Get all 183 No Idea Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 75%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Four Songs (2024 Remaster), Dream Gig, Four, Braves / Momiji, Ripped Together, Torn Apart, DEAD BARS / THE TIM VERSION, Everywhere Else, Empty Beach Town, and 175 more.
1. |
For the Birds
01:46
|
|||
|
1. FOR THE BIRDS I saw an unfeathered bird trying to fly and he flapped his little wings so hard, but he never found the sky. And I knew that he would die down there, so I picked him up and put him where he could be with all his feathered friends, in a nest that he could stay in for awhile. And another bird flew down from in a tree. And he flew into a window that all the other birds could see. And I knew that he would break his bones if he didn't learn to take it slow, think about the world around him and question what the answers are and why. And everyone's got their own questions to ponder and everyone's got their own deserts to wander, but the ugly truth is that sometimes a bird is gonna die.
Backup Vocals: Dan Padilla, Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick, Jeff Brawer. Hello: Jeff Brawer.
|
||||
2. |
Hello, Waterface
01:55
|
|||
|
2. HELLO, WATERFACE Oh God, keep the sunshine from my tired twisted eyes. Keep the promise of the good times far from me. I don’t wanna see the world outside the windows I don’t have, where I am damn near at the end of everything. I know the rivers that roll through it and the forests are deep rooted, but none of that will ever come to me. The only thing I’ll ever see are the four grey walls surrounding me and any light that comes from a computer screen. Oh irony, the irony of living for the ends, when all you want is underneath your feet. There ain’t life, it’s all sick and twisted jokes down here where I am, damn near at the end of everything.
Backup Vocals: Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick, Dan Padilla, Jeff Brawer.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
3. A DREAM ABOUT DEAN’S DREAM I had a dream about “Dean’s Dream” and everyone was in it. And we all stood stone-deaf dead at a bar, where the morning sun shone in. And I saw a lot of friends who were long since gone, and a few newcomers in. And things was alright in the dream I had last night. And a band played on the stage but nobody was in it. They played all the songs we’d want to hear, as if the gods had somehow willed it. And all the faces in the room would trade greets and handshakes amongst the tunes. And things was alright in the dream I had last night. At the stage for the last song a crowd grew round, then someone yelled “Dean’s Dream” and the drummer counted down. When it got to the part right after the part, where Dean Clean gets in a fight, everyone yelled in the dream I had last night, “He’s alright!”
Backup Vocals: Will Thomas, Jeff Brawer, Dan Padilla, Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick.
|
||||
4. |
Holidays and Birfdays
03:57
|
|||
|
3. A DREAM ABOUT DEAN’S DREAM I had a dream about “Dean’s Dream” and everyone was in it. And we all stood stone-deaf dead at a bar, where the morning sun shone in. And I saw a lot of friends who were long since gone, and a few newcomers in. And things was alright in the dream I had last night. And a band played on the stage but nobody was in it. They played all the songs we’d want to hear, as if the gods had somehow willed it. And all the faces in the room would trade greets and handshakes amongst the tunes. And things was alright in the dream I had last night. At the stage for the last song a crowd grew round, then someone yelled “Dean’s Dream” and the drummer counted down. When it got to the part right after the part, where Dean Clean gets in a fight, everyone yelled in the dream I had last night, “He’s alright!”
Backup Vocals: Will Thomas, Jeff Brawer, Dan Padilla, Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick.
|
||||
5. |
Funny Movies
03:55
|
|||
|
5. FUNNY MOVIES Some people think it gets easier to cope. Well I wish it was. Some people think you can’t go on without hope, but I’ve seen it done. Some people think that life is just a joke and I kinda hope they’re right. ‘Cuz I like watchin’ funny movies, I like to laugh until I cry. I hate to think that things will probably just stay fucked until I die. But I do and I’d rather not have to. Nobody thinks that nothing ain’t worth anything. Well I wish it was. Nobody understands the possibilities. But I’ve seen it done. And I’m the only one I know who never knows, when I don’t think that I’m right. And I don’t think that I’m right.
Backup Vocals: Dan Padilla, Will Thomas, Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick.
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
6. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY IS DOGS If there ever was innocence, then I can’t recall, but the linchpin got pulled and the castle did fall. And the stones from the wreckage were gathered and saved, to be thrown at the young and the trusting. If there ever was wisdom it’s since been misplaced. Gone with the innocence that’s since been erased. The light of a child, the words of an old man, have been stamped out to shorten the beginning and the end. We don’t talk much about. We don’t speak out of turn. We don’t challenge our teachers, ‘cuz one day we’ll learn that the wheels of progress with all the hammers and the gears, pull rank on survival and instinct of one million years. If there ever was compassion, then its story’s been sold. Stripped down for parts and then left in the cold. It’s all charity and religion we’ll give money to, just don’t ask me to do any favors for you. And if there ever was justice and it ever was blind, then the scales have been rigged and the verdicts tongue-tied. Vae victis, vae victis. While Brennus’s sword weighs favor against what most folks can afford.
Backup Vocals: Jeff Brawer. 1st Guitar Solo: Scott Laval. 2nd Guitar Solo: Russ Van Cleave. Dogs Barking: Ozzy, Otto and Stella. Ice Sucking Sounds: Andy Pants.
|
||||
7. |
Plague Dogs
02:54
|
|||
|
7. PLAGUE DOGS Goddamn the water, I can’t stand that tank no more. If we’re breaking out for something, we better be breaking out for sure. And all the bad things that keep happening, they keep coming from my head. We’ll just have to live like animals if all the good masters are dead. They’ll come with every helicopter and white coat that they have. They’ll bring their guns and demonize plague dogs that have gone mad. They’ll be no place that’s safe to hide, when your only friends are gone. When you’re stuck out in the open, you gotta be stupid or be strong. Most folks proudly wear the tags of their oppressor and repeat the same old tricks of untold centuries. Others learn better than to venture into places they’re not welcome, ‘cuz no untamed dog will ever wander free. Out there is our island, it’s not so very far from here. I can see it in the distance, I can see it very clear. And our back’s against the ocean. There’s just two choices left for me, drowning in a tank of water or swimming out to sea.
