Get all 16 Ren Stedman releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of #lovewins, conversations with a racist, The Half-Arsed Defeat, Festival Friends, Problems, Fiction, Drug Induced Dreams, State Of Unfair, and 8 more.
1. |
5g
02:54
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Gee wiz we’ve got 5g
We’ve got much faster connectivity
to stream it live on tv how we pump shit in the sea
and I need netflix wired into my brain
Alexa wash my bum and say
I’m pretty and you’ll match me with a clone from social media please
there’s wires inside my bones
and people listen on the phone
to mine my data
mind my language
tell the drones to bring my sandwich
on demand, I don’t need exercise
I’m watching people work out live
on screen and I can donate to their cause if I agree
the world is at it’s end
to please the latest social media trends
my mobile network follows me
and knows my annual salary
Gee wiz we’ve got 5g
We’ve got much faster connectivity
to stream it live on tv how we pump shit in the sea
The government will keep me safe
by opening my phone by face detection
ad suggestion
would you like to please test your connection
‘cause the cameras in your TV are not clean I can’t see clearly
to just document your every move
please smile ‘cause we are watching you
but when is enough gonna be the enough
when will our need to stalk the world become the death of us
the world is dying
but we’re still buying
into the pretty things they say to us
so we can justify the fuck ups
so buy one get one free
you know it’s all going to charity
and not to line the pockets of the man who works in marketing
Gee wiz we’ve got 5g
We’ve got much faster connectivity
to stream it live on tv how we pump shit in the sea
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2. |
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Your soul can be set free
Your soul can be set free
Your soul can be set free with drugs and beer and lots of money
And your demons will be purged from you
As soon as you believe
That poor folk fund the violence
It's not the riches greed
So they said they’d take their guns outside
And shoot the immigrants tonight
Because they took all of the cleaning jobs we’d obviously applied for
Healthcare’s down the shit because that fat receptionist
at the doctors runs the NHS
and has no damn appointments left
And I will never understand the reason why
this population can’t stand it’s own kind
over your colour or creed
this contest of context criteria needs
let get of the problem it’s not yours to hold onto and leave
just leave
be angry at the government
that told you you’re not relevant
not the man that lives next-door
who you think’s not equivalent
of British values that you hold
the ones that are so bloody old
that if you are so British
then sell off your holiday home
these borders aren’t defence
for playing off your ignorance
‘cause we all look the same in the dark
the flag that you wave
is not how you’ll be be saved
it’s the thoughts in your head and the love in your heart
but it’s easier to blame when it gets too hard
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3. |
Heeby Jeebies
03:04
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theres man by the door
and there’s bugs on the floor
that climb into my nose and my brain
are they reading my mind
are they biding their time
or am i just going fucking insane
i’ve not been sleeping lately
my colleagues all hate me
they’re surely all plotting to kill
i’ve been researching death
and the best way to do it
and i know that sooner i will
but if I could be arsed
the building out back
that is behind my flat
filled with camera and screens that
the government track
are they watching my move
as I pace round the room
close the curtains
and cover reflections up too
I’ve not been sleeping lately
my colleagues all hate me
they’re trying to conspire and all segregate me
I’ve been googling dying
and my friends keep on trying
to act like I don’t know that they are all lying
out of their arse
but the fact of the matter
is that I do not matter
I’m part of a plan
but where I’m not the master
where I’m just collateral
damage that gets in the way
and I, I don’t want to die
I just need a reason of sorts to make sense why I should stay alive
and I, I don’t want to find
that the friends that I love and the people I deeply admire
were all right
‘cause these are the thoughts that I think all the time
but constantly tell everybody I promise I’m fine
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4. |
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Well it’s been 3 months since I felt home
The beds un maid the curtains drawn
I clawed out all the walls to try to leave
My thoughts alone and not provoke
A turning point that starves the urge to cope
Tell my friends that I’m sorry I can’t be
The being that they thought I was
they met the part of me I lost
I used to be a person now I’m always fucking nervous
And I won’t know how to function
If I’m always high or drunk when
on the floor I said I sort it out but chaos is compulsion
And this feeling’s an infection
Of the mind so my perception’s always telling me I’m wrong but it’s the art of self destruction
I do so well
I’m sorry for the way I’ve been
And the promises that I tried to keep
In times of desperation I could not bare to be seen
I gave up booze a month ago
At least that’s what I said to everyone
can’t come out I don’t feel like myself
I don’t wanna be outside when I’m not well
And I think back to a year before
I would screw up but still feel remorse
I do the same today but now I don’t feel anything
every man is an island
every person’s a universe
Trapped inside their head and so I guess
that’s why I’m getting worse
that’s why I’m cancelling my plans
cause I’ll feel safer on my own land
and this shoreline I am sure will feel like home
if not then I’ll be better on my own.
