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Heirs Of Pretension

by Rob Getzschman

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1.
Another City Falls 04:08
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He went in search of good men and found the apes of their ideals And found that any man who masters seems to keep the critics at his heels And he knows when he sows substance he is gonna reap the wrath Of those who do not and want him to walk the same path But there is fresh earth by the grave that the looters dug Watch the world roll in when Atlas shrugs And for no good reason at all Another city falls When it rains in the city, they run and hide their heads And they nurse those wounds that never even really bled And they ask for help from everybody but themselves And they talk about truth like they would about wizards and elves And there is fresh earth by the grave that the looters dug Watch the world roll in when Atlas shrugs And for no good reason at all Another city falls Brick by brick, and line by line, precept by precept The world gets built with the power of a focused mind I address every fear as an attempt on my existence Because I can't concede a sanction to appropriate my own end And there is fresh earth by the grave that the looters dug And we'll bury them all when Atlas shrugs The metropolis of my mind is standin' tall And this city isn't gonna fall
2.
Heirs Of Pretension 05:37
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One sunday morning, two preachers up the road a-piece One stealin' chickens, the other poachin' geese Kidnapped and napsacked, the chickens don't seem to mind They'll keep layin' eggs til they make a chicken dinner fine Well the grey goose got shot, but as he fell, he laughed 'Cause when the preacher got him home, his neck broke the blade in half Now if heirs of pretension strut through your room With a pyrite smile, spinnin' lies on a golden loom They don't know nothin' that you can't find on the shelf And what you really don't know you can only ask yourself Jesus and Nietzsche sittin' in the south of Greece Nietzsche says, "Jesus, where would I find such a fleece?" Jesus replies, "Beneath every garment that you don, "Friedrich, my friend, you have already got it on "Because your fashion statements, they can't change the truth "But your statements fashion how it all appears to you." [Chorus] Judas and Shakespeare found a pack of Tarot cards Judas insists to have his fortune told by the bard Shakespeare states, "By the noble and besotten "Judas the apostle, you will never be forgotten "And though I know you're gonna forego every word that I've said, "You could still change it all if you didn't reach for the bread." [Chorus] Aesop and Churchill starin' at the fall of Rome Winston whispers in a voice like polished chrome, "Pay up, Aesop. Spin another fable for me "To explain how one great empire became three." "Why Winston," Aesop says, "I could tell a hundred or more "'Cause every life that's lived is just another metaphor." [Chorus] One sunday evening, two farmers up the road a-piece Both of them notice they're short a couple layin' hens One of them spits, and swears he's gonna kill himself a hobo Though the other one knows where every stolen chicken goes The one gets his gun, and he spends the night in the hutch While the other one knows he never needed those chickens that much Now if airs of pretension blow through your room You ain't bein' asked to be the bride or groom But a genuine question can't be taken to task And what you really don't know you can act or you can ask
3.
Folklore And Fact 03:46
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Folklore and fact can mix in my eyes And make me believe the most desperate of lies I can gaze upon a grave and believe it a bed And I don't know how these notions get into my head Wisdom and will conceive two different plans One knows when to jump and one pushes a man Though the former can salvage what the latter can wreck It's best if the one puts the other in check But dandelions don't think a thing about definitions They just blow in the breeze And I'm happy just to stare at the sky Lyin' on my back in a field of these Obsession and love come from two seperate tribes One's undefeated, one's all in your mind When the judge plays defendant, the sentence can't be sealed And the power to the captive comes with the appeal Beauty and truth have become a cliché Hiding and seeking, we'll find what we may To behold is the same, to discern and define And done with the right eye, makes both of them thine But dandelions don't think a thing about definitions They just blow in the breeze And I'm happy just to stare at the sky Lyin' on my back in a field of these Belief and understanding exist miles apart One's reached a destination where the other one starts For belief is as flimsy as anything simply stated But that which understood is just that demonstrated Yes, folklore and fact can mix in my eyes And make me believe the most desperate of lies And when these figments confound me, I reckon what I'll do Is empty my head and seperate the two
4.
Exquisite Dish 04:14
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Written March 2000
5.
Grapes 03:03
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The lady was sleepin' on a subway seat On the 1/9 line uptown And lyin' on the floor beneath her living corpse Was a bunch of grapes that she had dropped down I wasn't much concerned when the engine turned And I watched that purple fruit roll But she slept through a rare chance to take a stand And press wine between her toes Grapes, rollin' on the subway floor And not a serving boy in sight to serve them to her Not a palm frond to fan her heavy head She must've stepped on off the South Ferry lawn And rode three hundred blocks to the end But if her lips were to pass on a looking glass I doubt she'd even have a breath to lend 'Cause I was on and off the train and she never once moved She was lyin just as still as stone But the grapes flew around like molecules Excited by some source unknown Grapes, rollin' on the subway floor And not a serving boy in sight to serve them to her Not a palm frond to fan her heavy head
6.
The Sermon 02:04
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Some saw a prophet, some decided he was god, and others saw a business opportunity His own saw a son by the Sabbath undone, and the literal thought judgement day was soon to be But if everybody argues over whom to anoint I think it's safe to say that they have all missed the point 'Cause if everybody's right and everybody else is wrong, then no one here can truly have their reasoning done And surely the devout few of every cross and creed honestly believe that they're the chosen ones But have you thought it through, beyond the shadow of a doubt To lay a witless claim to the exclusive word of God in your mouth Because Christ, Confusious, and Lao-Tse agreed, Zoroaster, Buddha, and the Hindu texts All said do as you'd have done unto you and see how the good you do thus reflects And the next wise man will surely say it again And our cup overrunneth if we wouldn't say when Three hundred, twenty-five thousand page volumes of Tibetan Buddhist scriptures stare me in the face And make any wealth of knowledge seem only woefully abbreviated And I wonder with a headlong look If the path of a righteous man winds around inside a book Or three hundred and twenty-five thousand page volumes Or the Torah, or the Koran, or the Bible, Or the Bhagavadgita And it does
