1. |
The Night Life
03:15
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The Night Life
Each night I take in our city’s song
Sirens, horns at stoplights, barking dogs
You could call it hopeful; call it bleak
I don’t care. I just want to fall asleep
Radiator humming on and off right by the stove
Small device suffice to heat my tiny home
My good ear to the pillow to muffle the sounds
So why can I not sleep now?
Liquor, pills, and sheep
None of them can keep me
From wasting away my life
Staring at ceilings
My old best friend told me all about her dreams
She lived another life beneath the sheets
She got scared some nights and she’d forget to breathe
Ring me up at one A.M. and so I’d leave
My dad claims to commune with the dead
Barbeques with lost relatives and friends
He tells me what they did and what they said
It must be nice, even though they’re just chemicals in his head
Liquor, pills, and sheep
None of them can keep me
From wasting away my life
Staring at ceilings
And it goes on and on
And on and on
And none and none
And none and none
And none anon
And none anon
And John Gay’s grave
© 2009
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2. |
Definitions
03:50
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Definitions
Ten thousand dollars, a car, a degree
To get out of this State, that’s all I need
Goodbye parasitic friends, bigotry
Thanks for using me to make your lives more interesting
I’ve suffered a gradual drastic change
I’ve lost my faith, my place, and my name
Every inclination of who I wanted to be
I’m gonna need a change of scenery
I’m homeless in the house I grew up in
I’m lonely in the hang-outs I defined myself in
My friends are content to stay where they’ve been
As for me, my patience is wearing thin
I gotta get out
It’s not that the late night diner lost its fun
Coastlines signify my best is yet to come
But there’re a few years left to pass before I go
So don’t worry, this isn’t the end of the rock and roll
I’m homeless in the house I grew up in
I’m lonely in the hang-outs I defined myself in
My friends are content to stay where they’ve been
As for me, my patience is wearing thin
I gotta get out
© 2006
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3. |
Vinyl & Old Men
02:51
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Vinyl and Old Men
Told me about this book you like
That shares its title with a song by The Smiths
I really like it too, but didn’t tell as to not kiss up to you
God, it was so hard to resist
Together went to see some films
French New Wave double-bill, Godard and Truffaut
You said you liked them both
I said maybe but nothing beats The 400 Blows
I’m so glad you exist
Even if we’ll only ever just be friends
Sat out on my porch and talked
Of confusion and lust and rock
Passing flavored tobacco
Born at the wrong time
1950 and we’d have been alive
When our favorite shit happened
Drugs and sex made manifest
In song but for us all that’s left is
Vinyl and old men
Down on the street where the faces shine
Iggy Pop, man, blows my mind
How the hell’s he still alive?
It’s nice when you’ve got nothing to prove
Just talk and drink and watch pictures move
‘Til early in the morning
I swear I’ll never make a move
That is, unless you want me to
So feel free call me up at one A.M.
When you get scared
I’m so glad you exist
Even if we’ll only ever just be friends
© 2009
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4. |
Pablo Communal
03:58
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Pablo Communal
We stayed up late drinking
We started way too early in the evening
Chemicals in our brains got us to thinking
Maybe we should drive out to the lake by the power plant
Make our presence known to the neighbors
Light up some roman candles and dance around like ravers
Some nights this house is a sarcophagus
Other nights it’s the end of a pilgrimage
But mostly as a symbol it is meaningless
Just a roof under which we sometimes purge and binge
We stayed up late and slept in
Until noon or one and not just on the weekends
My own bed never satisfied my longing
To wake next to foreign bodies and stare at foreign ceilings
Made my presence known to the neighbors
Broom handles demanded quiet but they could never make us
They could never make us
Some nights this house is a sarcophagus
Other nights it’s the end of a pilgrimage
But mostly as a symbol it is meaningless
Just a roof under which we sometimes purge and binge
We stayed up late drinking
We started way too early in the evening
© 2008
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5. |
Basement Couch
02:39
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Basement Couch
I believed in romance.
