Lyrics

 Included here are all of the original lyrics from the albums While You Were Gone and Spot of Time, as well as the ep America’s a Lonely Town and the 2008 WPGU radio performance.

 

 

 

TELECLONE UNIVERSE

 

In the teleclone universe, world wars have come and gone

McDonald’s is just one neon sign and James Dean keeps driving on

In the teleclone universe, there’s no atomic age

Kerouac’s off the booze and on the road while Reagan stays backstage

In the teleclone universe, life rings clear and true

You end up with me, I end up with you

 

In the teleclone universe, it’s one nocturnal dream

Everything there is what it is and nothing’s as it seems

In the teleclone universe, it’s true that time stands still

Heaven is only a nearby town on Mahalia Jackson Hill

In the teleclone universe, life rings clear and true

You end up with me, I end up with you

 

In the teleclone universe, John Lennon’s not shot dead

Little Willie John singin’ rhythm n’ blues with the fever in his head

In the teleclone universe, those record go ‘round and around

Jack Nitzsche cues the brass and strings to that wall of sound

 

In the teleclone universe, no one can buy your soul

Beethoven just gave Tchaikovsky the news, “Baby, here comes rock n’ roll.”

In the teleclone universe, Natalie Wood whispers in your ear,

“There’s nothing down there that can compare to what we got around here.”

In the teleclone universe, life rings clear and true

You end up with me, I end up with you.

 

                                                                                                                           (Music, Jim Tullio)

 

                                                                                                                          

 

 

 

BLACK-EYED SUSAN

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

There’s a train outside your window, but you don’t live by the tracks

The birds flew south last summer and they won’t be flying back

You’re at your kitchen table, fighting hard but losing ground

With shadows and memories dancing all around

 

If you love Black-eyed Susan, there’s a price you must pay

But you love Black-eyed Susan anyway

 

She is nobody’s daughter, can’t be claimed by anyone

Her smile comes straight from Venus and it kisses you like the sun

And every day you’re with her, only cancels out the past

And every night is stronger than the last

 

If you love Black-eyed Susan, there’s a price you must pay

But you love Black-eyed Susan anyway

 

She will say she’ll stay forever, she will swear that you’re the first

She’ll promise you water from heaven’s well while you’re dying there of thirst

And if you cry for mercy, she might toss a bone or two

Till she’s certain you need her much more than she need you

 

If you love Black-eyed Susan, there’s a price you must pay

But you love Black-eyed Susan anyway.

 

 

 

 

BED FULL OF BLUE

 

What were you doing in my bed last night?

What were you doing in my head last night?

You looked so happy and you seemed so brave

The voice I was hearing didn’t come from the grave

It was you, it was you in my bed full of blue

 

Someone was singing a slow blues last night

Voice sounded lonesome, not a trace of light

Woke up this morning, my head full of you

Woke up this morning in a bed full of blue

It was you, baby, you in my bed full of blue

 

Everyone’s trembling, who knows what it’s about?

Bound to take your insides, turn them inside out

Who you once were wouldn’t recognize you now

The why doesn’t matter, it’s all about how

 

Muddy Waters sitting, black turban on his head

Picks up his Fender, here’s what he said:

“Are you ready for me? I’m ready for you.

Bring it on over to my bed full of blue.”

With you, baby, you in my bed full of blue

 

Doc Pomus listening, cool as he can be

Says, “This moment’s magic, save the last dance for me.”

Up in heaven’s nightclub, it’s too good to be true

It’s Lonely Avenue in my bed full of blue.”

Calling you, baby, you from my bed full of blue

 

Everyone’s trembling, who knows what it’s about?

Bound to take your insides, turn them inside out

Who you once were doesn’t mean much anyhow

Back then don’t matter, it’s all about now

 

What were you doing in my mind last night?

What kind of truth did I find last night?

A song on your lips and a rose in your hand

We all gotta live with what we can’t understand

It was you, baby, you in my bed full of blue

 

                                                                                                                        (Music, Jim Tullio)

 

                                                                                                           

 

TUNNEL AT THE END OF THE LIGHT

 

She was a child of the city

He was man of the world

It was no match made in heaven

No story of boy finding girl

She had that something about her

That made him jump out of his skin

So he circled the earth just to sleep at her side

Until he was spun back again

Oh, but how he was spun back again

 

There was rust at the end of the rainbow

And the stars disappeared in the night

Inside each silver lining was a dark dirty cloud

With a tunnel at the end of the light,

With a tunnel at the end of the light

 

The good went to bad as it happened

The bad went to worse everyday

She told him he might as well open a vein

For all of his cheap vulgar ways

They were seeing the ending of something

With simply nowhere to begin

But it’s hard to tell how bad you’re losing a game

Once you find that there’s nothing to win

They both found there was nothing to win

 

There was rust at the end of the rainbow

And the stars disappeared in the night

Inside each silver lining was a dark dirty cloud

With a tunnel at the end of the light,

With a tunnel at the end of the light

 

He loved her the last time he saw her

And as they lay down on the bed

Copland and Foster and Bernstein

Played a hoedown that sang in his head

But the music soon faded to nothing

His pride had come after the fall

Sometimes the silence that follows the end

Is the laughter that’s loudest of all,

That’s the laugh that was loudest of all

 

There was rust at the end of the rainbow

And the stars disappeared in the night

Inside each silver lining was a dark dirty cloud

With a tunnel at the end of the light,

With a tunnel at the end of the light.

 

 

 

WALKIN’ MY KARMA

 

What are you doing, what have you done?

What’s being written under the sun?

What’s in the mixture, mixing as one?

 

Voices and visions float in and out

Now that you’ve got here, what’s it about?

Lean close and whisper, step back and shout

You’re caught in a drama

 

            I’m walkin’ my karma, doin’ my bit

            Walkin’ my karma, workin’ with it

            I’m walkin’ my karma, the hand I was given

 

See yourself moving from here to there

Either frustration or not a care

What’s feeling solid turns to thin air

Smooth sailing, then trauma

 

            I’m walkin’ my karma, doin’ my bit

            Walkin’ my karma, workin’ with it

            I’m walkin’ my karma, the hand I was given

 

 

            Praise or blame, it’s all the same

            On the bench or in the game

            With the fall of my footsteps

            The call of my name

            I’m walkin’ my karma

 

The things you’re doing, things you’ve done

Drift while you’re dreaming, mixing as one

As each day gets written under the sun

Go do what you’re gonna

 

            I’m walkin’ my karma, doin’ my bit

            Walkin’ my karma, makin’ it fit

            I’m walkin’ my karma, the hand I was given,

            The life that I’m livin’.

 

 

 

WHAT THE DEVIL LOVES

 

(With Fred Koller)

 

The devil loves a rich man, rich man loves his gold

Don’t believe in nothin’ that can’t be bought or sold

Right there on the money, it says ‘In God We Trust.’

Devil just sits waitin’ till those dollars turn to dust

 

Fire down below us, heaven up above

We all got somethin’ that we’re hungry for

That’s what the devil loves

 

Devil loves a poor man, poor man got to eat

Devil loves to tempt him with the taste of something sweet

Open up your Bible, there in Chapter One

Adam bit that apple and the devil’s job was done

 

Fire down below us, heaven up above

We all got somethin’ that we’re hungry for

That’s what the devil loves

 

Devil loves a baby, laughs each time it cries

Banking on that emptiness, building up inside

Everything that’s wicked, starts from some place pure

One day you feel satisfied, the next day you’re not sure

 

Fire down below us, heaven up above

We all got somethin’ that we’re hungry for

That’s what the devil loves

 

 

 

KEY TO THE KINGDOM

 

Shouting in the distance, can’t make out the phrase

This old world aint ending, it’s just going through a phase

 Give me the key to the kingdom, I’ve got a light to shine

Everybody’s finding something, I think I’ll go get mine

 

Hand me down my sidearm, pull it off the shelf

Been sitting still for so long, I can barely stand myself

Give me the key to the kingdom, I’ve fallen far behind

Everybody’s grabbing something, I think I’ll go get mine

 

One kid went to England, one kid went to France

One kid went to Nashville ‘cause he never learned to dance

Give me the key to the kingdom, there’s something I must find

Everybody’s getting somewhere, I think I’ll go get mine

 

Seal up all the windows, get ready for rain

I heard that hound dog howling like a hellbound train

Give me the key to the kingdom, I’m tired of traveling blind

Everybody’s getting somewhere,  I think I’ll go get mine

 

One buck buys you nothing, five bucks not much more

Ten bucks wins the door prize, then you’ve got to lock the door

Give me the key to the kingdom, I’m in a terrible bind

Everybody’s grabbing something, I think I’ll go get mine

 

Stepped out on the front porch, stumbled and I fell

My landlord wouldn’t help me ‘cause I pay him too well

Give me the key to the kingdom, I need to cut in line

Everybody’s finding something, I’m gonna go get mine.

