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World Leader Pretend

by Middle Class Joe

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Originally performed by R.E.M.
Words & Music by William Thomas Berry, Peter Lawrence Buck, Michael Edward Mills & John Michael Stipe. © ℗ 1988 Night Garden Music. All rights reserved.

lyrics

I sit at my table and wage war on myself
It seems like it's all, it's all for nothing
I know the barricades and I know the mortar in the wall breaks
I recognize the weapons, I've used them well

This is my mistake, let me make it good
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down

I've a rich understanding of my finest defenses
I proclaim that claims are left unstated, I demand a rematch
I decree a stalemate, I divine my deeper motives
I recognize the weapons, I've practiced them well
I fitted them myself

It's amazing what devices you can sympathize (Empathize)
This is my mistake, let me make it good
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down

Reach out for me and hold me tight
Hold that memory, let my machine talk to me
Let my machine talk to me

This is my world and I am the World Leader Pretend
This is my life and this is my time
I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit
It's high time I raised the walls that I've constructed

It's amazing what devices you can sympathize (Empathize)
This is my mistake, let me make it good
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down

You fill in the mortar, you fill in the harmony
You fill in the mortar, I raised the wall
And I'm the only one, I will be the one to knock it down

Words & Music by William Thomas Berry, Peter Lawrence Buck, Michael Edward Mills & John Michael Stipe. © ℗ 1988 Night Garden Music. All rights reserved.

credits

released August 21, 2020
Performed & produced by Middle Class Joe
(Chris Bucheit + Cameron Maris).
Cover art illustration by Anonymous.
Layout designed by Cameron Maris.
Recordings & artwork © 2020 Phone Calls From Friends.

Thank you: Sarah, Hallie, Kimi, Kali, Sophia, Mason, Cadence, Eris, Rosemary, Tom, Trevor, all our friends, families, & fans, R.E.M., Nighthawks Podcast, DistroKid, Bandcamp, and The City of Austin TX.

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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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