1. |
"look at you" (2010)
02:36
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2. |
"float away" (2010)
02:23
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There's a place that us kids all used to go, down by tracks on the other side of town. Near the water where the fish don't swim. Where the banks go a long way down. I remember this one time Eddie said, "I'm gonna leave this godforsaken place." But little Eddie wasn't very good at swimming. We all watched that little guy float away. I think it's funny the lengths some people go to get away from their shitty home towns. Like it's a disease that they need to cut away, something infected that they gotta get out. I remember this one time Eddie said, "I'm gonna leave this godforsaken place." But little Eddie wasn't very good at swimming. We all watched that little guy float away.
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3. |
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(inspired by the 1994 Rwandan Genocide)
This is not the way it has to be
Living life so desperately
Running through trees, getting away
Machete man gonna kill my family
Already hacked a thousand friends to death
It's gonna happen again
Not a neighbor anymore
Just a roach stomped on the floor
Tied down to a past of tyranny
Still enslaved to ideology
This card says I'm different from you
But it's an ancient racial stew
We're all mixed up in this wasted land
Just pawns for the Europe man
You don't have to cut off my head
But maybe I'm better off dead?
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4. |
"lie" (2010)
03:36
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Just a few seconds left until we touch the ground
I just to had to see for myself what it is you found
It seems like only yesterday you found yourself in love
With your own image, now you're humbled from above
What a fucking ego trip, do you really think you've won?
You would keep on spouting lies as your lungs fill up with blood
I'm not gonna buy this shit, you can't sell me afterlife
Even your fresh suit and tie can't sell me on this lie
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5. |
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(inspired by the Cormac McCarthy novel)
I read "The Road" and it really got me thinking
What if this green earth became a black fire pit?
Nothing to grow, nothing to eat
The seas a grey sludge, no more sweet salt air
We'd all revert to the lowest of lifeforms
Killing each other in a cannibal flesh-feast
It got me thinking about how fragile this life is
How when it comes down to it we're just living a fake life
We don't even know our neighbors
We don't even know our friends
If shit hit the fan, how long would we last?
The present would mean no past
Stock up on canned goods, lighters and kerosene
Who knows when the big one might come out of nowhere?
Better yet, learn to shoot a boomstick
A rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, a flaregun
Will it come slowly and surely?
Or will it shake us right out of our comfortable shoes?
I guess "The Road" really got me paranoid
But I'm not so sure we can take that thin chance
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6. |
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They came in peace at first
Just a friendly band of neighbors
We all worked together
Until the well ran dry
They lie
They kill
They drink
We saw their true colors
We heard false promises
We should have known better
Never trust a new friend
They took us one by one
To that dried up, empty well
What a bittersweet irony
We filled it up again
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7. |
"only friend" (2011)
03:25
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This is not the end
But it's not the start
Not if we go forward
Without the heart
You can keep it all
If we ain't gonna starve
But it's the end of us
If we stay apart
What's that you say?
You don't want to share
That's all right by me
You've gotta do what's fair
For yourself, your fairest friends be damned
But I'm so goddamn thirsty
You have a drop to spare?
I don't where I'm going
I haven't drank in days
Kind of feeling real gloomy
About the bed that I've made
It seems so clear to me now
I had a choice but I failed
To see the consequences
Of trust, compassion unveiled
I have learned so much
About the lives we led
Before it all dried up
How it was in our heads
The sense of place
In a community
Now it's plain to see
My only friend is me
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8. |
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9. |
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10. |
"bleeding kansas" (2012)
03:41
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BLEEDING KANSAS "Things are not right here but, then again, when have they have been?. Manifest destiny. It's our land, thanks to slavery. The battle's in Kansas, out west where the river's long. People dying in Kansas. Shot in the head for thinking slavery's done. They're bleeding in Kansas. No border, no self-control. They're killing in Kansas. Confusion reigns in many a lost soul. Take me over to Kansas. No comprise when the blood is on the wall. United states of America. No north, no south, just one land for us all. They're bleeding in Kansas."
Immediately prior to the first American Civil War, the battle was, indeed, in Kansas. Pro-slavery guerillas clashed with those who wanted simply to live in state devoid of slaves – not because they were opposed to slavery, necessarily, but because they most often did not wish to live among blacks. Despite this, many abolitionists flocked to the Kansas territory in an effort to fight for the creation of a new state without slavery.
