Get all 8 Middle Class Joe releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of In the End You Will Lose, Everybody Knows, World Leader Pretend, The Movie Song, Old Man Trump (Ain't My Home), Happy Xmas (War is Over), So, You Wanted Sound, and When We Were Punks.
1. |
iknowiknowiknow
03:34
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I'll drive my car the wrong way down Lavaca Street
because it's gonna get me faster to the place we're gonna meet
I'm going to the mountaintop to climb the tallest tree
and then I'll sing
La la la la la la la
So, you wanted sound?
I'll break this rhythm down
I'll bring it to the mic like a Tyson fight
I'll bust the rhymes like Mother Goose
while shakin' it loose in my caboose (aw, yeah!)
You're always saying "what?"
and I say "That's enough"
Just watch me crack a smile
and raise my brows and you will know
Because you're in my feet
and I'm walking down the street
You're in my hands and arms
that can seem to do no harm
I know you're here because
your voice is in my head
and I know I am not alone
So lately I've been feeling I am in a dream
because it feels like I am flying when
there's nothing under me
I found you in the ocean
and I found you in the sea
and you were clean
wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah
I pray
that if I crash someday
you will have the right of way
My policy is open door
so please remove your shoes
and hang your hat where it belongs
I won't step on it anymore
You and me
and the stars
make plenty
I wish that there was more room
to wish upon a star
I wish the wishing well
was well-equipped to hold my heart
And we can stand as one
as we're staring at the sun
And we can play pretend
like we're doing it again
It's crystal clear that we have
cleared the crystals out and
we are standing all alone.
(flute solo!)
I crashed my car while driving down Lavaca Street
'cause I can't push the brake pedal while you are
standing on my feet
Crashed through the windshield,
went skidding 'cross the street,
and yeah, it sucked.
ow! ow! ow! ow!
How does that flow go?
Hey Cam, how does that flow go?
(My flow is like the blood
slowing drippin' from Dracula
specataular, spectacular's
my verbose vernacular)
No, it don't make sense
but now I'm getting wise
Maybe I can open my eyes
and really realize your real lies.
I know, I know, I know
there's no more play pretend
So while you're standing hat in hand
I'm gonna rock out with my band
Because you're in my feet
and I'm walking down the street
You're in my hands and arms
that can seem to do no harm
I know you're here because
your voice is in my head
and I know I am not alone
Because you're in my feet
but I'm trying to walk down the street
You're in my hands and arms
that now seem to do me harm
I know you're here 'cause you won't
get out of my head
and I wish I was alone
I wish I was alone.
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2. |
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(wahed, ethnein,
wahed, ethnein, thalatha, arba'a)
Anita's waiting for a dream to take her away.
Michael: There's not enough hours in the day.
Anita's going to a party at eleven.
Michael is finally gonna hang out with Kevin!
Anita: My dream's arrived!
Michael had a real good time, for once.
Clear your status,
just start over
Don't face the music,
just make it louder
I'll show you what's on my mind
but it's easier to hide behind my face.
Anita's loving long walks in the rain
Michael: My shoes are soaking wet again.
Anita's enjoying the sweet start of October.
Michael would like to live this night all over
Anita thinks she's found the one.
Michael's finally having fun again.
Change your status,
just start over
Don't face the music,
just make it louder
I'd show you what's on my mind
but it's easier to hide behind my book.
Because it's easier to talk
when we only have to type it.
I just can't stop clicking "Home,"
so why even try to fight it?
Michael's exhausted at work, but it was so worth it.
Anita's pretty good, but far from perfect.
Michael is wondering what that means.
Anita feels guilty for being such a tease.
Michael's freaking
Anita's drinking
Michael's sinking
Anita's drinking with Kevin.
Anita's waiting for a dream to take her away...
Kevin is thinking it's gonna be a good day.
