1. |
Tread On Us
04:11
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High as a drone, bald as an eagle
Monday, Tuesday, everyday people
They know freedom ain’t free, there’s a $2 cover
To come watch a weeknight blend into another
Here comes that feelgood nervous breakdown that gets me every time
I try to be here in person, try to stay out past nine
Feel that white-hot country panic, every single song says,
This is who I am, this is what I want
And they say more of it
And they say don’t hide it
And they say you’ll love it
If baby, you just try it
Now I read all the latest fistfights and the entertainment news
‘Bout who makes $60 a night to pour peroxide on the blues
When they stop through on their way to Portland or LA
Sign our bathroom walls, while we’re circling the drain
And there’s a TV from the 90s, still flickers in the dark
As all the evening anchors read the news from where we aren’t
How pretty people get in trouble, pretty people get ahead
And fill the pretty magazines (most of ours are filled with lead)
And they say more of it
And they say don’t hide it
And they say you’ll love it
If baby, you just try it
My country tis of thee, but she don’t look at me
No she don’t look at me, she never looks at me
Just stares right out the window with contempt across her face
With a scab on every knuckle and a keyring hung with Mace
So stagger back to where you parked and hope your window isn’t smashed
You sometimes carry heat but you try not to carry cash
And now the air is getting heavy and the pavement shiny wet
And we’re all standing in the puddle of the bullets that we’ve sweat
And they say more of it
And they say don’t hide it
And they say you’ll love it
If baby, you just try it
And so leave your tears
Leave them in the dust
Baby, angels fear
To tread on us
Tread on us
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2. |
Chocolate Kerosene
03:27
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Drove all the way to Napa for a $15 burger
Wiped the ash off of the hood and fed the meter on the corner
Let me go, let me go
Had my two feet on the sidewalk and my spirit trying to quit me
I was standing in the sunlight wishing I could feel it hit me
Wasn’t close, not even close
This world been dipped in chocolate kerosene
Drove up and down the valley as the smoke poured off the mountains
Gather all of your prescriptions, throw your nickels in the fountains
Call it hope, call it hope
‘Cause staying put is suicide and leaving’s close to torture
Eden’s getting past its prime, they’re gonna burn the orchard
Got to go, you have to go
This world been dipped in chocolate kerosene
And time’s a hungry flame beneath our feet
Maybe someday in the push and pull
I’ll crawl out of this burning bowl
And wonder why I ever cared
When smoke rose in my rear view mirror
But I care, I care, I care, I care
Because every place I’ve been to makes me start to wonder whether maybe
I could never wander farther than you’d throw a feather
Baby, throw, I don’t know
‘Cause this world been dipped in chocolate kerosene
And time’s a hungry flame beneath our feet
This world been dipped in chocolate kerosene
If you’re prepared to burn, I guess it’s sweet
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3. |
40.566, -122.311
01:09
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4. |
Late Bloomer
03:25
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They told me
The road to hell is paved with fake IDs
You couldn’t help but take one off the street
See if it’d get you through the door
Why would you wait your turn?
There are so many ways to live and learn
Lover left you with a freezer burn
But you can’t feel it anymore
But that’s the way it goes
The faster that you grow
The faster you’ll end up flat on the ground
I ain’t a thing like you
I think you probably knew I was
Just barely old enough to let you down
The petals fall
You see your old friends in the checkout stalls
You say you’re fine and hide the Tylenol
And they pretend that they don’t see
You hate their wedding gowns
That roll of measure tape that’s wrapped around
The waist of every girl who’s still in town
And you pretend you’re walking free
So if you wanna self destruct
Then go and self-destruct
And blow this neighborhood to smithereens
No use to take your time
Keep clinging to the vine
While everyone you know is withering
Must not have gave a damn
When you reached for my hand that night
No, you weren’t looking for a graceful landing
There’s nothing to repent
I was scared back then
Now I’m just scared to be the last one standing
Late bloomers are the true survivors
Late bloomers barely know their friends
Late bloomers turn to nine-to-fivers
Late bloomers worry how it ends
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5. |
Purgatory
03:12
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Purgatory, CA
Local ER, Friday night
Saline coming down in torrents
Sunburned arms with wristbands white
Fractured little conversations
Losing someone ‘bout my age
I remember graduation,
Praying it’d be worth the wait
They said,
Can you see your future now?
