1. |
Foremost
00:52
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Nobody gives a fuck how punk you are
How much you hate the idea of a safe space
All politics aside, I ain’t got room for you
If you ain’t willing to be kind
We all grew up with prejudice, so what’s your excuse
For not trying just a little harder
To learn from your brothers
To love one another
And maybe give one measly shit?
‘Cause nobody gives a fuck how punk you are
How much you’d love to drive morals straight
Into the fucking ground
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2. |
Don't Panic
02:44
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Out of gas and out of road*
Minutes and coffee to go
’Til the afternoon or morning or night turns to the next
I would swear there’s absurdity
In the water in these pipes
Afternoon, morning and night blur and it’s an uphill fight
But I’ll be saying “don’t panic” ’til the end
Pint in hand, until the living become one with the land
Out of sight and out of mind
Shit, I just can’t seem to find
A good reason not to panic
And most days you could swear
There’s a war on the other side
Of the afternoon, morning or night
The good reasons not to panic retreat into long past nights
But I’ll be saying “don’t panic” ’til the end
Towel in hand, even if I don’t completely understand
*This line is taken from “Out of Gas” by Modest Mouse (1997)
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3. |
Bloomington
02:01
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Had a sense of impending doom
Since sometime in high school
And it’s been behind every thought and every feeling
So everything I do is to please
And everything I do is because
If all these thoughts and feelings stop at once
I will have gotten what I stuck around for
Had a feeling that I should move
To Bloomington or Athens
Since a dream I had a week ago and it’s got me checking the weather
In places I’ve never been
Never even visited
I’ll be in Bloomington next month with my best friend
And we’ll see if it seems worth it
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4. |
||||
Record your surroundings
Flip the ignition, hear the screech
Think of your sweetheart
She said, “don’t worry about me”
Put back some bourbon
Gears, they shift and your stomach does the same
You don’t know where you are
But the wheels, somehow, are still turning
Mountains and rivers
Reasons you left in the first place
Folks from your hometown
Giving you the shivers
You no longer feel the urge to masturbate
Because you know where you came from
And now you’re in another state
And you’ve run low on petty hate
The only thing you’ve left to your name is a quarter tank
Serpentine belt, won’t you tell me your secrets
So I can feel guilty for rephrasing mine?
Automatic windows, I hope that you don’t mind
That I’ve been distracted trying to reset myself
Carved into tables
Initials and symbols
Remind you of back home
Her hair like exposed cables
Record your surroundings
Mental note: don’t try to run away from your problems
Unless your interest in life’s compounding
Not in completely random bursts
She said, “don’t worry about me”
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5. |
Season Finale
04:28
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Driving too far and too fast on not enough sleep
Not enough sleep
Working for a distraction - nights on repeat
Nights on repeat
Long drags from cigarettes, feeling best in drag
More comfortable like that
A little shy of living the best that we can live
If there was ever a destiny
If there were ever meant to be any meant-to-be’s
The writers would have killed me off by now, don’t you think?
Losing sight of friendships and love - talking way too much
Way too much
Whenever drinking is involved - nights on repeat
Not enough sleep
Been a minute since either of us felt irreplaceable
Or even unique
A little shy of leaving the bedrooms we call home
If there was ever a destiny
If there were ever meant to be any meant-to-be’s
The writers would have killed me off by now, don’t you think?
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6. |
Off, Wisconsin!
04:12
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A cold Wisconsin death
A Tully bottle clutched in frozen fists
A nightmare and pipe dream, both at once
A reason to fear the future
And every trick it’s got stuffed in its sleeve
A reason to stay and a better reason to leave
A puddle that was ice
And that Tully bottle got smashed straight across the pavement
That dream I was having lingered into waking hours
Is it good or bad that I’m losing the ability to think straight or remember a goddamn thing?
A crack in the sky
A sunbeam that sliced through a cloud
A nagging hope that interrupts the hopeless that tends to surround
A noise that only quiets
After a lifetime of being way too loud
And the thought of a cold Wisconsin death that keeps our feet on the ground
Where I am right now is not where I want to go down
I don’t want to die when it’s this cold out
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7. |
Lord of the Lake Loop
03:02
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I named my car Delusional Thinking
So it would finally get me somewhere
Today it got me to a Taco John’s up in Eau Claire
Of course, there’s beauty everywhere else, too
But I would totally write home about this booth
I named Compassion my god
So I could have a good excuse to believe
Today I saw god in a cyclist down by the lake
Of course, there’s god in everyone else, too
This land is our land just as surely as it is our tomb
I named my car Delusional Thinking
So it would finally get me somewhere
Today you know I’m trying extra-hard to care
Because the end just might come any day now
Perhaps a little sooner than we’d like to think
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8. |
Never Stop Learning
04:00
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When I will accept that not knowing what I’m doing is the greatest gift that I have been blessed with?
Probably by the time I’ve found something to do besides rethink my same thoughts and reread that same book…
Not that I’m not grateful for that
When will I accept that sleep deprivation is the cheapest high that I’ll find in Madison?
Probably by the time I achieve caffeine LD-50 or maybe by the time I regularly sleep a full nine hours…
Not that I’m not grateful for the sleep that I do get
But when these wheels stop turning, I pray it’s ‘cause the engine’s burning
And when I’m through with yearning for a larger, less controlled fire
I hope it’s because I’ve realized that I’ll never stop learning
And I want to say “thank you” for letting me learn the hard way this time
When will I accept that even when I make the wrong choice, I can still choose how I think about it?
Probably by the time my prefrontal cortex is in a Woodman’s lost and found
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9. |
Loblaw vs. Time
04:06
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Counting the cyclists booking their asses home before the storm
Counting the seconds passing leisurely ’til the weather’s warm
Counting on someone else to get me through hard times - can’t count on myself
Counting on no one else to get me through - gotta learn to count on myself and sheer coincidence
Breaking the rules ain’t as exciting as it was when you were young - when the rules weighed twenty tons
But breaking expectations is still a simple pleasure to live for - shatter them right across the floor(!!!)
Counting the seasons rushing by, no time for a conversation - no hellos, no goodbyes
Can’t count on no one else to get my by - gotta learn to count on myself
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10. |
Backseat
04:16
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I’ll play Hello Rockview and put back a forty
‘Cause it’ll make me feel like I’m sixteen again
If you ain’t scared of the future, then what are you scared of?
I’m asking for a friend
Time moves faster every second spent not-sleeping
It used to take months to notice, but now it’s weeks
So I’ll play Hello Rockview and lay down in the backseat
But goddamn, I’m not ready to fall asleep
No, I know, you’re wrong again - it’s true
But if you came out right every time, you wouldn’t be you
No, I know, it’s just part of being human
And goddamn, I’m feeling awful human today
I’ll never claim to know much about purpose
After all, I spend a lot of nights at work
And on my nights off, you can find me at the Tip Top
The best nights are the ones where Nick doesn’t work
They used to be spent driving two-hundred miles northwest
But what’s important is that the wheels are still turning
Wherever they land, I think I’m gonna lay in the backseat
Even if I’m not ready to fall asleep
No, I know, it’s just part of being human
And goddamn, I’m feeling awful human today
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BOB LOBLAW Madison, Wisconsin
Organized sounds from unorganized people.
Alex - Bass
Cam - Guitar, Vocals
Dallas - Drums
Check out friendlyspectres.bandcamp.com for Cam's solo releases!
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