hard to think things last
in a nation of daily trauma and flags kept at half mast

It's a sensual world with nothing in it
You want something more, less business

My heart beats like an SOS to your caress
We can find the courage to help each other forget for a little while

You know the codes to make me go nuclear
You whisper to me all the kinks in your armor

I scratch letters on your parchment skin
You undress my inhibitions
When doomsday comes, I'll be blessed to possess your last breath

My heart beats like an SOS to your caress (to your caress)
We can find the courage to help each other forget for a little while

My heart beats like an SOS to your caress (to your caress)
We can find the courage to help each other forget for a little while

(For a little while)
(For a little while)

My heart beats like an SOS to your caress (to your caress)
We can find the courage to help each other forget for a little while
My heart beats like an SOS to your cold war song's caress (caress)
We can find the courage to help each other forget for a little while

(For a little while)

(back to the top)



Shapes & Colors (2019)


01. "I Can See Them Too"

Another cold address from the inner jock you try to suppress
The monsters, your closet, emerge from your mirror in excess

I can see them too
Oh, I can see them too

Reflections, the tv, look similar to your entropy
Urban, hot topic chic, the plastic tags poke you in the cheeks

I can see them too
Oh I can see them too

Forgo the apathy, kick 'em over the lowest bar of morality
It may be hard to believe, but you can change all that you see

I thought I was alone
Now I see you
And I can see them too

(back to the top)


02. "Tracy"

Tracy's a socialist
Everybody knows this
She hurt (uh-oh) her wrist
Punching all the bigots

On every Saturday
She contemplates runnin'
Away from all of this
Everybody knows it

She remembers a time
Getting drunk in her
Prime challenging all the
Patrons to arm wrestl--

(--in')vestigating the
Muscles on her opponents
Suddenly the
Weekly fight strong too long

Tracy maced her way out of the crowd because it just got too loud

On every Saturday
She contemplates runnin'
Away from all of this
Bless her, she doesn't

She said,
"As long as the moon keeps the tide,
The mockingbird keeps your time,
And something soon will keep your mind occupied, occupied"

(back to the top)


03. "The Battle of Sugarhill"

Lady, I was lonesome all right
The day Elvis died
The kingdom overthrown by the throes of disco
I had to enlist that night

Dahl, Meier, and I
Donned His gold lame like men who fight
Against enemies of nobodies with
Mirrorball bombs and lights

You know you gotta believe
Pray loud enough 'till they scream

Marching with our crimson platform shoes
Kneeling on our velvet leather pews

Took on Sugarhill
Dahl scoffed, "Oh, this landfill?"
I asked if he'd been, but he just grinned and rung his decibel

Bearing flags of artistry, we were screamin' like an infantry
They're ready to shock? i'd die on this rock and take back our industry

You know you gotta believe
Pray loud enough 'till they bleed

Marching with our crimson platform shoes
Kneeling on our velvet leather pews
Running from the sirens in our tights
Dancin' in a battlefield of lights

Marching with our crimson platform shoes
Kneeling on our velvet leather pews
Poppers and romance
This is your last dance

(back to the top)


04. "Tape Measure"

Was it real, what you made me feel?
Been so long, like an older song
A dial tone, leave me alone
Like an EKG flatlining

Oh, was it real, what you made me feel?
Steps down the stairs: a beat that left me scared
A dial tone, leave me alone
Like an EKG, I'm flatlining

Bangin' on the door, do I need you anymore? (Oh, was it real?)
Bangin' on the door, do you need--

(I love you endlessly, I worry endlessly)
(I love you endlessly, I worry endlessly)
(I love you endlessly, I worry endlessly)
(I love you endlessly, I worry endlessly)

New lock on the door, I don't need you anymore (Oh, was it real?)
Bangin' on the door, get away!

