Sirens shatter the night,
Young kids tearing it up, all right.
Yeah, I’ve never seen so many lights,
Somebody must’ve put up a fight.
But in an empty room,
Down the dark halls of abandoned schools,
You were busy breaking all the rules,
You tried so hard to be cool.
In this concrete slum,
Bone dry in the bitter sun,
Seemed like the place to have your fun,
Show your friends your brand new gun.
Yeah, you had no shame,
You didn’t care how you found your fame.
Hey, you know you can fake your name,
But some things, they just won’t change.
And as the choirs arrive,
Songs of abandon I can’t describe,
You never felt so alive.
Well did you do it out of fear? Or was it something more sincere?
Never mind the lies that grab you from behind.
Well there’s this ringing in my ear and I get this constant fear,
That if we don’t leave now we’ll never make it out.
Now you thought you were done,
The game was over and you had won.
You thought it’d never hurt no one,
To hedge your bets on the setting sun.
But now you wonder why,
It took so long just to get this high.
You used to feel so hungry inside,
What happened to all your pride?
And as the choirs arrive,
Songs of abandon I can’t describe,
You never felt so alive.
Well did you do it out of fear? Or was it something more sincere?
Never mind the lies that grab you from behind.
Well there’s this ringing in my ear and I get this constant fear,
That if we don’t leave now we’ll never make it out.
Baby, I’ve lost my ticket home
I forgot all the things I called my own.
Now I ain’t asking for a loan,
But sometimes you need a little more.
Well did you do it out of fear? Or was it something more sincere?
Never mind the lies that grab you from behind.
Well there’s this ringing in my ear and I get this constant fear,
That if we don’t leave now, we’ll never make it out.
The L.A. DIY mainstay offers a homespun collection of melodic tunes with occasional forays into noisier territory. Bandcamp Album of the Day Aug 18, 2021
Tom Heyman documents life in San Francisco circa 2023, refusing to succumb to easy characterization & instead capturing the city’s nuance. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 22, 2023
Tanya Donnelly, Wreckless Eric, Rosanne Cash, contribute cover versions of John Wesley Harding’s songs for this charitable compilation. Bandcamp New & Notable May 6, 2021