Get all 21 Adam Balbo releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Clown World, Glitch, Adam Balbo Archive III (2009-2011), Twenty, Redemption, One-room Kingdom, A Little Bit Ludicrous, Adam Balbo Archive II (2006-2008), and 13 more.
1. |
|
|||
|
Going down the rabbit hole, going down the rabbit hole
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
God only knows what the fuck I’ll find.
Walk a razor’s edge. I’ll make it mine.
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
I’m not alone. There’s freaks like me
Only ecstacy and misery.
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
Going down the rabbit hole, going down the rabbit hole
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
In the unlit tunnel there’s a flickering screen.
A canvas splashed with grey and green.
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
We’ve barely budged, yet come so far.
It’s gotta get real dark ‘fore you can see the stars.
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
Going down the rabbit hole, going down the rabbit hole
Going down the rabbit hole tonight.
|
||||
2. |
Another Shitty Song
02:35
|
|
||
|
I’m writing a stupid useless fucking song again
I’m writing another motherfucking shitty goddamn song again
Seeking out others you can trust is hard as hell.
With all of the plunder it’s a wonder shit turned out so well.
I’m standing right next to you; you don’t have to fucking yell.
I won’t abide agitprop or decipher cracked marble bells.
I’m writing a stupid useless fucking song again
I’m writing another motherfucking shitty goddamn song again
Far be in from me to be a pretender with a tonic to sell.
I got flaming lips. I was born to run. Born at the bottom of a fucking wishing well.
Gonna hate to miss the debate to burn or buy Rockwell.
I gonna get my ass past the fucking barricade to weather the great groundswell.
I’m writing a stupid useless fucking song again
I’m writing another motherfucking shitty goddamn song again
|
||||
3. |
Smart-Ass
02:17
|
|
||
|
I’m not a dip shit; I’m a smart ass.
Whatever. Help fight the morass.
The more you fuck up, the less ass.
Clutching a daisy and a shot glass.
Before Clayton ravine; that shit was Shonash.
Nothing I do ever pleases you.
You’d call the sky green, if I call it fucking blue.
What in the shit has gotten into you?
Here a couple cents, you could rent a clue.
Yeah, I can be nice; but I’m not a fucking stooge.
Open your mouth and insert foot.
Something up with which we won’t put.
Please, Stephanie, more input.
It never left the fucking box; now it's caput.
Something bigger than us is afoot.
You bite my head off when I scratch my chin.
You get fucking mad, when you learn I sin.
I gleaned enlightenment from a shitpost thread.
This ain’t the fucking end. This shit is just the beginning.
We gotta look ahead after where we’ve been.
Walking around like you're shell shocked.
How the fuck is nothing ever your fault?
There’s only dignity before you earn your salt.
I'm not assuming shit by default.
Cry for any tribe when there’s lives lost.
Eating apple pie fucking a la mode in the cold grimy basement of the Alamo.
A epic slog, a long road to hoe.
Purgatory awaits. It only goes to show
After Eastwood ravine, who the fuck knows?
|
||||
4. |
Common Sense
02:38
|
|
||
|
Maybe I’m the one who’s delusional
Maybe I’m the one who make no sense.
The floor of the sea of destiny there’s an enormous fucking trench
I only hear what I hear - from a hard-ass fucking workbench
Have I been searching in vain - for common sense?
But maybe you’re the one who’s full of shit
Maybe you’re the one who misrepresents.
In the rarified air of dispassion it all makes fucking sense
You only know what you know from inside the peacock flower fence
Have you been searching in vain - for common sense?
Pathologizing half of fucking normalcy
Endlessly interpreting the Rorschach test
Bullshitting yourself, prolonging the suspense
Heckling the messenger, getting schooled on self-defense
Let’s not fuck up this chance to find some common sense
|
||||
5. |
Zero Fucks
02:03
|
|
||
|
I give I give zero fucks
Just living the life I’m living giving zero fucks.
What’s it to you? I’m not talking to you.
I’m just thinking out loud.
Giving zero fucks is an attitude
not a suggestion on what to do.
I give I give zero fucks
Just living the life I’m living giving zero fucks.
There’s lots of people & shit that I care about,
Freedom, reason, trust; justice & heart.
