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. |
Changes
03:35
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Changes in the heart change with the times.
Strangers in the night pass up and down town.
Changes in your soul, they happen all the time.
Changes in the heart change with the times.
Strangers in the night change with the times.
Dangers in the dark pass up and down town.
Strangers in your soul, they happen all the time.
Strangers in the dark change with the times.
And all the little sins,
All the letdowns and wins,
The things you begin with,
The things that you end with,
The changes in the heart change with the times.
Changes in the stars change with the night.
Changers in the heart stay up until light.
Dangers in your soul, they motion to the stars.
Changes in the heart change with the dark.
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2. |
Everything
03:31
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Everything you do, you do because it's true.
Everything you think, you think because it's true.
Everything you jive, you jive because it's true.
You could lose, but you can't lose.
It could lie, but it can't lie.
Everything you guess, you guess because it's right.
Everything you are, you are because it's right.
Everything you see, you see because it's true.
It could stretch, but it won't stretch.
It could fail, but it won't fail.
Just one time, if you remove G-o-d from church,
You've got a lot of what I've got.
I am not going to say his name
Though the difference is really the same.
Everything you pray, you pray because it's true.
Every church you make, you make because it's true.
Everything that's true is true because of you.
You will win because you win.
You could sin, but you can't sin.
And the only thing that remains
Is really the will to change.
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3. |
The Smallest Part of You
03:02
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It was like good it was never enough,
Like perfection was a cape
(Impersonating an ape).
I tried to be good.
I tried like I should.
A pound of you weighs, like, a ton or two.
It takes all of me just to forgive
The smallest part of you.
It was like I couldn't get up,
Like I was pegged to the floor.
I'd like to say much more.
Perhaps it's enough
To even bring it up,
Just to partially reveal,
A part of how I feel.
It takes all of me just to forgive
The smallest part of you.
And I don't want to be stuck up,
Stuck up, stuck up over you
And the things that you do,
But that's just what I do.
It really is.
It's not like I want to see you gone
Like your absence is my glove
(Impersonating love).
It's just as if
You'll rearrange your mitts,
You'll find I can be felt
Without visiting hell.
It takes all of me just to forgive
The smallest part of you.
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4. |
The Boy In It Was Me
02:34
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You can spend your whole life in a dream.
Walk around, see what I mean.
Look around, do what you feel, baby,
Spend your whole life in a dream.
You can spend your whole life in a drain.
Walk around, it feels the same.
Look about, see what you feel, baby,
Spend your whole life in a drain.
Baby, baby, baby
An ocean is not a piano.
Baby, baby, baby
A poet is not a musician.
Spend your whole life in a dream
You can spend your whole life in a dream.
Float around, see what you see.
Look around, see what you've been, what you’ll be,
Spend your whole life in a dream.
(I had a dream and the boy and it was me
And he was running toward orange.)
You can spend your whole life in a dream.
Float around, see what I mean.
Look about, see what you'll be, baby,
Spend your whole life in a dream.
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5. |
String Revisions
02:42
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The underground and the idealism.
The new haircut and the strange decisions.
The piece of rope and string revisions.
And your parents don't know why.
And I'm nothing but a drastic male.
An ideal version of my complex (plastic) self.
In no condition to interject
Or to request anything.
And that night I'm talking to your pa
And he's asking me bout his daughters…
And in my experience
Daughters have strange fathers
And fathers have strange daughters.
And what was I to do?
I was sucking my tongue like a pouch of chew.
Ducking his questions and answering few.
He was trying… It's not easy.
And whiskey in the evening is good
Especially if you've got problems
And you're concerned about your
daughters, who have very strange
problems, who have very strange
daughters who have very strange
fathers.
(Very odd pairings.)
And I'm sure he's vaguely suspicious - -
I'm involved with one of his daughters.
And daughters have strange fathers.
And fathers have stranger daughters.
(Very deep waters.)
And now she's long gone.
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6. |
Good Life
03:29
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And you're having such a good life.
And you're leading such a fine time.
