Nickel-and-diming in a micro-niche, when my fable fell on the floor.
It was you who tapped my gently on the shoulder.
The fates took turns banging on my door.
Just woo me with another lucid verse.
I don’t care what any of it means.
Just take me to wherever you’re going.
‘Til tomorrow, I’m totally free.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
Awestruck and dumbfounded by the shitstorm’s rage,
I took refuge in the cellar, where I found you on the stage.
You fashioned a blade made of double-edged wit.
An alloy so sharp, you pierced bullshit with it.
Even though it’s strong it’s not too heavy or brittle.
It’s actually quite light, and you can bend it a little.
I saw you gallantly stab and gut words of their meaning.
Then, you wistfully add, the moon’s so pretty this evening.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
Down in dank basement’s soft flickering light,
You groped your ideas in the dark naked night.
You got smudge marks on the image of long-exalted sage.
Then took out God’s handbook and ripped out a page.
You crumpled it up and lit it on fire.
Because irreverence is sacred, you said, and can be inspiring.
You spun long yarns, like about one crazy night
How, down in the Podunk fiefdom, you fought the good fight.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
You squeezed all our sadness into a small pool of joy.
Then bent expectation like a child with a toy.
You rammed our disgust with a dump truck of trust.
Met ecstatic relief with straight-faced love.
You purged all our anger and filled us with fear.
Left us all wondering how anyone could be anywhere but here.
You surrounded assumptions and dissolved all our doubt
Until cynicism retreated, if just for an hour.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
After pausing a moment for dramatic effect,
You closed your eyes, raised you arms, and took a deep breath.
You opened them up, pulled out a vacuum flask
Filled with some kind of potion for one final act.
You drank the concoction made of God-knows-what,
Mumbled, cursed, then said, quote, “Who gives a fuck?”
Awkward, silent smiles cracked all through the room.
You took a bow, waved goodbye, and said, “Hope to see y’all soon.”
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
I’ll be happily confused and awfully amused.
You just do what you do.
This sweet, mournful “loose concept” album from folk artist Ian McCuen tracks a journey across the bleak landscape of American life. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 22, 2022
A collection of twinkling bedroom folk-pop demos from Fahim Rahman that arcs from hushed intimacy to sweeping cinematic emotionality. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 6, 2021
