top of the world
bourgeois at least
it’s clear it’s engineered
for folks like me
top of my game, I mean top of the game
but then again from my end I didn’t really have to compete
white, straight, master’s degree
cards lined up in hand, so it’s guaranteed
that this world will work for me, was built for me
my demographics is my skeleton key,
at least this system runs
so let’s tweak it gently
yeah, when the Kingdom comes,
let’s, let’s change things gently
power isn’t a problem
gotta get it in the right hands
fingers in front of me are fit enough
just watch, I’ve got compassionate plans
let’s raise wages just enough
don’t raise the prices
and don’t lower my salary
or take away any of my write-offs
we’ve basically arrived, right?
seems like it from where I stand
at the top the game, it’s good
offer the less fortunate a helping hand
justice vs. compassion, take the latter every time
it feels better to give than to pay a proper dime
let’s raise the valleys
without tearing the mountains down
I want justice to roll down like river
but I’m afraid I might drown
I’m opposed to violence
and I’m opposed to not feeling safe
and when those two come head to head
I’m still not sure which choice I would make
and I used to avoid paying war-taxes
by keeping my income low enough
but with both of us working
can’t bring myself to donate the surplus
and my neighbors next door
yeah, they’re on the run from war
while I’ve been sitting on my sofa
writing theology behind closed doors
yeah, I’m safe and I’m secure,
even in my neighborhood
they say it’s the hood, hood
but I know that I don’t look like you’ll think I’m up to no good
so I walk down dark streets
and I don’t look over my shoulder,
and if there’s no one I have to meet
then I’ll walk a little slower
without a worry or a care
I take my walks without falter
maybe that’s the reason why never had
any use for the Psalter
chorus
question: can I ever be saved?
you know my face looks enraged
but I have slave trade chocolate
silently running through my veins
before we give these valleys a raise, let’s wait
cause I’ve escaped the curse at the cost
of inequality’s iron rod
of others being crushed by the weight
of a system I did not create
but I’ve bought into it in a literal way
my money for products at a low wage
my vote working in what I pay
my heart in exchange for what I gain
my soul in exchange for what I save
I’ve never worked the ground from which I was made
-can I ever be saved?
Up on a mountain looking down
you only see loss
so when the Kingdom comes
I know it will come with a cost
I know it cost someone like me a lot
I want to justice to roll on like a river
its current to flow strong and mighty
but I want to keep my feet dry
and from what I hear that’s just not likely
what did I go out into the desert to see?
a wind-swayed reed?
did I hope to stay as I am?
or did I hope to be redeemed?
Dreamy, intricate guitar pop from Oakland's Absent City; splashes of accordion, sitar, lap steel, and mandolin add textural richness. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 26, 2020
Sarah Bethe Nelson leans into the uncanny and the poetic without resorting to grand settings or sweeping metaphors. Bandcamp Album of the Day Aug 1, 2022
Brooklyn-based artist Devin McKnight makes terrifically experimental pop music, pairing skewed guitar arrangements with sly hooks. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 19, 2022