Title: ... Human Disaster
Artist: Sam Thatcher
Genre: Folk, folk rock, folk blues, soul
Length: 40:33
Recorded: January 2015-March 2015
Label: Independent
Writers: Sam Thatcher, Christopher Schaffer, Robert Coughlan
Producers: Sam Thatcher, Christopher Schaffer

Who is Sam Thatcher?


Twenty-nine year old New Mexico native, Sam Thatcher, is the next rising star in the slowly building trend of folk music singers in the business today. The bartender was virtually unknown until earlier this week, when he began streaming his debut album "Human Disaster" (or it's full name, "This Album Will Make You Cry. All Albums Make You Cry, You Human Disaster") on his website, enticing many people to stream the tracks with its mysterious - sometimes loquacious - titles, like, "Jennifer Lawrence Does Everything Better Than You," "I Wish I Was Dead, But I Don't Wish I Was Dead, But Sometimes I Really Wish I Was Dead," and the longest, "The Numb Ache You Get When You Bang a Joint on Something Hard, and Other Things Your Entire Body Feels Like When You Think of Her." He has been quiet on social media for weeks, apparently taking everybody he knew but the people involved on creating the album by surprise by beginning to release these tracks for free online, drawing the attention of the world to his website. But who even is this guy?

If you have heard of Sam Thatcher before, it's either because you live in the small New Mexico town that he bartends in, or because you're a crazy Evalyn Dixon fan. The British indie pop blonde and Thatcher have been dating for several months now, flying under the radar until now, keeping their relationship very private. The couple met when Evalyn was passing through New Mexico and happened to stop in Sam's pub. The pair have been living together ever since, keeping away from the public and asking their friends and family to do the same. Sam has lived in Evans, New Mexico his whole life with his mother, Annie Thatcher, who has raised Sam as a single mother since he was ten. The Thatcher family is well-known family throughout Evans, owning many stores and restaurants throughout the community. Sam is very well-liked in his hometown, known for making casual friendly conversation with anybody who walks through his bar doors, and for his live music that he plays every Saturday night. But nobody knew he had a whole album in him.

The album was written all by Sam Thatcher, except for one song ("How Long a Man Can Sit in a Bathtub with All the Lights Turned Off"), which Sam wrote with his two best friends, Chris Schaffer and Robby Coughlan. The album was all produced by Sam Thatcher himself, or with Chris Schaffer co-producing. It remains in a mostly folk style, reaching folk rock at some point, but mostly keeping close to a very mellow acoustic sound for a majority of the album. The songs focus on themes of difficult relationships - not only romantic relationships, but friendships and familial relationships as well. His lyrics border on the comical at some points, but most of the humor seems almost self-deprecating and dark. "It's a small view into my mind," Sam Thatcher wrote on his website. "All of the songs are written towards certain people - and each of those people will know who they are when they hear their song. They're like notes that I'm choosing to share with everybody, rather than just the person they're for."

---

Personnel:
Sam Thatcher - vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Christopher Schaffer - additional guitar, percussion, bass
Ray Rearick - cello
Michael Washburn - violin
Jarrett Hernandez - violin
William Goodall - violin
Christopher Ketterman - violin
Robert Coughlan - fiddle, backing vocals
Andrew McGovern - backing vocals

Tracklist:
1. A Special Report on the Frontlines of Generational Angst
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
2. How Long a Man Can Sit in a Bathtub with All the Lights Turned Off
(written by: Sam Thatcher, Christopher Schaffer, Robert Coughlan)
3. Twenty-Somethings Who Leave Their Hair Uncombed
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
4. Methods With Which Our Ennui Consume Us
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
5. Ways to Combat the Chalky Aftertaste of Anti-Depressants
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
6. The Horrible Things You Might Become When No One Expects You to Be Anything Good
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
7. Recording the Terror Through Your Walls
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
8. Another Friday Night Alone, Summed Up By a 3:59 Minute Song
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
9. Jennifer Lawrence Does Everything Better Than You
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
10. The Numb Ache You Get When You Bang a Joint on Something Hard, and Other Things Your Entire Body Feels Like When You Think of Her
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
11. Things Only People Who've Broken Something Pretty Will Understand
(written by: Sam Thatcher)
12. I Wish I Was Dead, But I Don't Wish I Was Dead, But Sometimes I Really Wish I Was Dead
(written by: Sam Thatcher)

TITLE: How Long a Man Can Sit in a Bathtub with All the Lights Turned Off
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher, Christopher Schaffer, Robert Coughlan
LENGTH: 3:16
GENRE: Folk, folktronica
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher

---

Sam continues right into the next track of the album, bringing out a whole new sound with "How Long a Man Can Sit in a Bathtub with All the Lights Turned Off." The second track is the only song that is not written only by Sam Thatcher - it features the writing talent of Sam's two best friends Chris Schaffer (who also played percussion, bass, and guitar on the album) and Robby Coughlan (whose voice and fiddle is featured in the album as well). Sam had reportedly written the lyrics of the song as a short poem, and Chris and Robby made a instrumental beat to go along with it. When Chris and Robby played the song that they had written with Sam's words, Sam decided that the song had to go on the album. The track talks about the type of woman that Sam wants to find in his life - the type of woman who can see the beauty in tragedy. The song features many of the same lyrics repeated over and over, but put in different context. It also heavily features Robby Coughlan and - other backing vocalist - Andrew McGovern's voices with Sam Thatcher's.

The beat of "How Long a Man Can Sit..." is much faster than "A Special Report...", and that can be immediately seen from the first moment of the song. It starts with a quick acoustic guitar jam, played in an almost flamenco style before Sam and his backing singer's voices come in, harmonizing together to sing "Earth bound" four times in slow, melodic voices. When the first verse begins, the three men still sing together, but when Sam's voice being the loudest. Their voices are hollow and almost emotionless as they sing over the quick guitar beats, talking about the type of girl they want to date. This style continues into the second verse, where Sam's lyrics describe wanting a woman that's like an air traffic control tower, who will catch and grasp and hold him if he should fail. The men have just been singing over the sound of the guitar up until now, but when they finish the second verse, a steel drum starts playing with the guitar, adding a loud beat behind them, keeping rhythm with the quick guitar. The vocals sing the two verses again together, their voices quickening to keep up with the ever rising beat of the song.

The song doesn't stop growing in intensity as they continue into the song, repeating some of the same lyrics they had sung before, but now in a different order, adding different context to the words. Their voices repeat "Earth bound," four times again, but rather than the slow, melodic sound that they had before, they repeat the words quickly, almost sounding like they're running and they're out of breath. All the music quickly ends, and the listener hears Sam's voice alone in the silence sing, "I want someone who can deal with accidents." Then the music immediately picks back up again, going much faster than it ever had before. While Sam and Robby Coughlin sing the verse together, Andrew McGovern softly - but still very well-heard - sings "Earth bound," harmonizing with them. He continues until Sam and Robby sing the line, "Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold, clench and grasp and hold mechanical fail safes." Then Sam is singing the verse alone. While Andrew continues to harmonize "Earth bound," with Sam's voice, Robby is silent until Sam sings, "I want someone, I want someone who can deal with accidents." Then Robby's voice jumps into the song again, singing "I want someone who can deal with accidents," over the verse and Robby's voice. He adds, "Suspended over dust," when Sam sings, "Bodies built to withstand structural collapse, structural collapse," to add some randomization to the lyric pattern. Robby and Andrew's voices fade out, and Sam sings the last verse alone, the quick beat continuing to grow with more and more intensity as he sings, finally fading out as soon as he finishes the last word.

The song focuses a lot on airplane crashes, and the beauty that they can even happen in the world that we live in today. Sam points out in the first verse that there's infinite safety nets in the world, so there's "poetry" in the fact that plane crashes can even happen. The song focuses on Sam's want to find a woman who can recognize that fate must have a hand in everything that happens in the world if plane crashes can still happen, even with everything that human beings have developed to prevent them. He continues to say that he wants his woman to be his own safety net, who can hold him and help him if he happens to fails in his own life. As the lyrics repeat throughout the song, each verse puts those thoughts into different context - in some of them, he means the idea of a mechanical fail safe literally, talking about the fail safes that go into airplanes. But in some of them, he's talking about a metaphorical fail safe that he wants in his own life if something he is trying to do in his own life should fail. This speaks most true to Sam's career as a musical artist, especially since this is his debut album, he's asking for his girlfriend to be the person that should hold him up and help him if this endeavor should fail, and he's hoping that she'll see the beautiful and poetry in the fact that he even tried - even if it does fail in the end.

---

Earth bound, earth bound
Earth bound, earth bound

I want someone who can deal with accidents
I want someone who can appreciate the beauty of plane crashes
Someone who gets the poetry of critical failure
Within a system of infinite safety nets

I want someone who can deal with accidents
Air traffic control towers, jutting upward from the soil, oh
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold
Mechanical fail safes

I want someone who can deal with accidents
I want someone who can appreciate the beauty of plane crashes
Someone who gets the poetry of critical failure
Within a system of infinite safety nets
I want someone who can deal with accidents
Air traffic control towers, jutting upward from the soil, oh
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold
Mechanical fail safes

Earth bound, earth bound
Earth bound, earth bound

I want someone who can deal with accidents
Bodies built to withstand structural collapse, structural collapse
Mechanical fail safes
Pilots, radars, warning lights like red shadows
I want someone who can deal with accidents

