Why? – “Jonathan’s Hope”

New video from the Mumps, etc album. Directed by Scott Fredette.

TOUR:
9/18/2014 Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI*
9/19/2014 Lee’s Palace – Toronto, ON*
9/20/2014 Pop Montreal International Music Festival @ Vitrola – Montreal, QC*
9/21/2014 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY*
9/22/2014 Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA*
9/23/2014 Black Cat – Washington, DC*
9/25/2014 Altar – Pittsburgh, PA*
9/26/2014 Midpoint Music Festival @ Taft Ballroom – Cincinnati, OH
9/27/2014 Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL*
9/28/2014 Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL*
* w/Dessa

LYRICS:
When I got better from the mumps
Yes, my swollen nut and neck shrunk
But, though subtle, I can smell distinctly
Some sick and swollen stink, still to this day stays with me
And irked as some dumb tart from Illinois
In a shirt that says “I heart Michigan boys”
But it’s oy, still steel as a goy’s gut
Oh so concealed in the crease but
Slow pitching like a Vatican priest to be Pope — what?
Dope. So every morning wake up with hope
And at night fall asleep at the end of your rope
Alone pretending to cope

As ill as I am, I am
But with all that’s well I’ll yell
Good god, what the hell, what the fuck
A white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck

It took me 30 years to learn my patterns
Just for shit to turn weird in my return to Saturn
I feel the freezing creep of greedy sleep sneaking in again
I’m dangling
Oh I don’t have to pull a shitty fortune from dessert
Like the piss poor son of a serf to know what I’m worth
I know what I’m deserved of
A freaking dirty dove dead
And a bag of bread from a sellout club
But will you spell out love in the lashes life serves up?
Or am I just a red bump in the rash of cash worship?
Lord. Huh? Whats up?

As ill as I am, I am
But with all that’s well I’ll yell
Good god, what the hell, what the fuck
A white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck

Brief is the life of that bird
Who brings your secrets, your deepest beefs and desires
Through it’s beak in a minor squeak to be heard
Its meaning complete no need for words
It might not last more than a week
And if this my final trip it be
Lord take me quick, let me see ye
And please heed the needs of my family

As ill as I am, I am
But with all that’s well I’ll yell
Good god, what the hell, what the fuck
A white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck

With mangled fingers I play it and say it
Plain in my octaves with all that I’ve got
And for all that I’ll not have
And cursing back to the big bang in slang they sang

As ill as I am, I am
But with all that’s well I’ll yell
Good god, what the hell, what the fuck
A white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck