If the “BEST OF TIMES” video brought you to this page and you’re interesting in checking out the LI(F)E album on CD or vinyl, click HERE.

Click picture for CD & Vinyl.

Follow on FACEBOOK by clicking here.

Follow on TWITTER by clicking here.

Sage’s performance schedule for 2012: click HERE.

We are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of PERSONAL JOURNALS! The CD, vinyl and MP3 sale is HERE.

MAKESHIFT PATRIOT by Sage Francis

“Recorded in October 2001, Sage took just enough time to refine his prose while still exposing his raw nerves. The rapper from Providence, R.I., visited Ground Zero five days after the attacks, and this track recounts his frustration at the bandwagon patriots on the news and in the city, people all too quick to jump in line behind our leaders and cease asking critical questions. He as much as predicts the subsequent creation of the Patriot Act, warning “Freedom will be defended at the cost of civil liberties.” He decries a media which at the time was panicking America into a patriotic fervor by showing the attacks on the news over and over and over again, while a city and nation in mourning were still trying to heal. Pretty powerful stuff, a snapshot of the times, with an air of urgency, immediacy, and sadness.” – Houston Press

LYRICS

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out Of Stock
I Hang Myself at Half Mast

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out Of Stock
I hang myself…via live telecast.

Coming live from my own funeral, beautiful weather offered a nice shine,
Which is suitable for a full view of a forever altered skyline.
When times like these arise I freestyle biased opinions every other sentence.
Journalistic ethics slip when I pass them off as objective. “Don’t give me that ethical shit.”
I’ve got exclusive, explicit images to present to impressionable American kids,
And it’s time to show this world how big our edifice is.
That’s exactly what they attacked when a typically dark skinned Disney villain,
Used civilians against civilians and charged the Trojan horses into our buildings.
Using commercial aviation as instruments of destruction,
Pregnant women couldn’t protect their children. Wheelchairs were stairway obstructions.
Now have to back petal from the shower of glass and metal,
Wondering how after it settles we’ll find who provided power to radical rebels.
The Melting Pot seems to be calling the kettle black when it boils over,
But only on our own soil so the little boy holds a toy soldier,
And waits for the suit and tie to come home. We won’t wait ’til he’s older,
before we destroy hopes for a colder war to end.
“Now get a close up of his head.”

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out of Stock
I Hang Myself at Half Mast
”How does my hair look?”

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out of Stock
I Hang Myself at Half Mast
“Run that tape back!”

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out Of Stock
I Hang Myself at Half Mast
“It looks JUST like a movie.”

Makeshift Patriot
The Flag Shop Is Out Of Stock
I hang myself…while the stock markets crash.

The city is covered in inches of muck.
I see some other pictures of victims are up.
Grieving mothers are thinking their children are stuck.
Leaping lovers are making decisions to jump,
While holding hands to escape the brutal heat,
Sometimes in groups of the three.
The fall out was far beyond the toxic cloud where people look like debris.
But all they saw after all was said, beyond the talking heads,
Was the bloody dust with legs looking like the walking dead, calling for meds.
Hospitals are overwhelmed. Volunteers need to go the hell home.
Moments of silence for fire fighters were interrupted by cell phones.
Who’s gonna make that call to increase an unknown death toll?
It’s the one we rally behind. He’s got a megaphone and he’s promising to make heads roll.
We cheer him on, but asbestos is affecting our breath control.
The less we know the more they fabricate. The easier it is to sell souls.

“There is a new price on freedom, so buy into it while supplies last. Changes need to be made! No more curbside baggage. 7 pm curfew. Racial profiling will continue…with less bitching. We’ve unified over who to kill, so until I find more relevant scripture to quote…remember: our god is bigger, stronger, smarter, and much wealthier.
So wave those flags with pride, especially the white part.”

We sell addictive 24 hour candle light vigils in TV’s.
Freedom will be defended…at the cost of civil liberties.
The viewers are glued to television screens. Stuck. Lots of things seem too sick.
I use opportunities to pluck heart strings for theme music.
I’ll show you which culture to pump your fist at & which foot is right to kiss.
We don’t really know who the culprit is yet…but he looks like *this*.
We know who the heroes are. Not the xenophobes who act hard.
“We taught that dog to squat. How dare he do that shit in our own back yard!”
They happened to scar our financial state and char our landscape.
Can you count how many times so far I ran back this same damn tape?
While a camera man creates news and shoves it down our throats on the West Bank,
With a ten second clip put on constant loop to provoke US angst.
So get your tanks and load your guns and hold your sons in a family huddle,
‘Cause even if we win this tug of war, and even the score, humanity struggles.
There’s a desperate need of blood for what’s been uncovered under the rubble.
Some of them dug for answers in the mess. The rest were looking for trouble.

Makeshift patriot
The flag shop is out of stock
I hang myself at half mast.

Makeshift patriot
The flag shop is out of stock
I hang myself…
DON’T WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS WITH YOUR FLAGS.

