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Proud

by Have Nots

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1.
Tomorrow she'll put make-up on the bruises, tomorrow she'll be making up excuses, but I've known you since we were three, what makes you think you can lie to me, and I'm trying to respect your privacy, despite the fact that it's killing me... You say you love him but I don't know why, he beats you up, he don't provide, so you're stuck working doubles down at the local dive, dodging dirty hands for a petty wage but you bottle up the rage cos you gotta survive... I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, make the call and I'll be there by your side, hey girl you don't have to take that shit from anybody... That sticky summer night in his backseat, he made you bleed, planted his seed, now you've got not one but two more mouths to feed, I know you wanted your kid to have a dad but name is not the same as deed... I know you know there's more to life than this, taking the blame, the pain, whenever he gets pissed, nothing stronger than a mother's love for her only kid, except for maybe her battered bones, bruised by blows from his father's fists... I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, make the call and I'll be there by your side, hey girl you don't have to take that shit from anybody, got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, say the word and I'll make him fucking cry, you are my friend I will defend until the end... What happened to the girl that I once knew, I remember way back when, when nobody could tell you what to do, now you just sit there and let 'em turn the screws, hey girl I've said my piece, the rest is up to you... I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, hey girl you gotta decide if this is how you wanna live your life, trapped like a rat in a bad situation, frozen by feelings of fear and frustration, Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, it's yours for the taking, your rage more than justified, seeing red, black and blue, and you know that it's true, yeah you know he won't stop til you're through.
2.
The Brink 02:48
1st Verse: Just a couple more days’ son, things are looking up today, set the date for the parade and ticker tape the city. Cos the blood on your hands has become nothing, you’re coming home boy through hell and high water. But Johnny, see well he aint coming, it proved too much to take, he blew away the heartache, with an army issue but he aint’ no, no he aint’ no KIA. Pre-Chorus: It just proved too much to take, he said “there aint’ no better days for me”, “cos’ all my friends are fading day to day”. Tell me is this what you’re reading; would you believe me when I say? Chorus: That the light that shined is dying dimming grey, and it’s a minor melody, fading in front of me. 2nd verse: Another vacation day in the sun setting on no horizon, as the phantom six-gun shooter lingers along. And day by day man I decay, and loose a hold of a heart too young to break. I say the harmony you read we see in the dying eyes, and you know nothing at all. Pre-Chorus: It just proved too much to take, he said “there aint’ no better days for me”, “cos’ all my friends are fading day to day”. Tell me is this what you’re reading; would you believe me when I say? Chorus: That the light that shined is dying dimming grey, and it’s a minor melody, fading in front of me, and I say I’ve reached the brink, and that there aint no better days, cos’ it’s a minor melody, fading in front of, fading in front of me.
3.
Proud 02:28
Well I’ve been brave, and I have been there for my friends, and I’ve been enslaved by stupid shit that should have surely meant my end, prior convictions, while they will give me no reprieve, I still try not to contradict things I’ve believed… And sometimes when I wake, the morning light, shows me the things that I’ve done right, tells me I’ll make it through the day, tells me I’ll make it through the night… So if my dad could see me now would he be proud, that I’ve become the man I am, that I don’t do just what’s allowed, that I mean every word I say to every face that’s in this crowd, so if you’re listening, I’ll play it loud… And I’ve lashed out, just like an animal in pain, and I’ve looked everywhere but me to point the blame, and I’ve been selfish, and motivated by my fears, and so impossible to deal with through the years… And sometimes when I hear that sad old song, it brings me right back to my wrongs, it brings me right back to my wrongs, it brings me right back to despair, right back to fuck it, I don’t care, but sometimes when I wake, the morning light, shows me the things that I’ve done right, tells me I’ll make it through the day, tells me I’ll make it through the night… So if my dad could see me now would he be proud, that I’ve become the man I am, that I don’t do just what’s allowed, so just in case there is a heaven, and in case you’re looking down, in case you’re listening, I’ll play it loud, in case you’re listening, old man, I’ll play it loud, yeah, I’ll play it loud.
4.