 

 

 

IT ALL HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE GONE

 

I looked here, I looked there, Lord, I looked everywhere

For the life of me, no one was home

I got cold, it got dark and I went on a lark

Feeling foolish and young and alone

How I ranted and raved on a chance I’d be saved

If I lived every line of my song

I got sick, I got well and I raised holy hell

And it all happened while you were gone

 

Well, I walked by the sea seeking Annabelle Lee

Who was older and wiser than I

When she took me inside with her arms open wide

Well, I felt that at least I could die

She rich, I was poor and I felt like a whore

One whose fate was to be strung along

It looked wrong in the light what we did every night

And it all happened while you were gone

 

Gone, long gone

Through the wrong and the right and the wrong

Lord, I swam till I sank and I drank and I drank

And it all happened while you were gone

 

So I sat on the sand with my time in my hands

While the waves were too frozen to break

And this feeling I had that I’d been going mad

It was something my soul couldn’t shake

So I sweated some blood as the sand turned to mud

And the wind whipped around me so strong

But my ship finally came and I shouted your name

And it all happened while you were gone

 

Gone, long gone

Through the wrong and the right and the wrong

Lord, I swam till I sank and I drank and I drank

And it all happened while you were gone

 

When I see you again, it will be as a friend

With whom I would share wine and bread

But please spare me the song of the lovers we’ve known

While we were away from our bed

It’s a sin, it’s a shame what is done in the name

Of true love, till that love wanders home

I can’t grieve anymore for what was done before

‘Cause it all happened while you were gone

 

Gone, long gone

Through the wrong and the right and the wrong

Lord, I swam till I sank and I drank and I drank

And it all happened while you were gone

 

 

 

COOL OF THE DAY

 

In the cool of the day, I can feel you

Though the evening is gray, I can see you

And I know that I’ll be more than right

Know you’ll see me through the night

Know I’ll walk into the light with you

 

When my strength starts to stray, you surround me

All my fear goes away once you’ve found me

And as your soothing voice comes through

I know what I’m meant to do

There’s no room for second thoughts at all

 

When I say that I’ll try, you believe me

Even though I may die, you won’t leave me

Yes, and when this life seems far too much

I can feel your soothing touch

Telling me there’s such a thing as love

 

 

 

AUTUMN ENDING

 

Come here to the window and listen to the wind

It’s a clear November morning, we can watch it all begin

The fields are ripe for harvest, and winter’s weeks away

Everything we ever wanted is ours to have today

 

Not a cloud in the sky, no smoke on the new horizon

Not a tear in any eye, no voices raised in warning

But in that silence can’t you hear something trying to reach your ear?

All around, the sound of autumn ending

 

Walking down the sidewalk, humming my own tune

Thinking maybe some sweet someday, I’d tap dance on the moon

Stop to buy a paper, seems like all the news is good

Seems like life is turning out exactly like it should

 

With not a cloud in the sky, no smoke on the new horizon

Not a tear in any eye, no voices raised in warning

But in that silence can’t you hear something trying to reach your ear?

All around, the sound of autumn ending

 

That night in my bedroom, I dreamed a hazy dream

I dreamed of blood red roses and a dark blue limousine

A horse without a rider, the sound of muffled drums

And somewhere in that darkened sleep, I knew the hour had come

 

But not a cloud in the sky, no smoke on the new horizon

Not a tear in any eye, no voices raised in warning

But in that silence can’t you hear something trying to reach your ear?

All around, the sound of autumn ending.

 

 

 

BLESSED

 

Blessed are the wounded for they shall be healed

Blessed are the corpses on the battlefield

Blessed are he toothless, blessed are the dumb

Who sit counting beads, their day’s gonna come

Blessed are the witnesses who claim they don’t know

Who went the way of the buffalo

And if you feel it’s true, blessed be to you

 

 

Blessed are the widows, blessed are the weak

And though they’ve been spoken for, blessed are the meek

Blessed are the bloodless, whose stomachs lack food

Blessed the dependent, who need pills to shape their mood

Blessed is the criminal, blessed is the bride

Bless the safe houses in which we can hide

And if you feel it too, blessed be to you

 

            While we’re stranded at the station and there’s mayhem in the air

            Don’t let your kneecaps buckle with despair

            There’s faith to be embraced here, there’s hope to be reclaimed

            Every ticket into heaven has been numbered and named

            So blessed be to you

 