Can you see your future clear?
Can you see your future clear?
It’s hard to see it here
I take bad news on an empty stomach
Good news with a grain of salt
I bite my lip ‘till I taste blood
And worry when those sirens call
There’s no cure for boredom, ain’t it
Hard to grow up underage?
But come in here, they’ll call you patient
Whether not you make the wait
They say,
Can you see your future now?
Can you see your future clear?
Can you see your future clear?
It’s hard to see it here
When you’re several worlds away
From the waiting room TV
And peoples’ ways to renovate
Their bodies, homes, and dreams
‘Cause they can see their future now
They can see their future clear
Oh, don’t it look so bright and clear
People they say the future’s now
People say the future’s clear
Oh, they can see the future clear
But they’re not looking here
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6. |
Bootstrap Nation
03:23
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Well, you woke up in a fever
When you was just a kid
Brought you down to the floor, oh lord
And you ain’t ever been up since
But now you gotta, gotta, gotta find you
Something that can pull you through
Cause this is a bootstrap nation —
Ain’t nobody pulling for you
Well, your mama was the corporation
Your daddy loved her through and through
Your daddy, he was blind ambition
Your mama told him what to do
Then one day they sat you down
And they taught you everything they knew
That this is a bootstrap nation —
Ain’t nobody pulling for you
Well, your name’s the only thing they gave you
Before they wrapped you up in fear
And prayed it’d be enough to save you
Before they handed you away down here
‘Cause you were born when the sky was torn
Ain’t ever seen it back to blue
And the world don’t fit between your shoulder blades
Even if you would’ve wanted it to
When those doors swing wide, every woman and child
And man had better know what to do
‘Cause this is a bootstrap nation —
Ain’t nobody pulling for you
‘Cause this is a bootstrap nation —
Ain’t nobody pulling for you
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7. |
Deja Boom
03:13
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Our fire season brides are expecting the worst
Every dry lightning strike, every propane tank burst
Sweet summer dreams turn to ash every year
So hitch up your dress, girl, and cover your ears
Deja boom
Hear the roar of the planes
Another June
In this tinderbox state
Say, “I do”
To the new normal, babe
Again and again and again
Two in the morning, somewhere ‘cross town
Somebody thought they were standing their ground
Somebody else thought they might do the same
Now there’s two white chalk outlines behind caution tape
Deja boom
Hear that shot through the dark
Where were you
When they closed down the bar?
Local news
Breaks the same repertoire
Again and again and again
The headlines are wrapped into circles of words
And stuffed in a bag and left out on the curb
As the world keeps on turning itself inside out
We’ve been here before and we’ll see you next round
So go mow your lawn and fold up your sheets
And hope your town skips out on fate for a beat
Keep repetitive stress from grinding you down
Nuclear families, powder keg towns
Deja boom
Feel the blood in your ears
Live in truth
Though the truth tastes like fear
Always knew
That it could happen here
Again and again and again
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8. |
Hope These Days
05:02
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Saw it there before your eyes
World exploded into noise
And from the ashes you will rise
But it ain’t like you have a choice
The things that pass for hope these days
Bad times don’t last but good things break
So sift through ash for cups and plates
The things that pass for hope these days
From every corner people heard
And pressed their hearts to retina screens
It’s good to know they know it hurts
Still don’t know the hell it means
The things that pass for hope these days
Bad times don’t last, or so they say
So stack your cans and powdered eggs
The things that pass for hope these days
I just need a little laugh
I just need to sleep tonight
I only took a half a tab
I only need to know you’re fine
The things that pass for hope these days
Bad times don’t last, some scars don’t fade
So pick up trash and wash your face
The things that pass for hope these days
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9. |
Iron Pyrite (Live Tape)
04:11
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This country loves a broken heart
So donate blood and strip for parts
Take courage
Cause those takeout numbers and stripper names
Are lined up to defibrillate
Or nourish
And I could fill a shopping bag
With jumbo dogs and mini flags to wave
Usher in this iron pyrite age
The jury loves a hypocrite
The cocaine frost is on the lip
Of freedom
But every time I try to look away
The barcode tattooed on my brain
Starts bleedin’
