1. |
Millennial Dilemma
02:07
|
|||
|
"Millennial Dilemma"
Mom and dad, judge and jury,
I know I’m an embarrassment, but no need to worry
It’s just the dilemma of my enviable life
A coincidence of me and my time
My grandma and my grandpa, captured during the Second War,
Enslaved in German labor camps, got numbers on their arms,
Sailed to Ellis Island with four kids in a stinking boat,
And worked their whole long lives without a whimper or a gloat
So what the fuck is wrong with me
Living in America where I’m free
Yet I bitch more than a detainee
Spoiled child, what’s wrong with me?
Raised on computer technology
Living better than past centuries
Yet I’m sad as hell being the bourgiousie
Prosperity’s child, what’s wrong with me?
Oh tell me, tell me, please
My mother and my father, working thankless, boring jobs,
Saved up a decade’s wages to send me to a decent college
And will work those very jobs til the day that they retire
When they’ll visit all those locales to which their youth once did aspire
Sometimes I do wish
Wish for tragedy
Something with sharp teeth
To chew a man out of me
Some real suffering
I could meet gallantly
Tragedy encircles me
Yet here, my problem’s I’m too free
I live a boring, charmed life at the foot of luxury
I squandered half my twenties wondering just who I should be
I ain’t ready to start a family, not even sure if I’m (an) adult
Am I some new breed of loser, a clueless target for a cult?
Oh I feel my time a’passin’ better get my shit together
Shoulder responsibility and quit indulging in aimless pleasures
But pleasure’s so convenient and happiness ain’t defined
What should I believe, I can’t make up my fucking mind
|
||||
2. |
The Stone
02:17
|
|||
|
"The Stone"
How many, how many, how many, how many
How many times, how many times will you
Strike upon the stone
Before you finally learn
The stone will never turn
How long, how long, how long, how long
Will you
Stare upon the stone
Before you realize
The stone conceals no guise
No blood from the stone
No blood from the stone
Why do you, why do you, why do you, why do you
Why do you wonder, why do you wonder about
What’s within the stone
There is no more there
The stone has nothing to bare
No blood from the stone
No blood from the stone
When I ask the stone’s reply
Has nothing to say, but what besides
So kick the stone away for a while
Maybe he’ll return a big surprise
But, no, he only rolls away
I’ll catch up with him another day
Another day rolls on and on
With silence end of just what was spawned
|
||||
3. |
Mood Swing
02:57
|
|||
|
"Mood Swing"
I’m up! And all is well with life
I’m Down! Oh Lord keep me from the knife
Sunshine! Maybe I’ll go fly a kite
Too bright! Nevermind , please bring on the night
Moonshine! Yeah, it’s finally my writin’ time
Blackout! Can’t write a single fuckin’ line
I’m alive! And that’s the best I can do today
But hey! You know, tomorrow’s another day
But I know
What swings high
Must sweep low
Oh I know...
From the sun to the moon
From the fool to the king
Oh who can predict all my mood swings!
I ain’t got defenses against ‘em
But maybe in a few years new thoughts will bring
Stability and clarity to the conflict that’s a’ragin’ inside me
And that day maybe I’ll find what everyone mean by being happy—
I’m up! And all is well again
I’m down! Seems my reign is at an end
Smart guy! Yeah, I’m pretty intelligent
Smart ass! No, I’m arrogant and ignorant
I’m cool! In an unconventional way
You fool! Ain’t that what they all say
So good! Yeah, this song it really flows
It sucks! No, this song most definitely blows
From the sun to the moon
From the fool to the king
Oh who can predict all my mood swings!
I try like hell to maintain ‘em
But I can’t seem to find a level bearing
Where I can live evenly without the worry that maybe I’m goin’ a bit crazy
But some day maybe I’ll find what everyone means by being happy
And that happy day I’ll meet a woman who’s emotionally healthy
And we’ll marry, have two or three kids, and live in a house way out in the country
We’ll grow in love each day, and all our days will be blue and sunny
I’ll call her some endearing name, and hers for me, maybe it’ll be honey
Oh this dream, it sounds too good, sounds so good it’s startin’ to sound a bit funny
Well, ain’t that just like me: all my dreams end up sounding of irony
La la la
|
||||
4. |
Our Fantasy
02:17
|
|||
|
“Our Fantasy”
My father ain’t a king
And my mother ain’t a queen
But you and I could be
In our little fantasy
Together...
(Won’t you) Please give me a kiss
‘Cause I just might be a prince, I don’t know,
Though I hear, it’s the kiss that makes the prince
Ain’t that lovely?
And a prince, he ain’t always handsome
In fact, he often looks quite funny
And I shall remain like this
Until I receive your kiss
I might be a beast some days
And you might be a witch
In both our strange ways
But our story’ll end happily
‘Cause by then we’ll be quite rich
In understanding
Oh...
Please won’t you give me a kiss
‘Cause I just might be your prince
And if it ain’t too kitsche
You just might be my princess
Please won’t you make me your prince?
