Thicker Skin

Written and Performed by Matt Butler,
Original Credit song for the feature documentary Generation Found, in theaters nationally as of August 30th 2016
www.generationfoundfilm.com

I think I ask too many questions
And I know I’ll never understand
How to help all those around me
When I am just one man

And there’s so many who feel helpless
That there’s just too much to be done
But I know that it makes all the difference
That revolution has begun

If I can help just one
And he can help just one
And she can help just one
If we can help just one

So I’ll put my heart into my labor
And I’ll burn my back under the sun
And I’ll share the harvest with my all my neighbors
And I’ll work until my hands are numb

If I can help just one
And he can help just one
And she can help just one
If we can help just one

I always gave to the collection
Always hoping I’d get something back
So now I’ll offer this reflection
To all the mourners dressed in black

Lord knows it’s so hard to pray
When mercy only comes to some
But we seek forgiveness when we rise each day
Because our work is never done

If we can help just one
Just One

Just One

Track 9 From Debut Album "Reckless Son"

Singing in a whisper in your bed
Dizzy from the cocaine wish I hadn’t had

I pray those memories don’t blend
Just dreaming bout my time with you again

The heat of your lips against my skin, 
The only part of my past I wished would never end

But I can’t live with my desire,
And I can’t let it all come rushing back again

Well I don’t mind crying
If I’ve got to let you go
Falling from the flame, like ashes in the snow
Heels down, grind me into grey
But I still lose my breath, every time I hear your name

I stare at your pictures on my phone
Each one of your features looks like home

Each smile across your face
Every look you ever thought had gone to waste

Aint nothing beginning, nothing ends
Aint never gonna have control, my friend

But it chills me to my core,
That you don’t seem to love me anymore

Well I don’t mind crying
If I’ve got to let you go
Falling from the flame, like ashes in the snow
Heels down, grind me into grey
But I still lose my breath, every time I hear your name

Ashes In The Snow

Track 5 From Debut Album "Reckless Son"

I remember when I first saw you 
The school girl skirt and the cigarette in your hand
Singing Born To Run
You said your dad was drunk and your mom was gone

I was slinging some dope on the corners
I was only a boy trying to be a man
That was all I knew
And I’d never had someone to call my own

So we got blasted from a cannon in the middle of the dark
Like a quarter stick of dynamite in Riverside park,

And I held you tight to the beat of my heart
While you whispered that nothing would ever keep us apart

Swore I’d take care of you,
Goddamn, I swear I tried but baby I just wasn’t able to

We’re at the mercy of what sets us free, 
Remember falling in love for the very first time?
Remember getting high for the very first time?
This aint the way that this was meant to be, 
Remember falling in love for the very first time,
Remember getting high for the very first time

Begged half of the year on the trains,
Grand Central winter or the dope sick New York rain,
Still playing the game,
Making just enough to kill the pain

I caught a charge, wound up in a cell
Detox in prison for a brand new personal hell
Left you with just your body to sell
From the darkness of some cheap hotel

I said this aint no way for anybody to live,
But can you ever forget or
Can you ever forgive me baby?

So when I get back we’ll both stay clean,
Get on public assistance, now that I’m 18

We swore we wouldn’t use,
But goddamn, we’ve done everything we swore we would never do

We’re at the mercy of what sets us free, 
Remember falling in love for the very first time?
Remember getting high for the very first time?
This aint the way that this was meant to be,
Remember falling in love for the very first time, 
Remember getting high for the very first time

When I got out I knew where to find you,
You said to meet in park where we first made love
I ran the whole way

Sure enough, that’s where I found you,
With blue lips and a face as white as a dove
The needle on the ground where you lay

And I held you as I tried to pray,
But there was nothing, 
just nothing that I could say

We’re at the mercy of what sets us free, 
Remember falling in love for the very first time?
Remember getting high for the very first time?
This aint the way that this was meant to be, 
Remember falling in love for the very first time, 
Remember getting high for the very first time

The Very First Time

Track 2 From Debut Album "Reckless Son"

On deck aboard a pilot boat
We waited for the light

Huddled close we warmed our hands breathing fog into the night

Through ancient ways of navigation following a star

Oh brother I can't tell you where you’re going, but I know just where you are

Cause every time I close my eyes
And sink into a sleep
Or stare across the sky

I hear the sound of your heart beat
I see the man that you've become
Following a dream
Dream dream

Skate across the ocean like a figure on the ice

But waves will come a crashing down
Like tumbling dice

Place no faith in destinations, be they near or far

Oh brother I can't tell you where you're going
But I know just who you are

Cause I've watched you as you've grown up tall
Humble in your rising
And gracious in a fall

You'll see the world, you'll see it all
As the man that you've become
In service of a call
Just listen for your call

And when the night begins to fall for days
Soon you'll ask what makes this world this way
Inside the silence if you start to pray
You will hear,
A voice will say

That patiently the water's waiting there for you and me

A thousand miles of ocean only leads into the sea

But your hands will trace the state of Grace, a map from up above

Cause brother I can tell that where you're going
You're bringing light and bringing love

So I'll follow as you light my way
With the wisdom of a child
Joyously at play

I'll find you as you find your own way
As the man that you've become
The man you are today

The Man That You've Become

Released 1/4/2020
Produced and Mixed by David Bendeth in MontClair, NJ at Magic Door Recording
Engineered by Brian Robbins
Mastered by Ted Jensen
Written by Matt Butler

Featuring
Matt Butler - Guitar/Vocals
Dan Iead - Guitar/Pedal Steel
Johnny Pisano - Bass
Chase Potter - Fiddle
Malcolm Burn - Keys/Drums
Dante and Misia Vessio - Backing Vox

