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Man vs. Bear

by D. Bess

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1.
I woulda thanked you if it didn’t hurt so bad Cause I got new shoes and woman they ain’t made a glass Foot stompin, kickin up dust and trouble Bang your soles to the floor if ya hear me my brothers Well alright it’s time, shower, shave and shine Fresh denim, belt leather and these blues shoes tied Kick the door, lock the bolt, down the stairs and fly Whoo-eee, look at the scene, it’s good to be alive 2nd Verse: I bought a shotgun yesterday and pawned the ring I’m gonna blow up, blow up all them spots I sing And I’ll be tusslin, burnin up the carpet with hussies Corn-fed, you damn straight we goin make a ruckus Rusty’s records always make for easy wreckin Put the needle to the groove for your listenin pleasure Turn it up, bump it loud, and bang that honey sound From the princess to the pauper to the hind to the cow 3rd Verse: Woke up this morning, found your bodyprint on my bed Heard some children, ha, I heard them whisperin Crept the kitchen, ooh girl what did I see? Hands in the cookie jar, you know that ain’t too cool with me Looks like daddy caught momma out on a run You best keep runnin, cause baby there will surely be blood Lay low fo sho, and run right out the door I’m goin downtown and Daddy’s gonna break a horse It ain’t no secret and I ain’t been tellin no lies but I got new shoes and I’m goin walk my life alive
2.
Everything new is up inside the sun And when a little baby born, you know he needs some grub Said the world is revolving, no matter which way you want it Call it heads or tails it’s pretty much the same story From the time of Job back to them dinosaurs You know the struggle for survival is the core of the world And I could paint a pretty picture about our DNA But the fact of the matter is that we’re pieces of cake Or maybe you’re not, maybe you’re blessed by God To cross the ocean and the earth to teach us all the law But if you don’t even believe in this old world that you breathe Then how could you believe in what you ain’t even dreamed? 2nd Verse: It takes a thousand years to make a human being hear The sound of the wind blowin through the ears Everything is distorted, it’s beautiful and important So shine your new shoes baby toss em out when they bore ya The bones behind the glass, man, they won’t ever know of These opposable thumbs shootin guns at old stories So my new testament to all this excrement Is that nothin’s bout shit but just payin the rent If nobody reads or only reads what they feed Man you best believe the devil has been dishin disease But don’t listen to me or anyone with a dream Cause the only thing that’s real is just what you believe 3rd Verse: Smoke and mirrors everywhere I go, cause everything is for sale and everything is a joke And if it ain’t I’ll bet you find deep underneath that it is Cause everyone today is chasin Benjamins But that’s okay, you gotta get yours, I gotta get mine Your hero on stage, you know he’s probably lyin Or maybe she ain’t, maybe your hero’s a saint But no matter what the truth is, man you still gotta pay So do I, so do we, it’s all part of the tree And it keeps on growin from invisible seed Tomorrow’s guns will shoot today’s fresh fruit Put your money on computers you got nothin to loose
3.
Well they been sayin that I’m a sinner And that I’m never gonna be no bread winner I ain’t sayin that I’m a saint, all I’m sayin that I like her face Cause yesterday I liked to play, but today I’d like to set this record straight Well sometimes you got to take a chance Oh Carolina may I have this dance 2nd Verse: My heart, well it’s a fruit, and it’s ripe honey just for you So take a taste of who I am, cause one day I will be gone and dead yes Well yeseterday I jumped around, but today I see it different somehow Cause you’re a peach and I’m so dumb I’m so found and I’m struck and I’m so in love
4.
5.
You think the dudes on Wall St. give a buck about you? They could care less about who they screw And most politicians are right there with em, smoke-screenin the country on national television It’s easy to lie and make it sound right, it’s done again and again and people still buy it Gettin high on propaganda, mass hysteria, paranoid schizophrenia is the condition of America Welcome to the land where the cash is king, sex is queen, race still divides and the gun is supreme Leader, commander in chiefin, smokin out the dreamin peace keepers with a handful of deal wheelers Gun dealers run free, but illegal is the green And everyone knows the drug war’s a disease, man, you wanna pay taxes: legalize weed! 2nd Verse: When times get rough, quit your bitchin, get tough, get creative and display it, make a team, make a statement Build a business in your basement, believe in your greatness, when others lose hope in you, find it and replace it With hard work, determination, blood, sweat and tears, hours and hours and days and weeks and months and years Time is nothin but a frame for the portrait of our days, so let me display the ways in which a man can paint a great Life and livin, use your own intuition, have respect for your neighbors and a love for your children Please and thank you, basic human understandin, communication is key if we wanna lift the ground up With an eye on the future, an ear to the now, always lookin forward, never lookin down This is rock-star-dreamin of a life at peace, in another ten 10 years tell me where will we be? 3rd Verse: In a nation in lust with the gun, here comes the smoke from the fire of love I love your beautiful face, all mix of races, the music of the life and the language that we’re making Beautiful amazing graces, innovators, creators, sublime inspirations Cities of joy and cities of sorrow, cities of sin and cities of tomorrow Shinin constellations all across the nation, united by the road that’s free Amazing places, spiritually spacious, triumphant and brazen, full of changes, this place we make it From the plains to the coasts, the Rockies to the Gulf, the lakes to the north East, Southwest, and yes: Midwest is still best in the underground blessed
6.
Red Rocks 05:16
