john k samson fantasy baseball at the end of the world

John K. Samson welcomes back baseball and disses Trump on new single

Baseball is back, in empty stadiums with new social distancing rules, which made for a very strange, very 2020 Opening Day on Thursday. Anthony Fauci threw out the first pitch in DC (just barely missed the plate), before the Nationals faced off and lost to the Yankees. Donald Trump announced that he’d be throwing out the first pitch at the Yankees’ game on August 15 and he told Sean Hannity last night, “I hope they’re not going to be kneeling when the flag is raised. I don’t like to see that. That would hurt a lot of people in our country.”

All of this weirdness — baseball, 2020, etc — is felt deeply in “Fantasy Baseball At The End Of The World,” a song by Weakerthans frontman John K Samson that he’s been playing live for a while but officially released today. “I manage my fantasy baseball team better / than I manage my anger these days / and I’d trade my best pitcher / for a draft-pick and picture / of the president writhing in pain.” While dark thought fill his brain, John still has some hope, ending the song with “I’m going outside / I’m going to help organize / something better / Something beautiful.”

Listen and read the lyrics, below.

John K Samson -“Fantasy Baseball At The End Of The World”
I manage my fantasy baseball team better
than I manage my anger these days,
and I’d trade my best pitcher
for a draft-pick and picture
of the president writhing in pain.
It’s a weird thing to wish for
but I can’t stop wishing,
refreshing the browser, someday
if I live long enough
and the world doesn’t end
my wish will come true, in a way,
and he’ll die like we all die,
in pain or asleep,
and we’ll still have our fantasy baseball,
and the next fascist fucker in line for the job
of demolishing hope for us all.
So I’m putting in love now,
I’m putting in faith,
putting fear on a long-term IL.
I’m going outside,
I’m going to help organize
something better.
Something beautiful.