(V1) An American, in American crosshairs, rights, well I guess they lost theirs, executive orders coming down, our forefathers could not foresee these wrongs in the name of security, the US constitution’s run aground… (CH) They’ve got secret machines, and satellites with laser beams, and no one’s getting out of here alive, one assassination under god, the stars and stripes his calling card, yeah you can run, there’s sure no place to hide… (V2) Getting scared again, guess that’s just a cross borne free, but liberty will cost more, one match and the next amendment’s set ablaze, an American, target on his back, bound to the sound of a rifle’s crack, and all that we’ve believed has been betrayed… (V3) They call it heresy, all based on hearsay, lies, propaganda and a healthy dose of fear makes it hard to want to testify on his behalf, they’ve redesigned the lines of the battlefield, truth not a stock showing profit yield, green light the kill shot, damn the aftermath… (BR) Secret machines, philistines with full magazines, another regime so pristine on your tv screen, congress convenes, they send in the marines, and they stifle the screams, it’s the same old routine, from American dreams comes a nightmarish scene, and the freedom to be goes head down on the guillotine, we must intervene, if we don’t come between, they will never come clean, and this can’t be redeemed.
5.
(CH) You get what you give but you ain’t giving shit, so don’t act so surprised when you start taking hits, you’ll lose all you take, man, when takes all you do, when you try to point blame, three point right back at you… (V1) This is a free country we live in today, which means no one forced you to take loans you can’t pay, your gluttonous greed and callous disregard was the gun to your head as you maxed out your cards, all you know is what they tell you, all you own is what they sell you, your every atom is compelled to consume or burn in hell, played the game and placed your bets, forsook your liberty for debt, then turned around and pointed out the problem… (V2) Dream American dreams as you made your bed, now they’ve soured, it seems, so you’re blaming the Fed, but money’s not made, it’s just moved around, you had some for a while til it sought higher ground, all you know is what they tell you, all you own is what they sell you, your every atom is compelled to consume or burn in hell, time to change how you’ve been living, rearrange what you’ve been given, we call this freedom of recession… (OUTRO) So fuck it, there’s things more important than wealth, you’ve still got your family, your friends and your health, so hopefully this time the lesson’s been learned, you’ve still got a soul and you’re not what you earn.
6.
1st Verse: I can’t honestly say I’m making it tonight, but I’ll give you all that I got, I’ll give you everything despite. Cos’ I’m not the one who’s pleading for my boy to come to life, reality has taken me on this October night. Cos’ there’s a man on the side of the road a sobbing shadow with a hunch, the people gather round’ him for a photo-op. They pulled the curtain back and then a road to ruin settled in those eyes, in those eyes. He said let’s lets all stand and pray and play follow the fucking leader and escape, this grim reality see. Just follow what I’m teaching and you’ll see that true salvation lies today, in a blood streak, in a blood streak on the street. Pre-chorus: Well who knows what the kid could have been we’re paying you so get up there and play. To all the kids deceived, guess there aint’ no grieving needed. On this Halloween, anywhere but here I’d rather be. Chorus: You’ve been so welcoming to me, but I don’t agree, with anything I see, cos’ the fathers falling to his knees as you rejoice in harmony, man anywhere but here I’d rather be. 2nd Verse: The jackals were all there in the warm October air before they put the chalk line down on the cement. When the church bells started tolling they said keep those cameras rolling, we’ll be sure to get this on the news at ten. Crowd that gathered seemed undaunted, said it must be what god wanted, but that kid was eight years old and now he’s gone, and if you truly believe that it was his time to leave I guess I’ll be the one to tell you that you’re wrong.
7.
Dead Man 03:07
(V1) Dead man walking like a wind up toy, plodding, never plotting for the things that bring him joy, living in the movies like he’s celluloid, and then it’s over, so roll the credits now. Dead man standing single file in every line, gave up on the searching, he was scared of what he’d find, waiting waiting waiting for his stars to come aligned and then it’s over. (CH1) But I don’t wanna live like I’m heading to the grave, no I don’t wanna live that way, I got a purpose and a plan, and I don’t wanna live like a dead man. (V2) Dead man live it up, it’s just another show, he knows she only loves him for his money and his blow, it’s like he never saw the sense in reaching past the status quo and then it’s over, and then he’s underground. Dead man shuffling down another city street, can’t lift up his head and he can’t pick up his feet. You can see his resignation and acceptance of defeat and then it’s over. (CH2) But I don’t wanna live like I’m just another slave, no I don’t wanna live that way, I got a purpose and a plan, and I don’t wanna live like a dead man. (BR) Stagnant and so sedentary (not until I’m dead and buried), lobotomized automatons (we ain’t no sons of Babylon), blinded by our gilded chains (let’s make a mark not just a stain), as long as we’re alive there’s life to live. (V3) Dead man slipping through his twilight years, come to realize that he’s never faced his fears, but there ain’t no second chances, just regret and bitter tears and then it’s over. (CH3) But I don’t wanna live like my life is just a cage, no I don’t wanna live that way, I got a purpose and a plan, and I don’t wanna live like a dead man. No I don’t wanna live like it’s just another day, no I don’t wanna live that way, I got a purpose and a plan, and I don’t wanna live like a dead man.