Oh oh Joanna I’d never feed ya bananas Let’s take a week for Red Rocks and whiskey And have the good times we both have been missin 1st verse: See a diamond in the bright June night Colorado front range on fire Liquor tongues try and trip my aim But this star always cuts the screen 7-figure-couples paint the town Dressin fancy, throwin money round But you and I, we’re high on a shoestring Takin rides and flyin on a freebee yeah CHORUS: Oh oh Joanna I’d never feed ya bananas Let’s take a week for Red Rocks and whiskey And have the good times we both have been missin 2nd Verse: Oh what a mean old man winter has been It’s time to step outside and feel again Over the valley and deep in the canyon Is where you’ll find me and my dancin: sunshine, sunshine, sunshine Sunshine, star-shine, sunshine, starshine We crashin floors when the heat is down Ain’t no trouble, we got friends around Cause all my boys and all my girls they know What it’s like to be away from home Takin showers in a mountain creek Gunny River wash away the sleep Skip the tips and go grocery shop Eat a picnic on a mountaintop 3rd Verse: Well all is here and I’m goin leave it there In fact today I got no underwear Woke up this mornin, the sky was a cathedral Flingin frisbees and catchin em is Leo Jumpin waterfalls and sinkin deep Sippin hops with a touch of green After sunset and down in the city At Quixote’s, well that’s where you’ll see me, yeah
7.
Wow! Pow! 05:11
Son sailed across the great ocean soup, to find some work in the red, white blue From south Sudan, ya know he left his family, drivin taxis just to make them happy Another brother from Senegal crossed the waters to north Milan Sellin CDs, hustlin hashish, sellin anything to keep advancing A Chinese sister left her picture, New York City’s where she picked up Cookin food then go to night school, brick by brick build a brand new Home is in your head like Marley said: Rasta, Buddhist, Christian, voodoo, Muslim, Hindu, good God who knew how’d they sail to Honolulu? CHORUS: Wow! Pow! no matter what you say, I’m gonna live my life my way Wow! Pow! no matter what you do, gonna find my way, gonna get my food BREAK: Son sailed the ocean blues Bones dancing in the soup/Fire biting at the night Hunger blazing through the sky 2nd Verse: I met Akhtar from Ramallah, said he fled and he saved his dollars Brought his wife and his childen too, even a brother and his cousins who Together raised and built a family, integrated in the social fabric Never static, always active, brand new life amid these foreign standards Daughter raised, she fell in love with Jane, the Cuban girl who came from east LA Sacrilege to thy name, they blushed in shame at the strange, new changes Some battles won, some battles lost, and with some time yes the healing started Life went on and people saw what truly mattered was the love 3rd Verse: One thing I know is you gotta be free or the whole wide world is a washing machine Disinfectin dirty laundry, you ain’t dirty you’re a comet Burning bright like flash a lightning, shooting stars across the skyscene Everything is so insane see I can’t wrap my head around these Places, people, Mogadishu, North Korea, free the people All across the world we see it, guns for money, hunger, freedom Shanty towns by mega-mansions, education is the answer The more you know, the more you gather, information kills the cancer
8.
9.
Fishin 05:34
Well I been fishin all day long But my pole, man, don’t get no touch I been sittin in the sun Been swappin flies, yes, and chewin gum Well there’s just babies up in this pond And this poor pond is much too small Well my sinker, it keeps on sinkin And my thoughts lord yes they start to thinkin 2nd Verse: There’s just minnows, bottom feeders Pan fish, lord there ain’t no keepers I been workin this water deeply But lately lord I can’t believe it I’m gonna grab my cooler and my tackle I’m gonna grab my things, I’m gonna pack up I’m gonna walk off yes this lonely dock I’m gonna find me a bigger pond BREAK: Hey, step back, I got a bass attack 3rd Verse: One day I fell head over heels A catch so big, had to swim for my reel I caught on up, it was a beauty It got away, and now I got no – booty! Well ain’t that the way, come on home tellin these tall tales Crack a beer, remember clearly How she fought and left me with no feelin I been fishin and fishin, fishin but there just ain’t no Fishin and fishin, fishin but there ain’t no END: I been fishin a fishin a fish, fishin a fishin a fish, fishin a fishin a fish, fishin a fish
10.
I never hear nothin good on radio, she said I never see nothin good on TV shows, he sweared I never feel nothin good about this town, well oh well But maybe they never felt like listenin’ round Cause there is music in the light and music in this breeze Music underground and there is music up my sleeve Music in the stars and music in the dark Music for the bank and there is music for the art CHORUS: One more song, one more song One more song, there’s always one more song 2nd Verse: I never read nothing good up in these rags, he said All the good ones are gone and dead, she sweared And all the new news just brings me down, well oh well But maybe they never felt like listenin’ round Cause there is music in the sky and music in these waves Music for tonight and there is music for today Music for this life, yes, and music for these times Music for the lost and there is music for the light 3rd Verse: They don’t make ‘em like they used to, he said And kids these days they’re just used to easy Easy livin and gettin quick fixes As if youth is a problem of a system And why don’t I see the heroes rise these days? And why do I hear that the talent’s all gone stale? And who and why and when and what is the where? Man, you better check your head for ears
11.
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d And the great star early droop’d In the western sky, in the night I thought of all us in one light Ever-returning spring Trinity sure to me you bring Lilac blooming perennial And thought of all us in one world CHORUS: I just see one body dancing 2nd Verse: The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul I sing the body electric I sing the body electric 3rd Verse: Of physiology from top to toe I sing Not physiology alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, and this air Born here of parents born here from parents the same, yes, and their parents the same
