We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Poptop

by The Thing Of It Is

supported by
/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    New full-length fun from The Thing Of It Is, recorded in basements, dining rooms, and living rooms across Polk County Iowa.

    Love it? (Do you...looove it?) If so: be sure to look for the specially-priced bonus EP featuring live cuts and alternate mixes of 4 of the tunes from Poptop.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9.99 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 4 The Thing Of It Is releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Poptop, Poptop Bonus Tracks EP, When the Snow Comes Down at Christmas, and Manifest Destiny. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $9.09 USD or more (35% OFF)

     

1.
Out on the old plantation Lives a divided nation Separate from all that remains unseen Planted the sons and the daughters Grown up without enough water Wondering how they could be so green Everyone’s dead on their knees Grasping for thread on a breeze Fated to drown in a dry dry land Scouring the sink and the sinking Desperate driving to drinking Waiting to crest on the wave of a hand Shaking their roots from the earth Crawling at home in the dirt Fed up with all of the hurt they stand But you almost can see in their faces The fearing of wide open spaces Scouring the sink and the sinking Desperate driving to drinking Caught in the turning tide Seeking the other side Trying to get to that fine fine strand Like they planned Like they planned
2.
Crestfallen 03:11
Crestfallen now I'm crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home Crestfallen I'm just crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home I gave you everything but it wasn't enough You gave me everything but it wasn't enough It just wasn't enough for me Crestfallen now I'm crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home Crestfallen I'm just crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home I gave you everything but it wasn't enough You gave me everything but it wasn't enough It just wasn't enough for me So here we are as different people in different spaces So here we are as different people with different faces It just wasn't enough for me Crestfallen now I'm crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home Crestfallen I'm just crestfallen Since I lost my way but I'll find my way back home Crestfallen crestfallen today
3.
I don't remember what year it was Funny things that my memory does When I go circlin’ back I don't remember what time it was When I felt that warm evening buzz And she comes circlin’ back But I, I remember the blue of the sky I try – suddenly she’s a breeze blowin’ by I’m feelin’ so high and then I suddenly find a place in my mind And a world that had once seemed so kind Comes a-circlin’ back But I, I remember the blue of the sky I try – suddenly she’s a breeze blowin’ by I’m feelin’ so high and then I suddenly find a place in my mind And a world that had once seemed so kind Comes a-circlin’ back It comes circlin’ back It comes circlin’ back It comes circlin’ back
4.
I Love It 02:58
There's a bright golden glaze on the heather baby The sun's coming up like a rain-kissed daisy And I love it Do you love it The air in your hair makes it wild and wanton Tradition and wishin' just leave me wantin' And I love you Do you love me too The sheep in the breeze, they all leap and gambol The birds and the bees got all they can handle And I love it Do you love it The sweat's running down on your lemonade glass Did I ever tell you you're such a sweet lass And I love you Do you love me too Well it's no wonder how quick the spring and summer flew I'll take the thunder and rain and snow if I could just have you The buttermilk sky with its clouds delicious Reflects in the lake for the birds and fishes And I love it Do you love it On top of it all you're my sweet confection How could I deserve this complete perfection And I love you Do you love me too Well it's no wonder how quick the spring and summer flew I'll take the thunder and rain and snow if I could just have you There's a bright golden glaze on the heather baby The sun's coming up like a rain-kissed daisy And I love it Do you love it The ants in the grass never bother me now Just part of the everything I can see now And I love you Do you love me too
5.
It's a sad old world and it always was And you sometimes do what you never does You spent your money and you took your chance But it all ran out through a hole in your pants Take a whirl Ridin' 'round the sad old world It's a sad old world like it's always been And it's beat-down broken like the shape you're in And you drown your hopes in a gunny sack In an oil slick river by the railroad track Ain't no pearl When you open up the sad old world It's a sad old world like it always am Makin' T-day dinner from a 2-buck ham Wife left bangin' out your old screen door With your last sad sawbuck gone to pay for the war Baby girl 'Sa cryin' in your sad old world Well it's a sad old world til you sand it down Then you paint it all green where it once was brown You could moan all night as the day is long Or change your tune into a brand new song It's a sad old world if you let it be If you cage your mind 'stead of set it free One step forward 'stead of turn and run Can't cure it all, but you can fix it some Maybe you'll Make y'self a glad old world
6.
I’m taking the streetcar down On the trestle to nowhere That’ll take me to somewhere That they say you can’t go I’m taking a ride Going back into sometime Where they say there was sunshine With a buttery glow And though it might sound funny They built it in 1920 But they never laid down the track leading back to the hill And the bridge amid trees so shady They tore down in 1980 For 60 years they never used it And they never will I’m taking the streetcar down On the trestle to nowhere That’ll take me to somewhere That they say you can’t go Now for the last time I’m heading back in the woodland Cause I hear it’s a good land Where things are real slow Last call all aboard Last call all aboard Last call all aboard on the trestle to nowhere
