Combines images from the Orwell book with sort of what I was actually doing in 1984 or thereabouts. Written in fits and starts 2017-2018.
lyrics
It was 1984; I was thirteen.
I had a plaid vest and short shorts
And a clip-on tie I wore to go dancing
I was the sole boy learning tango not sports
I was lonely, yeah; I was horny, yeah
I had rude stains on my sheets
It was 1984; I was ruled by my needs
It was 1984; I was thirteen
And I was well stuck in my ways
Love would knock me to the floor
It would hurt me. I'd have
Mad dreams for a couple of days
'Bout a living dress who could not care less
And I'd blush furiously
What was nothing much to her
Felt like everything to me
Was it a thought crime?
A waste of my time?
I fell in love so furiously
So many times, so gracelessly
It was 1984, I was subject
I was ruled over and chained
Love and often blood and gore
Made me thirsty
I would drink deep and get stupid and stained
By its thought control, it consumed me whole
I felt flushed out in the heat
It was 1984, and I was thoroughly beat
Was it a thought crime?
A waste of my time?
I fell in love or what I thought was love
It didn't matter then, well, not enough
To make me less blind
To own my own mind
I was born, I was triggered, but which came first?
Was I seduced by the moment, or built to burst?
It was 1984; I was thirteen
Weighed in at 100 and change
Standing thin and bent and poor like a string bean
I grew too fast on a diet of rage
And I lost my youth and I searched for truth
But there was not much to be had
It was 1984; it was a little bit bad
I fell in love so easily,
So many times, so fruitlessly
So many times, embarrassingly
It was 1984; it was history
It can be swept clean or just changed
I was hoping there was more, but there's just me
There were no witnesses to see what I claimed
My old store of strife, the artistic life
That was all, all that I had
It was 1984, and I can't call it bad
credits
from Mark Lint's Dry Folk,
released December 18, 2018
Mark: lead vocal, nylon-string guitar
Iris Hutchings: harmony vocal
Mina Linsenmayer: harmony vocal
Rei Tangko: violin, chorus vocal
Ken Keeley: electric bass, chorus vocal
Jim Turk: djembe, shaker, tambourine
Tanya Donnelly, Wreckless Eric, Rosanne Cash, contribute cover versions of John Wesley Harding’s songs for this charitable compilation. Bandcamp New & Notable May 6, 2021
Harding celebrates the arrival of his catalogue on Bandcamp with this limited release sampler that's available until October 3rd. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 2, 2020
The Philadelphia group sharpen their hooks and internal dyanmics for a fun and non-dorky take on power pop anyone can get behind. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 26, 2024
Montreal psych-pop veterans sound as infectious and hypnotic as ever on their seventh LP, slinging jangly riffs and bright vocal harmonies. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 14, 2024
Buoyant one-off release from a long-running Atlanta band who juggle garage rock, folk, and power pop; don't miss the Mark Morrison cover. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 9, 2024