Blessed are the hopeless with too much to bear

Blessed are the clerics for their twisted prayer

Blessed are the fingers that shuffle the cards

Blessed are the fires in the barren yards

Blessed is the heretic, blessed is the saint

Who gave up his garment without a complaint

We’re all the chosen few, blessed be to you

 

Blessed is everything under the sun

The hub of the wheel, the stock of the gun

Blessed are the brilliant, blessed are the fools

There’s divinity within all the molecules

Blessed are the wicked who need to transform

Blessed are the nervous who have to conform

It’s time for something new, blessed be to you

 

            When the ports are blockaded and there’s chaos everywhere

            If my papers are in order, I’ll meet you there

            There’s a vivid resurrection to put all doubts to rest

            A table’s been prepared for the wedding guest

            Blessed be to you

 

Blessed are the innocent, their faces concealed

Blessed are the decadent whose deeds will be revealed

Blessed is everything we’ve thought or we’ve said

The contaminated living, the liberated dead

Blessed be the haunted, blessed those at peace

Blessed the convicted, may they find release

The hour is overdue, so blessed be to you

 

 

 

DON’T LOOK FOR LOVE

 

Close your eyes, my midnight companion

The night will pass no matter what we do

All we did was paint our feelings blue

Don’t love for love, love looks for you

 

Regards to any long gone relations

Aren’t some over long before they’re through?

It’s simple and it’s sad but it’s true

Don’t look for love, love looks for you

 

It will leave you standing stranded in the darkness

It will make you wild and wasted on its trail

It will keep you riled and restless as you track it through the night

It will throw away the key the day it locks you in its jail

 

Goodbye to all my eager expectations

The chips that fell were far between and few

One and one won’t always give you two

Don’t look for love, love looks for you

 

 

 

SPOT OF TIME

 

Have all the songs been written, has romance run its course?

Are there parts that just stay broken, separated from the source?

Who says there’s something wrong here, stuck to some spot of time?

Who says you don’t belong here, stuck to some spot of time?

 

That town you sometimes visit, you can’t find on a map

There’s a family you are part of while you’re drinking from that tap

Who says there’s something wrong here, stuck to some spot of time?

Who says you don’t belong here, stuck to some spot of time?

                       

On a street you’ll find a warehouse, where it’s guys and beer and pool

Are they part of some tomorrow, did you know them back in school?

Who says there’s something wrong here, stuck to some spot of time?

Who says you don’t belong her, stuck to some spot of time?

 

If you think the world turns, it doesn’t

If you think that time flows, you’re wrong

All that you have is this moment  to play out your whole life long

 

There’s a girl whose lips are parted, she wears an orange beret

Her smile says if you kiss her, there’s no choice but to stay

Who says there’s something wrong here, stuck to some spot of time?

Who says you don’t belong here, stuck to some spot of time?

 

The clouds scream out, ‘It’s winter.’ The sky looks hard as steel

You know you must return now to what you think is real

Who says there’s nothing wrong here, stuck to some spot of time?

Who says that you belong here, stuck to some spot of time?

 

 

 

PERSONAL HISTORY

 

Everything I’ve heard of you is true

Everything I’ve heard of you is not true

Everything I’ve heard of you is true (and it isn’t true)

Everything I’ve heard of you is not true (and it isn’t not true)

And now, I know everything

Now, I know everything.

 

 

 

WHITE MEN LANDING

 

So I crossed the dead ocean

To the land of the pagan

Now I’m lost in a prison

Where the walls are all golden

Where the doors never open

 

I am dead, I am dreaming

And my body is burning

Every green eye is hiding

Now the white men are landing

In the black velvet nothing

 

I will dance if you whip me

I will pray if you beat me

I will sing if you cut me

I will die if you let me,

I will die if you let me

 

I am dead, I am dreaming

And my body is burning

Every green eyes is hiding

Now the white men are landing

In the black velvet nothing,

In the black velvet nothing

 

 

 

OFF TO THE RACES

 

So it’s off to the races

Gonna see how they run

Find a seat in the grandstand

Under the sun

 

The track is all muddy

From a mid-morning rain

Sit and sip your mint julep

To lessen the strain

 

Don’t you know Robert Johnson

Was a dangerous man

In the time that you’re given

Gotta give what you can

 

Allen Ginsberg wrote visions

On a hydrogen cloud

You get what you pray for

Once you say it out loud

 

There’s a page in the Bible

That’s bloodstained and torn

There’s a beast in the desert

Who has yet to be born

 

Time to tie up your sandals

For to walk toward the sun

Though it seems the world’s ending

It’s barely begun

 

So it’s off to the races

Gonna see how they run

Find a  seat in the grandstand

Under the sun….

