Get all 5 Samuel B. Lupowitz releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of No Man Is an Island, Ten Square Miles, Songs to Make You Wealthier and More Attractive, Same Place Next Year, and Four Years, Five States.
1. |
A Dream
01:32
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We all gotta love each other
But there’s a sickness in the air
Gotta sweat it out
Get through to the other side
To prove we really care
It’s one thing to say “I love you”
But something else to walk the walk
Because in this eleventh plague
They’re burning our neighbor’s house
Their outlines scratched in chalk
And those you call essential, I call sacrificial lambs
You’re only scared of losing things that aren’t part of the plan
Show me otherwise
I believe in human beings
Baby, I believe in you
Believing ain’t enough
Acting is, and I know it’s tough
But we could make a dream come true
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2. |
No Man Is an Island
04:28
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3. |
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I met a man from Hamburg, Pennsylvania
Who I had known from many years before
Though his hair had greyed, his smile was familiar
His words, however, warned of secret war
I paused a moment, took his hand and asked him why
And he said
“Pull your head out of your ass
“Why so hateful?
“So ungrateful!
“Maybe you should die! (ANTIFA!)”
Whoa, we got a social disconnect
When helping hands come second to delusions we protect
Whoa, social disconnect
The more we see, the more we can deflect
I met a girl in Portland, out in Oregon
She flew a flag saying we should back the Blue
“Punks in the streets, they’re threatening our business
“You gotta keep that scum away from you”
Her next door neighbor that she’s worked beside five years
Got shot standing on his lawn
Called 911
Cop pulled a gun
Now here come her tears
Whoa, we got a social disconnect
Deny responsibility, just let nature select
Whoa, social disconnect
The more we see, the more we can deflect
We’ve all got problems
We’re all clawing up for air
From underneath the same gigantic pile of rubble
And if we can’t see we all have that in common
Instead of each a fragile, desperate bubble
If we’d rather stand for silence than our neighbors
Then I hate to tell you friends
But we’re in big, big trouble
I made a friend in overpriced Manhattan
They came of age in the Recession near Detroit
Remember there was poison in the water?
And the boss said “too expensive, what’s the point?”
They said “if all lives matter, lay that money down
“No sense fighting for the crumbs
“While they get ahead
“You may wish us dead
“But you don’t own our town”
Whoa, we got a social disconnect
With each of us means to the end:
The riches they protect
Whoa, social disconnect
The more we know, the more we can correct
We got a social disconnect
Charge at an oncoming train,
Surprise! Boy, you got wrecked
Whoa, social disconnect
When con men whisper in our ears
Just hoping to infect
Our only hope is if we can connect
Don’t stab me in the back
Then pull it out halfway and call it progress
Don’t stab me in the back
Then pull the whole thing out and say “okay?”
Don’t look at me and say
“I see you’re bleeding, but I’m not responsible”
If we don’t heal the wound
The pain isn’t going away
"If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. They haven't even pulled the knife out, much less try and heal the wound; they won't even admit the knife is there."
-Malcolm X
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4. |
That Was You
04:25
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Heard her say you flew through time and space
In a flash of light
To say that you’re okay
Just that night, you showed up in my dream
Said that you’re alright
You were gone the next day
I don’t know if there’s an afterlife
We stumble, then it’s over
But if it’s possible to make it through...
Well, that was you
I wonder what you’d say about these times
Bet you’d laugh at that,
Knowing what you’d miss
You got off one stop before the crash
If I questioned “why”
You shrugged, “because it is.”
You always set your sights on outer space
No lower, no mediocre
And never settle for the bland untrue
Yeah, that was you
You believed
There is good inside of everyone
Just build it, we’ll see it
Hey, my friend
Can you see us from the other plane?
Or are we gone?
In this time where time stands stoney still
Yet races, it still races
What’s the voice that keeps me strong and true?
“The why is the is.”
-Dan Gaibel (1975 - 2019)
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5. |
Table Flip!
03:25
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You got it all
Everything I said I wanted
And you got it faster
Still looking cool and nonchalant
And when I shouted out ten years ago
I would take on the world and you
Would I curse myself at thirty
That the dream never came true?
So flip the tables and curse the heavens
Turn amplifiers up to eleven
And oh, I got no right to complain
I’m letting go of the pain
That dream is over
I made a vow
Turned down notoriety
And I am humble
As much as an egotist can be
But when I shouted out, at twenty-one,
I would rise up high like a flame
I should have known I’d have to swallow
That you’ll never know my name
So flip the tables and curse the heavens
Turn amplifiers up to eleven
And oh, I got no right to complain
I’m letting go of the pain
And Taylor, I said things that you’ll never hear
But I hear them
And I know I was wrong
I blamed all your money, your privilege, your dad
And maybe that’s true
But hey, it worked out for you
And look at all you could do
I made you the villain
And isn’t that funny
Cuz god knows what men do
For pussy and money
And fame
They break the whole damn game
I found a home
And the people here who make it
I found a future
Where I get to have it all
And my life may be on a smaller scale
Than I hoped when I was small
But I know who I am and what I am
And I’m having a fucking ball
So flip the tables and curse the heavens
Then crank the volume up to eleven
And oh, it feels alright to complain
I’m letting go of the pain
I’m letting go of the pain
That dream is over
“When I was 25, not only would I not listen to music, I had to fuckin’ let you know . . . ‘The only reason Nickelback does that music is for money and pussy. That’s it!’ . . . Do you know what people do for money and pussy on this planet? They do horrific shit. . . . Now, the guys in Nickelback said, ‘I’d like that level of money and pussy in my life. Don’t know if I want to kill anybody. What if instead, we went LOOK AT THIS BOO-DA-BOO? Does that work instead?’ They went with that option. Which kind of makes them heroic when you think about it, you know! No one died. That should be their box set. Nickelback: It Ain’t Pol Pot!”
-Patton Oswalt, Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time
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6. |
A Better Time
06:01
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What can I do?
No other person could climb on through
What can I say?
Thought it was scream out or fade away
But I broke a fragile mirror
And I’m sweeping up the glass
And now I understand the things that do and do not change
That shit will kick you right in the ass
And if I knew my brain was burning me
Then I’d apologize
And now that you’re done hiding
I’ll tear off my sad disguise
Locked inside where isolation wins
Sinking down while I tried to climb
This world‘s on fire, let‘s just hold on
Until a better time
Spinning my wheels
I didn’t know you knew how it feels
Enviously
I wanted all that you couldn’t give me
But I shook a trust I needed
And I pushed when trying to cling
And in the light of day there’s space between the needs and wants
And I can feel the pendulum swing
Chorus
Inside my head
I feel it squeezing and I’m losing my grip
I misread
Every cue but the one she gave you
Now I feel that what’s true is slipping
Clouding my view
I tried to give, but I needed, too
Passing my prime
I thought that we’d have a better time
Now I know where all the walls are
And I know my own mistakes
When somewhere deep inside you feel like you can’t make me stay
You know I’ll do whatever it takes
Chorus
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7. |
Make You Afraid
04:53
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I’ve got friends trembling in their beds at night
Each day a blinding swirl
Of good and evil, black and white
We all work to preserve
The lives that we lead
So much room for us all
To have what we need
But you say, “step back cucks,
“I’ll decide who gets to make the grade!”
I want to make you afraid
You yearn for a Wild West wet dream
Make us dance in the dirt for our milk
While you skim off the cream
You maintain a machine
That deals every card
And you’ve loaded the deck
‘Cause that gets you hard
Then you go home to sleep
Oh-so-comfy in the bed you’ve made
I want to make you afraid
You demand to speak your hate and lies
But if I challenge a word you say
All law and freedom dies
And you stand with your gun
By the polling place
I load mine, you shout “extremist”
In my face
Spit on our safety
Then cry out to big daddy for aid
I wanna make you...
We’re all inside a cage, the best money can buy
You say “I know you are, but tell me what am I?”
I know you want to be free to live the life you choose
But why on earth do you feel you only win if I lose?
I don’t think anyone should live in fear
But watching you lot pound your chests
One thing is now becoming clear
If you boast and and you sneer
Kick sand in a face
You extort, and you kill
Then say “stop making it about race”
And excuse yourself
No matter how deep in the muck you wade
I wanna make you afraid
You gotta reap what you sow
You can dish it out, but can ya take it, baby?
You know it doesn’t have to be this way
Who do you think you are?
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8. |
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“Who can tell us what’s to come?”
You say as you open the door
“One moment the sea is calm
“And the next, storms cast you ashore”
I came looking for advice
And a riddle is all you gave
But honey, you look so nice
And you make me feel so brave
You go in brilliant disguises
A rose by any other name
After all the journey’s surprises
The more things change
The more they stay the same
Well, we’re dancing
On the ocean floor
Oh, we’re dancing
Off this unfamiliar shore
“No, I’ve got to get back home,”
I say, and you laugh so hard
You say, “You’ve been gone so long
"I bet men are lining up in her yard
“But one day maybe you’ll come clean
"So tell me, how does that make you feel?”
And I think, “home is so far off
“But here, you feel so real”
And deep in the dark of your bedroom
The future is laid out, so clear
Ensnared as a prisoner-bridegroom
I can’t put my finger on what led me here
But we’re dancing
On the ocean floor
Oh, we’re dancing
Off this unfamiliar shore
In years to come, will I think back on what we’ve done?
When the journey’s done and you’re just a memory?
Well, cheers to that, for now we’ll have our little fun
I’d rather live to regret it than die free
I won’t be back again
Of course, I’ve said that before
“Who can tell us what’s to come?”
I grin as you shut your door
The seeds of my self destruction
In your bed, in your siren song
Before the end of this stage production
I guess I’ll take a chorus to sing along
While we’re dancing
On the ocean floor
Oh, we’re dancing
Off this unfamiliar shore
"I stayed with Calypso seven years straight on end, and watered the good clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole time; but at last when the eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own free will, either because Zeus had told her she must, or because she had changed her mind.”
-Odysseus, The Odyssey, by Homer
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9. |
No Sleep
04:33
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Endless night
Each time a star shines down to
Bring us light
We learn, we learn how deep the darkness
Try as I might
Can’t look to constellations to escape from here, no
So batten down the hatches, stifle all your yawns
No sleep until a new day dawns
Heroes fall
And then we learn they’re not such
Heroes at all
They fought, we fought, but who obeyed the
Master’s call?
One savior can’t defend our comfort from our doom, no
Those bastards run the board, we’re sacrificed like pawns
No sleep until a new day dawns
No sleep for the wicked
No sleep for the just
No sleep ‘til it’s over
Leaders rise
And all they represent is
Greed and lies
They take, they take, while we are starving
Money buys
Their military guard dogs and their manor homes
But no
They’ll wake to find our legions screaming on their lawns
No sleep until a new day dawns
No sleep for the wicked
No sleep for the just
No sleep ‘til it’s over
Though sleep we must
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10. |
A Promised Land
00:48
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One day this all will be behind us
Though we must fight to see it through
We may not live to see the promised land
But I promise I’ll stand up next to you
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Samuel B. Lupowitz Ithaca, New York
Piano-driven rock ’n’ soul for your thoughts, feelings, and theatrical leanings. Ben Folds backed by The Band.
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