Daily Dose: Lucy Dacus, “Night Shift”

Dacus announces her highly anticipated follow-up to her 2016 debut, No Burden, with a devastating breakup song

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Daily Dose: Lucy Dacus, “Night Shift”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

We’ve been waiting a long while to write these words: Lucy Dacus has announced her sophomore album. Historian is due out on March 2 via Matador Records, and with its unveiling, Dacus has shared her first-ever breakup song, the devastating “Night Shift.” Listen below, and listen good.

“Night Shift,” Historian’s opening track, is a scathing ode to an unfaithful lover. “Don’t hold your breath. Forget you ever saw me at my best,” commands Dacus. “You don’t deserve what you don’t respect.” Nowhere near content with being neglected, Dacus is so driven to put the past behind her that she takes the titular night shift: “You got a 9 to 5, so I’ll take the night shift / and I’ll never see you again if I can help it.” It’s no less ferocious for Dacus’ delicate delivery.

It’s safe to say that Dacus is a favorite of ours: The Richmond-based indie songstress was one of Paste’s best new artists of 2016, her debut LP No Burden made our top 10 albums of last year and album opener “I Don’t Want to Be Funny Anymore” landed in the top five on our list of 2016’s best songs. Needless to say, Historian, produced by Collin Pastore in Nashville and mixed by Grammy winner John Congleton, is one of our most anticipated albums of 2018.

“This is the album I needed to make,” says Dacus, who sees Historian as her definitive statement as a songwriter and musician. “Everything after this is a bonus.”

Listen to “Night Shift” below (or via your streaming service of choice here), plus Dacus’ 2016 Daytrotter Session (one of last year’s very best), and find the Historian tracklist and album art further down, plus the lead single’s lyrics. While you’re at it, revisit our December 2016 interview with Dacus here and preorder her new album here.

Historian Tracklist:
01. Night Shift
02. Addictions
03. The Shell
04. Nonbeliever
05. Yours And Mine
06. Body To Flame
07. Timefighter
08. Next Of Kin
09. Pillar Of Truth
10. Historians

Historian Album Art:

LucyDacus_Historian art.jpg

“Night Shift” Lyrics:
The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit, I had a coughing fit.
I mistakenly called them by your name.
I was let down it wasn’t the same.

I’m doing fine, trying to derail my one track mind,
regaining my self-worth in record time,
but I can’t help but think of your other in the bed that was mine.

Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth, call you a bitch and leave?
Why did I come here? To sit and watch you stare at your feet?
What was the plan? Absolve your guilt and shake hands?

I feel no need to forgive but I might as well,
but let me kiss your lips so I know how it felt.
Pay for my coffee and leave before the sun goes down.
Walk for hours in the dark feeling all hell.

Don’t hold your breath. Forget you ever saw me at my best.
You don’t deserve what you don’t respect.
Don’t deserve what you say you love and then neglect.

Now bite your tongue. It’s too dangerous to fall so young.
Take back what you said.
Can’t lose what you never had.

I feel no need to forgive but I might as well,
but let me kiss your lips so I know how it felt.
Pay for my coffee and leave before the sun goes down.
Walk for hours in the dark feeling all hell.

You got a 9 to 5, so I’ll take the night shift
and I’ll never see you again if I can help it.
In five years I hope the songs feel like covers,
dedicated to new lovers.

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