Get all 12 Z-Sides releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Midlothian, Beams, Truth to Tell, Body Luminous, Tracks in the Sand, Ad Infinitum, V, Prehistoric Phone, and 4 more.
1. |
Prehistoric Phone
05:18
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PREHISTORIC PHONE
Does anybody hear this? Is the signal getting through?
The bearer of a message nobody’s listening to
Has it been encrypted? Did they crack the code?
Give birth to an answer before you grow too old
3… 2… 1… It’s a long way to heaven
Does anybody see this? The view is so to die
A forest in flames, an atomic sky
And if you find my fingerprints buried underground
Just think of me in my youth, a man about town
3… 2… 1… It’s a long way to heaven
You gotta chance it all - It’s prehistoric!
Seemed like a bright idea a long time ago
Now like a bad connection, it never took hold
Does anybody hear this? Is the signal getting through?
The bearer of a message nobody’s talking to
Does anybody know you? Does anybody care?
Is anybody out there? Is anybody in here?
3… 2… 1… It’s a long way to heaven
You gotta not give up – It’s prehistoric!
Seemed like a bright idea a long long time ago
Now like a bad connection, it never took hold.
Can we get a new one? Listen for the call…
Why don’t you dial up an answer before the signal drops?
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2. |
Working Class Zero
04:31
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WORKING CLASS ZERO
Another day starts as the last one did, foggy-eyed wide, bright of mind
If it’s ever too late for a little shut-eye, it’s too early for coffee-cide
Go punch that clock, go turn that crank, go write another word
If I could move those hands from bad to good by killing the clock, I would
I wanna take it up, I wanna shake it up, I wanna break it up – It means nothing to me!
I wanna cut it off, I wanna black it out, I wanna throw it up – Oh come on, let me be!
I’ll tell you all you ever needed to know about how to live like a working class zero!
Flung together so far, driven to the edge apart
How can I unriddle the inscrutable algorithm of the heart?
Don’t you wonder, does it have to be quite like that? How can I relax? How can I keep cool?
Am I just another number up to be added, line upon line, they wanna give you –
Easy money… Easy money…
And you’re a working class honey, right down to your shoes!
That girl’s got the working man blues – a working class zero with nothing to lose
Except everything… All I’ve got… It’s all or nothing…
What else does it mean to be a working class zero?
Used to be a time in the bad old days when everybody did what the king would say
Walk a hundred miles to the sacred place so they can pay their good dues
Is it natural evolution at work for a man to trade everything he’s worth?
Caught between a hard place and a rock, better watch your back, better stand your guard
Because they made it up, yeah they made it up
They turned it inside out and gave it up
They’ve got you all burned out and broken in two
A working class zero ain’t nobody’s fool!
They made it up, oh yeah they made it up
What was the truth as it stood not good enough?
Took a long time to unburden my shoes –
A working class zero with nothing to prove!
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3. |
Cause & Effect
02:28
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CAUSE & EFFECT
When I was young and had it figured out…
I didn’t know what I was talking about
Now that I’m older and my talk is fine
Oh how I wish I could go back in time!
You used to run as if you were one of the best
Another downer just like all the rest!
Cause & Effect, Cause & Effect - Cause & Effect, Cause &…
When you are taking time to be alone
You can’t stop looking at your telephone
Was there a message that you shoulda read?
Another strategy to get ahead?
So cold and lonely when you sleep at night
Right kinda lovin’ mighta saved your life
Cause & Effect, Cause & Effect - Cause & Effect, Cause &…
I’m so heavy, you’re so heavy, everybody’s heavy - Get this show on the road!
I’m so lazy, you’re so lazy, everybody’s lazy - Get this show on the road!
[CHORUS]
I’m so happy and you’re so happy and everybody’s happy - Get this show on the road!
I’m so crazy and you’re so crazy and everybody’s crazy - Get this show on the road!
I’m so angry you’re so angry everybody’s angry - Get this show on the road!
