1. |
Actual Ad
03:12
|
|||
Actual Ad (More or Less)(Obviously Not About You)
Five-foot four, social smoker
Average build, liberal voter
Take me anywhere and I'll behave
I’m a good cook and I don’t give strife
And I could make a damn good wife
I might just be the woman that you crave
But I’ve been hurt so bad
And I’ve been made so sad
Please come and rescue me
I’ll be the girl you want me to be
Got a good job and I make good wages
401(k), retirement stages
Ready for you at the end of every day
If you’re not working, no need to fuss
I make enough for both of us
Just promise me that you won’t go away
But read between those lines
And find those alibies
I’ve got no self-esteem
No will of my own, just broken dreams
(break; next four lines are sung as a chorus)
I’ll wait upon you hand and foot
There’s nothing that you’ll lack
But I’ll be like a crown of thorns
I guess I’ve got that knack
I'll follow you through thick and thin
Barrooms, men's rooms, showers, gym
Always have to be right by your side
No need to give me your address
Got radar better than a GPS
Defeat your every effort to try and hide
When you don’t look at me
I’ll cry hysterically
It doesn’t matter who
'Cause every girl is trying to get you
In the end you won’t split hairs
You’ll throw me down the nearest stairs
But I can’t help it, that’s the way I am
You’ll leave me out in the pouring rain
Screaming, crying, suffering, pain
To go straight home and write another ad
‘Cause I can’t stand the drone
Of being all alone
I’ve been through this before
And I can’t take it any more
|
||||
2. |
Secrets
03:17
|
|||
Secrets
We’ve been keeping secrets, buried deep within
And when those secrets surface, that’s when heartaches can begin
Arguing ‘till daybreak, ‘till the rising of the sun
Saying ‘You did this” and ‘You did that,’ and pretty soon it’s done
With two backs turned against each other, arms crossed against their chest
With a stubbornness that’s putting a relationship to rest (x2)
It’s not like we’ve been sneaking ‘round the back door late at night
Those aren’t the kinds of secrets we’re afraid will come to light
It’s kinds that we had thought were hidden safely in disguise
The one’s that surface suddenly and take us by surprise
But we wear suits of iron armor, that will not penetrate
And still refuse to open up our hearts ‘till it’s too late (x2)
We want to hold to what we have
And so we live in fear
That something from the past
Might break the deal that we have here
But if the past is really gone
The future starts today
And the secrets we’ve been keeping
Weren’t worth keeping anyway
Sherry’s got her secrets, I’ve got mine as well
I’d like to take those secrets now and shove ‘em down a well
To bury them forever, to cover them with sand
To open up our hearts again and take each other’s hands
To stand naked before each other, with nothing left to hide
And see how long two people could in nakedness abide (x2)
With the secrets on the table, and a pact that we have swore
To never, ever bring to mind those secrets any more
To walk this road together, as lovers and as friends
And never let some secrets come to threaten us again
To just stand naked before each other, with nothing left to hide
And see how long two people can in nakedness abide (x2)
|
||||
3. |
Opening Remarks
03:31
|
|||
Opening Remarks
Cover your ears if you can’t hear the news
This is the only song I’ll write for you
Can’t call your lawyer, you can’t point and blame, I can
Tell everything without calling your name
Just go away, just go away
Go find another to torture today
Just go away, leave me in peace
Give me a new life oh, give me release
Cover your eyes if you don’t want to see
I’ve got new projects to keep me busy
You can listen so close to that drill bit roar, as
I’m changing the locks on my front and back door
To keep you away, keep you away
Go find a new source of human prey
To keep you away, far from my door
Stopping the start of a third world war
Let’s divide all our things, all the dishes and spoons
Books and our albums and all our I-tunes
All the places we went, all the folks that we knew
You can have them all back if you’ll just go too
Cover your mouth if you don’t want to speak
You’ll be out of my memory before next week
Why should I bother to call you to mind
Why should you take any more of my time
Soon you’ll be gone, soon you’ll be gone
You’ll tell all your friends that you did nothing wrong
Soon you’ll be gone, I’ll celebrate
My only regret is that you left too late
|
||||
4. |
Mama Gets Drunk
04:18
|
|||
Mama Gets Drunk
A little boy, looking out the window, waiting in the doorway, staring at the phone
Grab a chair, flip the channels on the TV, school’s been out for hours, your still home alone
When she gets home, you know what she’ll say, eat your dinner, grab your homework and go away
Mama’s getting ready, she’s a-going out again, it’s getting so the walls are your best friend
‘Cause mama gets drunk, mama gets stoned, if mama had her way, she would never come home “cause
Then she’d never ever have to be alone, and then she’d never have too look in the mirror, boy
Mama gets drunk, mama gets high, mama’s gonna wonder how the years flew by
