FAWM 2012 ("The Musicologist")
FAWM 2010 ("Lestico")
The StoryWasting (lyrics)
A Tear for Dr. Day (lyrics)
Lestico (lyrics)
Postmaster from St. Paul (lyrics)
Through the Top of His Head (lyrics)
Wine-o-plasty (lyrics)
Still Life For Agnes (lyrics)
I'm so Lonesome I Could Break a Window (lyrics)
Buy a Revolver (lyrics)
Overflight (chorus only) (lyrics)
Whipping Postal (lyrics)
Formica Slobber (lyrics)
SpareChangeWisdom (lyrics)
Sometimes You Go Home (lyrics)
In 1898, The clinically depressed Dr. Day, son of a former St. Paul postmaster, walks into Willie Lestico's gun shop and kills himself. At first, this doesn't have that much of an effect on Lestico - he's ambitious and anxious to make a name for himself in the new century. He has a son, Willie Junior, and a daughter, Agnes. His son is killed in WW I, possibly with a gun that Lestico sold to the enemy. This, along with various other tragedies through the years (starting with Dr. Day), finally takes its toll on him. He gets out of the gun business and tries to start a new life, dying shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, Agnes and her “husband” have become bootleggers. They have a son that they name after her brother (and father). Raised in an environment filled with liquor and parties, Willie goes down that same path. After prohibition ends, Willie has to find another way to make a living, so he joins the Post Office. He begins to spiral downward into an abyss of drink and boredom. One night, he reads some letters his uncle had written (his Uncle Willie who was killed in the war). In addition to much personal history, the letters try to explain that children don't have to follow in their parents' footsteps, especially when those footsteps lead to guns, alcohol and crime. But it takes extraordinary effort. In 1971, Willie is struck and killed by a street sweeper in Sacramento, CA.
Lestico Lyrics
Wasting
When I waste time I bore the bottle
When it's reborn does it go away
To start a new life in the hands
Of some fool who's wasting time
I haven’t done a thing this morning
I don’t remember a thing about last night
There was a time when I couldn’t get enough of you
But now I’ve lost my appetite
My watch is cracked and broken
This room has never been such a mess
I’m sure I said some things I’m likely to regret
And I may have torn your dress
When I waste time I bore the bottle
When it's reborn does it go away?
To start a new life in the hands
Of some fool who's wasting time
A Tear for Dr. Day
When I’d play the piano the D was a kissSo I’d play it to stop the despair
But I struck it again and the tone was a miss
What started in beauty was no longer there
It seemed to get worse, all dirty and bent
An anguish like something the lord sent
Yes this pain is a payment the lord surely sent
It’s a dread that starts with a kiss
It’s a poisoning sickness that always is there
It’s a nausea shaped like a fist
Christ I wish I was numb to the unholy despair
What in God’s name have I missed?
Chorus:
Now all they can say is why ya so sad
Ya gotta make that frown go away
But I sit in the storm with the boom buh buh boom
Watch out for yourself and your family and friends
And don’t shed a tear for ol’ Dr. Day
I can’t sit so I stand, but it hurts when I do
I can’t speak so I don’t but I’m hit
With a pain that won’t let me be silent again
So I talk and I talk till I’m sick
I’m surrounded by people at work and at home
But I never have felt so alone
Is there something I’ve done that I’m paying for now
What possible sin could bring this?
I heal people dear lord; I do not deserve
This darkness sealed with a kiss.
What doctor will I see; who cares about me;
What turn in the road did I miss?
Repeat Chorus
I guess I’ll go down and see Lestico
I think he’s got just what I need
If I thought I could take one more day then I would
But it’s time to escape and find peace
This prison is strangling me
Yes tomorrow I’ll finally be free
Dear lord, I’ll finally be free
Lestico
There’s a brand new shipment’a guns comin’ inThere’s a brand new century ahead
You can finally watch all the dark turn to light
Put your past and your sins all to bed
Raise high the roofbeam Mistah Lestico
Your store will need to expand
There’s somethin’ in the air, it’s mystical Lestico
A feeling all across this land
Chorus:
When you watched him pull the trigger
Did you think that he was kidding?
When he wanted that revolver
Did you believe what he said?
Were you thinking ‘bout your family
Or the money in your pocket?
Do you think that you’ll forget
That bullet thru his head?
A dirty little setback, a minor little thing
The lord knows that you’re not to blame
If you could you woulda stopped him; he just moved too fast
But the mem’ry won’t go away
Try to forget it and clean up the mess
Look forward to the better times
There’s guns to be sold and a family to raise
Let’s party like it’s 1899
Repeat Chorus
Postmaster from St. Paul
I've done the mail; this male's done meTalk to my son 'cause he can't see
How his like can go where he wants to go
And he can't be free, so he just shuts down
And again goes across this small, sad town
I've done the mail; this male's done me
I don't like to see my boy in misery
He never told me, how was I to know
what was in his head? Now he's just broke down
It doesn't matter what I say I can't turn him around
Wait, oh yes wait a minute, wait a minute
Uh-huh wait a minute Mr. Postmaster at St. Paul
Oh yes wait a minute wait a minute, uh huh
Wait a minute I'm the Postmaster at St. Paul
I've done the mail; this male's done me
My heart is breaking in the twin cities
I may miss the boy, but I don't understand
Does he love me now? Did he have a plan?
I just wanna shut down
Just put me in the cold, cold ground
Wait, oh yes wait a minute, watt a minute
Uh-huh wait a minute Mr. Postmaster at St. Paul
Oh yes wait a minute wait a minute, uh huh
Wait a minute I'm the Postmaster at St. Paul
I've done the mail; this male's done me
Talk to my son 'cause he can't see
How his like can go where he wants to go
And he can't be free, so he just shuts down
And again goes across this small, sad town
Through the Top of His Head
Once I had a thought so fineSomething ‘bout me and you
Then I thought that over time
Maybe it wasn’t true
It left through the top of my head
Like a word on the tip of my tongue
It starts in my heart but I let it escape
And now I don’t have anyone
My first born was a beautiful girl
Agnes was her name
When she got older I cut her right off
She and I were never the same
She left through the top of her head
She’d fight and she’d cry and she’d run
When she asked for my help I just let her escape
Now I don’t have anyone
I had a wife and I used her all up
I had a son I sent him to war
My daughter and I had so many fights
Now I can’t even remember what for
For every wrong turn and every sad heart
I’d have the perfect lie
Ya needed some grief I had plenty to spare
And guns for anyone who’d buy
Damn that day that Day walked in
That day I loaded his gun
I blamed him but it’s my blind pride
Can I take back the bullet that killed my son?
It left through the top of his head
Like a curse on the tip of my tongue
He had life he had hope but I let it escape
And now I don’t have anyone
Wine-o-plasty
I've got my mickey and not much else and I'm going downtown”What else is new" - I'm getting to that, just stick around
I'm gonna record every last bit, from the start to the falling down
Then I'll build it back up to a full man, all sights and smells and sounds
Chorus:
I'm reshaping my soul (like Jacko's face in reverse)
I'm reshaping my soul ( where the fool's blessing beats the clever man's curse)
I've got the scalpel, I've got the clay, I've got the mickey, and I've got all day
I'm tired of chasing that lower high - tired of that 6-square-block pigsty
I'm tired of those alcohol-lobotomized drones - going to clone-free zone
I'm reshaping my soul (you got a problem with that?)
I'm reshaping my soul (like a cupboard without a cat)
I look in the mirror and my blood runs cold;
How could anything look so bad
But I got my bottle and my mind's made up; it's the best idea I've ever had
Who needs an appointment, why pay a doctor to make me pretty and fine
Who needs someone else, who needs a nose job
when I can change it all with a bottle of wine?
I'm reshaping my soul (Before the end of the line)
I'm reshaping my soul (One drink at a time)
Still Life For Agnes
Chorus:
Agnes, Agnes, Agnes Dear
Can you hear me-o?
Through this vast and squandered time,
Will our sorrow show?
You have lived and have not died,
you have failed but you have tried,
To make anew the Willie name,
to one they can't deride
(Ch)
Could you ever save your brother
or bring your father calm
Or a new generation preserve from spirit harm
(Ch)
If you chance to bring your mind to many days by,
Could you find some language to speak my weary sigh?
(Ch)
If you look into the dusk of days we haven't seen,
Will you see the end of the line of those we'd call Willie?
(Ch)
And when our bones have turned to dust washed away below,
Could a book now close, a story be told - Agnes and Willie Lestico.
(Ch)
I'm so Lonesome I Could Break a Window
Too many nights in an empty bedCan push a fella too far
I asked her if she’d maybe like a drink after work
And so we ended up in a bar
Standing at the jukebox I picked us some tunes
And when I came back she was with him
He asked her if she’d been to Alameda before
And then he said he musta met her twin
I’m so lonesome
One more drink and I’ll go
I’m so lonesome
Another shot of Jack and I’m breakin’ a window
Smooth talkin’ weight liftin’ son of a bitch
He pushed his muscles right in her face
I guess she kinda liked it cause she smiled a lot
There’s only so much I can take
I came here with a lady, might be leavin’ alone
Charles Atlas I’m not
One last straw and this night is done
Pour me another shot
Oh lonesome me
Can’t I have one good night with somebody
My songs on the jukebox finally came on:
Cheatin’ Heart, You Win Again
The jerk and my date started laughing out loud
Said Hank was a country bumpkin
I knew I couldn’t win a fight that night
This guy was one big jerk
I walked out of the bar and I said to my date
That I’d see her tomorrow at work
I’m so lonesome
One more drink and I’ll go
I’m so lonesome
Another shot of Jack and I’m breakin’ a window
Buy A Revolver
Someday I’m gonna buy a revolverGet what’s due to me
Collect my loans with broken bones
Make a lot of people say I’m sorry
Loooooooooooooooooooord
Dear lord will you
Show me how to break the circle
I never wanna hurt no one
I never wanna buy a revolver
I never again wanna shoot a gun
Someday I’m gonna get my deliverance
From this darkened land
Someday I’m gonna buy a revolver
And bury it in the goddamned sand
Someday I’m gonna borrow a conscience
Think about where I’ve been
Try to find some forgiveness
And wash away all my Sins….
If I could find a holster
For everybody's rage
Or every soul despondent
Over life spent in a cage
And every drunken bootlegger
Who got cheated on a load
And any hapless soldier
Isolated on some road
Every broken marriage,
Every business failed,
Any cocky grifter
Or cutpurse tossed in jail.
I'd pile up all those holsters
On the grave I see today
And turn then into one grand pyre
To burn my cares away.
Overflight
You won't leave me aloneYou won't leave me alone
I hear you still talking but my heart's cold as a stone
You won't leave me alone
You won't leave me alone
When all I want from life
Is to leave home
Whipping Postal
Never was so sick of always gettin’ pushed around
The same thing every day
An address a second came flying thru my dreams
If something didn’t change quick, there’d be hell to pay.
I got Uncle Willie’s letters a long time ago
I come across ‘em last night and I read ‘em
I never knew the man but mama thought that I should know
Who my namesake was and something about him
When he asked to go to college Grandpa told him no
Said he should marry and join the family business
And then the war broke out and Grandpa told him he should go
Uncle Willie didn’t want to, but he didn’t resist
But funny things can happen in this crazy life.
He said he finally found a purpose on foreign shores
Beyond the drudgery of marriage and his father and the guns;
He felt that he had never mattered more.
Chorus:
I’d rather take a whipping, postal career be damned
Than put up with another day of this work
Somethin’s gonna be breakin’ in a bad and loathsome way
Blood in the mail truck, a lifer in the dirt
What would Uncle Willie ‘a done?
If he’d ever come back?
What would a brave man do
Instead of a civil service hack?
Are there such things as principle and purpose in this life?
Just when Uncle Willie found ‘em they laid him low
Was he better off doin’ the things he was told,
Finally living a life he honored, probably dying a hero?
I sat there ashamed and I poured another drink
As I read as much as I could bear
For a moment my eyes saw and my ears could hear
Something that had always been there
Repeat Chorus
One drink led to another and I put the letters away
Something crystal clear was fading with the day
Something filled with hope was dying with the light
And I took another drink, a night like any other night
Formica Slobber
Roll me over boys
Formica slobber
Tell me something, bud
Is it still night?