Like A River

Kato Sessions

Justice Or Mercy

Produced by David Bendeth and Engineered by Brian Robbins at Magic Door Recording in Montclair, NJ
Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound


Tell Lucy That I Love Her

Don’t try to lie or to pretend
Everybody knew that I would end up here again
And I might have even been relieved
If only Lucy wasn’t counting on me

But don’t let her see me in this place
Don’t make me have to see that look on her face
So here’s what I need you to do
First tell her that I’m sorry she has to hear this from you

Tell Lucy that I love her but I’m not what she needs
Tell her I said she’s better off without me
Tell Lucy that I love her but I’ve gotta set her free
Tell Lucy not to worry
Tell her not to worry bout me

Then give her everything I own
Tell her to find someone and try to make a home
Then tell her everything I’ve done
All the reasons why I can’t be a father to her son

Tell Lucy that I love her but I’m not what she needs
Tell her I said she’s better off without me
Tell Lucy that I love her but that’s how it’s gotta be
Tell Lucy not to tell him
Tell her not to tell him ‘bout me

Yea I know someday he’ll be grown
I don’t want him to have the kind of life that I’ve known
And I’ll be just fine here on my own
Somewhere in the silence on the end of this phone

Tell Lucy that I love her but I’m not what she needs
Tell her I said she’s better off without me
Tell Lucy that I love her but I’ve gotta set her free
Tell Lucy not to worry
Tell her to forget about me

Tell Lucy That I Love Her (Full Band Version)

The original 2015 recording of 'Ride Again' - my first ever release.  It came down when we switched distributors and the 'Reckless Son' album version came out, but I've always loved this and how raw it sounds.

Produced By Ben Rice at Degraw Sound
Drums: Gian Stone
Electric and Bass Guitar: Josh Lattanzi

Ride Again

Ride Again (Original 2015 Single)

A home demo version of 'Ride Again' recorded at the home of my good friend Wes Hutchinson.

Produced by Wes Hutchinson

Ride Again (Home Demo)

Written and performed by Matt Butler

Produced and recorded at my teacher Bob Burke's house in Manhattan, NY.
Lyrics:

Last time I was on these streets I was only 17 years old
But in the eyes of the law that was old enough to be tried as an adult

Now after all these years the folks round here still remember who I am
Sometimes I catch them watching me close or they just act like they don’t give a damn

Cause lord I’ve been gone so long
Now this place don’t feel like home
I’ve been gone so long
And all I want is to move on

Early in the morning I go looking for work, I bum rides since I lost my car
Hitch a couple miles to my PO just to tell him no luck so far

I served my time and I paid my debt but there’s always something more I owe
Seems like all I can do is what I’ve always done and just go back to what I know

Cause lord I’ve been gone so long
Now this place don’t feel like home
I’ve been gone so long
And all I want is to move on

At night I lay awake and wonder how else to make amends
But can’t help but start to think they’re never gonna let me start again

Cause lord I’ve been gone so long
Now this place don’t feel like home
I’ve been gone so long
And all I want is to move on

Been Gone So Long

Praying For Rain

Praying For Rain - Live At Chesterfield County Jail

Shotgun Blues

Shotgun Blues Live At Albany County Jail

Counting The Days

“Redemption and hope through song sums it up when I think of Matt Butler” says Kevin Lyman, the founder of the legendary Vans Warped Tour, who hosted Butler as one of the few solo acoustic acts on the Tour’s final cross country run in 2018; Matt was back as a mainstage performer at the Warped Anniversary show the following year.  In the time before and after, Butler’s been relentlessly on the road performing at everything from stadiums to state prisons.  With a rocked out electric and a heartbreaking live acoustic version being released simultaneously (February 19th), Butler’s latest single ‘Tell Lucy That I Love Her’ is ripped straight from the experience of performing over 150 shows in correctional facilities across the United States.  Moreover, the new single exemplifies how Butler’s music shines a light into some of the darkest corners of our world. He paints vivid pictures of pain and truth while exposing the glimmers of hope that only exist in those raw moments where redemption is born.

That skillful storytelling has led Butler to some unlikely venues. Shortly after the release of his debut album Reckless Son in 2016, he wrote and performed ‘Just One’, the original song for the feature length and nationally distributed documentary Generation Found - A film about teens struggling with substance abuse and special schools supporting their path to recovery.  Suddenly at the center of a growing national movement, in November of 2016 Matt was invited to play a concert for the incarcerated population “behind the walls” of Albany County Jail. Following a glowing response, word of the show quickly spread and requests to perform at other facilities culminated in an entire ‘Behind the Walls’ Tour of state prisons across Ohio.  Afterwards, he was named a ‘2017 Leader In Mental Health Awareness’ by The National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI).  Deeply inspired by these experiences, Butler established the Just One Foundation(501c3) in 2018 which brings art with a mission and a message into underserved communities.  

Matt kicked off 2020 by releasing the David Bendeth (Paramore, Bruce Hornsby) produced anthem ‘Like A River’ - a track inspired by the chance to be of service that exists in each moment of everyday life.  As he continues to record, Butler’s new music draws heavily on the stories of people he’s met on the road and behind the walls.  With accessible writing and relatable characters, upcoming singles like ‘Justice or Mercy’ and ‘Been Gone So Long’ can’t help but stir compassion in a listener.  Each song has a transcendent quality that shows us how universal our struggles and experiences can really be.  

To date, Butler has now performed in more than 30 correctional facilities across 11 states and continues this work alongside his regular touring.  He’s a staple figure at New York City’s famous ‘Rockwood Music Hall’ and performs in venues as diverse as local high schools, yoga centers and spiritual retreats.  He’s also gained recognition as a sought after keynote speaker (with guitar in hand, of course).

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