7.
Obsolete 02:52
There's a lotta people goin' out Get in your face Worried about maybe getting replaced Well they ought to be Maybe they gotta be There's a lotta people wanna have a TV star Loud in the mouth, long in the car Like they wanna be Wishin' they gonna be Pontiacs, buggy whips, and land lines Ipecac, battleships, and land mines All had their time but they moved it too slow So when some things decay, well they just gotta go There's a lotta people goin' out, goin' to waste Headin' for Vegas, losin' their taste Never think about What they can't drink about Skoal One step forward three steps back Do a little sidestep onto the track Look up ahead And don't mind the light All a-turnin' blind as we go into the night Money clips, no-pest strips, and moonshine Typist pools, hard knock schools, and grapevines Well they once had their time, but it's starting to show If some things never change, then they just gotta go Some ignorant emotions been goin' around Out of their shell, up from the ground It's self-evident They set a bad precedent There's a lotta people speakin' out, thinkin' they're smart Buyin' the lines, filling their cart But they'll never be If they don't wanna be Pontiacs, buggy whips, and land lines Ipecac, battleships, and land mines All had their time but they moved it too slow So when some things decay, well they just gotta go
8.
Woke up in the morning 'bout a quarter to nine Lookin' pretty good and I's a-feelin' fine Just as all the honeybees are leavin' the hive That's a-when they started up a new kinda jive Greasin' up their wheels and then they spill it around Horn aplenty nothin' on the tables abound Puttin' down their forks and spoons and takin' up knives Lookin' like they done and got a new kinda jive New kinda jive, new kinda jive, Everybody's givin' me a new kinda jive Some days when I'm feelin' like I'm barely alive That's a when I know I need a new kinda jive Live a life of leisure when you're workin' so late Topical discussion's just a messy debate Married to your baseball cards and tradin' your wives Everybody cookin' up a new kinda jive It's a wackadoodle-doo It's a doodle-doo-or-die It's a cock-a-doodle-doo Inventin' a new kinda jive Sky's a turnin' purple, people runnin' around Gapin' at the rain until they stood there and drowned Walkin' 50 miles a-when they coulda done drive All because they're takin' up a new kinda jive New kinda jive, new kinda jive, Everybody's givin' me a new kinda jive Some days when I'm feelin' like I'm barely alive That's a when I know I need a new kinda jive
9.
Don't worry 'bout me I'll be leaving soon Maybe tomorrow prob'ly half past noon I'll be going going gone I'll be going going gone I'm disappearing in your undertow I'm disappointing and that much I know So I'm going going gone Yes I'm going going gone Well the more you drive me away and the less you're hearing me say Then I'm fading And the more I wander astray and the less I brighten your day I'll be fading with the evening's glow Don't worry 'bout me I won't be coming 'round Hit the road tomorrow and then hit some other town Where I'm going going gone from this Mardi Gras Yes I'm going going gone Going going gone
10.
American pie in a Clear Lake café At the end of an era down some rainy day Oh Buddy Buddy have you gone from the fray In a hurry to go but they’re making you stay Yesterday’s wires running all down the line Of a past that was yours that I wish was all mine Passing on a buck but stopping on a dime A penny for your thoughts but not a nickel for mine Hey Buddy Buddy where you been Hey Buddy Buddy my old friend I met God in the dark I found God in the park I met God at the beach I saw God out of reach I caught God out of breath I pulled God out of death I asked God for a loan I pled God take me home Is she reading her book Is she checking her feet Is she scanning the pavement for coins in the street Is she noting her breasts Is she fluffing her nest Is she feeling her worst As she hopes for the best Hey Buddy Buddy where you been Hey Buddy Buddy from way back when Oh Buddy Buddy as you hang on the wall Well they keep coming here just cause you took a fall A promising shortcut took up out of town With a pilot who didn’t see up was real down Hey Buddy Buddy where you been Hey Buddy Buddy come on back in Hey Buddy Buddy my old friend
11.
(Instrumental)
12.
Moonlight on the prairie As I'm riding out alone I've got all that I can carry And I'm very far from home Yes, I'm very far I'm very far Yes I'm very far from home Moonlight on the prairie As I'm riding out alone I've got all that I can carry And I'm very far from home Yes, I'm very far I'm very far Yes I'm very far from home On the prairie On the prairie Far from home
13.
Well my phone it’s got no number but it charges in the sun And it listens to my every new idea As I sit inside the family room of a corn crib built for one And I wonder what in the hell I’m doing here Well I left that town when the villains outnumbered the heroes ten to one And I set off east for to find a new frontier A like-mind populace just my kind with a taste for thought and puns Yet it looks like I’m the only one ‘round here What do you do   When the wild west grows its fences What can you say   When the coast has all been cleared What will you want   When your desert sand’s Kentucky grass And the cities make the ordinary weird Well I grew my grapes and I put down stakes on a rented plot of ground Thinking that I’d camp out here a little while Then I sold my stocks and broke my brakes out past the hills at Pilot Mound And this outcast bin became my adopted child What do you do   When the wild west grows its fences What can you say   When the coast has all been cleared What will you want   When your desert sand’s Kentucky grass And the cities make the ordinary weird Well my phone it’s got no number but it charges in the sun And it listens to my every new idea As I sit inside the family room of a corn crib built for one And I wonder what in the hell I’m doing here

about

Liner notes:

“Poptop”: what might this mean?

The biggest clue is, perhaps, buried in plain sight on the cover of this album you now hold in your hands: there it is, the old-school disposable version of the aluminum-can poptop, mostly forgotten and mostly disappeared except in the aftermath of summer rains when sometimes they turn up at campsites or public parks. Yet still, the sound of a poptop opening--whether the old kind or the new--triggers a Pavlovian sense of joy and expectation: you are about to enjoy a bubbly and refreshing treat.

So it is with this initial release by the ragtag assembly of
midwesterners known as The Thing Of It is. They don’t tour,
they don’t even play gigs, they don’t exist to sell beer or to
get folks out on the barroom dance floor. The thing of
The Thing Of It Is is...they are here for the songs. (And by
their songs, you shall know them.)

The material spans decades--though most songs come from
the last 10 years, “Manifest Destiny” happened to begin life
in 1987, and some of its 80s demo tracks remain in the
final mix. The span of musical genres is just as wide--
ranging from the singalong charm of “Hey Buddy Buddy” to
the coin-op orchestrion sound of “Obsolete” and on into the realm of campfire music exemplified by “Moonlight On The Prairie”.

But enough reading. It’s time to pop the lid on this pop music
collection, and drink in the fresh taste of “Poptop”,
by The Thing Of It Is.

Derek Andrew Stephen
VP of Publicity, Recadaire

credits

released March 4, 2021

Backing Vocals: The Sheggs; also Stevie Lang, Brian R. Johnson, Leslie Jayne Benzing
Blues harp solo on “Moonlight On The Prairie”: Brian R. Johnson
Whistling solo on “Going Going Gone”: Kevin Lambi
Egyptian tambourine and other percussion: Chechnybok
Drums: Frank Limpet
Autoharp on “I Love It”: UbikPhonik
All other vocals and instruments: Mark Heggen

Liner notes: Derek Andrew Stephen
Package Design by CoMotion LLC
Letter to Thelma in “Sad Old World”: Fred Scott, USMC
Sound advice: Matt Michael
Recorded/mixed/mastered on Garageband

Produced by Mark Heggen
Recorded at 1143 Studio, The 683,
and Hinterland Studio, Polk County, Iowa.

All words and music ©2021 Mark Heggen,
except “Manifest Destiny”, ©1986/2021 Mark Heggen, and
“Crestfallen” © 2018/2021 Mark Heggen and Stevie Lang.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Thing Of It Is Los Angeles, California

The Thing Of It Is...is: a collective of Pacific Midwest songmakers, based on the idea that the slow-drip method often yields the tastiest results.

contact / help

Contact The Thing Of It Is

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like The Thing Of It Is, you may also like: