We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

ARE YOU EVEN NICE

by Joe Bartel

supported by
porchcatsinthehouse
porchcatsinthehouse thumbnail
porchcatsinthehouse It is really something strange when you hear someone else sing the same thoughts you had just a few hours prior. Thanks for helping me process... stuff... Favorite track: Good News.
/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Physical copy of ARE YOU EVEN NICE.

    Includes unlimited streaming of ARE YOU EVEN NICE via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 10 days

      $5 USD or more 

     

1.
These stupid fukken dreams are ruining my life, who's got time for friends when there are open mics to play and songs to write? But who's got time for dreams? I've gotta go to work, forty hours weekly till you're in the dirt. I just don't know why I cannot see this is gonna be the death of me. But I don't know why I choose to do it anyway. I have an existential crisis once or twice a month that leaves me lying in my bed awake and screaming at the ceiling in the dark. But who's got time to sleep when life is full of dread? Bearing down upon you till you wish you're dead. I just don't know why I cannot see this is gonna be the death of me. But I don't know why I am this way.
2.
I wish my parents hadn't cut off part of my dick when I was a baby. I wasn't born incorrectly. And I wish they hadn't hit me in the face when I was only nine or ten, but they did, and I forgive them. And I wish that rush hour bridge had not collapsed into that river cold and black on that sunny summer evening. And that school bus full of sixty screaming children. I wonder if they're traumatized, I wonder if their brains are fucked up or alright. I don't wanna think these evil thoughts for my whole life, but I can't escape this feeling they'll be back for me tonight and I won't sleep. I saw a drunk guy passed out in the snow, but I had to go to work, so I did not stop to help him. I just called the non-emergency police line, I hope they got to him in time, it was only ten degrees outside. You're looking at your life through Facebook lenses, just pretending to be happy, just pretending to be real. And I think about that drunk guy every night. Why can't I be a good person, not even when I really really try? I don't wanna think these evil thoughts for my whole life, but I can't escape this feeling they'll be back for me tonight. I just want to be loved, I just want to be free, but something isn't right inside of me. I just want to be loved, I just want to be free, but something took the light inside of me.
3.
Vampyre 03:11
I got up early and I pulled back the curtain. Another beautiful god damn day to spend inside. I wanna go out and ride my bike and I wanna go out and talk to girls, but I can't face the world, I'm paralyzed. I am a vampyre, and in my coffin I reside. I am a vampyre with no reflection in the mirror and I don't think anyone can see me either. I don't think anybody knows I'm here, but I am here. Sunlight makes me anxious, leaves me pacing in my basement, leaves my hiding in my insulated cave. As all my insecurities are playing out in front of me, I'm trying everyday just to be brave. I am a vxxampyre, I'll live forever in my grave. I am a vampyre with no reflection in the mirror and I don't think anyone can see me either. I don't think anybody knows I'm here, but I am here. I've gotta close tonight, god dammit I don't wanna work tonight, so why go out if I'm just gonna go back in? I am a vampyre, and in my coffin I reside, I am a vampyre with no reflection in the mirror and I don't think anyone can see me either. I don't think anybody knows I'm here, but I am here.
4.
5.
Good News 03:42
Here's the good news: you were born in a first world country like America or Canada or France. You'll never go more than a day with real hunger, you'll never have a warlord conquer your whole neighborhood. You'll be fine. But here's the bad news: it never gets any better. You're just born, and you'll just live until you die. You'll never be the one to spark a revolution. You'll probably never even get over your depression. You'll be fine. So I'll make bad decisions tonight, and I'll pay for them tomorrow. But I will cause head-on collisions tonight, I am driving with a bottle and my headlights off. I wanna burn this bridge so fukken bad but I can't make it alone out here, so I'll just keep drinking everyday, until I don't have anything to fear on my own. I am aging, and I notice everyday just how much older I am looking in the mirror. Happiness can be so overwhelming. An overrated mess, why don't you tell me you'll be fine? He was murdered by a coward fukken cop, buckled up they shot him four times in the chest. Just two miles down from my front door. To every pig from here to Baltimore, not this time. So I'll make bad decisions tonight, and I'll pay for them tomorrow. But I will cause head-on collisions tonight, I am driving with a bottle and my headlights off. I wanna burn this bridge so fukken bad but I can't make it alone out here, so I'll just keep drinking everyday, until I don't have anything to fear on my own.
6.
Don't Talk 01:40
Don't fukken talk to the cops, don't fukken talk to the cops. They will frame you for murder, they will frame you for rape, they will say that you hurt her, they will call you a disgrace, they will throw you in a cage until you die. They don't care if you did it or not. They'll throw you in a cage for the rest of your life, they don't care if you did it or not. Don't fukken talk to the cops, don't fukken talk to the cops. They will frame you for arson, they'll frame you for theft, they will take all that you've got until you ain't got nothing left. They will make you take a plea for your life, they don't care if you're innocent or not. They will make you take a plea and it's a lifetime in the clink, but otherwise they'll stick you with that pin. Don't fukken talk to the cops, don't fukken talk to the cops. Cos you can try to run but they will shoot you in the back, they'll execute you in the streets and fill your pockets up with crack, and the world will say you're guilty if you happen to be black, so don't fukken talk to the police.
7.
You don't deserve it quite as good as you've got it Someone oughta take you down a peg Someone ought wait behind your car after work Yeah someone oughta break your fucking leg You shouldn't treat people as poorly as you have been The sheriff oughta run you outta town! Someone oughta wait a hundred years for you to grow real tall Then take an axe and chop that tree right down Deadly venom spider bites would be too good for you I'd see you hobbled like a horse and manufactured into glue Before I show you some forgiveness or an ounce of respect Cos you're not worth it No you're not worth it at all to me You don't deserve it quite as good as you've got it Someone oughta put you in your place Someone oughta break into your house while you're at work Yeah someone oughta cut that pretty face You shouldn't treat people as poorly as you have been What will you do when you get old? No one's gonna love you and no one's gonna care They'll let you die out in the streets hungry and cold And I would love to see you stung by Africanized bees Or buried in a shallow grave after some begging on your knees You are not fit to be loved or to love anyone else for all your days and all your nights you spend alone You don't deserve it quite as good as you've got it Someone oughta take you down a peg Someone ought wait behind your car after work Yeah someone oughta pipe your fucking leg
8.
Sisters 02:26
I heard about what happened to your sister, and thought about what I have done to mine. I'd like to make a phone call without feeling kinda guilty, but maybe that just comes with time. I'm sorry for what happened to your daughter, no one should ever have to mourn a child. This world is so unkind to any woman it can find, but I've seen them take the worst of it in stride. I was never that reliable for Angela, I always made Amanda feel bad, Whitney put up with my bullshit till she went and had a baby, the kid must be nearly five years old by now. I'm sorry for what happened to your sister, and all the things that I have done to mine. The people I keep close are the ones I hurt the most, why they still keep me around I'll never know, so I should go.
9.
Woke up on the floor, ain't got a bed in my apartment. I went and locked the door, guess I got too drunk and forgot last night. I put my dirty clothes back on and pick up my guitar, cos I've got nowhere left to go since someone stole my car. And if I pick up the phone, all my calls will go unanswered. My family and friends have cut me out like I am cancer. I guess it's my own fault, I had my windows shut with duct tape, just wish I hadn't left my winter jacket in the back seat. Cos now it's getting pawned along with all of my CDs, I must have checked at Cheapo Records twenty times in the last week. I hope someone else enjoys them and they're not thrown in the trash, I hope my jacket keeps you warm or at least pockets you some cash, cos the weather's getting colder and the times are getting tougher and the rent is due on Monday and there's nothing in the cupboard, and I'm walking around with holes in the bottoms of my shoes. I'll wreck this stolen cop car, I've got nothing else to lose, except these empty bottles and the blankets on the floor. I know we're sick of getting murdered cos we happen to be poor, but first, I'm gonna kill the guy who stole my car.
10.
Puppy Dog 02:46
I want a puppy dog, I wanna rub his belly and pet hit paws, I wanna take him out on a long, long walk, someone who listens and never talks. I wanna go out but I can't afford it, I had a friend who got deported. They caught his fake ID, lord knows it could have happened to me. I've got a bad back and a broken heart, I wanna make it big but I don't know where to start. I'm gonna work in a restaurant for the rest of my life if I'm not careful, but I don't know how to hold it all together, I'm gonna fold if I can't a way to make something happen soon. I want a puppy dog, I wanna rub his belly and pet hit paws, I wanna pull his tail and scratch his ears, someone to confide all my fears into. But I don't know why I am this way. Thank you.

about

A folk-punk tribute to my quarter-life crisis and gradual descent into madness. Available as a digital download or physical disc, with bonus lyric booklet!

credits

released November 11, 2016

Music and lyrics by Joe Bartel
Drums on tracks 3, 5 and 6 by Angie Frisk
Produced and engineered by Joe Bartel
Recorded at Hatchet Shed Studio
Mastered by Mike Geronsin
Photography by Emily Ask and Joe Rachwal
©Joe Bartel 2016
JoeBartel.com
joebartel.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/JoeBartelMusic
@JoeBartel

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Joe Bartel Minneapolis, Minnesota

incredibly talented / handsome folk musician

shows

contact / help

Contact Joe Bartel

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Joe Bartel, you may also like: