Get all 14 Short Hand releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Red Tigers, stir that mule up, Fourth Peter, Third Peter, Short Life, ill fish, The Leaves, Head Full, and 6 more.
1. |
In Ninjitsu
02:17
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So twice a week
You haul your butt downtown in your ghee
And you stretch and do rolls
And then you recite the student creed
And Sensei won't let you forget
That we are talking about life and death
And it's a good point
In this ninjitsu
In all this ninjitsu
Every person has a fight
A moment when they need to win something
Every person has a life
A moment when they start and when they end
And so you may claw for the eye
Or try to shattered the knee
In this ninjitsu
In all this ninjitsu
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2. |
Poet Teardrops
02:43
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Hey poet. Lovebird.
You got a life, word bird?
What do you think, at night,
Knowing the road you travel?
You don't advocate violence, or anything, do you?
You got a patron, poet?
Like I've got my wife?
Do you wake up tired
Unable to lay down?
Are you like a jump roper jumping rope? (Jump!)
Is there a fire somewhere?
Any room for jokes? Any room for skipping jokes?
You know it.
You don't have to be told about it.
Do you understand time on a clock?
Are you, or are you not, on a map, a dot?
Teardrops! Teardrops! Poet teardrops!
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3. |
Re-reading the Bible
03:27
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So when you're young you had to have it
Every time you went to church
You learned to believe it, word for word
It looked different than other books
Your parents underlined whole sections of it
And when you're older it divides the family
And everyone has got good intentions
There's no intent to make life miserable
But things happen people don't understand
And every person deserves to make their own life
Everyone deserves to be who they want to be
Regardless of the consequences
But just because we want and deserve
Something from life doesn't mean we'll get it
Or anything similar
And all of the stories tell something bitter
From Genesis to the New Testament
You soak it up, you soak it up
And even as Saul is becoming Paul
Even as my fists ball
We are reading and reading the bible
We're both reading and re-reading the bible
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4. |
Golf Bag
03:36
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I am going to walk this course.
I don't have golf shoes.
I never found the ball.
I never made an eagle.
I can't explain myself.
On my shoulder, a golf bag.
I've got to make this chip.
Don't want to wet the bed on this.
And it rolls right off the green.
And I have another three-putt.
I removed my golf glove.
Standing close, a golf bag.
Everyone has a good shot.
Everyone has a bad shot.
And I get the bad shots.
Frustration is the enemy.
I can't explain the waiting.
On my heart, a golf bag.
No, I never imagined
A golf course and collared shirts.
My son likes to play a lot.
And I like what he likes.
On his shoulder, a golf bag.
On my shoulder, a golf bag.
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5. |
Hawaii
02:02
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Happy that you're well in Hawaii
I can't wait to see the places you'll be
It's good to know, better than to guess
About the real estate in the South Pacific
We drove from Florida yesterday
We're home 18 hours later
The kids were good despite the big numbers
All of the earth feels smaller this summer
And there's always another night to give
Despite ours we find ourselves here
Something in the dark wakes up the room
A muscle in my heart beats an instant too soon
For all the hopes, the dreams and the rest
The blue ocean still moves back and forth
Hawaii, me, you, Ben, Jen, and the kids
We can always live in the basement, love, Pete
P.S. We love you aunt Mel.
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6. |
Baby's Research
03:11
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Baby loves her research.
Tuesdays are news days.
A neighbor can be a tiger.
Still baby loves her research.
And I love you.
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7. |
A Good Argument
02:48
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All I'm saying is, is that logic?
Does it make sense?
And do you have any evidence?
It's called a good argument.
I'm just asking if that word here
Is the best word here?
And, if it's not, what word would it be?
It's called a good argument.
And can you read this carefully?
Can you see through this clear window?
All I'm saying is, listen up!
You might learn a lot
From listening, reading, or whatnot.
It's called a good argument.
All I am saying is, is that logic
Where is it logic intolerant?
Have you found any fingerprints?
It's called a good argument.
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8. |
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You're like a person carved of stone
And then you wake a parent
No longer alone at home or anywhere
There is much whimpering and tear drops
And you're not the only one
Who wakes in the darkness crying
And it's so traumatic
But there ain’t nothing better in the world
Than to have a little boy or a little girl
And to love them for all that they’re worth
And there ain't nothing worth more on the earth
Than little boys and little girls
She wants to arrange dolls always talking, talking
He wants to play golf often, often, often
And it's unexpected
It's so inconvenient
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9. |
Punk Heart
03:03
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You are punk, you are sad, you are lonely
You are stoned, you are drunk, for goodness sake
You are dreaming asleep in the embers
You are numb in the ashes when you awake
And o, I know you ache for anarchy
O, will you just listen to me
I know it's hard, Punk Heart, to take heart
‘Cause punk hurts, but still
Perk up, punk, you've just got to
You are pierced with the arrow of the tragic
And like static on my TV
You are as spacious as the empty attic
Except for the echoes of your screams
And, kid, neither of us can go it alone
So, let's grow up together, son
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10. |
Stella Turning Seven
02:54
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Stella turning seven
There's never been anything better
Then Stella turning seven
And your brother will be turning eleven
Those two ones a new number
Your brother turning eleven
And I’m 41 and mom will turn 42
And there's nothing we can do about it
And we can't change, we can't change
And even if we could
We’d keep it pretty much the same
So Stella is there anything better
Then you turnings seven
I don't think so, but I don't know, Stella
And when you hear this aged one half century
When your brothers 54
You won't be able to change the past
And even if you could, then,
You'd keep it pretty much the same
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11. |
Immediate Family
03:25
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A man is part of a family– he sleeps in a cave, a tent, or a house.
He says, Man, I’m a family man, man, it's all I've got.
A wife becomes a peach tree and your child becomes the bloom.
Every word that they utter, bursts from their mouth too soon.
I've been a family man, seriously, even sense cro-magnum man,
Man, cro-magnum man is my immediate family.
My immediate family is cro-magnum man, man.
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12. |
When It's All Over
06:17
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When it's all over
You can sleep
With your eyes open
And it's like you never had anything
Like you never had anything at all
It's like your whole life never had nothing
Like there was nothing in your whole life
And you want to be brave and open
You want to open up to the world
And it's time to open up to the world
And no where can we read the whole history
We can't read the whole history or the build up
We can't see the road
We can't drive forever, like a leopard
Vicious with courage
Stupid with drive
And in front of kids, it's stupefying
It runs through you like water
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Short Hand Muncie, Indiana
Short Hand figures that it's easier to learn to play an instrument than it is to find someone who can play it. He also figures that it's easier for him to do the writing, recording, mixing, artwork, and anything else that might need to be done. In the end, a set of sounds collect themselves into different shapes one might call "albums." Some sound like this and some sound like that. ... more
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