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Jersey

by North Korea

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1.
Summer at Jersey 04:17
lyrics
There’s nothing like it A dormant fire lit Bright sun light, you’ll see Down on the shore, the shore of Jersey The Situation, a man without a nation Egotistical masturbation Punctuated by the same flaws of you and me Fear, depression and insecurity Don’t come at me, Check out Ronnie, He’s angry up front But also cries and calls Sam a “cunt” Conflicted by who he should be? A mediating Ronnie or a being of misogyny? Don’t ask me! There’s nothing like it A dormant fire lit Bright sun light, you’ll see Down on the shore, the shore of Jersey I want to ask Jwoww, How? So rough and tough But I’ll never have enough You’re the middle ground, That Pauly wants to pound, Though he won’t say it, Talk shit get it And speaking of, what’s happening with Sam? Thrown out to the slaughter, an emotional lamb, Watch her cry the days by, Watch her lie the ways I, Couldn’t do no matter how hard I try There’s nothing like it A dormant fire lit Bright sun light, you’ll see Down on the shore, the shore of Jersey And Vinny, what the hell, Why doesn’t that guy use hair gel? What came unstuck? That guy's white as fuck He needs a tan, man. Unlike Snooki She’s the one I want to be And the one for Vinny, I know it inside me, She’s the epitome of ‘tan’ There’s nothing like it A dormant fire lit Bright sun light, you’ll see Down on the shore, the shore of Jersey
2.
Fear (The Situation Pt. 1) 03:51
lyrics
Twenty nine years past my peak A dried up melancholy bore TV screen flicker a midnight whore Rotating round a digital pole Mending a metaphysical hole Another stained magazine cover To remind me of another That I didn't know Try hard to deflate my ego So I'll know that wherever you go You're feeling somewhat better than me They say what you sow is what you reap Wasting my time counting all these sheep Next scene has a microwave, spinning round Yesterday’s heated food keeps me on the ground While excess makes each line of the chorus longer and a perennial lack of sleep day after day makes life grow fonder right? No, that statement isn't true And I don't know about you But I feel increasingly worse Psychologically perverse Continually unsatisfied By the prospect I'll never be admired I'm sorry, oh no Not gonna be a pharaoh I'm not wearing a crown that's sparkling Statistics doubt I'll be king And I'm inclined to believe their true They say what you sow is what you reap Wasting my time counting all these sheep Next scene has a microwave, spinning round Yesterday’s heated food keeps me on the ground While excess makes each line of the chorus longer and a perennial lack of sleep day after day makes life grow fonder right? No, that statement isn't true Like Miles Davis, I'm kind of blue But not talented or jazzy Just outspokenly brassy Eternally unclassy Voluntarily discarding my soul Slipping into a different role While the midnight whore rotates round her digital pole They say what you sow is what you reap Wasting my time counting all these sheep Next scene has a microwave, spinning round Yesterday’s heated food keeps me on the ground While excess makes each line of the chorus longer and a perennial lack of sleep day after day makes life grow fonder right? No, that statement isn't true Still I'm desiring something new Cause I've played this role through and through and I'm ready to bid it adieu Guess I'll have to find something else To maintain my mind's consistent pulse I don't know how I'll fare, But good to go somewhere because hanging round here in a claustrophobic realm of no cheer and no excitement near just endless brooding of fear but They say what you sow is what you reap Wasting my time counting all these sheep Next scene has a microwave, spinning round Yesterday’s heated food keeps me on the ground While excess makes each line of the chorus longer and a perennial lack of sleep day after day makes life grow fonder right?
3.
T-Shirt Store 04:03
lyrics
Reclining on a bench in the T-shirt store Couldn’t I have been, something more? Another question to ask myself Straightening tan spray up on the shelf I guess it’s a fitting metaphor For my impermanence and more I’ve been down this aisle before At the T-shirt sore If you let me alone, with a second to think I’ll probably look for a mirror, it’s a basic instinct A complex of vanity Compounded by uncontrolled insanity And the T-shirt store, pulls me away from the shore Reclining on a bench in the T-shirt store Staring at the sea, wound up on the shore Only stay here because I must Is this spray tan or is this rust The customers come and go Smiles, frowns and sticks to throw But in my moments to spare I head to the back, and gel up my hair If you let me alone, with a second think I’ll probably look for a mirror, it’s a basic instinct A complex of vanity Compounded by uncontrolled insanity And the T-shirt store, pulls me from the shore My disguise is fool proof And I sit here, after work Gazing at the sun on the store roof A ray glistens in my eye Temporal joy I can’t deny But it’s accompanied by a sigh Because a tan can’t define A mind that isn’t mine If you let me alone, with a second think I’ll probably look for a mirror, it’s a basic instinct A complex of vanity Compounded by uncontrolled insanity And the T-shirt store, pulls me from the shore