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5. |
R U HAPPY?
03:11
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Are you happy
Or just distracted
things stayed same but on the darker days
you say you’re fine but you’ve adapted
You’re content
Or just well practised
Say your lines and always smile on time
Repeat the action you’re just fine
take pill and chew
tell doctors you
won’t act the way you used to do
reflecting on the past I see
that suicide is cowardly
I’m sorry for distress I’ve caused
I won’t need to go back at all
to therapy or hospitals
I’ve got a job so now I’m cured
DRINK TEA
WATCH TV
JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE ACTING NORMALLY.
Are you happy
or are you acting
Make Mother get some sleep at night whilst you confide in strangers online
You’re okay
you’re interacting
you’re sharing things not bottling
things up you won’t break promises.
get friendship circles
burn your journals
sertraline is universal
lee approved to fix your mood
and stop those silly thoughts intrude
ing on your life it’s set design
to make sure you don’t fall outside
of what’s accepted
you’re depressing
he’s too happy she’s not eating
make some phonecalls
check protocols
increase smalls dose
then diagnose
misery or lack of personality
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6. |
Politics For Kids
03:18
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We listen to the tv
and believe the things that we see
from the titles of the papers that we read
We blame the kids for what they’ve done
by fighting for the opposition
they didn’t not win anyway
it’s only their own futures that they want to fucking save
who do we think we are we weren’t around
90’s kids weren’t dying off when maggie shut the miners towns
how dare we care about the news
it’s not as if our generation’s filling someone else shoes
when you’re gone
you think that we’re wrong
kids can’t have the benefit
of talking about politics
they’re only go and make these matters worse
so go and sit behind your screens or occupy the libraries and learn
The parents tell their kids
that they do not know anything
they haven’t lived half of their lives not knowing how to pay for shit
But I am sure that their degrees weren’t filled with loans and admin fees
they studied media for free and follow mediocrity
Who do we think we are we haven’t lived
long enough to know our minds and know our stance on politics
how dare we care what lies ahead
it’s only our own futures that we’re fighting to respect
so surely my view
is worth the argue
but you say discourse is a luxury
that comes with age and families
we’ll only go and screw the system more
or rally up the troops and let the country know that it’s worth fighting for
But May means May
And though I don't want her to stay
You cannot call a second vote when things don't go the way you said you want them
And I despise them
These liars who call out each other
But no-one really fights them
And I’m the same, where do I fit
I call my songs a protest
But I don’t understand politics
how knowing that the people’s vote
was not meant to be final though
they had it in their heads we wouldn’t fight
to call out all the liars and scoundrels and the likes
of May and friends
their time will end
and we’re the ones who’ll pick the pieces up when it this goes wrong in parliament
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7. |
Leaving Again
03:32
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Well I can’t say what I think
So I’ll say what I know
I’ve broken through all the windows
But here I am I’m still trapped behind my front door
I tried to paint over cobwebs
I tried to sand down the sirens
I thought if I build a house in my head
Then my head might confuse it with silence
But I’m leaving again
And I can’t tell you why
If I don’t know what the problem is friend
Well I can’t say what’s on my mind
All my systems are nervous
and all my actions are worthless
I’m constructing the person I wish I could be in my brain one with meaning and more of a purpose
I fenced out my friends
I put walls up to make sure they’d never get in
I built home in myself so that nobody else could creep in when I wanted to call off the plans that I said I’d attend
And so I’ll kick up the curbs
And I know I deserve
What I get if it’s good or it’s bad
If it’s love if it’s burns or it hurts
But god knows it hurts
god know it hurts
and I can’t find the cause or the catalyst
that really started this I’m only making things worse.
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8. |
The Drinking Sad
03:46
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Got the drinking sad again
I’ve got the black dog in my head
for just a couple hours works
I’ll afford to face my demons
with a bottle in my pocket
or a smoke into my chest.
Got the drinking sad again
it creeps on me just like an old friend
who’s face I used to trust
but now it just seems cold and distant
like the distance that I make between
myself and those who cared
Well I don’t care, no I don’t care
I don’t care, no I don’t care
or do I care too much and that’s just how I got here.
