1. |
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I could be the president (if I put my mind to it)
I could be an astronaut (if I try my hardest to)
I could pay my bills on time (if I keep my job today)
I could try to find a way to get out of my bed (if I can find the strength)
Maybe I could find a way to distract myself
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2. |
Accts Receivable
02:26
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Started out early to work and late to bed
Draining the blood from both ends
Now I never sleep and I hardly work
I bleed all day but it never hurts
Leveled off on the seventh floor
Cyclic movements back and forth
Muscles stress and bones may break
But all these parts can be replaced
All your promise, all your ardor may carry you today
But you will lose this all so fast, yeah, you would be amazed.
I blink away days at a time
Waking dreams by fluorescent light
Without the daylight on my face
I turn so pale I match this place
Neutral walls and sixty hertz
Matching ties and collared shirts
All our roles are well defined
We all have our place in line
All this noise and all this motion just to keep your place
But you could lose this all so fast, yeah, you would be amazed.
All you are and all you live for, you bury these today
You'll forget yourself so fast, yeah, you would be amazed.
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3. |
Stars
03:19
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Push back from my desk
I must confess I'm feeling discouraged
Because this job was only supposed to be
Temporary at best
We are all becoming stars
Slump into my favorite chair
The TV's on and though it seems I'm going nowhere
We are all becoming stars
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4. |
Remote Control
03:40
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If this is normal then no one's normal
The painted sets the perfect lights the precise lines
A list of problems, a simple lesson
A week's rehearsal so one half hour changes lives
So drop the marker! Roll the camera!
Watch the static that's reflected in my eyes
The signal that was sent was coded wrong
It gave a false sense of where I belong
Though my home is empty he always greets me
He's always there always waiting always on
I have ideas but there's not enough time
Because by the time my shows are over the night is gone
It's so insulting, but I can't help watching
After all there is nothing better on
This is all I know of history
The images that flash across my screen
Where were you when they laid out all their plans for us?
Where were you when they gave us all the rules?
Where were you when we piled our lies on top of lies?
Where were you when it all came crashing down?
Where were you when she first said those three words
I am gone
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5. |
Buried in Layers
04:59
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The streets have the same name, its the only thing that hasn't changed
(I could get lost just standing still)
Buildings are missing, the landscape has been rearranged
(They're building houses out of hills)
All of this time erasing history and no one here seems to mind
When all of this crumbles, pave it over, build new streets down compass lines
What once was ours
Buried in layers and wasted time
What once was known
Now seems uncertain and less defined
For years we dragged stones piling them higher
(We'd hoped they would be standing still)
Others have added, continued the building
(Towers so high they hide the hills)
And under the stories is the foundation that we placed here years before
But they're never satisfied they keep building adding halls and rooms and floors
What once was ours
Buried in layers and wasted time
What once was known
Now seems uncertain and less defined
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6. |
Our Scars
03:31
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They say the days are getting shorter
I'd have to say that I agree
And just staying awake
Takes so much out of me
The thicker your skin gets, the less you feel, the less you bleed
We all wear our scars with pride
Watch the red lines fade to white across our skin across our eyes
If you're not struggling you're not trying
All the same I'm getting tired of feeling tired all the time
I swear I feel the limbs I've lost
You swear you feel the same
Phantom limbs a higher cost
Much higher than you've paid
It's getting harder to find the skin between the scars
We all wear our scars with pride
Watch the red lines fade to white across our skin across our eyes
If you're not struggling you're not trying
All the same I'm getting tired of feeling tired all the time
I've been such a mess.
I haven't been well rested.
