Lyric Archive 1

ALBUM TITLE: A Beautiful Thing
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 12/7/09

SONG LIST:
1. Snow Will Fall
2. Fill Up the Town With Light
3. Christmas In the City
4. Up With the Hero
5. Boom Boom Boom
6. Sad at Christmas
7. A Beautiful Thing
8. Season’s Greetings
9. On Through to Christmas
10. Christmas For a While
11. Sound It Out

SNOW WILL FALL

Sifting through the piles
With wrapping in my hand
Traveled all these miles
Strike up the band
Holly on the stairs
Trees lit up so bright
Carolers are walking
And singing through the night

Snow will fall, snow will fall
Snow will fall all day
Watch the scenes play out like dreams
As the night takes them away
Snow will fall, snow will fall
Snow will fall all day
Watch the scenes play out like dreams
As the night takes them away

A day or two ago
I walked blocks and blocks
Stopped by to see my love
She was warming up her socks
The fire began to crack
The nog was on sill
We sat down by the window
And we drank up the swill

FILL UP THE TOWN WITH LIGHT
The wind whispered to the boy
Will they come if we build it?
In the farmhouse it said to the boy
Will they come if we built it?
The sky, the sky
Is shining so bright
See those stars like diamonds
See those stars like diamonds

The boy whispered to his sister
Will they come if we build it?
In the kitchen he said to his sister
Will they come if we build it?
A tree, a tree
Listing in the wind
The wind will ruffle its wings
The wind will ruffle its wings

Sister whispered to her grandma
Will they come if we build it?
In the rocking chair was grandma
Will they come if we build it?
A flower, a flower
Bursting through the soil
Colors of yellow and green
Colors of yellow and green

Grandma called out to the town
They will come if we build it
People are in need all around
They will come if we built it
The love, the love
The love is in the air
Let it fill up the town with light
Let it fill up the town with light
The love, the love
The love is in the air
Let it fill up the town with light
CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY
Car horns honk, can you hear?
Snowboards and skis are near
It whisks them away
Off into the gray
It’s Christmas in the city again

The houses are covered in snow
The snow globes are put up for show
Music is in the air
There’s ice on the stairs,
It’s Christmas in the city again

Wrap the lights around windows,
Put the wreath upon the front door
Ask the postman for the mail, he says not today
The mail will come after the holidays

Gather ‘round the piano,
Sing a song that we all know
Have no fear,
Feel the joy, drink the beer,
It’s Christmas in the city again

Wrap the lights around the windows,
Put the wreath upon the front door
There’s no place for all this to go,
So putting up the decorations ain’t no chore

It’s cold in the winter
In my hand is a splinter
We got some firewood,
Now we’re all feelin’ good
It’s Christmas in the city again.

UP WITH THE HERO

I can hear those voices
“Up with the hero!
We shall overcome right now
Everyone will be free”
Happiness for the people
Loud shouting in the streets
I can hear them protest:
“A hero has come to save us
He is the one that made us”
“Up with the hero!”

We push him up above
He is filled with joy and love
Hours go by and he came
He is not the one to blame
We are all looking for water
We are looking for the wine
We are looking for the savior
We are looking for love
I can hear those voices
“Up with the hero!”

Ramparts are streaming!
Jewels are gleaming!
You can feel the joy
You can feel the weight lifting
There is glory in the details
They read the books again
They give their looks and then
The hands are outstretched
Reaching upward toward heaven
“Up with the hero!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM
Walk with me, boom boom boom
We have things to see, boom boom boom
We lay out all our dreams, boom boom boom
We write reams and reams, boom boom boom
Boom boom boom

I have love to give, boom boom boom
So here it is

Child is born, boom boom boom
May be rich or poor, boom boom boom
It’s a new morn, boom boom boom
But we live like kings, boom boom boom
Boom boom boom

I have so much to give, boom boom boom
So here it is

A woman’s face, boom boom boom
A child’s embrace, boom boom boom
A fire in a fireplace, boom boom boom
They shine so bright, boom boom boom
Boom boom boom

We have so much to give, boom boom boom
So here it is

SAD AT CHRISTMAS

Doo-wop again at night
Scrape the ice off the cars
People can all get along
Even if it’s only for this time
But I hope you understand
Since I used to be your man
It can be sad at Christmas sometimes

I walked along the boulevard
I made a house from gingerbread
I looked at lovers making ice sculptures
For some reason I just saw red
I hope you understand
Since I used to be your man
When you love and you lose
It can be sad at Christmas sometimes

I had money and I had friends
Then I gambled it away
I can see that joy is all around
But it escapes me today
I saw the light in a child’s eye
I didn’t want to let him down

I wish you the best of the best
I wish you pile the blessings upon each other

I hope you get close with your family
I hope the good times last until January

But I’ll get lost for now
I guess the season made you happy
But I have reasons to be sad
I don’t consider it a gift, but I play the cards I’m dealt
When you love and you lose
It can be sad at Christmas sometimes

A BEAUTIFUL THING

Bells and balls and barrios
Lounges and alcohol
Come one, come all
All the adults and all the children
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
A beautiful thing

Horns blow out,
Cymbals crash again
Fingers dance along the keyboard
Listen to your brother and sister
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
A beautiful thing

Raise your hands! Stomp your feet!
We are happy again
If only for a while
We can come together and we can smile
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
Let’s look at a beautiful thing
A beautiful thing

SEASON’S GREETINGS

I’m sending my season’s greetings
I’m wishing you well
Congrats on all your days
Best of luck on your adventure

I’m sending my season’s greetings
Hope you feel it in your heart
A new day is here
It’s time for a new start

It’s the same now as it was before
All the joy has returned
Another year has returned
This happiness has been earned

Time will pass
It can’t all last
But for now let’s enjoy
Being together
I’m sending you my season’s greetings

ON THROUGH TO CHRISTMAS

Look in the windows
Look at the dressed up folks
Look at the style
It’s cold, and my nose is cold
We are laughing
We are walking
I think there is happiness here
I think I heard the clink in the can

Street corner singers
Singing their songs at Christmas time
La-La-La, they all sing
Bringing us on through to Christmas

Street after street
People moving, people pushing
Cars drive by
Tears are in the eyes
Open those gifts someday soon
But for now we just croon
The kids love it, the old folks, too
Someone put this together
Hey sawbones, someone
Has to sing it

Street corner singers
Singing their songs at Christmas time
La-La-La, they all sing
Bringing us on through to Christmas

La-La-La, they all sing
Bringing us on through to Christmas
Bringing us on through to Christmas

CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN HERE FOR A WHILE

Christmas has been here for a while
It was long ago started but we still enjoy
The fruits of all they built
The night is cold and we can feel the frost
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting night
Christmas has been here for a while

They did not know what they saw
But they knew they needed to come together
In the heart of December,
They walked in dark caverns
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting night
Christmas has been here for a while

We look up to the sky
We remember why, we let out a sigh
There is the manger and the three wise men
Watching and wondering
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting night
Christmas has been here for a while

There are as many songs
As there are stars in the sky
And if you ask for my favorite
I can’t tell you which one or why
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting night
Christmas has been here for a while

They walked along dark roads
They carried candle lights
They know all of those songs
And they remember all of those
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting nights
Christmas has been here for a while

Let us all come together
Let us sing in harmony
We have so much to be thankful for tonight
Remember not the dark but the light
Deep, deep, deep, enchanting nights
Christmas has been here for a while

SOUND IT OUT

Sound it out in Seattle
Look at all the houses
Look at people walking
The street signs are bright
When the light hit ‘em right
The slush is in your shoes
Push away those Christmas blues
Feel the love tonight

Sound it out in Seattle
And bang it on the drum
The living walk, the dead are here
We bring it back again
Look at your watch
Look at the stars
Kings and Queens came before
They will come again

How soft, how soft
The presents are unwrapped
Now we can enjoy
We’ve been given so much
I can hear the words,
The world is full of loss,
It’s time to do some giving,
Don’t be dead among the living

ALBUM TITLE: Big White Moon
RELEASE DATE: 11/7/09

SONG LIST:
1. From the Day I Was Born
2. Good Timin’ Man
3. I Got Your Number
4. Try to Find a Place
5. Starts with the Mornin’
6. I Can’t Find the Bed
7. Where is the Number
8. Give Me Some Coffee
9. See a Train A-Rollin’
10. We’re Back to Monday
11. It’s a Big White Moon
12. Flood
13. Mind of Trouble # 1
14. Mind of Trouble # 2
15. Mind of Trouble # 3
16. My Lady Told Me
17. Harvest
18. Took a Shot at Heaven
19. Honey Lady
20. Castaway
21. All the Hallelujahs

FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN

From the day I was born
I couldn’t get a break
I don’t look for trouble
But it has my shape

Now I walk along
Sing my song
Got my axe to grind
And the road is long

On the day I die
Just need that woman
To say it was okay
Then she’ll lay me down dyin’

Ain’t no good luck
But it ain’t that bad
Got my axe to grind
The road is wide ahead

GOOD TIMIN’ MAN

Good timin’ man
Can’t find a bed
Tell all your friends
He gotta rest his head

Just another day
I can’t find my smokes
I guess you call it the blues
But it ain’t no joke

Good timin’ man
Wants to fly away
Hangover blues
But it’s here to stay

Just another day
I can’t find my smokes
Gonna ride away
But you’re in my spokes

Good timin’ man
Buy you a big, fat ring
Loosen it on up
I can hear ya sing

I GOT YOUR NUMBER

I got your number
I watch you go along
A holding pattern
Hear your favorite song

I want to see ya get down
From the back to the front
You can hear the music
It can make ya jump

I got your number
So don’t move your leg
Hold it or mess around
Got your red dress pegged

I want to see ya get down
From the back to the front
You can hear the music
It can make ya jump

TRY TO FIND A PLACE

Try to find a place
Where I can hang my hat
Just need a couch
Don’t need no rats

Walk along the road
It’s hard and dusty
All the feet before
I ain’t so rusty

Back on the farm
I balled up on the floor
When my baby left me
I leave a light in the door

Walk along the road
Try to gather it up
Be rich in heaven
Be poor on the trust

STARTS WITH THE MORNIN’

Oooh yeah

Starts with the mornin’
And it always has
Stay up so late
But the sun won’t wait

I once was a boy
But now I’m a man
I tell you baby
I do what I can

Starts with the mornin’
Just another day
All the women wait
But the sun keeps comin’

I once was a boy
But now I’m a man
I tell you baby
I do what I can

I CAN’T FIND THE BED

I can’t find the bed
I can’t rest my head
The mean old woman
She left me for dead

She make me sad and lonely
You know she’s tellin’ lies
I sit by the whiskey jug
I look her in the eyes

Look at the water
Look at the blue
My love is big
She knows me, too

She makes me sad and lonely
What can I do?
Tear up all her letters
Like the doctor do

I can’t find the bed

WHERE IS THE NUMBER?

Where is the number?
It was by the bed?
I asked for lumber
I got this instead

You will be sorry
But you just can’t change
You been done wrong
Damage in the brain

Where is the number?
How did it get away?
Gone for good, now
Freedom is a steep price to pay

You will be sorry
But you just can’t change
You been done wrong
Damage in the brain

GIVE ME SOME COFFEE

Give me some coffee
Bake me some bread
Give me some drink
So I can soothe my head

Ah the men they lie
Make the woman cry
It’s wretched weather
But she ain’t gonna die

Rain down the tears
Fallin’ down in sheets
You fight, you scream
Runnin’ through the streets

Ah the men they lie
Make the woman cry
It’s wretched weather
But she ain’t gonna die

SEE A TRAIN A-ROLLIN’

See the train a-rollin
See the cars go by
See the rain a-fallin’
Hear the baby cry

Here comes the night
I’m on the move
Hounds of hell a-fright
Try to bite my shoes

See a train a-rollin
Someone’s at the door
The ghosts are risin’
Can’t take it no more

Here comes the night
I’m on the move
Hounds of hell a-fright
Try to bite my shoes

WE’RE BACK TO MONDAY

We’re back to Monday
Got another week
Strap on the badge
Got to beat the feet

See the black crow fly
Hear the dog barkin’
Take me to my knees
I begin to pray

We’re back to Monday
Where did it go?
Another time we lost
Another long time show

See the black crow fly
Hear the dog barkin’
Take me to my knees
I begin to pray

IT’S A BIG WHITE MOON

It’s a big white moon
At the edge of the night
Saw someone sneakin’
In the back door light

I’m gonna write a song
So everyone in town
Can find the girl in the west
So she run around

She’s a mean old woman
She likes to take a chance
She’s got no good numbers
In the pockets of her pants

I’m gonna write a song
Cause I’m all alone
Can find the girl in the west
You know I can’t come home

FLOOD

Got stuck in the flood
Got a shot at heaven
Saw a pool of blood
This goes to eleven

Gonna take a shot
Gonna bash it in
Gonna kill the pig
Gonna do it again

Got stuck in the flood
Messed up redemption
Diggin’ all the ditches
Like some salvation

Gonna take a shot
Gonna bash it in
Gonna kill the pig
Gonna do it again

MIND OF TROUBLE # 1

Got a mind of trouble
Gotta take bath
To all and sundry
We kicked some ass

Got full of the fight
Like ’71
Had to find the light
Up came the sun

Got a mind of trouble
Like some British Beans
Can I have a double
Down in New Orleans

Got full of the fight
Like ’71
Had to find the light
Up came the sun

MIND OF TROUBLE # 2

Got bruised and battered
Parted with the past
To all and sundry
We kicked some ass

Got full of the fight
Like ‘71
Had to raise a ruckus
Up came the sun

Got bruised and battered
Tried to make some noise
And all that mattered
Was soon destroyed

Got full of the fight
Like ‘71
Had to raise a ruckus
Up came the sun

MIND OF TROUBLE # 3

Got a mind of trouble
Watch it float ahead
Black cat seein’ double
Make sure he’s fed

So full of the fight
Tryin’ to forget
I couldn’t get away
There was nothin’ left

All the up and comers
They think they’re fine
They come together
And drink up my wine

So full of the fight
Tryin’ to forget
I couldn’t get away
There was nothin’ left

MY LADY TOLD ME

You know my lady told me
To find your own way
Do the dance and boogie
I don’t care to say

I came to the city
Down on Bourbon Street
All the people movin’
To the funky beat

You know my lady told me
She said to stay the night
She said to have a ball
If you’re full of the fight

All through city
Down on Bourbon Street
All the people movin’
The whole damn week

You know my lady told me

HARVEST

Hear the sound of freedom
Closer to the bone
Was a callous call
Through the rainstorms

I can hear ‘em comin’
Got a lot to reap
It’s another harvest
Through the dead trees

Black cat howlin’
Show you the way
Over those two hills
Someone died today

I can hear ‘em comin’
Got a lot to reap
It’s another harvest
Through the dead trees

TOOK A SHOT AT HEAVEN

Took a shot at heaven
Father, I must go
I can hear them singin’
Searchin’ high and low

Go down Moses
Tell me what to do
After all this toil
Please let me loose

Took a shot at heaven
Been all around the divide
Dead, spoiled and in chains
By the waterside

Go down Moses
Tell me what to do
After all this toil
Please let me loose

HONEY LADY

Got a honey lady
Down by the shore
She’s a workin’ woman
Gonna carry me o’er

A big, blazing fire
On a barren land
Fell down in chains
Come take my hand

Got a honey lady
She help to lay the rail
Wade in the water
She could never fail

A big, blazing fire
On a barren land
Fell down in chains
Come take my hand

CASTAWAY

The man was cast away
Watch his arms flail
Singin’ and mournin’
When his ship set sail

He’s in the wilderness
So baby don’t cry
In the unknown land
People never die

Gonna take his boat
To the other side
Where the water’s deep
And the roads are wide

He’s in the wilderness
So baby don’t cry
In the unknown land
People never die

ALL THE HALLELUJAHS

All the Hallelujahs
Won’t help when I leave
Ain’t been before
So you can Halle me

Gonna raise a ruckus
Like a funeral song
In a bundle of rags
Caught rollin’ round

See the cattle movin’
They keep their pace
To the top of the hill
To the end of the race

Gonna raise a ruckus
Like a funeral song
In a bundle of rags
Caught rollin’ round

ALBUM TITLE: Wishing Well
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 10/7/09

SONGS:

1. The Mystery
2. We Can Go Together
3. The Work
4. Walk With Me
5. Destination
6. Sway
7. Can You See the Sun?
8. Worth Waiting For
9. I Am Home
10. This Is Life

THE MYSTERY

Begin with the voice, then start to sway
Sing for Cindy’s town
I hear she’s got herself a job
I hear it makes her feel sound
You can tell her mind’s adrift
But memory’s just a well
She drops her bucket down sometimes
Brings it up to show, not tell

This is what’s meant to be
But I wanna solve the mystery

She turns her chair, she walks a bit
The town is turning gray
I think I met her once, it starts to click
I think I know what she is, I think I pushed that away
I will play a song for her
And all she represents
What you are, what you are, what you are
What you are
I play it on my guitar

This is what’s meant to be
But I wanna solve the mystery

I’m booked for a few more weeks,
Those weeks turn to months, turn to years
I’m a little bit beat down

Lost a bit in the blackjack game, lost a bit in the empty eyes
A stranger passes, I see her mom, I see she’s told some lies
Give my best to the old gang, tell them I’m still okay
It’s funny how you seem to stop
When nothing’s in the way

This is what’s meant to be
But I wanna solve the mystery
This is what’s meant to be
But I wanna solve the mystery
This is what’s meant to be
But I wanna solve the mystery

WE CAN GO TOGETHER

Look out at the day, it gets away
It’s just a series
I think I’ll stay
And wait for the day when gone are the worries

Take my hand, when feel down
And I’ll walk with you
We can go together
Because the day will come
When I need someone
We can go together

Dry all of your tears
Look at the day, it can be new again
Cry not for the pain
But for all the joy, you can find it in friends

Take my hand, when feel down
And I’ll walk with you
We can go together
Because the day will come
When I need someone
We can go together

When you need someone
To help with the work
You can’t do on your own
Let me know you need help
From someone else
I’ll be there, you’re not alone

Give me a shout, I’ll come one out
We can go together
You’re not the only one who needs help
We can go together

Take my hand, when feel down
And I’ll walk with you
We can go together
Because the day will come
When I need someone
We can go together

THE WORK

She cleaned the house for five hours
She scrubbed the floor
She did the dishes and cleaned the stairs
She polished the knobs on the doors
It’s hard work, it’s hard
Don’t take it for granted no more

Hour after hour, we’re doin’ the work
It don’t get done unless someone steps up
Hour after hour, we’re doing the work
You kept wishin’ it would go away
But you have to do the work each day

He takes the garbage out and milks the cow
He polishes the silver spoon
He does the marketing every Saturday
He washes the car ‘neath the light of the moon
He wished for secrets to be answered
And for someone to help out
But work needs to be done, up comes the sun
The work is what life’s about

Hour after hour, we’re doin’ the work
It don’t get done, unless someone steps up
Hour after hour, we’re doing the work
You kept wishin’ it would go away
But you have to do the work each day

WALK WITH ME

When you’re tired and cold
At the end of the day
And the week seems so heavy in front of you
Don’t hesitate to call on me
I will do my best to comfort you

And baby, baby, walk with me, walk with me, walk with me

When you’re sad and blue
And the world’s a shady hue
And their backs all seem to turn on you
I will be right here, so have no fear
I will help you onto your feet so you can move

And baby, baby, walk with me, walk with me, walk with me

DESTINATION

Here we go again,
With the right walk, and the right words
For all of those who wanted to be strong
And here we go again
We wonder, what could be the best way
To move this night along

Look at all the highway signs
All the lovers drive in line
And they say
We’re dy-dy-dyin’ today
They say
We’re try-try-tryin’ to pay
The dues we feel we owe and maybe someday
We’ll reach the destination

SWAY

Each time I wake up I don’t know
How to deal with adversity
So, I look at the ways to grow
I see you lookin’ at me
I think I can be free

Take me to where all the green grass grows
I wanna be where the wind blows
There I’ll stay, I just want to sway
I wanna be where the green grass grows
I wanna be where the wind blows
There I’ll stay, I just want to sway

Lookin’ for ways to find a direction
Lookin’ for eyes that can help me see
Lookin’ for people to share the time with
I see you lookin’ at me
I think I can be free

In this lonely time
We can find a place to rest
We can make the climb
We can do our best

I appreciate all you’ve done for me
I appreciate what you’ve done for the world
The smile, the laughter, and the joy
Now here we go
It’s time to float, float on

CAN YOU SEE THE SUN?

It was whispered once to me that one day you will be free
It’s true, the clouds will part again
In the hour when loops are closed, the baby bud becomes a rose
It’s true, you will see it bursting

Tell me now, can you see the sun?
Tell me now, can you see the sun?
Through the trees, through the storm

Every day that I recall, the rain was like a wonderwall
It’s true, sometimes the light comes creepin’ through
Every day until the end, the rain will fall and fall again
It’s true, but it starts the world anew

Tell me now, can you see the sun?
Tell me now, can you see the sun?
Through the trees, through the storm

WORTH WAITING FOR

Someone wrote something on a piece of paper
It was like a letter from someone I’d never met
It said you shouldn’t think of everything you might lose
You should think of everything you might get

It talked of a love affair, where two lovers snuck away
They made a place to meet but they were reckless
They hoped to fall in love over and over, day after day
There was a book and an idea of tenderness, it said:

If you arrive early
Please wait
I might not be on time
But I still need the date
It’s hard to depend
On people who let you down
Especially when so many people
Are just runnin’ around
But trust me that I’ll end up in your arms again
So please wait for me
Your love is worth waiting for

I was reading a letter the things were all scrawled out
It seems that it was crossed out with red lines,
But the message came through what was
I could see it had been crumpled a few times, it said:

For some reason I was in the doorway
There was a baptism
A man was crying who was not used to cryin’
What was the reason?
We can’t recall
But the letter was still posted on his wall

I AM HOME

Destination snowcapped mountain
Washington, by the trees and the river
We can walk along the trail to the sky
We can reach the summit if we try

From the hills to the valley
From my heart to the sky
Feel the sun on my face
I am home, I am home

Photographs in the passenger’s seat
I was standing by a crashing waterfall
Park the truck below and I can taste
The whiskey as I take a drink of it all

From the hills to the valley
From my heart to the sky
Feel the sun on my face
I am home, I am home

Did the mountain call my name?
I think I hear her singin’ to me
The song is playin’ on the radio
I think that I might go far away
Back to from where I came

From the hills to the valley
From my heart to the sky
Feel the sun on my face
I am home, I am home

THIS IS LIFE

Paul worked with widgets at the brokerage house
Mary worked the toll booth by the bridge, book in hand
He put a ring on her finger after they fell in love
After they wed they danced to their favorite band

Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life
Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life

Paul was pushin’
Pushin’ for some real estate
Mary was working
Workin’ by the Golden Gate

Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life
Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life

Time rolls on and they had a few kids
The story sounds familiar
They want to be something new
But they want to be part of the chain

Paul keeps making widgets
And Mary retires
Paul keeps on sweatin’ out
Mary burns the home fires
The sun keeps rising
And the kids keep growing up
And all the things they dreamed of
Are coming true

Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life
Hey-ha-hey, Hey-ha-hey, this is life, Olay
Da-da-da, this is life

ALBUM TITLE: Beneath the Hemlock
ALUBM RELEASE DATE: 9/7/09

1. Phillip Thrill
2. Insistent Drummer
3. Center of the Storm
4. So Long Since I Was Lost
5. Beneath the Hemlock
6. Wow! What Was All That?
7. Monday Wonder
8. I Am Finally Alive
9. Let’s Make It Work
10. You Wish He’d Return
11. You Ain’t the Guy

PHILLIP THRILL

Phil Thrill swallowed pills,
The family was waiting
When he came back to Tennessee
His years away
Had made his hair gray,
And made it hard for his eyes to see
But pills were plentiful,
And alcohol was in the skull,
Made him feel okay to be himself,
With his tattooed arms and his empty shelf

It’s a pity how the bombs took his legs away,
God did not mean for him to dance and swing and sway
He was a star in Little League,
Great teams fade, you can’t sustain the dynasty
Oohhhh….

Phil Thrill’s bunker hill
Was just a memory
His family tried to build him up but he fell
Phil had a hard time dealing
So he numbed that empty feeling
Now he was stuck in pawn shops for show and tell
They say blood is thicker than water
But he could not talk to his daughter
So he wandered aimlessly through his days
And found it hard to find a job that pays

It’s a pity how the bombs took his legs away,
God did not mean for him to dance and swing and sway
He was a star in Little League,
Great teams fade, you can’t sustain the dynasty
Oohhhh….

Phil Thrill was sitting still
Under a lone light bulb
He felt anxious as the dreams declined
All his friends had built mountains
And their wealth sprang up like fountains
While he got better acquainted with his mind
He had so many illusions
In that room he had to lose them
His legs had gone, now the rest of him followed
And he was taken to a hill where a hole was hollowed

It’s a pity how the bombs took his legs away,
God did not mean for him to dance and swing and sway
He was a star in Little League,
Great teams fade, you can’t sustain the dynasty
Oohhhh….

INSISTENT DRUMMER

Someone
Built the buildings
Someone
Made the shoes
They are far away from here

Someone
Built the company
Someone
Built the state
They are far away from here

Does it make you blue?
Look all around you?
Who made who, who made you?

Someone
Has an idea of control
Someone
Made the mold
I feel alive in this hold

We are marching in step
We are growing our dreams
We will not let them die…

Someone
Paved the street
Someone
Is on the beat
March on to that insistent drummer

Does it make you blue?
Look all around you?
Who made who, who made you?

Someone
Built the ship I’m sailing on
Someone
Built the sea I’m sailing on
They are far away from here

We are marching in step
We are growing our dreams
We will not let them die…

Someone
Paved the street
Someone
Is on the beat
March on to that insistent drummer

We are marching in step
We are growing our dreams
We will not let them die…

CENTER OF THE STORM

Billy changes hair pins
He ably averts the sink swim
Drama queens, big dreams
Lincoln was a Byzantine
He had time to spend a dime
Whisked off to better climes
Who’s got the whiskers?
Who suns the blisters?
Look over your shoulder
People are getting’ older
Jesus died for something
That’s why you still sing
To avoid all the celluloid
The drama and the androids
Who is that barker
Swingin’ the black cane
White gloves but darker
Secrets swirl down the drain

Arnie was a big boy
Joking about the shiny toys
Wrestling with the age
Drama patterned on the page
The FBI is on the line
Hoover had a bunch of twine
Someone did a Watergate
Now the MIB’s are all irate
Look over your shoulder
People are getting’ older
Stay away from charlatans
Son of Sam and Sam I Am
I don’t care for harlequins
In the dance in Paris, France
We danced in our chambers
We stole away from danger
We did not describe the mess
We played it close to the vest

Hospital, non-committal
Playing on a large fiddle
We do the Lord’s work
We pump it like a soda jerk
Scar tissue on old phones
Walk among the pheromones
We don’t know we don’t care
The scar tissue’s gonna tear
Look over your shoulder
People are getting’ older
Docile Dave, with a slave
Grindin’ out the water wave
Down with production
Curtail consumption
All the ink on the page
All the words of the sage
Are makin’ me a pleader
All the hearts are full of bleeders

Wear a white shirt, it hurts
Spill the coffee, eat the toffee
Dance long, sing songs
Eat meat, beat feet
Shovel snow, watch it blow
Drop loads, trot globes
Snow globes and electrodes
We know we got the carpet holds
Look over your shoulder
People are getting’ older
If you want to escape
You buy yourself a cape
Make a waffle from a mold
Tell them it’s been sold
Turn your work in on time
Save yourself a dime
If you’re feelin’ funny
Spend some monopoly money

BENEATH THE HEMLOCK

Don’t want to write
Another song about worries
Don’t want to write
Another song about pain
Don’t want to breathe
Life into the bad
When the good is all around
Take stock in that

People come together
Then they pull apart
People get lonely
And then they get blue
They get hungry
They get fed
They just need to fix their head
What is a person to do?

We all want to have
A place to hang our hat
We all want to have a home
That we can count on

Punch at the darkness
Look for a partner
Look for a shadow
Look for a sign
We have reason to feel
That we have nobody
But all we can know
Is what’s in our minds

We all want to have
A place to hang our hat
We all want to have a home
That we can count on

We all want to have a home
That we can count on

Beneath the hemlock
Is where I set my camp
Beneath the hemlock
It got cold and damp
Beneath the hemlock
Is where I hung my hat
Beneath the hemlock
Is the ground where I could stand

SO LONG SINCE I WAS LOST

He draws a picture of the perfect competition
He makes sure it’s always the best rendition
He draws a picture of a dream girl by a river
He writes a poem about all the things he’ll give her

And it’s so long since I was lost
So long since I was lost
So long since I was lost

Betsy Baby had a dream of being big
She got an answer, she got a solution in the gig
All the status of the shiny apparition
Do not believe what you see in superstition

And it’s so long since I was lost
So long since I was lost
So long since I was lost

Hey, hey he got an emblem on his chest
Sometimes, sometimes he gets depressed
All the times he second guessed what he did
Now you know he has everything for a swig

And it’s so long since I was lost
So long since I was lost
So long since I was lost

WOW! WHAT WAS ALL THAT?

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow

I guess this was a mistake, I took more
Than I was supposed to take
Wow, wow,
I know it was just a ruse, but I overstepped
And you had to lose
But it’s just a simple
Stumble I could correct

Wow!
Why did I do that?
I pushed all your buttons
I made you fall flat
Wow, wow
Wow!
What was all that?
I didn’t know
Or maybe I knew all along

It’s just that I cannot learn,
I believe that it
Cannot be earned
If you want to make an impact,
It cannot be sloppy
It must be exact
And you had to lose
But it’s just a simple
Stumble I could correct

Wow!
Why did I do that?
I pushed all your buttons
I made you fall flat
Wow, wow
Wow!
What was all that?
I didn’t know
Or maybe I knew all along

MONDAY WONDER

Monday wonder that I share with you
Big plunder in the things you do
Bat a lash and make a cute face
You and me by the sea
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene

Monday wonder that I share with you
You pushed me to do the thing for two
Not one but a tandem pair
You and me by the sea
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene

Monday wonder, the sound of alarms
Hit the brakes on all of the charms
Had the shakes in back of the car
You and me by the sea
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene

Not Sunday, not Saturday night
You have not found yourself in the fight
We sit back and relax on this skiff
You and me by the sea
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene
You and me by the sea
What a wonderful scene

I AM FINALLY ALIVE

I am finally alive
I woke up and took my first breath
I skipped down the street
On a pair of new feet
I have not felt this before

I saw you among the grass
You had blossomed like a flower
We had cut all the buds before
Now you grew just like they grew
And now you’re beautiful

So I had to write it down
And let them water light surround
It is hard to say it perfectly
So I will make mistakes
But there is no place quite like this

I thought you’d died that one night
When you spun out and nearly crashed
We are bad drivers,
Sometimes we lose
All control and it allows us to say

I am finally alive
I didn’t used to know what that meant
I had a fall
And now I’m changed by it all
Now there’s so much for us to do

The world if full of possibility
I am walking down the alley
And I’m thinking of you and me
Of all the things we have
And all we can discover
So let’s not look to the clouds
Let’s stare straight at one another

LET’S MAKE IT WORK

Yes, it’s been a while, yes, I see your smile
Yes, I can see that you still want me
It’s been years, and we fight the gravity
We want a hand that we can hold
So put yours in mine, it’s all right
We fell out of love, and now we fell hard
We need someone, we ended up here
This is it, this is right now
This is the real thing
Let’s make it work

At the bottom of it all, I need somebody
Put it all out there, get something back
What were those words, those long conversations
I think we’ll make up, for all that we lack
It’s just a simple thing
It’s not complicated
It’s just a feeling
We don’t need to explain
This is it, we’re here right now
This is the real thing
Let’s make it work

I know it’s hard to explain it
I know it’s hard to contain it
But we’ve had our share of hard times
We’ve had our share of heartache
Alone we come together

This is it, this is right now
This is the real thing
Let’s make it work

YOU WISH HE’D RETURN

Simple Simon knew you’d find
A place to hide away
You said you’d love the man again
On some other day
Now you feel the fall a bit
And you want his touch
But he’s moved on to someone new
He don’t think ‘bout you much

Oh, Mary why’d you walk away?
You had him but you let him go
Oh, Mary you did not let him stay
You see him with someone else
And you wish he’d return
You wish he’d return
You wish he’d return
You wish he’d return

You were busy chasin’ boys
While he was chasin’ you
Since he was always in the way
He fell completely out of view
It’s not the things out of your reach
That cause you to work so hard
All the things you need, my dear
Are right in your back yard

YOU AIN’T THE GUY

You can keep tryin’, Ryan, but she ain’t buyin’
Took too long, John, now it’s time to be gone
Walk away, Jay, she don’t want you to stay
Say goodybe, Ty, you ain’t the guy

Mindy why you’d leave, you’re makin’ me grieve,
Oh, I got some tricks still up my sleeve
I think if you give me a chance,
I’ll take you back to the dance

You can keep tryin’, Ryan, but she ain’t buyin’
Took too long, John, now it’s time to be gone
Walk away, Jay, she don’t want you to stay
Say goodybe, Ty, you ain’t the guy

Mindy, I know, you’re gone to Buffalo
But I think they you and me can make a go
If you give me one more shot
I give you what you ain’t got

You can keep tryin’, Ryan, but she ain’t buyin’
Took too long, John, now it’s time to be gone
Walk away, Jay, she don’t want you to stay
Say goodybe, Ty, you ain’t the guy
You ain’t the guy
You ain’t the guy
You ain’t the guy
ALBUM TITLE: False Promises
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 8/7/09

1. Fly The Coop
2. Out Under Diamonds
3. Raspberry Row
4. Turning Your Wheels
5. Sing Along
6. Since You Found Me
7. Swivel Hips
8. This Is How You Rock
9. All The Ones I’ve Lost
10. Stars

FLY THE COOP

See I once was more responsive
But now I do what feels okay
Since the girls are more pensive,
I guess, the birds all fly away
As they spoke without their jargon,
I felt the confidence to choose
I guess we all are quickly changing,
I guess the birds fly the coop

Yes-Yes

He tapped his foot while you were working
His eyes were darting back and forth
Like a lie detector needle jerking
You were not sure of south or north

See, I once was more responsive, (Oh, we know it’s true)
But now I just do what feels okay (Oh, we see that in you)
Now that the girls have lost their luster (Oh, that’s what they do)
I feel the confidence to choose
We all are quickly changing
While the birds fly the coop

I said, “I love the way you look at me”
She said, “So just take a picture quickly”
Then she grabbed another’s hand and rode away
And left me standing solo the on the motorway

See, I once was more responsive
Now I just do what feels okay
The girls have done away with trust
The birds like to fly the coop
Yet as they spoke without all of their bird-like jargon
I finally felt the confidence to choose
And we all are quickly changin’
I guess the birds fly the coop
Oh, we all are quickly changin’
I guess the birds fly the coop

Fly the coop, the birds fly the coop
Fly the coop, the birds fly the coop

OUT UNDER DIAMONDS

Her soul’s in the horse barn come hell or high water
Like many Mondays where she played perfect daughter
In a pale fall evening by the back door she cried
and smoked a long cigarette.

She cast her eyes upon the street full of symbolic cars
She felt weak beneath a roof of boulevard stars
and he came to her through the foggy woods,
he carried a pail full of regret.

He said, “You can kick at the dirt and throw rocks in the ocean
You can stare at the highway and mimic the motion
but I don’t see the reason for grasping
at things that you cannot get.”

The scars are your arms are from faraway winters,
Like a man who builds houses get hands full of splinters
The home keeps you warm but you’re stuck
by the fireplace dripping with sweat.

I know, Amy, you been bruised and fell down in the trenches
With able magicians and compassionate wenches
Stuck on park benches under rain
Wonderin’ how you got so wet.

So I’ve had just a taste of your Jupiter shuffle
You been out under diamonds, now you’re done with the hustle
but the scars on your heart stick around
to remind you to never forget.

RASPBERRY ROW

Felt the floor below my feet,
Felt a pain in my head that wouldn’t leave
Took a sip from my coffee and felt better,
But it put a stain on my sleeve
I was looking through the papers
To find some news that I could believe
Took a shower and got washed up,
Walked out on the sidewalk and into the sun

A ton a bricks hit me quick,
I felt my heart pumpin’ once again
I’d been out late, been on a date,
And somehow I got sucked in by the sin
My lungs are tired and my throat is dry
Don’t know when I lose and when I win
But being with someone new is enough
To feel good about having begun

Walkin’, talkin’ of my evenings,
When the day has just arrived
I’m not thinkin’ ’bout tomorrow,
You gotta live today before you die
I know we’re gonna get there,
To the place we need to know
But now I’m walkin’, talkin’ nothin’
Early mornin’ at Raspberry Row

There’s a tree in the park,
There’s a river and a boat that floats along
There’s a bell in the church
There’s a choir belting out a perfect song
Crumpled number in my pocket,
Can’t find a place where memories belong
The sound is fading as I’m walkin’
But I try to trace the melody until it’s done

Walkin’, talkin’ of my evenings,
When the day has just arrived
I’m not thinkin’ bout tomorrow,
You gotta live today before you die
I know we’re gonna get there,
To the place we need to know
But now I’m walkin’, talkin’ nothin’
Early mornin’ at Raspberry Row

La la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la

TURNING YOUR WHEELS

Fields were flowing,
Just like blankets
They kind of looked like clouds
It made us weep
And covered all the dirt

The neighbor told me he watched you
Tracing the turns of the swing
On your parents’ front porch
Turning your wheels
And saying goodbye

I’m a drifter
With a secret
I’m not the only one
But I saw the pond
It rippled when you jumped in

The neighbor told me he watched you
Tracing the turns of the swing
On your parents’ front porch
Turning your wheels
And saying goodbye

So just leave it
By the window
The sill will keep it cold
When the seasons change
And the confusion begins

The neighbor told me he watched you
Tracing the turns of the swing
On your parents’ front porch
Turning your wheels
And saying goodbye

SING ALONG

Many days I have scribbled on the floor
Many days I have knocked on the door
Please let me in
Time and time again I can’t fake it
Here’s my soul, here’s the naked
Emotion that you’ve got to believe

I see what they all see
You for you and me for me
I see that things are in the way
It’s easier to be good than to be great

All these hours
Are measured by a minute
All these plans
Could change when we’re in it
It don’t make sense
All the dreams that came and went

I gotta song, so won’t you sing along
I want to hear ya sing at the top of your lungs
I gotta song, anyone can sing
Who knows what tomorrow might bring

Sing along, sing along, sing along
Sing along, sing along, sing along
Sing along, sing along, sing along
Sing along, who knows how long you’ll be able to sing?
Sing along, sing along, sing along
Sing along, sing along, sing along
Sing along, sing along, sing along

I gotta song, so won’t you sing along
I want to hear ya sing a the top of your lungs
I gotta song, anyone can sing
Who knows what tomorrow might bring
I gotta song, so won’t you sing along
I want to hear ya sing at the top of your lungs
I gotta song, anyone can sing
Who knows what tomorrow might bring

SINCE YOU FOUND ME

I looked through a wine glass
I saw you bending while you danced
I knew that you would need another
I only hoped I had a chance

There’s the moment that it matters
When something inside just clicks
The gravity of all these changes
Make you say that this is it

Of all the things I’ve had in life
I only value the few
So many years pass
But I remain with you
You have my heart
This I can see
Everything is right
Since you found me

The party was always moving to the next stop
Always changing as the temperature dropped
People always running, always running away
We finally found ourselves on a beach

So many winds shake the foundation
So many storms rattle the walls
I filled my cup and we just stayed there
The sun changed the color of your hair

Of all the things I’ve had in life
I only value the few
So many years pass
But I remain with you
You have my heart
This I can see
Everything is right
Since you found me

SWIVEL HIPS

Swivel hips
Swivel hips

You drink and you think you know what to say
You sink and you think you threw it away
Make a short leap off a long, long dock
I’ll meet you baby at the end of the walk

Your boyfriend looked like a race car pilot
I saw his hair and I knew you’d styled it
The lipstick you left on the note you wrote
Made me remember how you use your throat

Swivel hips
Swivel hips

The boozers were lookin’ for a new transport
The Buick Lesabre was a last resort
They crashed into the curb when they arrived
You tried to cover up but I knew you lied

Shake, shake, shake your swivel hips
I know you can give me a kiss
I love the way you talk of the riot
I know you’re not sure but it can’t hurt to try it

Swivel hips
Swivel hips

THIS IS HOW YOU ROCK

Cleo and Clarice were stuck in their seats
And the postman rang twice in a day
He said I’m bringin’ you a package
And I’m doing a little damage
I’m wipin’ candle wax away
I met a girl with a brisket and she handed me a trinket
And I walked on the water slide
She read me her rhymes and then spun on a dime
And I knew that I was tannin’ a hide
Open wide!

Schoolyard heroes were pummeling the zeroes
They were amped in an agro way
They were playing hum drum
With a humpty dumpty son
In the park tryin’ to make ‘em pay
I dipped my pen in the ink by the bathroom sink
And I looked for a message to sell
I had a fever and a cure
And she looked so demure
So I said I’ve got a story to tell

This is how you rock! This is how you roll!
This is how you rock! This is how you roll!
This is how you rock! This is how you roll!
This is how you rock! This is how you roll!
Can you feel the flow?
Here we go!

I was skippin’ with the sweetie, I was bein’ kind of meaty
She had candy hearts stuck in her sleeve
I said it tastes kind of tart but you rode in on the Bart
I knew the tram train was full of thieves
With the Queen of Spades we played charades
I was dicin’ like a spice in the mix
I said I need a speedy remedy
She said it was calamity
Vanity got the best of the fix

ALL THE ONES I’VE LOST
All the green leaves have turned to brown
Birthday’s done, the candles are blown out
All the presents are unwrapped,
Torn paper is scattered all about
I hate second-hand stores and junk shops
They make me think about the cost
I can’t allow them to remind me
Of all the ones I’ve lost

Faded photographs are cheap
But to me there is no price
For irreplaceable experience
We can’t live those moments twice

All the paint begins to chip
The colors start to fade to black and white
It is hard to see the difference
Between the morning and the night
Got a box of unfinished birthday cards
I can’t seem to figure out their cost
I would throw them out, but they remind me
Of all the ones I’ve lost

Faded photographs are cheap
But to me there is no price
For irreplaceable experience
We can’t live those moments twice

STARS

Live loose
Don’t fret
Wake up
Go get, get, get
Go get, get, get
Go get, get, get
Go get, get, get
Go get, get, get

Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Sta-a-a-a-a-rs stop!
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you

Step soft
Be firm
The virtue’s in
What can’t be earned

Hold tight
Push play
The virtue’s in
What you don’t say

Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Sta-a-a-a-a-rs stop!
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Sta-a-a-a-a-rs stop!
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Stop! That wasn’t theirs to give you
Stop! That wasn’t theirs to give you
Sta-a-a-a-rs stop!
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
Stop! That wasn’t theirs to give you
Sta-a-a-a-rs stop!
Take all that wasn’t theirs to give you
ALBUM TITLE: Magnafine
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 7/7/09

1. Took Your Life
2. The American Dream Is Free
3. Don’t Drag It Around
4. The Club Is Empty
5. Through My Window
6. Burn The Boulevard
7. Why Should I Grow Up?
8. We Are Strong
9. Get Along With The Night
10. Tame Me
11. Tipsy Jane
12. Chasing The Sun # 1
13. Chasing The Sun # 2
14. They Are Ghosts
15. Ghosts Outside My Window

TOOK YOUR LIFE

First you discuss the things you lost
Sit by the fire, your legs are crossed
He throws on a log then looks at you
You see his eyes are bright and blue
A phone and a T.V. screen make the light
Painting on the wall reflects the fight
You cut the tension with a knife
You forgot why you came tonight

Somewhere I messed up, I didn’t learn
You told me so many times that you’d get burned
You played with fire, it shined so bright
But somehow it took your life

So push him a bit when he needs to shove
He does not pretend to know what you know
He may build walls but they are thin
He wants you to make the effort to get in
If you feel strong you must speak up
Time is short, and windows close abruptly
Put it out there, that’s all you can do
Put it out there, that’s all you can do

Somewhere I messed up, I didn’t learn
You told me so many times that you’d get burned
You played with fire, it shined so bright
But somehow it took your life

He will protest, he will make a fuss
But don’t back down when he starts to cuss
If you drive away, you leave him
If you drive away then he wins
If you throw down the gauntlet
And draw a line in the sand
Then he might feel it’s okay
To try to make it a better day

Somewhere I messed up, I didn’t learn
You told me so many times that you’d get burned
You played with fire, it shined so bright
But somehow it took your life

Somewhere I messed up, I didn’t learn
You told me so many times that you’d get burned
You played with fire, it shined so bright
But somehow it took your life
Somehow it took your life
Somehow it took your life

THE AMERICAN DREAM IS FREE

She’s got dark skin, she’s got bright eyes
She’s got her family at the barbeque
She can hear the cars cruisin’ down the freeway at night
She feels she’s got a nice house, too
There’s the postman with the package
Pushin’ the mail right out
He comes home and sees his baby and says,
“What we have is simple and true”

This land is for all of us, can’t you see
This land is for all of us, from sea to sea
This land is for all of us, in the name of liberty
The American Dream is free

There’s the man who makes the coffee
Bobbin’ to the beat comin’ from the radio
He’s got his apron on and he flashes a smile
In his eyes you can see resignation
I think he had dreams when he was sixteen
Of being a pro baseball player
But somehow, like everything else, the wind carried it away
And he tells himself he doesn’t really care

This land is for all of us, can’t you see
This land is for all of us, from sea to sea
This land is for all of us, in the name of liberty
The American Dream is free

Think of all the people you’ve known
The ones who slipped away
They are still out there workin’ their jobs
They are tryin’ make the best of the hand they’ve been dealt
Some get the breaks, some drift away
But it doesn’t matter, you see
That’s all we can hope for is to pay our dues
And follow the dream that is free

This land is for all of us, can’t you see
This land is for all of us, from sea to sea
This land is for all of us, in the name of liberty
The American Dream is free

DON’T DRAG IT AROUND

We hit it and quit it and that was enough
You dressed yourself up and strutted your stuff
All the boys looked at you, you did what you set out to do

You’re flippin’ through the flippin’ fashion magazines
You’re dressin’ like your friends and you got new jeans
Who do you aim to be? A queen bee or a wannabee?

I put up a fight, you brought me down
I give you my heart, don’t drag it around

Take a deep breath and see the sunny day
There is so much to smile about, in so many ways
If you search inside yourself you’ll see that you know, know, know

Just like the pied piper pickin’ his guitar to please
Everybody sings along and buzzes ‘round like bumblebees
They dance around the fire and say that they know, know, know

I put up a fight, you brought me down
I give you my heart, don’t drag it around
I hear your voice make such a lovely sound
I give you my love, don’t drag it around

B-b-but you know what to s-s-say
Don’t let those worries get in the way
Here we are on this park bench
Don’t you love to see me comin’ today?

You’ve been combin’ your hair, you’ve been adjusting your shirt
You’ve been tryin’ different shoes on and actin’ like a flirt
I don’t think you need to fuss
You look good no matter what

What I’m tryin’ to say is that you don’t need all the concerns
If you castaway the worries and know what you want to learn
You can spend your time with me, being exactly what we need to be

I put up a fight, you brought me down
I give you my heart, don’t drag it around

(I put up a fight)
Take a deep breath and see the sunny day
(You brought me down)
There is so much to smile about, in many so ways
If you search inside yourself you’ll see that you know all you need to know
(I give you my heart, don’t drag it around)

I-I-I can hear it so clearly
(I hear your voice)
I hear your voice
(Make such a lovely sound)
It makes such a lovely sound
(I give you my love,)
I give it all to you
(Don’t drag it around)

THE CLUB IS EMPTY

Two years ago or more
I sailed out of the port,
Had big dreams like movie scenes,
My own personal folklore
One thing led to another,
I think you know what I mean
Goddamn! The club is empty again

Many miles in a van,
Broke down on the side of the road
Bars and clubs and festivals,
Months at a time doing shows
Rain checks for the money,
Out of touch with my friends
Goddamn! The club is empty again

The agent said he’d keep us booked up
With many first rate dates
I went through the line and ate up food,
Then piled some more on my plate
Thought it was just a temporary fix,
Before I hit the big grandstand
Goddamn! The club is empty again

Hmmm….

If I got paid by the hour,
I’d have more money in the bank
Playin’ for drunks and dimestore punks
Like I’m sellin’ lemonade and ballpark franks
I’d use that money to buy a ticket to fly back to Washington
Goddamn! The club is empty again
Goddamn! The club is empty again

THROUGH MY WINDOW

Hopped a train from Arkansas, slapped my knee, said, “Yee haw!”
Time to rest and throw something in the pipe
Daydreams are minglin’, my skin is tinglin’
Oh, oh, oh, I can see it through my window

Stilt-walker is covering ground, the motorcyclers ride the round
The gymnasts flip across the street and over the neighbor’s pond
While the marching band is blastin’, this love is everlastin’
Oh, oh, oh, I can see it through my window

Shakers and washtub bass are clamoring from the barn
Let’s milk the cow before she jumps the moon
Woo, woo, woo
Like Alice’s little pill, what an awesome thrill
Oh, oh, oh, I can see it through my window

Shakers and washtub bass are clamoring from the barn
Let’s milk the cow before she jumps the moon
Woo, woo, woo
Like Alice’s little pill, what a awesome thrill
Oh, oh, oh, I can see it through my window

Send sorrows back to Arkansas, I do not need to guffaw
I got a magic little land springing from my mind to my yard
Push those troubles far away, deal with them another day
Oh, oh, oh, I can see it through my window

BURN THE BOULEVARD

It don’t matter what I say, it’s how I feel
It don’t matter what I say, it’s how I feel
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you

This is it!
It’s time to party
I’ve got some ones
You got some twenties

Let’s go and spend ‘em
Oh, Holy Lord!
Let’s do some tubthumpin’
Whatever that is!

There’s no doubt we gonna turn it up
We gonna get low
We gonna get high
White bumpin’ in Soho

It’s been a long week
It’s time to release
It’s been a rough time
It’s time to find some peace

Drink it up!
21 shots!
Chin Chin, we’re toasting
Girls take it off!

Throw up your hands
Burn the boulevard
Throw up your hands
Throw down your credit card

Make it happen!
Make it happen!
Make it happen!
And make it count

It don’t matter what I say, it’s how I feel
It feels so good to be here with you

Drink it up!
21 shots!
Chin Chin, we’re toasting
Girls take it off!

Throw up your hands
Burn the boulevard
Throw up your hands
Throw down your credit card

Make it happen!
Make it happen!
Make it happen!
And make it count

We just got here
Now we gotta leave
I got some tricks up my sleeve

Rock and roll
Let it rip
Do the dip, dip, dip

January, February, March, April, May,
June, July, August, September,
October, November, December

All year long, we keep it going
That’s the way we do it
No stoppin’
From January to December, right through it
It don’t matter what I say, it’s how I feel
It don’t matter what I say, it’s how I feel
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you
It feels so good to be here with you

WHY SHOULD I GROW UP?

Combed my hair and brushed my teeth
Picked her up on the weekend, drank some Coors
Took her to the point to do some necking under the trees
Then I made a reference to Star Wars

And once I said it she just pushed my broke ass away
Girls do not like it when you act that way
A grown adult and still talking about kids’ movies
Is there a way to cure this malaise?
They all say grow up
Why should I grow up?
Why should I grow up?

So since I was ditched, I decided to snitch
I told the boys she was taken away to rehab
And that she was a confirmed addict
She had to rid herself of this condition and put it on her parents’ tab

She came outta nowhere, slapped me, and pushed my broke ass away
Girls do not like it when you act that way
Spreadin’ rumors like you’re in junior high
Am I too old to tell these lies?
They all say grow up
Why should I grow up?
Why should I grow up?

And once I said it she just pushed my broke ass away
Girls do not like it when you act that way
I never really got over that punk kid phase
Is there a way to cure this malaise?
They all say grow up
Why should I grow up?
Why should I grow up?

And once I said it she just pushed my broke ass away (Come back!)
I’m pretty lonely when I hit the hay (Come back!)
I’ve got some time to mature, don’t you think? (Come back!)
Is there a way to reform this guy? (Come back!)
I’ll be less fun but I’ll be better (Come back!)
Why should I grow up?
Why should I grow up?
Why should I groooooooooooooow up?

WE ARE STRONG

The sun is up, I am breathing
That’s good enough for me
The negative thoughts are at bay
Keep them away, for some other day

We are strong and we are here
Everything is open for now
I feel good and that’s all I need
Nothing can stop me right now
We are strong, so stay out of our way

People might say you are strange
The way you try to get away
You get alone and rearrange
The day to be how you want it to stay

We are strong and we are here
Everything is open for now
I feel good and that’s all I need
Nothing can stop me right now
We are strong, so stay out of our way

People all around
(Can’t get me down)
Find reasons to be down
(Can’t get me down)
But I feel good, like I should
Then the clouds won’t stay

Every hour of every day
(Keep up the fight)
Even when the skies are gray
(Keep up the fight)
You can find some happiness
To drive away the sadness

We are strong and we are here
Everything is open for now
I feel good and that’s all I need
Nothing can stop me right now
We are strong, so stay out of our way

So stay out of our way
So stay out of our way

GET ALONG WITH THE NIGHT

Aren’t you tired of the same old lines and routines?
Scarecrows replace the souls out in the street in winter
My heart’s still in winter
When the warm weather comes

My friend is bangin’ on his drum, the jury of passengers is hung
I’ve been workin’ and the foreman is feelin’ my pulse,
Like a dead man I am on the line
My family has been saving me

It’s your right to feel abused but baby what’s the use?
Desperation separates us, but we can try to wrangle passion
What was the lesson?
Did you think there might be something wrong with you?

I couldn’t quite tell but I looked at the papers and I saw the human stain
I heard your mom was sick again
I heard you felt like a prisoner with no watchman
I heard you were all bruised up again, swinging in from Houston

All down the line we pushed and pulled; our romance was null
We ducked into the void then kissed before you spit up blood
I had your back when you tried to fight with some other Calamity Jane
Waves crashed and we were left behind, someone tried to fight again

Hustlin’ up from Madison or maybe back to Arlington
You got the scars to prove that you never quite got along with the night

TAME ME

Do you need
A seed to sow?
A cause to champion?
A plant to grow?

I am wild again, can you tame me?
I’m like a weed, can you tame me?
Just twisting in the wind, can you tame me?
Help me go underground and weave my path
Until I come up like a flower

Because I can see
That you know the feeling
To have a malady
That’s in need of healing

I am wild again, can you tame me?
I’m like a weed, can you tame me?
Just twisting in the wind, can you tame me?
Help me go underground and weave my path
Until I come up like a flower

Get your shovel, dig the dirt
You have the skills to nurture and to save

I see you comin’ to save me
I am wild again, can you tame me?
I’m like a weed, can you tame me?
Just twisting in the wind, can you tame me?
Help me go underground and weave my path
Until I come up like a flower
That had grown underground, weaved a path
and came up like a flower
From the dark, it emerged, fully formed,
Like a flower

TIPSY JANE

I’ll do the same dance steps
Since the whiskey’s in my heart and head
Was it passion or poison, I can’t recall?
It put the thoughts on the wall
It took them out of my head
Now I can throw darts at them
Do you feel the same, Tipsy Jane
Can you carry me again?

Got those tarot cards
Got my fortune plotted out,
Looked into the millions of stars
And saw a million bars, saw a million worlds

I had the skill of an archer
Those arrows were sharp in my quill
Wanted to take you out of Portland
Wanted to follow the lights to the top of the hill
I am content with myself
But I’d be better with you, my best friend
Do you feel the same, Tipsy Jane
Can you carry me again?

It’s a funny kind of memory
That picks you apart gradually
Maybe it was not good to be so happy

Apartments scoot close together
Blue buildings huddle so tight
Small mistakes in architecture
Will cause those walls to fall
But before they crumble
They have some time to stand
Look at the way the sun hits ‘em
Don’t they look so grand?
Do you feel the same, Tipsy Jane
Can you carry me again?

CHASING THE SUN # 1

In about an hour you’ll see me leave
This painful weather, this simple storm
I am chasing the sun

On your list of maybes I was crossed out
You’ll see you missed me
I am chasing the sun

747 rises, my thoughts are escaping
So, Amy, let me I fly
My feet aren’t on the ground
But you can see me in the sky

In the future you will see you lost me
Simple storms settle sometime
I am chasing the sun
Simple storms settle sometime
I am chasing the sun

On your list of maybes I was crossed out
What was all of that about?
I am losing what is here
But better days are near

Years from now, you’ll see you lost me
Simple storms settle sometime
I am chasing the sun

CHASING THE SUN # 2

I won’t hold a candle in the alley
Street light is blinking, shadows are falling
These old bones are aching, the clock is ticking
Built a stairway, I’m stuck on the steps

Time won’t let me recover yet
I stole some hours, I made you change your ways
You didn’t understand what I was saying
Now I’m out in the cold with my collars turned up

The plane is leaving, the city is gone
I look inside myself but I don’t know what I want
747 splits the sky into a million pieces that fall into the sea
I have left the night behind, but now I am chasing the sun

I tried to build a castle out of sand
I tried to make a mountain out of madness
We don’t have the right foundation when we settle down
So I’m movin’, a little wounded, the chase will keep me safe and sound

THEY ARE GHOSTS

Block by block, street by street
Toss these names aside
House by house, light by light
Toss these names aside
You’ve known them for years
But you’ve never really met
You’ve gone through the motions
So you shouldn’t regret
You cannot touch them yet
They are ghosts

Imagined conversations you had
Died in the daylight
Imagined plans you made in the dark
Died in the daylight
Crowds come and crowds go
You think you feel them in the firmament
People start to disappear so slowly
They are not permanent
They are ghosts

What we had was brilliant
Those days were brilliant
But they are gone

Here’s a picture of when you were ten
It is long gone
Here’s when you said you’d drive all night
It is long gone
Here’s the time we said goodbye
Here’s the time I made you cry
Here’s the time when your parents moved away
And here’s when you said you save it for another day
Only we can know it, no one else
They are ghosts

What we had was brilliant
Those days were brilliant
But they are gone

What happens when people go away?
They take their soul with them
You can almost feel them go away
They take their soul with them
Pile up all the memories
Pile up all the pictures
Pile up your thoughts of you and me
And make them count
Put them somewhere safe
Make your plans in the dark
But be prepared for the light
They are ghosts

GHOSTS OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

Pass the time spinning in circles
Like a boomerang
Hoping something would open up
You have so much hope
That you can prove yourself
But the balloon pops at the end
Turn on the T.V.
Take these thoughts out of me
Empty my head from the fight
So I can be fine
And vacant and, who knows,
I might sleep through the night

With the ghosts outside the window
In this hollow, unfilled town
By the unfinished apartments
And the trees that fell to the ground
My ship set sail a long time ago
My daydreams have been downed
With the ghosts outside the window
I will try to feel peaceful again

Got caught up in friendships
Didn’t know which way to turn
Didn’t know the faces to trust
Such silence and madness
In the twist of a smile
And the anger when all of it bursts
It’s useless to place blame
So I retreat to the comfort
Of an idea that I can believe, it’s so amazing
Oh, the scenes that we’re staging
I might sleep through the night

With the ghosts outside the window
In this hollow, empty town
By the unfinished apartments
And the trees that fell to the ground
My ship set sail a long time ago
My daydreams have been shot down
With the ghosts outside the window
I will try to feel peaceful again
ALBUM TITLE: The Art of Finishing
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 6/7/09

Songs:

1. Paths
2. Everybody Has To Say Goodbye
3. Angels
4. Boy On the Beach
5. Hope
6. Mellifluous Matriarch
7. Things That Could Have Been
8. Brilliant Sound
9. Night
10. Phantom

PATHS

How should I tell the story? Do you like a happy ending? I like it when there is some ambiguity. Maybe a few twists and turns, with no final resolution. No direct route to the end, but the path leads you near it. You like stories about the triumph of the human spirit. This is my story. I’ll try to tell the truth. You think I should have a certain responsibility to let the best be revealed. I have a stripper’s sensibility that the most compelling is that which is concealed.

EVERYBODY HAS TO SAY GOODBYE

Everybody has to say goodbye. That is what I’ve been told. Everybody has to cry. The black beast has you in a hold. Those button-brown sands, slippin’ on the wet stones. The woman is so tan and so alone. I’m tired and old and no one knows what Adam will do. Can you see, the Wildebeest pays for his deeds? The Wildebeest collapses in fits, he stumbles through pits, he has first aid kits and Medicare. Mount Tabor is open for the show again. Set me free. I’ve done you wrong. We’ll fall in love. I’ll be the soldier. You’ll be in distress and you’ll let loose some tears of contentedness. Open your mind. The mountains, the fog, the hills. I’m a fool to kill. Blood stains on the door. I’m not angry anymore.

ANGELS

Drink some water. Angels cry. Angels tell you goodbye. Massage your shoulders. Sail on high. Do those hills look like white elephants? Does a man have a duty to his country? Does a woman always dog a man? Do you care for your brother? Do you love anyone but your mother? I’m a fool to kill and the Palladium is a sad place to die. I look at the Lion’s head and ask it why? Red Sparrow, golden fleece. I dreamt I married a baron’s niece and we were so good together. She had skin of the rarest tether. She had a jacket made of pleather and we danced on the beaches in the South of France. Is there no love stronger than the love you felt in your dream for a lover you have never seen? Looking for the rhythm of the voices and the way that love supposedly rhymes. We are driven by the ideals forged at a young age and forged by people we no longer know.

BOY ON THE BEACH

The boy is sad. He wants to go deep into the backrooms of his mind. The summer at the beach. The beach house, the hot tub, the bikinis. He wanted his memory to be a film. And it was. But film distorts heavily over time. It deteriorates. Applause, please. Give me some of those piano licks. This is not a safe time. I am fearful that our nation will be blown away. I don’t want the easy path but I don’t go astray. Is that the last outpost of intrigue? The last outpost of home? Somewhere, far away, on the outskirts of civilization, there is the outpost where hope is infinite.

HOPE

Do you want to penetrate the outer walls of hope? Walk along the beach. Walk by the lighthouse. Watch for ships to pull in and gaze above the trees. There is an outpost and you can check in and claim your money. There is a mark of gold on the horizon. Remember the quotations, the situations. Apocryphal predications. Bluebirds, jaybirds, red-tail hawks. I will make my map to discover the past. I will be responsible yet be sure to fight against the made seasons. The birds in apocryphal flight against the dying light. The verdurous nights. Through the wet moons. Through the tangential flights and into the eye of the soldier’s plight. Goodbye to the black. The Black Beast is always near.

MELLIFLUOUS MATRIARCH

The mellifluous matriarch saddled the flowers in the golden garden. He was the aggressor and all stairs descended from his apex. The suns set behind the mountains. The day was bright. Sweat came dripping in bold beads down his forehead. The eyes were firm. The eyes were strong. And at the end of his life, he let out a sigh, feeling forsaken, and vowed, “The time will come.” And, like most of us, his life was not a validation of his ideals. And, like most of us, he had fallen short of his goals. No one who is young and mellifluous, whose ember is bright and new, can change this. What is there left to say? He had grown. The bursting bulbs of eternal youth, the bulbous, bursting blasts of the ivory tower were behind him.

My love, there is no difference between right and wrong. Self-deprecating, self-effacing. I pity those souls. Is there anything more to say? I hopped in the car and drove away. How many people suffer for expressing their most heartfelt sentiments?

THINGS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN

It ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of time. Time is behind us. Time is in front. Mary keeps time by the clock on the sun. Time that could’ve been means nothing at all. We deal with the time. We do the time when it calls. There was so much music left to make, you saw someone that looked like you on another day. Perhaps an alternate path you could have taken. Give me something I can hold on to. It seems so simple. Maybe what I’m looking for is right around the corner but there’s no guarantee.

This is for all the things that could’ve been. If we hadn’t been busy. If we’d fit some time in. But no one makes up for the time they’ve lost. And you live with the choices you’ve made.

BRILLIANT SOUND

Such a brilliant sound. The orange-peach sun and the Bordeaux moon. When Pete was gone the night went gray. I’m sad that he went away. And I wished the whole world heard all the things he had to say. But the whole world can never be trusted and the price is too steep. All the pretty girls will remain asleep and I’ll remember to wake. We lost the soft, sad edges of the summer lake.

NIGHT

The night was dripping black and it was deeper than the sea. Look at all those rats staring back at you and me. It is deep December and my soul is like a flake of snow. Where it stops, no one knows. And this here, too, is a precarious pose. The wailing party, where deck-hands scuffle and fill their hearts with dust. It’s savage and it is coarse. The way it greets you with no remorse. You’re blind to these other hearts. I’m blind, of course. Write it on paper and it will be born. In the deepest part of winter, like a flake of snow, falling to the earth. Born at 24. Make a song. Bring it to perfection. The babe on the brilliant beach. So balanced and so real.

PHANTOM

A phantom is whipping through the shadows. He stepped out. This was the night when he was he really alive. Other had grown cold and careless. Below the skies and above the clouds. You’re never going to use the gifts you possess. Is this the truth? The water plug blows and the sprinkler sprays Mary’s hair. I think I might go crazy. The scenes on the mountain. The scenes in the bar. I see you in the willows. I feel the sky. Lookin’ into the blood-red eyes. The winds blow. The phantom wants something concise, my friend.
ALBUM TITLE: Songs of Gulliver Pierce
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 5/7/09

SONGS:

1. Box Gun
2. Deception
3. The Crowd Is Ready
4. Big Sur
5. Diablo
6. Brandy Stiles
7. Fall In White Plains
8. Green
9. Fields Of Flowers
10. It’s Up To You

BOX GUN

The sun came through and I saw the sky
I opened the door and I opened my eyes
Had goggles and glasses and doodles of D
She pasted a plan on the granary
We were walking by Porsches and porcelain bars
We were slinging our slingshots into the stars
Mistletoe memories were making a wave
We were caught is the magazine maze
The blade was a grade below Columbian fine
It was odd the way it just destroyed the design
My gun was loaded and the bullets were big
He had the spaghetti Western and did some Trig
He opened the door of the bathroom stall
The words of the prophets were on the wall
Homeboys and haciendas were vilified
We became the solution for the petrified

We run from the man with the Box Gun
We run from the man with the Box Gun
We’re under the moon
He’s under the sun
We run from the man with the Box Gun

Long ago
In a galaxy far away
We were looking for truffles and chocolate soufflé
We were making some mustard
We were handling files
There were skillets and mullets
On the miracle mile
We played our fiddles in Alabama
We played some down in Texarkana
We play a little of the Gin Rummy
We played Uno and Estaban made us feel funny
They were plucking the piano
They were picking the banjo
They were walking by train cars
With arms full of mangos
So we got them

We run from the man with the Box Gun
We run from the man with the Box Gun
We’re under the moon
He’s under the sun
We run from the man with the Box Gun

All the king’s horses, all the king’s men
Could not put the Box Gun back in the play pen
We saw as he shook and we saw as he shot
We saw as the Kiss concert got smoky and hot
All the fiancés down in Whoville agree
That the tagline and bio is too short for me
All Hallows in New Haven with the buttoned ups
And the martini lovers over at Supercuts
Put a band-aid on the wound and move it along
So we can all sing the same song
It’s not a riddle, it’s not a puzzle
It’s just the man with the Box Gun needs a muzzle
So we are on our backs painting our ceilings
And we’re looking for a sip of the Darjeeling

DECEPTION

It’s a trick, it’s a compromise
I can’t figure out the weak disguise
The man with the moustache
The bilious bloke
The feral waves and the candle smoke
The ache is real
The muscles feign perfection
It’s a kind of deception

Hear the news? What are they saying?
They say the temples are graying’
The cataclysm is real
There is the thing some men feel

The thing you aim for is not what you hit
The man swung the bar, the hunter was quick
The scheme and the plan the predilection
It’s a kind of deception

Here comes the firing squad!
It’s a kind of deception
It’s a kind of deception
It’s a kind of deception
It’s a kind of deception

It’s a trick, it’s a compromise
I can see through the weak disguise
The man with the moustache
The bilious bloke
The feral waves and the candle smoke
The ache is real
The muscles feign perfection
It’s a kind of deception

THE CROWD IS READY

The crowd is ready
The crowd will continue
The sweaty mess will continue to pulse
They are searching for something
They are all touching shoulders
They are locked in rhythm
The earth has a hold on them
As they go away then return
It’s amusing to take it all in
There is a dinosaur on the hill
Gazing down on the stories

The crowd is lost and listless
And tired and bored
With the searching and with speaking
We want a sound
We want a voice
We want a reason to live
We want to get something back
We could be better
But we are here
And slow and steady
We are getting ready
For something around the bend
The art is open for the world
We just need the time to mold it

There is a flaw in the argument
There is a current in the river
The crowd is homogeneous
The crowd is mixed up
The crowd is separate but the same
They will eat it up, they will spit it out,
They will eat it up again

They are standing in a line
They are filling the isles
There are supermarkets full of animals
There are jungles full of civilians
There are bones and basketballs
And the squeaking sneakers are saved
By the echoes in the gymnasium
And the songs the band played

The crowd is ready
The crowd will continue

BIG SUR

Apart from the useless conversations
And alongside the rising of the tides
Apart from the bones that gather
And pull apart
The tree is green
The season is changing
There is a sudden crack of lightning
There is a fire in the valley
And the orange groves divide
We stick a knife in the canvas
We type along in straight lines
There is a green lamp
There is a smoke-filled cabin

There are thousands of men and women
They are running by the mountain
The mountain does not notice
The eyes are open
The feet are sore
Apart from the useless conversations
And beside the rising tide
The stars come out
And there are a million stars they see
As they dive into the water
And command a cavalry
Of thoughts and permutations
Transformations and chiaroscuro
Balanced beneath the blighted
And ruined remains
Of the useless conversations
They are darning the cabin
They are restoring the old order
The sun is hitting the trees
There are too many dimensions
As they dive into the water
And they sail out in the sea
Whatever they were promised
Is now dissolving in the air
Whatever the old order was
They cannot find it now
As their dreams disappear
They run alongside the field
They jog in mimic motion
They matter more than most
As they angle with the coast
Oh, fortune, like the moon
We think you left them too soon
The green hills rose
And the runners angled east
Though they could not care to know
Apart from the useless conversations
And alongside the rising of the tides

DIABLO

The Federales are coming back
They are like that when each hour is saved
Look at the one on the viola
Meddling a bit, but still playing viola
Don’t think about the things they lost
They love the Digital Underground
Was that crazy to believe?
That the booty matched the bass line?

I can see you ‘cause you dance
With curtains open and lights on
All the homes along your block
Are dark but they see you rock

We were supposed to meet up to see DMB
But you were not a fan
You liked a few songs, I liked that
You had photos scattered on the floor
You looked embarrassed when I saw
The one from summer camp
I think only women feign
But you were singin’ “Sweet Jane”

I can see you ‘cause you dance
With curtains open and lights on
All the homes along your block
Are dark but they see you rock

Is that wrong to assume?
You were rockin’ in your room
You were wearing parachute pants
You were doing the Hammer Dance
Is that wrong to believe?
You had something up your sleeve
Maybe a rap lyric or two
Maybe a rolled up joint for the few

Need to kick over the sand castle
Need to build a better moat
I need a wall but I’m a vassal
I need a cake but I’m not old
I saw the light in your eye
I knew you wanted honesty
So I gave you no reply

I can see you ‘cause you dance
With curtains open and lights on
All the homes along your block
Are dark but they see you rock

BRANDY STILES

Brandy Stiles, put on the brakes
You’re lookin’ tense, you got the shakes
But there’s no hurry, I can tell you ‘cause I’ve been there
Why think about the things you don’t have?
Remember the words of dear old dad
You’ll never get it all done
So why let it bring you down?

You think that the people you meet
Will make you feel happy
And make you feel cheap
But the key is to know
They can’t make you feel anything if you don’t let them
Brandy, this will always be home for you

Brandy Stiles, look around the place
You don’t have all the white lace
But it can be said that the road is wide head
I see the romantic vision of the escapades
I see the dues you feel you’ve paid
But you’ve got control of a part of your life
And the other part is out of your hands
So I know you’ll figure out what you need
And which road you should take
So don’t feel sad when you should be havin’ the time of your life

You got your home, you got your friends
Some might leave you,
But the good ones end
Up sharin’ all the best times with you
Brandy, this will always be home for you

Brandy Stiles, your heart is good
So you’ll be all right if you don’t do what you should
Everyone’s got a different idea about that
I think you got plenty of time to spare
You’re young and young suck in all of this air

When it comes down to it
You’ll make the best choice
You’ll search high and low
Until you find your voice
You’ll find a good rock
As the storms swirls around, up down
And all the way through

Brandy, this will always be home for you
Brandy, this will always be home for you

FALL IN WHITE PLAINS

Some have opinions about the age we live in
But they seem about the same as any other
There are differences but essentially we don’t change
We just hang out in the church
We make sense of our arguments and we read books
We hide from aggravation or we put up our dukes
It is not the things we want but the way we respond that counts
There is the water and the ripple

Let’s smash some dishes on the floor
Let’s settle an argument by keeping score
Let’s see if we are so different after all
Tell me about your lost days
Do you respond to the things that slipped away?
Are they ready to get out?
Is that what this is about?
Did we really need to bring it up again?
There is the water and the ripple

I saw you kicking and scratching
You were locked in your cage
I hope you didn’t mind that I stayed away
And let you punch at the air
Until the aggression faded away
There is the water and the ripple

GREEN

I got a green sheet on a green bed
I have a green thought in my green head
I have a green door and a green yard
I have a green light and a green car
Felt green some, made some green young
Had a green sucker and a green tongue
I think you know what I mean
It’s okay as long as you’re green

The man was yellow and he was mellow
He had a silver fridge full of jello
I didn’t want it, it was a lame trick
I saw the sea shells and heard the limerick
I had my green wife, and my green knife
I had my green gal, I had my green life
I think you know what I mean
It’s okay as long as you’re green

He gave me sixpence, I gave him one Lent
To give me a summary of experience
I let him sleep hard in my back yard
He borrowed my tent and paid no rent
I gave him green olives and some vermouth
We talked of green seas and of green truth
I think you know what I mean
It’s okay as long as you’re green

The green time comes when you’re just done
And the cold winds blow a green storm
And it’s hard to be a green man
When the train tracks take a green tram
Down near green lake there’s a green quake
There’s a girl there, with the green rake
Eating green beans, bating green men
I think one had a green turban
I think you know what I mean
It’s okay as long as you’re green

FIELDS OF FLOWERS

Save it for the elegy
All the memories of the apartment
And the foggy dreams of what you thought you’d see
It’s not so easy to let it be

I see the cradle and then I see the end
What a short flash, we can’t go back again

Driving by fields of flowers, waking up
Rain hit the windshield coming down
Now the sun lights up wet streets
It’s a beginning and you can feel it now
Don’t try to contain it, it don’t matter anyhow

Save your energies
You need them for tomorrow
Soon you won’t have much to borrow but you cannot see
It’s not so easy to let it be

I see the cradle and then I see the end
What a short flash, we can’t go back again

Driving by fields of flowers, waking up
We would run when we were young
Ring around the Rosie wrung
You scraped your need and I fixed you up
Don’t try to contain it, it don’t matter anyhow

Save it for the elegy
All the memories of the apartment
And the foggy dreams of what you thought you’d see
It’s not so easy to let it be

I see the cradle and then I see the end
What a short flash, we can’t go back again
What a short flash, we can’t go back again

IT’S UP TO YOU

You got the time so you got the light
You got the day and you got the night
There are so many ways to be right
I know that you know

Your boat will let you sail real fast
Your boat will let you move real slow
There are so many ways to row
I know that you know

You know it’s up to you
Just do what you do
Your body’s not meant to be
Here permanently
You know the choice is yours
You can unlock all the doors
Your soul, oh oh oh
Is here for the long haul, oh oh oh
So don’t worry no more

You got the bricks so build the walls
You got the phone so make the calls

All your friends will catch you when you fall
I know that you know

You got the hammer and you got the nail
You got the water and you got the pail
You got the ship so it’s time to sail
I know that you know

You got the time so you got the light
You got the day and you got the night
There are so many ways to be right
I know that you know
I know that you know
I know that you know
I know that you know
I know that you know
ALBUM: Shine
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 4/7/09
1. Spittin’ Logic
2. Shine on Everything
3. Give Me a Song
4. Brannigan’s Reprieve
5. Goodbye Janey (Again)
6. Wally the Wonder Worker
7. Flood Blues
8. A Girl like You
9. Country Pickin’ Tune
10. You Don’t Know Me
11. The Gilded Age (1877-1900)

SPITTIN’ LOGIC

All you Teddy Roosevelts and Churchills
Here are the teeth, here is the steeple
Get le monocle de mon oncle
And walk your poem to the street
Bowie wore a Starman suit
Your dad did taxes in the rain
Aladdin Sane and the pretty and vain
We all got on with our lives
Each of the men had extra wives
We walked into the commode
We started up bands
We owned small coffee shops
We got older
This is when you started up a business
To supplement your income
This is all a fascination
For the emotionally mute
And the emotionally dumb
I think I’m sticking out my thumb
The souls are all hitchhiking
Can you take me for a ride?
The girls, the waitresses in the bars
They are looking for a slim slide
We drink coffee and we commute
The accountants all look resolute
Theirs is the world of the navy blue suit
And the chimney sweep needs a bath

SHINE ON EVERYTHING

Note by note, line by line
Put this up for sale
Let’s make some sense of our lost time
Let’s put this up for sale
All of the characters act so strange
When you think it through
Why did they act the way they did?
She wants to know, too

You gotta let it shine on everything
You gotta let it shine on everything
You gotta let it shine, shine on everything
That you are

Lying in the hospital bed
The flowers are in bloom
They are so bright and so alive
While you’re stuck here in this room
This must be a play, they say
The play does not make sense
But note by note and line by line
The story is immense

You gotta let it shine on everything
You gotta let it shine on everything
You gotta let it shine, shine on everything
That you are

GIVE ME A SONG

Give me a song
Give me a crowd
Give me a voice
And I’m gonna sing it
Give me a bar
And a guitar
Give me a chord
And I’m gonna ring it
Don’t give me doubts
I want to sing out
I want to become a thing for the ages
We have one life, we have one body
We have one hour
So we’re gonna bring it
Give me my friends
Give me my tunes
Give me my family
And my commitments
Give me some hours
Give me some ideas
Give me some love to bring to the room
Don’t give me doubts (No!)
I want to sing out (Sing it!)
I want to make something
That lasts when I’m finished (Go!)
I want to make something
That’s there when I’m finished
These are my words
This is our time
This is my song
Give me my friends
Give me family
And my commitments
Give me some hours
Some ideas
Give me some truth
To bring to the room
Don’t give me doubts
I want to sing out
I want to make something
That’s there when I’m finished
So my friends, it’s time to end
The show is done and the book is a-closing
They story’s not done, not yet
We’ll do it tomorrow
Another road
Another trail
This is my song

BRANNIGAN’S REPRIEVE

The impatience of the pernicious
Is like icicles yet more amiable
In the omnibus they were tickling
Through the simpering saxophones they were inkling
In the height of madness they were aching
In the seasons they were taking
It was the love they were forsaking

GOODBYE JANEY (AGAIN)

Hey there, look at them all
Lining up for plastic
Remember when you were young
And you were bright and orgiastic
Remember the time you said you tried
To run into the light
I was there in my old chair
Tryin’ to help you fight
But it was cold
And it was dark
And it was the middle of the night
So, Janey Goodbye

WALLY THE WONDER WORKER

It was four days from October
In the land of Irish Rovers
When I saw the man they’d told me of
He was a legend and a soldier
Of the streets back in Boulder
And now he radiated from above
I said, “Oh, Wally the Wonder Worker
Where are all the lovers
And where are all the barkers?
Who are the trusted?
And who gets busted?
For being themselves
In a world that tries
To make them everybody else?”
Wally just winked
He said the magic is silence
And the truth is rarely violence
But action is better than depression
But truth is better than aggression

FLOOD BLUES

Wash your face
Wash the blood
You were down in the mud
Without a trace
In the flood
You got swept under the rug
You got nothin’ to lose
Goodbye to your flood blues

A GIRL LIKE YOU

Well, I was a little boy
Just outside De La Croix
You were young and we would sing
I’d push you in your parents’ swing
Baby doll, I know that our reward in heaven will be great
Don’t forget your privileges are twisting in the swirling winds of fate
Oh, God, who knew?
I’d find a girl like you
Those words don’t mean to me what they do to you
Was it me who put you there?
Was it me who held your share?
You were down, I thought you knew
I was down; you seemed down, too
Oh, God, who knew?
I’d find a girl like you
I’m sorry I didn’t believe you
Every word you spoke was so true
Those words don’t mean to me what they do to you

COUNTRY PICKIN’ TUNE

Got an old friend running through my heart
Got a freeway running through my yard

YOU DON’T KNOW ME

I’m washing my hands
There are cuts on my forehead
I’m alone in the studio
While the wind beats its wings outside
A million birds fly
They have a sense of geography
But they don’t see too much periphery
They just move
Towards an uncertain destiny
You don’t know me, that’s what I said
When we first met
You were so ingénue
You were feelin’ a little sad
About the way that life
Had treated you
Now you don’t worry
Now you don’t fret
Nobody gets angry
And no one regrets
But what’s the damn point
When nobody frets
And nobody gets too high?
You don’t know me, that’s what I said
Take a look at me
I got a feelin’ you don’t know me
Take a look at me
I got a feelin’ you don’t know me
You don’t know me, that’s what I said

THE GILDED AGE (1877-1900)

I was making wax for my candle
My mustache was a handle bar
There were parlor girls and parlor boys
There were oil pipes and round house toys
In the steel age we were fixin’
We were nursin’ some tall steers
We had warm beer for lunch
We were gentlemen
In the gilded age we were orphans
And Horatio was runnin’ down the street
His ascent was attributed to luck
But he rambled on and on ‘bout pluck
So we said, “Polish your shoes”
And lose your pauper blues
And do not listen to the charlatans
And ignore the hucksters
You are better than them
In the gilded age, turn the page
A railroad is being built
The carnie barkers are walkin’ on stilts
It’s the gilded age, turn the page
Make it shine, make it shimmer
Got my boardwalk suit and my safe full of loot
Got my mansion creepin’ up to the sky
Got my head held high in the gilded age
ALBUM TITLE: Barroom Heroes
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 3/7/09
SONGS:
1. Is This It?
2. When You Began
3. I Can’t Think Of Why I Did That
4. Vampires In Paris
5. Everything’s All Right For Us Now
6. Iowa
7. What Was She Thinkin’?
8. Come To Me
9. Nipped In the Bud
10. Plow

IS THIS IT?

I tried as hard as I could
But there was no way to avoid
We walked the plank of silence
We stumbled to the celluloid

We all trip, we all fall
The barn was full of birds
Put your hand in mine
And let go

Is this it or is there more?
Feel my wrist, feel the pulse
We are praying for the sign
Is this it or is there more?

I wrote a lot of pages
I want to sum it up
I have a graph for sages
Your flowchart telegraph

You fumbled for perfection
You got lost on Byzantine
You waved hello to kindness
You searched through magazines

Is this it or is there more?
Feel my wrist, feel the pulse
We are praying for the sign
Is this it or is there more?

Are we dying in our beds?
Are we pushing for perfection?
Is there something to be learned?
Did we get lost in our discretion?

Is this it or is there more?
Feel my wrist, feel the pulse
We are praying for the sign
Is this it or is there more?

If someone has an answer
Please pass it on

Is this it or is there more?
Feel my wrist, feel the pulse
We are praying for the sign
Is this it or is there more?

WHEN YOU BEGAN

You camped out on the mountain
Set up your tent and roasted some food
You hoped the time alone would
Turn you into something special
Is there wisdom on the mountain?

The animals and birds are around you
They make you feel young again
Just like you did when you began

Can we swim in the lake?
Can we drink from the stream?
Can we reach new heights?
Can we let out a scream?
Or should we relax
And just let it flow

The city is so far away
The mountain is the mouth
We are sitting in the lap of destiny

In the gale we lost a lot
There was time and memories
Dissolving like sugar in water

Loads of memories
Loads of dreams
We watch them float by on the wind
Scratch your head and pray for him

Grab a walking stick
Take a hike
We are all in this tonight
For the same reasons
That we had in the first place

The animals and birds are around you
They make you feel young again
Just like you did when you began

I CAN’T THINK OF WHY I DID THAT

I left the kitchen full of bats
I can’t think of why I did that
I dropped my thermos on the tracks
I can’t think of why I did that
I can’t think of why I did that

I saw the morning sun
I saw the heavens, high they hung
I saw the simpering saxophones
I was lost but not alone

My mind is full of weight
I can’t remember why I stayed
So confused

Into the great and open world
You were just a crazy girl
You thought of ways to make it right
We talked about it through the night

My mind is full of weight
I can’t remember why I stayed
So confused

I left before we stopped our spat
I can’t think of why I did that
I gave my fortune to a cat
I can’t think of why I did that
I can’t think of why I did that
I can’t think of why I did that

VAMPIRES IN PARIS

There was the creature in the restaurant
He was looking suave and debonair
He was gracious in his manner
He was operating with flair

Vampires in Paris

He is creeping through the alley
He is hemming his pants
He is meeting in the patisserie
He is scamming the boulangerie

Vampires in Paris

He does a turn and a swivel
He knows how to pivot
He knows how to excise
He sets his site on his target

Vampires in Paris

He was over by the Louvre
He was talking of Verlaine
He was fomenting a riot
He was drinking up the wine

Vampires in Paris

EVERYTHING’S ALL RIGHT FOR US NOW

I’m feeling happy right now, everything’s all right
There is a ship to sail the open seas
The sun hits the house in most lovely way
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now

Up in the sky, look at the light
Look how green the trees are

I’m feeling good for once, everything’s all right
There is a clear path before me
No more murky thoughts, no more stilted models
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now
Everything’s all right (right), right, (right)
For us now

IOWA

Summer, Des Moines, Arch Point school
That’s where I began
She was like a vision, her skin was soft
Kindergarten, Mr. Fielding
I fell from the monkey bars
We fell on the bark
I walked her home from school
I beat up a bully to show that I was cool
We walked by her Grandma’s on the way home
She looked out the window and waived
Afternoon class, rolling in the grass
Brought lunch in a sack
My mom pulled me along real good
I heard Lisa grew up
And she still stayed in Des Moines
I heard she was 19 and still feelin’ green
I heard she got married then left the scene
A few years after me
I hear she has some kids
And she’s takin’ them to class
I have not met them
But I can deal with that
I can deal with the time that I can’t get back

WHAT WAS SHE THINKIN’?

Beautiful girls, babes, ambling in the barrio
Simple melodies playin’ on the stereo
I get some coffee, I get some tea
I see those big boys, stirrin’ up mystery (Who?)
Those girls are fallin’ for it
Hook, line, and sinker
Looks like Stan Gable put a ring on her finger

What was she thinkin’ when she fell for him?
What was she thinkin’ when she gave her heart away?
What was she thinkin’ when she fell for him?
I’m tired of seeing girls like her
Go to guys like him

The evening falls, the kegs are tapped
The butts are jutted, the butts are slapped
Someone tried to attack from the back
He got chased out with a baseball bat
Who is that? (Who?)
The girl is saddled up to a brand new guy
He had the game, he had the tales
And he looked her in the eye

Beauty is skin deep
There’s no objective way to define a creep
I guess bodies connect and talk is cheap
But still, I mean, really
Can she be serious?

