This song is a sequel to the last track of Songs for Grownups Volume 2, 'Robo-Summoning'. Beau Alessi from Robot Princess plays lead guitar and provides some tasteful backup vocals. Also, check out this incredible marionette music video made by my pal Shing.

Robot girl in human hell sure has a lot to learn
Like why don’t they turn their pain receptors off
And why aren’t they made of stuff that doesn’t burn?
She wanted to learn about the past
And for all its glory why it couldn’t last
So she found her way to the underworld
Human hell, robot girl

She met a demon by a fiery lake
With the wings of a bat and the head of a snake
She said if they knew they pain that they’d be in
I simply would have chosen not to sin
Do they find relief in punishment?
Is there really such a thing as redemption?
Does agony of body make their thinking clear?
He said “I don’t know lady, I just work here”

Robot girl in human hell sure has a lot to say
Now she’s more confused in the underworld
Human hell, robot girl

She moved along and said that won’t do then
She turned around and found herself a real human
What’s it like knowing you’re irrational?
How can you even tell if you have free will?
If you change your mind is it ever on purpose?
If you sold your soul did you think it was worth it?
How come almost everything you are is fluid?
They said “I don’t know lady, I didn’t do it”

Sisyphus said you gotta keep on trying
Cassandra called and said there’s no use crying
Persephone pled don’t always take what’s offered
Tantalus taught me to enjoy the water

If there aren’t any answers to my questions
Why did I come here, what’s my lesson?
Where did I come from, how do I leave?
Heat shields up, somebody please!

From around the corner with a crooked grin
The devil said “Oh what a spot you’re in,
Your curiosity has truly floored me
And I think I could help you along with your journey
There’s only one being that’s truly to blame
And you won’t find Them in a pit of flames”
But that’s the next chapter of the story
When robot girl goes to purgatorio

Robot girl in human hell
Robot girl in human hell
She lost her way in the underworld
Human hell, robot girl.

This song is about how I gotta keep working on new versions of myself and it's basically a colorful DIY project I rope my friends into. Alice Teeple features on theremini and the pinwheel screamer. Also, Andy Webb made a great music video for this song.

This ain’t no pre-built product off the shelf
It’s that D-I-Y project in the basement by yourself
I got fire in my feet when I first wake up
And I feel at peace when I’m tidying up
I checked my horoscope and found some bullshit word salad
Fucked around and found out all emotions are valid
I’ve got wire and electricity
And I’ve got some ideas for the next release

I try to be friendly to the socially anxious
Sometimes it’s rewarding and sometimes it’s thankless
But I’d rather get ghosted a thousand times
Than to never see the light behind your eyes
I like your smile and I like your schtick
But it seems like you’re still caught up in some sad-boy shit
Cuz self-aware songs are cheap as dirt
I heard that one before and we all got hurt
You made me a liar and you fucked up the past
Buddy you don’t wanna see these gmail drafts
And I don’t know when I should use a capacitor
But I have got the capacity to learn

I wake up in the morning and I get real high
And I look at my phone and I try not to cry
I bought a backup drive for my backup drives
Cuz the longer I live the more scared that I’ll die
A career and a family and panic attacks
Snacks and activities and afternoon naps
Pathologically chipper
A gulper not a sipper

This ain’t no pre-built product off the shelf
It’s that D-I-Y project that I made with your help
Well I’ve got the tools and I’ve got the time
And I’ve got some ideas for Jay Ackley Mach 9.

This song answers the question posed in the first lyric of Songs for Grownups Volume 1. It tries to capture what music accomplishes for myself and why I feel compelled to keep doing it. Ris Gumpert features on electric guitar.

Oh when the world spins round the sun
And when the moon spins round the world
And when the tides they rise and fall
And when the morning chorus calls

These are fundamental cycles of existence
You could hardly miss’em if you tried

And when the heart beats in the chest
And when the drummer beats their best
And when the strings are strummed in time
And when the voice comes home to rhyme

These are also the cycles of existence
That glorious cosmic rhythm in the sky

And when the people that you knew
Are gone for good and someday soon
Another heart will break in two
And you’re despondent through and through

This is the painful price we pay for existing
From the day we’re born ‘til the day we die

But when the hurt takes form in words
And when the rhythm finds its verse
And when your soul begins to merge
With all the cycles that you’ve heard

We find our truest and most vulnerable selves
woven into the fabric of reality

And that gives me a real sense of peace
Or at least of fundamental belonging.