But, right now, I’m not talking about any of that shit.
The highway is for gamblers: use your fucking wits.
I give I give zero fucks
Just living the life I’m living giving zero fucks.
|
||||
6. |
Why Not Us?
03:07
|
|
||
|
For every spiffy slogan, there’s a pithy reply
What good is your word? They crossed their heart and hope to die.
I was gonna plunge right into the nightmare
Hoping for the best; prepared for warfare.
I’ll lend you a hand
You lend me an ear
Why not us? Why not here?
You think the Red Sea parts when you open your mouth.
West becomes East - North turns to South
A stony glance from your god left me floored, tongue frozen.
It made me shoot a glance from down the path less chosen.
I’ll lend you a hand
You lend me an ear
Why not us? Why not here?
Its counterproductive when you say shit like that
Drunk on attrition - in a petty tit for tat.
With your passport to the past, heading for redemption
The future is full of yesterdays - no exceptions
I’ll lend you a hand
You lend me an ear
Why not us? Why not here?
Liberate your mind from the dog leash of hate.
Don’t let love become an albatross, or stare into the light of grace.
My dreams they simmer like a seasoned stew on a low-flame stove.
Tomorrow can still be an unforeseen tantalizing treasure trove.
I’ll lend you a hand
You lend me an ear
Why not us? Why not here?
|
||||
7. |
Borrowing the Mystery
03:47
|
|
||
|
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
You can tell that I’m an artist - I make auditory art.
My schtick is like a cardboard box that’s state-of-the-art.
My flow flows out when I flap my mouthpart.
Studiously vague, more or less in the ballpark.
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
I play my bit part - taxonomize all the brainfarts.
Take part in heart to hearts. A fresh start with my sweetheart.
Tear apart the color chart. Bind a wounded bleeding heart.
Don’t put the horse behind the cart, just learn the eye chart by heart.
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
Drool on the piechart, I’m either fucking dumb or really smart.
Dipped my toe in the black arts, deciding is the hard part.
Jumpstart my purple heart, or gawk when shit falls apart.
Learn to tell my ass hat - from a pothole in Stuttgart.
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
Item one of my list to-do: stick to the pull-through.
Review my purview and pursue my see-through,
Then redo my undo and practice the tao of pooh,
Send salutations, play hand-grenades and horseshoes.
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
Older than dirt yet good as new, a dash of salt on the wound
Remake my make do - just a turn of the screw.
Revize my taboos - a litany of thank yous.
Climb inside the statue, while I whispering “I love you”
I’m just borrowing the mystery.
Found it in the baggage of history.
Found it rummaging through; I’ll give it back.
I’m fine with just borrowing the mystery.
The mustard seed grew and grew, so I shadowboxed my guru.
If you like it or not, ah ma, do I have to?
I am just a crude dude, dude - part of the fucking grounds crew.
I’m going down with the circus; I’s kicked out of the zoo.
|
||||
8. |
|
|||
|
I don’t have much going for me.
Pinning all my hope on a melody.
I don’t have much going for me.
Nothing left to take; what could I bring?
Everything you done means little now.
Pull yourself together, somehow.
It’s not like you have much choice in the matter.
Everything you built lies in tatters.
I don’t have much going for me.
Pinning all my hope on a verse and a beat.
I don’t have much going for me.
Nothing left to take; what could I bring?
Nothing you have said has mattered much.
Worthless yellow rocks. Everything you touch.
Take the clutter in your mind and start to sort shit.
You’re not the only one who decides what’s important.
I don’t have much going for me.
Pinning all my hope on a verse and a beat.
I don’t have much going for me.
Nothing left to take; what could I bring?
In the dark beyond the spotlight of the victim mystique.
Grab a fucking paddle if you head up shit creek.
Stillness of the mind, precisely zero fucks.
Buck the fuck up son, untie the knots in your guts.
I don’t have much going for me.
Pinning all my hope on a verse and a beat.
I don’t have much going for me.
Nothing left to take; what could I bring?
Nothing left to take; what could I bring?
|
||||
9. |
|
|||
|
You don’t have to be miserable
You could just be sad with me
Yeah, sure. We’re depressed
Fuck it, let’s go bowling
I’ll be smiling blissfully
All the way to the alley
Just sitting, chilling, grinning, listening.
