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Better Off (Without You)

by Ian Carlton

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about

At my aunt's house, there is literally nothing to do, and so the last several times I've gone up there, I've come back with a new song about how much it sucks up there. But this time, once I got past "HOLY FUCKING I'M BORED," I'm only on about the first verse, so I started thinking, "I wonder how I can make this a song with mass-market appeal?" And then I thought, "I had some pretty serious crushes in high school, especially on [redacted]! I'll use that!" And then I thought, "Right, like I want to revisit that bullshit. I'll just go cry in a corner now. Who, me, bitter? Oh, of course not! What a preposterous notion!" So I went and sulked in the bathroom for a few hours and had a vigorous masturbation session, and when I was done I came back, took a look at the lyrics I'd written, and thought "Mass-market appeal? Who the fuck am I kidding? Ska hasn't been popular since like 1998."

TL;DR Fuck Orange County.

lyrics

I broke out of my boring old life just to fall into another
New places, new faces, same shitty old rat race, none of it's torn asunder
I thought things would be different now but the status quo was just too big to fail
Maybe it's time I set sail again
Maybe if you hadn't gone away I wouldn't be so sad
The stars should fall, you'd make the call, or perhaps I'm going mad
Now I just take another hit, and I raise the joint to the sky
When the out of frame has gone the same, I only get what I can find

You used to tell me the mistakes you couldn't count
But talkin' bout solving problems, guess that's not what I'm about

Well, bad breaks, I've had a few, and I've fucked up more than once
I've found a way through every day but the luck has just stayed tough
Where did I go off the rails, can you trace me back in time?
You were there, but you didn't care, and that feels like a crime

You used to tell me the mistakes you couldn't count
But talkin' bout solving problems, guess that's not what you're about

I'm better off without you, I know that is the case
I'm better off alone, but I need to see your face
I'm better off without you, I know it in my brain
But I can't convince my heart that looking back is just insane

So don't come back for me
No, just let me be
I've moved on, or at least I'd like to think so
Baby, I swear, you're lost, I'm found

*solos*

When I go back to reality, you gotta promise you'll forget about me
Because I never was very good at letting go *drum break*
And eventually it'll be safe to come back, but in the meantime we're still out of wack
And so I gotta say goodbye to you

You used to tell me the mistakes you couldn't count
But talkin' bout solving problems, guess that's not what we're about

I'm better off without you, I know that is the case
I'm better off alone, but I need to see your face
I'm better off without you, I know it in my brain
But I can't convince my heart that looking back is just insane

credits

released January 10, 2014

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Ian Carlton Santa Cruz, California

muuuuuuuuuuusic

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