This one had a bizarre beginning. It was written as winter approached in 2009. Sam and I (Michael) came up with almost identical guitar parts for the verse. It likely spawned from both of us noodling around on something at practice a month or two earlier, but the similarity was astonishing. Sam's verse won out (an additional chord in his made it more interesting), along with a cool little transition thing he came up with during the singing of the phrase "the devil may care." My part evolved into the chorus.
The lyrics came from a cold, gray day, a job I was fed up with, fear of losing said job, the shitty economy, local stores closing, friends underwater financially, my crappy attitude, everyone else’s crappy attitude – really sunshiny stuff! I tried to hide these emotions under the guise of a relationship falling apart, but the second verse pretty much does away with the disguise and speaks more directly to what I was feeling at the time.
However, I also like to laugh, or at least to smile, during dark times, so I named the girl giving advice to the narrator “Janey,” as my little homage to Lou Reed’s infamous Jane in “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll.” I also liked the picture of a 50-something Jane, who has seen it all, doling out life lessons to a younger cohort at a dive bar, in the early hours of a morning that doesn’t hold much promise.
Thursday night downtown
I just smoke my cigarettes and stare
I've been through all the ups and downs
The good times and the bad
The good times don't come around much anymore
Janey said I should have left long ago
It's my own fault that I stayed
"All those years, you know, they don't fade away"
But if the years don't fade your soul sure does
Til there's nothing left inside
And all you can do is throw your hands in the air
Cause the devil may care
And I can see it going on
This world is meant to do you harm
I'm too tired to win this fight
I'm so sick of the sleepless nights
I throw my hands in the air
Cause the devil may care
But I don't care
It's been so long since I've been proud of anything I've done
The money's gone and I can't find my way
Honesty's lost and loyalty's gone
The sharks have had their say
The water's thick with blood from the undead
I lay around and watch TV, I wander through downtown
Past the boarded homes that closed long ago
It's a hopeless time and no help’s in sight
I'm stuck here all alone
And all I can do is throw my hands in the air
Cause the devil may care
And I see it going on
This world is meant to do you harm
I'm too tired to win this fight
I'm so sick of the sleepless nights
I throw my hands in the air
Cause the devil may care
But I don't care
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