B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L

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Tracklist:

  • Dropout

  • Locker Fires

  • Either They Don’t Notice Or They Don’t Care

  • Schoolground Warfare

  • Letter Grades

  • Classroom Casualties

  • Abnormal [Dead By April cover]

  • Bullycide

  • 13, 32, 26, 17, 10 (Under The Gun) [three year version]

  • Teach Me to Learn

  • Burn Down Your School

Partial Lyrics:

“Neither a letter nor a number can define you, kid;
You are your smile and your empathy
You are your outstretched arms and the hearts you touch
Not your GPA or your SATs

No, A's and B's aren’t everything
your grades are not your worth
I don’t care what your parents say
Even a dropout can change the earth!”
- “Dropout”, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L (2019)
→written by: Athena

┈

[crackled Hitmen For Hire clip]
[Eric: “You know we can't have weapons on school grounds.”]

[record skip noise]

[crackled recording clip]
[Dispatcher: Jefferson County 911.]
[Patti: Yes. I am a teacher at Columbine High School. There is a student here with a gun…]

[throat clearing noise] 

“Ha, alright, LET’S GO!”

Is this enough for you yet?
IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU?

I see how it is, kick me in the ribs
push until it gives, kill if it still lives
Is this enough for you yet?
IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU?
I THINK I'VE HAD ENOUGH

I CAN’T MAKE YOU SEE ME
YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE IF MY HEART STOPPED BEATING
I CAN'T MAKE YOU SEE ME
YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE IF I STOPPED BREATHING

Am I…THAT MUCH OF NOTHING?

I won’t GIVE YOU THE GRACE OF CALLING YOU BLIND
I was spitting out blood BEFORE YOUR OPEN EYES
(I CAN’T MAKE YOU)
Do you not notice or do you not…
(I CAN’T MAKE YOU CARE)
 care?
(I THINK I’VE HAD ENOUGH)

LOOK AT ME!
I think I took too many pills
LISTEN TO ME!
I swear my ears never stopped ringing
DO YOU CARE? 
did I just deserve it? 
did no one hear the canary stop singing?
DO YOU THINK THAT I'VE HAD ENOUGH?
Do you think that I’ve had enough?

Do you think that I’ve had—
(Do you think that I’m not—)
Will I ever be—
GOOD ENOUGH?

(THIS IS METAMORPHOSIS)

You won’t see me
you won’t hear me
you won’t help me 
WILL YOU FEAR ME?
(WILL THAT BE ENOUGH)

DO YOU 
THINK THAT I’VE HAD—

(are the signs that you missed)
(I CAN’T MAKE YOU SEE ME)
(Are the words from my lips)
(YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE IF MY HEART STOPPED BEATING)

DO YOU 
THINK THAT I’VE HAD—

(is the blood from my wrist)
(I CAN'T MAKE YOU SEE ME)
(is the gun in my fist)
(YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE IF I STOPPED BREATHING)

…Enough? [x4]

[music]

I won’t give you the grace of calling you blind
I was spitting out blood before your open eyes
Do you not notice or do you not—do you not—care?

(I THINK I’VE HAD ENOUGH)
LOOK AT ME!
(ENOUGH)
(LOOK AT ME)

(Do you think I took too many pills?)
(Your open eyes)

(I THINK I’VE HAD ENOUGH)
LOOK AT ME NOW!
IS IT ENOUGH?

I THINK I’VE HAD ENOUGH!”
- “Either They Don’t Notice Or They Don’t Care”, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L (2019)
→written by: Kato

┈


“[crackled recording clip from January 1998 court date] 
[DeVita: "What kind of grades do you get?"]
[Dylan: "C-minus, sir. C-plus, B-minus average."]

(This is what you’re worth. This is all there is.)
(This is all you’re worth. You can’t be more than this.)

YOU ARE NOT YOURSELF!
YOU ARE NOT YOUR HEALTH!
YOU ARE LETTER GRADES!
YOU ARE JUST YOUR GPA!
FUCK!

Sum me up,
Check me off,
Use red pen to define me
I will adhere to the worth you assign me

Mark me up, after class set me straight,
(de)Grade me
Mark me down,
Send me home,
Give my dad a reason to hate me

LET ME SELL YOU A NEW TRUTH
A VOICE FOR THE AMERICAN YOUTH
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I WAS JUST LIKE YOU
ASKING--

(Is this all I’m worth?
Is this all I’m worth?
This must be all I’m worth,
this can’t be all I’m worth...)

(IT’S NOT ALL YOU’RE WORTH)

The pressure’s always rising
Writing and revising,
reporting, summarizing
constant catastrophizing
They’ll tell you you’re not trying
That you’re not sick, YOU’RE LYING!

THEY’LL SAY THAT THIS DECIDES EVERYTHING
SO DISREGARD YOUR SUFFERING
SECURE YOUR FUTURE, STRUGGLING
‘CAUSE A PASSING AVERAGE AIN’T ANYTHING

(This is what you’re worth. This is all there is.)
(This is all you’re worth. You can’t be more than this.)

YOU ARE NOT YOURSELF!
YOU ARE NOT YOUR HEALTH!
YOU ARE LETTER GRADES!
YOU ARE JUST YOUR GPA!

Earn extra credit for an exposed shoulder
(This is what you’re worth. This is all there is.)
Just another report card soldier
(This is all you’re worth. You can’t be more than this.)
Stumbling and getting crushed under
("C-minus, sir. C-plus, B-minus average.")
THE WEIGHT OF FUCKING LETTER GRADES.

BUT IT IS NOT
ALL YOU’RE WORTH
LET THIS BE
YOUR REBIRTH
THERE’S SO MUCH HERE
FOR YOU TO LEARN
TAKE HEART, TAKE PART IN THE JOY AND THE JOURNEY
BUT LET THE PERFECT
RUBRIC
BURN.”
- “Letter Grades”, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L (2019)
→written by: Kato & Athena

┈

“I’m still heading to the bar with my fuckin’ arms cut up
Seems no amount of self destruction is punishment enough
I’m bleeding through my bandages and getting blackout drunk
Got taught worthlessness in school and I guess the lesson stuck

So obsessed with setting me right, you only taught me that I was wrong
Outside the norm, ORDERED TO CONFORM, only learned how to not belong

Now they say I need to learn to love, but all I feel is hate
I got depression from my peers and my friends got oppression from the state
So the lectures on deference are really starting to grate
Already turned the other cheek so many times I’ve got blood all down my face!”
- “Teach Me To Learn”, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L (2019)
→written by: Kato