In 2020, I purchased a Hybrid Special by Michael Kelly Guitars to benefit Prism Analog, a nonprofit recording studio in my city (I was also on their board at the time). I didn't actually pick it up for several months (this was early pandemic, after all) - but when I did, I got inspired, and before long I had recorded two demos using it. This song - "Pull Up The Ladder" - is one of those demos. This is pretty typical of where I tend to "park" my in-progress music after my initial flurry of energy and excitement has passed: the arrangement is more or less complete, the mixing is pretty decent, and the vocals/lyrics are limited. In this case, I wrote a single stanza that I liked quite a bit, and then sang it in two different ways to see how it sat in both the verse and the chorus. I wanted to jump On the edge of the bed Slipping and losing control I wanted to stumble And split my head Like a brick through a window The lyrics are still rough, but the concept is this: It often feels (to me, at least) that "bootstraps-minded" people stress the importance of freedom and personal responsibility over EVERYTHING else in life. That a person forced to make the best of a bad situation, is really a person who has chosen to live that life instead of reaching for success. That someone who cannot afford health insurance is "choosing risk of their own free will". But in many cases, it also feels like the people who came before them are pulling up the ladder - taking away the opportunity to rise as high as they did. Anyway, this is unfinished - but I hope you guys enjoy it. -Ian