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Baby Sings the Blues

by Raggedy &?

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1.
Sometimes I feel like I must be an alien There really must not be a place for me No matter where I go it seems I am shunned Inside me no one really cares to see Might as well be invisible, worth only what I let myself be used for When I'm all used up I see a closed door Now I'm worth less than I was before How pitiful, now I'm miserable, ashamed of the way I chose to go Refused to use what I knew now I know, that must be why I am so alone I just don't belong and I know that I never will Everyone is in the valley I'm up on the hill Everyone is outside while I'm on the window sill Everyone's a letter, I'm just a bill I know that I must really be an alien Everywhere I look around I see Somebody who is telling me I am dumb That I am less cause I have less than he does Wish I could be invisible, worth only what I get and what I can afford Show me no respect and tell me I am poor That I am worth less than the rest in store They ridicule and pity fools like me who can't reset the rules Accept neglect expect abuse I am nothing I am just a tool I don't want to belong and I know that I never will Everyone is in the valley I'm up on the hill Everyone is outside I'll be on the window sill Everyone's a letter I'm just a bill Yet and still I try to find my place but all I find is I must face my own eyes then I'll realize that I don't even need the validation I have faith in me God loves me and I love me, I don't even need what I seek God still loves me and I love me, I don't even need what I seek.
2.
It's like nobody can see me I must be see thru I'm not on tv which seems to mean nobody's watchin cause they knock you over in streets when you slower than motorola screens can't lean on shoulders they leave you lower, knee deep in manure, under the mower need to make a scene to be seen anymore ain't lookin forward to whats in store can't afford to walk in the door gotta break thru the window or the floor Hook: Might as well be invisible Wish I could be invisible I wish nobody could see me not even previews discreet a freakin recluse beneath the sheets no need for peepholes some people would be mean demean me for bein unregal I'm clean though won't plea for acquittals drop ya gavel I'm civil not savage, insignificant and average? amidst these massive demographics, when I've passed & I'm in rigor there will be no vigil I'm invisible not invincible just a drop in a river so Hook Ain't nothin to see here in a one way mirror I see em clearer than they see me I completely disappear when they don't need me, the greedy don't share they're unaware of my existence it isn't fair their decisions effect my livin they don't care bout my opinions I'm not a million I'm rare compared to billionaires I ain't even there but a prayer for no vision I wouldn't dare I sit & stare. Hook
3.
2 alieNation 02:26
I'm a strange nomad, I claim no land I aim to understand The people who I'm equal to, I'm speakin' to, not reachin' too much frequency peakin, my meanin's not leakin' thru I be stumblin', mumblin', wonderin' whats up with it frequently seekin' another, conductor, to release the thunder with Ingnitin' lightnin' brightnin' fightin' ugliness with cohesion what's the reason I ain't stuck to shit can't bond what's wrong? I ain't trustin' lips givin' service with a sermon when it comes to puttin' work in they ain't touchin' shit, but'll burn you like a furnace for a surplus of the stuff you get, all their current's on the surface no deeper than they need to bleed ya leave ya nervous I ain't even hurt, just alert in this circus Everywhere I look I see an alien and I'm an alien from a different planetarium vocabulary is essential in communicating potential intentions investing in friendships connections are needed to be successful I'm separate don't get it feelin' weird and not accepted, my message not received like I sent it disconnected who shares my perspective, understands my expression will I ever find a common ground to step in? with fellow pedestrians extending impressions without pretendin' and expensive projection n shit
4.
Stop pissin' in my pigeon noodle soup Feedin' me chicken sittin' in the same grease for weeks It's not fittin' for decent livin' got leaks in the ceilin' Rats in the street and buildins, no heat I'm not chillin' No sleep police killin' the children Judges not givin' a fuck, got no feelins There's no will n no way, you gotta pay to play, there's no millions Only minimum wages for skill n cages fillin' The game is appealin' for those with top billin' winnin' Those on the bottom got problems not proper options for healin' Who wanna be kneelin'? beggin for what others get with no effort Concealin' the gap not revealin' the facts Nobody's hearin' til/here until we really react, Attack the system that insists we adapt Hook: Show me no respect and tell me I am poor Hood dwellin' can make a good felon, Coulda been a freshman, dentist or reverend Instead led in descending directions Never expected better never heard they deserved an investor, Not astounding In these surroundings they found