Small Sacrifices Must Be Made!
by Jed Davis
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1. |
Again
02:58
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It’s true love again
It’s the very first time again
It’s the moment you have wished and
prayed for all your life, again
It’s your first kiss again
The best you’ve ever had again
It’s all you’ll ever need
Forever and a day again
Every time you fall in love
Is the first you’ve ever heard of love
And every time your heart breaks
Is the worst your heart will ever ache
It’s the end again
It’s the very last time again
There’s nothing left again
It’s not worth waking up again
Every time you fall in love
Is the first you’ve ever heard of love
And every time your heart breaks
Is the worst your heart will ever ache
Alone again
And you’ll never ever feel that way again
But with the morning sun
You’ll rise and do it all again
You’ll do it all again.
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2. |
Emilies
02:37
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She walks white through small back rooms
And writes on scraps of paper
Tripping to the summer taste
Of a liquor never brewed
In sixteen years, she's gone out once:
To see a church by nightshine
Provincial as a queen
A light that burns unseen
Come sing for the mother of the Myth
The character of Amherst
Who will listen from the shadows
And in some evening's twilight, she'll reward you
Candy falls from windows
To the eager hands of children
Words fall through the pen
Out of a mind the breadth of God
She peers out at daffodils
And listens to you singing
And understands the things that move
The things that move the world
Come sing for the mother of the Myth
The character of Amherst
Who will listen from the shadows
And in some evening's twilight, she'll reward you
And in a hundred years
Another Emily
Will make this world a poem for me.
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3. |
Two-Thirds
03:21
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Counting and recounting and recalling the womb
As I hide from the mirror in the dark of my room
In the deepest corner huddled in a little fetal puddle
With a tick-tick-tick-tick-ticking
every tick-tick-tick-tick-tick bringing me
One year closer to eternity
One thought closer to infinity
I am one-quarter gone and so what?
I am one-third gone, two-thirds not
I am one-half gone, is that a lot?
I am two-thirds gone, and what have I got?
What was I? What was I thinking?
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4. |
Ride The Party Bus
04:43
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In '84
I climbed aboard
I flipped the finger at Tipper Gore
In '85
I felt alive
I told the driver: "Baby, DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE"
In '86
I got my kicks
Teasin' my hair and pleasin' chicks
In '87
You know what rhymes with seven
I rode this mother straight to Heaven
Uhh!
Ride the party bus
Ride the party bus
Ride the party bus
C'mon, ride with us
In '88
I rocked your state
I said, "It ain't illegal here to go this late, nuh-uh"
In '89
I don't remember '89.
I don't remember '90 or '91, either
In '92
What can ya do?
All you mopey plaid grunge faggots, ain't no room for you
On the party bus
Ride the party bus
Ride the party bus
C'mon, ride with us
Ride with us!
Now baby, I've been ridin' this bus for 25 years. And I'm here to tell ya: life on the party bus ain't always a bed of roses. You wake up so hung over every morning... they don't make windows tinted enough, you know what I'm sayin'?
And then ya roll into a new town... take the stage... look out at the screamin' crowd... and you ask yourself: where are all the babealicious babes? Everybody here looks like a grandma!
And just the other day I went to the supermarket, and I ran into this dude I went to high school with... he looked like his dad. He was there with some old lady and some babies or somethin'... I think they were shoppin' for applesauce. It was weird.
And he said to me, "You look like you must still be riding that old party bus." And I was like OOH YEAH!!!!!!
And he said to me, "C'mon, you can't STILL be riding that party bus," and I was like OOH YEAH WOOOOOOO!!!!!!
And he said, "What could that possibly be like for you?" And I was like, "Brother -
"Sometimes I roll
Sometimes I rock
Sometimes I ride the roof wearing just one sock
Sometimes I sit here and muse on my emotional health
Sometimes I think I should probably kill myself."
Ride the party bus
Ride the party bus
Ride the party bus
C'mon, ride with us
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5. |
Question
01:40
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Hey Rosie,
Just wondering: was last night a date?
