Released: July 10, 2012

Songwriter: Aesop Rock

Producer: Aesop Rock

Here we go, happy holidays

July 4th, 1981
Candles of a Roman ilk
Unloaded from a Chevy truck
Into the home her folks had built
Patio was charcoals and extended fam in folding chairs
Safely arced around the yard to focus on the smoking flares
Couple cousins, uncles, aunts
Mostly grown-ups, couple brats
Baby Ruby's only two, she's too close to the jumping jacks
Mommy scoops her to the house, buckles up the booster seat
Rolls her to the storm door, let her long for all the lunacy
Telephone distracting Mom, Ruby wriggles out her strap
Fingers push the plexiglass, she's off into the sour patch
Past the pyrotechnics, undetected and invisible
Woke the sleeping beagle skipping toward the kidney swimming pool
Off into the yawning blue, the splash would mum the rocket-ships
Ruby's lungs were filling by the time her kin were cognizant
Many sprung and sprinted down, all arrive belated but
The beast she had earlier stirred had been alert since waking up
Canine let his gainer fly, water-top commotion grow
Howling guests assume the cloven hooves had come to do-si-do
Frenzied and congested deck, part to let the others see
Soggy beagle gently dragging Ruby in his yellow teeth
Laid the tiny body in the sun before her father‘s feet
When she choked the liquid through her bluish lips he dropped his knee
Help the air to reconvene, towel his shaking Ruby off
EMT confirm the save, everybody say "good dog!"

Aesop Rock

Born Ian Matthias Bavitz, Aesop Rock was a pioneer in the new wave of underground hip-hop in New York City during the early 2000s. Regarding his name, he

I acquired the name Aesop from a movie I had acted in with some friends. It was my character’s name and it sort of stuck. The rock part came later just from throwing it in rhymes.

Aesop has a solid discography with 8 albums spanning over the course of 20+ years. He started in 1999 by selling his first album, Music for Earthworms, through his website while he was a student at Boston University. He has since gained a cult following and been named one of the best artists of the 2000s. His most successful albums are None Shall Pass, Skelethon, and The Impossible Kid which peaked on the Billboard 200 at #50, #21, and #30 respectively.