VOL. 3: IGNOBLE | frank-lazarus

ILLCONCEIVED: SWANSONGS, VOL. 1

IGNOBLE documents the man at war with the world around him.

"BOSS" tells it straight: some folks got it and some folks don't. He has been put into boxes from the day he was born, and the only way out of that box was by kicking screaming. And he's probably still in that box, anyway. The Birddogs take the song on a journey, through the strong, mellow pop-hop of the verses, to the scuzzy country funk of the choruses, with Matt Phillips stepping out front with a nasty slide.

He screams "UNDERNEATH!" because he doesn't think the people above have ever heard him. When the world crashed down around him, all he wanted was some room...some air. To breathe. Finding the sad streak of the song, The Birddogs balance the mournful choruses with the bounce of hope in the verses.

In "LANDMINE," the stage of the battle to come is set. He has gotten into so much trouble in his life just trying to navigate a world that is wired to blow. What can he do to lower the temperatures of conflict? The Birddogs stomp through the track, as they segue segues from battle march to solitary reflection.

"BLOOD" is about the literal and figurative blood that we spill when we are at war, and the blood that we lose when war tr*mps family. As he sees it, the blood you draw is usually your own. Matt Phillips (lead guitar) and Cat Myles (backing vocals) sit out front, but The Birddogs hard, strudy countryfunk groove sets the stage for this song about war, loss and irony.

* PRODUCED by Frank Lazarus

* MASTERED by Mike Pepe & Frank Lazarus

* All songs written by Frank Lazarus,

© 2020 FreeEarthMusic, BMI.

* ARTWORK by Mariel Mitkowski.

* ALBUM DESIGN: Frank Lazarus

1. BOSS

I keep on trying, but I ain’t getting nowhere

No use in crying a stream of wasted tears

My time of dying seems like it’s drawing near

I’m done complying w/ what everybody wants to hear

It’s my life - it’s my breath

It’s my right to say what I want with it

I’m not what I used to be

Nothing that’d make you proud

I’m not even a vague facsimile

You might as well just mourn me now

But who among us can claim to be?

Don’t we all feel a little run down?

Dragging our minds & our feet

You can’t blame me if I wanna check out

It’s my life; it’s my death

It’s my right to be proud of it

And yet here I am...

They the boss, you the hoss

It’s a loss, cuz

Ain't no shame in that

Got their claws in all of us

Always will & was

'S just a natural fact, jack

They the boss, you the hoss

It's your cross, cuz

To carry on your back

Until you up and make the choice

To fight and raise your voice

And make a change

Son, they’re building you

Just to build their building machines

And straight up it’s killing you

In ways seen and unseen

They're only giving you

The things that they say you need

Why are you so willing to

Be the pawns that guard their greed?

It’s your life

It’s your breath

It’s your right to do what you want to do with it

Cuz until then, son...

It’s our lives - it’s our breath

It’s our chance to make something of it

Or naw?

2. UNDERNEATH

I spent a night in the county jail

The cops were ugly, there - just mean as hell

I secretly hoped you'd pay my bail

But then I fell asleep

I didn't do nothing, but oh well

They'll believe anything that a woman tells

A woman like that has a special place in hell

And that's another place I can't be

You know, cuz the heat

And I can't be underneath

I can't breathe, I can't breathe

We got stoned, but it wasn't that great

You didn't wanna hear what I had to say

Don't know why I always go to that place

I don't get high - I get deep

You clicked on your phone and you turned away

So I dropped to the floor, my favorite place to lay

Then you tried to lay on top of me

But I couldn't sleep

I need some breeze and I can't be underneath

I can't breathe, I can't breathe

My time has really come and gone

If I ain't made a mark by now, I probably won't

But I can still have me a little bit of fun

And just coast through my days

I sell loosies cuz it's easy green

I sell out quick, and get me home by 3

I just wish these cops would stop harassing me

And here comes one my way

He doesn't seem to hear me when I say

That I can't be underneath

I can't breathe, I can't breathe

3. LANDMINE

Sirens in the distance on grey Sunday morn

Even passive resistance is resistance, you've been warned

Safer just to stay in: hashtag movements, help the cause

Cuz out here on the street? Like I said, you've been warned

When dreams are finally broken, you die every day

And every lie they've spoken is another twist of the blade

You're lost! You can't find your way homeward through the haze

Then you start to realize you're trapped in their maze

Hate is just a landmine

One that we walk into all the time

Purposefully placed there with designs

To blow our minds

Keeps us in line

Sirens in the distance, late Friday night

Someone else took a chance & lost the fight

We know it’s wrong and wish somebody would go and make it right

And it eats at us, until we turn out the light...and then it's goodnight

Fear is just a landmine

One that we walk into all the time

Purposefully placed there with designs

To blow our minds

Keeps us in line

Hate is just a landmine

Fear is just a landmine

War is just a landmine

Greed is just a landmine

Apathy's a landmine

Tr*mp is just a landmine

4. BLOOD

I'm sick about this damned election

I'm sick of my parents' generation fucking up

Where do we go when we need protection

When it's our elders that fucked everything up

I don't mean to be vulgar

But right now, there's no time for slowing up

You back down, they go for the jugular

And we wonder why we're in this rut

You can squeeze blood from a stone

But it will be your own

When the hammer gets thrown down

Are you man enough to bow out

To show you understand that either way you lose

Time goes so fast

We're gonna regret that it passed

In battle & not turning around these blues

So, tell me what you're gonna do

You measure strength as how much you hurt me

Proud of all the damage you do

But brother all you're doing is fighting dirty

Cuz I ain't wired to go back at you.

Well, boy, if you's strong as you say you are

Why don't you go fix a thing or two

Instead of making everybody pay for the way you are

Times are changing, now, with or without you

Hey, you there - shouting on the other side

I bet you're in the same kind of steady funk

Ain't nobody signed up for this crazy ride

But right now we're all hurting with every bump

But you gotta know that winning is losing

When you're winning with anger and greed

Live your life, boy, to your choosing

Just don't hate somebody else cuz they choose to do it differently