woes.begone

WOE.BEGONE

FAWM 2025

if turning shit to gold is so much work, then why is cowboyification so easy

https://woebegonepod.bandcamp.com/album/i-have-been-to-the-future-volume-3

168+ | 175, 179, 180 (2x) | 181, 190, 191, 192 (3x) | 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199, 200, 201 (demo), 202 (demo), 203 (demo), 204 (2x) | 205 | bonus

3️⃣

I was hoping you could give me

a medal for my bravery

the words are getting old

I am learning to build bridges

to address the distance

feet without a home



and if I have to taste the blood under my tongue

I will swallow it for as long

as it takes to pass



and I it means I’ll find a morsel of redress

I will struggle with regret

as long as it will hold

What if we were both lost and I was never found

And you were

Tasked with breaking news and letting down?



I am missing you

Are so much worse, a cenotaph, a barfight in a church

a relief to remedy

but hey it’s never as bad as it seems

the ocean will abate eventually

they cast their nets out graciously

come here.



And I I had to make an educated guess

no one got a decent rest

and no one’s going home tonight

and If I weren’t so preoccupied with this

I’d seek the safety of my nest   but

I

want

to

find

you

whole

or

parts

hahahahaha



What if we were both lost and I was never found

And you were

Tasked with breaking news and letting down?

Cenotaph

I’ve had a nosebleed every day since you died
and I don’t think that it means anything. 
Pathetic in a way I have criticized others for
feeling guilty for laughing or not laughing
or worrying or not worrying
for resting or working
rushing to write things down
time is so corrosive now
I’m starting to forget the way things worked
it was all too simple
the muscle memory
atrophies away
and there’s a day where I am happy but I don’t think of your face


I wish it was uncertain but it’s not
Billions of years

I have had a nosebleed every day since you died
and I know it doesn’t mean anything.
Casually endangering myself
not looking before crossing the road
as cosmic protest to a cosmology I don’t accept
call it “soft suicide”
but i’m scared that I’ll never die
or that I’ll die tomorrow
and nothing in-between
it just feels so useless
to progress
knowing slates are wiping clean
and even if I see the future
I won’t know what it means.

I have had a nosebleed every day since you died

You had the perfect word to give to me 
But it was caught somehow
And now I’m clawing at your throat to get it out
But I was careful with what i had found
A footprint set into the solid ground

And you have quite the nerve
If I was you I wouldn’t be so sure
That anything you love is coming back
And you were hasty with your ambition
Thinking that you were the only one

Did you forget about me?
Did you forget about me?
I was waiting hoping that you did.

If you’ve had enough bloodshed
You are always free to leave
If you’ve had enough bloodshed
You can leave the rest to me
I have a knack for those kinds of things 

Was I delicate enough?
 Do you think that you can stitch it up?
 Triangle shaped wound
Is it time to give up
Standing on the precipice
Lying through our teeth (Triangle shaped wound)

And you have all the nerve that you were born with
And a line  straight to your heart
Pardon me for picking you apart
And you know I have been discarded once
Long enough to fester in the dark  

Did you forget about me?
Did you forget about me?
I was waiting hoping that you would.

Won’t turn on,
Deceiving light.
Did you forget about me?

Triangle Shaped Wound

I hope 
it’s not insensitive
to want to be done with this
it has me by my throat
I really oughta go
but I’m drawn
to the middle of
the superstition so
bleed the circle closed

make it address me by a name
that I wouldn’t give myself

it pulses because it loves us
bear witness to it
full-throated spirit
it pulses because it loves us
this is the end of the time
of our lives

it was fine, it was fine
the door darkened briefly
I was wondering if you would notice it
there was time, so much time
extending past the limits of our sight
the stone melts while we admire it
and what better way to
end unpleasant days
than to pull the curtain back and show you
how little remains to be seen?

It Pulses Because It Loves Us

there is a sound
to the panic-stricken lower bound
convinced I’m pulling, 
you’re just plunging down
the backwater you have waded into
is waiting for you so it can freeze
i’m standing on the surface
so you can witness me

but I shouldn’t compare
the chill in the air
to the sound of you shivering

you will give me your attention
I know how to take from you
you think you can cast a stone and be done with me
but you don’t understand, you foolish little child
I’m here to bore a hole in your head
and I will not be calm
and I will not be reasoned with 
you’re gonna have to deal with me

a vessel seldom knows what it contains
a pickled brain, I am the dowsing rod
that’s picking up your pulse
and you can hope discerning eyes
of observant passersby
can spot the difference
but indifferent gods are
plucking you from here

you shouldn’t complain
the thoughts from the day
have a way of fogging up the air

I'm here to bore a hole in your head

I don’t mean to be a bore
but I am inside of your walls
and your house is such an eyesore
I always dread crawling in
and it occurs to me now
that you don’t want me to be here

