Living In The Borough
by Joe Normal
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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Just A Normal Day In Normaltown, (back catalog) TAKE ME BACK, (back catalog) AIN'T THIS A WONDERFUL LIFE, (back catalog) LIVING WITH ME (original demo 1999), a rock n roll ghost, (back catalog) RITA, (back catalog) SUCH STUPID PEOPLE, (back catalog) SAVE HER FOR ME, and 33 more.
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about
An autobiographical track about family tragedy, teenage trouble, and searching for redemption in small town America. Fans of Goo Goo Dolls, Paul Westerberg & The Replacements, and Jesse Malin well enjoy.
lyrics
Go out and grab a pack of cigarettes,
Gonna smoke ‘em all until I’m goddam sick!
Put on my Daddy’s old eraser hat,
Down to the corner store to steal me a pack
Put on my gloves and my favorite coat,
Stepping in the puddles ‘til my hi-tops are soaked,
Just like I used to when we’d cut outta school
Sharing a pack of Lucky Strikes with you
Gonna meet my friends and cross the railroad tracks
By the bowling alley and the brick smokestacks
Under the arch and past the factories
To kill a hopeless night in this city
Hey Ho!
The time moves much too slow…
When you’re an average Joe
Living in the borough.
Stop in the Castle and the billiard hall
Ain't nothin’ happenin’ so we jump the wall
The frost is brutal at the reservoir
2 quarts of beer will help forget it all
A brandy bottle and a packet of smokes
It’s Friday night ‘n I’m rockin’ with my blokes
A couple girls and a couple of jokes
Until the cops come and we all run home.
So I skitch a ride in the streets of snow
On a city truck that’s movin’ oh so slow
I’m heading up the stairs past mom and dad
Smellin’ like the booze and cigarettes I had
They said, "Hey Joe… Where’d you get that crooked halo?"
Well I did not know… they weren’t so dumb, you know.
They said, "Hey Joe… Why are ya lookin’ so low?"
I said "You ought to know… unless you’re too damn stoned."
So I shouted,
"I had a brother who got shot in the head
By a criminal cop who got away with it!
And I loved my sister who got beaten to death,
By an angry lover with a baseball bat!
And a boy grows up somewhere with special needs
Given a needle with a mandatory vaccine!"
Wanna run from it all, but i don’t know where I can go,
So I stick it out in this crummy Borough…"
But I know…
that’s just the way it goes,
I’m just your average Joe
In a small town, ya know?
So I hit the bed and it starts to spin
I’m wishin’ I had never drank again.
An empty trash can sittin’ by my side
Gaggin’ on the good times and the tears I cried
I get up late and wonder what went wrong,
A sad reminder when I hear your song
Light up a smoke and brush my tears to the side
I can’t escape from how I feel inside
But I know…
that’s just the way it goes,
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
Well, a' Hey Ho!
The time moves much too slow,
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
I'm just your average Joe,
Living in the Borough.
Gonna smoke ‘em all until I’m goddam sick!
Put on my Daddy’s old eraser hat,
Down to the corner store to steal me a pack
Put on my gloves and my favorite coat,
Stepping in the puddles ‘til my hi-tops are soaked,
Just like I used to when we’d cut outta school
Sharing a pack of Lucky Strikes with you
Gonna meet my friends and cross the railroad tracks
By the bowling alley and the brick smokestacks
Under the arch and past the factories
To kill a hopeless night in this city
Hey Ho!
The time moves much too slow…
When you’re an average Joe
Living in the borough.
Stop in the Castle and the billiard hall
Ain't nothin’ happenin’ so we jump the wall
The frost is brutal at the reservoir
2 quarts of beer will help forget it all
A brandy bottle and a packet of smokes
It’s Friday night ‘n I’m rockin’ with my blokes
A couple girls and a couple of jokes
Until the cops come and we all run home.
So I skitch a ride in the streets of snow
On a city truck that’s movin’ oh so slow
I’m heading up the stairs past mom and dad
Smellin’ like the booze and cigarettes I had
They said, "Hey Joe… Where’d you get that crooked halo?"
Well I did not know… they weren’t so dumb, you know.
They said, "Hey Joe… Why are ya lookin’ so low?"
I said "You ought to know… unless you’re too damn stoned."
So I shouted,
"I had a brother who got shot in the head
By a criminal cop who got away with it!
And I loved my sister who got beaten to death,
By an angry lover with a baseball bat!
And a boy grows up somewhere with special needs
Given a needle with a mandatory vaccine!"
Wanna run from it all, but i don’t know where I can go,
So I stick it out in this crummy Borough…"
But I know…
that’s just the way it goes,
I’m just your average Joe
In a small town, ya know?
So I hit the bed and it starts to spin
I’m wishin’ I had never drank again.
An empty trash can sittin’ by my side
Gaggin’ on the good times and the tears I cried
I get up late and wonder what went wrong,
A sad reminder when I hear your song
Light up a smoke and brush my tears to the side
I can’t escape from how I feel inside
But I know…
that’s just the way it goes,
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
Well, a' Hey Ho!
The time moves much too slow,
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
When you're an average Joe
Living in the Borough.
I'm just your average Joe,
Living in the Borough.
credits
released November 11, 2020
Joe Normal - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Mandolin, Keyboards
Joe Normal - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Mandolin, Keyboards
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about
Joe Normal Los Angeles, California
VIDEO: youtu.be/h9Lrwxh2lxc
Joe Normal® is a founding member of 80's Sunset Strip glam-
pop legends The Zeros. He's a co-writer on Sammy Hagar’s “Not 4 Sale” LP, and even recorded with punk icon Stiv Bators.
Compared to Cleaners From Venus, Paul Westerberg, and Jesse Malin, Joe Normal is an "Authentic underground storyteller with a Glam Rock heart." -Aquarian (NJ)
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