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11. |
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WHAT WE NEED IS ACTION You say you want a free state. You want it now before it's too late. Where we all have opportunity. Where there exists no impunity. I'm afraid we'll have to fight for it. I'm afraid we'll have to die for it. Beware the ones with the dough on their face. They've all bought into the lie of the master race. What we need is action. What we is action now. What need is action. Pick up that gun, put down that plow. This isn't a race war. We've heard all the lies before. Listen to your heart now. Feel the heavy whip as it cuts into your brow. We are all the same here. All kept in line by the violent fear that the rich men lie about. It's all about profit in textile amounts.
"What we need is action!" (John Brown)
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12. |
"pottawatomie" (2012)
03:14
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POTTAWATOMIE "We forced you out in the dead of night. You slave-catchers didn't even fight. Live by the sword, hearts choked with mud. Enslave my brother and we'll drown you in your blood. You fight this Free State, you'll burn its towns. You sacked poor Lawrence, burned it to the ground. But on this springtime night with air so sweet. We'll take your fire as we slash you from your feet. It's true we murder you, steal you from your wives. But this is war so just that it's focusing all of our lives. You can't deny it - it's our people's way. Fight until the death until peace is here to stay."
In May of 1856, with Kansas mired in violence (including the "Sacking of Lawrence", where pro-slavery guerrillas destroyed Free State printing presses and destroyed other property), John Brown felt he had to send a message. One night, he (and a posse that included his sons) took bloody revenge in Pottawatomie, Kansas and murdered five active "slave-catchers" (men who made a living catching runaway slaves), some in front of their families. There is evidence John Brown was haunted by his actions but felt they were morally justified in what he considered a literal religious crusade against the institution of slavery.
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13. |
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CUT THE HEAD OFF THIS SNAKE "Gather up the pikes, son, it's time we head down south. Gather up the men, son, we're going where God can't be found. Where the devil makes his home. Down to the armory, we march without a sound - righteous, but terrified - on this wet October ground. Gonna be a very cold trip. Never surrender. Not till every last one is free. Never surrender to this slavocracy. You are some brave men, you've led hardscrabble lives but for this righteous cause you would gladly die. All twenty-five of you. A band of brothers, both black and white. Down to the armory, where we'll bring the fight. It's much too late for them. Let's bring the fight to them, show them how it's done. No time for politics when it's freedom to be won. Let's cut the head off this snake. I see it now, boys, that train is just ahead. Pull down those wires, make sure the telegraph is dead. The time to strike is now."
On a cold October night, John Brown marched his small band of men - including his sons - down to small town of Harper's Ferry to implement his doomed plan to arm the town's slaves and lead them in a rebellion against the slavocracy of the Southern American states. He had no faith in any political leader to eliminate what he considered the sin of slavery - only his own faith that God had chosen him to lead the crusade against it. He was prepared to die in an attempt to cut the head off the snake of slavery.
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14. |
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WE WILL VANQUISH YOU "The golden leaves outside fall to the ground, fall to their place in the universe, while we take fire in this space. Holed up like a dog. It doesn't seem a place I'd like to die. Best to forget that now. Just watch the breeze blow from the sky. You killed my family. Frederick shot in August sun. Osawatomie. I've lived a dream that's paid in blood. You will exsanguinate. This oath I've made one thousand times. You will exsanguinate. All will see your system's lies. We will vanquish you. Better run while you still can. We will vanquish you. You're a dying breed on stolen land. It's a battle cry. Heed it now before it's too late. It's a battle cry. To die a slave is the worst fate."
Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee (later promoted to General) and a detachment of US Marines were deployed to Harper's Ferry after the local militia cornered Brown's band into the armory itself. A few of Brown's men were able to escape (most were killed or captured). One can only imagine what was going through John Brown's head during this time. Did he reflect on the death of his son at Osawatomie, Kansas in a skirmish with pro-slavery forces? The only thing for certain is that Brown had no intention of surrendering. He was, however, captured on the third day of the raid after the Marines broke down the door to the armory. He was beaten and stabbed, but not killed. He was brought to trial shortly thereafter and, while his actions were denounced by a majority as "insane", he impressed many who witnessed his trial, acting as his own defense. He eloquently defended his actions and convictions. He made it clear to everyone that he was not afraid to die in the struggle against the slavocracy. John Brown died by hanging on December 2nd, 1859.
