American Teenage Turmoil

April 2006

This one’s drawn from a variety of sources, mostly related to the general madness around here. People are nuts, and yes that includes me. Anyway, it’s pretty straightforward power pop musically, but I’m happy because it got me off the folkiness in my head for a bit. The poet in me has great difficulty writing a pure chorus. Either too many good ideas, or none good enough to stand repetition, I don’t know. Enjoy.

Do you recall the way it all seemed wonderful?
Do you recall the tragedy the very next day?
And do you recall the way I called you beautiful?
And do you recall the way it all fades away?

Good old American Teenage Turmoil
If you don’t break through it breaks you down again
Good old American Teenage Turmoil
You’re living in sin till you’re 21, and then:

Do you recall the night we spent in the underbrush?
Do you recall that turnaround is always fair play?
And do you recall the way we laughed, just the two of us?
And do you recall the way it all fades away?

Good old American Teenage Turmoil
It’s funny that we make it through alive
Good old American Teenage Turmoil
You can’t understand, so you might as well survive.

Do you recall the things we swore in the summertime?
Do you recall the promises we never could say?
And do you recall that all we knew we could undermine?
And do you recall the way it all fades away?

Good old American Teenage Turmoil
Drop yourself a line to get in touch
Good old American Teenage Turmoil
You’re not yourself, or maybe just a little too much

Good old American Teenage Turmoil
If you don’t break through it breaks you down again
Good old American Teenage Turmoil
You’re living in sin till you’re 21, and then:

Good old American Twenty-something Turmoil…

Burning Bridges

December 2005

This is something I wrote fairly aimlessly, as poetry, although it has something of a song verse-chorus structure. Not that the chorus stays the same, but the “burning” sections stick together rhythmically more, and there’s an old Irish melody that fits them. Somehow the less melody I have when writing, the more I’m forced to carry things along with imagery, although with some work I suppose this could be a song. And what’s it about. Oh, I don’t know – journeys, collateral damage, things you do without reasons, and all that jazz. And it’s a little bit, just a little bit, about the Cuyahoga River…

Long, strange, into nowhere
With the mystery of Sanskrit on sandstone
And the air smells of gypsies and blood
Not that we look for them
But the blood keeps for centuries
On the blades of grass for the blades of steel

You’re burning your bridges before you
You’re burning your bridges with incense and myrrh
You’re burning Chicago for steel and glass
But Chicago was burning so long before you were

And a handful of glass beads on the windshield
Before you can wipe it away and you’re drowning
In crystal and chandelier bulbs
Not that we ask for them
But the crystals are products of centuries
Or it’s glass from this Wednesday that’s never been real

But you’re burning your bridges before you
Burning your bridges for tinder and shame
You’re burning down Cleveland for blue river water
But the river was flowing so long before you came

And those tornado spirals in deep river water
And hurricanes carved into deep forest maple
And you wipe it all off with a scarlet bandanna
With the dust and dandelions
Not that they grow here
But they blow in the wind over centuries
Just like we do

And we’re burning our bridges behind us
We’ve been burning our bridges to keep ourselves home
We’re burning a path to the deep ocean water
But the waves have been crashing since long before we came to roam.

Catch Me!

December 2005

You know, I’m going to run out of fresh things to say about these if I don’t find a new theme. But hell, it’s bouncy and kind of Belle & Sebastian-y. And it does touch a somewhat different tone than other things I’ve written: full of enthusiasm, but not quite ready to jump.

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Catch me! I’m not falling but I’ll fall for you
Catch me! I’m not falling but I’m trying to
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but this is true
If you catch me I’ll be there to carry you.

Wake me! I’m not sleeping but I dream of you
Wake me! I’ve been out for near a month or two
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but so are you
And together there’s no telling what we’ll do

Save me! I’m not dying but that’s all I do
Save me! I’m an inch away from breaking through
Don’t be scared, honey! We’ve got everything to lose
But that’s only if it’s what we want to do

Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool I know it’s true
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but so are you
Don’t be scared, honey! I don’t have to fall for you
But I’m telling you there’s more that we can do

Oh, catch me! I’m not falling but I’ll fall for you
Catch me! I’m not falling but I’m trying to
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but this is true
If you catch me I’ll be there to carry you.

Keep on Dreaming

November 2005

It’s got that enthusiastically uncertain vibe that I do so well. And I also seem to have drifted into a bit of a… roots rock? … mode lately, which is why I come up a bit clichéd on the choruses. But it’s been fun to sing, and it’s one of my more inspired songs lately. Think Johnny Cash.

