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May You Live In Interesting Times

by David Ford

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1.
May you stand in the face of the weather May you live in interesting times May you break from the fashion May you smuggle compassion behind enemy lines May you walk with respect for the journey If you’re offered a shortcut, decline May you stand in the face of the weather May you live in interesting times May you live in interesting times
2.
I truly meant it at the start Cross my cold and empty heart I never thought that this would happen to me I came with virtuous intentions And offered honest interventions And I believed it all so innocently But then the more I learned about The way the whole thing’s figured out I found there’s really not a thing I can do So I got myself indoctrinated Into what I thought I always hated Come so far I might as well see it through And now I’m singing Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good? Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good? It’s this crazy situation I get the same old accusations “Hey why don’t you show a little more class And state your honest point of view?” But you’ve got to understand that You don’t need convictions when you’re out on your ass “Oh have mercy I disclaim!” I cannot be the one to blame You know I never mean the words that I say Cos I’ve been known to praise the Lord And then put my neighbours to the sword It’s complicated, hell, what else can I say? And so I’m singing Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good? Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good? It’s just the sweet manipulation It’s the myth of cause and correlation Take a bad idea then move it along And still we tend to be resistant To one whose views are inconsistent More than one who’s just consistently wrong But if you beat the same old drum Say something slick but kinda dumb Well then there’s every chance that you’re gonna win And yes although I may be faking You’ve got to understand that Taking care of business is the business I’m in That’s why I’m singing Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good? Ooh ooh ooh Don’t you know that you’ve never had it so good?
3.
The bar is open but please don’t come in When you step through the door Well God knows what you’ll bring It hardly seems worth it for a bottom shelf gin The bar is open but please don’t come in Now I view with suspicion every penny that I touch And my fingers are bleeding ‘Cause I wash them so much And this blood on my hands is the mark of my sin The bar is open but please don’t come in And I smile through my teeth at the regulars who Keep on pouring on in ‘Cause it’s just what they do And I want to punch each of them square in the chin The bar is open but please don’t come in Now they scream for more booze at the tops of their voices And I’m part of the problem but I’m all out of choices All I want is to stop but I don’t know where to begin The bar is open but please don’t come in Now I hate this hypocrisy that I represent But if I don’t go to work, well I won’t make the rent Now Emily’s pregnant and we’re all on our own The bar is open but please stay at home
4.
The wall has come between us I cannot stare it down We fight upon the beaches We yield the higher ground The wall has come between us It’s blocking out the sun All hail the stable genius Sing a prayer and clean your gun Build it up high And build it up strong Everybody choose a side Switch off and sing along The wall has come between us We’re told it’s for the best The Devil holds a mirror And nature does the rest The wall has come between us Does anybody know If these fences make good neighbours Berlin to Jericho Build it up high And build it up strong Everybody choose a side Switch off and sing along The wall has come between us Was there ever any doubt That we should fear the enemy within More than the enemy without? Build it up high And build it up strong Everybody choose a side Switch off and sing along The wall has come between us Divided we must fall And somewhere in the ashes we’ll forget Why we ever thought to build this wall
5.
6ft Apart 03:01
Baby there’s trouble that we cannot see Don’t know what’s gonna happen to you or to me Well it’s not the answer, It’s only a start We’ll all stand together six feet apart I’m gonna to miss you my brother, Lord only knows when We’ll be down at the bottle shop drinking again Love to the family with all of my heart I’ll be right beside you, six feet apart And maybe September, well there’ll be a bright, sunny day ‘Til then I’ll be keeping away Oh yeah I’m sorry my darling but you can’t go to school Or play with your cousins or go to the pool I know just how cruel and unfair it all seems But it’s hard to explain just what sacrifice means Oh Maria, it just ain’t any good I can’t come and see you like I promised I would All this saving your life, well it’s breaking your heart But you’ll always be with me six feet apart Yes you’ll always be with me six feet apart
6.
2 Shots 03:55
I gave my finest days to Rock and Roll Soda pop and philly soul It’s a choice I’d recommend I knew it couldn’t last forever though It’s funny how you never know You’re done ‘til it’s the end Oh raise me high above the flood Deploy the soldiers in the blood The time has come, the moment’s gone The needle I can pin my hopes on Two shots of Astra-Zeneca And all the hope eternity can spring Then I’ll be back out singing Two shots of Astra-Zeneca And thinking just as wishful as I can That I can see you once again The fruit has fallen from the apple trees The wasted opportunities Are strewn across the ground And there they sit and rot like expertise While a thousand dumb conspiracies Come circling around So raise me high above the flood Deploy the soldiers in the blood The time has come, the moment’s gone The needle I can pin my hopes on Two shots of Astra-Zeneca And all the hope eternity can spring Then I’ll be back out singing Two shots of Astra-Zeneca And thinking just as wishful as I can That I can see you once again The Sun will rise The Earth will spin The bastards will find a way to win And this broken heart still holds a song I haven’t seen you round here in quite some time How you been? Yeah I’ve been fine I’ve missed this, how about you?
7.
Maybe I’m just like you and I’m sick of all these ridiculous things I do Maybe you’re just like me and you fall a part so expertly Maybe we’re just like them and we screw it up every time and time again But I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Oh I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Out in the weekend lights we learn to choose our battles and pick our fights Out on the frozen sea we come to dance so recklessly Out in the violent storm we gather our regrets to keep us warm But I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Oh I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Some days hit you worse than others Cast into the valley of the jilted lovers And I never hit the bottom but I keep on sinking But somewhere in the darkness I get to thinking that Maybe I’m just like you and I’m sick of all these ridiculous things I do Maybe you’re just like me and we fall a part so expertly Maybe we can just agree that I’m gonna lean on you and you can lean on me And I won’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Oh I won’t ever wanna be with someone not like you I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you Oh I don’t ever wanna be with someone not like you
8.
We’re stuck here together, we don’t have a choice If you lower your weapon I will lower my voice And maybe we can think about what makes us the same And let’s not get hung up on my face or my name Or the circumstance that brought my people to here Or the books I have read or the demons I fear Now all that I know is mostly things I have heard And I’ve come to repeat them like some old mockingbird Now the contrary voices, they don’t make any sense So I don’t trust the speaker and I refute evidence That denies the opinions I’ve learned to repeat And my rage at this heresy put my boots on the street Where I proudly declare that I’d sooner be dead Than embrace this philosophy that I’ve never read ‘Cause it’s something I’ve grown up always saying I hated It’s a rationale beautifully uncomplicated But then maybe my enemy is just one more mockingbird Devoutly repeating this truth that they’ve heard So let’s come together and sing a new song But first let’s concede we were probably wrong To be digging our heels in, proclaiming the word Of the half-conversation that we actually heard And that maybe there’s merit in the things we don’t know And that your path may not be the best way to go And I won’t get my way and that’s how it should be And your good ideas will temper the bad ones in me ‘Cause the truth is most likely some place in between And not shining immaculate at either extreme As to rule by one scripture with hands over ears Would suggest we’ve learned nothing these past thousand years So if somebody tells you that they’ve got it worked out And they know all the answers and there can be no doubt And they don’t need to compromise and will not discuss If their reasoning’s sound and their logic robust Well I don’t know a lot but I know that they’re wrong That’s just one mockingbird replicating one song It may not be easy but it’s time to take pause Maybe you can sing my song and I promise I’ll learn to sing yours
9.
It’s been a long and glorious road that’s led to here But now I feel the days are closing in Now I don’t see nothing wrong with a little healthy competition But I don’t like what it takes to win (sing to me) Anyone can see that this house is falling down I don’t believe you can fix it from inside And so we ask ourselves what colour to paint these crumbling walls And even then we can’t decide Oh tell me mama How am I free to choose When I cannot believe the news Oh it’s just the goddam constitutional blues Now I try to fool my mind with the blindest of optimism I sing “everything’s gonna be alright” But that only really served to pour a little gasoline Onto the dying of the light Oh tell me mama How am I free to choose When I cannot believe the news Oh it’s just the goddam constitutional blues
10.
And we breathe Take a minute or two And allow for the fallout to settle On this test of American metal And just see what remains And we stand Is there any with wisdom enough here to offer a reason For the two armies, each one yelling treason That doesn’t call them insane? So let your freedom ring We all listen but we don’t hear the same thing And I’ve done all I can but I don’t understand It all makes about as much sense to me As person, man, woman, camera, TV Oh I’ve tried Honest I have To identify some kind of meaning To disavow any radical leanings I may have kept from my youth And I’ve tried Heaven knows how I’ve tried To see it all from another perspective And wind up somewhere close to objective Like maybe the truth So let your freedom ring We all listen but we don’t hear the same thing And I’ve done all I can but I don’t understand It all makes about as much sense to me As person, man, woman, camera, TV Well okay Let’s just say that I’m wrong And the deep state reeled me in like a sucker Those nefarious snowflake motherfuckers They put their feet in my shoes But even if You convince me of this And I repent for my godless behavior I just can’t believe any credible saviour would take the form of Ted Cruz So let your freedom ring We all listen but we don’t hear the same thing And I’ve done all I can but I don’t understand It all makes about as much sense to me As person, man, woman, camera, TV And I’ve done all I can but I don’t understand Y’all make about as much sense to me As person, man, woman, camera, TV

about

May You Live in Interesting Times, is one of two long players that Ford is due to release this year. “It’s a snapshot of a strange moment in our history,” he says. “It’s about the unexpected forces that hold us together and those that drive us apart, seeking to understand the modern predicament as something altogether more complex and nuanced than the much-cited battle between love and hate. I wanted to tackle some grand subject matter, but through the personal stories of the characters who inhabit the songs." Naturally, Ford is being coy – it’s the new him – although, almost as a matter of course, he’s about four steps hence, out-manoeuvring whatever zeitgeist you’re willing to throw up at him.

credits

released March 25, 2022

All Tracks:
Written by David Ford
Produced by David Ford
Recorded at Stable Genius Studio, Eastbourne
Additional Production and Mix by James Brown for Just Managing at The Union, NY
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio, NY
All rights owned by David Ford

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