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Are You Cool?

by The Whiskey Predicament

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1.
A D E A (all the way through) {chorus} I tried! But it goes so wrong! But it goes so wroooooong And it goes so wrong! And it goes so wroooooong And the dummy can say, in his own snide way In his own snide way, he repeats all day He repeats all day day insults around the bend Incessantly he condescends To me, and I put him in a cage In a velvet bed, and I polish his face And I dress him up fine to the nines with a tie and a shine And ferry him around the place. {chorus} And our little friend leers, and he cocks his ear And he rolls his eyes, and he shoots a sneer And I set him up time after time with a tight punchline At my expense, he shows no fear And they laugh, and they clap their hands And he soaks it in, his adoring fans And I sit like a lump on the stage where I slump everyday And ferry off my little man {chorus}
2.
(Capo on fret 7) G C G G C D G C G G C D G C D Em G C G Molecules bouncing and crashing shoot recklessly by Like they did early on in the oceans, we don't even try And every time I hear all the wurrings and clicks of our vast machinery I never doubted my place anymore since before I could know what our home would be Whether I've realized my dream and awoken Or drowned in the scurrilous sea of the moment Whatever is left after struggle and death you'll be getting the best of me. We can only do what we're actually going to do We can only be what we're actually going to be And when I think of surprises and mysteries, our future history shows its face And when I think of another dimension a different life quenched there won't take its place So whether you see me stand tall and essential Or squandering all of the world's great potential Whatever comes next you can know more or less you'll be getting the best of me And every time I hear all the wurrings and clicks of our vast machinery I never doubted my place anymore since before I could know what our home would be Whether I've realized my dream and awoken Or drowned in the scurrilous sea of the moment Whether you see me stand tall and essential Or squandering all of the world's great potential, Whether I'm sturdy and strong young and stable Or strapped up to an old hospital respirator Whatever is left after struggle and death you'll be getting the best of me.
3.
Verse: G C G D G C G D G (verse 2 and 3 x2) Chorus: C G Em D G D Em C G D G Well back in 1965, a baby named Kim Davis cried Her mama was a clerk in old Kentucky And when young Kim had sprouted up, that mama didn't give a fuck She named young Kim a clerk that day, what fun Now she don't deny it! Licenses, she wouldn't sign em Love wins in Rowan County seldom never But she sang those Christian songs so she could grow up tall and strong To be the worst folk hero ever Well 2015, oh so grand, the highest court in all the land We cheered them from the rooftops high above They decided much to Kim's chagrin, America could use a win And anyone could marry who they loved Well Kim Davis drew a salary, from taxes paid by you and me But her church said the new law was a sin She said "My expertise could help, I'm on marriage #4 myself, and I won't sign a license for two men!" Now she don't deny it! Licenses, she wouldn't sign em Love wins in Rowan County seldom never But she made a pretty wreck of laws we paid her to protect To be the worst folk hero ever. Well Kim was blue when she was sued, the case was paid with union dues But the wise panel unanimously stated You don't have first amendment rights to hinder someone else's life Because your fascist church gets off on hating Well Kim was down but still was kicking, thought she'd take another licking Ran for reelection that November But the Rowan County people blanched, they'd had enough intolerance And gave old Kim a stamp return to sender So she lost the vote! And now somebody else signs em And church and state's effectively been severed But on her gravestone it could read, how hard she fought equality Here lies the worst folk hero ever On her gravestone it could read, how hard she fought equality! To be the worst folk hero ever- She's the worst folk hero ever!
4.