I’m clueless, and a genuine spaz when it comes to this stuff. I really hope it was a date. And if it was, that you found it to be a good date, And maybe you’d want to go on another date.
If so, please check this box:
Okay, so there’s no box, but I’ll tell you what—I will be down here through the weekend, and if you want to get together again, just let me know... please let me know.
Thanks again for totally making my birthday! I hope I’m not out of line; I just find you to be completely awesome, and you blow my fucking mind.
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6. |
Symbiosis
03:57
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Garden green, beside the tree
I raise you, you raise me
Breathe my air and I'll breathe yours
We'll help each other be
Person with the rake and hoe
We tend each other well, you know
Give me your food, I'll give you mine
We'll help each other grow
There's no shore without the sea
No more flowers without the bee
Without you, there is no me
So keep me carefully
Without you, there is no me
So keep me carefully.
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7. |
The Knowing Ones
02:53
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There's an old oak chest by the window
That my great-grandfather built one shining June
And I love to sit and look at it, proud on the hardwood floor
Gleaming in the rays of summer afternoon
They changed the family name at Ellis Island
And no one here today knows what it was
They ripped up all the records 'round the second World War
And time took the knowing ones, as it always does
And no one here can tell me any more than what they know
It's a shame the knowing ones were gone so long before
The ones who need to know what we were so long ago
Look in the old oak chest and you won't see much
Just a few loose baubles and things
But even if my ancestors were nothing more than carpenters
There's no one here to say they weren't kings
In the old oak chest I see them all as kings
And no one here can tell me any more than what they know
It's a shame the knowing ones were gone so long before
The ones who need to know what we were so long ago
There's an old oak chest by the window
That my great-grandfather built one shining June
And I love to sit and look at it, proud on the hardwood floor
While the knowing ones are smiling
In the rays of summer afternoon.
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8. |
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Dude! So the other night I’m at this house party, dude, and dude, there is this dude there who looks kind of like a douchebag, dude. Like, dude, he’s walking around with one of those black and white marble composition notebooks, dude. Dude, you know what I’m talking about, dude. And dude, he’s reading from it to all these different girls, dude. So dude, I go over to this dude and I’m like, “Dude, let me see this book, dude,” And dude, upon the cover, dude, this dude has inscribed the title: SECRET PRESTRICTIONS FROM THE PAST, dude.
Dude, I’m like, “What the hell is this crap supposed to be, dude?” And dude, he’s like, “Oh, well, dude, this is my poetry, dude.” And dude, he opens the book to a poem called The Rose, dude. All’s I’m gonna say is this poem’s called The Rose, dude! So dude! I’m like, “really, dude? This sucks! It’s totally cliché, dude.” And dude, he says, “Dude, you clearly do not get it, dude. Dude, this is a metaphor, dude—The Rose is about a girl. THE GIRL is THE ROSE, dude.”
Dude. I don’t even know what to say at this point, dude. So dude, I’m just like, “Dude, I regret to inform you that you are probably not the first person to ever compare a GIRL to a ROSE in a POEM, dude. And dude, furthermore, if your intention is to get girls to have sex with you, dude, you might want to consider not reading them poetry that is stupid and bad, dude. And also, dude: PRESTRICTIONS is not an actual word, dude.” And he’s like, “Dude, of course it is, dude.” So I’m like, “Okay, then, dude, what does it mean? What does PRESTRICTIONS mean, dude?” And he says, “Oh, dude, well, you know, dude, it’s like, when something is prestricted, dude.” And I’m like, “Dude, you cannot define a word using the word itself, dude. In fact, dude, the only thing anyone can say about these PRESTRICTIONS is that they already happened and nobody’s supposed to know, dude. Because apparently they are SECRET PRESTRICTIONS FROM THE PAST, dude."
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9. |
I Hear An Echo
02:31
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A big house with a big backyard
A big move to a brand new city
A gold band in my right hand
I slip it on her
I whisper three words
I hear an echo
This is working out
I hear an echo
This is working
A big office in the sky
A whole division to reorganize, yeah!
