Not Joking - The Front Bottoms

And without comedy I don't know if I could be me Only thing separating Being loved from being hated And if I weren't funny I don't think that you would like me I'm not what you really think I think I have the joking disease Andy Kaufman was the king But women weren't the only thing He was wrestling Carlin could've had everything But he's the greatest 'Cause he came to his senses Robin Williams appeared happy But it's apparent now that he'd Always been struggling With what genuinity means The performance is a means of retreat Because if it weren't for comedy I wouldn't realize that everything on TV Was about as authentic as asking A stranger how their day is going With salt like this some is Bound to end up in the wound As soon as one quip is made Another is in the queue Whether or not I'm being sincere No one would have a clue Because every second thing I say Isn't remotely true Maybe it's just a way to mask how I feel The ability to pass off anything Was the appeal Having genuine discourse now Would feel surreal I think I'm much too far past The point of being real And if I weren't funny I don't think that you would like me Only thing separating Being loved from being hated And if I weren't funny I don't think that I could be me Only thing that is allowing Me to be any sort of interesting And without comedy The act committing to being oblique I wouldn't realize that everything on TV Was about as real as me And if I weren't funny I don't think that you would like me Thoughts would coincide with speaking I'd tell you how I really feel And if I weren't funny I don't think that you would like me I'm not what you really think I think I have the joking disease "Thank you so much."

Ever since I was a kid at school I messed around with all the rules Apologised then realised I'm not different after all Me and the boys thought we had it sussed Valentinos all of us My dad said we looked ridiculous But boy, we broke some hearts In and out of jobs, running free Waging war with society Dumb blank faces stare back at me But nothing ever changed Promises made in the heat of the night Creeping home before it got too light I wasted all that precious time And blamed it on the wine I was only joking my dear (my dear) Looking for a way to hide my fear (my fear) What kind of fool was I? (Was I) I could never win (never win) Never found a compromise Collected lovers like butterflies Illusions of that grand first prize Are slowly wearing thin Susie, baby, you were good to me Giving love unselfishly But you took it all too seriously I guess it had to end I was only joking my dear (my dear) Looking for a way to hide my fear (my fear) What kind of fool was I? (Was I) I could never win (never win) Yeah baby, whoa Now you ask me if I'm sincere That's the question that I always fear Vers e seven is never clear But I'll tell you what you wanna hear I try to give you all you want But giving love is not my strongest point If that's the case it's pointless going on I'd rather be alone 'Cause what I'm doing must be wrong Pouring my heart out in a song Owning up for prosperity For the whole damn world to see Quietly now while I turn a page Act one is over without costume change The principal would like to leave the stage The crowd don't understand

Deep and slow, but that's how it goes If anyone asks, yeah, I already know 'Cause I got this pain in my chest, every time I swim to consciousness And I misspelt every word perfectly Every mistake made was purposely And my head is pounding to the beat of my heart You are a broken heart tattoo, I'll have forever on my chest For a love that I have lost But never could forget Say what you have to say Try not to cry This is just not what you wanted, at this point in your life It's so hard to stay When all you wanna do is ride I totally get you I was a birdcage, and you were meant to fly You are a broken heart tattoo, I'll have forever on my chest For a love that I have lost But never will forget I shook 'til I came out of it I shook 'til I came out of it I shook 'til I came out of it I shook 'til I came out of it Let's sit down, we'll sit down proud We'll sit down proud We'll sit down Nothing matters, the importance of nothing Nothing matters, the importance of nothing Nothing matters, the importance of nothing That's what you taught me while I was barely listening Nothing matters, the importance of nothing (oh, oh, oh) Nothing matters, the importance of nothing (oh, oh) Nothing matters, the importance of nothing (oh, oh, oh) Nothing matters, nothing matters (oh, oh)

See, I was in handcuffs No one stood by my side No one to help me prove my charge was a lie Well, some prosecutor screams, "I'm a terrible guy" That I am guilty and I deserve twenty-five to life See, I lost my temper And the cop lost his cool A whole can of pepper spray Man, makin' me look like a fool And he started stompin' As I was gasping for air Already on the ground Man, I don't know That fight don't seem fair But with my pain came rage A light so bright I feel blind So I reach with my hands And a rock is what I do find He stops for a moment I gather my strength Just enough to swing quickly and put the rock right through his face And that's how it happened How he met his fate And how my left eye got burned out by the pepper spray Some called me a monster Things got super intense But I don't think I did nothin' wrong Your honor, I claim self-defense First, they talk to his cop friends And then they talk to his wife They all said the same thing He never hurt nothin' or no one in his whole life They made it seem pretty obvious That I was the one to blame Even my public defender Didn't have all that much to say The jury comes back in I try to look 'em all in the eyes Try to make 'em feel like takin' Another life, it don't make takin' The first one right And I hope that they realize I hope they truly understand Just how sorry I am things got so out of hand

There is a map in my room, on the wall of my room And I've got big, big plans But I can see them slipping through, almost feel them slipping through The palms of my sweaty hands And I move slow Just slow enough to make you uncomfortable You say, "I hate you," you mean it And "I love you" sounds fake It's taken me so long to figure that out I used to love the taste, I would do anything for it Now I would do anything to get the taste out of my mouth And you're so confident But I hear you crying in your sleeping bag But you were broken bad yourself And you were mad as hell, you felt If you had done anything with anyone else It would've worked out so well But you are an artist And your mind don't work the way you want it to One day, you'll be washing yourself with hand soap in a public bathroom And you'll be thinking "How did I get here? Where the hell am I?" If the roles were reversed, you could've seen me sneaking up Sneaking up from behind She sees these visions, she feels emotion She says that I cannot go, she sees my plane in the ocean "And what about your friends? Don't you love 'em enough to stay?" And I say, "If I don't leave now, then I will never get away" Let me be a blue raft on the blue sea, I'll blend right in There is a map in my room, on the wall of my room I've got big, big plans (there is a map in my room, on the wall of my room) But I can see 'em falling through, almost feel them slipping through (and I've got big, big plans) The palms of my sweaty hands (I can see them slipping through, almost feel them slipping through) And I move slowly (the palms of my sweaty hands) Just slow enough to make you uncomfortable But you were broken bad yourself And you were mad as hell, you felt If you had done anything with anyone else It would've worked out so well But you are an artist And your mind don't work the way you want it to One day, you'll be washing yourself with hand soap in a public bathroom And you'll be saying "How did I get here? Where the hell am I?" If the roles were reversed, you could have seen me sneaking up Sneaking up from behind

I am washing my hair with soap I am sitting down in the shower It is this dirty type of clean That keeps me trapped in here for hours Still I scrub and scrub 'til my body bleeds Convince myself I am coming clean Forget and ignore who I used to be That kid is never coming back Relax my muscles And all of a sudden, I am scared All of a sudden, I can't breathe All of a sudden, I am nothing In this moment, you are everything She says, "Can you feel that? Oh, what a marvelous sensation" She says, "Could you please take me off speaker phone? This is a private conversation" And I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap, with soap But there is air inside of my lungs And it is keeping me afloat He says his grandpa's in the mafia He is the nicest guy I know So I will run and run, maybe drive my car Baby, look at me now, I have come so far And I don't know where my family's from But I've got this stereotypical temper I cannot shake Relax the muscles in my face And all of a sudden, I am scared All of a sudden, I can't breathe All of a sudden, I am nothing In this moment, you are everything She says, "Can you feel that? Oh, what a marvelous sensation" She says, "Could you please take me off speaker phone? This is a private conversation" And I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap Yes, I am washing my hair with soap, with soap

I have this dream that I am hitting my dad with a baseball bat And he is screaming and crying for help And maybe halfway through, it has more to do with me killing him Then it ever did protecting myself And I believe that, yeah, Dad, maybe no one is perfect But I believe that you were pushing your luck It just sucks it played out like this A terrible movie and you can tell none of the actors even give a fuck But you look good tonight, girlfriend Can I sleep in your bed? And when I crawl out in the morning Can I stay inside your head? 'Cause you were high school And I was just more like real life And you were okay, okay as a girlfriend, girlfriend But I was just more like his wife I'll do the push-ups, I'll wear the makeup I'll do whatever he wants all night 'Cause you were okay, okay as a girlfriend, girlfriend But I was just more like real life A long, long time ago, my great-great-great-great-grandfather Took something that did not belong to him And that is why today I have an eagle in my veins I am part Native American And I am leaving as soon as I come As soon as I come, you will probably forget my name I hope I fall asleep at the wheel and crash my car on the ride home Or I could just stay here, because You look good tonight, girlfriend Can I sleep in your bed? And when I crawl out in the morning Can I stay inside your head? 'Cause you were high school And I was just more like real life And you were okay, okay as a girlfriend, girlfriend But I was just more like his wife I'll wear the makeup, I'll do the push-ups I'll do whatever he wants all night 'Cause you were okay as a girlfriend And I was just more like real life More like real life, more like real life More like real life, more like real life 'Cause you were high school And I was just more like real life And you were okay, okay as a girlfriend, girlfriend I was just more like his wife And it is okay, I'll wear the makeup I'll do whatever you want all night 'Cause you were okay, okay as a girlfriend, girlfriend But I was just more like real life More like real life Yeah, I think we certainly have enough

Hey-hey-hey, oh-oh Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh You got my initials Photographic memory, ask if I'm emotional Fuck yeah You got my initials Photographic memory, ask if I'm emotional Fuck yeah This whole thing feels like a fraud, got sick of all the danger Had to put it down, got good at biting strangers You got hope tattooed on your throat And I got respect the side of my neck And we're both trying, you gotta give us that We're both trying, you gotta give us that I got hope tattooed on my throat And you got respect tattooed on your neck You say you gotta get it where you wanna be, and- We're both trying, we're both trying Breaking up these strange times, all these kids got no hope Living their whole lives to an accidental overdose Nowadays stand no chance, no telling where I would be This is not what I would do, but this is not about me Something feels like a fraud, got sick of all the danger Had to put it down, I got good at biting strangers And you got hope tattooed on your throat And I got respect the side of my neck And we're both trying, you gotta give us that We're both trying, you gotta give us that You got hope tattooed on your throat And I got respect the side of my neck You say you gotta get it, and where you wanna be, and- We're both trying, we're both trying Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh