released December 7, 2022

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

THE AERONAUT

I was born down in Texas
But my soul belongs up north
I was burnin’ in the desert
Then I had a change of course

I know you think that I
Am crazy just to try
But I would like to see the world
Beneath a different sky

I want to cut away the tether
And float high above the trees
Up where the sky and the ocean
Always look the same to me

I know you think that I
Am crazy just to try
But I would like to see the world
Beneath a different sky

I struggled to take flight
I pushed through all the lies
The aeronaut can see how
Strange it is to be alive

My body and my soul
Are coming of age
They feel like two beasts
Who are locked in a cage

The wolves are all around me
The landscape’s all ablaze
The holy ones’ attention
Is drifting into rage

I look them in the eyes
With the ignorance
To give it one more try

I know you think that I
Am crazy just to try
But I would like to see the world
Beneath a different sky

I struggled to take flight
I pushed through all the lies
The aeronaut can see how
Strange it is to be alive

ONE LITTLE LIFETIME

The small town culture held nothing for me
So I judged I should get out when I got into my teens
Maybe become a boxer, maybe become an actor
Just get somewhere where I can be seen

Now I’ve learned to be guarded when I found I was abandoned
And nobody else can know how it feels and I can’t tell them
The key to happiness is to cease to be so hopeful
Then you won’t be so let down
When your world comes crashing to the ground.

You flew too close to the sun
But God will call your bluff
I think one little lifetime is enough

My mother left when I was two years old and left me with my uncle
Who raised me in the country with a scythe and a sickle
And each time I asked of my city roots they bathed me in a bristling Story that I could not understand.

It took a decade just to get to where I still had something left
Where I could pay all my bills and I could still load the deck
With compelling reasons to push for a better sunset
Under some other sky, on some other soil
And I’m wondering if it was worth the toil

You flew too close to the sun
But God will call your bluff
I think one little lifetime is enough

I opened up my eyes, it was in a cold apartment.
The blinds had been drawn and I knew I was not alone.
It was her – was it my teenage love? – no, it was another,
it was a lanky German TV star. Above my bed she hovered.

I said, “What’s wrong with me? Can I change this?”
She said, “You can’t…it’s pointless to try.” Then be missed
“But I love you anyway and I love that fact that we can hold each other
And cry in this anonymous town, where no one’s gonna care
When we pass away, drift away, slip away.”

What was it that you said right before you ran away from me?
You said, “We’ve spent our whole lives trying to figure out the mystery.”
But the big bash is approaching so let’s wear our cocktail attire.
Let’s dance our little lives out on the tightrope thin wire.

You flew too close to the sun
But God will call your bluff
I think one little lifetime is enough.”

THE EASY CHAIR

You took a drink
And looked at me
You never let your thoughts show on your face
I told you that I
Was leaving soon
You could take my hand and leave this place

The years will fly by
And you’ll get comfortable
While the easy chair sucks you in so slow
Then you flip the remote
See it coming back

The single life
Is not for you
But neither is the home life
You don’t want to be
Trapped in normalcy
But what alternative would suit you?

If you set things up
So the lines are smoothed out
And there are no places that you’re wonderin’ about
So that nothin’ ever happens till the lights go out
And it’s Sunday night

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

He left home
And sailed away
Beyond the blanket of the hometown sun
And all the friends
He left behind
Pulled rank and the tiny battles were won

But he admired the way
She wasn’t afraid
To be straightforward and honest, son
But she had no clue
How in his mind she became
A mere intimation of someone

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

If you set things up
So the lines are smoothed out
And there are no places that you’re wonderin’ about
So that nothin’ ever happens till the lights go out
And it’s Sunday night

Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that
Ah – you’ll never know the meaning of that

THE TABLE

Darling, seat yourself at the table
Before the table’s set
For there’s the table you belong to
And the table where you place your bet

For you tend to hang on those who grieve
And the hungry tend to forget
Let me see your heart before you make it pretty
Let me see your bare bones
Let me see you all alone
Let me meet the part of you that I’ve never met

There are clubs that you could join
There are appetites that put you in debt
Just make sure you’re at the right table
To meet the friends you don’t know yet

For you tend to hang on those who grieve
And the hungry tend to forget
Let me see your heart before you make it pretty
Let me see your bare bones
Let me see you all alone
Let me meet the part of you that I’ve never met

EMPTINESS IN MOTION

There is moonlight in your room
And a lingering, late tune
Let me go, let me go

Kick on through that open door
Let me up and let it roar
Let me go, let me go

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

Where is that grand emotion?

I won’t give you false hopes and promises
But you’ll find what you’re looking for
Be clear, be clear

It’s just my policy to be fair and true
I’m sorry I can’t stay here with you
Be clear, be clear

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

You say it’s just one night
You think I don’t want it, too?
Beneath the pale lamplight?

Oh, sometimes we can think these things to death
Till you wonder what is left
Emptiness amid a cold commotion
Emptiness in motion

WHEN YOU HAVE IT ALL

When you have it all
Things can only get worse

She buys me a drink
And takes a coin from her purse

And says, “Money is bad
But poverty’s worse

Have a sense of camp and humor
And you won’t get hurt”

No regrets
No one gets hurt

What is beautiful anyway?
It’s the thing that’s always
Just a bit too far away
Is there a place ’round here
For a piano picker to play
When he ain’t got long to stay?

I think when I have it all
It will feel just the same, anyway

Shake it off, dear
We all make mistakes

It hurts when the silence
Makes your lonely heart break

I’ll make my efforts
And like tiny earthquakes

I’ll fall to pieces
When my lonely heart breaks

What is beautiful anyway?
It’s the thing that’s always
Just a bit too far away
Is there a place ’round here
For a piano picker to play
When he ain’t got long to stay?

I think when I have it all
It will feel just the same, anyway

CAPSIZED ‘NEATH OCTOBER SKIES

Who ever bet high that didn’t lose it all?
Who ever had hope that didn’t have a tragedy to forestall?
Who are the critics, anyway, that you listen to, baby doll?
You never see their faces, but they whisper in the hall

The boat capsized
‘Neath the October skies
And the burnt-out hours
Start to whither and die
It’s a cruel trick
That there’s nowhere to hide
But it’s wrong to think that
The ship should survive

Who ever moved quickly that didn’t soon retard?
Who ever scorned love that didn’t feel lonely and hard?
Who ever spurned a friend that didn’t send a nice card?
You never see old faces, but they keep you on guard

The boat capsized
‘Neath the October skies
And the burnt-out hours
Start to whither and die
It’s a cruel trick
That there’s nowhere to hide
But it’s wrong to think that
The ship should survive

THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

I had a friend with a thorny crown
Never can you bring a man like him down
His heart died when he came of age

Friendship is free, so what is its value?
Who are the appraisers? And when do they corral you?
I think I’d like to auction off all of those people
Who flock like sheep or auctioneers at the steeple

That's price of loyalty

Loyalty to me has an immeasurable price
It has a value and it’s not a vice
If I preach to the one who lacks virtue and patience

But I know I’ll be loyal still
Swallow it like the kind of pill
That makes you sick, then makes you well
The kind of thing the short term won’t tell

That's the price of loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty

Horn solo

Bridge

His heart died when he came of age
Works the cubicle like a rat in a cage
If I preach to the one who lacks virtue and patience
Knows nothing of getting past the novelty of new acquaintance
Then they’ll never hear

Loyalty to me has an immeasurable price
It has a value, it’s not a vice
If I preach to the one who lacks virtue and patience

Friendship is free, So what is its value?
Who are the appraisers? And when do they corral you?
I think I’d like to auction off all of those people
Who flock like sheep or auctioneers at the steeple

That's the price of loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-loyalty
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-loyalty


WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Children grow up and life gets tough
You part your hair a different way
You start to have a little more to say
What once was blond now becomes gray

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone or almost everyone

What else would you have done?
What else would you have done?
You made the choices and had a good run
Just like almost everyone

Your house is still the same
Certain areas of your life will always be
You smash the clock because you’re neglected by the time you never
Had to become who you wanted to be

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone or almost everyone
[They are living their life trying to get stuff done]

What else would you have done?
What else would you have done?
You made the choices and had a good run
Just like almost everyone

It’s the same conflict everyone faces
There’s no clear answer
I’ll meet you at the finish line
We’ll compare photos, scores, and accounts
And say

What else would you have done with your time?
Who has stopped you, when you really think about it?
There’s nobody in your neighborhood to blame
It happens every day to everyone or almost everyone

What else would you have done?
What else would you have done?
You made the choices and had a good run
Just like almost everyone

ONE TRUE SENTENCE

You’ve got something to say
Write it down, store it away
In a box, saved for the day
When you need it most

And you don’t have
The fire to grab
Those grand ideas
No, no, no

If I had a piece of what you have
A clear idea, not
Just belief, but
Something so much more

You turned my words around again
When I believed foes were friends
You plopped yourself
Behind the typewriter
And found evidence
Of the existence
Of one true sentence
And once we find it
We can repeat it over and over and over
And feel like we’ve got something worthwhile to say

I admire you, my friend
Because you don’t depend
Upon anyone
But yourself

I get caught up while
you have a wealth of
places in your mind
where you can go

If I had a piece of what you have
A clear idea, not
just belief, but
something so much more

You turned my words around again
When I believed foes were friends
You plopped yourself
Behind the typewriter
And found evidence
Of the existence
Of one true sentence
And once we find it
We can repeat it over and over and over
And feel like we’ve got something worthwhile to say