Get all 19 Painter Fingers releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Truth Is a Hurricane, My Better Judgment, Still Friends, What Matters Most, Same Side, auld lang syne, Because It's Christmas Time, the early singles, and 11 more.
1. |
World's Best Army
04:00
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It was the summer of Caffè Americano
Playing blue-eyed soul on my baby's piano
The kiddie pool
Keeps us cool
It only goes up to our ankles
But it still feels good
Beach Boys singing on my portal speaker
Wouldn't it be nice, still thinking that
Fifty-five years later
Everyone still waving their guns
Do you ever wonder
What we're still waiting for
All our deeply-held beliefs
They aren't doing much for me
When I'm burying my family
I just want to live my life
And write songs about good times
But I keep coming back
To what's haunting me
It's haunting me
Oh, family
Is it haunting you, too
Then what do we do
We love our coffee and
We love our phones
But even the world's best army can't
Stop the war at home
Sitting around
While some other clown
Talks about his rights on cable news
And all our deeply-held beliefs
They aren't doing much for me
When this violence keeps on happening
I just want to live my life
And write songs about good times
But I keep coming back
To what's haunting me
It's haunting me
Oh, family
Is it haunting you, too
Then what do we do
We love our coffee and
We love our phones
But even the world's best army can't
Stop the war at home
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2. |
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Waking up in the early morning
Is how some like it best
Start the day before the sun does
But after a few hundred times or so
I think I'd prefer to rest
Don't want to do just what everyone does
Waiting to make something happen
Wandering all of the time
Keep driving and see if the next one
Can make sense of this rhyme
Waking up in the mid-late morning
Is how I like it best
We've got it all wrong with this
Go, go, go, and get on with the show
And the stress
The world has so much to take in
I want to be alive for it
But there are fools around every corner
And I need the strength to deal with it
Waiting to make something happen
Squandering all of your time
In search of another paycheck
To put a price on your life
Waiting to see something happen
Wandering all of the time
Keep driving and see if the next one
Can make sense of this rhyme
I want to be myself
I want to be free
A handful of people
With everything
I want to be myself
I want to be free
But a handful of people
Control everything
(Keep driving)
I want to be myself
I want to be free
(Keep driving)
A handful of people
With everything
(Keep driving)
I want to be myself
I want to be free
(Keep driving)
But a handful of people
Control everything
Waking up in the early morning
Some like it that way
Waking up in the afternoon
Always felt like a waste of a day
Always felt like a waste of a day
Always felt like a waste of a day
Waiting to make something happen
Wandering all of the time
Keep driving and see if the next one
Can make sense of this rhyme
Waking up in the afternoon
Always felt like a waste of a day
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3. |
I Only Laugh
04:41
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I only laugh to keep from crying
We only live to keep from dying
Good morning
Go straight to first period
Don't stand around
Don't wait to see your friends
Then we wonder why
They are so rebellious
And to think it gets much worse
Than this
I can't teach them about civil war
If we can't discuss the reason
We can't talk about mass shootings
If we are not allowed
I only laugh to keep from crying
We only live to keep from dying
Meanwhile, Mom's at home
With deep dementia
The news is causing mass hysteria
Then I have to smile
And talk up some bright future
Well
I can't stand and tell
A bold-faced lie
About how my country
Has always been
The good guy
I only laugh to keep from crying
We only live to keep from dying
We can't act surprised at violence
We can't act surprised at all
With all these years and years
Of evidence
We can't count the deaths
Of children
If we are not allowed
To blame the gun
I only laugh to keep from crying
We only live to keep from dying
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4. |
It Makes Her Happy
04:28
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So many movies
I keep on the shelf
I'm not watching them
Feels like they're watching me
As I sit here and search
The extent of myself
For some meaning
I can't seem to see
No one wants to hear from a guy
With a basically good life
And that's kind of sad
It's all Frozen, Beauty
And the Beast, the same four songs
But it makes her happy
Playstation five
Counts up the hours I've given
To watching me die
Fighting for days
Work like a slave
And just for some
Occasional triumph
And I know that it's just about
Everyone's plight, but I just thought
I might be something special
High school report cards
I gave my whole youth for
Where are they now
Somewhere in a landfill
Somewhere
Somewhere
Somewhere
And I'd kill for
One more Christmas break
Or day at the lake
We set aside real life
One holiday at a time
I'm not here to bitch
About all I've been given
It's quite nice
In my daughter's eyes
It's all Minnie Mouse
And dinosaur songs on repeat
But it makes her happy
Beauty
And the Beast
The same four songs
But it makes her happy
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5. |
Umbrella Song
04:32
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Daddy, could you tie up this umbrella
Let me tell you about something
That's been weighing on my mind
She will grow up, grow up watching
And hearing all of this
I want to give her a good life
And teach her to be kind
Despite all the tragedies
We witness
Careful what you say
Some of those things
You seem to hate at first
Can become the very ones
You adore
Some of those fights
You make out to be nothing
Could be
Could be someone's daily war
Daddy, could you open this up for me
Daddy, could you tell me what's on TV
One nation under selfish
One nation under righteousness
One nation under politics
One nation under the rich
Careful what you say
Some of those words
You think are no big deal
Are like weapons
To the ones across the room
Some of those fights
They say aren't worth the trouble
Could mean everything to you
Could mean everything to you
Could mean everything to you
Daddy, could you tie up this umbrella
Could you read me that story one more time
One nation under our bosses
One nation under Mickey Mouse
One nation under books and crosses
One nation under the house
Some of those things
You seem to hate at first
Can become the very ones
You adore
Some of those fights
You make out to be nothing
Could be someone's daily war
Could be
Could be someone's daily war
Could be
Could be someone's daily war
Careful what you say
Some of those words
You think are no big deal
Are like weapons
To the ones right next to you
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6. |
How Summer Flies
05:33
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When I want to complain
Saying my, my, how summer flies
Think about how fast it went
For the ones who didn't make it out alive
Down at the store
As soon as Easter ended
The endcaps were amended
They had up all the summer shit
And the day after The Fourth of July
I'm seeing back-to-school supplies
What the fuck is this
But among all the bright colors
And American flags
It seems they forgot
A few key things
Bullet-proof vests and body armor
Were missing
When I want to complain
Saying my, my, how summer flies
Think about how fast it went
For the ones who didn't make it out alive
My, my, how summer flies
So when I blink and August comes in
Like the nosy neighbor
Who won't leave until
He gets what he wants
And it's up again each morning
At five-thirty
I'll pray to anything that's holy
Today won't be the one
That my school won't be the school
That makes tomorrow's news
Cause we're shot up
By some right-wing insurrectionist
And his semi-automatic
Prized possessions
For every time the sun comes up
A few won't live to see it set
When I want to complain
Saying my, my, how summer flies
I'll think about how fast
It must have been
For the ones who didn't make it out alive
My, my, how summer flies
I know you swear by these documents
Though they were written when
The government owned slaves
I only ask, what to you is more important
Your right to own
A killing machine
Or your brother's right to breathe
Breathe
When I want to complain
Saying my, my, how summer flies
Think about how fast it went
For the ones who didn't make it
The ones who couldn't be here
The ones who
Didn't make it out
Alive
My, my, how summer flies
How quickly it all went by
My, my, how summer flies
How quickly it all went by
So fast
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7. |
Painter Fingers Leander, Texas
Dream folk, indie pop, soft rock
The Truth Is a Hurricane arrives August
25th
Painter Fingers is the recording project of Travis Charles Hagan, a songwriter and middle school teacher from Texas.
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