4.
Karma 05:10
lyrics
Fuck the pub, I don’t want to socialise, Just wanna club till every single brain cell dies, The only way to make the pain go away, I need to drink myself from day to day, Trying to masquerade all my self-hate, Trying to forget my pathetic fate, Breaking down my metaphysical armour, I only want to be at a club called Karma I don’t feel like a man, Without a bottle of fake tan, Every moment I spend out of the club Is wasted like an empty hot tub. 3 parts vodka, 1 part lemonade, I don’t want to take home another grenade, “Pauly, that’s a sexist thing to say”, they’ll say Fuck them, try being empty day to day. Tonight I’ve got to take it to full throttle. Drinking straight whisky, straight from the bottle Screaming in my head “pain, go away” And don’t come again another day. T-shirt time, tonight I’m going plaid. But it’s the hair gel that’s gonna get me laid. Famous throughout all of Jersey, The art, the hair, of Pauly Can you tell me, what it means to be a man? Hear your echo within a beer can? The feint sound of emptiness inside A tan covers what I have to hide. I hope this isn’t too dark for you It’s just my days through and through People always say “he must have no shame” I just keep telling myself it’s a game.
5.
Champagne, yeah! 02:38
lyrics
What’s the use in hair gel? Perpetuating something far from hell Misleading society To think differently About the perceptions of me Who is Pauly D? But my hair is all that’s mine To dictate and define I can’t take another line I can’t take any more wine Champagne, yeah! Leave me alone and let me be, A pseudo-confident, bitter and damaged, Pauly D. I don’t have a phrase, don’t come at me. Defined by appearance, and superficiality. But my hair is all that’s mine To dictate and define I can’t take another line I can’t take any more wine Champagne, yeah! But there’s something more, Can’t you see? Wit! Humour! Intellect! All in me, True king of the house, Pauly D. But my hair is all that’s mine To dictate and define I can’t take another line I can’t take any more wine Champagne, yeah! Are you fucking touching me? Are you fucking touching me? Are you fucking touching me? Are you fucking touching me? I don’t really care if you are. I keep my pride in my car. credits from T​-​Shirt Store EP, relea
6.
Boredom (The Situation Pt. 2) 03:42
lyrics
I’ve got to be the Situation. Because society dictates it to me A bore lifted by fluctuation A bore that no one else can see The persona of an alpha male Is becoming incredibly stale I want to be something more Than cheap stripper or man whore Come at me bro I can’t say no To this addiction of self-perfection And endless psychological deception I put myself above, and before all I receive and deliver endless vitriol But for what reason; why? Is my life mere transience until I die? There you go with your ego out of control I own the house for a reason Try to overthrow me that’s motherfucking treason I’ll cut you some slack if you say Mike, I pray that one day I’ll be as good as you Is that all you can do?
7.
Deception (The Situation Pt. 3) 05:11
lyrics
How low can you go Till you’re nothing anymore Like an addict to power I need a fix by the hour I once commanded all Delivering endless vitriol No one ever stood so tall Now I lie on the floor, nothing all, anymore But that’s me, a being of temporality Can’t you see I’m cracking at the seams? They call me the Situation Autonomous from your realm of stagnation Perfection Perfection Perfection Psychological quest of deception Where did you go? Mike Sorrento Never got a chance to know the real you Come back for a second or two Give me a second or two I’ll get back to you Good as new Someone’s gotta be the bad I’m gonna do it till I die Don’t ask why Cause I’ll just deny you an answer
8.
Another Fake Tan 08:33
lyrics
On a walk to repent Stumbling down the pavement Tripped on a mound Fallen underground And I got a pound of insanity per pound of dirt density A rap in poor form My lyrics need reform But I ain’t bothered by your request In fact, if I may suggest Open your mind, take my words, and digest So look at me man, Spraying on another fake tan Emptying out another can Embracing some form of my race Covering my face Killing something you respect In an effort to reject The paleness of monotony Replacing it with another layer of conformity The can hisses and pisses as the mirror fogs up My eyes twitch as I switch my cap around, grabbing a cup A disfigured distortion collides into a sub-reflection Like a midnight punch-on, prompts my introspection Afraid of what I’m made of A can, a tan, punctuating a hollow man The smell of piss frames the scene With mumbled phrases, subtlety obscene Offending the ghosts of the day Somehow, in someway Tanned figures pass by Constructing their next lie Another figure draws me eye The shadow of some Italian guy I don’t know about you, But this feels like Déjà vu, Like I’ve been here before, As familiar as the shore But the sand is white Contraband and tight-ly packaged in see through bags Labelled with microscopic tags I’ve got an urge to snort it all Ron says I don’t have the gall But I’m a modern fucking Thrall And how much lower can I fall? So look at me man, Spraying on another fake tan, Splashing gel through my hair And I know that you don’t care But these products are my air The only façade that I’ve got To slow my perpetual rot Like Bukowski and Liquor The can makes being empty slightly thicker But I feel the colour smudging off, As I exhale in a cough My reflection begins to fade Revealing a much lighter shade My tans going away Like hell for Dante, But while that guy got up I’m only gonna drop To the beat in the club Waking up in a tub On someone elses flesh As I feel my sanity regress Inexistent credentials to tout But fuck it, I am all washed out.