She’s got wings, but she ain’t looking where she flies
Morning comes, mama’s oversleeping, you go in to wake her, just in time to find
Mama’s friend, sneaking out the back door, she says he’s an old friend, she must think you’re blind
‘Cause you ain’t never seen him before, and the kids at the playground say your mama’s just a whore
Ran home crying ‘cause you got into a fight, but no one was there to make it all right
Everyone in town knows what’s going on by now
Their voices drop to a whisper when you walk by
The other kids don’t know why they can’t play with you no more
It must be something that their parents heard
Every day, going through the same thing, putting up a good front, acting unaware
There’s only one who could ever hope to reach you, but she’s always busy, she just doesn’t care
And daddy left a long time ago, mama won’t let him see you no more
She says he never liked to have any fun, but since he’s been gone, you ain’t had none
|
||||
5. |
A Picture Of The Pain
03:53
|
|||
A Picture of the Pain
A picture of the pain
Charcoal smudged in grey
Blacks and whites and sepia stains
Are all the colors that remain
Pastels washed away
A picture of the pain
Twilight turns to night
Empty rooms and empty bed
Empty words inside your head
Faces turn away
When you’re waiting on some corner
Standing in the pouring rain
Knowing that the bus ain’t coming
Then you’ll have a picture of the pain
The music of the pain
Contrasting chords
Chanting lower voices sound
Trembling underneath the ground
Funeral dirges play
The music of the pain
Silly, stupid rhymes
London Bridge is falling down
Hit the sidewalk, made no sound
Silent torch songs play
When the room is moving
And the pulse of empty space remains
When you strain to hear the silence
Then you’ll hear the music of the pain
A picture of the pain
A perfect storm at sea
Ships are lost in tempest’s might
Grief and mourning through the night
Daylight brings the rain
A picture of the pain
Lawyers at the door
Battle’s won but the war’s been lost
I can’t bear to count the cost
Ten years down the drain
Coming home to find it emptied
All is vanished, none remain
Cataracts and blurred vision
All complete a picture of the pain
|
||||
6. |
Forever Loving You
03:16
|
|||
Forever Loving You
We met down in some honkey-tonk and danced the whole night through
You smiled at me and instantly I fell in love with you
And soon you had convinced me that our love was here to stay
If I had known the truth I would have run the other way
You said let’s wait til we get married ‘cause that’s only right
Then talking on the phone you’d tantalize me every night
You’d whisper in my ear ‘bout all the things that we would do
But now that you have got that ring you’re telling me the truth
Now I hate the way you wait til I’m asleep to come to bed
And I hate it when you tell me that all men fill you with dread
And I hate the way your back is turned to me the whole night through
But most of all I hate myself for ever loving you
Now hatred is a bitter pill that goes down with such ease
Through it’s the cause of everything from stress to heart disease
I know one day they’ll find a cure and all the world will sing
But first they’ll have to cure the heartache people like you bring
‘Cause you lied about your love for me, you lied and you complained
The only thing you didn’t lie about, dear, was your name
The times you took advantage of my love became so clear
This song would last forever if I put them all in here
Now I hate that when we fight you act like I commit a crime
And I hate the way your children disrespect me all the time
And I hate the way your mom and dad think all your lies are true
But most of all I hate myself for ever loving you
(instrumental break)
Right now I hardly have enough to pay my food and rent
‘Cause you’ll never be content until you’ve gotten every cent
There’s part of me that wants to scream that you should be ashamed
But deep within my heart I know that I’m the one to blame
‘Cause I took you at your word when you told me you’d always stay
And I believed you saying you’d stand by me come what may
But when I got laid off and everything we had was lost
That’s when I found you must have had your little fingers crossed
Now I hate the way you left because you say I’m in the wrong
And I hate that I’m in hock right up to here since you’ve been gone
And I hate that now I’m broke my usefulness to you is through
But most of all I hate myself for ever loving you
(instrumental break)
Now I hate that you betrayed our love and did it with such cheer
And I hate the way you robbed me blind and never shed one tear
And I hate the way you’ve never had to pay for what you do
But most of all I hate myself for ever loving you
Yeah, most of all I hate myself for ever loving you
|
||||
7. |
The Masked Man
03:13
|
|||
The Masked Man
Somebody said
You can’t save money on food, footwear, firearms or ladies’ lingerie
You can only put away enough to get you through the day
Don’t ever pay a penny more than what you have to pay
And always be suspicious anytime that they are asking you to stay
Who was that man?
Who was that masked man?
