KEEP YOUR SUITCASE PACKED (2020)

 Suitcase

I own a house that I don’t sleep in

Monday begins my weekend

And bumper stickers mark where I have been

Killing vans and selling t-shirts

Is how I describe my work

Along with romanticizing gluttony and sin

I lead a pack of vagabonds

We’re singing folky reggae songs

Smoking cigars that were gutted and refilled

Sleeping inside cheap motels

Wondering what is that smell

And if this life we love will one day get us killed

I hope not!

Talk is cheap and good looks fade

But the open road is here to stay

My life fits in a nylon sack

So I keep my suitcase packed

We are free men, beholden to no one

A pack of road dogs pursuing the setting sun

Creatures of the evening, we ain’t listening to reason

You can find us at a rock club where the good weather’s in season

With a comped tab and trouble in our eyes

When the crowd turns up do not be surprised

Talk is cheap and good looks fade

But the open road is here to stay

My life fits in a nylon sack

So I keep my suitcase packed

*

Shades of Gray

The difference between religion and faith

Is like knowing it all and knowing your place

Faith lights the darkness we don’t understand

And religion is faith with rules written by men

It’s human to fear what we don’t comprehend

Some people find comfort in life past the end

Others find hope in more tangible things

Mine’s made out of wood and has six nickel strings

So live and let live

I’ll try and do the same

There are not any right answers

Just different shades of gray

It’s the strength to survive it’s the will to succeed

It’s the air in your lungs its the blood that you bleed

Complex as the free will imposed by your brain

Or as simple as love and when she feels the same

Like scotch is to bourbon, moonshine to rye

They’re all different whiskeys but you can’t deny

That followed to closely they’ll all end the same

With the illusion of genius that’s gone the next day

So live and let live

I’ll try and do the same

There are not any right answers

Just different shades of gray

*

The Escape

The monotony is wearing

We all want to escape

But it’s pointless to attempt

Out running problems you create

She talks about her dreams

And swears she’s gonna move out west

All she needs is six more months

To get the bills from off her chest

And now the smiles are getting hard to fake

The pointlessness is hard to shake

I gotta leave i can not breathe

I have had as much as i can take

The future seemed

So glamourous

Until it became relevant

I swear this wasn’t how it went

The first time i imagined it

Now my hands just won’t quit shaking

Out of fear of what’s come

Some days its hard to tell which direction i should run

I wish I had some advice to give

Lessons learned from how i lived

But for every question answered

Three are added to the sum

Five years come and gone

It seems like yesterday

Sixty months in front of you

And then it slips away

I’m dazed, i’m confused

I’ve got so much to do

But fuck it I aint stressing all that hard

The apocalypse is on its way

And now the smiles are getting hard to fake

The pointlessness is hard to shake

I gotta leave I can not breathe

I have had as much as I can take

The future seemed

So glamorous

Until it became relevant

I swear this wasn’t how it went the first time i imagined it

Now my hands just won’t quit shaking

Out of fear of what’s come

Some days it's hard to tell which direction i should run

I wish I had some advice to give

Lessons learned from how I lived

But for every question answered

Three are added to the sum

*

You and Me 

You and me and a baby makes three

With a crazy puppy dog we got our family

We ain’t got a lot of money but we got what we need

In a house full of love and an evergreen tree

Everybody sings along when the music plays

You and me and a baby makes three

This is all new but baby follow my lead

See It’s a new dance but we can fake it til we make it

And I ain’t gonna lie girl, I love to watch you shake it

You and me can learn the steps as we move along

You and me and your mama makes three

Daddy is a sailor so sometimes he’s gotta leave

But i’ll always return, something you should learn

Is our lives change, but the world still turns

And everything I do is something that I do for love

You and me and a baby makes three

Take a look around girl and tell me what you see

Is it everything you hoped for, everything you dream

Cause you make life what you want it to be

And I’m thankful, and I love you with all my heart

*

The Wheel

Happiness is a dog sleeping on your lap

