I caught you looking down your nose. When you had read my words.
With all the silly pictures where I put my head on birds.
Trouble is you think you mean something.
When you really don't mean nothing. 

Oh, I could write a song with words exactly the same as you.
But my words won't mean a thing to you.  You take me for a fool.
And you think you fucking mean something.
You really need to mean something. 

Your pretty face decayed with age and left you in the lurch.
you didn't have a character. you'd never been to church.
But you still pretend it means something.
Oh, it really fucking means something. 

Watch out, you'll give me a heart attack.
No doubt. now you have lost the knack.
Step out. hoping to find your way home.
Now you're all alone. 

Your guitar is on your shoulder and you Wear it like a hat.
Just a fashion statement that might help you pull and that.
You still pretend it means something.
Oh it really fucking means something. 

Just because I have a joke and arn't as serious as you.
That doesn't mean that my words don't count exactly like yours do.
But I don't pretend they mean something.
They really don't mean nothing. 

Yeah I use all the cliches, oh I might say in or out. 
Up-and-down, side to side, I might cry round about.
I just don't pretend to mean something.
It doesn't fucking mean something. 

Hard tack. The few things your living for 
Hatch back. Expecting nothing more.
Old hat. Hoping to find your way home.
Now you're all alone. 

Oh, I might write a song in which I'm talking to a wolf.
Because that is a word which I can easy rhyme with gulf.
Bet you wanna think that means something.
It really fucking means nothing. 

Yeah, it's as easy as finding words that rhyme with laundromat.
You could say that, bat, cat, sat, lath, rat, hat, gnat, fat, mat. 
Oh you think it fucking means something.
Yeah you think it fucking means something. 

Oh, You've been writing songs in which youre talking to the Queen.
You're creating images, you don't know what they mean.
But you think they fucking mean something.
Yeah you think they fucking mean something. 

New man, tied to a changing mat.
or pram, a dent in the place you sat.
no maam, hoping to find my way home.
now I'm all alone. 

It's not that my words don't have meaning to them like you think yours do.
It's just that I don't attach value to it like you fucking do.
Cos you think it fucking means something.
Or you think it fucking means something. 

Strike back. giving your heart away.
Give back, here's to another day,
Price tag. Hoping to find your way home.
Now your'e all alone. 

Oh I could sing I love you, oh now don't you get me wrong.
But the people that I love know it without a fucking song.
Cos it's actions that mean something. 
Your words don't mean nothing. 

Yeah there's not much point in saying things if you're not gonna follow through.
The people who shout loudest are the ones who never do.
But they still pretend it means something.
It really fucking means nothing.



Mean Something

Track one on Ben Mercedez' album SAY WHAT U WANT, "PSYCHOTRONIC"

"SAY WHAT U WANT" the album, out NOW

Produced by: Ben Mercedez
Written by: Ben Mercedez
Performed by: Ben Mercedez

Lyrics:

Bonjour I want to, drown out the sound of
Bickering and bitching, around me
I don't mind if they detest me
Cause I'm the FASHIONOVA
Why can't we dance
Paint a smile and move, move, move, move
Revolution, whether were high as hell or tame and tell
We're gonna link up, don't think just sing 

I ascend from the ashes
Like a phoenix ah ah
Were PSYCHOTRONIC 
Cause I love the textures of silk and leather
I descend from the heavens
BEN MERCEDEZ I am
Were PSYCHOTRONIC 
Cause I love the sound of bass and electric
I come from the west
Like a bandit ah ah
Were PSYCHOTRONIC 
Cause I love the sight of nuisance and sin
Watch as I come from above
This is BEN MERCEDEZ
I let them say what they want what they want

Give me a sign
If you wanna get loud tonight
Fuck it up dont worry about it its light tonight

Give me a sign
If you wanna get loud tonight
Fuck it up dont worry about it its light tonight

We diplomatic, we problem solving
I drink till i see magic
Were PSYCHOTRONIC 
Pop the corks and let it flow
That shit attractive
We PSYCHOTRONIC

We diplomatic, we problem solving
I drink till i see magic
Were PSYCHOTRONIC 
Pop the corks and let it flow
That shit attractive
We PSYCHOTRONIC

Released: 5/24/24

PSYCHOTRONIC

Dripping with ice
Like she's got it all down
Walks in the room
She's the toast of the town
No one would never know that she's just
Daddy's girl from a small town world

Working so hard
Climbing to the top
Left them all behind
Or so she thought
But deep inside she'll always be
Daddy's girl from a small town world

All those big glitzy lights
Of the big city nights
Instead of country roads
In your grandpa's Ford
So many things in your life
You find slipping away

Fly high
But never let them into your heart your heart
If you run around chasing the stars
Never forget who you are

Fly high
But listen to the beat of your heart
If you run around chasing the stars
Never let them change who you are

All of your life spent chasing the dream
But when you look in the mirror, do you like who you see
Scratched and clawed your way to the top
But standing here now, do you like what you got
And what it cost

But tonight she's
Walking around
Turning every head
With her style and poise
No one suspects
That behind that dress, she's really just
Daddy's girl from a small town world

All the glamorous sights
Of the big city life
Instead of fireflies
On a summer night

Fly high
But listen to the beat of your heart
If you run around chasing the stars
Never let them change who you are

You could have the time of your life
Or the darkest of times

Fly high
But listen to the beat of your heart
If you run around chasing the stars
Never let them change who you are

All of your life spent chasing the dream
But when you look in the mirror, do you like who you see
Scratched and clawed your way to the top
But standing here now, do you like what you got
And what it cost

You could have the time of your life
Or the darkest of times...

