We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Buyer's Remorse

by Justin Baker

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
Once upon a time I moved in you — you moved me, too The moon was still on fire I sang alone on my throne What was was still to come I was the air; I was the choir You danced to raise the sun I am The prayer I am The liar Once upon a time You drew the dark — you drew me, too Words leapt from a spark You named the stars, called the hours What was was still to come I was the air; I was the choir You danced to raise the sun I am The prayer I am The liar Once upon a time The silence broke — heaven spoke Your arms took shape as wings We fell uncrowned toward the ground
2.
No matter how loud we yelled At the screen we knew she wouldn’t — survive the scene And who would have guessed that her short bloody dress would get auctioned And who’s that fashioning a cross In the corner while the extras — waltz to stir the slaughter? Shouldn’t somebody tell them that we’re all just victims here, ohh yeah Ahh — the horror Ahh — the holy and the dumb You’re a star now, baby Smile for everyone Under all that gold she wears She’s canvass thick with makeup — the seraph of the war The violence and envy we stash behind each noble gesture And who’s that man in a mask Walking slowly out of rhythm — a shrouded refugee? Shouldn’t somebody tell him that we’re all just victims here, ohh yeah Ahh — the horror Ahh — the holy and the dumb You’re a star now, baby Smile for everyone
3.
With a dance you’d wrest devotion I close my eyes and chase you there But all I hear’s the rain ‘a coming And those neighbors fight and swear What I mean to say is Those days were more than nothing And getting harder to resolve What I mean to say is I wish you’d call Those years went fast as lightning Ain’t youth wasted on the young? Now I go weeks without smiling Your salt still on my tongue What I mean to say is Those days were more than nothing And getting harder to resolve What I mean to say is I wish you’d call There's that place in the kitchen Where you’d sing and cut my hair It haunts my recollection And sits empty as a prayer What I mean to say is Those days were more than nothing And getting harder to resolve What I mean to say is I wish you’d call
4.
Ouroboros 04:00
I tried to fit the world in a song Light: a particle, a wave Dark delivered then bound and slain Lost in patterns and names You were right about the sound It’s forged in shadows and flames Paid in blood, born of desire Echoed back to us in choir We were born into light Just threshers of stone We were cast upon the shores And forced to walk alone I played the notes by heart Life: a vision, a curse Time a wheel spinning fate Days wanting of weight I tried to find my way back home Hope: a dragon, a hearth A war inspired then fought and lost You were wrong about the cost We were born into light Just threshers of stone We were cast upon the shores And forced to walk alone I tried to fit the world in a song
5.
There’s a long time between being high and dying There’s a sad note between being low and gone There’s a misery felt between your heart and mine, dear There’s a love lost deep somewhere still There’s an ocean between the clever and lying There’s a red moon between the sinner and the saved There’s a tragedy hangin’ between your eyes and mine, dear There’s a love lost deep sometime still There’s a truth hiding somewhere on the page There’s a grace lying somewhere on the trail There’s beauty somewhere in this pain; I’m sure my dear There’s a love lost deep somewhere still There’s a bell tolling beyond the lost and forsaken There’s a field beyond the sacred and profane There’s a slow rolling thunder on your mind and mine, dear There’s a love lost deep somewhere still There’s a comfort beyond the shame and the pleasure There’s a mountain beyond conviction and faith There’s a mercy felt between your hopes and mine, dear There’s a love lost deep somewhere still There’s a truth hiding somewhere on the page There’s a grace lying somewhere on the trail There’s beauty somewhere in this pain; I’m sure my dear There’s a love lost deep somewhere still Somewhere still Somewhere still Somewhere still
6.
Fall 03:34
It’s that time of the year again when trees catch fire Your hands in sacred dance across the wire Some verse I swore I knew but not the choir You loved me you said but I never knew what that meant It meant I should suffer and die for you Which is nothing at all if you think about it anyway Cause to live is to suffer and sing the blues Does an ocean current deepen without sound? Will the lonely beggar hang with the drowned? Can the desert flower absolve evil ground? You loved me you said but I never knew what that meant It meant I should suffer and die for you Which is nothing at all if you think about it anyway Cause to live is to suffer and sing the blues It’s that time of the year again when trees catch fire I’m burning, burning, burn And fade way
7.
You haven’t even touched your eggs And your coffee’s getting cold Outside the snow is falling I’d forgot we’re getting old I’d forgot we’re getting old Maybe it’s the burning trees On the news tuned to a hum Maybe it’s that aching notion Or that call we’re waiting on Feels like forever — Ohh, forever You didn’t even ask one question You almost braved a smile I managed to stare out the window Growing angry like a child I was angry like a child Maybe it’s the pain before us Or the snow this time of year Maybe it’s that aching notion That your smile turned into fear Feels like forever — Ohh, forever You hadn’t even touched your eggs And your coffee’d gotten cold You got up to watch the TV And left me here alone You left me here alone Feels like forever — Ohh, forever
8.
Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time Yesterday we were young and hungry Went and sold ourselves a lie So we packed up all our junk in a van And swore we’d never die Now we have good jobs and bought a house And sold those old guitars And our cars shine like those old stale dreams We swore we’d never buy Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time When this TV show is over Let’s head on up the stairs To replay the same old tired scene That getting us nowhere But hey, tomorrow let’s map out a plan And reclaim all we are We’ll wave goodbye to all we have That’s killing who we are Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time
9.
She said, “God is dead,” and took a long, slow sip I used to love the smell of scotch and Nietzsche on her lips When things got good, she’d be the first to go Should have seen the pileup coming all those years ago It was something in the way she moved her hips And that unrepentant timbre and her soft eclipse She had me beggin’ for a bite ‘fore the fruit was ripe And a thousand-yard stare that fit my vision just right It was cold May night about a decade back When the neighbors called the cops ‘fore I drank my six-pack Josie’s toys made him pause ‘fore he walked me outside Sobered up an hour later, sick and tired I found the test in the trash, such are vicious gifts And her note in my book like a poet’s fist Didn’t mean a thing then; doesn’t mean a thing still Just more haunted lost souls in the killing fields She said, “It’s not your fault,” and left her key in the door I felt the wounds tear open bleeding from our silent war She didn’t give me a name; didn’t give a goddamn Just left a trace of nothing and a blue sedan
10.
It must have been 2:00 AM Ghosts rise in the darkest hour Your pillow cold Still smells like flowers Was it in LA? Long years melt into night Weren’t we working in stone? Weren’t we in a fight? Where are you tonight? Did you trade in your soul for silver and spite? Where are you tonight? We were a fool’s parade You with your dull desire While I buried the ashes From some other fire Staging odes to pain You made your beauty a knife That you stuck in my back Now you’re his wife. Where are you tonight? Did you trade in your soul for silver and spite? Where are you tonight? It must be 2:00 AM Ghosts rise in the darkest hour
11.
What kind of poems did you speak While the world fell fast asleep? (Did you) shout or let the silence stand in for you? Where your symbols broken bells Or shapes deep from the well? (Did you) cry or light a cigarette in mourning? Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om What kind of message did you leave With no one there to grieve? (Did you) laugh while the sacred became shadows? Where your signs a pretty joke Or a tongue you only spoke? (Did you) see the works of your creation? Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om