The simple things are the things that keep me coming back

But time oh time keeps moving on

Yea time, time keeps moving on

When I was younger I couldn't wait to grow

All the knowledge I couldn't wait to know

But the questions, oh the questions never stop

The questions they never stop

The wheel

It always spins

Where it ends

It begins

So breathe

Enjoy the taste

Cause this all ends

With an exhale

I've always been scared of writing a cliche

So I am careful of every word I say

But a sunrise just took my breath away

A sunrise worthy of cliche

The wheel

It always spins

Where it ends

It begins

So breathe

Enjoy the taste

Cause this all ends

With an exhale

* 

I Just Am

I'm an insomniac when I'm up all night

Irrational when I'm quick to fight

I think I'm depressed when I sleep too much

Worry I'm a drunk if I sleep til lunch

I think I'm getting old if I don't close the bar

Scared I'll get soft when times ain't as hard

These labels have gotten so out of hand

Maybe I just am, I think that I just am

Insecure has been my state of mind

Since I was old enough to find the time

To care about what other people thought

About the way I talk and the clothes I bought

I know that passion is life, but it is plain to see

It's only ok if people agree

With your brand of slight of hand

Cause people hate what they don't understand

I'm an insomniac when I'm up all night

Irrational when I'm quick to fight

I think I'm depressed when I sleep too much

Worry I'm a drunk if I sleep til lunch

I think I'm getting old if I don't close the bar

Scared I'll get soft when times ain't as hard

These labels have gotten so out of hand

Maybe I just am, I think that I just am

Not ashamed for the way I live

There ain’t no right or wrong there’s only perspective

And what's right for you may be wrong for me

And what's right for me it may seem crazy

So judge yourself if you're to judge at all

Your own mind defines these alleged faults

And the actions that you have come to dread

Could be strings that pull me out of bed

I'm an insomniac when I'm up all night

Irrational when I'm quick to fight

I think I'm depressed when I sleep too much

Worry I'm a drunk if I sleep til lunch

I think I'm getting old if I don't close the bar

Scared I'll get soft when times ain't as hard

These labels have gotten so out of hand

Maybe I just am, I think that I just am

*

New Socks

Woke up in the van

Last night is hazy

Had a little party

And things got crazy

Sparks came through

With the prerolled joints

And tequila with the worm

Yo, it didn't disappoint

Rocked the set

Loaded out

Polished off

That Guinness stout

Got a text from the wolf that the van wouldn't start

Three sheets to the wind and our plans fall apart

But you know it ain’t our first rodeo

And it could be worse

I've still got my health

And a brand new pair of socks

For when the situation’s dealt with

Don't mind me

I will be just fine

As long as I'm still breathing

Nothing's weighing on my mind

Woke up in the van

Last night got wild

Ohio throws down

Like a petulant child

Crowd so live

They got the dance floor shaking

Bass line rattling

The rooms baked and

Liquored up

Throwing down

Twist the wrap

Pass it around

Get to the spot its surrounded by the cops

Yo the homies got raided so we’re sleeping in the lot

But I know

That it could be worse

I've still got my health

And a brand new pair of socks

For when the situations dealt with

Don't mind me

I will be just fine

As long as I'm still breathing

Nothing's weighing on my mind

*

Audible

Some men talk

Some men act

Some men aren’t men

As a matter of fact

Some men grind

While others cause trouble

Not concerned they’re

A big fish stuck inside a puddle

It's a consistency

Along with taxes and death

Some men speak unconcerned with facts

Some men lie with every single breath

Truth be told

I am my own man fuck the rest

Everybody’s got a story to tell

How they've been heavenly charged to cross over the lakes of hell

But I pay no regard to the tales of a devil

Actions they speak at the most audible level

Making snide remarks passing them off as candor

While you, happily live in your

Delusions of grandeur

Always talking loud about the freedom

Of choice

But you're just talking loud so you can hear your own voice

And if I've walked a block then you've walked a mile

And if I've found an answer than you’ve found a pile

He’s acting insecure like a little child

He swears he’s in control he’s just in denial

Everybody’s got a story to tell

How they've been heavenly charged to cross over the lakes of hell