I want to meet him
I want to shake his hand
Want to remember him
I want to learn from him
I want to preach his word to elderly and youth
I want to thank that man for telling me the truth
Somebody said
You can’t do right by victims whom you victimized yourselves
Or hide the truth behind the boxes on your closet shelves
You can take the money meant to feed the poor and spend it on your little war
But you’ll find it getting bigger, yes and dirtier than what you bargained for
Somebody said
You might think all your sins will fade away with every rising of the sun
But that can only work when you repent of every single thing you’ve done
And no one gets to slide no matter how you may have kept the bad things hid
And Jesus may forgive you but nobody will forget the things you did
|
||||
8. |
||||
One Last Song About the Chelsea Hotel
(in memory of Stanley Bard, 1934-2017)
They’re closing down the Chelsea Hotel
The renovations hit a snag, they didn’t go so well
And no one wants to live where famous poets, and musicians used to dwell
They’re closing down the Chelsea Hotel
They’ve taken up the old mosaic floor
There’s plywood where there used to be a stately beveled door
The giant, blinking sign that you could see halfway to Brooklyn is no more
They’ve taken up the old mosaic floor
They’ve piled up all the furniture as well
The rotten wood and couches that weren’t good enough to sell
The rats have taken over and the neighborhood is shot and gone to hell
They’ve piled up all the furniture as well
They’re closing down the Chelsea Hotel
They’ve turned it into condominiums, all priced to sell
They’ll keep the older name but you can bet that they won’t keep it very well
They’re closing down the Chelsea Hotel
There’s no one left to shed a single tear
The legends that you read that tell about what happened here
Will be limited to lines in songs and stories no one’s read in many years
There’s no one left to shed a single tear
They’re closing down the Chelsea Hotel
The ghosts of the departed will remember it so well
‘Till someday someone comes along and stands upon the place it used to dwell
And says, “Hey! Wasn’t this the Chelsea Hotel?”
|
||||
9. |
Moving Song
03:09
|
|||
Moving Song
Moving away, got myself a rental
Moving away, come help me pack
Moving away, I’ll send out for pizza
It’s time to be moving away
Load up that truck, 40 boxes of music
Load up that truck, just one bag of clothes
Load up that truck, got albums, tapes and CD’s
It’s time to be moving away
One more load, three guitars and one bass
One more load, a mandolin
One more lad, careful with that keyboard
It’s time to be moving away
Lock up the truck, here comes the pizza
Lock up the truck, let’s take a rest
Lock up the truck, we can say our goodbyes now
It’s time to be moving away
Moving away
Rolling down the highway
Moving away
Got no regrets
Moving away
Looking down a new road
It's time to be moving away
|
||||
10. |
Closing Thoughts
04:39
|
|||
Closing Thoughts
If my cupboards all were empty, and my money almost gone
And my heart so badly broken I would sell it for a song
And an empty bed at sunset, and an empty room at dawn
Empty faces in the mirror, empty streets to walk along
If I’d walked through pouring rain without a hat upon my head
If I’d have slept on dirty floors and if I’d slept in unmade beds
If I’d bathed in muddy rivers, and in some polluted streams
If I’d heard the voices screaming in some terrifying dreams
I’d still rise up in the morning
Sometimes rise up in the night
I’d still walk the crowded boulevards
And I would not yield to fright
I would stand up looking stronger
In the hope that I would be
All the sorrows and the heartbreaks
Would be faded memories
When I hear about the sorrow, when I read about the pain
When I watch the past repeating ‘till I bow my head in shame
When I look outside my window, see the darkness in the sky
When the rain pours down in rivers but the tears have all run dry
I will rise above the shouting
I will rise above their sin
I’ll will rip their manifestos
To confetti for the wind
I will close my eyes in silence
I will kneel down and pray
To the double-edge-ed sword
That’s coming back again some day
I’ve got friends I’ll see in Heaven, I’ve got friends I’ll never see
And I pray those other friends will come and walk along with me
Walking barefoot through the thorn fields, walking ‘pon the mirrored sea
Reaching out beyond the waves to take the hand that beckons me
When my bucket has a hole
And my cupboards all are bare
Still my spirit will be rising
Somewhere far away from here
High above the painted desert
High above the windswept plains
Where a better shade awaits me
Where some better life remains
|
||||
11. |
||||
The One Who Holds My Heart (for Jess)
I’d rather have bad times with you
Than good with someone else
I’d rather be beside you in a storm
Than safe myself
I’d rather have hard times with you
Than easy ones apart
I’d rather have the one who holds my heart
I’d rather have you in my arms
Than money, jewels and fame
And every other thing
That I had ever called by name
I’d rather have the one
With whom my thoughts are intertwined
The one who’s heart beats softly next to mine
I’d rather have you now
Than anything that I hold dear
‘Cause everything I’ve ever wanted
Stands before me here
I’d rather have the one
From whom I’ll never be apart
I’d rather have the hero of my heart
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Lou Santacroce, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp