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Highway Gothic

by Liz + the Baguettes

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1.
Subourbon 04:43
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I'm sure it's me: there's something wrong Inside my head. I can't get along The way others can. I take the pill. It leaves me ill. It doesn't go to plan. Perpetually an also-ran, but hoping still But sitting still, but sitting still, but sitting still, or what you will Some kind of sin: the way they look at me Hardens into my skin. What's on TV? Oh, that again. I mean there's nothing wrong with staying in This house where nothing quite stays put and it's always cold. Log in again, again, and watch my friends get old. Disintegrating slowly In our exquisite melancholia We'll go to the same party a thousand times I do a sudoku: it's the Japanese Art of eliminating possibilities. Am I out of danger yet? Please, somebody knock me to my knees. Somebody make me catch my breath. Something stir my flesh. Please. I click Refresh. I click Refresh. I click Refresh. I click Refresh. Disintegrating slowly In our exquisite melancholia We'll go to the same party a thousand times We have everything here. All you have to do is drive. Mannequins in windows. Is anybody left alive? I don't want an excuse, some acousma of a life And in my lucid hours I feel this isn't it, this isn't right. Let's shake things up, let's leave tonight. What do you say? And that's another day we've kept at bay, kept at bay, kept at bay... Disintegrating slowly In our exquisite melancholia We'll go to the same party a thousand times
2.
Slinky 02:38
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In the middle of the summer, in the middle of the night, yeah We heard the beat of the drum and it was loose and it was tight, yeah And we knew it was wrong and we knew it was right, yeah In the middle of the song, in the middle of the night, yeah And we hopped and sweated strutted twisted Poured ourselves a drinky And we tore and tripped and screamed and ripped And we danced that beat to slinky, hey hey hey In the middle of the floor in the middle of the night, yeah She heard the beat of the drum and she threw down the lights, yeah And she felt her heart thrum and she knew it was right, yeah In the middle of the floor, in the middle of the night, yeah And she hopped and sweated, twisted, yeah Had him wrapped around her pinky And she tore and tripped and screamed and ripped And slid her hips all slow and slinky, hey hey hey In the middle of the road in the middle of the night, yeah We heard the beat of the drum and we threw on the brights, yeah And we screamed out the song and we knew it was right, yeah In the middle of the road in the middle of the night, yeah And we hopped and sweated strutted twisted Feeling all nice and hinky And we tore and tripped and screamed and ripped And we danced that beat to slinky, hey hey hey
3.
Teflon 04:07
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Call it a heartbeat click-track modem-blip slipstream V-chip trigger warning Call it a layer a layer a layer a layer of distance Call it a mystery, the hard code, the unprogrammable, the ether Call it a level a level a level a level of remove Everything hits more and less than it should And maybe it's the Teflon in my blood I can't feel a thing I'm reaching out, I'm reaching And in the side-impact airbag rear-cam warning signs and speed traps It's all the same, all the same, all the same You're like a gluten-free may-contain low-calorie guilty lapse Your kisses taste like aspartame Everything hits more and less than it should And maybe it's the Teflon in my blood I can't feel a thing I'm reaching out, I'm reaching In the dream I speed into the curve The skeleton barrier in the headlights Gun the car too fast to swerve Plunge into the night Try to find one last living nerve I can't feel a thing I'm reaching out, I'm reaching
4.
White Flag 04:55
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Keep calm and carry on We march again at dawn I ain't afraid, come at me, do your worst You wanna get to them, you'll have to get through me first They say you don't feel fear Until the check don't clear They say now more than ever, say oh, we must never forget God help me, I'm derelict in duties that haven't been invented yet Somehow the fire burned into embers And I can't even remember what I'm fighting for Maybe I've lost the war I'm bled white as a sheet But I'm still on my feet I'm abandoning my senses Throwing up my last defenses Oh hell, tell them cancel the monuments And it takes all you are Here's the ache of the scar The unsettled score Maybe I've lost the war In the lightning, in the fog I was lying like a dog There was no glory here In the sulfur, in the haze Well, it got a little crazy I've lost the story now, I fear We march again, again And I've tried to hold it in But you can radio the captain, you can carry it by hand You can send it up by semaphore I've lost the war Baby, I've lost the war
5.
Lost in America 05:48
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Another butcher with his thumb on the scale Another outfit too big to fail Another billboard promising a piece of the city on the hill Another magazine spreading out a feast—don't think about the bill It's this way, this way, this way, this way, just a little farther Another collar too white to jail Another wall too high to scale Another bus bench selling you a place in the temple in the sky Another preacher murmuring grace and whispering a lie It's this way, this way, this way, this way, just a little farther I said I wouldn't hurry back But every road's a cul-de-sac And I can't see to get across They said, We're gonna know your name But every corner looks the same And I got lost Another banker peddling degrees Another entry-level gig, another hiring freeze Another financier with knives hidden in his grin Another sure thing, he swears, but the house always wins It's this way, this way, this way, this way, just a little farther I said I wouldn't hurry back But every road's a cul-de-sac And I can't see to get across They said, We're gonna know your name But every corner looks the same And I got lost And in the cool shining towers of glass The ruling class pours another champagne And the fattest man whispers the sweetest lie Hey, kid, this'll all be yours someday I want out. I don't want it any more. I said I wouldn't hurry back But every road's a cul-de-sac And I can't see to get across They said, We're gonna know your name But every corner looks the same And I got lost I've run the tank down to fumes Looking for a bit of room Choking on exhaust They said, We're gonna know your name But every corner looks the same And I got lost
6.
The Age and the Ache 04:32
