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Getting High

by Jonathan Burks

/
1.
Exit Strategy leaves are getting thin out there on the limb you can see the landscape in all its naked heartache full force of the wind cutting thru my chin sand of my glass jaw rolling thru the back door mind on the prize nose to the grind head in the clouds boat on the brine I'm owning this moment victory is mine hands on the plow toes on the line moving on what's next charging up my steps goosebumps are my map quest follow my excitement shattered like a glass floor picking up my slack jaw no stitch left to hem haw you don’t get what you don’t ask for resistance is fertile friction grows the flame furrows on my brow glisten with gasoline the tiger needs an eyepatch since I grabbed my groove back goddamn I got a deep scratch nothing gonna salve that
2.
Holding Pattern lately my mouth don't do nothing but whine need to sharpen the edge of my battle cry I got one foot rooted in the mess I'm in and the other one moving on, I'm spreading thin blade to the path, I don't chiromance  got a read on the backside of the task at hand I'm catching lumps taking it on the chin most times where you're at aint where you're trying to get I fall to pieces like Humpty Dump the hunch in my back is packed with psychic junk I'm sweeping up, sorting wants and needs I aint trying to keep what don't fit up my sleeve rebuilding the backend, updating the code rearranging the furniture up in my dome I'm YouTubing yoga, stretching my limbs expanding my reach till I'm handling it drop a line in the water, you catch a boot sometimes resistance and dead weight are not too hard to find fish in a barrel aint no fun to eat I'm seven seas deep, harpoon tucked in my teeth  a head that's liquid got some give what slips through the cracks parts for the fin flash in the pan evaporate quick it's the grease on the grill that makes the fire stick
3.
Motivational Blues I got nothing left to take that won't fit on my frame I've given it all away I aint holding nothing but a guitar and a song and a little something something hey hey I don't want what can't fit in my lungs give me some room to breathe and a bit of that indica meow super trooper I'm a real Roto-Rooter chewing thru till I get unstuck dirt in my teeth, chasing grit with elbow grease got a gullet full of sticks and mud I'm going to bite off more than I can chew that's how you find out just what you can get thru I aint sitting on my hands, no if buts or ands I aint praying on my knees getting down to work, inspiration is for jerks the muse aint the boss of me I'm going to try and fail and fail and try some more until I get at that getting at I'm searching for hot to the touch, got a bug in my rump busting hump every day luck is for chumps, these hands fist pump my fingers don't cross they bang I don't want what I didn't earn that candle's got more surface to burn 
4.
one grain at a time lifting weight from the stone giving up to the wind  what ain't mine to hold can't tip the slope of the hill got to lessen the load tectonic plates ain't got nothing on me rearranging my face grinding glacially  where I'm at right now ain't where I'm going to be roll away the moss motion shakes off debris everything you lost is something that you don't need sometimes getting crushed is just getting free every step of the way every bend of the fold I'm breaking skin crawling out of my mold I ain't the same as I was before what I am right now  tomorrow won't be no more
5.
Paid 03:50
Paid piss and moan don't get nothing grown aint no way around the work I'm up to my teeth in foiled schemes keeping my mouth free of dirt two steps back aint nothing jack but a running start 9 to 5's getting me by while I commoditize my heart I wanna get paid gonna grab me a slice they say money don't buy everything but it buy everything I like row my boat against the flow  common sense aint my friend  if I had a lick I would take the hint  and hang up my pen but I'm a stubborn man gonna lay down tracks till my craft catches wind if you don't hoist that mainsail  you aint gonna do nothing much but drift I don't rock no bling, that aint my thing I don't roll with rent round my neck I'm living like a king on some rice and beans bouncing from check to check pinching pennies and dimes for some studio time my head aint getting less thick I do it for the art, because it's from the heart but you can't eat a 7" split
6.
Punching Trees bound to crack some eggs when you're hatching plan I'm breaking dirty, I got hatchet hands there's more than one way to get across I'm riding backdraft, tossing matches like a boss small mind fit inside small frame hanging big picture on the walls of my brain adjust the angle of the view till the colors pop and the sound rings true ear to the ground, rumble pulling me down the road that siren song got me locked in like Hypnotoad moving forward, I've gathered my wits they're tied up in a kerchief at the end of a stick how lucid is the dream how tight is the stitch of the seam there's glue in everything there aint no meant to be carving a fit for my frequency in the mix high pass the mud, notch filter my niche  eyes peeled, poised to grab the glitch 010 01 get it in feet in my shoes and a new attitude abide like The Dude when life gets rude I'm punching trees, gathering building blocks plucking the fruit of hard knocks pockets in my clothes holes in my prose songbird takes (absorbing) life from the worm in the rose I'm building flight (getting light) off the meat of the blight toss my view my view like a kite to catch a higher sight
7.
Reboot 02:53
8.
Tool 03:50
Tool getting dirty and down to work hands underneath the hood frontal lobe ‘neath my fingernails d.i.y. I don’t knock on wood I might be out of luck  but I ain't afraid of rut every valley’s got peaks I might never get out this crevice but it won’t be 'cause I didn’t reach you can give off heat or take it away you can be the radiator or the drain haters don’t say nothing but nay it’s the only phrase they know I’m trying to keep my head moving on a different kind of flow this aint no cruise ship, if you aint moving get out and push bound to get your feet wet some get on little doggie mush stop motion couldn’t capture this slow growth I’m plugging along hard to take in the scope of momentum when the arch is so long early bird catches the worm early worm wiggles off of the hook I’m writhing like a snake in the ocean dancing ‘round every rule in the book
9.
Upper Cut 02:50
Uppercut struggling to find my place these clumsy hands can't catch no break hustling, too dumb too quit guess some folks aint got no sense nothing left to do chin up and punch through feeling anything but whole busted, every kind of broke the pieces shift, can't get a grip never been quite this over it hard rain filling up the boat best laid plans don't always float the tide just rips, it don't rise or lift 20,000 leagues sitting on my chest

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cover art by Nathan Mayer

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released November 10, 2017

Engineered, Mixed and Produced by Didier Leplae at Mathwiz Music Studio
Mastered by David Gelting

Song, Guitar and Voice - Jonathan Burks
Tuba, Trombone and Trumpet - David Cusma
Drums - Nathan Kilen
Guitar - Didier Leplae

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Jonathan Burks Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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