Backup Vocals: Dan Padilla.
|
||||
8. |
Men of Compromise
04:23
|
|||
|
8. MEN OF COMPROMISE A company man climbs a company ladder without ever looking down. A company man climbs a company ladder. He knows what he wants and he gets what he’s after. Smiles in the face of the old blood, while he twists the knife that drags them down. And a company man’s got it all figured out, from start to finish before school lets out. The earth must carry more wealth and power than all the heavens can afford, while the average man needs chemical dependencies to cope with the day to day. And the whiny little prick with a sign stuck to a stick thinks all his cryin’s gonna make the world change. A politic man climbs a politic ladder without ever looking down. A politic man climbs a politic ladder, he cuts right straight to the heart of the matter. What’s good for him must be good for you, in a politic man’s town. And a politic man gets the keys to the system and he works all his life to keep the doors well hidden. Lies and delusion, kickbacks and collusion, buy the jewels with which he’s crowned. While the world gets by on all the freaks it tries to hide. And they’ve all had their fill of bending to your will.
Backup Vocals: Dan Padilla, Mike Paul, Richie Lawler, Will Thomas, Tim Fitzpatrick, Jeff Brawer.
The sample at the beginning is used with kind permission from The Nobel Foundation.
“Bertrand Russell - Nobel Lecture: What Desires Are Politically Important?”. Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 7 Aug 2013. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1950/russell-lecture.html>
|
||||
9. |
Red Wine Party
02:25
|
|||
10. |
The Yuckface Symbol
01:48
|
|||
|
10. Nicotine, Caffeine, Methamphetamine, Luvox, Zoloft, Paxil, Tylenol, Heroin, Morphine, Dexedrine, Thorazine, Ethanol, Methanol, Isopropyl Alchohol. Sick, sick. We’re all sick. Roxys, Oxys, Hydrocodone, Methadone, Ritalin, Lithium, Haldol, Adderal, Cocaine, Ephedrine, Psilocybin, Gasoline, Benzodiazepine, Tamiflu, Glue, Vicodin, Valium, Robitussin, Krylon, Marijuana, LSD, PCP and Ecstasy, Vitamins A, C, D and B2, Ready Whippin’, Toad Lickin’, Flintstone’s Chewables.
Backup Vocals: Richie Lawler, Tim Fitzpatrick, Jeff Brawer, Dan Padilla
|
||||
11. |
Die in Yer Sleep
06:25
|
|||
|
11. DIE IN YER SLEEP Maybe I can roll down the Ohio highway in a long black Cadillac back seat with some empty beer cans and some hand-written lyrics and see if I just can’t drift off to sleep. And maybe I won’t wake up in the morning, I can just keep on dreaming forever of a place to call home and a family that’s loving and living as light as a feather. Maybe I’ll get myself a cheap motor inn, a hotel room, old number 8, and I can call on the lord to send a little white angel. Say my last prayers and wait. When you’re worn out on luck and run out on dreams, down to your last bit of hope in some old ‘Stray Dog Town’. For all the blue skies there’s many it seems, who can’t find ways to part the gray clouds. But the beauty they pull out of life’s tragedies, keep some slack at the end of my line. And the longer I live to watch ‘em all up and leave, the more I’d rather just follow behind.
Backup Vocals: Scott Laval. Pedal Steel Guitar: Mike Collins.
|
||||
12. |
Fish Oar Die
04:16
|
|||
|
12. FISH OAR DIE Sometimes the things that fly can’t always bring you down. And everything we learn to drive, we drive into the ground. Some people tread a fine thread my friend, just to throw it all away. So as long as I can stand, I’d rather go fishing everyday. Then everybody freaked out and everything burned down. And anything that walked on legs was beat into the ground. The lines and all the cast nets were thrown out with the castaways, but the last two people standing had to go fishing anyway.
Backup Vocals: Richie Lawler, Susie Lawler, Carol Wheeler, Will Thomas, Dan Padilla, Tim Fitzpatrick, Jeff Brawer, Mike Paul, Scott Laval. Throat Singing: Will Thomas, Andy Pants, Russ Van Cleave.
|
||||
If you like Ordinary Life, you may also like:
You Can't Stay Here
by Iron Chic
supported by 8 fans who also own “Ordinary Life”
This is one of the albums that sounds better when your life sucks.
go to album
supported by 8 fans who also own “Ordinary Life”
go to album
COMFORT IN THE DISCORD (2014)
by THE HOLY MESS
supported by 8 fans who also own “Ordinary Life”
This album is basically all I listened to for five months, and I think that says a lot.
go to album
Death is Nothing to Us
by Fiddlehead
Boston band featuring members of Have Heart and Basement take their earnest, motivational post-hardcore to thrilling new heights.
go to album
Impossible Sum
by maxwell stern
Poignantly rendered alternative rock from Maxwell Stern, formerly of Signals Midwest, explores feelings of disconnection and belonging.
go to album
Tying Airplanes To The Ground
by maxwell stern
The Philadelphia singer-songwriter offers a gentle & heartfelt track with all proceeds going to the National Independent Venue Association.
go to album
Still Have The Nerve To Call Ourselves A Band
by THE TIM VERSION
supported by 8 fans who also own “Ordinary Life”
go to album
