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A Manual for Defeat

by No Show Ponies

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1.
Don't you know He's coming The coming of the Lord At least i saw that on the highway On a freshly painted board Babe I wouldn't be out here If you'd have just liked to explore Different gender roles Behind closed bedroom doors Oh love Aren't you terrified by love It's always cruel when it's real love It's the rocks and the cliff above Oh love Babe I'm still out here Just trying to pass the time There's no difference between saints And madmen in my mind Both are consumed by terrible visions That render themselves blind Leave us sifting through the wreckage Finding new meanings to mind Oh love Aren't you terrified by love It's always cruel when it's real love It's the rocks and the cliff above Oh love
2.
Walking down suburban streets I keep my dreams tucked underneath my feet Is this the will of a desperate man Or is this something new? Only the losers know my name Somedays I never leave my room I'm just perfecting my vocabulary of doom Someone chain me to a church pew So I can say a prayer of the nadir of my youth Only the losers know my name Only the losers know my name Only the losers know my pain
3.
I went to the innermost cave Determined to return enlightened I didn't learn much save People are horribly frightened Of being lonely People are lonely From the bottom of the well To the top of the cathedral bell People are erecting monuments People are creating documents Not to be lonely People are Lonely People are lonely Hiding in their homes Forgetting that the pyramids Are nothing but tombs If you wear a certain hat You belong to a certain tribe If you pray to a certain god You've got an army on your side People are lonely These people are lonely People are lonely Hiding in their homes Forgetting that the pyramids Are nothing but tombs
4.
A simple operation This full-time occupation When your confidence is tested In need of consolation I'll be someone to watch over you We've traveled such a distance Outlasted the resistance Through daily devestations I got strength from your persistence I'll be someone to watch over you I sing your songs every night I'll sing them for the rest of my life I'll be someone to watch over you
5.
On the 7th day He rested And on the 8th He left Leaving the whole world in charge With businessmen and bureaucrats They made a mockery of Darwin Said, "Let the bland survive Let the natural order fall apart As long as the trains run on time" Make businessmen cry Make businessmen cry Some of us still have a dream Make businessmen cry Sometimes He gets restless And He comes back to play He tries to rid the world Of its fleas with floods and plagues But sometimes He gets restless And then He leaves again And it's back to selling heart attacks To kids for 99 cents Make businessmen cry Make businessmen cry Some of us still have a dream Make businessmen cry Make businessmen cry I could wish more, but I'm not that type of guy Make businessmen cry KEEP HOPE ALIVE!
6.
I woke up in a banana republic When last I slept it was an empire Next thing I know I'll look up And the moon will be on fire Clouds are shifting Camera lens is wide It appears we are drifting Across the great divide Is it just my imagination Running away with me? I hear an opera in the jungle Thunder road is winding through the trees Clouds are shifting Camera lens is wide It appears we are drifting Across the great divide Love redeem us From our darkest night We had all the money And we could not get it right Clouds are shifting Camera lens is wide it appears we are drifting Across the great divide
7.
What will we do if we never see tomorrow? What will we do if we never realize our dream? You keep me hanging on Lord, what have we done wrong If they won't let us in we'll just have to find our own way Something's gonna happen Something's gonna happen Something's gonna happen But will we still be sane? I know we'll find a way But I just want to hear you say It'll be OK if we never see tomorrow
8.
Sometimes I dream of other women And the end of the world Sometimes I wanna crash your father's car And steal your mother's pearls I can be greedy Selfish and vain But oh my love I love you all the same I don't trust any man Without conflict in his eyes I don't trust any woman Who's never been a pawn to desire Someone had to bite the apple I don't care who's to blame Oh my love I love you all the same That old river is flowing It flows to the sea It won't wait for you It won't wait for me Lying in your bed I dreamt of the fall of Rome I did unspeakable things It felt like home Am I the candle Or am I the flame? Oh my love I love you all the same
9.
You can keep Your peasant wages Your false idols Your dogs on the bridges I've already been to jail And I'm not afraid of hell Money don't mean nothing to me I'll sleep without it quite well Who's mad now? I don't need your morals I don't need your laws now They're just another way To keep the poor down I've already been to jail And I'm not afraid of hell Money don't mean nothing to me I'll sleep without it quite well Who's mad now? Gonna carve myself in marble Describe myself in verse I'll be here long after You have done your worst I've already been to jail And I'm not afraid of hell Money Don't mean nothing to me I'll sleep without it quite well Who's mad now?
10.
You talk just like we do But only part of the time You're only this famous For towing that company line It's overrated What you over play And now my love is over I'm not listening tonight I used to hang onto Your every word But now you change so slowly I've outgrown you for sure It's overrated What you over play And now my love is over I'm not listening tonight I can't blame you You just want to be liked Grew up idealistic Cashed in to survive But you used to be mine You used to be mine And now my love is over I'm not listening tonight
11.
One day the light will shine upon the truth In front of the mirror in your birthday suit Dear God, I'm no longer in my youth! You're never as good as you think you are You can dress up and you can drop names You can work hard at playing the game But you're gonna die anyway You're never as good as you think you are You were born at the right time and place You didn't earn it, you don't deserve it You were born with the right mind or face You didn't earn it, you don't deserve it You're never as good as you think you are
12.
San Lorenzo 03:44
Riding down through painted vistas Against the rising of the sun Either the dove shall be released Or it's the cold steel of the gun Your beauty it haunts me Makes me wanna do something bold Last I saw your naked shoulders Get covered up in San Lorenzo The kids are burning insects With lenses in the street And I begin to feel the presence Of some divine comedy Your beauty it eludes me I've never felt so alone I'd give anything to go back And pass the time in San Lorenzo Walking past mass graves Endless skulls and endless bones Merchants and slaves All sharing the same tombs Your beauty it comforts me Makes me forget all I know I'm hoping for a chance encounter On the way to San Lorenzo

about

A Manual for Defeat is an album about hard times for people who have been through them. It is three-piece rock music recorded mostly live to tape. What you’ll hear on this album is the sound of a band in a room with minimum overdubs and minimum fussing about. That magic comes from the performances, musicianship, and poetry of the lyrics. It is literate and primitive. It sounds timeless, but could only have been made right now. Looking out at the senselessness of the modern world, coming back unbowed from the verge of defeat.

credits

released December 10, 2013

No Show Ponies is:

Benjamin Brown ~ voice, guitar
Jefferson Brown ~ voice, bass guitar
Alex Moralez ~ drums, percussion

Keith Langford ~ additional percussion on “I Love You All The Same”
and “I’m Not Listening to The Radio Tonight”

Recorded live to tape at SuperPop Records, Austin, TX
Additional recording at Casa de Midwood, Austin, TX

All songs written by J. Brown/B. Brown

Engineered, mixed & mastered by Seth Gibbs

Photos by Gabriella McSwain ~ Way of Light Photography
Art direction & design by Felicia Patxot & Jim Ranes

Produced by Ramsay Midwood & No Show Ponies
Executive produced by Tameem Shraibati (TTT)

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all rights reserved

tags

about

No Show Ponies Austin, Texas

No Show Ponies is a three-piece rock & roll band from Austin, Texas that combines elements of indie/alternative rock, classic rock and post-punk. Fronted by brother Ben (voice, guitar) and Jeff Brown (voice, bass) with Alex Moralez on drums. NSP has shared stage and studio with Shinyribs, The Gourds, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Dee Graham, Marah and Chrysta Bell among others. ... more

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