We depend on an ordinary guy
With an ordinary job and an ordinary life
Picking things, pulled by strings
What he'll buy is what we decide
Of course the ordinary's imaginary
No one's average, exactly
But moving the mean is the only way
We can change a democracy
Policy can't pass Paul, you see
Or Jess, or Joe, or Jan
As long as they can still be swayed
When they don't understand
For every dollar they spend, someone has ten
Gotten doing rotten things we should end
Plenty of people invest in this evil
Most can't spare the time to care, cause they're
Trying to live their lives, right?
They're trying to live their lives right
They're like: "Give me something to fight
Give me something to change, I'm too tired tonight"
We depend on an ordinary girl
With an ordinary job in the ordinary world
Picking things, pulled by strings
What she'll buy is what we decide
You can't focus on behaviour
Say: "do this, do that," then you become a saviour
When one part's disproven, improved on
Your act gets ruined, people go back to square one
Our best guesses will change
It's stressful and strange to be left rearranged
Butif you teach the tools and the process in school
Then revising the rules feels like progress, it's cool
Don't get hung up on hypocrites
Or caught comparing carbon footprints
If they can say and not do
You can do and not say and we'll all be ok, anyway
Any stance that you take is important
Any chance to debate moves us forward
The mean is made of nice people
Who'd be very happy to know you
We depend on an ordinary guy
With an ordinary job and an ordinary life
Picking things, pulled by strings
What he'll buy is what we decide
Now, I meant buy as in trust
But I also mean buy as in buying stuff
Ads add up, even competing ones make the ask
"This one or that one?" not "do I need either?"
A trillion dollars a year bends ears
To buy more things to build more things to buy
You can wonder why but it won't stop it
Go shopping, go jogging, same endorphins
So, it was in our organs first
Fighting back is such important work
Status is a zero-sum game
The bottom of every pile feels shame
Even one where everyone's great
People omit and obsess and inflate
So don't hate, compare to relate
Decide what you like and what we should replace
Then don't wait
We depend on an ordinary girl
With an ordinary job in the ordinary world
Picking things, pulled by strings
What she'll buy is what we decide
I learned nothing, I learned nothing
I read so much, I read so much
I learned nothing, I learned nothing
I read so much, I read so much
An indiepop classic from a decade ago, only available on sold-out physical media, is now available again, remastered specially for Bandcamp. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 30, 2016
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2021