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Bart
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Bart nice album John. some great tracks. good mixing and catchy melodies. Favorite track: The Gavel.
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John Iclef
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1.
When the Dust Settled, We Got Lazy 03:59
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We came back, we came back So let's pretend we're all okay Yeah, we made it out of the woods Now we glue on a happy face While my friends die Making next to nothing They get the gaslight They're told they should feel lucky They're told they should feel lucky They're told they should feel lucky You've put it in the past But it's not buried Just drag my body To the cemetery And close my casket Pray that I've gone to heaven Take your tax cuts You'll never learn your lesson We're told we should feel lucky We're told we should feel lucky I've been so angry, panicked in the dark We're being marched straight to the chopping block Because you've demanded Reckless abandon and we We're told we should feel lucky You'd rather fatten your wallet than flatten the curve No matter what happens to your grandmother You'd rather fatten your wallet than flatten the curve No matter what happens to the rest of the world Tell me, what is the price that you put on a life Could it be three? Or maybe five Hundreds? Thousands Millions have died We should stay home Bravely fixing the problem But we're spreading syndromes The risk to get your job done. We're told we should feel lucky. We're told we should feel lucky. I've been so angry, panicked in the dark We're being marched straight to the chopping block Because you've demanded Reckless abandon and we We're told we should feel lucky And you tell us the dust clouds are gone
2.
Don't Quit Your Day Job 03:08
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What's the use in making music No one seems to care you do it No one wants to hear unless it's corporate Sick of all that wasted effort Maybe find a new endeavor Set up in a park and paint some portraits There's no humanity Free from vanity Now your sanity Becomes casualty And all you want to say Is a couple of clever lines To a handful of caring minds So when you think the time has come just Pull the cord and throw your hands up Forget about the time you've got invested Sell your gear and buy a suit Trade your Vans for cowboy boots Sign up to the party you've protested There's no humanity Free from vanity Now your sanity Becomes casualty And all you want to say Is a nurturing word of hope Before you die and you decompose If you've got the feeling There's something missing There's no one listening No one's out there in the distance. Keep your head from slipping Just stay on mission When you keep giving All your effort, no condition You won't be sitting In a solemn prison Pain can make musicians Masters of life's compositions So stay committed Every minute. This addiction Will set you free
3.
Who Would Win in a Fight?/Sunday Scaries 03:22
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I'll take what's mine Aren't I the clever one When I break in line That's 'cuz I'm the better one I'll take what's mine Don't you know who my daddy is When I waste my time Someone else will take care of it It's not my problem Someone else will take care of it It's not my problem My only care is how to profit off it How to profit off it The rich stay rich and the poor stay poor And the poor get sick while the rich get cured I'll take what's mine I'll take what's mine How nice and fine To be the one percent But I'd rather die With the Ninety-Nine Than live a life of crime Hoarding every dime Telling myself lies like It's not my problem Someone else will take care of it It's not my problem My only care is how to profit off it How to profit off it We work our health away We slave for a measly fucking payday We smile through tooth decay Hourly rates for the art that we create And they take and take We're just a steak on their silver plates Sometimes truth can ache But who am I to have complaints We work our health away We slave for a measly fucking payday We smile through tooth decay Hourly rates for the art that we create And they take and take We're just a steak on their silver plates Sometimes truth can ache But who am I to have complaints I'll see you Monday
4.
Deleted 02:24
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I've been sold out I had my head stuck in the clouds Without a doubt Somebody's trying to drag me down So I've been Listening to Braid on the bedroom floor Questioning my effort, what's it for And now my world's collapsing on itself The desperation's killing me I'm kneeling at the guillotine Defeated Don't chase your dreams Don't even act on your beliefs This rigged machine Won't ever let you succeed So don't bother Trying to get your head out of the noose Especially with jealousy on the loose And now my world's collapsing on itself The desperation's killing me I'm kneeling at the guillotine Delete me I can see you've got it out for me Now I have to face reality And I don't stand a chance Just don't leave me Defeated Don't leave me Delete me And now my world's collapsing on itself The desperation's killing me I'm kneeling at the guillotine Delete me
5.
40 East 03:02
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Bleary eyes I see the clock is flashing 12 Reset itself The night before was not the kind of night you thought you'd have But on your behalf You had one Bad week before You knocked our door Then you had so much That you blacked out Crashed on our couch Don't it happen to the best and worst of us But you can't drown All your troubles in this glass You try and you try No. You can't drown All your troubles in this glass You try and you try Friday nights Are different than when we were young When we were young We'd bust out of this town To see the punk bands that we all loved That we all loved Now there's just No place to go No place to go, and we keep getting older Time moved so slow All those years ago We could never know just what we had We could never know just what we had
6.
Be Strong Your Back 04:18
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Keep up your head Your heart will follow Don't throw the fight I'd rather die. Just be strong your back And let me light your path We move around carving our names Into the fabric of time and space We are dancers, doctors, sons and daughters Lovers, lawyers and more And every person has his needs But in every society There are questions that must be addressed in order To go on carving our names Keep up your head Your heart will follow Don't throw the fight I'd rather die. Just be strong your back And let me light your path Be strong your back Be strong your back We walked for miles across scorching sand And the sun was spitting lead And the cool sip of comfort from over the horizon Was still so far away But we powered through despite the stress We outlasted all the rest Yeah, and the wrinkles on our faces were the tokens of the story How far we'd come from where we were Keep up your head Your heart will follow Don't throw the fight I'd rather die. Just be strong your back And let me light your path Be strong your back Be strong your back Sometimes there are just too many Clouds to count by yourself Sometimes you just need help when you're overwhelmed And you're overwhelmed So don't let things build up That just mean to break you down And try not to, try not to lose count We move around carving our names Into the fabric of time and space We are dancers, doctors, sons and daughters Lovers, lawyers and more And every person has his needs But in every society There are questions that must be addressed in order To go on carving our names
7.
The Sharp End of the Knife 04:08
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You've been singing so hard you've lost your voice now You've been wearing your tires thin Following your heart has left you more pain than you'd like to admit When you try so hard, you fail so hard They say when one door shuts another one opens But they're the ones that have it made Cuz you know opportunities pass you by and disintegrate You'd rather stop than be slowed down So grab the sharp end of the knife You hold it close and you hold it tight You give it all that you can But you can't, but you can't Understand When you try so hard, you fail so hard You've developed a brand new way to do things And you wish that somebody could relate Cuz following your thoughts is not an easy task when you communicate You'd rather stop than be slowed down So grab the sharp end of the knife You hold it close and you hold it tight You give it all that you can But you can't, but you can't Understand You were living out the back of a broke-down car And the road you were on wouldn't take you far The silence of driving becomes too much for you So grab the sharp end of the knife You hold it close and you hold it tight You give it all that you can But you can't, but you can't Understand
8.
Tim's Song 04:33
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I'm beginning to see the writing on the walls I'm starting to hear what people say in the halls Devoted my life to be a better man Develop better plans, and give it all that I can I can't sit back knowing that my team's needing me I believed in us. I believed I won't shut up just 'cuz you wanna disagree I believed in us. I believed I've been throwing elbows to keep from Falling backwards While some bad actors plunge us Toward disaster And all the folks that called me family Now have it out for me And I don't think I'll make it through the week Wish you'd wash your hands of me In scalding hot water Until your bones expose What you'll never know You won't catch me back in those halls Wish you'd wash your hands of me Wish you'd wash your hands of me Wish you'd wash your hands of me Wish you'd wash your hands of me You've always had more than a Graphic designer I've been lifting us higher, I've been Smothering fires. And all those years and years of leadership Just disappear so quick When I'm gone, who will dig the ditch Wish you'd wash your hands of me In scalding hot water Until your bones expose What you'll never know You won't catch me back in those halls I'm feeling so much lighter now Like anything is possible I'm feeling so much lighter now I'm feeling so much lighter now And you won't catch me back in those halls Devoted my life to be a better man Develop better plans, and give it all that I can I can't sit back knowing that my team's needing me I believed in us. I believed I won't shut up just 'cuz you wanna disagree I believed in us. I believed
9.