(Capo on fret 7) G Em C D G D And she will wake When it comes to the morning, it's over her head It's black and it swirls, and the fear it unfurls Twisting over the bed And she will rise And creep to the mirror that swallows her whole The face it looks fine, but behind every line It's a dubious role {Chorus} Does she have the right, does she know how to fight For the answers, who's wearing her skirts? That black spiral swirl, it buzzes and twirls, It's so present it hurts Does she have the right, does she know how to fight For the answers that leave her to bleed Can she start to come home, ff she makes it alone Will it leave her in peace? And she will stray For 3,000 miles she'll leave it behind If she opens her eyes will she see with surprise What she came there to find? And she will drink She'll beg and she'll plead for a chance to resign But that black spiral swirl, buzzes and twirls for an infinite time {Chorus} Whistle And she will slip She'll take that plunge crashing down into the blue The sting is so strong, but it won't be so long Til she's down there with you And she will wake When it come to the morning, a shiny new day And that black spiral swirl, still buzzes and twirls But not quite the same way
5.
(Capo on fret 3) Am E Am Am Dm Am Am E Am All is forgiven here, when I hear those ice cubes clink So much forgiven here, when I take that second drink And I succumbed last night to your harsh attacks In the morning I vowed not to take you back, But I'm thinking just this once I believe I could let it go. It's been about ten hours now, since you trickled down my jaw Such a long ten hours now, since you rubbed my throat so raw But as you wrestled me down, I would trash and heave But know I love you so much I could never leave So if you give a sweet apology, then maybe I could let it go {Chorus} And everybody's gonna drink And everybody's gonna sway! Everybody's gonna laugh from the bottle and a half, That's gonna light my way! Well you battered my body and you bled my brain, But let's live and let die so it's all the same, If you promise to be nice I'll go ahead and I could let it go All is forgiven here, since my eye sight faded black So much forgiven here since you left me on my back, Well I suppose I played a part and was complicit too In the illicit dance that we struggled through So I suppose it's only fair, I believe I could let it go. {Chorus} And if you say you love me too, and you'll promise to behave If you treat me real nice and don't make any waves If you're sweet and smell so good to me I need you like I'm crazed Well I'm thinking just this once I'd take a chance and we could let it flow, Cause I'm thinking just this once I believe I could let it go!
6.
Strange Wave 04:04
(Capo on fret 4) D A G A There's a strange wave deep inside me that I felt once in a dream Like a bright light that's both foreign and familiar And I'll find my way back it, I left bread crumbs at the scene And I'll ride that wave until I find the future The lady was a foxy one, she lived a life when she was young With raucous parties, oil paintings, vodka every night With fleeting youth and beauty, she had everything to lose Except she gloried in the moment, and now wasn't that so right? The more I stared the less she feared She danced away so cavalier The years went by, she drank but never sold a painting quite Though portly with her weatherbeaten skin, I'd never been As much in awe of those who never knew themselves or burned so bright {Chorus} I'm bleeding oh so rightly I'm seething oh so tightly And breathing ever slightly Then leaving so contritely The bearded man slouched at the bar, his rumpled shirt was half ajar With sweaty blinks and whiskey drinks, his rusty trumpet sat At 40 years of age, and eight less that he played it, Who could say he never made it, drinking thoughtfully as that? He rambled with his horn in tow, to take the stage and strike a blow Against the placid planning, no he didn't seem inclined There never was a choice involved, self-crippling a problem solved To seize a moment here and there most never try to find {Chorus} There's a strange wave deep inside me that I felt once in a dream Like a bright light that's both foreign and familiar And I'll find my way back it, I left bread crumbs at the scene And I'll ride that wave until I find the future
7.
(Capo on fret 2) G Em C D G Em C D C D G Em C D G Em C D G Em C D (breakdown) C D C D C D G Em C D C D C D G Tomorrow, it's a very fine time to fall into a hard sorrow And occupy our lives And it's a very fine time to take a breath and stare into the sky And it's a very fine time to shake your head, oh why What else can you try? What else can you try? Next morning, I sputtered in my coffee and I sobbed with hardly no warning In front of the breakfast guy And he reached across the bagels, softly looked me in the eye And he asked me if it's gonna be alright We're all in this fight together, right We're all in this fight (breakdown) One foot before another, we look and see the others They're all around us marching, everywhere we start to fly Each day we're feeling stronger, those marches getting longer Each year the bullies flounder and die Tomorrow, it's very fine time to feel a little less hollow And occupy our lives And it's a very fine time to write that letter, very fine time to stand together, Very fine time to right up another wrong And it's a very fine time to feel that sun, the earth, the air anew And it's a very fine time to stay together true, What else can you do? What else can you do?
