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. |
Bears You A Child
02:32
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I loved her then and I love her now
And if she bears you a child I'm going to burn you out
I have no muscle, I'm only bone
But this gun in my pocket's more effective than a heavy stone
I left my friends and I'm all alone
So I sit here smoking in my closet so I don't have to leave my post
I was just the garbage that she needed
To teach her how to feel and not just eat it
To tell her that it's OK to be someone she wants to be
And you get to be her man, now
But I've got to tell you somehow
She's always going to want me, deep down
Read my mouth:
I said I win, fucker
But, oh, good news for you
She cut me loose
This is a simple song, these are simple words
But the only way I can get this shit out is singing off a sloppy verse
I loved her then
and I love her now...
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2. |
Big Sun
05:11
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Big Sun, keep glowing on
Take me up with you
Green grass on a fresh cut lawn
New morning's dew
We'll miss you, pooch
Big Sun, keep glowing on
The post that you're tied to
Cumin and cardamom
It's a curry afternoon
We'll miss you, pooch
It's tough to stay awake without something to say
We keep making the noise
And build up our toys to keep the darkness at bay
We leave no one around, we derive all over town
No company keep, so you fall asleep
Big Sun, keep glowing on
Lay her down softly
Shine on her all day long
She's tending the leaves, and she rides for free
It's tough to stay awake without something to say
We keep making the noise
And build up our toys to keep the darkness at bay
We leave no one around we drive all over town
No company keep, so you fall asleep
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3. |
Killing You
03:55
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I think about killing you, long into the night
It's a blight on my house
It's a child-thrown mouse that flies through the air
When the kid has no care
Or knowledge
Of dying
I think about killing you, long into the night
It's a flight to the south
It's honey in the mouth of a girl hanging wreaths
Made of angel trumpets,
Ivy
And reeds
Spin the cylinder 'round
It's my night on the town
Press my lips to the frame
If I win the game, clean up won't be my handful
Just to keep your damn hands full is the meaning of life
But we both know that there is none
Maybe that will suffice
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4. |
Dhammaday
04:41
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Just need a conclusion
Don't need any proof
Bleeding some dharma
Stacking stones on the roof
You never stop talking
Just keep flapping your gums
At some hollow idea
You half-assed off someone
You can't stay quiet any more than I want you to stay
We keep twirling our thumbs and wait for next Dhammaday
Drowning in Sake
Smiling like a bum
I think you're still talking
Whistling "Comfortably Numb"
I don't wanna talk about it
Why are you so hot about it?
You never stay quiet any more than I want you to stay
Just keep twirling our thumbs and wait for next Dhammaday
Miss Communication, you're tearing your dress
On some silver tongued loser
Who's cleaning your mess?
But you can't stay quiet any more than I want you to stay
So we keep twirling our thumbs and wait for next Dhammaday
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5. |
Vegetation
03:09
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I have never wanted this before
Steady staring at a closing door
Prostrated on the kitchen floor
Scared out of my mind
Stomach bleeding hours at a time
This is a feeling of a different kind
I don't really want to die, but I really want to die
Starving myself of my meditation
Because now I don't want to be vegetation
Hunting down the existential lie
Passing images from eye to I
I need a clearer view
A better attitude
A dove seen from the prison line
Or a canary in the coal mine
either way, we're running out of time
The roof is caving in
Stomach bleeding hours at a time
This is a feeling of a different kind
I don't really want to die, but I really want to die
Starving myself of my meditation
Because now I don't want to be vegetation
Hunting down the existential lie
Passing images from eye to I
I need a clearer view
A better attitude
I don't really want to die
But I really want to die
I need a clearer view...
A better attitude
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6. |
Nausea
04:20
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Watching the lights
Watching the birds travel in pairs
You know, I'm just a ghost
A spot on the pavement
A heavenly host
Sent to drive you around
Drive all over town
Slowly skirting the coast
Dodging the cars
"Between the Bars" hangs in the air
You know, I'm just a crutch
Who don't help very much
When you're barely there
Runs in your tights
Slurring your words
Knots in your hair
You know, you opened your door
Won't puke on the floor
And I can't help but stare
Your nausea won't set you free
But I guess it's your reprieve
Life hangs so heavy it hurts you to breathe
So you smile and have another
Blind drunk and asleep
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7. |
Idiot's Trick
03:01
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Rain streaks on the screen in mid-autumn
You'd put on your gloves but you forgot them
You can't stop, go back to the beginning
Time has no front, back, top, start or ending
You were born, you'll die and here you're living
You can't stop, go back to the beginning
These things all just break with time and age
These words are just sounds, transmitted waves
You can't stop, go back to the beginning
Time is just a dot where we're all spinning
You were born like this, both still and moving
You can't stop, when there was no beginning
When I fall asleep, I'll sleep 'til dawn
All I see's a game and I'll play along
It's just an idiot's trick after all
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8. |
Calamine
04:37
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Ways of being, if you cared about it, if I wasn't me
Sun is setting and it's warm outside
Ways of being, in the mouth it tastes like curly maple wine
Moon is rising and it's cold outside
There's an itch in my head (drink some calamine)
Drink some calamine
Ways of being, if you weren't you and I hadn't become me
We'd be happy, wait we are
We're not
Ways of being, in the mouth it tastes like curly maple wine
Moon is rising and it's cold outside
There's an itch in my head (drink some calamine)
Drink some calamine
There's an itch in my head (drink some calamine)
Drink some calamine
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9. |
Life Is Simple
04:07
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Take me into the woods and kill me
I'm dragging you down
Take me into the city
I'll take your word
I don't want the world
and it takes so long to get there
and it's awfully hard to find
but whenever you get lonely, won't you keep me in mind?
Dip your toes in the water
Why don't you drink?
Kissing your cheek in the darkness
Holding your hand as we walk back
Then I'm driving you home
and it takes to long to get there
and it's awfully hard to find
but whenever you get lonely, won't you keep me in mind?
Because I love you, can't you see that?
You can hurt me
Or want me back
Either's OK
Life is simple
Lay a card, down
We have to gamble
Take me into the woods and kill me
I'm dragging you down
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10. |
Soul Translation Machine
06:11
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Down in back, dressed in black
Sneak attack, early morning
Coast is clear, no one here
Walk the pier, 'cause work is boring
You only hear what I mean
Soul translation machine
It's like you speak a different language
So I'll just bleed the bandage
I can't seem to pretend
Seems you can't recommend
Any way to stem the anguish
So I just bleed the bandage
Cross your legs, holes and pegs
Life is dregs in endless cycle
Make a mess, printing press
My respects to Mr. Tycle
Cross the Carnegie Bridge
Enemy on the ridge
Any me that you wish, send into battle
You only hear what I mean
Soul translation machine
It's like you speak a different language
So I'll just bleed the bandage
I can't seem to pretend
Seems you can't recommend
Any way to stem the anguish
So I just bleed the bandage
[Interlude:
Generic antacids, ginger root, ginger tea, ginger chewables, seltzer water, vitamins A, B12 and C, cardboard packets of thin minty leaves, the New Revised Bible and Vedic beliefs, an empty bottle of Bombay, tins of peanuts and Camus; Dead family friends.
All in all is all we are, but what even are we?
Generic antacids, ginger stuffs, Pepto-Bismol, chalk, calcium suppositories, chamomile tea
Generic antacids, ginger, ginger tea, ginger chewables, seltzer water, vitamins A, B12 and C, cardboard packets of thin minty leaves, the New Revised Bible and Vedic beliefs]
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11. |
Old Boy
04:25
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Take that back, I can't be your Old Boy
I can't be your only toy
Can I?
Take each day as it comes
I can't finish this one
How can you face the new sun
So lightly?
Why do we bear anything at all? (we bear the weight we give ourselves)
If I build myself, well, I can always fall
Why do we bear anything at all? (we bear the weight we give ourselves)
It hurts as much to stand as it does to crawl
I'm unconvinced that this is worth it
Make you laugh, I can't be your clown today
I can't seem to make it pay my dues
Take it back
We don't have an easy choice
Why silence such a pretty voice so soon?
Corruption's in our veins
Stained glass window panes
Every monolith's a tomb
Oh, yeah, we're all the same
Back-broke and so ashamed
A tired medium, the womb
Why do we bear anything at all? (we bear the weight we give ourselves)
If I build myself, well, I can always fall
Why do we bear anything at all? (we bear the weight we give ourselves)
It hurts as much to stand as it does to crawl
I'm unconvinced that this is worth it
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12. |
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Damn to the days we took for granted
Tired sights that on me landed
I used to smoke the Parlies, doll
Now I smoke the red Pall Malls
Your fingertips come touch my arm
I don't feel them anymore
You don't need me like you used to
Now I think I know what they meant by blue
Damn to the eyes we took for granted
Perfect sight seems so romantic
Keep your glasses by the bed
Stumble on the stairs and you're dead
Butterfly kisses on my arm
I don't feel them anymore
You don't need me like you used to
Now I think I know what they meant by blue
Damn to the friends we took for granted
Loneliness can be so frantic
All I need's a silent smile
To sit beside me for a while
A calloused palm to touch my arm
I don't feel it anymore
You don't need me like you used to
Now I think I know what they meant by blue
Damn to the days we took for granted
The final sight of lovers dancing
"I love you" is all I've got to say
You sweet kisses on my arm
I don't feel them anymore
I don't feel them anymore
You don't need me like you used to
Now I think I know what they meant by blue
Your sweet kisses on my arm
I can feel them once more
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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.
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