|
||||
5. |
An Idea
02:47
|
|||
|
"An Idea"
In oaken arks
We’ve crossed the sea
For a foreign land of uncertainty
To live by God
In unmolested peace
Most left their friends
Others, families
But all have left—
Some say foolishly—
Their dear homeland,
Their comforts and securities
All for a dream
For new opportunity
All to be free
The winters are harsh
But the springs, lush green
When from saw-dusted homes
We emerge to greet
The new-world’s sun,
The hardy flocks of chickadees;
Our children to sing so sweet;
The approach of another fleet;
New neighbors to meet
Around the hearth we make compact
To live as one
No crown shall rule but we ourselves
E pluribus unum
Our fate we sign our names and then with blood
To wrest from tyranny’ unrest
A new freedom
Our brothers stand proud by our side
In redcoats are none
The sky it cracks through clouds bleeds down the sun
Upon our gathering peers
They bear us their love
We hold back our tears
The bugle sounds its anxious cry
As young men march prepared to die
All for an idea
|
||||
6. |
First-World Suffering
02:37
|
|||
|
"First-World Suffering"
Wake up at 3:am, can’t sleep
Check my Twitter feed, nothin’ to tweet
Roll back over, listen to the cars down in the street
All I hear’s my heart, goes beep-beep ... beep
Focus on my thoughts, like to weep,
Count out (all) my fears, no need for sheep
8:am, day starts, wish it were done
Board the train, strange faces, I’m one
Avoid the eyes of a belligerent bum
My public self ... I leave me numb
(But) This is modern life, there’s nowhere to run
9:am, shift starts, I’ma coffee whore
Pushin’ caffeine at a downtown bourgeoise store
Minimum wage ought’a be more
Livin’ life ought’a mean more
I ought’a be doin’ something more ... I guess
Don’t cry for me, I don’t cry for me, no tears, no sympathy, please
1:pm, lunch time, smoke break
Accidental ash in my coffee and a two-day old cupcake
This is the shit, that keeps me awake
This kind of shit, I eat everyday
All this shit, just another of my mistakes ... comes easy
5:pm, shift ends, time for me-time
Reverse commute and wait wait wait ... in line
Spend half my day waiting like a fattening swine
Spend the rest, I spend the rest ... I can’t even remember most times
6:pm, home again, what should I do
Had plans to go out, those plans fell through
No one to see, but (got) a nice view from my room
So queue up the Netflix and break out the brew
Gonna get lit and wallow in my (own) stew ...
Don’t cry for me, I don’t cry for me, no tears, no sympathy, please
|
||||
7. |
Fox Without A Home
02:37
|
|||
|
"Fox Without A Home"
Take a look at this young man
Just another sad, lonely heart
Romantic hero, but living a bit part
‘d like to meet a young dear
Hold her real close and treat her right
Too bad he ain’t simple like the simple types
Christian heart
Restless soul
Lustful mind
Joined her out on the dance floor
Saw the bed warm in her eyes
Too bad he won’t dance like the other guys
Lustful heart
Restless soul
Christian mind
Man, where do you stand
And why you so hung up?
Just do like they all do!
Man, are you a goat or a ram?
Can’t you just make your mind up?
‘Cause at the end of the day
Alone’s how you wind up
Lonely for the holy?
Tried his heart in the house of God
His knees were down but his mind was abroad
Met her in the chapel
Saw devotion held in her curls
Too bad he can’t live in her simple world
Christian heart
Lustful soul
Restless mind
Man, is there any hope, is there a one for you,
With your—restless heart—tortured soul—and confused mind, too?
O the foxes, they have their dens...
But what home have you?
What’s Christian virtue,
without a God to pray to,
and someone else to love you?
What’s wrong with the bedroom,
when you’re free in the world’s doom,
ain’t it time for you to deplume?
O you lonely heart,
Fazed evader of love’s dart,
You dance to your own blues
O you lonely heart,
Tangled fool in love’s court,
I hope you meet your dear soon
|
||||
8. |
Hustle & Bustle
03:54
|
|||
|
“Hustle & Bustle”
Hustle and bustle
Bustle and rustle
Red, white, black and blue
American shuffle
Shuffle and bubble
Bubble and trouble
Faster sins correct the flow
Just add hate and watch the row!
Ruffle and bristle
Bristle and muscle
From truth-to-power shouts
To will-to-power knuckles
Knuckle and scuffle
Scuffle and struggle
From slavery to feticide,
We keep persons well defined!
Pummel and cudgel
Cudgel and muffle
Nothing gendered ‘bout
The end of a jackboot’s muzzle
Muzzle and buckle
Buckle and truckle
Right or wrong it’s how I feel
O Fortuna, spin your wheel!
Hustle and bustle
Bustle and rustle...
[...]
Yesterday, a child was born
Swaddled, eight whole pounds
She hasn’t heard the lies we tell
Or the hatred we pass around
But someday ...
When she rudely comes of age
Well before her time
To learn what foolish games we play
To hide the ignorance in our lives
What will she think?
Will she think she can improve
What we thought we could?
Or will she give in to despair
And forsake her hope for good?
And maybe write a song ...
And in that song she might address
The disorders of her time
Still to learn what we’ll have learned
Of the stubbornness of mankind
|
||||
English Minor Chicago, Illinois
A songwriting duo who, after many (many) attempts, have been unable to formulate a bio of just the right amount of sincerity and irony so as to succinctly capture the essence of their musical sensibilities.
If you like English Minor, you may also like:
Waiting for the Sky to Speak
by Oropendola
Chamber pop with lyrics that are alternately wry and confessional, Oropendola creates whole worlds built on purposeful keyboard melodies.
go to album
This debut from the Paris-based American artist showcases his genre-fluid sound.
go to album
Hideaway EP
by John Mark Nelson
Beautiful folk-derived songs on the new EP from John Mark Nelson center yearning melodies and gentle arrangements.
go to album
Johanna Samuels writes introspective and empathetic songs that explore authenticity with lovely, low-key pop melodies.
go to album
Danielle Durack's emotional music is both gentle and steely, moving from intimate bedroom pop to powerful rock in the blink of an eye.
go to album
Darkly dramatic synth-pop with airy vocals that paint a grim but still hopeful portrait of our present day.
go to album
This Melbourne group craft irresistible bedroom pop with bouncy synths and soft vocals that sweeten serious subject matter.
go to album