Had the drinking sad for weeks
and knocks me over from my knees
as they tremble on a staircase I used to climb to see
my friends in their apartment to communally conceive
the best way to destroy ourselves with alcohol and weed
And I see them every now and then
as they waste all of the oxygen
by talking shit the same we did when we had too much time to spend
on polishing our ego’s thinking why should we be made to feel so scared
of everybody’s bad opinions
I don’t wanna be unique anymore
if the only thing that makes me stand out and makes me individual
is the pattern of events that do not make me any different
from all the people that I frown upon
for doing all the shit I’ve always done
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9. |
Make Your Mind Up
02:22
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Are you gonna make your mind up?
or are you going to sit down?
are you gonna let these pigs in their seats have your say how to live on this land?
I’m not relying on my neighbours
to follow through they will not save us
I’m not about to let my voice go unheard
about the state of the world
I want justice for those who get kicked to the curb
So they wait
in their office space
in their three piece suits sewn with fingers of childhood slaves
and they’ll say
that they’ve worked they way up when their daddy is the company’s face.
Are you gonna make your mind up?
or are you going to assume
that the monsters who lead and sell lies on the tv are really investing in you?
I won’t shed tears for the mindset
that someone else is gonna fix this
I don’t believe in the power to change if we repeat yesterday
Just over and over and over again
So we wait
for the world to change
when we sit on our arses and all the time just do the same
as we did yesterday
why be bold and change history you can just procrastinate?
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10. |
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Wouldn't it be easier, to just be a girl
I'm sorry mate but haven't you heard
That I never was and never will be
I'm sick of all this gender policing
Because I don't take injections that hurt my arse
So you think that you've got the right to ask
Or pose a question by saying 'no offence'
The way you say it makes no difference
And I don't ask what's in your pants
So don't ask what's in mine
Don't tell me the story of how I offend you
I've heard the same one a hundred times
I just want a piss and now you're taking it
And I'm so sick of the fighting and accepting the bullshit
I just want to live it's the only thing I want to do
And I've still got bigger balls than all of you.
I don't believe in it, just ain't a reason
I am not something to believe in
I don't expect a nice response but I can't see how what I am doing is wrong
Then the man at the bar says he don't give a shit
'Cause in the town where he grew up and the house that he lived in
He lived next door to a lovely fellow
Who happened to be gay - and that’s not the same.
I didn't cut off my chest
Or feel sick to get undressed
Never fallen in love never formed a relationship
Cannot get close, and please don’t think I chose this
I only chose to live
but I’m starting to question if life’s really worth it
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11. |
The Black Dog
04:52
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I really love dogs
but the black dog’s a cunt
and he always arrives when I really don’t want him around
I grin through a clenched jaw
the dog’s got it in for me
more so today than he has done before
but I’ve found
that his bark it’s got nothing on the bite that he bears
he’s looming consuming me making me scared
not of what he will do
but what I will when I no longer care.
And I haven’t showered for weeks
and I stink
of the ways that I cope with the dog and the drinks
that I swear I won’t have anymore they add fuel to his fire
And I used to think I'd fight him off
But today I'm too tired.
He’s grown up beside me
since I was fourteen
and back then they would call it a phase I would find my relief
In marks I would make and the tablets I’d take
by the handful to see if the black dog would stop chasing me
but his kind do not take well to threats or decisions
that don’t end in tears or another admission
to hospital wards or a waging of wars in
your head
and the black dog has funded the fight to invade me again.
I won’t fight out of bed or these jeans
I've been wearing too long and for too many weeks
I am weak in my bones from the sticks and the stones that he fires
And I used to think I'd fight him off
But today I'm too tired.
He got stuck in my teeth
Found him lodged in my throat
When I tried to scream that I can't take the black dog no more
He crept into my head
crawled inside of my bones
and I don’t know the cure for a dog that is sick in his soul
but you cannot kill what has slowly been killing you
honestly all of your life you’ve been feeding it too.
So I’ll stay in my bedroom and sleep
I won’t show up for work and my friends will eventually leave
me alone I should care but I don’t, I am fine
and I used to say I’d fight him off
and I used to think I’d show some guts
I used to think I was enough
but today I’m too tired
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Ren Stedman Southend On Sea, UK
Ren Stedman, he's the acoustic guy who looks metal, has a buzzing vocal, plays from the marrow of his bones and will rip your heart out with his honesty. A fierce, fable wielding force of acoustic punk poetry.
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