FOSSILS 03:45
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The car door has been closed For the final time today Ignition. Now he's rolling forward Tires to the pave When he left to find some company To ease his pain away How could he know he would be Driving to the grave You can't take things for granted When my friends all moved to greener pastures Looking for a change And our same old haunts transformed to fossils Impressions of better days Grim ghosts now float down blackened sidewalks Exploiting our past domain. How would I know I would be Losing everything You can't take things for granted It takes loss to understand it Everyone makes mistakes And everyone pays And our hearts keep on beating I hear the song in the snow I know I'm never alone I just hope you feel important to me When your hair starts to go And your face is losing its glow I just hope you feel important to me I've been singing along Since the back of the bus To the back of the office To the back of my hand There's a storybook stored in the attic That taught me how to read It's all dusty now and chewed by crickets But it's always seemed to me That the things that made us grow as people We hold closer than another No matter how far away I will always have my brothers. You can't take things for granted It takes loss to understand it Everyone makes mistakes And everyone pays And our hearts keep on beating
10.
Darkness Becomes Harmony 04:43
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What keeps you from saying how it is When you leave, you don't say goodbye Everyone I know needs a month or so To remind them they're alive When dark days are never-ending Hopeful songs seem condescending But keep your head up if you can So the last time that I saw you Things seemed fine Unexpected 3 in the mornings Make for "summer nights & fireflies" We all scoured the community garden And let the dogs run free Without a worry about the fires in LA Police brutality and sociopathy Keep your head up if you can We were all in it together Until we went our separate ways You still haunt warm corners inside my brain I still contact you on holidays After the pills complete their mission And your pupils dilate You get swept away by melodies And all that darkness becomes harmony Keep your head up if you can What keeps you from saying how it is When you leave, you don't say goodbye Everyone I know needs a month or so To remind them they're alive When dark days are never-ending The storm bears so unrelenting Keep you head up if you can
11.
Watch Earth Get Swallowed 04:40
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When you're on your own Silence makes it Hard to stay at home But you've embraced it You always say To never feel regret And that's okay but you're Smoking cigarettes By yourself and those Were empty words In a living hell you will Always feel the burn Surrounded by the flames You feel them lick your face And your overwhelmed Marooned in outer space You start to suffocate It's you and no one else Watch Earth grow smaller Until it's swallowed You say the hardest part Of taking charge Is putting it out there Just to blow it all And it makes more sense To raise defense That way you never have to risk Losing anything But where's the reward in that With sleep so short The morning burns your eyes Well, that's par for course When you can't fall asleep at night. Do you fear your dreams When you're kicking at your sheets Is it hard to breathe Are you struggling with grief You say it's no big deal There's nothing left to feel But I see the truth Get up and turn the page Be brave and break the chains Cuz this isn't you I know you're taller Taller and stronger What happens when your heart starts beating Imagine creatures in your head stampeding Winged horses chase away dark demons And your sorrow departs And there you are. There you are. There you are.
12.
The Gavel 04:05
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When the sky turns Pink and yellow now Shadows cast long On confining ground Sounds fade in the distance Dust inures to crystals Squint your eyes At burning crimson glow Watch the color change To deep merlot Light will lose the battle Nighttime drops the gavel I'm in a dizzy, dizzy daze Caught in a gentle tidal wave When you're sick And tired of everything All your choices start to feel Embarrassing Beat the shiny snare drum Leave a trail of bread crumbs We can lay beneath The dogwood trees Shallow breaths and scattered Reverie Feel the flames around you Love like you're allowed to I'm in a dizzy, dizzy daze Caught in a gentle tidal wave May you always feel the warmth that you crave Let it hold you til your dying day I'm in a dizzy, dizzy daze Caught in a gentle tidal wave

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released April 2, 2021

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Paper Fortune Tellers Greensboro, North Carolina

Paper Fortune Tellers is the solo project of Greensboro, NC native John Iclef. Melodic and heartfelt, PFT is punk-influenced rock music that at times delivers as much aggression as it does inspiration. Fast paced and infectious, this music is graphic design for your eardrums. ... more

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