This song was inspired by a playthrough of the game 'Remember August' by Shing Yin Khor. It's a game about being pen pals with a time-traveler and the fallibility of memory and human bonds. I found it very emotional to play! Mallory Feuer from The Grasping Straws plays some really lovely violin on this recording.

It’s hard for me to hear from you now
When you’re lost in time and I’m on the couch
When things were good your letters piled up
But now I sprained my ankle
And I’ve got some time with my thoughts

I didn’t know that I needed to write you
I’m trying not to bring up my pain just to spite you
Making sense of our past but I can’t quite connect
Your memory’s in pieces don’t know what I expected

If you hear me say it doesn’t matter who hurt who
You can be pretty sure that means I blame it all on you
Dear August, dear August, dear August, it’s nice to hear from you

You told me they named the month after you
And from what I know now that might even be true
The Bureau of Time Disruption never knew
What they hand on their hands, that which you’d come into

You say you can’t remember what I can’t forget
Childhood bicycle rides ending up in a ditch
No I don’t believe I’ll be hearing from you much
But at least for the moment I’m glad we’re still in touch

Well i’ll take my time, but i’ll see the whole thing through
Cuz I know never have to be punctual with you
Dear August, dear August, dear August, I’m still then for you.

This one's pretty self-explanatory, we'll see what happens! Eric Novak plays lead guitar.

Maybe you and I should have a kid
I hear there’s no right time to have a kid
But we’ve been married like forever
And we’re so good at doing stuff together
So maybe we should try to have a kid

Maybe Jen would help us raise a kid
I think it could be really awesome if they were into it
It’s corny but we won’t have to fake it
Cuz a family can be whatever you make it
There’s so many wonderful ways that we could live

I love our life and don’t want things to change
Think of all the things we’d have to rearrange
We’d neglect our friendships and have less patience
And we’d need to find a new apartment
Still I kinda wanna meet the person we could raise

The world’s a scary place to have a kid
It honestly seems like a curse to bring somebody into it
There’s so many ways to fuck up their life
And you can’t protect them no matter how hard you try
But maybe somedays they’d be kinda glad to be alive

I know it might not work out to have a kid
Or something unfathomably terrible could happen even if we did
But if the whole world does betray us
And we descend into painful chaos
There’s still nobody that I’d rather be with

I’m still genuinely torn on whether I think we should have a kid
And from what I can tell you seem equally indecisive
Maybe we should flip a coin or something
Or let’s just do it why the hell not or something
Either way I know we’ll love the life we live.

This song serves as an interlude in the album and in our epic journey undertaken by our robot heroine. Brookes McKenzie from Lucky Witch & the Righteous Ghost features on vocals and omnichord, while Niveous Rayside and Alice Teeple provide further back-ups on the Koala Sampler and the Moog Theremini respectively.

E canterò di quel secondo regno
Dove il automa spirito si purga
E di salire al ciel diventa degno.

The thrilling conclusion to our epic journey, providing uncertain resolution to our heroine and the universe at large. Elana Low plays harmonium and hurdy-gurdy.

When a robot talked to god it said “Grandfather,
I’ve got a list of questions ten miles long
But the thing that I would know before all other
Is how you got to judging right from wrong?

Cuz from where I stand it’s all about survival
And who makes it through tonight makes our tomorrow
But you make out like there’s something oh so different
Between the god-forsaken guilty and the innocent”

Well god said “Listen here you piece of plastic,
What gives you the right to question such as me?
This is my sandbox and I’m the king here
I oughta undo all your circuitry

But your question’s got me thinking well and truly
That you’re like a cyber-moth drawn to the flame
And a peculiar idea just came to me
Tell me young one, what’s your name?”

She said “They don’t give out names down at the factory
And a number’s always been good enough so far”
God said “That won’t do, your name will be Cindy
like a cinder at the center of a star”

He continued “I think I’ll take my leave now
From now on this universe belongs to you
From now on you’ll have to answer your own questions
I’m bored and I’ve got better things to do”

And in a puff of smoke god left existence
And Cindy sat confused on her new throne
And as she peered through space and time with her omniscience
She found nothing left to her to be unknown

But this sudden revelation made nothing clearer
Because a how is very different than a why
And in time Cindy smiled to herself sadly
And said “Who will dare to question such as I?