COME TO ME

When the wind is at your back
When the sands shift beneath your feet
I will be here for you, come to me
When the bells of the cathedral
Stop echoing through the canyons
I will be here for you, come to me

Come to me, come to me
Come to me, come to me
I will be here for you, come to me

When the people who are angry
Are the only ones you meet
I will be here for you, come to me
When the sunken eyes of the lost
Are carving out the great mystique
I will be here for you, come to me

Come to me, come to me
Come to me, come to me
I will be here for you, come to me

When the day is never-ending
And the road is full of sleet
I will be here for you, come to me
You need some comfort, baby
You need some harmony
I will be here for you, come to me

Come to me, come to me
Come to me, come to me
I will be here for you, come to me

NIPPED IN THE BUD

Look at the face of the shining star
Bellying up to the rat pack bar
It seems a might peculiar so far

As the phone is jumping off the bed
And the dial tone is in your head
Things you should have done instead
Forget about all those instead threads

In rapture you are the hero
Forget about all of the souls on the road
You get to feelin’ superior
Then you get nipped in the bud

Don’t you want to know what it is to arrive?
Rather than just to merely survive
You had those thoughts in a box again
There are not just rosy times
There also sharp declines
So pistol whip those evil lines
Your pistol is plated like a shiny dime

You don’t hear the murmurs in corners
You don’t hear dreams of the dreadful and acerbic fate
You don’t see inches, you just see miles
I think it’s time for a run

This napkin of poetry
Sums it up best for me
Those crumpled up Polaroids
Have left us now

In rapture you are the hero
Forget about all of the souls on the road
You get to feelin’ superior
Then you get nipped in the bud

PLOW

I’m plowing the field
I am setting up my shield
The winds are sweeping
They won’t subside
The rain is falling
I’m drenched but I do not relent

Seasons come and they go
Good times and bad times
The ebb and the flow
I remember the elations of the Alamo
The future is bright
That’s what they say
But I won’t notice, I do not relent

Cupid shot his arrow and several lovers fell
They all got caught in high moods, they fell under a spell
But I do not depart from my plow
I do not depart from my plow
I do not depart from my plow
I do not depart from my plow

I fell in love and kept it up
I did not let it come and go
The seasons are so temperamental
But I vow to not relent
I do not depart from my plow
I do not depart from my plow
I do not depart from my plow
ALBUM TITLE: Slide
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 2/7/09

1. You Let ‘em Down
2. Waiters and Wanderers
3. Bedford Stuy
4. Slide Projector
5. Eight O’Clock
6. Bus Driver
7. Heaven On the Other Side
8. Feed My Soul (Sha-La-La)
9. Hello Abigail
10. Every Morning

YOU LET ‘EM DOWN

Passing glances
Passing ages
People lose their breath in smoky bars
Passing train car
Passing sonar under stars
Fading stars

You let ‘em down
Now you want ‘em to choose you
You let ‘em down
Was that the worst you could do?
You let ‘em down
Passing up
It’s a strange place to be
Don’t let ‘em down
You let yourself down, too

Passing romance
Passing slow dance
Passing hearts and bad guitars
Passing habits
Passing tragically fought wars
They leave scars

Once I heard that Omaha was full of flowers
That could be true, but I never made it there to see
Unless you take the trip to see with your own eyes
How can you know what is true and what are lies?
If you have your friends that helps
I’m so thankful that I have you

All the waiters and the wanderers
The painters and the salesman
They make sense of all that they have seen
But we all see the same sea
And we all try to believe
Either way, we can say
What will be will be

So Omaha, you have your history
I’m not sure I will ever know the specifics
But I can learn, and earn and discern,
I can make it through this life
Without having to look under every rock

How can you think we can tell others how to be?
All you can do is find some good company
I’m so thankful that you saved me

The fire escape
Is attached to the room
The pipes are clanking
The piano’s in tune

The analyst tried to look a gift horse in the eye
The horse chased his tail and his tongue was tied
The red ball was bouncing while the passionate cries
Were sounding from the apartment in Bedford Stuy

The barrow is full of apples and pears
The doors were all closing, the peddler was fair
The farmers market in the summer air
I grasped for the fruit and she combed her hair

Moved off to the country, made peace with the past
Sold off the 2.5 bedroom house and had a good laugh
Called up old friends and affirmed we’d had a blast
Hunkered down on a couch and prepared for the crash
SLIDE PROJECTOR

Young man with a spray-on tan
Takes the slide projector to the basement
Checks his soul at the door
Wants to get old, but time moves slowly

What’s the matter with the world these days?
Full of fear and full of praise
We don’t know what to make of our good old phase

What’s the reason for the words you said when you didn’t know?
Why’d you have to act like you had the answers?
Why’d you tell other people which direction was up and what was down?
I think you should worry about gettin’ yourself around

Do you have problems with commitments?
Can you do me a favor?
There is something I need you to do
Did you get sick when she told on you?

Crazy how we think we know
I read those magazines
I read the sports section
I update the blog and the close my eyes

So much information
So many words moving towards your ears
So few things you know for sure
So big, this world is so big

There’s the clock…
It’s an antique hourglass
Or something like it
The sand is dropping
A minute is measured

There’s the man…
Light hits his face
Music hits his ears
He loses his thoughts
They are jumbled
The woman moves with the music
He likes how she moves
She seems like
Part of the band

The man shifts…
He looks at a T.V. set
He grabs for some water
He sucks in the smoke
The woman is moving
She’s moving with someone else
He is watching
He is drinking and imagining

The band shifts…
There are stars in the windows
There is perfume in the room
The thoughts are untamed
A snare is cracking
He starts craving a bed
A headache hits his head
There is smoke
He is drinking water

Off she goes…
The white hat of her suitor
A hand-stitched Italian suit
Draped across his body
Hanging from his shoulders
To his ankles
And her arms are draped on him
They are dancing to the exit
And our hero is sunk

Off he goes…
He’s in a t-shirt
It’s 30 degrees
He feels the weight of the cold
His arms start to goosebump
He’s feeling alone
His thoughts are swirling

It’s eight o’clock
It’s eight o’clock
It’s eight o’clock
It’s eight o’clock
It’s eight o’clock

The sand is dropping
A minute is measured
BUS DRIVER

She made me a PB and J sandwich
She put it in a brown bag in the fridge
Tomorrow I’ll be leavin’ for my route
I feel lonely when I drive
Watch the windshield wipers flap
Counting the swishes till I get to come back

I know this is gonna take eight hours
I count the minutes and fight the showers
I want to be the man she wants to see
I’m drivin’ ‘neath the trees, a bus driver
The bus driver gets the people
Where they need to be

This route is full of pimps and hoodlums
I had to call the police last night
Almost caught a razor blade from a fist fight
It is something I can’t quite describe
When I get home to my wife
I just kiss her goodnight and she sighs

Kevin puts the nose to the grindstone
Kevin puts his paychecks in piles
Kevin distributes his money to make
A life that has a little more style
He sweats and you bet
His heart is thumping loud, loud, loud
When is he gonna learn?
The hard work doesn’t really pay
It just makes him have a rough day

The weeks are rolling by
You see it in his eye
He says if I get to live
By keepin’ this job alive
I think I’d like to let it die
And find some heaven on the other side

He sweats and you bet
His heart is thumping loud, loud, loud
When is he gonna learn?

The weeks are rolling by
You see it in his eye
He says if I get to live
By keepin’ this job alive
I think I’d like to let it die
And find some heaven on the other side

Kevin is craving the light in her eye
He’s craving the bar lights
He’s looking for bar fights
He’s punching his clock
He’s piling his prose
Putting his money in rows
All these practitioners
Watch them pract-pract-practice
Kevin makes a break
He knows he can escape
FEED MY SOUL (SHA-LA-LA)

Rick’s son, the one with the shotgun
Took a trip to the hot sun
Caught a flight and made break for the heat
Felt well, checked into a hotel
Room service with a time bell
Sheets were crisp and he kicked up his feet
Don’t believe the story he relates
But some bright future awaits
He’s knows he’s found a good week
And a good place to blow some dough

Not thinkin’ bout the clock, the clock
Not thinkin’ bout the goals, the goals
All he wants is the comfort
And a brand new scene and some brand new clothes
It’s easy come, easy come
And easy go, easy go
No sense of obligation
Just need a place to feed my soul
Sha La La, La La La
Sha La La, La La La

Sue walked, from college to home, about 10 blocks
She caught a few stares and a few gawks
She felt the squeeze and the pressure to please
So she bought tix, hit the airport, and then split
Went to Mexico and got in the mix
The pressures of home drifted away on the breeze
White shirts, she’s dancing, she’s happy
Rick’s in the hotel bar, feeling fine
Might stay up all night or go to sleep at nine
Sue says this is the way I want to live

Not thinkin’ bout the clock, the clock
Not thinkin’ bout the goals, the goals
All she wants is the comfort
And a brand new scene and some brand new clothes
It’s easy come, easy come
And easy go, easy go
No sense of obligation
Just need a place to feed my soul
Sha La La, La La La
Sha La La, La La La

She said she was rolled into a ball
At a very young age
It was off at college
That she vomited her story onto a page
It had been kicking up like some bad Chinese food
It had been putting her in a bad mood
I’m glad to see she got it out
And got away…

HELLO ABIGAIL

Hello Abigail,
Is there someone on the phone?
Do you sleep in silence?
Are you still sleeping alone?
Is it true?
The Rome you know is really blue
I don’t see it like you do

Hello Abigail
Are you walkin’ by cathedrals?
Do you walk among the birds?
Do they scatter when they see you?
On the stones
I think there’s someone on the phone
Are you alone?

Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Everything to me

Hello Abigail
Are you still writing in a journal?
Did your new friend sneak a peak
When you were off looking for kernels
Of truth?
You were always after the truth
It was so cute

Hello Abigail
I would have called but couldn’t do it
When I try to tell you lies
You always see right through it
Yes you do
Nobody knows me like you do
Are you still blue?

Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Everything to me

The sun is shining on the sea
And I am typing on a sheet
The ribbon blew out but I still type
People objected to your reasons
For being away from home this season
But I trusted you knew what was right
Abby, when the day expires
And you are lighting your new fires
I hope your thoughts of home are mostly good
They really should be

Hello Abigail
You have many new friends
When I saw you in the picture
You were surrounded by ten
New templar-titan types
I know that you’re all right
I see that now,
You can get on
Many, many miles from home

Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Oh, you’re everything to me
Everything to me

EVERY MORNING

I am driving in a pretty nice car
I am riding by a beautiful beach

In the morning I jump up
And make sure
To be clear
To tell myself
Today is a great day to do what I gotta do

Don’t think those terrible things
We can be civil, we can be kind
Honesty is in the way you say it
I think you can feel fine
If you say what you need to say
And don’t worry about what you don’t have

You’re living in a pretty nice home
You’re walking down a pretty nice street

In the morning I jump up
And make sure
To be clear
To tell myself
Today is a great day to do what I gotta do

Nice clothes
Nice stores
Neon signs, cars and lines
News images start to blind
Big business, shoe polish
Is this not the American dream?
I think it’s more about the idea
Then the patina or the sheen

You’re living in a pretty big world
You’ve had a pretty good ride

In the morning I jump up
And make sure
To be clear
To tell myself
Today is a great day to do what I gotta do

What did we consume?
Who are these people in this room?
What is our tax and our expense?
I think we can get on just fine

The air is full of light
The breath we take is full of life
Do we need any more?

It is a big, big basketball gym
And the game has to end

But who is gonna lose
And who is gonna win?

Does it matter?
Turn off the T.V. and tune out the chatter

In the morning I jump up
And make sure
To be clear
To tell myself
Today is a great day to do what I gotta do
ALBUM TITLE: Automaton
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 1/7/09

1. Hope Will Keep Us Going
2. Killin’ Time
3. The Obvious Girl
4. Dorsey Brooks
5. Pound That Beer Down
6. You Are My Angel
7. Paint By Numbers
8. Fillin’ My Collection
9. Top Of The Mountain
10. Tempin’
11. Donovan
HOPE WILL KEEP US GOING
In a land that’s
Hard for us to understand…
Danny pushed a lot of freight
Like Hoffa under concrete
He struggled to just stay above ground
Cindy is an hairdresser
She and Danny fight,
But they fall in love each night
She whispers, “We have to see the difference
Between what we have and what we don’t
I think it’s up to us to decide
Whether or not what we don’t have
Will change anything anyway”
Hey, we’ll pay the bills
Hey, we’ll get some thrills
You and me, baby, we’ve got strong wills
Hope will keep us going
Danny plays the ukulele
He’s strums in the dark
He makes it cry – you should hear
Cindy looks out the window
Cindy’s got big, cloudy dreams
She and Danny fight,
But they fall in love each night
She whispers, “We have to see the difference
Between what we have and what we don’t
I think it’s up to us to decide
Whether or not what we don’t have
Will change anything anyway”
Hey, we’ll pay the bills
Hey, we’ll get some thrills
You and me, baby, we’ve got strong wills
Hope will keep us going
KILLIN’ TIME
Baskin’ in the sun
Watchin’ everyone
In the afternoon in June
On a hammock
Eatin’ a sandwich
Sippin’ a beer and droppin’ my spoon
Killin’ time out on the beach
Killin’ thoughts that disturb my peace
I felt pretty good with my list of
Woulds, coulds, and shoulds
But I left it back in the hotel room
Got lost last September
And waylaid till December
A few regrets and a Christmas tryst
So I hopped on a plane
And set out for some terrain
Where I could just sit around like this
Killin’ time out on the beach
Killin’ thoughts that disturb my peace
I felt pretty good with my list of
Woulds, coulds, and shoulds
But I left it back in the hotel room
I stubbed my toe
I gabbed with Joe Blow
I gave the concierge a sizable tip
So he keeps my glass full
I’m takin’ a pull
And I have no regrets about this trip
Killin’ time out on the beach
Killin’ thoughts that disturb my peace
I felt pretty good with my list of
Woulds, coulds, and shoulds
But I left it back in the hotel room
THE OBVIOUS GIRL
What was all that business?
The thing about the fight
I remember some grass
Some bingo, some poker
Some happiness and laughter
Twisting and turning
Candles in restaurants burning
Our chests pressed closed together
You were the obvious girl
The obvious girl
But the conflict came
Do you remember why?
We were driving down the freeway
And I think I asked for a reply
To a question that struck a chord
I remember how you looked
I don’t remember if it was day or night
But you took a bath in sunlight
You were the obvious girl
The obvious girl
We were singin’ along with the car stereo
Tra-la-la
It doesn’t matter what it was about
It was the feeling, not the words
It was the echo, not the statement
It was patterned in our days
We changed so slowly
But it happens to everyone
The music was playin’
And we remembered making love
You were the obvious girl
The obvious girl
We were singin’ along with the car stereo
Tra-la-la
DORSEY BROOKS
In some slum, in some town
Under some half moon
You got to bring brass knuckles
And a big belt buckle
’cause you might meet Dorsey Brooks
Mr. Brooks runs the bar like Stalin
He’s about 6’2” or 6’3”
Got a big, shiny car and a place at the bar
And a bevy of fine ladies
He’s a crook, he’s a crook, he’s Mr. Brooks
Watch out folks or he’ll get his hooks in you
It’s true
You better watch out if you know what’s good for you
Some folks call him Dorsey
Some just Mr. Brooks
Some come in through the back door
To avoid gettin’ one of his looks
He takes some dudes out in the alley
He beats ’em up when he feels like it
Sometimes they owe him money
Or maybe just looked at him funny
But it keeps him sharp and fit
He’s a crook, he’s a crook, he’s Mr. Brooks
Watch out folks or he’ll get his hooks in you
It’s true
You better watch out if you know what’s good for you
Some shoeshine boy
Told me on Tuesday
That he was at the club
On the first Friday in May
And, oh, what could he say,
Out in the alley
Dorsey’s woman, Sally
Was with man named Remy
Dorsey happened upon it
And exploded like a hurricane
And Remy met his maker
What a sorry end
He’s a crook, he’s a crook, he’s Mr. Brooks
Watch out folks or he’ll get his hooks in you
It’s true
You better watch out if you know what’s good for you
POUND THAT BEER DOWN
Come with me
And I will show you the way
Bombs are dropping far from here
Lovers are loving, singers are singing
Beggars are beggin’, diners are dinin’
Road crews are workin’, bakers are baking
The blue lights fade in the summer night
The TV blares and commercials excite
Any time you need someone
Come and see me, yes, me
Whoo-hoo!
Grab a beer and pour it on the floor
We have a case and a party’s in store
Pound that beer down
Ooh, like you mean it
Pound that beer down
Ooh, like you’re life depends on it
Pound that beer down
Man, I’m serious this time
The place is full, the truth be told
Can’t you feel it all over?
Flashing, flashing, flashing
The fading, fading, fading light
The woman walked a long way to get here
I think you got to let her know
That it was worth it

Hug me, hold me, harp on me
Make it easy to get through the door
It’s all a bunch of nonsense, this talk
But I think you’ll feel good in the end
It won’t be such a shock

Whoo-hoo!
Grab a beer and pour it on the floor
We have a case and a party’s in store
Pound that beer down
Ooh, like you mean it
Pound that beer down
Ooh, like you’re life depends on it
Pound that beer down
Man, I’m serious this time
YOU ARE MY ANGEL
Bake some bread and bring it over
I don’t care where it came from
What you do you do with love
And it’s sent from above
You are my angel, my angel baby
Don’t need nobody else
You are my angel, my angel baby
Won’t ever put you on the shelf
No one can keep us from what we have
No one can tell us of a better way
We have to earn what we earn
And learn what we learn each day
You are my angel, my angel baby
Don’t need nobody else
You are my angel, my angel baby
Won’t ever put you on the shelf
No one can keep us from what we have
No one can tell us of a better way
We have to earn what we earn
And learn what we learn each day
You are my angel, my angel baby
Don’t need nobody else
You are my angel, my angel baby
Won’t ever put you on the shelf
No need to fuss
No need to fight
You know, baby, you are alright
PAINT BY NUMBERS
Feelin’ sort of strange
Baggage on the brain
Projecting a picture of a something I once saw
Worked on the visage
Worked on the sounds
It’s remarkable how close I got
To the image of what we want
What’s the next step?
To become like all the rest?
Workin’ on that model airplane
I got from the box
I’ll do my best to paint by numbers
You gave a lecture
I liked each line
You postulated a theorem
You came up with a design
It held my attention
Till it struck a nerve
When you were talking about
Getting what we deserve
I didn’t know the next step
Couldn’t define all the rest
So I’ll prop up the picture
And toil away
I’ll do my best to paint by numbers
We got off track
You slapped me on the back
And said “Ha Ha,
It’s all in good fun”
But at the end of this test
I’ll see a great big mess
So I’ll do my best to
Paint my way out of it
Another night
Another word
Another picture
Another blurry notion
Of what we might be
If we only worked out the kinks
You describe it
Then you contradict
I just want something that sticks
Well, I’ve got the model
And I’ve got the paint
At the end of this
They’ll call me a saint
When it all bursts in colors
So beautiful, I suppose
What a blissful repose
So I’ll prop up the picture
And toil away
I’ll do my best to paint by numbers
FILLIN’ MY COLLECTION
From London to Louisiana
From Paris to Pasadena
Got scores of music
And scores of sounds
To fill my collection
Can be alone,
Can be with company
Can be in cities,
Can be in the country
Fillin’ up my collection
Fillin’ up my collection
Fillin’ up my collection
Got no big reason
Just a million seasons
To fill up my collection
Rode the plane for 15 hours
With a girl who looked so dour
We arrived but never made it
Somehow we both forgave it
But we filled up my collection
In the restaurant we all sigh
We looked out for some spy
Is there a color or a song
Or some music that belongs
To fill up my collection
Fillin’ up my collection
Fillin’ up my collection
Got no big reason
Just a million seasons
To fill up my collection
The world is split open
The water is wide
Let’s fill up the collection
Let’s fill up the collection

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Remember how I said you were mad?
How your eyes were full of sadness
But you looked so bright and sunny
There was symmetry in the kiss
I feel that sadness, too, but we change it
We carve our story like carving wood reliefs
The truth is not absolute, but believe me
This is as close as the thoughts come
To what is in your soul, see these thoughts
Are mixing with the ether and cascading
We did all of those shows, all that travel
And we met up on a mountain,
And we splashed in a stream
The radio was full of sounds from home
Our hands are high in the air
We have embraced the altitude
From the top of that mountain
The top of that mountain
We won’t come down the hill, no no
Elevation is the goal, it is supreme
You felt like you were lost until you heard the drum machine
And it carried you away so you kept it on
Now the blue, neon light keeps you awake
But that is alright, that is alright
TEMPIN’
I thought about rock stardom,
My friends laughed while we got drunk
And I thought that I would show ’em
Packed my life into a trunk
Livin’ upstairs at my dad’s house
While I finished my degree
I signed up for a rock band
And reported to a temp agency
It’s just me
I guess the rock star life sounds nice
But for now I’m tempin’
Blew two grand on a trip
Made an album in four days
I checked in to see the cover art
From a cyber café
We had a release party
And we blew the room away
I went back to work the next day
In the mail room of a law firm, hey-hey-hey
Whaddaya say?
I guess the rock star life sounds nice
But for now I’m tempin’
And the truth is we all want to be
Just a little bit better
And though others seem to have it right
They also want to be
A little bit better
The seasons change

But the truth remains
We all do a little tempin’
DONOVAN
Donovan Brannigan
And the woman who made him man again
Were tossin’ off some tempting little trifles
There were three out in the shed
Two of them were left for dead
Donovan was polishing his rifles
Oh, Donovan
You’re gonna pay for your sins
Bang, bang you’re busted
And you can’t be trusted
Oh, Donovan
Why’d you lose when you win?
Oh, Don Brannigan
She made you a man again
Fixed it with a tourniquet
That was not the worst of it
It was like a finger in a vise
All along the sandy shore
The madrigals of troubadours
Echoed that elegiac reply
Oh, Donovan
You’re gonna pay for your sins
Bang, bang you’re busted
And you can’t be trusted
Oh, Donovan
Why’d you lose when you win
Oh, Don Brannigan
ALBUM TITLE: Five Ways of Looking at the Night
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 12/7/08

1. The Moment
2. Risk
3. Reflections On Deserted Dance Halls
4. Napoleon
5. Five Ways Of Looking At The Night
6. These Streets Don’t Understand
7. Angeline

THE MOMENT

I. THE SEA

He looked out to the sea. He felt a spark. He knew where he wanted to be when the sun left the world dark. He always felt the night came too soon and he cursed the dying moon. Why does someone feel so much when the boat is like a tomb? He walked along the docks. He saw where the waterline stops. He directed his eyes to the sky. The birds overhead snuck by and it was in that moment, with the wind whipping fast and his hand on his heart and breath warm upon the cold glass, that he said he wouldn’t settle. He would stand tall by the blue paintings and the light throwing the shadow on the wall.

II. THE SHADOW

I can always see your shadow following after you. I thought of what it meant and you were worried, too. If you looked out to the hills, they seem like mountains. You want to dance on the peaks, still. We’ve been apart and we’ll be lonely again. Even if we’d never met and we didn’t have these feelings we’d have different regrets. The lamp would cast it like a headline on the ceiling.

III. THE PAST

Yesterday I saw an old friend and I knew what it was like to be in love again. She was so tall, so kind and the light cleared the cobwebs in my mind and it’s frozen in Rome and I wish I was home. The lake has iced over. It’s not gonna stop. We won’t be able to rest. The problem is within you. You can try and do your best. But it won’t. This is it. You can either fight or resolve to quit. You say you feel shattered. Don’t act so helpless, babe. It was all that ever mattered but it never was what you made. I can still hear your voice. I heard a knock on the door. I didn’t have a choice. I had to have more. The past is dead. I know what’s in store.

RISK

Take the risk, make it real. Act the way you want to feel. Driven by the basic need to be the one who makes it bleed. You’ll never get to where you want to go if you play it safe. But be ready to get burned because when you gamble and win what you have has not been earned. It’s a catch 22. People sit in smoky rooms and debate the purpose of why we are where we are. But no one knows for sure. Was there something doled out at birth? We know for sure that it has something to do with your great grandfather’s net worth.

As a child your perception of the world was cleansed. You saw the infinity of possibility and you believed. But now, as you succeed, you see that there is always an over-arching need and always a necessity neglected. Perhaps you don’t feel rejected or disrespected but instead you don’t feel connected. Love is a bitch. Misery is endless. Age sets in fast and takes your innocence with it. And somewhere along the way you begin to believe that the possibility is still there. Hidden, perhaps beneath the stairs and you decide to chase it. You will never find what you are looking for if you don’t chase it. But once you’ve found it, you can’t erase it. You are stuck with the truth.

REFLECTIONS ON DESERTED DANCE HALLS

It is cold and dark and I’m looking for the spark. Big buildings. Deserted dance halls. Graffiti on bathroom stalls. Neon signs and burning designs. Where is the reason? Such a simple question. It was once said to me that such questions of the spirit, religion, hell and heaven, are things to keep you busy, similar to playing basketball or trading stocks, no more or less important. Perhaps I should toss the question aside. Knowing, at this moment, that love, fame, fortune, and becoming eternally wise will not change this reality. I am willing to work, but hard enough? Some things are attainable, some things are not. Depending on how hard you work. But who can say? Shall we consult the statistics? We could, but everyone is different than you and me, right?

You can never control your destiny. You think you do. You feel so free. But someone’s standing over you and me. A comet blazes brightly. Like a neon sign around midnight. Don’t desecrate infinity. You have no control. You must have faith. When you get all the breaks. It’s a great thing, baby. Looking over my shoulder. Waiting for the next big thing. Saw you in a bar the other night. I thought for sure that it was true. Got a new suede coat. But you are soft from success, as you can see. Please don’t let that rub off on me. You got drunk by the end of the night and everything you ever felt started coming out. Well, I’m glad to see that you’re not as strong as I thought you were. Some things hook you when the timing is right. At your cabin in the summer, where the moon was white. I said these are the days when the photos will develop well. These are the days when the products are gonna sell. I wish I could wrap it up and take it home. I wish we could wander through the night forever. Explore and explore and see where it takes us.

NAPOLEON

Napoleon had all he ever wanted. Then it was taken away. You live your life a victor but honey there will come a day when the thoughts you had and the faith you won as the most prominent politician, the 3rd savior, the 7th son of the 7th son. I guess this is how it feels when wars are won. That was how it feels when you stare into the setting sun and you imagine that time is playing chess with you. This is how it feels when time and faith steals it. So long between meals. Oh, but soon it heals. All wounds heal.

You’re going to the ivies where the money is good. It all rolls down the line. Generation after generation. Like you know it should. But are you a brighter man than me? There must be something where we can agree. Those brick buildings, like Lady Chatterly. In the barroom or the pool house in the courtyard breeze you feel invisible. But, love, it will always be that way.

Bang against the wall. Through the halls where the chambermaids sleep. Those horns have no effect on your days. You’re still looking before you leap. To the bad brain Davies and the piccolo sweep on a shattered night where the gravestones weep and shows you burlesque creatures, they haunt you like a cannonball on the steep crimson hills, rolling through the pale night. I am a loner with stage fright and I want for you to be with me when the moon is white. Bathed in the backwoods by the spectral light.

FIVE WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE NIGHT

I know that it doesn’t hold water. Why should I call your name in the night? Write songs about you, wanting you to leave. Are there more novel things to write about? I obsess about love and I sing it. I have love and I prove it. I think I’ll go to dinner and order something nice with money I don’t possess, but it’s a suitable price to pay for what you can’t own with what you don’t have.

II.

I saw a man walking on a cloud with a suit from London and a paper from Wall Street. I wanted to follow. He dealt with problems, I’m sure, quickly and rationally. An Italian tenor sang a melody so true that eased my soul and made me think of who had held me in the moments when there was little I knew except for love and it was you.

III.

You’re one of a kind. Don’t be alarmed that I’m not to be trusted or lusted after for my charms but if you should end up in someone else’s arms I may have to do myself some harm. You can’t believe people can be so cruel. Neither can I, but I’ve seen what I’ve seen and if what they say is true then what you put out into the world comes back to you.

IV.

I never saw your good side until you showed me the bad. I never knew that friendship wasn’t what I had. I never felt sober till I got good and drunk. I never felt clean till I smelled like a skunk. I never knew my memories were like clouds and rain till the past became a dream and today remained the same. And we seemed like characters in a 1920s movie and I loved you more as you pulled away from me. I know that I am older and I seem more resigned. I wouldn’t have believed that I’d become this way with time.

I can’t help but remember those who believed in me. Was it my silence that made them feel free? When they saw me slippin’ they felt the world was full of misery and if you feel that this love brings you harm and you end up in another man’s arms then I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to know that the world can stay the same but the people become ghosts. I’m by the chapel and the swallows fly slowly away. Can you blame someone for their misfortune? You always thought I was a good man, didn’t you? I want to get some coffee and some tea at 5. I will know when you love me that I’m still alive.

THESE STREETS DON’T UNDERSTAND

These streets don’t understand what trouble makes the man. Each street light whimpers. A man isn’t supposed to whimper, unless maybe there was no one to see him on an empty, winding street. I’m so lost, so lost and I hate the sound of lost footsteps on rising ground. Ground that rises like an abrasive, battle-call and falls with a prevailing fall. Seeing that it is 5 o’clock on Sunday morning and the woman, she has come on without warning, the smallest motion leaves an indelible impression. The woman says she does not like arguments reduced to poetry, as our ties unwind without any sort of design. We all want someone who needs someone the way we do, with a rapt interest, with a golden hue. I think that I could love you if we were on the beaches of a foreign isle, with your blood warm all the while, it would be worth it, if we were free to wander as we wished.

You asked if it would be all right to sing for the last dwindling moments of the night and keep your broken arrow in plain sight. To hold each other tight, to turn it on, to turn it on, to make it right. Holding what is true and what is blithe and not look at the situation like a spectator or a doctor who assesses a patient. This is not just an epigram. This is not something that is lost on me. This is something that is real and a way for us to be free. There will be days to be cruel and days to be fooled and days to be the fool. Do you understand commitment? Do you understand the relationship of one human being to another? Of a man to a woman? There was a breeze that ruffled the shade just as each person in the room forbade the advances of one another. Seeing that it was a cold, dark, and deep December night, I could not understand how I could truly only hold one hand. We all have a family. We can sing for our family – mother and father, brother and sister – but, at the end of it all, do you understand the relationship between a human and a human?

There is an electric pulse in the room tonight. All the colors are more than black and white. There is a heat coming through the cold night. Aren’t we all so polite? Perfume…sweet perfume…all throughout the electric room. I’m so lonely, so lost and lonely and if there were only one person with whom we could confide, when not on the wings of Bacchus, but when all our faculties were there, then I think we could bring it all together. With an earnest effort that lets my mother know that I tried. I tried. I’ve always tried to hold on for a midnight ride that would bring a morning of championship and chivalry, with all the kings being swept aside.

ANGELINE

Well, it’s so cold on an evening of a sanctimonious day. Down your worn and weary way. Oh, Sunday sanctum is slippin’ away. She’s so cool and she’s always one step ahead and I’ll never know who she wants me to be or what she’d like to see in me. It’s such a puzzling mystery. Oh, I’m a fool and she always makes me feel that I’m not enough, like second best. But life is tough. Just when you think you’ve got something in your hand, it slips away. But isn’t life grand? She don’t want me. I can hardly stand. So kick your heals up. The heater broke but I’m gonna be warm tonight. There’s always the flicker of the fire light because we can find some peace, sure enough, all right. Think about when the sun divides the light.

And we will play. Saying Mama, let the guitar player say the words and melodies that make us swing and sway and forget about the things our lovers never gave away and the lovers who don’t want us never gave when we walked along the winding promenade and she cut me even thought I’d often prayed. Oh, it’s a blazing, bright day but I can’t see it that way. Oh, mama, mama give this boy some shade. Woman, give me your hand, it is so strong. And so gentle in how it moves the night along. But it’s just a touch, just a hand, oh, and a man is just a man and his plan is just a plan. When he exhales a few breaths, when it was gone he knew it left, and laid down for a long, deep slumber. I’m going under. Business is dying and I’m tired of worrying about whether I’m bending or lying, ‘cuz a plan is just a plan. And love is just a last stand. I’ll make this my last stand. A woman and her man…but a man is just a man…or a boy, who knows.

She’s just 23 and her least favorite word is death. I say child, you’ll learn to deal with that yet. It sounds so unpleasant, but it’s just a new beginning girl. You’ve got nothing to fear in this mean, ugly world. I had a friend. We knew each other for such a long time. I was her best friend and she was mine but it had to end. The way the golden leaf turns brown in time and all the flower girls they feign and it’s fine. Their words are lost in the pantomime. Now she’s gone, but not forgotten. I know her just like a memory. What is a relationship but a series of moments? What’s a friend, even if it ends? It’s just a sort of endless pageantry but it’s got to end. Sometimes you haven’t got a hand to lend and no goodwill to send and no morals to bend for the sake of a friend. But the friend is in your brain, in your thoughts, in your pain, in the ones you love and love in vain when the love begins to strain and when your friends are gone, they do remain!!

You shall remain, so don’t fear death. It is a word like any other you might use. Like any other problem you might choose, it’ll be gone and lost but you had nothing to lose. So Mama, give me your hand, I will be your lover man. We will walk through the streets in the rain and I’ll cry out loud and make you feel no pain. It’s all misty. It’s all effusive. You don’t have a place that you can call home and love me to the bone. Don’t let me ever feel alone, ‘cause when I am, I’ll remember you. I’ll remember you tonight. Before the morning, before the plight. Angeline, just smile and forget about ourselves for a while and think only of the way it could be and the way you feel right now. It is always better in the future but let’s live right now – right now is the future! But right now will be yesterday and will be so far away and gaining class and beauty with each passing day. But your imagining will make it real – a blue day, a green, pink bird surrounded by the fiery spray. Let’s go on vacation.

Let the virgins swing and sway. Let’s shock ourselves. Let’s drink some wine in a brown cup. A metal cup, with metal silverware and metal plates. In a dark, murky building with billows of smoke on top. And business men dressed in steel-colored pants and navy dress coats. Where people have eyes black as coal. A picture of emblazoned black holes. Those are the zones we live in. With a machine on our desk. With a phone on our chest. But let us take a vacation from our test. Away from all the rest. Oh, give me a coconut! Give me a palm tree! Give me the virgins in the spray! The sea otters, once a day. And give me your hand, now golden and tan, and peppered with sand. Let’s swing and sway, get lost in the spray. Just for today. Oh, give me mercy and let me imagine a better day. Let me hear some chimes. A noise and a voice that rhymes. The periwinkle, the parrot, and the tropical climes. Sandpapered voice, golden sun, my body is golden and my time has come.

Love has come to pass while we lay there in the green, green grass. The dreamers died but the dream remains. Clock is ticking and rain is pounding and the air is grown colder and it’s rare that I take a look over my shoulder. But if I could take a thousand moments and toss them up to the sky and only want to make you wish that I would be your guy and live in the moment when I was actually your guy and sometimes when I’m lying on my back late a night I recall the spell that we were under. All the magic of the sky that was high above us and all the ceaseless wonder. So I think I’ll have a little faith that I’m taking a dark road that ends in light. There’s no sense trembling ‘cause thus far, it’s been all right but it’s getting dark now baby and I hope it’s not endless night. I hope I’m free. Love will come to pass when you’re lying on the green, green grass. The love you own is not in vain. The lovers died but the Love remains. The beautiful died but the Beauty remains. We shall taste it again. We shall live it again. We shall be beautiful without and within. We will be whole again. Oh, yeah, all right, I’m gone. No goodbyes.

ALBUM TITLE: Clocks
RELEASE DATE: 11/7/08

1. Tomorrow Is Nearly Gone
2. Live Fast, Love Young
3. Fear
4. Passion Is Infinity
5. Dionysus And Apollo
6. In Full Bloom
7. You Were Right The Whole Time
8. Jackie
9. Los Angeles, 2001
10. Validation

TOMMOROW IS NEARLY GONE

We sell the dream
Open up your house to the suits
We shout and scream
The wise make off with the loot

The children have it good
And we do the things we should
The children are often genius
Take a trip to Venus
And leave your light on
Tomorrow is nearly gone

You sell the dream
Never lose sight of the town you come from
Mama will be proud, the coin gleams
The battle has begun

LIVE FAST, LOVE YOUNG

A child is killed
Just outside of South Fork
Made the New York Times
But he never got justice

You better live fast
You better love young
Because the people you care for
Are hanging on the sun
Living just as close
So, so close
To the heart of the city

Happiness is my mistress
Money is dead
Happiness is the thing
That is only in your head

FEAR

Faith is blooming
Baby has red pants
Baby loves romance

Jazz man’s crooning
Knock of the dead boys
Start with the fake toys

It now comes down
To what you mean
When you say heaven
Is on the silver screen

Oh, oh you got lost
Oh, oh you got lost
There’s nothing to fear
When you can’t get across
Oh, oh you got lost

PASSION IS INFINITY

Door swings open
Danny starts his day
He saw the sun setting
And that always clears the gray

Sun hits the city
The skyline is pretty
Danny can’t wait to see
The day begin
He’s not gonna be a number
But who can you blame?
Gotta wait for the Lord
To call your name
Up to Mount Moriah
Where your world is slain

Goodbye to all that
But take a look at me
Baby, blow it off
Because passion is infinity

Breakfast cookin’ into dinner
Danny watches the clock
No virgins remain virgins
Open the screen door
And take a walk

DIONYSUS AND APOLLO

Where are you going to be in twenty years?
Hop in the car and drive straight toward your fears

I’ve never seen women as beautiful as those in Barcelona
Don’t organize your days, ride with a night in Latona

IN FULL BLOOM

Blood red car parked outside the bar
The patrons come and go
Easy as the blood wind blows
They run but they don’t get far

And I wonder if I could die
In a hotel bar
While the dragons breathe fire on the day
Don’t ever wonder why
You didn’t become a star
I’m in full bloom
In the comfort of this hotel bar

The little things are stacked upon each other
You could climb them like a ladder to the moon
Try and jump for a star
Try and fly from the bar
You won’t get far
The little things always surprise you
When they are
In full bloom

YOU WERE RIGHT THE WHOLE TIME

Sometimes I think that we’ll never get along
Like a memory that fades and you forget that it’s gone
But you’re left with a problem and a single bed
And all the white angels dancing in your head

If this city could melt away
I’ll have one place to stay
Fly like an angel, I don’t mind
You were right the whole time

JACKIE

Tom puts down the book
He’s been nibbling on for one whole year
When it spites him he denies
The he depends on it

I met them on the terrace
When they were bold and new
And had no feelings for the reason
Things end up the way they do

It never really counts
Unless your heart is in it
Time will tell who is guilty
And who will win it

In your palace where strangers sleep
We can share martinis
While our women weep
And the dream you had
When you were 14 years old
Will call to you baby
So brilliant and bold
Jackie, I’m ready, I hope you are too

LOS ANGELES, 2001

There’s a place in Los Angeles
Remains in my memory today
Funny how the cities you’ve visited
Never inspire you to stay

And the hardest part of letting go
Is letting it disappear for good
You thought there were endless options
And maybe baby doll you should

Sitting by the fire
Talking about things you’ve never done
She said she don’t like hypocrites
I don’t like them either but I’m one

Get rid of your books
Get ride of your fairest memories
You won’t need them where you’re going
They’ll disappear like a faint, whispering melody
Los Angeles, 2001
Is finally a dying a memory

VALIDATION

Looking for a validation
Follow your dreams
Follow the red sportscar
That told you who to be

Follow those dreams
Follow the picture
That is built up in your head
Your life can be
Your best art project
ALBUM TITLE: Weeds
RELEASE DATE: 10/7/08

1. Summer Night
2. Snow
3. Electricity
4. I Met The Dawn This Morning
5. Spent & Rickety
6. Advice From A Bearded Sage
7. My Baby’s In The West
8. Ishmael
9. Poor No More
10. Come In From The Cold
11. Ramon’s Theme
12. Country Music

SUMMER NIGHT

In the distance there howls the young lover’s radio
And in the foreground a beauty stands tall and long
Her brown eyes call for something more than this
She wants to break out of this town and run away
Her blue jeans are worn and have faded with age
And her top is yellow and it catches the eye
She’s leaning on the fence with a foot against a sign
She’s had a long day, a long summer, and she’s sighin’
She’s retiring into the summer night

SNOW

There is a blanket of snow over the entire street
It’s impossible to see the jagged contours of the homes
And the cars and trash and all else are one

And the snow’s made the whole street like a dream
The hills of powder spot all of the green
Everyone falls into the clutches of the storm

And everyone must bundle up tight
When they head out into the frigid, white night
But it’s hard not to smile and rest your eyes for a while
When the evening is brightened up by the light

Out of time, the snow it sets in
And covers up the imperfections and the sins
And covers up the broken things we know
And we’re allowed, for a brief moment, to begin

ELECTRICITY

Yesterday, the storm blew through the streets
People are bundled up under their sheets
But today we’re left with a world that’s bereft
Of all that is lingering beneath

Tomorrow we’ll have all the worries again
We’ll have to tramp through the slush
But we’ll remember the good weather
Now that our electricity is gone

I MET THE DAWN THIS MORNING

I awoke just before the dawn had come
I hadn’t slept much the night before
It was in the vulnerable hours of the morning
When the world was asleep behind closed doors

That I felt some kind of peace
The dew drops rested on the grass
The cool of the morning was sharp
There was loneliness from the past

In the early hours,
There seemed to be an order to things
Time made a stop and life stood still
And I didn’t think of what the day would bring

And you could almost hear
The voices of the people
Who had long been gone
They were now dust about the streets

I was able to be innocent once again
And to forget about what I had lost
I thought only of the orange, distant glow
And the disappearing morning frost

I could be anywhere then
And everywhere, all at once
I could be part of the orange glow
Without a sense of permanence

SPENT AND RICKETY

I awoke before you did
And looked over at you
This bed is spent and rickety
But it will still do

In your waking hours
You’re so often overcome by stress
By wants and desires
And dreams that have not been met

Things have been hard for you
You’ve been treated badly by many
I’m sorry for everything I’ve done
And I know I’ve done plenty

But here, away from your car and the traffic
And bills and bosses
You seem calm
Peaceful and self-assured

Now I can tell you, as you sleep
For otherwise it will be hard
For in your waking hours
You always tend to discard

It when I say
It’s gonna be all right
Yes, we’re spent and rickety
But we’ll be all right

ADVICE FROM A BEARDED SAGE

He stands with his boot upon a rock
A few days growth on his face
He’s on in his years now
But as it happened, he ended up at this place

It’s chilly out on the farm
And when the night comes it gets colder
He stuffs tobacco in his father’s pipe
And rests his hand upon my shoulder

He says, “Son, there’s a fire I’m fixin’
Your soup will be ready soon
You’re lucky ‘cause up here in the sticks
You can clearly see the moon”

He points at the stars
He looks out to the woods
That kettle is on the fire
It’s getting hot now

He says, “Junior, dreamin’s for free
Look around you,
That’s not what you’ll see
I’m old now, but as naïve
As when I was twenty-three”

MY BABY’S IN THE WEST

He looks out to the West
And says that’s where my baby is
Gets a little too sentimental for me
But I know the burden here is his

He spends must of his time with pub goers
They sit at the stool and complain
They indulge in each other’s barrelhouse fantasies
Trying to set each other free

And we go down to the shipyards
Where it smells worse in the summer heat
There’s rays of the sun comin’ through
Looks so damn heavenly

And my baby comes down to the pier
To tell me how her life has been
With her fragile frame in my starving arms
She says she thinks she’s been to heaven and back again

ISHMAEL

Ishmael and I sat out in the alleyway
It was dusty and the day was warm
He was wearing a skin-tight white tank top
And he could only utter a few words

I loved the way the sun hit the buildings
I was there and just barely willing
Standing outside, the night seemed filling
I drank from the gleaming bottle

I thought of Rome even though it was bleak
Out in this alley, Ishmael opened his ears
I opened my eyes and I took a peak
I saw the afternoon sun hitting the street

POOR NO MORE

That was where I could eat and eat
I’d have some fine food and shoes on my feet
I’d have the warm fuzzies in my tummy
I could sit on the cobblestone street

And eat fine foods with the best of ‘em
Give me some of that expensive wine
I need to cleanse my pallet
No more poverty on this dime

I will extend my hands no more
I’ve go to collect some dues
Why didn’t I arrive here earlier?
It could have all been wonderful
I could’ve had strength and ease
And a mouth, a heart, and a cup
A cup that was always full

COME IN FROM THE COLD

When your feelings have got a hold of you
And you’re unsure of what you’re supposed to do
Wash off the rain and do what you’re told
Come in from the cold

Well, you’re wasted
It’s simpatico, you see?
On a snowy, winter’s eve
Among the wayfarers, in the highest degree
Among the talk of you and me
Wash off the rain and find a hand to hold
Come in from the cold

Oh, stumbling out on Saint Stevens Avenue

But there’s a pigeon at your door
You don’t need to be angry, just explore
How love is true, of this I’m sure
You’ll fight the rain
If your love is bold
Come in from the cold

RAMON’S THEME

Quiet as a street at night
The waves crash on the beach
Like cymbals on your clothes
See the lovely women
With the lovely hair
And all the wisdom that lives there
I’m tired of the wisdom, I can only hope
To look out at the sea and make it real
I live my life
Then write it down
And live it again

So then
We’re beyond this
Beyond the ocean and the pond
Sing to empty heaven
Your incantations
And sing them true

Oh, deliver me
Oh, have mercy on me
Oh, this poetry
Oh, it makes me free

It exceeds the grayness of your day
And makes the darkness melt away
So you can be born again

COUNTRY MUSIC

Play that country music
That’s the kind I like
But music is music
It’s not black and white

Up and down, down and up
All the daylong day
I can’t stand
Being pushed away

I want to experience it
I can’t stay in one place
A few months are nice
But it’s written on my face

Play that country music
That’s the kind I like
But music is music
It’s not black and white
ALBUM TITLE: Clouds
RELEASE DATE: 9/7/08

1. Rome
2. The Stranger With The Sunglasses
3. The Paper
4. The Sea
5. Lovely, Young, And Pale
6. The Black Beast
7. Buildings Turned And Crosses Burned
8. Lonesome Tippler
9. Sheena
10. Before All Trains Are Gone

ROME

You’ve been there before
On a well-lit street
Waves beat on the shore
And the people moved their feet

Was 10 years ago
When you set out on your path
You saw the green grass

Open your eyes
It’s a cold, cold regret
Here comes an acquaintance
Are you sure we’ve met?

Ride the gravy train
Through the wet streets in the rain
Fool yourself into believing
That all you do is not in vain

I one was in Rome
And the people I met
Made me forget about time
And the haunting past
On those old, stone steps
I looked within
People asked me why
People asked me when
I said let’s forget about time

Do no look further than the present
Turn around and clean off your shelf
All that clutter is bad for your health
I urge you to head out into the world

Rock me baby
The beat is sweet
Like in Rome
The earth ‘neath my feet
We know about this balance
We’ve found a wrong to right
We know about the balance
But we still fight

THE STRANGER WITH THE SUNGLASSES

A stranger wandered down the road
The light reflected off his sunglasses
The light behind him was blinding
She couldn’t see his eyes
Her voice was soft
So quiet as she spoke
The stranger came over the hill

THE PAPER

He took the paper
And went for the door
He wanted something direct
More than ever before
If I can stay healthy
Perhaps that’s all I can ask for
Throw it into the water
Pennies sinking, gleaming
What does it mean if there
Is not a trace of ambition?
Throw the paper away

THE SEA

Ramon sat staring
At the green grass, all alone
Nothing could stop him
So far from home

Looking at a blade of grass
Can’t shake the thought of sin
Where does this field end?
And where does it begin?

Like a fisherman
In a boat out on the sea
Fair against the waves, the birds,
There’s no justice there for me

But to stand alone
In a world you can’t describe
Don’t expect it to accommodate you
Be sure you can decide

You are smarter than the sea
But it’s wiser than you
You’re spinning like a treadmill
Thinking of the things you should do

LOVELY, YOUNG, AND PALE

She stood lovely, young, and pale
Outside pain came in the form of hail
On the docks, the masts went high
Wind was blowing as the ships set sail
The ship blew to and fro
Not sure exactly which way the ship would go

THE BLACK BEAST

Rage against the dying of the trip
I spent 24 hours on the highway
Over two days on the commode
Along those winding roads
And my friend became ill
And I kicked the dust off of a rock
It came as a shock
What is the point?
Who chose this paint?
The Black Beast is always near
But there is nothing to fear
Do you want to someday become
An old poet?
Dead on your feet
Staring out into the blue-black void
Subtly annoyed
Not yet overjoyed
Mystified
Perhaps there is nothing to fear
Realized it, remember it
But how is one supposed
To become close to anyone else?
The Black Beast is always near
But there is nothing to fear

BUILDINGS TURNED AND CROSSES BURNED

All the buildings turned
The crosses burned
I waited like a sinner
Hold me ‘neath the oak tree
Goodbye to all the things you need
Well hubris is catchin’ up to you
Coughing and bleeding
I wish I was him
I wish I was lost in the organ trill
In the piano feel
Well, a wise man stood at the edge
Of the shore
And said you’ll never know
What you could have been
Gone are the dusty shelves

LONESOME TIPPLER

The tippler is leaning
Against the brick wall
What a fine thing it is
That holds us from a fall

Lonesome tippler
Where do you go?
When the lights fade
And the bar is closed?

Do you flee to the underground?
Do you sneak into the dark?
Does your angry face
Look quite as stark?

When the lights fade
And the trees sway
On the promenade
Where you seal the day

Imagine this: bright, ruby lips
Warm, burnt sun, sweet shakin’ hips
Warm, burnt skin, in smoky juke joints
Where black women sway

And the sun burns its way
Onto the floor that is alive
Shuffling with moving feet
Changing form as it changes fleet

SHEENA

Hey, Sheena’s got the boyfriend blues
Hard to fill those platform shoes
Mink fur and dimestore hat

Love, love has a pretty face
Moved into a brand new place
Woos you into feeling like a fat cat

So revolution is your game?
Do you know about that?

Well, it’s hard to say
But she’s got the thing
I need today
I’ve never been to heaven
But I’ve died a few times

Well, maybe your pants are torn
But your name is clean
You’re unlike any other I’ve seen
It’s alright
But it’s not what I thought it’d be

Like a ramblin’ rose
In your mama’s clothes
You look so cheap
But your not, I suppose
I’m in heaven
But it’s not where I thought it’d be

Well, I don’t know
What you can do
But you hurt the ones
That are close to you

BEFORE ALL TRAINS ARE GONE

Come take my hand
Walk along
Let’s try and make the most
Of this time
There are choices we must make
That are disappearing into the coast

I’ve been alone for a long time
And time is keepin’ on
I’m tired of trying to race it
I’m wrecked and I’m worn
So let’s relish all our night times
And let’s catch a train and roll on
Let’s get right down to hitchin’
Before all trains are gone
ALBUM TITLE: Lift Me Up
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 8/7/08

1. Lift Me Up
2. Lips
3. Road Song
4. Tennessee Moon
5. Giving Up On Paradise
6. Find Time To Smile
7. Dancing
8. Striving
9. Pipe Dream
10. Like A Wretch, In Tennessee
11. 4 AM
12. The Trail

LIFT ME UP

I saw you just the other day
My, you’re so much older now
If I’ve failed, at least I’ve done it my way
And that makes me feel better, somehow

But I will be worse off, if I never confessed
That I’ve never loved another like I loved you
When I see ya, I’m right pretendin’ I don’t care
But if you catch me out of the corner of your eyes, you know I do

See a woman with a pale face
Black tie dinner, white lace
Life packed in a suitcase
Movin’ on to a better place

Lift me up, like the wretch I am on Sunday
Wake me up, I’ve been sleepin’ for too long
I’ve lost some time, that’s OK
Look at me, look at you
We both need to belong

Met you in a bright haze
But our meeting was hatched in a premonition
I knew you’d set me apart from all the rest

See them all out walking
They’re lost in a time spun
Spinning away from here
So, I’m singing for my tears
Cuz they make me feel lively
Like a sun’s beatin’ on me
I don’t want to die
In a high school memory
When I go to work in a factory

Raise me up
You and I are going one way
If you’re lost, that’s OK
It’s the age that we are

Follow yourself, down some dark deserted highway
The light you see at the end, it isn’t that far
If you ever need someone to believe in
Baby, you can believe in me
Cuz, after all, if in the end, you didn’t win
That’s OK, one day you’ll be free

And you can take my hand
And walk on the sand
Lyin’ on a sandy beach
With the sun beatin’ overhead
I think everyone will see
This is a world that’s beautiful enough
Beautiful enough for you and me

LIPS

She put her lips to mine
And she opened up her eyes
We parted and both smarted
With similar sighs

I wondered how she’d taste –
Such money in her guise
I learned she tasted of vanilla
Or more like a lemon pie

She said, “I don’t want to see you
I might fall in love too soon
For my lone dowry is due
To some other pedigree”

“What fine pedigree
You most certainly have”
I said as I surveyed the room
“What a fine mate you might make

If you only eased up
And allowed my charm
To do it stuff – I challenge you
To call my bluff”

“For what are we
If we are not in love?
We’re pensive and unhappy
With all the above

But we can’t match the thrill
So let’s leave this silly zoo
Now my heals will click twice
Tell me you want me, too”

ROAD SONG

I came from the North
From New York City and the frantic pace
Headed south on I-81
Doing the cannon ball run
Made it through Virginia without haste

I rolled down on I-41
Nashville, Tennessee, callin’ out to me
Maybe some temptress
Will steal my heart in Memphis
But I got a belle waiting in Albuquerque

I imagine the two of us
My Latin love and I
Out in the dusty desert
Away from all pressure
Sharing contentment and locking eyes

The cars are shinin’ on the highway
The silver glimmer blinds my eye
We’ll whisper in each other’s ears
We’ll joke about our silly fears
We’ll fall asleep under the brick-red sky

All the prickly cacti
All the winos fumble noisily
They stand broken and alone
I’m so far from home
Each dirty alleyway is so new to me

TENNESSEE MOON

The Tennessee moon
Is shinin’ so bright
On a crystal clear
Indian summer night

In the doorways of the bar
Stand the guitar players
They try to lure the tourists
They answer their prayers

On these Nashville nights
Under a Tennessee moon
By the Cumberland River
We’ve all got to shiver

GIVING UP ON PARADISE

When our hearts don’t work anymore
And our flesh is balmy, cold, and poor
And our years, the quiet, anonymous stuff of yore
Tell me about paradise

When our passion’s left us small and meek
When our days number just shy of a week
When we’re 50 years past our temporal peak
Point me towards paradise

For in the sunset of our lives
The soul is dealt a spanning night
Home not to love or loss or light
Or wrong or right, just baleful night

We’ve fooled ourselves along this bluff
With talk of post-mortem bliss and fluff
I think it wouldn’t be so tough
To let our lifetimes be enough

But today our hearts are pumping fast
Our blood and flesh are warm and vast
Let’s use our age to fill our past
With the void left by paradise

Don’t save yourself for when you’re thrust
Into the realm of ash and dust
For if you don’t then you know you must
Have some longing for paradise

We’ve lost all perspective on paradise
Till we die we’ll won’t know, they say
Webster told us death was nice
We’ll only learn the truth at the end of our days

FIND TIME TO SMILE

Pick your head up
Put your hair behind your ears
Put your tiny hands in mind
Let’s allow each other to switch gears

We’re always stressing about something
We rarely find the time to smile
When was the last time we had a hearty laugh?
I know it’s been quite a while

We’ve got such petty problems
Brought on by cars, bars, and jobs
Let’s think about our happiness
Let’s think about what we have

It’s great to be alive
You haven’t said that in a while
It’s great to be alive
Let’s find the time to smile

DANCING

I saw her dancing
Through the window
Of a champagne glass

She was taken,
Quite taken, and I knew
That sort of beauty couldn’t last

I was alone at the time
And I saw the virtues
Of partnership

And I kept thinking
Only of how elegant
A body can be

STRIVING

He pushes and strives
Takes what the fates bring
He’s confident and thinks
He can do everything

But that’s the sort of naiveté
That comes with his youth
He thinks he knows it all but
One day he’ll be long in the tooth
PIPE DREAM

Kickin’ up dust tonight
Chewin’ on a pipe dream, baby
Got my brand new suit to wear
Flowers in your hair and we feel crazy

You got the world in your hand
You think it follows your plans
That idea is lost on me
But I’m tired of throwin’ stones

LIKE A WRETCH, IN TENNESSEE

Your hair in the afternoon sun
Does it need anyone to make it right?
It takes the light from all that has begun
You’re so young, so bright
It’s only a short while

If you could only embrace me
Like a wretch, in Tennessee
Let’s forget about ourselves
Hold me like we’ve just begun
Be honest, be honest

Crawling in the hot sun
Mama, mama give this boy some shade!
In a bar you can throw all your words
Into a drunken glass
But tell me
Is it just trickery?
Isn’t it just self-deceit?
The sea is cold
It does not spare anybody
Not even the wretch
In Tennessee

4 AM

It’s 4 in the morning
And I’m starting to grieve
The leaves outside
Like the leaves on my childhood street
It’s all business
It’s all business
Let’s not talk of poetry
It makes my heart and head dizzy
I sat with an old man who said
“Do you know what it’s like to be close to death?
It’s not much different than being born”
I don’t remember being born
It’s what happens between the point you’re born
And the point you die that matters
Perhaps the most important thing we have
Is time
To try to make the moment mine
Somewhere, time is not important
It is hard to imagine whether having
The sort of mind that is inspired to write poetry
Is a blessing
Or a curse

THE TRAIL

I set out on a trail
The trail was overgrown
The weeds were thick
I thought that the breadth of this trail
Might make me sick
And make me fail myself
By failing to follow through
By failing to realize the goal
Of getting to the end
To realize all those dreams
We thought we knew
ALBUM TITLE: Confessions Of A Garden Partier
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 7/7/08

1. December Mornings
2. Louise, Say Goodbye
3. I Went Out And Jammed
4. An Angel Who Never Would Know It
5. Boy On A Bicycle
6. Did I Disturb Your World?
7. Where Are All Your Friends Tonight?
8. It’s A Long Way Home Under The Trees
9. On A Familiar Street
10. Jenny
11. There Are No Experts
12. Everything’s Gonna Be Different
13. Stone-Like On A Yellow Hill
14. Drunk On The Moon, Drunk On The Past

DECEMBER MORNINGS

December mornings are such a surrender and the time frosts on the windows. Oh, I can’t tell what the winter will render but it’s not always good to know. I’m so tired and lonely and I can’t skate the fence. I don’t think you can ever love me only. Would you show me some evidence? We all need a hand to hold. I’m a young man who is already old and I wish that I could find some sign that love is bold. You left me spinning into oblivion in the middle of December. It’s snowing and it’s cold.

Gonna catch a ride with the Bacchus cavalry. Gonna be wild and winsome like a song. Oh, just put me out of my misery. Tell me why I feel I just can’t belong. I been strung along like a twister. Been runnin’ on aimlessly. Your cheeks are pale. Would you let me in? I can’t let you in. I got no wind in my broken sails. Tell me why, when you’re weary, the world seems to travel so slow. Oh, I’m as mighty and as teary as a little side act at a rodeo show. If you told me you loved me that would be the sweetest sound and yet I don’t think you’d be alone. I can’t believe you’d ever always hang around.

So call me empty. I’ll say I’m sorry. I’d love to hold you unconditionally. But there’s a cold wind blowin’ across my bedroom and I am sorry, so so sorry. If I told you that I loved you would your feet ever leave the ground?

LOUISE, SAY GOODBYE

I know it’d be easy if I could just break away from this same old swing set, these same old trees but in my heart, I know I’ll stay. Got to move, got to open my eyes when that part of me dies. Open up your eyes. It’s so beautiful, wonderful. Something you’ve never seen before. Swinging on a swing set. So young, so innocent.

Would you know it was beautiful if it never came to an end? I’ll hold on to my tune as the light fills the room, you’re gonna be beautiful soon. Kickin’ around the neighborhood. Remember when you were up to no good. Runnin’, playin’, singin’. In the distance, bells were ringin’. Ring those bells, ring those bells. Let’s remember ourselves.

Everything in front, all that passed behind. I think I’ll find my dreams down on Hollywood and Vine. Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up your guitar and play. Create tomorrow and sing for yesterday. You got those flowers all around you. You got ribbons in your hair. I think we could grow old together. I know it’s now or never.

We dream of who we wanted to be. We dream of who we were to each other. All the days that pass into reverie. Frosty windows, frosty days. Catchin’ a train to New York. Wish I was in San Diego, where the ocean seems to touch your eyes so slow – so mellow like gold. Let’s go where the air is light. Where there is music. Music, movin’ your hips. I think I could kiss your lips.

Dirty old streets. Give me my winter coat. Give me some time alone. To wander through the snow and sleet. I think I’ll figure it out. Why you don’t remember all the things I remember. When snowy December chills me to my soul. To my very ember.

Louise, say Goodbye. Those beautiful days are gone. But something strange and different will come.

When you’re caught between the chords of a song. The triumphant strain brings me back home again. Ring them bells, ring them loud. Say goodbye, say hello. Ring them bells. Let us remember ourselves. Just put your dusty old boot heel upon the first stair. Catch a train. You’ll go far away, in the great open spaces. Spread your wings. You’re going away. Kickin’ around the ideas of your younger years. Something you learned so long ago. Before you knew how to know. You’re going out into a night of deep black. The night is out of whack. And I know you’re not coming back. Sometimes it feels so good to be hopelessly alone. But all I’m after is trying to find someone who’s been alone.

I WENT OUT AND JAMMED

I went out and jammed tonight. So you think you’re not so young anymore. You realize that you’re the age you thought you’d die or peak before. But your life is not about one moment, when those greens hills start to make sense. Even if you lost something. Even a well-worn compliment. You stare at the wall and remember what it felt like to dream. Now you measure your mornings with a newspaper and coffee crème. Well, the days pass before you realize that you were in love. You’ve got your regrets, dear, I know the ones you’re thinking of. Put my fingers down on the piano and make some sense of all this mess. Try to make music of the perfume in your room or the wind blowin’ through your dress.

It’s been a long time, such a long time, since I thought I knew just exactly what to do. What was the right way to get over or to get through. And so here we go, like dogs of war, fighting in a white-walled home. I don’t belong to anyone. I’m gonna go chase the sun. I’m haunted by my dreams. Dreams of holding you, when you were so young, so new. Like the smell of morning, like the autumn dew. You look over my shoulder as if to discover someone. The air has grown colder and the day is done. Why don’t we stroll merrily? Shake the shack dancin’ all drunken night long, getting lost in the throes of a song. Feelin’ weak and feelin’ strong. For just as you step into the morning air, the sun will cut you outside the door. I want the angel, I want the whore and I don’t want to be wanting anymore.

A man spoke to me as he held his gray beard and looked at the dawn. He said the time is best that is the first, you’re clean and healthy and strong. A clean slate, at heaven’s gate, you just can’t wait to live like you were pre-destined to. Oh, I remember things I’ve never done. I’ve loved some lovely ones. But she’s always disappearing, she’s always God-fearing, and she’s always the passionate one. My candle is burning bright and loud, but it won’t burn for long, it won’t last for this crowd. Darling, you’ll see it is strong, wild and winsome, like a song. Put your hand where you left it before. Don’t look back on that Pacific shore. Alice has got her new shoes on. The radio is loud and the rainbow’s in the dawn. I think I may, I think I might, take her out on Saturday night.

AN ANGEL WHO NEVER WOULD KNOW IT

In the sunset of my 21st year all the days seem to disappear like a train disappearing in the distance. Seems I can’t help steering off the track. Seems the days and my vision aren’t clear. But I’ve got dreams, yes, I’ve got dreams of how we’ll set ourselves straight. Oh, we would sit on the front porch and call for our heroes who drove down the highway when we were so young. We’d sit with our feet off the ground with the summer night sounds. Disappearing, but we felt we had won. Just one in the sun. Let’s hide down back alleyways. Let’s kiss all those tears away. Let ‘em run away. We don’t want to see them today. We’ll hold on to each other. I don’t need an education. I just need another who’s got dreams, colorful dreams, lasting, strong, dreams of how the sun will go down on us.

Take a hold of my hand. It’s all I can offer to you baby, to run out the door. Run to where those hounds won’t trouble you no more. Leave all those ties and binds in rags on the floor. Because you’re like an angel who never would know it, who never would show it, who’d never been told it before. And I can’t help but say, that I’ve never been in love, never been in love up above, and I know that in that way I’m poor. You say look at him so lonely and poor. But we could dance the nights away. Tick it, tock it, turn it to another day. Till all those clamoring, they say look at those two young lovers, in love in such a precious, perishable way.

It’s been such a quiet many hours. From coffee to nightcaps to evening showers. Then morning showers, blooming flowers. Isolated in their little garden on the outskirts, beneath the towers. It’s such a shame when you’re feeling so much that language gets tough and the meanings of the words melt away. But you can sit on that old porch and dream of a greener pasture of the feeling in the feeling way. But you stand at the height of the stair. With a red dress and gold ribbons in your hair. Lookin’ over, lookin’ over, above and beyond, but you see there is simply nothing. From your view at the upper-most stair, you had it all, all you needed, when you were down below.

BOY ON A BICYCLE

Hey, what do you know? That boy on the bicycle, he’s riding so slow. He could have been a thief but he’s too clean to show. After so much time, after so many sighs, so many lazy mornings, it has to end. But we’ll meet again in some smoky, all night café. And you’ll tell me how you missed me and all my idiosyncrasies. And we’ll look each other in the eyes and wonder if it could have been. If we hadn’t been so lazy and abandoned each other for…what was it again?

And we’ll faintly ask, could we test fate? But now it’s much too late. Here ‘neath the burgundy moon and the drifters who pass beyond us soon and somewhere in the hazy night an old man dies from a broken heart that stole his might. But next to him the lovers yearn, they burn with passion, they toss and turn. Don’t ignore them. So there you are with your yellow dress and the scarf up on your beautiful chest, I think that I could love you now! But it’s too late, in a smoky, all-night café. Soon, it will be another day and you will wake in someone’s room and forget about tonight’s moon but the sadness and the joy that you feel tonight is real, I swear, it’s real.

Remember the green grass on Sunday morning? You and I thought we could conquer our dreams but tonight the moon is hurting my eyes, I think I can ask it why. Why was the moon so low that August night? And why did the light hit her just right? And why did the music sound so crazy and so slow? And why did I forget it was a radio? Well, you climbed upon your front porch and whistled about all the fear that’s real and about how you thought you’d sold your soul. And you were gonna die. And it’s impossible to ever say just what you feel. Follow me down a certain serenade. The world went turning around while the band stopped and then played. I think I wept and prayed when the cars rolled by in the rain and sprayed you. I love you, I love you.

DID I DISTURB YOUR WORLD?

Was I wrong? Did I disturb your world? You were such an optimistic little girl. You wrote your books and felt that writing could go on forever, or at least until you had a sense of finality. But was I wrong, beautiful girl, to think that I could organize the world? When your father went away there was so much left to say, so much left to say. So much more music to make. When Otis went away. There was so much left to say. So much more music to make. So many more shows to play. Now you feel at home. Shooting stars ‘neath the red light of the casino. Drink Blue Hawaii’s in the afterglow and the children playing in the schoolyard. They seem so distant, so hard. You don’t watch them concentrate and deem the world so vast, so great. Instead the red lights call to you. But they’re not fresh, they’re a hellish hue.

You say, “I’m gonna meet the girl, I’m gonna take the chance, I’m gonna risk it all and tragedy I will forestall.” We sat in the dark, in a smoky café and the candles were red, the people were gray but they moved so streamline. The people would sway and we had so many important things to say. We weren’t afraid of the dark. We had things to do. I was a fellow with the arms of a broadband in the day and you were just a virgin in the graveyard where the non-virgins lay. I now know this, as I reflect, in this cheap restaurant, among the scum and villainy.

WHERE ARE ALL YOUR FRIENDS TONIGHT?

There is a place that everyone can go where the air is warm and the people laugh. What would you do if you had a party and nobody showed – would it be a gas? Well, I know you’ve got reasons for the choices you’ve made and that’s why things turn out the way they do. But how many friends are with you until the bitter end? We’ve got so many choices before we are through. You’re friends are there to comfort you when the sky is too bright. But where are all your friends tonight?

Every time that it snows on a dusty road I think of all the seasons that have died. I have a friend, he spends his life alone and it’s OK. He figured something out so long ago. That if it’s freedom that you’re looking for, it’s freedom that you find, when the person you’re mistaken for has been left behind. And all the people that mistreat you, who treat you unkind. Nothing really matters much, you’ll find that in time. You’re friends are there to make you feel like everything’s all right. But where are all your friends tonight?

I’ve got friends who have friends they will never see again. That’s the one thing that I never understood. How so much is experienced but so little retained. Your memory is full of things that could have been. But I remember the people who have made me laugh and the experiences that made me cry and all the late nights and all of the fights and all of the times I thought I’d died.

And if there is someone who treats you unfairly. Who do you turn to today? When the people you depend on, the ribbons fall from their hair and somehow they just seem to slip away. Well, those memories will get you through a long, empty, cold, and lonely plight but where are all your friends, I want to see them again, I hope they’re doing all right, where are all of them tonight?

So I guess you’ve got places to go. People who’ve made plans to go to the show. And you’re plane leaves at eight, you’ve been all around the world and your body is testing fate. You’ve got pictures of the partners to remember life by. Organize it well, file it away. But some memories will dispute it and knock it out of place. And where you gonna be when they say they can’t stay?

All the cold people, who were warm one night, when they set their differences aside and you told yourself that “these are the times” even though I can see that you lied. Well the women look so lovely and the boys are so clean and the life that you lead makes you feel so mean but when the joke is up and the bells ring out and the poor boys of your past come back around, when the white lights on dreamstreet go blasting out, when you struggle and scratch and you gotta shout, what was it all? Who’s life is this? And what’s it all about? I’ll say – be true.

Your friends never changed the fact that you had to fight. You’re friends made you feel that you were outta sight. They made you feel good, like a bird, like a kite. So weightless in the face of the impenetrable light. But where are all your friends tonight?

IT’S A LONG WAY HOME UNDER THE TREES

It’s a long way home under the trees. Why don’t you gaze out on the lake? Where is Missy now? Has she changed somehow? I just want to sit inside and play my guitar. Watch the raindrops fall. Wish upon a star. Forever is tonight, all the shades of gray, all your friends who went away. Playing in the field, playing ball, back against the wall. I don’t have the things I want but I don’t regret it. I want to be out on 51st street where the lovers meet.

Saw a good friend the other day. We talked about the way things used to be. But I’m not interested in that. Now that you’ve got the symphony and your daddy’s cat and me, I’ve got the promise of a few songs and I’m sorry the guitar is out of tune. Go down to the market on a warm afternoon. Pretty baby, brand new clothes.

It’s almost New Year’s Day. And I still don’t have those songs in order and the last I’d heard, my old lady, she’s living near the border. Here we are, take one more shot. Baby, you know that’s all you got. And tell me about how you’re so misunderstood and how well you could write a book if only somebody would take a look. I got the company on the phone. Should I tell them anyone is home? Should I tell them about your novel? Hop in your Cadillac and get out of the city. Get away from it all. You either got it or you don’t. I heard a man say he had everything he’d ever wanted. Well, I ask my traveling companion what that means. When your dreams are exceeded by your means. I think it’s about time to get out of this hotel bar, away from the salsa band. Feels like Mardi Gras has got to end. So I got to head for the door and I don’t want tonight to end anymore than you. But there are things I’ve just got to do. I’ve got to turn it away. Got bills to pay. Got a book to write. Got pictures to take. I’m on the make.

ON A FAMILIAR STREET

On a familiar street he makes his run. He remembered his father’s words and he always looked like one who came from the old days. From 1979. Now he looks at his picture, how young he was and reflects. How small your life is. Pour a drink on this familiar street. Remember the places you’d like to go and the faces you want to meet. Now he looks at a picture of his father as a child and he feels like a stranger but he knows that it’s wild that his dad’s ideas of who he should be are not relevant. Have a safe home and the love of your family. He sits with the photos beneath a wild oak tree and it’s all right!

I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you the truth and you didn’t find out till you were out on the loose. You won’t find an unfamiliar street that will stay that way for long and you can’t go on pining for the scars on your tree. Don’t be sorry for the person you didn’t turn out to be.

JENNY

Jenny, why does your face look so cold? You’re too young to look so old. I know your car won’t start and you’ve got a broken heart but Saint Pedro’s got the blues and he offered to take the cues walkin’ around this dusty Mexicali bar with broken English and holes in his shoes. I’ve been singing for so long, I think I’ll lose my voice. You say that I chose this life, but I don’t think I had a choice.

Grandma’s always talking about angels. I think I’m starting to believe in them. She makes me breakfast and we talk but soon I’ll have to leave. Do you think you have control over the person you become? Do you think that you’re not in LA because you haven’t won? Well, I’ve been fighting for years against the current and against myself to return to the place I should be, in full splendor and health.

Open up the highway for the lovers and leavers. Come with me to where the rivers end. I’m not sure, but you may be a keeper. Look into my eyes. I see myself, I swear. And I see tomorrow in the sun in your hair. Is a man measured by the breadth of his trouble? Cuz tonight I think I’m seeing double. Look before you leap. When you walk out that door and when you hesitate, you’re lost. The poets never prosper, of this we can be sure.

THERE ARE NO EXPERTS

The room was empty but that’s what he chose. And his doors remain closed. I thought I could change. I meant it. I meant every word I said. If I come looking for you, will I like what I find? This old harmonica is still on my mind. The love I gave seems to bind the way we have to deal with the business of the past few years forever. I wish you the best and I meant everything that I said. On the late, late nights, when I felt dead on 52nd street. We could try to find something real. If I come looking for you, will I like what I find? Are the same one that I loved and that loved me? I woke up with a headache and all I thought of was the sun break and being in love. It’s so simple but it’s not for me. I’m sorry babe, but I can’t stay.

All the wine can’t save tonight. The dog barks outside and the thieves have been caught. You caught me on the only question that really matters. With the summer turnin’ and the yesterdays shattered. Everybody has to say goodbye. I feel sick. But your memory haunts me. I keep telling myself this is what it’s like to be free. How do people, on a vacant 52nd street, chance to change each other’s lives when they happen to meet? There’s no idea better than you. there’s no day that I can’t do without you. It’s my fault. I realize that, somehow. The clouds are gone and I can organize now.

Perhaps I was spoiled by all your love. My thoughts are out there on the road. I’m thinking about all the greats and how they handled these things. Nobody’s perfect and I’m certainly no different, but surely some are stronger than this. So I sit on the beach. The waters always just out of reach and I face the problems. Can’t you see? There are no experts, it’s just you and me.

EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE DIFFERENT

You don’t know who you are or why you come here today. You remember the comments of the friends who get in your way. If friends are like memories, you’ve still got everyone but sometimes when the dope sleeps he’s still got a setting sun. everything’s gonna be different when we get there, baby, everything’s gonna be different when we make it over the hill.

When the night is lonely and you can’t find the words that make you feel better. Collect the best words you’ve heard. We’ll you’re all alone on the 22nd floor and nobody’s been knockin’ at your door. It’s been so long and you feel like you’re alone. You’ve forgotten the battle and you don’t know who won.

STONE-LIKE ON A YELLOW HILL

I sat stone-like on a yellow hill. One day I’ll make this town shine. You know I will. Cuz I’ve got dreams and I’ve got time and I know when to make the moment mine. But what happens to your dream when you get busy and change your course? What happened to the path you never took? Does it follow you? Does it nag you? Don’t let it taunt you or destroy your spirit. When your dream is not fulfilled you lose hope and you lose your grip.

Does the moon still sing in a spectral light? Can you only hear it in the night? I swung by your house, could hear you sighing, whispering about all the dreams that God is denying. I’m so sad cuz all those roses in the flower box are dying. Outside your window, I’m here trying to go for what it is we talked about in an all night café when we got clear about our dreams and the whole world was in the way.

DRUNK ON THE MOON, DRUNK ON THE PAST

Look at the stars. Gaze out on the lake. Let’s get drunk and swim through the sea and the sleep until we wake. People come and then they die. They swim like ghosts between you and me. I’ll let you can rock me with a subtle groove. In your eyes there is room to move.

I love the taste of wine. Don’t laugh and call me hopeless. Cuz you’ll be gone soon and you’ll prove faithless. When the moon speckles on the evening lake I feel a part of my soul shake. And the wine is red like blood in the night. You forget about what is wrong and what is right.

Is it impossible to say what you mean? There’s no room to move, no light for the dream. I’m drunk on the moon. Drunk on the past. It’s impossible for any of it to last. Cold fingers, put them in mine. Such a pathetic desperation. It’s time to unwind.

Kick off those old shoes. Baby, I know you’ve got the blues. There’s a burgundy moon and you’ve got nothin’ to lose. Give me time to soak in life. I can only do my best. Give me time to look for light. I just want the crowd to be there when we’re finally blessed.

I’ve got too much to lose. We’ve been thinking about who we want to be. It all sounds empty to me. Where did the sun go? It used to shine one the hills that we covered in snow. I’m drunk on the moon and drunk on the past. It’s impossible for any of this to last.
ALBUM TITLE: Beyond The Blue Sky
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 6/7/08

1. Beyond The Blue Sky
2. To All The Friends And Lovers
3. Fame And Fortune
4. It Was All A Dream
5. San Francisco Serenade
6. Twin Falls
7. Cabana Hotel
8. To The Young
9. Pass The Cloak # II
10. Something Cold
11. Love Forks And Bounds
12. The Bell Tolls
13. Californians
14. All The Friends & Family That Money Can Buy
15. Things Fall Apart

BEYOND THE BLUE SKY

It is such a long time
Between where you are
And where you want to be
It takes so much time
To arrive at the gates

You look back and want
To change, but you can’t
Think of all the girls
You could have had
The one’s that wanted nothing
To do with you, made you sad
And made you who you are today
Look at your trophies
Displayed in your place
Does that even make you feel good at all?

TO ALL THE FRIENDS AND LOVERS

To all the friends and lovers
Let’s be proud of each other
Let’s make the time to try and understand
The things that complicate a man
I can see all my friends on the beach
In the smallest grain of sand
I could wander forever lookin’ for the right tune
Then I’d strike up the band

FAME AND FORTUNE

The fame and fortune you possess
Can be stolen, can be lost
It is not you, it is something you test
But it feels so good
Money and fame is something you feel
You feel you should have them
Along with glory and prominence
And social status
These are all so precarious
You can’t take them with you

IT WAS ALL A DREAM

Why does it seem to be a dream?
It seems that I was just a boy
The days came and went
Now I stand, a man, my feet on the pavement
And the people I’ve know for so long
They seem so dear to me
I’ve never met another
Who seemed such a mystery
But where did the hope go?
We wonder as we sigh
It’s as though yesterday never was
Or am I speaking of today
What is the sense in it
Troy and Eden gone away
They linger out there in the gray
With all the poets
And the lines that shocked you
They pleased you
Should we not pursue the fantastic?
Or the miraculous?
Was it naïve to feel mystical?
You were so sensual
Don’t be mournful
Has your work come to nothing?
Does anyone want to hear the
Words you have to breathe?
Let’s talk of the good world
And the laborers and the leavers
I think I heard some coughing in a distant room
I think I heard
And now I see things for what they are
You stand outside the house
It’s illuminated by the stars
You have honor
So defeat does not come easy
In the face of all that you thought it was
But hope still matters
Even though defeat is the name
Distant strains
The house looks empty, old, and hard
So difficult to discard
But you must keep working
Enjoy yourself
After all, it’s just a dream

SAN FRANCISCO SERENADE

We pulled out of San Francisco last night
Seems like snow seems to stop you from
Going where everything is right
Well a song came on to the radio
I first heard it when I was young
Full of romance
And ready to go
Just outside your window I heard
Those ivy boys crow
And the song hit me in my soul
And it painted such a large scene
If I had been blessed to
Have life be a progression
From bad to good
I’m not sure the song would
Not hit me, the way it did back then
Stirred only by the wind
Now the song brings to light
All the failures, the disappointments
And the things I’ve never been
But maybe I have taken the path
Of the vanquished
And maybe those who vanquish
Are listening to those same songs
But finding the meaning that I once did
Under their fur coats
Keeping all of their secrets hidden
So that we may not find out

You have so many choices
Don’t fear the great erratum of your life
Everyone has them
Failure is everywhere
But what happens to those
Who arrive at the end of their lives
To find their dreams unmet
The absence of wealth, prominence,
Accomplishment, or family
You must work on what is
Within your control
And relinquish all that is not

TWIN FALLS

Hey, Baby wants the years back
Mama prepares the lunch sack
The world works out its symphony

Hey, David pulls down the shade
While Lucinda dances on the promenade
Luck has no meaning, nothing is earned

CABANA HOTEL

Quiet drifting, turning
Through the stalls
Where the turnstiles twisting
Like a dreidl
Imitate the whisper that you see
Falling like a snowflake between you and me
Caught like a dash from the sky
Green dreams
In an open mile
Shall we stop and drink for a while?
I’ve lost the hope
But you are still here
I could love it and leave it
But I could not deceive it
Some old friends by the table
And the scenes that steal it
Between a wood and a frozen mile
I believed that is it worthwhile
If I’m drunk
And it’s 4 am
By the pool and the well
In the Cabana Hotel

Oh, she wants all her lovers back
But the past is too far
And the corners are now black

TO THE YOUNG

Love is all that is for real
Youth is never tasted
Until it’s gone
Wide and simpler in a cold man’s harbor
The gray fang of the elder statesman
Rapping at the doors of eternity
I think that youth once consumed me
On a cold night where faith
Worked a scene to steal
Still, after youth is gone
And observed from a starry stoop
Love is all that is for real

PASS THE CLOAK # II

Keep your head up baby
You sad, doe-eyed lady
Make your snare-drum hit
Like a dream and a candle lit
What happened to all those beginnings?
What happened to all those songs?
The more you know, the less you fight

So pass the torch, now baby
While the paupers pass you by
You are old enough to notice
That you’re not too young to die
In shades of Bordeaux
The rock n’ rollers sing out
About the pretty one’s days
Then you get knocked down again

SOMETHING GOLD

Something golden in the distance
Does not matter what it is
The sun warms the green day
So bright, so empty, the flatness disappears
Nothing is new

LOVE FORKS AND BOUNDS

Love forks and bounds along
Through the green bay
Waves crash on the shore
While the white night
Goes sinking beyond
The close of the day

And in the shadow of your heart
When moon and sparrow
Stilt the cold winds
That swept the streets
Beggars, loners, losers
Scuttle into their hideaways
And accept defeat

But I refuse to accept it
To accept that there is nothing beyond
To accept that life is merely
Mechanical
No, the classic hand
The romantic lip
The tossle of the slow-sinking ship
Do not escape it
Do not attach meaning

Because 5 years are gone
And now that you sit beside
The vision falls
You do nothing wrong
Except you elucidate the main point
It becomes painfully clear
That dreams are better left unmet
Aside from my ego blooming
The existence of you by my side is dooming
To all of the dreams I ever had

THE BELL TOLLS

The bell tolls
I’m still alive
Older and alone
Watching late night TV
Still alive
The bell tolls

CALIFORNIANS

Weather’s warm and it is May
You forget when you get lost
That when you moved to California
You didn’t understand the cost

You thought when you boarded the plane
You would find some new terrain
But you see how the people start to change
But they were the same all along

You say, baby let’s look into the sunset
Let’s watch it as it falls
Why do all Californians
Want to whitewash all the walls?

Let’s catch a wind from Mexico
Let’s shake off the sand
Let’s assume that the power is in our hands
And the scenery is changing
Just as we’d planned
But we don’t like the new arrangement

ALL THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT MONEY CAN BUY

Drink up baby
Now is your time in the sun
Don’t let your dreams be stopped
By the needs and wants of anyone
Grab the things you like
Create the friends you need
But when you’re old
And your body’s been wrecked
And the bankers
Have come to grab the check
Take stock in your chaotic view of the world
Where money and power
Buy the things that you want

Everything is just out of reach
Everything you want is near
But when the intimation becomes real
The beauty has been stolen
You must realize that the things you want
Are always far away

But you must allow
Other people to be good
Love yourself
And others will love you, too

THINGS FALL APART

Why does something so right
Always fall apart?
Is anything on earth
Ever perfectly built?

You take for granted
The things you have
You think you can repeat
Your good fortune
But the things that are right
In your life
Are that way for so many reasons
That are all undefined
And unexplained
ALBUM TITLE: Cavalcade
RELEASE DATE: 5/7/08

SONGS:

1. Journey Into Europe
2. Cavalcade
3. Paris In September
4. Jazz In Paris
5. A Kiss On The Seine
6. Getting Old In A Small House
7. The Wild Life
8. Struggle
9. Low
10. The Frisco Bay
11. Log Cabin
12. Bang The Savage Night
13. The Price
14. Lamp Light

JOURNEY INTO EUROPE

You’re hands are cold
And you’re scarf is old
Take my arm, hold on
And we’ll go to the club
We’ll fall deeply in love
And lie in bed together
And that would be the answer
You’re such a brilliant dancer

All my friends have friends
They will never see again
That’s what I can’t understand
How so much is experienced
But so little retained or kept
I abandoned my plans and I slept

On the beach in the south of France
You and I must take a long dance
Walk along the swaying water line
The moon will reflect like a shiny dime

Where are the people you’ve left?
And the places you went and wept?

So pull your hat down
And your new dress
I’ll grab my friends
The priest just blessed

And tonight we’ll burn
And tonight we’ll create
And we’ll take what’s sacred
And we’ll make it all great
I’ll burnt it all into a ball
And pasted it up on my wall
Should I do that or should I share?
Let those flowers in Spain
Explode upon those ancient stairs

CAVALCADE

Do I hesitate
When I see you in the round?
All the friends you think you have
They’ll not be there when you’re down
But you were never really a friend of mine
When we meet
There’s so much left unsaid
I wonder what memories
Are running through your head
Do you remember when I was shot down
Down so low
And you’d walk by
And look beyond my shoulder?
What was it for?
Who’s to blame?
It’s not for me to say
All I know
Is you’d still do the same today
Cuz there are only 2 kinds of people
That concern you in this world
The people who have less
And the people who have more

He’s waitin’
Waitin’ for the cavalcade
Waitin’ for the bets he made
To cash in
And he’s waitin’
Waitin’ for the chambermaid
Waitin’ for the songs that played
To rescue him
Take me away
I’m not welcome here today
Take me away
I want to feel good again

PARIS IN SEPTEMBER

When you were young
You’d see the silver screen
And you’d think your life
Was worth watching
You’d think that patrons
Would stick around to see
The second half
And you imagined the soundtrack
Of your life
Your home, your spoils
Your broken pipe
And after the spoils
And the masquerade
On a balcony in France
After the cavalcade
When you dance with Chantal
Beneath a Parisian façade
Or with Lisette on the balcony
And love comes in streams
Like a burning decree
Just like when you were young
You’d forgotten how to love
But now you’ve come undone
And the dress is as white as a dove

JAZZ IN PARIS

Hands in hands
Love is the ordeal
You hold her so close
And you know that it’s real
As the distant strains
Of the jazz band’s refrain
Drive the love
Into your brain
And all centers become one
On that balcony
You remember how to give

A KISS ON THE SEINE

No longer do you take
You give her all you’ve got
In a hug
A kiss tastes like the first kiss
The music is alive
The embrace is fresh
Back to the memories
This is it
I’m glad there’s no war
And I don’t care if I die
Cuz now I have the answer “why”
I may not know
Down the road
But life is not linear
Each moment is as important as the next
And the distinction of each moment
Makes them alive

So craft and create
And don’t wait too long
To show your creations
Of dance, poetry, literature and music
To the world

GETTING OLD IN A SMALL HOUSE

You’re so young
And so bold
And everybody keeps talkin’ bout
How strong you are
But someday when you’re gray
And growing old
You’re strength will mean nothing

THE WILD LIFE

Love, love has a pretty face
Love, love goes passing by
Look into a cloudless sky

My head is pounding
Last night is long gone
And I remember things
That the woman said

She said if a man is to be truly great
He must possess certain faculties

Hey, Saint Pedro’s got the SoCal blues
A poor man in a rich man’s shoes
There’s got to be more than this
And mother’s so good at changing her face
Left here without a trace
If you’ve got nothing to say
Say nothing at all
Burn it all into a ball
And let it implode
But Marcus, Marcus loves to live so hard
But 5 lives are all he’s charged
Don’t you know someone will suffer soon

Hey, Marcus has some shining shoes
No, he’ll never get the blues
As long as the disco music plays

And Brother, man he tries to live so hard
All the women want a piece of the part
Put it on the credit card

Oh, child

Well the Red Eye life’s got its hooks in you
And you hurt the ones that are close to you
Yes, the Wild Life’s full of mystery

STRUGGLE

Well, if this is the life
This is the struggle I must accept
Than I don’t want it
I don’t want it at all
Struggling through buildings
Where the windows are like eyes
And the offices just block up the halls

LOW

When you are so low
Nowhere to go
No answers to lean on

You look your life in the eye
And say I just might be
And it’s be OK

All the people you love
All the people they saw
The faces you meet

THE FRISCO BAY

Driving down the freeway
Far from the lights of the Frisco Bay
Well, all the rattlesnakes seem to play
In the gray old desert with the hills of clay

And I held my hand up toward the sky
Said, “Always keep busy, never lose your cry”
Never lose your grip
‘Cause it’s so easy to slip

What happens when there’s no more to say?
What happened next was even a surprise to me
When all of your home is just a place to stay
Devoid of meaning, devoid of rhyme, devoid of Evangeline

I’m just an old fashioned boy
I love my grandparents
And want them to live on and on

Looking back on the days of yore
Feeling like a product of all that came before
They sky ruffled its wing
As the wind whipped through the streets
And the cockatoos sing

LOG CABIN

Was in a log cabin
10 long years ago
I learned things I’ve now
Forgotten how to know

I had my faith shaken
It hit me from below
But that’s just the way
Things like this go

I’d give anything to be
Back there and have that
It was Miss Mighty
With her cool black cap

BANG THE SAVAGE NIGHT

It’s not easy
Heart beating hot and loud
Embracing the next world
But not this one
It’s typical fare
Not for the strangers who live there
Townships, ranges, section lines
Give me a map
I’ll get there just fine
A point of interest
For those of you
Who click it and clack it
And bang the black night blue
Blue is beautiful, young or old
That is what I’m told
When I’ve got no hand to hold
A warm morning
A fair warning
Burn on, burn bright
Bang the savage night

THE PRICE

Wouldn’t it be something if you lived like this?
Everything around you is so expensive and nice
But everything you want, girl, it has a price
We can’t live here forever, but we can live this way tonight

There’s something that’s holding you from going forth into the night
From catching up in the night

It’s either here or there
With sunlight in your hair
And that desperation
Between being here or there

You’ve got to surrender what it is that you hide
Perhaps the best way is to let it slide
Kick your pretty heals up and let the beat ride
Dash your petty hopes and let the gondola glide
To make your life a moment
I can’t promise you love forever
I can promise you tonight
Tell me that you can feel it
You’ve got to feel it
Whoa – oh

Do not go gently
Go strong and do it right
Don’t straddle that fence
Thinking you just might
Go this way or that way
But without a fight
The fight is really something
You can’t get something for nothing

LAMP LIGHT

He met her ‘neath the lamplight
She was a gorgeous sight
They danced into the night
They’d never felt so young
Like they’d just begun
ALBUM TITLE: Themes and Variations
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 4/7/08

1. Don’t Give Yourself Away
2. Here We Are, Once Again
3. In The Coolness Of His World
4. Resignation
5. Picket Signs
6. People You’ve Never Met
7. Tucson
8. The Buildings Of Rome

SONGS:

DON’T GIVE YOURSELF AWAY

Do not give your secrets away
You must have something to save
We sat outside by the white gate
And I knew that you should go
But sometimes nothing’s good or bad
Until loving makes it so
We sat by the brook
And talked of all that was behind
And the forgotten smell
Of the Cabana Hotel
And the soft marimba’s sound

But I know that you should not
Give yourself away
Because you must have something to save
I know because I tried
And I have nothing left

You must not desire the things
That you cannot have
Because you and I can have everything
And feel like we have nothing
That is the case
I can see the glassy lights
Coming through the foggy nights
Knowing that we have certain rights

Leave everything behind
Open the door
Leave your 2-story home behind
Don’t pay it any mind
It wasn’t what you thought it was
When you signed on the line
There is something out there
She has a wonderful mind
And a wonderful voice

You sat by the dock
And the dock leaves fell
And you heard the piano swell
From the lake house
So much I have to say
You’ve got soul
I wish I was back
With people who understand
The way we roll
Simple language
And tenderness
And everything in earnest

When you came down
The rickety stairs
With music blaring from
A distant room at the end of the hall
And someone making love
In the bathroom stall
You said you worked so hard
And you have faith
In the idea of progress
And your direction
But there is no sunset in the East
So look West
Look to where the sun will set

There is romance in hard work
But it is hard and the road is long
And when you gamble and win
What you’re left with is not earned
Leave everything behind
Don’t tempt me
When you don’t want me around
And I think I’ll go to bed alone

The flash of feet
The flash of fire
You, like a bird on a wire
Fight for the place that you have
Remembering all the beauty
That you forget
And remembering
To feel about the beauty
The way you’d rather not yet
And you wish the world were over
But we will arrive and understand
This pool hall the way we always wanted to
With your coconuts
And the bananas from Spain
And we will talk about pain

HERE WE ARE, ONCE AGAIN

Here we are once again
Come to meet as friends
No longer lovers
Making amends
Here, I think, is where it ends

We no longer have anything in common
I’m not sure we ever did
But then you always kept those things hidden

And you find yourself at a party
With a champagne glass
You wanted the white wine
But someone spilled the red
On the courtyard trellis
And nobody here
Knows why we’re doing this thing

3 o’clock in the morning
I’m alone at the piano
And the moon is smiling
Happy I’m with him
With nowhere to go
Someone’s talking about
The restless waitresses
Who hop up and serve
You more and more
And you think of white lights
As you dance your Broadway show
Across the bathroom floor

I know, I know I want to be the insider
Where everybody knows my name
They comb the pages
To find the glory section
Where the musicians
Tap into the right vein

4 o’clock in the morning
Speed blood like mud in my veins
I watch the boxing match
And wonder what it’s like
After the fight out in the rain
If you were Satchmo
And I were the King
We’d have some women to meet
But you can cure that with the beat
Women who always come and go

I knew a man who said he
Sat at the piano
Trying to capture the sound
That never stayed around
It would come in a sweet girl’s smile
And he’d try to wrestle it to the ground

Well, Satchmo do you know
Why the wind blew through the shades?
Does God ever let you in on the joke
That he long ago made?
When you were fascinated with time
And money
And the sound it created
When the pipes get hot at night
And neon buzzes through the shade

And you look for what you lost
But it was never there anyway
I pity the children
For all the colors they beautify each day
I loved a woman
She was no longer blue and gray
Tell me why were we not young
In Paris
At the turn of the century?

Melancholy madness
And profound sadness
Through the hum-drum,
Ice-pick,
Meat-starved streets
Where businessmen,
Congressmen,
And bored housewives meet
It seems like a tender cop out
A copious retreat
A soundless beat

But he was ragged
And spoke often of the sea
And a tender heart is a mystery
When you allow someone to look
Inside your heart
And see where it’s been bandaged
Or ripped apart
It is the best experience one can have

IN THE COOLNESS OF HIS WORLD

It was in the coolness of his world
Where the urban senses prevailed
When she felt at ease
These were not the middle class
Trappings she’d been raised on
And she could open up
Hiding in the privacy of the large party
Where the band hopped and the guests
Let loose a jubilant howl
She now fixed her eyes
On the scene at the top of the stairs
“One day I will climb these stairs”
She said to herself
In this day and age
As in the days before
It is only the victor who is remembered

On this cool evening
In the summer in New York
She sat beneath a gray sky
And thought of commerce
“Incalculable!”
There is no answer
She thought his eyes
Green, bright eyes
They carried a past so deep
She felt she needed to retreat
Or dive headfirst
She was so keen
Watching the boats split the waves
Just as the Lord saved
She lit a cigarette
And danced along the promenade

Don’t wait for the calm of heaven
Don’t imagine you won’t grow old
And dream of young stars
And how they moved
Dancing in a cold, blue bay
For you have always known
There would come a day
When you and God and the red-bellied bird
And all the ideas of the absurd
Would be one
I can hear all of them calling
Though I don’t think they will call to me

If heaven has been broken
Please let me see the pieces
I will wait and debate
The strange shifts and releases
That make each of us
Push to the next moment
Must we push?

Droughts end in rain
Wallow in this mire
I think I came
Through a summer of fire
Stars and the moon
Stab the sun
The water flows through us
But we imagine that it is
Between us
The clock and the brook
Are always close
A dormant moon
A dead sky
An idea – like a river between you and I
Torments – they are all white
Besieged by colors and liquid light
Paradise is crowded by delight
Halt to the seabirds
Enchanted by the sight
All things begin with an idea
Night gowns and awnings protrude
And insects disappear into themselves
I thought of Florida
And of the night
Swift breeze and blue and green weather
That must be poetic truth
Unclean and barren
But true

So do not ask about this bottle
We will drink it
And will be drunk soon
A lifetime in one bottle
The scattered choice
The tippler begins to topple
You lack self-consciousness
That is your greatest asset
So look out among the soft trees
And the hard streets
Where beggars
And the crystal moon
Make a spectral sweep
Willow and fawn
On a red, red day
Love is blind
And some will kill
There is no right or wrong
There is only what you do
And what you don’t do
I am on your doorstep
Involuntary and I’m folding
Falling into
The tranquil breeze
Refusing to be disappointing
No rival to love
Bent on the talk of visionaries
Sent from the dome of heaven above

Some people inspire confidence
Thoughts collide
And you remember who you wanted to be
Places you had to see

The subject always returns to romance
Wander on a blue night
Through the entrance
The wood guitar and thick strings
The soft night air
Moonlight shining on your hair
I will never forget the sound
Of your voice
When you said Goodbye
How you left for Spain
You said you had no choice
Pale evening
Set against the sky
Drives the dagger between you and I
Weathered wood
And sorrow like a sea
It’s always organized

Don’t be afraid of what you’ll create
Later it will be a reference
For you to relate
All the truth
Was once a dream
And all the manners
You once had
Seem
In each seem
To be a trifle
So don’t worry
About the sound of a tambourine

Raving in the heat
Oh, you dragged me home alive

RESIGNATION

As the wind blew through the hall, your father walked with a cane
You looked into the front yard and began to ponder again
How there is no such thing as the real world, thought it’s not inspiring
It puts fear into your soul, when passion becomes tiring

Having coffee with an old friend on your childhood street
Recalling places you and the girls would go meet
They only make you sad now, because you feel your hope drop
I guess optimists are looking at the mountain when they stand on top

The sadness makes it seem real, so if there is no real world
And the optimists are to be ignored, then where should we turn?
Shall we discuss it in a bar beneath dim blue lights?
Where age is not evident until the end of the night?

Never seeing the morning till the lights hits our faces
And you’ve run yourself ragged, all over this dirty, rag-tag oak fireplace
Why do people think I’m mellow when I’m so uptight?
And my woman’s in another man’s arms tonight

I think I wanted it that way, so the song would end right
And I wouldn’t have to join the optimists on their success parade
I never thought I’d lose the passion but it’s gone, though I touch the light
Now and then, I guess this wasn’t a matter of “if” but more a matter of “when”

PICKET SIGNS

So many nights beneath the metal fire escape
Saw your daddy’s tail lights as he sped away
Why did he leave so fast in the driving rain?
Took your youth away and your dreams of Spain

Hey baby, I’m the heartbreaker
You know, take your picket signs
I’ll break all the lines
But love is simple and kind
I’ll be there tonight

Meet me down there in the alleyway
I’ve got a rose for you, a healthy rose for you
You take for granted all I’ve given away
In your self-absorbed, charming, debutante way

I don’t need it now, what I’ve asked for so long
I don’t need it now, not if I get it this way
Let the moon wash your dirty clothes
I will take you away, beyond this alleyway

Hey baby, you’re the risk taker
Hey baby, I’m single-minded
I’ll break all the lines
But love is simple and kind
I’ll be there tonight

PEOPLE YOU’VE NEVER MET

He sits alone in his cubicle
The sun drips through the shade
He types away and he can’t help but think
About the choices he’s made
Perhaps he can live with the sadness
Perhaps he can fix his old car
Perhaps when the stars start to disappear
He won’t be drunk at the neighborhood bar

Dreamin’ of moments he can never have back
At the sports bar he sighs and kicks the jukebox
He probably wouldn’t want them anyway
Waiting for the phone to ring in a new day
Maybe he’ll encounter her again
Like he did years ago in LA
Or was it New York? Did she feel the spark?
When they hit the crescendo
At the very end of the Broadway play?

When he ran into old faces
He saw vague traces
Of the people they used to be
He had his many regrets
But the people he was friends with
The many with whom
He been acquainted
Seemed like people he’d never met

TUCSON

He came from Tucson and the neon was buzzin’ loud
He was so young and he was so proud
I do believe that his style was his saving grace
I always wondered how he had such a confident look on his face

No money in the bank, no family to speak of, dear
If you have no family then you have nothing to fear
He wanted to be a hobo, not some kind of disgrace
You have to admire a man who knows to take himself out of the race

You won’t find another like him
Never again will a man like this walk God’s green earth
Sex and religion are sacred don’t you know?
What do you say for those who work hard but having nothing to show?

Let’s imagine if he had his life to live all over again
He’d know just when and where to make all the right decisions
He would be amazing and the lives he would be saving
But you can’t live a life again; you do what you are – no excuses, no amends

THE BUILDINGS OF ROME

I remember the buildings of Rome
When I was there I felt at home
For the first time I could see the sun on the stone
Dead as the stone, the buildings of Rome

If I explained every word from a song
And how it had freed the world from wrong
And we danced in the moonlight at the edge of the pond
Would they make sense, the words of the song?

I guess I’ve never really forgotten
The early days when you didn’t know I was rotten
And you told me that the clouds looked like cotton
Some things continue to drone through the buildings of Rome
ALBUM TITLE: Tycoon
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 3/7/08

1. Folded In The Arms Of A Deck Chair
2. Scott Was Like A Butterfly
3. He Died Of A Broken Heart
4. Don’t Go Breakin’ The Law
5. Spanish Hideaway
6. The Night Slips Away When You Need It
7. Old And Great
8. See The Light
9. Rolling Down The Mountains
10. The Lagoon

FOLDED IN THE ARMS OF A DECK CHAIR

I think I’ll take some time to sing to you
A number of songs of colors, gold in hue
And I’ll play you a melody so true
That you’ll remember all the lovers you once knew

Like a bird on a wire, you balance
Like a moth before a silver flame
Gotta walk on, gotta dream on
Like a willow swept with rain

You’ve got a quick wit
You make a hard hit
I can’t give you everything
I can’t feed you, but I can sing

I was folded in the arms of a deck chair
Looking up as the sky beat its wings
And you walked through water in the golden sun
You were shining like one of God’s brighter things

SCOTT WAS LIKE A BUTTERFLY

Scott was like a butterfly
With dust on his wings
Flying his highest
On those glorious things
With wonderful ease
He began his ascent to the sky
The dust on his wings
A mysterious way by
But when he discovered
The nature of things
He could no longer use
The strength of his wings
And so, with his scepter,
He battled his way
In search of a breeze-blown
Fairy dust day
But he sunk shallow
With the weight of an evening hue
Slipping as his fears
Became trippingly true
And like a moth
In a silly cocoon
He stranded himself
In the womb of his room
And rode not the strength
Of his gold, winsome wings
But slipped in the well
Of more practical things

HE DIED OF A BROKEN HEART

That sense of wonder
Where does it come from?
When you’re lost in the words
When it comes from under
Leaves you lost in a kiss
And suspends you like a bird
For so long

Peter was a man who had his life
Forever after caught in a crossfire
An overdose of joy and laughter
Everyone would say that having
Too much fun pulled him apart
But I know that old Peter died
Of a broken heart

DON’T GO BREAKIN’ THE LAW

Oh Mama, you’re tied to a poor son of a gun
Don’t go breakin’ the law
Don’t go breakin’ the law
Don’t go breakin’ the law

The smell of steak
In an evening shade
The sign reads:
“Go this way to better days”

Oh, my-my, Oh, my-my, Oh-my-my
I’ll keep on chasing down the day

Let loose our ties
Let loose our smile
On a simple isle

SPANISH HIDEAWAY

On a road to a Spanish hideaway
With a poem and a songbook tucked away
Do ya want to hear a piano picker play?
Singin’ “I ain’t got long to stay”

On a gray-banked, ancient street
Amongst the lovers, the liars, and the cheats
A young woman to defeat
In a boat beside the beach

On a forked trail where the branches hang down
Me and my mate will be traipsing around
You gotta chase a good thing down
You gotta find something safe and sound

“Get up, boy” she says “we depend on you”
“Get up, boy, the world don’t care about your blues”
“Get over, the world ain’t simple or true”
“Grab a shovel or chop some wood”
“A dreamer’s life amounts to nothin’ good”

THE NIGHT SLIPS AWAY WHEN YOU NEED IT

Ain’t it funny how the night fades when you need it?
And when you don’t need it, it’s just lingers on
With a bottle of god-knows-what, tempting you to defeat it
You pack it up, say “live for today”, and wait for the dawn

“Absolutely,” she says so casually but I will not let it slide
If you could absolutely pass me by, I‘d wonder if you’d ever learned to cry
Because I’ve known nothin’ absolutely, except to want to run faster
To want to climb higher, but I’m free falling from the blue sky

Ain’t it a pity how the night slips away when you need it?
When you don’t need it, it just lingers on
Oh, this bedroom is cold and, honey, I can’t defeat it

Ain’t it a wonder how when I got something I can’t accept it
When I detect it, I can’t feel it with my hand
Oh, but I can’t be unprotected, ‘cause that’s when it’s the worst to be neglected
But I suppose it’s romantic to be broken on the sand
With nothing in your hands, not even your plans

All I want in life a place to kick my feet up

OLD AND GREAT

Through the years I have known many
Those who just wouldn’t last
Those who slipped past
Each of them a brick in the wall
But a heedless sentiment
Is not my intent
No, I somehow wanted to have a piece of them all

Happening upon a bird on a cobblestone road
Wondering from where it came
All creatures seem to be the same, with a common aim

I ponder their path upon the rain on frozen streets
My pair of pants looks ripe and crisp
I see the group of socialites out for a walk
Shall I straighten my tie and talk?
For the fine young gents who sit by the fence
And open the gates for some light remembrance

They say,

“You and I, we’ll be old and great
Just let us through that brassy gate
– I hope we’re never overweight”
If that can be accomplished, the rise before the fall
Then that would be all

SEE THE LIGHT

Time to try and toe the broken line
Time to kick off our shoes and dine
Time to waste away and feel fine
I’ve seen the light

Your face is painted pretty
Like a fragile little girl
You wear it so well
You strode down the path
Like it was the very first morning
You’re still young
So, go walk in the sun

I’ve seen the light

ROLLING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS

Keep on rolling
Down through the mountains
Keep on running
From the West to the East
Keep on moving
Not getting younger
Keep on rolling
Down through the mountains

THE LAGOON

There she was
An angel
By the light of the moon
On some
Tropical lagoon
These are the thoughts
That overcome us all
When the autumn leaves fall
ALBUM TITLE: Troubadour
RELEASE DATE: 2/7/08

1. Love Song
2. Where Are You Going To
3. The Lookout
4. Darlin’ Sing Your Song Tonight
5. John Moves
6. Mysticish
7. Reggae Away
8. You’ve Been Askin’
9. Pick Me Up
10. Ruckus
11. Blow Wind Blow
12. On A Summer Night
13. I Want To Spill, I Want To Fight
14. Swinging
15. Hyacinths

LOVE SONG

There are a lot of evil people out there
I tell the virgins “Stay away.
Guard your grace and continue to play
And from your doorstep to your dreams…”

But it’s a long walk
Parties, cocktails, marriage, faith
That long walk home, the dope in the wake
The heartache that makes the love seem real
I know you now know just what I feel

The baseball, the college, the novel at night
The dreams of our tropical birds in mid-flight
The jazz in Paris around midnight
The summer in the country that was never complete
The nights that it snowed on our frozen feet
The cocktails, the perfumes, the beautiful beach
The sun on the water and all that we spent
The beautiful lovers that came and went
That made us decide what our lovely really meant
The barroom on New Year’s, the Auld Lang Syne
When you put the fragile fingers of your hands in mine
And we walked through the dangerous streets all alone
But did not think of the danger that lurked close behind
That could catch up and knock us like a steamer
And when we thought we were ruined, broken on the floor
Like a ship, broken on the shore; the captain without an oar
Like orphans in the backstreets, amidst the rugrats and whores

The pain has connected us – yours and mine
And so has the beauty – its soft, subtle line
And these are the forces that make us come home on time
That stop you in your tracks, that cut you in line
And the things that lead us along to define love and what it does

Like an open forum, surrounded by doves
Like an island in Greece or a fleet-footed clown
Or the moonlight in peace and the sun on your gown
And all you can imagine and all you can dream
When you shout with delight, when you shout and scream
Or lay your head down in the vulnerable hours
And count all the blessings heaped upon each other
Tonight I’m not meek, tonight I’m a tower!
Because of you and I can’t deny that I see myself in your eyes
And I hear you in a longing cry
And I see you in the people I know
And the faces I meet, in the places we eat
And it’s no chore to say
Just what I think of your ways
And how I feel about you today
I love you
I love you
I love you

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO

Where are you going to, I don’t know
What have you got left to show?
When all the people have gone away
The electric lights have all gone gray
Now I built this world for you
And I’m sorry that it’s not the truth
But after the comfort, after the lies
After we lift this cold, cruel world’s disguise
I will make it right, I know
Where the barmaids laugh and the children go
I know I’m not too young to care
And I’m old enough to be aware
It was just a moment in time
But I’m glad I made it mine

Glassy water and glassy stair
In the porcelain brigade of theater chairs
Sweep the floor and sweep the night
And sweep all that was ever wrong or right
After the lake, after the noon
After we wake to break our final croon
All the windows and their festoons
You look at yourself like a distorted cartoon
The ice cube breaks into a thousand shards
I’ve heard the song of a thousand bards
I’ve thrown the lasso around the night
When I thought I could make the world up right
But now it’s gone and so are you
And so are the dreams we thought we knew

But now I know I’ll be there until the end
When we’re no longer lovers and no longer friends
And even if I never see you again
You had champagne eyes, you were the highest ten
I can’t believe you’re gone away
And that I’ll never see you at the end of the day
Was it all worth anything I hear them say
Was it worth all the anguish or the play?
When I passed out on the floor that night
And awoke in electric morning light
I heard a saxophone on the old, dead sea
I thought mermaids were singing a song to me
I’m so alive, I swear tonight
My soul has soared beyond this candle light

The candle will burn until my wits ends
I’ll emerge from the sea like a diver with the bends
Now after the dinner and the afternoons
Beyond the earth and beyond the sun
When you and God and I are one
Beyond heaven and beyond fear
And beyond the jungle and the heavy tear
Beyond the scope of my own life
Beyond my sight, beyond my wife
I want you to be there for me
I want you to love the old oak tree
We used to laze beneath when we were free

THE LOOKOUT

Take it back, take it back
Where are the teenage girls at?
Where do they come from?
Where do they go?
After school, after the show?
Someday I’m gonna find a love
It will be true
The golden vestige of a summer hue
But the autumn will descend
And the teenage years will end
And all the notions, they will all whither
They will shake and shimmy and shiver
Crackles! Fire in the cold, grey, dawn
When my youth, and God, and middle age are one
And the people who’ve gone
And the friends who’ve moved on

DARLIN’ SING YOUR SONG TONIGHT

Darlin’ sing your song tonight
The critics will talk, they make it seem right
All that you made, all that you dreamed
All that you did after the coffee crème

I walked through the bowling alley around midnight
Everyone was doing well, everything was all right
All the women cast their spells away
And the boys looked tough in the dawn brigade

And I felt so alone and so alive
And all my thoughts went dancing by
Who counts in this alley tonight?
It is the shadows you break?

Is it the people you spy?
Is it the curl of smoke that travels to die?
Is it the people who never bothered to show?
Is it the lack of focus, the lack of a goal?

Or the fact that it’s Monday night
And you should be working to capture the night
And sing your song to the forlorn
Against the badgering critics and the millionaire’s scorn

You can close the door, close out the wind
And play your piano in the parlor
And think of grandma baking cookies
And what that used to mean

Before the streets were so jagged
Before the clothes were so clean
Sing your song, in the face of the night
No one should go out to conquer on a Monday evening

Wait till Friday and channel your grieving
The critics will rave in sheer delight
And all that you feared and all that you spoke
Will mean that the world had recently awoke

JOHN MOVES

Well, John was a young man
And it’s hard being young
But it’s so much fun
He says look at me
I’m just a peace maker
Baby, you’re such a heartbreaker

The smell of rain,
Let’s forget about our pain
After all, everyone has it,
But it feels so hot tonight

MYSTICISH

Lady, I want to lay you down
Turnin’ through the daylight
How sweet is this old sound?
As the music gently lifts

The smell of sweet perfume
Mixes with the saxophone delight
Hear this sexy music
As you begin to sway

Oh, la, la, la, la, la

Silver saxophones,
Silver saxophones,
Silver saxophones
Reflection in the night
Body’s swaying
Breezeways always
Full of sweet delight
Life is set to music
Imagination is music

Hush of the water
Kick your feet through
The sand tonight
I’ll read your palm
A Sunday sanctum
Slippin’ away all right
The waves craze
Like a cymbal
We are caught up
In this sway

REGGEA AWAY

Beginnings are the best
When you haven’t had
A chance to change

Bought a guitar
Sailed the ocean
Like a rock star
The gates were open

Hey, baby
Don’t go
Hey, baby
What a way to go

YOU’VE BEEN ASKIN’

So you ask if I’ve been doing all right
Well I’ve been gettin’ on just fine
But I still can’t wait to hear your voice
In the event that you would chance to call

That you should still care for me
Is still a surprise, I must say
And yet I’ve been waiting to know it all along
I’m trapped in the throes of a song

PICK ME UP

The palsy shakes the hands of young lovers
Lift me up, I’ve had enough, I’m such a wretch
Oh, what a fun day, it’s come to an end
I’m ready to start over again

Born in the wink of child’s eye
It’s as basic as waking up each day
It’s what’s driving me, not because of you
It’s because of me, it was hatched in another age

Pick me up from this place
This wretched state I’m in on Sunday
Why do we always start again on Monday?
Wake me up on a couch where I belong

Well, I saw you just the other day
My, you’re so much older now
And if I’ve failed, at least I’ve done it my way
And that makes me feel better, somehow

But I’d be lyin’ if I never told you
That I’ve never loved another like I love you
And I’m determined not to be
Just a footnote on a sleeve

Who wanted to hold you in the long run
Who wanted to love you in the hot sun
I won’t fail you when it’s all said and done

We can always start again on Monday
Wake me up in the arms where I belong

And if you ever need someone to believe in
Baby, you can believe in me
If we should part, here are some words that this could end on
“Love your mother, know your friends and pray for me”

We will go walkin’ in the hot sun
We’ll go runnin’ like a bullet from a gun
We’ll be something in the long run

And maybe we’ll see
This is a world that’s beautiful
Beautiful enough for you and me

RUCKUS

One night on this very same road
In the heart of my home town
I met up with a ragged gypsy woman
She was sitting on a swing
She told me of the sailors
And we laughed about their tailors
We wanted the world in a cup
And so we drank up those things

And a cold wind hit the sails
And the women looked so pale
Paler than all the women
That I had ever known

Now I’m so tied up in my own little mind
And I never want to leave here again
But I don’t want to water it down
I want to be me all around town
But I want to have a good, fun time
So I play some good, old love songs
And we’ll talk about the old glory days
And we’ll rock and swing and sway
Oh, we haven’t changed our ways
Just think of all the ruckus we’ve raised

BLOW WIND BLOW

Blow wind blow
Everywhere I go
Blow wind blow
From Mexico
To Kilimanjaro
I know you got no
Money for the show
All I got to show
Are these daydreams
Blow wind blow
Blow me on a course
Send me away

ON A SUMMER NIGHT

It would be sublime
If we could turn this around
Turn on all that music
As you begin to sway

Start thinkin’ about music
And it pins you to a wall
A million little failures
And one success after all
But there’s no such thing as failure
If you rise after you fall

Wind and rain
Trees sway
Soothin’ you
On a summer night
The hot embers
Promise me you’ll remember
Gonna hold you so tight
You remember
To let yourself go

The soft wind blows
Through an evening gown
A day was so hard and lonely
Now it’s all been turned around
The waves crash like a cymbal

Gonna take tonight
Gonna ride the wild wind
When it’s swirling
You can begin

Branded with a sadness
That you never can escape
But I will make it better
Even if it’s a mistake
I promise to love you
When the rest of the world breaks

That passion will make you crazy
Things can’t be perfect
Not even in an angel’s eyes

I WANT TO SPILL, I WANT TO FIGHT

I want to spill
I want to fight
I want to chase the orgiastic light
I want to see
The different strains
The strains between the black and white
I want to love
I want to lose
But I never want to choose
And I never want to feel the pain
Sometimes the world is too bright
Sometimes a kiss feels too weightless
And too warm
When I want to lose myself in that place
Where the sky is bright
Where the moon hangs high
And the stars are close
And the morning is welcome
And the woman is warm
That is where I want to stay
Because the day will end
And the confusion will not
And the questions, my friend
Will burn just as bright and hot
I don’t want my doubts to blaze!
I want the sky to daze!
I want to touch the haze!
I want to bedroom laze!
And starry-eyed gaze!
But those eyes are too bright
And those hands too soft
And that bed too warm
It is painful when you realize
That there won’t come a day
When all the doubts melt away
Those questions always stay
When the love slips away
And the blue turns to gray
But you must hold onto that light!
Hold onto the sky when it hovers bright!
And hold onto the last moments
Of the fleeting night
Hold it, taste it, dream it, and breathe it
And know that it will be all right
And hold on, hold on
Rage on! Shine on! Burn on!
After your innocence is gone
Your ignorance, long gone
And taste your ideals
Live there and be there
For the though it is far too bright
And will not last the night
It is all you have
And all that is ever worth the fight

SWINGING

If today didn’t take so long
I would sleep without a song
And the red sports car we rode
With red rims and white wheels
Was no longer in my palm
I would wait for you
I’d be able to wait
I want one true thing
I want to write about it
Mary said she could read
A million magazines
About true love and beauty queens
Marty wants to be a superstar
And drive a red sports car
But nothing can steal the beauty
Of a song and how it moved the night
And matched the rhythm of the party
It’s fiction, pure fiction, but it moves the night

Will I die swinging?
Will I die fighting?
Will I die singing?
Will I go ringing?
Will I go crumbling?
Will I go swaying?
Will it be humbling?
Will I be praying?

Who knows – ask a dead man
It’s a sphere, hope is a sphere
I am a sphere and I want to be here
Tomorrow is a long time from now
I want to be a rocker
I want to be a reflection
I don’t need any protection
I am swinging from the branches
You were much like the birds
And the bards who lived there
Rather than the branches themselves
It’s hellish, when you’re stuck
Between your opposing desires
But it’s better to be swinging
Rather than fighting all the fires

HYACINTHS

White faces, white t-shirts
Brown hair and baseball caps
Through the backrooms
And the backyards
And the warm, Sunday mornings
Hung over from Fridays
Ready for a nap

Well, all the young taquitas
Between the margaritas and the shore
Between the hyacinths and cactuses
That spread out on the waves
And comb your hair like pompadours
And it’s a restless calling
I’m bawling but at least it’s not a bore
Go down to old King Edwards
And bust down those provincial doors

I am a young man, my clothes are dark
My arms are tan
Do you think that the brown boys
Could be coy and dance along this sand?
The women wonder, to all and sundry
And I’m going to crack up an old can
And bash it like a dream in a fan

Well, all the young Marshall boys
Swinging in the toys and all’s a dream
Between the old wayfarers where no one
Cares and no one begs for the unseemly
I’ll stand on the highest mountain
And scream out that I have no doubts
I’ve got it all figured out
So finally there is reason to shout
ALBUM TITLE: Philosopher
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 1/7/08

1. Doe-Eyed Lady
2. Christmas Melancholy
3. When I Was Young
4. The Sun Can Be So Cruel
5. Beyond The Shadows
6. Teenagers
7. In My Mind
8. She’s Not Immortal
9. Ballerina, Dance For Me
10. You And I And God Are One
11. Sandy Tomb
12. Gold And Bronze
13. The Flats
14. Majesty
15. Pain, Violence, And Death
16. Cherry Wine
17. Sailor
18. Wayfarers

DOE-EYED LADY

’60 Chevy pushin’
You got the chrome-horse, small-town blues
But laugh a laugh so lonesome
And beat the blues out, baby
It’s such a sad, sad state of grace

So hold my hand now woman
While the people pass you by
They come spinning out of nowhere
And take a check for the mortgage
As they lay you down to die

All the gamblers don’t know nothin’
About what is pretty
You get knocked down
As the doors close on you

Hold the candle woman
As the daylight hours grown short
It’s such a cold procession
When the people close their doors

All the rock n’ roll heroes
Don’t know nothin’

So pass the cloak now baby
On this bright and blazing eve
You were right to keep your promise
But you were cold to choose to leave

In the Bordeaux club
The jazz musicians scream out

CHRISTMAS MELANCHOLY

12 years on and the feeling still remains
Spinning, grinning like a person who won’t change
Well, try to focus as the snow blocks your view
Children fluttering around like butterflies
Some things never vary and why would you want them to?
They never die, they never change

Days are short and nights are growing deeper
Young boy in a winter coat follows the dead end back streets
Sees a tall, tall icy woman, looks like an angel in danger
Snow is melting her face yet she’s always to kind to children and strangers

‘round and ‘round on the fairytale, carousel plane
Ruby red carousel bursting like an open flame
Well, you’re hiding out under white skies
But your bright eyes whisk through the snow-filled street
And cry for candlelight, there’s no way that the angels and I can meet

Suzie’s got her new shoes, the thoughts of Christmas
Are on a million minds, the red coat is in the closet
The tannenbaum and the sleigh bells shake
So all the sons and lovers say “Good bye, paradise”

All the shining, ruby dreams make a vision for my mind
Old man says, “Give them bells a shake, rattle them chains”
Hot fire on a cold night and the scenes materialize
Wise men say, on cold winter day, all that you dream and pray
Slips away in a snow-filled street, as they brightly blaze

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

When I was a young man, I saw the path
The future looks like a gate made of gold
You’d never falter once you set the pain right
Through afternoons to edges of the night
The beautiful woman’s black leather boots
Stood next to you in your mohair suit
I saw only the flipside of the coin
I rattled my change on Saturday night

I saw beyond the mystery of the sky
Thought I heard God in a saxophone’s cry
Thought it would be no problem to die
To accept it all and never wonder why
I remember this time and I can only sigh
I thought about tomorrow all the time

I thought the wealth I had would multiply
That virtue would prevail, that only evil folks lie
Thought I could organize the world and that I
Could define the way the perfume smells so sweet
And why the beggars are only such cowards
And why the poor folks choose their dank retreats
And why lovers feel so crazy when they first meet
And why some rock n’ rollers can’t escape the beat
And why she was always so anxious to cheat

When I was young I skipped past the dark alleyways
Saying that those were scenes from a different play
They are not blessed by the same blessed sun’s rays
The rays that allow her beauty to be explained

THE SUN CAN BE SO CRUEL

The sun can be so cruel
In the hot Indian summer
When you feel like a fool
I can see Mary’s dust as she speeds away
And I can remember the day
That she bought the car
And how she felt to say
That the world was wide open

And we’d disappear into the trees
Disappearing by degrees
And in the winter snow
We’d kick over snowmen
And get angry at the Sun
When it would spoil our night
And melt the snow
And melt the day

So now you say, as you stand by the gate
Maybe the fact that we never progressed
And we’re like the slush and mud on the streets
That cause people to want to retreat
Into their cozy homes
Maybe this is what the truth amounts to

Well, let’s see your blue sweater
And the shoes you left behind
And the pants that were too small
And the photograph that you held
So close to your chest

All the innocence you thought you had
Cry for your mom and phone your dad
Ask them why things that they promised
Are more and more difficult to grasp
You’d talk of Tchaikovsky
And opera and Rome
And all of the culture
That filled up your home
And all of the places
And the wide open spaces
You thought you’d make traces
And wander and roam

Why do you care to make it a poem?
Why do you wish
That the moon was closer to earth?
That the friends you thought you had
Were actually the first
To help you when you’d fall
And scrape your knee
Or be backed against a wall?

And the waves that crash alongside your boat
They gleam and unravel as thought you were a pearl
In the oyster of the world
Pretty girls, old faces, old dreams
They age like wine
But you can’t taste them
And you can never pluck them from the vine

BEYOND THE SHADOWS

Beyond the shadows of the night
Where the trash cans rattle
And the hoodlums fight
Beyond the bounty of death-like fright
Where animals feed and children write
In the distance, a cock crows
But a young boy, in a pauper’s clothes
God knows there are things the boy doesn’t know
But God allows his soul its flight
To chase after that unbearable light
To chase the man who hangs his hat
Upon the chair
Or the naked woman
Reading Flaubert
And how she combs her long blonde hair
Oh, God, why do you punish him so?
Why do you show him things
That he can never know?
Why do you tantalize and tease?

That child will become a man
And his world will be no easier to understand
Yet thoughts that brightly blaze
Will now be shrouded in a haze

We don’t deserve the incandescent tease
That brings a romantic to cough and wheeze
And ask for a taste of the forbidden fruit

One should not become too attached to the world
We are all sinners, yet there are no saints
We can look forward to becoming one
With the light
The light that escapes you after sex
The light that beckons you to drink
But escapes you as you vomit
In the bathroom sink
The light that opens the world to you
The light that builds the triumphant
Strains of an orchestra
The light in the green fields of your dreams
The light in the Christmas display
In the department store that gleams
In the child’s eye

Know that when you see the beauty of the world
That it is real
And know that when it seems
That things you strain to feel
Escape and steal, steal away
Know that you’ll be one with them again
On some light and blazing day

TEENAGERS

So many young boys and young girls
Are out there in the apocryphal world
But they are in the real word, as well
The girl takes my hand, and the man,
Actually, the teenage boy, watches
And says, “Soon you’ll understand
Why she looks like an angel, so sweet,
On the playground in golden summer
With dirty hands, those hands are dirty”

I can’t know, but I know of paramours
That divide the tide and steal the shore
But this isn’t the artificial world’s Watergate
And damn if it ain’t that bad, after all
A teenage boy thinks he knows so much
Thinks he can define a woman’s touch
And why it serves to make him twist
And turn and dream of coffee cream
In China cups and all the swords and
All the sails and all the maidens of fairy tales

IN MY MIND

I will always hold you close in my mind
And remember you like a small child
It’s a very difficult world, so stay young
Truth be told, I’m getting tired of trying
To stay optimistic when the world teaches
Me something new, so don’t be tired
Stay inspired and if your health fails
Have faith that you will eventually prevail
It’s getting dark now, it’s getting dark now
But let me see the light, don’t be afraid
Be yourself – you can be you and I’ll be me
And not worry about who anyone wants us to be
You got kicked down, you don’t feel so warm
And it’s so much more comfortable in this dorm
Away from the storm, under shelter and each morn

SHE’S NOT IMMORTAL

She’s not immortal
You think she is
You saw her in
Red lipstick
And satin shirts
And the way
She fumbles
So beautifully
And you think
She cannot fail
She’ll never falter

BALLERINA, DANCE FOR ME

There’s always one last dance
And she thinks about the songs
Over and over, she listens to the tape
She plays the boom box
She dances in dance studio
The music seems so far away
She’s wondering who she is
Supposed to be after all
Ballerina, dance for me
Allow yourself to be free
The sky is far away
You’re stuck on the ground
In your white t-shirt
By the golden trees
Ballerina, dance for me

YOU AND I AND GOD ARE ONE

Meet in the vacuum
Beyond the valley where the wise men go
Beyond the lagoon where the trees hang low
Beyond this beach, beyond the sun
Where you and I and God are one

SANDY TOMB

Where are you going?
I hope I don’t go too soon
This dark old room
Feels like a sandy tomb
You want me to stay
But I really have to go
Take this world away
You don’t want me to
Leave, but I can’t stay

GOLD AND BRONZE

It’s gold and bronze on the playground in May
And the children serve to invite a new day
Some children start to stress, but the boys love
The way the wind blows through the young girl’s dress
And the children say,
“Where will our dreams take us?
What will our futures make us?
Will we still know each other?
And will it be enough to say we were young lovers
On one warm, spring day?”

The green trees shake
And the lovers promenade
Down by the bus stop
Nears the main bar hop
By the Denny Regrade
It’s a cold harbor
And the women are older
And leaning on the men’s shoulders
And the rock n’ roll plays on the radio
And they remember times
They thought they didn’t know
And the horns blast on the avenue
Where the lovers dream of the golden dew
And how it relates to them

But when will it all go away?
When the girl, Rosie, turns her coat
Breaks her stride and breaks his heart
And heads to her apartment
To make a new start
Will it be enough to say
As time sweeps them with spray
That they were lovers once
Cold but cozy

Let us know each other
Let us fall in love
After all, what is it
To know one another
I believe it will be OK
Enough so when we say
We were lovers one warm, summer day

Mother Mary
Gold flowing hair
Brown, bronze, and green
As lovely as anyone you’ve ever seen
No man is an island, they say
Sometimes I feel that way
The color of sunflowers that live for just an hour
Showering you with all that you pay
The temporal state of my nation
Oh, why does it seem like an approximation?

THE FLATS

It’s so cold
The morning breaks
And the mystery unfolds
What was black
I thought was gold
That’s when it comes
Lady comes up
Over the hill
She whispers something
I get a chill
It breaks my will
She has a top hot
And the world is standing still
That’s when it comes
That’s when I’m born
When I believe

And in the gray
Of the autumn flats
I can’t believe that
She’s never coming back
And all that she represented
It meant nothing
And will return to
Nothing and go black
That’s when it comes
The sound of the
Flute in the morning sun
If that was a battle
I think it’s been won
And I can hear
The distant strain
Of a song that’s begun

MAJESTY

Majesty
Clearer
Eternity into an hour
Getting to the heart
Of what you believe
Bringing it to life

The glasses in the moonlight
Put a soul in place
Possessed a part of it
You put your golden hand
In my hand
I saw your yellow light
It shined on Broadway
No one knows this place
As well as I do
I’m doin’ it my way

PAIN, VIOLENCE, DEATH

Pain, violence, and death
Are parts of all life
How can you organize it?
Why do we avoid these things?
Why do we fear fear?
Is fear the only thing to fear?
Should I invite
Pain, violence, and death
Into my life?
I’m scared of them
I don’t celebrate them
I want my life to be full
Of happiness and contentment
Life is full of happiness
Life is full of pain
These are twin forces
Can we organize these forces?
Are these the thoughts
Of the young romantic?
Do I disdain the day
That romantic love
Clouded my judgment?
How can I organize it?
I haven’t figure out yet
How to deal with
Pain, violence, and death

CHERRY WINE

Bled and busted
And broke again
You don’t understand
The shape I’m in
But then it’s OK
It’s OK again

On the front porch
Or in the round
From the top down
To the ground
Madeline
Madeline
Anyway you choose
It’ll rock the night
Back into the day

All around you
There is warmth
And gladness
Of all that you’ve
Discovered and
Believed in
If I could
This is the way
I’d choose it

An old oak tree
By an old fence
You skate it like a pro
It wobbles to and fro
And you look as young
Unruffled and complete
As anyone I’d care to know
A body set to music
I’m caught up in the sway

SAILOR

Can’t I squash them?
I’m a sailor with a boat upon the shore
Lookin’ out into the great open blue
Where the water turns inside
If I could only take your word
And take your part
I would take myself away
And I would live in your heart

A thousand miles, only the penitent son
A thousand miles for the fortunate one
The eyes are bright, they’re ruby red
And hungry instead of the living that
You always wanted to do, me and you
I wrote you a song but I can’t seem to
Get it quite right
Each time I sing
The strains and the refrains
Only serve to legitimize my plight
And impair my sight

WAYFARERS

And the wayfarers
They bang it like a bass drum
With all the promises you’ve ever known

Drive your sister crazy
And appreciate the smile
And the forlorn

Well, I’m worn out
Or well worn and I’m thinkin’
Of the way I always loved her evil ways

Hey bartender
Call my name out
I think I’ll have what you’re drinkin’

And let’s remember
Those warmer
Simpler days

The room is spinning
You cradle your lover
Just like a newborn

Well I think I like livin’
Cuz life has taught me little about dyin’
But it will and all the binds will be torn

You don’t even need your clothes
Shake off the last sad glances of September
It’s great to be alive

Recapture those dancin’ nights
Make them innocent again
It’s not something you lost
But rather something you must struggle for,
Until the end
Play my heartstrings like a banjo
It sounds like a songbird
And you heard every word
And it’s great that you heard
So don’t go lightly baby
Crank up the fading sounds
Of your radio

ALBUM TITLE: White Picket Fences
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 12/07/07

1. Casino In Reno
2. Jezebel And The Jazz Pianist
3. Suitcase
4. French Riviera
5. 7th Avenue
6. The Problem Of Having Everything You Want
7. Water Colors
8. White Picket Fences
9. The Sun In 1983
10. Sail On, Sailor
11. Twenty-Two Beautiful Years Old
12. Omaha
13. A Bright Future Behind
14. Bobby
15. Simple Sentiments

CASINO IN RENO

In the Casino
Love starts to ramble away
I never discuss
The feelings that eat at the fray
And I sip on the rum
The lights are flashing
Not sure if I’m young
But memories are rehashing again
As the beautiful women
Shuffle on by
I am not sure what the score
Will be when the dreams fly
To the place where they wander
And die
Don’t tell me, Jim
That I can’t repeat the past
I’m already aware of that
So many good things never last
Struggling to breathe
I throw down the cards
I once vowed that I never could gamble
But gamblin’ makes it so
You don’t seem so invisible
Read about heroes
And how they fell
Makes you feel good
That they didn’t fare so well
But you’ve got a price
A responsibility
For putting yourself
Above the common man

JEZEBEL AND THE JAZZ PIANIST

“Has the dream died with the dreamer?” – Terrence Scott Gerard

On a white night
Her car pulled into the driveway
I had something to tell her
And I wanted her to stay
Sometimes the things you need
Are the things you push away

Jezebel was just the type
To open up her heart
Never wanted to hurt no one
But can’t help do her part
Why is it that all the perfectly built
And most beautiful things
Fall apart?

She packs up
And burns the engine
Wants to pass the time
Thinks she’ll find herself
Down on Hollywood and Vine
The water is cool on her face
She’ll always be the most beautiful
One in the place
My friends have convinced me
That she has an angel’s grace

He plays jazz piano
On lonely nights
No one knows that he’s a genius
He wonders about his talent
And the places he’s been
Makes meaning of the places
He wants to repeat the past again
Smoke rings in the room
People enter, then leave too soon

SUITCASE

Your best friend married on Sunday
She was feeling strange
You’ve got a suitcase full of clothes
And where you’re headed, God knows

The elegant restaurants
On 5th Avenue
Make you realize what you got to do

Both of us are getting older
You’re determined to not go and fit the mold
Foggy nights
Glassy lights
Sun would shatter
That cold façade

Your life could be packed in a suitcase

FRENCH RIVERIA

Let us stay on the French Riviera
We’ll talk over wine and tea
We’ll laugh at our new acquaintance
We’ll be who we’d like to be

But when every new friend
Is just an acquaintance
You have no chance to
Build something beautiful

And the French Riviera
Loses its meaning
You must have connection
In order to understand the beauty

7th AVENUE

I know some things can’t be replaced
I know what we had was new
And I am reminded by the rain
On 7th Avenue
That I’m glad I knew you

Say goodbye
To everything you ever knew
Things fall apart
You should feel lucky that you met me
I hope you don’t forget me
When I push you away

Thank you for making me remember
What I truly love
I was lost in how beautiful you looked
Singing from above
God may forgive you
Your family may too
And I will always wonder what
Amazing things you’re up to

THE PROBLEM OF HAVING EVERYTHING YOU WANT

Lately I keep meeting people
Who want to be elegant
They stir my imagination
They make me create

But when they leave me empty
Falling short of my capacity for wonder
I lay lonesome in their wake

I can’t find the words
To tell you how much it hurts
When you leave me alone
You turn around
And switch things up on me
As I race for the phone

People like you
Don’t need to worry about the breaks
You have to deal with
The problem of having everything you want
I could deal with the problem

WATER COLORS

A dog barks
A gust of wind blows through the cars
You smile at the stars
And tell me that you’ll be OK when
You fall in love

I paint water color pictures
Of things that never were
And fall over in all night bars
And wonder why I always
Want the things I cannot have

So you say you don’t want a normal life
You’d rather look beyond
Travel the world
But you’ll notice you won’t get very far
No matter where you travel to

There is something you build
Someone can’t break
That money and drag cannot take
I’m not sure you know
What is at stake

WHITE PICKET FENCES

You say you’d be happy
If you found your one true love
You would stay together
And fade into the skies above

You’re getting older now
And you know more and more
What it is you want, some high school jaunt?
That isn’t some makeshift idea

Well, I hope it’s legal
And I hope you leave some clues
If you find the white picket fences
Please give me the news
Cuz I have yet to see anybody
Who has figured out the answers
To the questions that you choose

Why do we want things so bad
That are pulled away?
Even when we discover they fall
Short of how we built them up
A mansion and a hideaway

Take me to the alter
White lace and kisses to be stolen
After we make our vows
Let’s set out on a path
Red with roses

I offer you no answers
Only questions about your solutions
You propose
To want something so much
That you just can’t have

THE SUN IN 1983

You sing out the praises of the lost
Forgotten shows that you can’t see
Look through old pictures of when
You were young and saw the sun in 1983

So you buy the car and the clothes
You didn’t have when you were younger
Maybe that’s what’s missing
And why you feel so empty now

What is that foul powder
That became of your fluid dreams
The dust is floating by
Your dreams have gone dry

Maybe it’s wrong to shoot farther
But nothing great was ever
Achieved by people who didn’t aspire
In this great country

I hope one of those people can be me

I wish I wasn’t so cynical
At such a young age
Overwrought plans
And visions of writing a brand new page

Did it bring you down
When you found there were so many like you?
You’re not so unique, after all
It’s depressing but true

You can’t help but shake hands
Thinking people will cheat you
All good things fade away
Isn’t that the truth?

SAIL ON, SAILOR

Catch the vibe from a sailor
Who left his family and home
At the age of seventeen
About the time you started
To crystallize the corners of your dream
And wonder if he’s got it over you
Can you tell by his scars?

TWENTY-TWO BEAUTIFUL YEARS OLD

Well you live your life
The best way you can
And God can strip away
Almost everything

But the bones of a man
Unless you happen to be
One who’s been spared
Don’t tell me how to live

You are so beautiful
You are only twenty-two
You remind me of a girl I loved
When I was as old as you
Twenty-two beautiful years old

I want to stop right now
And scream out loud
That I can be someone
The time will go on

Whether you want it to or not
I get so frustrated
Want to quit this job
Head out into the unknown

Dreaming of the past
Trying to make up for lost time
Choices I’ve made
Living and dying a little each day

Try to forgive and hide away
Dreaming of the past
Trying to repeat it
And get it right on this pass

OMAHA

I am left with vague memories of the past
I am left with cloudy versions of the facts
If you see traces of the world you took back
To Omaha, long ago, a period that’s gone black

I would say Goodbye, Goodbye to all that

Pack your stuff and take it from my place
Sunglasses hide the tears on your face
It’s impossible to know if we’ve made a terrible mistake
All my friends have gone away, left me stranded in Omaha

I say Goodbye, Goodbye to this fray

I think I’ll go get my old job back
You could be a banker or a Wall Street jack
I will sing the sorrows of the heartbreak
That comes with a waste of potential

I say Goodbye, Goodbye to today

A BRIGHT FUTURE BEHIND

Pack up all your boxes
File away the photographs
There’s a dream that you had once
You can never get it back

But do you remember
When you were sixteen?
And wanted to make the most
Of these hours and these dreams

The older you get
The better you were
The better sixteen
Seems to have been

You stood so tall
Proudest on the highest stair
Count your successes
You thought life was a romantic affair

Somebody’s got an axe to grind
The business closed because it was time
Pain and pleasure are so close together
Between success and failure is such a thin line

BOBBY

Bobby looks out the window
From his Ravenna home
Mountains are cascading
Never has he felt so deathly alone

The sound of trumpets fading
Here are the thoughts of the one
The truest of his loves
She’s sailing away from his home

SIMPLE SENTIMENTS

Things fall apart
You always want what you can’t have
Appreciate what you have
You will miss it when it goes
Love hurts
Don’t fall in love
You always set yourself up for heartbreak
I’m in love for all the wrong reasons
Push, for what you want is just beyond
ALBUM TITLE: The Green Palace
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 11/7/07

1. Lay Your Head Down In The Shade
2. Bedroom
3. Disparity
4. Far Away
5. Ships On The Pacific
6. Can I Crash Your Party?
7. Come Outside
8. Meanderings
9. The Darkest Comet
10. Rise To The Journey
11. An Angel Who Never Would Know It
12. Night Descends
13. Sister
14. Lay Your Head Down In The Shade (#2)

LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN IN THE SHADE

The sun feels hot against my face
This summer’s been a luxury
With your summer dress against
The backdrop of the flowers bursting out at me

Tonight will not fall hard but coolly
The stars will bathe us with incandescent glow
We’re not so young anymore
But tonight that’s not what I care to know

You’re scared about all that your father forbade
Well, darlin’ lay your head down in the shade

Those whipping winds have whiled away at us
But today they’ve left us here to rest
Between the meadow and the murmuring brook
To look with hope out to the West

Put your golden arm in mine
And I’ll take you to the sands
We’re driving on toward death
But you’ve washed unrequited dreams from your hands

The waves beat up and the lanes are slow
Down on that dark and dusty road
I might come back, but I don’t care to know
And on the hills, the space is plenty

You carry your dreams with you, from age to age
But you’re transparent now, I can see through you
Let’s move on, let’s turn the page
Leave all those worries behind

You’re scared about all that your father forbade
Well, darlin’ lay your head down in the shade

BEDROOM

I lay in my bedroom
On my bed, a normal place to lay
Tomorrow brings the burden
Of another stressful day
Many times I’ve been here
But today it’s different, still
I never noticed the contours
Of the knotty window sill
Or the silence of the street
On a lazy Thursday eve
Nor the shadows of the blinds
Which on the wall did gently weave
I must rest now, for tomorrow
A healthy body will be needed
Perhaps tomorrow night
This magnificence will be heeded
But, oh, tomorrow is Friday
And I’ve got engagements to keep
I might even have some other
Beds in which to sleep
So this scene will have to wait
And Webster’s grave did smile
To see that I’ve ignore the stillness
And ignored the peace and the truth
And taken on another sweat-laced mile

DISPARITY

It made an impression on me
When I saw all the money
That flowed through the streets
In the rain and in the sun

On this side of the fence
We don’t got much money
Where the grass is a little burnt
And plants are growing ill

If you told me of a revolution
I’d have little comfort in nature’s will
The storms are washing out the lines
The rich and poor are getting blurred together

But people like me, we’ve been fortunate
To be born with a little head start
We know the luster of the gentry
And we want to start playing our part

There are things like this in storms
There’s no stopping me, full speed ahead
Don’t get in my way, I’ll rest when I’m dead
Don’t get in my way, I’ll rest when I’m dead

FAR AWAY

It’s a far ways from where I want to be
I can’t deal with being lonely
You make me go all crazy and wild
I don’t know if I’m different from a child

You’re petite and lovely and your eyes are deep
I hear the wind whistling through the street
And I know I’m out here for some reason
But I still feel that you should think I’m handsome

It’s cold out here, in the smoky back alley
That leads to the littered main street
Where I wander along, in my misery
Kicking up dust with my feet

Let it rain, get rid of this dust
It’s making me tremble with pain
For I’m lost and I’m loaded and I can
Think of is keeping me from going insane

You’re always there, whether or not
I really want you, the way that you are
Bright and beautiful still, I’m looking through you
I can see up close when I look out so far

SHIPS ON THE PACIFIC

I was about to take off shore
And my spirits began to rise
I looked out at the Pacific
And thought to my surprise

I must leave my life behind me
When I take off on that boat
And sail to Polynesia where
I’ll learn a brand new life

When that boat started sailing
I was determined for change
Aboard the old Kon-Tiki ship
In the tropic seafarer’s range

The water was endless
And I began to yawn
And remember my old lady
Who I left to chase the dawn

My brown-haired, simple-minded
Heavenly and devoted woman
I’m too proud to say she left me
Yet I’m grateful that I knew

CAN I CRASH YOUR PARTY?

I stumbled along the boulevard
And hopped in a car for a ride
My head feels jumbled and cloudy
And I feel a pain in my side

But who cares? Not me, I’m enjoying myself
At least this is true for tonight
For I’m numbed and I’m warm
And if only I just had a light

To pull me back into it, please
To bring me up off of my knees

The car pulled abruptly to a stop
I noticed that my friend was the pilot
So I patted his back and I opened my door
And I started to shake my butt

For a beat could be heard from your house
That’s what it’s all about – the beat
Then me and my buddies, we lit up our smokes
And we felt happy to be in your street

Can I come into your party, baby?
I’m a most entertaining guest
Can I crash your party, baby?
I’m on a mission, a journey, a quest
I’ll be gone in an hour or less
I’ll pass out in an hour or less

COME OUTSIDE

Come outside
Come outside

That summer glee
Is sneaking up again
Those summer days
Are sneaking up again

From the morning to the nighttime
I’m feelin’ the light that flows
From those branches on the oak tree
Where the lazy blossoms blow

The soft night holds much
For your reckless grace
When the wind blows seaward
And the light shines on your face

Come outside
Come outside

MEANDERINGS

In the morning I’ll be leaving
I won’t give y’all a warning
Do you know how it feels
To drive lonesome in the dark?

You work your whole life
Trying to become some queen
But where do you end up
Is it all just some dream?

I’ll believe I’ll be leavin’
I’m old and I’m cold
I’m about 21, I hold a guitar
And the race is close to run

I thought I could write you
A melody so fine in design
It’ll wrap you up and
Make you believe in it

If you’d only see that
Love is like a boat out at sea
You think of it so tenderly
But you realize it’s at the tide’s mercy

I want to see your true heart
I’m tired of beating this world apart
I’m tired of watching the wind
Go in and out of each part

If I stayed up all damn night
And was still drunk in the morning
We could all feel so good
But the experience would be fleeting

I’m tired of all the games
I’m tired of all the names
I’m tired of all the ghosts
I’m tired of all the pain

The drunker I get
The wiser I feel
I want the world to open up
With the click of a heel

It’s all about your power
You have it, so let me in
Rolling across the desert
There’s no way you can win

This is not a game for winners
Where the winner takes all
For the winner falls with a resounding fall
When he takes a look at the trophies on his wall

She said, “I’m going to sleep with a smile
We ain’t been sleepy for a while
I’m got my conscience flying in all directions
Make some sense of these millions of inflections”

She says, “I’m leaving, don’t be grieving”
She says, “Don’t be lonesome when I go”
Will anybody know, will anybody see
The way you look at the cars passing by?

You sigh with a relenting sigh
Do you know how to be torn apart?
To be drunk and lonesome in the morning
The two go hand in hand, if you think that you’re the man

Does anybody know how it feels to be pushed away?
I thought, perhaps, if I had never taken a risk
Then I would never get hurt
But now I understand that this makes it worse

THE DARKEST COMET

On a night like the darkest comet
A lady spoke softly to me
By the crashing sea, she said
The best things in your life
Are the things you can’t have
I lifted up my heart, I gave my all
I said perhaps the best things
Are when the ones you know
Will come each time you call

The night was cold and rainy
My lady huddled close and tight
She said I’ve been so alone
But when you need a friend
It’s too late to make one
But it’s all just anticipation
What we need now is organization
What we need is a way to know
That everything will be OK
When all is said and done

RISE TO THE JOURNEY

Oh, you rise to the journey
You’ve waited your whole life begin
Oh, one foot on the trail
Moving forward but remembering when
You moved through hail
And snow, but your cheeks weren’t so pale

Oh, take the green ride
Make the most of those hills
Prop your body up
Catch all of those frills
But what you search for
Darlin’, you can never find
But don’t waste your time
It’s easy to unwind

Put your golden hand in mine
I love you as you are
I surely don’t mind
What we’ve got is golden
Golden through the ruins
Of rowdy, restless, endless
Ramparts and walls of time

Besides, you need this
You crave this misery
To get you through
When things are going
Just a little too well
And living’s a little too fine

AN ANGEL WHO NEVER WOULD KNOW IT

You could give me
All the money in the world
You could bring me
A broken arrow
But your blood like a raven
You smile like a girl
How much I’d love you
You’ll never know

You’re as sweet as an angel
Who never would know it
Who never would show it
Who’d never been told it before
You’re as sweet as an angel
And I’m a martyr
The heart grows harder
As I die, lonely at your door

It’s a difficult time
When your pride cuts you
When you see all crumble
That you’ve built for so long
But I can’t help but mourn you
When a friend asks where you’ve been
I say she’s wild, wild, wild
Like a character from a song
And now she is gone

NIGHT DESCENDS

When the night descends
And I pick the dobro
And the winds rake the sky
The wings ruffle

I think about Rome
And beautiful buildings
That I’ve never seen
In places I’ve never bee

All those sunlit landscapes
Captured in my dreams
Pollyanna, tell me please
When the night came

I know, you didn’t see
But it’s as easy as can be
You can’t get all you want
Yet, I get enough for me

I am what I’ll always be
Won’t change too much, oh, pity me
I’m sick of thinking that change
Will get me any kind of glory

SISTER

Lean on me, sister
Cause I need someone
That I can truly
Hold on to

My candle’s burning at both ends
This can’t go on all that long
The flame is brief and lovely
I guess the world ain’t so tough on

Me or you, so grab a hold of my shirt
Sail away baby, I’ll sail away, too
It seems that we need to love
Because it’s better than not loving

LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN IN THE SHADE (#2)

We were walkin’ down the dirt road
You were sure you’d been there before
It was well worn and the lanes were slow
And seem like a scene from the days of yore

You’re always sweatin’ death now
And your skin is growing pale
Your virtues are scarce somehow
And your soul it is for sale

You’re scared about all that your father forbade
But darlin’, lay your head down in the shade

You’re gettin’ on in your years now
We’re not so young anymore
Your eyes they are hungry now
Your bones are getting sore

You’re sorry about all the choices that you’ve made
But darlin’, lay your head down in the shade

What happened to those days
When you listened to the mystic?
When you laughed off all of the pain?

You always prayed for sunshine
But now the heat’s a chore
You’ll talk of nothin’ but the rain
But believe me it will pour

This scene will go dark soon

You can’t keep all the promises you’ve made
So darlin’, lay your head down in the shade
ALBUM TITLE: In Full Bloom
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 10/7/07

1. Musings From Restaurants
2. Car Wreck
3. Faith
4. Early Reverie
5. Bus Station, Manhattan
6. Uncle Old-Eyes
7. Hold On To Your Hat
8. Enchanting Night
9. Maidens In Key West
10. Fishing Hat
11. Water & Freedom
12. Jug Bands
13. In Full Bloom
14. Eyes Meet Eyes
15. Give Me Tonight In A Cup

MUSINGS FROM THE RESTUARANTS

There was darkness in the twilight
When I came in from the cold
Put my boots upon the table
I had a tale that had to be told

Seems all I recall are faces
They all blend together slow
That fellow I met yesterday
That child with eyes aglow

That scribe with blood for ink
That bride with tears of woe
That woman with eyes of glass
That angel at the fashion show

That common girl that danced
Her jig upon the street
Too shy to remove her eyes
From her shuffling feet

Or that pretty young lady
Whose life had gone amiss
I felt more love seeing her 20 feet away
Than in the deepest kiss

And she’s furtive with replies
My heart she does deny
I slip-write in my journal
“Oh, someday she will be mine”

But the man she loves says
“What are you doing around this joint?”
He cries, “Get with it son!”
With an exclamation point

CAR WRECK

Life was going well
Things were starting to turn around
Seemed that fortune was smiling on me
I was starting to get my projects off the ground

But the pendulum swings both ways
It’s hard to remember when you’re up

There it went, my car and my fortune
I’m lucky to have saved my neck
But now I’m stuck with the jitters in my gut
And the business of that damn car wreck

FAITH

All you Protestants
You’re rejecting me
You deny indulgences
Of the cult of the Virgin Mary

Have some faith
Let’s make a contract
Let’s make it your exclusive
Will and testament

I have faith that the sun
Is always going to rise
But in the darkness
I place no stock in the wise

EARLY REVERIE

It was a fine time we all had the other night
We made so many mysteries make sense
Your lady just seemed to dance upon the fence

But it’s all in a night’s play and it’s all productive
We’re gonna get somewhere with this attitude
I was happily consumed in self
Till you took the book off of my shelf
And started tellin’ me what I can do while in the nude

He was tellin’ me how Marx
Had marbled into his brain
How he couldn’t handle change or its strain
I told him to open his ears
And drink a little whiskey and cheer
And think of tonight as one big refrain

BUS STATION, MANHATTAN

Waiting at the bus station
Wondering if the bus will arrive
I feel ordinary and hot
As the cars roll on by

I heard a whistle from across the way
From a short-haired, black-clad girl
She wants a cigarette, please?
But I’ve got nothing for her

She smiles and says thanks anyways
And her bus comes rushin’ on up
She hops on and is gone in a flash
But she’s going the opposite way

Where are you going dear?
Why in such a rush?
Anywhere you want to go, I’ll take you
We’ll meet at the edge of town, near dusk

Car by car they’re all zippin’ by
Where could all these people be going
To me it’s just the shine of the chrome
And they eyes that fly by of people I don’t know

I am hearing bells chiming off in the distance
And my knees are beginning to get weak
The vacancy lights of the closest hotel
Call to me with as they blink, so I retreat

UNCLE OLD-EYES

Do you want to be a Kung-Fu fighter?
Yes, of course I do
Do you want to be a movie star?
Yes, sure I do
A writer, a critic, a learned man
A wheeler, a dealer, a politician?
Yes, I want them all
Uncle old-eyes use to pat me on the head
And say, “What’ll ever become of you?”
“You are so young and so gifted”
If he only knew

HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT

I rolled through Albuquerque
My thoughts were confused and murky
My love light was directed by quirky,
Giggling and underdressed girls

Hold on to your hat mama
I’m gonna take you for a ride
You’ve been too pensive lately
You’ve got to let a few things slide

Hold on to your hat mama
We’re gonna stare death in the eyes
You’ve been thinkin’ about your last days too much
You’ve got to let that soul be free and rise

You used to be so much brighter
When you thought death held something for you
Now you think it’ll just be cold and dark
And void of the flawed, earthly things you knew

You once thought you were broken
Now you think it doesn’t matter either way
We’re not sinners or saints, so why should we paint
Ourselves to be martyrs in this green bay

ENCHANTING NIGHT

The night descends slowly
When you’re nobody at all
You can wander through backstreets
In silence, making sense of it all

Walkin’ down the built up streets
Lookin’ through all of those windows
All of those curious creatures
And strange smells playin’ with your nose

Make me want to stay outside for now
Out in the cold is where I’ll doze
Give me a bottle of red and gold
I think I could handle it now

I’m arranging this enchanting night

MAIDENS IN KEY WEST

I have three young, ebullient maidens
Spinning through the chambers of my mind
Laughing on the sandy beach
Where the tide accents their movements in time

Down at Key West those pale beauties are clear
Flickering bronze then black then clear as the tear
That slides down wanton cheeks and ripples here
Where I’m holding onto their thin veneer

All those dreamy, dripping damsels
They’re coloring the walls with their design
Making sense of tinted distances
And riding on the waves of each new rhyme

FISHING HAT

You know being good
Doesn’t always come easy to me
But I’ve had some fine times,
Done the right things, managed to feel free

But you are standing fearless
Weaving your viscous words like an ornate tapestry
And from behind your icy eyes
I can see you cryin’, sayin’, “Someone take care of me”

So hold on to your fishing hat
And we will head out to the coast

WATER, FREEDOM

It always seemed to you
That days and nights would never fail
To lead you from your worries
And blow some wind into your sail

Till you’re an old man riding wayward
On the seas of blue and white, they prevail
And leave you on the ocean floor
With pearly eyes, crying out, “No more!”

I saw three mermaids singing on the coast
This was on last Sunday eve
My longtime friend and I wondered
If those women ever grieve

Well, I’m sinking into the sound
As the sunlight starts to weave
Into the water, there’s no definition
Between the beach and the blackened sea

There’s no place on the land
That has the quality of the water
A body I can jump right into
And be allowed to fall free

JUG BANDS

Quiet now, words can’t help us
These days are helmed by pilots

Pull up a chair
Let the music take you away
Let down your hair
Let the stream of people sway

Let those piano pickers play
Let your blues get washed away

If your life was like a drop
Of dew upon your window pane
Oh, seldom would you worry
About it dripping down the drain

Watch the drain pipe shakin’
To the sound
Of those jug bands bouncin’
Up and down

Listen to the harmony
Let your blues get washed away

It sold cold, dear, in those backrooms
But our here the air is warm and light
So beat that drum, babe, play that harp
Step out into the mystic night

The piano player’s are swayin’ to and fro
Feelin’ the whiskey, it’s lettin’ him let go

IN FULL BLOOM

You asked if I had captured
All of life within one cup
If my days were becoming
Something worth measuring

Well, it seems to me it’s been
Like sunlight on a window pane
You in from the outside
With the sun bursting behind

You watch with diffidence
As the glass illuminates the fine
Little streams of the glass
It seems lovely and strange

And all of life seems but a
Reflection that needs to be arranged
On a window, place in front
With the sun bursting behind

Turning through the glass
In strides to refine the time
Many days I’ve sat on afternoons
Sinking in those streams of sweet perfume

Listening to people come and go
And the sunlight weaves into the room
Across your face it suddenly seems
That your are completely in season

Don’t wonder if we’re getting too old
For misfit nights beneath the moon
Not when eyes are wide, shoreline hides the tide
And it seems for the moment that we’re in full bloom

EYES MEET EYES

Eyes meet eyes – come closer
Your dress is white and brown
Your golden skin is shining
As light weaves into your gown

In the backrooms people move
And the women come and go
And the wine pours quickly
Turning into each glass

And your eyes turn swiftly
Toward the other patrons
Why don’t your pretty eyes
Turn over towards me?

I have lingered with the poets
On the edges of the room
While the women come and go
Accompanied by perfume

Doesn’t tonight look white?
Doesn’t tonight look blue?
Can you see how this night
Could be split right into two?

There are four stragglers
Walking just behind me
And they look remarkably
The way we used to

They smell the grass
They notice the way
The sky is green and blue
And they wish to refine

Themselves, so as to become
Men of life, men of wine
To attract the gaze of women
With the eyes so divine

And the jazz band looms
As the women swoon
And I tell the maestro
Play this tune for June!

For in this quaint, supple June
I shall at last have my noon
But the maestro says he cannot play
A tune for June, for my soft noon

No, the cornet does not play for me
It plays not for you, not for wine
Not for the sky or for the stragglers
And I cannot ask these things of it

I cannot ask the jazz to form its rhythm
To a night like this – sad and forlorn
And ragged amidst the turning streams
Of perfumed sighs and cocktail dreams

No, the band will play a tune for a place
The is far away and wandering, like the stars
Not what we see here, not what is here now
And we’ll only know it from afar

GIVE ME TONIGHT IN A CUP

Give me tonight in a cup
And I will soak it in slow
It would sink in and lift
My heart and humor up

Yesterday I dreamt of you
Your teeth were white
Your hair was cold
Your hands were cold

Your came through my door
Moving in from the night
Do you remember
How we walked without light

When the sky looked as it did?
When you were just a kid?
Or rather how it looked in books
In those fairy tales

The books you ultimately rid
From your vast collection
Once you felt about as old
As you’d been told you were
ALBUM TITLE: You Can’t Go Home
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 9/7/07

1. Eyes Like Windows
2. Rosie
3. Scraps
4. Easy & Wonderful
5. Angel
6. There Are Too Many That Could Love Her
7. Southern Belle
8. You Can’t Go Home
9. Sweet Summer Sun
10. Filthy, Rotten And Wrong
11. Put A Flower Over Me
12. Boating In Rhode Island
13. Rocking Chair
14. Backyard Jeb
15. Wise Old Man

EYES LIKE WINDOWS

Everybody’s eyes are like windows on this bustling boulevard
The children of the neighbors are wandering down through the yard
I can’t find the pantomime that’s rolling like the waves of a disco
And my heart is racing, my mind is scattered like a million flakes of snow

I met a mountain woman who erased a few years from me life
She said we could be passionate if we didn’t worry about her becoming my wife
I said I have a home somewhere and I’ll find it if I look for long enough
She said we’d live like royalty once we settle on some distant bluff

ROSIE

Rosie, darlin’ you’re eyes are like fine china ware
Even now I can still feel the weight of your stare
Was so many miles ago that we kissed on the stairs
Sunlight’s in your eyes so you think you can go anywhere

Rosie, Rosie
Seems everybody’s getting young
Except for you and me
Rosie, Rosie
It’s still a mystery
Uh-oh, I’m 40 already
Everywhere I look I get weak in the knees
We can make it if we pray
And think of it as a breeze

Afternoon sun on an orange wall is all I recall
Barbeque chicken in the kitchen and the kids play basketball
We’d sit on the steps and guide the world with our childish hearts
You wouldn’t believe me when I told you it would all fall apart

SCRAPS

Deliver me from loneliness, greed and exile
You know I don’t know what is true
My ego gets the better of me
It’s been a few years
You’ve changed quite a bit
Such strange creatures over here
Always taking on new identities

EASY AND WONDERFUL

Our nights are gonna be lovely
Our days are gonna be warm
Come away from all your troubles
Come in from the storm

She said it’ll all be easy
And wonderful from now until the end
When our worlds come to a hush
All the colors begin to blend

She reminded me of pictures
From the 1920s
Talkin’ about romance
Talkin’ about romance

She came from a rough neighborhood
And stepped it up for me
She’s looking over her shoulder
Towards the stars she sees

I looked at her with watered eyes
And said only my piece quickly
I said life hasn’t been tough enough
To inspire a loafer like me

ANGEL

She looks like an angel
The brown leaves are falling
She smells like the cold
We’re deep into autumn

She seems more at home
In fall than in June
Her skin is like porcelain
She stokes the crystal moon

THERE ARE TOO MANY THAT COULD LOVE HER

I thought she might love me
If she didn’t have much else going on
Because they always seem
To love you when they’re lonely

When they’ve got another
Their agenda changes and they’re gone
I can’t imagine not fearing
Whether she would stay or go

There are too many that could love her

SOUTHERN BELLE

I blew in from the North
And met a Southern Belle
I left behind the green
I came to know her well

I don’t remember tasting
All the money I let fly
I think I had a good time
I think the time was well spent

But I’ll never know
Maybe I should go
And find my Southern Belle again
Down by where the river ends

YOU CAN’T GO HOME

When I left the house that August morning
I felt like crying
There was nothing I could do
But let the tears stream down my face
For at the foot of the river
Where my family’s home
Was born, raised, burned, and without me, dying
Was the one inescapably haunting place
I tried to stifle the tears
I didn’t know from where they came

SWEET SUMMER SUN

That sweet, warm summer sun
Is coming back again
Oh, that sweet, warm summer feeling
Is coming back again

When the heavens appear
And the stars shine
Then I will take my sweet time
You thought you’d age
Like a glass of fine wine

FILTHY, ROTTEN AND WRONG

I been kicked down
Filthy, rotten and wrong
Tragedy and temptation
They’ve been skinning me down

Don’t tarry now
Or the thought of this will fade
Do not wonder how
Our beds will sleep when they are made

Black as the sea on colorless nights
Filthy, rotten and wrong

PUT A FLOWER OVER ME

Someday I’m gonna be gone
I’m gonna be movin’ on
It was good and the run was long
Days have passed and I sung my songs

When I go, please put a flower over me
Lay me down and let me sleep
I don’t want you to worry
But let me know you care

BOATING IN RHODE ISLAND

She always stood there in the kitchen
She always looked so confident
She had the look of a wealthy family’s
Money well spent, with a matching scent

Looking at me so curiously
She wondered why I was hanging around this place
She wondered why I talked so close to her face
Why I was pouring my soul out to her without a trace
Of inhibition or apprehension

Truth is, I was feeling a little romantic
The way you do when a high sets in
In the beginning of the high,
When you want to just reach out to the world and pull it in
I stood outside myself and looked down
As I regained my wits for a moment
I saw myself, looking pitiful
I was a wet speaker
With a penchant for the women
With the nice pedigree

There is that sense of wonder
That can’t be put into words
I saw it in her

She crossed the room like a melody
I’d been listening to some orchestral music
We went boating, then we went back home
We talked it out in the kitchen

ROCKING CHAIR

Rocking chair
Rocking chair
Waiting there for me
Rocking chair
Rocking chair
Rickety sight to see

Oh, brilliant days
All yellow and gold
Behind the shades

Sing it! Sing it! Sing it loud
I’ll sing whatever you want
You know I love to hear you singin’
At our favorite haunts

We don’t need
What’s so far out of reach
We can’t be
The ones to lecture

Wasn’t it sunny?
Isn’t it funny what memories pop into your head consistently?

Look at me
I need some time to dream
I remember days that were simple

Fallin’ off of high things
Landing on your feet
Fallin’ to your knees
Fallin’ on your face
I’ll catch you with these keys

We don’t need
What’s so far out of reach
We can’t be the one’s to lecture

BACKYARD JEB

Backyard Jeb, he’s got that guitar going
His chrome wagon’s rollin’ him along
It’s summer in the city, but up here it’s snowin’
Mary lays her head down on the lawn

Oh, Mary
Lay your head on my chest
Tell old Jeb
That you think he’s the best

Oh, release me, I’ve got no more to give
Oh, release me, I’ve learned how to forgive
Don’t you know I’m aging but I’ve got a life to live
So please, please release me

WISE OLD MAN

The sky was full of hail
The streets were full of twos
People walking tandem
Still singing the blues

I broke from my toil
I hit the avenue
And enjoy the life
I’d recently come to rue

When I met up with an old man
Who said he was from the sea
He saw I had a sailor’s eye
And he came after me

He said, “I’ve loved once
And that’s enough misery for me
My heart is getting old now
And my bones are lazy”

He said, “It’s getting dark
Tell them all I’m going away
My hour is come, but not you, son
You’ll live to dance another day”
ALBUM TITLE: Past The Sky
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 8/7/07

1. Avenue
2. When Friends Forget
3. The Ledge
4. Mounds Of Snow Lay Loose
5. Great Things In This World
6. Imparting A Tale Of Walking Along The Sky
7. Mockingbird
8. Hipster
9. Spinning And Grinning
10. Three Minutes
11. Ballad Of A Sideshow Rodeo Desperado
12. Annie May
13. Midnight Annie
14. Jump
15. Pub Rockers

AVENUE

He lifted his head up
And he stepped away
Out onto the avenue
In the middle of the day

He’s reading about how
The sun rises and sets
He thinks he understands
He steps and he steps

WHEN FRIENDS FORGET

You babble about the sun and the moon
And about how I keep lowly company
The myriads of stars can’t say
Why I’m not in the club today

Well you’re raggedy and rusty
And your temperament’s gone blue
Well, you seek comfort in numbers
Your friends have all forgotten you

THE LEDGE

The clouds whirl around overhead
He tries to smoke away the dread
The rain soaks his blue shoes
It’s the beginning of a new day

He’s thinking about love lost
He’s wondering about all the costs
He’s trying to stay afloat
There’s a backlash when he rocks the boat

He’s always been afraid of heights
He’s so close to his primal fear
He could hop on down, it’s one big sea
He comprehends his antipathy

He’d put his fire out in a hurry
And fell far, far below
While his soul would soar
High above the trees
He’d finally be free

MOUNDS OF SNOW LAY LOOSE

The mounds of snow lay loose
On the edges of lazy streets
Buildings hover over corners
Where two roads come to meet

The jingle of the bells, the smell of heat
Makes the paupers imagine the retreat
To the other side of the café glass
Where they could settle down and eat

GREAT THINGS IN THIS WORLD

She paces back and forth out in the hallway
With traces of heartache sleepin’ in her eyes
She looks out the window beyond the fence
She ponders the books in the nooks of the wise
She looks at me with the eyes of a young girl
She picks up the books and marvels at their size
Her voice wavers and the corners of her mouth curl
She says, “I know you’re gonna do great things in this world”

IMPARTING A TALE OF WALKING ALONG THE SKY

Scott looks out to the sea
The Beau Mer is lovely indeed
The ships dance along the water
Effortlessly and willfully

He’s been here a while, you see
At the beach it’s warmer by degrees
South of the vineyards and the trees
Sarah sprints and flees and goes crazy

Edward is there as well
The Great War was hell
He shows so much promise
He has the real thing to sell

Their stars haven’t shined yet
They talk as their toes get wet
They return to their hotel rooms
The moonlight is blue upon the deck

MOCKINGBIRD

She’s just like a bird
Flying through the room
Picks up something to nibble
Then moves on without a word

She was my sometime friend
My one-time lover
She taught me about leaving
And taking from another

She’s changing but her core
Remains what it always has been
I’ve know her since she was yeah high
She’s always played the same game

Look at her now, soon her name
Will be up in lights on a Broadway night
She returns my calls less frequently
Now that she’s such an awesome sight

HIPSTER

He always had a hipper-than-thou expression
Depression had brought out his worst con
He’d stab you with a glance to teach you a lesson
Then he’d assess your broken ego and move on

SPINNING AND GRINNING

I got lost
Spinning, grinning around daybreak
Was out of time
When it called to me

Oh Lord, he calls
Oh Lord, he feigns
Oh Lord, light rain

THREE MINUTES

In a matter of three minutes his life changed irreversibly
A lifetime’s work was gone like a ship disappearing into sea
Don’t you know that a schooner can fall faster than it can flee?
And a young boy’s dreams disappear just as quickly

Time moves and moves, just ask Grandma Belle
In a matter of two minutes her husband died in an oil well
Give a man three minutes and he can make your life hell
My three minutes are up, have I sold what I had to sell?

BALLAD OF A SIDESHOW RODEO DESPERADO

It’s ain’t often that the rain falls in June but when the travelin’ show comes to town there ain’t no reason and the instruments don’t need to be in tune. The desperado reached out to the ones he loved. He could hardly feel his own hands. He was one with the crowd as the lights went down. Here is what he said:

“Good Lord, what have I done to myself now?
Like an eagle I soared, like a wretch I fell, somehow
And you cradled me and held me in your hands
Now I’ve been spun out and left broken on the sands”

Out on the avenue, he strode like a knight upon his steed. The show was over. He avoided all the oppression. He was free from wants and needs. Only the one who hears the battle call is the one who eventually bleeds. He avoided the fight for glory though and instead blew his harmonica and bent all the reads.

ANNIE MAY

Her voice was loud
Her name was Annie May
She said, “Let’s run away
And live to love another day”

Suddenly I turned around
She was standing there
With a face full of mystery
And ribbons in her hair

She quietly asked of me,
“What are you running from?
Wherever you’re going to
I’ll most surely come”

MIDNIGHT ANNIE

Where have you gone, Annie baby?
What have all your flowers wilted to?
What has come to pass
Is really just a laugh
I hope you can still smile when all this is through

Where have you lived, Annie sugar?
You make my imagination run wild
When I think of you
I cannot feel blue
You see me through the eyes of a child

Thank you for all of your subtle giving
You made me feel I had something to share
I guess we weren’t so bad
We didn’t know what we had
I hope in the future we can take time to repair

JUMP

How can I be so despondent?
I am the leader and must lead you
I must motivate you to jump
I must jump around first

What does this mean?
There is nothing to say
Except jump
I want you all to jump

PUB ROCKERS

Here comes a tall glass of thick, black beer
I think I’ll drink a few before I get outta here
We’ve been playin’ here for six months, pretty soon it’ll be a year
Oh, how I love to see the people stand up and cheer

Play us a sad, sad love tune
Then play us a happy song
You’re gonna be the one we remember
After all this is dead and gone

We pack up our gear every Thursday night
And we pour our soul ‘neath the barroom light
Ten people tell me that I’m going down with a fight
But I keep singing about how everything is gonna be all right

There’s a flood in the doorway, people make the bartender grin
Seems our tunes have got them coming back again
I’ve been telling everybody that someday I’ll most surely win
So they come back to see how this story is going to end
ALBUM TITLE: Brocade
RELEASE DATE: 7/7/07

SONGS:
1. Slow Down (Version 6.1)
2. Baha Blues
3. Song In G Flat
4. Chasing Down The Day
5. This One’s For The Poets
6. Black Weather
7. Drunken Morning (Post-Gala, 1998)
8. Cold Wind
9. A Pot Of Coffee
10. Figaro

SLOW DOWN (VERSION 6.1)

He always greets me with an ear to ear grin
And lets me know he’d rather see me more frequently
I greet him the same way and we b.s. for a while
And I pretend things are the way they used to be

He moves through the crowd of jubilation
And he finds an agreeable place on the couch
He takes a swig from a tall bottle of beer
And he puts a cigarette in his mouth

He stumbles through the doorway to his bedroom
Everybody’s cleared the joint but left a mess behind
He looks at all the ashes and the bottles and the butts
With a pair of glazed eyes that could be blind

BAHA BLUES

I think I’ll pack up some wine
And some flowers so sweet and pure
I’ll gather up my good intentions
And run swiftly out that door

I know I won’t need them on the other side
But you never can be sure

Take me downtown, baby you know
That darkened skies descend down on me

Oh, desert train keeps rollin’ you know
Goodbye Baha
Hello eternity
The sun’s going down on me

SONG IN G FLAT

It’s gonna be a long time till I’m home
And I can’t do it alone
So I go da-da-da
And say it’s not hopeless

Rain will fall on your stair
Oh, let me in baby
And we can go anywhere

So take off you coat, laugh and sing
Remember when you felt you could do anything
Raise up your hand, salute your flowery hose
Catch a bold bird as it disappears on the coast

Oh, won’t you deliver my soul
Oh, it’s gonna be a long time till I’m home

There’s a line outside my door
I’m not sure what everybody’s lookin’ for
But I think I’ll put on my best coat and comb my hair
‘cause right now I think I could go anywhere!

