This was written for Circle of Titles in 2016, when I was assigned the title “Strategies to Live,” which felt super relevant given the then-recent Presidential election which was at odds with my safety as a trans person.

It took me five years to release this album, and I kept on feeling like it was too late to release this topical song, and yet, somehow it manages to remain topical.

Lyrics: Strategies to Live

You can hide yourself down a deep, dark hole Or hoist yourself on a really tall pole Anything that’ll help you get away

You can do heavy drugs to numb the pain, or Ask a surgeon to remove your brain So you can fit right in and start to play

Change your face and change your name Hide everything that brings you shame Or go on a preemptive sneak attack

Dig deep into the viper’s pit Embroil yourself in petty shit Just commit ‘coz there’s no turning back

Oh, I wish I didn’t worry oh so much Oh, I wish I could feel fine Oh, if only all my hopes weren’t out of touch I wish my safety wasn’t on the line

If you’re accused of doing a bad crime Want to hide for a very very very long time Consider all the possibilities

Make a run for President Convince the people you are heaven sent You might just win and then you are home free

Even if you’re caught lying Everyone gives you points for trying It’s not that the bear stakes well, it skates at all

Even if you destroy the world It doesn’t matter, you can fuck every girl And then you can go home and take your ball

Oh, I wish I didn’t worry oh so much Oh, I wish I could feel fine Oh, if only all my hopes weren’t out of touch I wish my safety wasn’t on the line

In the long run everything will be fine It will just be a matter of time, in Twelve billion years this will all be gone

In the meantime just try to survive The world is better with you alive Outliving him is a reason to go on

This song was written for Song Fight! Live 2020, and I don’t think people got the joke that it was a song about how 2020 was going to have been so much better than 2019 was.

(For those reading this from the distant future: It very much wasn’t.)

Lyrics: Better Luck Next Year

This year had its challenges All my flowers dead, my pain got worse, my brain got worse, there’s something wrong with my head

What happened to my career, it didn’t go my way Things feel bad, and I’m in fear I won’t live another day

oh, it can only get better oh, I know it will get better

we see the rise of fascists who think many lives don’t matter a president who’s on the brink, only cares to be flattered

where can our people go from here it all just seems too much famine devastation fear we need a human touch

oh, it can only get better oh, I know it will get better

but it wasn’t all so bad some of it was swell remember all the good times we had Song Fight! Live went well

We take the hand we have been dealt this year’s problems were a-plenty 2019 really smelt, so here’s to 2020

oh, it can only get better oh, I know it will get better oh, it can only get better oh, I know it will get better

Video: Better Luck Next Year

This song was originally written for Song Fight!, as part of the “Live Fight” challenge for Song Fight! Live 2021.

On the blog I have written up a detailed explanation of the lyrics and video.

Lyrics: Behind a Mask

Feeling lost in an elephant’s dream Caught up in the digital stream Cave of shadows, can’t say what I mean A million miles far from home

Best foot forward, take a step back Play defense while on the attack Sowing discord, can’t cut them no slack Everybody so alone

If everyone could see Themselves through some other eyes Innocent, caught up in the machinery An algorithmic disguise

Making everything great again Forget about your family and friends Looking for a means to an end Just don’t want to be alone

Fragile gem, split in two Internal dialogue of them vs. you Find acceptance with nothing to do The voices there are all your own

If everyone could see Themselves through some other eyes Innocent, caught up in the machinery An algorithmic disguise

A deeper body ache, and make a bad mistake A million jumping on Sharing a bad take, Nobody can quite shake The feeling that you’re gone

Feeling lost in an elephant’s dream Getting washed away by the digital stream If it feels better to share another meme Doesn’t make you less alone

If everyone could see Themselves through some other eyes Innocent, caught up in the machinery An algorithmic disguise

If everyone could see Themselves through some other eyes Innocent, caught up in the machinery An algorithmic disguise

Video: Behind A Mask

Written when the election results came in :D

Lyrics: Don’t Let The Door Hit You

Don’t let the door hit you on your way out We all know you are going to just scream and shout Take it back to Twitter with your remaining clout, don’t let the door hit you on your way out

At least half of the nation is so sick of you You are so much worse than the “just a flu” Nobody cares what you’re going to do, don’t let the door hit you on your way out

The past four years have been a tragedy And we have a long way to go we can all see To get a better world for you and me Well maybe not for you

Don’t let the door hit you on your way out We’re better off without you without a doubt Twitter says they’ll ban you so just quietly pout, and let the door hit you on your way out

Written on the night of the 2020 US Presidential election

Lyrics: Gonna Be All Right

We just don’t know If it’s gonna be all right We cannot know When it’ll be all right We gotta know That it’ll be alright I just don’t know When it’ll be all right

When it’ll be all right

We’re gonna know When it’ll be all right We’re gonna show When everything’s alright Don’t know where to go When everything’s alright But we’re gonna know That it’ll be alright

It’ll be all right

Lyrics: Double Take

It’s the last day on Earth I know Everything is coming down We run it to the ground I think we need another take

We didn’t understand the snow Thought our troubles were gone Conclusions were withdrawn Life was just a big mistake

I think we need another take

I think we need some shelter We deserve this weather But we’re flying to the sun Everything’s undone

And we’re lying on the ground Swallowed up in the sound What we get is what we make I think we need another take

It’s the last day on Earth I know Everything is coming down We run it to the ground I think we need another take

Lyrics: Bad Cat

I have a bad cat He is very fat He sat on my hat And then he shat He dragged the hat All over my mat Then he ate a bat And made friends with a rat

I took this bad cat To the laundromat Where we had a spat About the theocrat He’s a diplomat For this crazy dingbat Sent us off to combat Like a copycat

He’s a bureaucrat And a total asshat Shut down the laundromat Because he overheard chit-chat An aristocrat And a cosmocrat He’s a pornocrat Such a total prat

So I took this bad cat Back to my flat Gave up on the hat Dumped it with the mat We had a little chat He’d have nothing of that But I gave him a pat ‘Cuz he’s my pussycat