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Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Other Stuff I Made Up To Sound Interesting

by Nathan Leigh & The Crisis Actors

/
1.
someone get me a lifeboat i'm drowning in a sea of white folks with acoustic guitars and the worst part is i'm as guilty as you are the best way to tell you're part of a problem is if you don't think that you're a part of the problem ain't nobody's hands clean there's rapists in our scene they're all good dudes backed hard fucking rock stars and if you feel like giving up that's when you can't give up matthew got his citizenship so that he could protest the government and that's the most patriotic shit i've ever heard when you're dancing on the barricades remember it's a privilege to be taking space with a sign in your hands there's folks who just can't it's not that they don't care it's just that they're scared and when you feel like giving up that's when you can't give up if you think gg allin's punk then we probably can't be friends if you care about what is or isn't punk then we probably can't be friends and i'm aware of all the hypocrisy in all the things that i've said i just don't care about all the hypocrisy in all the things that i've said fuck all that i've said cause when you feel like giving up that's when you can't give up
2.
all i want is a lot all i want is a lot more than what i got all i want is a lot all i want is a lot more than nothing all i need is time all i need is time to do what i want all i need is time to do nothing i'm good at disappointment, and i'm great at getting better but i'm better at being sick, and i get the best rejection letters so put your fucking hands up if your life didn't turn out quite the way you planned [chorus] i'm not ashamed of getting older, i'm ashamed of being tired six hours on the interstate, feeling worn and uninspired so let's turn the amps to 2, i wanna be in bed by 9 [chorus] so let's fetishize the youth the way we fetishize rebellion you can deny you've been commodified, but look at what they're selling such a fantastic demographic, they say money talks and honey i'm all ears [chorus]
3.
No Poetry 03:42
we know it's not enough but in the end it's all we have the things we do for love when we've given all we can and these are the lies we tell ourselves when we're drinking our bodies back to health in the silent refrain i hear it well we kill ourselves for nothing and it's not enough hey orpheus tell me where'd you get that stone was it worth the mess now that you're alone? cause these are the lies we tell ourselves while we're drinking our bodies back to health in the silent refrain i hear it well we kill ourselves for nothing and there is no poetry in the falling apart no glory in giving up all that we are no grace in retreating back to the start and we know it's not enough so give me something new give me cocktails with molotov and tell me what to do when all the lights are off cause these are the lies we tell ourselves while we're drinking our bodies back to health in the silent refrain i hear it well we kill ourselves for nothing and it's not enough
4.
all our racist uncles you know they're really all right dudes but all our racist uncles they just hold abhorrent views so you've gotta talk to your racist uncle and i've gotta talk to my racist uncle and we've all gotta talk to our racist uncles about the fucked up things they say and all our misogynist uncles they really do love their wives but all our misogynist uncles don't really value women's lives so you've gotta talk to your misogynist uncle and i've gotta talk to my misogynist uncle and we've all gotta talk to our misogynist uncles about the fucked up things they say [whistle break] and all our homophobic uncles they really do mean well but all our homophobic uncles just kinda think that i am going to hell so you've gotta talk to your homophobic uncle and i've gotta talk to my homophobic uncle and we've all gotta talk to our misogynist uncles about the fucked up things they say and think and do and things will change
5.
for two years i lived across the street from where biggie grew up it was a pretty good apartment and i'd tell people that so they'd think that i was tough but truth is it was just a pretty good apartment and now the new york that i never knew is dead and i'm pretty sure it's my fault maybe that place i knew from books and record sleeves was never really real at all so save your scene, you can't save yourself save this city from folks like me if you just take the things you want you'll have nothing left when there's things you need in 2010 i was born again: i quit my theatre job to hang out with the band i slept in basement floors and parking lots and headed west without a compass or a plan and the scene that wouldn't have me now is dead and i'm pretty sure i'm to blame they were all trying to make a mountain selfish me was only trying to make a name [chorus] now half my friends are settled down and the other half are just trying to stay out of jail sometimes i get jealous of them both but right now i could not afford the bail [chorus]
6.
lights out it's 3 am and i'm walking at 120 bpm the clock's tocking and i'm not sure if there's anyone listening and the place that i once lived is a ghost town the things that i can't forgive are all past now but still i can't let go of anything but we could build a house beside the lake far from all of our mistakes where we could sit out front and just watch the waves they should give awards for being broken an oscar for the words not spoken i'd thank you all for almost tuning in cause i was gonna write a song about travelling an anthem for getting lost but i'm finding that nothing's quite as good as staying in come on let's build a house beside the lake far from all of our mistakes where we could sit out front and just watch the waves and we'll dig for the moments of quiet when the world is on fire and everything falls around our heads with the noise getting louder at least we'll be proud of what we said then we'll stand on the banks of the hudson looking for nothing with a city of emeralds at our feet and we're running from nothing we're just running to nothing do it all for nothing we do it all for nothing
7.
i remember in 2004 we took a bus down into new york 90,000 marched against the war and i'd never been there before and i remember when roman asked a cop what he thought of the protest he said "honestly, i don't mind i'm getting paid overtime." so thank you america 600 billion for the bankers thank you america got our priorities straight thank you america my car takes oil by the tanker and if you can't afford this life you don't deserve to stay and when madison erupts in flames thank god we broke up all the unions cause i wouldn't want your private plane to miss a weekend in spain and i'm sorry if the picket lines are interfering with your tee time but the roads are all barely paved so you couldn't go anyway so thank you america 600 billion for the bankers thank you america got our priorities straight thank you america my car takes oil by the tanker cause if you can't afford this life you don't deserve to stay
8.
"your goals are not realistic your tactics do more harm than good sure, i agree with you in theory but i'm staying home you'll never win the fights you say that you could..." not with that attitude you back imperfect politicians but not imperfect movements nice to know where you draw the line righteous centrist indignation is the newest dance craze everybody do the doing fine [chorus] if you try defending folks who wanna see me dead my friend i really don't know where to start cause the really real fascists call themselves real fascists it's not hard to tell the sides apart [chorus]
9.
steal yourself and settle for the silence and bittersweet you can't take it with you so this might as well be defeat the good intentions never mattered, the bad result was all we saw like green siberia after the thaw and in the end you will be crowned victorious in the end you will be king of nothing welcome to the feast i think we both know what's on the plate you all did the least you could, too little, too much too late so goodbye paris, goodbye kyoto goodbye east and western coasts just check the stock price before you check your coats and in the end you will be crowned victorious in the end you will be king of nothing all i want is a lot all i want is a lot more than what i got all i want is a lot more than nothing here's a plaque to celebrate the best thing you ever did: an empty stretch of highway just for you and all your kids and in the end you will be crowned victorious in the end you will be king of nothing
10.
this is how the west was won: through genocide and segregation this is how you build a myth the heroes and the villains that they're fighting with this is how you build a wall: tell a big lie to protect the small call one side savage and one side strong and hope to god you're on the right side and nobody proves you wrong and the truth is never pretty but i'm pretty sure it's better than the big lies that we tell ourselves, the cowboys and the indians and i am just one man inside the mess of all this history but big lies follow little ones and this is how the west was won this is how you build a man: clamp down every single little goddamn feeling that you can and if you can live with what you've done when the war is over, you can fight another one and the truth is never pretty but i'm pretty sure it's better than the big lies that we tell ourselves, the cowboys and the indians and i am just one man inside the mess of all this history but big lies follow little ones and this is how the west was won
11.
"there's no time to waste," he said and grabbed himself a beer if there's no time to waste than what the hell are we all doing here? the revolutionaries meet on thursday afternoons oh how we love to hear his monologues about the storm that's coming soon oh you're so ernesto you're so bob dylan and i know you'll make history yeah you'll make millions we all love the piper's song, especially when it's free well here's the offer of a lifetime on the storm of the century oh you're so ernesto you're so bob dylan and i know you'll make history yeah you'll make millions and the funny thing, you know it's true and the funny thing is that i hope you do when the rain comes down, where will you be? will you be standing in the bag with itchy trigger fingers? when the rain comes down, where will you be? will you be standing in the front your smile getting bigger?
12.
it's 2 am in tulsa, i need some sleep in a beer-strewn old apartment in a booster seat ralph's got all the answers, but i got none he says "do you wanna know a secret about how the world is run?" and daniel's never met a new conspiracy he didn't like he says the rosicrucians faked the moon landing in ‘69 there's lots of things we'll never know what's wrong or right but i'm pretty sure that's not right but it's so hard when there's nothing true and the papers say it's all just a point of view so i hold on to you cause nothing feels as real as this i'd fly you to the moon if you could prove the moon exists now we've got brand new games that we can play and we've got brand new mouths but still ain't found shit to say and history don't repeat but they say it rhymes but the clocks are moving backwards it feels like half the time now val's the new voltaire she says she'd die for someone's right to speak but she's somehow always silent when there's folks out dying in the streets and there's lots of things we'll never know what's wrong or right but i'm pretty sure that's not right [chorus] and these are the lies we tell ourselves when we're drinking our bodies back to health in the silent refrain i hear it well we kill ourselves for nothing [chorus]
13.
Pirkei Avot 05:02
i was gonna change the world dig for the brightest pearl but i got lost along the way i thought i had it all worked out but every time i opened my mouth i found i didn't know what to say but there was gonna be time so much time i wake up and i pretend then do it all again it's like a simple sad refrain you sing though you don't know the words you sing it though you feel unheard and you think nothing's gonna change and i don't know how to tell you that it probably won't get better i don't know how to tell you, but it's true and i don't know how to tell you that from here on it gets harder and i don't know what i'm supposed to do but there's gonna be time so much time and no-one's gonna wake you up like when you fell asleep at the movies after the credits rolled and no-one's gonna warm you up nobody's gonna show you love when you're coming in from the cold but there's gonna be time so much time and when you feel like giving up that's when you can't give up

about

Recorded between February 2018 and December 2019, the album is about trying to find hope in hopeless situations.

The album is "pay what you can." We request that you pay whatever you make in an hour. If you are unemployed or a student, please download it for free.

credits

released April 17, 2020

Nathan Leigh – Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Clarinet, Harp, Percussion
Corey Kaiser – Vocals, Bass
Rich DiGregorio – Vocals, Drums
Chelsea Wolf – Vocals
Logan Kovach – Vocals
Nicole Orabona – Vocals

Anthony Cekay – Sax
Molly Goldman – Viola
J Kardong - Pedal Steel
Chris Malone - Trombone
Phil Murphy – Bassoon, Flute
Alicia Rau – Trumpet
Ethan Rubin – Violin
Brianna Tagliaferro – Cello

Additional Vocals on “Thank You America”
Mike Delatizky
Joel Esher
Katie Ike

Written, Produced, and Engineered by Nathan Leigh
Arranged by Nathan Leigh, Corey Kaiser, and Rich DiGregorio
Mastered by Chad Clark at Silver Sonia

Artwork by John Regan and Nathan Leigh
Press photos by Ash Comer

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Nathan Leigh Brooklyn, New York

guitars, synths, orchestra, and suitcases

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