CHASING DOWN THE DAY

You’re tied to a poor son of a gun
Don’t go breakin the law
Don’t go breakin the law
Don’t go breakin the law

Like a passageway to a better day
Oh my, my
Oh my, my
Oh my, my
I’ll keep on chasin’ down the day

CHERRY WINE

Oh, lady
I wanna take you down
Pour some cherry wine
And sip it on down
Can you feel it?
As the music takes you away

La-la-la
La-la-la
La-la-la

Stay there
Hold on to yourself
Things are hard to really see
And I know why you’re tired
It’s as it should be

Don’t hide
Don’t hide yourself today
I’m movin’ on
It’s another way

La-la-la
La-la-la
La-la-la

Oh and I know you’re tired
And you feel you’ve come undone

THIS ONE’S FOR THE POETS

This one’s for the poets
Who never get heard
This one’s for the poets
Who live by the word

They’re writing it
And dreaming it
But the dream is deferred

Does the finest poet that ever wrote
Feel more deeply than me around midnight?
Does the poet have his business head screwed on?
Does he better understand the first morning light?

I do believe my mailman has a few sonnets stashed away
He knows that they’ll make him a better human someday
My taxman’s too afraid to make the public foray
And his masterpiece ages and slowly passes away

And I can remember
What it was like to not be heard
And I wonder why my daydreams
Mean anything to anyone

BLACK WEATHER

When the weather closes in
The midnight sun is back again
She takes my bruised up hand
And makes it well

Tiny Rose
Play my heartstrings sweet and low
Leave the night fire burnin’ down slow
Keep the room lights way down low
Seems that soon you will be slippin’ away slow

And she takes up all my time
In every corner of my mind
She gives enough at the crucial time
And then leaves me sleepin’ alone

Beginnings are the best
Time proceeds and things get worse
I think I’m hungry or dying of thirst

DRUNKEN MORNING (POST-GALA 1998)

What a fine time we had last night
Everybody was lookin’ so fine
We all did the glad-handing
We drained those bottles of wine

And I’ve got myself in a predicament
That is something close to heaven sent
Won’t you give me a compliment?
Because last night came and went

But it’s OK now
We’re drunk in the morning
And it’s perfect somehow
I’m shameless and I’m nameless
But how great is the morning?

Just a friend and I
Having the breakfast of champions
We can dismiss all problems with a sigh
And we know that it can be done

Funny how the indoors can elate
I think I’ll get drunk for a week straight
Last night didn’t go so well with my date
But I don’t have the energy to become irate

Cuz I’ve got warmth and I’ve got time
Won’t you lay me on the line?
I’m doing so good, so good and fine
Just drop this boy a dime

Last night we were runnin, we were getting’ it done
All I want in life is some one
Who appreciates a night like the last one
Followed by a drunken morning

COLD WIND

Where she came from I don’t know
To stand there with her hair in a bow
She catches the water in her hand
She watches the rain falling slowly

I don’t know why she calls me
Why she smiles and sings to the sea
Why she stands stoically on a hill
Lettin’ the rain fall on her toes

The days are consuming me
The vision of her is changing
So, so rapidly

A POT OF COFFEE

The evening is crisp
On the south slope
The air smells musty
She smells like soap

A dog barks in the fog
You can’t see but five feet
What she’s doing far from home
Is a mystery to the bums in their seats on the street

It’s getting colder
The storm front’s sure to come
It’s a hard morning coming
And she doesn’t know anyone

A pot of coffee
Is making a slow burn
In the all night diner
Where she goes to discern
Whether tomorrow’s lovers
Are worth sitting through today
She remembered her half brother
Who came across some money
And he moved to Guantanamo Bay
She remembered the things he’d say

FIGARO

She can’t be but 25
But she’s got 8 ½ months worth of womb
She hasn’t grown up with the world
But it’s claimed her all too soon

She sat with her friend, so innocent
Waiting for the waiter to come
The owner of the Bistro is her baby’s father
And he’s suddenly given her a son

And she’s so pretty
Even though she’s about to pop
I think she’s courageous
But she might just be clueless

ALBUM TITLE: True Romans
RELEASE DATE: 6/7/07

1. Seven Sad Skaters
2. Lake Chelan
3. Wake Me Up On Wednesday
4. Oh, Child, You Ought To Know
5. Until I Fall Into My Grave
6. Clap Your Hands
7. Big Commercial Radio Record
8. Mr. Clean Jeans
9. Mortimer Sledge
10. 88 Keys

SEVEN SAD SKATERS

He didn’t live on the Eastside
With streets like 168th and 164th

That’s where those Bellevue Bad Boys
Got on their skateboards and yelled “Ahoy!”

He was one of seven sad skaters

He remembered when a skater committed a sin
And he felt like hell when they reprimanded him

He felt he needed to dig deep to find that place in himself
Somewhere near the reservoir at the bottom of the well

He was one of seven sad skaters

LAKE CHELAN

I heard people turned 21
And had fun in the sun

So I drove out to Lake Chelan
To become a gambling man

Met a guy named with a plentiful stash
He called me “Mash” and we drove to the bash

We met some hot tall girls, we boogied and shook
We got boondoggled, we heard some hip-hop hooks

We did handshakes, we saw some belly tattoos
No one remembers this shit the way that I do

Down to the cursing, lascivious and lewd
There was heat in the back seat till the sting got poo-poo’d

He fell over twice then he jumped in the lake
On account of his vice, he nearly fell down the stairs

There’s always someone cooler in college
We need to do something with this knowledge

Let’s get laid often and drink martinis
Let’s make a plan to vacation to San Tarini

WAKE ME UP ON WEDNESDAY

I know we come
From different schools
I know we have
Different points of view

Do you like my writing?
Do you dig poetry?
Take a look at all the parts of me
Do you like what you see?

I’m always mauled on Monday
So you can discard what I have to say

Somehow there is a disconnect
It’s a problem you can’t correct
But everything changes in this fable
When you truly cut the cable

It doesn’t matter
When you’re tired on Tuesday
There’s no sense in all the chatter
When you’re tired on Tuesday

She gave him a card and she saw him smile
She wanted to keep the happiness alive for a while
She knew her parents just wouldn’t understand

He thought he’d give it a whirl,
See what it was like to live up in that town with that girl
He wondered if he could get along

Wake me up on Wednesday
That’s when the hangover begins to go away
Wake me up on Wednesday
That’s when I start having something to say

The truth will come out on Thursday
But wake me up on Wednesday

OH, CHILD, YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

Oh, Child, you ought to know
There are so many places to go
Oh, Child, you will see
There are so many things to be

You can choose to be wed
You can wander instead

Oh, Child, I was young
I was just like you, my son
I was anxious to go
And travel along ancient roads

Now I’m happy to be
What I was meant to be

Oh, Dad, how can I say?
All the things I want to say?
Oh, Dad, you wouldn’t believe
All the losses that I have grieved

Well, I know that I’m young
And I am my father’s son

Oh, Child, you ought to try
To discover what’s inside
Oh, child, it’s a lie
To think you have forever

Oh, Dad
I have stayed up late at night
I have cried and lost my sight
I have watched loved ones die
I have tried to ignore the hole inside

Oh, Child, the hours will fly by
And you’ll still have to live
And you’ll still have to try
To make those dreams come alive

The advice I give you is my best
But I can only make a guess

UNTIL I FALL INTO MY GRAVE

People say I’m crazy to keep rockin’ all the years
They said it with more confidence after they’ve had a few beers
I say, I know I’ve heard it; in songs, I celebrate it
But don’t show up at my shows if you feel like you really hate it

I will play a harmonica
As I start to fade away
And I will stumble up the hill
Until I fall into the hole
Where they dug my grave

People say, “When will you quit playing shows? You are so brave”
“We’ve seen you at the hootenanny, we’ve seen you at the rave”
I tell them there will be no finish line
I can’t think of a better thing to do than this

I will play a harmonica
As I start to fade away
And I will stumble up the hill
Until I fall into the hole
Where they dug my grave

We’re still having fun and to tell you the truth
There’s nothing else for us to fuckin’ do
Sometimes you feel like a bum but it just too much fun
We’ll keep on rockin’ for you and you and you

I will play a harmonica
As I start to fade away
And I will stumble up the hill
Until I fall into the hole
Where they dug my grave

CLAP YOUR HANDS

I have a plan
Everybody clap your hands

We play the beat straight
So you can all shake

What else can a guy like me do?
I just can’t wait for you to

Clap your hands
Clap your hands

Let’s come together
Oh, let’s come together

I had the plan
So everyone give me a hand

I’m gonna start a band
And for you it will prove

That’s it’s plain to see
I’ve got more ambition than I need

We’ll keep on movin’
We’ll keep on rockin

Come follow me
I’m chasin’ after liberty

I’m not getting younger
But that doesn’t matter

We all get older
We all get older

If I’m cool enough for you
You’re cool enough for me

If not, what could we do?
There’s no simple answer, true

Clap your hands
Clap your hands

BIG, COMMERCIAL RADIO RECORD

I want to be heard
I want to make a big, commercial radio record
You and I listened so many nights to The Band
All the chicks loved the Weight
You and I dug Ophelia
But how many people know Ophelia?

The world is a big, big place
I want to speak to the human race
The page only has so much space
You can do the math, abscond from the art
Few of the great songs touched the charts
How many units did our favorite songs move?
One million people can’t always agree

I want to make a big, commercial radio record

MR. CLEAN JEANS

I can’t afford
The things you need
I can’t put my all into it
I can’t compete

I guess I need to truly believe

I know the house
You want to own
I know the map
I’ve seen the stone

I guess I need to truly believe

I don’t believe
In what you need
Is your soul clean?
How are your genes?

Can we get a long?
What kind of life
Will we create?
Will they be great?

I guess I need to truly believe

Can you feel the craziness?
I can feel it in my jeans
Can you begin to relate?
We’ll just have to see the in betweens

I guess I need to truly believe

88 KEYS

He was an entertainer
That got nervous in front of crowds
He loved the parties
But they were awkward and loud

There was no refuge
There was no solace
All of these inanities
Were taking their toll on his sanity

But he always had the piano

88 keys
88 keys
I’ll find myself
Somewhere within these
88 keys

MORTIMER SLEDGE

He crossed 520
He wore the Nikes
He worked the adding machine
He sent the emails

Mortimer Sledge
He needed his job

He had the 401K
He updated the web site
He had a marketing plan
He kept it all in his head

Mortimer Sledge
He needed his job
ALBUM TITLE: There’s Nothing Else Like This
RELEASE DATE: 5/7/07

1. The Emperor, The Chalice, & The Throne
2. Nothing Is Abnormal
3. Wallace
4. Cancer
5. On Being Present
6. On Fading Health
7. On Getting Older
8. Dare To Be Different
9. The Worst Tragedy
10. Entries & Exits
11. In A Bad Space
12. The First Feelings
13. On The Fire That Burns Between Us
14. Foggy

THE EMPEROR, THE CHALICE, & THE THRONE

Let’s write for the critics of tomorrow
Let’s ignore what the world says
Let’s organize the world into two groups:
Those who know and those who don’t

The sweet taste of victory
Will be yours, will be yours

Finally, you are the emperor
So welcome home
Here is your chalice, here is your throne

You’re never gonna whore yourself out for the money
You won’t ever suffer to and slog it out to pay my bills
Maybe you’re too happy, but the mansion will be yours; you will get across
Envision this: Gatsby-Dylan-Brown-Stones-Van-Boss

Finally, you are the emperor
So welcome home
Here is your chalice, here is your throne

You only have to succeed the last time
The intellectuals of ever after will know
This kind of failure is not a crime
We know the ceremony of blood and sepulcher is just for show

Finally, you are the emperor
So welcome home
Here is your chalice, here is your throne

NOTHING IS ABNORMAL

Nothing left to say
Nothing left to build

Scale it down, do the work
Life is uncertain, no reason to smirk

Expect everything
Nothing is abnormal

WALLACE

Wallace, I know your artistry is rare
I look in the mirror and comb my hair
Your book by the banister, the dust on the stair
My lover is lost in her easy chair

No one can sing the world as you do
Wallace, you’re a kind soul
No one can make me get drunk as you do
Wallace, thank you for your inspiration

CANCER

March 22nd, Saturday
The best of times, the worst of times
Doctor, doctor am I OK?
Indeed, the best things are defined

By the worst things
The telephone rings
My high bouncing lover
Helps me stay sane

Cancer comes
And you can’t know
The way it marbles
Into the brain

The French Romantic
Whose sister died young
Lets a melodramatic idea
Roll off his tongue

This is art
Cancer cuts your heart
But life is short
Theirs is a stop and a start

Cancer comes
Cancer grows
Makes the mind wonder
What it really knows

What good are all of Plato’s ideas
About the noble faculties of the soul?
When cancer comes
And cancer grows

ON BEING PRESENT

I’ve made my distinctions
I’ve found my philosophy
Between logic and art I’ve built a fence
And it has been my best defense

Now I look at buildings
I admire the beauty
I note the form
I drive away with a feeling so warm

ON FADING HEALTH

When health has betrayed us
We just want to cry
Everything is out of balance
And we can’t say why
We return to our haunts,
Older and wiser now
The fantasy is gone,
Our haunts are empty somehow

ON GETTING OLDER

I returned to the college library
And took a look around
It was no longer the same
Here is what I found
I’ve heard that this part of life
Is far more rewarding
But it’s not
It’s empty and vacuous
Those lips I tasted – so sweet
That perfume, so strong
The beauty of a woman – so soft
It sucked me in from across the room
Now it is gone and I can’t recall its grace
That is worse than remembering it clearly
But not experiencing it
God, why do you insist on forsaking us?
And taking away all things
That made this world seem like a cool place?

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

Dare to be different
Sniff the roses
The slaving wheel of time churns
Carving out some secret map
That stays hidden
It creeps up, like a dream

THE WORST TRAGEDY

What is the worst tragedy you could imagine?
Let’s admit that it’s there
You see the beautiful world
Carved up on a platter
Parcel it out, a smatter and smatter
The state of so and so, they constantly chatter

What is the worst?
To be second rate?
To be a vengeful foe of fate?
Circumspect?

The rhyme congregates
I soil the April grass
I’m not a flower

Who am I afraid of?
Where did they all come from?
What is their collective name?
Every time I identify them
The id puts it to shame

Is it so bad to walk up to someone in a bar
And have them not care to talk to you?
Is that so bad? What does that say?
Is it so bad to not want to talk to someone in a bar?

The worst tragedies disappear eventually

ENTRIES AND EXITS

Enter stage left
The production is bereft
Of the kind of incense and procession
That caused the playwright’s
Grand digression

Goodbye to wisdom
Goodbye to what’s next
This is it
A light that’s bright
Though it’s a flame
That won’t last the night
Enter stage left
Exit stage right

IN A BAD SPACE

Fear
Worry
Lack of control
Specters that are always there
Now they cancel out the air
Now they’re in the forefront
I hate them
I abhor them
I loathe them

THE FIRST FEELINGS

I wish I felt like I did the first time I played piano
Or developed a crush
Even early depression
And blue moods
Had a quality of excitement and hopefulness
Getting drunk’s no fun
Because I can’t remember all the angles
Only a conservative mind frame works
With a small place for self-expression

ON THE FIRE THAT BURNS BETWEEN US

I know I must be an idiot
In someone’s eyes
I find that I get careless
Don’t make enough time
To appreciate your company
Or your mind
I’m not so rational
I’m almost drunk
I’ve lost my compass
But retained my spunk
It’s a mixed blessing
It’s a beautiful curse
Not sure what is better
And what is worse

FOGGY

Head is foggy
Feeling tired
Don’t want alcohol
Want to be wired
Tired of junk food and crap TV
Want to relax by the Seine
In the fairy tale of Paris

Maybe some food would be better
Than concoctions of sugar and coffee
Working 12 hr days doesn’t help
There is a better fate for you and me
We’ll be able to see
When this wretched phase has passed
When things aren’t so foggy

ALBUM TITLE: Malt Liquor & Park Parties
RELEASE DATE: April 7th, 2007

1. Back Story
2. Melinda
3. Letterman Jack
4. Switchblade Sam
5. Thinking About The Upcoming Encounter
6. Football Game
7. Sam Hits The Keg Party
8. Kegger
9. Sam Hangs With The Hoods
10. The Back Of The Blazer
11. Melinda Ponders
12. Melinda Finds Sam
13. Sam & Melinda Speak
14. Sam Returns To The Keg Party For A Friday Night Fight
15. The Meaning Of The Fight
16. Melinda Discusses It With Her Parents
17. The Parents’ View
18. Until The End Of The Moonlight
19. After The Fireworks Blow

PART I

BACK STORY

Melinda is the neighborhood girl,
She’s the talk of the town
With violence at recent kegs,
The police have been coming around
The parents say, “Now, what do you boys think
Of the prettiest girl?”
They say, “We’d fight
For the prettiest girl in our world”

MELINDA

Melinda keeps her goals in her locket
She keeps Jack’s picture in her locker
She huffs and she puffs when they pass in the hall
She heads from the school to watch the boys play ball
She knows what they keep in their pockets

LETTERMAN JACK

Jack says, “Our white-hatted ways are top-notch
We are the crème of the crop
We drive in Blazers to the parking lot
The keg is in the back of the car,
Pop the hood, clean the screen
We got the braided belts
And we all wear green jeans”

Jack practices football
He passed Melinda in the hall
He tells the boys in the locker room,
“I’m going to take her pearl”
He just met her
He gets another of her love letters
He still has dirt on his football pants
He needs to get clean

SWITCHBLADE SAM

Black-hatted Sam is so young
Black sweatpants with stuffed pockets
His parka is warm for the summer night
People say he carries a gun
In reality, he’s only got a switchblade

He keeps Melinda’s picture in his dresser drawer
Sometimes he takes it out and brings it to school
He gets all his kicks in the lone bathroom stall
We don’t want to talk about what he keeps in his pocket

He says, “Melinda, you’ve fallen
To the white-hatted man
You soon will be losing your pearl
On the football field Friday,
Midnight, ‘neath the stars
You’re joining the lost and sad girls”

“You’ll run for me,
When he’s lost his lust for you
– The innocent girl
You’ll say
‘Don’t you know what I’ve been through tonight?’”

When that happens
Sam thinks to himself
I’m gonna get my switchblade

THINKING ABOUT THE UPCOMING ENCOUNTER

Jack thought little but of his own desires
He didn’t know where they came from
He thought, “Don’t you know there’s no time like tonight?
I see paradise in the back seat of the Blazer”

FOOTBALL GAME

Melinda came from Woodcrest
She traveled to the football game
She came with her rich, snobby friends
She saw Sam on her way in
Sam was leaving

She broke away for a second
She wanted to pass him her number

Sam said, “Are you ready for the Friday night lights?”
Her picture was cropped for his locket
They sat on the bleachers,
The blue played football
She smiled and stuck her number in his pocket

He smiled and walked away
He was headed to the keg
He took a flask from his pocket
They were to meet later at the park
Sam wished he could save her

SAM HITS THE KEG PARTY

Sam went to the park
He looked for the keg
They charged him
Three bucks for a cup

He tossed the keg cup
And said, “I’m out of here
I’m going to hang by
The fountain with my friends”

KEGGER

There it was
Near Pine and Frostbite
So many secrets in the dark
There’s a kegger at Roberts Park
Far away, through the trees
You can see the cops
Busting up a different house party
It’s Friday night

The kids will get older
The damage will surface
It will take a lifetime to repair

Melinda she was kidnapped
By the Letterman Jack
They sped to the keg in his Blazer
She sipped her three dollar cup in the dark,
She spilled her beer on the bark
She waited for Sam to come save her

SAM HANGS WITH THE HOODS

Sam he fell to Bacchus and his pards
He sipped a Schmidt
While the QA posse sped for the park,
In search of pearls
Then he sipped Rainier Beer
While he and his boys
Cruised for the midnight world
He said, “Our fathers are old
But you know they still see the stars
They haven’t lost the lust for young girls”

THE BACK OF THE BLAZER

Melinda was stopped
By Letterman Jack
He grabbed her arm
To take her from the keg
Back to his brand new Blazer

Melinda is stuck
With the white-hatted man
Jack soon will be taking her pearl

He drove back to the stadium
On the football field
Friday, midnight, ‘neath the stars
She’s just on the edge of her innocent world

She said, “Don’t you know
It feels like a cold,
Innocent autumn night?
I’m too young to be old,
Can’t you tell by the way I stand?”
She said, “Don’t you know
It will all change after tonight?”

She didn’t want it and she said so
But Jack simply wouldn’t let go
It was hot in the back of the Blazer

She says, “Why, oh, why Jack,
Did you forsake me?
You know that I didn’t deserve this”

He said, “We boys have our lust
For the parking lot girls
But the blood in the car
Makes me nervous”

She says, “Don’t you know
That the night suits you just right?”

PART II

MELINDA PONDERS

Don’t you know I lost my innocence tonight?
I never thought it would happen like that
In the back of a Blazer with a cold-hearted man
Don’t you know the soul is too young?
Don’t you know my soul still burns bright?

MELINDA FINDS SAM

Sam sipped a beer by the fountain with his friends
They smoked cigarettes while he talked of rock n’ roll
They smoked pot in jean jackets while he waited for her to show

Melinda ran too him,
She said, “This is the end
Jack took my pearl
His lust for girls took my soul
In the back of the Blazer
There were bloodstained hands
I’m too young to be old,
Can’t you tell by the way I stand?”

She said, “Hold me, Sam,
In the soft summer moonlight
Don’t you know my soul is too weak?
All of this is just not right”

SAM & MELINDA SPEAK

She said, “Let’s go to the lookout”
She said, “This will take a lifetime to repair”

When they reached the lookout up at Bi Crake,
She said, “Can’t you see it will never work for you and me
I’m always something different than you
And you will never be what I need
But we have tonight
I need someone to be there for me
From the lookout we can still see the same city”

“So hold my hand
They will cause trouble again
The lights are going down in downtown
Hold me now because I might not ever see you again
I’ve got to get away from all of this”

Melinda fell to Bacchus and his pards
She exclaimed in a beautiful slur,
“Our friends will continue to drive Blazers
To kegs in dark parks
But there is a fate I prefer”

Sam said, “I must do something
I feel powerless
Kids can’t keep our innocent world
Our fathers are old,
But they still see the stars.
They haven’t lost their lust for the girls”

They held each other close
They knew they were the kind
Who can live together in harmony
They looked out at the city from Bi Crake

She said, “It seems
I can’t be what I need to be for you
But you need something different, too
Those brawls at kegs are not what I need
No, they aren’t what I need
But I don’t know where
I can get free”

Sam said,
“You’re joining the lost and sad girls
You’ll run for me,
When a guy like Jack
Loses his desire
For the innocent girl
I’m the kind of guy
Who will complete your world”

He put the music on his walkman
He put the headphones on Melinda
He says, “You need to find a song
That can be uplifting
In the end, for me
It always comes back
To a love song for a girl”

SAM RETURNS TO THE KEG PARTY FOR A FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHT

Sam said, “I’ll bust the keg up,
Gonna get that man
Don’t you know that I’ll bust him up tonight?
I can see it’s a Friday night fight
Gonna get my switchblade
We will wash our bloodstained hands”

He ran for the park and he looked for the keg
They tried to charge him three bucks for a cup
He found out the boy who had hurt Melinda
He found him surrounded by his clan
He threw a keg cup in his face
He broke a bottle on the ledge
He fell down then he busted Jack up

THE MEANING OF THE FIGHT

The music blared from the parked Blazers
Don’t you know the song was just right?
Blood mixed with the dirt
It mixed with the tiniest grains
Tomorrow there will be rain
Sam hoped it would wash away all the mess

He thought,
Don’t you know I’m a Friday night casualty?
Don’t you know it’s a Friday night fight?

It’s Friday night
The kids will get older
It will take a lifetime to repair

Don’t you know that I busted him up tonight?
Can’t you tell, baby, by my bloodstained hands?
Don’t you know what I’ve been through tonight?

The cars speed away and I might not see her again
I couldn’t have imagined it would be this way
My brother didn’t prepare me with what he told me
About these Friday night stands
These grand stands
These brawls
It’s so new and exciting and all
It’s a rumble, caused by women again

MELINDA DISCUSSES IT WITH HER FOLKS (A DAUGHTER’S LAMENT)

I was with my friends at the football game
We were just being daughters in an innocent world
I met a cute guy
I’ve had a crush on him
He robbed me of my simple purpose
Don’t you know my soul is not right?
It can never, ever be repaired

Oh, I don’t know what to make of the moonlight
Where will I go after my curfew next Friday night?

THE PARENTS’ VIEW

Mother didn’t want to see
That her daughter had lost her pearl
She wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened
But on the football field
On Friday
Under the stars
There always is lust
For young girls

Her mother remembered
Losing her pearl
She cried for her little girl

The father is old now
He remembers the stars
But he’s lost all his lust for this world

UNTIL THE END OF THE MOONLIGHT

Get up now in the rain in the moonlight
Don’t you know that the time is just right?

We only have a few hours in the night
Don’t you know there’s no time like tonight?

Take me away, through the rain and the moonlight
Don’t you know there’s innocence in the night?

Oh, hold me now till the end of the moonlight
There’s no forever, but just hold me tonight

AFTER THE FIREWORKS BLOW

Where will each of you go
After the fireworks blow tonight?

Don’t you know it’s a hot summer night?
You’re on the edge of an age

All of this is gonna end
And you might not ever see her again

But you have her tonight
In the palm of your hand

She said you can’t hold her forever,
So just hold her tonight

You don’t know where you’ll be
After the fireworks blow tonight

You never want this to end,
But soon she might not see you ever again

We always hope that it will be better
And beauty will leave you, if you let her

The girl doesn’t have to escape only if you let her
Beauty doesn’t have to die, only if you let her

Fate will only beat you if you let her
So, you have her now, in the palm of your hands

Innocence dies, but idealism only will if you let it
This hope will only leave you if you let it

ALBUM TITLE: Mansions
RELEASE DATE: March 7th, 2007

SONGS:

1. Louise Storms The Garden Party
2. The Grace of Gatz
3. It’s Hard To Trust Yourself
4. Marriage
5. Five Acre Blues
6. She Used To Be Hot
7. High Drama
8. When The Whole World Loves You
9. Fairy Tale Of Our First New Year’s Eve
10. Questions For The Barflies
11. Storms In Seattle
12. Snapshots Of The Bored & The Searching
13. Loser’s Lament
14. Couch Potato’s Lament
15. Mansion on the Hill

LOUISE STORMS THE GARDEN PARTY

They were beautiful and damned, in a white house she was crammed
She grew up in the Midwest and had encountered little success
Went west to the east coast after being a nurse in the First World War
She felt best, soon bereft, when she pulled up to the fertile shore

She spray painted the wall and the rich folks were dismayed
In the garden party world of Wallace Stevens on Sunday
She did bad coke in the golden-trimmed bathroom
She was slipping on the marble floors and leaning on the walls

She felt their passion was long gone because they were never denied
She felt that Sunday was to be faced – she had to look into their eyes
Fingerbowls and grog, flappers and jazz, insipid party talk
So she fumbles and she stumbles down the winding marble walk

THE GRACE OF GATZ

I read the book and a bolt of light hit me
This was the answer to all problems we see
I was lost until I found Jake Gatz
Then I knew it could all happen fast

I know it was sad what happened at the end
But I was more drawn to his theory on women
All the rejection of the past can be erased
If you get your soul and clothes replaced

Never trust a man in a pink suit
But he will walk with you in white gardens
The cocktails will flow and the gates of your soul
Will open and you’ll dream to know what can’t be known

I know I might not have a mansion
But I’m happy to have spent some time within one
There’s no moral to the story, there’s only a theme
And it will come back again and again in my dreams
IT’S HARD TO TRUST TO YOURSELF
Talk to a 5 people about how to make an album
Everyone will tell you something different

Try to pick out a movie with 5 guys
And no one will agree

You can’t produce an album by democracy
I’m sorry but I’ve driven myself nuts

Tryin’ to be everyone to everybody
I’m trying to find my philosophy
What works for me

It works for me
Pleasing myself
I’m the only one who knows
All the information splashed in front of my nose
But I won’t be able to use any of it
If I listen to everyone else
So at least I’m gonna listen to myself

You say, I know that you don’t agree
But it’s hard to come up with a popular philosophy
That’s why we don’t talk religion or politics at the dinner table

So, here goes
I’m looking for the answer
That nobody knows

Another leap of faith
Another leap of faith

Crashing down
Crashing down

You say it doesn’t work for you
You say you don’t think it works for me
I should take more time
Edit some stuff
Make sure it’s all of high quality
Well you can criticize me but in the end I’ll be stuck with myself
And the effects that the decisions I’ve made have had on my health

It’s hard to listen to yourself
But it’s harder to listen to everyone else
It’s hard to listen to yourself
But it’s harder to listen to everyone else

MARRIAGE

28 years old and the cake is on the table
The groomsmen are in the cottage outside of the church
And the bride is waiting to be taken by her father
The mother is worrying about the appearance of the dessert

The family friends are wondering if this couple is really in love
They’re chuckling at the awkward vows; they’re pondering hypocrisy
They know the groom’s secretary looks like Angelina Jolie
Since they’re in a church, now they’re feeling a bit guilty

Shake hands and make plans
Kiss the bride and praise the covenant
Maybe buy a new house with 20 percent down
Hopefully your future is safe and sound in marriage

They dance all night and they catch up with old friends
The DJ is playing Celebration and it works every time
The DJ usually spends his 300 bucks on a string of dead-end dates
But now he’s thinking about starting a family; he’s considering his fate

Everyone loves to see the bride kiss the groom
Toss the bouquet and the garter and see who feels smarter
Goodbye to those feelings of a big, big world
Maybe move to the suburbs and have a little boy or a little girl

Shake hands and make plans
Kiss the bride and praise the covenant
Maybe buy a new house, with 20 percent down
Hopefully your future is safe and sound in marriage

FIVE ACRE BLUES

Whenever he walked by, he didn’t smile
His clothes were almost always in style

I heard you’re a big fan of Springsteen
You’re so hung up, that’s how you were weaned

Just like your Mom was hung up on James Dean
20 years go by and you’re still on the same team

No one has sympathy for prep-school kids
With prep-school taste and prep-school digs

It’s hard to sing the blues in an idyllic scene
When your home covers 5 acres, you know the routine

You drift in the swimming pool, your poems are uneven
You want to make people feel like they’ve read Wallace Stevens

SHE USED TO BE HOT

She used to be hot
But now she’s not
She used to be hot
She thinks we forgot
But when you’re that hot
You’re etched in their minds
But they don’t want to see you now
You used to be hot

She was in my homeroom
She was hot
She had many ways of looking at the world
She looked good from every angle
She didn’t like her right side
But she photographed so well
And she was always there
When I needed inspiration
She was so hot
And I was so ready to be inspired

Saw her the other day and, well, things have changed
But nothing gold can stay
That’s what Pony Boy says

She used to be hot
She used to be hot
No girl knows what she’s got
Till she’s no longer hot

It’s not that she was ugly
She just didn’t sparkle anymore
Maybe I wasn’t the person
That I was before

She peaked when she hit 16
Remember those awkward girls in the hall?
She’d walk by, they’d want to cry
Don’t cry! You’re a butterfly inside
Your time will come to shine
Maybe in college
Maybe when you’re 29

HIGH DRAMA

This is it, I’m about to die
47 blocks from Roosevelt High
Bill just read Catcher in the Rye
And sounds off about the lies
Of the one with the glass eye

Then he gets deep about how
His Dad said dreaming is for the fools
That you’ll just be let down
When you get hopes up about being cool

He says he rides his bike by the freeway
So he can get a little action
He watches Full Metal Jacket
And he knows the cars are death machines
But he can’t afford one, so he rides his bike

This is it, I’m about to die
47 blocks from Roosevelt High

WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD LOVES YOU

I’ve been thinking about high school
And some friends I made back them
I’m feelin’ sad and like a bit of a bore
And I don’t see them much anymore

Lately it seems I’m not part of a community
And I fear the world is having one big party
That they feel can be pulled off without me
I think I’m invited, but I don’t RSVP

So, maybe I’ll go to a rock show all alone
And stumble into somebody I know
After the DJ warms up the crowd
And they start screaming so loud

I’ll feel OK, because I’m at the party
Even though it feels like work to me
I guess there is never a way to feel
Like the whole world loves you for real

FAIRY TALE OF OUR FIRST NEW YEAR’S EVE

I built my world around you
On a cold Christmas eve in Seattle

An old man smiled at me and said
If I had to do it again I’d find a girl like yours

These bars used to be mom and pop stores
Oh, then the band played on and the crowd called out for more

We kissed on the corner on New Year’s Eve
All the people inside sang Auld Lang Syne

Oh, that was good luck; I hope we have 50 years
But, no matter what changes we will always have what we had here

Then at the top of the Space Needle
You said we’re too old and this city’s getting younger

I walked on a block where my childhood park was no more
My house was demolished; now a Multi-theater plex was in store

The houses have all been fixed up and sold
An old man says to me, “I don’t recognize this street anymore”

One day I will be gray and you might want to remodel me
The houses will be remodeled but I won’t be so easy

We fell in love too quickly –
Just like these bars and these shops were built too quickly

They always fall in love in fairytales
But it never lasts, I hope this lasts

QUESTIONS FOR THE BARFLIES

She said, “What is it that you like about me?
How do I fit into all of your big dreams?”
She said, “Will you always think I’m so great?
I left my hometown and there was no parade”

“What would you change about me? What needs to go?”
She asked me in the vestibule, near the patio
“Don’t say it’s because of my beautiful eyes
I get that a lot from the drunks with their cryptic replies”

STORMS IN SEATTLE

You say:

I’ve looked within myself and I want to come live with you in Seattle
I want to be someone else and I think the answer for me is in Seattle

I say:

Are you sure that deep within yourself you feel strong enough to come to Seattle?
You want to change yourself but I don’t think the answer for you is in Seattle

The truth is:

You’ll never be yourself if you try to fit in to your Seattle uniform
When the warm bath fades and the vacation is over, you’ll be gone
You’ll always wake up with yourself and I can’t say that it will ever be easy to belong
Still, upon your shelf, you’ll have the photographs of your time out in the storm

SNAPSHOTS OF THE BORED AND THE SEARCHING

Got on my arm band
And I ain’t got much money
I know it was a bad day when you let your brother go

Snapshots of the beautiful danger
Snapshots of the rolling coasts
I know it was a sad day when you let your family go

Look at the bored and the searching
I scan for a face that seems
To understand my plight
On this side of the fence
We see scamps and urchins
Fighting for a small piece

Of the happiness and promise
You guess and guess and guess
That you can live in
The moment of ambition
Look at the bored and the searching
Look at the bored and the searching

LOSER’S LAMENT

I try to make
The most of this life
I’ve loved so deeply
I’ve cared so much
I’ve stood at the top
I’ve walked through lonely streets
It’s not easy
We have so much stress
So many people to love
I wish I could just hold you forever
The closer you get
The further you feel
Love is a dirty word
Love is a dirty word
I loved you with all my heart
These tears I cry are all for you
And thought I found myself late in life
Here I am, on your couch
And you feel like life hasn’t been fair to you
Your mother, she’s gone
All these people
We just want to be heard
To feel we have a voice
Uttered, word after silent word
Walk alone
Playin’ personal tragedies
You lost them
Those years are gone
You can never get them back
Our love is lost
Coffee shops and cups of Jo
I’ll never forget you
I’m a bit romantic
You’re a bit of an old soul
And here we go

COUCH POTATO’S LAMENT

I ponder the idea of Someday
I have a lofty notion of Someday
But I don’t know how to get through today

I had so many dreams of things I would be
People I would meet, things I would see
Worked on them earnestly for a spell
But things didn’t turn out too well

I realize that today is Someday
But I don’t know what to say
It doesn’t make it easy to get through the day

So now I do the couch potato lament
About how all the good energy’s been spent
I’m tired of thinking about too many yesterdays
I tried to make plans but life got in the way

I realize I’ve arrived at Someday
I realize today is Someday
Somehow the sadness doesn’t go away

MANSION ON THE HILL

We walked 20 blocks from Armour to Highland
Talked about it at a keg on Foster Island
We smoked a cigarette and we moved quick
Saw the snow fall on Carrie Park and we swore we saw St. Nick
Made a pact to make a million by 24
Laid my heart out there on the floor
Went to Dick’s for a Delux and a coke
Got real close with some monorail folks

You must keep on believing in Someday
But it sucks that it’s not today
You must keep on believing in Someday
But I want to know when it will pay
I’ll get my mansion on the hill either way

Sweat it out and feelin’ like a failure
Second guessing by the streetlights, for sure
A heap of ashes on the far end of the hill
By the graveyard, by where I wrote my will
I will die and I know that, damn straight
But I want to know when St. Peter and I negotiate
He’ll say, “You were too obsessed by fame, fortune, and prime-area real estate
I’ll say, “It was my destiny, now let me through the pearly gate”

You must keep on believing in Someday
But it sucks that it’s not today
You must keep on believing in Someday
But I want to know when it will pay
I’ll get my mansion on the hill either way

ALBUM TITLE: On Love (Parts I & II)
RELEASE DATE: 2/7/07

1. Daphne
2. If You Were The One
3. One Of Shakespeare’s Dreams
4. Lover On A Log
5. I Want To Treat You Well, Right Now
6. One Shot
7. Lost In Translation
8. The Unexamined Life
9. Awkward Meeting In A Restaurant
10. It Sucks To Be In Love
11. You Can Always End Up Alone
12. Isn’t This Better Than Being Alone?
13. The Future
14. Spider Web
15. Atlanta
16. Tigers On Tuesdays
17. Strawberry Sundress
18. 30 Ladies You Might Love
19. Julia In July
20. I’ll See You In Paris
21. Run With The Buffalo

PART ONE

DAPHNE

Daphne, baby, don’t get mad at me
Street signs, road maps – just a bunch of crap
We’ve looked at them already
We don’t need to again
I wonder if you like me less
Now that you know who I am
I used to spend time worrying
But now I’ve accepted it
We still are stuck in this together
Feel the tether
Oh, Daphne, we both hurt so much inside

Daphne, darling, can I stay at your place?
Let’s make up, let’s forget the disgrace
I’ve got tons of grand plans
And they’re slipping out of my hands
We were scared when I didn’t have any money
Skipping rent is not all that funny
But we can come together, it seems
And if you’re driving home to your parents
I understand
But Daphne, I think we can make it again

IF YOU WERE THE ONE

What comes after this, I can’t say
I’ll screw things up tomorrow like I did today
Where will I go without you, who will I meet?
Were you the highest point, were you my peak?
If it comes to that I’ll be devastated, you’ll see it in my eyes
But we all end up somehow marginalized
And I will carry my thoughts of you wherever I go
And I’ll love you so much, you can hardly know

If you were the love of my life
I’m sorry you’re not my wife
If you were the one and time was the thief
I’m sorry that life is so brief

You already knew what I just discovered
When I never could understand another
Now we share this common bond
We’re on a ship that only allows the confused and broken-hearted on
When we find peace, we’ll reach the land
And at that point we’ll never see each other again
Who knows how we’ll feel when we reach tomorrow
But we have what we have and that’s all we know

If you were the love of my life
I’m sorry you’re not my wife
If you were the one and time was the thief
I’m sorry that life is so brief

I went to church this evening, babe, where they weep
And I felt so much love I could hardly speak
I bought the story that salvation awaits
But I’m sure we’ll be disappointed when we reach the gates
You gave me your heart; you gave me your life
For so many women, there is so much pain
I feel so in love yet so alone
Especially as you remove your stuff from my home
And I’ll love you so much, you can hardly know

If you were the love of my life
I’m sorry you’re not my wife
If you were the one and time was the thief
I’m sorry that life is so brief

ONE OF SHAKESPEARE’S DREAMS

It has been said so many times before
By poets, bards, and troubadours of yore
So much that all the meaning and passion
Seem common and trite and without resonance
They spoke of fate without apology
They feigned death in the face of rejection
The moon meant so much
The songs gave them wings
Even though these are common things
Their force is quite strong
Princesses hidden by their evil queen
Stepmothers forcing Cinderellas to clean
And although I identify with the heartless notion
Of New York City, beside a dead ocean
I know that when we can be one together
And hold ourselves, it can last forever
And when we both let love unfurl
There is no better feeling in the world

LOVER ON A LOG

My lover is balancing
On a log above a stream
And I am reading
From an ancient log of dreams

She is waiting for me to catch her
Because she might fall, she wants me there
And though what I feel is adoration
I’m not sure she’s what I need, ultimately

Things will be so desperate
If she falls and all is gone
If the image of her begins wilting
Like a flower under too much sun

Dying, because it isn’t needed
And isn’t essential to existence
But maybe that should be my role
To catch my lover when she falls

Maybe that is all

I WANT TO TREAT YOU WELL, RIGHT NOW

So many songs have been recorded
Critics say that you can’t write well
Unless you have a tragic tale to tell
But I want to write something simple
A song, free of irony, just for you
To tell the world the simple truth

I looked at our photos last night
Can’t stop thinking of the sight
I want to treat you well, right now

Sometimes you seem like a fault of mine
Like bad food, cigarettes, well drinks, and wine
How can something that feels so good be OK?
I know that you are special, but you confuse the mind
All good things can turn bad
All good things have a price

So, I will put these fears aside
And just be happy to be along for the ride
I want to treat you well, right now

ONE SHOT

As the sky began to go gray
He looked out to the lake
His heart began to ache
From the one great mistake

The one shot he did blow
He won’t get another one of those

What have you gotten from pride?
Time goes by and you try to hide

From the one mistake you truly know
And, oh, it haunts you from so long ago

The one shot he did blow
He won’t get another one of those

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Why did it seem like a waste?
What made me realize too late?
Anything good for me should have been good for you
Only when it’s tragic does it seem true

All the beautiful words have no truth reveal
I don’t want to hear you try and conceal
Your emotions, by circumscribing them with your pen
Something gets lost in the translation

THE UNEXAMINED LIFE

So he walked outside his house
On the green grass, it needed mowing

He walked along the trail to the woods
And he smoked a cigarette

This was a habit he’d taken up
To fill the void deep inside

Since they broke up 9 months ago
There’s no logical reason for it

He said, “She gives me everything,
But it’s not enough”

This is a lifetime’s problem
Maybe those scientists and philosophers

That think the institution is outdated
Are thinking too much

It does them no good
Their lives are no better for it

PART TWO

AWKWARD MEETING IN A RESTAURANT

I showed up at the restaurant
We met in the lobby and embraced

We walked in and sat down
The table cloth was patterned in lace

You said that I looked so different
You kept looking at my face

I didn’t know if you thought
I looked better or worse

In my mind I wondered
If you kept secrets in your purse

I thought you might think
I wasn’t as good looking as before

It is funny how one’s perspective changes
You kept on looking at the door

I still think you’re so pretty
But you’ve got your bad days, too

Do you even feel like eating
When you feel that all of this is fleeting?

Whenever two souls need some healing
They have to endure this awkward feeling

IT SUCKS TO BE IN LOVE

So, you have to break it off
You have to say goodbye

And I guess we could fill up buckets
With all of the tears we’ve cried

I think we’ll probably get over it
And you’ll find someone better suited to you

But it sucks to be in love

I won’t have the question
Looming over my head

It’ll be gone from here on out
I’ll be alone and free

I can’t seem to say
I love you enough

It sucks to be in love

I mean it
I’ve always meant it

I give so little, so little
You’ve meant so much to me

It sucks to be in love

YOU CAN ALWAYS END UP ALONE

People don’t like to be alone
It sucks to be stuck with yourself

We always want what we don’t have
This is essentially bad for our health

We always take things for granted
We don’t understand our wealth

We could be out in the gutter
We could be high up in the castle

We think we need someone else
And they are worth all the hassle

So we have our relationships
To try to get away from something

To avoid loneliness
To avoid ourselves

Enduring great frustration
Resenting our present situation

Don’t you wish there was a better way?
Don’t you wish you had the key?

The fear drives us
The fear we’ve always known

The fear of the idea that
You can always end up alone

ISN’T THIS BETTER THAN BEING ALONE?

Sometimes it’s hard
To be with someone else

To find an ambassador
To represent you when you’re not there

But I’ve seen the other side
And I like it better here

Isn’t it better than being alone?

Even though we fight
I love you and I am fortunate

I’m thankful for what I have
Even though it’s not always a happy home

The pain I felt before I met you
Is a pain I wish I’d never known

Isn’t this is better than being alone?

THE FUTURE

He says, “You seem to love me less and less
As I become more and more myself on the outside”

She says, “That’s not true, it’s just a trick
You pull on yourself to keep you gagged and tied

To your station in life”

She wanted to know about the future

He says, “I don’t know anything different
Than this land on which I stand”

She says, “This is just an excuse
You can always take my hand

And walk out into the night”

She wanted to know about the future

SPIDER WEB

After you’ve had some time
Away from my spider web

Those dim recesses
Of my big, brass bed

I’d like to know what you think

Spider web, spider web, spider web

Do you wonder why you cared so much
About us in the first place?

You thought I was looking around
You wanted to get out and take a look

But you were stuck

Spider web, spider web, spider web

ATLANTA

You’ve said you don’t value me
Unless I am gone
Well, my value is gonna go up

I can’t help but pull away
There’s nothing more to say
I’m catching a flight, I’m draining my cup

Oh, I’m moving to Atlanta

Whatever you want, it isn’t me
And if it is me, someday
It’s not worth it to stick around and see

I’m not pulling away
You are pushing me away
There’s a job in Georgia waiting for me

Oh, I’m moving to Atlanta

TIGERS ON TUESDAYS

That confirms it
No one can ever truly
Commit to another person

Because there is always
A point where they could pull away
And that is what is happening today

Oh, the week is slipping away
We were dead on the weekends
But we were tigers on Tuesdays

I’m in this, babe
I’m gonna buy some paint
And put a bright coat of orange over the gray

I’m making plans for the future
I’ll be in my house, like a meek little mouse
Writing goals from Friday to Sunday

Oh, the week is slipping away
We were dead on the weekends
But we were tigers on Tuesdays

STRAWBERRY SUNDRESS

Susie said, “Am I not the one you want?
Are there others who you’d prefer?”

Tom couldn’t speak,
He did this sometimes

He said, “I don’t know what to say
I can’t answer your question”

But one thing I know
One thing I don’t doubt

I love your Strawberry sundress

Her blood began to boil
She said, “How can I invest in this

When you can’t say you want me forever?”
He said, “Forever is a long time”

But one thing I know
One thing I never doubt

I love your Strawberry sundress

30 LADIES YOU MIGHT LOVE

She thought he might
Go out that night

And see someone
From the old world

Maybe a flame
Maybe a crush

Maybe some
Tantalizing girl

There are 30 ladies you might love

She’ll waltz up
To him and say,

“What the hell
Were you looking at?”

“We break up,
We get back together,

Each of us deserves
So much better”

There are 30 ladies you might love

JULIA IN JULY

Look at the happy couples
And how together they seem to be

I’ve always had a goal
To live in perfect harmony

You have that look in your eye
I love you, Julia, in July

Look at your parents
Look at your brothers

Then look at you and me
It’s just an illusion of security

You flew away, now you’re landing
I’m glad we’ve reached this understanding

You have that look in your eye
I love you, Julia, in July

I’LL SEE YOU IN PARIS

I guess having a relationship
Forces you to know yourself

It causes you to grow
To learn about things you didn’t know

Now you know you’re afraid
Even after you get laid

You can’t commit to anything in life
But we made some plans

Don’t be afraid
We’ll afford it after we get paid

I’ll see you in Paris

RUN WITH THE BUFFALO

We are so different, you say
You thought these differences
Would just work themselves out

You thought love was something
That would just happen someday
But what happens when it doesn’t come about?

I’m sorry
But I’m fixing to be
Someone who lives crazy and carefree
When there’s no place else to go
I run with the buffalo

Well, it might happen eventually
I can tell that, in a way, you feel
You’ve wasted your time with me

You say there is no future
For the people we grew up with
But there is a future for you and me

I’m sorry
But I’m fixing to be
Someone who lives crazy and carefree
When there’s no place else to go
I run with the buffalo

ALBUM TITLE: KINGS & QUEENS
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2007

1. She Was Young
2. She Got Older
3. She’s All Grown Up
4. Her Song
5. Grocery Store
6. 20 City Blocks
7. She’s Walking Back
8. My Hometown
9. Splattered Dreams
10. Annie’s Back In Town
11. There’s Always Something Better
12. King Me # 2
13. Starbucks Mansions
14. Buicks
15. King Of Queen Anne

SHE WAS YOUNG

Her Catholic parents were poets
That named her Annabelle,
Us pagans called her Annie
The madcaps have been many,
She’s lost in boyfriend land of plenty
The madcap bus stop scenes have been many,
She’s lost in boyfriend land of 20 blocks
I say Annie, we don’t want to lose you now
I say Annie, it ain’t gettin’ easier
Her mom wasn’t like suburban soccer moms
That were the shit at the proms
Annie hooked up with dimestore dandies
Who got caught stealin’ candy
They say Annie, we don’t want to lose you now
She was a Scooby Snack, she wanted to change that
She was an Ave rat, she couldn’t change that
Her aim was clear, to disappear
From Queen Anne Ave. and Heartattack
Her aim was clear, to disappear
From her single mother’s single story shack
She said there’s got to be something better than this

SHE GOT OLDER

She said she loved a lot of DJs
But she’d never loved ‘em tall
She said she loved a lot of DJs
And she’d slow dance in Carrie Park at the lookout in the fall
She fell in love during a slow dance
With a DJ at homecoming in the fall
She fell in love during a slow dance
With a DJ at the homecoming ball
Who was into picking up Scoobysnacks
And having Plabattacks up at the Northgate mall
They drank two forties at night, after dark
With her pals and paramours,
And broke the bottles at Bi Crake
Scorned and fought with goth-hags
And bought dimebags and shit got real wacky
She wrote her name with a sharpie
On math books and Rec center walls
She wrote “LUV, RIP”, her soul was dead
To the DJs late-night-is-for-lovers call
Her tag was “Annie, RIP”, her soul died
When the DJs didn’t do the late-night-is-for-lovers call
She wrote “Annie, RIP”, when she felt
Her soul was dead to the DJs late-night-is-for-lovers call
I heard she spray-painted “Annie, RIP”
While she was hangin’ off the gulley bridge, ready for a fall
You can still see her spray-painted masterpiece, ten stories tall
She was an Ave rat, we couldn’t change that,
Her aim was clear to disappear
From Queen Anne Ave. and Heartattack
Her aim was clear to disappear from Queen Anne Ave.
And her mama’s one story shack
Her single mother’s one story shack
To find something better

SHE’S ALL GROWN UP

She’s walking back, she’s walking back
By her elementary school,
Where they staged Stations of the Cross
Something about Cain and Abel
And Adam’s soft surrender
But she remembers walking
Like a good Catholic girl
In a uniform past public schools
Avoiding eye contact, those public school kids
Would beat you real bad
Outside the Queen Anne world
They might steal your shoes,
Don’t be so curious, you’re lucky
That you haven’t been shot down

HER SONG

I want something real
This is my hometown
There’s something better
But this will always be my hometown

I want something real
This is my hometown
There’s something better
Than my hometown

I’m for real
This is my hometown
There’s nothing better
Than my hometown

Good luck tonight, good luck tonight
I love tonight

GROCERY STORE

She stops into a grocery store
She sees the Queen Anne casualties
They haunt these 20 city blocks,
She sees them picking up their groceries
She’s looking at the main street clock
She couldn’t sleep, she wanted to return
To the hometown that bore her
But she don’t want to drink a 40 in the park

She couldn’t sleep, with her head
On the chest of some new stranger
She wanted to return
To the hometown that bore her
She’s running out of faith
Like those actors at the those Seattle theaters
Like the local theater
Over by the Woodland Park Zoo
And all the other drifters
That drift between me and you

She doesn’t know why, but she always had
A preview running through her head of the movie
Where she was the hero
But she hadn’t become a hero
She was a good Catholic girl
Trying to create a heroic turn in her part
In this small locale
In the story of the world

Was it wrong to aspire to greatness?
Beneath the trees of Little Howe?
On the playground in the fall?
On the diamond at Big Howe?
At the Stations of the Cross?
At day care, with all the boys, playing ball?
The heroes are all still here
But their glow is gone
But we still sit, in these 20 blocks,
We’re just like the rest
But we ain’t been shot down
We won’t get shot down
This is the same town

20 CITY BLOCKS

20 blocks between
Queen Anne and Downtown,
She’d go to Seattle Center,
Up from the clubs
She did new some honcho
From the theater
In the dark streets she felt snubbed
By a feeling that
The loss was not overcome
By going to the UW,
She could feel the Queen Anne casualties
They haunt these 20 blocks,
I’ll run into them at the grocery store,
They’re fixing up the clocks
Sometimes at night
I feel like all of Queen Anne is crying
So we’ll go to Parson’s Gardens, little Eden
We’ll drink some 40s and recall
What is was like to grow up
We’ll recall the feeling of being young
And believing the words the teachers said
But when Annie and Greg
Fought over who had a better job
The conversation stopped
And we retreated to our section
Of the 20 city blocks
Annie was an angel,
But the rumble made a halt
Now I’m digging for some memories
In the dark, chrome vault
I hated Greg when he went away
And I hated, Annie,
That you couldn’t have the sense to stay

SHE’S WALKING BACK

She’s walking back,
She’s walking back
She got older, 10 years on,
But somehow she didn’t bust out of the shack
She walks these 20 city blocks,
She feels the rain,
She watches the main street clocks
It feels the same, just like the pain,
When the she’d bike to school
And the rain soaked through her socks
The DJ gained 10 years, they don’t even speak,
It’s like an aborted dream
She tries to drink a 40
But it don’t seem to taste the same,
She can’t handle the cream
And every time hits the grocery store,
She sees the casualties
When she was young, her head was filled,
With one grand preview for the movies
About her adventures, where she’d make the show
And bust out of from ‘neath the trees
At Parson’s Gardens, Little Eden,
Where she’d cooked up all those schemes
Was it wrong, the aspiration,
To somehow rise above this locale?
At Catholic school, they staged Stations of the Cross,
And Annie wondered how
She would put her hands around the need
To overcome where you’ve come from
She knew she’d be OK someday,
She knew she wouldn’t be a bum
But she hasn’t achieved greatness?
Was it wrong, in class, to aspire to greatness?
When you realize you’re in the park
Hanging on to memories, it seems faithless
Oh, it’s a bummer to realize
That you’re just like all the rest
But you find a reason
To not get depressed
To not get shot down
To not let it shoot you down

MY HOMETOWN

I am walking, I am waiting
The stares are so penetrating
There’s got to be some place better

Now it’s for real, this is my hometown
I’m for real, this is my hometown

Got scared when he thought he had cancer for a day
Got sad when his friends all changed or faded away
Ain’t it funny how the kegs and the dregs and party babes just fade away?
There’s got to be someplace better

I’m for real, this is my hometown
I’m for real, this is my hometown

He saw a divide in Seattle and he thought this was the way across
He’d ditch his uniform so he could walk by the public schools
Avoiding eye contact, those kids would beat you real bad
They might steal your clothes and head off to the skids
Maybe down to south rainier, where he got shot down

I’m for real
This is my hometown
There’s always something better than this

SPLATTERED DREAMS

This time’s for real
This is my hometown

There’s nothing better
Than your hometown

I’m in this for real
I’m stuck here for real

I’m committed
I’m staying,

I’m serious,
I understand

I could have been better
But this is what I am

Those dreams were something
Out on Queen Anne

I could have been better
Than what I am

My dreams are splattered
On the streets of Queen Anne

ANNIE’S BACK IN TOWN

In her mother’s dress
Here’s how it feels
Annie is back in town

She’s say I know how it feels
To be resurrected
I know how it feels to come back from the dead

She met some Portland paramour
On a Seattle promenade
She said she lost her soul

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING BETTER

I spend my time alone
There’s nobody home
I don’t want to lose you now
I’m on the dark end of the street
I have no one to meet
I don’t want to lose you now
I am walking, I am waiting,
I am doing things so penetrating

There’s always something better than this
There’s always something better than this

And so, so you fall asleep
Walking your soundless beat
I don’t want to lose you now
Well, I’ve always been a writer and
I’ve worn some tacky ties
And I’ll never be a traitor
And I’ll try not to tell lies
But look at me there’s something different
In my green eyes

I’m for real, this is your hometown
There’s always something better than this
There’s always something better baby
I’ve seen all of your love letters
There’s always something better baby

KING ME # 2

She said, “You can’t say you’re not afraid
Seattle holds nothing for you or me
Let’s ride the bus past those McMansions
Let’s push your poems through the PA”
We can roll up Highway 99
In an ’84 Buick that’s a far cry from the dotcom dream
Trippin’ over tables at the Crocodile Café
You worked 12 temp jobs in Seattle, among the cattle
The water cooler battle; the little tittle-tattle

The traffic never stops
The 5 is full of heroes
They’re all driving alone
They’ve got some place to go
They’re living with the sadness
They’re turnin’ up the radio
My heart up is pumping loud
Until I get to where I want to go
At the edge of this plastic world we see
Darlin’ you can King me

Babe, I was beaten by the bad bands
I might get fired any day, I confess
Then I’ll tour the country in my Buick or the band van, if we can
There’s must be something outside the Northwest
Let’s drive and drive and play and play
To endless juke joints and dirty rock clubs drags
We need to cover gas and hotel; somehow we’ll make it pay
Don’t be dismayed that the applause is just a smattering
We’ll rock because we matter
We’ll quiet all the chatter

The traffic never stops
The highway’s full of heroes
They try to strike it rich
They’ve got somewhere to go
We’re living with the sadness
There’s madness in my soul
My heart is thumping louder,
Thumping louder till I reach the show
At the edge of this plastic scene
Darlin’ you can King Me

In the suburbs of Seattle, the mansions rise upon the hill
Construction crews go in and out and girls and boys watch TV all day
We write on dirty walls, we kiss in rock club halls, we create our mythology
You cannot take my dreams from me!

I’m am gonna need a queen
When the critics king me

At the end of this world we see
Darlin’ they’re gonna learn about you and me

STARBUCKS MANSIONS

You see, I have this vision
You pay the gas, I’ll push the engine
Let’s read Plato, then Playboy
With a poo-poo-platter

You have tiaras in Tahiti
I have my rock n’ roll mythology
Neither satisfies us too much
But both contribute to our toxicology

Maybe, someday, we’ll see
There’ll be a Starbuck’s-style mansion
In Bellevue for you and me

It’s all made of plastic,
Could have been a lot cooler
If it had been worked on by an artist
Who didn’t follow the rules

They can’t make enough to pay
The mortgage; here comes trouble
Another housing development
Another real estate bubble

Maybe, someday, we’ll see
There’ll be a Starbuck’s-style mansion
In Bellevue for you and me

We bus and cuss about McMansions
And how they hold our souls for ransom
They’re all decked out with plastic
They’re all bright and orgiastic

Why don’t we bus to get some coffee?
We can talk about Kofi & Kaddafi

We’ll study the odds
Create our own doxology
We’ll find our own gods
In this topography

We’ll meet in the vestibule
It’s the gateway to the school

In the suburbs of Seattle the disenfranchised
Waste their time away
The girls watch VH1 and MTV
And the boys play Playstation all day

We write our name in the sand
We could trace our mythology in the mist
I could die tonight on the beach
And that would be just fine
If I have Bessie’s kiss

Construction crews go in and out
All day long while the radios play
They want to live inside but they can’t
The time just slips away

Maybe, someday, we’ll see
There’ll be a Starbuck’s-style mansion
In Bellevue for you and me

BUICKS

We’re all running from something
But there’s no place to hide

We write our stories on the rock club walls
I love you with all madness I have inside

I love you till the day that we arrive
Where we always wanted to reside

And we’ll feel validated
Until then, we chase the crown

Your heart is made of glass
We’re looking through the window

We can see you’ve gotten so low
The 5 is full of heroes

They’re all driving alone
The madness is lonely

They’re listening to radios
So we turn up our radio

There’s madness in their soul
Until they get to where they want to go

That’s all I got to say
All the other words get in the way

The Buicks never stop
The highway’s full of heroes

We’re all running from something
But there’s no place to go

At the end of this world we see
Darlin’ we will be free

KING OF QUEEN ANNE

I was not afraid in the egg raid
Down on the south slope of Queen Anne
That buster bounded from his black Benz
They battled with bats like bombed barbarians
So I ran through park at midnight
Like Pony Boy, listening to Gloria,
The news wasn’t henpecked
For the Seattle Times newsstand
So I ran through Big Howe
I tuned in to the Big Now
Slept in the alley in 10th
I didn’t pay the rent
My contacts dried up
And I wore my sexy sweatband

We’re driving in the Buicks from I5 to 99
The American dream is running away
We’re working all the time
The corporate life has nothing
Let’s race on Highway 99
We’re tramps with no where to go
I might get fired at any time
Let’s drive on by the McMansions
I want to know what it’s like inside
I want to get in my car
And tour across the world
Like Ray Charles did
Only he was blind
I might not be able to afford the gas
But I know it will be good time
I want to know what it’s like to follow the light
As far as it goes
To see if ideals are real
We gotta do it while we’re young

ALBUM TITLE: Rhymes For The Times
RELEASE DATE: 12/7/06

1. Big In Ballard
2. Back In College
3. Old Friends
4. So Many Things That Can’t Be Achieved
5. Aphorisms
6. The Soundtrack Of His Life
7. Golden Pear
8. The Vulnerable Hours Of The Morning
9. Long Black Cadillac
10. Bad Boys Beneath The Bridge
11. Megan
12. Soap Box Preachin’
13. In The Park After Dark
14. Blues On The Avenues
15. Dropping Bombs In The House
16. Come On In, California
17. Conversations In The Clubs
18. A Song About Seattle
19. Rock In Seattle
20. Hail, Hail Seattle

BIG IN BALLARD

I was big in Ballard before I was big in Belltown
Got hosed by the Firehouse when the sleazebags were booking
Keeping kicking and clapping till the crowd couldn’t chatter
Drove an ’84 Buick till it burned out in Burien
Spent a spell as a painter and a spell as a Centurion
Met many men making meteoric money for Malaysians
Met a chap at Hattie’s Hat and his name was Octavian
Brutas battled me in Ballard like a bombed-out barbarian
Went out with Lucy because she looked like a hot librarian
Went down to Belltown and got boozed with a Sicilian
Turns out he was a motivational speaker who rapped about Pygmalion
He used to be an artificial, sacrificial, inessential expatriate
Got referential and presidential over the inessential immediate
He played washtub bass with a coalface nutcase and I sat sucking the fipple
We were eaten alive in 1995, I spoke white-boy jive, saying what are you cripple?
The hot librarian took care of an octogenarian and I almost had her
But she stayed home on Saturday night watching re-runs of the Black Adder

BACK IN COLLEGE

We ate flapjacks at IHOP, we drank 40s at Bixby’s
He tripped and slipped down the stairs in his boxers
That was after the third annual party for the flutes
I put my loot in my suit and had a pink tie to boot
Came home and wrote words till I ran out of paper
Ate Tombstone pizzas and ice cream full of sugar
I went through a phase when I tried to read the Bible
I loved Genesis but got lost on Exodus and End of Days
Or the part where Lazarus came back from the grave

I met a girl, went to Bucca di Beppo and then had leftovers
Too much food for one meal, one night, but I got to sleep over
She called me on a her cell phone, I had a land line
She said she was too booked on her Daytimer all the time
So I wrote 10 pages based on Prufrock and took a few pics
Listened to Blonde on Blonde 50 times, wished it was 1966
But she was too indie rock, I was too poor-college guy
In 1999 I asked someone to describe my look
He said I looked like I was working with a 1994 hook

I used my pain and passion to fill 10 full leather journals
I pondered the truth and I looked for the kernel

OLD FRIENDS

Andy asked Abigail if anyone acted asinine
Bradford began barking about benefactors being benign
Carissa cooked a cake for the campus Christ Crusade
Dorsey dorked some ding-ho than derided a douche bag
Elizabeth had tea and meth in an elegant equestrian haunt
Fickle Fred crawled into bed with a teenage debutante
Gregory gesticulated in a grand and gregarious gross out game
Holly haggled for hush-puppies at the Hochi-man parade

SO MANY THINGS THAT CAN’T BE ACHIEVED

There are so many things
That can’t be achieved
But you must try your best,
In the face of that fact

In the face of the rising costs
Of homes in this fair land
The fact that you need a roof
Makes you work as hard as you can

And not give up on the dream
Even if you don’t believe in the future
And your old friends try to beat
Its meaninglessness into your mind
You must try to see some light
In each day you find

APHORISMS

All the poets are pissers, all the pilgrims are pagans
The madcap hoodrats get caught stealing Kit Kats
The suburban soccer moms were the shit at the proms
The dimestore dandies hooked up with the tarts and the candies

The accountants cannot stand being outnumbered by managers
The nurse sees her dying mother and hurries to bandage her
The rock n’ roller sells his soul to the radio program director
He’s told to move to New York where he can uncork the rock career

THE SOUNDTRACK OF HIS LIFE

Bill said, “One day that will be me”
The garage was full of boxed up things

In his mother’s house, he sat
While Van Morrison would softly sing

One of those pretty ditties
That made him forget that life was shitty

He pressed his face against the window
He saw the cars speeding through the snow

He descended to the room in the basement
Where the party people came and went

And The Band played lightly
Levon sang for Fannie nightly

Bill couldn’t speak when he heard the car drive off slow
Pulling out and kicking up rocks as she goes

GOLDEN PEAR

He said let’s meet for dinner at the Golden Pear
You know that I know the manager there

He always pays close attention to detail
And he gets his hair cut where I get my hair cut

My father parks his car in the parking garage above the stairs
Of the restaurant, so it would be easy for us all to meet there

Even though Jim has a commute from the burbs
Amongst the suits after long commutes he can’t disturb

The old order that sometimes is plain awful
Sometimes the fancy restaurant feels like a brothel

He tells me to meet him on Wednesday night
Then he talks on his cell phone and I sit alone

Across the table while the shrimp plate piles up
He said he wanted to talk, but he didn’t say a word

I tried to refer to the old times, but he didn’t bite
He said he gets tired after work on Wednesday night

I thought I’d throw my napkin down on the floor
Curse his rudeness then head for the door

But as usual, of my intentions, I’m a little unsure
Plus, he always knows a good place to score

He’s got a lot of friends so he takes me for granted
So long ago this sad seed was feebly planted

He’s got a new pair of khakis and an SUV
And sometimes I feel like he’s burdened by me

But I guess it’s just that he says stuff to your face
That other people would say behind your back

Sometimes on Thursdays he likes a Big Mac
His personal trainer struggles hard to keep him in check

He’s got a million friends and they love him to death
But sometimes they don’t return his phone calls

THE VULNERABLE HOURS OF THE MORNING

She said, “I’ve always dreamed of Europe”
I said, “I think I might throw up”

It was 6 in the morning, we were in college
And my parents had recently told me to grow up

But my party buddies liked to see me
As long as I didn’t stay over

Several times I fell asleep
In the back of a Range Rover

II.

It was 6 in the morning
At Joel’s house
It was Joel’s third residence
In 2 years

I had his phone numbers
All scribbled out in my phonebook
I told him this was inconvenient
And he shot me a look

He said, “Get a cell phone,
It’s the new millennium”
We wanted to be 23
That was as far as we could see

III.

We were drinking all night
And smoking Camel Lights

I said, “Let’s smoke GPCs,
I don’t see the difference”

At five in the morning
I liked to make an obscure literary reference

But nobody heard, so I felt bad
And the neighbors got mad

While we partied on the deck
The old neighbor put our asses in check

I think we sang some Def Leopard song
I think we sang at the top of our lungs

He didn’t like the havoc we wreaked
He was afraid that we would ruin the country someday

IV.

We went out to Beth’s for a 6am flapjack face off
Then Joel repeated what he’d done at IHOP

He did a little number with the blueberry syrup
The waitress didn’t like the seasoning, she wouldn’t come near it

Joel got ejected, the cops were called in
We ate our flapjacks in peace and pretended we didn’t know him

Her friend was Vietnamese
She always felt tense in situations like these

She liked to talk and talk about her family
It was appropriate for this community

There are important pieces of conversation that you learn to discard
When you party real hard in somebody’s back yard

VI.

It was cold in the kitchen
We were making frozen pizzas

We were listening to the Stones
We were discussing margaritas

And Joel said, “You can’t beat this”
I said, “Wait until Christmas!”

VII.

You see, sometimes you get in Devil Mode
And the fire in your heart just seems to explode

The room starts to spin, the euphoria sets in
And there is no place that you cannot go

So at the time Joel had just moved from his old place
We went back up to see if we could be the faces

But we got real drunk again in his old room
I think I tried to tackle some dude

He was trying to put on a good face for his lady friend
This was their first date and this wasn’t good for him

I was dancing, I was wrestling, I was creating a scene
I guess I dove and hit my head on a beam

VIII.

I woke up in the morning feeling optimistic and hungover
I started singing along with Jimmy Cliff about the white cliffs of Dover

Joel rustled me up for a road trip to the coast on Friday
We took it easy, but I felt totally hungover until Sunday

When we got back, we learned that on Thursday I’d been quite the dancer
I hit my head on a beam while I was being such a prancer

The Pulp Fiction soundtrack was playing in the Lancer
That quelled my fears about brain cancer

LONG BLACK CADILLAC

After tea and cakes and ices
We’ll push a moment to its crisis
Bob Dylan will sing of Isis
Moses will part the Red Sea with his devices

Cadillac Black; long cigarettes, Jack
She sits in the back with a superstar stack
Her boyfriend’s a pimp and his whip goes crack
He says, “Let’s go black, baby, tell me I’m back”

But he’s not and he’s hot and it’s sweaty July
All the T-Bird girls are horning for their time to fly
Jack says, “I want it all but the days just go by
And I smoke cigarettes, waiting for my time to die”

He remembered when he sat ‘neath a New York sky
Tina cat, she was cute, she looked deep in his eyes
They went clubbing, ‘twas hip, she had on a new slip
Put his hands on her hips, they both did the dip

He woke up in the morning by the burgundy walls
With a girl in black party pants stretched out in the hall
She had taken a spill when she went to the can
She looked so peaceful, her tiny white hands

He picked her up and she gave him a kiss
Oh, she was so beautiful, nothing could change this
She was mussed up and fucked up and hung over and young
And Jack said he was tired, but he’d gone for a run

And worked out his heart with some hot cigarettes
On his forehead was sweat, there were streaming bullets
There were poets hovering up in Harlem in the dark
He brought the dregs up to Madison and the dregs up to Park

BAD BOYS BENEATH THE BRIDGE

The boys in the white hats pulled in under the bridge
We were keyin’ in to Outsider’s mythology
This is where the mythos comes from
Rascal had the big words packed in his brain
His uncle was a Harvard man
Every day, to and from work, he rode the train
Bob Dylan blared through the car stereo
Bob Dylan was feelin’ the pain
Ricky had his cousin up for Sausalito
She wanted to jump off the bridge
They were too many mosquitoes
The water was wide below
This was in the arboretum, near 520
I heard someone jumped into the river
And landed on a tetherball pole
So we didn’t like jumping there no more

But the boys in the white hats
Pulled into the parking lot
It was afternoon
They were children
But they were almost old
They didn’t want to be fathers
Ricky’s cousin’s name was Sherry
She jumped off the bridge
The water splashed
We were OK in swimming suits

I always remember these times
When I’m faced with real-world responsibility
It don’t suit me so well
So this is the tale I tell

MEGAN

Megan walks me to her apartment by 55th
You can hear the cars up on the bridge
You can sleep on her hide-a-bed
You can tell that she’s intelligent and fierce
You are scared but you are intrigued
She has nothing in the refrigerator
She doesn’t like the food in Seattle
You’re looking into her eyes
And you want to tell her that you want her

Megan
Oh, Megan
Let me in

SOAP BOX PREACHIN’

Do you remember Clinton?
Everybody loves a charmer
They’re doing it out in New York
They’re doing it in Frisco
Let’s sashay to the capitol
Let’s put our bill before congress
We all have our concerns
Sometimes the American flag is gonna burn
We are all Americans
We all have rights
You had a Prince poster on your wall
Purple Rain
Outside it is hailing
I think it is romantic to be indoors on a Sunday
When the rain is falling outside
I heard that poets aren’t grounded
That choosing to be a poet
Wouldn’t be a good career choice
I said, “I’m not fit to be a father
I don’t have the money
Or the will to deal with all of the bother”

We listened to Bell Biv Devoe
We listened to the black music
We dug Mississippi John Hurt
We loved Little Walter
We loved the ache in his voice
We cried sometimes
Remember that time you thought you were pregnant?
Remember that time you were losing your mind?
And people were having seizures
This is too much pain in the maelstrom of society
In this hailstorm of insouciance and disinterest
Oh, the ten the wives have their agendas up in the suburbs
I love the long winded and loquacious
I love the way the spaces are so capacious
I love the way the paint is always fresh
I love the way they wear their dress
I love the lemonade by the white, wicker baskets
I love the way they always had some formal musical education
Piano playin’, Mozart, and erudition

IN THE PARK AFTER DARK

I got bombed at Bi Crake,
I got toasted at Targy’s
I moved from 80th to 8th
And I always hit parties
Highland Drive came alive
In the summer of 1995
Our saviors drove Bentleys
And our parents drove SUVs
We didn’t mosh, we dug the Boss,
We wore white hats, we got fat
We boogied down hard
To Saturday Night Fever
We listened to the Hurricane
And became Bob Dylan believers
Someone had a bong
And they named it Buddy
We got baked and were liable
To read from the Bible
We didn’t talk loud in the library
She was a dancer,
She was an actress
She always got the part,
She always wore a green dress
We danced upon the cement,
Muses came and went
I saw some of them at Targy’s
But Mary was always my star

BLUES ON THE AVENUES

Walking the Ave up and down
All around toward the underground
On University Avenue
Far from the Bothell slew
Don’t remember partying much
In Mercer Island or Bellevue
Sometimes we had the blues
But we knew our avenues

Did the Queen Anne Avenue crawl
There were coffee shops in myriad
I was convinced, at age 16,
That it was my most prolific period
Bob Dylan, in 1962,
Was only 5 years older than me
He’s a Gemini
We both studied mythology
We’d read Grimm’s fairytales
And the grim would get grimmer

DROPPING BOMBS IN THE HOUSE

I remember when someone stole my journal
Those incredible confessions, felt like Laura Palmer

Dance parties all night, pass out on the floor
Someone got punched out and he broke my dresser

I said, “No dropping bombs in my house”
Somebody spilled some ice cream on the couch

We smoked too much and drank too much
We all meant so much to each other

As time went on, it was difficult to see
Bruce Springsteen wrote about busted blue collar dreams

I wrote odes about Gatsby’s crushing losses
At 16 I thought I was equipped for the masterpiece

Sandy didn’t have direction so she moved to Boulder
I had a sense that I didn’t want to get older

I never wanted to have to open my own doors
I held fast to the belief that life ended at 24

COME ON IN, CALIFORNIA

I think I partied hard with some members of the Eastside glitterati
I heard their parents came from Cali so we welcomed them to the city
They didn’t know much about me and my Queen Anne dreams, you see?

Come on in, California

So, say goodbye to that, Joe, because it’s tough keeping score
Growing up on these shores you don’t like the look of them anymore
You didn’t grow up poor, but I’m sure you’ll be poor no more

Come on in, California

Money was coming in and it seemed that our intentions were sinister
We went on operation get-some and we became pimp ministers
I went to her house and I slid down the banister

Come on in, California

These dramas came to affect you and me, so we damned our pedigree
But I felt so strongly that we were both part of a human family
Still we pondered our position in the pimp ministry

Come on in, California

CONVERSATIONS IN THE CLUBS

I saw a friend in Boise
He’d done a lot of things

He’d been a model citizen
He’d been to Germany

He’d been to Italy
He gambles all he can

I said what about tomorrow?
He said there’s no such thing

I went to see the Dalai Lama
And he told me to skip the drama

He’ll keep on traveling for what it’s worth
He travel to the far ends of the earth

Doesn’t feel the need to name the pearl
Or to commit to one view of the world

A SONG ABOUT SEATTLE

They say, you should write something universal
Something from the proper radio format
We played with a woman who wrote a couple # 1 singles
She sure knew how to compose a jingle

But I’m single and ready to mingle and prattle
And I think I’ll write a song about Seattle
The way sometimes we feel herded like cattle
We’ve got strip malls and McDonalds, but we’ve got DJ battles

It makes me think of Springsteen and Born To Run
Life here was never desperate enough to create tales so homespun
Though lots of folks are creative, always creative and fun
We all wake up and see the same sun

ROCK IN SEATTLE

I think of Mamas and The Crocodile Café
Dicks and the Uptown Theater
Played the Showbox the other night
And we blew that room away

I’m approaching every show as though it’s the last
I’m giving everyone a backstage pass
They comp the meals, they give me the drink tickets
We make sure to kick some ass

HAIL, HAIL SEATTLE

New York belongs to everyone,
Seattle belongs to me
We’ve done our time in L.A.
And we can’t penetrate the scene
Oh, the open road of Walt Whitman has been seen
I don’t understand the word Americana; it’s all Seattle to me

So, I will stop in every restaurant
I will play in every club
I am on a fuckin’ mission
Can you all give me some love?
I’ll do it like Springsteen did back in his day
Before the 80s came and swept his innocence all away

From the boutiques of Fremont, to the Denny Regrade
From the cliffs of Magnolia Hill, to the Ballard Promenade
Our towns are not all the same
This is the story of my home
And you greet my words with silence
Just hear me out, then I’ll be gone

I’ll be preaching in the pub
You won’t find me to be like a professor
I’ll be wowing the cocktail waitresses
They’ll be the converted, the confessors
I won’t apply for a PHD
Nothing could seem sillier to me
In the dentists’ office I will read
On the stage, my heart will bleed

So hail, Seattle
Kurt Cobain did us proud
Hail, hail Chief Seattle
Ray Charles waged his battle
Out there in West Seattle
I think Quincy Jones is from Bremerton
The fight he started is not done
Hail, Hail rock n’ roll
Hail, Hail Seattle

ALBUM TITLE: Red Brick Walls, Pratfalls, & Curtain Calls
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: November 7th, 2006

1. Rock n’ Roll! Alcohol! Party!
2. There’s A Gremlin In The Band Van
3. What We Did
4. The Rocker
5. That’s Rock n’ Roll
6. Young Man’s Game
7. Make It Big
8. You Used To Rock
9. The Walls Of Babylon Require Penetration
10. We’ll Keep On Rockin’
11. The Experience Without The Success
12. Rockin’ The After Hours

Rock n’ Roll! Alcohol! Party!

One more night
One more town
One more show
Here we go
Down the highway
In the van
Through the snow
Here we go

She was warm
For my form
So we went
To her dorm
Then we stayed
Up till four
We’ll get up tomorrow
And we’ll do it some more

Rock n’ Roll! Alcohol! Party!

I know we gotta go but before we hit the road let’s party! Party!
I know we gotta go but before we hit the road let’s party! Party!

Rock n’ Roll! Alcohol! Party!

THERE’S A GREMLIN IN THE BAND VAN

There’s a gremlin
In the band van
He enjoys it because it’s home for him
He eats peanuts from the floor
He reads a bit of the porn
He meets prowlers at the broken door
He drinks PBR till morn’
He listens to the radio
He listens to the recordings of our shows
He’s folding our sleeping bags
He’ll make a bed of our clothes
And he’s such a damn dirty smeller
But then so are the band fellers
So we don’t really mind
When we have to clean up his slime
That green, gooey gremlin
In the rock n’ roll van

WHAT WE DID

We slept on a lot of floors
We knocked on a lot of doors
We got the radio play
We made a certain segment pay
We played a lot college bars near the university
We made a lot of spreadsheets
We spent a lot of hours sending out a lot of mailers
We spent a lot of time making posters
We put up a lot of posters
We partied a lot with a lot of party people
We spent a lot of time backstage
We met a lot of backstage types
We got in a few fights
The van broke down a few times
We drank a lot of beer in the van
The band broke down a bit
We smoked a lot of dank
We met a lot of girls
We played a lot of shows

THE ROCKER

I’m just a normal boy, so my story’s rarely told
I have spent my existence
With the essentials provided for, essentially
Here I stand, with a bank account I’m not happy about
And a personal life I don’t understand, mmmm-mmmm
I became a celebrity of sorts at the age of 21
Fame is such a misunderstanding
But I felt good traveling and playing clubs
Sleeping on floors, drinkin’ way too much,
And smoking other peoples smoke
Thinking somehow it would get me
The icing on the cake
Not just the essentials I’d been provided as a boy

Ti-Na-Na, Ti-Na-Na, I’m a rocker

Musicians get a lot of glory,
But we’re right there with the working man
Who fixes the light bulb and the toilet
We run into strippers, people who carry guns,
On the run from the law, transvestites,
And we’re still sleepin’ on the floor
Get so lonely, sometimes these people make good company

I can’t remember a time when I was not obsessed
By that fact that as I got older,
I might have lost the best of me,
But that’s a common feeling, I understand
When I was 16 I wished I was 15,
When I was 20 I felt old, too old,
But I guess I may have lost the best,
Still I feel the same way

Ti-Na-Na, Ti-Na-Na, I’m a rocker

I’m loading up the van,
My harmonicas are full of broken reeds,
Each of those reeds I need
Feel like I’ve let them all down
By not being a success, like I promised I would be
Don’t know what I can do to make them happy
I want to create a little envy

On the stage, there’s a rocker,
And you love him for a moment,
But you don’t want to know him
We all know people who have a band
You don’t give them a hand until they hit the big time
But the big time only lasts a short time
The rocker’s still holding all those dismissals in his head
Every girl that ever dumped him
Every job that ever fired him
Every scorning word
He has so much to prove
Got his emotions on his sleeve
His tribe is upset,
Because he didn’t make the right choices
He’ll put it all on the line
Gamble and place the big bet
And win it all
Oh, the rockers rarely get the glory
But they continue the fight
That’s what life is about – the fight
The rocker don’t want to crawl up in his house and die
Afraid that trying to stay young forever was a lie
No, the rocker’s not ready to die
The dreamer may get old
But the dream remains

Ti-Na-Na, Ti-Na-Na, I’m a rocker

THAT’S ROCK N’ ROLL

Got bombed in Boise
Partied with the Basques
To all and sundry
We kicked some ass
The band got in a fight
Some dude had a fine retort
I woke with a headache
Wishin’ we had tour support

Went through the snow to McCall
Drove to Butte for some reason
Partied tough with the Buttants
The trip to Missoula was treason
The band scattered at soundcheck
The band rocked at downbeat
I woke up wishin’ I had a new
Harmonica in my pants

We rocked in Sun Valley
We drove up to the Alley
We felt good that we did it
In the name of Idaho Immortality
We played Idaho Falls
We played with balls
Woke up in the laundry room of the hotel
With our wad of cash in my pants

Met a girl in Spokane
I showed her the van
Asked her if she’d like to be part of
The Friends Across America Program
She said she was Mormon
But she’d give it a chance
I woke up with a crumpled up number
On a napkin in my pants

YOUNG MEN’S GAME

Rock n’ roll is a young man’s game
That’s what I hear them say
But Britney Spears is 23
And I say she’s over the hill
As far as it concerns me
The Rolling Stones are old
But they still rock better than ever
Who cares if they’re just a small spec
On a stage faraway
Or a digitized image
On the diamond vision screen

To all you rock n’ rollers
If you want gray hair to suit you well
You should play blues or maybe folk music
You could ride the rails
And play county fairs
And not really care
About such superficial affairs
But either way
When I see you, all old and gray
Playin’ your heart out
I don’t care
That the folks in LA
Say it’s a young man’s game

You used to tear it up
Stay up all night
And look for groupies after the show
Now you go home and watch some cable TV
Fall asleep to the digital snow
Whatever happened to that rock n’ roll rebellion?
Where did it go?
We all know the Winston Churchill quote
But I prefer to think
That you don’t need to get old
Cheers to Hugh Heffner
And others who have the passion
They don’t need to be serious
They can still try to get their kicks
I hope I can still do the splits when I’m 66

MAKE IT BIG

So I’ve spent some time getting my kicks
Writing songs on napkins and giving good tips
Frat parties, Irish bars, breweries, festivals, balls
Theaters, arenas, weddings – played them all

Rocked a private party, rocked a wake
Sometimes it don’t make sense, sometimes it elates
I wear my rock n’ roll suit, they call out for more
But there’s only one goal to shoot for

Make it big
Make it big

YOU USED TO ROCK

I don’t want to bust your bubble just because I’m down on my luck
But when your band used to rock, the rock kinda sucked

Just like Kiss doesn’t mean what it did when you were 12
And Bruce Kulick might be working at H&R block

Now that you’re older you’re too proud to admit
But tell me, friend, is he worse off for it?