no measure Of value for renters who own nothing and owe something monthly, Daily people judging comparing, not carin', starin' Not sharin' or lovin' thinkin' the worlds above em And nothings below em who's gonna show em different It's hot in the kitchen, everybody dipped and Who's left is dismissed and forgotten Not uplifted despairin' not repairin' declarin' they're not committed Wary not scary unprepared but not ignorant indifferent considering conditionin's deliberate I figure it's a side effect of neglect isn't it? Hook They say you ain't shit if you can't pay shit If you a patient then you better make ya payments From birthdates to funeral arrangements The population exists as bank statements And credit scores stay indebted inflation depression You're poor, if you can't afford your stake in the war You're worthless beyond your purpose Of circulating a currency what worries me Is seeing every being reduced to a use and a fee And reasons ain't even excuses they use this stupid position We didn't give em as permission to hoard And deliver provisions its survival of the fattest not the fittest It isn't magic to elicit what we need to survive Without attachment to a system that don't consider our lives A significant prize just an instrument to implement a lie And we give in unwillin' to sacrifice. Hook
5.
Poppin' pussy & payin' paper is my purpose prepared Purveyor of play? sure that's what I'm made for Stay sore, break spine make time for those that won't take time Waste mine. watch my waist line, diminish givin' more than I'm gettin' poured no straight lines No safe space away from fake faces disguised As kind with no kind of consideration Appreciation for my work my worth my great grind Ethic just aesthetics & measurements No baseline or credit it's unapologetic synthetic Smiles that incline my skeptic mind in desperate times To accept less than justified, just to survive I just desire reciprocation for efforts not to get jerked While waitin' for payment like,,, justice denied Just a reply a return on my investment to get what I've earned Not left behind & I'm tired of lettin' it slide I'm sexy & I'm bestie til my tank is on empty And I ain't gettin' no rides Hook: Worth only what I let myself be used for, What do I let myself be used for What do I let myself be used to They be like: "Gimme gimme just to be with me, with me you'd be so pretty not petty, you get me? Don't get me twisted. Forget you exist unless you give it, parasitic, in this for what I'm in this for, quit givin' and get the door, more is all that's wanted, flaunt it, thought its all you could be good to me, good for me? surely you're distorting pictures thinking you're essential, indispensable whenever you dry up I'll find another better you" I be like: "Take from me, take me, don't go away from me, don't hate me keep me, need me, beseech me, just play with me teach me games and reach for me, leech from me I wanna be something to somebody" I got some fucked up psychology problems, probably symbiosis psychosis fillin' roles like quotas Co dependence, to get acceptance I let them receive from me I see my need to feel complete reveals I'm weak and wobbly playin' commodity like I don't merit better quality Hook I must be dumb or somethin' I trust em n need em they leave me feelin' stupid used n mistreated they won't repent I'll resent they'll defend I'll befriend again when fences mend I'll end up lendin' rentin' sense of friendship and value, how do I let them tell me what I amount to? I give discounts to bosses, take losses for my labor compensation ain't major but pays the cost of existing exhausted in smaller spaces than I wanna stay in when salty, complainin' nobody can take it and listen all they offerin' is dick n balls I'm jaded and distant don't wanna play this submissive position exchange my gains for admittance to places I don't fit in competitions ridiculous makes you be the viciousest or get ripped at the ligaments by vigilant participants while everybody witnesses a bunch of fuckin' hypocrites
6.
Don't got no S on my chest, cause I ain't shit and I get no respect I don't expect to I accept the pits as where my life exists and I admit, lower levels where I settle just permit me to revel never pedal out the midst/mist dismiss my intellect reflect elements I detest Insist this is the best it gets confess I guess it's neglect I'll never collect, I'm never correct, I'll never get rest unless I sever the tethers of debts and regrets Hook: Nobody loves me nobody ever will Everyone's outside I'm on the window sill They're in the valley, I'm up on the hill Everyone's a letter, I'm just a bill Nobody loves me, nobody every will Well they can stay outside I'll be on the window sill Everybody can't be on top, that's why I'm not but I'm not everybody, seems like I'm not anybody guess I'm probably just a loser with no excuse or reason to be this I'm seethin' receivin' demeanin' beatins from troops the leadin' heathens they stoop to schemin' treason aloof to meanin' leavin' the noose loose, but just a little a boost of truth I'm uncivil unravel the riddles that baffle and it'll be natural to flip the fuck out cause Hook: Nobody loves me nobody ever will Everyone's outside I'm on the window sill They're in the valley, I'm up on the hill Everyone's a letter, I'm just a bill Nobody loves me, they tell me I'm funny That I ain't worth a penny, after takin' all my money Nobody loves me and I don't even care They say they're above me and I'm not even there They keep takin' from me like I was unaware They tell me I'm ugly because I am not theirs
7.
6 Wanna Be 05:01
I don't need to be told what's appropriate what I'm supposed to be like I'm a robot controlled by the notion of someone else's program they act like the fact that I have my own standards don't matter and I don't know shit. People equal to me tell me whats legal and I go with it they be definin' my reality and showmanship I'm rollin' with, the punches for somethin' I have no onwership followin' a model made by clay that I ain't molded with focusin' on an image much different than I'm hostessin' hopin' I locate a place I won't be broken in where my motions won't be voted on or voted in where I won't be a token chosen to promote a slogan by associates who treat me like I'm lower than, where my value ain't a total of how far I'll go for them, I'm goin' then to find an openin' to show me this exists, show me where it is and I'm approachin' it Hook: Can't act like that cuz I'm black, Now I gotta be fine cuz I got a feline They say I need to speak right, teach types to be like I don't wanna be for these guys I just wanna be me I just wanna be, I'm not a wanna be I just wanna be I don't need to be rated, don't need to be berated don't need to be labeled for bein' naked no make up I say what I feel they tell me wake up Fake it til I make it to the status they raise up became what they wanted because they taunted but taught it ain't enough I'm stayin' rough around the sides, I won't apologize I compromise I'm ostracized not validated competin' for seats in these stations is the difference in positions in imaginations? they monopolize what's idolized I wanna know who they is and why we take what they say as truth and who maintains it? maybe thats the way that social creatures are created to have a peckin' order and I'm hatin' my location I ain't at the head so instead I walk away from it ain't chasin' placements on tables of classification what more can I say I'm just a homo sapien Hook I don't see idols in titles I am not able with labels I got a problem with authority sayin' what people ought to be what's lawful? what's awful? nobody ever thought for me, no one can I'll be damned I let somebody author me off of their philosophy I'm not some kind of property who are they? but people in apparel, what's legal? what's regal? fecal we not feeble we equal I'll repeat til they cease the evil treatment of what they don't agree with its no secret they leechin' energy and breedin' disagreements breechin' what's adhesive between us deceivin' our believin' we perceivin' before we even meet and greet in decreed scenes prestige is a dream freed in schemes of reason achieved by seasons of tv series and theories of theologies we're reared in economies we disappear in becoming numbers adhering to structures needin' us to keep it up til we leave it rustin' Hook
8.
My instinct isn't basic it's the basis of livin' survival the fitness of wits amidst the myths and lies that lie in basements of civilizations created you name when who made it up? I trust in blood that pumps through veins and sustains my life the food I use to fuel my fights with frights and flights to heights despite my pint size I rise in might when vices tight and threatnin' breath, forget what's right what's fair don't care the air is there I need it will kill to still receive it and hike ignite the lights I see with at night when I ain't sleepin' I write I type I swipe for life I be in not believin' what they feedin' but eatin' a bite, not likin' I'm slight not bulimic though i keep it inside Hook: Refused to use what I knew now I know I shoulda listened to my intuition but didn't I shoulda listened to my intellect but didn't Intelligence is tellin' this self to relish in developin' not embellishin' wealth of intellect in my head not when I'm givin' it when deliverin' my thinkin' and the inklings I get when cognition's correct and I'm linked in my vision detects direct connects deliberate repetition conditions and collects the ringin' bells in my livin' cells with conviction and yet my spirit convinces my brain to wave away the fake displays remain suspicious not uplifted in some minds I played the victim in mine I stayed resistant to prime time gimmicks providing analytics contrived to divide my physics and then emotions takes over, I'm driving different Hook I shoulda listened to my intuition but didn't and now I'm sittin' thinkin' bout the shit that hit the fan damn it's stinkin' my decisions lead to prisons not prisms no light can get in to guide my spirit driven by fire and desire stricken by limits I give in perspire ambitions are missions to satisfy the physical not spiritual in it or out of it, not doubtin' it can't figure how to get disciplined my trust in my gut keeps switchin' with the whys/wise in my mind if I'd be quiet ride the tide I'd find the blinds get lifted, remindin' me that vision is within if I give it permission to assist providing what I need would I still dream and wish?