As you’ll notice, I am featured on two songs (one of them with the legendary Buck 65.) Other features include Grammy Award-winning 9th Wonder and the X-Ecutioner’s DJ ROB SWIFT on all the scratches.

CLICK ME!

Enjoy the free download and please share this track wherever you can. On facebook, twitter, G+, messageboards, OR ANY SOCIAL NETWORK YOU ARE ON. Or just go oldschool with it by blasting this song from your car as you drive laps around your town’s coolest shopping plaza. People still do that, right? The support and extra promotion is much appreciated!
-Sage Francis

“When the world moves at breakneck speed,
I hold the pause button halfway and make the tapedeck bleed.
It takes seconds to see what’s gonna happen in an hour’s time.
I see next week, next week I’m rushing rewind.
Time flies like a lie that evolves and grows wings,
then barrel rolls through intelligent designs of smoke rings.”

PORTLAND, OR on Sept 21 at ROSELAND
Sage Francis w/ the METERMAIDS & Sadistik
$18 advance / $23 day of show
Click here for tickets!

SEATTLE, WA on Sept 22 at NEUMOS
Sage Francis w/ the METERMAIDS & Sadistik
$18 advance / $20 day of show
Click here for tickets!

For a list of ALL upcoming SFR shows click here.

As an indie label, we’re always busy at Strange Famous Records, but 2011 has been relatively quiet as far as official album releases go. All of that is about to change in a big way. Here’s a brief description of what you can expect from these artists:

1) Scroobius Pip “Distraction Pieces”

SFR fans may remember Scroobius Pip from the “Angles” album he did with Dan Le Sac a few years back. With the “Distraction Pieces” album, Pip has gone solo to pursue a more aggressive (dare we say punk-driven) approach. As risky as that may seem, the first video/single from his new album has turned a lot of heads. On the day of its release, “Introdiction” was the 4th most viewed video on youtube (and for good reason):

Produced by Renholder, aka Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails / A Perfect Circle), the album features collaborations with me, B. Dolan, P.O.S. of Doomtree and many more. Pre-order package deal available here.

2) The Metermaids “Rooftop Shake”

The Metermaids consists of two emcees, Sentence and Swell. Their new album, Rooftop Shake, features yours truly on two songs (one of which features Buck 65!), production by 9th Wonder & M. Stine, and scratches by DJ Rob Swift. I first met Sentence in 2001 while touring with Atmosphere. He produced the first song that Slug and I ever did together (“Day Grows Old”) on my Sick of Waiting Tables mixtape. Ten years later, I’m helping release his group’s album. Even though one thing has nothing to do with the other, it still feels like we’ve all come full circle. The first single from the Metermaids Rooftop Shake album is a song called Graveyard Shift (prod. by 9th Wonder.) Listen to it here:
GRAVEYARD SHIFT – Metermaids (prod by 9th Wonder)

“Rooftop Shake”album package deals are available here.

Planking is Political

People often ask me why I enjoy planking photos so much. The truth is, planking has helped change the world for the better. This particular planking photo was taken during the Kent State Massacre of 1970. It helped end the Vietnam War. This may have also been the first instance of “owling” but that can’t be 100% confirmed.

http://StrangeFamous.com

Portland and Seattle...this kiss is for you.

In 2010 I was in the middle of my LI(F)E Tour when I received word of my father’s passing. Due to this horrible news, I cut my Seattle show short and canceled the Portland show in order to fly home and attend the funeral services. Since that time I haven’t heard the end of it from people in these territories, so a little more than a year later I’m coming through on a promise to do the make-up shows.

PORTLAND, OR on Sept 21 at ROSELAND
Sage Francis w/ the METERMAIDS & Sadistik
$18 advance / $23 day of show
Click here for tickets!

SEATTLE, WA on Sept 22 at NEUMOS
Sage Francis w/ the METERMAIDS & Sadistik
$18 advance / $20 day of show
Click here for tickets!

For those who were unable to catch my Colorado shows last weekend with the Metermaids and B. Dolan, you missed some incredible performances. One of the shows had us performing in front of a rolling river. We upstaged the shit out of that beautiful river. The full list of my upcoming shows can be found here, but to ensure you don’t miss any updates please sign up for the newsletter on the homepage of http://StrangeFamous.com

Sage Francis and the Metermaids performing "Bad Things" off their upcoming Rooftop Shake LP

click photo to see ALL upcoming Sage shows

July 22 – Denver, CO
At UMS: Sage Francis, B. Dolan, Metermaids & many more!
http://www.heyreverb.com/2011/06/10/denver-ums-lineup-final/

————————————————-

July 23 – Fort Colins, CO
Advanced tickets have gone on sale at http://tinyurl.com/3m5l49m
The password to purchase is “cache”

Sage Francis, Metermaids & more at Mishawaka Amphitheater in Bellvue, CO (just outside of Fort Collins) http://www.themishawaka.com/
This is an outdoor venue sitting right next to the Poudre River.

——————————————————————————–

Jul 24 – Colorado Springs, CO at Black Sheep
Sage Francis
B. Dolan
Metermaids
Ticket link!