Jon Bailey · Grief Eater · Track 3 demo
The Woodpecker is a free folk demo by Jon Bailey. Stream the ~2:58 MP3 here, open the full lyrics, watch lines fade around the cover, or open the official music video on YouTube (debuts July 16, 2026 at 12pm EST) — found me tall and alone / in the woods and thought / i will be building my home here / but when she found all the holes / others left before / she said i'd rather be wholesome.
Press Space to play · ←→ seek 5s
A free demo premiere of The Woodpecker by Jon Bailey — track 3 on the upcoming Grief Eater album, with free stream, full lyrics, and an official YouTube music video (debuts July 16, 2026 at 12pm EST). Alternative folk from Saint Augustine, Florida.
Not yet on Spotify or Apple. Stream free here or watch the music video on YouTube. The 2018 album lowercase i is on major platforms.
More free demos live on Grief Eater and Music. Share this one if it lands with you.
A free folk demo by Jon Bailey — track 3 of the upcoming album Grief Eater. Stream free on this page (download is currently locked).
About 2 minutes and 58 seconds.
Not yet. This page is the free premiere. Jon Bailey’s album lowercase i (2018) is on Spotify, Apple Music, and elsewhere.
Open jonbailey.xyz/the-woodpecker directly, click track 3 on Grief Eater, or find free demos from the home and Music pages.
Yes. Watch on YouTube (debuts July 16, 2026 at 12pm EST): The Woodpecker — Official Music Video (also youtu.be/5MKxZw4VICM; linked above with the video thumbnail).
Tap Lyrics for the full sand-sift panel. While the song plays, timed lines also fade in around the cover art.
Not right now — the download button is locked. You can stream free on this page. You can stream free on this page.
The Woodpecker casts the narrator as a tall naked tree — loud-mouthed, full of holes left by everyone who nested before. Words crumble into crumbs in his beard. A woodpecker appears, considers building a home, finds the holes, and chooses loneliness (then wholesomeness, then keeping looking). Jaw-aching metronome method; mourning that comes and goes. He draws an ash tree on paper and later an acacia on flayed skin — sacrifice as art. Sew me into a coat: she goes dancing, wearing him out, scary side smile, you’re next. The cycle returns: tall and alone; she’d rather be lonely.
Relational damage and the cost of raw self-expression; radical vulnerability; cyclical rejection and loneliness; ash (world-tree / help) and acacia (resilience after chaos); the coat as self worn by another; methodical inspection of past wounds; beautiful melancholy and hard-won insight.
i'd rather be lonely
this mouth makes loud sounds
over my lips go watery riffs
fall down like leaves
naked is the tree
my words have caused me
oh so much trouble
how they crumble into rumble
now they're crumbs in my beard
a woodpecker appeared
found me tall and alone
in the woods and thought
i will be building my home here
but when she found all the holes
others left before
she said i'd rather be lonely
my jaw is aching
metronome murderer
i'm sure you've probably heard of her methodical kills
mo(u)rning comes and goes
i drew a picture of an ash tree
on a fairly square piece of paper
God, help us
she found me tall and alone
she said i'd rather be wholesome
i drew a picture of an acacia tree
on a finely tanned piece of my own flayed skin
sew me into a coat
she'll go out dancing
wearing me out
she's showing off now
with that scary side smile
she knows you're next
she said i'd rather be lonely
Jon Bailey · Esc to close
