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Misfit (ep)

by Jason Myles Goss

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1.
Younger Man 03:42
I was a bad road that you were on I was a bad love that done you wrong I held on too tight, you held on too long Oh, I was a bad love I was all mind and no heart I tore the edges until the edges tore apart I tried to keep an even keel, at least ‘til dark And then I was all mind Sometimes the ticking is the bomb And you shake, wide awake, in the calm Cold light of your kitchen Sinking in It’s a bitter pill, this medicine I’ve never been harder up than this place that I’m in I was a desperate man I was your engine light blinking red I was the empty side of your bed Another hungry mouth demanding to be fed I was so lonely Things were different when I was a younger man Things were different when I was a younger man Things were different when I was a younger man When I was all heart, when I could do no wrong And I was afraid of nothing I was afraid of nothing I was afraid of nothing
2.
When I was young When I was full I thought that I Was invincible But now I’m older And now I’m empty And there’s a new love That was born to kill me someday And it is reckless And undeterred I can hear it coming, in the stillness Without a word But there’s a power In disappearing There’s a power in burning out Like a beautiful star Oh I don’t know who I am anymore Oh I don’t know who I am Tell the truth Or tell a lie Oh tell me which wool should we pull Over our eyes There is always time for some magic There is always a place to hide your hideous crimes Oh I don’t know who I am anymore Oh I don’t know who I am Won’t you strike up the band, baby And let your heart on fire If it’s slipping through your hands, maybe It’s not what you desire Oh I don’t know who I am anymore Oh I don’t know who I am Oh I don’t know who I am anymore Oh I don’t know who I am
3.
Misfit 04:16
​​I made a mess of my dress Just one too many I guess And I don’t want to talk about it at all (I just), I didn’t know who else to call All these boys are so full of shit Please never let me forget And for the first time I felt like I belonged And, now that feeling is gone I will carry you home I will carry you home From one misfit to another misfit I will carry you home I can’t catch a Queens bound train I’m walking home in the rain This city takes the tragic and (tries to) sells it as magic As if they’re one in the same My head is spinning like a tilter-whirl I’m searching for mercy in this world And Christina’s at a party with the singer from that band She says I’m his type of girl I will carry you home I will carry you home From one misfit to another misfit I will carry you home I’m staring at this mirror now And all this makeup looks like war paint somehow They say I’ve got a reckless teenage razor heart I’ve been nothing but trouble from the start I’m trying to find my way through the dark I lost my earrings in the park And Christina’s such a phony, all her friends make me sick with their cigarettes and their art Past the shadows of the scrap metal yards Through viaducts and boulevards Well it feels like getting older is an act of disappearing and I’m slipping into the dark I will carry you home I will carry you home From one misfit to another misfit I will carry you home
4.
Belleville 04:27
off a highway out of town you were waving around a surprise underneath the register you just found was it mercy, was it fear the way you handled the cashier who do you see now when you look inside the mirror oh oh oh, oh, oh oh oh oh, oh, oh the lights inside the store the jingling of the door oh the flash and the rattle of a heart torn apart by war bad dreams in Illinois of being beaten as a boy down in St. Clair County they use a rag to cover up the noise as far as you can tell you were never young you were never well you send a prayer from Belleville if he can’t help who the hell will eggs cold on your plate 100 miles of interstate you know you can’t outrun the mistakes you were born to make now you have become the kind of man you cannot free nor understand you chase your devils at night with Old Crow and Ativan oh oh oh, oh, oh oh oh oh, oh, oh you pulled the car up off the road neon gas station lights glowed You saw a clean-cut kid at the cashier window you swung the door and entered fast cold cocked the boy and went for the cash you lit the whole place up in storm of hell fire and shattered glass and as far as you can tell you’re never growing old, it’s probably just as well you send a prayer from Belleville if he can’t help who the hell will oh, you were out there on your own oh and nothing could ever bring you home your wicked heart it races broken at its weakest places and like a highway at night it’s all white lines and empty spaces but there’s a light out on the horizon and from the darkness of your car you know it’s too late to keep disguising the kind of man you really are and as far as you can tell it was never easy, you had to fight like hell you send a prayer from Belleville if he can’t help who the hell will if he can’t help who the hell will
5.
Hold me, I’m feeling so lonesome And nothing can save me, except the touch of your hand You’re the only one who can console me And I know I don’t deserve it, but I’m hurting so bad I want you to please come home I want you to please come home Say to me, I can wrap myself inside your loving arms again When you look me in the eyes you see your man, and then I will lay all that I am at your feet I want you to please come home I want you to please come home
6.
Somebody 04:36
I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I’ve been looking for somebody who still wants me around It’s hard to be lonely, it’s harder to be proud I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I remember how you used to walk in front of my house Pocketbook shoulder strap cutting through the center of your blouse You were always such a danger, to everyone around I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I’ve been looking for somebody I’ve been looking for someone I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I’ve been wondering if I ever should have let this go Should I keep making strangers out of everyone that I used to know I’ve been listening to Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness up loud I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down Work is tough, the kids are crazy, what more can I do Maybe I should meet my maker if it takes this much to make it on through I’m out here in the blue, riding on a shoeshine and a smile I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I’ve been looking for somebody I’ve been looking for someone I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down I’ve been looking for somebody who won’t bring me down

about

Misfit, the latest EP by Jason Myles Goss, will be released this December (2023). The NYC-based songwriter has spent the better part of 15 years touring and releasing music independently. His last album, This Town Is Only Going To Break Your Heart, was released in 2015, three months before his first son was born. Fittingly, This Town is a record about the towns that shape who we are, and about kids growing up to have kids of their own. In 2018, Goss and his wife welcomed a daughter, and, aside from some occasional murmurings, the music and the shows all but stopped. And then, Covid.

