I swore if I got the cushy job of singer/front man I would bring something tangible to the table. I put a lot of time into writing these words as well as singing them and making them work within the sound that Nate developed for the band.
All the lyrics for every Part-Time Whore song were written by me. All the music was a collaboration between all band members but the original embryo of the songs were all written by Nate.
The first song we wrote which everyone in the band liked was Joe Bowls Takes A Nap. The irony being that I didn’t write any lyrics for that song. Unless you count the middle part where I can be heard saying “Listen to me man!” before spilling out a bunch of nonsense grunting.
It was a hard job sitting being a lyricist. I think I got better over time I don’t think it ever got any easier. Nothing you have a passion for is ever easy. I needed to write about something I knew. Something I honestly felt. The first song I ever wrote and the first song we truly finished was this love song: You (Whoever That Might Be)
When I’m hungry I eat
When I’m tired I sleep
Life is pretty simple I think
But if that’s so true
How did you get to be so important to me?
If I’m so happy why should this mean shit to me?
Not like I’m falling flat pathetic and needy
Not like I need to believe you need me
There’s a million places I’d rather be
There’s a million stories inside of me
Shit to do
I’m never bored or anything
Friends to keep me on top of everything
A good life so far away from you
Still I heard that fucking song
Then I know I am alone
Wondering which way to go
A balance there’s got to be a caring mixed with a thought of nothing
Too much and I’m a push over
Too little and I’m a cold shoulder
It drives me insane
It’s like a game right?
It’s just a game?
I’m trying to find a place to hide
What I need it’s got the better of me
That place is you
Symptomatic of the dysfunctional relationships I’ve had in my life and the dysfunctional relationship that would soon become this band, this song was based on a woman I had broken up with the year before. Her drug addiction made it impossible to see her as a real person. Thus the parenthetical adjunct within the songs title. Whatever the confusion I felt in that relationship and regardless of whether or not I was truly in love I must admit to having genuine feelings for her. We broke up amidst bitterness and betrayal and I haven’t seen or spoken with her since.
I learned a few years ago that she tried to take her own life. I wished at the time I could fix whatever was wrong with her, although I was as much at fault for the shakiness of our relationship. It's obvious to me now that you can't "fix" other people. I can only hope I've been able to fix whatever is wrong with me all these years later.
These feelings came to flower in the guise of these lyrics. I tried very hard to focus on real understandable expression and leave the metaphors and literary devices to the artistically annoying. After much hand wringing I found that it was impossible to make this a simple statement and indeed used a fair amount of metaphor/allegory/whatever the fuck you want to call it.
Much of my motivation for these songs was spelled out in the lyric sheet of the Part-Time Whore LP. So I don’t want to go into too much detail for these songs.
I am the world
The world is me
Inside my imagination of where I want to be
Even tears were beautiful things as strange as that may seem
I wasn’t myself
I wasn’t anyone else
I made up everything
Building a tower so high it’s tumbling down
Even my illusion couldn’t be enough
Could I call the bluff
No guarantees left to believe
The truth unfolds robbing me
Too satisfied with the shadow of a dream
My insides can’t hide any longer
If only I couldn’t see
If only the world were only me
I have to add that out of context this song is whiny cry baby shit. This song was partially based on a story about a man who was born blind and later had an operation to give him sight. When he opened his eyes for the first time he went insane because nothing was the way he imagined it. I mention this in the LP maybe because if I didn’t say something the song seems really childish and stupid? After some reflection I would probably say this is the worst song lyrically, and yet it's the most pop sound PTW ever had.
Listen to me man!!!
Growl!
When I get out of jail!
See the previous post for the whole story on this song.
I was alone
Thinking maybe there’s no hope
In this town
It left me standing around
Watching
There is no reason to be
He walked up
Stolen wine flowed from his cup
He lost his mind and wished to lose his body
Saw his cuts
Saw him bleed
It occurred to me that everyone wants something
He was alone
I know for sure he had no hope
The town
It made him stand around
No place to go the
The cold just waiting for him
Lights on the street
A stage set for misery
There was something I wanted to say
I couldn’t read much from his face
Things sure looked differently
It was mighty Christian of me
Other people couldn’t see
All these cars kept passing
He spilled his drink
He kept saying it was cold
I used to go out by myself a lot. I still do. One night I went out to the LV strip with my video camera. Whenever I’d do that inevitably some bum, or gangsta, or crack head would come up and pester me over and over until I’d be forced to leave.