9.
Floating Away (The Situation Pt. 4) 05:32
lyrics
I never knew quite how to think But I feel my decline, as my soul starts to sink. A shift at the store helps me float another day But everything it gives goes away. All this impermanence, I’m losing track of what tense I’m talking in, As my mind wears thin. So, I’ll go out to sea, where no one can say, And float away while you see another day, Who cares if I sink, at least I won’t have to think And the sea won’t judge me, or my blatant misogyny It’ll take me from Jersey, from hell, severing my last link. Take me away from the shore, Take me away from the law, Somewhere for my frozen heart to thaw, Let the Situation feel again I just want to feel Like I’m still a man. Always been so far from whole Once heard about this thing called a soul A fleeting thought, nonetheless, That only returns now, with duress Why bother, if bothering leads to this? Spending nights in clubs that smell like piss T-Shirt time, every goddamn fucking night Even the bottles of whiskey lose their bite. So I’m floating away, maybe Snooki can see another day But that’s not what I want, To wither into a shadow of myself, nothing to flaunt I’ve got leave, I know I don’t have much longer Maybe somehow, it’ll make me stronger. Take me away from Jersey Take me away out to the sea Somewhere for me to take it easy Let me feel again And please, let me know That I’m still a man. Floating away out to sea, where no one can see Floating away, away from Jersey Floating out to where I want to be Floating away out to sea, where no one can see
10.
Seaside Heights 08:38
lyrics
I’m sick of all these has-beens and mights. I’ve got to get away from seaside heights. I know that I need something more. I’ve got to run away from the shore. Now even my reflection gives me the frights. I’ve got to escape from seaside heights. This place has shaken my very core. I’ve got to get away from Jersey Shore. I’ve had it up to here, I can’t take any more Every leg and limb, is rusted and sore, The bass gets louder, and shakes the speaker What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker But nothing gets deeper than the water, Rises over your head, as the days get shorter, I saw the last wave coming in, As everything begins wearing thin, The drinks, the sex, the clubs, what a ride; But now there’s nowhere left to hide. I’m not a surfer, no sailor, just a motherfucking failure, And it’s hard to keep my head above Jersey’s rough water. Gyms, t-shirts, and tans, Going to clubs, swamped by fans, A life many would laud, but one I only abhorred, Since I screwed my first broad, And cried to someone else’s lord. How will they reward me, for being so unkind I see the headline in my mind: “The Situtation dies and nobody cries”, as I fade to black, as I sing my last track, no one else to attack, no more friendships to sack, no more emotions to lack, no more living a life off-track. I’ve got quite a knack. And though I don’t know how, I feel it’s over now, with nowhere left to go, no hoe to blow, and no more seasons for my show, have you ever been this fucking low? There’s nothing I can mend, with facades and pretend, without a single fucking friend, to lend Sitch a hand, to quote a phrase: “this is the end”. Sing a song for me, sing a song for Pauly D, Sing one for Snooki, and one for Sammi, Sing it for Ronnie, Vinnie, names rhyming conveniently. And if Jwoww asks, how the Situation got away, Tell her he was never really there, just waiting for the next wave. Situation pt. 3 reprise: 25 years on And now Mike is gone All I’ve got left is this song I’m gonna play it all night long
11.
Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover) 04:33
lyrics
Got no time for the corner boys, Down in the street makin' all that noise, Don't want no whores on eighth avenue, Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you. 'Cause tonight I'm gonna take that ride, Across the river to the jersey side, Take my baby to the carnival, And I'll take you on all the rides, Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la. Down the shore everything's alright, You're with your baby on a Saturday night, Don't you know that all my dreams come true, When I'm walkin' down the street with you, Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la. You know she thrills me with all her charms, When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms, My little angel gives me everything, I know someday that she'll wear my ring. So don't bother me cause I got no time, I'm on my way to see that girl of mine, Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world, When you're in love with a jersey girl, Sing sha la la la la la la. And I call your name, I can't sleep at night, Sha la la la la la la.