Earth bound, earth bound
Earth bound, earth bound

I want someone who can deal with accidents

I want someone who can deal with accidents (Earth bound)
Someone who gets the poetry of critical failure (Earth bound)
I want someone who can deal with accidents (Earth bound)
Air traffic control towers, jutting upward from the soil, oh (Earth bound)
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold, clench and grasp and hold mechanical fail safes

I want someone who can deal with accidents
I want (Earth bound)
I want someone who can deal with accidents
Suspended over dust (Earth bound)
Someone who gets the poetry of critical failure
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold (Earth bound)
I want someone, I want someone who can deal with accidents
Suspended over dust (Earth bound) (I want someone who can deal with accidents)
Air traffic control towers, jutting upward from the soil, oh (I want someone who can deal with accidents)
Bodies built to withstand structural collapse, structural collapse (Earth bound) (Suspended over dust)
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold (I want someone who can deal with accidents)
Mechanical fail safes (Earth bound)

Air traffic control towers, jutting upward from the soil, oh
Bodies built to withstand structural collapse, structural collapse
Mechanical fail safes
I want someone, I want someone who can deal with accidents
Like giant arms to clench and grasp and hold

TITLE: Methods With Which Our Ennui Consume Us
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 4:47
GENRE: Indie folk, folk rock
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher, Christopher Schaffer

---

The fourth track on Sam Thatcher's debut album is titled, "Methods With Which Our Ennui Consume Us." Like the song before it, it's a very indie folk song, taking a lot of elements from bands like The Swell Season and Iron & Wine, and adding in Sam Thatcher's own emotional sound to it. Like the song before it, the instrument that is primarily the focus of the song is Sam's acoustic guitar. He sings directly to the woman the song is about, many times sounding like he's speaking directly to her, like she's sitting in the studio with him. His voice is very emotional - sometimes verging on angry - throughout the song, which is becoming to be a trademark of Sam Thatcher's sound.

The song starts off with another slow, sad acoustic intro - much like the track before did - but this one takes on a much more folk rock feeling to it as the drums accompany it's sound, keeping a very slow, mellow beat. When Sam sings, his voice shakes a bit, almost as if he's crying (but he's not, because Sam Thatcher is too manly to cry). He calls out to the woman he's singing about, telling her that he's using chalk to draw an outline on the bed of her body, like somebody would do in an old fashion crime scene to show where the body was. He tells her that he's not sure, though, if the outline is where she once was, or where he wishes she were again. Keeping with the old crime scene metaphor, he talks about sectioning off parts of their house with crime scene tape, so that nobody will ever be able to go into those rooms and change them from the way that they were before she left. He says that years from now, neighborhood children will find tatters of the crime scene tape in the streets, and using it to make mock sashes, like he remembered doing when he was a child.

When the chorus starts, another guitar joins the sound - this one a bit louder - that plays a more rock inspired riff with Sam's acoustic folk sound. When Sam sings, "Who did this used to be?" backing vocalist Andrew McGovern is heard singing with him, harmonizing together the question. Sam tells the woman he's singing to that he's scanning their bedroom with UV lighting, finding evidence that they used to be there, but wishing that they had left behind a lot more. These lyrics could have a slightly sexual meaning, since UV lights can show blood splatters - which would make sense with the recurring crime scene theme of the song - they can also show signs of semen, which would also make sense because this song is about an ex-lover, and the area that he's scanning was their bedroom. The lyric has a double meaning, showing a small bit of comedic poetry in the serious song. In the next line, he says that he's issuing an amber alert the exact color of her eyes - a more cheesy lyric than the one before, since the woman's eyes were apparently amber colored. As the chorus ends, all of the instruments fade out except for one note on Sam's acoustic guitar, which lingers alone as Sam sings the final line of the chorus, "Oh, you lost, lonely, remarkable being."

The second verse is much shorter than the first, but the song momentarily goes back to the acoustic guitar only sound for a moment as Sam delivers his final message to the woman the song is about: He tells her that her place in the dark is still there, beside him, and it's waiting for her to come home. Then the other instruments come in again to play the chorus twice before there's a pause, and the song sounds like it's going to come to an end. In the fading instruments, Sam's voice is heard alone repeating the lyric, "You lost, lonely, remarkable being." Then all the instruments come back in full force with Sam singing passionately and emotionally over them, begging to know the answer to his question as to who the chalk outline used to be. He ends the song, singing that he's drawn the outline of her on the bed because it's the only thing that's left of her in his life now. There's an instrumental outro to the song as all the emotions that Sam had shared in this song are mimicked by the passion that the instruments project. Slowly, they start to fade out, leaving a bit of silence before the track ends.

