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The year of "can't even"

by mike skliar

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1.
Nothing but panic 03:04
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You said you didn’t want folks to panic But you’ve been doing this for years Stoking hatred with baseless lies Playing on racist fears You’ve caused nothing but panic since you rode down that escalator so let us all say with a resounding voice goodbye, good riddance, … later you think you’re a leader who knows the art of the deal but you’re just out for yourself to see how much you can steal you’ve caused nothing but chaos death and misery if we don’t quit you now it could be the end of democracy the faithful will stick with you, though your predecessor they would have crucified funny to talk about crucifixion cause Jesus would be nothing but horrified So where does that leave us In this dangerous time Will things ever be right again Or just in further decline You’ve caused nothing but panic since you rode down that escalator so let us all say with a resounding voice goodbye, good riddance, … later (c) M. Skliar 2020
2.
Democracy blues 01:55
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Democracy is under attack We are quite serious this time You think it can’t happen here Read your history books All the fascist signs Check the boxes Don’t ignore Commit Vote (c) M. Skliar 2020
3.
Can't say we lack experience 02:44
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Looks like rain so I bought a bottle of wine My schedule’s shattered, no more daily grind Not that it was so bad, before, but still This is the year everything is on hold Restaurants vanish businesses get sold Fate is a trickster, showing up like an overdue bill The future is increasingly mysterious Its all gotten so damn serious Less glorious and more hideous Was I sleeping or just delirious Save us from all- encroaching weariness At least after this You can’t say we lack experience The sun peeked thru but I don’t want to ask How soon will we not have to wear a mask Next year at this time, will we be celebrating or not It’s a slippery slope, nothing’s easily predicted Do we want truth or fantasy? Either way we’re addicted The whole thing’s not pretty, but its all we’ve got The future is increasingly mysterious Its all gotten so damn serious Less glorious and more hideous Was I sleeping or just delirious? Save us from all- encroaching weariness At least after this You can’t say we lack experience (c) M. Skliar 2020
4.
Stages of fascism 02:39
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Anarchist jurisdiction, that's a fiction thought up by a fascist prick, whole thing is making me sick we got to stick it to them in November remember those kids in cages, yeah we remember everything that sob does he does for himself himself aind his little family of gold plated elves thinking just about their wealth doing dirty deeds with stealth they don't give a shit about our health Two hundred thousand dead "it is what it is" he said Time to put his regime to bed they try to stuff the court with another right winger wait till January for our middle finger going to expand the court to 40 or 50, put on AOC and Bernie, won't that be nifty This is some shit on a different level, what we got here is the mark of the devil every day another unprecedented outrage a descent into fascism stage by stage stage 1 saying the press is the enemy stage 2 appointing members of your own family stage 3 blame everything on immigrants and foreigners stage 4 lie about the past talk about the way we were stage 5 tell so many lies you can't untangle or make sense stage 6 promise your supporters a big wall, a big fence stage 7 contempt for science contempt for diversity stage 8 good old-fashioned white supremacy stage 9 if there's a question, cause deflection stage 10 go ahead and steal the election stage 11 accuse others of what you are doing in plain sight stage 12 keep the surveillance going all night anarchist juriscition, that's a fiction we've got to vote vote vote vote, vote, vote vote (c) M. Skliar 2020
5.
The oncoming fire 03:19
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He’s using gangs & intimidation, packing the courts w/his cronies Might as well have Leni Riefenstahl film the ceremonies Don’t give me no false equivalence, democracy’s on a respirator One side is reason, the other is a psycho dictator He’s gonna try to subvert the election We need an antibiotic for this fascist infection Started as a little flame, now we’re all gonna get burned I’m thinking that we’ve passed the point of no return Whatever happens in November, it’s a storm unprecedented The cure for that kind of hatred has not been invented He’s gonna try to subvert the election we’re going in a very dangerous direction Look out for chaos and trouble, its coming at every turn There’s a fire out there let’s hope we all don’t get burned (c) M. Skliar 2020
6.
Everything's on hold this year 03:32