7.
Ain't So Cruel 03:46
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I have walked against the current, and it was fine when the river was low But I was pressed to even hold my ground when the water rose And I could see the levee breaking, but I wouldn't float downstream Til I found the source and figured what it means This world just ain't as cruel as it seems I was not born a sinner, and I am not a sinner now Just as sure as I'd not be a witch whether I tread or I drowned And I won't embrace transgression and define it as my own As some backwards incantation to atone This world just ain't as cruel as they moan I do believe there was a fellow who could call the good Lord kin But I'll be damned if he or anybody died for my sins And I have thought a lot about it, but I just can't figure why One man's revelation is another man's lie This world just ain't as cruel as they cry I've walked against the current, and it was fine when the river was low But I was pressed to even hold my ground when the water rose And I found that hell or heaven, projected on my face Is much more a state of mind, and not a place This world just ain't as cruel as they say This world just ain't as cruel as they say
8.
Foot Of Snow 04:23
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They are expecting at least a foot of snow in these parts And the clouds are hanging low and dark It seems like everybody knows there's much more coming down But not a thing has hit the ground Everything built up in the silence of a lie And across these fields, the tension wouldn't die And it stayed like that for weeks A chorus of swollen cheeks And now everybody's wondering just what it is I've done And I'm loathe to see this awful trial begun [Chorus] A precipitate of gossip preceded my defeat And everyone decided it was me And I probably would have done the same thing A mob in the circus ring And now everybody's wondering just whether or not I did And I'm loathe to see this awful trial begin [Chorus] When this snow finally falls and they pound at my door They won't find me living here anymore And I'll leave their evil buried by the storm The coals in the hearth still warm Yes, I'll leave everybody so certain it was me To shovel out their small-town justice delinquincy [Chorus]
9.
Bayonettes And Battlefields 03:24
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Bayonettes and battlefields have been where I've been In the skins of other souls and back again, I've been Where I watch men dying from the inside out as they try From the outside in Cotton sales of sharecropped stocks have heard what I've heard The lonesome call of the Yellow Dog across a bathtub third, I've heard And I see men sure and faithful to a salve as they have Disbelieved the cure Tarnished relics of internal warfare know what I know Without a good grip, justice seems to come and go, I know And it's tragedy upon the first and farce upon the second So I'm told The hollow trill of dumb suggestion can't tell me that I will Concede the head diseases preconceiving one to work the till Though some minds fill themselves as gutters will with refuse Shed from any spill Bastions of eternal life can understand why I am To love without a limit all that truly is and is truly of man For what man sees is what man is and opened eyes can help crippled minds To stand
10.
Way Back When 03:48
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Of the doctor and the devils, neither had it right To their own loose ends, they served each others' means And both felt justified And isn't that it, baby? We know what we know And we'll rearrange a room of logic just to prove that it's so Smack a man with a bible, and break his back with guilt When that don't inspire the right desire Get off your holy stilts I don't wanna have to wonder just who you've become Or gaze upon a ghost of your former self in someone Yes, I wanna look you in the eye when I see you again And I wanna see the same smile I saw upon your pretty face back then Way back when Yes, I've gotta hand it to you, my baby, I'm in love and not afraid to say I could look into your eyes and see the rest of my days Yes, but I wanna look you in the eye when I see you again And I wanna see the same smile I saw upon your pretty face back then Way back when Well I've got a ukelele sittin' on my window sill And if I have to play it to make you listen, baby I will Just listen Yes, 'cause I wanna look you in the eye when I see you again And I wanna see the same smile I saw upon your pretty face back then Way back when
11.
Given Back Yesterday 04:22
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It isn't that far away And I have walked for miles But given back yesterday I'd find it worth my while And given back yesterday I'd find it worth my while Given back yesterday I'd find it worth my while I guess I can't complain Of the love she never fell in 'Cause though she didn't feel the same She loved me like she did [Chorus] I don't have much to say But I seem to talk for hours If I could shut my mouth and pray Just to find some truer power [Chorus]
12.
That'd Be Mellow 04:52
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about

Rob Getzschman's fourth album was again recorded with Spencer Chakedis at antifolk haven Balloon Heaven Studios, which had relocated to Brooklyn. This album features a year of songwriting steeped in storytelling, religion and philosophy, backed with Getzschman's traditional country fingerpicking.

credits

released November 5, 2002

Rob Getzschman, vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica, mandolin, synthesizer, glockenspiel, percussion.
Spencer Chakedis, engineer and mix, bouzouki, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar.
Michael Plunkett, drums.
DJ Crucial, engineer.
Suzanne Waters, vocals.
Marilee Eitner, flute.
Photo by Robin Roemer.

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Rob Getzschman Los Angeles, California

Rob Getzschman is a singer-songwriter and producer from Omaha living in Los Angeles. He was previously front man for DC-based Analog Jetpack, played bass for LA's Highland Hawks and writes and produces music for Mighty Good Road. www.mightygoodroad.com

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