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For just an hour, please Let's forget we have to care Let's forget the parking tickets The hangovers and the crowds You pretend you're free I'll pretend I'm beautiful We don't have to talk about it later We don't have to talk about it now And I won't watch the clock I swear I won't check my phone I wish I'd known I could break a heart so bad Or fake and fake and fake I can take everything about getting old Except the age and the ache If it's time that makes the lie Then in the moment we are truthful Nothing but a touch, a breath A soft apology I pretend I'm free You pretend I'm beautiful I don't ever have to ask you why You don't ever have to ask me how It got so bad we dodge the future In the beating heart of now And I won't watch the clock I swear I won't check my phone I wish I'd known I could make that kind of mistake Or feel so damn alone I can take everything about getting old Except the age and the ache Same time next week, I guess Since I don't see it getting better You'll invent a new excuse I won't leave the letter You'll pretend you're me I'll pretend I'm dutiful And the ghosts of all we could have been will linger in the air And I won't watch the clock I swear I won't check my phone I wish I'd known I could break a heart so bad Mistake upon mistake I can take everything about getting old Except the age
7.
Gen X 05:45
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Now the fields are burning And the gas pump's dry And the pipes are full of poison But hey kids, aim high The house is crumbling And the yard is full Of the rusted-out bones of miracle inventions I'm staring down the ghosts of old intentions Call me the last in a long line Of broken promises, broken promises Never gonna measure up Might as well sell out like the record clerk said Maybe I'll be cool when I'm dead Never got a moon shot No, no, it was always too soon Wait, wait, wait—until it's too late Everyone got tired and stayed bored I? I came unmoored Guess we're gonna have to bust ourselves out of detention I'm staring down the ghosts of old intentions Call me the last in a long line Of broken promises, broken promises Never found out where all those flowers go Never got to say yes, never got to say no I guess you can't achieve eternal youth Without sacrificing one or two children Kid, this ain't a party, it's an intervention Now I'm staring down the ghosts of old intentions Call me the last in a long line Of broken promises, broken promises I'll take the blame It's what I do. It's what I do.
8.
One Two 03:40
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It's not like in the movies. It's much worse. I've got a million words to curse your name. I've got a million lives to play your game. Starve myself to nothing: now I'm keen I've got a million ways to mean a sentence I've got a million days to wait for your repentance I'm a patient woman But I don't like being lied to One two Punch through Go go K.O. Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you Left right Fight fight Three four Who wants more? Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you It's not enough to cry for. It's too much. I have inked your touch upon my skin Did you ever think I was in your clutches? Draw eyebrows on my eyebrows: now I'm fierce I've got a million ways to pierce your armor I've got a million-mile gaze to penetrate your thoughts One two Punch through Go go K.O. Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you Left right Fight fight Three four Who wants more? Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you I do not need you now, you cannot touch me now You cannot see me now, you cannot see me One two Punch through Go go K.O. Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you Left right Fight fight Three four Who wants more? Tell me again how it's always about you Tell me again how I'm nothing without you Tell me again how I hit like a girl
9.
DGAF 02:45
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Think of the children Think of the neighbors Think of your credit Watch your behavior IDGAF, IDGAF Clean out your inbox Clean up your aura Clean up your schedule You slacker, you horror IDGAF, IDGAF Nice girls don't Nice girls don't go there Nice girls go nowhere Nice girls go nowhere Don't take the subway Don't take the sidewalk Don't take the alley Stay on your own block IDGAF, IDGAF What about thunder? What about earthquakes? What if you get hurt? What if you break? IDGAF, IDGAF Nice girls don't Nice girls don't go there Nice girls go nowhere Nice girls go nowhere Think of the wrinkles Think of the sunlight Think of your waistline Think of the cellulite Think of your eyesight Think of your posture Think of your mother And what it will cost her Think of the sick days Think of the day care Think of the male gaze Think of the gray hair Don't read the comments Don't go on Reddit Don't post your status Forget it, forget it Nice girls don't Nice girls don't go there Nice girls go nowhere Nice girls go nowhere IDGAF, IDGAF
10.
After All 01:55
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And after all it was never about Conquering the corner office in the party dresses If you're gonna to teach the girls to run the world You'd better teach the boys to pick up their own messes
11.
Badlands 06:47
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Someone was talking about a pipeline Saying come on in, the water's fine, the water's all mine If there'd been gas, some kind of fracking Maybe I could've gotten back in the game after all You and me, we're too cool Too beautiful for the rules to apply And I am tired of waiting This used to be the Old West Now it's the home of drag-chute speed tests I still got my cowboy dreams And if you're talking about a new frontier I'll tell you: it's here. It's right here. You and me, we're too cool Too beautiful for the rules to apply And I am tired of waiting Beware the things that weigh you down When you're plotting an escape Beware the voices that condemn you Kneel down now and let us pray It's you and me alone tonight Standing up to a world of lost causes and lost souls You're so fine, so rarefied You look so pretty with the light shining through the bullet holes I'm a six-gun, I'm a six-gun, yeah, I'm a gun tonight I am tired of waiting.

about

Highway Gothic is the name of the typeface used on US road signs. It seemed right for an album that begins in the suburbs and ends in the Badlands.

credits

released March 29, 2019

All songs © 2019 Liz Bagby. Registered with BMI.
Recorded at ButterBean, Mystery Street, and Stagby Manor, Chicago.
Produced, engineered, and mastered by Charlie Crane.
ButterBean Records BB002

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Liz + the Baguettes Chicago, Illinois

Indie rock + alt-country + post-punk = post-country. At least that's what we tell ourselves.

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