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A Better Place To Be

by Hopeless Otis

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1.
2.
Live Today 04:45
I'm buried under the rubble but not completely / I thought that through substance we find meaning / So grab your fears by the collar, shake them down for all they're worth / Tell them nothing's going to bring you down today / Line up your enemies at the border, tell them to lay siege, tell them it's a direct order / 'Cause I've been down to the lowest degree where the saints and angels were singing to me saying don't believe a single word they say When your life is defined between smoke breaks and life's mistakes I think it's time for a change So come on come on before these songs lose meaning / come on / Live today like we're going straight to hell anyway / Make the best of every single day We've been hanging in the back for way too long / Scratching tick marks on these walls, wasting our time waiting to stall these darker places and even darker faces / They leave no shadow, they leave no traces / So pack the car and leave we're heading out / Line up your enemies at the border, tell them to lay siege, tell them it's a direct order / 'Cause I've been down to the lowest degree where the saints and angels were singing to me saying don't believe a single word they say When your life is defined between smoke breaks and life's mistakes I think it's time for a change So come on come on before these songs lose meaning / come on / Live today like we're going straight to hell anyway / Make the best of every single day And we're going pound for pound and punch for punch with everything we hate so much So come on come on before these songs lose meaning / come on / Live today like we're going straight to hell anyway / Make the best of every single day
3.
"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" / That's how I'd like to look back on my life / But as for right now I'm sinking into something that I have no control of These are the songs that burn down cities / These are the songs that we sing Let's do something positive / I don't care what it is / something that strikes a flash of hope into our hearts / Something that makes us feel alive We could conquer the world / We could conquer all we see / But this town's too small, it's too fucking easy / From my backyard to the end of the block there's solace in knowing that one sure shot / Today we will survive These are the songs that burn down cities / These are the songs that we sing Let's do something positive / I don't care what it is / something that strikes a flash of hope into our hearts / Something that makes us feel alive
4.
In the dead of night when criminals run the town and there's no police on the streets we come out / He drinks his coffee, I flick my cigarette / Get ready for a beating that you won't forget Lookout! When me and Otis clean up the streets Evildoers turn the corner, we're hot on their trail down the alleyways / Hopping fences, jumping over cars / Get ready to be stomped out Lookout! When me and Otis clean up the streets Me and Otis gonna' fuck you up!
5.
Bad Guys Win 04:03
Where did we go wrong, where did we fall apart? / With our heads buried under the concrete of abandoned parking lots / Because we don't have the time to fuel all o your lies / We march to these beats in four-four time And we can walk these city streets at any time to prove we're not so hopeless inside / And so we gotta choose who we want to be / If we hide ourselves from ourselves, what's left to believe? Because I want to feel alive again and you want to feel alive again / So let's quit these low places where we hang our heads / These parades of break lights and cloudy city skies will subside and make way for open highways And we can walk these city streets at any time to prove we're not so hopeless inside / And so we gotta choose who we want to be / If we hide ourselves from ourselves, what's left to believe?
6.
Hey man do you want to take this outside? / I don't mean that in a bad way / Let's ditch this whole ugly scene and drive until the street signs quit making sense We all got our favorite songs and brand new starts / Like record needles etching grooves into our hearts / We build, sustain, create these new days where the miles between us won't seem so far away Maybe I've gotten a lot worse at telling stories or you've gotten a lot more convincing at telling me I'm just too fucking boring We all got our favorite songs and brand new starts / Like record needles etching grooves into our hearts / We build, sustain, create these new days where the miles between us won't seem so far away I'll still think this town is no damn good and you'll still think this town is no damn good / But between the two of us we won't do anything about it
7.
We keep it together, we keep it together / There was a time when we lost our pride but we got what we wanted / We can take our mistakes, we can take a joke / Fall off the cliff into a puff of smoke / Dust ourselves off and walk away We're young musicians with a death wish All your favorite bands are fleeting / Transmissions sent, I hope I find the receiving end / But all these dynamite chords keep us from being ignored / It's just no enough to say we got to find another way We keep it together, we keep it together / We're always down but we're never out so we got what we wanted / We can take our mistakes, we can take a joke / Fall off the cliff into a puff of smoke / Dust ourselves off and walk away We're young musicians with a death wish All your favorite bands are fleeting / Transmissions sent, I hope I find the receiving end / But all these dynamite chords keep us from being ignored / It's just no enough to say we got to find another way