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7. |
Punchdrunk
04:26
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Turns out everyone was right
And lately I just don't have the strength left to fight
Legs fail, body folds to the ground
A sea of faces, I don't hear a sound
One last gasp, I'm going down
And I drown and I drown
Punchdrunk, taste my own blood
Fade out, I've had enough
Underwater, such comforting things I've seen
A young boy, he could hardly be fifteen
So excited just to make a sound
But he only sings when no one else is around
One last gasp, I'm going down
And I drown and I drown
Blink once, the images are gone
Squint hard against the light of dawn
Comes back in a rush of sound
The rules I've known are breaking down
What I put into this doesn't mean anything
If it hasn't yet then it's not happening
I can see it all so clear
I'm where I am and I was meant to be here
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8. |
Lincoln-Douglas
03:12
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I'm scattering papers
I'm talking myself up
I whisper my name in every ear
I'm running the numbers
I'm trying to figure
Where I'll be this time next year
Late inspiration
I'm making a list up
Of all of things I've got to do
So let's drunk to our future
A toast to our chances
And all of the things we're going to prove
How did I end up here? So nervous do I deserve this?
I'm waking the neighbors
With my preparations
There's something about it they don't hear
The answers are ready
For all the questions
Soon all this mystery will be clear
How did I end up here? So nervous do I deserve this?
I'm not giving up
I'm not giving in
There must be some way that I can live
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9. |
Company Man
03:37
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I'm learning to keep my plans to myself
Because they don't make sense to anybody else
But I'll take their cards and I'll shake their hands
Let them think that I'm a company man
And I'm earning my take and I take my work home
Let it take me over, let it take control
And I'll push and I'll shove to get that raise
So I can afford to leave this place
I'm giving in
I'm not giving up
Just giving anything is giving too much
"It's good to see you've got your feet on the ground,"
they say, "It's good to see you're settling down.
You'll learn to see that it's better this way
Because it would have never happened anyway.
Put away your childish things.
Isn't it enough to have had a dream?"
And I watch their lips move and I nod and I smile
And I turn and I leave and I leave them behind
I'm giving in
I'm not giving up
Just giving anything is giving too much
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10. |
Part and Parcel
03:40
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They don't see him working through the night
They only see the dark circles under his eyes
They don't see the ways these things begin
They only see all the things that he should have been
With everything that he's been given
"It's not that we don't see
It's not that we don't know
The strength of your conviction.
It's just not that likely
And you just can't see that
In your position."
He says he won't let them change his mind
But he won't leave until they look him in the eyes and say
"We know that you have to go."
"It's not that we don't see
It's not that we don't know
The strength of your conviction.
It's just not that likely
And you just can't see that
In your position."
"You will grow tired"
I will but I won't give in
"You will falter, you will sway"
I will but I won't give in
"You will fall asleep"
I will but I won't give in
"You will die"
I will but so will you someday
If this a part, just a part of it all, then it's alright
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11. |
Sounds That Made Us...
05:48
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Press record amongst the scattered tapes and records on the floor. Try to separate a sound from all this noise that's running through the walls and wires, building up in all the corners just like dust. Run it back and burn the oxide off the tape and scratch the words off of the page and let the tapes run off the reels.
Out the door clear your head and clear the air and pull the headphones on your ears and try to find the sounds that brought to this point yourself in a new direction. Don't stop walking until you've got a new idea. Then press record and let the sound build on itself and let it bury you until you finally let it out.
Write it down
Get it right
Play it back so we'll remember
All the choruses that built into
The sounds that made us want to...
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Paperwork Austin, Texas
Papework is an indie rock band from Austin, TX.
Paperwork recommends:
Come Here Go Far
by The Cardinal Health
As Jarrod put it, "The Cardinal Health could sell a million records based on Nick Garza's voice alone." Plus their songs are incredible.
go to albumIf you like Paperwork, you may also like:
London upstarts splice giddy power pop with bubblegum grunge, producing charmingly caustic results.
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 15, 2023
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Blue Record (Deluxe Version)
by Baroness
featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 15, 2023
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 15, 2023
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Lush Life
by The Belair Lip Bombs
This eclectic debut from the Melbourne indie outfit features vibrant storytelling.
go to album
