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Can't Be a Player (Live at the Boardroom Open Mic 4​/​18​/​23)

from The Deeper Than Things Seem EP by Dan Vallerand

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As a bonus/sort of bookend, I've included a good live version of the first song I wrote post-pandemic, "Can't Be a Player", which is literally about having no right to being a hater of friends' success when you're not out there doing it too. It is an annoying trait that I am still unlearning and getting better at, but addressing it also makes for a good song haha!

lyrics

Well, I've been dreaming about it
And I've been thinking about it
I been waiting on a hope and a prayer cuz
The gears are spinning and the wheels, they're turning
But I'm seeing my friends succeed
And I'm not doing well

But I can't be a player
If I'm not playing the game
I can't be a hater
If I'm not chasing the fame
I don't have a prayer
When everything is just the same
I've been resting on my laurels for far too long

I don't know what I'm going to do
I've got to see it through
I've got to unlearn every little bit of tricks
That I've found myself fallen to
All the lies I've been hearing
It makes my brain turn to mush
And I don't know how to handle it, but

But I can't be a player
If I'm not playing the game
I can't be a hater
If I'm not chasing the fame
I don't have a prayer
When everything is just the same
I've been resting on my laurels for far too long

(And my brain starts screaming at me, hard and fast!)

I want more!
How do I get more?
I deserve more!
How in the world will I ever get more
When I've got the mindset of a hater?

Oh, child! Well, I can't be a player
If I'm not playing the game
I can't be a hater
If I'm not chasing the fame
I don't have a prayer
When everything is just the same
I've been resting on my laurels for far too long

But it's a cureable disease
Gonna find the way
I'm gonna find the cure and make myself a happier person
I know I'm gonna do better
I just gotta let it go
I can't let my friends and my family
Say whatever they want to sew

I can't be a player
If I'm not playing the game
I can't be a hater
If I'm not chasing the fame
I don't have a prayer
When everything is just the same
I've been resting on my laurels for far too long

credits

from The Deeper Than Things Seem EP, released July 5, 2023
Written by Dan Vallerand. Recorded live at the Boardroom Open Mic on April 18th, 2023.

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