But I could fill a script or ten
And haul myself into an empty pew
To relearn that iron pyrite rule
The voters love an empty threat
So tap the mic and let’s pretend
It’s alright
Stack up cinder blocks along the beach
And take a bubble bath in bleach
It’s alright
You could fill a gilded toilet bowl
With all the ways you lost control of this
And clench your iron pyrite fist
This country loves a broken heart
So feel it up for plastic shards
One last time
It’s skin and bone and cellophane
Its silicon and whiskey stain
And pastime
White men say that fools rush in
But if a better world’s a garbage bin, ok
Just end this iron pyrite age
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10. |
Hell We Earn
04:38
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Go and throw a brick at a car
See if you can jerk off a tear
I’m just trying to get a hold of my heart
It’s beating all the blood to my ears
Now it’s the hottest part of the day
I guess I shouldn’t walk here alone
There ain’t nothing that can keep me away
But that don’t mean I’m ever at home
Tell me where I hurt you the most
See if you can tell it apart
From the bullet in the chest of your ghost
The murmur in the back of your heart
The thorn that you still got in your side
From trying to separate the rose from the weeds
Be careful who you look in the eye
Unless you think you’re ready to see
All the hell we pay
All the hell we earn
Every single day
Leaves another burn
If I make it out ok
I just don’t know what it’s worth
The iron in your vein is just the iron in the dirt
So try to see it through to the end
See if you get lost in the crowd
But I can feel it every time I walk in
I know that you don’t want me around
I guess there’s really nothing to say
At least there’s always something to see
Maybe everything will turn out ok
The rodeo can crucify me
All the hell we pay
All the hell we earn
Every single day
Leaves another burn
If I make it out ok
I just don’t know what it’s worth
The iron in your vein is just the iron in the dirt
Same sinking feeling, who wore it better?
Pulling us apart and tearing us together
Same sinking feeling, who wore it better
Not everything gets better
Not everything gets better
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11. |
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Today I put my ear up to the grapevine
I ain’t heard no good news here for a long time
Just silent fields of things that grow in straight lines
And crooked me
So tonight I’ll put a barricade around me
Cause I don’t trust nobody in this county
But if this paranoia’s gonna drown me
It might as well
Before someone else does
All the filthy little stars above the central valley know
It’s not a bluff, it’s not a show
All my bitterness below
And all the filthy little things I only say when I’m alone
They float right up through the windshield
Let them ring out ‘cross the dome tonight
I have seen the writing on the foam core
These days every yard sale is a class war
See ‘em lined up all the way around the corner
For a slice of life
If I give up all the clothes that don’t quite fit me
Just in case there’s some else here here in this city
Who would rather be invisible than pretty
Or bullet-proof
Make me bulletproof
If all the filthy little stars above the central valley see
That there are people less than free
The threats are carved into the trees
It’s just a filthy little secret for the universe to keep
God, I know you saw it happen
Don’t tell me to get some sleep, tonight, tonight
And maybe I will make it to tomorrow
See my neighbor with his 9:00am Modelo
And a SuperLotto scratcher
Desperate times and desperate measures
Desperate times and desperate measures
Tomorrow I’ll wake up in consternation
And try to find a little strength and patience
As the sky full of exhaust and constellations
Fades to blue
There’s work to do
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12. |
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Now won't you come inside while the coffee's hot
And tell me three good reasons why you want this job
I don't think you got what this place demands, kid
your resume look like Peter Pan's
So you can walk out and leave the door wide open
Walk out and leave the door wide open
Now we've learned a few things since public school
How to lock our cars and hold our booze
Got two hospitals and a county jail
It's a seven-hour wait and a three dollar bail
And we walk out and leave the door wide open
We walk out and leave the door wide open
Walk out and leave the door wide open
Walk out and leave the door wide open
It's the last one standing gonna clean this dump
If it ain't rock bottom, it's the third rung up
Take your new religion, old mnemonics
Burn that bridge while I'm still on it
But if I walk out, leave the door wide open
If I walk out, leave the door wide open
Walk out, leave the door wide open
Walk out, leave the door wide open
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