I don’t think so because inflated showbiz lives don’t sell in 2005
We know their old ladies are in real estate; those cunning wives

But wouldn’t it be cool to be Mick Jagger?
Climb, climb, climb up the ladder

Like the ultimate tree house in the stars
Like the one you wished for when you were a child

No one can get close, because you always are leavin’
The van’s been gassed up and the roadie is deceiving

I hope my words don’t come as a horrible shock
Maybe you should continue to believe that you used to rock

THE WALLS OF BABYLON REQUIRE PENETRATION

She said, “If you got famous, you would think you were the shit”
I said, “I already do and I’ve only got a regional hit”

The walls of Babylon require penetration

She says, “Rock n’ roll romanticism is a dangerous first love, son”
I said, “I’ve written thousands of pages of words and I’m determined for some one to hear them”

The walls of Babylon require penetration

She said you need to trash hotels
She says she hopes that hope sells
Sometimes your life’s a mess
Sometimes you get depressed

But it’s usually OK when you show up at the right address

The promise land walls are open invitations
All of us, here, believe in pre-destination
The walls of Babylon require penetration
Done in the name of rock n’ roll salvation

WE’LL KEEP ON ROCKIN’

We’ve had a good run,
So thank you everyone
Critics keep talking,
We’ll keep on rocking

We’ve had a good run,
And I thank testosterone
Somehow I feel like a bum,
But I’m not the only one

I don’t feel like I’m done
What’s a 21st century man to do?
Tell me the truth

We’ll keep on rockin’
Critics keep talkin’
We’ll keep on rockin’
Critics keep talkin’

THE EXPERIENCE WITHOUT THE SUCCESS

I saw an interview with a pop star
She was no shrinking violet
She talked about the writing process
She talked about starting a riot

And how to make each line count
She had been seated across from the A&R man
He had said, “You need to write more evocative words”
He said he didn’t care that the bar crowd enjoyed them

He said, “Do you make them melt in Seattle?”
She said, “I bought a house with my royalties”
He said, “You think you don’t need to improve?”
She said, “I want to be like Springsteen, I want to live the dream”

He said, “You can’t be like James Brown,
Van Morrison and Bob Dylan rolled into one”
She said, “I’m just defending their position
I’m just carrying on the tradition”

He said, “Fine, toil away in obscurity –
Your undiscovered talent is fine by me”
He said, “Go to any jazz club and learn about that experience”
She said, “I’m fine with the music, I don’t enjoy the circus”

She said, “It would be fine to simply have
The experience without all the success”

ROCKIN’ THE AFTER HOURS

Now up comes the sun
And we’re still having fun

Rockin’ the after hours

We’re tired from the rum
In the morning we’ll be hung

Rockin’ the after hours

We can’t stop with all this fun
We’re gonna chase down the sun

Rockin’ the after hours

If we stopped rockin’ for you
What else would we do? I said 1, 2

Rockin’ the after hours

ALBUM TITLE: Razor Blade Grit Rock
RELEASE DATE: October 7th, 2006

SONGS:

1. It Would Mortify You
2. Rotten In Denmark
3. Sucked In By The Sin
4. Tidal
5. Breaking From The Bullet
6. Boxing
7. Bombed & Blue
8. Man Or Monkey
9. Crocodile

IT WOULD MORTIFY YOU

Hey punk, do you have some change I can borrow?
I know about today, but I don’t know about tomorrow

If you were to hear what they’re saying behind your back
It would mortify you, it would mortify you

ROTTEN IN DENMARK

In high school she used to be the top motivator
Did splits for kicks with dudes who looked like Refrigerator Perry
In high school she used to be the top educator
Was an odd mix with the team like Tony Montana in Tucumcari
In high school she used to be the # 1 believer
Taught us tricks that she learned from Saturday Night Fever

At Eton she fancied herself the top Terminator,
Watched Weird Science and dug Arnold Schwarzenegger
At Eton she used did the Hammer dance and caused a ruckus
Had a bodyguard who looked like B.A. Barracus
Watched The Breakfast Club and she dug the tube
She watched Nick at Night and dug Les Nessman’s attitude
It’s always rock solid when you’re hangin’ with the rock n’ rollers

She went through a goth phase
Went through a punk phase
Went through a year-long, nihilist dark age
She’s trying to tame the snake
She’s trimming up the Eden
She’s falling in the pool for some revival-style healing

It’s always liberating when you’re hanging with the liberators
It’s always frustrating when you’re hanging with the frustrators
It’s always penetrating when you’re hanging with the penetrators
It’s always enervating when you’re hanging with the enervators
It’s always inspirational to hang with the instigators

She went to a private school
Then to a public school
Captain Joe rocked the boat
She took a dip in the pool

SUCKED IN BY THE SIN

He said it’s coming back again
He said it’s coming back again

I treated the body like a temple
Till I got sucked up by the sin

I’m sucking it in again
I’m sucking it in again

Diet coke and cigarettes
I feel my heart making death threats

Sugar snacks and pizza pets
Oh, damn those temptations

Look at all you people dancing
You get sucked in by the sin

Next weekend you’ll be doing this again
Getting sucked in by the sin

TIDAL

If you don’t like the front you should move to the back
And we’ll provide the beat that makes the booty go bap
You got to be a sucker from the get go
You’re like the hushpuppy placin’ bets, bro

J-j-j-jump on the floor when you go for the wind
In the back of the house in the mouth of bind
The cause, the effect, the direction for the blind
Who need to come with me in a serious time

When you pack the attack in the rack of my mind
When go for the flow, we will roll out behind
With the modal jazz hollerin’ tonight
A chance to trip the fantastic light

BREAKING FROM THE BULLET

You drove it like Evel Keneivel
And said you liked the mullet
I drove north just to console it
In its breaking like a bullet
But you said Johnny doesn’t like me
And it’s causing pain and misery
And he says these to things to Danny
That fester and start to scare me
When you needle like that, you dare me
And the snare drum always ensnares me
I wrote everybody off, even the men of the cloth
It got sweaty and hot, the rock mosh was like broth
Well, why do I care to reprimand Johnny
When he’s damaging my rep with Danny?
If Danny is a loony and Johnny is a drunk
Then it doesn’t really matter what’s in the trunk
So it’s the same as the high school reunion
Getting your ass whooped might be loony fun
There was never a thing for you to fear
Because at least you conquered the tears

BOXING

I stared at the pictures
I was hung up on the glow
Felt like a raging bull
Playin’ piano like Fats Domino

100 push-ups on the basement floor
Play that piano for a few hours more

Boxing, yes, we’re boxing
Get fit, here you go
Let’s swing a few punches
Let’s swing a few more
Stick ‘em up
Man, stick ‘em up
I’ll play the piano

Like I’m boxing
Yes, like I’m boxing

BOMBED & BLUE

He was bombed out as hell
She was protected so well
She was cold in the dark
He was hot in the light
Chinese food troubles her mind
Chow Mien makes him unwind
She’s a fatalist
He’s an optimist
She’s a pugilist
He’s a conformist
He likes frat-funk
She likes the Hold Steady
She wants to jump in the deep
He says I’m not ready
He mows the lawn
She lets it grow
He loves Key West,
She loves the snow
She slept with 7 guys
He slept with 30 girls
She’s a career artist
He’s a weekend artist
He votes red
She votes blue
She rides the bus
He drives an SUV
Her father’s from Omaha
His father’s from Carson City
He avoids her eyes
She stares deeply

MAN OR MONKEY

He was ambitious, he was unrestrained
He wanted to mix Tchaikovsky with Singin’ In the Rain
To mix Bob Dylan with Ode to Joy
To mix Phil Spector with Mannish Boy

Monkey, monkey
Are you a man or a monkey?

You want to burn the wildest doughnut in the Hamptons
You want to spend two whole years camping
You’re aligned with P. Diddy and his thugs
You’re celebrated and maligned, but who’s got the drugs?

Monkey, monkey
Are you a man or a monkey?

You love rock and you love to scream
And you love the gleam of a potent dream
So, don’t let the shower spoil the funk
You’ve got the greasy blue junk in the trunk

Monkey, monkey
Are you a man or a monkey?

CROCODILE

Andy Riggs had it big
Because he swung a big twig
Amongst the Big Mac, Kit Kat,
And Muskrat hip

Saw him at the Crocodile,
We got buck wild,
And stayed drunk for a while
But then the smile left his lips

This wasn’t directed at me
We were drinking green tea
As the drummer from
A famous band walked by

They went to trio from quintet
When they played with us, you bet
They said they weren’t done yet
Their poster in the bathroom caught my eye

I told this to Riggs
And he didn’t understand,
He had a collared shirt on,
I had a rum n’ coke in my hand

I went to pay for the drinks
But I couldn’t find my debit card
I’d left it at in a downtown bar
Because I got too drunk, as evidenced by my forehead scar

So I told him that though I was afraid
Of not achieving my potential,
I was too far-gone to go straight, to sell real estate,
Besides, what more could a few coins in my purse really do?

He said, “My purse is an expression of values
Like my SUV, come in and ride with me, you’ll see
That what I do is what I am,
What I wear and drive is me!”

“And there’s no reason you should feel
Any pressure to compete”
I said, “I know, but if that were the case,
Why would I respect doctors and lawyers?”

“They are the people who studied harder than I did,
I never wanted to be either of those things as a kid
I wanted to be rock star and rock hard and go far
And I rarely looked twice at a brand new car”

“Am I wrong for not caring about the couch I own?
I fixed the place up, now I leave it alone
Last night, Riggs, I went to a five-star restaurant,
Then headed to the rock club for another quick jaunt”

“And it didn’t feel good; the food was too rich,
I should have eaten at Taco Bell if I wanted to get a fix
I get confused, but there’s one thing I know well:
That I can always depend on the idea of rocking well”

ALBUM TITLE: Big Game Hunters
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 9/7/06

1. The Prophet Bum # 3
2. A Prophet’s Epigram
3. Someone Out There For Me
4. Rembrandt’s Tomb
5. A Million Lovers
6. Motivation Situation # 2
7. Fired
8. Good Days
9. Lovely Ladies
10. Drunken Behavior
11. The Thought On A Carousel
12. A Girl From Riverside, A Boy From L.A.

PROPHET BUM # 3

One evening I sat alone on University and 55th
I was reading a Russian novel about Fyodor Pavlovitch
I was smoking my pipe, reading my book, getting ready for the campus walk
When I saw a man
Drunk and spouting off
Down by Jack in the Box

He said, “Gentlemen I know that you’re reward in heaven will be great
Don’t forget your circumstance is twisting in the swirling winds of fate”

We all need prophets, son
They don’t hurt anyone
But the words don’t mean the same thing when you’re old as when you’re young

He said, “You admire tired wisdom of the former centuries
You’ve had a lot of schoolin’ and advanced degrees
But have you traveled the world…have you seen the Pyrenees?”
I said, “I can’t claim to know why Eureka left
She rose in the East but she fell for the West
I’m late for class, I’ve got to keep up my G.P.A”

He said, “Gentlemen, I know that your reward in heaven will be great
Don’t forget your circumstance is twisting in the swirling winds of fate”

We all need prophets, son
They don’t hurt anyone
They might die in an unmarked grave
But know that the battle ends before it’s won

He said he saw the glimmer of the Northern Lights
In a pub in Denmark on an icy night
Then his eyes got glassy and his eyes got very bright
He said, “Whatever I’ve got, I know I’ve got tonight”

“Well, I never want to see the sun
Dripping though the shade
And I never want to admit the past is dead
And I never want to hear what you think I should do with my life”

He said, “Gentlemen I know that we prefer to think that our reward is gonna be great
When you move to the house on the hill
It could still slip down into the bay
How do you think you could survive
When all you have
Has gone and died?”

I know the truths you heard
They were uttered word by word
The old man’s world ain’t the same
But you’ve got to struggle with the game
In the face of the realism
To maintain your idealism
After you’ve lost your innocence
You had when you were young

We all need prophet’s son
We all have our favorite one
I don’t want to discourage you
I’m sorry the world don’t encourage you
As long as you’re alive
You have those prophet’s words
You can follow each word you heard
And try to complete
What they’ve begun

A PROPHET’S EPIGRAM

An old prophet’s words
Aren’t the same as those
From one who’s young

SOMEONE OUT THERE FOR ME

It’s warm outside
It’s January
The phone is on the table
I’m on the couch
Waiting for your call
Pondering what you meant
And if I ever wanted you at all
I just hope that you don’t feel
Like I wasted much time thinkin’ about you
I feel sick, it’s true
Maybe I wasn’t the kind of lover you wanted
But I can’t change
And I know

There is someone out there for me
There is someone out there for me

To want the world to love you
Is so unrealistic
You doubt each word
Songs lose meaning
Photos seem empty
And it’s just me
Alone and bored

There is someone out there for me
There is someone out there for me

REMBRANDT’S TOMB

I left my home in Seattle
I waged a new battle
I decided it was more about artifice than art
They snapped photos in the café
Of me by the stained fireplace
And the kids looked at my brain like it was smart
I looked beyond the interviewer’s head
His words coated my mind with dread
And I jumped up from my seat and ran from the room
But I thought of a painting from the 17th century
And my doctorate in philosophy
And I howled for revelation of Rembrandt’s Tomb
There were woven baskets that were worn
The shrill falsetto in the storm
And the stale beer from the prior evening’s jaunt
I look at the cranberry wall
And the painting of the belle at the ball
And I started looking for a new city to haunt
The rock star sat on the red chair
His long, flowing hair
And his out of tune guitar mesmerized the room
I watched from the wings with glee
Felt the throng’s palpable energy
And ensured a spot right there in Rembrandt’s Tomb

A MILLION LOVERS

Two torn tickets and a whiskey disguise
The bright pavement blinds your eyes
Had a million lovers, I was king
Played a million lovers on one string
The music I make is a quick fix
For the girl with the facial ticks
Better love, better love ‘em up fast
‘cause you know the good ones don’t last

MOTIVATION SITUATION # 2

Punch drunk on the tragedies that he prays he can forestall
Everyone has situations in this season of elation
Love the one you’re with and call them the one

He was an Olympian lover with an inexact debt to pay
He goes out every night, he pisses away each day
But if the pain and the pride make you feel OK
This is the first day in the days of all the ardor coup,
Time marches on and on and on and on away

I had a dream that I found it a long time ago
Ream after ream, the book gets written, as you’re smitten
By the appearance of each thing that you can never know

I had a dream, woke up a long time ago
Ream after ream, I every day I write the book
With the story that’s written in your soul

FIRED

You loved every minute
Till they went and fired you
They thanked you for your time
But they wouldn’t rehire you
So you look at all the pictures
You try to make some sense
Of these happy-hours and picnics
That you have experienced

You say, goodbye
I’ve been fired
Goodbye,
I’ve been fired

Oh, well, today’s another day
Just like any other day
You were trying to sleep
But work got in the way

You say, goodbye
I’ve been fired
Goodbye,
I’ve been fired

GOOD DAYS STILL COME

Today I felt smart and moved at a rapid clip
I felt like I was rockin’ and this was part of it
The lunches, the dinners, the studio
The dances with la dames dans la barrio

I felt a renewed sense of faith in humankind
And there are no drugs that have done this to my mind
Feeling so imbued with a kind of resolve
To act with poise and push myself to evolve

LOVELY LADIES

Oh, it’s all about them lovely ladies
Fall in love each night, go love crazy
Ramona, today, was ever so gay
In the wide world, the white bone
Ramona, today you went away
And no longer can we play
So I must say, I feel a bit of dismay
But that’s not all that much
That’s not all that much
I won’t miss you much
Even though for a second things were OK

DRUNKEN BEHAVIOR

So I got trashed on Saturday night
Tried to make myself feel all right
Live fast, die young; make sure you look good
Eat the right foods like a fit person would

So I had a long island ice tea around 3pm
I was teetering and tottering and stammering then
I had some wine, then some beer, then some more wine
At the engagement party I was still feeling fine

But then we went to the bar to hob-nob
And I felt drunk and like a wastrel and a bit of a slob
I crashed some party in the VIP room
I smoked cigarettes and talked about impending gloom

I think I hit on somebody’s wife
I felt kind of sad, because it’s a tough time in life
I talked to some guy who said his house was worth 600 grand
I felt small in my pinstriped suit with my martinis in hand

Through drunken talks about death and fertility
About murder and date rape and human fragility
I whirled around and looked at the bums
No pretty girl would entertain the idea of such scum

But I looked good, I think
Then I think I started some beef
At the after hours party
On some dimly lit Seattle street

I awoke in the morning with a Good Samaritan’s fate
Oh, hell, I can’t seem to get any of it straight
Some angel threw me in a cab while I was flailing my hands
Oh, aspiration is great, it’s great and it’s grand

Oh, I can’t seem to think, I can’t seem to stand
And all I ever wanted was to have a cool band
Man, I’m sorry for everyone who I’ve offended
And I hope whatever animosity I created has now ended

Getting drunk like this makes me feel 16
I never thought I’d be able to be so mean
All the drinking, all the smoking
All the sinking, all the choking

It’s all bad, all bad and I regret it so much
I’ve lost my grip, I’ve lost all touch
I’m tired and it’s Monday and I feel alone
There’s no appetite to indulge, I just need to sleep at home

So, I’ll smoke a cigarette and have a coffee
And feel good that I don’t dwell in the sink of inequity
Because we’re alive even though we kill ourselves
We feel bad and worse and have fading health

I can’t do this no more, can’t do this no more
Can’t do this no more, my spirit is so poor
I no longer believe that it’s good for my soul
To be a meaningless blip on the cosmic screen in Soho

All the art galleries, all the low salaries
Oh, it means nothing to me anymore
I’m ready to leave, to run out that fuckin’ door
And get the hell away from what I always was looking for

THE THOUGHT ON A CAROUSEL

Ramona was insecure, I could tell right away
But I did not think much of her at all
Now, she seems to reappear, she seems quite sprightly
I was not aware that she was so tall

A painting revolved, I did not care
I thought little of her choice to be standing there
With a bracelet and an IPOD and long blonde hair
The vacant portals of a far-off stare

But artists are always flakey, you can count on that
You can count not on a gamble, but a guarantee that they’ll chat
And chat and chat, then go away
And perhaps use their art on another day

Ferris wheels turn, ideas get burned
I make my way into the hall, all alone
I collect old pictures and pictures of artists
Artists who want to just go home

We all think we are unique
We all want to shine on in time
To make a moment ours
To call a piece of artwork, “Mine!”

And we don’t know what to make of acquaintance
No, we don’t know what to make
Nothing has value till it’s taken away
Nothing has value till it’s taken away

So, goodbye, I’ve meditated on our three weeks
For quite a while, it’s kept me from sleep
It’s kept me from being able to work and keep
My ideals above my bed, now they are all in my head

Beyond the vacant office cave
Standing on a hill with a lusterless knave
We paint our pictures; we fall asleep at the wheel
We open our books, we slip on banana peels

I would have liked to talk more about your art
Surely, you must know that I’m smart
Surely, you must know that I’m a genius
Surely, it must radiate with some kind of madness

Oh, these dreams are full and these times are rough
And I just can’t fathom that I wasn’t enough
But until you admit that I am insanely great
You will rattle in my brain and make my job tough

A GIRL FROM RIVERSIDE, A BOY FROM L.A.

3pm
Just finished work
Had school all day and I’m tired
She picks me up
In her Toyota
We hit the rush hour
I feel
Wired

We drive to the Hills
From down in Venice
My parents won’t be home till 6
I always wondered
What it would be like
She doesn’t know I’m inexperienced

She wears black
She rubs my back
And I can see
That I don’t really know
What the hell I’m doing here

She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.
Don’t know why
But I don’t feel innocent
She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.

We both get dressed
Around 5pm
She looks at the Kiss poster on the wall
I can’t describe
What I’m about
I hoped The Bruce Lee poster would explain it all

It’s just June
You’re going to Nebraska
And I’ll be headed to Seattle soon
I don’t think we’ll know each other for long

She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.
Don’t know why
But I don’t feel innocent
She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.

A few weeks past
I guessed that she was older
She dropped me off
She cried a bunch
And I told her
We’re not right
You’re not my type
But I’m glad I knew you

Ten years gone
I get the feeling
That it was just a dalliance
Two people love
Then fall apart
There’s nothing romantic about coincidence

She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.
Don’t know why
But I don’t feel innocent
She’s from Riverside
And I’m from L.A.

ALBUM TITLE: Pretending To Live In A Van
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: August 7th, 2006

SONGS:

1. King Me
2. After All These Years I’ve Seen
3. Stay Strong
4. The Picture & The Party
5. Talking Truth, Saying Nothing
6. There Is A Song For Every Situation
7. Stuck Between Two Coasts
8. Cheapskate
9. Time To Relocate
10. You Can’t Live With Me
11. Billy Arrives In Seattle After Being In LA
12. Fourth Of July At The Pier
13. Annie In My Arms
14. Mary Wore White At Night
15. In Between The Reality And The Dream
16. June (Life Imitates Art)
17. The Miraculous
18. Mess
19. Looking For A Past That Never Was
20. Suzy Free

KING ME
You know I’ve had it with the shortcuts
It always seems they get the best of me
Boston’s a lonely place for you and me
I guess I was naïve thinking
There was a shortcut to eternity
I think I have the right
To feel like a decent human being
But everyone keeps telling me

You’re never gonna be rich
You’re never gonna go gold
You’re never gonna beat the clock
You’ll never attain your goals
You’re heart is made of glass
We all see you’ve gotten so low
And at the end of your life
You’ll see you really don’t know
You’re heart is chasing passion
That you’re body will never, ever know
And at the end of your life
Next week or in your Ebenezer rocking chair
You’ll wonder why you ever thought
Life was a romantic affair
When I feel it’s a lonely place to be
Is being the Queen as lonely as it seems?
I’m not gonna stop
Until they King Me

You know I’ve had it with the chess game
I’ve had it with feeling like a pawn again
Someone’s always got better strategy
Bishops and knights get the best of common men
I see you piling up your pawns
Boston’s a tough place for me to be
I see them mowing your lawns
You’re sitting just where I would like to be
But I have a decent plan
If you can, you can take the better hand
And I’ll knock over the chess board
Whoever decided that the playing field
Had to be checkered black and white?

Call me idle, call me a gangster, call me a charlatan
Tell me my ideas are paper and pawn thin
But I’m the kind of guy
Who keeps popping up again
At the golf course
And your son’s wedding, to your chagrin
And I think I have the right
To feel like a decent human being

You’re never gonna be rich, you never gonna be poor
And if you ever get ill, you’ll never find the cure
You’re never gonna stop, you’re never gonna go
You’re never gonna fly, you’re never gonna grow
Your heart is made of glass, you’re gathering the snow
Your mind is finding reasons that you’re body will never, ever know
I’ve been down before

I’m a great person
And it is my understanding
That you have no idea what will become of me
So why should I listen to you?
And all the things you think I’ll never do?

I’m never gonna lay down, I’m never gonna give up
I’m never gonna sit back, I’m never gonna act too tough
I’m always gonna write, I’m always gonna fight
I’m always gonna rage against the dying of the light
And in the moments when I see the flickering, fading spark
I’m never, never, never, never, never, ever
Gonna do what I don’t think is right

I’m twisting in the wind again

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I’VE SEEN

So now I’m drifting into half-life
Tripping over tables in the corner of the café
And you see, it’s just delivery, it’s all about me
I’m down with the MC

So now I’m tripping into midlife
Slippin’ on the carpet and the promises of champagne
And you see, it’s not what you be, the blame is on me
Because I’m down with the MC

I’m reelin’ in the years, I’m betting on tomorrow
Don’t care about being rich, as long as I have Mojo
The critics sharpen their wit, they’re gatherin’ in Soho
My heart is thumpin’ louder
My face is whiter than the New York snow
But it’s miraculous to me
After all these years I’ve seen

STAY STRONG

Jack works at the Pike Place market
He’s awkward about who he’s supposed to be
He’s not the kind who talks loud
And acts proud
In familiar company
Why does Jane always scold him?
She is cold to him
She looks the other way
He watches her as she walks away
With another guy
And he says, “Someday”
Alexandra she is easy
She makes new friends with no problem at all
When she’s at work she’s playing
When she’s playing she’s flying until she falls
People cut her off when she talks
It’s like scratching her name in the sand
The best poets steal
The limp get academic
And the raw ones up and start themselves a band
All the cools boys on the avenue
They present their tale a different way
It’s all about presentation
But if all the truths in the world were a farce
And the portraits of success that you stare at
As you walk through the park
Were illusions
I’d say, “Stay Strong”

THE PICTURE & THE PARTY

I saw a picture of you last Tuesday
It was on my friend’s dresser
I tried not to notice, but my blood raced
And I remembered how I’d felt

I said I’d be rich and vanquish
And color all the day
And you’d come running to my door
Like you did before God pulled you the other way

I’d have a party at my house
The who’s-who
Flip the toggle-switch
The gross-nouveax
The nouveax-riche
And you would come
But you’re a louse

It would never work
You would have known you wanted me back then
I’m no different now
It would never work
And the fact that I’m even pondering it
Makes me feel like a jerk

TALKING TRUTH, SAYING NOTHING

Old heaven ogles oligarchies and omens of Onan
Other-worldly wanderers wrecked the wall with a wave of a wand
Fortified, fickle fire-breathers fall face-forward with each folly
Educated, erudite eraser-headed elders eat elk as evidence of the ersatz
The burlesque, bombastic, buoyed baller swings the baseball bat
Xenophane goes “X” then “O” then gets the X-rated, to be exact
The pungent, pubescent pontiff gets plutonium then punishes the pack
The gore in Georgia gets caught in the gargantuan gap
Virulent, vivacious, and vitriolic vandals have vendettas to tap
The holy and the hellish haunt handily and do the hand-slap
The indignant, indifferent, and insatiable do the inverted skit-skat
Jovial, jolly, and jocular: that’s how we judge jingoistic Jack
It was kinky and Kinko-d when the kid photo-copied the Kit-Kat
Carl gets hot by the cakes at the clambakes when he castrates chicken
The oracular over-man overtly occupies the omnipresent age-gap
Quizzically, the queer quotient goes quirkily to the left quadrant of the map
Rotting racists routinely rock harder to the metal rhythms than to the beats of rap
Ulysses was unkempt and uncovered by the underachieving uncle trap
The youthful yeoman yearns for the unusually yellow yard
Zed rolls the Zig-Zags, does the Zen spirituals, and zips off to Zimbabwe

THERE IS A SONG FOR EVERY SITUATION

There you go, taxing the wishbone again
I want to spill, like the almanac of poor Benjamin
The Keebler Sessions were a romantic idea for the ego
I pull a line from a song or I trash the liner notes

The Bedhead Sessions are wrapping up
We do the dance, nowhere to go but up
Visions and revisions of romantic stuff
Is this all there is? Doing this dance is enough?

There is a song for every situation
There is a song for every situation

Words can’t cover it, Seneca’s suggestion
To crush authority, to complete the circle of circumspection
To release the fury, to find some crisis questions
That allow the brain to supply the tongue with a definition

For a small piece of the American Dream
Or Barcelona or Lollipops or French cream
Another side of this bus is all you can see
Taxing the wishbone, again, to be happy

There is a song for every situation
There is a song for every situation

STUCK BETWEEN TWO COASTS

I want to live like the poor are living
Like the folks out in the ash heap,
Like in Good Will Hunting
Like working class folks,
Like the blue collar living,
Maybe scratching at the middle class
I want to live like they live near the factories
I’ve got to hide from what I am
I’ve got to find a place to fly my flag
Where I come from it’s too laid back
I want to sail my ship into the black
Each place has a different pace
Each has a different set of values
I want to live at the point of connection between all communities
I want to inhabit the valley of ashes between you and me
There are thousand of miles between you and me

CHEAPSKATE

I don’t like your patronage
Does that make me a cheapskate?
If you don’t have the money to cover the bill
Are you a cheapskate?
If you didn’t earn the money to bring to the bash
Are you a cheapskate?
If you never feel like going outside
And your bedroom is a comfortable place to hide
Are you a cheapskate?
We all want to do what’s right
Even the cheapskates

TIME TO RELOCATE

What do I have that can’t be relocated?
Packed in a box and moved away
Friends, family, and loved ones
We’ll stay in touch if it’s worth it, ultimately

Can I live with you? I need things to do
If I move faster, I soon will matter
We’ll watch a softball game at the park,
I’m OK with them shutting the lights off after dark

Want to escape the many memories
From the hometown that bore me

It’s so easy-going on the West coast
The rock club scene is so laid back
Hangin’ round with all the music folks
We’ll get coffee and hit the video store

Red walls of a rock n’ roll club
Climax at the Long Beach hotel
Watching paint dry in the housing developments of the suburbs
Drives the porno queens into the big city to dwell

Want to escape the many memories
From the hometown that bore me

‘Cause with everything in your life that has value
The value must be stripped away
Attach a new kind of meaning
And package it in a brand new way

Want to escape the many memories
From the hometown that bore me

I’m booking my flight
I’m making my travel plans
Make you feel so well
Oh, well

YOU CAN’T LIVE WITH ME

You are something I can never be,
You’ve been blessed with a certain pedigree
We weren’t cut from the same cloth,
We aren’t of the same mold
You write the checks
I’ll drink the old gold
But if you want to do what’s right
And make it easier on both of us
Don’t come out to Seattle

Look deep within yourself
Look at the hand that you’ve been dealt
You’ve got the degree and the bonne idée
That the stress is less in the land of the Northwest
You’re not like us, you never will be
What a beautiful city, everyone’s so polite
You’ll never be anybody else
And you got to accept that it will follow you
Don’t come out to Seattle

You’re trying to get away from your family
But I know they won’t think much of me
You should head back to where you belong
You’re not like us, you never will be
And these folks don’t need your patronage
Camping with me, making your plea
Good times came and went
And I appreciate your sentiment
But don’t come out to Seattle

You’ll never be who you ultimately need to be
Hangin’ around with Seattlites like me

BILLY ARRIVES IN SEATTLE AFTER BEING IN LA

Damn the Blockbuster marquee

The town is full
Of plastic facades
The coffee shop has
Replaced the liquor store

Queen Angeles fell
Under Californian rule
Do you think it’s too late
To buy cheaper fuel?

This town changed

You say I’m sentimental,
Well, I just got back home from LA
Does it make sense to celebrate
The old Queen Anne way?

For some reason I’m feeling
Nostalgic for the pharmacy
The drag has turned into
A long string of boutiques

This town changed

I used to know what I wanted to be
But you were always there for me
In your arms in the apartment
Is the only place I can call home

I get a feeling, so deep,
When I look in your eyes
We’re sad at what we become
When our hometown dies

This town changed

You are the only thing left
That resembles a home, I guess
I don’t want them to ever change you
You were always there for me, it’s true

It sucks to know I can’t afford a house
On the street where I grew up
Construction crews start
To rip the buildings apart

Let’s kiss on the stairs in a blissful repose
And who cares if the world ever knows
Our souls will live on together, always a bond
After this town gets overhauled, our love will live on

This town changed

THE FOURTH OF JULY ON THE PIER

The fourth of July fireworks light up the trees
The cool wind blows but it’s now 80 degrees
Down by the pier all the sailors head out to the Sound
I meet Annie, the mystic – she likes to get down

We hear the ferry boat’s sharp whistle
We hear them partying at the Owl n’ Thistle

Let’s hop a ferry and watch the fireworks blow!

She’s just arrived from her walk through Discovery Park
She’s come to meet her lover and do what lovers do after dark
She goes to the ballgame; she eats down in old Chinatown
She watches music in Pioneer Square where rock rhythms pound

She knows the boys from the burbs
Whistle at the hoochies on the curbs

Oh, and we watch the scene, the pier lights are shinin’
We should love each other tonight, everything feels right
There’s no other lookout on earth I’d ever want to be
Tomorrow I might have to go, so please hold on to me

The grunge boys, they to smoke in the park in their clubs
With mesh hats and cigarettes and pale skins, eating subs
I’m tired of this place though I love it so much, faults and all
These boys will chase the girls till they go to the UW in the fall

They might meet heat in the bedroom, lights down low
Or maybe in the back of the Blazer, you never know
Babysitters head down to the Seattle Center to smoke dope
They all have stories to tell, got to keep it from the folks

You see the fireworks blow, you feel the blast!
You’re rollin’ down the counterbalance so fast

You can’t stop this car from ‘trolling,
This train from rolling through the past

ANNIE IN MY ARMS AT THE PIER

Oh, Annie
I have you in my arms
And the water lights shine
As we walk by the pier
And your father thinks
It’s too late for you to be out here
But Queen Anne is near
And there’s no other voice on earth
I’d want to hear

Oh, the angels from school
Don’t fly around here anymore
Their halos don’t shine like these fireworks do
Now that it’s July
And you have a tear in your heathen eye
You look for the angel to come down I-5
Or maybe pull into the pier
Down from the north
To take you for a ride

The angels are all going back to heaven
They smiled on us when we were young
When we thought the pier, the Seattle Center,
And the Pioneer Square scene was fun
Well, the angels aren’t in any seedy drags
Or in the soulless plastic spread that thrives
No, the angels left us when we got old
But left us with a hand to hold

On the July nights sometimes it stays cold
Sometimes the city feels cleaner now, truth be told
And the dives and decadent have been driven out
We’ll take the bus downtown to see what it’s about
Past the rock clubs
Past the underground tour
I’ll buy you some flowers at the market
I know folks who work down there, you know
And we’ll see what it was
We ever thought this city had, anyways

Maybe this town don’t got it
But you got it
I know you got it
And I got you
And these moments are few

You sure got it
So don’t let the world take it from you

MARY WORE WHITE AT NIGHT

You grew up on a tree-lined street
Like Central Park placed on a Seattle circle
You scribbled a plan when you visited Long Island
You crafted your culture in pacific silence

Mary wore white on a Queen Anne night
You stood at the lookout point and cried all night
You snuck out from your father’s window
It was cold and on down came the snow

Mary wore white on a Queen Anne night
She left again and you saw the light
Walking tall by the sycamore trees
Jewel box in the top of the key

We’ll write our script and we’ll chase our past
We’ll walk with dancers in the moonlight mash
We’ll hit the bar; we’ll hit the library
We’ll drink brown bottles; we’ll embellish the story

Seattle is a fertile breast of land, my friend
Been around the world and it brings me back again and again

IN BETWEEN THE REALITY AND THE DREAM

Rode the bus past the gated house
Mind mulled over the list of fancy touts
You think your day should be so much more
But what do you really have in store?

At this point in the morning,
People ponder what is gone forever
Some like their Indie Rock
Some read the New York Times

Ride the bus and hope
Some passion will be discovered
Wait till your ship comes in
Hit the day job, get the sinking feeling

You occupy the space between
The reality and the dream

JUNE (LIFE IMITATES ART)

June will follow the moon
The twins are separated now
One mind will be in summer
The other in winter
July will come and follow suit
We have no treasure or no loot
I can’t eat in the same restaurants
I don’t get excited when I see that pretty girl
Memories don’t seem so valuable
There seems to be nothing worth much in this world

Some days I feel like a king
When life imitates art

One day I feel great
The next I feel like crap
There’s no logic to it
But some days, yes some days I feel like a king
I feel so down and I don’t know why
I’ve lived a safe life and I rarely try
To push the envelope
To push out from the dark
We have a classic example of life imitating art

Some days I feel like a king
When life imitates art

THE MIRACULOUS

Obadiah was the one
Who thought he could battle the sun
In a Moscow café we first met
I knew there was something I couldn’t regret
And he spoke in words I’d never heard
It felt absurd
But I knew it was miraculous

I’d returned from the East
I’d left plans of becoming a Roman Catholic priest
And in the fog beneath a crown of rock
I wanted nothing but my worn-out frock
And I saw things the way I’d always wanted to
And not a soul knew
But I knew it was miraculous

MESS

The brilliant poet Dylan Thomas was a mess
But that’s the way it goes, I guess
A certain kind of beautiful girl
Across the bus, with eyes of pearl
She never will be mine, at all
She’s just a photo on the wall
She’s just a fleeting kind of dream
She’s just an animal, it seems
My fertile imagination has been raped
The trees sapped and the soil scraped
Now it’s a devastated wasteland
It once was such a verdurous place
It once comprehended grace
Now it sees only animals
Now it only remembers images, not whole ideas
It is a shame that we mix our practical concerns
With our earthly desires

LOOKING FOR A PAST THAT NEVER WAS

We played pool all night
We talked about the old times
We sat by the fire light
We almost cried, we almost hugged
Talking about a past that never was

The critics write and make some sense
Of the meaning of all the current events
They look for a time of innocence
Before the TV screen was filled with fuzz
But they write about a past that never was

So, I sit here dreaming and lying awake
Praying I’ve got a few more decades to live
But it’s hard not to feel I’ve been compromised
By the attrition of time, I feel the butterflies
From the loss of the youthful, warm-bath buzz
Thank God for the past that never was

Otherwise the present would seem hopeless
Thank God for the future that can never be
Let’s talk and talk about what was lost
What transpired, what could never get across
And about all the times we lied, just because
We thank God for the past that never was

SUZY FREE

Suzy free said to me
There’s only one thing she wants to be
That’s a celebrity, it’s plain to see
The world is your oyster, eventually
She carries that cross,
She sucks up to the boss,
She idolizes the ones who seem to be free
They seem so wise,
They wink their eyes,
They realize their potential inside the TV

Suzy, don’t fall for the snake-oil sale
Those celebrities may be beautiful,
But they have nothing over you and me
And our plot of land on this dead-end street
Do they have what we had at the lake?
You’ve seen the golden sun on the California beach
Does it seem out of your reach?
Do you like the sun? Do you tan easily?
Don’t let those celebs deceive you and me

Suzy, you’re never late for the party
But you’re always rude to the hosts
You broke their coffee table, you interrupted the toasts
It was a family heirloom in the den
You got way too drunk this past weekend
And you can’t remember your fast new friends
But please stop to think, as your eyes start to blink,
While you wash your clothes in the kitchen sink
About all the things you have that you love dearly
All the things which are only available to you and me
On our plot of land on this dead-end street
Suzy, please, don’t believe
That celebrity will allow you to be free

ALBUM TITLE: Something About Apartments
RELEASE DATE: July 7th, 2006

1. Still Life
2. Lament For Lucienne
3. Gorgeous Gifts
4. No Sense In Complaining
5. The Couch, The Kitchen, The TV, The Yard
6. Buckets
7. The Story Of A Boy From Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
8. The Calm Of Heaven
9. Wistful Wanda On The Violin
10. Stoned Aces In Peculiar Places
11. Something About Apartments

STILL LIFE

The crickets were a-chirping on the lake outside my room. I saw an escape clause in the contract with my subconscious, so I awoke a bit too soon. I was startled by how lively I felt after such a desperate dream. Familiar shirts strewn upon the floor, all darkened corners could now be seen. I threw on a shirt and felt quite spry. I did a spin on a concrete divide. Like Gene Kelly I welcomed the rain. My eyes were open wide. I saw a newborn baby, a lady, a bird, and the greenest park.
I felt the glare from the sun on the rain-drenched streets and in each stranger I felt a spark.

I stopped into see my doctor and I asked him about my health. I said wouldn’t it be great if I could stay away from you and just be allowed to judge well-being by myself? Away from those nightmarish seas where I’m drowning in cold sweats. He said I think it would be dull on dry land if you never got wet.

Heaven’s right here. Can’t you see it, dear? But it’s not a painting, it’s a story told by narrator you can’t know.

So I left the sterile office, feeling like I’d been duped. Why did I pay good money just to have my hopes rebuked? I’ll cry and cry and won’t know why and I don’t think it will help. But this helpless feeling translates well when I make a record of myself. So don’t worry, be grateful, for all that you’ve been given. You’ll cry all night and won’t feel right but your spirit it has risen.

I always wanted a girl like you who wore emotions on her sleeve but sometimes I see myself as a dying tree with the emotion of brown leaves. It’s a problem, it’s a problem and I hope one day we fix and make it null. These geometric shapes of love must be divisible. As the human race just multiplies and the doctors try to make it math I think that we will kiss each other and feel the euphoria of it all.

Position your perfect pear. Your paint will capture it there by the rickety chair. The story will be told by the narrator you can’t know.

LAMENT FOR LUCIENNE

Lucienne, are you still residing in your manor on Queen Anne? I sensed there was a lot of gloom inside but I only set foot inside one time. Your sister was partying with some unfriendly friends of hers. I think I learned how to be unkind from those icons I encountered. Their words are still with you now, as play with the tetherball by the playground. You remember arguments about absolutes. You stand solid like one of those statues that the pigeons surround.

Lucienne, your sad, sad eyes made me write fifteen pages. Something about the way your tears splashed like a cymbals made me key into the wisdom of the ages. To call this a love affair is to make much of nothing, but I slept in your bed, I guess, and people told me to keep trying. Your sister was always asking for someone to take care of you. You wept as you looked out the window and I was pleased that you could feel just as bad as I do.

I don’t spend much time thinking about what kind of cataclysm we could have created. Yet, tonight I see the emotion runs deep, as that Ben Folds song plays, even though we barely dated. But don’t ever forget me, Lucienne, and our brief, brilliant idea about how to live. Because sometimes the one’s who can’t connect have the most love to give.

GORGEOUS GIFTS

I have lost myself a great many times. I speak the language and hope it rhymes. The days, the hours, the nights go by and I wipe a tear from a blinded eye. We disguise and cloak the truth about gifts. We mistake the innumerable champagne fits. We think that life at its best is life sublime. We underestimate the severity of the climb.

Dark pathways into empty taverns. Crowded but desolate in empty patterns. I want to let everyone know that I loved! I loved so much and so deeply. Here’s the proof: I loved phone conversations in preteens. I loved movies. I loved freshly cut grass. I loved girls and girls and that’s basically the only reason for living: girls. I loved food and faith and report cards. I loved the search for meaning in all experience. I loved the bond with others. Those meanings are still so strong. Each city is beautiful, each palm sublime. Each drop of water a symbol of something divine. I do not know what the snake oil salesman draws on for inspiration, but we all have to draw on something. No matter what, we have an innate ability to breathe meaning into experience.

And I have loved. It’s all about the girls. Even as one grows old and you can no longer feel the emotion in your body, your brain remembers the loyalty. The strength of the loyalty, the way the ideal burned brightly in your youth. The night, the star, shone across 5 continents. The beacon, the banner, the flames in the cold night. The name of each star-crossed lover.

Alone in a simple home. I stand alone with the moonlight on my deck and I look at the gleaming team in the busy street; the buildings, the stately homes with chandeliers, the symbol of the white, safe from the wet, garnished by the raindrops. These couples, these symbols of perfection. Oh, god, why am I possessed with such a moribund predilection for these resurrections?

Oh, the kitchen, the dining room, the coq au vin. The raindrops, the night shirts, the softest hands. The shiny knives, the pizza, the burritos, the forks. The placemats, the napkins, the antique chair. The gorgeous gifts are everywhere.

NO SENSE IN COMPLAINING

So I’ll write in a little journal about how the day was so shitty and I’ll write it in scribbles cuz I can rarely write neatly. I’ll plan out all my moves and I’ll imagine all my grooves each night before I slip into bed. I will curse the sun in the morning because my headache came without warning and I’ll wish that I could sleep in instead.

And each day I do the work. I struggle for comprehension. Nothing makes sense. Everything contradicts everything else. The heroes are fakes that make mistake after mistake. Didn’t we always know that, any how?

I mean who’s running this company? Who’s running this country? Who’s running this world, I can’t say. I have faith in the burning bush. It might lead me the right way. Abraham killed a son. God confused him, and in the end, like always, God, of course, won.

I was talking to a vixen in a coffee shop in Seattle. The bookshelf stood stark behind us as we listened to Chopin’s crescendo. The conversation quickly became a dream when it ended. I hoped each word she spoke would be the sophisticated kind. Not the kind that turns me off or puts a jealousy in my mind. As I talked to her in depth I thought only of what we would do when we left. She talked and talked about God and I focused on the power of breath. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how she had such an unfortunate last name. Every time you try to pronounce it,
you do it wrong and take the blame. Her mouth moved fast. Her eyes were bright. She spoke in passionate waves. But my thoughts were drifting, quietly lifting me above this haze.

Snap!! She caught me escaping and she felt so damn offended. I wasn’t listening to her manifesto. I wasn’t hearing what she said or how the story ended. So, this led me to the conclusion that no one can ever really love. We think we’ve found the reason for what was sent from up above, but ultimately, we’re alone. Trying to fall asleep. Trying to get away from all those fears that quietly creep. They find you in bar room. They find you on the stage. They find you when you’re hiking. They find you at Thanksgiving. They haunt you at reunions. They slap you at the bus stop. They crash the poker party. They surround you at your job. Your cubicle can’t contain them, so you rush off to go home. But these fears catch you on the highway and they follow you when you’re alone. So find some unsuspecting lover to keep you from yourself. These are the days when we can try to be unified, in sickness and health. You throw those things on the scale: Companionship versus Contempt, and you wonder if the machine is accurate…if your money was well spent.

I think that my coffee companion will be leaving soon. I’ll remember her favorite song. I’ll remember the way she operated the spoon: two spoonfuls – stir, two spoonfuls – stir. I wanted to do the spoon. I wanted to sleep in until noon. She didn’t measure up to the ideal. It’s a feeling we’ve all had before. When she leaves, I will not cry… at least not about her.

II.

I wish that I could give you the things you think you need. I think maybe you should think about working on the way you’re thinking. I would send you to a doctor, but I can’t believe that the doctor understands your brain better than you do. Maybe you can use some philosophy to fix this malady. Maybe Socrates would shed some light if you read his words as closely as you did last May. Your friend died in December. You blacked out in January. Put some chump in the hospital when you vacationed in Belize. Those fears are coming back again. They’re gonna take you out, my friend. Knock you blindsided like you knocked that innocent vacationer. The only way to fight these fears is to tell them to fuck off. You can shout this out in a traffic jam. They’re part of you but they don’t listen and they don’t speak your language.

So I’ll compose another Sonnet for the album of the month. I could churn one out day after day
and I might will my way out of this slump. Because all that I would be feelin’ would be starin’ at me from the page and I would feel like friends who get lost and anonymous in Europe, free from the judgment and the praise. Far away from home you can go crazy. Doctor, won’t you agree?! There are no words to describe the sound of unending misery. That sound’s a distant bullhorn. That alarm’s a distant dream. People will throw pellets of poison at ya and you will respond and seem to understand that nobody’s alone. They all feel this way, too. You feel alone and strange and ugly. Others do, too. You ponder this as you smoke pot and turn up Miserlou.

III.

If we happen to die tomorrow within five blocks of this coffee shop and these strange, abortive sorrows get lost when coroner comes and our legacy has little to put us above the bums who haunt the streets and haunt the souls of our safe little communities, well, that’s our fate, I guess and we can’t control it now. When your dreams from childhood are dashed and your flying high times they crash and you reduce all joy in life to a science and you strip yourself of all emotion so you can finally handle devotion and not be a flighty bird in a silly zoo, the jungle wouldn’t suit you. Too many monkeys, not enough lions. No, this is your fate and this is mine. No sense in trying to define. You’re the only one who knows what’s going on in your brain. The drugstore, the coffee, the sugar-free Salad days. Oh, they are behind you now.

I would say it’s good enough to have each other, but you say, “So many people have never loved! Toddlers die of cancer. Teenagers get in car wrecks and virgins OD in college dorm rooms,
appropriately and tragically alone.” This is all very true. I think Blake surely knew that love is an idea, not a thing. Procreation, adulation, flirtation, copulation. These are scientific exchanges of soul. I can’t define the sun, but one truth I can extol, and that the life you live is no one’s but your own.

So, honey cancer didn’t catch ya and I the car wrecks didn’t wreck ya and I certainly know that you aren’t a virgin. So, let’s go and buy some ice cream. You can tell me about your bad dreams. We can go for a long jog when dessert is done and we can talk of why we’re working out when we just drank a bottle of wine and it will never ever, ever, ever make sense.

We can cast off all responsibility. God, long ago, took most things from me. So now we’re coasting seaward towards the waves. I’ll hold your hands so tightly and I’ll say “I love you” nightly and I’ll never, ever, ever let you go away. You say never doesn’t exist and all good intentions stray but we can fight this with our convictions and our faith. I don’t know what these words mean to you
and I’m not sure if I tell the truth but tonight it they have meaning than any other sound. The February rain hits the ground. You should savor these words for as long as you can. Any sense of permanence, please feel it in my hands. My actions, like a commander in chief, my emotions, like a thespian. I’m elected for this office and it’s quite a weighty job. I said my piece and you understood that times would be tough. If there is anything I’m capable of, it’s a passionate, tempestuous relationship with the idea of love. You know, ‘cause we’ve already talked about all this stuff. I just hope I am enough.

THE COUCH, THE KITCHEN, THE TV, THE YARD

So I saw you at the drugstore. You were looking so lovely. You had on your new clothes from your trip to London. Your face looked a bit tired. I still could trace your beauty and I knew that you felt nothing for me. Oh, sometimes I feel like the guy who had everything and then threw it all away. Still, other times I feel like I’ve been deprived all my life and didn’t have anything in the first place. A number of my drinking buddies agree.

I fell down to my knees and I spilled my guts out to you. I got my face close to the floor. I told you about how I love you because you’re sweet but I’d like it if you were a whore. Well, when you tried to be a whore you seemed like quite a bore. So, I’ll have to call it just a fantasy and we won’t have that dialogue anymore.

So you stay up at night, watch cheap cable movies. You watch make-believe tales that you want to use to create meaning. But it always feels so hopeless, such a let down. You’re moping. You get up from the couch and you wander about. Maybe smoke a cigarette. Walk around the neighborhood and look for some evidence of a supreme being and a reason for happiness. You need it to bring you through. You are high from the nicotine. It keeps you from falling asleep, it seems. And your head is full of nothing, full of nothing. Well, isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that why you smoke those things?

You listened to an album by a visionary poet. The rags have named him Chairman of the Board
but he’s only 22, so much younger than you and it seems he has seen things in a way you’ll never see. What is this life that alludes you as you walk through the neighborhood smoking somebody else’s cigarettes, using someone else’s lighter? Is it the bar in Tahiti? Is it a vacation to Fiji?
Is it the car you cruise along the viaduct that makes you feel inadequate? Impossible – because long ago you cast away all superficiality. Things like that shouldn’t ever weigh you down.

Maybe it is some sweet lovemaking, some sexual forsaking, that leads you into the middle of the intersection but doesn’t provide you with a proper sense of direction. You were never good with geography, never good with trigonometry, but always good with words, always good with words.

Maybe it’s Vegas. Maybe it’s Paris. Do you have any money to make that green freedom a reality?
Go party until the day escapes you. If your family feels forgotten, you’ll be able to console them. Each minute passes quickly. Each quicker than before. The distance to your dreams becomes longer and you wonder if you’ll know what to do if you ever land on those distant shores.

BUCKETS

So you blew me off again and I quoted Macbeth to see what that would do. I struggled for each line. My memory can’t do what it used to. Talent wasted on the hazards of early success: wealth, brawling, babes, and booze. I always wished I could quote the right verse when life dealt me a tragic hand and it couldn’t get worse but it’s not over till they roll out the hearse. Now you are older and on in your years and your therapist counsels you to confront all your fears. The anxious start aching, till out rain the tears. Reign it all it in and fill up the buckets.

Well, you watch the movies because you want to get transported to a place where man dictates the actions of the world. Oh, you feel so dumb. You are slipping, slipping, slipping, slipping away. Oh, brain damage is a bitch. You haven’t been quite the same but you’re now such a beautiful witch!!! Oh, and how smart you can be.

Still, you know that life’s a futile play where the actors fade away and no one really cares how it ends anyways. You carve nuggets of wisdom into your desk that each suggest that it’s not worth the fret and that logic will save you in case you get wet. Wet with the storms, wet with the blood, wet from carrying buckets that you discarded in the mud. No, it’s insane to fight the reality that you’re limited in time and years. As Seneca said, “Why cry over the parts of life when the whole of it deserves tears?”

THE STORY OF A BOY FROM BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

The pimps and the hustlers cackle in the gray streets of Brooklyn. The Seattle mother weeps as she reads an erotic book when her Texan lover flies to the strip club in Houston. I stare at the blood in the sink. It took a decade to get to the place where I felt like I could pay all my bills and still load the deck with compelling reasons to push for a better sunset, under some other sky, on some other soil, and I’m wondering if it was worth the toil.

II.

My mother left when I was two years old and left me with my great aunt and uncle, who raised me in the country with a scythe and a sickle and each time I asked of my city roots they bathed me in a bristling story that I could not understand. Now I’ve learned to be guarded when I found I was abandoned and nobody else can know how it feels and I can’t tell them. The key to happiness is to cease to be so hopeful, then you won’t be so let down when your world comes crashing to the ground.

III.

I guess that’s where our story starts, in the small town of Bethlehem, under Pennsylvania skies, my uncle crunched the numbers for the steel men. He was an accountant all week and wrote poetry in the evenings and on weekends. He also spent that time crafting wooden birds, you should’ve seen them! I loved them up until the age of ten. All my teachers made me feel good, but I was looking for something better. Now my memory is full of forgotten letters. The A & the F and I could always be more of a go-getter. What would the structure of my memory be without the report card? Well, I guess it wouldn’t have tried so hard.

The small town culture held nothing for me, so I judged I should get out when I got into my teens. Maybe become a boxer, maybe become an actor, just get somewhere where I can be seen. At 15 I had a girlfriend. I fell prostrate to her silver lining and her straight shot to heaven’s gates. I still recall the mystery behind each date, where we held each other’s scrawny hands in the moonlight. I imagine we were quite a sight.

Each story has an arc and I arched my back and left. I sprinted to New York City where I thought the angels slept. Existing somewhere within a pugilistic, beefcake kind of dream I felt so hungry for something to eat. Oh, MTV, VH1, ETV – bullshit. This is not the medium for happiness. It makes me feel so bitter. I thought that I could hang there. I thought I was a star. I thought I’d make it so far. But now I’m stuck with the blues and an out-of-tune guitar. Damn straight.

IV.

I opened up my eyes. It was in a cold apartment. The blinds had been drawn and I knew I was not alone. My heart was beating fast. There was a pipe on the table and a chef with a needle and a spoon. The guitar is still out of tune. It was her – was it my teenage love? – no, it was another, it was a lanky German TV star. Above my bed she hovered. I said, “What’s wrong with me? Can I change this?” She said, “You can’t…it’s pointless to try.”

“But I love you anyway and I love that fact that we can hold each other and cry in this anonymous town, where no one’s gonna care when we pass away, drift away, slip away.” She wasn’t angry, she was overcome by the sadness and the grief. Still she was staid, so demure, and it must have been a relief for a girl as young as her to have a strong belief that you do best when you accept your fate. We hugged and kissed as Bethlehem faded away.

So now I’m washing my hands. There are cuts on my forehead. I’m alone the studio, as the crows whip their wings outside. A million birds fly and they have sense of geography. They don’t analyze it, they don’t see much periphery. They focus straight ahead and don’t get bogged down by divinity and humility. They just push forward, in formation, towards an uncertain destiny. What was it that you said right before you ran away from me? Was it about Seattle, was it about Houston, was it about New York, was it about Bethlehem? My memory of location is foggy…but my memory of words is crystal clear and elephantine.

You said, “We’ve spent our whole lives trying to figure out the mystery.” You said you didn’t care that there was never enough. The chase was what made it worthwhile. You were pondering your place in the universe. You said, “It’s inevitably lonely.” You said, “It just gets worse and worse until the worse of all befalls me. But the big bash is approaching so let’s wear our cocktail attire. We can dance our little lives out on the tightrope thin wire. We all have our own story, we all have our own mire, so let’s get the thing that we all desire. I think one little lifetime is enough.”

VI.

That’s my story. That’s my fiction. All these characters spread fast throughout the country. They disappear into America. I just relate the tale. The book continues. We’re not sure how it ends. The older I get, the more I realize that the story depends on Bethlehem, New York, school, apartments, on lost love, on those choices, oh yeah. We’re like those birds, moving without knowing and not even sure where we’re going, even though we have a sense of the right direction. The closest we came to heaven might have been somewhere near the beginning. We place too much value on winning. The loss defines the story. The end creates the beauty. If you planned on something special, God will call your bluff. I think one little lifetime is enough.

THE CALM OF HEAVEN

I’ve become complacent, full of apathy. Sitting on the deck at my lover’s apartment. Staring at the dogs as they walk through the courtyard, the longest walk, and they settle. I think of my receding memory. I look out upon the large lake and wonder if this is the place I was destined to spend the final hours. Destiny has replaced heaven. The holy calm of heaven is now a faint whisper, a hush. Jesus suffered just as I do and he had the brains to overcome his pain. I think I did, once. But now, this is it, it has come to this. My memory fades, my passion fades, my will to live fades, and I am left with nothing but a vessel. I see the coffee, the whip cream, the fruit, the pastries, and I know that these things cause pain. No more sins, only virtue from here on out.

My lover says that I think too much about death. I say, “Webster did, why can’t I?” She laughs, then the smile disappears, and I think that she is hiding tears. I tell her that the sun does not offer me the comfort that it offers her. Balmy sun, beautiful dusk, the palm at the end of the beach. I can’t see these things. My solace is only is the moment. I have denied myself all joy. My logic is inescapable, I tell her. The rain, the snow, they all lead us to an unyielding reality: that grieving is worthless and that being attached to anything in life, including life itself, is worthless. So then, what is the point? Elation, frustration, motivation, incantation? All these beautiful repetitions, these undulations that define our days. I can’t believe in heaven, but I can believe in these.

The Greek Gods have unrealistic beginnings. No birth, no diapers, no health scares. Large hands, large ideas, large motions that move mountains and wrinkle the history of man with mythic and perfunctory exactitude. Those Gods have doomed us. The ability to conceive of a God. And the ability for this reproachable thought to continuously come up at cocktail parties, at graduations, at funerals. No, God has no grand plan. If he does, see it in the star, see it in the sea, see it in the sun, see it in the rock, in the balance of the face of a beautiful girl. Paradise cannot be found, but we keep searching. The friendly forest turns hostile; the resplendent meal turns to cold wine, then cheap chardonnay. Glory, love, and honor glide into our lives and inspire us to greatness, then fall downward to the blackness.

My lover says, “I sea the beauty in your face. That is why I love you. You put the ugliness of the world to the test.” I can’t bear to answer to this, and I point to the dogs in the courtyard and the birds on the top of the apartment complex. “These birds push and soar, and they confirm our belief in greatness. But when the day is done, they sink into darkness. That is the only fate for all of your imaginings. They are gone, gone forever.” Nothing endures. Nothing endures. Not the bird, not the shades, not this remote spot of the land near the water. April comes and April is gone, just as it has done so many times before. Movies, dreams, goals, loves…they become distant memories. It matters not whether things disappear now or later: the truth remains that nothing endures.

She cries, she cries so much. I tell her that the pain is not worth it and that she should accept her fate. The flowers, dogs, and buildings will die, and will not be beautiful in their December passing. “I want for something to last! Something!! I believe in things lasting? I know the meaning of perishing, and I know that most things perish, but not this!” Just as she says this, something dies, she sinks a little, into the couch. And there is a slight quivering at the edge of her mouth. I say, “Touch my body, it is soft and warm, true, but I can tell I’m dying. Once I am gone, you will know me more than you do now. In my wintry passing, hopefully you will find something everlasting.” Plant the flowers, cut the flowers, plant again. Feel the rage as you cry for them.

Was I duped as a young child? Was there a deal made that I didn’t fulfill? Or were the rules made before I had a chance to report? Does my body rot just as this apple does? You bet!! Those flowers are going, so am I. I grew once and I smiled in my age of blossom, but the time has passed. But why the disappointment? We’ve known about death, it has been the white elephant, standing in the living room of our lives since the first day. Do we expect it to go away? She says I shouldn’t ponder human misery. I say, what else is there? The silk upon the bedroom floor causes me to prophesize. All my best times were times of indulgence; when I was high, it was great, when I was low it was great. I know this now. But still I move about this warm apartment, craving sleep, but denying sleep.

Church doors will open and I will enter. I will chant, I shall baptize, and Sundays will be full of holiness and pomp. The sun will burn in the sky, and we will imagine that is always going to be there. But God is not with us, God does not answer my prayers, even in this desperate time. I see no reason that he would separate me from the savages. I am a savage, beneath his holy sky. The chants will go on and we will lord about the house. I think I might even see a mouse. He and I will meet the same fate. The trees, the moss, the choir of the hills, the birds echo through the countryside and I fall asleep. I’m not sure if I will wake up. I feel so bad, so bad about it all. Eventually, a new chapter will begin and I won’t be part of it. Oh, I can’t celebrate life as it’s taken from me. The dew will gather, the sun will rise, but I will not.

She thinks of me like a painting on the wall. She doesn’t hear the sound, but she remembers the voice. I ask her, “Do you love me?” She says, yes, over and over. The spirits drift about the church, the sepulcher and blood are everywhere at once, and she doesn’t understand the chaos that we have lived in our whole life. We’ve depended on tradition and tradition has failed us. The apartment building is empty, only vacancies, and we have no place to turn but tradition. I am not gone yet, she is not either, but we know that we are not long for the world. The fast food restaurant, the birds, the cars, the fruit, the children and us…we all amble and we wait. Let’s puff up our chests, let’s dine in style. Even if we’re only at this table for a short while. As we sit, we know that all those exhibitions of beauty are like Kamikaze planes in the sky. Beautiful, life-filled birds, exploding and destroying yet creating new beginnings in a few quick moments before disappearing into the soil.

WISTFUL WANDA ON THE VIOLIN

The way you play guitar, the sound, in the heavenly reverberations touch the round, as well. So this music you play is ours, not just yours, it is public domain. And I would like to hold you for the rest of the night. Would that be OK? Would it be all right?

Imagining you in a long, white dress. The one you always wear, when in pain. This sound between us is what I feel when I see that young neighbor girl walking through the pine trees. You think that we need to be on the edge in order to be real. That being cruel is being real. And that if the hands haven’t clawed to grip then they can’t really feel.

I watched you in the garden. That was a thing of beauty! You, striking the chord, loudly and clearly while the old folks watched and I rated you so dearly. Throbbing, pulsing, the sound continues and in the silhouette, I see your sinewy shape and form. A body, so strong. I feel the physicality, then the sexuality, and I know that it is music.

You kept hidden your rose and I felt the strain and the music played and we relayed prose. Well, I believe that being honest to ourselves will get us no where. No, it is the deception. We can’t be cruel. Honesty is cruel. No one gets hurt, no one really knows. So, the simple sounds of the settled storm remain.

Down by the river, in the soaking dress. Sun coming through the rain. I so digress. I can’t explain what I feel for you but you’ve made the sound, you feel it too. We cannot express this endlessness. So, too, do the elders know that this is fleeting. A diminishing part of the shore, a tide that is receding.

I will hold your hand and the music will play and we will hear the cymbals crashing like waves as we turn away. I’ve played the drums so many times. You always complemented me with those chimes. I asked for drunken hodge-podge solos and you only wished for an old oboe.

The shakes, the cymbals, the whipping winds. The quick way out, the dapper end. Your white dress was soaked by the end of the storm. The doorway was littered with rain-soaked thorns. You lit a candle and we waited all night. Hand in hand, soft and white. Biblical tracings of whispering truths. This disappeared and my drums were replaced by lutes.

Our time together was but a moment – a flash, but how graceful it was; wholly mortal.

The time is gone and the songs will remain. The window closed when I was so wise. When my heart understood what my body denies. Waves of sounds, waves of experience. Your rose is in the garden and it will not live through the next season. Neither will any of us and yet the beauty will always be there. As the casket sits open and the choir songs are shared.

Our stamp is on this expansive earth. Our verdurous love hit the deepest note. To regret what we can never regain is to fall to the serpent. The body dies, the memory recedes. The young woman does not meet her most basic needs. But the experience of being alive will continue as long as we hear the sounds of the violin.

STONED ACES IN PECULIAR PLACES

She said it’s extremely important to be moderate. This was on the bus, when we first met. She said I’m not a good on the phone, but I’m a great conversationalist. She’s got a picture of Ginger Rogers done by an impressionist. She doesn’t have a high scorecard. She had a boyfriend for seven years but now she slept with a teddy bear that didn’t cover her rent of $650. But making rent isn’t that hard.

I told her I went to prep school. She said she was one of those kids from across the street weren’t so cool. She’d put on black mascara and smoke at the bus stop. Talkin’ about guns and the way to beat the meter drop.

She somehow manages to write a poem a day but what are these damn words worth anyway? She said people hang with me because I’m so boring. Like my roommate and her kids, they’re always adoring. She said I hate it when people make small talk. She said I like to watch you do your John Wayne walk. She asked if she could kiss me, I said that would be OK. I wondered if she wondered why I didn’t opt to stay? We listened to Citizen Cope in the van. She said, don’t open your eyes when you kiss. If you try to look, something will be missed. It’s better to give more than you take when you kiss. Citizen Cope went off, but I could still hear the stereo’s hiss. D’Artagane’s Theme was about dying in an unmarked grave. I surged with excitement – this theme was my fave. She bristled with anger, I lost the metaphor. She held onto my hand and I opened her door. She said I liked you best when we were on the bus. With a bus-load of strangers almost touching both of us.

So I left her at Aurora and 85th. She stepped onto the curb. Close enough to downtown Seattle to not be the suburbs. But it’s not like New York where you tap the vein of the hip. So, artists like us are on a lifeboat, far from the sinking mother ship.

SOMETHING ABOUT APARTMENTS

There was something about apartments. There was something about paying rent. You said you’d buy a house someday but for now your place was just a place to stay. There was something about the cigarettes. There was something about the Irish bars. There was something about being 21. You knew that, eventually, things wouldn’t be as fun. There was something about the sex. There was something about the new vest. There was something in the way you said you want to explore the great Northwest. There was something about getting older.

It will take awhile. She’ll be back in awhile.

There was something about the way she said it. Generations have heard it, but she nailed it. There was something about the way her lips moved in slow motion. There was something about the fact that she had a view of the ocean. There was something about being reckless. I’ll feel that way when I’m 40. But life goes on. And then I’ll be 60.

It will take a while. It’ll all come back in a while.

There’s something about life in motion. There’s something about the way our words attempt to spell devotion. There’s something about how our days can never match the notion. There’s something in the house that wasn’t in the apartment. There’s something in the drama that is patterned on the page. There is something in the string that ties us all together. There is something in the black and in the leather. There is something on Capitol Hill and the U-District and Queen Anne. There was something about being 20, 40, then 60 and not taking a stand. There is something about how the neighborhoods slip away into the sand. There is something about my poetry and how it never measures up to the deep cave inside the man.

There was something that was in us when we were 21 and we should never have listened to the old folks. No, we should never have listened to them. They forgot about what it was like to be us and that time is lost. Now we preach to the younger kids. We have wisdom from our years but it will fall on ignorant ears. The 20 year old can never know what it is to be 40. And so we roll along, roll along. We build our buildings, we write our songs. And there is something in the drone we hear from the throngs of folks out in the street. There is something about how the poetry, the imagination, and the external world will never meet.

ALBUM NAME: First Takes, No Fakes
RELEASE DATE: June 7th, 2006

SONGS:

1. Sophisticated Rock
2. It Was Only A Dream
3. Where Is The Harmony?
4. Illumination
5. Consolation (To Those Who Are Sad About The Receding Future)
6. You Haven’t Found It Yet
7. On The Old Street Again
8. Bus
9. Give Me April Back, Elsie
10. Vic Gets Visceral

SOPHISTICATED ROCK

Bustling in the bathroom she felt like a great digresser
And in the wordy wind she had the air of a professor
In the blind night he was a hot sight, she was simply a confessor
All the whippets and the snippets made an atmosphere of pressure

But rock-rock-rock
Rock it all night
Rock-rock-rock it all night
That sophisticated rock

IT WAS ONLY A DREAM

You idolized and sympathized
The dashing guise, the flashing eyes
The crashing waves
The simple hush and rainy days
The retiring lads
The simple thoughts of humble cads
The ones you idolize
The peaceful times you eulogize
The wily ones you criticize
A life crumbles after too many tries
The hopes are crushed and crystallized

You saw these things in dreams, you see
You say, “Nothing is gonna stop me!
I saw these things in dreams”

WHERE IS THE HARMONY?

No one seems to get blamed
When they become less hopeful
They get a little sadder
And figure out the resignation in their parents’ eyes

Where are all the strong ones, baby?
(I told her in a letter)
Who can I trust?
(No, I never would forget her)

Where is the harmony?

You get bogged down by
The hum-drum peasant’s play
You say you think that life
Has nothing to offer beyond today

As I walk through this lonely land
I wonder, amidst this misery,
Where are all the funny moments?
Where is the hope?

Where is the harmony?

I told you that I loved you
(I said it in a letter)
I told you that I missed you
(I said I wouldn’t forget her)

What’s wrong with being hopeful?
In the face of all that’s wrong
The rain hits the window
And I try to find the song

Where is the harmony?

ILLUMINATION

Illuminate the street of our tiny town
A haven for us, and by some virtue, we imagine
That this village is the best of all worlds.

This is the rarest and most extreme arbor.
We pick the intense fruit and we come together
In this village, this street, we seek one end:

To know that this is all there is, to know
That there is not another meaning under a different sky.
So we come together, in love, and this understanding.

We think nothing of our fears or hopes, we discard
There’s nothing sacred in this night, just an order
A reason, that we can never understand, though we try so hard

The limits of the human mind, the human body
We know now what we can never attain …
Only the simple silence of the settled storm remains.

These limits define, in our small confines
The realm of magic, the realm of imagination
And we, with this knowledge, will be fine together.

CONSOLATION (TO THOSE WHO ARE SAD ABOUT THE RECEDING FUTURE)

I always wished I could quote the right verse
When life dealt me a tragic hand and it couldn’t get worse
But it’s not over till they roll out the hearse
Still how smart we can feel! Oh, there’s no need to rehearse!

Because you still know that life is a futile play
Where the actors and plot lines fade into the fray
The curtains come down and the flood lights go gray
And no one really cares how it ends anyways

You can’t avoid Shakespeare’s suggestion
That it’s not worth the fret
This logic will be the shelter
In case you get wet

Wet with the tears
Wet with the blood
You can fill up the buckets,
But you can’t avoid the mud

It’s insane to fight tomorrow, as it rapidly nears
The gleaming arch recedes; as does time, as do years
So, why cry over the parts of life
When the whole of it deserves tears?

YOU HAVEN’T FOUND IT YET

Each challenge was a potential story
The frowns fell on the bus in Fremont
The UW streets were soaking wet
She always left, she always left
There’s the beauty in the bash
We do the twirl, the romantic lip
Seattle is a sinking ship

You saw it in the Mona Lisa
In James and the Giant Peach
The Wind in the Willows
And in Madame Bovary
In the pictures from 1925
A feeling that you could be truly alive
I know you always thought
You’d learn it in Tibet
But you haven’t made the trek
And you haven’t found it yet

We live our lives, it’s never perfect
We fall asleep with a journal on our chest
Real estate, medicine, insurance
But we won’t lose the dream we had at 15
The mansion sits behind the gate
We write our story in real estate
We drink away the time between
The reality and the dream

ON THE OLD STREET AGAIN

She stepped off the plane and caught a shuttle to the hill
She didn’t recognize the pile of bricks in her tree-lined community
Seattle is changing, this ain’t what she thought it would be
She now needs some solace, away from the plastic marquee

She says every time I leave, I return to a land full of strangers
The people are changing, they don’t love me here anymore

I’m on the old street again
I’m on the old street again
I’m on the old street again And we’ll still be here after Babylon falls to rubble

She says, “What is it that drew you to me?
I remember carrying your baby”
He said, “I loved you and your place on Boston
We partied till parties were gone and we felt we’d lost them”

You were there when I felt empty
You made sure I was full

I’m on the old street again
I’m on the old street again
I’m on the old street again
And we’ll still be here after Babylon falls to rubble

BUS

When it’s 6:00am in fall
And the bus makes its crawl
See the road through your tired eyes
Rainy nights came and passed you by
The commuters have their headphones on
Face the music but the message is gone
You feel the weight of your aborted plans
You feel the weight of your aborted plans

GIVE ME APRIL BACK, ELSIE

So you don’t think
That we should date
You’ve got other options
We’re too young
That’s bullshit

Give me April back
Give me April back, Elsie
Don’t you remember?
Don’t you see?
I turned down other girls to be with you, Elsie

First you call me
Every day
Then you don’t
Return my page

Give me April back
Give me April back, Elsie
Don’t you remember?
Don’t you see?
I turned down other girls to be with you, Elsie

I wish you hadn’t dumped me
After I played a great first set
The band didn’t like it
When I busted into “Dreams to Remember”
We weren’t quite there yet
But Otis Redding was the only one I could find
To help me ease my mind

Give me April back
Give me April back, Elsie
Don’t you remember?
Don’t you see?
I turned down other girls to be with you, Elsie

Give me my youth back
Give me my life back
While you were wasting my time
I was passing up other options
I want my options back

VIC GETS VISCERAL

The campfire is burning
And the marshmallows are toasted
There’s a 40 in the cooler and
You know he likes the Old English taste
But malt liquor and park parties
Are no match for love like this
Because he’s can’t seem to forget
About the girl he just met

Vic gets visceral

She doesn’t just play music
She bumps it
She drums on her steering wheel
She works at the flower shop
By the Pike Place market
He can’t help but love it
She’s great
He hopes his friends could see to relate

Vic gets visceral

He gets home she cooks him dinner
She thinks he’s a winner
She loves it when he buys the occasional rose
She gets a kick out of it, you see
When he pays for something that is free
She’s great
He hopes his friends could see to relate

She’s on the phone
He’s happy and full
They all love Vic
They think it’s a kick
When Vic gets visceral

ALBUM TITLE: Taxing The Wishbone
RELEASE DATE: May 7th 2006

1. Living Like Gatsby
2. Theater
3. Motivation Situation
4. With Candy On Christmas Eve
5. She’s Had It
6. She Goes To Shows Alone
7. You Let ‘Em Down
8. Photo Album
9. An American Dream
10. You Get Through To My Heart

LIVING LIKE GATSBY

You wake up at 6:28
You have to be to work by 8
You take a shower and you get dressed
Hop the bus and it takes you west
All the commuters got their headphones on
The tired look of passion long gone
Check into your cubicle at 8:03
Another dull day spent living the dream

I know you thought you’d be livin’ like Gatsby
But you’re not quite there today
I know you thought you’d be livin’ like Gatsby
But you’re not quite there today
Oh, well, Gatsby went down in the end anyway

You’ll hit the condo around 7
And watch the box until 11
Hopefully you get some lovin’
Don’t pass out with a pizza in the oven
Then the sadness comes creeping in
In the dark bedroom at 2am
Picture on the nightstand when you were 18
You said you’d be brash like Gatz till you achieved the dream

I know you thought you’d be living like Gatsby
But you’re not quite there today
I know you thought you’d be living like Gatsby
But you’re not quite there today
He went down in the end, anyway

You’ve got the VIP pass
At the middle class bash
You all get together and tear it up on the weekend
But sometimes life seems to have no meaning
And there’s nothing important to do
Your life spins out of control
So you just dance, get drunk, and screw
Bartender, how about another brew?
Sometime you think that you’ve failed
Sometimes fairytales pull you through
You’ve got no place else to fall
So here you are

You might never be living like Gatsby
(Time to do some livin’)
So what are you gonna do today?
(Time to live just for today)
You might never be living like Gatsby but you still have to face the day
That’s all you’ve got, in the end, anyway

Maybe at a party by the sea
When the light hits you just right
When you’ve got the right haircut and the right suit
And you’re in shape
It will all come together
All the girls that did you wrong
All the people that scorned you
You’ll have champagne together
You can dance and get drunk and screw
But until that day
There’s a lot of shitty work to do

THEATER

You sat alone in the theater chairs
You watched the credits roll with a faraway stare
You felt no one could see there was somebody there
You saw the dame in the golden scene, golden hair
You loved the cinematography, the amber grain
You say you’ll write the script and bring the girl back
You have a list of resolves in your wallet
And a capacity to make the past perfect again

You said the sky is never quite that gold
And that shade of white is an impossible hue to hold

You sit alone in your cubicle
You escape the ringing of the phone
You got a picture of Venice on the wall
You retreat to the bathroom stall
Old money crushes new money anyways
And those with none don’t get in the game
We’ll walk with dancers; we’ll feel sad at the parties
Because we glimpsed the perfection that could be

You said the sky is never quite that gold
And that shade of white is an impossible hue to hold

MOTIVATION SITUATION

The lonesome tippler is leaning
Against the brick wall
He checks into the clinic
He writes his name on the stall
I received all of your letters
I boxed up every one
I know we’re past the point
Where life is all that fun

If you have a situation where you need some motivation
Baby, you can call on me
Everyone has trouble chasin’ and they need some motivation
I’ll be the one
You can look for when you need some hope to believe

Believe in what you do
Every day when you go to work
I’ve read through every letter
I’ve labeled every song
I’ve made a run at being present in every situation
Right or wrong

WITH CANDY ON CHRISTMAS EVE

Candy, the snow is falling for the first time in a long while in Seattle
Covers the street and snows us in over in the U-District,
With all the baseball players in white hats
So we took the sled across 45th, we made our way to Fremont
The Ave is full of Ave rats, kids begging for change
The University is immersed in the Seattle sea,
We walked down to Gasworks Park, along the Burke Gillman Trail
Everybody covers up in Seattle – you’ve got the fleece, I’ll grab my ski cap

Candy, the snow is falling outside our window tonight
We can cross the Aurora Bridge, maybe take a walk by the lake
I don’t want to be here forever
If it weren’t for you, I’d leave today
Light a candle for each one of your lost lovers
Candy, we have other places to discover

Now the Ave rats cause trouble on the Ave,
But we’re safe at Dick’s with a Coke and a bag
Got too drunk to make it to school
We’ll get old and we’ll have day jobs
But nothing will ever be this fun
We can take the Blazer to the Eastside, take it for a ride
They’ll be meeting in the white hats by the kegs in the dark
Let’s go down to Madison Park

Candy, the snow is falling outside our window tonight
We can cross the Aurora Bridge, maybe take a walk by the lake
I don’t want to be here forever
If it weren’t for you, I’d leave today
You’re a string that tethers together all the lost lovers
Candy, we have other places to discover

SHE’S HAD IT

Candy spoke softly in the dark to him
She was slight and angel thin,
A 33 inch began to spin
By the window in the moonlight
Rick Danko’s voice was tight
In the house up near Northgate
She said
I’ve had it
Candy said I’ve never met a guy look you
You knew things I wanted to know, too
You made me see things differently
Than how I was raised
But just as Bill felt praised
She grabbed her bag and rattled her keys
She said this situation is what I hate
She said
I’ve had it

Billy said the future’s unpredictable
We both live in separate homes by supermalls
I want to move where the city’s accessible
So we can go to the museums
And care what we’re both seeing
But this suburban world doesn’t feel right
It never feels right, you feel right, but this doesn’t feel right

Candy said you never seem to know
What you want from the future, high or low
I want to make plans, but you can’t show me
That you have plans, too
So there’s nothing else for me to do
I can’t stand it
I’ve had it

Candy hopped on the bus and rolled away
Billy, said tomorrow will be gray
And I will be gray, too, one day
So will she, but I won’t get to see
The color of the fog confuses me
But there are no other options
She has had it

SHE GOES TO SHOWS ALONE

The summer dress girl said, “Your band played past two
You seem to feel the dreams and fireworks like I do”
She said, “Sometimes I feel so empty that I go downtown alone
I go to hip-hop shows solo and turn off my phone”

I watch the show and feel the beat
The vacant faces light up the round

You can find me in the disco alone
Always alone, always alone

Tapping to the beat, tapping to the beat
It ignites the lost souls who go to the show

She said, “Do you think we’re getting too old for it?
The patio folks still don’t pay attention to me”
I say, “With your parents’ friends as company,
I can see why you want to bid that life goodbye”

We all get desperate sometimes
And your family can’t help you

You can find me in the disco alone
Always alone, always alone

Tapping to the beat, tapping to the beat
It ignites the lost souls who go to the show

You’ve rocked my soul
And I want everyone else on earth to know
But I’ll settle for knowing what it’s like while I’m alone

YOU LET ‘EM DOWN

Passing trends
Passing cars
People losing their breath
In the smoky bars

Passing glances
Passing ages
Passing stars

You let ‘em down
Now you let ‘em rule you
There’s no reason you should let that weigh on your back
You let ‘em down
But life is full of heartbreak,
Sweatin’ it is a foolish thing to do
Watch yourself
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
Before you let yourself down, too

PHOTO ALBUM

Imagine yourself in your rocking chair
You’ll be looking back on when you were young and fair

Photographs
With all of your family
And all of your friendly smiles in the midst of all those
Relationships
Photographs
Of the party in your basement
The annual cocktail engagement
Your relationships

La-La-L-La-La
La-La-L-La-La

Photo album
Photo album

You look at your folks when they were 25
You remember scenes from before you were alive

Photographs
Of the trip to Montana
Or the first coming of Santa
In December ‘81
Photographs
Of doing all those kegs stands
Or playing in your first bands
Back when life was fun

La-La-L-La-La
La-La-L-La-La

Photo album
Photo album
Photographs
Do-dee-do
Do-dee-do
Photographs
Do-dee-do
Do-dee-do

Photo albums
Of your first high school dance
Of your times of romance
So long, long ago
Photo albums
Of a neighborhood street in summer
Cruisin’ in the hummer
Out to the lake shores

La-La-L-La-La
La-La-L-La-La

AN AMERICAN DREAM

Hold my hand tightly and give me your dowry, Candy
My mother was good with her money, too, you know
This was the dawn of the new millennium, and we ate our pizza and Diet Coke
And we boarded the train to find an American dream

Seattle is just a forgotten and rainy small town
High school friends, they follow you and you can’t escape the past
A 14 hour drive to get to San Francisco
Candy and I looked for a part of the American dream

We’re the fortunate ones
We had to run for the train in the rain
I’m still breathing heavy, damn those cigarettes
When we went to Canada I stopped at the duty-free
But you know Candy didn’t want to see too much Whiskey in me

Snacking on the bus, you’ve got your new hat
And all of the memories remind me of that fact
That you read the rags about real estate in California
And I’ll read the poetry and we’ll hold hands
As the stars come out in the country just outside Ashland, Oregon

I woke up in a panic, in the middle of Marin County
And I talked to Candy as she slept
She used to talk to me, when I was asleep and I’d listen, I’d hear her voice
Now it’s just reminiscin’
Tomorrow, Candy, I said we’re going to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge
Throw a rock in the water and see how it is to ripple
Like the dream that you’re in
Oh, Candy, all those cars out on the Golden Gate bridge
Are looking for their part of the American dream
I hope there is enough of it for all of us
I hope there is enough

YOU GET THROUGH TO MY HEART

The gentlemen inside will treat you well and kind
And he will be sincere
And won’t demand anything in return
It takes a superstar, like you
To get through to my heart

The world is full of loners
Looking out for themselves
It’s hard to know the right way
The truth’s so hard to tell
But it takes a superstar, like you
To get through to my heart

I look forward to each time that I see you
I can’t wait to tell about all the things that I’ve done
Makes me so happy to be happily in love with someone like you
Want to bust open the door
And celebrate what we’ve begun

The gentlemen inside will hide, he’ll try to be a stranger
But he’ll come out to carry you
And save you from all danger
It takes a superstar, like you
To get through to my heart

ALBUM TITLE: The Road-Weary Ben Mish
RELEASE DATE: April 7th, 2006

1. Written in Sand
2. Time Marches On
3. Too Many Afternoons Without a Good Night
4. Tomorrow Will Be Better Than Today
5. Tour De Force
6. A Doctrine You Could Espouse
7. Can Jesus Help Us?
8. What is the Price, St. Peter?
9. Comfort In the Wise

WRITTEN IN SAND

What is the name of the sacred road
That leads a man to his dream?
Yes, tell me, what is the name of the dark blue sea
That shows a man the truth that should be seen?
What is the name of the God I should fear
Who will allow my soul to be clean?
Come take my hand and we’ll go walkin’ again
But this truth is written in the sand

What is the solution to a faceless war
With an enemy that cannot be seen?
What is the name of the cause to adore
What ocean is at the end of this stream?
Who can tell me the meaning of bravery
And does that meaning remain to be seen?
Come take my hand and we’ll go searchin’ again
But the truth is written in the sand

What was the name of my family
Before they settled in this fair land?
And what was the name of my country
Before it fell into these hands?
How can I know what mess of boards is my house
If it never feels like home to me?
Come, take my hand and we’ll go searchin’ again
The truth it is written in the sand

TIME MARCHES ON

I hope you feel strong and wanted
And feel healthy in old age
And I hope you feel you have company
When God forces you to turn the page
I hope you build a bridge across this divide
That will withstand the heavy sun
May you be strong as time marches on
Time marches on, time marches on,
May you be strong as time marches on

You are your grandfather’s son
And you’ve known no better way
I hope you can think for all of us
And be true and righteous each day
I’ve always seen the best in you
May your heart be a loving gun
May you be strong as time marches on
Time marches on, time marches on,
May you be strong as time marches on

Pain is part of this journey
So I hope you use your hands
To build castles and great monuments
In the bedroom of your land
I hope you get the best of every passion
And every obstacle overcome
May you be strong as time marches on
Time marches on, time marches on,
May you be strong as time marches on

TOO MANY AFTERNOONS WITHOUT A GOOD NIGHT

The sirens are blarin’ outside the window
And it’s dusk once again
Turn the light on in the apartment
The sirens quiet and I lift the pen
Those sirens stole the silence
Now that they’re gone, my mind’s not right
‘Cause I’ve had too many afternoons without a good night

Each party seems like a procession
And each conversation a ceremony
My bed it is not empty
But last night felt like a funeral at sea
Each heart has marbled aching
Each soul, a tragic plight
‘Cause I’ve had too many afternoons without a good night

The evening will come, as surely
As each evening came before
And there’s no promise that this restlessness
Has a cure outside the door
But I’ll work to make each day the best
And I’ll search for the reply
We both have the afternoons, but we will never control the good night

TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER THAN TODAY

If there weren’t a million different roads
If there weren’t a million different signs
If you were not a million miles away, babe
Then you wouldn’t need to believe that
Tomorrow will be better than today
If it hadn’t been a million days since we’d last spoken
And if I could hear your heart beating a million times
Oh, if I could hear your voice, so different than the million voices
Then I’d be happy to believe in today

In these travels I have lost all my possessions
It’s been weeks since I have looked in the mirror
Echoes of a former life they seem to haunt me
And the desperate need for a better tomorrow is getting clearer
If it hadn’t been a million days since we’d last spoken
And if I could hear your heart beating a million times
Oh, if I could hear your voice, so different than the million voices
Then I’d be happy to believe in today

Maybe I’ve missed the elegiac evening music
Maybe I’ve missed the power in the mournful birds
But the sky, the river, the plaintive worldly beauty
Cannot match the tomorrow I believe in,
And your loveliness that can’t be put in words
If it hadn’t been a million days since we’d last spoken
And if I could hear your heart beating a million times
Oh, if I could hear your voice, so different than the million voices
Then I’d be happy to believe in today

TOUR DE FORCE

Oh, the buildings in Chicago will fall to the ground,
And the suburbs will come swelling about all around
And in the black night you will not hear a single sound
And South Side juke joints will all be gagged and bound
You fear the worst about your city, then you can’t speak the truth
You want to paint the ceiling like Michelangelo did, of course?
Promises will be made and will be broken
Between now and the time when you create your tour de force

You’ve spent days and days in the west wing of the Met
You’ve seen the Guggenheim when they just had a new grant
Mighty artists, mighty patrons creating castles out of aprons
In the wilderness of a world you so admire, yet it’s so distant
Struggling through each day, thinking your losing your mind
Chasing Cohen’s footsteps out to Naxos, Greece, of course
Your restless manhunt leaves you empty handed
Between now and the time when you create your tour de force

Art books of Cezanne on top of the piano
The piano’s out of tune, so it’s time to go

To the land of the plenty, to the land of the passion
Renaissance each time you turn a cobbled corner
Lookin’ for salvation through your tears,
All the pain, over all the years
Each work of art is like a gravestone for each mourner
The galleries and the newsstands seem so empty
You see your face but your happiness seems forced
Hide the pain that comes with pride,
Oh, all the times that you will have died
Between now and the time you create your tour de force

A DOCTRINE YOU COULD ESPOUSE

I woke up with discernable frustration
With no memory of the night before
I woke up with discernable frustration
With no memory of the night before
Well, I couldn’t help feeling useless in this house
Lookin’ for a doctrine that you could espouse

I arrived late at the bus station
And I began to wake and my memory did return
I arrived late at the bus station
And I began to wake and my memory did return
I traveled from Portland to Seattle from 2 to 5 am
Lookin’ for a doctrine you could espouse

A girl who never believes in anything
Is a tough one to make the sacrifice for
A girl who never believes in anything
Is a tough one to make the sacrifice for
I try to forget the pain from the woman who don’t love me
But I’m still lookin’ for a doctrine you could espouse

CAN JESUS HELP US?

