1. |
And Now, The Dummy!
02:21
|
|||
A D E A (all the way through)
{chorus}
I tried!
But it goes so wrong! But it goes so wroooooong
And it goes so wrong!
And it goes so wroooooong
And the dummy can say, in his own snide way
In his own snide way, he repeats all day
He repeats all day day insults around the bend
Incessantly he condescends
To me, and I put him in a cage
In a velvet bed, and I polish his face
And I dress him up fine to the nines with a tie and a shine
And ferry him around the place.
{chorus}
And our little friend leers, and he cocks his ear
And he rolls his eyes, and he shoots a sneer
And I set him up time after time with a tight punchline
At my expense, he shows no fear
And they laugh, and they clap their hands
And he soaks it in, his adoring fans
And I sit like a lump on the stage where I slump everyday
And ferry off my little man
{chorus}
|
||||
2. |
The Best of Me
02:43
|
|||
(Capo on fret 7)
G C G
G C D
G C G
G C D
G C D Em
G C G
Molecules bouncing and crashing shoot recklessly by
Like they did early on in the oceans, we don't even try
And every time I hear all the wurrings and clicks of our vast machinery
I never doubted my place anymore since before I could know what our home would be
Whether I've realized my dream and awoken
Or drowned in the scurrilous sea of the moment
Whatever is left after struggle and death you'll be getting the best of me.
We can only do what we're actually going to do
We can only be what we're actually going to be
And when I think of surprises and mysteries, our future history shows its face
And when I think of another dimension a different life quenched there won't take its place
So whether you see me stand tall and essential
Or squandering all of the world's great potential
Whatever comes next you can know more or less you'll be getting the best of me
And every time I hear all the wurrings and clicks of our vast machinery
I never doubted my place anymore since before I could know what our home would be
Whether I've realized my dream and awoken
Or drowned in the scurrilous sea of the moment
Whether you see me stand tall and essential
Or squandering all of the world's great potential,
Whether I'm sturdy and strong young and stable
Or strapped up to an old hospital respirator
Whatever is left after struggle and death you'll be getting the best of me.
|
||||
3. |
||||
Verse:
G C G D
G C G D G
(verse 2 and 3 x2)
Chorus:
C G Em D
G D Em C
G D G
Well back in 1965, a baby named Kim Davis cried
Her mama was a clerk in old Kentucky
And when young Kim had sprouted up, that mama didn't give a fuck
She named young Kim a clerk that day, what fun
Now she don't deny it!
Licenses, she wouldn't sign em
Love wins in Rowan County seldom never
But she sang those Christian songs so she could grow up tall and strong
To be the worst folk hero ever
Well 2015, oh so grand, the highest court in all the land
We cheered them from the rooftops high above
They decided much to Kim's chagrin, America could use a win
And anyone could marry who they loved
Well Kim Davis drew a salary, from taxes paid by you and me
But her church said the new law was a sin
She said "My expertise could help, I'm on marriage #4 myself,
and I won't sign a license for two men!"
Now she don't deny it!
Licenses, she wouldn't sign em
Love wins in Rowan County seldom never
But she made a pretty wreck of laws we paid her to protect
To be the worst folk hero ever.
Well Kim was blue when she was sued, the case was paid with union dues
But the wise panel unanimously stated
You don't have first amendment rights to hinder someone else's life
Because your fascist church gets off on hating
Well Kim was down but still was kicking, thought she'd take another licking
Ran for reelection that November
But the Rowan County people blanched, they'd had enough intolerance
And gave old Kim a stamp return to sender
So she lost the vote!
And now somebody else signs em
And church and state's effectively been severed
But on her gravestone it could read, how hard she fought equality
Here lies the worst folk hero ever
On her gravestone it could read, how hard she fought equality!
To be the worst folk hero ever-
She's the worst folk hero ever!
|
||||
4. |
Black Spiral Swirl
03:17
|
|||
(Capo on fret 7)
G Em C D
G D
And she will wake
When it comes to the morning, it's over her head
It's black and it swirls, and the fear it unfurls
Twisting over the bed
And she will rise
And creep to the mirror that swallows her whole
The face it looks fine, but behind every line
It's a dubious role
{Chorus}
Does she have the right, does she know how to fight
For the answers, who's wearing her skirts?
That black spiral swirl, it buzzes and twirls,
It's so present it hurts
Does she have the right, does she know how to fight
For the answers that leave her to bleed
Can she start to come home, ff she makes it alone
Will it leave her in peace?
And she will stray
For 3,000 miles she'll leave it behind
If she opens her eyes will she see with surprise
What she came there to find?
And she will drink
She'll beg and she'll plead for a chance to resign
But that black spiral swirl, buzzes and twirls for an infinite time
{Chorus}
Whistle
And she will slip
She'll take that plunge crashing down into the blue
The sting is so strong, but it won't be so long
Til she's down there with you
And she will wake
When it come to the morning, a shiny new day
And that black spiral swirl, still buzzes and twirls
But not quite the same way
|
||||
5. |
All Is Forgiven
03:14
|
|||
(Capo on fret 3)
Am E Am
Am Dm Am
Am E Am
All is forgiven here, when I hear those ice cubes clink
So much forgiven here, when I take that second drink
And I succumbed last night to your harsh attacks
In the morning I vowed not to take you back,
But I'm thinking just this once I believe I could let it go.
It's been about ten hours now, since you trickled down my jaw
Such a long ten hours now, since you rubbed my throat so raw
But as you wrestled me down, I would trash and heave
But know I love you so much I could never leave
So if you give a sweet apology, then maybe I could let it go
{Chorus}
And everybody's gonna drink
And everybody's gonna sway!
Everybody's gonna laugh from the bottle and a half,
That's gonna light my way!
Well you battered my body and you bled my brain,
But let's live and let die so it's all the same,
If you promise to be nice I'll go ahead and I could let it go
All is forgiven here, since my eye sight faded black
So much forgiven here since you left me on my back,
Well I suppose I played a part and was complicit too
In the illicit dance that we struggled through
So I suppose it's only fair, I believe I could let it go.
{Chorus}
And if you say you love me too, and you'll promise to behave
If you treat me real nice and don't make any waves
If you're sweet and smell so good to me I need you like I'm crazed
Well I'm thinking just this once I'd take a chance and we could let it flow,
Cause I'm thinking just this once I believe I could let it go!
|
||||
6. |
Strange Wave
04:04
|
|||
(Capo on fret 4)
D A G A
There's a strange wave deep inside me that I felt once in a dream
Like a bright light that's both foreign and familiar
And I'll find my way back it, I left bread crumbs at the scene
And I'll ride that wave until I find the future
The lady was a foxy one, she lived a life when she was young
With raucous parties, oil paintings, vodka every night
With fleeting youth and beauty, she had everything to lose
Except she gloried in the moment, and now wasn't that so right?
The more I stared the less she feared
She danced away so cavalier
The years went by, she drank but never sold a painting quite
Though portly with her weatherbeaten skin, I'd never been
As much in awe of those who never knew themselves or burned so bright
{Chorus}
I'm bleeding oh so rightly
I'm seething oh so tightly
And breathing ever slightly
Then leaving so contritely
The bearded man slouched at the bar, his rumpled shirt was half ajar
With sweaty blinks and whiskey drinks, his rusty trumpet sat
At 40 years of age, and eight less that he played it,
Who could say he never made it, drinking thoughtfully as that?
He rambled with his horn in tow, to take the stage and strike a blow
Against the placid planning, no he didn't seem inclined
There never was a choice involved, self-crippling a problem solved
To seize a moment here and there most never try to find
{Chorus}
There's a strange wave deep inside me that I felt once in a dream
Like a bright light that's both foreign and familiar
And I'll find my way back it, I left bread crumbs at the scene
And I'll ride that wave until I find the future
|
||||
7. |
Exciting Times
02:49
|
|||
(Capo on fret 2)
G Em C D
G Em C D
C D G Em
C D G Em C D
G Em C D
(breakdown)
C D C D C D G Em
C D C D C D G
Tomorrow, it's a very fine time to fall into a hard sorrow
And occupy our lives
And it's a very fine time to take a breath and stare into the sky
And it's a very fine time to shake your head, oh why
What else can you try? What else can you try?
