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CAN WE UNLEARN THE AMERICAN DREAM

by LIFE HACKS

supported by
John Flynn
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John Flynn Pretty much everything Jeff Poot shows up on is gold, and this is no exception. Gruff, tuneful, poppy, and socially conscious while maintaining a sense of humor. Favorite track: WE CAN'T STOP HERE, THIS IS RAT COUNTRY.
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1.
The price of gas is up, and the smog is pressing down on the concrete all around Out there the ocean rots, past a toppled domino skyline and haunted neon signs The penthouse deck is overgrown There's a dustbowl out where the golf course used to be, just past the last dead tree Where children play in masks, snake oil lotion for the sun -- at least the lucky ones We're sleeping through the dying of the light As the dumpster fires of history burn bright And the ghosts have given up in their machines Can we spit out this rancid bait and unlearn the American dream? Can we unlearn the American dream?
2.
Summer is a-coming in, and the rats are coming out Blinking in the sunshine while the trash blows all around All you queens of Comm. Ave., you little lords of Linden Street Your paper crowns are trampled in the dust beneath their feet Rats are crawling Summer was so long ago, and the wind blows colder now You clutch your bathrobe tight and make a face at every sound But they're still sneaking through your yard and dancing underneath your floor So poison all your crawlspaces and double lock your doors Rats are crawling Can't meet their glowing eyes Can't stand their mating cries anymore Rats are crawling Rats are crawling over your grave
3.
HB 02:15
And another fight and another dream and another squat and another feed and another sit and I'm circling cuz I sit in the spots we used to I eat all the things we used to I see our friends but you are not there I'm barking at the door I'm chewing on my hand I'm chasing my own tail And I howled when you left I never had a friend I never had a home Till you scratched on my door And sniffed me with your nose Do dogs go to heaven The real question is do we Cuz If there's no God for them Then there's no God for me
4.
Did you blink just now, or just squint against the glow? Was it once for yes, or twice for no? I thought I saw some wires move at the corner of my view but all the tracks in the dust just lead away from you Did you find a way to escape this dead world? Did you find a way through? Did I blink just now? I've lost track of time which is nothing like a present when the present isn't mine So I'll wrap my blanket tight, what else is there to do? Keep trudging through the night, chasing after you I never found a way to escape this dead world: I never found a way through
5.
I saw you walking today I saw you walking away I know that your feelings are on the line So I'll take yours, and you take mine I know you've been hurt before I hope you're not hurting anymore But you just don't realize So dot your T's, and cross your eyes Dry to dry swallow a pill Try to kick water up a hill But you're stuck in your own way So cross your T's and dot your lower case J's We're on the same page so let's not fight Cause I can't read, and you can't write If you see me walking today You'll see me walking away
6.
Some Thursday night you called from the Sil with an old friend just passing through town I was shaking my head when you reached out and said it'd mean something if I came on down So we talked through the night on popcorn and Pabst about all the ways everything'd changed With every last round, as we worked through the math it turned out it was all still the same And I wish that I'd wrote it all down to file away with these pictures of you Instead I just turned and rode back to town but when I look back now it feels like you knew we were saying goodbye
7.
I'm not a great man, just more lucky than most I never broke from the pack and ran when I could just coast You know I've been pampered, and I've been patronized I've been scapegoated and I've been rewarded and I've been despised But I was so proud when they cheered me on, didn't ask what it all meant: All the sad, stupid things I've done for dead presidents Lay them out on the table, smooth them flat with my hand Let them stare at the ceiling in silence as long as they can And that's eight more hours gone by, it makes no fucking sense: All the sad, stupid things I do for these dead presidents Add up the years one paycheck at a time But don't let them tell you that surviving this is all that's on the line We're not a great land, just more lucky than most We never broke from the past and ran when we could just coast You know we've been pampered, and we've been patronized We've been scapegoated and we've been rewarded and we've been despised But we were so proud when they cheered us on, didn't ask what it all meant: All the sad, stupid things we've done for dead presidents Add up the years one ballot at a time But don't let them tell you that surviving this is all that's on the line Lay him out on the table, smooth his hair with your hand Let him stare at the ceiling in silence as long as he can And that's eight more years gone by, it makes no fucking sense: All the sad, stupid things we do for these dead presidents Count them one last time, then start it all again: All the sad, stupid things we did under sad, stupid men

about

Recorded January Somethingth 2017 at our practice space, mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air.

Tapes out now, split with Awful Man.

credits

released February 22, 2017

Morgan - bass
Jeff Poot - guitar
Mark - guitar
Jaimie - drums

we all sing

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lifehacks Boston, Massachusetts

Morgan - bass
Jeff Poot - guitar
Mark - guitar
Jaimie - drums

we all sing

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