Oh, was it real, what you made me feel?
It's been so long, like an older song
A dial tone, leave me alone
Like an EKG, I'm flatlining

(back to the top)


05. "Kick the Can"

Kick the can, honey, if you can
Tonight we'll light a match, run away when we get the chance

Kick the can, baby, if you can
Close your eyes and count to ten: all your friends are young again

Mr. Cox will say, "You have to stay sedate"
But while they doze, we'll keep him on his toes

Kick the can, honey, if you can
Tiddlywinks, a game of jacks, in the box, we'll have our chance

Kick the can, baby, if you can
Maybe buy back the time we spent in breadlines
Oh-oh-whoa

You should've seen Ben's face
("How'd you get this way?") "How'd you get this way?"
We lost our age, now he can't stay up late

(back to the top)


06. "Bugchild"

I touched my chest and felt it pour
The wound it bled, my vessels sore
My nurse traced it back through my veins
Said I wasn't taking care of my stubborn brain

Chieftain and his boyfriend Max
Said I should try and go relax
They got all our information
So someone has it when we're all gone

You live so close to where I was born
You picked up takeout, hey, thank you
This could absorb the nuke, jet lag
You were always my fave airbag

There's something in the air, can't you see?
The purple mountains majesty
The yellow corn, the orange sky
The galaxies when you close your eyes

I'm not scared anymore to break bread
'cause the world ain't cruel it's the one in my head

I will stare at the ceiling 'till the roof collapses and I'm far, far away
I will stare at the ceiling 'till the roof collapses and I'm far, far away

(back to the top)


07. "Jeff Leaves the Planet"

This is a horror story already in progress
Of how little, deviant me got his heart cut out his chest

It wasn't easy, you put up a fight
But that all changed when I turned on the light

The dotted lines were such a give of your fright

Do you care for the skeletons in your closet?
They say don't bite the hand that feeds, you but what about the lip?
Politics makes strange bedfellows, eh?
Well, life is strange and getting stranger everyday

Does it feel like my face when yours is against the glass?

And when Jeffrey leaves the planet on his spaceship burnin' cash,
Will you still be the one lookin' for my sorry ass?

(back to the top)


08. "Shapes & Colors"

Shapes and colors!
Gossip in the lake, in the lake!

All I can see are shapes and colors
All I can see is now or never
Light this candle, wait for Godot

All I can see are shapes and colors
Follow them as they dance and flutter
Making no mistakes and the taste money makes

All I can see are shapes and colors
There is nothing left to discover
On one fine day, the child's walking away

All I can see are shapes and colors
Now I know there can be no other reality for you and me
For you and me!

Shapes and colors!
Shapes and colors!
Shapes and colors!
Gossip in the lake, in the lake!
Shapes and colors!
Shapes and colors!
Shapes and colors!
Gossip in the lake, in the lake!

In the lake, in the lake!

(back to the top)


09. "Time Travel"

I'm sending you a message, did it work?
I know I left such a mess back on Earth
Not just your chemistry, our gravity's heavy
It brings us down and I love reaching out

So don't go…

Learned I can time travel every day
Going through the motions, sickness stays
When it's bad it leaves a bruise, when it's good I think of you
In the middle, all the ad jingles remain

I'll go, the sandbox waits
You're a ghost, I'm Hemingway

Play with my friends 'cause it's not the end yet
I'm just so mad and tired...

(back to the top)



What's Next (2019)


01. "What's Next"

Tell me what's next
Show me what's next
Gimme what's next
I wanna control

Tell me what's next
Show me what's next
Gimme what's next
Fuck the past 'till I raise its son

Talking to God in a messy room
Askin' her if she can remind me tomorrow
About all the doom

Tell me what's next
Show me what's next
Gimme what's next
"It'll all equal out!"
"Both sides have a mouth!"

