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Self​-​Fulfilling Fool

by Stephen Leigh

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about

Several stories I’ve written for George RR Martin’s “Wild Cards” series featured Michal Vogali, aka “Drummer Boy” or “DB”, a joker whose body was transformed into a six-armed drumset. Michael played in the band “Joker Plague,” immensely popular in the Wild Cards universe for a time. The song “Self-Fulfilling Fool” is mentioned as one of the fictional band’s hits. I thought I should actually write a song with that title—though Joker Plague as I imagined them was a U2- or Police-ish group and very loud. They would never have played the song as I play it here.

I wrote this thinking of myself and how I react to praise from other people. I -AM- the self-fulfilling fool sometimes.

lyrics

Self-Fulfilling Fool - Stephen Leigh

Your friends say what you want to hear
They tell you that you’re talented
But you just shake your head
You know they’ve been misled

Because your words, they cannot match
The tales that are in your head
You know that this must be just the
Blathering from some fool’s head

CHORUS
You want to believe their praise
You long to be that precious jewel
But when you look in the mirror
What looks back at you is a self-fulfilling fool

She claims she loves you
And you… you wonder why
You can’t see how that could be
Anything but a lie

At night when you’re alone, at night
When she’s who knows where
At night when the walls close in, at night
When no one’s there to care

REPEAT CHORUS

A storm cloud stalks the sky
all alone... and empty
From a place abandoned
by the cognoscenti

Ego high, ego low
Where it stops you don’t know
How can you trust your friends
When you can’t even trust yourself?

REPEAT CHORUS (repeat “a self-fulfilling fool” and out…)

credits

released October 16, 2022
Vocals, guitars, and bass by Stephen Leigh. Drums and percussion by Devon Leigh. Mixed by Brandon Scott Coleman. Photo by Megen Leigh.

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about

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Stephen Leigh Cincinnati, Ohio

I've been playing music since the late 1960's (damn, I'm OLD!) in various groups in and around the Greater Cincinnati area. I'm a vocalist who plays guitar and bass (we'll skip the time I fronted a wedding band as the singer).

Gear: Eastman E10D, Eastman E20D, Eastman E6D-TC Ltd, Roscoe 5-string LG3005 bass, (fretless)

Photo: Guy Allen ... more

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