about

A few weeks ago, as I was preparing to read "Lincoln in the Bardo" with my students, I remembered an “Epic Conversation” between the author George Saunders and singer/songwriter Jason Isbell. As an English teacher, a lover of words, and a music fan, I headed to YouTube where, instead of crafting a lesson plan, I consumed Saunders and Isbell’s mutual questions and shared curiosity. Deep in the conversation, Isbell noted - emphatically - that he doesn’t want his songs to play in the background at BBQs. This longing of Isbell’s has stuck with me from that YouTube binge to this moment. It seems to me that this is a most writerly desire: to have one’s work rise above the noise, to be listened to, to be digested, to be sung along with.

During my first listenings to Justin Baker’s album and through my first readings of his lyrics, I encountered songs that have the same desire Isbell mentions above. These are songs that ask you to pay attention, to lean in, to bring them into the foreground.

If you’re like me, you’ll hear echoes of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits on “Buyer’s Remorse.” Justin Baker and Justin Townes Earle share more than the same first name, and “You’re a Star” has a wonderfully Wilco-esque feel to it.

There are a million things you should know before listening to “Buyer’s Remorse,” and yet you really don’t need to know anything at all because it’s all there on the album. Baker’s songs are brilliant and cynical, romantic and heartbreaking. Baker is that writerly songsmith to whom I referred earlier. “Beyond Good and Evil” is a literary short story. “Like Any Other Man” juxtaposes longing with an almost-jaunty mandolin riff, signaling that Baker resides in the fraught world of both/and. “Sometimes Isn’t Always (And Good Advice Is Hard to Take)” is a drive-home-from-a-long-day-of-work song where the listener is reminded “sometimes you get it right.” The songs here wrestle with being an artist, a father, a partner, a reader, a thinker, and a hesitant dreamer. Do yourself a favor; quiet the din of your life and listen to this album. Listen now and then listen again.

By: Beth Knapp

credits

released November 1, 2021

Recorded at JEm Yard Asheville, NC
Produced by J Seger and Justin Baker
Engineered by J Seger
Mixed and Mastered by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios
Album Artwork by Galen Cunnington
Liner Notes by Beth Knapp
Photographs by David Radford

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Justin Baker Baltimore, Maryland

A bookish songster for the wayfaring stranger, Justin Baker writes songs that revel in ambiguity, songs that examine the morbid and metaphysical. Jonathan Smith of Americana UK called Baker an "American wordsmith" and an artist whose "highly literate lyrics" are "wrapped in music whose primary purpose is to serve the words." Baker's songs are the kind that get deeper with each and every listen. ... more

contact / help

Contact Justin Baker

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Justin Baker, you may also like: