The Seattle singer-songwriter’s new single is infused with a crisp rhythm, gentle acoustic riffs and intelligent lyrics about a family bereavement launching into heap of detail about life problems, and a sensitive voice reminiscent of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. To explore more of Ben’s music visit this Bandcamp page via the embedded link below or Spotitfy.
My blood burns like diet soda
Fizzing out on the ground
I wish it was my name on the hospital door
But that's not the kinda thing you can say out loud
The bank's foreclosing on grandpa's house
While a stroke peels the last bit of life from his brain
So we go to Florida, me and my dad
To load up the car with anything worth saving
A mug and a lamp and a childhood map
My grandma is crying as we pull away
Then drive up the coast & halfway thru Georgia
I remember that I left the the home video tapes
What will the bank do
With the camcorder-caught childhood that ain't theirs
Someone in a tie will look at it, say it's worthless
Then eat their dinner & say their prayers
But the truth is
The longer you live, the harder it is to stay pure
I wish I wrote Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
It scarcely left me with nothing to say
All i got here is this army of questions
Leaving their bootprints all over my face
Like, which war machine will I vote for?
The one with the cross or the rainbow flag?
Which phone made by slave labor will I use
To call my manager and make sure i'm paid fair?
We're never paid fair...
Which killer cops will I pay with my taxes?
Which prison will I pave riding the bus?
Which drone bomb will kill which parent's child,
While bearing the names of all of us?
And are there tides on our plastic island
Will it someday wash on our shores?
And when is it time to think about the sea?
When it's up to our necks, & not a moment before?
And you told me
The longer you live, the harder it is to stay pure
The longer you stay pure, the harder it is to live
Two Bens left home in 2011
One went to Harvard, one went to heaven
First one got cold so he came inside
Second one stayed true to his hill & died
I wanna throw my body into the river
I wanna build my house on an acre of salt
And hear no news, talk only religion
And forget that i'm human whenever i want
And I'll say
The longer you live, the harder it is to stay pure
The longer you stay pure, the harder it is to live
The longer you live, the harder it is to stay pure
The longer you stay pure, the harder it is to live
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