8.
My friends got knives and my friends got got guns / My friends and I have so much fun / Your friends got jobs and your friends got lives / Your friends are ruining your life I don't want to be a lifeless shell wishing I was somebody else / I don't want to stay, I don't want to stay here in hell My friends got knives and my friends got got guns / My friends and I have so much fun / Your friends got jobs and your friends got lives / Your friends are ruining your life Place me under arrest right now because it's a crime living in this boring town / This basement gives me the creeps why don't you get me out My friends got knives and my friends got got guns / My friends and I have so much fun / Your friends got jobs and your friends got lives / Your friends are ruining your life
9.
I've got enemies who would sell me down the river in a heartbeat / friends with plans and con-artist scams / I'll drive the getaway car, make that the getaway van I'd be lying if I never said I've felt like shit / Toss myself off the Brooklyn Bridge but hey I've got better plans / Because you don't have to live this way every single day / Six feet under regret so just get your life in check You don't have to go it alone And you always got a friend to keep you out of debt / To remind you you're not dead yet / And you always got a friend / Someone to stand right by you telling you to be true Propped up cardboard buildings look nice but not any less fake / I know there's more to life than headlines and handshakes / And if you want to live that way, hey man that's ok just know we're not on the same page You don't have to go it alone And you always got a friend to keep you out of debt / To remind you you're not dead yet / And you always got a friend / Someone to stand right by you telling you to be true
10.
We can all find hope in these friendly faces that build us up and keep us going / So when it comes time for them to drag us down/ they will not break our stride, we will not hit the ground They say they want to take my life / Whoever said that I'd go down without a fight? / And if I do I'm taking you with me So I'll play along to all my Latterman records and know there's nothing to be afraid of / With lungs full of air and heart pumping blood there's never a good excuse to give up They pumped you full of feelings so you can't find your own meanings / that ain't fucking poetry to me / But I say living is a revolution in itself / Well what else is these days? They say they want to take my life / Whoever said that I'd go down without a fight? / And if I do I'm taking you with me So I'll play along to all my Latterman records and know there's nothing to be afraid of / With lungs full of air and heart pumping blood there's never a good excuse to give up STAY TRUE TO WHAT YOU DO!
11.
I get scared when you’re not around and all I got are these city sounds / I wish I could have called you last night, I wish I could have called you last night / and tell you I still feel alive I take my hat off to you, you dauntless unsuspecting few keeping heads up in light of all the bad news / Because underneath these dying scenes there’s an underground elite still throwing punches, bloody knuckles raised high in victory so keep the front light on / It won’t be too long / I’m opportunity and you know I’m knocking This is the last time, this is the last time I’ll be screaming into the receiver hoping your still on the other end / This is the last time, this is the last time I’ll put my life on the line for something I don’t believe in they’re gonna tell you that you’re nothing / You’re worth it, you’re worth it / Don’t let them tell you any different these hearts don’t break they bend / To their surroundings they blend in / Earthquakes and moving trains won’t stop them / So hold close on to these souls and pack them up wherever you go / If you found a better place to be I don't want to know so keep the front light on / it won’t be too long / I’m opportunity and you know I’m knocking This is the last time, this is the last time I’ll be screaming into the receiver hoping your still on the other end / This is the last time, this is the last time I’ll put my life on the line for something I don’t believe in They’re gonna tell you that you’re nothing but you don’t have to listen.

credits

released July 30, 2011

Eddie Kalinowski - drums/vocals
Larry Spahn - bass/vocals
Joe Dorane - vocals/guitar

(+ Eric Grossarth - backing vocals)

ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY HOPELESS OTIS
RECORDED, MIXED & MASTERED BY ERIC GROSSARTH AT CRAZY LEGS STUDIOS, FLUSHING, NY - SUMMER 2011
COVER ART/PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN WONG.

Thank you for your support and for supporting bands just like us. You are the reason we do this, and without your continued support, DIY bands, like ourselves, could not exist. Remember to stay positive and stay true. You have the power to make this world a better place as long as you believe that you can.

- (hopeless) Otis

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Hopeless Otis Queens, New York

From New York City, aiming to bring back positivity to punk rock.

for booking inquiries email: hopelessotis@gmail.com

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