Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Truth... by Amanda Palmer

Here is the first song from AFP records -- and it's FREE! This is the funniest, warmest, sweetest -- most obscene -- song I have heard this year. I smiled all the way through since I knew every word was true. From Easy Bake oven to playing dead on the carpet at the Golden Globes in ten heartbreaking steps. This is Amanda Palmer's entire life in song. The perfect introduction to AFP for the young, innocent or doomed.

I am neither young or innocent... Doomed? Probably. I only heard of Amanda through my buddy Nicole a year or two ago. Evelyn Evelyn hasn't been off my stereo since I got it. That was released under an alias with Jason Webley since Amanda was under contract with a record company that, well... as she sang in "Please Drop Me" -- "I'm tired of sucking corporate dick. You don't get me..." Next time I will repost how she got to that point. It is amazing that the American dream for any recording artist (a contract with a major label) is now a nightmare.

As a child, Amanda use to get up in the middle of the night and pound on the family piano like a drunken monkey trying to open a coconut with a sledge hammer. She taped her first sessions on a cassette recorder -- but they were usually spoiled by her father screaming, “Amanda! Go to bed!”  
As you read the lyrics below and gasp at their frankness, you might wonder what her parents would think of her today. She sang this song on a webcast last night. Time? Midnight -- at her parent's house. They were sound asleep. Amanda and her friends pounded away on a piano, pots and pans with that old child like excitement. The tension was amazing. When would her parent start screaming at her from the top of the stairs? Could they ground her -- even if she is in her thirties? But nothing happened. 

As she sat hung over at the kitchen table the next morning, she looked over at her stepfather. His Wall Street Journal slowly came down, he looked at her and said, "Did you kids have fun last night?"

Amanda sank in her chair. She might be free of her mean record label. But she felt like a six year old.



“Do You Swear To Tell The Truth The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth So Help Your Black Ass” 
By Amanda Fucking Palmer

when i was six years old my sister alyson 
asked for a stove for her birthday 
a miniature one you could actually cook with 
and my mom was nice and she bought one 

alyson needed a reason to bake something 
barged in my room and she grabbed me 
she said: 
"i made a cake and we're going next door 
to sam weinstein's and you're getting married" 

the cake was burned 
it tasted gross 
she made me kiss him 
on the mouth 

now i am 33 
unmarried happily 
no plans in life and i'm planning to keep it that way 
i do kissing with only one mission 
do you like to kiss? then you have my permission 

and i have already spent too much time 
doing things i didn't want to 
so if i just want to make out all the time 
you can bet your black ass that i'm going to 

when i was nine i was kind of a loser 
the kids in my class didn't like me 
melanie chow was the meanest of all 
and my mom made me go to her party 

nobody talked to me i sat there quietly 
drawing with crayons on a napkin 
a picture of melanie skewered with a pitchfork 
her legs getting eaten by lions 

the cake was good 
i took some home 
i had a party 
in my room 

now i have friends and i'm not such a loser 
but i go to bars all alone and i sit there 
and order red wine and i write and i like being alone around people 
yes that's how i like it 

and i've already spent too much time 
doing things i didn't want to 
so if i wanna sit here and write and drink wine 
you can bet your black ass that i'm going to 

yes i come here often 
sure i'll have another one 
yes i come here often 
sure i'll have another one 
but i don't have to talk to you 

when i was 17 i was a blowjob queen 
picking up tips from the masters 
i was so busy perfecting my art i was clueless to what they were after 
now i'm still a blowjob queen (far more selectively) 
i don't make love now to make people love me 
but i don't mind sharing my gift with the planet 
we're all gonna die and a blowjob's fantastic 

and 

when i was 25 i was a rock star 
but it didn't pay too well i had to strip on the side 
of the road to get ready for shows and the cars driving by 
baby they'd never know 
what a bargain they'd gotten 
and if i'm forgotten 
i'm perfectly happy with all that has happened 
and i still get laughed at but it doesn't bother me 
i'm just so glad to hear laughter around me 

and i've already spent too much time 
doing things i didn't want to 

so if i want to drink alone dressed like a pirate 
or look like a dyke 
or wear high heels and lipstick 
or hide in a convent 
or try to be mayor 
or marry a writer 
smoke crack and slash tires 
make jokes you don't like 
or paint ducks and retire 

YOU CAN BET YOUR BLACK ASS THAT I'M GOING TO

released 06 April 2010 
Written & Performed by Amanda Fucking Palmer 

Featuring: 
Amanda Palmer: ukulele & piano 
Jason Webley: guitar 
Sam Kulik: trombone

You may download the song directly from Amanda Palmer. You could be like her former record company and not pay her a cent. But you should -- and every cent will now go to Amanda F. Palmer.

Click here to get a free download right from Amanda.
 

You may read her open letter to her former record label here:
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/501070649/free-at-last-free-at-last-dear-roadrunner-records



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