Sorry, things haven’t been going that great
But I’m all right
Where the hell you been?
It’s great to see you
We haven’t talked for months
I thought you were dead – heh, just kidding
Me, well, you can usuall find me here
And I’m all right
What’s that you say –
Already time for last call?
Well hell gimme a shot
Yeah, one more will be just fine
I’m all right
I’m all right
Roll me over boys
Formica slobber
Spare Change Wisdom
Spare the coin and spoil the high, I won’t take a nickel for days gone byThere’s nothing I can say when my throat is dry but “Get me out of this rain…”
I’ll promise this if you give me a hand, I’ll mail your leetter to the promised
land
It’s right down the block behind the newsstand – and they do - o – n’t ask
questions
A rolling bum gathers no moss
I’m the coin that won’t get tossed
A penny saved’s already been lost
So don’t give my change to Jesus
At the end of the day I gave up the ghost
If wishes were horses I’d enter a float
In a holy parade or a contract with God
Spoil the child and spare the rod
Spare change wisdom
Maybe you thought I was smarter than that
Spare change wisdom
Pickin’ my teeth with the bone of a black alley cat
Sometimes You Go Home
Chorus:Sometimes you go home, sometimes you go home
Drag your bones to a chair, leave the world alone
With its tiresome troubles, and its sticks and stones
If you get a little lucky, sometimes you go home
Living in my head, I didn't understand
Took a ride on my horse, checked out my land
After 'while in the valley, knew my time was done
Watched the wind slap the snow 'cross the setting sun
Repeat Chorus
Hiding in the hills and living on the run
Sure ain't no way to raise a son
After 'while in the valley, there was no end in sight
I'd hold him close and cry into the night
Repeat Chorus
Living in the midwest, my heart was sore
Took a ride on a train, don't know what for
After 'while in the valley, I slept in the street
Police my alarm clocks, newspapers my sheets
Repeat Chorus
Absalom Road lyrics
Absalom Road
(monkey rock)(Hastings/Kimball)
Strip-club girly show, ladies in their spangled hose
Wheel of fortune spins around, take a card and double down
Dime-a-dance, game of chance, you can even find romance
Once you’re in, you can’t get out, the odds are always with the house
Seven deadly sins ain’t enough for this Gomorrah
On Absalom Road there ain’t no tomorrow
You can win every hand and still have to borrow
If you play the Shivaree it will end in sorrow
Absalom Road can’t stand the light of day
The sun never rises to wash the night away
Don’t be a fool and make my mistake
Or you’ll spend every minute with the monkey and the snake
Out on Absalom Road
Well, it happened in the middle of a black midnight
A bullet flew out of a Colt 45
A man fell down and there he died
Now I’m on the run just to stay alive
On the run from Absalom Road
Cadillac sugar-shack, lookin’ for the backtrack
Thought it was forever but it was just a quick rack
Out the door and gone and I ain’t never comin’ back
She may wait forever but there ain’t no use in doing that
I’m gone like the glaze up a rich man’s nose
I’m gone like a glimmmer, faded like a rose
I’m gone from the only place I ever called home
I’m gone from Absalom Road
On the run from Absalom Road
The Ass Is Gone
(blues)
(Fuller/Sears)
Got up one mornin’, the sun still black
Couldn’t smell no coffee nor bacon fat
Walked into the kitchen but no one was there
I noticed a glow from the top of the stairs
Went up, saw my wife starin’ at the screen
She was playin’ some game and I began to scream,
“If this damn computer’s takin’ up your time
Perhaps a good whuppin' will change your mind
Chorus:
The barn is empty
The goat is gone
My money’s missing
My face is long
Can’t find the chickens
There’s something wrong
The cows need milkin’
The ass is gone
The ass is gone
The ass is gone
The next morning come, the sky still black
And I smelled my coffee and sausage fat
Dresser drawers looked empty, my wife weren’t there
Ran thru the house but the house was bare
I found her note on the kitchen sink:
“Here’s your eggs and here’s your drink
I seen ‘em come and I seen ‘em go
Up and down this godforsaken road
So take a look in the mirror and tell me what you see
And tomorrow when you wake up make your own damn coffee”
Chorus:
The barn is empty
The goat needs…
My money’s missing
My face is long
Can’t find the chickens
There’s something wrong
The cows need milkin’
The ass is gone
The ass is gone
The ass is gone
Hold Off (for now)
(ballad)(Kimball/Fuller)
Hold off the fire that burns through the trees
Hold off the pain in Grandpa’s knees
Hold off the sale of Mama’s wedding ring
Of this I sing, of this I sing
Chorus:
Hold off hold off hold off for now
The pawn shop is closed and the trolls are all out
Hold off hold off hold off the fear
When will I know when the right time is here?
