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Dystopian Weekends

by Leeroy Stagger

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1.
Lately I been thinking about it Wondering how it all went down Looking for a reason Looking for a way to get out this town Momma says it’s always raining Daddy’s always working on a song Even my mother in law’s, got something to say About how I think wrong Maybe I’m expired, I’m so tired of always letting you down If I can’t make you happy I might as well do something for me Did I waste a life on the road Singing someone else’s songs for free The business isn’t my business My baby says I’m always blue It ain’t been nothing but cold at home, I ain’t got nothing to do Maybe I’m expired, I’m so tired of always letting you down It’s always one step forward, two steps back But we got more love than money, that’s enough to keep us on track Pack it up and go back west It’s not like it ain’t ever been done but back home it’s all money And how do you get it, when you ain’t got none Kids and a women back home Their keeping me satisfied But this towns sinking down Maybe it’s time to get back to her side Maybe I’m expired, I’m so tired of always letting you down Maybe we’re just fine, all in good time, I’ll stop letting you down Maybe I’m just tired, Maybe I’m just wired and I’m coming down
2.
It’s midnight at the oasis We got some two bit card game to play And it’s pretty bright from the city light spinning midnight into the day And the desert night is colder Than expected for this time they say But it’s midnight at the oasis And I’m way too drunk to stay I stumbled alone down Freemont Street Found a sister with nothing to wear She got off her split shift and needed a lift and there ain’t much going down there So I walked her home and pretended I wasn’t interested in paying her fare But it’s midnight at the oasis’ And I’m way to drunk to care So if you’ve got mud in your feelings if you’ve got broke in your brain If you’re ready to fight with the new days light If you feel more in than sane I know a nun that will cook you a hotdog I know a dancer that will teach you to kiss But it’s midnight at the oasis And your pants are covered in……goodnight Irene.
3.
Greedy Guts 04:50
Greedy guts came paddling down the Ottawa river Looking for a claim to call his own Staring off into a newborn nation on a landscape of stolen land and snow Greedy guts was whistling out some forgotten tune Something about destiny and fear He was talking some jive about moral superiority While the heat was rising around here Oohhhhh momma, What has been delivered? What has caused this darkness to remain? Oohhhhh momma, everything is changing And I’m not sure that I can stand this pain Greedy guts was buying up all the land and timber Damning up the rivers lakes and streams He sure as heck, was no friend to the poor And he was stealing all the young persons dreams The air was thick with smoke and gasoline The water full of cancer and cocaine Some people got together tried drive him out But greedy and his cronies would remain Oohhhhh momma, What has been delivered? What has caused this, darkness to remain? Oohhhhh momma, everything is changing And I’m not so sure, that I can stand this pain You can rage against the broken dreams, kick against the apathetic pricks Make signs, sing out, even get arrested But you might get nothing but a truncheon stick and bricks They sang out, This brand of Freedom, is a prison We are slaves to the practice of liberty More disrupters, more earth based religion And more time in nature for folks like you and me One day Greedy guts, fell hard from on high A wasted life of extravagance and fool hearty ways We will not look kindly to the history he destroyed and the reign of greedy gut’s days Oohhhhh momma, Did I see you crying? What has caused this? I can feel your pain Oohhhhh momma, everything is changing And I don’t know how, we all can remain
4.
A hole in my stocking, a hole in my shoe, please can you spare a dollar of two. If you haven’t a dollar a quarter will do and if you haven’t a quarter, may God bless you Christmas for the poor The down and the out The beasts of burden The angel of doubt He was out on the corner Famished for sure Tired of the hustle Looking out for the cure No food in our belly, No change for the bus No, Father Christmas didn’t give a damn about us Down at the mission Dressed up for the feast In these rags of beauty She was trying at least A hole in my stocking a hole in my shoe, please can you spare a dollar of two. If you haven’t a dollar a quarter will do and if you haven’t a quarter, may God bless you Politicians are stirring all those gifts but so bored tearing all through the wrapping in the name of the lord A feast for the poor some reprieve form the cold In the year of austerity In a kingdom of gold Down at the mission Lined up at the trough Father Christmas appeared With a tubercular cough But it was hard not to smile With a belly that full a fat goose and pudding a warm a bed in hall A hole in my stocking a hole in my shoe, please can you spare a dollar of two. If you haven’t a dollar a half dollar will do and if you haven’t a half dollar, may God bless you Christmas in the year of austerity Next year son, Next year
5.
Give me something half as real As these words I'm on tonight There’s nothing there but a nightmare And I’m aching for some light The fangs of New York are loaded And she's searching for a song I leave the lights of Broadway I’ve felt so down so long The fangs of New York Are sharpened to a point Of a wasted city psychopath. And a pay to play beer joint Try as you may The kids will rule the streets With sex and drugs and EDM But try and get some sleep At 53rd and 3rd I broke down and laughed There’s a poet on every corner here out looking for the path The fangs of New York Are sharpened to a point Of a lovely city psychopath And a pay to play beer joint The fangs of New York are bloody So come on baby let me in I'm so lonely for a night out/vision There nothing like this where I’ve been Tell the good doctor and the cricket We’ll be coming back next spring When the cold has left the concrete And the chimes of freedom ring That town was awful pretty And I could hang around a while The people there seemed pretty nice And I liked the laidback style But give me something half as real As these streets I'm on tonight I'm searching for some magic I ain’t putting up a fight The fangs of New York Are sharpened to a point Of a lovely city psychopath And a pay to play beer joint The fangs of New York are poems So come on baby let me in I'm so lonely for a night out There nothing like this where I’ve been
6.
