2025 Competition Entry:
Paper Bag by Project MA
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Genre
Rock
Artist
Website
Co-writer(s)
yes
Performer(s)
Michael Jarmer: drums, vocals, lyrics.
Adam Fagelson: bass, synth, piano
René Ormae-Jarmer: synth, background vocals
Adam Fagelson: bass, synth, piano
René Ormae-Jarmer: synth, background vocals
Description
The music and the lyric came to us on the heals of some personal crises. The tone of the music and the lyric reflected various ways of coping with these difficulties, beginning in verse one and two with the extreme measure of putting one’s head inside of a paper bag, but developing in the third verse and the ending in some potentially effective and forward-looking strategies for self-care. The implication of the lyrics have since evolved to be a kind of response to current political/social/culture developments in the United States.
Bio
Adam and Michael have been writing songs together since 2023, although their history of playing music together goes way back into the 90’s. In 2023, living in Vermont, Adam started sending bass and keyboard tracks as WAV files to Michael, who lives in Oregon. Michael would ad drums, lyrics and vocals, solicit keyboard and backing vocal help from his wife René, and soon they had 20 more or less complete songs. Adam and Michael chose the band name Project MA and released their first trans-continental album, “You Are Here,” in 2024. “Paper Bag” is the first song they wrote for their sophomore album now in progress.
Lyrics
Paper Bag
I think I need a paper bag
To breathe into for awhile
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does.
I hope it does
Cause I’m running out of options
I’m running out of options
I need to find something
Like a paper bag
I could put a paper bag
Over my head
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does.
I will cut out holes for the eyes
And maybe the nose.
So I’ll just cover my mouth
With the paper bag
I could count backwards from 100
Closing my eyes
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does
I hope it does
I guess I keep breathing then
Breathing in and out
I think I found something
Like this paper bag
I thought we would never go back there, again X2
So I might find something in the paper bag
Hope I find what I need in this paper bag
Then I can fight my way back out.
Then I can fight my way back out of this paper bag.
I think I need a paper bag
To breathe into for awhile
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does.
I hope it does
Cause I’m running out of options
I’m running out of options
I need to find something
Like a paper bag
I could put a paper bag
Over my head
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does.
I will cut out holes for the eyes
And maybe the nose.
So I’ll just cover my mouth
With the paper bag
I could count backwards from 100
Closing my eyes
I don’t know if it will help
But I hope it does
I hope it does
I guess I keep breathing then
Breathing in and out
I think I found something
Like this paper bag
I thought we would never go back there, again X2
So I might find something in the paper bag
Hope I find what I need in this paper bag
Then I can fight my way back out.
Then I can fight my way back out of this paper bag.
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