Hold off the arrow from the quiver’s bow
Don’t let him find out the things I know
Give me the freedom that flight would bring
Of this I sing, of this I sing
Ch
And so afterhours you shuffle on by
With jewelry and chocolates and perfume and lies
And a new kind of barter begins once again
As you bring out the dreams with the box and the gin
Ch
(maybe I'll learn it's the time of the year...)
Fire in the Bounce House
(folk folk-ballad goth country )Music and Lyrics, Jack Hastings
Poppa Pajama and Ms. Melodrama
Met Mr. Quiver at the Peep Show Panorama
They was cutting up Glaze on an old window pane
They was drinkin’ rye whiskey in the middle of the day
In come Big Red and Sweet Tourmaline
They was gaspin’ for breath
Smelled like kerosene
They said it’s the worst thing
That they’d ever seen
The Bounce House is burnin’ down
Now maybe Mad Lily went all willy nilly
And cooked off some sterno to heat up her chili
She didn’t keep her squeezin’s away from the flames
And the fire got her then the fire ran away
The smell of burnt rubber in the stinking haze
The screams of the children that never will fade
And there weren’t anybody to help them escape
When the Bounce House was burnin’ down
It ain’t no surprise there was blood in the eyes
Of the mob that came lookin’ for someone to chastise
But the Carnies all knew it was only their due
So they stood there and took it when the brickbats flew
Now they’re all gone to wherever they go
It surely ain’t heaven, that much I know
Maybe they’re all out on Absalom Road
‘Cause the Bounce House burned to the ground
My Chevrolet
(rock)(Hastings/Sears)
I’m 100 miles outside Mount Megiddo
I’m 300 miles from Botany Bay
It’s 500 miles to Old Paradiso
And 900 miles before I reach L.A.
I got 200 pounds of sweet brown sugar
I got 200 pounds of premium Glaze
I got 200 dollars stuffed in the glove box
And I’m too far from sweet Molly Methane
And I don’t think my Chevy can make it
I don’t think it will even get me half way
I don’t think my Chevrolet can take it
If I do not make it, there’ll be hell to pay
Now this road’s as long as God’s middle finger
The only detour is the exit to Hell
This road ain’t paved with good intentions
It’s never-ending and that’s probably just as well
When I left Molly I told her don’t worry
I told sweet Molly it would be alright
When I left Molly the Chevy was purring
And the road stretched out ahead and out of sight
And I don’t think my Chevy can make it
I don’t think it will even get me half way
I don’t think my Chevrolet can take it
If I do not make it, there’ll be hell to pay
There are dangerous people that want me to pay
There’ll be nowhere to run if I can’t make this play
Goddamn the day I bought this Cheverolet
When I left Molly I told her don’t worry
I told sweet Molly it would be alright
When I left my Molly the Chevy was purring
And the road stretched out ahead and out of sight
And I don’t think my Chevy can make it
I don’t think it will even get me half way
I don’t think my Chevrolet can take it
If I do not make it, there’ll be hell to pay
Poppa's Leg
(blues)(Kimball)
A long time ago to pay off a bet
A Lincoln item went to someone's set
And a hunk of lumber from the Civil War
Was seen in the hand of a man leaving a bar.
Very much later a card game played
Gave that museum piece to someone to be paid
And now Abe's bedpost you see
Is attached forever to Poppa's knee
"They say when that syncopated walk was heard on the Vieux Carre,
all the women turned to watch his approach.
And when sounds fell from that honeyed tongue,
they hung on every every word like a saint's dying breath."
Likely Poppa never made it to New Orleans
But I'm sure he ate his share of rice and beans
But if a bully showed up along his route
He had his own unique way of takin him out
One day there was a man beatin on his girl
Poppa came behind him and did a twirl
Whapped the lumber back-o-th'-knee and down he dropped
And that's what they call the Southern Stop
Here comes Poppa...
(apologies to E. Hoffman Price 1898-1988)
Graveyard Rat
(blues)(Sears)
Chicken livers fryin’ on a rusty hot plate
In the solitude of his back room
Day old bread and stale hot cakes
He attacks with a knife and spoon
Hours hunched over and old calculator
His granddaddy used to own
He don’t talk now and he won’t talk later
He got a hardwire telephone
Now Big Red and sweet Miss T.
They handles his dirty pawn store
You can hock whatever you want for a fee
But you won’t see it no more
He himself runs the shady peep shows
On the other side of the tracks
The locals know when the tourist go
Sometimes they don’t come back
Rumor says he did some time
For touching some little boys
He served his days watching TV crime
And eating Almond Joys
He got himself a room at the Hotel Swell
By the Chapel and the Dance Arcade
What happens there I cannot tell
But the memory will never fade
With the loan sharking and the shake down deals
He is twisted with an awful hate
He lines up his favorite bully boys
They say he likes to watch ‘em masturbate
If your God is a vengeful one
And if your devil is a tortured soul
I’d like you to meet a friend of mine
With a heart as black as coal
I don’t know if all this is true
And I don’t care what you think of that
But he may have big plans for you
He’s meaner than a graveyard rat
The Razor Burn's Edge
(Fuller / Hastings)THE RAZOR BURN'S EDGE
It seemed to me that the viewing was over
Though no one escorted me out
And the glitter and the music as I left seemed to linger
In the air with the whiskey and the shouts
I spent the night sleeping as never before
My mind was spinning but clear
I washed up and shaved; something had changed
I was happy but I bit back the tears
*Chorus*
And these days I can tell when I look in the sky
If I'm seeing the sun or the moon
And some day I'll find that place that I've heard
Is halfway from a gasp to a swoon
So dance me all night ‘til I'm too tired to talk
Then we'll balance outside on the ledge
Find redemption and joy on the open plateau
Beyond the razor burn's edge
I watched the peep show from behind the glass
I watched as she danced through the night
But one night it came; the revulsion, the shame
And I watched for the very last time
The next time I saw her in the hard light of day
Gone were her glamour and grace
The hard life she’s living, the hard times I’ve given
Were etched in the lines of her face
*Bridge*
It's a bloody hard jolt that seizes your heart
When you lose your doubt and your fear
When the blade scrapes the foam of despair from your face
And your path down the road becomes clear
A bloody hard jolt strikes the fog from your eyes
When your friends were the drugs and the goons
When they clutched at your playpen from morning ‘til night
And you've left not a second too soon
*Chorus*
And these days I can tell when I look in the sky
If I'm seeing the sun or the moon
And some day I'll find that place that I've heard
Is halfway from a gasp to a swoon
So dance me all night till I'm too tired to talk
Then we'll balance outside on the ledge
Find redemption and joy on the open plateau
Beyond the razor burn's edge
So dance me all night ‘til I’m too tired to walk
Along the razor burn’s edge
Mr. Sticks Taxi
(rock)(Kimball/Sears)
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
I’m headed to the Big A to get my kicks
Barkeep what’s the number again
Please jot it down, do you need a pen
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
Mr. Sticks is the cabbie who drives the taxi deranged
I knew his number last night, but it musta changed
So bartender can you get it for me
Seems like I’ve been waiting an eternity
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
He says it’s; 727-3992
I’m wondering already if that rings true
He handed me a match book with a wink and a smirk
Take it easy buddy I think this number should work
The tender he’s a guy who really likes to play his jokes
Gotta find a long straight stick to poke in his spokes
The tender is a guy who’s been known to lie
