The Great American Novel

from Merry Prankster by Foster the Prankster

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    The final studio album from Foster the Prankster is now available on vinyl! Experience "Merry Prankster" in all its dimensions with this limited run LP. Inspired by the 1960's icons and friends of author, Ken Kesey, "Merry Prankster" has been described as "a psychedelic spiral through the madness of the counter-culture and into the tie-dyed skies on the other side!" and "[an] authentic, captivating and rebellious musical force in action."

    This LP features full lyric booklet w/ liner notes and full-color, double-sided photo collage inner sleeve. A great high-fidelity listen and a classic piece of memorabilia!

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

This might be my/Great American novel/
I'm comin back in my prime/The Kerouac of my time
Still tying up a few loose ends/I thought were true blue friends/
‘Til I flew over the cuckoo's nest/
Don't deny, y’all pretended/Like I lost my mind/
Got you lookin’ like you/Dot your T's and cross your I’s/
Now it's undisputed/Before it was just confusion/
The truth is up for review/And you claim I jump to conclusions?/
Wait for proof of the danger/I'd rather see it sooner than later/
I'm used to strangers/Misunderstanding what's human nature/
All I know is I've had it/With being gaslit/
By the average folks/Who couldn't fathom the half of it/
Surrounded by people/Used to respecting orders/
I'm from a hood that/Taught me check my corners/
‘Fore you get extorted/So don't expect decorum/
I’ll tell you how it is/Right on the spot/
Whether you gon’ like it or not/
Can't empathize with/Impressionable minds/
We don't conceptualize/Time the same/
I done lived too many lives/
Plenty wise with the/Cards I was dealt/
O.G’s said he rhyme/Like he got knowledge of self/
Never bought into college/Still a modern David Foster Wallace/
Pennin’ works provocative/Like Kurt Vonnegut/
I had no other options/I turned documents to/
Hunter Thompson/Journals I must've jotted/
I've come full circle/To cover topics/
Removed from the utter gossip/
Reality got your stomach knotted/
Wait until they run your pockets/Now who gonna stop it?/
In the land of the weak/Home of the slaves/
Y'all dance to the beat but/Never know what to say/
The hidden hand of the beast/The devil showing his face/
We had a chance to be free/Now we ‘bout to throw it away/
Those are the stakes/Nothing's what you thought it was/
Never trust a prankster/
You either on the bus or you off the bus/

(Bridge)
Where does the story end?/
Everything we left unsaid/
Songs stay stuck in my head/
Rewind, we right back to/
Where we begin/

Thought I heard your/Voice in the wind/
Thought I might/See you again/
Before the words slip away/
Let’s turn the other page/

I set fire to the blueprint/
Consumed in this/Empire of illusion/
A reminder why I do this/
Writin’ my manuscript/
While I'm dreamin’/Penning my thesis/
They tend to question my reasons/
Have yet to mention my genius/
Leave it to the prestigious who/
Complete degrees in academia/
Or at least the ones/Repeatin’ ‘em in media/
Institutions designed to/Manage perception/
And damage your reputation/If ever you stand against it/
Manufactured consent is/The standard path of events/
Reality is whatever the/Camera capture on lens/
Shadows on the wall of/The Cave, in allegory/
I'm standing on the shoulders of/Great thinkers before me/
Don't place me in categories/With rappers, they rhyme sloppily/
Honestly, I should be a/PhD in hood psychology /
See I lived it so I can/Express it clearly/
They read it in universities/Never testing the theory/
Tellin’ you how to float when they/Never been off the boat/
How can you change a/System that benefitted you most?/
And so the beat goes on/Who am I to complain?/
Left my mark on the music/Won’t lose my mind to the game/
Every verse is a page and/Every song is a chapter/
Put my book on the shelf/Maybe when I'm gone it'll matter/
Like Salinger, this my/Catcher in the Rye/
I'm Holden Caulfield/Guess I never been surprised/
Might say I'm cynical but my/Skills of observation are critical/
Remaining analytical/Of the blatant subliminals/
If you seein’ it too, then/I'm speaking to you/
Shine a beacon of truth/They don't see in the news/
Or teach in the schools/Where they treat us as fools/
Knowledge is an ocean/Some never deepen the pool/
If I told the whole story/You probably wouldn't believe it/
I'd write it in a book/But you'd probably never read it/

credits

from Merry Prankster, released March 3, 2023
Lyrics by T. Foster
Music by A. Johnson
Additional Vocals by Sakari
Mixing/Mastering by Seth Brand

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Foster the Prankster image

Foster the Prankster

Rapper/Producer Foster the Prankster has released 3 solo studio albums: Kings Highway (2015), Free Lunch (2015) and Merry Prankster (2023). He has released a single, Think Me A Fool and 2 EP's, La Honda and The Acid Test, as the frontman for the blues-rap band, Foster & The Pranksters. ... more

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