released December 7, 2023

SONGS:
1. Something True
2. Rose-Colored Glasses
3. There Is Nothing But The Now
4. The Wind Would Give You No Reply
5. I Was Right
6. The Importance of Rules
7. Strangers
8. Cartoon On Carnival Street
9. Someone You Know
10. The Charmed Life

SOMETHING TRUE (FINAL)

I don’t want to be anybody but me
On this plot of land at the end of the street
I guess what I’m looking for
Is a friend outside my door

Chase your dreams down fast
‘Cause it ain’t gonna last
Make a little cash and a bit of a splash
I feel better when we meet

‘Cause I feel like I’ve been heard and seen
Rarely does a man find a friend like you
Rarely is a man the man you thought you knew
I found something true
Like the wind in the dogwood trees
And the morning dew

You and me make a pretty good team
You round up a crowd and I’ll make a scene
You see I have this vision
You pay the gas and I’ll push the engine

In a world full of so much noise
I’ve made a simple choice
To not think too much
To be at peace
Like the cows and the pigs and the geese

Rarely does a man find a friend like you
Rarely is a man the man you thought you knew
I found something true
Like the wind in the dogwood trees
And the morning dew
It’s a big, bad world

People stepping over each other
You spun a web, you’ll catch me
Who wants to live forever
While we’re here you can see

This is the greatest place to be
Opened up the window to say
I saw the whole of the world on a heavenly day
Felt my mission was simple, I suppose

See a few feet in front of my nose
The road gets rocky and we lose our way
Apples rot brown and skies go grey
We lose, we win and then
The people we love show up again

Rarely does a man find a friend like you
Rarely is a man the man you thought you knew
I found something true
Like the wind in the dogwood trees
When you’re carried off on a breeze
You can float high up above
And enjoy the view

ROSE-COLORED GLASSES

But I think tonight would smell much better
If I’d worked harder last week
And not let my gut sag
And my hair grow long
Had I earned a little money on Wall Street

That was back when I was wild and free
And undaunted by responsibility
Or was it so great back then?
Time often rose-colors the ordinary

No one has to know
How the story goes
I can smell the rose
And I don’t want to let it go

You hear the stories everywhere you go
The murmur of tales of great men
Who never felt fear,
As the future neared
They brought the past with them

That was back when I was wild and free
And undaunted by responsibility
Or was it so great back then?
Time often rose-colors the ordinary

And no one has to know
And no one has to know

Put the past behind you
An unfair title –
Or a wedgy – or a swirley –
And the girls never treated you poorly

And no one has to know
And no one has to know

THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE NOW

All of the times
That I reassured myself
With those words, those beautiful words
I’m not sure
Who spoke them first
Did they come from a book? It’s so absurd

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

Never being able to come up with the words
They are just incomprehensible
Those experiences: What are they? What were they?
For now, they are wholly indescribable

The movies that we watched as kids
Were they all that great?
When, as an adult, you watch it today
What meaning do you create?

Why did they act the way they did?
Maybe Hollywood wants to know, too
This is the only play that could ever dream up
This is the last thing that ever became of all our motivations

There is nothing but the now
There is nothing but the now

THE WIND WOULD GIVE YOU NO REPLY

I was feeling so old
When the soiree came
I thought I was getting hard
But the release softened me up again

I try to cut the day into portions
Try to measure out the day
Now it’s time to cast things back
To look the other way

I could look for an answer
But these days, I don’t bother asking why
And the wind would give me no reply
The wind would give me no reply

I forgot about the happiness
That comes with contentment
When you let go and let out
What you have repressed

But still, my friends’ lover left him
For another guy
And though he tries to act happy
I hate to see the look in his eye

He could beat himself up for an answer
But these days, he don’t bother asking why
And the wind would give him no reply
The wind would give him no reply

I forgot about the romantic twirl
Of a dress on the ballroom floor
Of a girl on the tilt-a-whirl
And that need to have more and more

I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG

I was raised like a Phoenix
From a heap of ash
When I arrived I knew I was
Late for the bash
But I held my head up and I knew I was right all along

I hustled and I worked
And the cold winds did blow
Sunsets were so romantic
Till I stripped them of their glow
And I held my fist up and I knew I was right all along

I go to the parties
I go to the shows
And I can’t separate what my head wonders
From what it actually knows
But I know I should be allowed to grow and I knew I was right all along

THE IMPORTANCE OF RULES

Don’t send your flag into the night
Don’t recall your days of glory
The chivalric code that strengthens the bond
Helps to define the story

What is your purpose at the ball?
Is it self-expression?
Do you want to come away
Having taught and learned a lesson?

Remember the importance of following rules
There are always rules to follow, always rules to follow

But there are so many rules
Chivalry keeps the women cared for and protected
Etiquette, they say
Is based on making sure the powerful are respected

It is so stifling to play by the rules
But rules are hard to avoid
So, I’ll pull up to the barstool at the company party
And try to fill that void

Remember the importance of following rules
There are always rules to follow, always rules to follow

STRANGERS

Met a stranger in a bar
Bought her a drink
She looked like you

But not as cute
It bummed me out
If you only knew

The strangers have never, ever provided any solace
The strangers fade into the scenery
We share no history
We share nothing
There’s no one else like you around
The strangers always let me down
The strangers always let me down

It’s funny how you can be attached
To those who are close to you
Even though you might not have much in common

You know how I never wear this shirt
Unless I’m very down
And need something to define myself

Anyways, the strangers have never, ever provided any solace
The strangers fade into the scenery
We share no history
We share nothing
There’s no one else like you around
The strangers always let me down
The strangers always let me down

CARTOON ON CARNIVAL STREET

He insists on being photographed with a lime in one hand
A lion in the other, and never on the sand
He insists that cheating is the way of a man
He looks for cucumbers and cooks them in a pan

And the oil from his back is the kind you could use
In fashion model photos, he always has nice shoes
So finely polished, they invoke the great muse
He always has such nicely polished shoes

Like a cartoon on carnival street
You have so many characters to meet

Nice hair, nice clothes, a Parcheesi penchant
Like Pirates of Penzance in a pair of ruffled pants
The walls are all red, the marble walk elegant
He hauls off into the woods with a small elephant

Logic would kill him and his sapphire imaginings
His oak marbled bed, his visions of queens and kings
The harp of the hayseed player and the trouble that it brings
Oh, if he could live there it would be a wonderful thing

Like a cartoon on carnival street
Make a date, don’t be late for the characters you’ll meet

SOMEONE YOU KNOW

She eats candy all day while she sits at her desk
She raps with the delivery guy, then gets depressed
She was late to work and can’t stand stress
Sound like someone you might know?

She says she’ll quit smoking then she makes a mess
Of her personal space, she can barely get dressed
It’s funny that she would be the one I’d address
Sound like someone you might know?

At this girl at the desk with the sun on her dress
The life full of stress, the need to impress
I love her, in all of her superciliousness
Sound like someone you might know?

Cash all your checks
Place all your bets
Things will turn out like you never would guess
Well, there are so many ways to look at a situation
Use your logic to check you into the right station
But when the ticket collector calls your name
It’s time to go
Sounds like a situation we both know

Some might argue which is the best one
But arguing is just for fun
Arguing is just for fun

Cash all your checks
Place all your bets
Things will turn out like you never would guess
Well, there are so many ways to look at a situation
Use your logic to check you into the right station
It’s time to go
Sounds like a situation we both know

THE CHARMED LIFE

You always said you were special
And I believed that you were
You were stronger than your brother
And you were prettier than your sister

We’d smoke cigarettes and sip margaritas
And write our dreams in the sand
You’d talk about the curtain call
And I’d give you a big hand

Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
You never know you’re lucky, it just surrounds you
I hope you are able to make everyone you’ve ever wanted
Fall in love with you
I hope you then save yourself for the special few

And I hope you get what you want
And can wear the mask enough
The make-up, not quite cracking
To fend off reality when it comes a-rapping
At your door
Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
Just as lovely as before

We all have big dreams
You’ve got a new car
We all steal mean scenes
Your mother, she wants more

I know you can’t explain how
The charmed life still is a chore
It still can be a bore
You still feel pain, you still get sore

Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
You never know you’re lucky, it just surrounds you
I hope you are able to make everyone you’ve ever wanted
Fall in love with you
I hope you then save yourself for the special few

And I hope you get what you want
And can wear the mask enough
The make-up, not quite cracking
To fend off reality when it comes a-rapping
At your door
Oh, I hope the charmed life has found you
Just as lovely as before