You talk like a choir of fucking angels sing.
You, You know. This shit’s not inevitable.
You don’t have to be miserable.
It was inconceivable
Just a short time ago
Sure, tell me how you feel
After that, we’ll try to figure out what we actually know
I’ll be joking morbidly
All the way through the god-forsaken valley
Binging and cringing at the chorus of whinging
You know you can tell me almost anything.
You, You know. This shit’s not inevitable.
You don’t have to be miserable.
Just a single kind gesture,
Goes quite a long fucking way
We’ll help each other figure shit out,
Avoid the trolls, and clear the all bullshit away.
We’ll be brooding quietly unrepentantly past the rally.
Sift the deserving from among the disturbing.
No one can teach you fucking everything.
You, You know. Even if this shit’s inevitable
You don’t have to be miserable.
|
||||
10. |
Bullshit
01:10
|
|
||
|
Bullshit. Who needs this resentment.
Broken glass around your houses.
Half the shit you say means nothing.
Jesus fucking Christ I'm so done with this.
Bullshit. Who needs this resentment.
Bombastic yet redundant;
Throwing back a few white Russians
Totally fucked but cool with it.
Bullshit. Who needs this resentment.
Swinging language like a bludgeon.
Your mind’s a fucking dungeon.
A moonlit stage in a cockpit.
Bullshit. Who needs this resentment.
Peddling indulgence.
Skimming off of the abundance.
Now who’s the fucking hypocrite?
Bullshit. Who needs this resentment.
|
||||
11. |
Between You & Me
03:06
|
|
||
|
Precisely fucking useless and completely fucking sad.
After getting mad though, I got sorta glad.
All that stupid shit - who needs it. You can land at my crash pad.
I’m a little disheveled, a bit of a mess. But a decent lad.
The worse thing that could happen as far as I can see.
Like a twisted fucked up movie or a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Nothing must come ‘tween you and me.
Generally chaotic and, in whole, a fucking mess.
You could let the shit engulf you - or take a step back from the stress.
All that stupid shit - who needs it. To me, you can confess.
You can lay it all out - speak your mind. Anything you want addressed.
|
||||
12. |
Sweet-Ass Time
02:43
|
|
||
|
I’m taking my sweet ass … time.
I’m taking my sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
I fell in love with a woman; she loves me, too.
I might be wrong most of the rest of my life.
But I’m gonna go home and sleep next to my wife.
I’m taking my sweet ass … time.
I’m taking my sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
What the fuck are you looking at?
This is my job.
Why the fuck would you do that?
A fucking teenager’s hobby.
I’m taking my sweet ass … time.
I’m taking my sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
Where the hell did you put it?
I left if right here.
Bring it back when you’re finished.
And while you’re up, could ya grab me a beer?
I’m taking my sweet ass … time.
I’m taking my sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
I’ll be back in a minute.
You can totally stay right here.
Need something from the kitchen?
Alright, alright, dear.
I’m taking my sweet ass … time.
I’m taking my sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
We're taking our sweet ass … time.
We're taking our sweet ass bullshit fucking time.
|
||||
Adam Balbo recommends:
The Pool Whales
by The Pool Whales
I played melodica on half and sang on the other half of these songs - with Dan Weiss and Zoe Rose
go to album
Blah Blah Blacksheep
by Pink Pigs
Mr. Andrew (my long-time drummer) has another band. Fantastic.
go to albumIf you like Adam Balbo, you may also like:
Westward, to Nowhere
by Ian McCuen
This sweet, mournful “loose concept” album from folk artist Ian McCuen tracks a journey across the bleak landscape of American life.
go to album
Hotel Landifornia
by Fuzzy Jones
Swooping, pristine folk-adjacent songs with bright guitars and soothing melodies that quietly entrance.
go to album
Whispery indie folk from the UK, “Hard Work” cradles soft and gentle vocal melodies in a nest of acoustic guitars.
go to album
Phototherapy EP
by Fahim Rahman
A collection of twinkling bedroom folk-pop demos from Fahim Rahman that arcs from hushed intimacy to sweeping cinematic emotionality.
go to album