Tell me what's next
Show me what's next
Gimme what's next
I wanna control

(back to the top)


02. "Motorcade"

(A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B)
This is the hand that made mistakes
Caressing you like a rattlesnake
It's a-go-go, shimmy and a shake, I know

You take your shot between the eyes
Now I'm your big ticket prize
It's a-go-go, shimmy and a shake, I know

Oh-oh, oh-oh
You're my, you're my

You're my motorcade, you're my motorcade, you're my motorcade, you're my
You're my (A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B, A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B)
You're my motorcade, you're my

P-p-pay for your pills and your TV state
Pay for your land and security
Is it too much to ask the same
for watchin' me like the NSA

Come a straight shooter like JFK
Hold onto my hips like the TSA
It's a-gogo, shimmy and a shake, you know

Put the effort in, it's nothing wrong
And I will go down faster than an atom bomb
(A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B)

You're my motorcade, you're my motorcade, you're my motorcade, you're my
You're my (A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B, A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B)
You're my motorcade, you're my

(You're my) A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B
(You're my) A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B
(You're my) A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B
(You're mine) A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B
A-T-O-M-B-O-M-B
You're mine

(back to the top)


03. "Summer Heart"

It was just the other day
You walkin' by my way
While the world was burnin' down
The future was ours, so I was preparing to drown

I can only hear the sins
From an ocean of violins
Crashing over the plain on your behalf
Into the abyss, we kissed between laughs
And you said

You have such a summer heart
Burns out just when it starts
And I don't mean to call you out
But I've seen this sunset too many times to count

Days into months
We found ourselves stuck in such a rut
And by the next rhyme
We seemed to have lost all the time

I can only hear the sins
Of a thousand twangling instruments
I couldn't stand that racket anymore
Why is death the only way to present the strongest case to live?
And you said

You have such a summer heart
Burns out just when it starts
And I don't mean to call you out
But I've seen this sunset too many times to count

It's hard not to regret
All the warmth we spent
Killing time, romanticizing
Donnie, Lux and Clay
While we pray against the light
That dares to turn and fight the dark every day

You have such a summer heart
Burns out just when it starts
And I don't mean to call you out
But I've seen this sunset (too many times to)
But I've seen this sunset
But I've seen this sunset too many times to count

(back to the top)


04. "Peter Pan"

As you look down on the field with
All your lost boys and thimble shield
Do you look back, do you feel glad
To find you wield the same sword that your father had

If you could fly outside yourself
Your spark would have no doubt
We put ashtrays in our airplanes
To put the fires out

I don't mean to intrude into your world
My shrink seems to think you carry a pearl

Tell me Peter, Peter Pan,
What's it like in Neverland?
What's the property tax like?
Is Tinker Bell cat-called all night?

Hey there, Peter, Peter Pan,
You and I share somethin' kid:
You wish you could never grow up,
Sometimes I wish I never did

When literary changes are to difficult to read
Try and analyze, there's no need to feel defeat

Don't shroud yourself in metaphor to buy yourself some time
To find the words to build a world where you and I reside

Refusing to see how we grew closely
Ain't worth looking back and feelin' rosy

Tell me Peter, Peter Pan,
What's it like in Neverland?
What's the property tax like?
Is Tinker Bell cat-called all night?
Hey there, Peter, Peter Pan,
You and I share somethin' kid:
You wish you could never grow up,
Sometimes I wish I never did

I never did!

We can't rewrite the past
But the pain, it won't last
You'll dig deep among the leaves
And find accountability

(back to the top)



Worksong (2024)


01. "Future Relic"

Watch out, in the frame
As I construct my name, you do the same
After two years apart, we share a room
But I've never felt so distant from you
So do,

(Do you want me?)
You're beckoning me to come
(Do you want me?)
But you're the one I'm running from
(Do you want me?)
Maybe this will do the trick
Future relic

Wait up, before we go,
Are you my hand to hold, when I'm alone?
Tell me, who held the reins
When I sang from the couch so everyone got paid?

(Do you want me?)
You're beckoning me to come
(Do you want me?)
But, the grift you give is just a crumb
(Do you want me?)
Maybe this will do the trick
(Do you want me?)
Am I a future relic?