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give this number a try
The tender he’s a guy who really likes to play his jokes
So I squeeze through the crowd to punch the numbers on the pay phone
But I didn’t get an answer all got was some crazy tone
I didn’t get nothin’ why ain't I surprised
Id’ like to pop that bartender bastard between the eyes
So I’m starin’ a the corresponding letters on the buttons
I’m leery and suspicious but they don’t really tell me nothin’
I saw these numbers carved on a stall with a file
Maybe I’d have better luck with a rotary dial
I’m starin’ a the corresponding letters on the buttons
I flag him over; you think I’m stupid do ya
That number that you gave me just spells out S-C-R-E-W-Y-A
I guess you think it’s funny I guess you think it’s alright
At this rate I won’t make it to the A Road tonight
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
I’m headed to the Big A to get my kicks
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
I’m headed to the Big A to get my kicks
Barkeep what’s the number again
Please jot it down, do you need a pen
Barkeep what’s the number for Mr. Sticks
The Eyes of Cthulu
(trance-ish)(Fuller/Kimball)
The most beautiful thing in the world
Is the grandeur of the cosmic cycle
And I thought I had seen it all
As I strode down the nick'lodeon aisle
Then something grabbed me from behind
As my head began to ring
I was dragged to an unknown alcove
And forced to look into that garish thing
Chorus:
What I saw when I stared into The Eyes of Cthulu
Was the unmaking of a part of my soul
The miasma was swimming with tentacled bodies
And I felt like I was falling into its blurry gray hole
I've done bad things as I've gone thru this life
Some I enjoyed and some I regret
But does anyone deserve that wet clay box
Dear lord please make me forget
Gelatinous bodies split into two
As the parts became maggots and spiders
A face from my past was filled with disease
And a minotaur attacked from beside her
--------------------------------
Oh crepuscular vision!
Oh infernal sight
Oh foul grotesq'ries
Go back into the night!
My mind is a fever
Please feed me my glaze
Point your eyes somewhere else
With your blasphemous gaze
May the red eyes of Cthulu
Find Tubby and Little Lulu
I don't care! Just take them from me!
Take those sick bloodshot eyes
Away from me!
-------------------------------------------
Chorus
Silver Snuff Box
(folk)(Hastings/Kimball)
What can a silver snuff box hold?
The reflection of a face that isn’t your own?
A face that has grown so suddenly old?
Eyes of blue forever closed?
The bones of your Poppa’s broken soul?
What can it hold?
I don’t know.
Where has the silver snuff box been?
Over the river and down to the glen?
Lost in the swamp and the bog and the fen?
To Absalom Road and back again?
Smudged and scratched and tarnished with sin?
Where has it been?
I don’t know.
Who gives the silver snuff box away?
A gift or a torment, who can say?
Beware of the giver and the games he might play
The one who smells slightly of death and decay
As sad sickly sweet as a graveyard bouquet
Who gives it away?
I don’t know
Why is the silver snuff box sealed?
Ne’er to be opened nor its contents revealed?
Perhaps its because of the way that it feels
Like something alive that slithers and steals
Across your palm like a Carpathian eel
Why is it sealed?
I don’t know
(... where can it go...? I don't know...)
The Weeping Slickers
(ballad)(Fuller/Sears)
You bought me a slicker for my birthday last year
You bought me a slicker for my birthday last year
You bought me a slicker for my birthday last year
And I’ll add it to the others that I own
I'm sorry for the times I made you cry
I'm sorry for the times I made you cry
I'm sorry for the times I made you cry
If I could change those times I would
They stand in a row, my weeping slickers
Are they wet from the tears or the rain
They stand in a row, our years together
The joy side by side with the pain
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Like I'm alive as I walk thru my day
They stand in a row, my weeping slickers
Are they wet from the tears or the rain
They stand in a row, our years together
The joy side by side with the pain
For every loss there should be some wins
But there’s times when the wait seems too long
Can we survive yet one more tailspin?
Was the bond ever that strong?
