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Growing Pains

by The Midwestern Charm

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1.
Bloodbath 03:05
I've been wasted and spat on, beat up and stepped on, choked up and cursed at; My heads been a bloodbath. The only thing I've realized through it all is that you're nothing... In the mirror there's a pale frame from what used to be your best game A sickness or a trader, a mess up and a failure. I know that I'm a piece in this chess game life but is there something I can do to get off of the table? Is there somewhere I can go with you? It's a good year for a murder as you pin us with disorders, Throw us in our padded rooms, we've learned to love this prison tomb. I know that I'm a piece in this jigsaw life, but is there something I can do to see the bigger picture? Is there somewhere I can go with you? Every night I come home feeling strung out and alone But than I see you, you're something to hold on to The past 6 months I've been afraid to show you love so I decay And it's wearing on you I know it's wearing on you
2.
The dust inside my mouth, as simple as it came is now Another tasteful ploy that I can hide behind for awhile. When it starts to rain I think of all the times I didn't open up Cause all the things I'd say don't express the things I've been thinking of. Everything I know about everything that I do stems from a stupid youth and a cat/mouse game between my idiot heart and a big dumb brain Cause it's a little absurd how you always seem to step up to the plate then back away- I've been hit by a pitch once or twice and don't keep score cause it's a waste of time. Why do you always run when you could be happy? It doesn't seem you even try. Why do you just break apart, fight yourself and who you are. Why do you just break apart? You know I can't stand it. You're wearing down my heart and it's crippling in my inexperience like the first time that I took the stage with crooked knees and a dripping face.
3.
Wallflower 04:06
You can dress me up real nice But when friday night rolls around you won't find me in the crowds. You can make it what you will but this life that I've been leading I've only been deceiving Everyone and you, including me, but eventually I'll make it what I like cause the love I've been stealing is a lie not worth believing I know just what to do cause I've been down this road before and it spun my mind in circles Now you're just a pill I take to get my thrills We're in the absences of a God so I can love you just as much whenever I like There's no use in hanging on when you've got nothing there to hold I feel more like a stranger each time that I come home I've been quiet in the corner, a wallflower in bloom Behind the bar lights and a cigarette. There's no use in cutting ties when there ain't nothing that's tied on It's just another sad goodbye to shrug off and move along As I'm hanging in the corner, a wallflower in bloom behind the bar lights and cigarette smoke in rooms You know if I could you know that I would come back as someone new.
4.
When the day just folds and you can't hold any fraction of your mind You get caught up in your art to bluff- always tell them all that you're alright When it's too much to think about and reason gets turned around I'll be there to cheer you up when you are down. When the night screams you're dead to me and your friends all taste like shit Your haunted head won't give it a rest, you can't ever call it quits Don't walk home in the dark, give me your arm and I'll be your streetlight It's okay to need me love, that's just fine. In a couple of weeks we'll be graduating college with our bachelors degrees that just emphasize nonsense I've been lost for awhile with my heart in my throat and my head buried in the clouds. You don't have to take it if you don't want to just know that I'm always hear to hang around To build you up or bring you down To listen to your mundane Mondays. In my absent life I'm in love with you But I always lock up the truth from you Talk is cheap so I wrote this down for free Still it cost me everything. Don't let the empty bed make you upset or the dial tone make you mad When it's 4am, know that I am doing the best I can to come back home and see you because Chicago was such a drag. Fall back inside the songs I write if you're feeling insignificant Cause there's a constant cloud above my head that I can't scratch off even with a pen. It's just another verse of some mortal words that'll save your life for another night I'm sick and tired of always losing, I wanna win sometimes. In a couple of months we'll be living by our paychecks working part time jobs and drinking all our assets I've been lost for awhile with my heart in my throat In a couple years I bet we'll still feel as helpless We'll do what we did, don't you know there's no difference Been lost as a child with my heart in my throat and my head buried in the clouds.
5.
It's been awhile since I've seen your face around. It's been awhile since a smile's met my mouth. I didn't do it- did I have the chance? I didn't do it- I went and paid rent. I'm left with an empty vase that I'll fill up with tears/booze. Nothing could grow from it, the weather's been busted for years. You didn't do it- was there ever a chance? How am I supposed to know when you layer codes upon codes. You taught me how to smoke Beth's grown a heavy hand We're like picking-candy for the cabs Who pay bills from their seat cushions On Valentine's Day.
6.
I watch her walk right out of my life and into some other guy's- I don't mind because she was never mine. I've never looked at her this way before but now she's all I see Not Alison, but she might as well be. I wish I never cared about her heart I wish I never cared about her scars I wish I never cared about her at all. It's Christmas Eve and your family tree has hung you out to dry These neons signs will tuck you in at night She calls me up around a quarter to 2 cause she's too drunk to drive I don't mind helping a friend sometimes But I wish I never cared about her heart I wish I never fell for her charm I wish I never cared about her at all I know all the pretty things you say and why they come out that way Because I live through something's and nothing's too. But even on a picture-perfect day We still have to fight the rain Tip the bottle back and it'll be okay. Those tavern doors busted me wide open Our smiles looked like frowns. I'd kiss her lips if we'd remember it.
7.
Lush 03:49
You were enough to break me. You were enough to scare my heart into doing things that I've never thought. Did you get all the boys you were after? What things are you trying to prove? I know that you're stronger than me because your smile's starting to bruise. Your innocence and integrity were both painted with a brush That you purchased and on the same receipt was some vodka and blush Now you want a out of your mind. Is this a conversation? Cause it seems to have run dry. You cut the legs from beneath me now what do you want? That's my imagination passed out from running wild Tell me everything so I can die again and again and again. Everyone keeps asking you "Hey man, what's your issue? Just come out and have some fun" But when everyone keeps asking you, "Hey man, what's your issue?" I can never have some fun. I've gotta find a way out of your mind Now you want a way out of your mind.
8.
With a Lime 01:26
Would you take my greasy hair and disjointed back? Would you take my unwashed oxfords and sailor caps? Cause I love the way that you order a drink and the face you make when you know there's something up with me. Would you take my massive frame and my dirty room? Entertain my evidence on the fake moon landing? Cause I love the way that you whistle and hum when you're doing the dishes at home. How do you make it look so simple and dumb? I become the quiet kid that laughs but never gets it whenever you're around I become the quiet kid whose smile never fits well whenever you're around Would you take my?
9.
General Drag 03:33
We were out drinking the week Staying in every night of the weekend Covering wounds that cut us too deep like an old war badge When the memories start to fade I'll tip 5 bucks and be on my way because there's nothing else to do besides pack up and find somewhere else to hide. We were broke and cutting our ties with the downtown streets that are wasting time in a town that only sucks a man's soul dry. The only thing that we can do is lock ourselves up inside our rooms cause we've got 33's and 45's But nothing makes me feel more than when Big Star comes on The juke and we all hum along to the songs that make us feel like the general drag of the year is marching on. It's a shame that we'll spend our lives working 40 a week just for nickels and dimes so I'll turn this thing up loud just to shut up my stupid mind. Guitars wear out our sleeves, so we'll keep our hearts away in a hotel safe That we'll visit anytime that we need nobody's company Where the Sam Cooke songs sing us to sleep and rewrite our dreams to make it feel like nothing's gone wrong. Because the general drag of the year is marching on. I'm turning at the corner of a relentless summer 23 seems darker by the day. If you find me in the gutter in a year that won't turn over Just pass me by I feel better off that way. I was out drinking the week Staying in every night of the weekend Covering wounds that cut me too deep and cursing out the downtown streets When all the flowers forgot to bloom cause the rain kept falling in our rooms We've got nothing else to do besides pack up and find somewhere else to hide.
10.
Nowadays when I look at you I smile for the same reasons why I used to cry It's times like these that make you wish you had what you used to have back when you could still laugh at yourself And everyone who'd tried to be what everyone else expected of them. You'd always take off your mask and strip down til there was nothing left to show but your bones. "Why have you never called me? I swear I don't miss you that much. Why have you never called me? I'm saying I'd want you back if you had." You used to candy-coat the things you said while I was off locked in my head- you were so sweet. I'd isolate through spinning wax and all the time you felt detached. I didn't know that it was from me "Is that why you never called me? I swear that I don't miss you that much. Why have you never called me? I'm saying I'd want you back if you had."
11.
Always going 80 on that highway just to get back to a town Where I store my shit in an apartment for the cheapest rent I've found. I've gone to kiss the sidewalk, it's ripped the teeth out of my mouth. Still I punch these keys and they sing to me the only silence that I've found. Yet I'm always feeling out of luck A drug store closing shop The punch line to their jokes A cigarette you just can't smoke So I guess I'll float around.

