sonofgearfight #1: These are the Jokes

[heid]

Heid

First saw his face
In the railyard as it rained hard
I'd lost my place,
Found a little bit of booze
He pointed north
To a grove behind the graveyard
With food and warmth
I had little left to lose

[aaaa]

Through forest ferns
Came the friendliest flickers
A fire burned
In the center of them all
A dozen grins,
A guitar, and some liquor
They beckoned me in
With their wanderers' calls

Laughter lifted my lonely young head
As he gestured around and he said,

These are the jokes
These are the misfits, the buttonbag crew
My favorite folks
And we've got a name and a place here for you

And since that night
I've laid my head many places
By firelight,
I am never alone
Strangers change
To familial faces
And every train
Takes me toward a new home

We fill up the woods with our songs
I'm finally where I belong

Here with the jokes
Here with the misfits, the buttonbag crew
My favorite folks
And we've got a name and a place here for you
We are the jokes
We are the misfits, the buttonbag crew
My favorite folks
And we've got a name and a place here for you

[vowlvom]

Vom Vorton

A friend asks how I'm doing and a shudder runs right through me
as I contemplate how honest they're expecting me to be
And so I shrug my shoulders, and say that I've been better
Wait for the Nobel Prize for understatement to reach me in a letter

I know I’m not alone in paranoia and heartbreak
but I’m not sure how much comfort in that I’m supposed to take

“Things are getting better”
“It's gonna be okay”
These are the jokes we tell ourselves
to make it through the day

Small talk in the supermarket, "hi love, you alright?"
Honestly I'm not, but she's just being polite
I say that things are great, so as not to devastate her;
The Nobel Prize for outright lies arrives two weeks later

I know I’m not alone in my anxiety and dread
but that’s not much reassurance as I lie awake in bed

“There’s hope on the horizon”
“The outlook isn’t bleak”
These are the jokes we tell ourselves
to make it through the week

"Tomorrow is another day"
"The future's looking bright"
These are the jokes we tell ourselves
To help us sleep at night

[Pigfarmer Jr]

These Are The Jokes
Pigfarmer Jr

My fingers
Resting on the strings
Making music
Is harder than it seems
I've got a feeling
But I can't get it out
Caress my guitar
A whisper or a shout

And I don't know what I'm gonna play

Tuning up
A riddle in six strings
Feel the music
Creating all the things
Hold my guitar
Gonna make her sing
Making music for a man I'll never know
I won't hear him say, "These are the jokes."

I start writing
But the words won't come
Mark a line through
Everything I've done
I'm still trying
But I can't find a rhyme
Starting over
For the sixteenth time

And I don't know what I'm gonna play

Tuning up
A riddle in six strings
Feel the music
Creating all the things
Hold my guitar
Gonna make her sing
Making music for a man I'll never know
I won't hear him say, "These are the..."

Flick off standby and turn it up
Might be a mess but who gives a fuck?
If you want polished then you're out of luck
Crank the gain and you'll get unstuck

Tuning up
A riddle in six strings
Feel the music
Creating all the things
Hold my guitar
Gonna make her sing
Crank the amp
Let the feedback ring
Making music for a man I'll never know
I won't hear him say, "These are the jokes."

[seemanski]

see-man-ski

you're laughing at something
but we don't find it funny
some kind of idiosyncrasy
that's lost on us

we're finding this awkward
but you don't seem to notice
you carrying going
like you're bringing down the house

these are the jokes
that no one knows
these are the jokes
that no one gets

you're laughing at someone
but they don't find it funny
picking up on tendencies
that you don't understand

we're looking for the punchline
on your blank expression
either you are just an arsehole
or the joke is on us

these are the jokes
that no one knows
these are the jokes
that no one gets

but you keep telling them anyway

[Paco Del Stinko]

These Are The Jokes - Paco del Stinko

We believe in freedom
As long as you don't vote
We give you our thoughts and prayers
But we don't offer hope

They do it all of the time, they do it all of the time
They do it all of the time, they do it all of the time

These are the jokes that they tell us

All men are created equal
Unless you're the wrong color of people

These are the jokes that they tell us

Straight as an arrow - A bone with no marrow
Crack it open there's nothing inside
As empty as their words, vaporous lies

Home of the free land of the brave
Insatiable hunger of corporate slaves

These are the jokes that they tell us

[ken]

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff

G Am D C
I’d hoped it was a hoax
Something that only happened to other folks
You’d emerge from the smoke
Saying these are the jokes

D C
These are the jokes
Even when they’re not amusing
These are the jokes
Especially when they’re confusing

I’d hoped it was just a feeling
The truth would be more appealing
My heart fell from the ceiling
The reality left me reeling

These are the jokes
Even when they’re not amusing
These are the jokes
Especially when they’re confusing

Em C D C
So lift a glass to our fallen friend
A good man who met his untimely end
Now we cope with the loss of the best of us
Looking for solace within the rest of us

Solo by Paco del Stinko
G Am C C

These are the jokes
Even when they're not amusing
These are the jokes
Especially when they’re confusing
These are the jokes
No use in refusing
These are the jokes
Blue is the friend we’re all losing

End on G