1. |
Desire
04:18
|
|||
|
Underneath a streetlight, trying to find an answer
Trying to search for someone that can hear my cries inside
Underneath a black sky, trying to clear my head up
Trying to search for something that can ease this pain away
I want to feel numb again
I want a chance to free myself
I want the want
I want this skin to make me feel better
I want to feel better
Laid upon a pillow, the fix is running through
Catharsis and release of ghosts that haunt my very mind
Tuning out the yelling, tuning out these sounds
The wishes of an exit to a place that's far away
Taking out the anger, taking out the fear
Raging plague, yet I know that I need to feel better
I need to feel better
I need to feel better
|
||||
2. |
From the River, Pt. II
02:05
|
|||
3. |
If Only
04:03
|
|||
|
If only I could see the things that you see
And only feel the heaviness within your heart
Then maybe I could reach my bitten hands out
And walk you out from darkness and into light
If only I could take a walk in your shoes
And picture the experiences that shaped you
Then the clouds painted on walls of memory will fade to black
And they’ll ascend no more
If only I could make another daydream
Of you and I together in harmony
Then maybe we could start anew and bloom here
With knotted arms forever, protection, all
If only I could make sure that you’re okay
And safe inside the warm embrace of everyone
Then maybe we could avoid the deepest troubles
And cleanse the soul and veins that were shook with fear
But we need to fight the good fight
And make sure that this road doesn’t loop around
This present burden is torturing your skin and mind
It’s a prison of yourself
We need to face our fears and wipe away the tears and utilize the wisdom of all our years
We have to promise
We have to hope
We have to find
|
||||
4. |
Porches
04:55
|
|||
|
What in the hell ever happened to our shared warmth?
It was the Fourth of July and the fireworks lit up the skyline onto a street
And you, my old friend, I was sitting right by on your porch
And the red against black penetrated the white of your skin like a reflective angel
And now you're welcomed to a world unknown
Trapped inside a dream that won't end while this world turns around us
Drove past your house for the millionth time this week
With the memorabilia of youth and the longing for answers
The struggle for truth
And I swear that I saw your old bicycle under the steps
Took that baby for miles and I'd follow
Through D and through E and through crumbling homes
And like spirit, it's so tragic, you faded, too
Lost and apart like a boat out to sea
With no hope to find a harbor
Grass in our hair, the sounds of trains miles away
It was 71 with the sun down
The sky a deep red like the shirt you had on
And that very night, when the Patriot dimmed, I just thought
"What would happen to us down the road?"
A child at heart becomes china in white
And I'll sing to the air that I breathe, like you did
These strings are the pulse to a distorted memory
"Wipe away the tears" I say when I play on my porch
|
||||
5. |
Isn't Bright...
05:54
|
|||
|
In the sunniest rain, you will find another why
Another reason to make sense of the state that you're in
And it might juxtapose all the feelings stored inside
Bottled in, buried deep, dark and captured within
And though I've never crossed this burden
I can feel a little heartbeat that just is not stable anymore
And you said, "This is troublesome."
"I wanted to be free."
"I wanted to be somebody - me."
And so you see your family
What will they do without you?
Can you see the conflict brought upon your soul?
We said that this foundation is running through
Like all of the empty buildings in this hollow town
They're caving in upon themselves, and they're all alone
They're all deserted, they're far too gone
And this is where we'll all end up
You wanted to be free, but you went to live a life in misery
So then you close yourself off from the rest of the world
Forfeiting this comfort for a sharper edge
A distant sign, a breath to hold
And sure enough, you let go of everything that you were close to prior
You just wrote your name in cursive
Punctured in the softest layer of skin, right onto your arm
And there, it spreads like fire
But you wanted to be free
You wanted to be somebody
|
||||
6. |
Ode to Those Who Worry
02:00
|
|||
|
Maybe someday I can wear a smile with no need to fake
And every opportunity that passes by, I'll take
But somehow, I'm still stranded in the chaos of my mind
The waking hours parallel my nightmares all the time
And I'm forced to give myself in
I'm forced to sacrifice my love for these superficial sins
Trying my hardest not to worry
And I'm forced to let them win
I'm forcing blood to spill and sour
It's the consequence of trying not to worry
|
||||
7. |
Sunrise and Mellow
06:14
|
|||
|
Each day, I'm wondering if things are gonna change or if they're going to stay
And each hour you walk around the streets of this deserted town, searching for dreams
But I don't see changes
And you don't find your dreams
And you always say that
That we'll just have to wait
We all desire to be happy but happiness isn't free
So just cut the rope of stagnation and break away the hurting and pain
But you don't feel a thing
That's the better feeling
You say you don't see the thick gray skies around
It's all sunrise and mellow to you
Time stops, your heart is beating faster and your whereabouts are still unknown
Did you remember it’s better to be safe than to be sorry and so alone
It's difficult to erase
The biggest of mistakes
But all the errors you make
Stem from morals you break
We could see through a new perspective of the world that surrounds us all
Or we could eliminate the problems and the sadness that hounds our souls
But you don’t see the plight
And you don’t see the strife
And you don't see the thick gray skies around
It's all sunrise and mellow to you
Don’t see it
Don’t you want to fix this?
Don’t you want to mend this?
Don’t you want to fix this?
Don’t you want it back?
We all desire to be happy but happiness isn't free
So just cut the rope of stagnation and break away the hurting and pain
But you don't feel a thing
That's the better feeling
You say you don't see the thick gray skies around
It's all sunrise and mellow to you
|
||||
8. |
From the River
05:28
|
|||
|
I know about my grandpa, who I never got to meet
And I know how he used to be a head honcho at one of the mills in my town
And I know about the river that runs through infinitely
And the hole 20 miles north where the acid runs deep, brown, infinitely
This is my song from the river
And to the city that I call my home
If the waves try to reach you
Then you and I are not alone
Well, I heard about the people who’ve succumbed to these harsh tides
They dove down under without second thoughts and never once swam back to shore
And the water went straight through them
They tried to stay afloat
They fought so hard to escape the current but their bodies smashed on the rocks
The sirens tried to save them
There was nothing they could do
They just froze in disbelief and tried to hold back their grief
And now the dogs are barking
And the neighbors can’t face facts
And the children, crying for mercy
“Where is Father? Where is Mom?”
Now I’ve seen my share of strangers
Our paths just never crossed by
And as I sit, I wonder if they are alive or if they are dead
And it’s hard to acknowledge that someday we’ll see the end
And it hurts me to know that some people’s lives ended in such an unnatural way
They may have lost their feelings
And they may have lost all hope
And they thought that it was healing
And they thought it’d make them warm
But instead, the flow, it was painful
They all drowned and they all were gone
And I wonder if my late grandpa ever met them with open arms
And as the river flows through the city
You can see the disaster unfold
Though there were three floods before, I’ve already seen the worst one yet
It affects your friends and family
All the bodies are washing up
Inside the parking lots of stores, restaurant bathrooms, even your home
This was my song from the river
So don’t let these flood waters roar
If the waves try to reach us
You and I are both not alone.
|
||||
9. |
Crumbling
06:28
|
|||
|
Waking up today
Just making the same mistakes that I always make
It’s a fact I have to face
It pains me to say
That I’ve been trying so hard to understand why I feel this way
It’s so hard to be away from everybody
Everyone I held so close to my own heart
It kills me softly, kills me slowly
I’m the one who’s crumbling
Suppose I said to you
That I’m just not quite sure how I get to this point in my life
Point of time
Would you laugh at me or would you hurt for me?
I just don’t know
I can’t bear what will happen to this world we made from stone
I want to do the right thing
I don’t want to lose feeling
I want to have everything
I don’t want to be crumbling
I never wanna say never
I wanna live forever
I want to live together
Another year, forever
And if I can’t, then it will be tragic
|
||||
10. |
Surrender
03:47
|
|||
|
Is this what it takes to be happy these days
To feel loved, comforted, and appreciated
And I understood, even when I was young
That these dark shadows would whirl throughout your body
But not this badly
These scars were made from a soft mind left stranded
Left out, in the cold
The coldest of dirt, to suffer
But how should I reach you
With these arms out?
Open up my palms
To seal an embrace?
I'm not sure I can
Cause I love you
But I don't love the portraits you paint of yourself
With toxic, crippled brushes
Your blurred, slurred words and bloodshot eyes
It’s the face of surrender
Don't let it show
|
||||
11. |
Down on Fairfield
01:39
|
|||
12. |
For November
07:06
|
|||
|
I might believe you
But until I see you
The battling with words
And all the joys of holding onto all this pain
Will never stop
Cold night, warm body
You'll fall into a stupor
And all the restless dreams
And all the heartache that transpires from the void
Will never stop
November's not here
Yet I'm just waiting for a better change
And though we can't live life in constant fear
Don't expect the light to be in range
We'll see the leaves fall
And we'll see these four walls
But till you see the mess you're in
I hope that you can figure out the cause of why we are
So tired and so scared
And so apprehensive
You see a happy town around you
But you see the streaming down of tears
And wonder why
November's not here
Clinging onto hope that's hard to reach
And I wish we can recall
The virtuousness of family
|
||||
Great American Racer Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Primarily known for his work under the ambient pop alias Blue Navy, Jake Dryzal rebrands his music under the pseudonym Great American Racer, a project inspired by the sounds of folk rock, heartland rock, and singer-songwriter music. The project's self-titled début is a concept album about the heroin and opioid epidemic that currently plagues Rust Belt communities across the United States. ... more
Great American Racer recommends:
My slowcore/ambient pop alias.
go to album
My post-metal project from 2014/2019 with friend Kevin Pribulsky.
go to album
I make covers, too!
go to albumIf you like Great American Racer, you may also like:
Introspective pop songs with transcendent melodies offer a joyful meditation on staying present in a world that often moves too fast.
go to album
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Phototherapy EP
by Fahim Rahman
A collection of twinkling bedroom folk-pop demos from Fahim Rahman that arcs from hushed intimacy to sweeping cinematic emotionality.
go to album
