Get all 4 Ben E. Wood releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Briefs, I've Got A Failing, Lofi Chill Loop-Based Music To Acknowledge Anxiety To, and Oh, Man When I Was In Art School.
1. |
Nice To Have Boots
01:26
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When there's fire all around us
and the ladders turn to chutes,
when the former-known stability is shaken to its roots
Hot damn, it's nice to have boots.
The problems in my back yard made the front lawn more acute
But we've gotta keep walking and dusting off our suits.
Hot damn, it's nice to have boots.
As we're marching forward
problems go away.
Uniformly, we are getting stronger every day.
And as we're stomping forward looking this distinguished,
you and I can pick what fires we extinguish.
And as we're stomping fires out,
selective, absolute.
Hot damn, it's nice to have boots.
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2. |
I've Got A Failing
01:58
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I fail good (da na na na na)
That is to say well
I fail fine (da na na na na)
It's a matter of time.
For all the fire escapes that we had to grab by the railings,
For all the massive mistakes where we get in touch with our failings,
I've got a failing.
Tonight's gonna be a long one,
Let's see how we fail.
Let's see if we can unmask anything,
Get to know a veil.
They never said accountability could blaze my trail.
For all the fire escapes that we had to grab by the railings,
For all the massive mistakes where we get in touch with our failings,
I've got a failing.
I've got a failing.
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3. |
The Burden's The Word
01:59
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I feel like a million bucks
just walked through the room and laughed out loud at us.
They feel like a brand new king
Let's pat them on the back, they did a nice thing.
Develop resilience,
Acknowledge the silliness
Even if it's something that we're really not dealing with.
Wipe your prints off,
Pass the glass.
We'll go swig for swig on the empty half.
Keep the lights on,
Keep the record clean.
Shake hands, but say what you mean.
Develop resilience,
Acknowledge the silliness
Even if it's something that we're really not dealing with.
Feeling absurd,
The burden's the word.
Even if it's something that never occurred to you.
Even if it's something that never occurred.
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4. |
Backpack
02:34
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You don't have the time that it would take for me to educate you,
So I'm holding it back
As I'm holding back the gate.
I'm so seasoned in this that I can barely taste the grain of salt.
But thanks for your time, it's truly sweet you'd want to learn.
I don't have time to back this up.
I don't have time to pack this up.
You don't have to tell me that you didn't do your research.
I'm so glad I'm here because I am the voice of research.
I'm an infallible force and I can truly open brains up
But my time isn't free, and the secret's safe with me.
I don't have time to back this up.
I don't have time to pack this up.
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5. |
Do The Self-Care Shrug
02:07
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I got a new dance and I need a hug
and the name of the dance is the self-care shrug.
It won't let you off the hook
It'll just let you recharge.
When you've exhausted all the books,
When your sighs are getting large.
When you're too tired for this activity,
When you think you've lost the touch,
You can do so much,
But you can only do so much.
I got a new dance and I need a hug
and the name of the dance is the self-care shrug.
You might need some time to rest
Before you can take this on,
You might need some time to think,
But you've been thinking for too long.
You're feeling all your kindness dry out,
You're out of things that you can try out.
You need a hug.
Do the self-care shrug.
I got a new dance and I need a hug.
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6. |
I'll Survive
02:09
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Well first I was okay,
I was feeling free.
I did not think to look up words like codependency.
Then night after night I was getting stronger by myself
And then you called.
I wanna say that I'll be fine, that I'll survive, that I'll forget you.
I wanna say that I'll be fine, that I'll survive, that I'll forget.
You opened my door and found my keys and walked in
To tell me that you're going away on a spaceship adventure.
I wanna say that I'll be fine, that I'll survive, that I'll forget you.
I wanna say that I'll be fine, that I'll survive, that I'll forget.
I wanna say that I'll be fine, that I'll survive.
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7. |
Your Time
03:04
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8. |
Rock and Roll
02:10
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Rock and Roll will not back down
Rock and Roll will not subside
And Rock And Roll will not desist
No matter what we all decide.
It was never really known for listening
Never known for holding space.
Never known for solving arguments.
And confrontation is the ace
In the hole.
Rock and Roll will not accommodate
Rock and Roll won't let you talk
For those who did not consent to Rock and Rollin':
We're not here to understand you
We only came to rock.
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9. |
Is That How You Dance?
02:48
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Is that how you dance
To a song about liberation?
Show some respect and put your jacket on.
Is that how you dance to a tune about autonomy?
Show some restraint and sway simply back and forth.
Sway side to side the way that I describe
The way that I prescribe
Show some respect and sway
Simply side to side.
Is that how you dance
to a song about empowerment?
Don't you understand it doesn't scan as being polite?
Is that how you dance
to a song about autonomy?
Just do as I say and sway from the left to the right.
Sway side to side the way that I describe
The way that I prescribe
Show some respect and sway
Simply side to side.
Is that how you dance?
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10. |
To Learn To Lose
01:44
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Clenching his teeth with a saw in his hand
He's gonna make the thing
He's gonna make it as he planned
Holding the saw in his teeth and clenching his hand
He's gonna hold it all together
Even if he doesn't understand that
He's got a lot to learn and lose
Before he makes another turn
Sharp
Towards the goal.
He's got a lot to learn and lose.
Clenching his teeth
With the saw in his mouth and his hand in a fist,
He's gonna hold it all together
With everything he understands and missed.
He's got a lot to learn and lose.
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11. |
Toxin Circles
01:38
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Two hot coals living in an aquarium
Sharing selfless steam
Sounds a little fishy to me.
Scales that don't quite reach equilibrium
Charming, restlessly
Feels a bit ambitious to me.
What luck we have to talk in circles.
Swallow down the toxin circles.
Filter out the harmless nefarium
Filter out the grease
It sounds like an obnoxious disease.
Lucky people rewrite books
In essence, now, we talk in crescents.
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12. |
At A Loss
01:33
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At a loss for words
At a loss backwards
I've got one, two, three four, maladies
And they all intersect.
All the trouble's in the world.
That's exactly where it is.
We're here for a good amount of time
Not a long time.
At a loss forwards,
At a loss backwards.
Sentimental stew,
"I'm a menace too, society"
Sentimental stew,
I'm a menace too
At a loss.
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13. |
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Consumers and survivors of the process
Dying to make each other feel alive
Happy making space to cut our losses
But mad, to be identified.
Consumers and survivors of the anguish.
Out here living our best second lives.
Having reconfigured thoughts and language
Having bottles open up at night.
Consumers and survivors
of confusion
of disruptive thoughts
Consumers of concern and love
Confusers of prescription runs
Consumers and survivors
of the trauma
of the process
of the textbook
of insomnia
Consumers and survivors of love.
Consumers and survivors of existence
Who swapped a lot of stories in their time
Everything seemed valid in the instance
You lost your place but didn't lose your mind.
Consumers and survivors of the process.
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Ben E. Wood Toronto, Ontario
"Briefs" project on instagram @weakoldbaby
Ben E. Wood is a songwriter and music-maker, connecting arts practices to community work and promoting the process of self-expression and exploration through music, technology, and improv.
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