Fighting Fish

from Parts of Speech by Dessa

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Limited edition autographed 10th anniversary metallic silver vinyl pressing of Dessa's classic album, Parts of Speech. Gatefold package with additional artwork and poster insert.

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lyrics

Swimming in a snifter
pretty as a picture
don’t get it twisted man, her bite is a bitch
You can name, you can keep her
but take care when you feed her
You never can take the fight out the fish
Chompin at the drill bit
never one to still sit
you can test my metal with a magnet and some tin snips
Ink test, all I see is canines and some wings tips
Pilot pen in pocket, I’m riding instinct and inkjets

Around here we don’t like talk of big dreams
to stand out is a pride, a conceit
To aim high is to make waves, to split seams
but that’s not what it seems like to me, cause
I wanna try I wanna risk
I don’t wanna walk, rather swing and miss
I’m not above apologies
but I don’t ask permission
got a lot of imperfections
but I don’t count my ambition in em

CHORUS
Zeno’s arrow
never hits the mark
It’s always
hanging there over its shadow
safe from battle
waste of arch-
er’s time and trouble
waste of effort
waste of parts
If you don’t aim for the center
it's a waste of the art

I didn’t come looking for love
I didn’t come to pick a fight
I didn’t come to wave or take pictures
pander to some benefactor, ring on every broken finger
Won’t extend my wings to be clipped
I know the culture here is to stay humble but shit
if we all go round bowed heads, button-lipped
if none of us go for the bell, then who is?
My mother says
I’ve loved too many men
but I took and left something in every single bed
The rook can look left, right—just turns his head
but the knight might rise up, investigate the grid
Gender, genre
guess I’m on one
bent both
Just the constructs
of the old word
gone broke
Women, children
let me tell you
I’ve been both
and it’s a myth—
we all swim for the life boats
I didn’t come looking for love
I didn’t come to pick a fight
I come here every night to work
and you can grab an axe, man,
or you can step aside

CHORUS

Self-taught, self-made, bet, self-styled
self saw, self came, self took island of converts
to conquer is old school
we march em in converse
just armed with their own tools
While my knees still flex
while my joints hold steady
mind sharp, spine straight, Chucks laced ready
I travel by kite
travel light, at touch down
I swallow the dice
I make my own luck now

Zeno’s arrow never
hits the mark
It’s always hanging there
over its own
shadow in the dark
its own shadow in the dark

credits

from Parts of Speech, released June 25, 2013
Production by Lazerbeak, vocals by Dessa
Additional performance by Scott Agster and Dustin Kiel
Published by Lorem Ipsum (ASCAP) and Legend Recognize Legend (ASCAP)

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about

Dessa Minneapolis

Dessa is a writer and touring musician based in Manhattan and Minneapolis. Quick wit, sharp pen, soft heart.

Recommendations

shows

May 3

Granada Theater

Minneapolis, MN
May 18

Pink Room, YES

Manchester, UK
May 19

Colours

London, UK
May 21

Underdogs'

Prague, Czech Republic
Jun 8

Hilde Performance Center

Plymouth, MN
Jun 14

The Theater, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV
Jun 15

Big Top Chautauqua

Bayfield, WI
Sep 21

Project North

Rhinelander, WI

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