No, It's Not

Varmit

video for this song: http://youtu.be/D-SDo_lfu_U?list=UUcctIc08KUhYbkWjRZxxxiA

pre-order ION ZELIG VOL. III at https://workmansong.bandcamp.com/album/ion-zelig-vol-iii

When People Are Better Than You

there are pockets i have lined 
there are moments i have lied. 
so to tell the tale more true, 
let me first begin with you: 
o my dearest, you the nearest, you have seen all that i do, 
do not judge me, please just love me, for all i say and all i do. 

there are whispers: are you still with us, in the wind, or in the signs? 
weighed the ancients your weary patience, your love it weighed the hearts and minds. 
you filled the pockets of the poor, 
he who had you gave him more. 

hallelujah by and by, the city sleeps by choice and dies. 
the streets are filled with ignorance, no one sleeps without a smile. 
but the simplest one is the witness, he can’t help but count the cost. 
they lend at interest and trade in bitterness. much is gained, and much is lost. 

let the sea split left from right. 
thousand lamps but there’s no light.

Pockets

it took a lot of trying 
but now i’m jacked in 
the power source is pulsing 
my life force intact 
the tree is now planted 
the peak is surmounted 
all i’ve encountered 
all i’ve disassembled 
sophia 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 


i’m learning, we’re learning 
the rain hits the awning 
the tendrils wrap round us 
the pleasure of abuse-bonding 
the wounded were wounded prior 
this is not advertised on flyers 
but the peace is not secret 
nor should we keep it secret 
was not a madman who dreamed it 
was the world who still needs it 
was the filthy animal that cleaned it 
was greece was egypt 
was the beast that redeemed it 
was the queen that couldn’t see it 
was the son’s insurrection 
was the bitch’s correction 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 
sophia 
is smiling 


were the world not so lovely 
there’d be no one to love me 
i’m breaking vows made of paper 
and i burn the scraps later 
but say to righteous 
it shall be well with the righteous 
for what he eats is delicious 
since what he’s done was judicious 
and if a man is called holy 
then he is really just wholesome 
and no religion is wholesome 
if religion is wholesale 
can’t wash the blood out the carpet 
can’t purge the temple of the market 
can’t break the tree at the branches 
can’t be free in a plantation 
so what the fuck are these mansions 
so what the fuck are these clashes 
a rash from thirty-nine lashes 
that have still not been retracted 
and maybe elvis left the building 
but his ghost is returning 
and i boast in his madness 
while nero fiddles to the burning 
the new world order keeps on turning 
but i’m a man of much un-learning 
i got the spirit to do my discerning 
i got the spirit to keep on going 
and with a word i can transmit it 
and look out cause i just did it 
if you didn’t hear it when i said it 
then you ain’t alive enough to regret it anyway 
so i say 
switch off your ears if you don’t use em, power to you, 
but you won’t hear the music when we singing hallelujah.

Sophia Is Smiling

when you get older 
you’ll be a soldier 
you’ll be a soldier 

expensive leases broken pieces you’ll be father to a son 
looking forward new world order peace to everyone 

when you get older 
you’ll be a solider 

dogs are walking people talking to each other’s walls 
voices laughing wiretapping through my happy halls 
if you were thinking all that shrinking in your heart is sound 
maybe it will slap you when it whacks into the ground 

taking in my life from an idiots hands 
taking a risk a little bit square 
you’ll be the only one who cares

Soldier

with your ruby slippers and your dead man slung cross your back 
with your ruined reserve and your willlingness to talk about it 
with your skeleton key at the ceremony where the yellow brick road drops off and sleeps 

with the deadline approaching and the dogs licking sweat off your back 
with your precious routine that culminates on sundays alright 
it’s a gruesome scene when you know what it means to pull the numbers every day 

are lovely enough to fall down into an empty space 
are you friendly enough to trail off and realize it’s play 
do you love me? do you love me? do you love? 

all the feelings i get when i feel your hands a-close around me 
veronica dear do you have a heart between those two breasts? 
if you skip to the loo then darling that will do cause your eyes are pretty enough to ride 

are lovely enough to fall down into an empty space 
are you friendly enough to trail off and realize it’s play 
do you love me? do you love me? do you love? etc

Veronica

Crazy Girl

Well I've never done a remix before but I reckon when your childhood idol makes his stems available it's a good time to start. Daniel Johns, if you're reading this, I really fucking admire your balls. You're killing it.

I added some guitar, bass, and BV's. Please play this on good speakers or in a car or something. I hope this isn't illegal. Enjoy.

Aerial Love Remix (Daniel Johns)

from "Wolf," B-side to 2014's Lamb EP. DL here:
https://workmansong.bandcamp.com/album/wolf
ft. Erik Meier and Sam Saffrey of Bird Courage.

The Way

O, To Be In Love Again

well if you wana build a wall, build it three miles high, be my guest, throw your insult
and if you wana swing a wrecking ball, you might as well try, i'm sure it's very simple
you've got limp wrists, small hands, a sour face, and your hair looks like a turtle
and you're milkin your position for all that it's worth, but the milk is gonna curdle

clap your hands, move your ankles 2 3 4
rock and roll, rock and roll, save our souls. rock and roll, rock and roll

well the party is a-raging and the machine is warm with the pride of the deceiver
and the effigies all look like you and when you're blue the joke's on you, you take it to your twitter!
but as for me and mine, we read the signs of the times on overdrive, our hearts are heavy beating --
heavy as hell, but all is well, we got soldier souls, we got rock and roll, and you're just sittin on your toilet tweeting!

clap your hands, move your ankles 2 3 4
rock and roll, rock and roll, save our souls. rock and roll, rock and roll

Rock And Roll

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4k1C8OFAyw
Bandcamp: https://workmansong.bandcamp.com/trac...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4L8dih...

This one's for the kids, 'cause they don't have any beautiful music. All they got is overpriced education, but they won't get paid to use it. And I know you all get high but your little brothers and your little sisters don't yet, and you're the apple of their eye, but you're just doing what the Man has shown you. You should try to be a better example for them all! You should be like Jesus Christ and grow a pair of balls! Idiots give speeches, radiation in the beaches. Not enough artistic pieces that make us more like Jesus! Not enough liberation, let's rise to the occasion. Too much violent action, too many hardline factions. This one's for the kids -- may God grant them protection. We should aim to make amends with enemies and friends! We should sing more pretty songs and stop glorifying sin! I could rant and rave about this on and on and on -- but this one's for the kids who all sing "La, la, la, la, la!" So spit out all the Babylonian Kool-Aid, la, la, la, la, la -- 'cause this one's for the kids who all sing "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!"

This One's For The Kids

“What McMahon has developed is a sound that transcends anything currently in the New York music scene.” - The Deli

"McMahon has proven that he is not only capable of telling better stories than your grandaddy, but also capable of telling them with musical accompaniment.” - No Smoking Media

"Workman Song is the cooler version of Alex Ebert from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes...Vocally, McMahon mesmerizes." - Slug Mag

"Workman Song is some sort of cult, possibly involving ice cream, just waiting to happen. We’re among the first converts, but we’re sure soon you’ll be joining us.” — The Wild Honey Pie 

Workman Song, a.k.a. Western Massachusetts via Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sean McMahon, is known for two things: his art folk-rock storytelling and his voice, a passionate, ancient-sounding but agile wail that shares that elusive thing also possessed by -- or in possession of -- Cat Stevens and Jeff Buckley.

Workman Song

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