---

I'm using chalk to drawn an outline on the bed
I just don't know whether it's where you once were
Or where I want you to be again
I'm section off the house in crime scene tape
And years from now, neighborhood children will find
Tatters of it in the streets
And fashion mock sashes from the plastic

Who did this used to be?
I'm scanning the area with UV lighting
And finding the spills and splatters we left behind
Who did this used to be?
Wishing we had left a lot more
Who did this used to be?
I'm issuing an amber alert the exact color of your eyes
Who did this used to be?
Oh, you lost, lonely, remarkable being

Listen
Your place in the dark is still here, beside me
And it's waiting for you to come home

Who did this used to be?
I'm scanning the area with UV lighting
And finding the spills and splatters we left behind
Who did this used to be?
Wishing we had left a lot more
Who did this used to be?
I'm issuing an amber alert the exact color of your eyes
Who did this used to be?
Oh, you lost, lonely, remarkable being

Who did this used to be?
I'm scanning the area with UV lighting
And finding the spills and splatters we left behind
Who did this used to be?
Wishing we had left a lot more
Who did this used to be?
I'm issuing an amber alert the exact color of your eyes
Who did this used to be?
Oh, you lost, lonely, remarkable being

You lost, lonely, remarkable being
Who did this used to be?
Who did this used to be?
I'm using chalk to drawn an outline on the bed
Because it's the only thing that's left of you now

TITLE: The Horrible Things You Might Become When No One Expects You to Be Anything Good
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 4:29
GENRE: Jazz fusion folk rock
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher

---

The beat and overall tone of the the sixth track on Sam Thatcher's debut album picks up considerably in comparison to the last three tracks that have come before it. This song is a love song -as many of his other songs have been - but like the other love songs, it's not necessarily a happy one. In the song, Sam deals with the fact that he's in love with a woman that he didn't necessarily intend on falling in love with. In the song, Sam finds that he doesn't have anything to really be angry with her about, so instead, he becomes angry at her teeth, blaming them for the reason why he finds himself in this predicament. The song takes on a much more jazz fusion feeling to it than the other tracks have before, but while still keeping the acoustic folk rock feeling. It's very Dave Matthews-esque.

The song starts off with a short, strong acoustic intro with a guitar playing a single note over and over again, each strum making a little "pang" sound, like bells ringing. When Sam sings, his voice is much stronger than it had been in the track before, matching the intensity of the guitar exactly. He's very flowy and spontaneous with the way he sings in the song, as if he had a general idea of how he wanted it to sound, but nothing more than that. For that reason is why it takes on such a loose, jazz feeling. Another guitar, this one with a more structured, folk rock accompaniment joins the instruments, as well as a drum to keep a smooth, steady beat as Sam sings. He sings directly to the girl that the song is about, listing off a series of animals and creatures that are known for their teeth: Sharks, wolves, vampires, and dinosaurs. He goes on to add the woman the song is about to the list, saying that the snarl on her face and the way that her lip curls over the chip in her incisor (one that he had touched with his tongue when he was still bad at making out, showing the audience that the girl in the song is from Sam's distant past, when he was just starting to date and make out with women) add her to the list of things that should be known for their teeth. He changes his tone slightly, asking if she sees how cool it is that whatever power that made her thought up something like teeth.

The chorus is the thing that that Sam says to this woman. As the chorus starts up, the instruments grow in emotion, waiting for Sam to do the same, but he doesn't. His voice remains the strong, loose way that it had before, but it does not grow in emotion for the sake of the chorus. You wouldn't be able to tell that this section was the chorus if not for the fact that it is repeated several times throughout the song, because it is sung the same way as any verse is. Sam acts as the creator of this woman, speaking as if he is designing the inside of her mouth. He sings that the creator decided that she should have tiny pieces of her skeleton prick up through her gum lining in sharp patterns so that she can "tear shit up" with them. It's a comical, but accurate way to look at teeth, but Sam doesn't give you much time to laugh as he launches into the second verse, telling the woman, "Fuck the way you tear shit up," and "Fuck your stupid idea of love." He tells her to look at what her stupid mouth and teeth have done to him, and his own. It's a very powerful sentiment, yelling at someone for their own teeth and their idea of them being in love with each other, but Sam sings it in a very controlled manner, his voice remaining calm throughout this almost petulant explosion towards this girl whose only crime was having teeth and being in love.

The chorus repeats again, with Sam again singing as the creator of this woman, describing the way they would make teeth, and the purpose behind it. There's a small instrumental break between the second repeat of the chorus, with Sam softly vocalizing with the instruments as cello joins the group, playing the same notes that Sam had been singing before, mimicking his emotions. As the intensity of the instrumental break grows, along with Sam's soft vocalizations getting louder and louder, the song launches into the second repeat of the chorus, Sam's voice finally showing the emotion that is needed to get across how emotional of a journey him accidentally falling in love with this woman has been. He sings the last verse of the song in the same emotional way he had sang the chorus, telling the woman that she should let the tiny pieces of her skeleton prick up through her gum lining, because he loves her sharp little patterns, and he loves how she tears his bullshit up. In the end, Sam seems to come to terms with the fact that he's in love with this woman, and accepts her whole-heartedly.

---

Sharks
Wolves
Vampires
Dinosaurs
That snarl in your face
The way your lips curl over
That chip in your incisor
I'd clumsily felt up with my tongue
When I was still bad at making out
How cool is that
Whenever whatever made you
Made you
Though up something like,

"Let's have tiny pieces of her skeleton
Prick up through her gum lining
In sharp little patterns
So she can tear shit up with them."

Fuck the way you tear shit up
Fuck your stupid idea of love
Just look at what you and your stupid teeth
Have done to me and mine

"Let's have tiny pieces of her skeleton
Prick up through her gum lining
In sharp little patterns
So she can tear shit up with them."

Yeah...
Ah...
Oh...
Yeah...

"Let's have tiny pieces of her skeleton
Prick up through her gum lining
In sharp little patterns
So she can tear shit up with them."

Let your tiny pieces of your skeletons
Prick up through your pink gum lining
I love your sharp little patterns
I love how you tear my bullshit up

TITLE: Recording the Terror Through Your Walls
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 3:39
GENRE: Folk rock, surf folk
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher, Chistopher Schaffer

---

The last couple of songs have been a nice break from just the simple acoustic sound that Sam Thatcher is slowly making his trademark in the music world through this debut album, but this song takes the album back to its acoustic roots, showing again what Sam Thatcher can do with just his voice and his acoustic guitar. The song is soft and melodic, like the type of song you could imagine somebody playing around a fire on a camping trip. It's very simple and very easy to listen to, although the lyrics are deep and somewhat depressing. In the song, Sam talks about his depression, and the confusion of every day life as he tried to figure out what he's supposed to be doing with all the knowledge that he has of the world. It's a song that's aimed towards young adults that are just starting off their life without any parental help or set structure, as Sam remembers how he felt when he was just starting off his life as well.

There's a soft acoustic intro as the song starts - the guitar sounds almost happy when the song begins as it's slightly fast-paced and almost cheery-sounding, but as the lyrics start, the listener realizes that the guitar doesn't represent the emotions of the song, but rather is a representation of the rest of the world quickly moving around him as he tries to find his own way in life. It's unknown who he is singing to in the first verse - a friend, a family member, a lover - but he explains to them how their random configuration of hearts and spades will never exist again (using the metaphor of a deck of cards to explain how the moment that they're having right now can never be had and will never be had again by anybody else). Their winters were scored by the sloshing of their boots in the snow, and their summers were tracked by the movement of ice cream trucks like ants, and with each passing season, they've become adults, living on their own, trying to find their own way. In the chorus, Sam sings about being stuck on a subway in New York City as it stalls in a tunnel, and him and the rest of the passengers are stuck in the dark for two minutes. Nobody on the subway says anything, they all just remain stuck together in silence, as Sam wishes that he could be anywhere else but there.

He reveals in the second verse that where he'd really like to be transported is five feet west of the subway, into the bedrock of the tunnel, where he could live like a fossil forever. Inside the walls of the tunnel, he would never have to listen to his father speak again, and he would never have to listen to bad music. He realizes how depressing of a thought that is to give to his listeners, and he follows that line up by explaining that he just wants to be happy, like everybody else, and he wants to get better and not have this depression hanging over him, and as much as he might pretend like he thinks it would be better to just become a fossil inside of the walls of a tunnel, he still wants to be able to see shooting stars streak across the sky at night, and that's something he would miss if he were stuck underground for the rest of his life. He repeats the chorus again, giving the idea of transporting somewhere else a bit of a different meaning when he begins the third chorus, explaining that he feels like everything in his life is going past him in a blur. Sam tells the listener that he wishes somebody would sit him down and explain to him everything that he's supposed to do with the things that he knows, and what they're all supposed to mean about life. He needs somebody to do that for him soon, because he's not sure where he's headed in his life anymore, but he supposes that he's going there very fast. He repeats the chorus again, this time the chorus taking on a new meaning of him wanting to be transported to somewhere where he will be able to understand everything that's going on, rather than be trapped underground for two minutes with people who don't even want to talk.

There's no real redemption at the end of the song, but there's a lot of hope that eventually Sam will figure his life out and be able to be confident in what he knows and how he can use it to better himself and his life.