And how it all played out
Over hours and hours spent
On your basement couch
Parents sleeping
Couldn’t be too loud
Bodies aligned
Parallel to the ground
Only shoes off
Being watched by God
Oh, our dirty old high school
Held hands in the hall
Studied you only
Let my other grades fall
Took you to all the dumb dances
With our prettied-up friends
In a tieless dress shirt
Not tucked in
We were fucking punk rock
Or so we thought
Only shoes off
Being watched by God
© 2009
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6. |
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Good Things and Loads of Suggestions
We sat silent by the hearth in the light of the woodfire
But I could tell what you’d been thinking
Nothing we try works
We’re undeserving of each other’s attention
So I poured us another glass of something stronger
Because the wine, it works too slowly
I tripped and spilled it on your favorite shirt
Permanently staining
So I peeled off your shirt
And beheld the edifice we’d corroded
Our bodies aligned
Unconfined by our real lives, warm and loaded
Warm and loaded
The month went by too fast because we just partied
Perhaps a bit too loudly
Those within the rooms adjacent, how they hated it
And with broom handles demanded quiet
When school starts up again, it’s back to our old friends
And no more prolonged weekend
Let’s ignore that, Sadie
Lose ourselves in the sound of your spinning favorite LP
Every Picture Tells a Story
Keep turning it over until morning
Side A to Side B
Keep turning it over
So I peeled off your shirt
And beheld the edifice we’d corroded
Our bodies aligned
Unconfined by our real lives, warm and loaded
Warm and loaded
Side A to Side B to Side A
© 2009
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7. |
Squabble
03:30
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Squabble
I got a friend who needs me by her side
But she’s too afraid to ask, afraid of what could be implied
She says there’s just too much snow out on the road for me to drive through
Baby, its cold outside but you know that I’ll walk it if I have to
Let me see you tonight
Put our squabbles away
Let me see you tonight
Let me be your friend if that’s alright
If that’s okay
My phone rings again at one A.M.
“Hello, are you doing well, ‘cause I am not and I was hoping
Maybe we could talk, I’m so sorry if you were sleeping.”
I said “Can you wait ten minutes? How about we do this in person?”
Let me see you tonight
Put our squabbles away
Let me see you tonight
Let me be your friend if that’s alright
If that’s okay
You’ve not got much to say
But that’s okay with me
I’ll stay ‘til morning
And hold you while you sleep
I’ll hold you while you sleep
© 2005
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8. |
Stolen Red Wine
05:14
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Stolen Red Wine
Ran out of money and we’re living on the beach
Drinking stolen red wine every night until we fall asleep
Maybe moving from Missouri wasn’t such a great idea
She said, “Hold my hand, look in my eyes, hear my words… baby, don’t be scared.”
Fifteen hundred miles have passed beneath our feet
We’ve consumed our last few slices of sandwich meat
Shared with kind new friends made on the streets
Our last possession a shopping bag concealing six bottles fermented with yeast
Yet she still fails to find a reason to head back east
Not that we have the means
Saw a man jogging in the morning on the public sand
Starting his day like my dad would; with headphones and an armband
Maybe moving from Missouri wasn’t such a great idea
She said, “Calm down, you know you don’t mean it.
Calm down, you know you don’t mean it.”
Maybe moving from Missouri wasn’t such a great idea
She said, “Nonsense honey oh you know it never gets cold here… don’t be scared.”
Fifteen hundred miles have passed beneath our feet
We’ve consumed our last few slices of sandwich meat
Shared with kind new friends met on the streets
Our last possession a shopping bag concealing six bottles fermented with yeast
Yet still she fails to find a reason to head back east
Not that we have the means
Hey, Dad. I found a café that let me in despite my dirty face
I explained my situation; I need to get on a plane
That’s right; I’m going to ask if you will pay for my ticket back
You know I’m good for the loan
© 2006
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9. |
The Olympic Pool
03:20
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The Olympic Pool
Slightly impaired on a Sunday night
“How the hell’d I get here, up on this high dive,” I thought
As I bounced gently on its spring
Sadie behind me looking too sultry
So much so that it’s inebriating
And I’ll do anything she says
Shiny wet skin and cutoff jeans
On the top wrung, patiently waiting
She doesn’t think I’ll jump
But to our surprise I bend my knees
Gather my courage and fling
My body from the board
And the water is warm but the water cannot not cleanse me
And the water is not holy, but nor is it unholy
Not holy nor unholy, not holy nor unholy
Sadie showed up to confiscate me
Late at night as I was brushing my teeth
Preparing for sleep
The air outside about 90 degrees
She asked to ride bikes despite the heat
Of course, I obliged
Pedaled by the University
She saw a lit sign that she deemed intriguing
It said The Olympic Pool
Passed a flask out in front of the door
She reached in her jeans and produced a stolen key
She’d planned this in advance
And the water is warm but the water cannot cleanse me
And the water is not holy, but nor is it unholy
Not holy nor unholy, not holy nor unholy
I am merely a device
Through which she often likes
To have a real cool time
And I don’t really mind
Sadie, Sadie, Sadie
She is not my kind
© 2009
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10. |
Highway 60
05:04
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Highway 60
Told me you were back in town, I didn’t know you’d moved
Home for the weekend, maybe we should get some food
A year and a half had passed; I guess we went our separate routes
You grew up a little bit; I guess I grew up too
That summer, our summer, I told myself that I was cool just being friends
Sit around and drink and talk about vinyl and old men
Maybe put a movie on, or two; we both can pick one
It doesn’t matter what we do to me, with you it’ll be fun
And this is what I want every night of my life
But
Highway 60 separates me
Instead I’m drunk, walking down State St. to another party
A party where I don’t want to be
Because since you re-entered my life
It’s been incomplete
And I know it sounds so fucking cheesy when I say it
But goddamn if I don’t mean it
I fucking mean it
My mom would say that I need to cut it out with the cursing
But dad would say strong language for strong situations
Told me once that he was proud of me for being romantic like him
I would like to see his face if I could bring you around again
I wanna bring you around again
But
Highway 60 separates me
Instead I’m drunk, walking down State St. to another party
A party where I don’t want to be
Because since you re-entered my life
It’s been incomplete
And I know it sounds so fucking cheesy when I say it
But goddamn if I don’t mean it
I fucking mean it
Walkin’ out of the welfare theater in the cold, we can see our breathe and
Something’s weighing on my mind that I just have to tell you
That summer, our summer, you left on me a permanent impression
Yeah, you became the girl by which all others are measured
And nobody stands up to you
It’s not even close
And
Highway 60 can’t fucking keep me
I’m no believer in destiny
But I believe in you and me
Because since you re-entered my life
It’s been incomplete
And I know it sounds so fucking cheesy when I say it
But goddamn if I don’t mean it
Please know I mean it
Please let me prove it
© 2009
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11. |
Wasted Midwestern
05:41
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Wasted Midwestern
When kicked out of bars that have lawfully closed
Where do those wasted Midwestern kids go?
House parties, backseats, and warehouse shows
Having the best time they can before giving up the ghost
Sadie in the back of a parked car
With some guy she just met at some gnarly bar
Parallel to the floorboards the two of them
With chemicals pulsing through systems
Sadie has to be to work by six A.M.
But she’s already decided to call in
This guy, he has certain expectations
And she can’t bear the thought of displeasing him
When kicked out of bars that have lawfully closed
Where do those wasted Midwestern kids go?
House parties, backseats, and warehouse shows
Having the best time they can before giving up the ghost
When the house lights come on the kids go outside
And stand in the street until they decide
Where to head next and who’s giving who rides
Knowing all too well that nobody should drive
The guys in the bands are still stuck inside
Gotta haul their shit back to their homes tonight
Girlfriends get impatient and leave them behind
It sucks, but the guys, they don’t mind
It’s a small price to pay and it’s a pretty great high
It’s no price to pay and it’s the best high
It’s a small price to pay and it’s a pretty great high
It’s no price to pay and it’s the best high
When kicked out of bars that have lawfully closed
Where do those wasted Midwestern kids go?
House parties, backseats, and warehouse shows
Having the best time they can before giving up the ghost
Sadie comes out every time, to every show
Wakes up the next mornings still in the same clothes
She knows the best kind of nights bleed into next days
Even if sometimes they come with some shirt stains
When kicked out of bars that have lawfully closed
Where do those wasted Midwestern kids go?
House parties, backseats, and warehouse shows
Having the best time they can before giving up the ghost
The best time they can
The best time they can
We’re having the best time we can
© 2009
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