"I really grew up these past three years. I had to make my kids feel safe and loved, and I realized I didn't know anything about the world, and I knew very little about myself. I went back to the drawing board with everything. My priorities changed, and I changed a lot."

The songs slowly started to find their way back. And, thankfully, a lot of the old bullshit did not. Maybe this was the result of being a little older and wiser, or maybe it was simply having far less time to fret and overthink things at every turn.

"My ambition was there—I wanted the songs to be good, but the worrying about things that didn't matter, the self-doubt, the second-guessing, those things were not there. Working on Misfit was a letting go of all of that. The way I was doing things before—I could now see all of my mistakes. Putting things away gave me a chance to find my love for writing songs again. It was an opportunity to start over, and to kill all my darlings."

It has been eight years since Goss has released new music, and while Misfit is not a full LP, it's a confident and decisive re-entry, drawing upon an eclectic assortment of sounds and influences. One pervasive lyrical theme is that of getting older and the grand illusion of adulthood. Goss alludes to "growing older" as the ultimate sleight-of-hand trick, an illusion that we both perform and fool ourselves with, continually and simultaneously.

"Magic," more broadly, is a recurring subject, which Goss repeatedly frames as the cardinal art of becoming and disappearing as we all try to navigate the vicissitudes of aging. While the world is a miraculous and magical place viewed through the eyes of a child, growing up comes with the realization that this magic is often painstakingly achieved through a mastery of the quotidian and unremarkable—a misdirection here, a charming diversion there, the hiding of something in plain sight, and, finally, the big reveal. It is the tragic transition from "not knowing" to the "knowing too much" with very little time in between.

In the title track, Goss sings, "well, this city takes the tragic and tries to sell it as magic, as if they're one in the same," and later, ". . . they say that getting older is an act of disappearing, and I'm slipping into the dark."  Magic is also mulled about in Who I Am Anymore, where Goss sings, " . . .there is always time for some magic, there is always a place to hide your hideous crimes."

While, there's a lot of swinging-for-the-fences in these songs, there's a playfulness and confidence throughout. It feels like there's more trusting of the gut and of the process, and maybe a better understanding that you can't please everyone, and nor should you try.

The lead off track,Younger Man, erupts with howling, reverb-rattling electric guitar, congas, and a rhythm section reminiscent of 1970's Bill Withers, with a Hammond organ emboldening the confessional element of the lyrics. There is some darkness here, with Goss confessing to be a "bad love . . . who is all mind and no heart," and where "sometimes the ticking is the bomb," likely a nod to famed Boston writer, Nick Flynn, and his second memoir.

Belleville sounds like a sequel to Joplin, the opening track from This Town (2015), a cerebral, American gothic tale with a touch of electronic influence à la Cliff Martinez-produced Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2011).  Beginning in what appears to be an ill-fated, violent robbery of an Interstate rest stop, Goss presents harrowing flashes of detail of the past and the present, "bad dreams in Illinois / of being beaten as a boy/ down in St. Clair County they use a rag to cover up the noise."

The EP ends with Somebody, an unabashed Jeff Lynne-inspired rocker that sounds like something your dad would bump in his headphones when mowing the lawn. With the waggish breeziness of the Traveling Wilburys, coupled with production reminiscent of George Harrison's Cloud Nine, Goss sings about listening to The Smashing Pumpkins' "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness up loud," reliving memories of being a shy teenage kid, clumsily strumming songs to himself in his bedroom.

25 years later, father of two, he is still strumming songs to himself in his bedroom. Maybe not much has changed, or maybe everything has. Or, as he would say, maybe it's all one great big parlor trick.

"From one misfit, to another misfit. Thank you"  ~ Jason xxoo

— Press release by Mary Anne Bell

credits

released December 1, 2023

One-Armed Chappy Records

Produced by Jason Myles Goss & Joel Arnow

Engineered & Mixed by Joel Arnow at JA Sound

Additional Engineering by Justin Kessler at Mercy College

Mastered by Dan Millice Mastering

Recording Credits:

Austin Nevins: Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Lap Steel, Glockenspiel, Pump Organ, Chimes on "Who I Am Anymore" and "Belleville" 

JP Ruggieri: Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Baritone Guitar, Pedal Steel on "Younger Man," "Somebody," and "Misfit."

Michael Bellar: Synths & Sound Design, Organ, Wurlitzer, Moog, Upright Piano, Magic Balls

Craig Akin: Electric Bass

Joel Arnow: Drums, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar

Dietrich Strause: Backing Vocal, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Horn Arrangement on "Please Come Home"

Bill Finizio: Backing Vocals on "Who I Am Anymore," "Misfit," and "Somebody"

Kevin Winard: Congas on "Younger Man"

Jason Myles Goss: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

** All songs by Jason Myles Goss © ℗, Jeswaldo Sounds

Photos by Patrick Glennon

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Jason Myles Goss New York, New York

Jason Myles Goss is a singer-songwriter and musician hailing from Massachusetts who now calls New York City home. Over the years, Goss has built a small, grassroots following the old fashioned way—by making records on his own dime and by playing any stage that would have him. ... more

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