And I don’t want to be cruel
but i’m turning into you

and you are making me a mouthful 
and I feel the terror grip you
as it grips me too
and we both go under and

now is time you see
the wooden parts of me
get your axe ready

to fall 
as I fell I saw a hole in the earth where I was
keep steady now
you’ll get more desperate with each swing
but rest assured I am coming down
you’ll make me into something useful
I am sure of it

I don’t mean to freak you out
but there’s a bug on your shoulder
god forbid I get to listen to you speak
can I say for the record
I find your conversations lacking
as if you’d ever speak to me 

and I don’t mean to be cruel
but I know that you do
and you do a standup job of it
but we’ll see who is who
when you feel the terror grip you
and I don’t let go of it

now it’s time to part
with a portions of your heart
don’t be surprised if you start

to fall
there’s a crater in the earth where you were
keep steady now
you'll get more desperate with each plunge
but rest assured you’re coming down
i’ll make you into something useful
if you make me into something

make me into something (useful)

did the social thing
and asked about your whereabouts
mutuals shrug shoulders shake their heads
when I saw you last there was a haze around the truth
you don’t know about me
let me prove it to you

circumstances dictate
bare my soul and swallow whole
you wouldn’t recognize me like this
in tender viscera
have you seen the back of my throat?
I can show you now, 
I can show you now,
why don’t you get in there?
I will shut my mouth 

I was stepping out on the misery
given time to commiserate i will find
the common line
the difference between my life
and every part of the animal

found a highschool mixtape
of the songs I used to play
full of demo covers of songs that I hate
broke it over my knee, threw it in the fireplace
who needs sentimental shit like this?
It will die with me,  
I will bury it

every part of the animal

Join in!
Revelation now
Hierophant in tow
I offer up a sacrifice
Of all the words I know
You know the truth is it only feels
Like knowledge gets revealed
Keep it secret they still think 
We’re more than animals.

I am different than I have been
You shouldn’t treat my presence lightly
There are

Beasts
Waiting for me
I clean between their teeth
We preserve a legacy
None of us will live to see
Beasts
Waiting for me
I clean between their teeth
You can feign your agency
But I dare you to move your feet.

I’ve got a 
Favored set of facts
I am stocking up
Take a few if you 
Aren't convinced enough
You know the wait was long but
I’m a patient man
I carved the days into your palm you can
Feel the grooves to keep in touch
They’re in the throng 

Did you pick this place on purpose?
Did you think that I deserve this?
There are

Beasts
Waiting for me
I clean between their teeth
We preserve a legacy
None of us will live to see
Beasts
Waiting for me
I clean between their teeth
You can feign your agency
But I dare you to move your feet.

There’s so little that we can do
So I dare you to do
Anything.

Hierophant

Paragraph after paragraph
You can speak them all
Until your breath is gone
There’s a surfeit of surfaces that you
Can write my name on
Motive lost
Fingers crossed
There’s a pit that you were
Tossed into 
You told them the truth
You think you owe them
But you were just a 
Lesser god
And you got caught

I thought I was taught
To be sinister and innocent all at once
Take what all you’ve got
To escape with and leave no remainder
Better be estranged in a stranger’s world
Than to be caught unexpected on your toes
I thought I was taught to be sinister and innocent

Bombs were tossed
In what was lost
I expected to find scraps of you
Scurrying to somewhere dark and warm
I was hoping you would learn from me
You were suffering
For the light you seek so
I told them a lie
I do not owe them my time
I wouldn’t pay a debt
To a filthy pest

I know that it’s unfair to you but
No one’s keeping score
Aging gracefully
Painterly
They don’t know they own you
They don’t know they owe you

Sinister & Innocent

I was penitent
Ignorant
Digging up through the trenches
Buying time for cheap
And wholly devouring it

I was savoring
The water squeezed
From the wood that was
Encasing me 
Pulling at shackles
Hoping they would bend
Until

I’m free (the terror never lessens)
I’m free (it’s a shame, it’s not your shame)
I’m free (once I pick your bones clean)
I’m free (everyone starts moving)
Everyone starts moving

It was violent
Unthinking force
A tragedy that has been rehearsed
There is so little to resort to
When it comes time to resort

It was shelter from the rain at first
It was the stone that keeps my innards cold
Dismembered into parts
Cartilage, hope, meat, sinew, and bone

I’m free (the terror never lessens)
I’m free (it’s a shame, it’s not your shame)
I’m free (once I pick your bones clean)
I’m free (everyone starts moving)
Everyone starts moving

Everyone Starts Moving

I hope the toll was light
You're picking at my scars
The dust occludes your face
I wonder who you are

The stage is nearly set
They're begging us to start
They'll drag us into place 
I wonder who you are

You are
The dust

My carapace is cracked
They pin us to the board
They're spreading out your wings
I wonder who you are 