about

Ryan McCrary- Lead guitar, Vocals
Steve Sampson- Bass guitar, Vocals
Ryan Gracyalny-Drums, Percussion
Connor La Mue- Vocals, Rhythm guitar, Keys

All songs written by Connor La Mue, arranged by The Midwestern Charm.

Organ on Can’t Stand It & Insignificant played by Ian Olvera.
Organ on Wallflower, Something/NOthing & General Drag played by Keith Stendler.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered from January, 2013 to Feburary, 2014. Engineered and mixed by Shane Hochstetler at Howl Street Studios in Milwaukee, Wi. Additional recording done with Ian Olvera at Top Soil Studios in Oshkosh, Wi, and Steve Sampson at The Cat’s Meow in Milwaukee, Wi. Mastered by Carl Saff.

Stockholm’s was recorded on the second floor of Washington Hall in Oshkosh, Wi by Brandon Domer.

Design done by Chris Mueller.

Thanks to all of our family and friends, especially Shane Hochstetler, Ian Olvera, Megan Sampson, Carl Saff, Brandon Domer, Beth & Clint at Reptile Palace, Cranky Pat’s, Time Bomb Tom, Exclusive Company, Melissa Dahlman, Keith Stendler, Todd Van Hammond, Scott Lind, Chris Mueller, Midnight Reruns, Nathan Dengel, Andy Johnson, Bron Sage, Cynics, Jamie Yanda, and Kwik Trip.

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released April 21, 2015

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The Midwestern Charm Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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