1. |
Battle Lines
02:54
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Music by Robby Lester.
Lyrics by Robby Lester and Maxwell James Bulger
If you call me old, I'll call you ageist
and reference the work I've put in for this planet
If you call me a terrorist, I'll call you just as bad
and take the value out of your reason
If you call me a queer, I'll call you a faggot
for a significantly better statement
If you call me poor, I'll call you self-interested
There are more sensible ways to spending
If you call me a liberal, I'll call you a knucklehead
You fucking knucklehead
If you call me a sinner, I'll call you a zealot
Don't worry praying for me
I have Jesus hanging on hold
If you've draw the battle line
Well, I know who's side that I will stand by
If the battle lines have been drawn
Well, I know who's side that I will fight on
If you call me old, I'll call you ageist
and put you in a headlock
If you call me a terrorist, I'll call you a patriot
and wave your flag upside-down
If you call me a queer, I'll call you a bigot
Go gather the baseball bats
If you call me poor, I'll call you a capitalist
and I'll burn all your fucking money
If you call me a liberal, I'll call you a knucklehead
You fucking knucklehead
If you call me a sinner, I'll call you a zealot
Don't worry praying for me
I have Satan hanging on hold
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2. |
Monetarily Ineligibe
02:35
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester
Watching all these people pass me by
My mind takes off
I drift off
I wonder how many of us
are living the lives
we dreamed to have?
Their suit and tie is dragging me down
All their talk about stock-market money
is dragging me down
And I hopped on a commuter train earlier this week
and I thought about how excellent it might be to
live a vagrant-freight-train kind of life
Their suit and tie is dragging us down
All their talk about stock-market money
is dragging us down
And we can't even voice our beliefs
without fear of indefinite detention
No, they can't even voice their beliefs
without fear of indefinite detention
Oh, the religious right
and greedy executives
have a strangle-hold on us
Fuck their patriotic bullshit
Fuck their zelous bullshit
Fuck their patriotic, patriarchial bullshit
Because we can't even voice our beliefs
without fear of excommunication
Oh, they can't even voice their beliefs
without fear of excommunication
We can't even voice our beliefs
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3. |
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester
Another day spent walking around Charm City, USA
I'll probably wear these boots to my grave
and when I go, tell everyone
I don't believe in Democrats
or Republicans
to solve anything
So what are we going to do?
Oh, I felt it everywhere
from New York City to Montreal
and everywhere all around
Yeah, watch that power slip away
Where did everybody go?
And do we realise, we're part of it?
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4. |
All Mighty Overkill
02:36
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Music by Robby Lester. Lyrics by Devon Michael Weber and Robby Lester
I'm political out of necessity
and it really kind of bothers me
They're gearing up for a war
that none of us can afford
I lay awake in this bed
and cry and cry all fucking night
Then it hits me
I'll never get to tell him
that I loved him like a brother
I never had
These chords will never sound like they did
in Aubrey's basement
Where we decided we weren't going to be
anything but who we want to be
You don't think it's just a trend
because nothing goes our way
Well, I've got news for you, my friend
It doesn't happen everyday
So if it would be too much to ask
Too much to live
Too much for gas
When loving you becomes our task
In our heads, you've trespassed
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5. |
American Frank
02:17
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Music and Lyrics by Justin Hultman
Well, Frank's a lover
not a fighter
and his body runs for miles
And he would make a cavilier effort
to make you think
that you're the only one he sees
Take it from me
It's nothing personal
Hell, I think you're beautiful
If you could walk a mile
in his paws
I'm sure that you would see
that the closer to the ground we are
the taller we can be
And love each other
if we were all cats
I think we'd get along
much better like that
We all think that there's
one person sent to save us
It takes a while to realise
that's fucking bullshit
Look around
Take a minute
and look down
What's staring up at you?
