F Posterity, issue 40: "Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware"

I'm on my heels here, publishing a sort of half-written song. Which I regret, but this one's close. It just needs a few more really thought-over verses, and what it's got now is getting towards what it'll be. 40 out of 52 songs in, I have a whole lot of half-finished songs ready to be done, I suppose as usual, and I suppose that's why I started this project. But I haven't had a ton of that open writing time in which you do nothing but stare at a page until something perfect gets beaten out of your head. I'm kinda glad next week will be a cover song.

This song has occurred to me again and again in seeing people and the world do its thing. The thought that everyone knows themselves, or believes themselves to be self-aware in the scheme of things, and yet it seems so easy for anyone else to take one look at someone's situation and dissect them. Sometimes the most self-evident things about ourselves are hidden to us. And I suppose sometimes we don't want to know them, which is why they remain hidden. But this song, "Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware" should be reflexive enough to be aware of its own paradox. Obviously I think I'm self-aware. Everybody thinks they are; some would say everybody is. But any of you could fairly well pick apart the things I can't see about myself.

I'm hoping to have a more complete version of this song up eventually.

Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware

Everybody thinks they're self-aware
The blind, the clueless and the scared
Everybody thinks it's all about them
And nods in disapproval when it's about them

Everyone in LA and New York
Fancies they're the bearer of the torch
The arbiters of relevance and fashion
The flavors of the minute and the has-beens

And everyone in Brownsville and Duluth
Knows the standard honest gospel truth
The arbiters of decency and morals
The keepers of the quaint and pastoral

And I feel qualified to tell
That we only know as much as ourselves
As we know about anyone else

But everybody thinks they're self-aware
The burnouts, the straightedge and the squares
Everybody thinks it's all about me
(If even if subconsciously)

But we can't see the forest for the leaves
Can't hear the chorus for the peeves
Can't find the lovers for the skeeves
Can't believe the things we can't perceive

And I feel qualified to tell
That we only know as much as ourselves
As we know about anyone else

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006