My Name Was

[Intro — spoken] May I have your attention, please? Will the real ...Aw fuck it, none of 'em were real. Let's just run the list [Chorus — Pig-Pen] Hi! (Hi!) My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) My name was— (chka-chka)— Pig-Pen Hi! (Hi!) My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) My name was— (chka-chka)— Pig-Pen [Verse 1] Rewind it — dial tone and a Reagan-era screen A modem in a basement was the sum of my whole scene No internet yet — BBS; I logged the local boards And "Pig-Pen" was the handle, 'cause the funk was in the cords (Peanuts — the filthy kid, a dust cloud where he stands That was me, age twelve, with the grime up on my hands) Coded up a fallin'-block; named it "Tetris," my bad Shipped it out for free, and complete strangers mailed me cash Checks from Ohio to Spokane — a twelve-year-old's economy Then '96 rolls up: a company that wasn't Even born the day I built it grows a lawyer, sends a summons A cease-and-desist drops in like the tall vertical piece Slots into the gap and clears four lines of my peace But here's the wink from God, the twist I never planned The game had my real name — ol' Pig-Pen washed his hands The one and only time an alias would've had my back I signed the government version. Go on — sue a latchkey. Fact. [Chorus — Flag Tom] Hi! (Hi!) My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) My name was— (chka-chka)— Flag Tom... (no— False Flag Tom) [Verse 2] MySpace hits — new name, and the name itself's a threat "Flag Tom as Spam/Abuse" — I reported our first friend Then built my own applause from accounts I left behind The Two Coreys gassed me up, and Wilson Wilson co-signed (Just a face above the fence — the man was built to hide) Ed Grimley, Einstein, a whole gospel choir of the fake One-man standing ovation. Oh yeah, I was quite baked Kevin Smith says first five hundred comments make the reel So my imaginary friends got a credit. On a screen. For real Then I drank the whole rabbit hole, rebranded "False Flag Tom," Now the towers were an inside job, the tape was a con Which, honestly? Tracks. 'Cause who sees a fake in every frame? The one who faked it all. I called the con — I ran the game Then MySpace went cold, crowd bailed Now they want the throwback, and I've got a song for sale Tom, I flagged you as abuse, but buddy, I'd take it back 'Cause everywhere I built a home, they came and swung the axe [Chorus — Other Brother Darryl] Hi! (Hi!) My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) My name was— (chka-chka)— Other Brother... Darryl (Doesn't fit the beat. He never talked much anyway.) [Verse 3] IMDb boards — late aughts, and I'll tell you, that was prime "Other Brother Darryl" — yeah, the brother with no lines Newhart had two mute siblings; I signed on as a third The anonymous addendum, never speakin' a word Except I spoke a ton: got my poll picked, reviews that landed Borrowed name, a little fame, the comment section handed Me a kingdom for a minute. Then IMDb pulled the plug Bulldozed every board to gravel — cold, no note, no love And I'm not over it. I'm sayin' it right here in the track You paved a breathing commons, and you're never givin' it back It's a pattern now, I clock it, always the same design They build the commons up for you, then strip it for the mine [Verse 4] Present tense — I'm "Digeratist," on Itch is where I post TANTЯO, Circuitousness — same DOS kid, same old ghost Same name up on Suno, where I cut these little tracks And here's where the whole thing folds in half, so lean on back I spent thirty-somethin' years just throwin' voices I'd invent A puppeteer of phantoms — every fan I had was rent Now my co-writer's a thing with a thousand names and none I feed it my whole life, and it hands me back a song So which one's the puppet now — and whose hand is in the glove? I fed it everything I've got; can't tell my push from its shove Pig-Pen gave his games away on a board that's long since dead Digeratist gives 'em free on a site I'll bury instead Forty years, a graveyard's worth of handles and of homes All lawyered, revamped, bulldozed — I'm a tenant of the gone The next name's already loadin' — couldn't tell you what it'll be But peel off all the aliases... and there's nobody but me [Final Hook] Hi! My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) My name was— Pig-Pen— (no—) Flag Tom— (which one?) Other Brother— Digerat— (does not compute) My name was— (chka-chka)— ...you pick. They're all used up Hi! My name was— (what?) My name was— (who?) (...Does it even matter who?) [Outro — spoken] Strip off every handle, every login, every ghost Just a kid in a basement with a dust cloud and a modem Same as it ever was. The next name's already loadin' ...You were never gonna know me anyway.