A sneak peek at track 5 of the upcoming release NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. 

The Things That Break You Down

It's All a Puzzle

08 Junkyard

Written April 19th, 2016 for the Songwriting Game. Prompt: "SCENE OF THE CRIME."

Lyrics:
Scene: a bedroom with no windows
Central New Jersey, 1973
It's been ten years of floating in the starflow
Since the last time you saw me

Sigh all you want, it never changes
The carbon monoxide poisoning
The suicide by the light of an American Spirit cigarette

Of this I'm certain, I'm totally sure
That no one knows what they are living for
But generalizing each other's internal lives
Is a slippery slope toward total demise

Sigh all you want, it never changes
The carbon monoxide poisoning
The suicide by the light of an American Spirit cigarette

Crimes of the heart in the town home
I suffered, locked inside four paltry stares
The desert rain woke you up that morning
And you could only sigh when you realized I wasn't there

Sigh all you want, it never changes
The carbon monoxide poisoning
The suicide by the light
The suicide by the light
The suicide by the light 
The suicide by the light of an American Spirit cigarette

Irving

Written May 10th, 2016 for the Songwriting Game. Prompt: "Leave You Guessing." 

Lyrics:
You’re drinking wine out of a box that I bought you
Your clarinet falls asleep in the backseat
In a month you will tell your friends I fought you
To articulate the feeling between your teeth

Meanwhile I am occupied by the thumping between my ribs
And you cannot hear it, but it’s louder than the kick drum
In the death metal band in your ears
So with that off my chest, it’s finally time for my life to come undone

And I must’ve been wasted beyond reason 
When I said that I loved you
I must’ve been wasted beyond reason
When I said I’d come to get you
From the cold currents
Of the Delaware River Crossing
I must’ve been wasted beyond reason
When I called. 

Bells ring and flowers sprout and winter’s gone
The years have not been kind
Because I’m sitting in a hotel room trying to guess what I did wrong
To fuck up the foundation of our handcrafted enterprise

And I must’ve been wasted beyond reason 
When I said that I loved you
I must’ve been wasted beyond reason
When I said I’d come to get you
From the cold currents
Of the Delaware River Crossing
I must’ve been wasted beyond reason
When I called. 

A Box Of Wine and a Trip to Calcutta

Written May 28, 2016 for the Songwriting Game. Prompt: "WOLVES" 

Lyrics: 
It’s Saturday, hey, it’s my day off
And I am screening phone calls
From pencil-grinding debt collectors
Those fickle wolves with big calculators

And I fell asleep watching wrestling again
Made nary a dent in 600 pages
And on the federal stage I am just a grain of sand
With a small economy left to pay

Maybe someday soon I can tell them to fuck off
Go make their calls to some other guy
Otherwise they’ll follow me wherever I roam
Taking minimum payments til I die

I read an interview last night with a young novelist
Who just sold his debut for seven figures
I recognize the death knells of the novices
But I cannot wrap my head around that sum

It's Saturday, hey, it’s my day off
And I am walking through the park
With a spring in my step I plan to keep
Ready to punch some wolves in their teeth

Maybe someday soon I can tell them to fuck off
Go make their calls to some other guy
Otherwise they’ll follow my wherever I roam
Taking minimum payments til I die

Dan Baker

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