12.
13.
Rigmarole 04:41
They’re sellin grilled cheese, following the String Cheese Incidentally O.D.ing on some Mollies and bad E Straight to emergency infirmary, I.V. to the arteries When the heart stops, then beats back with a jump shock I don’t recommend that you indulge in this fracas But if you must ask, I suggest hold onto some plastic At the imagination station where they play with your cranium And the brain drain begins to flood the main stage’s stadium Freakin out acid business, thunderstorms, in mud I’m trippin Bikini babies, sex with strangers, lollypops, fountain bathing Pupils crazy, gettin wasted, some much garbage, defecation I’m throwin up the mornin sun, into my tent the music comes CHORUS: I don’t wanna die in your arms tonight Been rockin this road all my life And I ain’t gettin high to say goodbye Rigmarole peace out till next time 2nd Verse: My neighbors: wanna-be-rastas who even spoke in the patois Doin coke with the fratboys who came from corporate Chicago Yoga freaks, crank tweakers, groups of groupies, V.I.P.-ers The LMNOPs of psilocybin mushroom tea Whoo-wee, it’s hot, I need some water and coffee I need a five dollar shower, a burrito, I’m starving I need a nap, I take that back, slap me when I talk crack I need to get my face melted by my favorite band, hell yeah Hula hoops, jugglin fools, spinnin lights, beer and booze Summer clowns gather round the music circus is in town Blowin glass, grass, hash, threads of hemp, merch and cash Porta potties overflowing, goddamn who’s poopin on the floor here? 3rd Verse: Should I try it? I don’t know, I’ve never done it before They say its clean and legit, my friend can vouch for this hit Well alright goodbye, sorry momma I’m high On the rigmarole, I’m getting outta my skull Spun and flown to the crowd with the glow Sticks and stones, bones dancin up dust in the bowl Five thousand or more, the bass is shakin the road Would you please hold my hand in this rigamarole? Watch yourself shake it loose, moderation’s the rule Don’t play with fire when you’re soaked with 151 proof Cause it’s all fun and games till the cops flash the blues And the red cross is you at the emergency room
14.
45 Ride 03:55
CHORUS: 45 ride is the way to style 1st Verse: Some people can’t find no piece of peace They always searchin but they never are pleased They’re lookin for smiles in a bottle of pills But we all got a crutch, yes, and that’s for real But if ya live your life just like a mouse You’re stealin that cheese and you hide in the house Well you might miss yes the very best bliss It’s as simple as a hug and a kiss 2nd Verse: Every day there’s somethin new on the ground That’s blockin our ears and it’s blockin the sound Of what is good and what is real Ya gotta look back just to know your wheels Cause all these gadgets will make ya mad You’re happy one day but then the next you’re red Tomorrow will surely bring somethin fast to fly That’s why 45 Ride is my way to style 3rd Verse: Don’t spend your days just countin down the hours Don’t spend your time countin wrinkles in the frowns Don’t spend your life countin changes in the crowd Cause it’s only your life for a little while Well you might say: man, well what ya mean? that 45 Ride is the way to be But if ya put a record upon the needle, well then you’d see how to drive this wheel Cause it don’t take much to make a smile Ya gotta read your past just to write that next mile Tomorrow will surely bring somethin fast to fly That’s why 45 Ride is the way to style
15.
Fly Away 03:52
One day at a time in this wildlife, we slow down and time just flies Gettin older but feelin more free, I need to take a minute to look over these wings The summertime of ’99, fresh out of high school then go to school high Wrong or right, it was our time to fly, where were you when the two towers died? South Governor, 601, those were the days we were green in love So much joy, so many tears, all those nights slow-burned into years But we made it clearly through the smoky dreamin, now it’s seemin we we’re alright bein Just kids in millennium, lookin at the fire that was destined to come CHORUS: One day at a time This is how we fly This is how we fly away 2nd Verse: Fast-forward, rewind, re-time the days of our lives recorded in the mind Realize who you thought I was is not who you thought you are, now is it, God? Love, sex, relationships, the mending and the breaking of the heart in tics And talks, summer walks to fall to white to death then life again Walls are built, doors closed, bridges and friends are burned for goals And for what? For money? For self-love? Whatever seemed important today is a puzzle Like why’d you do that, man? Once you attack we can never go back We used to be friends but the tale does tell: actions are deeper than notches on a belt 3rd Verse: Dirty thirty but it still feels early, bright brand new like a baby learnin For what are we if not always burning, hungry for answers, desirous, thirsty? A mommy, a daddy, an uncle, an auntie, here come the kids here come the families Grandkids, birthday candles, beautiful gifts, Halloween, Santa Pauses, reflections on who is the flesh, the blood and the heart that pumps in the chest What is my fate and what do I make? What is a choice, what is destined to fail? Nothin, unless ya give up on lovin, family first for sure it’s worse To have no dream than a dream that falls, just pick it back up and put it in your pocket END: It’s one day in the life One more day till we fly away One more day till tomorrow One more day till we fly away
16.
17.
LYRICS OF SOME SORT: Porca miseria BERLUSCONI: Una bella ragazza Una bella ragazza CHORUS: S. Berluconi loves him some teenagers S. Berlusconi lovin him some teenagers BERLUSCONI: Io sono gay superman Io sono superman che gay Io sono gay BUNGA! BUNGA! BERLUSCONI: E’ giovane, e’ bello e anche abbronzato Una bella ragazza E’ giovane, e’ bello e anche abbronzato Io sono gay superman CHORUS D. Bess as BERLUSCONI: Mi piace vino, pasta e figaaaaaaaaa! BERLUSCONI & GEORGE W. BUSH at PRESS CONFERENCE CHORUS D. Bess as BERLUSCONI: Culona inchiavabile Angela Merkel, culona inchiavabile Culona inchiavabile Bunga bunga! Angela Merkel, culona inchiavabile CHORUS BUNGA! BUNGA! BERLUSCONI: Coglioni...................
18.

