released December 7, 2021

Recorded and mixed by Andrew Cloutier at Bedhead Studios in Seattle, WA

Ben Mish – piano, lead vocals
Will Mish – lead and rhythm guitar
Ronan O’Mahony – guitars and vocals
Andrew Cloutier – drums
Scotty Harris – bass

All songs written by Ben Mish.

Recorded, engineered, and mixed by Andrew Cloutier.

Arranged by Ben Mish.

Produced by Andrew Cloutier.

Cover art by Ben Mish.

LYRICS

LEFT HAND LOUNGE (INSTRUMENTAL)

ALONG THE WAY

I.

The moon it glared down on us
My old friend and I
We stood out on the lookout
Telling each other lies

“I’ll make my fortune early
Then move to paradise
And live on sweet rum and the beach
And there I’ll love life”

But the smell of rum did already rankle
I could smell it on his breathe
And his passion for connecting with wasn’t there
Would haunt him till his death

Well friend, you know your dreams will
Shimmer in your eyes till your dyin’ day
But the beach it calls you and me
And I’ll meet you along the way

II.

A new friend of mine and I we sat
And studied the marketplace
We been brought together
By a zeal for the rat race

The maroon logs and navy blue books
Called from the bookshelf
And bade the students well
We were wretches, consumed in ourselves

We looked for wealth at every turn
We tried to open doors
We thought the truth was ‘round the bend
We traveled to different shores

When the books have proven barren
Or scored us wealthy pay
We’ll be closer to what we’re after
And I’ll meet you along the way

III.

Her hair was strange and lovely
And brown above her eyes
She’d look over my shoulder
To the other white-suited guys

I’d known her for some time now
And wanted her as my own
She didn’t wear the forlorn look of a life that
All the other girls with her beauty had known

She said she couldn’t love me
I wasn’t going in her direction
I seemed like I swung a speckled axe
She was lookin’ for moral perfection

I said you know, our fathers both sleep
Beneath the same sun’s ignorant rays
And we’ll always live close by the same old Jesuit road
I’ll meet you along the way

IV.

When I met her again she was thin
And young and full of life
Her body ripe for the pluckin’
Deemed fit to be someone’s wife

The days when she would shun me
And pass me by without a hesitation
Were gone as age had set in
And her old friends had fallen out and left the station

Things took a turn for the worse
She felt lonely and resigned
She felt that she got lost
Somewhere down the line

There will be more shifty people
But don’t let that guilty conscience weigh
You down, cause I know you think you screwed up
But I’ll meet you along the way

V.

Two friends they moved swiftly
Toward each other’s side
Two kindred souls, two broken molds
Two pairs of eyes so wide

They joked and played their lives out
And drank and made their nights long
They knew they’d be on top someday
When the A&R man heard their song

One always felt that life had dealt him
Something quite unique
Everyday after he was born healthy
He was pushing for his peak

As this day ends the boy hasn’t
Achieved new heights on his own parlay
But the other boy is there to lean on
To meet him along the way

VI.

Two hearts they rushed together
On a frenzied, formal eve
Among the spotlight dancers
He took her side and could not leave

The boy, a dreamer, poured his soul
Out to the girl immediately
They thought that nothing could keep
This infant love affair from flowing free

But time rolled on and, as it does,
Showed them all was not so rosy
She said, “I may seem mysterious
But I’m not when you get to know me”

She said, “I loved you once
But I’m afraid I cannot stay
Still, the road’s gonna get rocky,
But I’ll meet you along the way”

VII.

She said, “I may seem like
A character from your favorite book
But I’m not the one you’re building up
When you take a closer look”

And I’m offering, if you want,
To help you through the door
I guess the question is
Who do you live your life for?

Who asks the questions and
Where do the answers come from?
Where are we going, who made the rules?
And what’s your definition of fun?

We all take separate paths
We scatter like the fountain spray
But we’ll all go down the same stream
And we’ll meet up along the way

BAR & GRILL SINGER

I am a bar and grill singer
I play for a tip jar
I play to backing tracks
I load up my car

I sing “Margaritaville”
I sing “Brown Eyed Girl”
I guess they’ll really like it
When I slightly push the tempo

And when the show is done
I load up all my gear
I’m tired and I’m sweaty
And driving far from here

To my apartment in the suburbs
That holds my studio
I’m working on some projects
But they don’t pay me much dough

I am a bar and grill singer
I got 6 gigs a week
My voice gets kind of tired
I don’t get enough sleep

And at the top of the show
It’s really, really tough
The crowd just stares blankly
They are not drunk enough

I am a bar and grill singer
It’s better than saying “yes, sir”
Eventually the crowd gets drunk
And they dance in a big blur

I am a bar and grill singer
I’ll make music for my pay
I have to say it’s a pleasing life
At the end of the day

ICE AND HEIGHTS

Darlene was a fiend for the game
She danced in the room
She seems indefensible
It’s wholly contestable
But I feel sorry for her sometimes
I don’t know why she drains the wine

Darlene always speaks in paragraphs
She’s got a husband, I’ve heard
But we can’t do the math
I guess they married at 19
Then she got lost in the scene
She changed her look over the years

I think the bar was hoppin’
She was something else on the dance floor

She said she was alone
But we stayed up playing with coasters
We made paper airplanes
We played some drinking games
I could tell she was lost
She let her sentences trail off

Darlene is a daredevil in her mind
She’s courageous and plain
She’s punching at the rain
I think there were drugs involved
But I could never tell

Why did I ever try to help her?
She was just lost and lonely and bitter
And the ones who loved her
Were no better
Since she pushed them away

I guess she’s doing better now
But I haven’t seen her since we kissed

Ice and Heights
looks like it's one of those nights
Ice and heights
It may be wrong, it may be right

Strike up the band, turn out the lights
Dance upon those icy heights

TOWN SQUARE II

Oh, that poor one has had some rough days
What’d he ever do to them any ways?
He’s been martyred, but who knows if he’ll feel those rays
Shinin’ on him, with the landscape all ablaze

Seems that those holy ones
Always lose when the politics unfold

So let the season go
It’s easier to show
That your extraordinary
In the simplest of flow

HARD AT THE END

Life is hard
Don’t you know
Work so much
And have nothing to show
Life is sweet
And life is sad
I’m livin’ in the moment
And I’m taking what I’m given
Not worrying about the things I don’t have
Not worrying about the the things I never had

Life is long
Life is sad
Sneaks up and steals
The joy from what you had

Hard at the end of the day
Go to the end of the line
Go to the end of the line

WAIT A MINUTE

I used to watch movies and believe them
I used to believe in fairytales but I don’t anymore

Wait a minute
Take me with you

NOBODY PLAYS THAT ROCK N' ROLL

Seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
It seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
Won't you find somebody, move your body
Listen to your body tonight

In the hallows of the buildings
In the pale of the New York City Streets
All the swingers were imbibing
Sipping on tequila and margaritas
All the women and the boys
Trying to mix and be discreet

Seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
It seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
Won't you find somebody, anybody
Listen to your body tonight

Be hip and fashionable and impressive
There was certainly havoc to wreak
What am I doing here with new people
Why am I trying to be the one they want to meet?
I should go back to the West Coast
Where I can stand in the rain and weep

Seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
It seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
Won't you find somebody, move your body
Listen to your body tonight

It’s hot tonight in the thick of town
All the women are dressed scantily
The fashion consciousness around here
Is enough to drive me freakin’ crazy
I’m lookin’ all around and women
Are looking better and better to me

Seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
It seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
Won't you find somebody, move your body
Listen to your body tonight

It’s approaching the end,
And now it looks like everyone’s gone
Everyone who said they were all-nighters,
Everyone who said they’d go till dawn
But they don’t have the kind of hunger that I can’t seem to shake
And be aching in the morning and I’ll be ailing on and on

Seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
It seems like nobody, nobody plays that rock n' roll
Won't you find somebody, move your body
Listen to your body tonight

DRINKIN’ THE BLUES AWAY

I assembled with a group
Of hipsters one night
After a long and forgettable week
We wanted to have a good time, all right

I don’t understand why everyone always says
They’re gonna drink like never before, but they don’t
So join me tonight on a moonlight parade
I’ll be stumblin’ and sinkin’ and drinkin’ my blues away

Unfortunately, at the end of the evening
Most of their drinks were spilled on the floor
But I’m here and my eyes widen as the women say
“We’re all getting piss drunk tonight!”

I don’t understand why everyone always says
They’re gonna drink like never before, but they don’t
When you’re dizzy and dancin’, why don’t you have a little more?
I’ll be stumblin’ and sinkin’ and drinkin’ my blues away

But you know, it’s always been that way for me

Everybody find somebody
To fumble and stumble and help drink the blues away
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La