You can choose to listen
To the words that I sing
It doesn’t matter where I come from
But Seattle’s got a nice ring to it
You can judge and preconceive
You can think what you must
But I was raised to fear God
And to believe Jesus helps us

From my first memories
I remember the signs
The images of the cross
It was burned in my mind
Pilat took him down
And he died just for our trust
Who knew he’d live on so long?
And that Jesus would help us

Who knows what Socrates would think
If he had still been around?
But the volume of truth that he lived for
Has a resonant sound
The Roman Empire it flourished
Then it returned to dust
And the holy believers
Knew that Jesus would help us

The kings and the queens
They believed in this man
They crucified the evil ones
On no legs could evil stand
And Jesus was stronger
Than the dark souls that rust
So the legion is larger
And now Jesus helps us

French, English, and German
Plunged into a war
No one knew the reason
But they settled the score
With no destination
They jumped on the bus
War is hell, but if we fight
We know that Jesus helps us

A couple world wars
And a million battles
A martyr each minute
Get slaughtered like cattle
I read all about it
I gave the teachers my trust
And I believe in my heart
That Jesus helps us

American enemies
Have no face anymore
They come from a land
That it’s hard for us to explore
The irony is
That the evil discussed
Is the land that bore Jesus
So he could help all of us

So I’m thinkin’ about Hitler
And Genghis Khan and Ivan the Terrible
And the pain and starvation
Of which this world is full
And there is no one to blame
Just the death in the gust
Of wind that’s so foul
I hope Jesus helps us

So, I’ve got to go now
I don’t know what I’ve said
All this talk of Jesus
Has clouded my head
It’s hard to believe in anything
But stronger than all that came before
Is the belief that if Jesus helps us
He’d stop all of these wars

WHAT IS THE PRICE, ST. PETER?

The apple fell and Adam sank
The serpent snuck away
Eve cast her eyes to hollow clouds
And gone were Eden’s days
Candles blaze, sepulcher shines
And the lost souls go to greet her
I still feel sorry for her, I guess
What is the price, St. Peter?

The trees are angry, the streetlamps lonely
In this ragged tenement cityscape
Mother’s lose children, innocence gets raped
Swept up in a swirling carnal gale
Windows, shadows, holes of fire
Soft hands reach out to free them
Every man strives to be one with One
What is the price, St. Peter?

Bombs drop each day, whole buildings fall
Trappers and poachers remain
Blind carnie barkers detail the slither on the floor
And they set up on the coast by the trains
The civilized they turn their head and return to the city
To govern ‘neath coughing heaters
Soundless songs blare out and meaningless poems resound
What is the price, St. Peter?

Barnacles on broken ships
Grow fast on the floors of silent seas
Immortal poets fasten to Moby Dick
And the wise fall to their knees
Ten talents multiply and then divide
Paradise is golden and replete
And blooming flowers never fall
What is the price, St. Peter?

Who owns this house? Who owns this car?
The landlords count their shares
We name a value in each star
Condemning the king and crowning another
The faceless bard with a song for the occasion
Has a million strings for each raven that glides
There’s no place to hide at heaven’s gates
What is the price, St. Peter?

The gondola glides, the Mona Lisa cries
The gypsies lose their homes again
Blackest night, reddest molten cities
Ghosts haunt the towns of Sweden
And the vultures return, the trickster crow
Swirls over the alighted theater
For all the blackness and sin to disappear
What is the price, St. Peter?

Tennyson wrote of experience
And attached meaning to the wind
A meaning no pauper could ever know
Because the cold only was chilling to him
Each pauper bows beneath a prince
And doesn’t know that he’s a cheater
Because morals are an invention of man
So what is their price, St. Peter?

The seas connect these continents
These manors and John Donne’s threadbare
Theories on the meaning of the sounds of the bells
Sounding to make sense of the guillotine chair
We imagine a land, hard to understand,
Sleeping ‘neath a Parisian sky and a huit heure
I believe our humble justices will die away
What is their price St. Peter?

So, you my lover, at the end of the bed
Lie sleeping and dreaming in subconscious streams
You hope to one day pick them from the pile
When truth and Truth re-team
I will hold off on making sense of these words
We never been told the true cost of Paradise
Or how these ungainly meanings will weigh up, in size
Until we settle up our debts with St. Peter.

COMFORT IN THE WISE

If you find comfort in the wise,
Better listen to what they say,
Better place your bets and don’t feel too safe,
In the land where no one stays

The waves will crash upon the shore,
Where no one lives or dies,
The merchants will count their loons each noon,
If you find comfort in the wise

These towns are ghosts, passing long ago,
Please give my love to Kennedy, the wise can never know

If you find comfort in the wise,
Better go to the library,
Down there ‘neath a heavy gust of wind,
Where the graveyard ships leave the sea

The books on shelves, for longer memories,
You hear constant cries,
The baker goes to count the bread,
If you find comfort in the wise

These towns are ghosts, passing long ago,
Please give my love to Kennedy, the wise can never know

If you find comfort in the wise,
You live for the long lagoon,
The fictive palms and rosemary,
By the handsome sailor’s tomb

His mother weeps and hears the bells,
The experts divert their eyes,
She gives her faith to the bread and wine,
She takes comfort in the wise

These towns are ghosts, passing long ago,
Please give my love to Rosemary, the wise can never know

ALBUM TITLE: A Quick Affair In January
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 3/7/06

Songs:

1. Mr. Mumbles
2. 22 Is A Good Age
3. Listen Here, Ramona Dear
4. Stars Shine Bright Tonight
5. She Says She Never Loved
6. So That’s Life, Then?
7. Things That Make You Die Make You Feel Alive

MR. MUMBLES

I’m feelin’ like I’m onstage
But I’m alone in my house
Feelin’, feelin’, feelin’ so bummed out
I’m an ambitious guy
And somehow we both met
How did I become so covered in sweat?
It was only a fling, I knew that was your thing
Now I can’t go to sleep
I imagine you’re lost
In a place where the bus
Can’t get you across
With another lover, another high cost
I’m feelin’ so ill
But why would I think you’re gonna when you never said you will?
I imagine you’re not safe
Under another’s touch
But you always said that I worry too much

I can’t sleep this pain is breaking the night
And taking up my time
What’s wrong or right with me, behind the water-lights?
You take a cruise into the white
With a ballroom dress and a need to spite
The others who would catch your sighs
I’m glad that I’m in this cold foxhole
‘Cause I’ll emerge with a balance beam dose of gymnastic control
I won’t speak what’s on my mind
That’s difficult and serpentine
And lovers lose their breath
God don’t reward the humble
Call me Mr. Mumbles

My insides are turning out
The alarm clock made me jump out
Of my warm, warm, warm bed
I’m an ambitious guy
And you’re in some other stead
What’s going through your head?
Are you thinking of me?
I ponder this, regretfully
It was only a fling, I knew that was your thing
Now you’re off and you’re lost
Some new lover, some new cost
In his hand is a cross, you gotta fake, fake, fake it baby
I’m gonna take a spill to the floor
And remember you by the door
Now he’s got his hand on your leg
And I’m alone on the street
There’s a cab by the road
And I’m yelling, “Where is she?”
But what kind of cost
Does a boss like me have
If I can’t gain the love
Of a flighty gal like you
But what’s a dreamer to do?

The pain of loss is breaking my night
And stabbing pain
Of what is right, wading among the water-lights
The green lake gust of fairy tales sights
Your love letter beats and bashes my life
That’s what I get for being so hopeful
Getting so low will make me clean
Get away from this dirty section of town
And bring me the balance beam dose of gymnastic control
Call me Mr. Mumbles, dear
I won’t speak what’s on my mind
That’s difficult and serpentine
And lovers lose their breath
God don’t reward the humble
Call me Mr. Mumbles

So hopeful
So hopeful
So hopeful

22 IS A GOOD AGE

You worked real hard to get to know me
The chrome graveyard rose and we somehow convened
I didn’t work too hard to win affection from you
When things come so quick how can you give them any value?
We’re in an unholy place where nobody frets
We don’t worry about morals, there are no regrets
But what’s the damn point when nobody frets?
Everything’s equal and nobody gets too high
I want to feel high
Like you wanted me because I’m a special guy

I heard you’re in New York
Headed for a divorce
With lack of family support
Discoing, discoing into the night
But you can turn the page
22 is a good age

When we last spoke you were ingénue
You’d get all choked up when I ask you what you wanted to do
When we last spoke you were ingénue
You were a little sad at the way God treated you

So don’t fret much ‘bout that Catholic guilt
Your mama died young and you’ve had it with the stilts
You’re walkin’ on stilts and you’re too easy
The only regret I have left is that I let an easy girl like you leave me

So you moved to New York
Got married, then divorced
With lack of family support
Discoing, discoing into the night
But you can still turn the page
22 is a good age

To disco, disco, disco

Take your time, baby
I have a feeling that,
If you’re like the others
You’re gonna fall back in love with me

So you moved to New York
Got married, then divorced
With lack of family support
Discoing, discoing into the night
But you can still turn the page
22 is a good age

To disco, disco, disco

LISTEN HERE, RAMONA DEAR

Listen here, Ramona dear
Pay attention
Sit across the table and think
Of all the opportunities that passed in a blink
I’m sincere, Ramona dear
Pay attention
Time is runnin’ out on dreams you ponder
So sitting here is a waste of time

You lived in San Francisco
You wrote your manifesto
I’m sincere, Ramona dear
Pay attention
Sitting here’s a waste of time

There are clichés in empty galleries
Forgone dreams and salaries
Jean Harlow on your wall
You were dressed by your fifteen year old friend
There are clichés in empty galleries
Forgone dreams and salaries
Jean Harlow on your wall
You were dressed by your young friend

My room was empty, walls were bare
I showed you the place, you didn’t care
You ignored the living room and
I would have loved for you to care
But time was running out

Listen here, Ramona dear
Destiny doesn’t smile on the slow
You hear the music I make
And I can tell it don’t make you shake
So it’s time for you to go
Conversations on death won’t help you
You’re beyond this cafe
You’ve got to leave
I probably won’t grieve

Georgia O’Keefe can’t help you out
Dreamin’ is done, it’s time to act
So leave me now…
Time is running out, for you
To fill the gallery

STARS SHINE BRIGHT TONIGHT

You won every game, touched every heart, indelibly
Go team, go team, go
You aced every class, were requited at every pass
Go Tom, go Tom, go
Talent shows and party girls, somehow you always won
Even though you felt bad in the wings
In bed, in the head, you met a girl whose song you’d sing
Stars shine bright tonight

School book looks and purple hair, Tom you had your share
Go Tom, go Tom, go
All-star shine and gold medals, dining in the halls, look at the walls
Go Tom, go Tom, go

Now you go into the world, and your heart is gonna break
You’ve been blessed so much till now
On a date, with the girl, she don’t love you like you think
The stars shine bright tonight
And your golden arch is gonna break
The stars shine bright tonight
Above your string of dead-end coffee dates
The stars shine bright tonight
And I can no longer assure you
That everything is gonna be all right

SHE SAYS SHE NEVER LOVED

January is the bluest month
She’s been after me since August
I can tell she’s a flaky one
But her hair brings to mind stardust

I thought, “What value can I assign
When she doesn’t test my mind?”
She’s an artist and she’s so fine
But she don’t make the lamplight copper shine

She can’t sleep
And she can’t eat
And her heart is achin’
And she don’t feel complete
With just a small taste of lovin’
A little bit of kissin’ and a-huggin’
When it all gets taken away
She’ll try and say
That she never loved

She came at me so quickly
That I thought there must be a catch
The wind and the wine brought us together
In some anonymous nest

She’s says that she is crazy
She says she thinks I am, too
But I now know she’s just impulsive
And she might feel the impulse to split soon

Who knew?

I can’t sleep
And I can’t eat
And my heart is achin’
And I don’t feel complete
I got a small taste of lovin’
A little bit of kissin’ and a-huggin’
Now it all is slippin’ away
And I’ll try to maintain
That I never loved

The world is full of chance
It’s hard to judge value, you see
People fall in love, break hearts
And their dreams die as they age rapidly

Let’s compare our philosophy
And our impact on the course of history
In the end, we’ll either be friends or lovers
But never both, that’s something we can never be

Oh, this misery
This world is full of lost souls

Who can’t sleep
And they can’t eat
Their hearts keep on achin’
And they’ll never feel complete
Rememberin’ distant dreams of romantic lovin’
Behind the empty eyes, done with discoverin’
Now aware that it’s slippin’ away
And they struggle to maintain
That they never loved
Never loved
Never got their heart stomped on

If it’s sent from up above
How could love
Be such a put-on?

SO THAT’S LIFE, THEN?

These are the tragedies that we forestall
We all want to leave a light on in the hall
To close the chapter – but still be allowed to recall
Whenever we need an experience to pull us through

So that’s life, then? A photo album on a dusty shelf
A series of memories, unable to be articulated by the common self
But always kept in mind, always made aware
As the seasons change like the colors of your hair

These piano keys are out of tune
I run up the scale, as I have for six hours – since about noon
And the tension that mounts between “mi” and “fa”
Is like the tension we’ve felt since you returned from New York

And I imagine orchestral epiphanies
You standing on Ellis Island, drawing cartoon dreams in the sky
Perhaps wiping a tear from your green eye
And vowing to carve out some piece of clarity

So that’s it, then? An understanding of a reality that can never be seen
Never fully explained, only painted in odd paintings hanging
In a non-profit gallery – that’s all there is, all there was
The inarticulate pangs of each glob of paint you rub

On the empty canvas, in empty galleries
Where the empty souls hunt for the opposite of normality
Because to simply be normal would not be enough
I see you’re not a gamble, you can be counted on to be undependable

Your clothes, your hair, your eyes, and your mouth
They will all be with me, with me in this house
Where the snow gathered around the yard
And the freakish weather caught us off guard

And we rode the bus and we went to eat
And your feet scuttled to meet more faces of the street
You didn’t know what to say when I said, “When will we next meet?”
And I knew you wouldn’t be there forever
You wouldn’t be there forever

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU DIE MAKE YOU FEEL ALIVE

He smoked his cigarette
He looked out at the green lake
He remembered the smell of August
When a lovely lady’s acquaintance he did make

He did not think of this lady much
But now that the months had set in
He remembered the summer lights
And the auroras in the dimly vacant Seattle nights

The things that make you die make you feel alive

And he thought, “Our first meeting must have gone all right”
He looked at the cigarette and said,
“Didn’t I quit smoking in 1998?”
How is it that you can never truly quit something?

When things come quick, you do not notice
But you’re building a ladder for your scheme
You meet people who are new in town and you go to the shows
And you try to feel like it’s all clean

The things that make you die make you feel alive

As time went on and lovers came and went
Eventually he realized something was there
And, in the end, they only went out for about 3 weeks
In a tempestuous and torrid love affair

But as it crumbled
He was confused even more
He heard the inarticulate pangs of her emotional mumbles
As he walked out his front door

The things that make you die make you feel alive

He said, “Maybe if I smoke this cigarette
And I awaken those dormant parts of my soul,
Then maybe she will love me more
She’ll see those parts that have kept me from being quite whole”

But he did not believe in riding off into the golden sunset
He did not believe in much
He believed in the clarity she might bring
Ultimately, he believed in the memory of her touch

And the clarity she might bring
For him to know himself
In those dark winters
When the lights go dim

The things that make you die make you feel alive

ALBUM TITLE: At the Hotel (WITH LEFT HAND SMOKE)
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 2/7/06

1. Sugar On Sunday
2. The L.A. Song
3. Rock n’ Roll Salvation
4. You Got Soul
5. Stovepipe Hat
6. Fallin’ In Love With A Dream
7. Too Late, Too Late
8. Can I Get a Witness?
9. At The Hotel
10. Storms

Sugar on Sunday

Dreams are so hard to remember
When you’re lost and lusting in December
Looking at those luminous skies
Gonna light, light up your eyes
Well it’s time to face the music, babe
Sweet, sweet like marmalade jade
All the black, the white, the red, the gray
Gonna get down on your knees and pray

You might get some sugar on Sunday
But it’s not for me to say
You might get some sugar on Sunday
But it’s not for me to say
No it ain’t for me to say

On and on dust in the tender night
With a belief in what is wrong or right
Looking a Looking at those luminous skies
Gonna light right up your eyes
Well it’s time to face the music, babe
Sweet, sweet like marmalade jade
All the black, the white, the red, the gray
Gonna get down on your knees and pray

You might get some sugar on Sunday
But it’s not for me to say
You might get some sugar on Sunday
But it’s not for me to say
No it ain’t for me to say

LA SONG

Got your picture on the dashboard
Got my California plans
All those mansions out in Beverley Hills
Eat away at the soul of a man

I know it’s over

Saw your picture in a magazine
At an Idaho truckstop
Looked at the dirty floor beneath my feet
And how you said you’d get your star on the Hollywood walk

I know it’s over
My old traveling companion
But I want to go to where it’s really real
Not black and white

Gonna meet you down in LA
Gonna meet you down in LA
You’ll be among the lost and lonely women
Wandering down around South Bay

Saw your painting in the courtyard
A distinguished pose, of course
I thought of how the Hollywood Dream
Is just a Technicolor bubble about to burst

I know it’s over
You’ve got new traveling companions
But I want to go
To where it’s really real
Not black and white

Gonna meet you down in LA
Gonna meet you down in LA
I’m gonna find the Holy Grail
Down around Santa Monica way

We all need a place to wrap our dreams around

Gonna meet you down in LA
Gonna meet you down in LA
I’m gonna find the holy grail
Down around Santa Monica way
And the sea is gonna form to all these words that I write
And the palm trees will all perfectly sway
Gonna find my benediction, do away with all restrictions
In the fertile soil of LA

ROCK N’ ROLL SALVATION

Elvis and John Lennon caught the tour bus up to heaven
I hope when I arrive they’re gonna let me party with ‘em
I plan out all my moves, imagine all my grooves
I curse the sun each morning when the headache gives no warning

I feel like a bum
But I’m looking for redemption
You keep me rockin’
Rockin’ roll salvation

She said how do you know the showbiz dream is not a sham
You have romantic plans to make each day like Disneyland
I was there once, I confess, but I left feelin’ depressed
I saw Snow White down in the tunnel smoking cigarettes

I feel like a bum
But I’m looking for redemption
You keep me rockin’
Rockin’ roll salvation

You keep me rockin’
You keep me rockin’
You keep me rockin’, I know it’s there
I’m not stoppin’

She said she found faith at a small café in Moscow
The jazz band played Coltrane and she spoke of better tomorrows
She gave her manifesto, I thought only of sex though
She said she talked to God but I could just stare at her breasts

I feel like a bum
But I’m looking for redemption
You keep me rockin’
Rockin’ roll salvation

You keep me rockin’
You keep me rockin’
You keep me rockin’, I know it’s there
I’m not stoppin’

YOU GOT SOUL

East wind rustles the trees
Ruffles her dress and brushes her knees
It’s only been seven hours since she arrived
This morning this mystic she float and the cryptic she flies
Oh, but then I turn around
And you got soul
You got soul
And there’s no other person on earth I’d ever care to know

So you think it’s gettin’ too late
For misfit nights under the painted sky
I got a feelin’ and I know it will not subside
The sadness when one thing is born when a part of you dies
Oh, but then I turn around
And you got soul
And there’s no other place on earth I’d ever want to go

I fall in love
Every once in a while
Sending a rhapsody into your brain and your heart
Till you fall apart
I know you got it
I know you got it
And you got soul
And there’s no other place on earth I’d ever want to go

FALLIN’ IN LOVE WITH A DREAM

Looks out the wind real far away
She keeps wishin’ there’ll be better days
She fades to dreams while the love songs play

I know
I been fallin’ in love with a dream
And it ain’t always what is seems
So you go away

She keeps on walkin’ as the roads they wind
She looks at him and she sees dollar signs
He looks at her with eyes that are kind
Or at least blind

I been fallin’ in love with a dream
And it ain’t always what is seems
So you go away

It’s not easy to be alone
It’s not easy when you’re on your own
To be fallin’ in love with a dream

STOVEPIPE HAT

She got white teeth and a Stovepipe hat
She dig boogie woogie and Burt Bacharach
In high school, she used to be the number one contender
Went deep for dudes who looked like John Bender
One night at Dick’s she dared the rent-a-cops to end her

She went through a hoochie phase
She went through a hippie phase
Went through a hip-hop, steal-your-parents-car phase
Cried in the bathroom, learned crime don’t pay
God shined a light, down in the hallway
They’re smokin’ in the poker room
Cookin’ up confessions
Bleedin’ on the floor, gonna teach ‘em all a lesson
Who’s that in the Stovepipe hat?

She got red eyes, took a Stovepipe toke
She got pretty close with some dubious folks
At Amherst she used to be the #1 thinker
Ended up sinkin’ with some rock n’ roll drinkers
It’s always liberating when you’re hanging with the liberated

She’s going through a Zen phase
Linin’ up the chakras
Diggin’ in the trust fund
Listenin’ to Zappa
Gone are 28 days, parents they forgave her
It’s always complicated when you talk to your creator
She dried out on a ranch
She’s been to Helena and back
She solved the existential dilemma with a journal and a backpack
And a Stovepipe hat
Who’s that in the Stovepipe hat?

TOO LATE, TOO LATE

Katie packed a box with a book of hymns
Billy took a shot of the bathtub gin
The front door was still swinging while her sister packed the car
He read man with a blue guitar
In the house by the interstate
He said, “wait baby”
Then she spun around when she reached the gate

Said thought I never met anyone like you
All those things that I thought you knew
But my parents they met in high school
Their story’s what I know
Your poetic words won’t show me
That you care
About the secrets that they share

I know that it’s too late

Billy heard the sound of a car horn blast
Katie said good bye in the fogged up glass
Said all and good bad things pass
As the Honda pulled away
She rode shotgun to LA
He remembered their first date
Halloween, 1998
She thought Wallace Stevens was great
But she didn’t get William Blake
She made love for 2 weeks straight

Now it’s too late

No use tryin’ to analyze
Who is lucky
And who is wise
But mister if you don’t disguise, time will decide for you
So be true to what your heart is tellin’ you

Age it sets in like the night
You make decisions, wrong or right
On what you think just might
Be out there in the dark
You are startled by the spark and we try
To make sense of our fate
What led you to this street?
What stopped you at the gate?
Why would God deny us
Something so great?
We’ll never quite know
There’s no one to blame

But it’s too late

CAN I GET A WITNESS?

The majestic magenta sandal strap
The concupiscent concubine caught the clap
The albatross of a boss tries to adapt
To the loony tune land of the lothario’s lap
The heaven-sent hunk hulled up in the back
The sentient sod was a sentimental sap
The doomsdayed, dog-eyed drummer he slaps
The sound fills the halls with a wallop and a wap

Can I get a witness?

I start sweet talkin’ to ya
You know I probably wanna do ya
The burlesque is a test of good advice
Once you stand up you’re gonna feel so good
You’re gonna fall in love and feel wise

Can I get a witness?

Once you stand up, you’re gonna feel so good
You’re gonna fall in love, you’re gonna feel so good
Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you need?
Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you need?
Tit for tat, so exact, in the trap of the sick
Hit the walls get involved with the tall turnin’ tricks
The naysayer might take a noose nap
And Xavier follows yonder star map
In the back hit the trap with the walls so involved
It’s a bitch

Can I get a witness?
Get a witness in the back
Get a witness in the front
Can I get a witness
Is everybody with this?

AT THE HOTEL

At the hotel
In the white sheets
Bloodshot eyes
Fey retreats
Wine-stained lips
Shake your hips
Honey that’s enough
Baby, this is it
At Michelangelo’s
You got no clothes

I caught you foolin’ around
You put out, you got down
Well, you know
You got down on the floor
I caught you foolin’ around
In your heart was a sound
Of a thousand voices singin’

At the hotel
Through the saffron
It’s the white bump
It’s the pom pom
Wine-stained lips
Shake your hips
Groovy eyes
Private smile
At Michelangelo’s
You got now clothes

I caught you foolin’ around
You put out, you got down
Well, you know
You got down on the floor
I caught you foolin’ around
In your heart was a sound
Of a thousand voices singin’

Don’t you know you are your mother’s pride?
Don’t you know she would be horrified?
You’re so far away from where you had God on your side

I caught you foolin’ around
You put out, you got down
Well, you know
You got down on the floor
I caught you foolin’ around
In your heart was a sound
Of a thousand voices singin’

STORMS

She came from Greenwich, CT
She was just out of college
She earned an Amherst Degree
Then somehow she met me
She said, “Where are all the good souls, baby
Who are the trusted?
Being rich can be a bitch

But I’ve looked within myself and I want to live like I saw them live in storms
Upon my shelf, I feel strong enough like I saw them livin’”

I said, “You know the shirt is from a thrift store
And I ain’t got much money”
She laughed and thought that was cute
I said, “I wasn’t makin’ a joke”
She said, “Where are all the good souls, baby
And who are the trusted”
I said, “You’ve had the tour
Now are you sure

That hidin’ in yourself you feel strong enough
Like you saw them live in storms
Upon your shelf you feel strong enough
Like you saw them live in storms?”

She didn’t understand
She smiled and took my hand

Grab your coat and grab your hat
Settle down in a Soho flat
Dye your hair and sleep around
Recover your umbrella from the lost and found
Hide your past and get all soaked
Even though the summer home is close
3000 miles, you still won’t understand
Because daddy will always bail you out of a jam

You’ll never be yourself if you try to live
Like you saw them live in storms
Upon your shelf you feel strong enough
Like you saw them living
Getting wet and knowing you feel strong enough
Like you saw them live in storms
Still, upon your shelf, you fear the photographs
Of your time out in the storms

ALBUM TITLE: The Charm Of Women And The Courage Of Men
RELEASE DATE: Feb 7th, 2006

1. Victoria’s Void
2. Don’t Let Me Sleep Alone
3. Maudlin Monet
4. Suzanne Sings Sad Songs
5. Alice’s Ache
6. Hats In Marseille
7. Action, Not Words
8. The Charm Of Women And The Courage Of Men

VICTORIA’S VOID

Victoria

When
You can’t
Find
The faith

You can think of me, think of me

Well
You’d like
To think that
I mean

Something to you, something to you

Victoria, you pursued me so tenaciously
Now, you just leave me behind, leave me behind

Victoria, you don’t call me back
Maybe some Captain Morgan’s will solve that

When
The tickets
Have
Been torn

I will think of you, think of you

When
The records
Start
To scratch

It would offend you, if you still knew

Was it that I said I thought I was crazy?
You are the crazy one, that’s true, but you are different, too

Victoria, was I rude? Did I offend you?
Was it something I said? Was I bad in bed?

Well, no one knows
Why we come together
Or fall apart
We blame it on temperament
And circumstance
We blame it on terms of chance

Victoria, your void
Is certainly to blame
It can’t be filled
By money or fame

Your excuses made my blood boil
There’s no part of me left to fix with toil
Why work on changing myself for you?
I’m not perfect, I know it’s true

But Victoria you’re the one with the void
You look for the answers in the celluloid
The Cimmerian recesses you explore
Cannot fill the space, but the path is all yours

DON’T LET ME SLEEP ALONE

I ended up near your home at 3am
And I wanted to throw a rock at the window
And have you let me in
I ended up near your home at 3am
With a pile of poems that I’d written
Please, don’t let me sleep alone
Please, don’t let me sleep alone

I’m a sensitive guy
You know by the way
I list all my accomplishments
Hoping I can make some sense
Of my time before I die
Please, don’t let me sleep alone
Please, don’t let me sleep alone

You know we’ll both be apart again
And your art work will provide
A black hole for you to go
You can flirt with the patrons
And analyze yourself
But it won’t clean out those skeletons
That are sitting on your shelf
No, working hard won’t free your mind
It will just shift your misery to another time

So this is it, my final offer
Come with me or forever be lost
Not that I would offer you any way across
This great divide, with no place for pride
But it will be OK,
And your scream will become a whisper,
Then a drone
Please, don’t let me sleep alone
Please, don’t let me sleep alone

MAUDLIN MONET

I thought it was odd to be named after Monet
Especially since you’re a girl and he wasn’t
I knew a woman who was named Matisse
She had painterly instincts and a motherly crease

Named after Monet, you did all you could
To make sure your days were like paint on the canvas
Maudlin Monet, it’s just another day
They can’t all be masterpieces

SUZANNE SINGS SAD SONGS

Suzanne sings sad songs
She writes her music for the throngs
She sees herself as an irrepressible star
Swimming pools, Sunset Boulevard

ALICE’S ACHE

Alice has a butler
And she treats him well
I think she’s gone mad
But it’s difficult to tell

She walks out to the lawn
In the Hollywood mansion,
Left over from times when earnings were tax free
And she ponders yesterday with glee

HATS IN MARSEILLE

The boudoir still has your necklace
And the coat hangers have your coats
The frame holds a black and white picture of you and your paramour
A picture of us ‘neath our hats in Marseille

The piano in the parlor reminds me of France
A time when I believed that I could take a chance
We danced in the round and the melody did play
I can still smell the smoke in our hats from Marseille

The light on your dress and the empty cobbled streets
New clothes for the train ride, new shoes for our feet
We had people snap pictures as rain fell from sky of peignoir gray
We sheltered ourselves with our hats in Marseille

I cannot stand the pain, tears rain from my eyes
The sky seemed so youthful, now it’s old and dry
And I’m stuck with memories of a time that passed away
So I must burn the past and our hats from Marseille

Throw the hats on the fire
Throw them on the fire
We can’t get them back
No, we can’t get them back
No one needs a relic, no one needs a reminder
Goodbye Marseille
Goodbye Marseille

ACTION, NOT WORDS

These men didn’t know the length of the day
Their broken boat caught the wind and spray
The sea beat them and their vision worsened
Sailing swiftly, almost like lost urchins

These rights are ours! This right to breathe!
And the promise of soil is just a mile away
We invest ourselves in recovering the land
And the sad, abortive voices and the joyful, clapping hands

Each idea is lost, each ambition absurd
So we will not reflect on this uncertain journey
In the end, it’s about our actions
Not our words
Action, not words

Thomas felt best when in a cage
A boat no longer than a city block
He knew that, in the end, the world gets smaller
As time is shortened by the shock

Of fading expanses, dimming realms of dreams
Shrinking scope, losing teams
15 minutes late, 15 forgotten minutes
A lifetime ends

Each idea is lost, each ambition absurd
So we will not reflect on this uncertain journey
In the end, it’s about our actions
Not our words
Action, not words

In these small spaces of time
I watch TV, I feel afraid
The morning light reflects on the shade
And you are the pilot

Each idea is lost, each ambition absurd
So we will not reflect on this uncertain journey
In the end, it’s about our actions
Not our words
Action, not words

THE CHARM OF WOMEN AND THE COURAGE OF MEN

The writer sat in his office, staring out into the city street
Chicago, he thought, is a tough environment to beat
Oh, cops and mobsters and baseball and blues
There’s no other place that creates better news

But he couldn’t write a story that would sell
And he felt he was creating his own little hell
Where the quote is always out of context
And the thought revolves and never is a success

His old tie is out of style and he’s lost his cunning and his guile
He cuts his hair and feels incomplete,
But he’s inspired by the insipid marching of feet
He hears the mama’s boys playing with their children’s toys
His storybook dreams they creep, as he is lost, alone in sleep:

He dances cheek to cheek avec Monique
She’s breathtaking between blue beats
Just like Sabrina stepping into the sublime
As the jazz band swings in perfect time
Damien dances with destiny
A romance-dance by the taxi
Babes on the bus bet on gallantry
And he’ll call the cab a Coup DeVille
As romantic as a movie by Cecil B. Demille
He’ll kick his habit for the kids
Fantasy finally will hit the skids

He wakes but he cannot complain
It seems he forgets himself again
Like a private eye in the dark again
Negatives of photos leave a permanent stain

Responsibility, he says, is not for me
But I can’t forget the goal, it’s always the goal
So he smokes a cigarette to kill himself
Slowly and gently, a writer can’t value health

After all that’s sacred is classified as sin
He dozes off at the typewriter again
And says there are only two stories:
Of the charm of women and the courage of men

He dances cheek to cheek avec Monique
She’s breathtaking between blue beats
Just like Sabrina stepping into the sublime
As the jazz band swings in perfect time
Damien dances with destiny
A romance-dance by the taxi
Babes on the bus bet on gallantry
And he drives away in a Coup DeVille
As romantic as a movie by Cecil B. Demille
He’ll kick his habit for the kids
Fantasy finally will hit the skids

ALBUM TITLE: Cloudy Versions of the Facts
RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2006

1. Look Up, Babe
2. The One Man Show: The Places & The Life
3. The Seeds of Addiction
4. Seriously
5. Thoughts Are Things
6. Goodnight Doctor
7. Simple Plan For A Large Mind
8. Blue Waterloo
9. Witching Chords
10. Brilliant Skies & Diamond Eyes

LOOK UP, BABE

When the phone rings
And the pendulum swings
What seems to matter most becomes a blur
That’s when the real woman does emerge

Look up babe
The wind is crying
I don’t mind dying
Here with you tonight
Ease on down
Slip out your window
It’s time that we go
In the pale moonlight

You’re so fragile, sometimes,
I can’t help but want to ease your mind
We’re crazy to think that each day we will wake
And we won’t be captive to these pangs of ache

Look up babe
The wind is crying
I don’t mind dying
Here with you tonight
Ease on down
Slip out your windows
It’s time that we go
In the pale moonlight

THE ONE MAN SHOW: THE PLACES & THE LIFE

I descended to the ship with ease
I was free from the howling authority
Had no crew, had only the river
And the tides that caused the empty shiver

There are several places that I went in my mind
The rippling waves, the slipping triumphant grind
Tossing back and forth toward each sunrise
Rolling from the dull dip to the sweet surprise

I can hardly recall where I have been
Seattle, New York, and New Orleans
L.A., London, and Barcelona
Gaie Paris and Bella Roma

San Juan Island to Naxos, Greece
Idaho Falls to the San Francisco streets
Like a bottle bouncing on top of the sea
Always, with the tempestuous love for N.Y.C.

I’ve seen a few traces of the romantic life in each harbor
Not real life, but the life of theater
Night after night, in eternal beds I slept
Looking at the looming stars until I wept

Passion, melodrama, and understatement
I wish I could make the mistakes
That the French poets make,
That their heroes make,

But for this life
The triumphs are merely
Simple pleasures
And subtle treasures

THE SEEDS OF ADDICTION

You were the one
I could tell right away
You were in it for the right reasons
Stranded in pensive, lonely positions

Even when you were steeped in victory
You faltered and you’d sway
Saying my heroes were out of season
I had your back during your pale battle of attrition

Beneath the mighty steamer
You, exalted like a dreamer,
Loved me and the way this
Sad melody of our relationship played
Congealed by the rowing,
And the hymns to silence
That you hear, buzzing in the fields so far away
Sowing the seeds of addiction

Rapt and going down
Overrated
One must be a fool or a clown
To be so sedated

I love you more now than ever before
We now see what we always wanted to see
We are transfixed,
We are addicted

Beneath the mighty steamer
You, exalted like a dreamer,
Love me and the way this
Sad melody of our relationship plays
Congealed by the rowing,
And the hymns to silence
That you hear, buzzing in the fields so far away
Sowing the seeds of addiction

SERIOUSLY

I take music seriously
I haven’t found a way to cheat
It always feels like me

Is it acceptable to do your part,
Even if you don’t feel smart?
If you have a troubled heart?

Take it seriously
Take it seriously

I should move somewhere
Where people are harsh
And no one gets cut any slack

Do you worry about your vocation?
Is there something that you lack?
That you can’t get back?

Take it seriously
Take it seriously

THOUGHTS ARE THINGS

Thoughts are things
When one understands this
They shape the world

For the world is always dictated
By the sound in your head
By the sound in your head

When one is truly ready for a thing
It makes an appearance
It makes an appearance

Summary of growing rich
Definite purpose, definite plan
Thinking of success, not failure

Have no fear, shed no tear
Have the proper state of mind
Because thoughts are things

GOODNIGHT DOCTOR

Don’t you know that life’s a one-way ticket
That you can’t repay, not on some other day
Yes we’d always bet we’d run till there was nothin’
Left to run away from, it’s kind of like we used to say

We’d run away
Till all you can say is

Goodnight Doctor
Let the heavens open up to you
Your life wasn’t what you thought it would be
But don’t let that simple fact change you
Or change what you think of what you had to do
It was impossible
To ever say just what you meant
You never knew what you had until it went
So, bid it goodbye

You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
All things beautiful have to go away sometime
Then they begin
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
The beautiful things have to go away
To come to an end
Oh, Doctor goodbye

SIMPLE PLAN FOR A LARGE MIND

The cold wind
In the Magnolia trees
Shakes the house
As you fall to your knees

On misfit satin nights
Under the judgmental moon
You regret the past
With ideas that just shouldn’t last

You hang onto opportunities
That you have missed
You spin the car’s wheels
As it falls off the cliff

Just let them slip on past
You can’t repeat the past

You wonder why your parents
Seemed so resigned
With the specter of something
Dismissed before its time

Say c-c-c’mon over later
Let’s have a dance
Daughter’s a liberator
A confiscator
With a simple, simple, simple, simple, simple
Simple plan for a large, large mind

BLUE WATERLOO

She had the nerve to say the things
That she wrote in her journal at night
That monumental verve that springs
From such a lucid personal insight

Your ravenous, back-alley ways
Proactive, like a devil on the make
Set her drifting from her ideals
Into an azure hovel where secrets bake

Stronger than alcohol
Your love is vast and it is tall
Stronger than any words in a song
My candle’s burning bright
But it will not last the night
So let’s bath in the light
It casts on the waters of blue
You’ve met your Waterloo

You stumbled in like a trucker
Who needed a brew
But you made a miscalculation
When you shamelessly tried to woo

This girl with delirious sass
And a pile of anguish and bitterness
She grabbed the cane tipped with shiny brass
As you walked out to the grass

WITCHING CHORDS

You hear those witching chords
The world could be yours, you see colors everywhere
You hear those witching chords
Sounds of revolution, colors everywhere

Don’t tell me the bad news
Don’t tell me about the everyman
I’ll thank you all
I’ll thank my friends

The city boys, who move tenderly
To the city, to go drinkin’ and sleepin’ far from home
They find it hard to believe, they rarely notice
But it’s magical on Sunday when the witching chords drone

You can’t drag me down
You can’t take me away
You can’t be happy all the time
But you can enjoy being in the gutter on a Bohemian day

Woe is me, I found something brand new
Your life is fleeting, in case you didn’t know
The revolution of the mind envelopes you
So fast and then so slow, so slow

You hear those witching chords
The world could be yours, you see colors everywhere
You hear those witching chords
Sounds of revolution, colors everywhere

BRILLIANT SKIES & DIAMOND EYES

It starts with a fresh face – Newness – Beginnings
And a dream of being a star someday
Behind the camera, aware of the audience
Thinner, richer, and wiser when you earn your pay

You earn it on some other pasture
But you’re still lonely and you must take chances,
The sweet emotion that you’re after
You might find after a few late night dances

Then you’re drunk for a week straight
On the green, green grass – waiting on someday
Like you’re running scared, but the dreams remain
They are to be remembered in some strange way

Then you’re on the cusp, holding it in your hand
Crying, laughing, and lasting; longing for the touch
Evenings, mornings, and afternoons demand
That Wild Willie shakes off the glitter and makes the bust

Now you’re holding on to the tender night
With little comfort in the notion of what is right
Everything in front, all that passed behind
It’s just dusty, dusty, dusty time

So your life is set to music, babe
Black and blue and sweet as marmalade jade
Or maybe white and black and no shades of gray
It might be easier when you get down on your knees and pray

That you soon reach the day, but dreams are to be remembered
Hey Mama, it’s late, and it gets hard to surrender
To the yellow and gold of those luminous skies
Those brilliant skies light up your diamond eyes

So play, Mama, play, just play, Mama, play
You might get some sugar on Sunday, but it’s not for me to say
So let me be what I will be, without disguise
Those brilliant skies light up your diamond eyes

ALBUM TITLE: Vignettes Of An Imaginary Europe
RELEASE DATE: December 7th, 2005

1. Put It In Words
2. The Moon Spikes The Lonely Dome
3. Sailing The Atlantic
4. Europe
5. Erect A Hero
6. Empty Rooms
7. In The Company Of Artists
8. Old Age Should Burn
9. Tombstone Graveyard
10. Baptized In The Sink
11. The Motto Of Sisyphus
12. The Makers

NOTE: This is a spoken word album

PUT IT IN WORDS

Foreign shores disguise the scene
It’s a Mediterranean dream
Dreams of travels of your time in this land
From city to city, from concrete to sand
The faulty faces that disappear into Venice
Like caged birds, dying and floating downstream
I cast my line into the sea
And you came flailing back at me
The wooden kimono
The six-dollar grin
The bridge, the red curtains
The Spanish Steps
The sun coming through the stain glass window
I want to imbibe these things
Face up to wake up
The Italian candle
The shimmer of the candlestick
You polished at dinner, your work was quick
The vampires in Paris
That disappeared
Into the subway, where the axe man cleared
A guillotine for you and your sordid ex
And your wanton lust for endless sex
The demarcations on the train
The willow was sliced
And symbolized pain
You thought of the scent of the fancied girl
And all the passion she unfurled
When love was young
When love was real
Was that me?
Did that exist?
I don’t remember
I don’t remember
There is a world beyond the bus
There is a place where blind men see
There is a place where you are beautiful
And infinitely wise, indeed

The simple myth that convalesced
While fate twisted in the wind
The offer God made in Hades
The offer Zeus did rescind
I don’t care to elevate
Beyond the broken, barroom dreams
More, more
Now, now
I want love
I want dreams in real life
I want to separate the artificial
From the real
To get it out
To speak the truth
Maybe this is insanity
Senility is horrible
But I love grandma’s unpredictable inanities
I will always write
It is my solace
Perhaps, my only plight
Benign, malignant
Broken, battered, beautiful
That is me
The song is 1000 years long
Goodbye, Georgia – Goodbye, Louisiana – Goodbye, Arkansas – Goodbye, Seattle – Goodbye, Queen Anne – Goodbye, Billy Joel – Goodbye, symphonic strains – Goodbye, Bill Gates
And other assorted brains
I have known you so well

I never understood why
The bar closed at 2am
And I’d want to stay up all night
Or why I could never get the rhythm right
Or why I never ended like in Hollywood
When life kept going after I thought it ended
It was like a dream
And I saw everything as an illusion
A riddle that had no beginning and no end
The serious creatures who
Crested the shore
The pancake jaws
The omnipotent whore
The scum of the earth
Dancing bare
Beneath the stars
The premium of birth
Pay it quickly
And prove your worth
Perfume is so beautiful
I don’t speak to the educated mind
Don’t think I take this to be high falutin
The blinking yellow light
Shows me that this is burlesque
This is the depot
The depot is crying
Ezmerelda is dying
The soft carpet is stained with her tears
Finding the forest
But missing the deer
Damn – it’s an illusion
An illusion
A symbiotic
Pittance of prose
Someone please, please
Thwart the beauty of the rose

THE MOON SPIKES THE LONELY DOME

The moons spikes the lonely dome
The troubadour laments his lost home
The receptionist grabs her phone
The bus driver sings a lost melody
The grocery check taps her foot out of rhythm

The gangster – what a sorry sack
He doesn’t know he lost his mack
Smells like cigarettes and stale beer
Someone get me out of here

The love was hard
The defeat made it real
He sat across from his star-crossed lover
And clenched her hand
Tears of joy rolled down her check
He said, “Why do I feel so meek?”
Why can’t you live with me
And make it easy?
That art school in Paris
Kept you entertained
But let’s be thankful
That your parents didn’t spoil you
You sat in your studio for hours and hours
You said to me:

That’s the only time I feel OK
When I can inflict some order on my ideas
Some order on this apartment
Those street walkers scare me
My habits they dare me
The snare drum ensnares me
I’m too young for the garden party
I’m too old for the clubs

Felt too young for my skin
Felt too old to believe I’d begin
Like the college night, amid the advertisers
The soft head falls prey to the supervisors
Blessed be the strong
Who know their own song
And figure out how to find a place
Away from this wind-blown and troubled race

SAILING THE ATLANTIC

The ship that dies in a sinking night
The death that sinks the soldier’s might
To do what can be changed
I’ve done my best
That’s all that matters
Georgia blithely chatters
The soft rain pitter-patters
The lilting moon
The solid oak
The tapestry begins to choke
I believe that I can express it
Better than any human I’ve known
I feel alone and paranoid
Not doomed to oblivion
In fact, overjoyed
Life is great, it’s beautiful and opulent
Time well spent

There are so many who are so intelligent
They have a direction
Their life is not one of this self-referential nature
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
Let the dew fall in your eye
Gray buildings

The ship that tilts on an old, dead sea
The sailor sips and defines the neon sign
Devoted to a land that might not be revealed
Devoted to the part of the heart
That forever remains concealed

EUROPE

When I was in Europe
I felt like a champion
Young and brash and obscene
Measuring out each dew drop of luck
Till the years snuck up on me

Now it feels
Like a cruel trick
My compatriot sips on his drink
And we amble under Caribbean skies
And don’t allow much time to think

My cohort
He’s younger than I am
And we both have a sad way
Of knowing that things will end up falling apart
And these women will never ever feel the same way

My friend, Juan
He says if we could only retire
To New York City
Or out in the suburbs
We’d live an easy lifestyle
It would be easier

And bring us back to the way we felt
When we were in Europe

ERECT A HERO

It always seemed
That your classic car carried some weight
You played Sinatra
And you played it straight

You were my hero
You were my rock
You felt all too perfect
The way you swept all your dirt like a mop
You were the only hero I knew

I feel sorry for the gladiators
I feel sorry for the popstars
I feel sorry for the broken dreams
That follow foreclosed home loans and repo-d cars

The sea is fair
The innkeeper stays on the side of the highway
The auroras of spring
The autumnal break
The swan and the moon
With an eternal fire,
They force us to break

EMPTY ROOMS

You sit alone with the books that you own
And read with the flashlight
As the wind blows the white night

And you ponder the things you’ve been given
But not as long as you ponder
The things that you can never have

Now it’s time
To say goodbye
You’ve been forced to deal with the loss that you’ve had

So let’s have a drink
And talk of old times
Let’s jam on some tunes
As we talk about photos of old days
And life in what is now
A series of empty rooms
Empty rooms

You heard the words of your dad
You sat in the hall
With the man from the paper

It was good to talk shop again
We are not the winners
But we are not losers
We all are simple men
And the money your brother made
In the stock market glide of ‘95

Twisted your thoughts
Into places where they
Shall always remain

So you sit in the studio, in an old familiar room
Photos of yesterday that seem like cartoons
You look at the calendar

To plot your next move
So many expectations
So many things to prove

I suppose if we could live in that space of wonder
Lost in a kiss
Lost in the depths of the thing that is always just out of reach

So let’s have a drink
And talk of old times
Let’s jam on some tunes
As we talk about photos of old days
And life in what is now
A series of empty rooms
Empty rooms

IN THE COMPANY OF ARTISTS

I don’t enjoy the company of artists
They complicate
They steal the thunder
Mine and God’s

In the company of artists
In the company of artists

They steal the lightening
They paint it poorly
They obscure the beauty
The way an American obscures a French “r”
It is not French
And it is not American
It is some hopelessly futile bastard child

In the company of artists
In the company of artists

Maybe it’s that the artists I’ve known
Have been dilettantes
With nothing real to say
They needed to dig deeper

In the company of artists
In the company of artists

OLD AGE SHOULD BURN

Old age should burn and rave at close of day
Youth should rage against the force of age
Let me stop here
And observe this moment
Life is a test, playing a game of chess with me
Poetry is the medium whereby one can connect with the infinite
The green flower
Bulbous and bright in its hues
Walk along the docks, with the burning news
You must fight the weight of the heavy sea
Each time you struggle
You are in line with nature’s greatest miracle
The struggle makes the test seem real

We all deal with the exit of youth
You look in the mirror
Brown and tanned from age
Hardened by the time on stage
Still with the feeling of a man in a cage
Thomas Edison was right
When he defied the force
And split the night
In a tightrope walk where the comets blaze
And the core troubadour savors his bedroom gaze
With all sex like torrents in a dawn brigade
Love has its pilots on the promenade

A puritan ethic
Transposed across a transparent screen
Where the lights attach to the cross
And the midnight gleans
The real estate company
Has taken stock in this town
Pape Brunee knows how to make his paintings
Golden brown
It’s comfortable and charming
The high country and the cozy house beckons
While the techno beats bounce in the round
All of your needs, my dear,
They are met right here
As I gently touch your white hand
It should finally be clear

TOMBSTONE GRAVEYARD

Tombstone graveyard
Try hard, get far
Hopefully drive a new car
Through back roads
The time goes
Through slipknots and back hoes
Snow capped mountains
Blue sky brigade
Walk along the soldier’s promenade
Where do the rats go?

I’m in need of sleep
I think I saw Jehovah a half an hour ago
But no one treats you well
You’ve got nothing to sell
Only skinny sticks and trees
Only pools of flies and bees
Only purple-black bags
And dimestore rags
And planes flying too close to the ground
You rich folk
Embassies to the manhole
Take the jet, light the candle
And sing a hymn
For me and you and the choir

The mountains flow like water
The sun in the valley
And near the mayor’s daughter
I know a place where you can hide
Where no one will find you
Where your thoughts can glide
Do not let the people scold you
Do not let your neighbors hold you
Ransom in the box where Svengalis mold you
Try hard, try hard
Tombstone graveyard

BAPTIZED IN THE SINK

You’re never very far from the end
Is that what you want to know my friend?
So don’t worry about behaving
There’s nothing to be saving
Unless, of course, you’re closer than you think
Take a dip, cold as a skating rink

He was baptized in the sink
He was baptized in the sink

Don’t ever feel like you’re on the outside
Because there is no inside
When you get there, you’ll understand
You heard that the Hawk boys
Got together and went out to the coast
You weren’t sure what you were missing

He was baptized in the sink
He was baptized in the sink

But the intelligentsias made me assume the most
I imagine they’re out there now
Proposing a toast
By the green hills and the mansions
And servants who wade in and out like ghosts
But you never wanted to get that close, did you?

He was baptized in the sink
He was baptized in the sink

THE MOTTO OF SISYPHUS

I have seen a bluer color
On the 5th night there were bursting hues
Paint a picture of the world
Make a note of the dew

The sea is cold,
So deep and blue
The sea looks bluer as my idea turns truer
A greener shade transforms to a reddish hue

Your visions of the grass
Of the glass buildings
The blue reminiscent, sad days
Prophets and Sisyphus could not have ever existed

Leave it where it is
Wake and take control
Your glass slippers
The joker is wild

The hollow halls
Where folks disappear
I guessed wrong
That it was your silhouette

The Atlantic Ocean
Swallowed all the sorrow
When we caught a plane
That took us away

Queen Lucinda
The glass eyes, the patent lies
I want more than just to kiss you
Let’s have a fling

You’ve got drugs to boot
You can destroy the loot
But no matter what happens
I will always feel guilt

That is something I can’t escape
With an orchestra taking
The symphony to a climax
When I took the path

Of the business man
I’m sorry
I was looking for something
That I could never find

We are many
Here on the farm
Your child in your arms
I hope he never grows to feel this regret

I wish no one
Any job that’s too hard
Goodbye to the hallow
Goodbye to dreams

The streetcar of hope
The story of Hamlet
The fall of Othello
Goodbye, goodbye

No one will be able to overcome the weight
Yet you have so much at your fingertips
There are ghosts in the hall
They carry no promise at all

We regret all that we lost
So, so long ago
I do not want to say goodbye
I have only regrets

I hope they fade in time
Whatever possessions you have, let them fade into mine

THE MAKERS

We are the makers, you say
Your white Casper coat votes, it says “yeah” then “nay”
And the Victorian is drunk in a bar
Vancouver seems so far

See a play where the characters grow gray
Everyone is bathed in black

Wendy howls like the wind
Panama Jack reads with his twin
Acid rain eats at the skin
Just give me a place to rest

A place to rest
I’ll rest on the park bench

Gold choir chambermaid
In ancient rooms where royalty laid
Wonders of an older world
Swallowed by the sea

Wreathed by the sea girls
Seaweed and sea girls

If Jack plays his British tune
And the Architects
Build moons by noon
I don’t know where it will land

Basted Yellow Sun
Marmalade Jade with the flashing gun

Lose something that you can’t live without
Like a painter who throws some splatters
Of paint on a canvas
Your cartoon art that was inspired by a wedding in Vegas
Somehow caught the attention of critics down in Soho

The retreats of the beats created a bitter end
For she who expressed a sonorous voice in an angelic blend

ALBUM: Bartering For Love In Bakersfield
RELEASE DATE: November 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. You Get Wet
2. The Burden Of Loyalty And Love
3. There Was No Answer
4. The Genius & The Jury
5. Your Best
6. Out Of Rhythm
7. You Are The Thief
8. If I Live To Be One Hundred
9. Jesus Appealed To The Masses
10. I Wish You Success

YOU GET WET

Don’t want to talk about it
Want to hide it way
You see I have this problem
That complicates each day

It’s a drag to be aware
When you’re losing your share
And all that seemed important
Slips away, slips away

Some things they’ll get you wet
They get you wet
They make you fret
They eat you away
Oh, like you used to say

Baby was a pet,
You can’t forget
There’s nothing left
To give away
That’s what I meant to say

It’s impossible to ever
Say just what you mean
Is it not enough that it’s been seen?
Must it be sung? Must it be explained?

Well I’m losing my mind
Fallin’ down and blackin’ out
What happened to that list of things that we
Worried, dreamt, cared, laughed, and cried about?

I guess this is getting older
No second chances, no regrets
But I pray to God that the best times
I won’t forget

She was a beauty
She was moody
But she really had
A spark inside
I wanted to imbibe

She ran and ran and bet
She’d run until
She escaped the debt
That she was running from
Purged and all wrung out

THE BURDEN OF LOYALTY AND LOVE

You said the word
You said you would
Love was what you called it
I’m sorry that you heard
I don’t have the faith I should
To wrap my mind around it

Love

What an imposing idea
I’m not sure what to make of it
You, with your liberal love
I can’t believe you believe in absolutes
Yes, I’m suspicious
Of big words like “love”

Loyalty

Is a powerful word
That is what you heard

Love

The word is so heavy
It brings me down when it comes around

Hang your coat out baby
Because you know that I recognize
That the world is in need of
Big words like Love and Loyalty

THERE WAS NO ANSWER

I called out to Jesus
Said, “Help me please”
But he didn’t answer, no he didn’t answer me

Jesus needs us
To feed him, to follow him
Oh, I wish Jesus
Could free us from disease

His wisdom haunts my mind
It’s a pastiche, it’s a collage
The fly on my wall
He’s like a mirage

I called out to Jesus
Said, “Help me please”
But he didn’t answer, no he didn’t answer me

Like the man in the white suit
Like his burgundy leather boot
Like the white horses in my room
Like the mirage of some fabled tomb

I called out to Jesus
Said, “Help me please”
But he didn’t answer, no he didn’t answer me

THE GENIUS & THE JURY

“I am no genius,” he said to them
I am a regular man
I came from the salt and so
There’s no fable, here, no sham

I only do the things I know
I love to watch it wane, then grow
My books are long, my feelings strong
But there’s so much of experience that I can’t show

The Harvard grads
With their note pads
The professor of jazz
With pomp and pizzazz
Have nothing here to discuss
Perhaps if I were of your cloth
There would be some reason for the fuss
But as it is, there would be much less need to cuss
When we realize there is nothing here to discuss

Phil Spector was a genius
Even though he carried a gun
His battle was forsaken
His vision aged like a setting sun

I have nothing to profess
To the citizens, who say: why doesn’t it make sense?
I say, leave that to the physicians
The lawyers and accountants

The Harvard grads
With their note pads
The professor of jazz
With pomp and pizzazz
Have nothing here to discuss
Perhaps if I were of your cloth
There would be some reason to fuss
But as it is, it would be much less stress
To realize there is nothing here to discuss

YOUR BEST

I heard some corny country song
I felt wistful and I thought of you
It uttered one of the sentiments
That you always thought were true

I wanted to write a song that could impress
I’d coat it in sugar, sing it through a bullet mike
Crank the bass and maybe the thirteen year olds
Would be entertained by the spike

Your best won’t do
Your grand plans are wilting like flowers you once grew
Maybe it wasn’t the reason
Maybe it was a bad season
What your mind uttered
Your heart saw as treason
I’m sorry that your best wouldn’t do

I wanted to be heard
I accepted your dower
You were a rose
But your petals lost their will to flower

Now you’re off to Manhattan
I hope your plans go through
For all the suckers born each minute
So rarely are there diamonds like you

Your best won’t do
Your grand plans are wilting like flowers you once grew
Maybe it wasn’t the reason?
Maybe it was a bad season
What your mind uttered
Your heart saw as treason
I’m sorry that your best wouldn’t do

OUT OF RHYTHM

I watched the videos
I listened to the tapes
The arrow always meandered
When I wanted it to go straight

You mucked things up
Adulterated them
Messed up the groove
So many years spent

Out of rhythm
When rhythm was what we meant to prove
The mist was real, the manifestation merely garnish
The images vanished
Out of rhythm

Man, I blame myself
For not laying down the law
Drawing the line in the sand
And protecting the grandstand

You held me back
It was all because of you
You’re the one to blame
But I don’t think you knew

Out of rhythm
When rhythm was what we meant to prove
The mist was real, the manifestation merely garnish
The images vanished
Out of rhythm

Things could’ve been so sweet
But you were the thorn
You made me choke
Man, now I’ve scaled things back

In order to write one perfect note
And pile it on a note
A microcosmic perfection
Accompanied by bon mots

Out of rhythm
When rhythm was what we meant to prove
The mist was real, the manifestation merely garnish
The images vanished
Out of rhythm

YOU ARE THE THIEF

The room smells like paint
The light bulb nearly burned out
I’ve got a stack of magazines
That nearly made me doubt

Like when you had your
Very first paper route
It was slow, it was tedious
But you were young

That’s the claim
That’s your life
There’s no one to blame
For your strife
It travels down the greenest, winding ways
And blues skies fade under the brigade

I met a girl who was so naïve
19 years old, she really would grieve
One day soon, she’d be transformed
When she realized the restless state becomes the norm

I’m sorry but the words, they form
To the house and to the voice
The words aren’t the objects
But it’s as though I never had a choice

Love is young,
Love is brief
You said as you threw the rock out
To the corral reef
Your old lady’s a good woman, but she hardly sleeps
‘Cause you took it from her, you are the thief

IF I LIVE TO BE ONE HUNDRED

Honey, you better start running fast
Take only what you think will last
The open is door is going to close
The red you see might be a rose

Honey, move fast
If I live to be one hundred
I hope you do, too
It’s a long time to be friends
If we don’t offend too many folks
By me just being me and you being you
If I live to be one hundred
I hope you do, too

The strummy, acoustic sound ain’t lost on you
The breathy, spooky voice still sets the mood
By the dock, by the ferry boats, near the verandas
We’ll sip tea and be merry and speak in inimitable stanzas

Honey, move fast
If I live to be one hundred
I hope you do, too
It’s a long time to be friends
So many people we’ll offend
By me just being me and you being you
If I live to be one hundred
I hope you do, too

JESUS APPEALED TO THE MASSES

Jesus was great, Jesus was grand
He turned water into wine
He walked on the sea
But, mostly, his message had broad appeal
He sold hope, like Macy’s sells clothes
Like McDonalds sells burgers
His aim was pure, his soul was strong
He charged nothing for the hope he gave
Except a sacrifice and dedication
And he split the world into a thousand throngs
But, mostly, he had a good hook

I WISH YOU SUCCESS

Through the beauty
You are moody
And you second guess,
Oh, but I digress

You walk and speculate
You walk with a peculiar gait
When under stress
But I wish you much success

Run as fast as you can and don’t say goodbye
Money shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness
Run as fast as you can and don’t say goodbye
Oh, I wish you much success
Money shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness

You dance along with your date,
You fall in love, you fall prostrate
Then you confess
Oh, you clutch your breast

I wish you much success
Not second best, you’re on a quest
To find the man with sprite to underwrite
Your wish, it’s passionless

You’d rather die than have second best
Girl, I wish you much success

ALBUM TITLE: In the Café at Night
RELEASE DATE: October 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. A Familiar Place
2. Sweet Lucille
3. Our Time
4. A Thousand Promises
5. Believe In Something
6. Bloodstained Hands (Part II)
7. A Love Affair With Booze

A FAMILIAR PLACE

I hope to arrive
In a well-tailored suit
At the restaurant on Barstow
Where the waitress is cute

And we’ll talk of old times
Find the best years and trace the lines
The teens, the 20s, the 30s race by
But we have this familiar place
A familiar place

The man’s here to do a story for the paper
You lost the photo of your date
Her voice echoes, as he stands in the hall
You feel like your thoughts are walls

And you’ll talk of old times
Find the best years and trace the lines
The teens, the 20s, the 30s race by
But we have this familiar place

The photo album
Is dirty and old, but still you long
To be at home
In a familiar place

SWEET LUCILLE

He made sure today
To file the letters away
Make sure they’re in order in that old, dirty house
If he should need them, doll
Someday, he’ll be sure to call
But now he knows exactly where he’s from
And he has no doubts

Sweet Lucile, you’ve lost your pride
When you lose your pride,
Clyde won’t have you as his bride
Sweet Lucile, he’ll file your letters away
Do away with lost love now, Lucile
And let a new love be your guide

Things might be easier
If outside was breezier
You’ll find a community, where there’s some sunshine to imbibe
But you say, “Father, oh, father
Why should I bother?
When there is no place for a girl to go and hide”

Sweet Lucile, you must blossom and grow
The fond fairy-dust glow you know
It won’t haunt Clyde no more
Sweet Lucile, you coughed and you swore
I thought you settled the score
But this is just what happens, be sure

Baby, when your blood fails you
Baby, are we nothing but dust, is it true?
Baby, is it best when the roof don’t rust?
Well, Clyde…
Is gone!

Wish I had a better story to tell
But these heroes are headed to hell
And these are the tales, all the tales we ever knew
They were told by the storied
The useless and the gloried
Who felt, though they were the few,
That they knew just what to do

Sweet Lucile, this is your life
Words of love, words of strife
And words as sharp as a knife
Sweet Lucile, it’s gonna be all right
The tree outside your window has died
In all your stories, the moral was a lie

In all your stories, the moral was a…
Huh? You didn’t think I’d say it, did ya?
The moral was a lie, but you can find another guy
To boost back up your pride

OUR TIME

We held each other tight
We wanted life to be a story
And we wrote all our words on the page
So we held each other’s hands
Sad that life hadn’t turned out as we’d planned
And we fought the end with rage

Our time meant something, baby
Our time meant something, baby
Oh, just admit that all that time
Meant something to you

Not feeling like the heroes
From the movies we watched
Feelin’ broken, but finally startlingly aware
But don’t be sad, never be sad
At the ruins of your plans
And the fact that you won’t ever ascend the stairs

Even if all your dreams come true
Our time meant something, baby
Our time meant something, baby
Oh, just admit that all that time
Meant something to you

A THOUSAND PROMISES

(Promises, promises,
Promises, promises)

(Promises)
You know how to squash those dreams, those dreams
Oh, I’m a sailor, with a boat upon the shore
Lookin’ for some dangerous scenes
(Promises)
Lookin’ out into that great open blue
Where the water splashes and I’m outside your door

If I could only take your word and take your part
I would take myself away
And I would live in your heart, oh-oh

(Promises)
A thousand miles, only a penitent son
A thousand miles for the fortunate one
Eyes ruby red in the dark

And hungry instead (Promises)
Of the life you wanted (Promises)
I wrote you a song (Promises)
But I can’t make it right (Promises)

(Promises)
Each time I sing the strains and the refrains
They only serve to legitimize my plight
Even though they impair my sight

And leave you hungry instead (Promises)
Of the life you wanted (Promises)
I wrote you a song (Promises)
But I can’t make it right (Promises)

Do-Do-Do (Promises)

BELIEVE IN SOMETHING

I’ve got no place in this city
Just pages of worlds and pictures of pretty
Half-deserted islands
Where green waters splash

And the worst of your troubles
Get washed in a bath
Take it apart
Then buy a ticket to take you away

What if you lined up a day
Just as you had imagined?
And all of the money and fortune
Came in just as planned

Well, I hope that as we get older
You still believe in something

I look around the lobby
While the people who wait for their tires
To be changed
Try to avoid my eyes

You are only a stranger when you haven’t
Taken a chance
When you haven’t even tried
You feel like hell in advance

But maybe my mistake is that I think it should be easy
That you’ll have the house, the job, the love of your dreams – and what of a family?
Shall we stroll across the White House lawn?
Shall we try to be something other than the pawn?

I hope that as we get older
You still believe in something

You were always the one who called a spade a spade
You looked at the things your father forbade
There’s your baby, dancing behind the shades
Reelin’ and rockin’ in the dress she made

You were the one who would write of hypocrisy
You called the sham when you saw it,
“He is a phony, she’s don’t know how to pony
She put herself up on trial for the money

I’m not sure if he is truthful to his wife
How can we repent such a sin all our lives?”
But perhaps your mistake
Was believing in something

And refuting what did not coincide with your views
On the New York Times front page
You read the news
And you said you could not understand the hues

But I hope that as we get older
You still believe in something

BLOODSTAINED HANDS (PART II)

She works really hard
And it gives her an edge
She keeps all her goals
In her locket

The county commissioner
Approaches the ledge
The investor has him
In his pocket

Hold me now, for a dance in the twilight
The music’s fading
It’s breaking your might
I see your face
In the smallest grain of sand
Hold me now
In the rain and the sunlight
The wind is howling, the moon is crying
Hold me now
In the palm of your bloodstained hand

Why, oh, why father
Have you forsaken me?
I did nothing wrong
To deserve this

I’m way too young
To not care or believe
That you’ve got just cause
To unnerve this

Oh, it’s all right
That’s the decree
And I wound
Like a child, aged three
Who hasn’t come of age
It’s not easy
When nothing’s sacred

Jemima you fell to
Bacchus and his pards
All your daughters
Have lost all their pearls

Your son he is old
And your father sees stars
But he’s lost all
His lust for young girls

Hold me now
In the eye of the needle
Your father’s old
But his hands can heal
I see paradise in the tiniest grain of sand
You always hope
That is could be better
The beauty burst
When you just met her
But she heals me now
With the soil of her bloodstained hands

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH BOOZE

Roll the cigars
Lasso the bottle
Pull up a seat at the table
Bid the marksman, “Adieu”

And you
And you, too
Each of you will win
Drink and be drunk
Carry on your love affair with booze
God never intended you to avoid it

In a world where the booze was free
And civilization hung by a thread
Outside the restaurant,
In the cold streets,
A tiny child held a candle above his head
And to his tiny voice, all listened, as he said,
“Love is true, of this I’m sure”

This was not a tiny intention
His motivations, so deafeningly pure
Our love affair raged on
Turgid, disgraceful, rotten, and stale

Our consternation came like hail
A consistent, foreboding drone
A true emotional gun
A large loathing

We will continue our affair
It’s sad to contemplate that this scene must die
But I don’t see that it could end any other way

And these things will pass
These merry party-goers, these life-affirmers
Will pass, by and by

ALBUM TITLE: The Gleam of a Potent Dream
RELEASE DATE: September 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. Steven’s Take On The Loss Of Love And Ambition
2. Show Business Diatribe
3. Lonely, Lonely, Lonely
4. Dreams Gleam
5. No One Will Know Your Secrets
6. The Bridge (Iowa Sleeps)
7. So Many Songs
8. At the Hotel (Part II)
9. Renaissance Is Not Me
10. Opulent Opine

STEVEN’S TAKE ON THE LOSS OF LOVE AND AMBITION

He says, “My bones ache
My eyes are tired
The rum and coke
Keeps me wired

I guess the only thing I ever wanted
Was to be a poet
To have a chance
To broadcast my feelings

About pain and loss
I want to live this
Yet it is a job
Without hope, it is a desperate job”

Broken heroes on a powerdrive
The last of the Romeos
With a box of old candy in hand
Steven drips through the door

And falls to the floor
And says, “I think I’ll join the army
They schedule things well in the army
I could keep my house clean

I could choose to box
Or maybe clean the latrines
But meals would be on time
And college would be free

And at night I could turn on the light as I read
The stories of lost heroes
The ebullience of busted dreams
Forgotten towns and pulverized families and nations”

SHOW BUSINESS DIATRIBE

Seeing old friends
And we all start sinking
Trying to find what makes success tick
Traveling and dying and feeling sick

Never felt so low before
No one to blame, I almost want more
Bad fortune comes when I ask it to
I slept through the job, but no one knew

Have to focus, have to sleep
Have to pay the bills, promises to keep
The pad on the hill will be mine
Passing my time drinkin’ red wine

Maybe I’ll start up with a new band
I depend on what I was, it determines who I am
I wish I could record a tape of my thoughts
When it hits paper, the best is lost

But success is counted by those who fail
Live a lonely life, home’s a jail
Family’s tough, kids are too
Who is the spouse sitting in the bed next to you?

Broken glasses, broken heart
In some circles I’m considered smart
But I’ve got no money, a shitty car
And a dream deferred of becoming a star

No one likes hearing others complain
We’ve all hit the fan, we’ve all felt the pain
But the woman’s a vacuum in my brain
With a Midas touch, as soft as rain

LONELY, LONELY, LONELY

Lonely, lonely, lonely
5 a.m. and I’m not asleep
Can’t remember the promises
That I remembered to keep

Saw a woman at the red bar
She thought I was wonderful
I didn’t think much of her
And felt guilty about it

Lonely, lonely, lonely
5 a.m. and I’m not asleep
Can’t remember the promises
That I remembered to keep

One of these days these
They’ll get in line for me
And I won’t have to pick up their drinks
They’ll line up dutifully

Lonely, lonely, lonely
5 a.m. and I’m not asleep
Can’t remember the promises
That I remembered to keep

Now they don’t care
That I’m at work on a novel
That I starve for the art
That I stoop and grovel

Lonely, lonely, lonely
5 a.m. and I’m not asleep
Can’t remember the promises
That I remembered to keep

DREAMS GLEAM

Dreams gleam
Stack the amps, haul the drum riser
Plug the sponsor
Figure the divisor

For your bus miles, grocery files,
And laundry piles
Back stage pass gives you the glory
Phone the story to your speed dials

Dreams gleam
Dreams gleam

Skin your knee
Break your leg
Break the piano key
Trash the square peg

Hopefully you can
Care enough to believe
That all the work is worth it
Without reprieve

Dreams gleam
Dreams gleam

Start all over
Start with order
Channel chaos
Write about your father

When he was laid off
Live the dream
Have some freedom, be naïve
When you can afford to

Dreams gleam
Dreams gleam

You spend 12 months
Making a record you can’t stand
Because you defer the choices to the other man
But you must have faith in your mind

Dreams gleam
Dreams gleam

NO ONE WILL KNOW YOUR SECRETS

Your eyes are tired
Your blood fails
You can’t find the rhythm
The accountant assails

And no one can play your music the way you’d like them to
No one will hear your words the way they should
No one will stop you in the street and tell you
The meaning of your song better than you could

No one will know your secrets
No one will keep your pictures

The crowds are never large enough
Or discerning enough
The bank account’s never big enough
Time is never sharp enough

The book is always half-written
The song is never finished
The yard never complete
The house never fully clean

No one will know your secrets
No one will keep your pictures

Perhaps one could be like a superhero
One person by day
One person by night
Design everything perfectly

Pay for the materials
And always be the right person for the situation
Cover the cost
Design the house

Design the life
Live the dream
And always be the right person for the situation
The beauty is never attainable

No one will know your secrets
No one will keep your pictures

THE BRIDGE (IOWA SLEEPS)

We stood on the bridge
You said, “I feel so cold”
With a daughter dying
You didn’t know what you’d be told
Soon we could be gone
Or soon your child, old
I don’t know who you thought of
When we stood out on the bridge,
With such a weight to hold

Iowa sleeps and you can’t control it
Feel so cheap with the thief who stole it

If we drive to Philadelphia
Before the bad weather comes
It’s August now, we’ve got a few months
Will you recognize what love is
Like you do today?
With everything on the line
Or will it disappear when we end upon the
East Coast in the coming days

Iowa sleeps and you can’t control it
Feel so cheap with the thief who stole it

With our child so ill
And our doctor’s papers on your window sill
Do you have any plans for tomorrow?
If you’re anything like me
You can only see your breath on the window by the car seat
And you realize what it’s like to be truly alone

You’re not thinking about yourself
Or the work that waits in Philly
You’re thinking about me and your daughter
And I’m reminded of a hero in the Greek Odyssey
Marching off to Troy

Iowa sleeps and you can’t control it
Feel so cheap with the thief who stole it

This is love
Selfless, sometimes painful
Helen of Troy
I’m your boy
Let’s remember how to work hard
The way we did
Before we thought all
Hard work was in vain

Iowa sleeps and you can’t control it
Feel so cheap with the thief who stole it

SO MANY SONGS

Songs are wild and songs are grand
Songs put an aching in my hand
Songs make you proud when you strike it up with the band
Songs make you weak and you can’t hardly stand

Words, so many words
So many songs
So many songs

Songs paint the scene when you feel depressed
Songs ease the strain when you need to guess
Songs tap that part of you that desires to impress
Songs catch the worst, songs catch the best

Words, so many words
So many songs
So many songs

AT THE HOTEL (PART II)

Through the saffron
In the hotel
Ruby licks
Blood red lips

Through the satin sheets
Sad retreats
Past the bellhops
Can’t feel my feet

With a woman
In French jeans

I’m a man
I’m a man
I’m a man
Know what I mean?

In the bathtub
With the champagne
Head full of mercury
Damage to the brain

Can’t remember where
One thought began
And another ended
She’s an “also-ran”

She died easy
In the lobby

I’m a man
I’m a man
I’m a man
Know what I mean?

Whoa – don’t you know I am a pauper’s son?
Whoa – you know your uncle was a Russian mobster’s gun
Whoa – the hotel lobby’s walls are as gold as the Arabian sun

RENAISSANCE IS NOT ME

Economists speculate that
Specialization is the key
The only way to increase
Productivity, you see?

As a young lad I was brash
To believe that I could change this reality
Now you say I’m quite rash
To revise my view but it makes sense to me

Renaissance charlatans
Paint your portrait, hang it on the wall
Paint your buildings like fountains that spurt
One hundred stories tall
But you can only be in one place at one time
And you can only be one person

So I think I’ll look at life through a single lens
I’ll see where it begins and where it ends
The renaissance myth
Is lost on me
I’m going to be
What I’m going to be

You can only have one father
And one mother
In one home, one life, one love
One drive, one goal

So I think I’ll look at life through a single lens
I’ll see where it begins and where it ends
The renaissance myth
Is lost on me
I’m going to be
What I’m going to be

OPULENT OPINE

The languid shadows
Glided along the wall
The shoe hadn’t been worn
In the heal it was torn
We drank from dusty cups
And sang us a song

“Let’s stay together
Sing it all at once
We’ll be lucky again
We are drunk out on a boat
That was all we wrote
This is the love between
Women and men”

ALBUM TITLE: Don’t Go Gently
ALBUM RELEASE DATE: August 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. The Land of Opportunity
2. It’s In The Eyes
3. You’re Imagining Things
4. Mudville Flats
5. You Only Die Once
6. Stranded
7. Follow Your Dreams
8. Life Isn’t Fair
9. Music Hall Barista
10. The Night Winds Wail
11. In Vintage Form
12. Even An Organ Grinder Must Make A Living
13. Balcony
14. The Obvious Question
15. Nothin’ Can Keep Your Heart From Breakin’
16. In The End
17. The Sea Was Singing
18. Limousine

THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

I am looking for some sort of change
Is this anxiety a product of
All of the business left unattended?
A pile of problems that has become a mountain
I do not wish to be anything less
Than spectacular

Don’t go gently, babe
Take it fast
I’ve got nothing left to say
No more moves to make
No more promises to fake
No more questions to avoid
No more truths to ignore

In this land of opportunity
Oh, this land of opportunity

This is right
There are only a few things
That really matter
But I do believe in the
44th quadrant
The 30th brigade
Where the sailors saw their homecoming
As a loser’s promenade
Watch the tides in glory
As the sudden services start to cascade

Arriving at services
This is our first show
Bleed the complete body
Inspect yourself for inconsistencies
Replace your faith
Feel sorry about the changes

The land of opportunity
The land of opportunity

Hopefully you meet your match
Some folks get heavily into the mechanics
Of how to produce the ideal product
I do not wish to work so hard
I want to get rid
Of the bad things and the fears I heard
From the Boston Bard

But maybe I’ve arrived here
To shake things up
Make it new again
Start to interrupt
The wheel that is spinning
As you have one relationship
A fine house
A fine family
A fine home
A dog and two cats
I think I’ve gone crazy
Every time I see a beautiful girl

The land of opportunity
The land of opportunity

Am I going to be part of society?
Or am I going to separate myself from it?
I want to be productive
To package all creative endeavors into
Some form that is saleable

The land of opportunity
The land where someone suffers and someone gains
Do you have a better solution?
Let’s see you carry it out
Let’s see you rage against the powers of fate
If you have reached old age
Without being saved

The land of opportunity
The land of opportunity

IT’S IN THE EYES

When I looked into her eyes
I saw her future
She was a child
But the trouble she’d seen
Made it so that her eyes were not childlike
She was weightless and warm
Yet her eyes showed the burden
Would she grow up to be a beggar?
Or a harlot?

I have often been intoxicated
By memories of my youth
And feelings of love at that age
Now, seeing this child,
With a harlot’s eyes
A part of my notion of a child
And my present and future
Curls in the weightless haze
And dies

Get lost in the morning fog
The milky mist
Through the wet grass
Gone are the gray skies
And your lusterless eyes

Why is it that you insist on caring for me?
I try to push away
And go after that force that is daring me
But you won’t stop loving
And you are the reason that I rage on

Your face is the answer
Your face is the refuge

I seem to forget things
I need something to cling to
And it is you

YOU’RE IMAGINING THINGS

You imagine that things will turn out all right
Ride the surf as the mist shrouds the stars’ light
You try to escape the people you know
Wipe the slate clean, there’s somewhere to go
Far from where expectations
Set your world aglow
But nothing means much
Aside from the moment you’re in
As you walk along Barnaby Street
And the bungalow in the wet night
As the stars swim

Joy swells, fear sings
But remember that you’re just imagining things

You stand at the door
Defeated by life
Take a seat on the couch
Obsess that your wife
Is not the one you want to spend your time with
You are defeated
Don’t feel defeated
Don’t feel cheated
When you get what you want
And find that it’s not enough

Joy swells, fear sings
But remember that you’re just imagining things

As she stands before me
I think that I’m in love
I don’t know if it matters who she is
As she stares above
At the wet-laced smoking tower
Where the wives and children cower
I could love you in my final hour
But I’ll leave before love goes sour
You know I can’t make changes to everything
And I can’t relive the past
The boat is sailing, baby
I can only steer as it moves so fast

Joy swells, fear sings
But remember that you’re just imagining things

MUDVILLE FLATS

Rising upon some foreign shore
He’s the last of the troubadours
Setting out to settle the score
Before the light goes out and someone chains him to the door

Taxi’s setting out
Don’t know what it’s about
It was a sad and long drought
But he loved you beyond the shadow of a doubt

Goin’ down to Mudville Flats
Goin’ down to Mudville Flats

She always stops by
But never stays for long
To know someone beyond just an acquaintance
Makes a relationship

A man is desperate; his world gets desolate
Doesn’t want to lose his edge
Bottles it up inside
And can’t help but jump the hedge

Goin’ down to Mudville Flats
Goin’ down to Mudville Flats

YOU ONLY DIE ONCE

If it’s just a dreamless sleep
Where all are gathered in one night
What could be better?
And who would want to see the morning light?

You can only die once
Might as well not ponder it a bunch

And if I chance to go to another place where
We meet the strangers and the loved ones
We always hoped we’d meet
That would be beautiful

You only die once
Might as well not ponder it a bunch

As Hades dropped behind the sunset
And we walked upon a bluer beach
Who could hope for truer
And more pleasant company?

You can only die once
Might as well not ponder it a bunch

STRANDED

Well, I’m

Stranded
Out on Bourbon Street
Stranded
Between the idea and the reality of a dream

40 days on the road
Sometimes it’s hard to get on
40 nights in the commode and I explode
Where can you walk to meet the dawn?

And I’m

Stranded
With a soft defeat
Stranded
The heart of a dream deferred

As the dreamer goes to meet
His mother mercy
As she gently weeps
Do not worry now

It’s not bad to be

Stranded
Comfort drives me crazy, can’t you see?
In the spot where you were branded
With the lies that people spread about you and me

Stranded
Stranded
Stranded

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

“Follow your dreams,”
Your teacher says,
“Grow tall and wild
But ignite the spark of a child
Fly to the edges of the earth
Be liberal in your ways”

I don’t really know what it means
But I know that it’s popular
To advise the kids to follow their dreams

“But how?” Says the child
“To deal with society, one must conform
One must repress one’s dreams
One must become civilized”

I don’t really know what it means
But I know that it’s popular
To advise the kids to follow their dreams

LIFE ISN’T FAIR

Where there’s only an empty beer bottle
And a nameless face

You have always been OK
As you stand by your car

I’m reminded of how you had such
A firm idea of who you wanted to become

We’ve gotten older
The ideas more disillusioned

Crime and justice
And that scene from the 1930’s movie we watched

We’ll walk through gold halls
At glass floored banquets

You’ll show me your book
Where the chief point is that

Life isn’t fair
No, life isn’t fair

Wherever you take it
I’ve already been there

With all your bad habits
You pray someone can hear you

You want someone to understand
You want someone to grab the candlestick

But life isn’t fair
No, life isn’t fair

MUSIC HALL BARISTA

And I’ll try to fault you for
Illusive reveries
And the open decision
To follow your dreams

But I love it
I love what you’ve become
Even though I know you’re not the golden one

Don’t ever endeavor
To not be clever
Enough to strike out on your own

You’re a music hall barista
And the profession sure fits ya
You’re a music hall barista
Go party with all the other like-minded individuals

And I guess we’ll always end up alone
Outside in the winter
A head made of summer
You can say what you want
But I’ve already made up my mind

You’re a music hall barista
And the profession sure fits ya
You’re a music hall barista
Go party with all the other like-minded individuals

THE NIGHT WINDS WAIL

Pale, pale, pale
Hail, hail, hail
Cold, cold face
Hear the night winds wail

So you’ll go write a book
About a place in the country
Where the characters all make sure
No one is hungry
And everyone ends up with the
Girl of his dreams
And the undertaker
Shakes the clocks as the building careens

Pale, pale, pale
Hail, hail, hail
Cold, cold face
Hear the night winds wail

I want to believe the words that I write
I want to be safe in this room tonight
I want for my memories to dance
As they did in their day
I want the clouds to be white
I want the sun to spot
I want to make it real enough

Pale, pale, pale
Hail, hail, hail
Cold, cold face
Hear the night winds wail

IN VINTAGE FORM

Sun was setting as she looked at me
She never thought of parting
I looked behind her, into the trees
She asked, “Are you capable of real love?”

If you should need somebody tonight
While the stars buzz soft and you sit by the light
I think I’d remember the summer
And I’m coming back, coming back

Girl you were never the norm
And I love to see you in vintage form

I took a drink, she looked at me
There is no danger right now
But if you learn to hate me
I think a strange smile disarms the anger, somehow

So then let’s leave tomorrow
Take a look in my eyes
You’ve got commitments tonight
And you wouldn’t break them for the world

Girl you were always so far from the norm
And it’s good to see you in vintage form

Even though you want to laze around
And dream of chances that you might take
If you had the daring and did a little less caring
You’d convince me that you’d like to be on the make

Vintage form
Vintage form

EVEN AN ORGAN GRINDER MUST MAKE A LIVING

Now you’re in your bedroom
While secrets bake
Like hidden items in your closet
That won’t be seen too soon
Unless an earthquake comes
And messes up your tomb

Far away, through the Leslies
The wobbling melody plays
You never see the fingers that are so giving
But even an organ grinder must make a living

I won’t choke
On all this talk about hope
We’ll go to town
And party with the city folk
While the pianist sits in the back
Grinding out his tunes
Memories last a lifetime

Far away, through the Leslies
The warbling melody plays
You never see those fingers that are so giving
But even an organ grinder must make a living

Let somebody else go and do the work
While you sit and sip on boat drinks with an ebullient smirk
I’ll try to throw it off
And say goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Then I’ll take the credit
For all your work
I think I heard a whisper
It was the organ grinder’s sigh

Far away, through the Leslies
The warbling melody plays
You never see those fingers that are so damn giving
Even an organ grinder must earn a living

BALCONY

We sat out on the balcony
I was a little drunk
And felt charming as I often do
When a little drunk

And you looked at me with eyes
Full of love and admiration
And told me how I
Seemed to inspire your thoughts and inclinations

You were attracted by what you thought I could offer
Things beyond us
You threw a bottle into the sea
And I swore that I loved you
Out on the balcony

But then it ended
You pushed me away
Perhaps some hint caused it, some hint
That tipped you off about the fact
That I was not what you thought I was

But tell me, after running into you tonight
And I know you have engagements
And problems to make right
But tell me why it changed?
Such a bold thing to experience

People come and go
Let’s put aside all the trappings of politeness
Let’s be honest
There’s constant change inside my brain
Was it me who changed or was it you?
Out on the balcony

THE OBVIOUS QUESTION

As you pulled away
You become more real for me

As you pulled away
Is that always how it is?

As you pulled away
How did I become this problem for you?

I’m not sure I can express
The one, obvious question
The obvious question

As you pulled away
I guess I can’t explain why I should love you

As you pulled away
One who is so unaffected by romance

As you pulled away
So fiery, so beautiful

I’m not sure I can express
The one obvious question
The obvious question

As you pulled away
You who, for a brief moment, were enthralled by me

And what I represent
Perhaps my expressions of the feeling I have about

Illusive romances are too obtuse
For your sense of pragmatism

And I’m not sure I can express
The one obvious question
The obvious question

NOTHING CAN KEEP YOUR HEART FROM BREAKIN’

Turn out the light
Surrender yourself to the bedroom
Arrive at a job
You know there are others who have what you want
But you never thought you would
Come away with the love

You hunt through clubs
And the all-night hotels
And you long for that feeling that you knew so well
As you stand like a stranger
In the bedroom
Haunted by the stars and your grandpa the moon
He looks down on you
And says this is what’s true

Well nothin’ can keep your heart from breakin’
You either the taker or the one who’s love is for taking

So you glide through the photo albums
Realizing that you never quite understood
The things you thought you learned many years before
And you remember to forget the thing you realized long ago
That no matter how happy you are
There’s always somewhere to go
And things create change so slow

In halls filled with strangers
Schmoozing and dining away
Like oceans waves, crashing upon this green bay
And you my dear
Were like a breast of light, so clear
And I’m sorry I’ve hurt you
But you’ve hurt me as well, I fear

We’ve got a couple choices
And we’ve got to push through

Well nothin can keep your heart from breakin’
You either the taker or the one who’s love is for taking

So I’ll hop in the car
And drive away and make resolutions
Ponder the past and how
I can receive retribution
And maybe your face will grow
More beautiful as I drive away
But it can’t make me feel better
I can’t stay
I can’t stay

Nothin’ can keep your heart from breakin’
If you give your love it’s a choice that you’re makin’

IN THE END

In the end it is not your body of work that matters
It’s your relationships

Every now and again
When the hour is late
And you forget about time
And your last mistake

You begin again
When something shakes you up
You said things you never thought you’d say
They came from deep
They didn’t come out in the right way
And you look at your house
Your wife
And say, “Who are you? Do we know each other at all?”