I never knew you'd have a good life.
I always hoped you'd have a good life.
And you think you're gonna to lose it.
And you think you're gonna fall down.
You think there's something in the basement.
You hear a huffing in the closet.
And in the dark a shape or something
Looks at you and you see nothing.
And it's really such a good life.
And you really got a good life.
And you're moving at light speed.
A gleaming streak in the night sky.
An air tank in the floorboards.
A blonde lawyer in the courtroom.
A parachute on your shoulder blades.
A leather page from a wet book.
And in the stars, an eye or something
Looks at you and you see nothing.
Andy you think you're gonna to fail bad.
Andy you think you're gonna to fail bad.
And you think you're gonna fall down.
And you think you're gonna fall down.
And in the heart, a scope or something,
Looks at you and you see nothing.
Andy you're having such a good life.
A wish comes if you wish it.
The world ends as we know it.
The earth spins as we let it.
The moon swings with us in it.
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7. |
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All the deals are done. The streets are lined with fun.
And you're traveling somewhere across the country.
All my human thoughts, all my hair cropped short,
All the jokes I'm sending through the atmosphere
To you my dear…
All on the bus, a boxer on a turnbuckle,
The sound of me missing you now…
Gets me down.
And who would have guessed, you'd dress yourself up in hydrogen
And bide your time mending children's woes?
Hey, little girl don't fuss,
There's no need to get shook up,
There's no need to mess your eyes up with tears…
Empty boat piers,
On a harbor in New York, a boxer on a turnbuckle,
The sound of me missing you now…
Gets me down.
And I am one of those guys who cries into my beer
And is missing you when you're not here.
And you can guess I'm rather sick and it is no coincidence - -
I'm sick and tired when you're not here.
I don't have to know your whole life,
I just want to love you.
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8. |
Forgive
03:44
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If you are intent on having a life you never meant to have,
If there are snakes in your back and dogs in your ass,
If you're kissing your child to acts like your dad,
If a worm in your past is eating through your casket,
If you want to be successful at the life you lead,
Take the worst circumstance, circumvent it and forgive.
I don't want to be prescriptive or dictate what is.
What is is hard to believe and even harder to forgive.
Just like Ed Ochester said: "Don't judge,
but if you must judge, forgive."
You got to forgive.
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9. |
A Little Favor
02:47
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Baby, I've been trying hard to be someone you'd want a lot
To be someone you’d need a lot
To be someone I’m not, you know, I'm trying.
What else can I do but try really hard to be
The person deep inside of me
The person that you've never seen, I’m trying.
What else can I do but try?
And if you've got a good attitude
I think you'll see that I’ve improved.
You'd be doing me a favor.
I could use a little favor
Every single day of the year.
Last night I was thinking hard about the loss at Gettysburg,
About the speech that Lincoln gave,
About the endless graves…
You know I'm trying.
Trying really hard to be something than other than
Just a man who tries…
What else can I do but try?
From January to December, please consider your calendar full.
Maybe in the near future I'll rise above this voodoo soil,
I'll hover way up in the sky
I'll try to say your name. O baby,
Really what else is there but your name?
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10. |
Thank You
01:36
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Thank you baby, for loving me,
in spite of myself.
I've always wanted to be something better
than I am.
And I do what I can.
I want to thank you baby, for loving me,
In spite of yourself.
It's hard to be something other than
What you are. And we all have our scars.
I want to thank you baby, seriously,
For what is life without thanks?
For just holding onto me, while I hold onto myself,
A pearl and an egg. A shell and a tug.
I don't understand this drum solo that starts
Like an overfed ostrich in my octagonal heart.
I've got my guesses, but I guess I keep them to myself,
Because I'm selfish and full of
Contradictions. Which comes across like
I'm all "complicated," quote, unquote…
I just wanted to thank you, forget everything else.
I'm trying to change.
So, thank you.
Life is weird, baby, and hard to explain,
Or even comprehend. I just want to thank you
For being my friend. It's a great thing
And I'm so happy about it.
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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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