about

The debut album from North Korea, now simply titled 'Jersey', is an odd work by any definition. Several years ago, I told people I was going to make a concept album about the television show Jersey Shore, wherein I would attempt to add new layers of depth and angst to the cast of the reality show. At the time, I never had any intention of doing it, it was a joke. That said, I kept telling everyone that I would.

Almost every "project" and "idea" I'd told people about had become infamous for never coming to fruition, often never moving beyond the conceptual stage. The Jersey Shore album wasn't any more realistic than any of these other ideas. The reason it was the one that came to fruition is simple: luck. It was the final straw, in a long line of failed ideas and boredom.

The album was written over 2012, sporadically (to say the least), and recorded even less frequently. That said, here it is. It's done. It's not fantastic by any level, in my opinion. It is the first album I've ever completed though, and I'm very proud of it in that right.

Over the course of writing the album, it became less about the characters in Jersey Shore and more autobiographical. Seaside Heights for instance, was less about the Situation hating himself and more about me becoming frustrated at my inability to complete the album. The Situation (parts 1, 2, 3 and 4) tracks are my favourite on the album and the culmination of my attempt to humanise the least human of the Jersey Shore cast.

Also, this album wouldn't have been completed without the help of Patch Hutley, who stood by and faithfully produced and helped bring all these terrible ideas together. There are few people as good as Patch. It would have been impossible to complete without his help. Luke Midworth, Heather Darvey, and Joshua Gibbs all contributed to the album in irreplaceable ways as well. All four of these people are fucking incredible and you would do well remembering that they are fucking incredible. Thanks.

The album is free to download, but if you want to pay for it: for $5 I will make you a physical copy with gatefold sleeve, a message of kindness, and something else that is cool. I am happy to sell these in person if you don't want to pay online.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the album.

Jeremy,

North Korea.

credits

released February 3, 2013

Jeremy Elphick: guitar, piano, drums, vocals, lyrics, composition.
Patch Hutley: bass, backing vocals, guitar, production.
Heather Darvey: drums on tracks 1, 2, 3, 7.
Luke Midworth: guitar on tracks 4, 6, 10, production on tracks 3, 8.
Joshua Gibbs: guitars on track 8.

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North Korea Sydney, Australia

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