8.
(V1) Ready for your close-up in the wake of the disaster, callous, condescending claims the network newscaster, that with crimes of compassion correspondents have crossed the line, hollywood elite and ex-presidents unite, we all wear a somber face for the cameras tonight, it’s only apropos when the bodies are piling high… (CH) But where in the world was the world (before the big one came), where in the world was the world (for disease and acid rain), where in the world was the world (for the poisoned and the poor), yeah where was the world when an ounce of prevention could have saved a pound of cure? (V2) What’s in it for us? is what the world bank asks, when your country’s highest export is our lowest working class, you know it’s not like common welfare is our raison d’etre, you know we could have built those buildings out of real concrete, could have given them clean water and healthy food to eat, but they looked over the numbers, saw no profit to be made… (V3) So we turn a blind eye and the deafest of ears to the most poverty-stricken country in the western hemisphere, throwing money at the problem now, too little and too late, well you can’t blame fault lines for where they’ve fallen but from a humanist perspective man I find it appalling, that indifference and neglect resigned these souls to their sad fates… (BR) Where was the world before it opened under, taking what was left of, all that we neglected? Where was the world before it opened under them? The Nation of compassion only when the world is watching, do we take any action, then we rally round’ the blood.
9.
Intro: The waves of acute sadness were hued by ambivalent bliss, and of all of the things the madness I missed. I just need a change so pay no mind; it’s a life lesson that learned in time in your life, and in mine. 1st Verse: The past three days saw shades of grey, and I can’t say I sought to drink them away. Should I feel sorry, filled with sorrow, overcome with aching pain? Countdown to regret, a sure bet when your grass is always greener. Well maybe this time I’ll survive. 2nd Verse: Expectations I had, were buried and now they’re back. In a cold cramped room well I guess they tend to do that. I just need a change, so pay no mind; it’s a life lesson that’s learned in time in your life, pay me no mind. Bridge: Nothing left now to remember, a one way ticket now null and voided, together, its more than nothing, sitting here thinking stuck on strumming. Chorus: I feel alright and thats a lie, you are my years you are my strife, I got to go, I got to go. With all the time that’s passing by, you’d think I’d find the words but I have got to go and play the farewell show.
10.
Jackson Dawn 03:14
1st Verse: Come away with me my friend, from the dark decaying steel and men, just pack your bag we’re heading West, this town will take you down with it. Into the scrap yard, burial ground, cos the only job left in this town, is to think about what could have been; it’s the only road left leading. I’m left with this long lasting ill effect, from the eye to eye we had, and as I made my way through the decaying West I thought: The next time I’m around, will you be nowhere to be found? Till then lets wake the fallen, the fallen in the town. Chorus: I’m out on the floor in the Jackson dawn, with the wayward rowdy ones. Forgetting they’re forgotten, but I can’t say for sure. Cos every time I meet them, they say “hey can I come along?” “This town is taking me down and I can’t hang on for long…” 2nd Verse: Yea there aint’ no room for them no, they’re all the son’s of the old model they go, “Am I just a sad façade?” “Will I amount to nothing much?” They extend a hand and a “later man”, “I’m afraid we’ll never meet again…,” “Don’t worry my friend I reckon you’re the only one that’s keeping me here…” Bridge: Look at all the kids, forgetting they’re forgotten, given up on living cos they’re rotting in the steal and, did you hear the stories, of the manifest disparity and, “what do I got to do to be in a rock and roll and reggae band?” Stare down, the double white lines, and leave this town behind. Cos the old world order had its place in time don’t let if defy your mind. Just 86 the nine to five, those forty hours aint’ a life, don’t commit to that suicide. Just make a plan and take a stand and travel all the across the land, 10,000 miles in a filthy van, to play the basement with your friends… Chorus: Blacked out on the kitchen floor, with the ones I left at dawn, re-bottled their ambitions locked away forever more. In every town I meet them; they say “hey can I come along?” “This town is taking me down and I can’t hang on for long.” “Ah man, this town is taking me down and I can’t hang on for long.”
11.
Some Of Mine 02:51
(V1) Baby where you going with that rolled up twenty and the razorblaze in your purse? I know you think you’re slick and that you’re getting over, but you’re only gonna make it worse. Our eyes met across a crowded room in the basement of a smoke-filled church. Aw girl you know the world is headed straight for the grave but there’s no reason you should get there first. I can tell when I look in your eyes, behind that brave face I know you’re terrified. What I’m trying to say is you don’t have to run, back to your painful past and the shit that you’ve done. You can still come around from the choices you’ve made, when the heat’s coming down girl, well, I’ll be your shade, when the cold light of day is too bright for those crying eyes. (CH) Drop another shot, chop another line. Looking for a piece of the action, but that ain’t no way to find no peace of mind. On and on and it ain’t never gonna end until you’ve overspent your borrowed time, but in the meanwhile girl, you can take some of mine. (V2) C’mon girl just pick up your phone, I wanna know that you’re safe in all the places you roam. Wish I could say I’m used to sleeping alone, tossing turning uncertain if you’re coming home. Hear the taxi door slam and you stumble upstairs, smelling like breath mints and whiskey and smoke in your hair, and crawl into bed like you’ve been here all along. (V3) Baby please, just unlock the door, so I can pick your shaking body off the bathroom floor. Wrap you up in blankets, put the kettle on, and we can wait for it to boil while I sing you this song. Steel myself so I can take it all, from the blame to the pain to the vitriol. I’ll still be sitting here when you wake up tomorrow.
12.
All Or None 03:21
Intro: Never wanted nothing other than to sing along with you all living under the radar. But now we’re cleaning up the rubble from all the shit we never wanted… 1st Verse: It’s the pride in a life that we never wanted to amount to, and turned us into, an indebted and indentured, servant to the human race, force fed inherited, everything we couldn’t take. It’s a dead end dream man, reset your sight and then, leave this plan by the wayside son, you ought to find a better way to spend your time, deny what’s keeping your eye off the prize and; inundate yourself in excess, start a steady digress, while living in the infirmary, setting aim on who to blame, fading in and out a state of gluttony.. Pre-Chorus: Man are we nothing but the gurney for the modern working man, running out of luck on the deck they stacked on, a critical mass of the willfully oblivious; man, are you feeling fate is pre-destined, that you never had a choice in the matter when? Chorus: You’re living in the era of the gambled and discarded sons, what they left of us they’ll surely sell to the lowest bidder so, set aside your differences son, its all of us or none. Living in a lost era as the world is stripped and sold for parts, the gambled and discarded sons. 2nd Verse: To the kid spinning all the records, your light amongst the dark, keep true to what you felt when all abandoned you and left your searching heart. In the end man, no matter the outcome, stand up and own your epitaph. To be living in a faded generation in a blank nation is your own operation man, are you sitting there and waiting for the helping hand, like an anchored pawn caught up in their divine plan? I know it’s a tall order, when your burning in the new world order, are your tendencies incendiary man? Bridge: So how does it feel now to be down where we were waiting and were watching all along? Yea down here you’re not welcome man, we say fuck your failing virtues cause…
13.
The Years 02:36
So a spark quick became a charge, turned into the current between the stars, from the coast back to where you are like a siren’s call, and maybe it was just in the cards, never stood a chance putting up my guard, I never thought falling so hard wouldn’t hurt at all… So honey come on and dry those tears, though I may be gone for weeks and months, when I come back I’m in it for the years, and when I’m falling asleep in the backseat, listening to the engine rumble under me, I hope you know there’s only one place I’d rather be… Like storm clouds clear to the bluest skies, I knew from the minute I saw those eyes, that whatever it took to make you mine I’d do, another late night reach on a static line, from another state in this great divide, there’s no road no miles no time, there’s only you.

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released May 3, 2011

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Have Nots Boston, Massachusetts

Ska/Punk from Boston

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