---

The random configuration of these hearts and spades
Will never exist again
Our winter is scored by the
"Slosh slosh" sound of snow boots
And the summer tracks the movement
Of ice cream trucks like ants

The subway stalls and we all stand in the dark for two minutes
Nobody talks, we all just breathe
And I wish with every fiber of my being
That all my atoms could be instantly transported somewhere else

I want to be five feet west, into the bedrock of the tunnel
And I could live like a fossil forever
Never having to listen to my father, or bad music
I want to be better
And I want to be happy
And I want the stars to streak across the sky

The subway stalls and we all stand in the dark for two minutes
Nobody talks, we all just breathe
And I wish with every fiber of my being
That all my atoms could be instantly transported somewhere else

Everything is going to blur
I want someone to sit me down and tell me
What to do with all these facts
And what they're supposed to mean about life
Because I don't know where I'm headed
But I guess I'm going there very fast

The subway stalls and we all stand in the dark for two minutes
Nobody talks, we all just breathe
And I wish with every fiber of my being
That all my atoms could be instantly transported somewhere else

TITLE: Another Friday Night Alone, Summed Up By a 3:59 Minute Song
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 3:59
GENRE: Folk, folk rock, folk blues, soul
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher

---

The eighth track of Sam Thatcher's debut album is titled "Another Friday Night Alone, Summed Up By a 3:59 Minute Song," so you know it's going to be a doozy. This song goes back to the more blues folk feeling that the first track, "A Special Report on the Frontlines of Generational Angst" had. This seems to be his roots sound, although he ventures into other sub-genres of the folk sound through the album. The song is sung directly to the woman it is about as Sam explains to her the she needs to be patient with him because he's still trying to deal with the issues in his past - but that he loves her and is hoping that she's willing to stay despite this. It's a very emotional song, ending in a very emotional crescendo.

The song starts off with a very folk blues intro with a soft acoustic guitar strumming a slow beat with an equally soft drum keeping time with it. When Sam's voice starts to sing, it's much like the first track of the album in terms of it being very low and husky, yet very clear and emotional, and like he's not trying too hard to sing either. He calls out for her to "say it," although the listeners don't know what the woman is supposed to be saying yet. He repeats the phrase four times, his voice getting lower and lower during each repeat (a classic folk blues move) before explaining that he wants her to say the phrase, "I love you," like she's announcing a prize winner. It's in this song that we see a lot of insecurities in Sam, and this first verse sums it up very well, as he then goes on to ask that his girlfriend doesn't get mad when he says that he loves her back like it tastes funny on his tongue. The listeners have gone along with Sam on this journey through his album, and they have learned about a lot of things that has happened in his past - past relationships, childhood memories, ect. - so it's not surprising that Sam would be wary to tell a woman that he loves her after all the hurt that he's been through in his past. In the chorus, he asks for his girlfriend to understand that he has "claws" (hurt) in his past. He holds out "I've got claws" for a few moments each time he sings it, his voice becoming more and more emotional each time - and also showing off his true range for the first time in the album. The chorus gets much soft as Sam sings over and over, "But I'm trying to make something new." His voice is very desperate in these parts, as if he really wants his girlfriend to understand exactly what he's going through, even though it's a very difficult concept to explain to somebody who hasn't been through it.

He starts off the second verse the same way that the first one sounded, with him repeating "say it" over and over again. This time, he's asking for his girlfriend to say that she'll fit the shreds of his past together for him, so he can still have a past, but is also able to edit out the parts that he doesn't want anymore. He adds that she knows the flavor of what he hunts at night - meaning that she knows him better than anybody else, and only she would be able to fit together these pieces of his life. He continues on in the same style of the first verse, adding in the repeated "Don't's," which he finishes by telling her not to doubt that the flavor of "what he hunts at night" is nothing compared to her own flesh - meaning that while his past haunts him and terrorizes him, it's not match against the love that he has for this woman, and the feelings that being near her gives him. He repeats the chorus again, going into the ending of the song now.

After the chorus, when the song has slowed down after the desperate-sounding lyrics from Sam, instead of going into another verse like the song did before, it continues on with this slowed down acoustic sound, with Sam vocalizing along with it. Softly, Sam begins singing that he'll hold his mouth shut while his girlfriend feeds him to her ex-boyfriend. This is a very strange lyric, but what Sam is trying to say is that if his girlfriend ever begins to compare him to her ex, he'll keep his mouth shut because he's sure that what she's saying is true. He doesn't want to argue with her because he loves her so much, so she can say whatever she wants about him at this point, and he would just accept it. His voice grows in intensity each time he repeats that phrase until it's to the loud, slightly higher range that he reached in the chorus, and he begins repeating that she can hurt him without knowing why, if that's what she feels she has to do. Sam accepts that he's probably hurt her tons of times, without either knowing why or knowing that he had done it at all. This intense moment in the song continues, with him repeating himself four times, before he calms down again, repeating "I'll hold my mouth shut," as the song fades out, leaving an emotional ending.

---

Say it
Say it, say it, say it, say it
Say the phrase "I love you" like you're announcing a prize winner
And don't
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't get mad when I say it like it tastes funny on my tongue

Understand that
I've got claws in my past
Understand that
I've got claws in my past
Understand that
I've got claws in my past
But I'm trying to make something new
I'm trying to make something new now
I'm trying to make something new
I'm trying to make something new now

Say
Oh, say it, say it, say it, say it
Say you're fit these shreds together for me
You know that flavor of what I hunt at night
Oh, but don't
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't doubt that that flavor is nothing compared to the flesh of you

Understand that
I've got claws in my past
Understand that
I've got claws in my past
Understand that
I've got claws in my past
But I'm trying to make something new
I'm trying to make something new now
I'm trying to make something new
I'm trying to make something new now

Oh, ah
Oh
I'll hold my mouth shut
While you feed me to your ex-boyfriend
I'll hold my mouth shut
While you feed me to your ex-boyfriend
You can hurt me without knowing why
Yes, you can hurt me without knowing why
You can hurt me without knowing why
You can hurt me without knowing why
I'll hold my mouth shut
I'll hold my mouth shut
I'll hold my mouth shut

TITLE: The Numb Ache You Get When You Bang a Joint on Something Hard, and Other Things Your Entire Body Feels Like When You Think About Her
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 3:01
GENRE: Folk
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher

---

The third to last track, "The Numb Ache You Get When You Bang a Joint on Something Hard, and Other Things Your Entire Body Feels Like When You Think of Her," sounds a bit different than the other songs on the album. While it still keeps in the folk genre sound (as this track may be one of the few songs that could truly be considered pure folk on the album), the production quality of it is a lot more poor than the other songs had been. It's very obvious that this track is a song that was recorded earlier on the process, as it doesn't sound as fixed up and nice as the other ones do. Sam's voice is slightly echo-y when he sings, and the chords he plays on his guitar (the only instrument featured in the song) don't have clean transitions and notes. In a way, it's slightly shocking to hear the difference between the production quality of this track in comparison to the ones before it, but in listening to the song, it almost makes sense that it would sound a bit rougher than the other ones. The topic of the song is an ex-girlfriend of Sam's, and Sam sings directly to her the entire song. He uses a lot of sarcasm towards her, painting her in a really bad picture as he compares her to a horny hornet. Ultimately, the song is about how, no matter how many times she tries to hurt him, he still has people in his life who are going to help him out. It's a positive song, if there's such a thing as a positive indie folk song.

The song starts off with a short acoustic intro featuring just Sam's guitar (which, as stated before, is the only instrument in the song, giving the song a very personal feel). His voice is low, brimming with a lot of bitterness and sarcasm in the first verse as he tells his girlfriend that she left her scarf at his house last week, and how he sometimes wears it while he's walking around the house or trying to write music, and considers what a "fantastical, wonderful, splendiferous experience" it must be to be her. He says that part obviously sarcastically, and the audience is given the picture of a girl who thinks very highly of herself, and that's what's driven Sam away from her. In the second verse, he goes on to what seems like a completely different subject, as he begins talking about honey bees and hornets. He shares that when a horny hornet scout approaches a Japanese hive, the honey bees from inside the hive will latch onto the hornet's body in a ball shape, and raise the core temperature inside that ball so much that they melt the hornet scout inside. It seems like a random thing to mention in the middle of the song, but in the pre-chorus, Sam bitterly comments on his ex-girlfriends Yakuza tattoos, and all the selfies she had sent him from her travels, when he didn't know what she was up to or what/who she was doing, leading into the chorus, the pressure of the negative emotions Sam's voice is sharing building more and more until it's released...

In the chorus, Sam's voice becomes happy all of the sudden, the volume of his voice also raising slightly more as he sings that his ex-girlfriend might have a stinger (this is repeated a few times, with him adding a couple vocalizations at the end of every other repeat), but he has a home (like the Japanese honey bees do), and he has friends that are known for their heat. He is saying that while she might think she has a weapon to take him down, he has his home (much like the Japanese honey bees have their hive) and he has friends who will protect him for any reason (he mentions that these friends are "known for their heat," just like the way that the Japanese honey bees melt invading hornets using their own body heat). He happily - almost petulantly - mentions that that's just something to think about before launching into the chorus again, which he repeats twice before the song comes to a close. It's a great break-up song for the person who has realized that the person they were dating wasn't really as great as they once believed them to be, and that they're glad they're gone.