about

Man vs. Bear is the first D. Bess solo album since his departure from the band Public Property. A mixture of reggae, ska, blues, hip-hop and dance music, the album is a melting pot of styles and themes.

The album features 13 songs and 5 sketches. The songs were all written and produced by D. Bess and feature him on all instrumentation and vocals except for the track "Oh Carolina", which features reggae legend Toots Hibbert trading vocals with D. Bess.

The album was recorded over at Minstrel Studios in Iowa City, IA between April 2010 - January 2012. Toots' vocals were recorded at Anchor Studios in Kingston, Jamaica.

The album was recorded and engineered by John Svec at Minstrel Recordings and was edited and mixed by D. Bess.

credits

released April 1, 2012

All songs written and performed by D. Bess

All instrumentation performed by D. Bess
All vocals performed by D. Bess except for Toots Hibbert's vocals on the track "Oh Carolina"

Engineered and recorded by John Svec at Minstrel Studios
in Iowa City, IA

Produced, edited and mixed by D. Bess

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all rights reserved

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about

D. Bess Chicago, Illinois

D. Bess is a one-man-band who loops all his licks live: reggae/ska/blues-hop and roll. Using a cajon, percussion, guitar, bass and harmonizing his vocals, he builds and records layers of instrumentation to create the sound of a one-man-band.

He released his first album as D. Bess in April of 2012. The album, Man vs. Bear, features reggae legend and icon Toots Hibbert on the track "Oh Carolina".
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