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The Self​-​Destructive Record

by Beautiful Ground

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1.
Paper Bag Blues (demo) 04:08
lyrics
Walking into the station Paper bag in hand Bought a small black coffee From the newsstand man Shut myself in a corner stall Hold it level till I’ve poured it all on in Check the cap, throw the latch And nod back with a grin Trying to keep my eye On the weaving text Like a butterfly On a TV set Like a dancer’s gaze In a pirouette, I can Watch a single blade on the ceiling fan From my double bed But then it moves backwards And I’m losing track of What used to matter and now If the board reads right I’m headed toward the light At a hundred miles an hour Stepping out onto the platform Steam hits me in the face Getting pushed along like cattle Hey pal, this isn’t a race Up the stairs into the sunshine Might as well have been shot to outer space Said she’s gonna meet me halfway I can’t wait Every time I’m in the city I want to stay for good Shack up with a pretty girl Like any honest man would Then there’s this demon that I can’t evade It takes my money and it drags me screaming back To my white wall jail cell And my paper bag
2.
Knock on Wood (demo) 02:46
lyrics
Banking on the off chance That my actions have no consequence And lately I been pushing my luck Crazy how we manage To distract ourselves from all the damage We do to each other when we want Uh huh Oh yeah Saying this time Was just a stray from the line I'll never pay with my life I'm only staying a night It won't happen to me Binge watching 'Cops' Imagine if I was caught I need a wake-up call Something to scare me straight The world's a TV screen A technicolor dream I hold at arm's length And I'm praying Praying this time Was just a stray from the light I won't be paying with my life I'm only staying the night It won't happen again Knock on wood
3.
Older Guy (demo) 03:27
lyrics
Getting to that age Where it's pretty tough to gauge Am I gonna be the sage Older guy Headed to the stage Where I've really got some range But I don't want to be that strange Older guy Mothers dated me once Brothers hating my guts And dads, don't get me started Best friends knowing my type Exes sold on a fight And dads, don't get them started C'mon, I still get carded At the bar, at the show Dude, we gotta go, they're lining up in rows You take the red ale, I'll take the blonde Under the neon, this feeling can't be wrong Now here's a little secret I'm gonna let you in on I'm only interested in one thing I'm only interested in one thing I'm only interested And it isn't what you think You're gorgeous, I'm hurt Fifty years ago We could have made this work You looking forward, me looking back Meet in the middle We could split it half and half Your mother's calling your phone Your brother followed me home And your dad, don't get me started Your best friend's searching my page Your ex is cursing my name And your dad, don't get him started I'm sad and, at best, brokenhearted If you still remember me In a couple years, we can see But to you, I'll always be An older guy
4.
King of Hearts (demo) 04:58
lyrics
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It's been six months now Since I've seen the sun And I'm beginning to doubt There ever was one With my good friend gone It's down to us two How could she have left me Here In this hidden cave I've grown from A little babe to a golden Idol towering over And the tyrant's won If I don't come When you cry in your crib Reaching out in the dark for comfort I give and I give When all that I need is a mother Down on your knees You kiss my hands In search of a ring In the sparkling sand Had I known before I would wring your neck Slip out the door Never seen again This hurts me more than it hurts you Well, you get what you ask for, don't you Back through the snow The moon hanging low Bloated, grey and still Six lights appear Like eyes in a mirror Coming over the hill If I stop in my tracks Drop my paper bag And kneel for a moment's prayer In the freezing rain I can hear them say 'He came out of nowhere, man' I came out of nowhere And that's where I'm going
5.
Scenes from the War (demo) 02:56
lyrics
You fall silent Outside of the basement bar And you walk behind me So I have to keep stopping It's easy to speak freely In the ash from a nightclub fire I lost my depth perception Somewhere in your eyes Granted, I had had a few But I don't know which is right Do I be modest Or do I be honest Now we sway On the edge of the patio In the sapphire twilight You kind of look like you're drowning And I'm shouting In the calmest way possible Just tell me what's wrong And your eyes are wet and red As you skim over your lines Darling, you forget I have not written mine You don't want to be selfish You couldn't if you tried Tonight is just a flickering image It never could survive
6.
Make a Little Time (demo) 02:58
lyrics
On the far end Of the garden In the darkness There's a park bench Where you wait for a ring You know will never come I think that's cruel And all of this time You set yourself apart Like a wounded dove Away from the sun And you wait for a ring You know will never come And I think that's cruel To you Oleander Make a little time for me now It's okay if you'd rather be somewhere else If you made a little time Make a little time for me now I can't wait