A consolation prize
They're picking you apart
The fever in your eyes
I wonder who you are

I wonder who you are
The dust occludes your face
You are
The dust

Carapace

I became fragile today
In ways I didn’t know I needed to be worried about
My body is letting its secrets out
It comes in waves
I don’t know when each one will hit
Or when I’ll go under with it
The waiting is worse than holding my breath

Fixate
On relief
The ritual
Is complete 

I hid too long
I never thought that it would get done
I saw the distance in the storm
I knew it would rain but I
Never did anything wrong did I?
My ideas
I found some paper to put them in
I’m getting over this 
Indelible twinge
Drifting out to sea
Must feel excellent 

I broke open today
In ways that I didn’t know to be careful about
My ribcage is letting my spirit out
 Once considered
A master of my whole domain
I slump to the side in order to stabilize
I favor convenience now

 Restate
Aphorisms
 Meticulous
Vision
 
I put it off
I thought eventually the work was done
I saw the atoms at the source
I knew they’d decay but
I never did anything wrong did I
My ideas
You should proceed with caution from here
I’m getting over this
Indelible twinge
Drifting out to sea
Must feel excellent

I don’t ever wanna feel bad again

I Never Did Anything Wrong

Identity is only a worry if
You need to know who i am
I’ve gone to such great lengths
To render that irrelevant
Elsewhere I’m famous for my wit
I’m sure I’ll bury you in it
Coax you right out of your skin
Begin to laminate
The superficial parts of you
I’ll gladly iron out

In time
Illusory as it is
I will clench you in my fist
And I’ll be praised for it
In time
Not so easy to dismiss
I will rise above the din
While I push you into it

You will be grateful 

The noxious cloud that hovers overhead
Will only bother you if you bother it
It’s just as scared of you
As you are intelligent so
Elsewhere I’m famous for my wit
But here and now I’ll bury it
Keep walking straight, ignore the rain
Begin to laminate

The fragile precious parts of you
You can’t afford to drown

In time
Illusory as it is
I will clench you in my fist
And I’ll be proud of it
In time
Not so easy to dismiss
I will rise above the din
While I push you into it

You will be grateful 

I once had
A hatred
That turned to a fever
I won’t be
The one who
Is burning

Cause now that
You’re grateful
There’s no need
To spit and rave
And tear apart our flesh
We’ll always who’s next

Take a number get in line
You can’t afford to wait

In time
Illusory as it is
I will clench you in my fist
And then I’ll wash my hands of it
In time
Not so easy to dismiss
I will rise above the din
While I rub your nose in it

You will be grateful

Laminate

I caught
An absentminded gesture
I’m hauling up the net
This will be the fattest winter yet
I thought
That i was being sly
Now I know that you could see me
From the corner of your eye

But we can never judge ourselves
Can we?

That ghost
Give it up
What are you 
Some kind of animal?
They sewed these wings into your spine
They won’t hold up
Why won’t you learn?
Why won’t I?

Docile
An open invitation
To crumple and discard
Your  newly minted parts
Tactile
Feeling in the dark
It’s such a simple pleasure
Knowing where you are

And you can feel my eyes on you
Can’t you?

That ghost
Give it up
What are you 
Some kind of animal?
They sewed these wings into your spine
They won’t hold up
Why won’t you learn?
Why won’t I?


It’s such a brutish thing
If it were up to me
you’d never suffer visceral indignity
Floating upside down
Dredge the ocean if you want
See if anything willing to get caught

But we can’t salvage everything
Can we?

Floating Upside Down

In the fire
I’ll leave the things that I brought
In the pyre
And rub my hands for warmth

I thought it was something subtle I had done
Until I adjusted to the light
Then I saw everything I was 
In the fire

My disguise
The one who occluded who I was
The upside
Is that it got burned with the rest of them

I thought it was something amazing I had done
Until I took some steps back
Now I know I’m only catching up
To the fire


In The Fire

WOE.BEGONE Theme (Extended Version)

Fingertrapped

don't make me come in there

I was hoping
You’d lead me to the ocean
And I could pull you under there
It’s always been
Sink or swim
I was hoping
You’d render an emotion
 How terrible it must be
To be concerned 
All the time
About time
Time

Every chance is your last
Put some muscle in it
Put your goddamn
  
Back into it
Feel the freedom of your obligation
Back into it
Held in place by the skin of your teeth
It would take a machine
To put the fear of god back into me

I was wretched
A little lie
A  sacrifice
I took what’s forsaken
Into my hands
You understand
I was letting you know
That the useful thoughts
Are the first to go
The rest  are waiting
For me to call t time
Because it’s about  time
About that time.