Four computers and a staff of three
They're so quick and loyal
I give an order
I hear an echo
This is working out
I hear an echo
Something's missing
Black suit, haircut
Honey, I'll be home soon
Shoe polish, train ticket
Honey, I'll be home soon
Cross pen, BlackBerry
Don't you understand?
I got this email/budget/payroll/meeting
Hanging on a deadline
A big house with a big backyard
A big den with a couch to sleep on
A gold band on my left hand
Honey, I'll be home soon
Honey, I'll be home soon
I hear an echo
Just me talking
I hear and echo
Something's missing
Black suit, haircut
Honey, I'll be home soon
Shoe polish, train ticket
Honey, I'll be home soon
Cross pen, BlackBerry
Don't you understand?
I got this email/budget/payroll/meeting
Hanging on a dead line
A big house with a big backyard
A big driveway long and empty
A spill of roses in my hand
Honey, look, I'm home now
Honey, look, I'm home now
I hear an echo
Something's missing
I hear an echo
Something's missing.
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10. |
Lose Me Forever
03:25
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The schoolboy sits in his room, awake
In the early morning darkness
And he thinks of six years wasted
Of smiles unnoticed
And work unrewarded
And now it's graduation day
They'll lose me forever.
Could have been
Could have been
Could have been
They'll lose me forever.
The young man sits in his room, awake
In the early morning darkness
And he thinks of six years wasted
Of love unrequited
Of gestures unwanted
Of smiles unnoticed
And work unrewarded
And now she wants to go away
She'll lose me forever.
Might have been
Might have been
Might have been
She'll lose me forever.
The old man sits in his room, awake
In the early morning darkness
And he thinks of a lifetime wasted
Of projects unfinished
Of promise unrealized
Of questions unanswered
Of warnings unheeded
Of love unrequited
Of gestures unwanted
Of smiles unnoticed
And work unrewarded
Can anyone tell me, now, what good is it
Turning shit into gold when the world wants shit?
To be someone or no one - I don't know what's worse
When potential's a burden, and talent's a curse
And she'll never hear
She'll never hear this song
Should have been
Should have been
Should have been
You've lost me forever.
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about
"The production on this new record is sterling and Davis’ chord progressions, harmonic voicings, etc., are showbiz-polished with no shortage of horns, strings or bombast in the rhythm section... Between the Cake-rapped vocals of 'Two-Thirds,' an a cappela thank-you note for a first date titled 'Question,' and epic Tenacious-AC/DC cowbell rocker 'Ride the Party Bus,' you’ll want to chalk this one up as a novelty album. And, true, Davis’ comedy is smart, often subtly delivered in the manner of cohort Brian Dewan, and really funny. 'Secret Prestrictions From the Past' is a flat-out brilliant piece of Zappa-esque satire (athough the notes credit the Dead Milkmen as inspiration), skewering a pretentious poet 'dude' with spoken-word verses and choral punctuation. But then Sacrifices drops a track like 'The Knowing Ones' with its elementary-school music teacher piano part... and Davis’ voice sounds vulnerable, earnest, delivering wistful lyrics about a family heirloom, and you’ve got to toss out everything you’d assumed about this record." - Josh Potter, Metroland
"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Jed Davis’ music is simply brilliant." - Greg Haymes, Nippertown
"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Jed Davis’ music is simply brilliant." - Greg Haymes, Nippertown
credits
released October 9, 2012
ESC020
ESC020
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Jed Davis Syracuse, New York
Song designer; founding member of The Hanslick Rebellion, Skyscape, Collider; oblivious to genre, trends and the passage of time.
discography
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Sep 2023 -
Aug 2023 -
Jul 2023 -
Jun 2023
contact / help
Jed Davis recommends:
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the rebellion is here.
by The Hanslick RebellionJed has been recording and performing with The Hanslick Rebellion since 1995
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Jed has been recording and performing with Skyscape since 1991
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