7.
Braincheck (demo) 02:26
lyrics
No more Drinking to get drunk Thinking I'm unloved While sinking to the rug Lip-syncing themes from sitcom reruns No more Staying up all night Bathed in milky light Caught speeding toward the finish line I've seen this one a million times It isn't what I want It isn't what I want No more Fast-food after work Plate on my chest, peeled off my shirt I cashed my check for what it's worth I ask to get what I deserve And no more Sneaking to the woods Like Christmas morning in the hood I wrote my songs with murky longing Then I understood somehow This isn't what I want This isn't what I want It isn't what it isn't What I want is what I want So tell me How do I go give it up Without giving up How do I go give it up Without giving up
8.
My Old Man 04:32
lyrics
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Saw it coming A million miles away But I held my tongue and I let him take the blame He's saying You oughta let this go If you know what's good It could be better though That's understood Borrowed comfort To minimize the pain When offered something I let it change my brain I gotta let it go If I know what's good It could be better though And it should I understand That I can't make it on my own Would you hold my hand The sun is setting out On my old man He showed me all of the ropes But that's over now He told me all of his jokes But I'm older now He drove me out of my hole But I'm bolder now I owe him all that I own But I sold him out
9.
Brother Bull (demo) 01:53
lyrics
Shot the dog when he come I didn't mean him pain No, I don't anyone The headlines say It's not my fault Then who's at fault Who There's a landscape in the sun and I Have seen it only once so why Do I keep tracing it half the time With my good eye for you You
10.
Crystal Caves (demo) 06:10
lyrics
Watched you catch a wave To the crystal cave There, standing in the sand I think I knew To my family and my friends I leave a key A couple dollars, my ID And the phone that never rings It rang this morning Now I see where I am going Through the camera in my mind Like the long neck of a bottle Take me back, help me find My perfect moment Here's a picture of a boy Who saw heaven in the light He holds a rock as flat as Florida Hopes to touch the other side But he lets go, he heads home The sun ducks out, it gets cold And as he grows, he grows alone So it won't be stolen from him The perfect moment is gone Make a left turn at the stop sign Pass the billboard on your right See a blue house on the corner Second story, where am I Meet the angel on the hillside Hold your breath, look in her eyes Underneath the bridge in Old Town She can only save your life Watched you catch a wave To a better place Here, standing on the shore I think I knew before That I would never see you again
11.
Joke's Over (demo) 01:18
lyrics
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Bad experiments Had a theory once Fact-checked for fallacies The Aztecs never waited They had their cake and ate it Then wasted away from here But where'd those people go They say we're not supposed to know Okay, joke's over Where'd those people go Lord, tell me where'd my people go Made it out to see her again Parked in front of the CVS Took some pictures for the hell of it Didn't get much of anything Humming 'One Little Indian' to me
12.
She Don't Call (demo) 03:00
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Kicked the borderland Split a quarter gram On our tongues Broke the dam Let the flood in our blood Carry us on Good experiments Took her little hand And down the hall Heard the band Get their tuning right While the madman hung a Hellish painting On the wall right opposite The window He called it, 'All that will Remain' I need her to tell me It's fine But she don't call And I cut out the light This magic act and that Attractive to me anymore Another screen we wedge between Us and the real thing we adore Don't I project enough Doth I protest, you think too much The next subjective medium Ain't feeding us, it's eating us I'm serious The theory was We needed much
13.
Evergreens (demo) 03:16
lyrics
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I've got a heart to give And no real motive Been sleeping in the evergreens So I fear nothing We take the scenic route Down Walnut Beach Three paces behind you You follow me I'm sleeping in the evergreens Quit thinking of a place I'd been In a dream once I've got a heart And it's gone cold I should've thought it out Before I spoke But I was trying hard for you Would you Deny me of a soul Don't deny me of a soul Don''t deny me of my soul Don't deny, don't deny There are feelings we can't place Till they've seen the light of day Is it me who's in the way Or is it you, don't deny There are things bigger than us Silver rings collecting dust Someone's killer on the bus Don't deny, don't deny me, he says Don't deny You're screaming from the mezzanine Tears streaming while you beg for me Come to me I'm sleeping in the evergreens Still thinking of a face I'd seen In a dream I've got a heart to give And no reason to

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released October 21, 2014

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Beautiful Ground Hartford, Connecticut

songs by James DM

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