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This Could Have Been Avoided

by Mayor For Life

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1.
Wrap me up in goldbeater's skin Cover me in duralumin Fill me up with hydrogen And write my name on the side, six feet high in red Fire in the sky This could have been avoided Fire in the sky It's crashing. Horrible. 14 and 22 Oh the humanity
2.
New Madrid 03:08
I remember, it was December first through fifth, 1990 We swore the New Madrid fault was gonna open right up and swallow us whole Down to the bottom of the Earth But nothing ever happens on a doomsday Just ends up being like every other Tuesday And if I gotta go to work, you gotta go to school Don't act like the weight of the word is gonna shift from my shoulders to your feet violently Nothing ever happens on a doomsday Just ends up being like every other Tuesday And don't believe a single thing that you hear on the local evening news about how you're gonna die How we're gonna die: We're all gonna die at different times
3.
My love affair with you It's time to follow through We'll take the world by surprise Protect the world from fear Comfort everyone Until the hand of fate steals it all from us Shot to the heart, I did this to myself I've got news for you... I'm ready to fight and I'm ready to win Shot to the heart, I did this to myself My best gift to you is to bury me with my gun I'm ready to fight and I'm ready to win Winner of a losing game It's time to bury me with the guilt of my invention
4.
There they go with the goddamn ringtones again Here I thought technology was my friend There they go with the goddamn autotune again on every song And now everything is free MP3s for you and me There they go with the goddamn lawsuits again Didn't know Metallica still had any fans left, and they're making a zombie movie or something? Who would watch that? And now everything is free MP3s for you and me There they go again and again and again and again and again and again and again And I'll keep buying it
5.
I have to admit this sinking feeling I think my retirement starts tonight My nerves, they're as cold as ice This is my fate These poor restless souls are doomed Left to a watery grave Precaution, it's a fleeting thought I failed the world I'd like to introduce you now To your watery grave of cold With history for a headstone You'll never feel the gift of sleep I've done the best I could It will never be enough Overwhelmed by stress and fear It's just too much I've done the best I could I failed to see the consequence at hand I leave you now with the orchestra Playing until the end
6.
Air Supply 04:53
7.
Oregon Trail 04:50
You started down the trail with 5 pounds of food You bought 10 bullets at the store You chose to take a ferry across the river You have reached Independence Rock Your wagon tipped and you lost a tongue You decided to hunt An ox wandered off An ox broke a leg Zeke is sick with typhoid fever Strong winds Hail storm Bad water space bar, space bar too late, you missed the deer Everyone in your wagon has drowned died You’re burying and mourning the dead You don't have three sets of clothing to give the Indian You have died of dysentery You found an abandoned wagon but there was nothing to be scavenged
8.
Bockscar 03:07
Just a Little Boy today Smothering You'll be a Fat Man in three days Smothering Big enough to pave your way, it's not enough Turn men into shadows, it's not enough Patterns across their backs, it's not enough You make me sick, it's never enough Fly into me It's time to fly
9.
Broadcast 03:57
Dressed up and overplayed We’ve seen it all before, heard it all before Broadcast emptiness Cookie-cut and plastic wrapped We’ve seen it all before, heard it all before Broadcast emptiness Sharp tongues cut razor deep straight into you To steal your soul, to exploit your weakness Well dressed leeches linger in the shadows of a bigger plan To make a dime off nothing real Soften up welcoming ears for a pile of shit Soften up while they force feed you Shame, shame for the web that’s spun around us Shame, shame for what we’ve done Broadcast emptiness Dressed up and overplayed We’ve seen it all before, heard it all before Broadcast emptiness Cookie-cut and plastic wrapped We’ve seen it all before, heard it all before Broadcast emptiness And it beckons me to take a knife to the cash cow’s throat Feed the starving ears of millions They’ve been starved for so long
10.
Rewound 04:30
AHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!1!11!!!

about

These 10 songs were written from roughly around the time of the great recession through the early days of the disaster that is the 45th presidential administration. In general, they’re about failures large and small of the human race. The primary tracking took place in the late winter/early spring of 2017, but their release was delayed until spring of 2020 through a combination of perfectionism and a series of life events ranging from personal tragedies to incredible joys such as the birth of several adorable yet demanding children (Todd recorded most of his vocal tracks the day before his daughter Wren was born, and then Dan’s son Max was born 30 days later).

We came up with the album title This Could Have Been Avoided from a line in the opening track “Potential Difference” at some random point of incremental momentum towards putting this album out during those three years. It dawned on us how appropriate this title and a lot of the content of the album are to how our daily lives feel particularly at this moment of writing this sentence while we are all hunkering down at our homes and practicing social distancing in the face of a worldwide pandemic in April of 2020. There are always a lot of lessons to be learned from tragedy and failure, but it often feels like we as a collective society fail to learn the right lessons and are doomed to repeat these tragedies and failures ad nauseum.

Special thanks: Uli Salazar, Matt Engstrom, Soren Pederson, Kristin Rabideau, Will Rabideau, Wren Rabideau, Abby Wagner, Max Wagner, Avery Wagner, PRF, all our families and friends.

credits

released May 1, 2020

All songs written and performed by Mayor For Life
Engineered and recorded by Matt Engstrom and Soren Pederson at Burn The Furniture in Chicago
Mastered by Dan Wagner at Signal Strength Mastering
Artwork by Erin Page at Kill Hatsumomo (erinpageforever.com)

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Mayor For Life Chicago

Mayor For Life is a three piece rock band from Chicago. Members include Rich Fessler (bass/vocals - pictured left), Todd Rabideau (guitar/vocals - pictured center), and Dan Wagner (drums/vocals - pictured right). They will rock you right in your face. ... more

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