 

 

 

MEDUSA

 

Medusa, Medusa, the girl with the snakes in her hair

 

Medusa had snakes, snakes in her hair

Medusa had snakes in her hair

One look alone could turn you to stone

Not what you’d call dainty or fair

 

            Throughout every age when they talk about rage

            They all take a page from Medusa

            Down through the years, wreaking terror and tears

            Da Vinci and Dali’s Medusa

 

Medusa, Medusa, the girl with the snakes in her hair

 

Good Perseus cut, cut off her head

Without which you tend to be dead

Placed on a shield for Athena to wield

All evil would be put to bed

 

            Alex the Great, her face on his breastplate

            Drew power and hate from Medusa

            Versace’s posh bags and Sicily’s flags

            They all flash the face of Medusa

 

Medusa, Medusa, the girl with the snakes in her hair

 

Medusa has done, she’s done pretty fair

Medusa has done pretty fair

Her story gets told, her image is gold

The girl with the snakes in her hair

 

Medusa, Medusa, the girl with the snakes in her hair

 

 

 

(Music, Brian Schey & Erin Humphrey)

 

 

 

 

WILLIAM WILSON

 

(Inspired by the story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe)

 

Those days at school with cards and wine

I lived a life I thought was mine

Another man was looking on

A step behind but never gone

We shared the name, William Wilson

 

            Evil comes on silent wings

            It grabs your sleeve and so it clings

            But the evil bound to steal your breath

            Is your silent twin, your mirror of death

            And mine was William Wilson

 

I roamed the world, I shared my skin

Days of leisure, nights of sin

Time stretched out the way it does

I felt alone, but never was

I lived with William Wilson

 

            Evil comes on silent wings

            You feel its touch and then it stings

            But the evil bound to steal your breath

            Is your phantom self, your mirror of death

            And mine was William Wilson

 

I finally knew I’d had my fill

My watchful friend, I’d have to kill

I steeled my will, I grabbed my knife

And cut in half my double life

And I died with William Wilson

 

            Evil comes on silent wings

            It starts to hum and then it sings

            But the evil bound to steal your breath

            Is your shadow soul, your mirror of death

            And mine was William Wilson

           

Mine was William Wilson

            And I died with William Wilson

(Music, Brian Schey & Erin Humphrey)

 

 

 

WAKE UP AND DREAM

 

Every life is meant for living

Every song is to be sung

Every gift is meant for giving

It’s the same for everyone

For the world was built by dreamers

Dreams are real, and so it seems,

That this world was made for dreaming

If we just wake up and dream

 

            You can wait a lonely lifetime

            For a knock upon your door

            Ships are safe inside the harbor

            But is that what ships are for?

            All the world was built by dreamers

            Dreams are real, and so it seems,

            That this world was made for dreaming

            If we just wake up and dream     

 

There’s a time for every person

There’s a place for everything

And from every situation

What we take is what we bring

 

            You can wait a lonely lifetime

            For a knock upon your door

            Ships are safe inside the harbor

            But is that what ships are for?

            All the world was built by dreamers

            Dreams are real, and so it seems,

            That this world was made for dreaming

            If we just wake up and dream

 

All the world was made for dreaming

            Can’t we just wake up and dream?

 

                                                                                                                        (Music, Ed Tossing)

 

 

 

AMERICA’S A LONELY TOWN

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

Driving ‘cross country, late one night,

Twelve-thirty by the dashboard clock

Outside of Denver, I stopped for a bite

Went into a coffee shop

The waitress walked by me, she looked pretty weary,

Spreading those plates around

The look in her eyes got me to thinking,

America’s a lonely town

 

Back on the highway, some guy hitching

Hard to ignore that gaze

I thought about stopping, but I just kept driving

You can’t be too sure these days

I looked in the mirror, watched him get smaller

Distance and dark all around

I wondered if somewhere, does somebody miss him, 

America’s a lonely town

 

            Through any window, on every screen

            Divided by highways, driven by dreams

 

I took the next exit, pulled into a station

Then I picked up the phone

I dialed up the number, her voice sounded sleepy

“When are you coming home?”

I told her I missed her, she told me she loved me

I put the phone back down

Looked out at the highway, nothing but headlights

America’s a lonely town

 

 

 

HOW FAR CAN ONE MAN FALL?