But I pay no regard to the tales of a devil

Actions they speak at the most audible level

*

Suburbia

There was a boy from the Mid-Atlantic, fast as hell

Had a 4 second 40 that he never had to work for

Lacrosse in the spring, he ran track in the winter

But football was the sport that had all the scouts watching

Got a full ride to Alabama senior year

Then he took a big hit and watched it disappear

OxyContin was prescribed until the pain subsides

But he took them long after for the pain inside

His dad worked a lot so he was never at home

And mom drank a lot cause she was always alone

So neither one noticed their sons aura of gloom

Brought on by crushing up pills and blowing lines in his room

In suburbia, living the American dream

In suburbia, it ain’t exactly what it seems

He kept it on the low for a couple of months

Still chilled with the boys joking and smoking blunts

But the monkey was on his back

Never was far from his oxy sack

He started acting out and developed a twitch

Started treating all his friends like a son of a bitch

See the problem was his high was getting kinda dull

And he had the biggest milligram that was available

It wasn’t enough, at the end of his rope

His dealer gave him a stamp bag of dope

And said don’t be scared son everybody knows

It ain’t that bad for long as it's going up your nose

In suburbia, living the American dream

In suburbia, it ain’t exactly what it seems

On his eighteenth birthday he was out on the streets

West Baltimore where Lombard and Peyson meet

A hunger in his eyes looking to score a balloon

With some cash made pawning family heirlooms

He had started shooting up only a couple months back

Got his last hat trick from inside a rehab

Skeleton build with a permanent lean

Dropped 25 lbs and still swore he was clean

This story ain't unique, it's a global epidemic

Opioids rebranded medicine by chemists

The system is broke and it ain’t getting fixing

Cause big pharmaceuticals monetized addiction

In suburbia, living the American dream

In suburbia, it ain’t exactly what it seems

*

Running

Driving with no place to go

Sharing songs on the stereo

I think you'll like this

Listen to the words he says

Lost inside some words that rhyme

Smoking bowls to pass the time

Watch the sun rise

Stay awake to watch it set

Running

We're both running

Tonight let's run the same way

Heat is pouring on our feet

She is bundled in her seat

The cold is biting

Let's take another lap around

Running

We're both running

Tonight let's run the same way

*

When I Die

When I die, please don't shed a tear

Just call the boys and crack open some beers

Laugh about all the shit I pulled

And make sure my debts are paid in full

When I die, please don't shed a tear

Just play that one song for all to hear

Burn the remains with my guitar

And spread the ashes at the bar

When I die, please don't shed a tear

I spent every day of all my years

Laughing and loving as hard as I could

And chasing after something good

When I die, please don't shed a tear

But if I go first, comfort my wife's despair

Tell her I'm sorry to leave her single in a pair

But the pain she feels reflects the love we shared

*

Florida Showers feat. Leilani Wolfgramm

She comes and goes like Florida showers

Here and gone within the hour

Loving her gives her the power

Because she comes and goes like Florida showers

The smile on her face masks the pain in her eyes

Wild like a mare every single time she come around

Broken but she don’t wanna be fixed by you

She loves like you’re the best but she’s lying

Hooked on the medicine she’s supplying you

You’re lusting for love

She comes and goes like Florida showers

Here and gone within the hour

Loving her gives her the power

Because she comes and goes like Florida showers

(Feat. Leilani Wolfgramm)

She make you wanna leave home

Move to the east coast

Hydro and the heat stroke

It’s a craving it’s a curse

Say you never feel heat like hers

Bitter sweet cause she love you and leave ya

Then you never feel hurt like hers

But you weather the pain just to stand in her rain

Gave your heart to a hurricane

 She comes and goes like Florida showers

Here and gone within the hour

Loving her gives her the power

Because she comes and goes like Florida showers

Hopelessly her devotee

The web she weaves is the air I breathe

Hopefully she stays with me but

We have been here before and

She comes and goes like Florida showers

Here and gone within the hour

Loving her gives her the power

Because she comes and goes like Florida showers