---

You left your scarf at my place last week
Sometimes I wear it around the house
Or while I'm writing music
And consider what the
Fantastical, wonderful, splendiferous
Experience of being you is

When a horny scout approaches a Japanese hive
The honey bee
And a hundred or so if its friends
Will latch onto the hornet's body and form a ball
In such a way as to raise the core temperature
Effectively melting the scout

You and your Yakuza tattoos in my car
You and your selfies from a thousand miles away

You might have a stinger
(You might have a stinger, ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh)
But I have a home
And I have friends known for their heat

Something to think about, I guess

You might have a stinger
(You might have a stinger, ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh)
But I have a home
And I have friends known for their heat

You might have a stinger
(You might have a stinger, ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh, baby)
You might have a stinger
(I know you might have a stinger, ooh ooh, ooh)
But I have a home
And I have friends known for their heat

TITLE: I Wish I Was Dead, But I Don't Wish I Was Dead, But Sometimes I Really Wish I Was Dead
ARTIST: Sam Thatcher
WRITERS: Sam Thatcher
LENGTH: 4:51
GENRE: Folk
PRODUCER: Sam Thatcher

---

It's the final song of the album, and what better time to talk about death than at the final moments of a folk album? "I Wish I Was Dead...", while still about death at the very core of it's theme, is more about just life in general, and how - even though there's death, there's also life and things being born because of death, and how death isn't as final as some people make it seem - and also, in some way, how everybody in equal in death because death doesn't descriminate. Clocking in at almost five minutes, it's the longest song on the album, using a lot of acoustic filler throughout the song, giving it a very fullfilling folk acoustic sound as the final track.

The song starts off - as many of Sam's songs have - with an acoustic intro. While most of the intros give off some very heavy human emotions, this one seems almost threatening and menacing in its sound, likes it's about to reveal some very bad news to the listener. After a few moments of the guitar playing some heavy chords, the percussion comes in, giving it a slow beat that almost mimics slow marching. It doesn't help with menacing tone of the song. When Sam's voice comes in, it's almost whispy sounding - not like the deep, manly voice we've heard from him before, but a very soft voice - almost scared sounding - as he explains the very complicated idea that because everything is made of carbon, everything is a version of something else, in a way. This isn't the first time one of Sam's songs has brought in scientific or philosphical observations into a song, and ties it into the true, emotional meaning of what he's trying to say, but this might be one of the more meaningful ones out of all the tracks. His voice becomes slightly stronger in the chorus, but the instrumental parts of the song remain the same - keeping with the strong notes to compliment his not-very-strong vocals. In the chorus, we realize that he's talking directly to somebody, tell them that the two of them have already existed for 4.54 billion years, and they'll continue to exist - in some way or another - long after they themselves have died. He repeats this twice, his voice trying to sound more and more convincing each time he says it, as if he's having a conversation with somebody who has just admited that they have a fear of death, and he's trying to convince them that death isn't really as scary a thought as they think it is - in fact, that might have even been the inspiration for the song.

In the second verse, Sam idelly comments on all the dinosaurs that had to die to give them the carbon to put them where they are now. It's almost a comical thought to mention that they're made of dinosaurs in a way, and it's another silly comment that makes it seem like he's trying to convince somebody that dying isn't as final as they think it is. He repeats the chorus again, and then the first verse, once again explaining how they're actually all just technically versions of something else. This becomes a very heavy moment in the song as Sam's two backup singers - Robert Coughlan and Andrew McGovern - harmonize with him on the repeat of the first verse, as if symbolizing the fact that everybody is made up of versions of something else, and everybody will be used to create something else after they die. When the three of them sing together, the drums fade out, letting just the guitar to accompany their voices, letting the voices being the focus of the song for the moment as they relay the message they're trying to get through. The two other voices fall back as Sam sings the chorus alone, but then come back in the outro of the song, as all three voices repeat, "The both of us," until the instruments fade out and the song comes to an end. The emotion of the song is very difficult to identify, since there's a still a bit of fear towards death, but there's also that confidence and courage in the form of scientific knowledge that - in some ways - is helping with the fear. As the album ends, there's a lot more questions asked than answered for the listener.

---

Consider the fact that we're all made of carbon
Everything this is
Was once a previous version of something else
In a way

We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead
We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead

Just think of all the dinosaurs
That had to die
To get us here
Where we are now

We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead
We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead

Consider the fact that we're all made of carbon
Everything this is
Was once a previous version of something else
In a way

We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead
We've already existed for 4.54 billion years
And will continue to long after we are dead

The both of us
The both of us
The both of us
The both of us
The both of us
The both of us
The both of us
The both of us