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Everything’s on hold this year Its even worse than it appears On blasted heath sits King Lear Oh where’s the kingdom now The stakes were high and then they grew The vilest prophesies came true The evil spirits stick like glue Poisoning our sacred cows The orange man has lost his mind His fools they got out just in time Their replacements haven’t learned their lines We’ve died on opening night There’s a plague on all our lands when good men have refused to stand while the devil issues his commands and smiles in the spotlight in a world that smells of burning tires government troops light Reichstag fires to squeeze an election from flames grown higher the fascist plan once more to fool the fools in their red hats so they don’t see aristocrats who blame the victims and call them rats in the emerging civil war their epitaph will be written plain this was the era of trump insane the truth will hit like hard hard rain to highlight all their sins and on that day we hope comes soon maybe in January, in the afternoon my spirit will rise like a big balloon as the era of light begins Everything’s on hold this year But maybe there’s an end to fear There’ll be a smiles instead of tears When decency finally wins (c) M. Skliar 2020
7.
Show me on the doll 02:40
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I’m out of words I think I’ve said all I can say If you don’t get it by now, something must have led you astray It was self-evident but evidently, you’ve been conditioned Your common sense and your thoughts must have been partitioned You didn’t used to be like this Something must have happened something I missed Show me on the doll where the democrats hurt you Show me where you got filled up with hate You’re willing to let human decency desert you As long as liberals suffer, you think it’s great This is a turning point will you come back from this Empathy comes from maturity but somehow you missed This is bigger than a debate on taxation it goes to basic morality If you support evil, its not just a quirk of charming personality You didn’t used to be like this Something must have happened something I missed Show me on the doll where the democrats hurt you Show me where you got filled up with hate You’re willing to let human decency desert you As long as liberals suffer, you think it’s great (c) M. Skliar 2020
8.
Satan's got a brand new bag 01:41
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Satan’s got a brand new bag wrapped up in a cross and a flag Satan’s using all his tricks Let’s face it Satan is a total dick He’s worse then any virus or germ Satan’s running for a second term Satan’s got a brand new bag Satan likes to make a big splash all he really cares about is cash Staying out of jail’s another goal Satan is a first class asshole The moral fiber of a worm Satan’s running for a second term Satan’s got a brand new bag He’s gonna make everything great Just like that climbing death rate Not midas but the opposite One touch he turns it all to shit It’s a wonder we don’t crash and burn Satan’s running for a second term Satan’s got a brand new bag (c) M. Skliar 2020
9.
Lost innocence 02:36
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Once there were some actors on a stage We’d go see them indoors Or maybe some musicians who came to town This was their year to tour And before the show we’d go to a place With a bunch of tables and chairs A place with four walls, windows and all We’d eat for hours in there And after the show, we’d go indoors again To a crowded noisy bar room Hang with our friends, with handshakes and hugs And plan to do it all again soon What was that world, that ended so fast Now firmly in the past tense Another time, another place Before we lost our innocence
10.
RBG 02:17
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her deathbed did say Don’t nominate a successor ‘till after Inauguration Day When Scalia died it was February you’ll recall But McConnell said “Obama, no dice, no hearing at all” Scalia died nine months before the election in November Now we’ve got five weeks, do they not remember? We’ve got to vote these bastards out this fall If we expect the rule of law to mean anything at all © M. Skliar 2020
11.
We need to have a conversation... 03:27
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We need to have a conversation about politics Everyone says avoid it, but this needs to be fixed I can’t have a relative of mine make a choice so wrong Yes this is going to get ugly, yes it might take long The rest of the family’s quiet, with maybe a wink or a shrug So much easier to sweep this stuff, down under the rug Prior elections were as divisive this time I’m going to insist Doing all I can to stop you voting for a fascist This says something about you I’m Trying to say it with love But where the fuck is your empathy all I see is a lack thereof This might not end well I’m giving it the college try Lots of people around us are going to ask why Maybe I’ve just got a sense although I’m not certain That beneath your right-wing bullshit, there might be a good person Maybe years from now when I’m gone, you’ll remember this I saw something going on that I tried to fix So go ahead for now call me sanctimonious and woke I care enough to make sure you don’t vote for a joke (c) M. Skliar 2020
12.
History (stop me if you heard this) 03:27
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before Difficult birth, revolutionary war Noble principles, a shining hour Takes a long time to water those flowers Human nature, conflict and greed Half of the nation tries to secede Union prevails, a great emancipator Gunned down by hatred that seems to be greater Strides were made, but progress is slow Mansions on a hill but look down below same discrimination with a different name corporate prison industrial game its not all bad news, there’s been some success at its best, its all a work in progress but so much has gone backwards of late witness the rise of the orange face of hate and now the plagues seem almost biblical the challenges are formidable but justice and truth are not invisible a billion together can make a miracle stop me if you heard this before lose a few battles but win the war (c) M. Skliar 2020
13.
Talking anarchist jurisdiction blues 03:04
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Woke up to the news on my phone I learned something previously unknown You might it’s is a lie, some sort of fiction But New York city is an anarchist jurisdiction the department of justice under Barr’s direction I guess they started to do an inspection Something must have happened that made them insist That all of NYC was anarchist I walked outside, fearing for my life Those anarchists causing trouble and strife Saw someone with a bag, I began to fear Till my doorman said, ‘the mailman is here’ (actually it was a woman, said hello to me , scary stuff that federal government! Someone 3000 mile away puts a fifty cent stamp on a piece of paper, and a few days later, its travelled by plane, truck, railroad and on foot all the way to me! Socialism!) Went outside heard the gunfire and bombs Well actually just a stroller pushed by a mom Pushing her anarchist baby to the park To plan a revolution before it gets dark From an open window heard some commie propaganda Maybe in the house was bernie sanders? It was NPR talking RBG and her love of opera- ooh wee! down the block, came the sound of looting or maybe it was one of those antifa shootings? Turns out that all that shouting sound Was the three-year olds in the playground Went into a store, thought the shelves would be bare From the looting and rioting everywhere But the trouble was just at a minor boil Seems they had just run out of truffle oil (What’ll we do.. such depravation…!) So after heading home in this dangerous town With its dangerous sights and dangerous sounds I’ll make this hear little prediction Only an idiot would call this an anarchist jurisdiction (c) M. Skliar
14.
I thought your thoughts would be better thought out 02:24
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It gives me no joy, to see the foolishness you embrace Without empathy, your world is just a cold database Your attraction to right wing hate is bizarre I thought your thoughts would be better thought out then they are Have you always had this bitterness in your heart Diagramming people’s faults in graphics and charts Convinced after misreading a few seminars I thought your thoughts would be better thought out then they are To look at this election and say you’re noncommittal You think you’ve got it figured out, you know very little I guess I’m thru trying to help you to be a mensch Getting too close to your thoughts, I don’t like the stench You can save your self-aggrandizement for your memoir I thought your thoughts would be better thought out then they are (c) M. Skliar 2020
15.
Good trouble (for John Lewis) 02:49
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He said ‘don’t get lost in a sea of despair’ The struggle’s not a day a month or a year Sometimes you need to make a little good trouble To get folks to move outside of their bubble Good trouble, is the kind that benefits all humankind good trouble, will redeem the soul of a nation when we dare to dream on the Edmund Pettis bridge in 1965 marching to keep freedom alive beaten within an inch of his life but non-violent resistance is a much sharper knife Good trouble, is the kind that benefits all humankind good trouble, will redeem the soul of a nation when we dare to dream the Edmund Pettis bridge, let us rename for the soul of a man, and his undying flame John Lewis, a giant among men When will we see his like again, I don’t know when (c) M. Skliar 2020
16.
Dream 01:00
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I had a dream that fascism came to the USA Disguised in the flag and the cross And the protections we had from the Constitution Most of those it turns out we had lost Most of all, I dreamed of disappointment A bridge too far we may have crossed Not much time to redeem ourselves And reclaim some of what was lost (c) M. Skliar 2020

about

These songs were written during July, August and September, 2020. Not surprisingly, given the times we are in (particularly here in the US with an upcoming election in November) many of these songs were inspired by the political and social realities of the moment.

"The year of 'can't even'" seemed to sum up how crazy this year has been (alternate titles I considered included 'the oncoming fire', 'everything's on hold', and 'reading the signs'). No one knows how the end of the year and the beginning of 2021 will turn out, but needless to say, as Bette Davis once said, 'fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride'. Good luck everyone, and don't forget to vote!

I have to thank many folks for continued support and enthusiasm over the years, including friends and family (including Helen who came up with the title of the album) and the many songwriters at the online sites of 'February Album Writing Month' and '50/90 (Fifty songs in 90 days) . Most of these songs were originally posted at the 50/90 site this summer and early fall, and thanks to all who listened and commented.

credits

released October 2, 2020

Mike Skliar- guitars, (acoustic, electric and resonator) harmonica, percussion, lap-style dobro, electronic drums, bass, vocals, keyboards, & various loops/electronica.

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mike skliar New York, New York

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