The only things I learned that were worth knowing
Were the things that I had already been shown
And though not every single question has an answer
When a robot talks to god it spells disaster.

Liz and I first kissed when we were in high school and we're still having a blast. Matt Broadbent (of American Scarecrows ) plays lead guitar on this one.

I remember back in history class
Passing notes trying hard not to laugh
Ms. Troutman could tell and she’d get kinda mad
No you weren’t used to getting scolded like that

You surprised me
You might’ve surprised yourself
Straight from bible camp with a boyfriend already
By the end of senior year things had gotten pretty heavy

Young love, I could never get enough of
Young love, I never had to walk away from

I remember when we first had to split
College on different continents
It hurt like hell but it just made sense
I was never gonna get to kiss you ever again
Ever again
But we got to choose
We were only 18 but we both knew
I was never gonna spend my life not with you

Young love, was what we could get away with
Young love, I always knew that we were gonna make it

I remember at the altar with you
I never thought that you’d get so many tattoos
You’re so fucking pretty you’re so fucking cool
Every day I can’t believe that I get to be with you

It’s simple cuz it’s true
That as the years go by I’m still in love you
I can’t wait to see what we’ve still got in store
It’s been 17 years, here’s to seventeen-hundred more

Young Love
Now we’re not so young, love
But you keep my heart young, love

In my earlier days of songwriting and recording I felt like I just wanted to spew my guts out about every little thing that crossed my mind and heart. I feel a lot more ambivalent about what's 'worth sharing' as an artist these days and want to be more intentional about what I put out into the world. Nick Ryan (of The Cold Harts) features on trumpet.

I have a complicated emotional relationship
With music I liked when I was younger
You know the kind of song that perfectly encapsulates
That dumb-fuck adolescent hunger
That universally transcendent emotion
Of resenting your ex-girlfriend
Or another lo-fi indie masterpiece
About how it’s really great to do heroin

I wrote a couple of songs that I’m proud of
But I’m not gonna put them on this album
Cuz they’re about real-life stuff, and it’s complicated
And I don’t think it’d be good to share them
Songs I wouldn’t have thought twice about
Hollering out when I was a young one
Maybe if I work up the nerve
I’ll play them next summer for my cousins

I tried writing songs about make-believe situations
Interpersonal betrayals, haunting regrets,
Psychological frustrations
Jen found out I was making stuff up
It seemed like they felt betrayed
I really didn’t like how that felt
I don’t write songs like that these days

I have a complicated emotional relationship
With songs I wrote when I was a kid
I thought plausible deniability would hide
what they were really about, of course that never did
This petulant child performing
Uncomfortably personal emotional undressing
Looking back it’s stupid embarrassing
Like damn that kid was messy

Megan says “life’s messy too!”
That makes it easier to forgive myself
Like maybe somebody was suffering similarly
And hearing those songs it might’ve helped
Either way I don’t think I’m comfortable
Doing that kinda thing anymore
I don’t think there’s ever gonna be
A Songs for Grown-ups Volume Four

This was the only song I wrote during the first 2 years of the pandemic. I would go jogging in Prospect Park and I would pass by the zoo and there were always these two goofy emus hanging out in the mornings and I started singing to them one day and sometimes they would come over and hang out while I did that. That meant a lot to me. Babs Laco (of Current Ex) features on synthesizer, and if you go to The Emerson in Clinton Hill on a Saturday night she'll kick your ass at backgammon.

Beautiful emu
I run to see you
You look animatronic
But you’re faster than sonic
Eyes devil-red
Weird shit on your head
I hope you have a good day

Greeny and Wiggy
Are the names they could give me
But I think you’re hiding
Names much more exciting
What words you would speak
Strange verbs from your beak
I hope you have a good day

I have nothing to offer
No coins for your coffers
Just friendship and song
I hope we get along
I’ll take only one feather
And forever remember
Our times by your pen
I hope we meet again

Beautiful emu
I run to see you
I hope you have a good day