© 2024 John Mendenhall

Daddy's Girl

Bear in mind that this is fictional as well as firmly autobiographical all at the same time.  Because that's the way with human experience - we make up a story that we tell ourselves until we believe it.

There was some inadvertent manipulation by the educational system which was real, but I was also guilty as hell of being stubborn about individuality and also a pretty hardcore video game addict right back to the Atari 2600 and this extended into online addiction in the 90's before they had a name for it even.

So people that I may have felt were less than helpful, also rolled out the red carpet for me more than once -- just on terms I refused to swallow.

So mainly this is an anti-bureaucratic piece.  The footsoldiers in the faculties doing the teaching, and my fellow classmates both have my sincere sympathies.  A distinction has to be drawn between making music just to get the ick out of my system and what I truly think upon more sober reflection.

Also: well aware this kind of whines like "Allentown" re: 'vote with your feet dummy'

my main website:
http://exedexes1.com

itch.io page:
http://exedexes1.itch.io

Lyrics:

When the H.R. folks say that i irrationally resent
But then the merit raise was two percent
Then let's review the course of the gradual descent
That got all of us where we are now

At the start they said well then, we'll skip you one grade
But hem you in by constraints that we already made
You'd be better adjusted if you only had stayed
Where conformity's all we allow


As I traversed past grade school to the stuff above
The real shock came when, push came to shove
There came things I didn't particularly love
Like rejection from the occasional cow

I escaped from that scene seeking resolution
But the worst place to do it was an institution 
Playing redistributive games
I pushed my way through it
Though my hope was diminished
If no other result, well I proved I could finish
But they were bitter returns all the same

Getting out in the world from the ivory tower
I found that things out there were not much less sour
The retail grind at five eighty five an hour
Doesn't cause you to climb to much fame

I needed the time, to heal, to mend
But the length that it took seemed to really depend
On chewing through this or that online crutch
And that seemed to drag on for far too much

Advancement comes slow when your job doesn't match
The inclinations which are your true path
When suppression has become the order of the day
A lot of time gets burned away

And then came a shift in the mood of the nation
Making it tougher to alter your station
Where even if striven with all your might
They'd just have said, can't promote the budget's too tight
If you were lucky they'd come at you with euphemisms
If not they'd tell you the stark reality 
That you just don't fit intersectionality

I only seemed lazy because in this domain
The only way to stay remotely sane
Was to ignore that they ignored me
While dreaming of where I really should be
Pointing out that my worth's in arrears
Perennially falls on deaf ears

If they get an abrupt shock one morning
Well, they've only had forty-five years of warning
Playing games with people's lives 
Is bound to end in a nasty surprise


I only seemed lazy because I missed the basic rule
Not to wait for someone else's say 
And so I no longer play the fool
As I breach the walls of the cage
And take control of my own way

And so folks then herein lies the rub
Just like don't wait for a corpo to cook your grub
Don't wait for prefab lesson plans
Take destiny back into your hands

301 : I Only Seemed Lazy Because released June 11, 2024

Feature.fm link to this track:
https://ffm.to/only-lazy-because

SoundCloud for this track:
https://soundcloud.com/doug-stoothoff/i-only-seemed-lazy-because

Spotify for this track:
https://open.spotify.com/track/7mEe56bLN8QKY2W4mqz9Ah

Douglas P Stoothoff main site:
https://exedexes1.com/

Artist page on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7EuvIQRQESX9WFtwI6GqWB

NovemDeka

I Only Seemed Lazy Because

Buy on Bandcamp

Searching for the Mystical Sound

Relief

"Beauty and the Beats" is a musical journey through stories that blend the enchanting allure of beauty with the raw energy of beats. From profiles of emerging artists to deep dives into iconic albums, this newspaper explores the transformative power of music. Dive into the rhythm and melody of each page as we uncover the beauty within every beat.

Put Your Name On Your Chain[Ft Baby Casino Deo]

frankie

Sara told me "You can't go this way. It's too easy.
I love you too much to see you burn up until you'll be dust"

And who am I to be loved this way, oh, nowadays.
I'm just a guy, with no future. This is my way.

Sara told me "Man up baby. You are thirty.
It's time to build a life that's good for us honey"

And who am I to be loved this way, oh, nowadays.
I'm just a guy, with no future. This is my way.

Sara Told Me

Ascending Waves

danger-in-paradise.mp3

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

A therapeutic journey into a mix of jazz, classical, and a blend of types of electronica.  And a wry, gradual observation that promotion tends to only go as far as you push it.  At least I make my fellow musicians laugh a little.

I Only Seemed Lazy Because

Doug Stoothoff