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15. |
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It's a sunny day but there's a heavy feeling in the air
Nothing's been the same since the day the shots were fired
Darting eyes, shuffling feet, just get from here to there
Fractured society
We never saw it coming
We were fucking brain dead
Bright blood red letters on the wall
Soldiers wave their guns in the faces of their former neighbors
Preaching discipline and to fear a disappointed God
Clinging to the words of their paranoid leaders
We all suffer the price paid in their blood
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16. |
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17. |
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18. |
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Pour my coffee, take my seat.
It's time to make them feel the heat.
Guided missile bearing down
Straight from heaven, not a sound.
Drone! Drone! They're fucking droned!
If I don't do it, someone will.
Not very hard to make a kill
When the target's on the screen.
Just like a game, or good TV.
Drone! Drone! They're fucking droned!
How many points for my soul?
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19. |
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No empathy.
No conscience.
Such disconnect.
Mindless consumer.
(why can't you) consider someone else?
consider someone else!
consider someone else
consider someone else!
"It's my culture."
"I like the taste."
"I'm superior."
"It's just the way it is."
We're not the center of the fucking universe.
Each living being has its own intrinsic worth.
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20. |
"shortcut life" (2013)
01:31
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You can start a fight.
Scare a disadvantaged kid
(born into a modern day caste system).
Then shoot him dead.
It's such a shortcut life.
This injustice happens every day,
But not to people like me
(With advantageous skin,
With advantageous dicks).
It's only hearsay to me, of course.
But I believe it.
Growing up in a backwards redneck town,
More faith in guns than another's heart.
It's such a shortcut life.
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21. |
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Not innocent
At least we're trying
Not innocent
But not blindly buying
This legacy of brutality
But all my heroes have killed cowboys
White privilege
Means running water
White privilege
Means benefiting
From a legacy of brutality
But all my heroes have killed cowboys
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22. |
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Gather up the pikes, son
It's time we head down south
Gather up the men, son
We're going where God can't be found.
Where the devil makes his home.
Down to the armory
We march without a sound
Righteous, but terrified
On this wet October ground.
Gonna be a very cold trip
Never surrender.
Not till every last one is free.
Never surrender to this slavocracy
You are some brave men
You've led hardscrabble lives
But for this righteous cause
You would gladly die
All twenty-five of you
A band of brothers
Both black and white
Down to the armory
Where we'll bring the fight
Let's cut the head off this snake
Never surrender.
Not till every last one is free.
Never surrender to this slavocracy
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23. |
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It's a sunny day but there's a heavy feeling in the air
Nothing's been the same since the day the shots were fired
Darting eyes, shuffling feet, just get from here to there
Fractured society
We never saw it coming
We were fucking brain dead
Bright blood red letters on the wall
Soldiers wave their guns in the faces of their former neighbors
Preaching discipline and to fear a disappointed God
Clinging to the words of their paranoid leaders
We all suffer the price paid in their blood
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24. |
"little pieces" (2014)
01:42
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Have you ever seen a grown man die?
Blown into a million little pieces?
Imagine he'd just told you something heavy
Something he'd never told anyone
Then a moment later he was gone
Yet he was everywhere
Everywhere
I just want to come to terms with it
But no matter how much alcohol I corrode my spirit with
It all ends up just pissing itself away
There was a time when I felt more in control
Now all I want to do is fade away
Fade away
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25. |
"tattoo" (2014)
02:25
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I was taken in the first round-up
At gunpoint to a lonely place
Blindfolded, gagged and bound
Heart pounding at a frightening pace
Held down with my face on cold concrete
Barely breathing with a knee on my throat
I felt the sting, tasted pain
No desire to see what they wrote
What's a dissenter to do?
Marked man with an ugly tattoo
I never asked to grow up in a place
Where the ones who we trust with so much
Feel so fucking entitled with this gift
That they corrupt everything they touch
I know I'm older, not a kid
And I should not long for what I was fed
The illusion, the lie
My mind is free until the day I'm dead
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abolitionist Oregon
punk rock from the muck of oregon
check out Dustin's solo projects:
dztn1980.bandcamp.com
popnihilist.bandcamp.com
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