I’m so sorry and you’re so sorry and everybody’s sorry - Get this show on the road!
Look at all the rich folks
Drowning in their good luck
Dressed up in their good looks
Giving us their dirty looks
If you’re feeling down and you don’t know why
Don’t try to point your finger at the other guy!
Life’s a string of unintended consequences…
[CHORUS]
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4. |
Apropos of Nothing
03:39
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APROPOS OF NOTHING
Apropos of nothing, what are you thinking of
When you lay down in the grass and watch the stars above?
Free to make your way to another love
Oh maybe we’ll forget about it in the long run…
Honey, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you were lost in the clouds
Better off there than somewhere sitting all by yourself!
Apropos of nothing, what are you trying to prove
Beating up yourself like there’s nothing else to do?
Oh will it be ok if I say these words to you?
Maybe we’ll forget about how little words can do…
Honey, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you were lost to the world
Trying to follow in someone’s footsteps - so much better than on your own!
Honey, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you were lost in the dust
Trying to breathe while you cover your mouth, singing songs to yourself
Could it be that maybe someday, when we’re down the road a spell,
After time works its healing wonder, we’d be better with someone else?
Would we be better with someone else…?
Apropos of nothing…
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5. |
Catalogue
05:59
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CATALOGUE
You!
You think you are a tough guy
Like to strut your stuff guy
Everybody’s had enough, guy
You’re on ‘em like a bloodhound
The streets are like your playground
Won’t stop until you take them down…
You!
You think you are the street king
Inside you are a weakling
Trying not to show it to the world
You’re feeling pretty low-down
Got some shit to work out
Need someone to kick around
Are you feeling better now?
You!
You’re picking on the weak kids
The small and on the meek kids
Hoping that nobody’s gonna see…
You!
You better look inside, man
Won’t like what you will find, man
‘Cuz karma’s gonna take you far
It’s gonna leave a scar
Woulda been better where you are…
All the things I never got to say to you…
A list as long as my broken arm…
Places that we never got away to…
Fill the pages of an empty catalogue…
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6. |
(After the) Fadeout
05:59
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(AFTER THE) FADEOUT
Was that not you I just heard calling from beyond the sea?
The night-time sky clouds have all blown away just like me
And you know I got it all wrong…
After the flood, follows the reckoning when you think it might never rain
Hold the moon in your two hands and watch it fade to the sea
And I know we got it all wrong…
That’s all that you left after the fadeout…
Some silences make a deafening sound
Some sidelong glances whiplash your head around
And follow you down into the ground…
That’s all that you left after the fadeout…
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7. |
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LUCKY TO BE A LIGHTWEIGHT
You’re lucky to be a lightweight…
Thoughts unceasing through you flow
Here one moment, then they go
Every quote you ever misspoke is ringing in your ears
Either you don’t talk fast enough,
Or else you never shut up
Sacred church of the little lost bird just swallowing your song
Nothing ever gets to you
But nothing ever quite gets through
We could talk about it for a million years, what’s the use?
Your mind’s made up, as if we needed more proof!
You’re lucky to be a lightweight
You’re lucky to be a lightweight
Not just anyone would have gone one and done, no, just you…
Lucky to be a lightweight…
Life sits lightly on your shoulders,
how do you get away with that?
When the skies open up and shit on your head,
Somehow you let it roll off your back
Your head hangs heavy like a boulder
How do you stand the weight of it?
When the wind blows through your soul
The sound of emptiness somehow fits
Nothing ever gets to you
But nothing ever quite gets through
We could dance around it for a thousand years, what’s the use?
You’re lucky to be a lightweight
You’re lucky to be a lightweight
Not just anyone would could have gotten nothing done oh so soon…
Lucky to be a lightweight…
Wisdom filled with empty words
Prettiest lies you ever heard
Can’t just circle the square anywhere…
Nothing ever gets to you
But nothing ever quite gets through…
We could dance around it for a thousand miles…
We could talk about it through a million empty smiles…
You’re lucky to be a lightweight…
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8. |
Choked Up
02:34
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CHOKED UP
Time out!
No time to take right now!
Hey you!
Why do you scream and shout??
Did you forget what it was all about?
I don’t know how you do it
There’s got to be more – more to it
How do you hold it all together when -
When it’s altogether ending?
Try to get a word in edgewise
Try to put in a word in for you
All the words get stuck like glue
Somewhere inside
Just another day
Crooked tooth
Tongue-tied
People!!
What do they talk about?
Why do I feel the need to scream and shout it?
Is that the best that I can do?
Try to get a word in edgewise…
Try to put a word in for you…
All the words get stuck like glue somewhere inside
Just another day ending…
Another bad dream trying not to
Remember when you still had it
Button your lip, get a grip and knock it out!!
You gotta do it!!
Just another day ending
Another broken soul mending, too
Turn away like you mean it!
Try not to get so fucked up - choked up!
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9. |
V
04:07
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V
(instrumental)
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10. |
Follow the Money
04:45
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FOLLOW THE MONEY
They don’t care what we say – Deeper pockets win the day
Left or right, blue or red - what they do ain’t what they said!
On the inside, trading stocks – Guarding the henhouse when they’re the fox!
Giving speeches full of lies – pull the wool over our eyes
Sea of red in the books – give the money to the crooks!
Big fat checks for the well-connected
Buying favors, whatever the flavor
Highest bidder buys the votes – Shove it down the people’s throats
Empty suits bought and sold – Zombies of the capital!
Follow the Money – Follow the Money!!
They don’t care what we say – Deeper pockets win the day
Left or right, red or blue – we the people, we all get screwed
Big donations… Govern the nation… Big donations… Govern the nation…
You know they do!
Follow the Money – Follow the Money!!
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11. |
Undertones
05:35
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UNDERTONES
Well I see that your lips are moving, but your words don’t sound right.
Perhaps there’s some way to put it that will make everything fine?
I could not hold myself back if it meant holding all of my thoughts inside…
Sounds like you’ve got a problem with me and my problems don’t lie
You’ve had it – I’m lacking
I’m lost – trying to find my way back in
Through all the undertones…
Well in a new mode of operating, we might never have fought
Once the heart has been broken, the heart cannot be bought
I took you so long to make up your mind and even having the thought – at all –
Means all we had has been lost, and it was lost from the start
Don’t doubt it – Don’t shout it
You’re still gone and I’m still hearing about it
Through all the undertones…
If all you say is everything has meanings within meanings
How do I craft the perfect comeback without coughing up your next attack?
People like we are, it seems, sometimes are born for the loss
Rising above your station won’t make you the boss
Lead set to melt, boil it down and scrape off the dross
Carrying on your back the weight of it all
Oh, don’t stop it, don’t drop it
This story’s not done yet, as long as you’re trying to top it
What an icy truth to say that you’re free to go
All that was and all that is and all that ever will be
Drowned out in the undertones…
I’m hearing all the words that don’t say nothing anymore
It’s all just meanings within meanings within meanings within meanings
Your life’s been decimated
Your love’s been desecrated
Your world is desiccated
Nothing is consecrated
The darkness permeated
Your hope emaciated
Ooohh.. the undertones….
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12. |
Made Right
06:35
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MADE RIGHT
The metal bent, the lies sworn, the paper torn, the hair shorn…
All things made right… In the fullness of time…
The fabric ripped, the well dried, the fuel spent, the keyed side
The open wound, the glass half-broken
The words misspoken, or never sent…
All things made right… In the fullness of time…
All things made right… In the fullness of time…
All darkness made bright… In the fullness of time…
All weights made light… In the fullness of time…
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Z-Sides California
.datum. is the solo moniker of Bay Area singer-songwriter Lane Pianta, who also records under the band name Z-Sides. A
completely independent operation – Lane has benefited greatly from the support of a group of very talented musicians, as well as collaborators in other artistic spheres.
Thank you all for supporting original rock 'n' roll!!
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