4 years ago, I started writing a song about brothers. I grew up with 3 of them, so our house was doomsday but with more sugar cereal. Our love was strong and so was our barbarity. It was real joy — the kind you didn't have to look for cuz it smacked you in the face or pushed you off the bed into a file cabinet. Beyond that, we were homeschooled. 4 fuckin' weirdos home all day who adored each other and hated each other and played baseball everyday in the backyard and threw rocks at each other's heads and laughed 'till we threw up. Our bond is forever. That song I started those years ago meant too much to me to finish. I was scared of it. Scared of not making it great... so I tabled it.
A couple weeks before leaving to make the record, I went through some old voice memos while watching a VHS of 'Drugstore Cowboy.' I listened to that 30-second sketch called 'Prizefighter.' It was like an angel fell from the sky to tell me how to finish it. "Don't make it great," she said. "Make it true." I finished the song in 2 days.
lyrics
Hope had filled the sky at nighttime.
Diamond in the ring.
Don’t feed your mind.
Maybe I had never pictured bad times.
Brother in the drugstore falls behind.
He’s got knuckles that no longer fit my eyes.
Knuckles that a prizefighter can’t buy.
**I got the world, so I’ll be fine.
I got the sunshine to figure me out.
I’m back to work. That’s over,
Now all I want is fun.
Yeah, my work ain’t hard,
but it’s got to be done.
Tommy left for war with no goodbye.
I never got a chance to ask him why.
But since Tommy always was a tough guy,
I know it’s cuz he thought I’d see him cry.
He had knuckles that could make the devil shy.
Knuckles of a prizefighter held high.
**
I got a war that I can’t fight.
I got the sunshine to figure me out.
I’m back to work. That’s over.
Now all I want is fun.
Yeah, my work ain’t hard,
but it’s got to be done.
**
credits
from Heaven Is a Junkyard,
released June 9, 2023
Written and performed by Trevor Powers (aka Youth Lagoon).
Produced by Rodaidh McDonald and Trevor Powers.
Engineered and mixed by Rodaidh McDonald.
Mastered by Heba Kadry.
Piano, programming, vocals, synthesizer, and percussion by Trevor Powers.
Bass, bass harmonica, and lap steel by Gabe Noel.
Drums by Sam KS.
Acoustic guitar by Dorothy Pox.