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

 I thought I’d hit the bottom after you had gone away

The dark clouds up above me would be lifting any day

But that was wishful thinking, there’s no end in sight at all

Tell me, how far can one man fall?

 

From the moment I first met you, life was sweet as sweet can be

Not a man in all creation, as fortunate as me

But now it’s just a memory, too painful to recall

Tell me, how far can one man fall?

 

            They say you don’t start healing till you’ve felt the deepest pain

            They say the sun keeps shining up above this pouring rain

 

We once stood on a mountain with the world stretched out below

We were just this side of heaven and then you let me go

When I feel some ground beneath me, that’s when I’ll begin to crawl

Tell me, how far can one man fall?

JUST LUCKY, I GUESS

(With Billy Panda)

 

Cry on my shoulder when your heart gets burned

And then it’s over and you’ve finally learned this time

Before you know it, it’ll happen again

Then I’m the one you run to when you’re in distress

Just lucky, I guess

 

I get your mornings and your afternoons

You spend your evenings with the one you kiss goodnight

I’m not like all the others ‘cause I treat you right

You tell me I’m the only one you don’t need to impress

Just lucky, I guess

 

            Each day my heart keeps saying, “Don’t let your feelings show.”

            But will I love you forever and never let you know?

 

I’m hardly sleeping and my nerves are shot

Got all these feeling that I’d rather not confess

 

Just lucky, I guess

 

 

 

LONESOME TOGETHER

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

Last night I was sitting in my living room chair

Hadn’t changed my clothes, hadn’t combed my hair

I began to wonder, “Are you sitting home too, while the night is wasting away?”

I kept dialing your number but I couldn’t get through

Here’s what I wanted to say…

 

            Why don’t we be lonesome together?

            Why don’t we give it a try?

            Wouldn’t hurt no one, might even be fun

            Might turn into something we both can’t deny

           

You could use a change in the weather

            I could lose the blues now and then

            And if we keep being lonesome together

            We might never be lonesome again

 

Tonight I’m planning a whole lotta fun

A microwave dinner, a table for one

But if you come over it’ll be just fine, I could use a little company

You’ve got your troubles, baby, I’ve got mine

And if you’re half as lonesome a me…

 

            Why don’t we be lonesome together?

            Got nothing better to do

            Wouldn’t hurt one bit, you gotta admit

            The time might be right to try out something new

           

This situation can’t last forever

            I’ll be sitting here if and when

            And if we keep being lonesome together

            We might never be lonesome again

           

 

 

VANDALIA

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

I live outside a town called Vandalia

I hear there’s quiet streets and a pretty square

But I’m doing three to five in Vandalia

So I aint really living anywhere

 

I never dreamed I’d end up in Vandalia

I was brought up knowing wrong from right

Good intentions pave the road to Vandalia

What you swear you’d never do, you just might

 

            But I’ll never breathe the air in Vandalia

            Or set foot on the sidewalks of that town

            And if I ever come back to Vandalia

            It’ll be on that same road that I went down

 

I hear there’s pretty women in Vandalia

I’ll bet there’s guys who could be friends of mine

But they don’t wanna know you in Vandalia

So you’d better leave here once you’ve done your time

 

            I’ll never breathe the air in Vandalia

            Or set foot on the sidewalks of that town

            And if I ever come back to Vandalia

            It’ll be on that same road that I went down

 

 

 

WHAT THERE’LL BE LEFT OF ME

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

I know I didn’t listen when you said you needed more

We had a few rough edges, I chose to ignore

I know I didn’t comfort you when we would disagree

But I don’t know when you go, what there’ll be left of me

 

I know you felt neglected from too much time alone

I know you saw some sides of me I never should have shown

I know your heart cried out in ways I simply couldn’t see

I just don’t know when you go, what there’ll be left of me

 

            I know I can’t make you stay

            I know we’re too far apart to meet halfway

 

I’m sure he’ll treat you better, at least he’ll get the chance

I hope you’ll take some good things from our failed romance

I wish you all the happiness this world can guarantee

But I don’t know when you go, what there’ll be left of me.   

 

 

 

COMING HOME FROM SHILOH

 

(With Billy Panda)

 

Eighteen sixty-two, gray was fighting blue

And her Johnny joined to fight for Tennessee

On the night he left, she lit her bedroom lamp

And said, “This flame will burn till you return to me.”

