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Pavement

from Shallow by whatever...

/

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lyrics

A fifteen-year-old boy stares down at pavement
twenty floors below
He's tired of being alone, he wants to be accepted.
A paper pinned to his chest flutters in a sudden wind,
It says, "I'm tired of being alone.
Just leave me be. Just let me go."

I can't explain his reasoning, but then, nobody could
It seems to me that different eyes see very different worlds
Like when you're lying on the bottom,
there's only one way to go
But at the top, you can stand or you can fall.

I know your friends are cruel;
a jury of your peers rules you uncool
On clothes, or hair, or shoes, or superficial accessories.
But if you just give up, you've lost, they've won,
the fight is over
And you've just thrown it all away.
Don't throw it all away.

A thirty-year-old man
stares down at that same pavement far below
His home and family gone, addictions taking their toll
And unemployment is undignified for one of his kind
His pride distorts his mind. A welfare line? He'd rather die!

I can't explain his reasoning; again, nobody could
I think that sometimes darkened eyes
block out a brighter world
But when you're lying at the bottom
Thinking there's just one way to go
Sometimes the ground drops out beneath you and you fall.

Yes, the real world is cruel;
in bureaucratic eyes, you're just a tool
Machines to be abused and carelessly discarded in the end
But if you just give up, you've lost, they've won,
the fight is over
And you've just thrown it all away.
Don't throw it all away.

A fifteen-year-old boy stares down at pavement
twenty floors below
He tears his message up
And lets it go.

credits

from Shallow, released November 1, 1993

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whatever... Cleveland, Ohio

whatever... was a Cleveland band in the 1990s. We opened for lots of great acts (e.g., Jawbox, Bosstones, Samiam) and even had a following of our own. Really, if you went to a Cleveland punk show in the mid-'90s, chances are pretty good you saw us. This is the stuff we were playing early on.

You can also hit either of the below links to buy the band's final album, Youngsters, on Amazon or iTunes. ... more

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