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Tragic Comedy

by The Messenger Birds

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1.
Snowfall in summertime Can’t separate what’s real from what’s in my mind Middlemen polarized Just thinking ‘bout tomorrow keeps me up at night Old wound, new face Just looking for somewhere you can pass the blame Expert, self-proclaimed Oh yeah, you’ve got an answer for everything
2.
2020, perfect vision A counterfeit for a public lynching Some will tell you that's an even trade We're all running out of patience Our pockets bleed for the corporation They keep cashing in vacation days If no one's gonna look my way I'll have to make my own parade Last minute execution Put to death by the pro life movement Hold up a bible for the photo op I'm at odds with the world I grew up in Chained up in the free market We're invisible until we're not If no one's gonna look my way I'll have to make my own parade
3.
PTSD Nothing to see The ring in my ears Imaginary Have a hard time Seeing the bright side Everything's darkest In broad daylight The more you talk The less I say Enough is enough I'll go away People don't change So, what is this place? Small world, small circles Memories fade Catch and release Kid on a leash Desperate plans Just do as you please The more you talk The less I say Enough is enough I'll go away
4.
Feel you tiring of my grief Think how could I still be So paralyzed and depressed Happiness is a thin mask A brick through the paned glass That I threw and blamed you for the mess When everything looks dead, it’s hard to feel alive I’d leave the house, but I don’t want to go outside Can’t escape my tortured youth Everything I think keeps coming true Got no plans, nothing to do Threw my life away ‘cause I wanted to If I covered up both eyes You’d call that a fair fight Let’s get this over quick The bad news comes in an onslaught More bodies piling up We’re gonna need a bigger ditch I swear I did my best to meet you where you’re at And I’m all ears if you’ve got a better plan Can’t escape my tortured youth Everything I think keeps coming true Got no plans, nothing to do Threw my life away ‘cause I wanted to Now I’m loving on a deficit It’s a feeling that I’m borrowing All I want to do is give in I’ve just got nothing to give
5.
Feeling like a tourist in a ghost town City streets, once busy, now have emptied out Lived here your whole life, stuck in the background Just trying to make a sound Talking to your echo makes it easy Tells you what you want, says all the right things Better to have schizophrenic company Than to be lonely Now I’m stuck in a daydream You’re talking in your sleep In the silence of God You hear everything
6.
Killing Time 05:11
Don’t take long before the panic spreads You know fear’s an airborne pathogen So take another drag of your cigarette Or breathe it secondhand It’s been nine months since your mother died Feels like yesterday, still can’t sleep through the night Nothing makes me happy, I’m just killing time But that’s alright I’ll be alright Always tired until I go to bed Soon as I lie down, I’m wide awake again Rewind my sadness like a VHS And replay all of it Not sure what I’m really trying to find Guess I’m keeping myself occupied Just long enough so I can trick my mind That I’m alright I’ll be alright
7.
Cleanse the maggot from my brain And make me think differently Less than a dollar a day I think I could do two or three Take a beating, leave a beating There’s no one I’d rather be Maybe I’ll be left with pennies Fountain dreams to say the least It’s the new age The water or the kool aid Pick your poison You’re on your own today What are you so nervous for You’re supposed to be a matador Sell us on a fighting chance Keep us coming back for more Put on a show for us Refrigerator love is all you ever had Perfect portrait, tag a platitude or slogan Tell yourself it’s not so bad It’s the new age The water or the kool aid Pick your poison You’re on your own today
8.
Midwestern mirage fading in and out of view I get lost, anxious thoughts every time I look at you Forget who I am, haven't got the slightest clue Shut my mouth 'cause no one really wants the truth And everything's right where you left it Don't need your advice, I only wanted you to listen It's getting harder and harder for me to hold the line Sorry to repeat myself, you never hear it the first time Got a mantra, you found something worth believing in Was working for a while, you tried to make the best of it Happier in squalor, there's no pressure to be anything Just a quiet life with a quiet end And everything's right where you left it Don't need your advice, I only wanted you to listen It's getting harder and harder for me to hold the line Sorry to repeat myself, you never hear it the first time Nothing ever really gets any easier Think I just get used to how it feels I see pain in every future That's just part of the deal And everything's right where you left it Don't need your advice, I only wanted you to listen It's getting harder and harder for me to hold the line Sorry to repeat myself, you never hear it the first time
9.
10.
If the Son of God came down for this He’d be called a filthy socialist And trampled by a nationalist mob That wouldn’t spend a single cent To prevent another quiet death That ain’t no way to worship in America Got your free speech and your Russian guns Keep you safe until your savior comes That pseudo-prophetic internet demagogue It’s common war, uncommon means If you just look closer then you’ll see The patterns in the white noise, plain and visible Who are you going to believe Bad faith actor safe behind the scenes How can you be so sure of anything It’s a bad day or a parlor trick Can’t say domestic terrorist Won’t avert your eyes from the Reptilian Christchurch, Cold Lake, copycat Happy meal, pat on the back Two worlds, two sides clash and then repeat again Who are you going to believe Bad faith actor safe behind the scenes How can you be so sure of anything
11.
Owe penance for all of my sins What I lack in faith, you force in Still nobody knows what will happen when all of this ends Eight months with empty pockets Small business relief for your private jet Some Megachurch greed funded at the taxpayers’ expense It’s hard to explain what it’s like Well, you don’t see the pain in a blue sky No, it’s not ‘til a hurricane’s passed that you ask if we’re alright Lived through some lonely days But history is easy to manipulate Imperfect nostalgia you rewrote as some golden age Not once were we really made safe By COINTELPRO or the NSA Just paranoid counterintelligence power plays Now there’s crowds pouring out in the streets Like nothing that I’ve ever seen Screaming for change while they’re brutalized by the police Threw gas on the fire you lit And tore down that shiny monolith Yelled “America first!” then you swapped it for a crucifix Labeled a radical threat For speaking with reason and evidence Let’s not forget that your savior was killed by his government Worked free for most of my life Paid more in taxes than 45 If exposure is currency, I will be rich when I die Some things you just wouldn’t believe No, it must be a tragic comedy Guess sometimes you’ve just got to riot for some god damn peace
12.
Almost a year to the day Don’t think it’s going away At some point you’ll have to face Or rob the memory bank Pellet gun self-defense Who do you serve and protect Livestream the violence Prime time entertainment Easy come, easy go We’ve got nowhere to go Take it out to the streets And the cycle repeats

credits

released November 18, 2022

Executive Producer: Steve Lehane
Co-produced by The Messenger Birds
Performed by The Messenger Birds
Recorded at Rustbelt Studios
Engineered by Steve Lehane
Mixed by Steve Lehane
Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music
Artwork by Ray Rivard & The Messenger Birds

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The Messenger Birds Detroit, Michigan

"That's not a rock band, that's just two guys!" - some guy named Kevin

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