I met this guy Kevin Kidd one night. He had just stolen a bottle of wine from a liquor store. It was kind of an anomaly because he was a funny intelligent guy. We talked a bit and he shared some of his wine with me while I filmed random episodes on the strip.
He was homeless and dejected but still had some drive. As I started to make my way home he fell over and cut his hand pretty bad. I couldn’t do shit for him. I felt horrible. He left pretty quickly after that.
Ultimately this song makes me feel powerless and maybe a bit privileged I’m lucky for who I am and what I have. I will never be ashamed of where I come from.
Sometimes I think I’m going crazy
Overwhelmed by shit not how it’s supposed to be
I’m so sick of hearing how things used to be
I’m the one in command of these new things
So bored it is to laugh
Not gonna fall for that
Fuck you and fuck your crap
I’d listen to you but you don’t have a clue
It’s like this and this and this
I’ve got more than half a mind to go farther this time
And jump over your pile of shit
Who’s out to shake things up?
It don’t seem so tough
I gotta scream right now
Has everyone forgotten how?
The lyrics in this part sound significantly different from what I’m reading on the lyric sheet from the LP. I’m stumped until we get to this part:
So transparent I can see thru the act
Running in circles you’ve beaten a path to nowhere for nothing
What else can I do but laugh?
It’s easy to bottle up inside
Thinking everything’s been tried
Respect is due to most before me but now it’s time to write a new fucking story
You’re goddamned right I don’t care
Cause I don’t have a reason to be scared
Refuse to buy this falsity
That’s the way it’s gotta be
Laugh at yourself instead
Cause when you’re dead you’re dead!
This is the song I hope you listen to if you listen to any of them. Really spirited and I mean every fuckin word. Although it sounds like I'm still making up the words at the time of this recording. I think this recording best captures of the soul of this song as opposed to what you heard on the album. At least on my end. Plus the album gets so pretentious with my spoken word piece.
This song was based in large part on that awful band that inspired me to join Part-Time Whore. Check the demo post if you really care. In any event it’s also a call to action against mediocre music and mediocre messages and just mediocrity in general. A declaration of seriousness about not taking things too seriously. And so on I could go on like this forever. It's about curing cancer and saving the lives of puppy dogs everywhere. Laughing has always been important to me and it continues to be important. Yeah it's all so very funny motherfucker.
This song was based in large part on that awful band that inspired me to join Part-Time Whore. Check the demo post if you really care. In any event it’s also a call to action against mediocre music and mediocre messages and just mediocrity in general. A declaration of seriousness about not taking things too seriously. And so on I could go on like this forever. It's about curing cancer and saving the lives of puppy dogs everywhere. Laughing has always been important to me and it continues to be important. Yeah it's all so very funny motherfucker.
We’re led to believe our lives are not complete
How could we have lived before without Technology?
Progress is an uncut cord producing sterile circuitry
Convenience and laziness makes TV our community?
Boring a hole into your bored skull we’ll make a change to your body
An age of information but for who?
Electrical daydreams is all you need to know
We have to gain more or we are lost
Consume and catch up is our life’s work?
The new chains are wires we are all connected
The future’s been decided the only thing we don’t need now is you
Blue lines across a screen
It’s not a face you’re seeing
It’s your future whether you want it or not
Choices already made for you in a new zoo that hates you for not being new
What kind of world are we building?
A new church to reinvent souls?
A new god computing a more efficient control?
Hmm. This song was also a big hit when we played live. Lyrically it’s a bit puzzling but I think I can understand what I meant. And yet I’m more connected to computers now than I ever was back then and I can expect to see more of the same in my life and in the lives of others. I'm convinced the “digital” world we live in will have a day of reckoning sometime in the future. Mark my words!
I have no pictures or video footage of Part-Time Whore. If you got something like that then how about sharing fuck-o?
Thanks for reading. I include a download in every post so here’s the song Part-Time Whore recorded for Very Small records Twelve Ounces of Courage comp. It might have been the best song we ever recorded but it's just my opinion.
Shit. I just realized that by adding this song I'm obligated to post the lyrics to this song as well. I probably will because they're quite funny. The name of this song is "Speedcore Never Died It Just Got Faded." I guess look for the lyrics here in this same post sometime in the future.
Also... this just in: I found the original lyric sheet. You can view it here.
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