Hell, he thinks you're beautiful, too
At the end of the day, it's the little things
we take for granted
Nessle up to us
and make a big fuss
when you get home
You just want to be alone
And drink your problems away
from stupid shit that people say
But then from underneath the couch
or from the mantle with a pounce
They don't know anything outside
the world we've given them
They wait so patiently for us to come home
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6. |
Cold Harbor
02:40
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester
Driving east
My thoughts, they drifted west
to that life we tried to live
She's onto the next
but not without a hint of envy
I guess I'm living the life
Oh yeah, I'm running fast
Both feet off the ground
If I could shake these addictions
I'd be a blinding highlight
to that life
But tonight I'm quite the mess
Downing pint after pint
the only pub in town
Woodstock, New Brunswick
Gospel hymns and drunkards
I felt so hopelessly pathetic
But Jon said, "Show some solidarity"
But they asked for a song
so I gave em what I knew
Oh yeah, they asked for a bloody song
How can one justify belief in gods
that leave us all behind?
And someone smiled, "Keep digging that grave"
Sure foe, pass a shovel
I'll keep on-a-humming
How heavy is the burden
of living a fallen life
based on fantasies and lies
oppression and hate?
How can one justify belief in gods
that leave us all behind?
How can one justify belief in a system
that beats so many down?
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7. |
Speaking Irish
03:41
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester
Sam came from the back of a freight train
with a backpack on his back
Emily came from Maine
in a station-wagon-spaceship
Or something like that
In between conversations
on that porch
where Justin and I have smoked
so many cigarettes
We're trying to make sense
of love and life
Life and love and loss
Devon came from the forests
of northern Wisconsin
Jannelle came from the Peg
Two-thousand K away
In between conversations
on that porch
where Sam and I have drank
so many home-brewed bottles of beer
We're trying to make sense
of love and life
Life and love and loss
And I never want to hurt
another kindred spirit
for as long as I live
but I know I will
And Emily talked about her friends
who exchanged hands
in ceromony
They shared a couple vows
"Will you hurt this person?"
"Yes, I will"
"Is that your intention?"
"No, it's not"
Building a world inside a world
doesn't always develop as planned
Building a world inside a world
doesn't always end in a story-book fashion
But they couldn't stop us if we tried
They couldn't stop us if they tried
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8. |
Look the Fuck Out!
02:22
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester.
Arrangement by Robby Lester and Nick Sherman.
Hey Jannelle, I wanted to call you
I wrecked my car
I wanted to call you
Will someone slow me down?
Slow me down
My Mother said, "You're not getting any younger"
My Father said, "Get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning"
And I don't ever want to hurt another kindred spirit
So please break my heart
Hey Jannelle, is it okay if I call you?
Because that night ended so suddenly
in fucking Winnipeg
We awoke and said goodbye
Then I was off to another show
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9. |
Stationary Fixed Gears
01:48
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Music and lyrics by Robby Lester
Watching all these people pass me by again
My mind takes off
I drift off
I wonder how long it would take
to ride a pedal bike
from Washington DC to Winnipeg?
One of the things I dream about
when I'm trying to forget about
all the trash in this world
We're peddling
How long will it take us to get there?
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10. |
Note to Self
01:40
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Music by Robby Lester.
Lyrics by Chris Hannah.
This song originally appeared on "Failed States" by Propagandhi
No fly list
No drive list
No walk list
No talk list
No muck-raking journalists
left to take stock of
The whole-sale omission
of outside perspectives
How does it make you feel
to know you voted for this?
So much for your hopes
and your dreams
and your children
You just sat there
believing in this bullshit system
just hoping the mob
would magically come to its senses
How does it make you feel to know
you stood by and watched it?
Dazed
Numb
Powerless
Stunned
As we frantically click our heels
already home
The bands
the sports
the booze
It's all that's left of you
When the cops and the courts
refuse to confess the sins of the few
What is there left to do?
The answer's right before your eyes
Rise
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11. |
Fish Sticks
02:05
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Music by Robby Lester.
Lyrics by Robby Lester, Justin Hultman, Sam O'Dellick, Elizabeth Pierce
Another night on tour
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
We're so goddamn hungry
Justin and Elizabeth say
"Hey, look. There's a Long John Silver's!"
No soy
What the fuck is tempeh?
With a probiotic menu
and microbes on the floor
And she said, "No, we don't have hummus.
Yeah, but we've got fish sticks.
You can scrape the breading off.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's vegan."
So I took one for the team
We pulled up to that drive-thru window
Through an intercom I heard an angel's voice
Through the reflection, the star-light in her braces
Was the batter or did my heart skip a beat?
I never thought I fall in love in western Pennsylvania
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