Music Review: Lunchmoney Lewis "Bills"

Lunchmoney Lewis

Bills

Album: Bills EP

Year: 2015

           Lunchmoney Lewis can’t afford to take a day off in the exaggerated “Bills.”

         An aged piano opens the single, setting a theatrical tone.   The chorus starts the single. He says he’s the provider in the home. He is thinking of getting another job. His girlfriend and kids rely on him. His paycheck pays for groceries and whatever they need. (“I got bills I gotta pay/So I'ma gon' work, work, work every day/I got mouths I gotta feed,/So I'ma gon' make sure everybody eats/I got bills.”)

                 Gas. Water. Electric. Credit card. He doesn’t know which to pay first. The refrigerator is starting to get empty. His girlfriend is yelling at him to get a better job. (“All these bills pile up my desk/They looking like a mount'/All the little kids run around/I can hear their stomachs growl/It's a full moon out/And my girl just keep on howlin'/She said she gonna leave me/If I don't come home with fifty thousand.”)

               In the pre-chorus, he doesn’t know what to do. (“God damn, god damn, god damn, god damn/Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man/God damn, oh man, god damn, oh man.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

              The day can’t any worse as he pulls the cart into the line. He rubs his head. It still hurts after hitting it on a shelf. He moves his toe a little and winces. After nicking it on the bed, he must’ve sat down and held it for what seemed like an hour. He went to the kitchen and looked into the refrigeratior for breakfast. There was hardly nothing. He grabbed his keys and then stepped on some dog feces. He went inside and clean off his shoes. He grabbed his keys and decided to try to leave again. He put the key in the engine and it wouldn’t turn. He had to borrow his wife’s car. Now, he’s being held up by an elderly woman  who can barely lift her pop cans. He hopes he is able to pay without any trouble. His credit card is almost maxed out. (“ Woke up and I bumped my head/Stubbed my toe on the edge of the bed/Opened the fridge and the food all gone/Neighbor damn dog done crapped on my lawn/Hopped in the car and the car won't start/It's too damn hot but I still gotta walk/Behind an old lady in the grocery line/Praying that my card don't get declined.”)

               The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

               In the bridge, he says his shoes are tattered and he doesn’t really want to do anything. (“ And my shoes, my shoes/I said my shoes/Ain't got no soul.”)

                  The chorus is sung twice.

                   In the final section, he says bills are one things people can’t escape from. (“Mama got bills! Yo' daddy got bills! Yo' sister got bills! Yo' auntie got bills!)/I got bills/(Uncle got bills! Everybody got bills! Everybody got bills.”)

                    Lewis rattles off his problems, putting his hands out and pointing at every finger for each one. No one understands. No one understands him or what needs to be done. Life sucks. Work sucks.

                  The sitcomish  “Bills” could be the theme for a skit, not an actual song.