1. |
Botch Job
02:46
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This is the end of your life
It’s shocking how long you fought to survive
Botch job, you fumbled the ball
Never quite got self-actualized
Your gut’s an old garbage can
Liver’s a purple bruised punching bag
Botch job, you’re falling apart
You never could hack the battering ram
Beat down, repeat, beat down, repeat, beat down repeat - yeah
You think this body’s invincible
As if this life was negotiable
Oh, holy punisher, eat my soul
This is the end of your life
Bet you thought shit would turn out alright
Botch job, you bludgeoned yourself
Always at the wrong end of the knife
Your mind’s a cramped panic room
Blind anxiety’s through the roof
Botch job, your number’s been called
The doctor is in to loosen the noose
Break down, repeat…
You think these thoughts are incidental
As if this life was conditional
Oh, holy punisher, let me go
This is not what I thought this life was going to look like
This is not what I thought this life was going to feel like (hell)
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2. |
Up and Away
03:17
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Sometimes it seems like
The world’s spinning just for me
Still not convinced that it isn’t
In my universe
You could do much worse
Delusionality is living the dream
It’s hard to cover much ground
With your head in the clouds
Yet I seem so determined
Permanent vocation
Is looming imminent
The time must come
To flagellate childish flings
When I was young I was infinite
I wore the sky like a big, bright, blue bonnet
But my thoughts all got lost in it
Up and away
I never held a good wife
Never held a good job
Never saw the pyramids of Giza
And the list goes on
Like a marathon
Into the ether all of our years drift
Up and away
I thought I’d have a nice lake house
I thought I’d have a few tykes running round my legs
Sipping hurricanes in the shade
Whatever happened to big skies
I guess our fortunes are finite
Letting go of the notions I had as a boy
Red balloons float into the void
Up and away
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3. |
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It’s happening before our eyes
The avalanche of our demise
Glacial enough to shrug it off
Never mind the ticking clock
Besides, you’re totally swamped today
This apocalypse will have to wait
What’s going to stop it anyway
Rogue waves and hurricanes
Isn’t that what a checkbook’s for?
Disaster relief du jour
At the beginning of the end
Will you recognize
If your world’s not quite right
At the beginning of the end
Will you run and hide
Or sleep in
I heard the earthquake news today
It registered 7.8
All of the reverberations
Barely made it to my pen
When do we ever recognize
When do we run for our lives
When it’s in our own backyard
When the roads get torn apart
At the beginning of the end
Will it look like this
Feel reminiscent
At the beginning of the end
Will we all collapse
Or raise a glass
At the beginning of the end
Will we even know?
Maybe a ready, set, go!
At the beginning of the end
When the virus takes hold
When that red button’s pushed
When the volcano flows
It’s the beginning of the end
And my heart might explode
I’m going up in the tornado!
This house afloat in a tornado!
I’m off to distant lands
Where there’s no avalanche
There’s no beginning and no end
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4. |
Imposturing
03:06
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Make It Up
Throw a cause at the wall,
If it sticks, then you run with it
If you choose from the news
Be alert of its timeliness
You don’t need a song to come out
About some outdated scandal
Come and gone
Just cling to basic cliches
Of fundamental wrongs
Or make it up as you go along
If it works to be hurt
You could be a piece of shit
Leave your house and your spouse
Like a great escape artist
You don’t need your family to read
The agony you’ve inflicted
On yourself
The more you push ‘em away
The more you’ll sell
Ain’t that the reason you write
Your hangdog and forthright songs?
You make ‘em up as you go along
Now you’re out on your own
All alone with your hurtful words
All the pain you’ve attained
You applied to a second verse
No one wants to listen to sins
Regurgitated on colored wax again
You played your best cards
When you were young and insolent
So, here we are
Stumbled on a bridge
Looking for a scar
You haven’t exploited
Oh, I can’t go on…
Make it up as you go along
Endings
Lend poignancy
That’s really all I want
Make it up as you go along
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5. |
Rookie
05:02
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You found a fight to join
You got a new crusade
You found a reason to get out
Of every bed you made
Stiffen that lip
Suck in your gut, stand up straight
You’re staring death in the eye
You never knew yourself
The way it felt
That fire inside
You are a god of war
Still, you’re unsure
Whatcha gonna die for
Some cause you sorta like?
I bet that shit’s to die for
But why you gotta die?
Whatcha gotta die for
They got you mad as hell
They got you tasting blood
They got you eating from their hands
Until you’re throwing up
Waggle that flag
Get it tattooed on your neck
Your oafish obedience
You got your people now
You’re acting proud
Peacocking around
You spread your wings and soar
Into the storm
Whatcha gonna die for
Some cause you sorta like?
I bet that shit’s to die for
But what if it’s a lie?
Whatcha gotta die for
Wake up
Wake up
Wake up
Time to die
You never asked for this
But then again,
You really kinda did
You never felt the heft of death before
Whatcha gonna die for
Some cause you sorta like?
I bet that shit’s to die for
But why you gotta die?
Whatcha gotta die for
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6. |
Dead End Days
03:04
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Dead end days, all we get is poorer
Painting ourselves into a corner
Dead end days burdened on your shoulder
That chip is growing like a tumor
Spreading across your equator
Dead end days, how did we end up so lost
Who can afford a home
Who qualifies for business loans
The banks are our masters
So bring on the pile of debt
We’ve all got a ransom on our heads
Some bigger than others
Dead end days, living on the fringes
Fake smiles buckle at the hinges
Dead end days, crumple up your wish list
Some folks are luckier than others
Some folks are bound to be smothered
Dead end days, everybody’s so pissed off
Gone are the dreams of youth
Gone are the creeds and absolutes
We’ve lost all conviction
If only a ray of truth
Would part through the clouds so destitute
A beautiful beacon
If only,
If only life were a story
All our hopes and cares and boats
Would be docked along the
Shores of weekend homes
If only, if only
But that’s no reality
Life is like a bowl of grapes
Stomped on until bitter wine is made
If only,
If only life were a story
All our bones would never break
Crashing like atoms on the interstate
If only, if only
But that’s not reality
Life is fine but short on time,
Best to adapt to your cul-de-sac
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7. |
What the Fuck
04:01
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All the shit I ever thought I’d ever do
Escapes my grasp
Like a handful of sand
Gone, the dumb dreams I once had
Gone, the wellspring that never was
What the fuck
I used to think eternity was owed to me
Getting messed up
On I don’t know what
Gone, the pulsing endless nights
Gone, the blinding strobe of love
What the fuck
What the fuck
Yeah, yeah, it’s a privileged existence
And yeah, yeah, I am such a lucky guy
Still, I’ll bitch and moan with insistence
I thought there’d be more time…
Fuck my life
Anyone I ever thought I’d ever be
Is walking ‘round
Like they own this town
Some are old friends
Never again
I can see my enemies
Standing right in front of me
I can’t believe
I’m holding out for something sweet
I don’t seem to be
Learning a thing
Gone, the lemonade stand of youth
Gone, the fallback of failing up
What the fuck
Yeah, yeah…
What the fuck
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8. |
Bloodbather
03:40
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Once in my life
I’d like to take the gloves off
I’m up for a fight
My nagging mind won’t shut up
I can’t stand the head shake and finger wag
I’d like to sock my piety in the eye
Once in my life
Once in a while
The bottle hits me too hard
And just like a child
I tear my conscience apart
I should hold my Jiminy Cricket dear
Still, I dream of choking him in my bile
Once in a while
Fuck that, there’s gonna be a blood bath
(Dear boy, disembowel the foul noise)
Water your vitals and walk it off
Don’t light yourself on fire when your world is fine
For once in your life
Fuck that, I’m swimming in the blood bath
(Dear boy, disembowel the foul noise)
Life’s an abscess or apple pie
So shut those demons up
And devour your slice
For once in your life
I don’t want to be a crass prick
I’m trying to give a shit
Trying to tame this selfish sadist
But it’s a beast and it’s not having it
A brass bull in a china cabinet
I’m a minotaur of bad habits
With two hooves in the casket
I don’t fit in this photograph
I’d like to get my visage back
Flimflamming like an acrobat
Every scumbag needs a blood bath
‘Bout time I take my swan dive
Once in my life
Once in my life
Once in my life
Once in my life
Fuck that, I’m drowning in the blood bath
(Dear boy, disembowel the foul noise)
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9. |
Dark Star
04:32
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I know it’s wrong, I sure don’t need your scorn
Born under a black hole rising
I feel the pull, an urgent undertow
Good or bad, who’s to say
I mean, God is dead and the world’s in flames, so…
Dark star hangs over the ocean
Dark star demands your devotion
Culling you into the night
You say it’s wrong as if it’s black and white
Get off your hellbent high horse
Just say your prayers and I’ll do what I like
I feel the undertow, feel it in my bones
Yeah, it feels so close now
Dark star hangs over the chapel
Dark star glistens on an apple
Tell me you don’t want a bite
I am the snake, I am the shame, I am the grand seduction
I am the blood that pools and bruises, I am the poison
I am the tug, I am the urge, the beads of sweat on your brow
I am the hex, I am the curse your god warned you about
I am the wretch, I am the sex, I’m the darkened corner
I am the breath upon your neck — yeah, a little closer
The deadbeat father, bastard son, the unholy spirit
I am the threatening, reckoning ultra-violence
I am the snake, I am the shame, I am the grand seduction
I am the reason you vehemently believe in nothing
I am the star inside your heart you’ve been taught to confine
There is no antichrist, god on high, only human kind
My kind
Dark star twinkles in your iris
Dark star dances on your fingertips
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10. |
Consumers
