Get all 13 Dean Batten releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Optimist Breakfast, Dennis, The Quiet Sounds of Sewing, The Favor, Sky Pink, Let 'Em Bleed, Would You Like to Come In?, Aries, and 5 more.
1. |
Waltz in E Major
05:26
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"To be or not to be?"
You ask me as we stumble through the trees
Broken furniture and forgotten children's playthings
When the South shoves itself in my mouth
Then everything gets quiet, all the animals have turned
And all the map says is, "Flee from here and do not speak a word
To anyone, for anything, just hit the gas and run
Or you're done."
Meanwhile, in the hotels, all the larger men will laugh
And the smaller men will hide their eyes and hurry quickly past
The policeman is a bastard and his wife is never heard
So she sewed her lips together and sits
Watching the birds
"Hey, bartender, keep bartending.
It's too early to close."
The singer's set is ending with a bad "La Vie en Rose"
He's got to eat, his voice is shaking too much, like his hands
And where's the band?
Let me place these roses in a line along your spine
Before we have to split, let me kiss you one more time
I can only speak so truly in a clumsy form of rhyme
I am yours and you are mine
The progression was compelling, but it's too long in the verse
When the drunks shout with the chorus, oh, it only makes it worse
Right on all counts, Mr. Cohen, but I'll have to shut my eyes
At the bottom of the ninth, it is the singer who must die
But why am I alive and why do I sleep every night?
I could get up and take action but I just switch off the light
I'll drink away my body, I'll just write another song
Am I wrong?
It's OK, it's alright, you're just human
You don't have to fight
Unless you wanna, that's fine too
There is nothing you have to do
Go to sleep now and sleep tight
It's OK if you switch off the light
Because I love you, yes I do
We're just people who think, speak and choose
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2. |
Maybe Next Time
04:20
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Maybe next time, I'll do it
Maybe next time, I'll jump
Won't look at the stars or passing cars
Just look at the ground
All of these people
Are smiling for me
Gonna look at the ground
And try not to drown
Don't stare at her teeth
'Cause she is the wolf
And I am the sheep
Fresh-sheered and naked
Who can't make a peep
But I can take the leap
I know, I know that I'll hurt her
I can't help with that
Commit emotional murder
It's what I do; that's a fact
When I feel like not-feeling
I just turn tail and run
To be on the receiving end of numbness really can't be much fun
Maybe next time, I'll do it
Maybe I'll take the plunge
And ask some nice lady to join me for lunch
I hope I don't
I hope I don't
Maybe next time, I'll do it
Maybe next time, I'll jump
"Dancing with the Stars," will be on in the bar
When they lay me in the ground
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3. |
No Name #6
04:11
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I can't wait to die alone
I can't wait to feel my bones snap in my shoes
I no man and I'm going to lose
You can't pick and choose
What shit you take and what shit you make
It's all the same in this long waiting game
You'll look the same in this picture frame
I can't wait to see you there
With your denim jacket and short dyed hair
I know you still care
But I don't know where to run
This setting sun is burning every single bridge I used to stand on
To keep from falling into the river
Yes, I still shiver when I hear your name
It's all the same in this long waiting game
You stay the same in this picture frame
But someone's coming, love,
You'd better get out now
Before they lock you, too, away
Release the doves and make a joyful sound
If I'm released today
Oh, you know, better shove me to the ground
And blame me for my escape
It's all I've got, my love,
To keep your memory down
(The one from Independence Day)
Now, don't you worry
I said I'm sorry
You'd better hurry
Make your getaway
I always knew I'd die alone
It's mostly strangers, here, in my home
But there's your face
And I'm glad you came
You look the same
Still playing the game
(The long waiting game)
I feel no shame
Go tend the flame
Yeah, I'll look the same in this picture frame
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4. |
Game Show Check
05:48
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Your heart is a game show check
The player smiles and gets their picture snapped
A polaroid dropping to the ground is the only sound to hear
Your heart is a railroad track
Rolling on forever into the seamless dark
The cross-ties, spikes, rails and little hearts
Droning out their counter-parts
Your heart is a little gold speck
Floating in the air inside a silhouette
It glistens in the lamplight, whispering to everyone,
"It's alright, it's alright"
When everyone you know is in charge
Of everyone they get to discharge
Finger the latch, and finally exit
To the room where you were wrapped in anguish
Your heart is a game show check
The hostess smiles and reaches to shake your hand
An aching knuckle bent with cigarette stains
In between her fingers
Cracks in the beauty of her television image
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Dean Batten Daytona Beach, Florida
Often genre-bending, thought provoking and emotion stoking, Dean Batten's music is most concretely one thing:
captivating.
Moving forward from his previous work, Dean has re-embraced the folk, early rock and country sounds of his childhood with 3 new albums: "Optimist Breakfast", an acoustic album; "Pessimist Lunch", a full band version with the same songs; and "Realist Supper", a live album.
... more
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