9.
I lied a lot when I was little liked to cop from shops & not drop a nickel lifted with 5 fingers was fickle hocked spittle fiddled with brittle shit til it split in 2 principles of karma hard to swallow impossible not to follow and listen to hypocritical complainin' later how fibbin' takers get picky spit in my face and break my shit up too who am I to sympathize with opposition whose rise is in my demise is what I'm thinkin' cruel intentions protectin' my prizes despisin' what I've shifted to bein' seein' I cry for reasons I smiled prior cause I was positioned with contradiction believin' cleavin' leavin' feelin' different this season Hook: All I find is I must face my own eyes I ain't no better than ever y body I see why we all wrong and flawed in some form? or other ignorin' causes callin' motherfuckers frauds n act appalled attract applause and credit want reward and merit for effort forgettin' our faults have led to detriment before and will some more I'm sure I hope it don't but won't edit it from stored memories lessons be lettin' me know I've grown instead of overdosed on regrets and deficits and scores am I measurin' up with the proletariat? what am I comparing with? and for? adore the best of shit abhor the torn and errors with the sentiment my boo boos could be used to improve be better to/too not better than them. Hook My eyes feel I failed my ideal I deal but fear fair would mean I'd reap pairs and 3s of fares be bare and barely bear to stare at me not tear at me where I be not where I dreamed my wares are where? it wears on me I dare compare how can I free my cares? I wear vanity, damagin' sanity can't stand to be aware of humanity, fantasy relieves the agony, leads to apathy atrophy leaves anatomy scantily clad has em mad at me rapidly draggin' me through travesties avidly seek family to stand with me speak candidly reach for peace from weak pageantry distractin' me from seein' back at me
10.
Hook: Yet and still I try to find my place but all I find is People all up in my face tryna put me in my place in a case in a cast/caste and it tastes like a past I don't wanna chase what a waste just to praise paste? no thanks I'll pass get crass for a lass when I'm mad and the lassos a hassle it won't break fast so slow mo, no Flo Jo but dash and sprint for the mint cause the pros do stash no clink in a can, no mink in my hand make too little for the middle but too stink to be linked with the damned I want a castle no mo hobo trash won't show class for rich folks kissin' assholes and dick wanna kick n crack domes n glass doors of those that slow my cash flow cause I don't stack loans I don't lack growth cause I chose back roads I'm zoned out the house they throw bones I go bouts they yell "don't shout" but doubt I'm about that route without clout I'm drownt stout in my mouth no spouse to vouch or pout to I mount the couch and crouch til droughts through count my trouts and sprouts til accounts due Hook People all up in my face tryna take up all my space in the race in the place where I place my brakes from the waves of my brain to the ways of the grain I stay against no crates no gates no fence protects what I make and get from the rest who break heads not bread fed up I fled couldn't catch up or catch breath I bled and sweat for the stead instead I rent the scent, sublet the sense of residence a nest to rest my flesh and bones for a home I quest Intense I go for an abode I roam for room to be who (I want to) (I want to) belong to more than me not lost or altered to be fostered not conquered or leased or bought er owned or spent I don't accept those I won't let close I get left, but I'm blessed and hope to spread love not fend off those with less or more or whore my best for said address
11.

about

It's like a coming of age story about me wondering who I am and where I belong in a world I so obviously do not fit into.

It's just me philosophizing over strange instrumentals created from an a cappella I wrote when I was 19. It probably would've been better as a book. It fully represents me in my 20s; weird, mad wordy and poorly produced, but not lacking depth or originality.
All that to say, it's Raggedy And????
What's done is done
Enjoy!!!

credits

released November 17, 2016

Track 0 recorded and mixed by Clare Trevelyan
Tracks 1 and 3 recorded and mixed by John Kuhn
Tracks 2 and 4 recorded and mixed by Sean Shakespeare
Track 10 recorded and Mixed by Juliano

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Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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Raggedy &?

Formerly known as LMNOP; Raggedy &? is like the drama class drop out who never found a place in the made up, glossed over, airbrushed, costumed school of hard shots where everyone is sexy and famous. Not made of plastic, Raggedy &? is made of fabric (and yarn and buttons n what not); a real throw back that makes you wanna go back to the days when things felt less phony. ... more

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