Get all 7 John Thomason releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
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1. |
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Boats no longer drift against the current
Faking freedom, they're dashed on the rocks
Splintered and sinking in the bubbling rapid
Remember reckless was the way we ran
Before chance behavior caused us to blink
Hiding us from fate and twisting our turn
Depravity vanquished my deterrent
I could not hear the wanton way it walks
Quickly nudging me into the vapid
Whiskey's like a beautiful woman
You gaze at first then it's time to drink
Demanding appreciation, both burn
Touch their galloping golden manes
Hear the watchman's lonesome refrain
Search what secrets the skull contains
Know your spirit cannot sustain
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2. |
Whiskey Woman
04:16
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You talk about your woman
Well I wish that you could see mine
Yours maxes out your credit cards
Mine just cost $10.99
She don't wanna see a chick flick
Don't argue with me 'til I'm sick
Every night, whiskey's my mistress
Every night, whiskey's my woman
She don't have her own opinions
She don't get cross when I look at other women
Every night, whiskey's my woman
Yours buys you clothes you don't like
My just won't let me drive a car or even ride a bike
She don't wanna go shopping with her sister
She don't ever wanna take cute pictures
Every night, whiskey's my woman
She don't go lookin' through my texts
Or get onto me about the way that I dress
Every night, whiskey's my woman
That's not to say I don't see a girl every now and then
I'm just not getting married to any of them
It's just a chance encounter, a flash in the pan
And I always got a bottle of whiskey in my hand
Every night, whiskey's my woman
Sometimes she might make me vomit
But at least she don't get pissed when I'm being honest
Every night, whiskey's my woman
Just one more drink
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3. |
Drunkard King
05:55
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The gypsy told my mother when I was born
That I would be royalty
And I've spent all my life
One way or another
Trying to figure out
What the hell that means
Ain't got no throne
Waiting for me at home
Ain't got no gold or ivory
But oh baby, one day maybe
I'm gonna be the king
I wasn't tutored by Aristotle
I must've known nothing
'Til somebody handed me a bottle
Then I drank it down
Well I guess I thought it was
Eternal life that I had found
So let me come into town
And hand me a crown
Well I'll drink until there's no one else left to buy another round
Oh baby, I know you wanna hate me
But you have to love the king
I've fought my share of battles
Passed out in the saddle
Once or twice, I can't be sure
But I've put down every usurper
There ain't no stupor
That my body can't endure
So let me come in your castle
In won't be no hassle
Don't make me knock down your door
Let's go upstairs baby
You know you can't dissuade me
It's good to be the king
Ain't got no steel
Or blood to spill
Just cups to drain
And women on the brain
This debauchery
Is all a mockery
I just wanna make that plain
So let's father a bastard
Instead of gettin' married by a pastor
Then he won't get to be king
Oh, I just can't wait to be king
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4. |
Ghost Notes
05:05
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We used to meet up every night
But now we don't talk at all
We'd been hangin' out all year
And I at least thought that you'd call
Sayin' you were comin' by to pick up that book
That you had left over here
Somehow you left it every time
And now you've just disappeared
I saw you back in February
And you said we were still friends
But last time we talked
You didn't mean to message me at 3 A.M.
Since then all of our pictures have vanished
From your feed
I never saved any of them
Never thought there was any need
One of your friends said that
"You've been going through a lot"
I've seen the bottles you've thrown
And shattered into the parking lot
I remember at your best friend's apartment
You said I didn't need to stand
But it wasn't my idea
To put a pillow over our clasped hands
I've checked out all the books you supposedly read
And I think that I've been discrete
I haven't told anyone else
That you left them incomplete
But I think someone else is gonna find
And read your notes
And know that all that they left behind
Was just a ghost
Since you're nowhere to be found
Just look out for the rebound
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5. |
Alcoholic Accolades
05:27
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And some people say
That I'm just a slave
To all my alcoholic accolades
Wastin' away my days
Drinkin' my rum and my cheap champagne
Livin' off forgotten regrets
In the land of light beer and cigarettes
They say that if I don't change my ways
That I'm gonna die from these alcoholic accolades
They say, "you can't be saved"
I say, "Liquor me up
"Pass me another cup
"and I'll be on my way"
My friends, if they're all drunk too
Then I'm not alone
Up on my throne
At the party feeling blue
And some people say
That I'm just a slave
To all my alcoholic accolades
Wastin' away my days
Drinkin' my rum and my cheap champagne
Livin' off forgotten regrets
In the land of light beer and cigarettes
They say that if I don't change my ways
That I'm gonna die from these alcoholic accolades
Sometimes there's a girl I think I love
So I call her on the phone
Say "run on home"
She tells me that I've had enough
Now everybody's gone
And the bottles have run dry
And here I lie
On the floor of this empty room
She never wants to talk when I want her to
She never wants to fuck until we go up in front of the altar and say "I do"
She screams back the sky is green when I tell her that it's blue
Oh well, I guess I'll just drink for a few
And some people say
That I'm just a slave
To all my alcoholic accolades
Wastin' away my days
Drinkin' my rum and my cheap champagne
Livin' off forgotten regrets
In the land of light beer and cigarettes
They say that if I don't change my ways
That I'm gonna die from these alcoholic accolades
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6. |
Try Not
03:46
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The flames licked up the terrestrial trash
Engulfing the eternal past
The mighty, haughty idolizers
Of death and misery
Feel the heat in your breath
And curse your infantile idleness
Caress the burns upon your chest
Where you hide incendiary memories
"Try not to wake up on fire!"
That was your admonishment
As I embraced intemperance
We emptied every flask
Talking after class
And left them piled around the pyre
Then you carelessly cast your cigarette
Into the kerosene cabaret darkness
Saying "try not to wake up on fire!"
Hear the incandescent, infernal crack
Of the flaming whip of Sycorax
The revenge you dreamt of now has passed
To ashes it was returned
Every party, every rave
You ruined, you could not behave
Tried to sterilize it with the flame
But only your throat was burned
"Try not to wake up on fire!"
That was your admonishment
As I embraced intemperance
We emptied every flask
Talking after class
And left them piled around the pyre
Then you carelessly cast your cigarette
Into the kerosene cabaret darkness
Saying "try not to wake up on fire!"
Late night drunk texts that I try to forget
Every haunting memory
Expanding, dilating
Drawing me back
To some ashen time
"Try not to wake up on fire!"
That was your admonishment
As I embraced intemperance
We emptied every flask
Talking after class
And left them piled around the pyre
Try not to wake up on fire
Remember that you won't recognize her
You forsook that fleshly empire
Extinguished with the calamity of a cinder
Like, why do I even own a smartphone or a computer?
Maybe the Luddites were right
Maybe this all was a mistake
You know it all was just a mistake
I shouldn't have done this
I shouldn't have done this
You were right
You were right about me
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7. |
Foresworn+Foresaken
08:00
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Red sunrise on the western foothills
Fading flowers in the valley
Wrapped in wine pressed garments
The priests stagger in the alley
I have cut my covenant with death
I shall not gaze upon those future islands
I've rejected the reviving breath
I've chosen pretty poppies in place of diamonds
Foresworn and foresaken
Every oath that I've taken
The prophet stumbled and cracked the diadem
Of the last drunkard king
The proud crown of Ephraim
Rendered the filthiest of things
I have cut my covenant with death
I shall not gaze upon those future islands
I've rejected the reviving breath
I've chosen pretty poppies in place of diamonds
Foresworn and foresaken
Every oath that I've taken
And all of the tables are filled with vomit
The storm clouds gather for the tempest
The hailstones hit each haughty head
The scourge swallows their fleshly precepts
The pit takes the bodies of the dead
The sword has drunk it's fill in the heavens
The waters overwhelm every shelter
My harlots have been stripped of beauty
My bones have been broken in the banquet
My guards have neglected their duty
My babes smothered in their blankets
Foresworn and foresaken
Every oath that I've taken
And all of the tables are filled with vomit
HELL IS EMPTY AND ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE
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8. |
Colorless Masque
05:09
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Ghastly epitome: the 21st century
Got my drink poured
Sealed the gate and barred the door
It's the last party--finality
Escapin' our fatality
No tragedy, no gravity
Could vanquish our depravity
All the women are dressin' in scarlet
All the men are searchin' for a starlet
Seven rooms, bass just booms
Dark out for a new moon
Thunder's bigger, seven figures
Can't see them in the mirror
The way they walk, they never talk
Their eyes movin', they never stop
They drift and loom
No drinks consumed
They move into the second room
The clock chimes out in the hall
Music stops playin' can't hear at all
Drag my feet, take a seat
Something seems incomplete
Seventh room, all alone
All my charms overthrown
Blank faces, evil traces
I think I see leather cases
Blades gleam, distant scream
Vision of a shrieking fiend
Hearts not piteous
Waxed wings of Icarus
Torn from me, shorn from me
Destroying my ability
To grasp and know
Handle, control
Stand up and stop the flow
Of violence, contrivance
Shattered my alliance
No tears drip from the colorless masks
No wine flows from the open casks
Surrounded, hounded
Forsook what I founded
Blinded and confined
By the touch of the tines
Nearby knock
Clicked and locked
My escape has been blocked
No revelry, just devilry
Hear the wicked reveille
No flesh in their movement
No beauty in their raiment
Ticking clock
Chaff and chalk
Feel the burnin' of the stalk
Outer dark, slowin' heart
Hear the howls and the bark
The room has filled with fog
Turn the page of the catalogue
Thru the rooms I'm still runnin'
Over tables I'm stumblin'
Against the wind
Against my friends
In constant pursuit of sin
Windows shake, bottles break
No other course to take
The needles are pressed against my eyes
These must be the Martian ides
It's all true, can't disprove
Flayed like Bartholomew
Drowned in the crimson tide
Crushed from every side
Trampled underfoot by the beast and the vestal bride
I can hear their echoing voices
Overwhelming all other noises
My legs are spent, clothes are rent
Arm's broken, how it's bent
Muscles cord, flashing sword
My face pressed against the board
No tears drip from the colorless masks
No wine flows from the open casks
No tears drip from the colorless masks
No wine flows from the open casks
There's no face underneath the mask
They must finish their ghoulish tasks
Remember every punch that you threw?
And the friendships you ruined too?
We're gonna bind you, confine you
To the outer dark you've never known
All your charms overthrown
Remember the broken crest?
Remember out the wilderness?
We're gonna bind you, confine you
To the outer dark you've never known
All your charms overthrown
Outer dark you've never known
All your charms overthrown
Outer dark you've never known
All your charms overthrown
"YOU DESERVE IT!"
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9. |
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I was driving down Richard Arrington Boulevard one day
It was raining and I pulled up to a stoplight
My windshield wipers were going
And I was thinking about some of the very same things you heard previously on this record here
I didn't have any friends
I was running out of money
Nobody wanted to see me or talk to me
And my CD player was broke
So I had the radio on
Wasn't much to listen to
And while I was sitting at that stoplight
Watching my windshield wipers go in the rain
I heard Katy Perry come on the radio
She was singing that song about drifting through the wind
I said "You know what Katy?"
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so sad if you are a bag
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so bad if you are a bag
Fireworks might dazzle for awhile
But it's all just a fading smile
Give me something that will last
Not just somebody who's shooting past
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so sad if you are a bag
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so bad if you are a bag
A plastic bag's just waitin' to give you help
With what you can't carry by yourself
A firework just disappears
But a plastic bag lasts a thousand years
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so sad if you are a bag
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so bad if you are a bag
I know that you might feel empty
Like you got a dull role in modern society
Well don't just wad me up and throw me away
I'll be you're friend, day after day
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so sad if you are a bag
It ain't so bad to be a bag
Don't you feel so bad if you are a bag
La da da da la da da
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John Thomason Alabama
Singer-songwriter doing alternative americana and distorted synth rock
John Thomason recommends:
Ryan's a great songwriter and you can hear that on tracks like "Shine a Duck" and "Flower in a Drought".
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The kind of album where you roll down your windows and turn it up while driving down the highway. Basically a perfect record.
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High Energy and Plain Dumb Fun
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