He was breaking into cars on Christmas Eve She was out on the corner trying to score a little reprieve It’s getting harder and harder to believe And mirrors belong on walls not on tables I was sitting at home wondering what comes next I saw a flash of light and a bullet proof vest Gunned down in the street for doing his best ain’t we all doing something that we shouldn’t? Oh——ohhh look at it snow I’m sitting pretty by the fire you know Baby’s safe and warm Safe from all this worlds harm While we look for something to believe in It’s a dark street In a cold town In a mean old world, always knocking guy’s down And it all goes to show it keeps spinning round and round So you better keep your feet on the concrete Christmas Carol was crying, trying to cover that pain She’d start it off different, but it would end the same Sticking Christmas cheer deep into her veins Well we all gotta find a little comfort Oh——ohhh look at it snow I’m sitting pretty by the devil you know Baby’s safe and warm Safe from all this worlds harm While we look for something to believe in Bob was staying clean, got a place of his own Stopped breaking into cars, called his mother on the phone Not asking for money, not cooking up that stone A twisted Christmas miracle for someone You know that Santa is on his way with the drugs in his sleigh Trying to hem the demons in, try to quite up that brain a little dirtier that ours, but it needs love just the same a life in a world full of trouble
7.
My God she screams out, I’ve been hit Rubber bullets, violent shit Who’s all this freedom for, anyway? My God she screams out They’ve killed a man Fake dollar bill in the palm of his hand He’s lying on the concrete screaming out for his momma Riots in the street, they burned the station Screams of a violent administration This ain’t freedom this ain’t new This ain’t me, this ain’t you Holy God, holy mother She’s my sister he’s my brother Why? My God he cries out, what’s it for? Tears and gas and goddamn war’ He fought the fascists when I was young Get your knee from off his neck He can’t breathe, are you done yet? He’s sent in the army to do the will of the people Police playing soldiers Kicked in the head, another black teenager ends up dead There’s your freedom, 40 acres, no future for black teenagers Holy Christ, where’s my mother Don’t touch my sister, get of my brother why? shooting starts, this is America, I can’t find my way home
8.
Baby are you crying? I’m crying too It’s so cold in here, But I still believe in you And I know it’s never perfect, and it never was dream But I can see the beach from here, from your front porch screen Does anybody live here, is there anybody home? you’re living in the city, to live among the trees but always feeling so alone Does anybody live here, Does anybody care? I guess you’re moving on, I hope you do well out there I thought we could be a family, we could really make it pay I tried to hem in all my demons, but they would never let you stay But there’s too much broken feelings, too many empty threats I guess it’s all a gamble, on to whom you place your bets Does anybody live here, is there anybody home? To live among the people, but always feeling so alone Does anybody live here, Does anybody care? I guess you’re moving on, I hope you do well out there When you coming back this way, When you coming back this way, When you coming back this way. Please come home I thought he was a goner, washed up crazy fool Always stuck in second gear, Always talking like a tool But a little bit of truth. A little kindness too He was looking out for answers the way that searchers do Does anybody live here? Is this house a home Can you face a past, without leaving me alone Does anybody live here, Do you even care? It wasn’t meant to be, I hope you do well out there
9.
How do you live with a broken heart you just do How do you feel when it’s all take it all from you They tell me I shouldn’t drink they tell me not to fight But they don’t feel what I feel in the night So how do you live with a broken heart, you just do It’s this broken world that set me to think this way I used to have a home but she’s saying I can’t stay Well the ghosts come quick through no fault of my own I kill em with the bottle I kill em with the stone It’s this broken world that set me to think this way He’s waiting for me in some dark corner She’s feeding that broken wing She’s and addict in the attic, With her finger on my trigger Giving names to the songs that I won’t ever sing Well her momma wasn’t around, my daddy spoke in fists Prone to fits of rage, She couldn’t take too much more of this Headed out on her own, out into streets of rage She lived like a child busted out of its cage Her momma wasn’t around and my daddy he spoke with his fists He’d go , knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, Her around She’s go , knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, Me around How do you love with a broken heart you just do How do you breathe when something dark takes hold of you How do you leave when he’s says he was wrong your down on your knees and you can’t be strong How do you love with a broken heart you just do
10.
You were working on that Willie Nelson record. You took us to the fifth avenue bar It might have been the greatest night of my life It might have been but I can’t be too sure And you wouldn’t even let me meet my hero You said you didn’t want me to be crushed Anyway it turns out he’s a real asshole And it never would’ve added up to much It turns out you were adding up to something But what it was wasn’t enough to keep you here After all it was you who’s always crying Even though we never saw you shed a tear So I just want to thank for the kindness I just want to thank you for your songs I just want these tears out of my head They meant to hang around this long And I wish I would’ve know you had this darkness I wish I would’ve stayed in touch some more I wish I would’ve taken up that offer to meet you up Ventura before Someday when I get off of this highway Someday we will walk along this road There’s a picture of you out there on the water In that yellow buskin coat bathed in gold
11.
Walking slowly down the road waiting for my ship to show It’s all I can do to keep from crying it’s so dark here late at night I can’t find the way I can’t do what’s right I don’t know that I’ve become I don’t know what we’ve become everything is easy when your free everything is terribly, beautiful to me the I’m wondering by the side of the road finding everything I’ve not been told don’t bother to come………… looking foooooor me Neil Young on the stereo he’s got it all, look at him go it’s mind altering consequences enough bullshit to mend your fences everything is easy when your young you can see straight to the door of the place where you come from it’s easy to get paranoid all the weed and all the glory it’s easy to get caught, under your failings all my friends are writing songs about how some fucker done them wrong but not me I try to keep it to my self I got secrets, best laid plans all these years drawn on my hands it’s nothing new it’s not enough to make me rich everything is easy when you got it all but the problem with easy is there’s no place fun to fall when you’ve got your life all sorted out I’ll meet you there all full of my doubt and I walk you the places I have been before

about

Recorded at the famous Afterlife Studios in Vancouver accidentally during the kickoff of a global pandemic, Dystopian Weekends is the serum of truth with a slice of light and darkness that we all need right now.

I’m very proud of the last couple records I’ve made but had tried very hard to reach as many people as possible with the production of those records, this record I made for my myself and instead of referencing what was on the radio at the time, I went back to vintage Bob Dylan records and records like 421 Ocean Blvd as well as The Silver-Tongued Devil to plant some production seeds. I wanted the songs to speak for themselves and definitely followed some more traditional guideposts.

After 4 years of relentless touring, my band, The Rebeltone Sound needed a break. I decided to go to Vancouver and put together a group of friends that I’ve always wanted to record with. I’d always wanted to work with John Raham (Frazey Ford, Destroyer) and it happened that everybody was available that week. Little did we know that a global pandemic was sitting at our doorstep, it all started going down while we were recording. We were getting all these updates from our phones whilst we’re sitting in this big black bunker of a studio while our phones are exploding with all this terrible news and we’re sitting there trying to make a record.

I think you can feel the nervous energy in the playing and the vocal delivery which actually makes for a beautiful record.

credits

released October 15, 2021

Produced by John Raham and Leeroy Stagger

Recorded at Afterlife Studios, Vancouver

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Leeroy Stagger

Leeroy Stagger is an award winning singer songwriter and Producer from Victoria B.C Canada. He has toured and played with artists such as Steve Earle, Jason Isbell, Drive By Truckers, Josh Ritter and more.

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