The darkness comes before the day
To know hope it seems you need despair
Couldn’t there be another way
You have to feel; you have to care
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Your kiss in the morning makes me feel
Like I'm alive as I walk thru my day
They stand in a row, my weeping slickers
Are they wet from the tears or the rain
They stand in a row, our years together
The joy side by side with the pain
Tri-tip Spa
(folk-rock )(Kimball/Sears)
Now Tourmaline tell me if you know
What it takes to be a tourist round here
When the closest I can come to pleasure
Is finishing my fifteenth beer
When all I really want in this stinkhole
Is to leave it high and dry
When it's time to fry at the Tri-tip Spa
See that preacher at The Redeemer
He's got markers down in the corners of Hell
In case the loges he really wants
Have been paid for from some rich man's well
But he won't talk to the faithful 'bout that
'Specially when they're so ready to fly
When it's time to fry at the Tri-tip Spa
And look at that idiot Quiver
He thinks he's got something to guard
Each time he threatens some lackey
They just find another dealer's card
And they'll just run down the street
For a look at some old crone's thigh
When it's time to fry at the Tri-tip Spa
At the bar they line up the Glaze-hounds
Who use as their main stock in trade
All of the stories they have heard
About people who once made the grade
And all of them actually believe
Every bit of all their lies
When it's time to fry at the Tri-tip Spa
Now your Poppa, he has a story
And a daughter as the one who'll tell
And a pawnshop that covers all the tales
Of those in Cthulu's spell
And if you're really lucky
You can kiss all this history goodbye
When it's time to fry at the Tri-tip Spa
Big Red's Lullabye
(alt-folk)(Hastings/Sears)
What does the little junk-shop girl
See in her dreams when she’s blind to the world?
The green of the fields, the blue of the sky?
As the clouds go rolling by
Sometimes I hear her singing
When she thinks she’s all alone
With a voice as sweet as the Nightingale Queen
Perched on her silver throne
I wish I could tell the junk-shop girl
How I burn for her always, my heart in a whirl
But I have no voice, no words to speak
Just a yearning so fierce and so deep
Sometimes I see her dancing
And I feel something dark in me stir
As she moves with such grace through this dusty old place
I want nothing more than her
Chorus
Good night, good night
Sweet Tourmaline
May your dreams be warm and bright
If I could, I would hold you close to me
Keep you safe through the long, cold night
Sometimes the eyes of the junk-shop girl
Burn like silver and shine like pearls
There’s a light in those eyes, that might pierce my disguise
And see through to my heart’s dark desire
There’s a chill when I see her looking
At something so far far away
Beyond the stars and the heavens
So far from the light of day
The Ass Is Back
(rust-bucket blues )(Fuller / Hastings)
She’s been gone for several years
Hi-yoh duh yip, hi-yohhhhhhhh-
Ohhhhhhhhh
I like to think I’d treat her better
But I guess I’ll never know
They say a dog don’t learn new tricks
Hi-yoh duh yip, hi-yohhhhhhhh-
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh
This old fool’s at least learned one
All I want is to see her home
All I want is to see her home
(Chorus)
This endless field
I work alone
Mumble and moan
Cuts to the bone
Of all God’s sins
The worst is pride
I made my bed
The fault is mine
The fault is mine
I hope she’s happy wherever she goes
Hi-yoh duh yip, hi-yohhhhhhhh-
Ohhhhhhhhhh
But I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t say
All I want is to see her home
All I want is to see her home
(Bridge)
The ass is back; I found the goat
I’m better now but I missed the boat
I’m better now; I changed my way
But sometimes change just comes too late
The rooster cries the break of day
I wish like hell she would have stayed
I wish like hell she would have stayed
(Chorus)
This endless field
I work alone
Mumble and moan
Cuts to the bone
Of all God’s sins
The worst is pride
I made my bed
The fault is mine
The fault is mine
The fault is mine
The fault is mine
The fault is mine
Where the Neon Lights Still Flicker
(rock)(Fuller/Sears)
I had a fire in my belly
I had a hunger in my soul
I heard of Absalom Road since I was seven
Maybe in church, I don't know
I drove for days
Who knew it would be so long?
And when I finally found that road
What could ever go wrong?
Where the neon lights still flicker
Where I wanted to be
Where hope meets desire in a raging fire
How could I know what would happen to me?
David, oh David, what became of your son?
Did he head out on the road?
When he comes back, will he be different?
Or still the man you think you know
I've been here for years
Who knew it would be so long?
I think I saw your son last night
What could ever go wrong?
Where the neon lights still flicker
Where I wanted to be
Where hope meets desire in a raging fire
How could I know what would happen to me?
Where the neon lights still flicker
Where the neon lights still flicker