Change your status,
just start over
Don't face the music,
just make it louder
I'd show you what's on my mind
but it's easier to hide behind my face
my book,
My face
(my book)
My face
(my book)
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3. |
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Do you believe like me
that life could ever be so easy
Is there a place that I could take you
keep you wrapped inside a little cocoon
As you ride the wind up high
No one suspects the butterfly
My feet lead me down dusty roads
My eyes, they see a cloud of smoke
But when I look up, you spread your wings
Maybe someday you'll change everything.
You radiate across the land
as if my mind could understand
You light the wick, but not the candle,
carry drops of light without a handle
Though small, you catch my eye
No one suspects the butterfly.
My feet lead me down dusty roads
My eyes, they see a cloud of smoke
But when I look up, you spread your wings
Maybe someday you'll change everything.
Change everything,
change everything,
change everything.
No one suspects the butterfly
no one suspects the butterfly
no one suspects the butterfly
no one suspects the butterfly.
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4. |
Tortured Artist
02:56
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What have you done?
I was a tortured soul
feeling all bliss and loss
My heart, it felt so cold
But now you've stolen that feeling
away from me
I'll have to live with happiness
somehow
I had my skills
at being miserable
I wrote my poems and songs
about how my life was horrible
But now every chord I play
spreads love instead of hate
Why can't your gorgeous eyes
just leave me alone?
Tortured artist, tortured artist
like Jonathan Davis
(like a freak on a leash)
Now I'm just like, now I'm just like
Marvin Gaye is
(sexual healing)
My bruises have gone away
My ear-to-ear grin is here to stay
Oh please, kill me now,
I can't suffer this pleasure anymore.
Here is the verse
where I rehearse the burst
of my heart out on the floor
But it's not black anymore,
and now it smiles at me
singing "Love is all you need"
(love, love, love)
Well, I guess if it worked for Lennon,
it'll work for me.
Tortured artist, tortured artist
like Conor Oberst
(I love your bright eyes)
When you smile, you're more beautiful
than Julia Roberts
(whoa, pretty woman)
And then I'll probably write
about how your hair shines under moonlight
Oh tell me why can't I just
sing about how I used to want to die?
You must have been sent from about
'cause now all I can sing about is
love, love, love, love, love
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5. |
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Before you climb,
make sure you know how the fall will feel.
Before you know,
make sure you want the information.
I see your eyes.
Am I alone?
Fictitious skies
have opened up.
Pretending I am hollowed out.
You are still.
Before you want,
make sure you're willing to give all you have.
Before you give,
make sure you have enough for yourself.
I'll just lie back,
pretend I'm dead,
so you have room to grow instead.
I'll save a glimpse of your precious smile
for my memory.
I want to look the other way
I tried to look the other way
I can't replace your memory
I'll stand where nobody can see
all my love.
You're juxtaposed with enemies,
with no intention yet to flee.
I'll hide myself in the back row
'till the lights come on.
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6. |
Paper Planes
03:16
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I fly like paper,
get high like planes.
If you catch me at the border,
I got visas in my name.
If you come around here,
I make 'em all day,
I'll get one down in a second if you wait.
Sometimes, I think sitting on trains
Every stop I get,
I'm a-clockin' that game
Everyone's a winner,
we're making our fame.
Bona fide hustler,
making my name
All I wanna do is...
and take your money
Pirate skulls and bones
Stick and stones and weed and bongs
Running when we hit them
Lethal poison for the system
No one on the corner has swagger like us
hit me on my burner, prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks,
already going to hell for pumping that gas
All I wanna do is...
and take your money
Some I some I some I murder,
some I some I let go
Some I some I some I murder,
some I some I let go
All I wanna do is...
and take your money
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Middle Class Joe Austin, Texas
Chris & Cam met on Oct 3 2000 at Casper College, forming their first band Zapruder in their dorm room almost immediately. Zapruder mostly played in friend Jada's grandma's basement. Zapruder ended when Chris left for UT Austin, but Chris & Cam continued to write & record music remotely for years as Nineteen Cent Feast, releasing their debut EP in 2009. 19¢F was reborn as Middle Class Joe in 2016. ... more
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