• Track: Nobody Wins
• Artist: Brian Fallon
• Album: Painkillers
• Year: 2015

Lyrics:

Skin and bones, you never did come home,
Crashing on my heart through the telephone.
I remember the tall grass wavin,’
in past lives, old poems.
I musta’ lived a lifetime without you,
You musta’ ended up somebody’s angel.
I remember you lovin’ the radio,
new waves, and old stones.

Hey, hey, little Tommy gun,
I guess we’re never gonna end up the lucky ones.
Hope I never see you again,
Have a round on me, love, hallelujah, Nobody wins.

The queen is gone, she died from a sad song.
I lost most of myself pleasin’ everyone.
I had to learn how to begin again.
it’s all right, move on.

The queen is gone, she died from a sad song.
I lost most of myself pleasin’ everyone.
I had to learn how to begin again.
it’s all right, move on.

Hey, hey, little Tommy gun,
I guess we’re never gonna end up the lucky ones.
Hope I never see you again,
Have a round on me, love, Hallelujah, nobody wins.

Hallelujah.
But have a round on me, friend.
Hallelujah.
If I never see you again.
Hallelujah.
Have a round on me, friend.
Hallelujah.

Hey, hey, little Tommy gun,
I guess we’re never gonna end up the lucky ones,
and hope I never see you again,
Have a round on me, love, Hallelujah.

And hey, hey, pretty baby,
I still remember you drivin’ me crazy.
Hope I never see you again,
Have a round on me, love, Hallelujah, Nobody wins.

Hallelujah.
and nobody wins.
Hallelujah.
and nobody wins.
Hallelujah.
if I never see you again.
Hallelujah.
You can blame it on the wind.

Today on Dances With Bass Industries, we are featuring a brand new album from rising star, Brian Fallon, most known for fronting The Gaslight Anthem (a favorite among the staff here at DWB Industries).

Nobody Wins is a song about a long-lost love (aren’t all great songs about long-lost loves?). In this particular track, Fallon seems to be singing about a first love that formed as kids, was lost to time, but has never been forgotten. Haven’t we all wondered what happened to that first love who once loomed large in our hearts, then disappeared in the puff of smoke that is time? Haven’t we all wondered if we’d known the last time we saw our love was going to be THE LAST TIME we saw her/him, would we have finally screwed up the nerve to say something before parting? If you haven’t, I question your humanity.

Nonetheless, Fallon captures all that in three minutes of pure pop goodness. The rest of the album is full of the same charm—with a gravelly crackle that comes from too many Marlboros and not enough sleep.

Fallon hails from Red Bank New Jersey, and in addition to this solo album, he’s dropped five albums with The Gaslight Anthem, and single album with a side project, The Horrible Crowes, and is working with another outfit, Molly and the Zombies. The Gaslight Anthem is a rock band that blends punk and heartland genre stylings with absolute perfection. The ’59 Sound, American Slang, and Handwritten remain three of my favorite albums.

My wife and I had tickets to see the Gaslight Anthem in 2014, but my back blew up and I wasn’t able to stand for two minutes without wincing and looking for a chair, so we gave our tickets to friends. Sadly, the Anthem announced that they were taking an “indefinite hiatus” after that tour concluded in the summer of 2015. Strike 1,378 for ailing skeleton (which also prevented me from seeing a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show, for which we had purchased tickets). Thankfully, Charlotte found a friend who could go with her, so it was just me who missed out that time.

So far, Molly and the Zombies haven’t released an album, but you can hear several of their excellent tracks on YouTube. And of course, you can strip the tracks from YouTube if your little heart desires. Mine did. I will be first in line, however, to purchase a copy of their album if and when they ever drop it. For now, I’ll leave you with this press picture:

Video:

Here is the video for Nobody Wins:

Here’s a live version of Nobody Wins from CD102.5’s Big Room in Columbus Ohio: