Manifesto (Live)

Let's get one thing straight:
Bob Dylan never played here
Joni Mitchell never sang here
Dr. King never preached here

This is a new stage
This is a new space
And even if they had
What would it matter anyway?

'Cause the ghosts of the past
Cannot bring me any luck
All that matters is tonight
All that matters is tonight
And tonight all that matters
Is whether or not I suck

'Cause it doesn't matter all the hype you heard
Or the fact that you may or may not have heard any hype
It doesn't matter what record label I'm on
Or the fact that I may or may not be on a record label at all
It doesn't matter what the paper said
Or the fact that the papers may have been defeated
And it doesn't matter what Twitter said, oh
'Cause the revolution will not be tweeted, yeah

All that matters is right here
All that matters is right now
All that matters is right here
And I might be sleeping on your couch tonight
I'm not sure if they told you yet
I know you want me to be more famous than that
Ah, but fame ain't got nothing to do with it
'Cause I'd rather sleep on your couch and eat your cookies
Than sleep alone in some hotel room and not have any cookies at all

I came here to meet you
I came here to sing to you
I came here to meet you

So let's get one thing straight:
Bob Dylan never played here
Leonard Cohen never sang here
Woody Guthrie never preached here
This is a new stage
This is a new scene

And if my generation is going to make any impact at all
There's one thing we need to believe:
We need to believe that the songs that we write can be better
Than the songs that were written by the legends of our past
We have to believe that the music that we make
Has the potential to be better than the music that was made
By the legends of our past
Otherwise what's the point?

And I hope it's okay that I said that
I hope the older generation ain't pissed
It's just that I want a summer of love too
I want a renaissance
I want ours to be the best
I know this town's conceited as hell
I know it sounds like blasphemy to say
That we could be better than the Beatles, and Dylan, and Beethoven
Oh I'm not saying that it's me

All I'm saying's that I'm trying
Me and my friends we are trying
Every night we are trying
Thanks for coming and watching me try