Recently I’ve come up with some short songs that were basically secular, neither soulful or stoic. I decided to call these “song shards”. Then, I decided the term song shards could be used as a generic label for all these short songs. Anyway, the first two here earwormed the hell out of me. The last two are just a few days old. Everyone I’ve shown them to has been enthusiastic. “Mission Statement”, “Apeshit” and “Just Be Kind” will be on an album I’m working on with some guys from Catalonia who call themselves The Folly Collective. That album will be released in Spain later this year, with the tentative title being International Folly Consortium. I wrote “Just Be Kind” with the fiddle, instead of with my juke, leading to a more open approach to structure. It’s also a new sort of song shard, a hybrid, part stoic aphorism, part made up by me:

Mission Statement
We wanna be, we’re gonna be
Deluxe as fuck
We wanna be, we’re gonna be
Deluxe as fuck
Deluxer than Donald Duck
Deluxer den dat
Deluxer den Krazy Kat
Deedle deedle lux as fuck

Coming this summer: Stickers that say “Atomic Meta-Pagans/Deluxe As Fuck”, and other snappy things to go along with Atomic Meta-Pagans, designed by Jeffery Lewis, John Hubbard (who’s designed of all my albums since the 100) and Zoe Stampfel. Look for them on peterstampfel.com or follow me on Facebook. That’s where I’ll post the details.

Apeshit
I’m gonna go ape, I’m going ape
I’ve gone ape like a turkey through the corn
I’m gonna go ape, I’m going ape
I’ve gone ape like a turkey through the corn
Apeshit, apeshat, shat, shit, shat
Apeshat, apeshit, shit, shat, shit

No Blame
Jesus said, “Call me Buddha”
Mohammed said the same
Buddha said, “Call me Jesus Mohammed”
And Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?”
“What’s in a name?”, said Buddha
Jesus said the same
Mohammed said, “Call me Shakespeare,
And nobody’s left to blame”

Just Be Kind
Just be kind and you can’t go wrong
Do the right thing and the rest won’t matter
Don’t be a troll or a jerk or an asshole
Just be kind and you can’t go wrong
Just be kind and you can’t go wrong
Do the right thing and the rest won’t matter
Don’t be a douche or a bully or a creep
Just be kind and you can’t go wrong