Next morning, I sputtered in my coffee and I sobbed with hardly no warning
In front of the breakfast guy
And he reached across the bagels, softly looked me in the eye
And he asked me if it's gonna be alright
We're all in this fight together, right
We're all in this fight
(breakdown)
One foot before another, we look and see the others
They're all around us marching, everywhere we start to fly
Each day we're feeling stronger, those marches getting longer
Each year the bullies flounder and die
Tomorrow, it's very fine time to feel a little less hollow
And occupy our lives
And it's a very fine time to write that letter, very fine time to stand together,
Very fine time to right up another wrong
And it's a very fine time to feel that sun, the earth, the air anew
And it's a very fine time to stay together true,
What else can you do? What else can you do?
|
||||
8. |
Undue Burden
03:46
|
|||
(Capo on fret 7)
G Em C G D
There’s a lonely woman walking, contemplating her dilemma,
Down a broken overpass to hitch-hike,
Out of Alabama!
In her 18 years she’s never known, a road this cold and frightening,
And the wild winds have changed the mist to-
Thunder and to lightning!
And she’s reeling with a sickness from that nameless thing inside her,
Missing clarity that no one in her
Home had dared provide her!
And she trudges down that lonely road, less traveled by a margin-
Oh for shame- how’d we send her on her way?
Through a maze-
A serpentine of burning coal
For days and days-
Through a loss of all control
She’ll be so brave, and swim a sea of churning doubts-
Then turn away, from all the anger and the shouts!
And so why, can’t we be there tonight?
Holding her hand? Hearing her cries?
Reclaiming her rights.. clearing that road, joining her fight?
She’s escaping to an unknown place far from the fields that made her,
Cause she’s rather be adrift than feel that
White male legislature!
But she knows her brand of pain and fear is luck that gently holds her,
Cause the struggle rarely offers such an
Aunt in Minnesota!
And her thumb is boosted out across that naked highway proudly,
As she grimaced within the rain and clutches her own body
And her she’s ripping back her birthright on that lonely road she marches
Oh for shame, how’d we send her on her way?
Through a maze-
A serpentine of burning coal
For days and days-
Through a loss of all control
She’ll be so brave, and swim a sea of churning doubts-
Then turn away, from all the anger and the shouts!
|
||||
9. |
Feel No Pain
02:40
|
|||
(Capo on fret 4)
D G D G D G A x2
G D G D G D A x2
Em7 G A
The sound waves from the special records, soak into the songs
You get a porthole to the ground floor of your brain
As much as any artist too, the frequency belongs to you
Who never knew but always grew that place
{chorus}
And I feel no pain, and I know myself again
And the sun is shining brightly in the unforgiving rain
And it's a cure all pill for that lonely windowsill
And you can feel the fire burning up those nihilism chills
A vital time- I hope it lasts!
The clinking of the ice-filled glass, relaxes all the hours past
And whiskey introduces you to me
It's not an abdication if you're finding out what really makes you feel alive
A high five sets you free
{chorus}
Do special people know you, in a way that helps to grow you?
Do they laugh at all the perfect times and places?
From California to the Carolinas, it's the finest find
To love someone who knows you in that way
{chorus}
|
||||
10. |
The Breach
02:46
|
|||
D G A
My brand new brothers crept with me across the rotted hillside
Where all the gas and stink and death had yet to wash away
Once more unto the breach we leapt into that violent pile
And I knew less of me would live to see another day
Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me
Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house
We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it
Everything is broken when it circles back to me
While the explosive bursts were ripping through the arid daylight
My brand new family would scream across the breach above
But more than deafening at home was heavy stoic silence
Between the stranger who I'd grown up with and always loved
Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me
Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house
We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it
I love you so much stranger when you say goodnight to me
Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me
Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house
We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it
Everything is broken when it circles back to me
|
The Whiskey Predicament Charlotte, North Carolina
The Whiskey Predicament is Nate recording original tunes on lo-fi equipment. Nate enjoys comics, surfing, hamburgers and whiskey. You can contact him at nathanfey@gmail.com
Contact The Whiskey Predicament
Streaming and Download help
The Whiskey Predicament recommends:
If you like The Whiskey Predicament, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp