Get all 15 Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Scooter, Pasadena, I Want To Be Forgotten, All the Same, Welcome to the (Pajama) Party (a Lullaby), A Driveway Liturgy, Dad Rock, Florida Man, and 7 more.
1. |
Hey!
00:50
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Hey!
Hey Scooter!
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2. |
Scooter
03:24
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There is only a single cell
in the larva that knows
as it spins its tomb
Knows what it is to become
but what’s become
of me and you cause
I could stand on my legs again
if your wings hold me like a mother when
I no longer feel like the super kid
With my cape unfurled
And blood on my chin
Scooter scooter, tell me what do ya
Plan to do with this life?
I see the sutures, where teeth went through ya
Lip when you smile.
Scooter scooter, your living proof of
Our resistance to die
So, scooter scooter, tell me what do ya
Plan to do with this life?
I feel so disingenuous
when I start to say
I still feel that way
So pull me out the chrysalis
Of this reverie
As you call my name
Scooter Scooter, tell me what do ya
Plan to do with this life?
I see the sutures, where teeth went through ya
Lip when you smile.
Scooter Scooter, your living proof of
Our resistance to die
So, Scooter Scooter, tell me what do ya
Plan to do with this life?
You may find yourself
So far from home.
Don’t be afraid.
You’re not alone.
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3. |
Where You Are
03:04
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Wherever you go, there you are.
So you might as well, be where you are.
This city’s got a hold on me
This city feels so holy.
So tonight, I’m gonna shave my head.
So I, can feel the wind when they raise the dead.
Tell me, what do you want?
What do you need?
Tell me what have you been chasing after lately?
Cause I’ve been there too
Wondering why
I keep looking for salvation
In an empty sky
Cause
When I run off
Try to escape my plans
Wherever I end up
I Am
Wherever you go, there you are.
So you might as well, be where you are.
I hold the night
Like an empty frame
Staring at the blank canvas of my new name
Can I hold a light
Like an offering?
My hands are shaking
In the soft flame’s heavy heat
Cause
I’m always in the way
Of the beauty
My feet are moving
You’re closer to me
Wherever you go, there you are.
So you might as well, be where you are.
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4. |
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Ash Wednesday at the strip mall
Bought a Stratocaster knock off
With a free 10-watt amp
Dirt on my forehead
I forgot to wipe the cross off
When you turn every dial up
It sounds just like In Bloom
probably already told you
that’s the reason I believe you
Smell Like Teen stations of the cross
Man it’s such a strange scene
Reverend depression hates the mainstream
I thought I’d grow up to be a punk
But it’s just my luck
They don’t want nothing to do with me ‘cause
I am dirt and dust Breath and blood
I was Named after a dead man
one day I’ll be a dead man
Ash Wednesday at the strip mall
China buffet pinball
They got all you can eat
For 5.93
Under a painting of the great wall
Then get my hair cut by a white man
With a fake Jimmy Buffett tan
Who doesn’t care about my sports team
came off just a little mean
I kept as I silent as a boy can
sometimes my prayers feel like catcalls
4 on the sides, leave the top long
With my mouth full of big league chew
in this confession booth
Ash Wednesday at the strip mall
Ash Wednesday at the strip mall
Buy one and you’ll get half off
If you’ve got an appetite
For religious rites
Or convenient store corndogs
I saw Jesus with his teen mom
Splitting a five dollar footlong
If he sees the guitar in my hand
He’ll be wantin’ to jam
I bet that Nazarene can play drums
I know I shouldn’t like it
‘cause death can be a real bitch
But I enjoy the call to recall
There’s an end to it all
on Ash Wednesday at the strip mall
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5. |
I Want To Be Forgotten
02:49
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Backstreets, core self under covers
A part of me like a ragged jilted lover is
Standing on the edge of a Saturday night
With the radio turned up to half past 9
I’m not sure what I should say to you
As I slip backwards out of the crowded room
No need to leave a mark or my signature
Ephemeral space, a sound unheard
The screen, it screams
Always taskin’
Another part of me keeps on asking
“How will you be remembered?”
By the band, my girl, and my begotten
“What of the world’s remainder?”
Man… I want to be forgotten
Don’t think and the irony won’t hurt
Now give me twenty bucks for my name on a t shirt
Am I a narcissist or do I need to be seen
As you put my goofy mug in another magazine
I need a stiff drink or a hard proverb
About the temporal nature, like a first verse
About where the body goes when we decompose
become the nutrients in the soil of the earth?
The fiend it screams
Always taskin’
There’s still a part of me that keeps on askin’
“How will you be remembered?”
By the fam, my girl, and my begotten
“What of the world’s remainder?”
Man… I want to be forgotten
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6. |
Free T-Shirt
03:20
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sweat stains, knee pain,
what charity is this for again?
I suppose they could use the funds
But did I actually have to run?
I’m half way through the 5k
looking for my Gatorade
Wondering what I am doing here
Maybe my sedentary body needs to move
Maybe it’s the camaraderie of running with a group
Maybe there’s a part of me that likes the way it hurts
Or maybe I just wanted that free t shirt
Nothing in common, except our ancestry
And now photo evidence
Of our baby blue Long sleeves
He sets a self timer and then my uncle starts to run
Saying “alright everyone, this time we’ll do a fun one”
I laugh as grandma sticks out her tongue
Maybe it’s good to have a place to belong
Maybe I get tired of everybody pronouncing my last night wrong
Maybe it’s true that family comes first
Or maybe I just wanted a free t shirt
Some college buddy stands to give a toast
Saying “Out of all of your wives, I like this one the most”
I make a bad joke about third times the charm
no one seemed to hear me so I don’t think it did much harm
Bachelor party bar scene was easier in my twenties
Maybe it’s an excuse to see my old friends
Maybe I feel younger with a Pabst in my hand
Maybe I believe that this time the marriage will work
Or maybe I just wanted that free t shirt
I’ve been to more of these than I can count on my hands
3 times a year through my adolescence
Where some rent-a-Reverend is trying his best
to baptize the whole church camp
But How many times I can be born again?
Maybe I used to believe that stuff
Maybe some days I still find it to be enough
Maybe the divine was really at work
Or maybe I just wanted that free t shirt
A Birthday party for your dog
A Release party for your blog
A Blood drive at the high school
My summer job at the swimming pool
Playoff game in the minor leagues
Your 10 year work anniversary
I’ll show up and judge what’s it’s worth
Based on if I leave with a free t shirt
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7. |
Guard Rail
03:56
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I’m just gonna park here for a while
Roll down the windows so I can feel the cars fly by
Might have been the wind though that
Sent me sliding the ice
Into the guard rail on the side
What a good day to be alive
What a fine morning with this airbag on my eyes
I’m not joking,
I’m just grateful
I survived
And get another day by your side
do ya ever wonder what you’ll say
When you take a final breath knowing it’s your final day?
Would you summon a blessing would you know the words to pray?
I used to wonder what I’d say
But I don’t wonder anymore
Cause I was halfway off the highway
And I just yelled here we go
Like I’m some sort of reckless
Hell bent Mario
So baby here we go
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8. |
Sanity
03:25
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At the edge of the docks, on a Thursday evening
A memory of what might have been
The keys slipped out your olive green jacket
And then they fell right in
I stripped down and climbed into the water
November ain’t a good month to swim
Couldn’t feel my toes and said, “I suppose
We’ll never drive that car again”
If I told ya, it all works out,
if you accept the things you can’t change
I was either lying or trying to say
“sanity is wasted on the sane”
I got out the water and you said sorry
You nearly froze down there
you blocked the light from a street lamp, I put on my pants
threw out my frozen underwear
we walked to the bar, round the corner
Drafting eulogies for the car
You ordered French fries, I got some chicken wings
We split a pitcher of PBR
I called Garrett at 9pm
Asked if him & Laura were at home
Cause we’re stuck at a bar two towns over
can you put us on speaker phone?