 

Sometimes late at night

When the moon was full and bright

They’d see her all alone behind her window

Her love, forever gone

The flame kept burning on

She still thinks he’s coming home from Shiloh

 

Nineteen twenty-three, she had lived to see

Her beauty being faded by the years

She’d wake up with the moon, but never leave her room

The dancing light burning bright to keep away the tears

 

Sometimes late at night

They’d see her pale and white

Waiting all alone behind her window

They’d shiver as they swear

They’ve seen her standing there

She still thinks he’s coming home from Shiloh

 

            The oldest house in town, no one will tear it down

            They say it’s always dark and cold inside

            And in her room upstairs, that lamp is sitting there

            But it stopped burning on the night she died

 

Sometimes late at night

When the moon is full and bright

There’s a shadow looking down behind her window

They shiver as they swear

They’ve seen her standing there

She still thinks he’s coming home from Shiloh

 

 

 

HEAVY THE COAT, HEAVY THE SEA

 

Tonight the sky is black and starless

As I am rowing in the darkness

My arms and spirit are so weary

And this boat knows no port of entry

 

            Heavy the oars that part the water

            Heavy the coat upon my shoulders

            Heavy the sea that swirls beneath me

            Heavy the world though it be empty

 

I met the Master of the water

I wept and fasted for His answer

He said, “A storm will rage behind me,

But cast your net and you will find me.”

 

            Heavy the oars that part the water

            Heavy the coat upon my shoulders

            Heavy the sea that swirls beneath me

            Heavy the world though it be empty

 

The fishes live inside the ocean

They feel us sailing high above them

What blows the wind and rolls the thunder

May be another world we’re under

 

            Heavy the oars that part the water

            Heavy the coat upon my shoulders

            Heavy the sea that swirls beneath me

            Heavy the world though it be empty

 

 

 

TIMES I TRIED TO LOVE YOU

 

Whoever said, “Love is blind”

Must have had someone like me in mind

That’s how I feel about

Times I tried to love you

 

For every star out in the blue

There burns a lie I once heard from you

Yes, I still think about

Times I tried to love you

 

I played my hand with the rest of them

But it never seemed to turn over right

The best laid plans of mice and men

Are dreams that disappear overnight

 

Once it breaks off there’s no love lost

And like a bridge that is burned once it’s crossed

I’ll soon forget about

Times I tried to love you

 

I’ll put them far behind

Those times I tried to love you

UNFURNISHED

 

(Spoken word)

 

There was no rental

The landlord came, hoping to line his slick pockets

But there was no rental

Not with a dead mouse in the middle of the floor

We left it there

Placed it with care

Before we closed the door

 

There was no rental

The lady downstairs complained of too much racket

So there was no rental

Not with fumes from cooking still brushed thick in the air

Slop-y ceiling

Ghost-y feeling

And were we even there?

 

Those tunes we sang are still on paper

The words we had must linger to this day

The account of that winter, can you vaguely remember?

Even the neighborhood seemed a continent away

 

The nights were brown like postal wrapper

The dawns cut sharp, a razor glinting gray

Through the shock of December, did we exit or enter?

While the walls and our thoughts made a tangled bouquet

 

Some occupation, but with no quieting sense of a center

Exploitable renter,

That is the hand that gets dealt to the self-employed

Limitation

Deprivation

No floor to be enjoyed

 

We probed the darkness, we lit the stove

Whose pilot light fell cold as yes, a tomb

The city came to inspect

But held out no respect

To that lamentable room

 

Some occupation, defined by a shadow in the drawer

Cold steam on the burner

Rust insolently spreading deep in the ice box

All that could fit,

Make sense of it

Were keys inside the locks

UNTITLED

I waited for the thunder, feeling meek against the morning

But nothing much was doing in the dull and muted sky

So I strapped on my ambition as I walked the path of passion

Now that song had ended, I can barely tell you why

 

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to always worry

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            I believed a lie

            Now I’m strong, strong, strong

            With time enough to hurry

            Before the fire would freeze us in a twinkling of an eye

 

I dreamed I saw the children linking arms across the water

With smiles of deep compassion in the diamonds of their eyes

I listened for the lightning, but there was none forthcoming

So I danced in my thanksgiving, feeling innocent and wise

 

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to ever gamble

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Lord, I might have died

            But now I’m strong, strong, strong

            And the world is not in shambles

            As the flame burns on eternal from the first day of July

 

As all that I imagined came to pass as I’d envisioned

I realize the future is a friend to be embraced

As I hear the swollen echo of every promise broken

A look of understanding has been written on my face

 