03:18
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There’s an ad for the
Ache in your back
And a hack to perform
The domestic chores in your life
I realize I’ve been hypnotized
A billboard sells the rich to the poor
All the stars we adore
We wish upon ‘em every night
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Saw a post for a new bar of soap
It’ll cleanse you of sin
Your flesh and blood born again
I realize I’ve been hypnotized
Commercials selling hope to the world
Little boys, little girls
Holding hands across picket lines
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Everything I see I want to buy
Happiness is in a grocery line
I saw the future
In a matchbox car
I saw our future
In the aisles of Walmart
There’s an ad for the drum in your head
And the summoning dread
That none of this is gonna survive
I realize I’ve been hypnotized
All the noise gets so hard to avoid
Think it’s time we surmise
The consumer is never right
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Realize I’ve been hypnotized
Everything I see I want to eat
Happiness is in the devouring
I saw the future
In a heart attack
I saw our future
And I want to go back
Saw an ad for a man with a match
And a gasoline can;
An immolation DIY
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11. |
What Do We Do Now
04:15
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One gigantic beached whale Desiccates on the neighbor’s curb
Guess they threw her away -
Could’ve waited ’til garbage day
What do we do now - If only we were Inuit
What do we do now
You can bet the HOA will hear about this
Inconveniences abound - The world is our oyster
And we can shuck off all we want
And oh, how we want to want
An abandoned high-rise - Toppled over in the dead of night
Now it rests horizontal - On a low income neighborhood
What do we do now Could it be repurposed
What do we do now
Maybe field some offers for a dollar store
If comedy is tragedy - It’s funny to think of
The billions of people in need
While we put up our feet
What do we do now - Light a match to this world
What do we do now
If someone could dismantle This kleptocracy
The checks and balances are off; The checks were elastic
Imbalances drafted the map We see-sawed with fat cats
What do we do now Light a match to this world
Dismantle me, oh god, oh please
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12. |
The Age of Impotence
03:41
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Everybody’s made to break down
We’re saddled with an expiration date
Me, I’m a rotten egg
Stinkin’ up the joint
With this sulfurous, ageist angst
I’ll wear out a welcome like a bad cliche
Never really had an endgame
Never quite sure when the jig is up
Now, I guess I’m stuck
Only so much
An old Raconteur can fake
Before the giant cane yanks you off stage
Should’ve had a backup plan
Guess you’ve only had
40 years to delineate
Could’ve had a bird-in-hand
A cozy little job
With a house and dog
Maybe you’re down the wrong road
Back up, see where the other roads go…
Mutherfucker
Think I’m gonna start all over
Gonna try to reinvent the wheel
A new look and feel
A middling man in a
Midlife house of mirrors
Tell me when that mutherfucker
Disappears
It’s never gonna go away
The crippling weight of
Years stacked upon years
It’s never gonna go away
This aching sense of being displaced
Maybe you’ve driven in a ditch
Plow through into oblivion
This is the age of impotence
Grand works of insignificance
My life’s been one long unboxing
Of every thought that’s ever come to me
And you can’t stop now
You gotta feed that beast
You gotta let it all out
Even if no one is listening — fuck
Mutherfucker
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13. |
The Loss
04:38
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A dirty baby cries
Abandoned on a moonlit drive
She holds her arms above her head
Crying for her mother, yet
There’s nobody in sight
Fallen from the nest
Life is but a test
Does no one ever get the answers right?
I woke in a sweat
A macabre dream I won’t soon forget
A bitter love bedraggled in mud
Had crept into our bedroom
Oh, the past demands a debt
Our ghosts are never dead
Their arms above their heads
Wailing at a miscarried moon, ‘why?’
Rest, my love
The nightmare is over
Life is but a loss
Death is all it costs
What a brutal, devastating price
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Cursive Omaha, Nebraska
Cursive is the longtime trio of Tim Kasher (vocals, guitar), Matt Maginn (bass), and Ted Stevens (guitar, vocals), with Patrick Newbery (keys) and Clint Schnase (drums).
Cursive recommends:
I fuckin LOVE black midi! -TK
go to album
one of Pile's best
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Stuffed & Ready
by Cherry Glazerr
Fun to see Cherry briefly at Riot Fest. We all dig this album!
go to albumIf you like Cursive, you may also like:
supported by 44 fans who also own “Devourer”
It's all around a classic Tim Kasher album. But what made this even better, is that we got to see Tim perform some of the songs live during his living room tour. Awesome!
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supported by 42 fans who also own “Devourer”
Beautiful, witty, haunting, and catchy as hell.
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Death is Nothing to Us
by Fiddlehead
Boston band featuring members of Have Heart and Basement take their earnest, motivational post-hardcore to thrilling new heights.
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