8.
Undue Burden 03:46
(Capo on fret 7) G Em C G D There’s a lonely woman walking, contemplating her dilemma, Down a broken overpass to hitch-hike, Out of Alabama! In her 18 years she’s never known, a road this cold and frightening, And the wild winds have changed the mist to- Thunder and to lightning! And she’s reeling with a sickness from that nameless thing inside her, Missing clarity that no one in her Home had dared provide her! And she trudges down that lonely road, less traveled by a margin- Oh for shame- how’d we send her on her way? Through a maze- A serpentine of burning coal For days and days- Through a loss of all control She’ll be so brave, and swim a sea of churning doubts- Then turn away, from all the anger and the shouts! And so why, can’t we be there tonight? Holding her hand? Hearing her cries? Reclaiming her rights.. clearing that road, joining her fight? She’s escaping to an unknown place far from the fields that made her, Cause she’s rather be adrift than feel that White male legislature! But she knows her brand of pain and fear is luck that gently holds her, Cause the struggle rarely offers such an Aunt in Minnesota! And her thumb is boosted out across that naked highway proudly, As she grimaced within the rain and clutches her own body And her she’s ripping back her birthright on that lonely road she marches Oh for shame, how’d we send her on her way? Through a maze- A serpentine of burning coal For days and days- Through a loss of all control She’ll be so brave, and swim a sea of churning doubts- Then turn away, from all the anger and the shouts!
9.
Feel No Pain 02:40
(Capo on fret 4) D G D G D G A x2 G D G D G D A x2 Em7 G A The sound waves from the special records, soak into the songs You get a porthole to the ground floor of your brain As much as any artist too, the frequency belongs to you Who never knew but always grew that place {chorus} And I feel no pain, and I know myself again And the sun is shining brightly in the unforgiving rain And it's a cure all pill for that lonely windowsill And you can feel the fire burning up those nihilism chills A vital time- I hope it lasts! The clinking of the ice-filled glass, relaxes all the hours past And whiskey introduces you to me It's not an abdication if you're finding out what really makes you feel alive A high five sets you free {chorus} Do special people know you, in a way that helps to grow you? Do they laugh at all the perfect times and places? From California to the Carolinas, it's the finest find To love someone who knows you in that way {chorus}
10.
The Breach 02:46
D G A My brand new brothers crept with me across the rotted hillside Where all the gas and stink and death had yet to wash away Once more unto the breach we leapt into that violent pile And I knew less of me would live to see another day Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it Everything is broken when it circles back to me While the explosive bursts were ripping through the arid daylight My brand new family would scream across the breach above But more than deafening at home was heavy stoic silence Between the stranger who I'd grown up with and always loved Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it I love you so much stranger when you say goodnight to me Now home I sit, and as you're laying right beside me Everything is broken and we're strangers in a house We have so much to say, but know that we will never say it Everything is broken when it circles back to me

credits

released December 2, 2022

All songs written and performed by Nate.
Special guests: Geoff White played fiddle on 3, 4 and 6; Rob Tavaglione played bass on 3.
Cover art produced by JP Chirdon, photo by Morgan.
Engineered and co-produced by Rob Tavaglione, recorded live in studio at Catalyst Recording in Charlotte, NC. It's raw and flawed but it has heart!

Dedicated to Morgan

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The Whiskey Predicament Charlotte, North Carolina

The Whiskey Predicament is Nate recording original tunes on lo-fi equipment. Nate enjoys comics, surfing, hamburgers and whiskey. You can contact him at nathanfey@gmail.com

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