I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to always worry

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            I believed a lie

            Now I’m strong, strong, strong

            With time enough to hurry

            Before the fire would freeze us in a twinkling of an eye

 

And as I hold my loved ones, there’s nothing that can touch us

They provide the anchor to my restless state of grace

As all the pointless questions are fading in the darkness

My life becomes a journey that no pilgrim can retrace

 

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to ever gamble

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Lord, I might have died

            But now I’m strong, strong, strong

            And the world is not in shambles

            As the flame burns on eternal from the first day of July

I sang the song of terror with words I have forgotten

To every ear that heard it I must first apologize

For when I see the splendor of an ordinary morning

I bow my head in wonder and I can’t believe my eyes

 

I spent all my frustration with friends I have forsaken

And for those careless moments I hope I’ve paid the price

But the hurt that is apparent on the face of any stranger

Makes my debt much larger so I’ll gladly pay it twice

 

I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to always worry

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            I believed a lie

            Now I’m strong, strong, strong

            With time enough to hurry

            Before the fire would freeze us in a twinkling of an eye

 

As all hallucinations re crumbling into nothing

And all substantial teachings at last re given voice

We will hear the trumpet sounding we will see the scroll unfolding

A cause for celebration for all who made the choice

 

And as I see the falcon circling high above me

I somehow know for certain I still count him a friend

As I’m standing on the shoreline with both feet in the water

No one needs to tell me that I’ve finally reached the end  

 

I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Wrong to ever gamble

            I was wrong, wrong, wrong

            Lord, I might have died

            But now I’m strong, strong, strong

            And the world is not in shambles

            As the flame burns on eternal at the threshold of July

 

 

 

SONG CREDITS

 

America’s a Lonely Town; Published 2012, Bodark Music, BMI/Wireless Music, BMI

 

Autumn Ending; Published 1996, Wireless Music, BMI/Her Little Fat Guy Publishing BMI/Just Mee Two Publishing BMI

 

Bed Full of Blue; Published 2006, Bodark Music, BMI/ Tools Music, BMI

 

Black-eyed Susan; Published 2004, Bodark Music, BMI/Wireless Music BMI

 

Blessed; Published 2005, Bodark Music BMI

 

Coming Home from Shiloh; Published 2019, Bodark Music, BMI/Billy Panda, NA

 

Cool of the Day; Published 1985, Wireless Music, BMI

 

Don’t Look for Love; Published 1977, Wireless Music, BMI

 

Heavy the Coat, Heavy the Sea; Published 1979, Wireless Music, BMI

 

How Far Can One Man Fall? Published 2019; Songs of Mojo One, BMI/Billy Panda, NA  

 

It All Happened While You Were Gone; Published 1977; Wireless Music, BMI

 

Just Lucky, I Guess; Published 2019, Songs of Mojo One, BMI/Billy Panda, NA

 

Key to the Kingdom; Published 2006, Wireless Music, BMI

 

Lonesome Together; Published 2019, Bodark Music, BMI/Billy Panda, NA

 

Medusa; Published 2017, Bodark Music, BMI/Hazeltop Music, ASCAP/Erin Humphrey, NA

 

Off to the Races; Published 2012, Bodark Music, BMI

 

Personal History; Published 2016, Bodark Music, BMI

 

Spot of Time; Published 2016, Bodark Music, BMI

 

Teleclone Universe; Published 2007, Bodark Music, BMI/ Tools Music, BMI

 

Times I Tried to Love You; Published 1979, Wireless Music, BMI

 

Tunnel at the End of the Light; Published 2005, Wireless Music, BMI

 

Unfurnished; Spoken word, first performed 2007

 

Untitled; Published 1990, Universal Music Group, BMI/Bodark Music, BMI (Alternate version “Threshold of July”)

 

Vandalia; Published 2019, Songs of Mojo One, BMI/Billy Panda, NA

 

Wake up and Dream; Published 1987, Wireless Music BMI/Ed Tossing Music BMI/Skinny Music, BMI

 

Walkin’ My Karma; Published 2007, Bodark Music, BMI/ Tools Music, BMI

 

What the Devil Loves; Published 2007, Polygram Music, BMI/Songs of Mojo One, BMI

 

What There’ll Be Left of Me; Published 2019, Bodark Music, BMI/Billy Panda, NA

 

White Men Landing; Published 1979, Wireless Music, BMI

 

William Wilson; Published 2017, Bodark Music, BMI/Hazeltop Music, ASCAP/Erin Humphrey, NA