A Layer of Topsoil, by Hard Femme

A Layer of Topsoil

by Hard Femme

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Jaime I listened to this album while trimming my mullet. It was perfect. Favorite track: Real Women.

literalbicarrot wish i could turn this album into a blanket so i could wrap myself up in it. Favorite track: So Long to Boys.

CPJMLT LTD Really love the progression and diversity of sound here. So much more developed than their last effort, which I also enjoyed. This gonna be on rotation for awhile. Favorite track: Why Did It Happen.

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1.	Gay Role Model 02:59	lyrics	buy track
If I knew you in high school I would have been cooler than I am today Spent a long time feeling like a total fake Every time we talk I know I’m better than I was before In the park or lying on your floor For all the blues that they put you through You are not to blame But for now, I’m calling out your name ‘Cause you are my gay role model Gay role model And you’re a superstar Yeah, you are my gay role model Gay role model And you’re a superstar What a little looker! You are beautiful in every way Even when you know you’re not OK If you ran for office, I would vote for you without a doubt Queering up the Senate and the House For all the blues that they put you through You are not to blame But for now, I’m calling out your name ‘Cause you are my gay role model Gay role model And you’re a superstar Yeah, you are my gay role model Gay role model And you’re a superstar Role model, gay role model Gay role model, gay role model Role model, gay role model Gay role model, gay role model
2.	Human Life 03:50	lyrics	buy track
Human life has no meaning But the meaning in between What you know and what you’re too scared to concede Every day brings a challenge Much too heavy for us to bear But from the cosmic point of view it’s thin as air Running out the clock on the insulin shock If you know what I mean With a target on your back it’s a panic attack You know, you don’t know Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Still, we find it in each other every day In the car on the freeway You are leaving without a scene When you wake up will it all have been a dream? Looking up out the window Just as far as the eye can see There is life inside the greenery There is death behind the scenery There’s a thousand million stars and more to see Running out the clock on the insulin shock If you know what I mean With a target on your back it’s a panic attack You know, you don’t know Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Still, we find it in each other every day Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life has no meaning Oh, oh Human life
3.	Why Did It Happen 02:56 video	lyrics	buy track
I cannot shake the thought We’d be better off If it never even happened Still I am filled With the same reaction Why did it happen? Why did it happen? It almost didn’t happen, oh I was just a kid when it all went down I didn’t even know my own name I know it’s no excuse, I don’t need one anyway I wonder where you are in this big world Do you think about it all the time? No matter what you said I’d assume that it would be a lie Yeah, it feels kind of weird That we would not be here If it hadn’t ever happened Still I am filled With the same reaction Why did it happen? Why did it happen? It almost didn’t happen, oh I wonder where you are on this big Earth Lying in your car or on the dirt Waiting for the day you can say it doesn’t even hurt Truly I’d testify That I would not survive If it hadn’t ever happened Still I am filled With the same reaction Wondering why did it happen I’d testify That I would not survive If it hadn’t ever happened Still I am filled With the same reaction Why did it happen? Why did it happen? Why did it happen?
4.	Man in a Dress 03:32	lyrics	buy track
In the shower I feel so alive Under the water my body will follow my mind In the 80s our silence was death Now, we can wed, but we’re holding our breath for our lives Is there such thing as a man in a dress Who looks amazing if under duress? When will you let him express What he knows to be true? It’s nothing to do with you In the evening I miss you the most Now that it’s cold I pretend that I’m holding you close Can’t believe just how many have died Only for loving and dressing the way that they liked Is there such thing as a man in a dress Who looks amazing if under duress? When will you let him express What he knows to be true? It’s nothing to do with you Now more than ever, our history’s alive Past and the present in one big gay eye All that we do is to honor your great sacrifice Is there such thing as a man in a dress? Is there such thing as a man in a dress? Is there such thing?
5.	Real Women 04:21	lyrics	buy track
We will find a cause to castigate The little things that threw me to the ground Evil often fills me up with hate Living things will always let you down But out there on the street I will suffer, I will bleed I will sing, and if I have to, I will scream That real, real women got bits and pieces That you won’t find talking to your cousins and nieces Yeah, real real women Some have pieces of you I said that real, real women got lots of problems Without all the shit that you’ve been putting on them Yeah, real real women Got problems that are different from you We all find it hard to concentrate That luxury won’t always be around People trying to communicate The feelings that they hid and never found But out there on the street They will cower at your feet You must tell them what had once been told to me That real, real women got bits and pieces That you won’t find talking to your cousins and nieces Yeah, real real women Some have pieces of you I said that real, real women got lots of problems Without all the shit that you’ve been putting on them Yeah, real real women Got problems that are different from you Real, real women got Yeah, real, real women got Real, real women got problems that are different from you Real, real women got Yeah, real, real women got Real, real women got problems that are different from you
6.	Consciousness 04:05	lyrics	buy track
We are cursed with consciousness The universe wants us to believe In the significance of all that we conceive Wondering why, why we are Haunted by the life we’ve never found And the demons living in our parents’ house Sometimes I feel like someone else Like a body on the couch Like a face without a mouth And when I feel like someone else I get to thinking What is this life we lead and What does it mean? I did not choose to be here And I will not choose to leave When I leave Everything will slip away Dampening the pleasure and the pain Like the pitter-patter of the falling rain One thing I can guarantee Kids will cry and parents disagree Oh, the fundamental selfishness of being Sometimes I feel like someone else Like a body on the couch Like a face without a mouth And when I feel like someone else I get to thinking What is this life we lead and What does it mean? I did not choose to be here And I will not choose to leave When I leave What is this life? What does it mean? What is this life? What does it mean? I did not choose to be here And I will not choose to leave When I leave
7.	Lonely Starbucks Lovers 03:22	lyrics	buy track
When I'm on the Internet Looking for a fight Doesn’t matter if I’m right When I’m on my phone again Coveting a dress I don’t care who I impress We all know my life’s a mess When McDonald’s tweets you back But the way they speak, it always seems to leave you lacking When you write yourself a song At least the lonely Starbucks lovers sing along Drinking too much alcohol Makes me feel depressed I don’t like it, I confess Smoking anything at all Makes me lose myself So keep it on the bathroom shelf If you care at all about my health When Chipotle tweets you back But the way they speak, it always seems to leave you lacking When you write yourself a song At least the lonely Starbucks lovers sing along Don’t believe your disease Don’t believe your disease You are more than what you eat You are more than that When your mom won’t call you back And the way she speaks, it always seems to leave you lacking When you write yourself a song At least the lonely Starbucks lovers sing along
8.	I Said Hey 03:01	lyrics	buy track
I woke up this morning with a song in my heart But when I sat down to write it I’d forgotten the parts So I said hey I said hey Last night you were drunk and you forgot my name So you drank a little more until your Uber came And I said hey I said hey I tried to forget what you told me It didn’t really work that well When you said that I sound like the old me I fell, I fell These days things are going pretty good All the stuff I want to do is the stuff I should So I say hey I say hey I tried to forget what you told me It didn’t really work that well When you said that I sound like the old me I fell, I fell Yeah I fell, I fell Someday the world will fade to black You’ll muster up the energy for one last gasp You’ll say hey You’ll say hey Your funeral I’m sure will be a big affair But eventually the world will forget to care They’ll say hey They’ll say hey They’ll say hey They’ll say hey
9.	So Long to Boys 03:24	lyrics	buy track
Spent the last ten weeks or so Living off wine and oreos Real cheap beer and shitty solo shows Never had a lot to say Went and said it anyway Thirteen dead, we danced the night away We were all just having fun Dodging cops and pointing guns Playing pool and singing “Born to Run” But every action has a price And no one place will feel just right Four straight boys will never change your life But hold on One day we will build a home And say so long to boys Hold on I still dream of cobblestones And an old farm, Illinois We were just a neighborhood Did the best, the best we could Now it’s so long for good So long to boys So long to boys So long to boys
10.	A Layer of Topsoil 04:18	lyrics	buy track
Some days, things fall in place Leaving us room to breathe But these days require a faith In things I no longer believe Should you feel lost and forgotten In search of something new Think of the poem I hold in my hand One thing that I know to be true In spite of our knowledge and all of our shame There’s one simple fact that stays hard to explain We owe all our pleasure and all of our pain To a layer of topsoil and the fact it rains One day we’ll be erased No one will know we lived But today I cherish your face And everything you have to give Should you feel torn and uncertain Like meaning is a lie Think of the evening, the stars in the sky The sun when you open your eyes In spite of our glamor and all of our fame There’s one simple fact that stays hard to explain We owe all our pleasure and all of our pain To a layer of topsoil and the fact it rains Should you feel lost in the fray Then may this song guide your way For all of our wonder and all of our fame For all we’ve preserved and for all that we’ve changed We owe every verse and every refrain To a layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains To a layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains Just one layer of topsoil and the fact it rains

about

We owe all our pleasure and all of our pain to a layer of topsoil and the fact it rains

Recorded in Chicago IL, Spring Grove MN, and Truckee CA

credits

released June 18, 2021

All songs by Jean
Drums by Kalil Smith-Nuevelle
Cover art by Liz Barr (www.instagram.com/lizbarrrr/)

Special thanks to Wendy Zeldin, Will Cabaniss, and Ben Chandler for providing equipment