Every chance that you get
Bash your skull into it
Put your goddamn

Back into it
Feel the freedom of your obligation
Back into it
Held in place by the skin of your teeth
It would take a machine
To put the fear of god back into me

How cruel that they coddled you
It would take a machine to break the news
How cruel that they coddled you
It  would take a m machine, construction fee’s on me


Back Into It

I found some comfort in letting it slip away
I took what  i needed and  called it an escape
I needed someone to hold me down and explain
It was always meant to be this way
The childish stories we tell about ourselves
Worrying that I’m worrying someone else
I wanted someone to ask if I’m okay
So that I’d admit to anything

So many ideas
You could build a graveyard  here
I was spurned by my
Lust for life

You know there’s little that can sate my appetite
But I didn't come here merely to stuff my face
But if the table’s set
And a  spot is open
And it looks inviting
I’ll keep my jaw agape

I made an altar but it was disposable
I  made a promise not to let you sleep
But now  the sun is out
And your eyes are open
But there’s no one  home
Hey, are you awake?




Lust For Life

Lost my brain cells in an experiment
You think i’d regret it
But I can’t remember because
I’ve got it all
Lost my train of thought by accident
now I can’t assure myself that I exist
But I’ve got got it all

Fiction can 
Slap the hands of providence
Leave me wanting what i have and more
Function
Orders every element
Vacuum of the evidence
Abhorred

Found an easy way to distract
Until the me that is that train of thought  is dead
I’ve got it all
He had it all
Researching myself on the internet
Learned that I might be eating when I don’t know that I am
I’ve got it all

Consumed
What was put in front of me
Like scarcity is someone else’s chore
Exhumed
Markers for uncertainty
The fire of stochasticity 
Will keep me warm


I've Got It All

Lately I’ve been holding  up
A semaphore  
And hoping you could read me
Tired arms that hopefully
Are pointing in the right direction now
Nasty work  if you can get it
I’ve thrown out my back
Like I’m supposed to
In case of emergency
Just hold the biggest parts of me aloft

I wish that there was time
To wither on the vine
But I am waiting for the words
To do their job

 Lately I’ve been tapping toes
And blinking eyes like I’ve been taken hostage
Crushed under a century of
People who knew how to make a point
And I’ll admit when I am wrong
I thought that if I packaged it all nicely
That I would be immune
To the pitfalls I excel at pointing out

I wish there was a way
Meaningfulness could stay
But the vessel that I’m on
Is taking off

Flaghoist
A voice
Too long
Wind breaks
Attempts
At song


I wish I had the thought
Back when when the line was taut
But the respite that I earned
Is leaking out
I wish that you could sense
The meaning that I meant
But meaningful semantics
Have run out.


Semaphore

It’s an accident
I’m  sure that’s what I said
And you’re believing it
Can’t you see the lines across my face?
Arrogance, necessity both have their place
I’m a self-styled expert in these things

I might wander the streets but
I’m not going anywhere

I can abide
The terror of the fire
If it keeps me dry
There’s movement.

It’s a consequence
Of falling at velocity
I hope you land in it
Braced for inevitability
Marred by bruises
Formed by natural conclusions
They’re not natural to me
And I’m an expert in these things

I may fall out of favor
But I won’t fall through the floor

I can abide
The terror of the fire
If it keeps me dry
There’s movement.

The path is unchanging
I Stand in the wake of  it
I cast with my burning hands
An ember into the wind


Abide

Time is a mess of circumstance
Be sure
You don’t let it get to you
And I raised my hands
In armistice 
Be sure
You don’t let  it  get to you

Peace 
Peace is resting  up 
I for one
Am such a happy customer

And you can call
Whenever  there’s uncertainty
The type that got the best of me
You can call 
But know
When you are calling
Know that you are calling

I’m in repose atop every word
Be sure
You don’t let it get to you
My tongue is rusted through from honest work
Be sure
You don’t let it get to you

Rain
Isn’t letting up
But I for one
Am such a happy customer

And you can call
Whenever things get typical
Anything you’ve seen before
You can call
But know
Know that you are calling
Me


Such A Happy Customer

You can find me at the bottom of the barrel
You can find me in the dog ear of a page
You can find me close to quitting 
And I will happily admit it
You can find me in the digits of my age




You can find me where the oak has turned to dead wood
You can find me where the salt gets in your throat
You can find me staring fondly
At a world that doesn't want me
You can find me in the hymns I never wrote


You can find me where the footing is uneven
You can find me where the soil has been dug up
You can find me cruelly chiding 
The song that is inside me
You can find me where my heart is not enough


You can find me in the timbre of the evenings 
You can find me in the dredgs left in the cup
You can find me at the summit
Though I never really loved it 
You can find me where the days are getting rough 


You can find me on the road without direction 
You can find me in the middle of a map
You can find me defending
A definitive ending
You can find me submitting to the trap
That holds me steadfast where I'm at.

Such A Happy Customer

GUIDE DOG