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There’s a song you hear in the dead of night when your thoughts have all gone dry
And you keep on thinking till your head goes numb and you keep on wondering why
And you keep on falling down
And you keep on trying to fly
And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night when your thoughts have all gone dry

But you keep on moving
You keep on trying way too hard
And you keep on losing
But you keep on going back to the start
But you keep on dreaming
You keep on keep on keeping on
You keep on saying, babe, don’t make me sing this song

And there’s a face you see when you close your eyes that you don’t even try to explain
And you keep on talking till you’ve figured it out and your friends all think you’re insane
And you keep on looking up
And you keep on down the drain
But there’s a face you see when you close your eyes that you don’t even try to explain

But you keep on moving…

And there’s a voice you hear when you wake up cold and you color your days with your dreams
And you keep on believing till you’re scared to death that it’s nearly as hard as it seems
And you keep on breaking down
And you keep on gaining steam
But there’s a voice you hear when you wake up cold and you color your days with your dreams

But you keep on moving…

And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night that’s burning a hole in your mind
And you keep on trying to disguise yourself like you know what tomorrow will find
And you keep on looking for daylight
And you keep on flying blind
And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night that’s burning a hole in your mind

But you keep on moving…

So don’t you kill me, honey
Don’t you walk me down the line
Don’t you kill me, honey
You know you’re a friend of mine
And don’t you worry, baby
It’s all right now I’ll be fine
Don’t you worry, baby
You’ll be on my mind

Hymn to St. Elmo the Sailor

November 2005

This is my first attempt at a drinking song. I’m not entirely sure how this idea came around, but I managed to write almost all of it on the CTA going home for Thanksgiving.

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Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
I’m running on seaweed and fumes
And I’m in no navy but that’s not important
I’ve no one to turn to but you

Protect me, Saint Elmo, I’m drowning
I’m drowning my troubles in booze
I’m up to my eyeballs in cheap gin and vodka
If you won’t help drink it, I’m through

Protect me, Saint Elmo, a sailor
For the deck is a-heaving and swaying
I know I’m not shipboard but I’m getting seasick
It’s making a mess of my brain

Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
I’m sure that you’re wondering why
There’s nobody else who can help with my problem
I can’t seem to keep myself dry.

Protect me, Saint Elmo, a traveler
My compass is guiding me stray
My sea-legs are presently rather unstable
And the bartender says I can’t stay

Protect me, Saint Elmo, I’m grounded
I’m beached on the side of the street
What I mean to say is I’m stuck in a gutter
And the liquor has capsized my feet

Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
Just heed this poor vagabond’s cry
I’ll shiver my timbers and batten my hatches
If that’s what it takes to get by

Chicago Rain My Blues Away

November 2005

Somehow, these things are always really good when you finish them at 4 in the morning. Even if I just can’t seem to avoid the weather imagery. This one was fun. It started out sort of Bell & Sebastian inspired, although I think the tempo changed along the way and there a bit of melody I may have stolen from the Allman Brothers. Do I even have to say it’s about a girl at this point?

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I’ve been talking in the station of the crow’s unsteady flight
I‘ve been waking in the morning to a grey and shaky light
I could stake my reputation on my never being right
Oh Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Cause it’s been so long without sunshine
I can’t stand it when the skies are clear
And I’ve been so long chasing shadows
That I don’t know what to do when one gets near

And it takes more than a smile to move me… sometimes
And it takes more than the wind to move me anywhere at all
But I’m hiding from the blue sky with my back against the wall
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

And it gets so cold in the sunshine
That I don’t even try to warm my nights
And it gets so dim in the daytime
That I don’t even think to turn the lights

But if everything I try to do is something
And if nothing that I know is nevermore,
Still it seems that I get burned whenever I walk out the door
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Cause it takes so much to be sensible
I’d rather have a complicated twist
And a clear autumn day seems so simple
When I’m fixed upon an unexpected tryst

So I’m sorry that my thoughts are always cloudy
And I’m sorry that I’m caught up in the breeze and just a kiss
And I fear we may get snowed in before we get out of this
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?
Oh Chicago, can’t you rain my blues away?
Cause I’m really not so worried when the world’s in shades of gray.
Oh Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Pull Myself Together

October 2005

Built off a bouncy little stop-and-go rhythm I got stuck in my own head over the summer, which makes it feel like such a happy song. I wish it could be happier, though it sits on the cheerful, well-meaning side of a tough goodbye. I printed out a copy, and then somebody asked to read it in the elevator, and then asked to keep it. So that’s reassuring.

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I want no one, to tell me what to live for
I’ve got no one, there’s nothing I can be
But I need only one, to put it all together
I need only one, to help me to be free

And I’ve no faith, I seek no mighty savior
And I’ve no pride, nor simple vanity
And I’m no fool, I seek no perfect stranger
I am only looking for the one I need

And I need only one, to pull myself together
And I need only one, to love me tenderly
I need only one, only one and nothing better
I need only you, if only you could see

But it’s too late, to put it back together
And it’s too long, too strange to wait and see
So it’s “fare thee well,” and beware of stormy weather
And it’s “fare thee well,” I guess I’d better leave

So I’m going away, a long, long way away
Though I don’t know if I’m going anywhere
And I’m going away, I got to get away today
And I don’t know if I’ll come back anymore

I’m going away, ‘cause there’s no place I can stay
But then again I could be right back here tomorrow
And tomorrow I don’t know, there’s no place I can go
But everything I need I can borrow

So it’s fare thee well, I’m bound for stormy weather
And it’s so long, I’ll find another way
And it’s such a shame, but nothing lasts forever
If you need me I’ll be back again someday

And I need only one, to put it all together
And I need one chance; I guess it’s hard to see
Cause it’s so strange, and it’s neither now nor never
I’m still looking for the only one I need.