If you pick us up before last call
You’ll be included in the next round
And I’ll muster up the courage to sing karaoke
If that machine has “Don’t Let Me Down”
If I told ya, it’s gotta all work out
for me to keep wearing this old ring
I was either lying or trying to say
I wouldn’t change a single thing
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9. |
Pasadena
04:26
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If you move to Pasadena
Then I’ll be alright
I won’t wake up crying
in the middle of the night
I won’t howl at the moon
I won’t bark, I won’t bite
If you move to Pasadena
Then I’ll be alright
If you move to Pasadena
Then I’ll be ok
I won’t wander around aimless
through the city all day
I won’t call just to tell you
You probably should have stayed
If you move to Pasadena
Then I’ll be ok
‘cause it’s a long flight
and a short life
And we all end up where we’re to be
I just thought that you’d end up with me
If you move to Pasadena
I will be fine
I won’t drown out my sadness
In whiskey or in wine
I won’t regret it and I won’t let it
Take me by surprise
If you move to Pasadena
I will be fine
If you move to Pasadena
I’ll be just swell
I won’t rip up your old pictures
And burn them just to tell
Myself that I’m movin
Onto someone else
If you move to Pasadena
I’ll be just swell
‘cause it’s a long flight
and a short life
And we all end up where we’re to be
I just thought that you’d end up with me
If you move to Pasadena
I won’t even care
I won’t get angry at the airport
I won’t stomp my feet and swear
I won’t blame you, nor shame you
Nor watch your plane in the air
‘cause if you move to Pasadena
I’ll follow you there
if you move to Pasadena
I’ll just meet you there
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10. |
Stationary Traveler
02:58
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On Thursday you told me
You’d meet me there at noon
Now I’m looking at my watch
In an aisle seat
And the dial reads a quarter to two
Updated the picture in my passport
They told me I couldn’t smile
But I’m trying to be rebel against the system
So in the photo, I’m grinning like a child
Ooh
Nobody know where I am
Not a single person knows that I’m gone
I handed the man at La heladaria
A bunch of pesos for a double scoop cone
Now tears are streaming out of my eyes
Salting up my vanilla bean
I bet the locals are asking “who’s this gringo,
Crying into his ice cream?”
What a lovely idea
it is to think I’d be free
But I guess I forgot
The harsh reality
Wherever I go, there I will be
So I’m working on loving me
Set fire to your old plans
Set your burden parts free
Set your watch back an hour
If you don’t want to miss the tragedy
I don’t speak much of his language
He don’t speak much of mine
But there’s a child with Rocky Road running down his chin
And his expression says I’ll be alright
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11. |
The City
05:24
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There’s two ways out of this town
And they’re both in a box
One’s the graveyard down by the football field
And the other’s across that parking lot
I’ve been dreaming of the city
Wondering how it all’s gonna end
Like seeing that skyline
Cross the old county line
As we take the turn ‘round the bend
It’s only
The rest of your life
The inevitable time
A blade of grass in the wind
If only
We could hope to find
That wonderful expansive
Beauty hidden within
Everybody’s searching for something
But most of us can’t name what is
And if we can’t find it, Nevermind it
Was just a dream we had as a kid
I got two tickets for the next train
And I’d like you be my side
I’m not saying that station’s a
Pathway to salvation
But it doesn’t hurt to try
Some nights, I’ll take a corner booth just to hear Freddy sing
“Life is either holy with meaning, or it don’t mean a damn thing”
As I hold onto some purpose that’s just a half thought blend
Of my lineage, an ancient text, and my god given restlessness
I can see you’ve come to believe
There’s something at the end of me
I can see what you’ve come to expect
Some home at the end of our death
So with this ticket in my hand
And my back to the wind
I’m not afraid to die
Forgive my fear to live
You may find yourself
So far from home
The City lights
The twilight zone
What once began
But has no end
Your wings, my love
My oldest friend
Of all the noise
That I can hear
It’s still your voice
That rings in my ear
Oh great parade
The sound enthroned
Don’t be afraid
You’re not alone
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Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions Grand Rapids, Michigan
Indie Americana Dad Rock out of Grand Rapids, MI.
The Best Intentions are Laura Hobson, Devin Sullivan, James Kessel, Garrett Stier, and Josh Holicki.
Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions recommends:
Laura, Garrett, Josh and friends created this stunning record
go to album
Easily one of my favorite releases from this year. Check them out on 11/3 at the Pyramid Scheme!
go to album
Label mate and all-around good dude, Ohly has crafted a really solid blend of indie folk sing-a-longs.
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Jody Stephens of Big Star and Luther Russell of the Freewheelers team for a radiant LP packed full of slide guitar and pop smarts.
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Realize
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Epic, folksy psych-pop, diligently crafted from sessions recorded in a beach studio and an old San Francisco mansion.
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