Fuck You, Pay Me

Birthday Suit

Buried Alive

Animal - Demo

Animal

Hell Bound

Wild At Heart

Rainbow: Sessions

I'm Trying

Fuck The World

Last One

Oh My God

There Ain’t No Ducks

Intro
Dad lost his job a year ago.
Things changed a little.
Then:
Keys on the counter, it’s time to go.

Fast
As bills piled up, Dad opened them slower.
By yard sale three, the prices got lower.
My tricycle bike has a new owner.
We clean the house one last time for closure.
Mom pats my head: "Listen, bub,
We sold our stuff, but we got love.
We don’t need a car, we’ll take the bus."
Goodbye house, goodbye lawn.
I start to feel sad, but then Mom
Says the new place has a duck pond!

Drop
Woo! Suddenly we’re packin up.
Uncle Dan arrives in a rental truck.
They shake hands and an awkward hug.
The last box. "Yup-yup, good luck."
I put a sticker on the truck:
"Ducks or bust!"

Break
Dear Santa,
Tell my friends they can have everything.
I’ll be with the ducks.

Verse
The ride is bumpy,
Mom squeezed between baby and me.
We pull up. The floor is sticky.
The air smells wrong.
The neighbor’s dog
Barks all night long.

Verse
On the first day I hear Grampa’s walker, sun up.
Click clack on the floor, googly eyes wide, peeking in my door.
Upper lip wiggle, quick hug, sneakers.
Throwin on a jacket, I’m grabbin up
Binoculars and a bag of crust.
Grampa, it’s time to feed the
Ducks, ducks, ducks
Where is the pond? I bet it’s glorious!
Shuffle-shuffle, Grampa come on!
"Hurry up!"
Just three blocks but
We take the bus.
An ironic sign says:
"Don’t feed the ducks!"
My eyes go big!
Binoculars up!
But

Spoken
The pond is still, the surface is flat.
No feathers float, there’s not a quack.
I wait for one,
But then I notice,
The name of this song is:
"There ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
Grampa frowns,
My cheeks burn hot.
It hits me,
In my gut.
Everything changes,
Like it or not.
"There ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
Grampa’s eyes have no explanation.
Did the ducks go on vacation?
Cause the sign said not to feed them.
We wait a bit longer but
"There ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
When we get home I say sharp,
"Hey Dad, it’s your fault."
Words slip out, I’m angry.
I tell Mom, she tricked me.
"I don’t like the bus.
I miss my stuff.
I miss our home.
And there ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
I stomp, I stutter,
I skip dinner.
A tear drips,
Then another.

Break
"Hey Santa!
I’m joining the naughty list.
Don’t bring us nothin.
Don’t bother us.
There ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
Emotions, I erase it.
I scratch it out, I smudge it.
Ink on my thumb,
I see a bug, I catch it.
Bedtime, me and Baby brother
In a small room with each other.
Squeaky floors, he snores.
I sniffle, my belly rumbles.
Thoughts tumble.
Rubbing my eyes,
Hugging my knees,
I pray: "Please"
But deep down I know:
"There ain’t no ducks!"

Verse
Morning two.
Dad reaches down,
Just us.
No speech, no pep talk now.

Verse
Taking my hand, we walk.
Past boxes, no rush.
The sun comes up,
Street dust aglow.
We go slow, no bus.
Back to the duck pond.

Outro
We stare at the mud, nothing in the water.
No flaps, no quacks, no feathery flutter.
No waddles, no words, just me and my father.
His eyes tired,
Looking down at me.
We sit.
We wait.
But there ain’t
No ducks.
Life is hard.
And
"There ain’t no ducks!"
"There ain’t no ducks!"
"There ain’t no ducks!"
"There ain’t no ducks!"

There Aint No Ducks

She

Littlestarunr

Related tracks