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Suck it Up, Cupcake

by Dan Johnson

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1.
Chicken and Potatoes 03:30
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Standing on the corner of a cul-de-sac Business out front party out back Clock keeps turning in four dimensions And the old ladies taking up a collection Out on the edge of the middle of the sea Thinking about you you were thinking about me The scissors in the alley want to cut out the fat And the dog in the garbage wants to cut out the cat Makeup artist and a shotgun shell Whistle in the dark on the road to hell My wig ain’t ready and my hands are tied And the chicken and potatoes with the gravy on the side Well the junkyard television don't matter so much It ain’t the kind of thing nobody wants to touch You’ve got your Sunday best you got your liverwurst And the second is the best and the third comes in first Goes around comes back around Touch the sun you got to hit the ground You go through the door with your piece of paper Like a cheese sandwich in a big skyscraper You must believe in the holy ghost I love you dear but god loves you most It’s a dirt road romance in the sea of dreams I always wanted red white and blue jeans The sun shining on the hill of graves They're gonna chase you people right out of your caves Middle of the night in the bright sunshine What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine Say you might be your own best friend It’s your friends gonna get you in the end Long way around the bend It’s okay to dream but lets not pretend I don't mind a long lunch line But when you get your dinner could you let me get mine I like chickens that come free range And I like the people that act real strange
2.
Tonight 03:33
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No reasons to stay in this city Interstate gonna play my redeemer Why was I born if not to ride free Let’s get out of here tonight What could be gained by playing it safe Hiding out here in plain sight I need some shelter from all these reactions Let’s get out of here tonight It's 800 miles to the edge of Montana I think we can make it if we take it slow Two hundred dollars and a sleeping bag Let’s get out of here tonight There’s the desert owl in her moonlight flight She’s looking for something just like you and me But we all find just as we seek Let’s get out of town tonight Moon shining on the bitterroot The stars gather all around my mind Feel so small under this big sky Let’s get out of town tonight There’s roads out there straight as an arrow They just stretch out in the desert night Won’t see a soul except the lonely coyote Let’s get out of town tonight
3.
Being Free 03:17
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It’s hard to win it’s hard to lose It’s hard to pick and it’s hard to choose Don’t make it any harder than it already is It’s hard to go it’s hard to stay Hard to hear and it’s hard to say But after all you only get what you give Love is hard and love is soft It’s expensive but you’ll pay the cost You can’t afford the price of pride Lovers come and lovers go Some move fast and some move slow I know you really tried It’s hard to lose it’s hard to win Hard to end and hard to begin It’s always harder than it has to be It’s hard to stay and it’s hard to go It’s hard to see and it’s hard to know Hard to think about being free
4.
Suck it Up, Cupcake 03:22
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Swimming against the current just trying to get upstream Banging your head against a television screen Candles on your birthday umbrella when it rains Answers to the questions that no one understands Suck it up cupcake the world is strange Riding you dreams to a home on the range There’s a big moon rising in the valleys of my heart Suck it up cupcake here comes the good part You sing Bobbie Dylan when the showers on Always say you’ll to get up in time to see the dawn But you sleep until noon I kiss you on your lips Then you open your eyes and my little heart skips Suck it up cupcake ain’t life grand We never do nothing just make big plans Then we cook our own meals in our own little place Suck it up cupcake why don't you have a taste We travel this world in time and space Every where I go I can see your face You smile from the corners of the edges of my mind Love is everywhere its easy to find Suck it up cupcake the moon rise slow Everywhere we go there's the people we know We dance on the banks of the river that flows Suck it up cupcake it comes and goes Now we’re laying down on a pillow of stars Listen to the busses and the people and the cars Our hearts are full of wishes and whispers and dreams The sky is full of spirits don't you wonder what it means Suck it up cupcake get it while you can No matter what they say you can take a stand I know you got it in you I can see it in your eyes Suck it up cupcake you won the first prize
5.
Pilgrims 05:58
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It wasn't difficult we never trembled And whether it was your courage or mine we never mentioned We were both stranded before we knew it Lost on the backroads looking for the ocean What happened to the boy The one with the rosy cheeks It doesn't matter that we didn't know the truth It still has no appeal to me anyways I wasn't looking for the truth I was looking for the world And the world is wrapped in mystery anyways Pilgrims lost in the footsteps of god Seeking answers by moving farther from all we knew It was almost certain we would lose our way So we abandoned ourselves to the desert Scallop shell tied carelessly around his neck St. Christopher’s medallion picked up from some basement In Edinburgh after the road broke us apart Love struck us down like dolls made of rag So I sing a song Have you seen the boy Has anyone seen the boy I'd pay a thousand dollars If they could bring me to him tonight Just to hug him around his neck And tell him everything has always been all right In spite of me
6.
Grandma Pierre 03:08
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Plastic owl in my backyard Sitting up on a metal pole Plastic wings and plastic ears Plastic heart and plastic soul Collect call from grandma Pierre Collect call from grandma Pierre I go out on a Saturday night I can’t recall who I was looking for Who was it once told me You can’t open every door So now I’m standing in the living room I can’t recall what I came here to do It’s not something that will keep me awake I’ll find something when I get through
7.
The Bottoms 02:52
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Getting used to the bottoms They’re changing all the time Getting used to the changes Accomplice to the crimes Been staring into the dark Looking for a crack in the endless night I’ll be waiting in the doorway When you come into the light I remember the summer You flew in on a plane I was so disorganized I guess you felt the same The statues of the past Guard the altar where the poets pray In the burned out whiskey morning I watched you walk away Now I ride this train On an elevated line Not so high above the city That I can't see her design Now and then Someone talks to me I hear them whisper the truth But I'm down in the bottoms So there really ain’t no use I was dreaming of that fateful day When we would find control The illusion of power Can poison the artists soul Now and then if I’m lucky I might find some beautiful line And I let the beauty carry me Over the bottoms in my mind
8.
Seattle Southbound Blues 04:28
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I come out west on a twelve car freight My work boots upon my feet I played my guitar in many old bars I sang my song out on the street I loved a girl her name was Roseanne Her eyes were like two diamonds green and blue I told her all the lines that I could drag from my mind I sang her every folk song I knew We lay with each in that little tiny bed We couldn't run out of things to say Our hearts were open though they'd both been broken In the safety of our promise there we lay She spoke to my soul, I listened to her mind We made such pretty harmony it seemed We wove ourselves together like silk and leather It became impossible to find the seam I played for my supper every day On the corner near the mission and the park I'd sing and I'd holler I'd collect a couple dollars I'd bring it all home to her when it got dark We never really fought but one day she was gone I guess she never really had been mine She left me one last letter said she wished she'd loved me better But she had to find herself on down the line If I had a hundred dollars I'd leave right now I'd ride that evening train to LA I'd find Roseanne and put a ring on her hand And then all of these blues would go away I’m sitting here at this old train station Just finishing this bottle of booze My pockets are full of old love letters I’ve got them Seattle southbound blues
9.
On My Gravestone 03:55
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It’s a Monday night and we’re drinking some ice cold beer Sitting in the kitchen watching some rabbit ears I wasn’t hurting nobody wasn’t committing no kind of sin And I was sitting in the kitchen when they kicked the front door in Now the doors full of holes and we’re watching some tv show It’s a Tuesday night and the dark is sinking low A bottle of gin and a couple six packs of beer I wish to the lord I could get away from here I want troublemaker on my gravestone That’s the name that I got when I was born This world ain’t going to hell I’m pretty sure that it’s already there It’s a world of trouble and lord I have had my share I’m a cooking up a batch in the back of my daddy’s shack Way down at the end of a one lane track I’ve got a feeling that I just can’t lose But lord these lonesome woods will give a man the blues There’s something in my mind that won’t lay down I can put it to bed but it comes back around The devil on my shoulder is digging holes in my heart I’d tell you the truth but I wouldn’t know where to start
10.
Back to the Drawing Board 02:54
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I’ve been drawing my life in second hand lines Picking up things that I can't find I try to walk in my own kind of way but I feel like there’s something I’m forgetting to say I want to be real I want to be bold I want to create things that can’t be sold My ink may run down the page But there’s something left after all I gave Going back to the drawing board This tiny old pencil is my mighty sword And with it I may kill the beast Or draw it out at the very least I turn my eyes from the naked form I've forgotten the way it felt to be born Pretend I know my way around But there’s something wrong with every sound Going back to the drawing board See if I can find some pretty chord And add a couple words that rhyme And if they don't well that’s all right I trace the lines I think I feel And through these dreams comes something real And if you don't understand Then this song is for another man Going back to the drawing board I watch the waves land on the shore It’s a place maybe you go too And if you do I'll look for you

about

It was the July of 2014. I had spent the weekend in the hot dusty fields of the Greyfox bluegrass festival, picking lots and sleeping little. I had a gig that Sunday at a barbecue festival in Troy, NY. It was a hot morning, and the sun was beating down on the stage. A few friends and some family had trickled in, but the morning was still early so there weren’t too many folks in the amphitheatre. I was still getting soundchecked when a couple dressed in eighties chic – jean vests, bandanas, aviators – found a place front and center where they set down their twelve pack of Busch and made themselves at home. A couple songs in they began offering a steady stream of comments and suggestions. At one point I mentioned how hot it was, to which the woman offered, “Suck it up, cupcake!” And so began this record you now hold in your hands. Actually this album probably began a long time before that, but most of these songs have been written since last summer. A few are ones I’ve been kicking around for a while, but they all reflect the new experiences I’ve had this year as a musician and as a person. I hope you hear something that resonates with you. I hope the moment when you open the album, and put it in your CD player, is a special moment. I hope your experience is enhanced by the patterns and ideas on this disc. I hope this helps you feel like you can be more yourself, and not less. Feel free to share it around to friends. It’s yours, now. Suck it up, cupcake. – Dan Johnson (April 4, 2015, Richmond, VT)

credits

released May 1, 2015

All parts recorded by Dan at home in Richmond, using Garageband, a XENYX Berhinger USB mixer, Shure SM58 and SM57 mics, a Martin guitar, K & K Pure Mini pick up. All songs mixed and mastered by Dan in Garageband.

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Dan Johnson Burlington, Vermont

low key folk music - (how many?) records, a few (dozen?) years worth of weird gigs, no pressure y'all... did shows with some great folks and I just love country bluegrass and any kinda folk song mostly...

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