It's a new day: I won't pay to play
It's a new day: I won't pay to play
It's a new day: I won't pay to play

(back to the top)


02. "Ammonia Factory"

Passed out on the floor as the Earth rotates
Each day I'm awake is a failure by the state
Is He looking down upon us
There, chain-smoking on the cross?

I can hear the parked cars snore carbon
'cross from the graveyard, they can fin'lly get some quiet
One awakes, fails to alarm the others
You can scream in this town and no-one bothers

"Hey, you down there, making me look bad,
Where's the drive from when you first applied?"

So I'm here on the floor as each hand rotates
Spending another day at Ammonia Factory
I'd complain, but that won't make me look tough
(Besides) everything's fatal if you wait around long enough

(back to the top)


03. "Sanctify"

Coming down hard, there's something I can't see
Can't be, can't be, can't be, can't be the sound
Got a postcard: a little clarity
Can we, can we, can we, can we, be found?

Watching all the planes go by and wishing one of them was mine
It's enough to make you sanctify, sanctify, c'mon, sanctify, my love

Losing my guard and finally set free
To be, to be, to be, to be homebound
Coming down hard, intensified breathing
Could be, could be, could be, could be left drowned -- profound

In the midst of holy war, your God and Country's less assured
Not enough to get us sanctified, oh no, sanctify, don't you sanctify our love

Watching all the planes go by and wishing one of them was mine
It's enough to make you sanctify, sanctify, c'mon, sanctify, my love

(back to the top)


04. "The Reception in Hell Leaves Something to Be Desired"

Touched by God in the car, reported her to H.R.
They sat us down, we had a talk; told me she was just a jock
Always putting in the care: cushion on an electric chair
I cannot be convinced that there is reform for this

I wanna burn it down like a tidal wave
Throw the lighter and then walk away
Some warm smile I'm meant to leave
With the letter drawn for no-one to read

Always work to be done right when you come undone
Tied up like a surgeon's knot: happy, young, something fraught
The alarm was too loud, so I took the batt'ry out
As smoke filled the room, I could finally take a snooze

I wanna burn it down like a tidal wave
Throw the lighter and then walk away
Some warm smile I'm meant to leave
With the letter drawn for no-one to read

(back to the top)


05. "Relief"

This conveyer belt could run for days but never find relief
I thank God then for its persistence in make, makeshift sheets
To cover all the bruises and the scabs we pick
Stuck knowing that his adhesive is impermanent

It's a dream job that's become a nightmare he can't wake up from
Long as he's exhausted by conditions that have left him numb
We have the ability to heal when they conceal and cast aside the unclad
This conveyer belt could run for days, but, alone, he won't find no relief

Distant drums of impending worksong are rattling these cold, brass gates
If music is your religion, then this is our heresy

(back to the top)


06. "Retail Therapy"

You joked and called me an electric blanket
Technically warm, ultimately synthetic
I thought it was funny, but then I made the choice
To say "I love you" with my customer service voice

You told me to unclench my jaw in bed
I came not with a bang but the exhale of a shift's end
We fold our arms, set our alarms, stare into night's abyss
And dream our dreams in Corporate Memphis

We used to root for office romance on our TV
Now it only reminds me of the work that's due next week
We paid to put a roof over our heads, but now I see
How I never thought to nurture what was underneath

Maybe I'll quit my job and start this song over
Focus on our love and the malaise I have incurred
To chip away not at the flaws, but at the artifice
To uncover the real me, is it covered by your insurance?

(back to the top)

07. "Wallflower" (bonus track)

Is there a party where we can go to where I don't have to feel like shit?
I'd invite you to the one in my head, but you wouldn't like the guests
It's much better here; no one seems rude
All the outlets are happier and the shadows wear swimsuits

Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken
Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken

She thought you were a method actor, I looked down and barked, "No"
Reading the chimes and overheard lines from all your midday soaps
I keep telling myself, like everybody else,
I'm looking for a way to incubate my larvae on the go

Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken
Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken

Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken
Everything is beautiful when you're young and broken

(back to the top)







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