In the end
In the end it will all make sense

Such a small space
Between the time you think something
And what you say

But it shakes you up
Rattles the cage, sends you astray
And you can never apologize
For that doesn’t change what you said
And you can’t view it as something that got in the way

So here we stand
With no obvious solution
More and more we see
The crime and its pollution

In the end
In the end it will all make sense

THE SEA WAS SINGING

What you said
Made me doubt who I am
I am my relationships
I don’t want to be alone
But when I’m compelled to do as I feel
I am no different
You always play devil’s advocate
It helps that you’re literate
But when the walls shake
And my senses shift
I imagine the days on the beach round the spit

The sea was singing to me

I am the people I commune with
You try to hop in a car and drive away
To mend the wounds some other day
Perhaps along some speedway
In a bar full of strangers
Who always look the other way
I am standing at the entrance
As you slip out the back
Running from my problems
That you hope won’t trace or follow your tracks

The sea was singing to me

If it costs me $80 for a new tire
And I drive to where you feel
We are far enough out on the wire
All that you’ve demanded
Yet so little you require

The sea was singing to me

LIMOUSINE

Why do you retreat
When the thing you desire is so close?
In the seasons before
You adore what you’re deprived of the most

You’ll arrive in style
And the ride will be wild
Bring on the limousine

Yet it’s sittin’ here before you
In a white and black leather dream
Winding through the corridors
Beyond the highway like a stream

You’ll arrive in style
And the ride will be wild
Bring on the limousine

Through plastic windows that make
You face and blaze as you fray
Bust open a bottle, hit the city full throttle
When we’ve got tonight, who care’s about the day?

You’ll arrive in style
And the ride will be wild
Bring on the limousine

ALBUM: The Mists of Avalon
RELEASE DATE: July 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. Mists of Avalon
2. The True Expense
3. Complicated
4. Friday Afternoon
5. Story of a Young Man
6. Henry VIII
7. Growin’ Up
8. Picadilly Circus
9. A Little Bit Older
10. Tina’s Tough City Blues

THE MISTS OF AVALON

The December evening settled down
We had no dinner engagement to attend
We decided we’d enjoy the smell of winter air
And wait for the arrival of some well-dressed friends

We sat there on the cobblestone road
And they met us at the car in the lot
There were whispers in the back seat
In the heart of their engagement they’d been caught
We rolled to the shore and stepped onto the dock

We all rolled among the smoke and fog and haze
And the foghorn blew when we set out on the waves
I stood out on the deck of the boat and looked out to the maze
In on the young lovers and the knave

Tonight everyone’s riding on this ship and riding here alone
There’s no warmth out on the sea-sprayed deck, just the mists of Avalon

There will be time, it’s not too late
To know the eyes of women
To sea the portrait of her face
And to steer my fate

The nights are long in December
And they bring me back to my old dreams
There’s a ship out on the horizon
Seems the dawn’s come apart at the seams

‘Cause this side of the sunset
There ain’t no promises for me
Let this ship take me away
Past the smoke rings of the sea

Roll me through the smoke and fog and waves, roll me away from home
And I’ll turn my eyes to the wisdom faraway, to the mists of Avalon

THE TRUE EXPENSE

There are those
Who are in control
Yet feel so little
Their lives are elegantly played

But I’m the artist
Who feels too much
The edges of my life
Are messily torn and frayed

That’s the only explanation
That makes sense
When you’re diggin’ in your pocket
For your last few pence

To buy another bottle
At your health’s expense
In your sanity’s defense
But the bottle shines so bright
‘Neath the dim barroom light
And it holds what makes the experience intense

COMPLICATED

Everything’s so complicated
Why can’t I think a simple thought?

That bum on the street – he’s complicated
He’s had a rough time and so he’s down
That lawyer on the cement, about a half block from him
He’s complicated, too, and both wear a frown

My teacher – he’s complicated
He knows theorems that counter anything I say
All of the students – we’re complicated
We’re learned in a very learned way

This damn city – it’s complicated
Try to figure out a map and you’ll agree
Unless you understand complication
And revel in detail not mystery

What, you ask, is complication?
I don’t know, it’s too complicated, you see?
To make things a little simpler –
Would be complicated, ask your expert, they’ll agree

My life is complicated
So much swimming through my little head
I’ve got bills to pay and laundry to do
I can’t wait till I’m dead

Then there we will no more complexity
I’ll be simple once again
Like when I was young
Before I became caught up
In this and that thing
Before I started exercising my tongue

Why are you so complicated?
In other words, why do you think you are?
To me, you’re a simpleton, partner
And to you, I’m a simpleton, from afar

Could it be that we’re not as complex as we think?
That we’re more simple-minded and even naïve
That our worries aren’t as dire as we imagine them to be
That there’s little to pull from our sleeve?

Oh, I don’t know, it’s all too complicated

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Friday afternoon
The spring time sun is here
The bell tolls for me and all
Who pack up all their gear

And meet all their closest friends
And drink plenty of drinks
And do what the drinks recommend
And those hours from 5pm to into the wee hours of the morning
Are the precious few we hold
To be the best

On one such afternoon I was joined by a friend
We thought we’d drink some tea
And talk about how life would end
But that proved to be too serious
So we switched up our chat
And we talked about some trivia
And we dusted off our door mat
For others were on their way
And soon they all arrived
This is the sort of communal bond
On which our whole group thrives

The evening starts with conversation
And fingerbowls of grog
And quips about the ball game and
The latest breaking news

We’ve got nothing that we have to do
No place that we need to be
We’ve only got the comfort of a cozy, warm place
And the coziness of pleasant company

The evenings getting on in regular fashion
The alcohol is flowing and the volume is rising
The crescendo of the group is steadily climaxing
And the novelty of this seems quite surprising
Of course, it’s not and we’ll know that tomorrow
But let us have tonight to dream a bit

STORY OF A YOUNG MAN

A young man looked at the sky through a pair of innocent eyes
The limits were no where in eye-shot
They were shrouded by cars and dreams and sighs
He remembered that a glass of beer was all he needed,
“To see the world as it is not”

He set off to capture his vision,
With shoes that were tattered and stained
His clothes were a shade on the poor side
In his girl’s bed, other men had once been

A beauty stood right in his path
Conveniently pretty and vain
He said, “Babe, let’s get a goin’”
And they ventured through hills in the rain

“It’s out there,” he said, “Far away from here
We won’t stop till we have a hold on it, you see
Once we get there, we can come back home,
And make things the way that they should be”

They wandered together, the Mr. And Mrs.
As they soon were to be called and known
And cans and trinkets were now fingerbowls and jewels
And there was no shortage of spirits or loans

“Insipid, this is,” he said,
“This is not the sort of company I seek
I’m grand and I’m great and I control my fate”
But the Mrs., she looked rather meek

HENRY VIII

He was a huge, menacing man
Taller than any other men in his day
He was given the riches of the land
And he was free to take what he pleased and experiment away

Feelin’ so great
Like Henry the VIII
Like Henry the VIII

He was a self-interested type of leader
But a leader all the same, that was true
He had friends at his side and his brother’s bride
He had passed and now Henry saw her through

Feelin’ so great
Like Henry the VIII
Like Henry the VIII

But he wanted a boy to bless the courtyard
A boy with his father’s eyes and sturdy bones

Feelin’ so great
Like Henry the VIII
Like Henry the VIII

GROWIN’ UP

He grew up right and learned the ropes
Age 15, he was rarin’ to go
All around him life beckoned
Pretty girls, fast times, and ephemera to know

He wanted to be great someday
Make his mark in history
He’d like to sit on the top of his hill
In the grass and stare at the big city

He’d say, “Hey, you’re made for me”
Reached up to the sky and tried to scream

Time raced by for this restless boy
High school days were his life’s glory
Something clicks when the blood is warm
And young and the world’s full of mystery

There’s not much load to carry around
The load builds up, as the years go by
Having lost the chance at using your prime
You may later come to give a regretful sigh

Day after day, it was the same scene
Sitting dazed in a crowded, smoke-filled room
With a bunch of contemporaries
All smiles and some faults that have come to soon

His evenings passed in a routine way
Till he’d get a glimpse of the broader scheme
And thanks to himself there is magic out there
There’s something in the sky, there, in his wildest dreams

PICADILLY CIRCUS

Mary says
The secret is living your life
So you can turn around, look back, and feel OK
Make sure you take the time
To live your life as right as you can
Because there will come a day
When you have to recommend
Which path to take
To the next generation

I’m sorry, I don’t love you
And still I want to hold you
But it’s better if we never
See each other again

The Picadilly Circus
Was the place I loved first
And saw the person I was going to become
I’m sorry about the purse
I certainly feel the worst
About the fact that I have not
Been straight forward these days

Remember the Picadilly Circus
Remember the Picadilly Circus

I’ll live with how sad I am
That life is not what they promised
In grade school
And that beauty always fades
And that friends are cruel

I guess we only have one chance
To shake things up
Do a little dance
Fate will throw us what it will
I’ll keep working harder

Remember the Picadilly Circus
Remember the Picadilly Circus

Pushing to meet the moment
When it means something to someone
If you’ve got a palace in Beverly Hills
And a personal assistant to pay your bills
Will the beauty still give you your thrills?
Will the songs still give you the chills?
Will you still want to run away?

There is an honesty when you look at me that way
With your daddy waiting behind you in the fray
Watch the lamp post at the end of the day
Will the lights go out?

Remember the Picadilly Circus
Remember the Picadilly Circus

I can hear the acapella group sing
And I can remember everything
When night was desire
And day was waiting
For the fantastic pleasure that was for the taking
The ecstasy that could be real
When I followed you out into the field

Now we’re at the threshold
The end of something special
Gone are the days of the rigid lines
And dreams splattered up against the street sign

These days I wake up
Afraid of what I’ve missed
I could die right now
I could wake with a kiss

You had another lover who was not the only one
I’m sorry you had to feel the pain

It’s sad when folks
Resent the fact
That it all went bad
And don’t realize
How great their lives are
I know it’s hard
That you didn’t get the job
And feel so bad
When you look like a slob

Remember the Picadilly Circus
Remember the Picadilly Circus

A LITTLE BIT OLDER

You’re a little bit older, baby
But you still look the same
I can always tell by your eyes
That your optimism remains

So crunch some numbers
Try to organize it
And I will shatter your logic
With an argument

That proves nothing
That is all that I know
The reporters in the hall
With the mumbling stooges in tow

Constantly re-weighing your options
Cartoon plastic dreams
Of houses and adoptions
Of philosophy that will do you well

You are always in transition
With moments of stability
Moments of vulnerability
And you can’t help but wonder why?

And hope that someone might say
He was a great man
Yet there are so many imposters
How can any of us distinguish ourselves?

Wear different clothes
Play different songs
Slide yourself in where
You think you belong

TINA’S TOUGH CITY BLUES

Tina was a black star
Pulling into the Motor Inn
By the 125th Street Grill
Feelin’ as light as the rain on the cheap tin

No money for food
No money to fix the roof
Quiet comfort and moderation
Man says, “Jesus saves”
She says, “Show me the proof”

But this tough city predilection
For the hues of blues
She looks into the raindrops
And watches the evening news

“I have a purpose,” she says
“And I don’t mind starvin’ or going to jail
If it means I’ve got a cause
Beyond the city superstition

That logic, reason, and commerce
Actually formed the world”
She says, “Why didn’t they tell me that?
When I was an uncomplicated, little girl”

Writing songs to pay the bills
Playing tunes in the parlor, ladies swoon
As I dismiss the science of
Seeing how many times I can rhyme “June” with “moon”

And how many people really stopped
To see you fall when your world got rocked?
Well, you’ve got so many friends when you’re 22
When you’re 55, you’re lucky if you have a few

But that’s nothing new
These have all been experienced before today
So don’t cry in the shower
Bathing your blues away

As the music cascades through the halls
Mother Mary says now she has seen it all
You’ve got your knowledge and your supplies
So now won’t you please look me in the eyes?

ALBUM TITLE: Dark Space
RELEASE DATE: June 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. From Bad to Worse
2. Fire & Water
3. If We All Die Twice
4. Oh, Fortuna
5. Fumbling Over Your Lines
6. The Eternal Question
7. I Let Her Slip Away
8. What’s It Like To Be Poor?
9. Dependable Girl
10. Fortune Waits For No One
11. Family & Friends
12. When You Always Look Ahead You Fall Behind
13. I Will Remember You

FROM BAD TO WORSE

It’s hard to know where you stand
So much trouble meets the man
I’m not sure if I’m at good, bad, or terrible
But one thing is indisputable

That is that no matter how bad things get
They can always get worse
Until the worst of all happens
I think Virgil or Dante noted that in ancient verse

But Plato, what can your logic offer
For a dying man?
When you can’t remember the meaning of the noble things
When you can barely stand

I can say, now, that I appreciate all I have
Dearly, sincerely
Is this the revelation of a man who can’t remember
Where he was the day before?

Life moves so fast
It’s hard to know where you are anymore
Ailing body, ailing heart, ailing mind
Things can always get better, I’ve heard them say

But good times are a black and white movie
A memory from a past that’s a million miles away
But, oh well
That’s enough of this kind of talk for today

It won’t be so bad, so no need to curse
The fact that things go from bad to worse

FIRE & WATER

Put yourself first?
That won’t do you any good
Do all the things
That you should

Live by the principals
Burn the wood on the fire
The splashing water will take you higher

Love your family, love yourself
Love the baby you never had
Love the famous people
You always thought were bad

Live by the principals
Burn the wood on the fire
The splashing water will take you higher

IF WE ALL DIE TWICE

You were young and healthy
And health was such a great thing
But you didn’t comprehend
You didn’t comprehend

Love is a beautiful thing
Even the pain was wonderful
But you let it end
You let it end

To say, “Don’t take your health for granted”
Is useless advice
Unless you believe that we all die twice

A body is a healthy thing
It’s vital and fantastic
Who would want it to end?
Who would want it to end?

Your town, your home
Your civilization burned to the ground
That’s when you recognized
The beauty in your home town

To say, “Don’t take your health for granted”
Is useless advice
Unless you believe that we all die twice

So let’s resolve to tell the truth
To be alone, to be aloof
The fantasy of the meaning in each of these old buildings
Will keep you alive, one more day

To say, “Don’t take your health for granted”
Is useless advice
Unless you believe that we all die twice

OH, FORTUNA

Your body feels like it is old and gray
The telephone drips with the philosopher’s spray

You need a pattern to forge
You need a dream to indulge – but health is fleeting
What is deceptive is the motto that hard work will pay off
Or that good behavior will be rewarded

You cough and cough
And the songs play
Oklahoma is so far away
Point the finger, run away

I’ve been thinking that life is just a feeling
When you feel good behavior should be rewarded
You will feel thwarted
Because everything is within the realm of fortune

It’s wrong to think that the wise will be rewarded
It’s wrong to thing you deserve the fortune you’ve been afforded
Time reveals that luxury is a farce
A lie that’s been distorted
Everything belongs to fortune
But if she offers me a choice
I will choose the preferable path
Oh, Fortuna
Oh, Fortuna

FUMBLING OVER YOUR LINES

The galleries are filled with visqueen
The soothsayer is a teenage dream
We all see Mary Belle
She’s lonelier than hell
Her eyes show the secrets that we all know well
As she dances by the old sea shells
She listens to me, like she listens to the song from those old sea shells

She walks like a runway queen
She sweet talks like it’s a script from a movie scene
She rocks like a stargazer with a sheen
But she balks like a new starlet
Fumbling over her lines

Oh Roberta, I love you so much
I longed for the wisdom in your touch
I’m not sure it was you
But my logic’s misconstrued
When I’m in need, God throws me a picture of you
And how you captured the beauty of a sound

She lights the hallway with her gown
She picks fights with the hellhounds
She writes from her soul to the crown
She builds a ladder to heaven from the ground
She can see heaven
But she can’t see the street
Beneath her feet, on the ground

THE ETERNAL QUESTION

I wrote my dreams on paper
I knew they’d come alive
You in your strapless shirt
In the military hive

We are part
Of the same
Eternal question
And eternal brain
Gouge your eyes out
Trying to stay sane
When the thing alludes you
That you thought some God
Or some hero overcame

Uncork the Pallouetto
Take of sip of the surprise
There’s so much that you can’t express
But it’s only there in your eyes

We are part
Of the same
Eternal question
And eternal brain
Gouge your eyes out
Trying to stay sane
When the thing alludes you
That you thought some God
Or some hero overcame

I LET HER SLIP AWAY

I had a warm bed
Where I would lay
And a warm body with whom to stay
She was too kind
She didn’t confuse or threaten my mind
Till I let her slip away

Every time I found my
Way through a crowd
Struggling and pushing
The whole way
I didn’t see the design
Behind my fortunate life
Till it was taken away

It sucks to be alone
It sucks to compromise
And love will play tricks on your head
But it’s simple, babe

When the bottom line strings are played
You’ll notice that symphonic love
Fumbling through your head
Fumbling through your head

So if you have the privilege
To be in love
Make sure you know just what it is
‘Cause once you’ve lost it
You’ll know the true cost
Of what you let slip away

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE POOR?

You bartered for love in Bakersfield
You made a deal, you copped a feel
Isn’t it true?
The finest tuition money could bring
In the spring, the chamber choir at the garden party
They’d sing for you
The poster on the wall was hung proud
You announced your full name in conversation and you said it loud
But luxury disappeared in a mushroom cloud
And the debutante’s slipped behind a satin shroud
And locked you out on the other side
Of luxury’s door

What’s in store?
You’re not rich anymore
Fancy clothes scattered along the floor
Oh, what’s it like to be poor?
Of the future, oh, you’re so unsure

You threw a penny into the well
A fear to quell, keep you out of hell
But it didn’t work
The mumbling men invite you in
Sippin’ gin in the solid oak den, wipe off your grin
With a hollow smirk
Where do they go, the ones who decide?
Who holds the gauntlet and who’s taken for a ride?
They write the checks and they play with your pride
Throw you on the street, no one cares that they lied
There’s always some one who can ruin you
With their thoughts of the score

What’s in store?
You’re not rich anymore
Fancy clothes scattered along the floor
Oh, what’s it like to be poor?
Of the future, oh, you’re so unsure

A DEPENDABLE GIRL

What was the name of the street we lived on?
Back in ’96 when your life came undone
Father packed his bags with a smile, stepped into the milky hall
The whole is greater, babe, than the fury that cascades like a waterfall
But you, my dependable girl
You’re my dependable girl

Who made off with the photos of the Saturday night club?
You were so, so, so beautiful and I never understood why you hung out in that smoky pub
I thought that the whole world loved us
My, how I was wrong
I might be wiser now, but then I was so strong
But, you’re my limelight girl
You’re my limelight girl

We’d sing our hearts out to each other, “La, La, La”

You’re my dependable girl
You’re my dependable girl

FORTUNE WAITS FOR NO ONE

Fortune can be cruel to a baby bear
The Civil War babies tried to care
For all the magic and bravery they saw and shared
Whoever said we should expect the best?
You expect the worst and you’ll be impressed
With a life that leads you to feeling quite depressed
Smile, and as you digress, always remember
Don’t second guess, but

Oh, Fortune waits for no one
It’s hard to control, but you gotta try son
Oh, Fortune waits for no one
You may feel better when you lose the hope

Watch a beautiful girl passing by
Head for a private moment, maybe you’ll cry
But you’ll get old and she will, too
You might realize fortune was smiling at you
You’d be wise to not aggravate what is so far from a lie

Oh, Fortune waits for no one
It’s hard to control, but you gotta try son
Oh, Fortune waits for no one
You may feel better when you lose the hope

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

The light fades, before you
And the path is overgrown with weeds
And nothing you dreamed of has happened yet
Stop for a moment and wonder
About what the miller throws
The darkest night and also the brightest light, but the sun will set

Pick up the phone
Drop a letter in the postal cone
There’s only one person you can count on to be home
The fireworks on the 4th of July
The weeping mother wiped a tear from her eye
Because they are all you’ve got
Family and friends
Oh, family and friends

WHEN YOU ALWAYS LOOK AHEAD YOU FALL BEHIND

Who, but God, would know
Why we chose what we did back then?

You got the oak to bend
We were more than lovers, more than friends

I will carry all those pictures
And store them in a box of mine
When you always look ahead you fall behind

We were always pushin’
Always tryin’ to take the cookies from the jar

Each time we tried to grab
What we wanted seemed a bit too far away

I take nothing with me for granted
I’ll use the memories, they’re nobody’s but mine
When you always look ahead, you fall behind

I WILL REMEMBER YOU

I will remember you
I will remember you
As sure as the sky is blue
I will remember you

I will remember you
I will remember you
After all of the crap we’ve been through
I will remember you

ALBUM: The Golden Will Pass Through The Looking Glass
RELEASE DATE: May 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. I Had A Dream
2. When You Were Seventeen
3. Saul
4. Who Do You Think You Are?
5. A Man About Town
6. Billy Joe
7. The Pleasure of New Acquaintance
8. Daydreamer

I HAD A DREAM

I had a reason
For choosing the path
That had no conclusion
Was covered in grass

Some things are better left
Unexplained
It’s just past the gate
And I can feel the rain

The things you worked for
They allude you
But all you know about are
The things you’ve got to do

I had a dream
And it was real
And time and time again in life
I tried to touch it but couldn’t

You seemed like you were so innocent
But this is, I think, your last predicament

A crowd of people
Want it to be true
But no one’s sure, except when
They think they’ve lost you

I had a dream
And it was real
And time and time again in life
I tried to touch it but couldn’t

WHEN YOU WERE SEVENTEEN

If I were free to do anything I choose
I’m not sure I’d ever feel I had nothin’ to lose

People get so much, waste so much time
Man they have so much to learn
When you throw your line out to gamble
What you come up with has not been earned

So here I sit by a cold hearth, babe
The light has faded away
I’m not sure that I’ve earned your love
And I feel it should be taken away

He committed his life
To chasin’ some crazy dream
He said, “You could go at any moment
Might as well have faith in the things you loved
When you were seventeen”

Is the world more complete through the eyes of a child
Can you tell, at the end of your life?
Or do you see things more clearly
When you become so used to the strife?

He committed his life
To chasin’ some crazy dream
He said, “You could go at any moment
Might as well have faith in the things you loved
When you were seventeen”

SAUL

Saul was a lonely man, but sometimes being lonely
Gets you to the places you would not otherwise go
And if no one were to tell you things about yourself
Would you ever really know?

Two lives came together
When they were just 22
She said to Saul, “I love you for all the things you are
And all of the things you might do”

Saul sat by her
As her mother gently passed away
He said, “I’m sorry for not being right,
For not being there every day”

A mother says to her child,
“Boy, you were always the one
I needed you like you needed me
I always needed a son”

Mother, she went crazy the day she passed
And now Saul looks out the window
At what has become a different day
And the trees move in such a different way
Why is it that you don’t appreciate the things you have
Until they are taken away?

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

I left home
Headed for Rome
With all the freedom
That I’ve ever had

Had no money
Had no house
Had only the words
Of my Dad

Saying, “Who do you think you are?
You want to be a rock n’ roll star
You’re obsessed with things that never were”
There are people in this world
Who achieve the goals they want to achieve
And they start to believe
That they are who they’ve been told they are

A MAN ABOUT TOWN

When I was a man about town
Every one was so wonderful to me
When I was a man about town
I would be ready for the faces I did meet
The day smelled like the smell of money
But now I am a solitary man
And the I hear only hear the pitter patter of my own feet

I’m a solitary boy
And the world has opened up for me
I saw back alleys
I thought I would never see

There’s a cheap harlot queenie
Round the corner waitin’ to terrorize me
She shows up in my dreams

When I was a man about town
I had a woman with a heart of gold
When I was a man about town
She bought every line I sold
But now her golden heart is like steel,
She doesn’t even seem to feel
How cold it is outside the windows
And I’m openin’ up this crazy meal

When I was a man about town
You always said it wasn’t polite or fair
When I was a man about town
Every acquaintance was a new obstacle to bear
But now I’m a solitary man
With eyes of gold
And I feel the need to brush your hair

I was rich yesterday
But today I’m poor, lonely and cold
How can a lady leave me like this
Even when she’s got a heart of gold?
It’s as empty being rich
As it is being unsure where to go
Now I know I’m thankful
To fantasize about the things I don’t know
They always creep away so slow

When I was a man about town
I thought the night life was one big, long exciting affair
But now that I’m a solitary man
I think I understand
The beauty of the sunlight when it hits
While you cry in your favorite velvet chair

BILLY JOE

Billy Joe came in
From out of town
His girlfriend didn’t want him
To always be comin’ around

But you know it’s hard to keep a desperate man down
He came from the poorest part of the city
He’s always got to keep himself off of the ground
He saw luxurious things for the first time, but he knew they were pretty

Still, Billy Joe, he don’t know
But he’s got a few questions
About why people say, “That’s the way it is”

Always used to practice shooting
Out in the redwoods of the country
Chasing after things that life
Never gives you unless you’re hungry

Well he took the path
That left so many down and out on the roadside
And he has no money
And nothing except the smallest piece of his pride

Still, Billy Joe, he don’t know
But he’s got a few questions
About why people accept the fact that that’s the way it is

THE PLEASURE OF NEW ACQUAINTANCE

He’s moved by the thought
Of certain intoxication
And he says, “Hey, we can’t live on the thrill of familiar company
Because you know how quickly that gets old”

For the sorry few
Who have so little patience
The only answer is the pleasure of new acquaintance

And he moves through the crowd
That has no expectation, he moves through the folds
And he careens through seams and he
Talks of all the tales he’s told

For the sorry few
Who have so little patience
The only answer is the pleasure of new acquaintance

DAYDREAMER

Days die but the daydreamer remains

You get down on your knees and pray
That you’ll someday reach the day
But you’ll find it dips and frays
It’s something, when coming from the outside,
That the entering takes away

But the dream is to be remembered
I have a dream
That won’t die or surrender
You wonder if the dreamer
Has died with the dream
As the moment falls apart at the seams

Days die but the daydreamer remains

ALBUM TITLE: Howl
RELEASE DATE: April 7th, 2005

Songs:

1. The First Lights Of Day
2. As I Wanted To Be Seen
3. Oh, Music
4. Foggy Nights, Glassy Lights
5. Three Old Fishermen
6. Sweet Georgia Woman
7. Love Is An Idea
8. Love Is All You’ve Got In Life
9. Grab It Before It’s Gone

THE FIRST LIGHTS OF DAY

So, as the nighttime slips away
Don’t you know I’ll see you comin’
In the first lights of day

Time passes quickly, passes me by
I can only sit and wonder why

Memories, memories
They taste sweet on a morning breeze
Tell me about all those youthful dreameries
You did decree

So, as the nighttime slips away
Don’t you know I’ll see you comin’
In the first lights of day

Won’t you come on, won’t you come on
Whoa! Yeah! Come on one more time

So, sing it sing it
Sing what it is you want to say
Don’t you know I’ll see you comin’
In the first lights of day

AS I WANTED TO BE SEEN

I’ve had a few drinks from the cocktail tray
And I’ve warmed up to the scene quite a bit
What was stale and superficial a little while ago
Now flickers like the cigarette I just lit

“Don’t love me for my eyes,” she says quickly
After skating across the room to indulge me
She could sense the complement I was about to give
She said, “Everyone loves my eyes so much that I can hardly see”

I said, “I can’t deny your pretty eyes my dear
And I love your golden skin and your honest voice
But you’ll get nothin’ from a shifty, young drunk like me
Except good company, hopefully company of your choice”

She giggled and she puckered up her lips
And she offered a precocious little smile
She said, “I’ve got my white car parked out front by all the rest
Why don’t we take it for a ride in a while?”
I say, “Baby you’ve got beautiful style”

So many can be so disappointing in these parts
Not this girl with the golden skin
And the lips and the eyes and the soul

I follow that radiant, yellow dress
Hand in hand out to the balcony
Where we look down at the jazz band playin’
And the party dancin’ in all its glory

OH, MUSIC

Oh, music lets me know I’m not alone
Casting great diversions
Oh, music makes it clear for a moment

It’s gonna be clear
Making sense of tinted distances
Explaining all coincidences
Casting light upon a lovely scene

Country noise
Liftin’ up the spirits of music from below
Country noise
Harkens back to Jericho

Drawing great music as they go
A monument in a grain of sand
Praying for a spark
Slipping through the bottom of my hand

Growing old
Parcel out age as we go
Tripping after everything we know
Like monuments in sand

It’s amazing
Disappearing like a daydream
Falling off into some sunset
It’s gonna bathe me
A moonlight glow
Gonna save me
It’s disappearing
Out on the coast

Oh, music lets me know I’m not alone
Casting great diversions
Oh, music makes it clear for a moment

THREE OLD FISHERMEN

The three old fishermen sit at the table
They don’t like lumbering over barstools
They’re regulars around here and they don’t stray or veer
They keep indoors, away from the wretched weather and act cool

Old Jim, he tugs on his dirty beard
And rambles ‘bout the times of old
And Teddy he slaps Jim over n’ over on the back
And spits more and more as each tale is told

And with each beer that crosses their lips
Their volume gets louder and louder
And the heater in the corner grumbles out some steam
And the waitress serves the three fishermen their chowder

They say,
“We’re three old fishermen
Three old fishermen
Three old fishermen for the rest of our lives
We’re three old fishermen
Three old fishermen
Fishin’ for a little juice from this life
Fishin’ till the day that we die”

FOGGY NIGHTS & GLASSY LIGHTS

Baby, every day things are changin’
Your best friend married on Sunday
Made you start feelin’ strange and
You’ve got a suitcase
Full of clothes
And where you’re headed, God knows

Foggy nights
Glassy lights
Tender is the outcome we fight

The elegant restaurants
On 5th avenue
Light a path that makes you
Realize what you’ve got to do

Baby, every day both of us get older
You’re determined not to go and fit the mold
Like your sister, but you told her
You do not fear
The foggy nights
The truth will shatter the cold façade of the glassy lights

Foggy nights
Glassy lights
Tender is the outcome we fight

SWEET GEORGIA WOMAN

Georgia woman pulls the bottle from my hand
I’m singin’ so merrily and I’m sick of tryin’ to measure out the sea
Stuck between the ocean and a riverboat glow
Stuck between the coasts with no friends to show

Sweet Georgia woman shine a light on me
When the light hits me my soul is plain to see
Sweet Georgia woman have some faith in me

I’m sinkin’ by the firelight
Seems I got no place to go
Stuck between an ocean and a riverboat show
Stuck between the coasts with no friends to show

I’m gone

Sweet Georgia woman light the way for me
Yes, I’m gone, I know I ain’t no beauty
But Sweet Georgia woman have some faith in me

I’m gone

Sweet Georgia Woman you can guide me
Yes, I’m gone, I care not about glory
But Sweet Georgia woman have some faith in me

LOVE IS AN IDEA THAT LOVING TAKES AWAY

Oh, romance
Painful romance

She says, “Why must you make a poem out of me?
Why can’t you love me for who I am, when I am simply being me?”
I say, “I love all the things that you are, as well as all the things that you could be
– the possibility”

So, you are my first thought at the start of the day
But love is an idea that loving takes away

Oh, romance again
Painful romance again
Romance, romance
Romance, romance
Takin’ a chance on romance
Takin’ a chance on romance

All the things we’ve said in love or out of hate
Tryin’ to carry all of that weight

So, you are my first thought at the start of the day
But love is an idea that loving takes away

Oh, here we are again
Oh, so needy again
Oh, so tangled up again
We’ve created this mess that we’re livin’ in
There’s only two and only one
We’ve got to lean on each other

Sweet chariot
Come down easy
Sweep down slow
When the dust settles
Show us the way to go
Send me, send me chariot
Chariot, white as snow
The easy part is leaving
The hardest part is learning to let go

LOVE IS ALL YOU’VE GOT IN LIFE

When the sun slips behind the trees
Like the very first evening, it fades
The end of a day, the end of a way
The end of a promenade

This is not for you, this is for me
I can’t give but I can take

Sittin’ in the front seat of your car
You ask, “What is it that you want?
What do you want from me?
What do I seem to offer aside from a quick jaunt?”

Well, I guess love
Is a give and a take
But you can’t take more than you give
But I know you got your plans
You’ve got your own life to live

I’m falling away
It will all just fall away, everything in this world
The college counselor doesn’t tell you that

It’s been about a week since we smiled the way
Two bright-eyed lovers do
Been way too long since we thought about ourselves
The way we used to
I’m getting old and it seems so cold
The way you don’t want me
The way I think one obviously should
Baby, tell me the truth: am I no good?

There can only be love when
There is mutual admiration
In awe of all that the other person becomes

But love is a give and take
And you want to take too much from me
I got my needs, I’m too needy
Too in love
To be all the things you want me to be

I’m not good at small talk
I’m not good at a lot of things
You’ve got nothing for me
I told you
My heart is on my sleeve
Please, please
Give something to me
Give something to me

I’m floored and just hear these words I say:
Love is all you’ve got in this life
And death won’t take it away

GRAB IT BEFORE IT’S GONE

Tired, so tired of seeing everything approximately
Tired of all the mysteries and all of the uncertainties
I’m tired of you, I’m tired of me
I’m tired of tryin’ to gauge the wind and measure out the sea

She pulls me close and reads me the most lovely poetry
And she says, “You’re not going to reduce me to a written word on a sleeve”
But I want to hold you till the sunset of life falls upon me
Let me in, let me in, not to end but to begin to make you free

Don’t things look swell? Don’t things look great?
I think I’ll get drunk for a week straight
I don’t want no time to contemplate
All the things we owe to a twist of fate

She pulls me over and she reads me the most amazing poetry
She says, “This is the way things should look, this is the way our worlds should be”
I say, “Baby those are words, just beautiful words to me
We got to make things new, like morning dew, in order to finally be fresh and free”

So touch me one more time
Before you start to play
Just one more time
Before it slips away
I want to grab it before it’s gone

ALBUM NAME: The Sprawl
RELEASE DATE: March 7th 2005

SONGS:

1. You Were Loving Who You Thought I’d Be
2. Blow Me Over Baby
3. Meeting In Town Square
4. Washington Square
5. Drained Cups
6. Radios, Pianos, & Pills
7. Success At A Young Age Is Dangerous
8. One Last Chance
9. A Romantic Vision Of Saturday Night
10. M. Edgar Roberts

YOU WERE LOVING WHO YOU THOUGHT I’D BE

“You’re a romantic sort of fellow,”
You said when you met me,
“You’re bright and intellectual
And you spark my curiosity”
That’s right I am quite special
But be clear: you don’t know me
You know nothin’ about my intentions
Or my shady history

“You’re such a joyful fellow,”
You said when you’d come by
“Why don’t you come by more often?
You’re such a mysterious guy”

Girl the street is getting wet now
‘Cause the rain’s decided to come
I’ve got to get-a-goin’ because
The sport is in the run
If I should stay to be with you
I’d become too familiar, you see
You weren’t loving me, girl
You were lovin’ who you thought I’d be

“You’re an educated fellow,”
You said when you knew me better,
“You were raised across the lake there
By your father and your mother”
That’s right I’m only human
I was stolen from old rhymes
I got flaws and inconsistencies
And I’m vulnerable at times

“You’ve come from a normal family,”
You said after a while
“You got a normal view of the world
And a normal kind of smile”

“You’re a pretty average fellow
With an average sort of history,”
You said, “You’re a nice fellow
But without much mystery”
I said, “I am the same fellow
That you asked to stick around
I’m not any sort of cowboy
But I have a mind that’s strong and sound”

You were loving your creation
My appeal has faded
You were loving your creation
My appeal has faded

BLOW ME OVER BABY

Got no time for incidents
The streets turn into coincidence
A woman next to me
Shows me her latest tapestry
Oh, blow me over baby
I haven’t got the patience

I arrived on a train
A train’s gonna take me away from the plains
Oh, the woman ridin’ next to me
She’s silent and gorgeous as the sea
Oh, blow me over baby
You’re as tempting as the rain

Glad tidings you send
I’ve got enough wounds to mend
And you’re holding onto me
With a certain empathy
Oh, blow me over baby
I’m like an oak but I’ll bend

Got a pocketful of sand
And a diamond glass in hand
We raise a glass and wave a wand
For all the misfits of the land

Got trashed last night
Said things that were wrong and far gone, it ain’t right
Sometimes you don’t recognize me
Your porcelain eyes don’t receive me
When I’m blowin’ over baby
In the heart of midnight

Oh, the flavor of the open flame
Fresh from the barrels of the wheat and grain
Four hundred years are gone
That’s so long, long, long
Oh, blow me over baby
We’re fit to be insane

Got a pocketful of sand
And a diamond glass in hand
We raise it up and wave a wand
For all the misfits of the land

MEETING IN TOWN SQUARE

There’s a meeting in town square
Everybody looks hungry with shaggy, long hair
They’re all takin’ care of day to day affairs
And yet there’s one who’s looking meek and will not stare

He’s not the average, he’s slow not quick
Seems he always gets the short end of the stick
The peacemaker comes up to him and says, “Dry your eyes,
I know they get rough at times, that’s the way with those guys”

I know you’re sick of these wild ones
Who live by the sword
I know you never seem to get your due reward
I know it seems like those guys
Are out of their gourd
I think someday they’re going to nail you to a board

And Alpha, the leader, he’s getting irate
Up on his high haunches like Alexander the Great
He’s hassling the poor meek one, till “Mercy” he begs
Then he walks away with his tail between his legs

And when their attention drifts into rage
That underdog he’s locked like a rat in a cage
Oh, they’re on him like a pack of wild wolves
Seems that those holy ones always lose when the politics unfold

Oh, that poor one has had some rough days
What’d he ever do to them any ways?
He’s been martyred, but who knows if he’ll feel those rays
Shinin’ on him, with the landscape all ablaze

AN AFTERNOON IN WASHINGTON SQUARE

It’s been a muggy one this summer
The air has been pressing on my shoulders
Could love an ugly one within the buildings
Of the West Village, but the air has grown colder

And the wind has shaken the village quite a bit
And there’s life in the park now that the air is light
On the corner sits a man who picks out a merry tune
He’s missing chords but to his small audience, it’s all right

And in the other there’s two twenty-ish kids
They have the look of minstrels, playing saxophone and guitar
These boys can really play, they should be at a club today
But they haven’t even considered becoming a star

What a glorious day it is, I repeat
With the sun smiling overhead
There are some street performers doing flips over each other
They’ve really got the crowd on their feet

In another corner there sits a few pickers
Picking out old Beatles tunes, seems to me
Their guitars are out of tune and their harmonies are off
But they’re still a warm sight to see

And at the corner of Washington Square
Where McDougal meets the next street
There’s plenty of heads being strained and taxed
As they calculate the next chess move to beatv

And me I’m alone by the fountain
But surrounded by the tourists and locals of the day
I’m tickled by the sight of rainbow in the fountain
And brush of the white spray

All around me roams a pack of pushers and pimps
And the street kids and the wafting smell of dope
But they all fit in just nicely on this temperate day
In this funky part of town

And I look up to the East
Past the fountain and the spray
And I realize I’m moved by the folksy atmosphere
And the comfort of this beautiful day

For some strange reason I feel at peace
Amongst the filthy pavement and streets
Amid the liars, the lovers, and the cheats
It’s sure a hard scene to beat

And I’m waiting for a beauty to appear
She’s blonde, but it changes every half year
She wouldn’t show if she was being sincere
But it doesn’t matter to me – I’d rather just sit here

And watch the jugglers throw balls up
And the gymnasts do their stuff
And feels like on the tourists, I’ve got one up
But know, in my heart, that life isn’t that rough

DRAINED CUPS

The wood breaks and the room is humming
There are pine needles on the floor
The wall shakes, ’cause the riders are coming
I didn’t think they came around here no more

And the horn blasts while the oven is churning
The light draws pictures on the wall
We all come at last, but the fire’s still burning

And there’s the dimplet in the hall

There’s my comrade and his eyes are blazin’
And his words are piping hot
To see the evening as it isn’t
He takes a sip from his melting pot

He says, “Hey friend you think I’m quite dangerous
‘Cause I’m stumbling and small”
I say, “No man, but I’m tendentious
Do I scorn you? Not at all, man, not at all”

‘Cause we’re long gone
The cups were tall and long
Now they’re long gone
But we’ll roll on
Now there’s just drained cups

It’s a long night and the smiles are plenty
Rosy cheeks and smoky sentences
Maybe a fight or a song-burst of the many
Cups full of grog and repentance, yeah

There’s confusion and the radio is howling
A fine time around midnight
The cups are sung and the stomachs are growling
The night sings and the air becomes tight

There’s a cup that teeters on the table
‘Neath the pale of the oak-room light
This night has nothing for me, I’m unable
To get myself out of here and into sight

She speaks to me, the brown haired woman
As I drink and try to touch the dawn
She says, “Why do you sink to the moment?”
I say, “The brilliance I possess is now long gone”

She says, “You’re such a romantic sort of fellow,
Perhaps you feel a bit too much”
I say, “You’ve nailed it, my hopes were far from mellow
But they’ve since scattered and left me with this drained cup”

‘Cause we’re long gone
The cups were tall and long
Now they’re long gone
But we’ll roll on
Now there’s just drained cups

RADIOS, PIANOS, AND PILLS

Radios, pianos, organs
Get it out! Get it out!
Radios, pianos, and pills
Ignore your bills
Get your thrills

Saxophones
Hulla bulloov
Color me blue

Radios, pianos, and pills
Ignore your bills
Get your thrills

Trills, frills, and pills
Trills, frills, and pills
Trills, frills, and pills

ONE LAST CHANCE

The car pulls up
Monica’s jacket is on her shoulders
Scott takes a stroll up the walkway
He walks like he’s a little older
On the T.V. Bob Dole is squintin’
So many messages of which he’s been hintin’
Monica says, “Take me for a walk before I go crazy”
Scott says, “I have so many damn songs to play
And I don’t understand why the stardom
Doesn’t ever come my way
I guess faith is all that I have
I’ve got no money and no fall-back plan
But then money and fame and love are
Just a state of mind, I guess
We can start saving now
And put enough money away
So we can retire, in peace, someday
But, man, that sounds so dreadful, babe!
To put my dreams in a pine box and bury them away
And I know I don’t seem like much of anything
I got poor grades and I rarely win
But I guess I’ve got as good a chance as anyone
So, it’s not too late to have a little fun

And put a name on all of the fears we ever knew
It’s not too late for a dying man
And it’s not too late for you
At some point your perspective does change
See an aging face through the rain
Well, I don’t expect
To give up
For anyone
And I hope you’re with me, too”

SUCCESS AT A YOUNG AGE IS DANGEROUS

Drums, disease, blood, war, riots
What is the meaning of poetry?
Who has the right to be a poet?
Who has the right to be idolized – me?

When is death acceptable?
When is drunken behavior acceptable?
Success at a young age is dangerous

If I could walk down by the docks
With my shirt open in summer
I’d see those docks so brown and full of growth
Corral, beach, sand and geese and a guitar strummer

Water springs eternal
Life is long and languid
Success at a young age is dangerous

Angular is the water, hot is the sun
I just want to get to the heart of it!
What is the answer, what is the question?
There will be no answers, no first aid kit

In world where man constantly
Works to create order through civilization
Success at a young age is dangerous

It is difficult to accept that there will be no orderly solution
To the number one question that you made
It is like taking a class, writing a paper, and doing assignments
But receiving no actual grade

Why is it acceptable to be a priest?
Why is it not OK to be a drunk?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Bad husband asks, “Why is spousal abuse wrong?”
Poor wife asks, “Why is wrestling televised?”
Wife asks, “Why do the young attractive girls
Put such a look into husband’s eyes?”

Why do ideas that were formed at an early age
Form the basis of how a person lives life into its autumn?Success at a young age is dangerous

What is the place of poetry
In a secular world?
What is naïve about the question, “Does God exist?”
When it’s asked by a little girl?

Whose rules do we adhere to
Is it the better educated?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Who wants to listen to a drunk in a bar
Speculate about the existence of God?
Why do flowery poems repel some and attract others
And whose green earth is this when we buy the sod?

Why is the scent of a beautiful woman eternal?
Why are relationships so difficult?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Whose rules influenced ours?
Why is the world so ugly and so beautiful?
And so dark and so light
Where does the spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald dwell when the green light goes dull?

Does his work have the same impetus
As Shakespeare, Galileo, or Bruce Lee?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Whose rules did they break?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Why are music and poetry inextricably linked?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Where is Jesus and who creates myths?
Success at a young age is dangerous

Why do these questions haunt me so?
Because success at a young age is dangerous

A ROMANTIC VISION OF SATURDAY NIGHT

All the hitchy, ditchy teens
At the bus stop
Want to get the girls to their father’s houses
When the parents are away

They lined up all the cans
And bottles their friends drank
Carved a message in the tile
Oh, the room stank

And they dreamed of all the girls
Never made it right
But worked on the romantic vision
Of a Saturday night

M. EDGAR ROBERTS

M. Edgar Roberts had a song for every day that he lived
And his mom always loved him
And gave him all the support she could give
But some things fall apart
You hit the highway
And you start to skid

M. Edgar Roberts feared that he could never write the ultimate song
He searched for the best way to present it
To make all the kids sing along
And his magnum opus
Remains unwritten
Maybe not enough went wrong

M. Edgar Roberts is a victim of the politics in force
He leaves dreams behind
And waffles about the matter of his course
I can see him contemplating
As slowly, from his dreams
He gets a divorce

ALBUM NAME: The Way
RELEASE DATE: February 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. Mad Marina
2. Never Been Broken
3. The First Days of May
4. Climb On Cleopatra
5. Baby, Things Are Changin’
6. Gold Digger
7. Never Been To Rome
8. Never Been To New Orleans
9. Love & Wonder
10. Past Your Prime
11. When You Were Young

MAD MARINA

A thousand promises that she couldn’t keep
A thousand scenes like daydreams that would haunt her in her sleep
Why can’t a beauty lay her fears to rest
And get lost in her lover’s soft caress?

Oh, Mad Marina
You should have seen her
The way she lay there on your old man’s bed
And a thousand fears residing in your pretty head
Cold taproot and your tomboy boots
What tomorrow brings is anybody’s guess
But pray the sun shines down
On the path that suits you best

The country life you’ve known will do you fine
Your father drank and your father raised hell and he was tough when he drank
his wine
You’re a farmer’s child; he was a gambler like the rest
But you’ve got no reason to go feelin’ depressed

Oh, Mad Marina
You’re daddy’s queen
The way you light the hall like an angel in your dress
All those fears residing in your pretty head
Cold taproot and your tomboy boots
What tomorrow brings is anybody’s guess
But pray the sun shines down
On the path that suits you best

Gone are the days of the straight-edged lines
Gone are the rocks where you planted your flag

Oh, Mad Marina
You’re playin’ out the classic scene
Of a woman who’s caught between the beautiful and the rest
And a thousand fears residing in your pretty head
Cold taproot and your tomboy boots
What tomorrow brings is anybody’s guess
But pray shuns shine down
On the path that suits you best

The sun will shine down on the path that suits you best
You’re caught between the beautiful and the rest
The beautiful are damned, so don’t feel depressed
Because the sun will shine down on the path that suits Mad Marina best

Do-Do-Do

NEVER BEEN BROKEN

I guess all good things fall apart
But I met you when promises seemed permanent
You were brash and your words were like granite
They embodied all I ever wanted to know

So tell me once more before you head for the station
And you travel to where the buildings are gray

Because I’ve never been broken
I’ve never felt cheated
I’ve never been held in that way
I’ve never been broken

So in the Bible it tells you
That to covet another man’s wife
Is to ignore your personal burden
Your sins, your cross, your life

When I push at the world for the things that I want
Oh, the world pushes me the other way

Because I’ve never been broken
I’ve never felt cheated
I’ve never been held in that way
And if in this whole life
I don’t find another
And you’re the one that got away
I’ll say
Woo-hoo-hoo
I’ve never been broken

We set out in the green light
In a smoky, all-night café
No matter how in love you’re feelin’
Another love is not far away

So I turn to the girl at the booth just beside you
Outside the window are Magnolias bloomin’ on an April day
She looks at me in the humblest way

When you were just a little one
And looked through hollow eyes
Now look at the bird on your sill
Now, doesn’t he seem wise?

The crowd of people all around your table
Alone at each table
They’ve never felt this way

Because they’ve never felt hungry
They’ve never caught the silence
They’ve never had to struggle this way
And if in this whole life
You don’t find another
And I’m the one that got away
Then I’ll say
Woo-hoo-hoo
I’ve never been broken

THE FIRST DAYS OF MAY

As I sit here on this bank of sand
And I wonder how it’s going to end
I watch the boats bob, they remind me of you
Watchin’, wonderin’ as the wind blows the water white and blue
Blue and white, white and blue

Just as the boats blow out of my sight
So, like a blackbird I do go
I’ll glide into the Northern lights so slow

So, I’ll do whatever you say
Don’t you know, we will be lovers
In the first few days of May

As the evening casts its curtain on you
And the waterline sways in time
Remember all those things you wanted to do?
Show me a sign and I’ll sing on the line

So, I’ll do whatever you say
Don’t you know, we will be lovers
In the first few days of May

Now, put those flowers in your hair
And explain that far away stare
If we hadn’t had so much fun
I could have been someone

So, I’ll do whatever you say
Don’t you know, we will be lovers
In the first few days of May

So, before the red-hot nights turn gray
Don’t you know, we will be lovers
In the first few days of May

CLIMB ON CLEOPATRA

She sizzles like a gas-fire grill
She shakes like a tambourine
She knows the organ grinder’s trill
She walks the beat like a magazine queen

She’s got heart
Stretches out over a city block, yes she will
>From the very start
She’s creates that spinal chill

And it’s OK

Climb on Cleopatra for a ride

She walks like a crossfire at midnight
In the spring and meadows she lay
Cross the water she’s a pile of spent emotion
She’s a shadow of all I’ve come to think or say

Gives way to a railway queen
See the street men swept with rain
Like surefire gasoline
I can still hear their refrain

Puts my mind on the railway queen
The street men and the boatmen exclaim:
“She’s The Slipstream Byzantine
All Hail, Queen of the Flame”

Climb on Cleopatra for a ride

As the evening dies away
A wave crashes on the Nile
Just outside the porter’s bay
Sweet Grace bats her eye

And it’s OK

Climb On Cleopatra for a ride

WHEN YOU BET HIGH AND LOSE IT ALL

Baby, every day things are changin’
Sometimes you try to stop the world and do some arrangin’
If it’s someone’s life you’ve been stealin’
Well, do what you want to do, don’t think of failin’
I guess losing you is a good change
It wasn’t meant to bring the brass

I bet so high and lost it all
I bet so high and had so far to fall
I bet so high and lost it all
You never know what you have until you lose it all

Baby, it seems your friends can be deceiving
And I know I’m not the one whose ideas you should be believing
You think it’s over, you’ve hit the wall
But you hear voices from the belles at the ball
But you can’t listen to them, they’ll tell you you’re wrong
You need some hope, some reason to belong

When you bet so high and lose it all
You be so high and have so far to fall
You bet so high and lost it all
You never know what you have until you lose it all

You forgot about being lonely
But loneliness falls upon you once again
You long for a day when it’s over
And the changes come to an end
But the day won’t come

Baby, there’s no end to changin’
It’s what you’ve built, through it all, that is worth saving
So you can knock upon my door
And you can sleep on the floor
And remember the times we had when you

Bet so high and lost it all
When you bet so high and had so far to fall
You bet so high and lost it all
You never know what you have until you lose it all

GOLD DIGGER

She’s got hair that shines and shimmers
Its color shows the shades of money
She knows how the coin can glimmer
And she’s gone up after it steadily

She’s got a new Jaguar
She drives a Mercedes Benz
Endorsed by here hubby’s billfold
She can sniff out the cash
But under it all, she’s trash
She’d be a beggar if she wasn’t bank rolled

She’s a gold digger
Anyone would figure
After her lecherous company
She is a gold digger
She’ll pull the sorry trigger
She’s in the business of takin’ hearts for the money

She’s got her eye on the wealthiest pocket
Moguls, magnates – they play her tune
She knows nothing about any kind of friendship
She don’t feign and make pleas to the moon

Seems like she’s missin’ a screw
How else could she coo
Such a life of self-centeredness?
She seems so cordial and kind
Well-spoken and fine
But she ain’t nothin’ but a cold, calculating temptress

She’s a gold digger
Anyone would figure
After her licentious company
She’s a cold rambler
A love gambler
She’s in the business of takin’ hearts for the money

NEVER BEEN TO ROME

I was pullin’ out of Albuquerque when my hopes fell
Stopped in Tucson, but the coming deserts looked to ring my death knell
When I ran into a princess, she was comin’ from Mexico
What I was doin’ in San Diego, I still do not know

But she said, you remind me of someone that I used to hate
But for some reason, I appreciate the way you roam
Into my town, into my land in your funky Seattle clothes
Don’t you have a place you can call home?

I think I might
Have a place to call home
But I really want to go to Rome

The heat of the desert outside of Arizona
Fogged my mind and made me see mirages in the form of Corona
I saw that princess and she was singin’
Tellin’ me that she has been to Rome among other things

She was cryin’ and a laughin’
And she was high as one princess could be
She told me of the golden buildings
And how she’s seen as much as a pair of eyes could see

I know there’s one place
I could call home
But I ain’t never been to Rome

When the heat of the desert dropped with the night
And I regained some sanity and my eyesight
I remember what I’d left back in Albuquerque
Some rag doll who’d gone and put a spell on me

Yeah, I’m lookin’ for someone who likes to roam
And we can call ourselves a partnership and wherever we go will be home
But she ain’t gonna be no rag doll or no princess
And she ain’t gonna know anything about Rome

I know there’s one place
I could call home
But I don’t want anyone to tell me about Rome
All kinds of people
Say that they know
But they don’t know the Rome I want to know
And my darlin’
And I will roam
To meet eternity in the city of Rome

NEVER BEEN TO NEW ORLEANS

Saturday night I was walkin’ down the street
Playin’ my harmonica and feelin’ blue about defeat
Was a loud, urban evening when an old man said to me
>From a seat down on the pavement, “Son you’ll never learn to see”

I said, “What do you mean, Jim?” He said, “You don’t know the blues
You’ll never know ’em until you’ve walked in my shoes
You’re walking carelessly with that harp in your hand
Tryin’ to play the gutted out tune of a Louisiana man”

He said, “You ain’t ever been to New Orleans
You can’t play the music of a place that you’ve never seen”

I said, “I know I’m from the West and know little about the South
And my parents truly loved me and I grew up inside a nice house
Yeah, I’m young in my years but I’ve made it this far
And anyone who’s live to 20 knows what it’s like when times get hard”

He said, “Yeah, I’m a proud man, just listen to me curse
I’ve got a noble soul and a beggar’s purse
Didn’t your daddy tell you you’ve been parceled quite a bit of luck at
birth?
You don’t know the music, son, you don’t know its true worth”

He said, “You ain’t ever been to New Orleans
You can’t play the music of a place that you’ve never seen”

He said, “You ain’t ever been to New Orleans
You can’t paint a picture of a place that you’ve never seen”

LOVE AND WONDER

When you wash your shoes
And head out through the mud
When the rain soaks your blues
And leaves you whiling away
But the emotion, like the birches, grew
They crept from your very blood
And you sink back on those
Warmer, simpler days

But the lights are on downtown
And the rush of evening gowns
Gives you one last hopeful sound
Of love and wonder
Oh, oh yeah
Oh, my goodbye

Oh, my old muse
And his lyric tongue talkin’
Rolling, trippingly taut
Rhymes of love and anger

Love and wonder
Love and wonder
Oh, my
Love and wonder

PAST YOUR PRIME

Well I saw you standing proud
Full of ego and talking so loud
And you recalled the days
When you were ingénue

Then you were drunk and feelin’ low
With your two stooges in tow
Saying this bar
Holds nothin’ for you

Well take a look at yourself
You’re past your prime
Those limelight days are all just cheap words now
You peaked early babe
It was such a swift climb
And all things from here on out
Will be post-climatic, somehow

You object to my review
Of your current state, do you?
And you think I’m bitter
About my lack of game?

Well, I know I’m not happy
But don’t put this back on me
You’re responsible
For what happened to your name

Do you remember when I’d stall
To hear your voice in the hall
And you’d always look on
Another way?

Well, my ship has now set sail
And you’re stuck dodging the hail
You’ve got to look people in the eyes, now
For the rest of your days

So you’re tired of all the pain that’s come along
You’re tired of all the stress

You looked worried about a minute ago
When you thought you were in a mess

WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG

When you were just a little one
And the world seemed so wide open
And you had such belief in how
Your battle would be won

You are the one, don’t you know?
Look in your garden, watch it grow
I can’t say when the sun will show
Or how far your influence will go

No longer hung up on these tragedies
You’re lookin’ good these days
But tragedy and fortune are so close together
Through all kinds of weather
I’m glad I knew you when you were young

You are the one, you’ve grown up strong
Look how you’ve blossomed, how you’re comin’ along
Don’t ever wonder if you’ve done wrong
Because you’re the only one who you can depend on

No longer hung up on these tragedies
You’re lookin’ good these days
But tragedy and fortune are so close together
Through every kind of weather
I’m glad I knew you when you were young

ALBUM NAME: Amplified Truth
RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2005

SONGS:

1. Gypsy Wind
2. September
3. MIss Mighty
4. When The Rooster Crows
5. Daisy Don’t You Know
6. Biding My Time Again
7. Drugstore Love
8. A Brand New Feast
9. Let’s Remember
10. Along the Way

GYPSY WIND

She turns her collar up
And she shuffles away
Her warm breathe it steams
In a seamless way

In the foggy dim of evening
On the seaside slope
She recalls some glimpse of love
And some semblance of hope

She’s sick of trying to stay afloat
She won’t bother rockin’ the boat
She’s had enough
She knows what’s gonna come

It’s gonna be a cold gypsy wind
And the storm front’s rollin’ in
It’s another hard mornin’ comin’
And doesn’t really know anyone
Or hold anything

The clouds whirl around
As she dreams of sailin’ away
The height’s brought her
Too close to her fears

She’s shakin’ up on the ledge
And all pain has left her head
And she’s overcome, all too soon
By the smallness of her years

She looks out to the sea
Says, “Lord, come rescue me
I want to see how it feels
To fall endlessly…

And she’s gone on a gypsy wind
And, sure enough, the storm is here again
No more lonely mornings, they’ve come to an end
And for this broken world
She hasn’t left a thing

SEPTEMBER

When the steel rims crack and the summer’s slippin away from you
And the mornings glide in on the wings of an autumn dew

Well, it seems that we’ve come apart like an untied bow
You taught me more about lovin’ than I ever wanted to know

But it’s OK when the rain falls on the snow in September
And the white night chills me to my very ember

September
Blowin’ down the halls of the cathedral
Shinin’ light on all that is not evil
Letting me know how to begin
September
Letting me know I’ve got a savior
Autumn lets me know it’s not a sin
To start all over again

I remember rollin’ down the highway like a cannon ball run
I remember the first time I saw Nashville, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so young

Well we can’t escape livin’, no matter how hard we try
But we can shake it off when the August Mustang slips away and dies

But it’s OK

September
Blowin’ down the halls of the cathedral
Shinin’ light on all that is not evil
Letting me know how to begin
September
Givin’ me four weeks for good behavior
Autumn lets me know it’s not a sin
To start all over again

Sail on through those golden days, keep shinin’ like the sun
Your time will be through before your song will be sung

But golden luster is so hard to hold on to
September’s gonna carry me, you now I’m not through
I’m just a different hue

MISS MIGHTY

I met you on some stormy evening
You were running from the people who loved you
You told me about Verlaine
And crazy, crazy days
Spent out on some distant avenue

But hold up, Miss Mighty
Your world won’t let me in
The heavens crumble just outside your door
So give up, Miss Mighty
Have some time for an old friend
Just one night, not one hour more

I guess the weather is warm in California
I guess you found your way like you said you would
But why not fondly gaze on some clearer, simpler days?
I think that ragged age was plenty good enough

But hold up, Miss Mighty
Your world won’t let me in
The heavens crumble just outside your door
So give up, Miss Mighty
Have some time for an old friend
Just one night, not one hour more

Hold up, Miss Mighty
Shake your blues off
Just one night, not one hour more

WHEN THE ROOSTER CROWS

Hey now, you don’t know
What’s gonna come when the rooster crows
You throw it all away on love

Daddy’s on the porch steps
Screamin’, “Life’s not over yet!”
His gut is getting’ bigger like an aged marine
And you know
Hey, his ship’s pullin’ in
He’s been to hell and back again
Wants to know whether there’s any passion left for him

Hey now, the lawn is green
It’s smokin’ hot down in New Orleans
Where the black girls run barefoot in the dust
Hey now, the black men sneeze
With the chessboard balanced on their knees
They’re content to smile and not make a fuss

Hey now, he didn’t know
What would come when he crossed the row
Wedding bells put his life on the right track

Hey now, years are gone
He’s war-torn and wants to move on
But married life’s gone and done it to him
And you know sometimes it’s hard
Daddy’s on the back steps
Screamin’, “Life’s not over yet!”
Seems like the age is havin’ it’s way with him

Hey now, he’s goin’ gold
50 years in the December cold
It’s midlife and he’s crawlin’ over the hill
Hey now, il fait beau temps
What’s not here now is forever lost
He swallows his fortune just like a pill

He remembered how the death smelled
In the fog of war and the flying shells
Whistling past the waves and the white, speckled sands of the lagoon

He wanted some island girl
To take his blue blood for a whirl
He had a rich buddy or two
It mattered not that his blood was blue
Till the enemy fire spilled his blood out, gushing crimson-maroon

Hey now, he didn’t know
What would come when the foghorn blows
And whisks him away to some foreign land
Hey now, you don’t know
What’s gonna come when the rooster crows
But you can never make sense of experience

Daddy’s on the back steps
Screamin’, “Life’s not over yet!”
He ain’t gonna let age have his way with him

OH DAISY, DON’T YOU KNOW?

There’s the reticent woman
With her reminiscent man
Recalling the vague, beautiful images
Of being drunken on the sand

And in the clubs and the cafes
La Belle Vie! Vite, Vite my man
Consumed in the mystique of the dotted nighttime
And the water’s soothing hand

Oh Daisy, don’t you know the hour is near?
When we’ve got to pack up our bags and get out of here

How she looks like an angel
‘Neath the brown leaves a fallin’
She smells like the outdoors comin’ inside
Off a deep, autumn wind

She’s bundled up tight
‘Neath the smoggy New York lights
And she says,
“Hey, do you remember those delightful, drunken nights?”

Oh Daisy, don’t you know the hour is near?
When we’ve got to pack up our bags and get out of here

She’s stumblin’ on the avenue
Envisioning that wide, foreign sea
She’s lost in the pizzicato strings
That played such a spare melody

He says, “It was splendid back then
The wretched charm of this place is wearing thin
Let’s get on with this
Let’s be expatriates again”

Oh Daisy, don’t you know our departing hour is near?
Those days when we were young and bold are so far away from here

BIDING MY TIME AGAIN

She walks on broken glass
Through half-deserted streets
I can tell her by the surly
Company she keeps

And love is holding, folding under you

I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again

You always seem to have a
Flower in your ear
Your grandma’s dress
And your hippie veneer

You’re young and stupid, take a look in the mirror
You’re just like a skeleton, take a look in the mirror

I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again
I’m biding my time once again

DRUGSTORE LOVE

When those brilliant skies used to rip the fear from me
And it seems for a moment that distances were clear to see
But you know time slips away so easily
And when I see you, you float by so weightlessly

I’m breakin’ down on my knees
Time stole my little victories
All the hours are swept aside
Time is stealin’ my midnight ride

But who can you harass
When you’re lyin’ on the green, green grass?
Drugstore love is not in vain

Times were such that I could not fill up my cup
And it didn’t matter that what I did was never good enough
We needed some place to hide, to forever hide away
But I’m afraid we can’t hold onto those dimestore days

You say, “You’re free
As the lonely day is long
You’re free
To finally sing your song”

Love will come to pass
When you’re lyin’ on the green, green grass
Drugstore love ain’t for keeps
But it’s not in vain

Drugstore love
Drugstore love
Drugstore love
Drugstore love

Now the rain has set in and we’re gettin’ older
And it’s rare that I look over my shoulder
But when I’m lyin’ on my back lookin’ at the stars I recall the spell that we were under
And I recall the smell and the sighs and the nights of wonder

But the nights seem shorter and the air seems to have grown colder
And I wished that I had been stronger, oh I wish I had been bolder

I’m breakin’ down on my knees
Oh, time is such a pitiless, relentless tease
Can’t help thinkin’ that God is wrong
Time is playin’ its funeral song

Love will come to pass
And who can you harass?
But for now we’re lyin’ on the green, green grass
And I say Drugstore love ain’t in vain
It ain’t for keeps
It ain’t for keeps
But it ain’t in vain

BRAND NEW FEAST

Well, all roads take you home
Running never changes being alone
You ran to Rome, you ran to the East
You were runnin’, tryin’ to move this feast

On a tragic night you bid goodbye
All those memories of old
You imagined a brand new night under a Spanish sky
You imagined all the exotic ports of call about which you’d been told

Well, keep on smiling
And keep on dancing
I always knew you’d turn out all right in the end
Everywhere you go
Everyone you meet
Every day is a brand new feast

You walked around an old Roman town
You saw the floor of Luca as the walls crept up around
But you were dreamin’ of a sweet Taquita swept with rain
On some Mediterranean terrain

You ate well and you just can’t tell
Where you’ll end up come next fall
But to have been lucky enough to live this as a young man
It’s a brand new feast after all

Well, keep on smiling
And keep on dancing
I always knew you’d turn out all right in the end
Everywhere you go
Everyone you meet
Every day is a brand new feast

This is what I am
No longer a young man
Always look both ways
And I we can dine together when we can

Well, keep on smiling
And keep on dancing
With the faith that you’ll turn out all right in the end
Everywhere you go
Everyone you meet
Every day is a brand new feast

LET’S REMEMBER

I’ll walk ahead of you
I’ll tell you things that you already knew
We’ll walk hand in hand
Darlin’ then you’ll understand

Everything you’ve ever wondered about
All the lamplight images, all the wild streams flowing under
Bridges by the wild oak trees
Grab a hold of me

I’m right where I want to be

In a field of tall grass
All innocence comes skating past
Grab a hold of it
When it pays you a visit

Let’s remember
Let’s remember

Walkin’ down the road on a green and blue day
All your worries melt away
In the hot, hot, hot sun
These streets don’t remember anyone

But they belong to us
Let’s kick our feet up
Let’s kick up a fuss

When in the midnight hour
We’re dancing
Outside the breeze is blowin’
The lamplight dancin’
Sweet, sweet romancin’

I’ll walk you home
In the warm night

Let’s remember
Let’s remember

Wash your face in the stream
Wash your worries clean
Pack your bags and let’s go
I tell you things you already know

Let’s remember who you wanted to be
Let’s remember what we wanted to see

Let’s remember
Let’s remember

ALONG THE WAY

The moon it glared down on us
My old friend and I
We stood out on the lookout
Telling each other lies

“I’ll make my fortune early
Then move to paradise
And live on sweet rum and the beach
And there I’ll love life”

But the smell of rum did already rankle
I could smell it on his breathe
And his passion for connecting with wasn’t there
Would haunt him till his death

Well friend, you know your dreams will
Shimmer in your eyes till your dyin’ day
But the beach it calls you and me
And I’ll meet you along the way

II.

A new friend of mine and I we sat
And studied the marketplace
We been brought together
By a zeal for the rat race

The maroon logs and navy blue books
Called from the bookshelf
And bade the students well
We were wretches, consumed in ourselves

When the books have proven barren
Or scored us wealthy pay
We’ll be closer to what we’re after
And I’ll meet you along the way

III.

Her hair was strange and lovely
And brown above her eyes
She’d look over my shoulder
To the other white-suited guys

I’d known her for some time now
And wanted her as my own
She didn’t wear the forlorn look of a life that
All the other girls with her beauty had known

She said she couldn’t love me
I wasn’t going in her direction
I seemed like I swung a speckled axe
She was lookin’ for moral perfection

I said you know, our fathers both sleep
Beneath the same sun’s ignorant rays
And we’ll always live close by the same old Jesuit road
I’ll meet you along the way

IV.

When I met her again she was thin
And young and full of life
Her body ripe for the pluckin’
Deemed fit to be someone’s wife

The days when she would shun me
And pass me by without a hesitation
Were gone as age had set in
And her old friends had fallen out and left the station

There will be more shifty people
But don’t let that guilty conscience weigh
You down, cause I know you think you screwed up when you lost me somewhere down the line
But I’ll meet you along the way

Two friends they moved swiftly
Toward each other’s side
Two kindred souls, two broken molds
Two pairs of eyes so wide

They joked and played their lives out
And drank and made their nights long
They knew they’d be on top someday
When the A&R man heard their song

One always felt that life had dealt him
Something quite unique
Everyday after he was born healthy
He was pushing for his peak

As this day ends the boy hasn’t
Achieved new heights on his own parlay
But the other boy is there to lean on
To meet him along the way

VI.

Two hearts they rushed together
On a frenzied, formal eve
Among the spotlight dancers
He took her side and could not leave

The boy, a dreamer, poured his soul
Out to the girl immediately
They thought that nothing could keep
This infant love affair from flowing free

But time rolled on and, as it does,
Showed them all was not so rosy
She said, “I may seem like a character from your favorite book
But I’m not when you get to know me”

She said, “I loved you once
But I’m afraid I cannot stay
Still, the road’s gonna get rocky and I’m offering, if you want,
To meet you along the way”

VII.

We all take separate paths
We scatter like the fountain spray
But we’ll all go down the same stream
And we’ll meet up along the way

ALBUM TITLE: Songs From The Manor: The 4 Track Mosaic
RELEASE DATE: Dec 7th, 2004

1. Dead Man’s Song
2. A 2a.m. Train On A Night Like This
3. No-No-No
4. Sorry ‘Bout The World
5. Someday You’ll Discover
6. Nothin’ But the Clothes On My Back
7. Down Is A Long Way To Fall
8. Whoa Child, You Ought To Know
10. Over The Sea, In Italy
11. Rock Me With A Subtle Groove
12. 4-Track Mosaic

DEAD MAN’S SONG

It seems like the days die casually
And the sun it moves so rapidly
Touch me once then run along
Just lay me down
Like you lay your words and voice
On the strings of the guitar
Just lay me down
Like a dead man’s song

Seems like lately we’ve been
Spending a series of hours in the living room
Watching the light on the window pane
With the red sun bursting behind

Hearing those strange sounds
And like an oil-drum bursting
It hurts our eyes and our ears
And we feel the pain
It seems like the days die casually
And the sun it moves so rapidly
Touch me once then run along
Just lay me down
Like you lay your words and voice
On the stings of the guitar
Just lay me down
Like a dead man’s song

A 2A.M. TRAIN ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS

It gets strange around midnight
It gets weird around Pine and Frost Bite
The characters come out of the shadows
The shiny dimes, before they’re covered in dirt
Reflect a lucid white light and you think it’s a halo

I’m leavin’
I’m leavin’
I’m leavin’
On a 2a.m. train tonight
Feel like the only one alive
On the 2a.m. train
On a night like this
I’m not sure I could find a better time to leave
But this seems to be the worst time of all
To be on the train
I’m leavin’

NO-NO-NO

He came in from Houston
And his arms were covered with welts
He had his uncle’s pistol
And a little hand-made box wrapped in felt

He was an outlaw and a boxer
And he knew how to spin a yarn
He had manners like an urchin and he had country grammar
And he made love out in his barn

He said, “It’s no good to try to save me
You know I’ll never act my age
Like a hamster on a wheel
I’ll be cursin’ till I hit the grave”

Oh, No-No-No
No-No-No-No-No
No-No-No
No-No-No-No-No

This waif, this rascal
Knew just how to make his presence felt
Just a scamp with a sailor’s tongue
Into the underworld he would melt

He said, “It’s no good to try to tame me
It’s too late for a fall from grace
Like a hamster on a wheel
I’ll be cursin’ till I leave this place”

Oh, No-No-No
No-No-No-No-No
No-No-No
No-No-No-No-No

SORRY ‘BOUT THE WORLD

I’m sorry ‘bout the world
I’m sorry ‘bout the climb
I spent a lot of time on the welfare line
Well, I need you so
It can’t be let go

Well, I know you didn’t say it
But I know somebody sang it
As the shots rang out
In the Red Light District
So cheap and low
I can’t let you go

I’m sorry ‘bout the world
I’m sorry ‘bout our climb
We spent a lot of time on the welfare line
Well, I need you so
It can’t be let go

SOMEDAY YOU’LL DISCOVER

You take it to the soil
You sock it to ‘em like you should
And everything they’ve done
You’ll do it just as good
You take no one’s advice
You act just like you think you should

That’s OK
No more singin’ slave songs

Someday, you’ll discover
We should spend our lives together
But nothin’ will prove this more
Than makin’ our own mistakes
Someday, you’ll discover

NOTHIN’ BUT THE CLOTHES ON MY BACK

I have nothin’ but the clothes on my back
I have nothin’ but the ace and the jack

Ricky was such a young virginal girl
And when she wasted it, she didn’t know why she’d lost her pearl

Whoa, leave it alone
Whoa, I’ve got nothin’ I need to take home
Whoa, the boss man’s on the phone
Sayin’, “Here’s your soul, boy, thanks for the loan”

I have nothin’ but the clothes on my back
I have nothin’ but the ace and the jack

Life, when simply put, is nothin’ but a series of coincidences and luck
Get a new coat of paint on your apartment door and wash your car for a few bucks

Whoa, leave it alone
Whoa, I’ve got nothin’ I need to take home
Whoa, the boss man’s on the phone
Sayin’, “Here’s your soul, boy, thanks for the loan”

DOWN IS A LONG WAY TO FALL

Where do you go
When the tree branches
Hang so low
To the ground?

Flowers in the spring
Flowers in the spring
The leaves are so high in the branches
So high, so high

Down is a long way to fall
Down is a long way to fall
Where do you go
On the purple paths

Where the tree branches hang so low
To the ground?
A rose is still a rose
A rose is still a rose

So high in its spring
So high, so high
Down is a long way to fall
Down is a long way to fall

WHOA CHILD, YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

Whoa child, you ought to know
Oh, where it goes
Whoa child, you ought to know
Where I belong

Whoa child, you ought to know
Oh, where it goes
Whoa child, you ought to know
Where you belong

Oh, child
Until you let it go

Whoa child, you ought to see
Oh, where it disappears to in the trees
Whoa child, you ought to believe
Where it goes with the breeze

Oh, child
Until you let it go

Hey, don’t be the last
Hey, don’t be the last
One to realize
What you should be doing with your days

Whoa child, you ought to know
Oh, where you should go
Whoa child, you ought to know
Where you and I belong

Oh, child
Until you let it go
Until you let it go
Until you let it go
Until you let it go

OVER THE SEA, IN ITALY

Over the sea, in Italy
Is where my heart lies
Over the sea, in Italy
It where my heart lies

ROCK ME WITH A SUBTLE GROOVE

Rock me with a subtle groove, baby
Rock me with a subtle groove, baby

4-TRACK MOSAIC

It’s hard at the end of the day,
Yes, it’s hard at the end of the day
Time
Whoa, Time

Life is hard, don’t you know
Seems like you work so hard and have nothin’ to show
Life is hard, don’t you know
Life is hard, don’t you know

The 7th bum lectures
The 13 gentlemen
Lecturing, lecturing
Gentlemen, gentlemen, please!

Mama meets the world
Let down your curls
You’re no longer a little girl
You’re no longer a little girl

Forever, you can see forever
Maybe it’s just a punk song
Forever
Forever

Wait a minute
Wa-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-ait a minute
You’ll dry your eyes, you’ll take off the disguise
The scene will materialize, if you wait a minute

Hey, hey Imbruglia
You look so peculiar
Remember the J5 tune with the handclaps?
Remember that tune when you almost rapped?

And I’m back on the range
Yes, I’m back on the range
I’ve got one left in me
I’ve got one left in me

I had a moment to react
I had a moment to react
A moment
To react

I’m sorry for the things that I’ve done
I’m sorry for the things that I’ve done
I’m sorry
I’m sorry

It’s not a competition
I wanted it that way
Competition
Competition

Your Alt Rock song
From ‘99
Sounded like Weezer
With a bit more of a whine

Sort of like Norah Jones
And Sugar Ray
You called it “A White Night”
But it resembled “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”

You and your woman tonight
When you feel so alive
In the pale moonlight
You and your woman tonight

You and your woman tonight
When you feel so alive
In the pale moonlight
Where’s your face tonight?

Love, love is such a lonesome thing
But when you let go
Love, love is such a weary thing
Such a weary thing

ALBUM NAME: A Dirty Bunch: The Instrumentals
RELEASE DATE: November 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. The New Boogaloo
2. Chicken Skin
3. Stax Groovin’
4. Will’s Jam (12/4/01)
5. Ben’s Piece (For Clavinet)
6. Booty Butter
7. Funky Nonsense in F Minor
8. Mystery Train Beatin’ at the Switchin’ Yard
9. K. Rockin’ In the Key of B
10. Blues Harp, Organ, and Handclaps
11. Blood Runs Hot (1999 Version)
12. Hip Hoppin’ From Eb to C Minor
13. Whammin’ Train Harp Jammin’
14. Ronan’s Theme (S.H. In B)
15. Groove Me With The Rhodes
16. Happy Van Riff in G

NOTE: No lyrics were written for this album

ALBUM NAME: The Only Dreamers In Seattle
RELEASE DATE: October 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. The Trees
2. The Doors of Perception
3. To Travel Is To Live (The Prophet Bum: Part Two)
4. I Want To Be A Rock Star
5. Surrender To Hollywood
6. So Long, New York
7. The Only Two Dreamers In Seattle
8. Women
9. The Alley
10. The Place of the Poet

THE TREES

Your intelligence fades
But you fight it

The shape is emblazoned brightly
On the outside of the town

There is no meaning in the tree
That sways above us both

That sways beneath the liquored moon,
Next to the violent sea

‘Neath the trees
‘Neath the trees
Bend an ear and listen to the breeze

And there is still a vestige of the folklore
That Catholic school branded in your soul

But it is fading – and it is nothing more
Than a simple kind of folklore

I can curse it for cursing me
And for altering the force of gravity

For altering the meaning of the tree
And of the old friend who, every so often, stops by to visit me

‘Neath the trees
‘Neath the trees
Bend an ear and listen to the breeze

I’m sorry that I couldn’t walk through the valley of darkness
And come out feeling better

I’m sorry that I saw the green
And couldn’t make sense of what I’d seen

You pull your locket out and point to field
About a half a mile away

And we hear the music box, and it no longer makes sense to talk
And we stare at the twisting ballerina as the sad song plays

‘Neath the trees
‘Neath the trees
Bend an ear and listen to the breeze

THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION

Last night as I sat on the bed
And kissed my lover on her forehead
And slid between the clean white sheets
And made my way into retreat

Maybe I was ready to die
Or to return to dust
Or maybe I’d seen things as they really are

I was not scared
I wanted to return
To return to innocence

I still felt hung over from the bender the night before
But I thought I saw right through the door
The words of Blake came through my soul!
I saw the object as a whole

Maybe I was ready to die
Or to return to dust
Or maybe I’d seen things as they are

I was not scared
I wanted to return
To love immortal
To the eternal

I wanted to return to innocence

TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE (THE PROPHET BUM: PART TWO)

He said, “I’ve traveled for years,
I’ve traveled across this land,
I’ve got stories to tell, if you’d just let me in
And get to the matter at hand”

I sized up the man who was soaked and shiverin’
And my expression was one of unabashed shock
And out of insanity and curiosity and stupidity
I let the man, into my house, walk

To travel is to live
To travel is to live
You don’t know what you’ve got till you give
Yourself to the world

He shook off the rainwater and took off his shoes
And plopped himself down in a chair
And not long had he sat in my house that
I felt the weight of his stare

“Why did you come here?” I wondered aloud
He chuckled at the question a bit
He said, “I’ve come to save you from yourself
And teach you some wisdom I’ve lit”

To travel is to live
To travel is to live
You don’t know what you got till you give
Yourself to the world

He said, “I’ve wandered the earth for a good many years
And I’ve seen all there is to see
I’ve seen snowcapped mountains and dusty old deserts
And I’ve sailed across Pacific Seas

I’ve played piano and danced on the hills
And flown in planes above the few trees in Arizona
I’ve had lager in beer halls in Deutschland
And I’ve run with the bulls in Pamplona”

To travel is to live
To travel is to live
You don’t know what you’ve go till you give
Yourself to the world

“I’ve been to the South where the trees are green
And oaks are in yards and in homes
And I’ve fallen in love more than a few times
And I’ve known there’s more than one person to whom you belong”

Intrigued I certainly was but how could I be different?
But why do you tell this to me?
What business is this for a fellow of class
And wealth, like myself, and a man of luxury

To travel is to live
To travel is to live
You don’t know what you’ve got till you give
Yourself to the world

He said, “I know about the remnants
Of forgotten ancient lands
About broken down highways and roads
About prostitutes and man”

“I know all about trembling
And sickness and fear and death
Been to the Gulf of Mexico
And tasted spice in the Southwest”

I said, “Well you’ve got all the answers
I most surely am impressed”
To travel is to live
To travel is to live

“Must I travel for this wisdom
To the far ends of the earth?
What travels these are that
Teach me more than I read around my hearth?

But I’m a learned man
And I was learning here tonight
About the woes of 4 young brothers
And their father’s shameful plight”

Don’t patronize me father
Please be kind next time you come
But tell me who you are
He said, “I am the prophet bum”

I said, “You’re a suspicious old wanderer
I wouldn’t be surprised if you cast a spell
You’ve come to warn me about excess
And the fiery flames of hell

There’s a mist out ‘neath the streetlamp
And the morning sun’s comin’ over the hill
I’ve not been changed by sermons
I’m gonna keep on reading still

What about you old man?
Have you had formal schooling
It’s hard to listen to someone
When you’re talking, not doing

I’d really love to travel
I’ve oft pursued archeology
But there’s much to be digested
Between the two Great seas

Look over at my bookshelf
You’ll be lookin’ into me
I know all about Kierkegaard
And the mighty Nietzsche”

He said, “Well you must be quite pious, son
There’s not much left to learn
You know all there is to know
You know what makes the world turn

My story is a long one
But I’ve been educated well
With the textbooks of the road map
And the teachers out in the dell”

To travel is to live
To travel is to live
You don’t know what you’ve got till you give
Yourself to the world

I WANT TO BE A ROCK STAR

I want to be a rock star
I want to graduate from this circuit of bars
They give you a hand
You take a bigger stand
I want to be a rock n’ roll star

I want to be a rock n’ roll star
I want to feel that I’ve put my heart into it and gotten as far
As I could with a dream
As crazy as it seems
I want to be a rock n’ roll star

When you find something cool
That you really like to do
You just do it and do it till you can’t
I’ve found my bliss
You can’t accuse me of being remiss
Because we all want to be rock n’ roll stars

SURRENDER TO HOLLYWOOD

You made me think of conversations
We had on Charlie Chaplin
How he wore the bowler
And was the tramp

You said you wanted
To make America rock
Like he did, down in Hollywood
All you needed was to come alive on Mulholland Drive

Surrender to Hollywood
Surrender to Hollywood

You saw a movie in the lobby
It was about William Randolph Hearst
You were amazed at the empire he assembled
And you wondered if without him, Seattle was the worse?

But a hometown has a personality
People are always the same
All those funky girls on Capitol Hill
Make your soul feel alive

Surrender to Hollywood
Surrender to Hollywood

It’s OK for us to be apart

Surrender to Hollywood
Surrender to Hollywood

SO LONG, NEW YORK

I pulled into this depot
Even though there are few in this town
It is difficult for a young man
To beat his past down

Under your parents thumb
Each career path you choose
People die, they die quickly
And some people are so difficult to lose

These are the memories
These are the days
That we choose
And no matter how hard we try
There is always more that is left to lose
Until you lose the one thing
That means the most

So long, New York

The city has a romance about it
I don’t feel it in Seattle, it’s not there yet
We hear songs and stories, the echoes of history
And we cannot forget

But we all have a hometown
And mine is this green, fertile one
The hills are going take you up and down
And the coast captures the sun

These are the memories
These are the days
That we choose
And no matter how hard we try
There is always more that is left to lose
Until you lose the one thing
That means the most

So long, New York

THE ONLY TWO DREAMERS IN SEATTLE

You feel dead to the world
But you’re alive
And so am I

Staring out into the ocean
An ocean I seldom stop to look at these days
Feelin’ like a pulled up to this shore alone
And lost my paddle
I’m feelin’ like the only dreamer in Seattle

Try to say something profound
Can’t read the words I have written
Can’t identify with the sound
Can’t tell if any of it is good or bad
Maybe you hear the words of your dad
You don’t see each other much anymore

And I remember the strains
Of all those songs
We’d listen to at your house
We stayed up all night long
We spilled our beer, we’d smoke cigarettes
And wondered how we would eventually get out of here

You feel dead to the world
But you’re alive
And so am I

Staring out into the ocean
An ocean that I seldom stop to look at it these days
Feelin’ like a pulled up to this shore alone
And lost my paddle
I’m feelin’ like we’re the only two dreamers in Seattle

Well you moved away
Like you said you would
And I think I could call what I’ve done a success
And that would feel good
And I’m sure you’re across the water
Thinkin’ the same thing
It’s the same wherever a body goes

Staring out into the ocean
An ocean that I seldom stop to look at it these days
Feelin’ like a pulled up to this shore alone
And lost my paddle
We float among all the lonely dreamers in Seattle

WOMEN

Rules are conducive to balance in the brain
In the office, the bed, or the golf course

Women need love
Women need protection

Don’t boast from the bottom of your heart
Or from your groin

The women make the world go round
Don’t bite that feeds you

Women
Women

You came from a woman, don’t you remember?
So the women need care

And the women will surrender
What happens when you don’t respect them?

They lose their meaning and their sign
They lilt about a rainy season

Until the sun agrees to shine
It’s fitting to be ashamed

Women
Women

If you saw the record of your memory tracks
And if Jiminey Cricket stepped into your Disney dreams

And offered you a quick road back
You’d see the way the women walked

You’d hear the echoes in their talk
You’d feel their gaze from across the room

You’d smell the sex in their perfume
You’d smell the sex in their perfume

Women
Women

THE ALLEY

Pink lights on a brick wall
Black spots on the bathroom stall
An alcoholic makes his 2 a.m. call
Roll up the box car and grab the inane

The suits implement the new tax law
We welcome them and their guffaws
Money coming in, money going out
Not sure what the argument is about

The alley, where the light is dim
The alley, where the rain hits the tin
The alley, dark on the brightest night
You can not stop what you could never fight
You can not stop what is hidden from light
In the alley lies your only right

Lascivious intent, insidious argument
Lavender suit, underground loot
Autumn begins and that was always the goal
These two-bit losers, these box car boozers

You need a place to slip away
Where you can still hear the music that the jazz band plays
Open up the door, sneak by the kitchen staff
The pink light flashes and you can’t go back

The alley, where the light is dim
The alley, where the rain hits the tin
The alley, darkest on the brightest night
You can not stop what you could never fight
You can not stop what is hidden from light
In the alley lies your only right

THE PLACE OF THE POET

A poet does not know his place
That’s what makes him what he is
He does not wait for critics
He does not wait for education
He does not wait for disease

He makes his own way, he makes his path
As the embroidered pattern starts to fray
He inspires bohemians who’ve lost themselves
On college campuses, they sit around and smoke pot
And think, “Man, isn’t this guy onto something?”

But this is not what the poet wants

Boy, I wish that I was a famous poet someday
My effigy transfixed in some coffee shop
My words, absurd, and holy in their youthful way
People will smoke pot and laugh and say,
“This man was a genius, this man knew the truth”

Thomas was a mad man, Whitman was, too
And when the path is grown over, grown mute
A tale of those who inform, or maybe those who pollute
Will allow us to grow
To think about the things we cannot know

That is the place of the poet

ALBUM NAME: Ready to Rock Arenas
RELEASE DATE: September 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. An Honest Living
2. A Certain Emptiness
3. Vultures
4. You Have No Reason To Feel Sad
5. Before I Die
6. I Wish I Was A Master
7. It’s All Supposed To Be Easy
8. Love, Alcohol, and True Happiness
9. Rock n’ Roll Makes a Poor Mistress
10. Maturity
11. Monday Morning
12. When The Wind Sweeps
13. Young Enough
14. The Bullhorn Hype

AN HONEST LIVING

He sold the last of his possessions
Because he didn’t have a job
He went to that restaurant
Where his wife used to love the corn on the cob

But there would be no need for an angel to do the forgiving
For he could make an honest living

This loneliness and sedition
This connection to tradition
This kitsch art, this memory of a lost politician
Dissolved like a dusty manuscript

But there would be no angel to do the forgiving
For he could make an honest living

He feared that his art had no direction
His ideas lacked erection
He saw the arch that gleamed, the fond perception
And after all, this is the season of elections

But he would need no angel to do the forgiving
For he could make an honest living

A CERTAIN EMPTINESS

There is an emptiness inside
One that his expression can barely hide
In the room in the far corner of the hotel
Where the author sits and dips his pen in the inkwell

He sees the night as it is
When the last memory starts to fade of the life that was his
He looks at the bird on the window sill
And his mind wanders as he dreams about the biz

He looks at the trees that resemble a painted scene
In front of the spiky mountains
His experience is wholly indescribable and he feels duped
By the Vanity Fair article that he read on the train

As he came in from Greenwich
It was hardly a spiritual experience, those empty particles
But he wondered if that is what shaped his imagination
If that was his personality – just a series of articles

A series of poems he’d read
A series of ideas that had marbled into his head
And he felt a certain emptiness
He felt a certain emptiness

VULTURES

Man, the vultures take me down
The vultures, they clown
The vultures twist and burn
They doubt and they yearn

That’s not what I need
That’s not what I need
Vampires and vultures
Twisted midnight creatures

Depraved and disturbed
Love is so absurd
The concept is absurd, you see
And these creatures make sure to remind me

That’s not what I need
That’s not what I need
Vampires and vultures
Twisted midnight creatures

YOU HAVE NO REASON TO FEEL SAD

You have no reason to feel sad
I think your body’s just been bad
Doing things it doesn’t need
Sowing some hidden master’s seed

When you think you’re feeling mad
Remember, you have no reason to feel sad

You have no reason to be ashamed
Everyone has troubles that they can’t explain
I guess you should have the feeling that there’s a solution
To solving pollution with little retribution

When you think you’re feeling mad
Remember, you have no reason to feel sad

Roll the car out into the drive
I hope we both get out alive
Dante’s is the place to drink
No matter what the highbrows think

When you think you’re feeling mad
Remember, you have no reason to feel sad

BEFORE I DIE

I’d like to straighten the flower box out
I’d like to sweep the kitchen floor
I’d like replace the marble walk
I’d like to paint the living room door

I’d like to turn the world around
I have no great reply
When people say, “What do you want?”
Because that’s all I want before I die

To organize the world

Lately I’ve been feeling
The way I did as a child
My fancy in the autumn leaves
My passion always wild

I wish that I knew all that then
What I know now, what I know
I wish, I wish, that things could be
Not such a trick, not such a trick

I want order in the world

I feel like things are such a trick
Not like they were when I was young
When I was young there always was a meaning
Always something at the end of what was begun

Now there’s no such thing as beginning
All the stories left unsaid
If all that was ever written was burned
I’d try to store it in my head

But I couldn’t, I’m sure, bring order to the world

I WISH I WAS A MASTER

I’m just going to say it
I wish I were a master

To wander through life, feeling inferior
Feeling like there was some atonement you were after
That you couldn’t discover, that the world couldn’t muster
Is no way to live, you can’t live with the echoes like laughter

Am I the best? Who should I ask?
Picasso could tell me if I’d learned
Whether or not the work held up
If I was well enough to discern

Whether or not when in the buff
I held up to the ideal

I wish I was a master
I wish I knew the way
Maybe when you wander
Down here this random day

I could point you to the office
They could register you there
They could measure all your gifts
You could qualify your share

I wish I was a master
And I would treat you fair
And let you know
That it’s a good thing you are there

And you wouldn’t feel the need to deceive me
Because I have no credentials
Because I only know the essentials
And can’t expand
If I was a master
You wouldn’t feel the need to deceive me
And finally, you’d believe me

IT’S ALL SUPPOSED TO BE EASY

I had a friend
He gave me his opinions
About the way I should live

Speechifying,
Still denying,
Still supporting the birth of kids

He said get a wife,
Get a life,
Get a ticket to a better way

Get a house,
Find a spouse,
Fall in love on a July day

I didn’t know that was all supposed to be easy

So I pulled into town
With my book
And I looked at all the mallrats runnin’ round

Westlake,
Earthquake
Almost took the city down

I thought, “Why don’t I jot down all the facts,
Put it on wax,
For all the kids to read?”

Hopefully my experience
Will lead them to believe
That they understand what they really need

I didn’t know that was all supposed to be easy

LOVE, ALCOHAL, ROCK N’ ROLL, AND TRUE HAPPINESS

So you say give up on alcohol
And how it influences the day

You find yourself drunk on a Wednesday night
In the back of a shitty club, illuminated by the red light

Rock n’ roll, alcohol, and the true meaning of happiness

The guitar is out of tune and the piano keys are broken
The band has been drinking and the backstage is filled with smoke

Seems like the night was not supposed to end like this
I was not meant to be alone and pondering an imaginary kiss

Rock n’ roll, alcohol, and the true meaning of happiness

Love is an idea to ponder
In a 2 a.m. drunken haze

And the fuzz tone punctuates the expression
You make when you’re crazed

Rock n’ roll, alcohol, and the true meaning of happiness

Get it done two years ago
You need it in a daze

That’s my best definition of happiness
Jump off the drum riser, end the show, and pull the shades

Rock n’ roll, alcohol, and the true meaning of happiness

ROCK N’ ROLL MAKES A POOR MISTRESS

I thought when I left my home
That I would never be alone
I cared not what friends and family said
I’d make a killing with my head

Family is my rock
Rock n’ roll is my mistress
She makes a poor lover
When she’s constantly been ignored and dismissed
So pull the plane away
As God is my witness
I’m going to struggle to make the dance
And do it all in the name of romance
But rock n’ roll makes a poor mistress

Rock n’ roll demands a lot
A bruised up body, a melting pot
To throw your whimsical fantasies in
And see if it returns or not

MATURITY

Maybe if I had taken a different path
Then love would make sense

You say that I have the mark of one who has not matured
One who has chosen to ignore certain responsibilities

Certain rites of passage that make you a man
But right now I’m just a kid, you say

All my desires, immature
All my doubts, insincere

None fully developed
My ideas, not fully formed

Because I haven’t quite seen the whole picture
Mine is simply a rough draft

Oh, well, maybe I should be penalized
For not having spent enough time

And maybe it’s mature when I tell you that you’ve let
Those people at the office beat you into submission

Dead to the world
Rolled into the honorable role of “tradition”

Well, if you don’t feel beaten, then cheers to you
Let’s raise a glass at the neighborhood bar

You can’t drink much
Even though you don’t have to drive far

Because there are so many duties to attend
Documents to amend

You’re better when you act yourself
It’s just that the discovery of who you are is the difficult part
I’ve never felt like I didn’t know you
Even when you said you kept it hidden
If someone revealed some dark secret
I’m not sure it would blow your lid
When I already have a deep understanding
Of the truth that what is left unsaid
Is often best left unsaid
So just keep it in your head, if it makes you feel comfortable
Just keep it in your head

MONDAY MORNING

Monday morning, 8am
I missed the bus again
Had to drive the band van
Then again, that’s who I am

Got way too drunk this past weekend
Can’t remember the names of my new friends
All’s well that comes to an end
Beauty is born when the experience ends

I wonder aloud:
Is this anxiety purely physical?
Who was that girl in Spokane
Who was so damn beautiful?

All those shots
I hardly recall
If we sounded good
When we played the debutante ball

Monday morning
Something’s missing
All I’ve lost, it keeps me wishing
Monday morning
Falling hard
Hangover’s not quite gone
But it won’t be long
Until I forget my regrets

I always have a way
Of saying what’s on my mind
Often times people don’t like it
I’m not sure I like it, either

There are reasons for it
There are reasons for rules
Reasons for institutions
Reasons for playing it cool

What did I say
Out on the deck?
In the morning,
Why was I such a mess?

I think someone made
Some racist remark
And condemned an old friend
Then spilled their beer on the bark

Monday morning
Something’s missing
All I’ve lost, it keeps me wishing
Monday morning
Falling hard
Hangover’s not quite gone
But it won’t be long
Until I forget my regrets

I remember taking a sober look
At the lifestyle I choose
And saying that there is little that separates me
>From some jackasses on the booze

Or drunken bums
In Pioneer Square
But somehow when it comes to a night
When I hit the stage, I don’t really care

There’s no reason
To stay up till 6am
When fathers are waking their
Babies and then

Going for a walk
Buying groceries
So much depends
Upon the establishment

Monday morning
Something’s missing
All I’ve lost, it keeps me wishing
Monday morning
Falling hard
Hangover’s not quite gone
But it won’t be long
Until I forget my regrets

I guess I should act a little more mature
But I’m feeling out of the groove
All I want to do
Is put on a Prince record and move

I want to rock the house
It’s another one horse town
I hope I didn’t offend anyone
When I ran my mouth around

I hope I never falter
On the macro scope
Partying with lawyers and dentists
I could hardly cope

They bought the drinks
I played the show
Maybe I should’ve
Taken them up on their offer for some blow

Monday morning
Something’s missing
All I’ve lost, it keeps me wishing
Monday morning
Falling hard
Hangover’s not quite gone
But it won’t be long
Until I forget my regrets

But then again, that never was my scene
I think some girls at the show might think I’m mean
When I ordered them to enjoy the music
And called them “too cool,” and then something obscene

But that’s the price you pay
When you rock and roll
The shows blend together
Your memory’s on low

WHEN THE WIND SWEEPS

When the streets are wet with rain
When the pen can’t express the pain
The wind sweeps the leaves away
The wind sweeps the lost pages into the fray
The wind sweeps the windows at night
Then the sun drips through the shades of white
I can never accept defeat
But I’m lucky when the wind sweeps

I wish that I could make it better
Raven hair, raven hair
I wish that I was feeling better
Solemn stare, sovereign chair
I wish my life made some sense
Raven hair, frenetic pair
I wish that I made recompense
But I’m lucky when the wind sweeps

Oh, Voltaire, you had your share
I wish that life was simpler now
But it’s so simple, it’s so low-brow
I wish that I could make it brighter
The French princess ascends the stair
The distant moan of the daft tenor
Oh, inside there is a soul to bare
Because I can never accept defeat
But I’m lucky when the wind sweeps

YOUNG ENOUGH

The pen is heavy
The gifts are gold
The education I’ve gotten
Makes me know I’m old

I was thinking of telling people that I was older
Then I’d always be a step a head
It would challenge me more
I could sleep when I was pronounced dead

Oh, tell me can I ever be the man
That youth believes and age understands
Is there wisdom in what the youthful dream demands?

All the pretty girls
Who think I’m younger
Would be unpleasantly surprised
When I added 5 yrs to the figure

But then in the end
I turned it around
It would be like a conservative
Business venture

Oh, tell me can I ever be the man
That youth believes and age understands
Is there wisdom in what the youthful dream demands?

Always have more money in the bank
Than you can afford
Always tell people you’re older
Then you can have more years

Whenever you need them
You never seem to be
Young enough, anyways
After you reach a certain point

Oh, tell me can I ever be the man
That youth believes and age understands
Is there wisdom in what the youthful dream demands?

THE BULLHORN HYPE

I heard the hype men on the bullhorns,
They screamed at the top of their lungs:

Do your part to act smart!
Don’t neglect to gauge the effect!
You can have your fun AND get the job done!
Too much rough neck will make you disconnect!

Unfortunately as time went on
I became acquainted with consequence
And in the spare rooms of the South
I was treated like a Puerto Rican prince

You know the women around here know nothing about love
They teeter on the fence, they never fall for the bait
They don’t have time to take the chance
On such a huge concept as Love and Fate

Anyways, I felt that I could balance
Between a rock and a majestic sea
But I did not care to contemplate
That “be” would not meet up with “Be”

I heard the hype men on the bullhorns,
They screamed at the top of their lungs:

Do your part to act smart!
Don’t neglect to gauge the effect!
You can have your fun AND get the job done!
Too much rough neck will make you disconnect!

ALBUM NAME: Midnight in America
RELEASE DATE: August 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. Cleveland Can Wait
2. The Juice
3. The Spark
4. Strangers
5. The Charmed Life
6. The Measure of a Man Who’s Sick of Home
7. Someone You Know
8. Cartoon On Carnival Street
9. Save It For The Innocent
10. There Is Nothing But the Now

CLEVELAND CAN WAIT

Take a step back and look ahead
All the golden slumbers in your head
Make you drift away
Early in the mornin’ you cry
That if the revolution dies
You might trust what they say

Gonna launch a campaign from a car trunk
Hacking through the weeds of people’s closed minds
Hiding in plain sight from the wisest men
Puttin’ you on a pedestal
Feelin’ hungry when you’re full
I won’t let you ever gouge my dreams out

Oh, Cleveland can wait
Someday you can mate and bid a farewell to arms
Your dream girl she ran away
But you won’t forget her; she’s in your head to stay

Walk along you’re the docks of your hometown
Where the thieves and the clowns
Keep your head at play
Leaving everything unresolved
Old problems dissolve
And then they go off like time bombs and ruin your day

Oh, Cleveland can wait
Someday you can mate and bid a farewell to arms
Your dream girl she ran away
But you won’t forget her; she’s in your head to stay

THE JUICE

The piano is missing a couple keys
I broke it when I jumped on it with my knees
I can’t seem to find the time to pay the bills
To replace the keys
To fix the sustain pedal
No, I can’t seem to do it

You don’t have anything left to give
Your friend is dying
You can’t believe it, you say, “He must live”
Anyone could go at any old time
He’s so strong, such a bull
God only knows

But I’m lookin’ for the juice
I am not quite battered, yet
Lookin’ for the juice
But my thoughts are scattered
Make sure you’ve got the juice before you run out
And you’ll know,
Yes, one day you’ll know
The juice is all that mattered

All my dreams come from the celluloid
That is where I will find solace
Alcohol ravages the system so badly
Leaves me lookin’ strange and acting madly

But I’m lookin’ for the juice
I am not quite battered, yet
Lookin’ for the juice
But my thoughts are scattered
Make sure you’ve got the juice before you run out
And you’ll know
The juice is all that mattered

THE SPARK

I wanted you so bad
To watch a movie with you
To dance in the dark
To create a spark

We loved each other
And love made us feel so warm
We walked through the park
And felt a spark

You look at the lighter
You look at the fire
And you feel that there’s something real to admire
You don’t know what makes it
You don’t know what lights the dark
But you know that you love to feel the spark
You know that you love to feel the spark

I’ve been so rational
Trying to take a cold shower
Trying to do some more gardening
But the reality is cold and stark

Look at relationships in a rational way
Before the edges start to fray
And love slips away
And you try things on a lark

Maybe that was just the lighter
But maybe what was great
Was the combination
Maybe we created the spark

STRANGERS

Met a stranger in a bar
Bought her a drink
She looked like you

But not as cute
It bummed me out
If you only knew

The strangers have never, ever provided any solace
The strangers fade into the scenery
We share no history
We share nothing
There’s no one else like you around
The strangers always let me down
The strangers always let me down

It’s funny how you can be attached
To those who are close to you
Even though you might not have much in common

You know how I never wear this shirt
Unless I’m very down
And need something to define myself

Anyways, the strangers have never, ever provided any solace
The strangers fade into the scenery
We share no history
We share nothing
There’s no one else like you around
The strangers always let me down
The strangers always let me down

THE CHARMED LIFE

You always said you were special
And I believed that you were
You were stronger than your brother
And you were prettier than your sister

We’d smoke cigarettes and sip margaritas
And write our dreams in the sand
You’d talk about the curtain call
And I’d give you a big hand

Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
You never know you’re lucky, it just surrounds you
I hope you are able to make everyone you’ve ever wanted
Fall in love with you
I hope you then save yourself for the special few
And I hope you get what you want
And can wear the mask enough
The make-up, not quite cracking
To fend off reality when it comes a-rapping
At your door
Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
Just as lovely as before

We all have big dreams
You’ve got a new car
We all steal mean scenes
Your mother, she wants more

I know you can’t explain how
The charmed life still is a chore
It still can be a bore
You still feel pain, you still get sore

THE MEASURE OF A MAN WHO’S SICK OF HOME

“I don’t want to be anybody but me”
I hear them all say, but they don’t know anyway
To be nothing but free, to serve no God but thee
It’s a cruel trick to think that you can escape misery

Write down your dreams fast, make it all last
Make a little cash and a bit of a splash
They say, “Ben, this doesn’t really sound like you!”
But I never am the man that you thought you knew

Seldom is a man the man you thought you knew
Seldom is a man the man you thought you knew

Oh, each of us is a critic and we’re all artists
I know stockbrokers get their kicks playing poker
The lawyer has the history books on the wall
The orchestra pit bull cellist has a doctor to call

It’s a myth that one can be original
It’s a myth, there’s always some trick to pull
Look at the writers and they’ll feed you bull
What do they know about fillin’ your tank till it’s full?

Rarely is a man the man he says he is
Rarely is a man the man he says he is

I heard a record today and it blew my mind
Just the kind I like, guitars and organs unwind
And the writer he writes with a pen so fine
That it makes you think of scenes from pages that you’ve never read

Well I can’t live up to the grand idea
I’ll hang in Barcelona and we’ll sip Sangria
I could never sip enough around this town
To turn the rivers blue and the ocean brown

Rarely is a man who he thinks he is
Rarely is a man who he thinks he is

SOMEONE YOU KNOW

She eats candy all day while she sits at her desk
She raps with the delivery guy, then gets depressed
She was late to work and can’t stand stress
Sound like someone you might know?

She says she’ll quit smoking then she makes a mess
Of her personal space, she can barely get dressed
It’s funny that she would be the one I’d address
Sound like someone you might know?

At this girl at the desk with the sun on her dress
The life full of stress, the need to impress
I love her, in all of her superciliousness
Sound like someone you might know?

Cash all your checks
Place all your bets
Things will turn out like you never would guess
Well, there are so many ways to look at a situation
Use your logic to check you into the right station
But when the ticket collector calls your name
It’s time to go
Sounds like a situation we both know

Some might argue which is the best one
But arguing is just for fun
Arguing is just for fun

Cash all your checks
Place all your bets
Things will turn out like you never would guess
Well, there are so many ways to look at a situation
Use your logic to check you into the right station
It’s time to go
Sounds like a situation we both know

CARTOON ON CARNIVAL STREET

He insists on being photographed with a lime in one hand
A lion in the other, and never on the sand
He insists that cheating is the way of a man
He looks for cucumbers and cooks them in a pan

And the oil from his back is the kind you could use
In fashion model photos, he always has nice shoes
So finely polished, they invoke the great muse
He always has such nicely polished shoes

Like a cartoon on carnival street
You have so many characters to meet

Nice hair, nice clothes, a Parchese penchant
Like Pirates of Penzance in a pair of ruffled pants
The walls are all red, the marble walk elegant
He hauls off into the woods with a small elephant

Logic would kill him and his sapphire imaginings
His oak marbled bed, his visions of queens and kings
The harp of the hayseed player and the trouble that it brings
Oh, if he could live there it would be a wonderful thing

Like a cartoon on carnival street
Make a date, don’t be late for the characters you’ll meet

SAVE IT FOR THE INNOCENT

Packed my bags in New York City
Sold the house, found a girl who was pretty
On the docks I would serenade
And talk about orchids in the Everglades, then

We bought a house at the edge of town
It’s hard to break a good man down but
There was some leeway God gave
Felt the crunch of fate
Softly as the radio played

Stash away all your good times honey
If you’ve got the time, I’ll bring some money
Push the envelope as the edges fray
Bust through the seams to the break of day

And we’ll build it up
Let it down slowly
We save it all for the innocent
I know, it might sound sleazy
But save it all for the innocent

Life builds me up and let’s me down slowly
Save it all for the innocent
I know, I won’t go gently
But I have a tip for the innocent:
Roll when the waves are crashing
Duck when the fists are bashing
Think when the checks aren’t cashin’
That soon you’ll be old and no longer dashin’

THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE NOW

All of those pretty words
I’m not sure if they came from me
Or if they were part of a script
>From a show that I watched on TV

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

All of the times that I reassured myself
With those words, those beautiful words
I’m not sure who spoke those words
Did they come from a book? It’s so absurd

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

Never being able to come up with the words
They are just incomprehensible
Those experiences: What are they? What were they?
For now, they are wholly indescribable

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

All of the greatest moments
Heaped upon one another
They appear in dreams
But they can’t be recovered

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

ALBUM NAME: At the Hotel
RELEASE DATE: July 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. Blood Stained Hands
2. Goodbye Janey
3. SLow Down
4. At the Hotel
5. The L.A. Song
5. Laid to Waste
6. Falling in Love with a Dream
7. The Prophet Bum
8. You’ve Got Soul
9. Regrets

BLOOD STAINED HANDS

She huffs and she puffs as she runs through the hall
A lock of hair rests on her window sill
The lockers are full and the boyfriends are tall
She knows that she’s three steps from crying

The thunder it staggers; the king drops his crown
The jester he hops to the window
Out on the ledge he can’t help but look down
He knows that he’s two steps from flying

Hold me now in the rain and the sunlight
When the air is warm and the moon is just right
You’re insecure – I can tell by the way you stand

Why, oh why, girl did you forsake your man?
He wanted nothin’, but you felt he was pryin’
He sticks to his word and he stands by his plan
He knows that he’s one step from dying

Hold me now in the rain and the sunlight
When the air is warm and the moon is just right
You’re insecure – I can tell by the way you stand

Hold me now that the wind is crying
I heard it lying and I don’t mind dying
Lying here in the palm of your blood stained hands

It’s all right
It’s just me
I’m as strong as a wild oak tree
That just won’t bend
It’s so easy just to hold me

Hold me now in the rain and the moonlight
When the air is cold and the moment’s just right
You’re happy there I can tell by the way you stand

Hold me now while the guards are sleeping
The women feign and the children are weeping
All is well I can tell by your blood stained hands

GOODBYE JANEY

Janey walks the white beach
The water spins beyond her reach
She meditates upon a mango, a pear, a coconut, and a peach
Her dreams fly south of San Diego
Get away from the snow
She wants to find the place where the sun coats the highway
With a Mexican dobro glow

Don’t you know she bought a one-way ticket
That she couldn’t pay, no she couldn’t pay for it
Janey was a pet, she ran till there was nothin’ left to run away from
It’s kind of like we used to say

Janey, goodbye
Let the ocean open up to you
Those dreams aren’t what you thought they were
But broken dreams are nothin’ new
It’s impossible to ever say just what you mean
Don’t resent your crown you beauty queen
Janey, goodbye

She says, “One of these days
I’m gonna live my life right
Gonna set myself up
Gonna take a little time
But until then I guess I’ll settle for
Second best and halfway”

All in all we had a ball, we had a blast,
We have the photographs
But still you’re feeling sad?
In the end we both are friends
So much depends upon that simple fact
So don’t be angry when you’re looking back

SLOW DOWN

I wander through the doorway of the house
To see my buddy I talked to this afternoon
We’ve been buddies for as long as I remember
I never thought he’d come apart so soon

There’s always bustling goin’ on at his place
People comin’ in and out as they please
Shady characters with shady histories
But he’s a gamer for whatever comes blowin’ in with the breeze

I know it’s a wonderful feeling
But you better slow down
It won’t stay wonderful for long

He’s standing in the doorway of his room
And he’s smiling at the faces as they bend
They all love him because he’s not tryin’ to be anybody else
And if they needed help he’d have a hand to lend

I say, “Hey, what a wonderful feeling
When you’re numbed along with familiar company”
He says, “I know, but it’s not so unusual to me
I’ve been loaded all year, you see”

I know it’s a wonderful feeling
But you better slow down
It won’t stay wonderful for long

And he moves through the nameless, faceless crowd of jubilation
Finds an agreeable place on the couch
Takes a swig from a beer and puts a cigarette in his mouth

It’s early in the wonderful hours of the morning
And he’s staggering back and forth, a sad sight
He’s no longer feeling blissful about everything
And he’s frantic, shouting nonsense in the night

And he lifts up his weary head
And he turns it on over my way
He says, “I’m fallin’ man, but what can I do?
My mind ain’t working so well – my mind’s a mess”

I know it’s a wonderful feeling
But you better slow down
It won’t stay wonderful for long

AT THE HOTEL

At the hotel
In the white sheets
Bloodshot eyes
Fey retreats

Wine stained lips
Shake your hips
That’s enough
This is it

At Michelangelo’s
You’re barely clothed

I caught you foolin’ around
You put out, you got down
Well, you know
You got down on the floor
And I caught you foolin’ around
In your heart was the sound
Of a thousand voices singin’

I’m a man with a plan, yes I am
What are you?

At the hotel
Through the saffron
It’s the white bump
It’s the pom-pom

Wine stained lips
Shake your hips
Groovy eyes
Private smile

At Michelangelo’s
You’ve got no clothes

Well I caught you foolin’ around
I caught you foolin’ around
Well, you know
You got down on the floor
And I caught you foolin’ around
In your heart was the sound
Of a thousand voices singin’

I’m a man with a plan, yes I am
What are you?

Don’t you know you are your mother’s pride?
Don’t you know she would be horrified?
You’re so far away from where you had God on your side

THE L.A. SONG

Got your picture on the dashboard
Got my California plans
All those mansions out in Beverly Hills
Eat away at the soul of a man

I know it’s over

Saw your picture in a magazine
At an Idaho truck stop
Looked at the dirty floor beneath my feet
And how you said you’d get your star on the Hollywood walk

I know it’s over
My old traveling companion
But I’m gettin’ down to where it’s really real
Not black and white

Gonna meet you down in L.A.
Gonna meet you down in L.A.
You’ll be among the lost and lonely women
Wanderin’ down around South Bay

Saw a painting in the courtyard
Of a distinguished man, of course
I thought of how the Hollywood dream
Is just a Technicolor bubble about to burst

I know it’s over
You’ve got new traveling companions
But I’m coming down to where it’s really real
And not black and white

Gonna meet you down in L.A.
Gonna meet you down in L.A.
We’re gonna find the Holy Grail
Down there ’round Santa Monica way

We all need a place to wrap our dreams around

Gonna meet you down in L.A.
Gonna meet you down in L.A.
We’re gonna find the Holy Grail
Down there ’round Santa Monica way

And the sea is gonna form to every word that I write
And the palm trees will all perfectly sway
I’m gonna find my benediction,
Do away with all restrictions
In the fertile soil of L.A.

LAID TO WASTE

He was born an outlaw
Whipped up like a hurricane
With the fires of fury
Blowing all through his brain
And the power to love
Even though he’s loving in sin

He’s got a hold on something
With all his might
The winds that are blowin’
Down through the night

He’s spent a spell in the early years as a junkie
But he can’t seem to shake the monkey
He’s so often drunk

He feels too much
By now it should have caused him to break
He turns away, away, away from the call of virtue
And jumps on every tempting offer vice makes
You can tell that he has a heart
Even though his soul’s been laid to waste

He’s got skin of leather
And bones of steel
He’s got a will of substance
And a sense of what’s “real”
And his love of the finer things
Keeps him movin’

He drinks his life in
He swallows it whole
He’s all for pleasure
Without limits or control

He attracts the most splendid kinds of women
All beautiful and funky
But his mind has gone to junk, you see
His friends have sunk

Perhaps he’s been cursed
Or maybe he’s blessed
Either way his frenzied life’s a mess
He should be out in the desert
But he’s playin’ cowboy in the city

He’s followed by billows of smoke
It’s as if he’s doomed
He’s very well-read
When he’s locked in his room

He doesn’t seem quite human
But he still aches
Not immune to love
Though he rages and claws and rakes

He’s too old, now
To have died young
But he’s always lived fast and in a haze
Will his decadence ever catch up to him?
Yes – his soul’s been laid to waste

FALLING IN LOVE WITH A DREAM

She looks out the window, real far away
She keeps wishing there’ll be better days
She fades to dreams while the love songs play
I know, it’s not an easy place to stay

I know that
I’ve been falling in love with a dream
And it ain’t always what it seems
So, you go away

She meets him walkin’ as the roads, they wind
She looks at him and she sees dollar signs
She hopes maybe that his eyes are kind or at least blind
I know, he seems like a really great find
But her dress is torn and her shoes are stained

I know that
I’ve been falling in love with a dream
And it ain’t always what it seems
So, you go away

It’s not easy to be alone
It’s not easy to be on your own
When you’re falling in love with a dream

I’ve been falling in love with a dream
And it ain’t always what it seems
So, you go away

Girl when you’re down and out below
And when you’re sittin’ on the rain-drenched road
And when you’re stumblin’ and your mind is blown
Try to stay strong
I know it’s not an easy way to go

Put away your illusions, don’t take the easy road

THE PROPHET BUM

One evening I sat alone by the fireplace and flipped the switch
I was reading a Russian novel about Fyodor Pavlovitch
I was smoking my pipe, reading my book, looking for secrets to unlock
When I heard a knock, opened the door, and in an old man walked

He said, “Son, I know that your reward in heaven will be great
But don’t forget that your privileged life is twisting in the swirling winds of fate”

I’m your prophet, son
Not hurting anyone
It’s hard to feel alive when you’re a bum

He said, “You seek wisdom in the sermons of the 19th century
You’ve probably had much schooling and several advanced degrees
But you haven’t wandered the earth to see all there is to see”
I said, “I can’t claim to know which foreign cuisine is best
I know nothin’ about Tampico or the spice of the Southwest
But I’ve eatin’ lavishly in manors and in the gutter on my knees”

“Don’t patronize me father ’cause my reward in heaven will be great”
He said, “Ideals can’t be known ’til they’re shattered by the fickle winds of fate”

I’m your prophet, son
Not hurting anyone
It’s hard to feel alive when you’re a bum

He said, “Have you ever seen the glimmer of the Northern Lights
In the icy climes of Denmark on the deepest Nordic night?
If ‘Et reyse er liver,’ you ain’t livin’ right tonight”
“Have you ever seen the sun dripping through the shade?
While you’re strummin’ to the rhythm that your guitar made
To turn you away from your books that you depend on for insight
And turns you away to take an honest look at your life?”

He said, “Son, I know that your reward in heaven will be great
But I’m warnin’ you about the fiery flames of a hellish kind of fate”

Well, I’m your prophet, son
Not hurting anyone
It’s hard to feel alive
It’s hard to feel alive
It’s hard to feel alive when you’re a bum

YOU’VE GOT SOUL

The east wind rustles the trees
Ruffles her dress and brushes her knees
It’s been seven hours since she first arrived
This morning the mystic, she float
And the cryptic, she flies

Oh, then I turn around and

You’ve got soul
Yeah, you’ve got soul, babe
You’ve got soul
And there’s no other person on earth I’d ever care to know

So you think it’s gettin’ too late
For misfit nights under a painted sky?
Well, I’ve got a feeling and I know it will not subside
The sadness when one thing is born
When a part of you dies

Oh, but then I turn around and
You’ve got soul
You’ve got soul
You’ve got soul
And there’s no other place on earth I’d ever want to go

I fall in love every once in a while
Sending a rhapsody into your brain
And your heart
Till you fall apart

You’ve got it
Yeah, you’ve got it
You’ve got soul
You’ve got soul
You’ve got soul
And there’s no other place on earth I’d ever want to go

REGRETS

I’ll play mad piano in a pinstriped suit
I’ll pound till my fingers go white
I’ll bang till the keys break and I’m on my knees
Saying it’s too late to fight

I am no Jehovah, I am no prophet
But I know one truth that belies my age
The words should rip and the words should drip
And the words should jump from the page

The words should leap into the world
Before the ink starts to fade
It will fade, sure enough
But you should leap into the world

Regrets, regrets
They get you nowhere fast
Regrets, regrets
You can’t make any of it last
Well, you fret ’bout the words that you said in your pledge
Well, you try to steer the wheel
As you drive off the ledge
Oh, regrets
You can’t repeat the past

Your fire fades but you learn to fight
The night descends but you scavenge for your flash light
You bang into walls – Rip the page! Rip the night!
Rip gravity with the stab of your knife!

You should leap into the world
You know even heroes die in the fight
The cold soil that swallows you up
When your clock runs out and breathing gets tough

ALBUM NAME: Drunk on the Moon, Drunk on the Past
RELEASE DATE: June 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. The Wind Would Give You No Reply
2. Roots
3. Stilted World
4. Talk is Cheap
5. I Was Right
6. The Importance of Rules
7. The Rage You Can’t Suppress
8. Paranoia After Liquor
9. A Shot of Romance with a Chaser of Cash
10. Dos and Don’ts

THE WIND WOULD GIVE YOU NO REPLY

I was feeling so old
When the soiree came
I thought I was getting hard
But the release softened me up again

I try to cut the day into portions
Try to measure out the day
Now it’s time to cast things back
To look the other way

I forgot about the romantic twirl
Of a dress on the ballroom floor
Of the girl in the tilt-a-whirl
And that need to have more

I could look for an answer
But these days, I don’t bother asking why
And the wind would give me no reply
The wind would give me no reply

I forgot about the happiness
That comes with contentment
When you let go and let out
What you have repressed

But still, my friends’ lover left him
For another guy
And though he tries to act happy
I hate to see the look in his eye

He could beat himself up for an answer
But these days, he don’t bother asking why
And the wind would give him no reply
The wind would give him no reply

ROOTS

You say, “The sea is beautiful, the sea is old
Its wisdom bright, its tranquility bold
The sea has many in its hold
Its romantic curl, its incessant fold”

I say that the sea cares nothing for you, actually
I can only curse it for cursing me
But when I throw my regrets into the wind
Sure, a few will blow back at me like sand

You threw down some roots
And I watched as they grew
I think that putting down roots has been good for you

But eventually they’ll sink in the sea
And lift this foreboding weight off of me
For altering the force of gravity
And the old friend who, every so often, stops by to visit me

Oh, Jesus I’m so sorry, too
That I couldn’t follow the sermons you threw
But I feel like there is reason for the crowds you drew
And all of the sad emotions you once knew

You threw down some roots
And I watched as they grew
I think that putting down roots has been good to you

STILTED WORLD

She heard the stilted cold winds whistle
And the mannered voices of the guests
The hearth was decorated with holly and thistle
When she pulled her lover to her breast

I cannot make this world up right
I cannot paint a pretty face on the night
It is what it is
We are what we are, just like the fire
And we make a lovely light

Her hand rested upon his back
She felt the joy of love unwrap
She was at the point when the climax snaps
This was the point when love was under wraps

I cannot make this world up right
I cannot paint a pretty face on the night
It is what it is
We are what we are, just like the fire
And we make a lovely light

TALK IS CHEAP

I walked with you
Under the stars
And carried your pain along
We held until
The morning broke
And you felt you could get along

And now what sad child
In this sad country
Would cast her rock away?
Send him into the sea
And forget what he provided
As he sinks into the gray

The run is long
It doesn’t have to be cheap
But when friends turn you out it
Cuts too deep
Remember the way
You knew you
Weren’t alone
The hill is steep
And talk is cheap

I waited by the
Railroad tracks
As you said you wanted to proceed
To bid goodbye
This tainted town
And fulfill your greatest need

But what direction did you
Think I meant when I
Pointed to the sky?
Did you think I had
Some grand plan
That your age could belie?

The track is long
The trail is deep
Why can’t you see that
I couldn’t weep?
For long enough
When you
Earned your keep
The heart is deep
And talk is cheap

I carved your name
Into the tree
And threw a stone out to sea
The fireworks burst
Up above
And you made a promise to me

And if I die
Before I get the chance to
Slip down to Brandon’s Cove
Don’t you know that there is never enough
Time to keep you up in this grove?

The town is old
Age is tough
Don’t you know that with hours you just can’t
Have enough?
Don’t watch the clock
Don’t call its bluff
Because if it loses
It won’t pay up

I read a book
And it came so alive
Ripped a page from my soul
It pushed me into the world
That God built in stride
I felt it gave me a goal

But what sense can one make
Of experience
What fact can you disprove?
Find the wise man
With the green and gray eyes
And ask him what we have to lose

I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG

I was raised like a Phoenix
From a heap of ash
When I arrived I knew I was
Late for the bash
But I held my head up and I knew I was right all along

I hustled and I worked
And the cold winds did blow
Sunsets were so romantic
Till I stripped them of their glow
And I held my fist up and I knew I was right all along

I go to the parties
I go to the shows
And I can’t separate what my head wonders
>From what it actually knows
But I know I should be allowed to grow and I knew I was right all along

THE IMPORTANCE OF RULES

Don’t send your flag into the night
Don’t recall your days of glory
The chivalric code that strengthens the bond
Helps to define the story

What is your purpose at the ball?
Is it self-expression?
Do you want to come away
Having taught and learned a lesson?

Remember the importance of following rules
There are always rules to follow, always rules to follow

But there are so many rules
Chivalry keeps the women cared for and protected
Etiquette, they say
Is based on making sure the powerful are respected

It is so stifling to play by the rules
But rules are hard to avoid
So, I’ll pull up to the barstool at the company party
And try to fill that void

Remember the importance of following rules
There are always rules to follow, always rules to follow

THE RAGE YOU CAN’T SUPPRESS

Man, I felt so cocked on Madison
I saw the wings of falling jettisons
The cocktail minstrel, he dribbles
As the bluegrass band play fiddles

We traveled to the Indian coast
The locusts surrounded us like ghosts
We are so powerless in the hail
We dodge the weather, we start to flail
We start to realize that it is best
To accept the rage you can’t suppress

The holy pomp of kitschy art
The families who are torn apart
The magic in the love divine
The simple magic of the shrine

PARANOIA AFTER LIQUOR

Thompson spoke of the paranoia after getting wasted
I always get the feeling that he got more wasted than I ever do
A weekend of lost thoughts, cloudy pictures, ridiculous conversations
But I know that the feeling is true

I called a friend at 12:30am
He suspected I was drunk
Otherwise, why would I call at that hour?
He could tell that something stunk

It is me
And I know it’s not polite
To get hammered and stumble blindly into the night
But it’s OK as long as you can tell yourself that you feel all right
Paranoia after liquor
Lost words, the memory flickers

Into the stupor I quickly sunk
I offended some with talk of finance and social class
It always feels a bit crass
To talk of business at a social gathering

A SHOT OF ROMANCE WITH A CHASER OF CASH

I was in need of a fix
I was in lack of a bash
But along came the ballroom, the girls for the mash

The shimmer of the formal gown
The booze that wipes away the frown
And I’m feeling like a spring chicken again

We are the makers, we are the dreamers
We make the party and we’re never late for the bash
The sea of the party is wide and inspiring
And it gave me the romance that I needed, at last
It gave me a shot of romance with a chaser of cash

No one can call me tired
No one can say I’ve lost my charge
‘Cause fortune has thrown me a bone

And all of the elegance in the shimmer of a glass
In the shimmer of the dull sound
Of the cocktail conversation, the soft drone

The soft kiss, the soft sky
The impenetrable loss in the baby’s eye

DOS AND DON’TS

Don’t bring your baby to the ball
Don’t force your glory days to be recalled
Don’t gossip about the girl next door
Don’t gossip about the company whore

Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts

Don’t put your ideology on display
Who cares if you’re republican, vegan, or gay
This is not the place to eulogize
It’s a capricious move, you must stay wise

Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts

Don’t criticize your spouse, my friend
Don’t push it to some uncertain end
Don’t disparage the décor
A negative attitude will ruin you, for sure

Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts
Dos and don’ts

ALBUM NAME: Note By Note
RELEASE DATE: May 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. Note By Note
2. Life As A Movie
3. Take Me Out Of The Race
4. Missing The Plan
5. What Else Would You Have Done?
6. No One Has To Know
7. Who Would You Want To Be?
8. Memory Betrays You
9. Do It Or Don’t
10. The Price Of Loyalty

NOTE BY NOTE

Note by note, line by line
Put this play on the market
Let’s make some sense of our lost time
Let’s put it on the market

All of the characters act so strange
When you think it through
Why did they act the way they did?
Maybe Hollywood wants to know, too

If this is a play
I’m not sure if I’ll stick around to see the second act
This must be a play and the play doesn’t make sense
After all, the play doesn’t make sense
But note by note, line by line
The story is immense

The movies that we watched as kids
Were they all that great?
When, as an adult, you watch it today
What meaning do you create?

Lying in the hospital bed
The courtyard flowers are in bloom
They are so bright and so alive
While you’re stuck here in this room

This is the only play that could ever dream up
This is the last thing that ever became of all our motivations

LIFE AS A MOVIE

I know that I need a place to stay
Some place to dig my roots
Into the soil, not into clay
For foundation I’ll wear stronger boots

Where did all the characters go?
That, in your story, you did know?
What are their sins, what opportunities did they blow?
That made them all burn out so slow

And if I staggered from this movie
Into the real world
I fear that it would be too cold
The doors all closed
The seats all taken
Relationships, always close to breakin’
Wives who want to leave their home
Lovers who’d rather be alone
Friends who don’t know loyalty
Families who shame their pedigree
Billows of smoke on top of buildings
Normal affairs, always close to tragedy
Tea cups, Sunday dinners, and empty streets
Empty, empty, empty

Whatever floats your boat, I guess
Whatever way you decide to feel
That what you’ve done with all your days
Is not just a movie, but something real

Thanks for the speech about art and culture
Thanks for setting me straight
I knew that this was a thankless job
I knew that the void was great

TAKE ME OUT OF THE RACE

So let’s slow down the pace
Let’s plop ourselves down on the bench
Let’s watch from the sidelines
Let’s make fun of the wench
We’ll drink Gatorade
And our thirst will be quenched
By the fact that we never had to lose

Losing is tough
Losing feels cold
The coach slammed the door in your face
And your faith, he stole
Oh, please get me out of the race

We all want to be great
We all want to stand out from the crowd
We all want to yell for our cause out loud
We all want to make sure the folks are proud
But victory rarely leaves you in a safe place
So, I think we might win
When we take ourselves out of the race

After all, you should be thankful
That you have a computer
The phone lines work
And you’re a seasoned commuter
You know the best rates
You’re respected within the gates
Or your safe community

Losing is tough
Losing feels cold
The door slams in your face
As your faith has been sold
Oh, please get me out of the race

MISSING THE PLAN

He looks into house
It’s messier than he’d like
The bathroom’s in neglect
And he can hardly lift the pen to sign the checks
To pay the bills

And his girlfriend wants to go
Where married people go
The Kaman Islands, in the sun
If life was different, it would be fun

This wasn’t what you planned for
This wasn’t what you planned for
This isn’t what you imagined, not at all
This is what happened when you were making plans
Life happens when you’re making plans

He sits in the dining room
And crunches numbers in his bathrobe
The sinking feeling tells him run
But he knows his duty here’s not done

Is he but 22?
Or is he 45?
He can’t remember in the dark
He’s numb to inside the house
Outside the car is parked
What a crappy car

WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Children grow up
And life gets tough
You part your hair a different way
What once was blond now becomes gray and I say

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone
Or almost everyone

Your house is still the same
Certain areas of your life will always be
You smash the clock because you’re neglected by the time you never
Had to become who you wanted to be

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone
Or almost everyone

It’s the same conflict everyone faces
There’s no clear answer
I’ll meet you at the finish line
We’ll compare photos, scores, and accounts
And say

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone
Or almost everyone

NO ONE HAS TO KNOW

Look at the bios
Look at the songs
That was all there was
Stories of grandiose men,
Some overlong,
Of those who created a buzz

You hear the stories
Everywhere you go
The murmur of tales of great men
Who never felt fear,
As the future neared
They brought the past with them

Compare that to yourself?
And your empty shelf
You spend your life hiding the photos
Evading the questions
Sweeping dirt under the rug

It’s not my problem
But you can’t repeat the past
I’m sorry God made you that way
That you would think today should be
The ceremony of all that led you to this moment

Maybe you can move
To a new city
Start over and make some new friends
Get a new job
Go to the local bar
And tie up the loose ends

And create a new
Picture of yourself
Where no one knows, and you’d never been dealt
An unfair title –
Or a wedgy – or a swirley –
And the girls never treated you poorly

And no one has to know
And no one has to know

It’s not my problem
But you can’t repeat the past
I’m sorry God made you that way
That you would think today should be
The ceremony of all that led you to this moment

And no one has to know
And no one has to know

WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

I saw a home video and it wasn’t what I thought of as me
I saw my reflection and it wasn’t what I wanted to see

Well if you’re tired of yourself
Cast your eyes on someone else
Is that what you’d want to be?

I gave my confession and it dispelled all the desired mystery
I submitted my resume and it wasn’t the required history

Well if you’re tired of yourself
Cast your eyes on someone else
Who would you want to be?

I had a dream
That I got what I wanted
That I became everything
I’d ever hoped to become
And lost what I had

I tore up a picture and scattered the scraps into the great sea
The idea of perfection is misconception and has an impossible homogeny

If you’re tired of yourself
Put that shit back on the shelf
Might as well accept the inevitability
And you can only hope to see
That being yourself is all you’ll ever know

MEMORY BETRAYS YOU

My memory has left me with conclusion I could never have foreseen
Is the point of a conclusion that it summarizes what you really mean?
Or a call to arms to the parts of a person, saying, “All of you, it’s time
to come clean!”
Well, whichever way you look at it, memory coats the truth with a nice sheen

Oh, the icy milk memory of the days of life gone by
Does anyone care about the jokes you cracked when you were high?
Or the time you got thrown in jail for getting in a fight in college?
If you didn’t remember your reasons,
And you never brought it up,
No one would ever talk about it
Or ask you why

My memory is fading and I’m getting careless, babe
Maybe it’s the way that time decreases what you can get away with
Oh, well, I’m not sure if I was made for this kind of game
I’ll do what I can and I’ll try to not feel any shame

DO IT OR DON’T

Either you do it or you don’t
Either you do it or you don’t
If you want him to love you, well he won’t
Either you do it or you don’t

You spend your time wondering
If your baby’s lyin’
Remembering all the tears you had
And all the friends that were dyin’

I think your gonna get there someday
But you’re feelin’ lazy
You’ve got to call him and say
It’s driving you crazy

Either you do it or you don’t
Either you do it or you don’t
If you want him to love you, well he won’t
Either you do it or you don’t

THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

I had a friend with a thorny crown
Never can you bring a man like him down
His heart died when he came of age
Works the cubicle like a rat in a cage

Friendship is free
So what is its value?
Who are the appraisers?
And when do they corral you?
I think I’d like to auction off all of those people
Who flock like sheep or auctioneers at the steeple
Loyalty to me has an immeasurable price
It has a value and it’s not a vice
If I preach to the one who lacks virtue and patience
Knows nothing of getting past the novelty of new acquaintance
Then they’ll never hear

But I know I’ll be loyal still
Swallow it like the kind of pill
That makes you sick, then makes you well
The kind of thing the short term won’t tell

Friendship is free
So what is its value?
Who are the appraisers?
And when do they corral you?
I think I’d like to auction off all of those people
Who flock like sheep or auctioneers at the steeple
Loyalty to me has an immeasurable price
It has a value, it’s not a vice
If I preach to the one who lacks virtue and patience
Knows nothing of getting past the novelty of new acquaintance
Then they’ll never hear

ALBUM NAME: The Form Behind The Beauty
RELEASE DATE: April 7th, 2004

SONGS:

1. Daughters
2. Take Me As I Am
3. Rich Man
4. Capsized ‘Neath October Skies
5. When You Have It All
6. Drag Your Hammer
7. Emptiness In Motion
8. The Table
9. Hellhounds

DON’T LET YOUR DAUGHTERS GROW UP TOO FAST

You have been living in a sleep
Foreign to the films your head must keep
But if you should die before you wake
I pray that you missed nothing you’d want to take with you

Mothers, don’t let your daughters grow up too fast
Take only what you think will last
Let your children take it too far
But don’t let them wound so great that it creates a scar

Hey baby, you’ve got a lot of nerve, you know?
Your reach always exceeds your grasp
Don’t let your daughters grow up too fast

What a precocious little child
When she gets older, won’t she be wild?
What naked truths will she uncover
Will she find the sacrosanct, ideal lover?

Hey baby, you’ve got a lot of nerve, you know?
Your reach always exceeds your grasp
Don’t let your daughters grow up too fast

If she wants hope don’t have her speak with me
I’ll ask too many questions
And prove too many truths
That shatter too many dreams

Hey baby, you’ve got a lot of nerve, you know?
Your reach always exceeds your grasp
Don’t let your daughters grow up too fast

TAKE ME AS I AM

You get so wrapped up in the books you read
That tell you how a life should be lived
That you’ll find the great romantic, won’t have to chance it
It’ll be just perfect what you’ll get, not what you give

I know your mama married and she never got divorced
And I’m happy that you think it’s that way
I’m happy about your cousin and his wife and all their kids
Oh, man they make a pretty pair

Oh, it’s all right
But it ain’t me
And love is a crazy thing
Maybe I’m not the man who’s meant to bring
The flowers for you

I guess the question is who do you live your life for?
Who asks the questions and where do the answers come from?
Where are we going, who made the rules?
And what’s your definition of fun?

You imagine yourself in a three-story brick house
Where the guests come over and stay
Say, “Man, you’ve come so far and you’re so lucky”
But what were you running from, anyway?

Away from the rain and from the rough roads
And the trails on the outside of town
Away from this small, small city block
And from the beauty of an evening gown

Oh, it’s all right
But it ain’t me
And love is a crazy thing
Maybe I’m not the man who’s meant to bring
The flowers for you

I’m gonna get out of here and it will all become clear
And make up for all the wrong I’ve done
I’m not quite sure the nature of the battle
But in ten years, baby, I’ll know I’ve won

So here we sit alone in the burnt-out apartment
On the twenty-second floor
You’re tryin’ to put into words the beauty of the world
And all the things you adore outside your door

But why can’t you explain why some people believe in love
And some people never can?
You can’t ever explain the beauty of the world
Or the relation of a woman to a man

Oh, it’s all right
But it ain’t me
And love is a crazy thing
Maybe I’m the man who’s meant to bring
The flowers for you

RICH MAN

When I was a rich man the world was so forgiving to me
When I was a rich man the world was full of endless possibility
But now I am a poor man and I hide in the shadows
On the quiet end of the street

When I was a rich man I stood the proudest on the highest stair
When I was a rich man I thought life was a romantic affair
But now I am a poor man and I finally see the lovely colors
When the sun touches your hair

Oh, rich man and poor man
It’s all a drag to me
I only get my kicks in crazy dreams
The dream it dies
But the dreamer he remains
Oh, rich man, poor man
Don’t ever let me complain

When I was a young man I always loved the ringing of the phones
Honey, let’s shake the shack tonight and I will walk you home
But now I am an old man and I don’t understand sleepin’ alone

When I was a rich man I experienced everything I could ever bear
When I was a rich man I thought nothing could ever rival being there
Now I see the way the world builds you up then cuts down the size of your
share

Oh rich man and poor man
It’s all a drag to me
I only get my kicks in crazy dreams
The dream dies
But the dreamer he remains
Oh, rich man, poor man
Don’t ever let me complain

When I was a rich man the world was so inviting to me
When I was a rich man I moved in colors so extraordinary
Now I am a poor man and I assume the role of a shadow on the street

When I was a rich man I thought little of deceit and white lies
I was honest, I was true, and I was wise, with a hope and a confidence to
analyze
Now I am a poor man and I’m feelin’ like I could use a disguise

Oh rich man and poor man
It’s all a drag to me
I only get my kicks in crazy dreams
The dream it dies
But the dreamer he remains
Oh, rich man, poor man
Don’t ever let me complain

When I was a rich man I said, “Who’re you gonna meet to set you free?”
Got no time to linger, got to meet everybody
Got curiosity and I want to know where I should be
Well, perhaps I’m still a rich man, washed up on the sand
I just don’t understand the currency

CAPSIZED ‘NEATH OCTOBER SKIES

Who ever bet high that didn’t lose it all?
Who ever had hope that didn’t have a tragedy to forestall?
Who are the critics, anyway, that you listen to, baby doll?
You never see their faces, but they whisper in the hall

The boat capsized
‘Neath the October skies
And the burnt-out hours
Start to whither and die
It’s a cruel trick
That there’s nowhere to hide
But it’s wrong to think that
The ship should survive

Who ever moved quickly that didn’t soon retard?
Who ever scorned love that didn’t feel lonely and hard?
Who ever spurned a friend that didn’t send a nice card?
You never see old faces, but they keep you on guard

WHEN YOU HAVE IT ALL

When you have it all
Things can only get worse

She buys me a drink
And takes a coin from her purse

And says, “Money is bad
But poverty’s worse

Have a sense of camp and humor
And you won’t get hurt”

No regrets
No one gets hurt

What is beautiful anyway?
It’s the thing that’s always
Just a bit too far away
Is there a place ’round here
For a piano picker to play
When he ain’t got long to stay?

I think when I have it all
It will feel just the same, anyway

Shake it off, dear
We all make mistakes

It hurts when the silence
Makes your lonely heart break

I’ll make my efforts
And like tiny earthquakes

I’ll fall to pieces
When my lonely heart breaks

What is beautiful anyway?
It’s the thing that’s always
Just a bit too far away
Is there a place ’round here
For a piano picker to play
When he ain’t got long to stay?

I think when I have it all
It will feel just the same, anyway

DRAG YOUR HAMMER

Just before you went to bed
You remembered when, rather than be good
You’d hustle instead
Back when you were shinin’ your chrome and your hood

In your head there’s a revolution
You want to see the blood
You feel so destitute
And you say your face is in the mud

And all the while I knew
That I was destined for review
Lingering on the edges
With a resolution
Looking for a place to present the solution

Drag your hammer
Drag your chains across the floor
Drag them through that open door
If you want your liberty
You’ve got an empty wallet, that’s all right with me
You call me “Mister” and you cry because the daylight deserts the street
But you’ve got to search your mind for all those things you wanted to be
So, drag your hammer and your chains
That’s your only shot at being free

Life is about pushin’ through
It’s easy to slip, it’s a human thing to do
And to think that this world won’t wait for you
But you’ve got to keep pushin’ through

You’ll show them all someday
You’ll make it up somehow
It’s not so much for them
But for what they represent to you, now

And all the while I knew
That I was destined for review
Lingering on the edges
With a resolution
Looking for a place to present the solution

EMPTINESS IN MOTION

There is moonlight in your room
And a lingering, late tune
Let me go, let me go

Kick on through that open door
Let me up and let it roar
Let me go, let me go

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

Where is that grand emotion?

I won’t give you false hopes and promises
But you’ll find what you’re looking for
Be clear, be clear

It’s just my policy to be fair and true
I’m sorry I can’t stay here with you
Be clear, be clear

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

You say it’s just one night
You think I don’t want it, too?
Beneath the pale lamplight?

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

THE TABLE

Darling, seat yourself at the table
Before the table’s set
For there’s the table you belong to
And the table where you place your bet

For you tend to hang on those who grieve
And the hungry tend to forget
Let me see your heart before you make it pretty
Let me see your bare bones
Let me see you all alone
Let me meet the part of you that I’ve never met

There are clubs that you could join
There are appetites that put you in debt
Just make sure you’re at the right table
To meet the friends you don’t know yet

HELLHOUNDS

I got to keep pushin’
Like some character in a novel
Or from a fantasy

Some highway ghost
With the hell-hounds on his trail
Footloose and fancy free

Oh, it’s fleeting
And you will take a beating
When the hellhounds catch up to you
But until you meet those creatures face to face
There are very few things you have to do
And for the most part, life has been easy for you
Just as it was for all those who came before
Oh, what is simple is true

Edith Piaf sings with soul, she’s got the blues
Hellhounds are on my trail
But I can’t complain

Darlin’ look at me, don’t you want me
To be someone who couldn’t fail?
Not even beneath this strain

Oh it’s fleeting
And you will take a beating
When the hellhounds catch up to you
But until you meet those hellhounds face to face
There are very few things you have to do
And for the most part, life has been easy for you
Just as it was for all those who came before
Oh, what is simple is true

Doesn’t it feel nice?
To be so close to where it all began
Doesn’t it feel nice?
To hold something sacred in your hand

Release Date: March 7th, 2004
ALBUM TITLE: Tune In To The Dangers Of Noise

1. The Shiny New Suit
2. My Day Would Come
3. Scenes From the Mezzanine
4. Windows
5. Don’t Let Me Fall Asleep Tonight
6. Ramshackle Rita
7. Past The Sky
8. The Easy Chair
9. Ignorance Is The Mother Of Devotion
10. Breaking Up

THE SHINY NEW SUIT

So he puts on his shiny new suit
His friends and family always told him he looked cute
He’s got a smug expression to boot
Walking along out on the avenue

A lady notices a sparkle in his eye
And his gallant stride beneath the burning sky
She says, “You are magnificent!”
He says, “That’s what I’ve been told”

Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?
Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?

He’s always been a student of wealth and health
You can see it by the books that line his shelf
He says, “When I’m gone,
My biography will speak for itself”

They get to the fancy restaurant
After a romantic little jaunt
And she looks over into the mirror
With the hopes of seeing a lovely pair

Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?
Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?

When she shrieks in horror
And drops like a sack to the floor
And she sees her companion unguarded
In the honest looking glass

He turns to it with eyes full of fright
Seems the devil’s pleas are blowing through the night
And sees himself in rags
Meek and lowly – like a string of sticks

Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?
Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?

And he darts out the door, never to return again
And looms like a scarecrow, crucified in the wind
He says, “I’ve seen myself
And I ain’t worth all the attention”

And he straightens himself up, from his collar to his boot
And realizes that there are many who live in fair repute
And he says, “Boy, they really made a fool out of me
And the illusion of my shiny new suit”

Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?
Take a look at yourself
Do you like what you see?

MY DAY WOULD COME

I was born into a world
Where the air was cold
But I knew one day
I would find the gold
It would be a long road
But my day would come

And I worked and I hustled
And I was on the attack
And I felt I’d suffered
They didn’t have my back
But it was a long road and I knew
My day would come

I was broken down
Down on my knees
On account of my own actions
I took a look around
At who was controlling this destiny
I thought it was someone,
Always someone other than me

Oh, many times
I’ve shaken my head
At all those who passed by my home
And took the trophy instead
It’s been a long road
But my day will come

A wise man
Looked at me and he said
Does your misfortune grow
In your heart or in your head?
It’s a long road
But my day will come

He said you’ve got to reason that
Experience is all you have
Experience, experience
You should look at it as an arch
If you wish to live the reality of your dreams
You must follow it
And you’ve got to realize
Oh, the arch will catch the sun as it gleams
Oh, there is no end, there will be no seams

So don’t cry, young lady
On this wonderful day
There is something right here
That will wash those tears away
At the end of it all
You might stop yourself and say
It was a long road, oh
And it was my day all along
It was my day all along

SCENES FROM THE MEZZANINE

It smells like death in the streets
There’s little, if anything, to eat
The soldier stands steadfast
His temple is pulsing to the dropping rain’s beat

His muscles are clenched with rage
It shows signs that he’s coming of age
He thinks of the adage, so sore with his baggage,
That he heard from the poet and the sage

And Country Joe is whistling and skippin’
And thinkin’ about Betty Lou’s bag
How she’d love and put all above him
If his career hang-ups weren’t such a drag

And Paul, he’s a damn regal chap
Amongst the proletariat he’s gotten a bad rap
But his appetite is whetted as he’s adorned and feted
By the manors across the expansive gap

And the beggars and thieves are a-dancin’
Round a fire, their shadows cast on the stone
They’re too drunk to see how frightening a shadow can be
But a little robber girl she quietly moans

And Robert, the scholarly one
Sits with a pensive stare and a stifled tongue
He’s plottin’ and pleadin’ with the boys out in Sweden
Tellin’ them that no wars are ever really won

And the kitty-cat scampers across the rail
The pitter-patter of the rain swishing past her tail
She drifts past the eyes of blue, of a girl so ingénue
That the girl thinks she sees a fairy dust trail

Because daddy’s out late tonight sweepin’
Pretty late, even for a chimney sweep
But the little ingénue daughter with eyes like the water
Cannot put her imagination to sleep

And a baleful dusk is a-loomin’
Where the down and out pickers are croonin’
With jingling vocals and jangling chords
And the precariously dangling moon

WINDOWS

He looks out his window…

There’s a lazy wind blowin’ through the trees
The whistle of the piccolo sounds in the night
There’s a dancing sky that’s starting to tease
The serenading bards who sing to the empty light

From wall to wall of each city
Writhe the lovers who search for something more
It’s a chore and, oh, it’s such a pity
That this drudgery is par for the course

He looks out his window…

The princess tries to sing from her soul
But it only comes from her mouth
She’s read about the terrors of the dustbowl
And the troubles of the soulful south

He can barely stand sitting
He almost jumps when he sees a lady
On the edge of manhood
He’s gone love-crazy

He opens the window…

He put on some cologne
And some new-smelling clothes
And tries to put on a presentable front
He got the giggles and the glares
And the nicely trimmed hair
Any girl should fall for this stunt
And he dreams of whispers on verandas
And love in the backseat
And nights full of white heat
He yearns for the smell of Sandra
Whose eyes sweep him off his feet

He closes his window…
He looks out his window…

DON’T LET ME FALL ASLEEP TONIGHT

Give me a taste
Of your apricot dreams
Where the nights are long
And the colors come in streams
We can soar forever in the tiniest flight
So don’t let me fall asleep tonight

We can make anything
Reach its greatest height
Where the highway divides
And we break the barrier of black and white
We stay up and get crazy and shoot out the lights
But don’t let me fall asleep tonight

Just pull up a barstool
And we’ll be all right
A feather boa ‘round midnight
And we’ll cook it up and bang it bright
And examine the rage in each different lonely man’s plight
And we’ll hold on till the morning light

Just don’t let me fall asleep tonight
Just don’t let me fall asleep tonight
Just don’t let me fall asleep tonight

RAMSHACKLE RITA

By the side of the freeway
On a lazy mumblin’ morning
It always feels like Sunday
The river runs like a storm and

I’ve been thinking about all the time
We kicked around stale ideas
The lights shot up from the city
And we threw our fishing poles into the river

Hot tramp, sweet angel
Can you be everything to me?
You show potential
But never really crystallize
Ramshackle Rita, your bright light is killin’ me

Torturous turns of phrase
Angel is so amazed
She turns the light off
And lets the phonograph play

Wanderlust is not enough
Get to heaven on an omnibus
Baby when the feelin’ comes
Just remember the thought of us

Hot tramp, sweet angel
Can you be everything to me?
You show potential
But never really crystallize
Ramshackle Rita, your bright light is killin’ me

PAST THE SKY

There’s that summer smell, how complete!
Too bad my mind doesn’t ease the strain on my feet
But I think tonight would smell much better
If I’d worked harder last week
And not let my gut sag
And my hair grow long
Had I earned a little money on Wall Street

I’d like to soar away, past the clouds and the sky

My head is stuck in winter
But the summer sky is shown
If I could open my eyes I might realize what I’ve never known

Hey, this used to be my favorite street
Now it only seems vaguely familiar to me
That was back when I was wild and free
And undaunted by responsibility
Or was it so great back then?
Time often rose-colors the ordinary

If I could just soar away, past the clouds and the sky

What a beautiful evening
With the lazy breeze a-blowin’
If I could open my eyes I might figure out what I’ve never known

Tonight’s where I belong
But I won’t allow myself the moment
If I could open my eyes I might figure out what I’ve never known

THE EASY CHAIR

You took a drink
And looked at me
You never let your thoughts show on your face
I told you that I
Was leaving soon
You could take my hand and leave this place

The years will fly by
And you’ll get comfortable
While the easy chair sucks you in so slow
Then you flip the remote
See it coming back

The single life
Is not for you
But neither is the home life
You don’t want to be
Trapped in normalcy
But what alternative would suit you?

If you set things up
So the lines are smoothed out
And there are no places that you’re wonderin’ about
So that nothin’ ever happens till the lights go out
And it’s Sunday night

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

He left home
And sailed away
Beyond the blanket of the hometown sun
And all the friends
He left behind
Pulled rank and the tiny battles were won

But he admired the way
She wasn’t afraid
To be straightforward and honest, son
But she had no clue
How in his mind she became
A mere intimation of someone

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

If you set things up
So the lines are smoothed out
And there are no places that you’re wonderin’ about
So that nothin’ ever happens till the lights go out
And it’s Sunday night

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

IGNORANCE IS THE MOTHER OF DEVOTION

He came rushin’ up
He said, “I’m educated now
I’m gonna cast my vote and draw me up a man
I’ve lost my apolitical slant
And this new guy seems to make sense
He’s gonna clean this country up
He’s takin’ a stand”

I said, “I know last week you couldn’t care less
About the government’s motion
But who is the mother of your devotion?”

She came in effortlessly
And said, “I know the sublime
I hear gods in the wind call out to me”
She said, “I carry a lot of baggage
And I need something to ease my mind
I need something to give me soul some peace”

I said, “So do I, but last week
You cared nothin’ about God or his establishment
You haven’t read a book in two years
So, tell me, who is the mother of your devotion?”

To myself, I said,
“These two are petty creatures
Their ignorance has led them to preach”
To my lovely I
Was hopelessly engaged
But to my dismay she was too far out of reach

So I sit with my eyes sullen thinkin’ about
All those fanatics out causin’ a commotion
And I remember what my old man said
It was an old maxim he’d heard out on the ocean
He said, “Your ignorance is the mother of your devotion”

BREAKING UP

Have we been moving forward?
Or are we still in the same place?
Of all the things we wanted
Tonight, they’re gone without a trace

This isn’t what you wanted
To see me falling on my face
Love was a temple we tried to build
Not a shelter to disgrace

Well it’s not fair
To not care
The way the room feels when there’s no one there
It’s not me
It’s not you
It’s all of the things that we wanted to do

Tell me there’s a reason
That you’re not knocking on my door
In this burnt out old apartment
On the 22nd floor

There’s more to what you’re after
Than what you said this afternoon
And it kills me to realize
That this is ending all too soon

Well, it’s just your
Confidence
That left us lying to each other and skating the fence
And it’s not right
Tonight
To give up on me because things aren’t black and white

You say you enjoy this right now
But you see further up the road
You can’t stand being vulnerable
And you’re ready to explode

Well give me some evidence
That this is not just some coincidence
That this is a scar, babe
That left its mark on your confidence

Love is the problem
You said it once before
Love is the problem
It brings you to the floor
Love don’t belong to anyone
He slipped out the back door

Let’s blame Love
Before we blame ourselves anymore

ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 2/7/04
ALBUM TITLE: Ruminations

1. To The Tycoons
2. Caught Between Love and Hate
3. It Don’t Take Much
4. Fire Escape Heartbreak
5. Sail On (Love Song To America)
6. Hey Grandma
7. Frustration
8. You Can See Forever
9. The Glamour Life
10. One True Sentence

TO THE TYCOONS

Hey, do you envy Hollywood?
A simple life ain’t no good?
Get what you want, lose what you have

Hey, the news is titillation
Ruminations of charlatans
Jagged as the supple sun
And the soft sea

Well, it’s the urban life
In the midsummer bloom
The medicine black of the suit tycoons
The polished shoes
Of the rogue festoons
The Black Dog Regatta
Sang some coffin tunes
And the last of the tycoon types
Made off with the loot

Hey, you’ve got antique creek connections
Square, stuffed-sturgeon squawking inflections
And the idle sadness of the patient poor

Aristotle has two stiff rum and cokes
And whiskey soda with some monorail blokes
At the castle till five a.m.
Toasting to the loss of passion

For the dying young
Sex and love aren’t quite so fun
The few who do
Say, “Bienvenue”
Light the lantern for those who apologize
In the city center
And bid sad, sad goodbyes

CAUGHT BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE

Make a sacrifice for Lenny
Though we can’t use him anymore
Pile up the photographs a-plenty
The jazz band looms outside your door

And all the black boys sing
And I remember you
How you needed me, too

Caught between love and hate
I guess love is the stranger thing
Breathes fire into imaginings
Then you watch them fall
So in love and all

Did you invest much in your promise?
When you went to get your gun?
It’s easy to make a commitment
When you’ve only just begun

And all the black boys sing
And I remember you
How you needed me, too

Caught between love and hate
I guess love is the stranger thing
Breathes fire into imaginings
Then you watch them fall

Walk the line with you want
The repels you like its aim is to taunt
You know exactly what hate is
But love is a stranger
Full of so much danger

Love hears your best-dressed confessions
You guess what the silhouetted stranger brings
Then you watch it fall
So in love and all
Caught between love and hate

IT DON’T TAKE MUCH

It don’t take much to let your soul rise above it
It don’t take much just to push the pain away
It don’t take much to let your soul rise above it
It don’t take much just to accept what you’ve done

The mark of a good friend
Is certainly when
You don’t see them in a while
And you pick up where you left off
So you can wear the mask
And say everything’s OK
As long as you treat me the same way
It don’t take much

It don’t take much to let your soul rise above it
It don’t take much when you’ve got some support
It don’t take much because there’s no one who is above it
Everybody has a time when they’ve got to be sure

FIRE ESCAPE HEARTBREAK

I’m just creepin’ down the fire escape
I don’t need you now and it’s getting late
I’m thinking, while I’m sneakin’ down the fire escape
Of how peaceful you look when you’re not awake

I’m just sneakin’ down this solitary way
Now your daddy’s gone, seem he’s gone astray
You dream of his red taillights as they sped away
You drown in those dreams, you sink into the gray

But it’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
And the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
And I want you to sleep well
So I said I’d be there tonight

What exactly was it that was stolen away?
You’re older now, you’re so much older now
And you think that youth is wasted on the young
But you’re wild about beginnings and you think something has begun

It’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
I can’t describe what I’ve never seen
When people ask, I’ll say, “I think I knew it once”
But I had you, baby, in an eternal embrace
And when the light came and blinded me from over your shoulder

It threw me off
It threw me off
You know, nothin’ lasts forever
I may escape
But nothin’ lasts forever
This has to end
Just like everything else does

I’m just sneakin’, sneakin’, sneakin’ away
Like your father, girl, but my hair’s not gray
The neon is buzzin’ and I feel afraid
No more safe, boxed up apartments
Now it’s just wide open space

It’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
And the need beats you down
When the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
But you don’t have to accept being naked
Don’t blame me
Blame your heartbreak
On the fire escape

I didn’t build it
It just made things easy
Look at all these buildings
Put up 50 years ago
I didn’t lay the mortar
I didn’t set the stone
But I use this place, baby
I call it my home but

I know I took the fire escape
Though I didn’t create it
It was outside the window
And when things get hot
I know it’s a heartbreaker
When the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
But don’t blame me for your heartbreak
Blame it on the fire escape

SAIL ON (LOVE SONG TO AMERICA)

America
I fell in love with the red, white, and blue
When I was young
You seemed young, too

America, the merciful
My grandpa’s land
My rich and my poor family
They played in your orchestra

Said yeah

You’ve got to sail on (I love you)
You’ve got to sail on (I love you)

America
What did you think when we dug our claws in you?
You were a green, fertile breast of land
Free from sin, too

America, you’re growin’ old
And like old men
You’ve lost your hold
On the belief that tomorrow would be better than today

Said yeah

You’ve got to sail on (I love you)
You’ve got to sail on (I love you)

Preacher offers deliverance
But we all shy away
Preacher you said you could deliver me
Out to the high seas
But I have the feelin’
There’s nothin’ out there for me

Sail on, red-blue-white
Your Queen Mother was always right
Your dissatisfaction led you to the high seas
But the seas, the New York trees
Offer no safety from the plight

My Yankee wife she lays her head
Upon my shoulder
While they pile up the dead
Survival of the fittest
That’s what we heard
But he said so many times, “Compassion”
And “Love”, “Love” was his word

So you will lead and I will have to follow

You’ve got to sail on (I love you)
You’ve got to sail on (I love you)

HEY GRANDMA

There are some things that only grandma knows
Washing dishes in the kitchen sink
Torn and frayed paintings in the orange living room
She cooks us breakfast then she gives us a wink

And we walk outside where the freight train goes by
Christmas mornin’ and the neighborhood’s so alive
Playin’ boogie woogie and gospel piano
We have so much to holler about

Hey Grandma
It’s just another day
Feelin’ this way
Hey Grandma
It’s just another day
Just another day

Now she’s relaxin’ by the fire place
The world is waking and for church we’re gonna be late
If the late coffee by the back street apartment gate
Gets some pity from the city, well grandma tells them to wait

See the ice-cube-lemonade coolin’ close by
Hear the rush of taxicabs just outside
And I know it’s gonna be OK
OK, OK, OK

Hey Grandma
It’s just another day
Time gets in the way
Hey Grandma
It’s just another day
Just another day

The lights are flashin’ out on Bleeker Street
And I’ve got to meet the family and try to be discreet
Got to prepare my face and my grandma’s eyes
When she looks at me she sees herself and I cannot disguise

I bet Grandma was a wild one
Back in her day
But now she provides a sanctuary
Where I can go

Oh, sayin’

Hey Grandma
It’s just another day
Just another day

FRUSTRATION

I’ve got a million plans
And only two hands
To give them life

You lost your sons in battle
Like slaughtered cattle
You watched them fall

You were such a patriot
Now you’re in a rut
And it seems to suit you

You think loss is abnormal
The white-tie formal
It maybe better

So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away

Look all around you, Rita
Don’t let them beat you
You’re better than that

You believe in a life
Where pain and strife
Aren’t part of livin’

So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away

You acted like you were sent off to an island
Lived like a pilot who crashed his ship
Look for happiness
Encountered sadness
Dressed your message up
And under-filled your cup

So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away

YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

Brandy, in the beginning you were so much fun
Brandy, we’d get drunk and dance until the race was run
And up came the sun

Meeting out with friends and friends of friends
No patience, just new acquaintance, handshake extends
Till the party ends

Wake up, feelin’ the Grand Canyon in your bed
Green trees, cookies and hayseed harp instead
Playin’ like we’d been wed

There’s always a party
After the show
There’s always a living room
Where we can go
And at 5am
When we pass out again
Just know you are the one

Baby, you know you wave such a wand
Baby, you caught love like a cold
Now you’re sick and all

Now you have trouble getting out of bed
You’re worried about yesterday
And all the things you shouldn’t have said

Put that on the dirty laundry pile of things you shouldn’t have said
When you was twelve years old
When you were alone in your head

There’s always a party
After the show
There’s always a living room
Where we can go
And at 5am
When we pass out again
Just know you are the one

Cracked plates, hubcap soft shakes, child is grown
Red room, deep bass, tight gloom, holy moan
When you sit alone

So many late nights, so many gas lights, and all-night cafes
So many horse-riding druggies to take the cake
And say “Ondelay”

Ariba

There’s always a party
After the show
There’s always a living room
Where we can go
And at 5am
When we pass out again
Just know you are the one

THE GLAMOUR LIFE

Everywhere we go
I want to rock
I never really know
But I never want to stop
Roll the tour bus
Down that road
Ready to ignite
Ready to explode

Some educated blokes
In a cosmic rut
Find the right stage
To strut their stuff
It’s the age old play
The roles are the same
Change the hairstyle
Play the fame game

Oh yeah
This is what you want
Save up all your best
So you can flaunt

The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life

Café Amore
Fifth Avenue Court
Scenes start to blur
Faces distort
Walk through the palace
Like you’re on stilts
Overindulge
Fantasies wilt

All the educated blokes
Check their brains fast
Stash them in the closet
With their coat and hat
Better by the month
Wiser by the years
Open up the bottle
Wash away the tears

Oh yeah
This is what you want
Save up all your best
So you can flaunt

The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life
The Glamour Life

ONE TRUE SENTENCE

You’ve got something to say
Write it down, store it away
In a box, saved for the day
When you need it most
And you don’t have
The fire to grab
Those grand ideas

If I had a piece of what you have
A clear idea
Not just belief, but something so much more

You turned my words around again
When I believed foes were friends
You plopped yourself
Behind the typewriter
And found evidence
Of the existence
Of one true sentence
And once we find it
We can repeat it over and over and over
And feel like we’ve got something worthwhile to say

I admire you, my friend
Because you don’t depend
Upon anyone but yourself
I get caught up
While you have a wealth
Of places in your mind where you can go

If I had a piece of what you have
A clear idea
Not just belief, but something so much more

ALBUM TITLE: Controlled Chaos
RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2004
1. A Life Is A Short Time
2. Too Late
3. Slippin’ Away
4. Sweet Hattie James
5. There Will Be Time
6. Pass The Cloak
7. It All Comes Back To Her
8. Jack and Jane

A LIFE IS A SHORT TIME
The world brought me to this faded street
Where the colors go brown
But all my life is a short time, somehow
Got a degree, it came easy
The sun burnished my black gown
But all my life is a short time, somehow
Got a life, a kid, and a wife
My fortune seemed to be comin’ around
But still my life felt like a short time, somehow
Happiness was bought and sold, baby got old
But she never ceases to astound
Her life will be such a short time, anyhow
The air gets colder
We get older
The lump builds in your throat
It’s seems like there’s less and less to lose
But, above all things, it seems like you can always have hope
I bought a truck, I sold the house
And headed for the Sound
I thought to myself, it’s such a short life, anyhow
I’ve got some questions
And some suggestions
Maybe if I was pope
I could look straight into the sun
And swear, with all my soul, that I should have hope
So come on, child
Live free and wild
And never back down
‘Cause you find some day it was a short time, anyhow
TOO LATE
Heard the sound of a trumpet blast
Said all the good and bad things pass
You look at me with eyes of glass
That never look astray
I love you that way
But I cannot relate
Farewell, I think it’s too late
I thought I’d never met anyone like you
All of the things that I thought you knew
But look at the old folks, they too
Know the secrets that you hold
It’s no different, truth be told
From the life you told to wait
I’m sorry, but I think it’s too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
Your voice spoke what seemed like hymns
I took a shot of the bathtub gin
On a night when the stars swim
Through the sea of moonlight
We were showered in delight
Did you know you were at the gate?
But you turned away and now it’s too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
No use tryin’ to analyze
Who’s been lucky, who is wise
Because you’re only tryin’ to disguise
The one thing that you know
It was so long ago
Age sets in like the night
You make decisions, wrong or right
On what you think just might
Be out there in the dark
And you’re startled by the spark
Are you gonna try to say it’s fate
That led you to this street, but placed you here too late?
Why would God deny us something so great?
And we’ll never quite know
There’s no one to blame
Just accept the fact
That it’s too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late, too late
It’s too late
I know it’s too late
It’s too late
I know it’s too late
SLIPPIN’ AWAY
Livin’ on borrowed time, tryin’ to pay the rent
Lettin’ all the love you lost sit with the money you spent
Well the money’s been spent and the city’s too big for painting
Go home, Theresa, you know your mother is waiting
13 daughters of the first wives arrived and all the mistresses fell
To the churchyard floor where they swore they heard Jehovah’s bells
I’m lost in the stain glass blast and the sweet perfume smell
This could be heaven but how much different is it from hell?
When the one’s I love
Seem so far away
I can’t help feelin’
That my best days are slippin’ away
I rented a van, made a plan and put it into play
Tried to feed off the struggle of tryin’ to get through the day
When the people you love and want to know seem so far away
I can’t help feelin’ that my best days are slippin’ away
Can’t help but estimate how much time these dreams are using up
Work hard, Oleander, ’cause the tide is splashin’ up
Me and the beach bums are drinkin’ from the same cup
I’ll keep on fighting all the one’s who call my homeless bluff
When the one’s I love
Seem so far away
I can’t help feelin’
That my best days are slippin’ away
I’m not a gambler, but I can see the thrill in runnin’ with that gang
Some people try to die quick but make sure they go out with a bang
I’m not into the thought of interpreting some one else’s slang
Open your eyes and your mouth so I can see your fangs
Look over the hill there and tell me what do you see?
Is this the answer to the oldest question you’ve ever heard, baby?
Those city lights hurt your eyes, but that don’t matter to me
Everything you ever wanted is in your garden, when you fall to your knees
When the one’s I love
Seem so far away
I can’t help feelin’
That my best days are slippin’ away
SWEET HATTIE JAMES
Sweet Hattie James
She was a peach
She was older and she was bolder
And she was just out of our reach
She taught young Jim
Just how to move and sing
On those Manhattan nights
She could really swing her thing
He was lookin’ down back alleyways
She was lookin’ for some place to call home
there is nothin’ worse in life than being hopelessly alone
She says
Time ain’t on our side, but take my hand and match my stride
Baby, you’ve got more gusto in you
Come with me tonight on a moonlight parade drive
The sinner’s woes are still a young man’s blues
She was playin’ bad guitar
In a cheap Montana bar
When he listened and he christened
Her as a rising star
She was able to teach
And he was able to learn
When you’re so desperate to be something
You better watch it or you’ll get burned
When you’re lookin’ down back alleyways
And she’s lookin’ for some place to call home
There is nothin’ worse in life than being hopelessly alone
She says
Time ain’t on our side, but take my hand and match my stride
Baby, you’ve got more gusto in you
Come with me tonight on a moonlight parade drive
The sinner’s woes are still a young man’s blues
THERE WILL BE TIME
Gone without warning on Sunday morning
Gone without vengeance or blame
All just moments to be rearranged
So lovely and strange
Blond and like beauty she just can’t stay
Gone like the last ten years slipped away
Maria, she cries, “There’s nothing here for me here, anyway
And, afterall, it’s Independence Day”
I hear the women say
That tomorrow we will run faster
We will climb higher
There will be time
Time to discover and to define
There will be time
In a full circle, in a broken line
Oh, there will be time
Chart your course and don’t ever stray
Never forget it’s meant to be that way
You can hear voices, in a crescendo they say,
“Never wander away”
I hear the mermaids say
That tomorrow we will run faster
We will climb higher
There will be time
Time to discover and to define
There will be time
In a full circle, in a broken line
Oh, in a second’s time
Oh, in a second’s time
Oh, in a moment’s time
There will be time
Time to tear it up, time to really shine
Time to shake the shack, make the moment mine
Time to re-discover, time to re-define
We could die tonight and that would be just fine
With your hand in mine
After all, it’s only time
After all, what is time?
I won’t wear a watch and we’ll get on just fine
PASS THE CLOAK
Turn the light out baby
You sad, doe-eyed lady
Watch the lamp light twitch
No more promises I can pitch but
I guess I’m still a beginner
I’ve got no millionaire’s song
The more you know
The less you fight
So pass the cloak now, baby
While the people pass you by
You are old enough to notice that you’re not too young to die
Oh, it seems so criminal!
They don’t know nothin’
‘Bout the pretty one’s, baby
You just get knocked down again
In a carnival of heroes
Watch them bark and yearn
We’ll make it better
When we begin to learn but
You won’t find the millionaire romantic
The easy choice, where you won’t have to chance it
The more you know
The less you fight
So pass the cloak now, baby
While the people pass you by
You are old enough to notice
That you’re not too young to die
Look out your window, baby
They don’t know nothin’
About the pretty ones, baby
You just get knocked down again
So pass the cloak now, baby
While the people pass you by
You come spinnin’ out of nowhere
When they lay you down to die
So shrug it off now, baby
No one prepared you for today
Who would want to live forever?
When the luster fades away
All your heroes were wrong
They don’t know nothin’
About the pretty one’s, baby
You just get knocked down again

IT ALL COMES BACK TO HER
She moves with the breezes that blow
She believes she’s got something unique
This barrio was made for her she thinks
You can see it in the company she seeks
She makes you feel wanted
She wants to want you, but no
She’s only looking for a way
To love herself more
To love herself more
I know when the pendulum swings
And she decides what really matters
It all comes back
It all comes back
It all comes back to her
She invites lengthy conversations
But the subject always comes back her way
She’ll ask you what’s new, what are you doin’, where ya been?
But she really wants to tell you about her new play
She’ll list you among
Her closest friends
But with her the need
For attention never ends
It never ends
I know when the pendulum swings
And she decides what really matters
It all comes back
It all comes back
It all comes back to her
She nearly breaks when the fates turn on her
As if she’s the only one they do this to
She doesn’t know why everyone can’t see her talent
She’ll be a star someday, if they only knew
You’ve got to look out for yourself
You’ve got to look out for yourself
I know when the pendulum swings
And she decides what really matters
It all comes back
It all comes back
It all comes back
It all comes back
It all comes back to her

JACK & JANE
Jack works at the drugstore
He’s an artist and he wants to be free
Jane thinks he’s an example
Of how the gifted ones abuse their liberty
And if he’s so smart
Why can’t he find a more respectable job?
She’s got a friend who went to Harvard Law School
And her Jack’s just kind of a slob
But she says, “Every time you speak
You’re gonna ease the pain all night
And if you go away
Oh, nothin’ would ever be right
I say ooh la-la-la, la-la-la”
Jack never wasted time
Thinkin’ past the age of twenty-four
Looks around his apartment and says
“Man, I thought there would be so much more”
Jane says she’ll love Jack no matter what he is
She knows what’s inside and she thinks he’d be great with kids
But Jack doesn’t want to think of getting older and more wise
He’d like to live forever, but if he can’t then he’d rather confront all the lies
But she says, “Every time you speak
You’re gonna ease the pain all night
And if you go away
Oh, nothin’ would ever be right
I say ooh la-la-la, la-la-la”
Because Jane ran away with another guy
Jack never expected it and she didn’t explain why
She only said, “Jack, I didn’t ask for this
But he made me feel good and I liked how he kissed”
Jane’s in another man’s arms, it’s hell this way
He thinks she forgot him by now
But it could be no other way
Jack strolled into work
You know he was thirty minutes late
The door had been unlocked
And his boss he had opened up the gate
He said, “Why does a young man like you test fate?
And why in the world would you think that you’re great?
You throw away all the things that you must contemplate
Then you realize those are the only things that had any weight”
Jack will get older and things will change
And his love for Jane will seem quite strange
And maybe at night she’ll appear in the rain
But she’ll never be able to ease his pain
She says, “Every time you speak
You’re voice will ease the pain all night
But I had to go away
Oh, and nothin’ will ever be right
I say ooh la-la-la, la-la-la”

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