1. |
Britannica
05:08
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Britannica
Once, when my brother and I
Were too young to drive a car
We rode our bikes to Flushing;
Maybe that was too far
‘Cause we got caught in the rain
And we got soaked to the bone
Sun came out and we got dry
But it rained again before we got home
We were watching the clouds
Looking out the screen door
Saw the lightning flashing
And we heard the thunder roar
We pulled out Brittanica, Britannica
To read about thunder and rain
We pulled out Brittanica, Britannica
We knew it would explain
everything we’d need to know
The Borough of Queens
Right next to Idlewild
Must have seemed ideal
As a place to raise a child
Until they brought in the jets
With their fumes and with their noise
Soaking into the dreams
Of all us girls and boys
We turned up the TV sound
Plugged in our electric guitars
Flipped the bird to those 707s
And revved up our muscle cars
We pulled out Brittanica, Britannica
To learn how noise affected the brain
We pulled out Brittanica, Britannica
We knew it would explain
everything we’d need to know
Now you can cite Wikipedia
and say the Internet has all we may need
but 24 volumes of hardbound knowledge is a joy that is hard to supersede
Assigned a report for school
I’d put it off til the last day
Because it just wasn’t as much fun
As going outside to play
But I grew to love those volumes
And their pages as they turned
I may fill a thousand books
With everything I’ve learned
From Britannica, Britannica,
From ukulele to Ukraine
Britannica, Britannica,
To educate and entertain
Britannica, Britannica,
From Casablanca to cocaine
Britannica, Britannica,
The sacred and profane
Britannica, Britannica,
I’ll continue til you complain
Britannica, Britannica,
Sycamore and plantain
Britannica, Britannica,
Abscissa and domain
Britannica, Britannica,
The rain in Spain will sustain
Britannica, Britannica,
We knew it would explain
everything we’d need to know
everything we’d need to know
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2. |
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3. |
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All the love we see is the love we show
All the love we see is the love we show
Don’t go, don’t go
Don’t go, baby don’t go
All the love we hear is the love we say
All the love we hear is the love we say
Please stay, oh stay
Please stay, why don’t you stay
Heaven lets the love fall down
We sweep it up right off the ground
The world needs another love song
like it needs a hole in the head.
Will the night sky even notice
One more star?
They may be beautiful
They may be inspiring
But inconsequential
is what they truly are
Still I love you
I love you
It’s a drop in the bucket
in the ocean of love
But I will sing
I love you
in hopes it will be heard
by the stars above
Heaven lets the love fall down
We sweep it up right off the ground
All the love we take is the love we give
All the love we take is the love we give
Let’s live, let’s forgive
Let’s live, and forgive
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4. |
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I don’t believe in ghosts
Or things that I cannot see
But what scares me the most
Is that ghosts seem to believe in me
So when I climb the attic stairs
I always turn on the light.
I don’t want to be caught unawares
By things that go bump in the night.
I’m not superstitious,
but I’m not taking chances
the devil he dances
with those who are unaware
There is a story in my hometown.
They tell it on Halloween.
As the crescent moon went down.
A hand in front of your face could not be seen
Two brothers, aged twelve and thirteen
Heard a blood-chilling sound
Like a steam-driven zombie machine
Then they fell into a hole in the ground
I’m not superstitious,
but I’m not taking chances
the devil he dances
with those who are unaware
We live in enlightened times
Demons have been cast out
Reason suffuses our rhymes
But we are nursing this lingering doubt
Shadows conceal motion
In the corners of our eyes
Sometimes I get a great notion
Something’s yearning to materialize
I’m not superstitious,
but I’m not taking chances
the devil he dances
with those who are unaware
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5. |
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I woke up with a headache
Heard a commotion like falling dominos
Felt confused, One thing is for certain:
That little Irishman punched me in the nose
Now you can say it’s a lie
but I’ll swear it was true on the fingers of my left hand
Last night I played rhythm guitar in the band of Van the man…
I looked around for some sympathy
all I got from the bassist and drummer
were shrugs
maybe he thought i was unprofessional
maybe he heard I was on drugs
Now you can say it’s a lie
but I’ll swear it was true on the fingers of my left hand
Last night I played rhythm guitar in the band of Van…
I’ve always loved his music
don’t know why he would treat me this way
and I still love his music
and I’m hoping he’ll still call me to play
If it’s any consolation
He picked on the piano player too
Smacked the Steinway on his way to the microphone
shouted out “No sevenths!” as he
grabbed his saxophone
This is more like heavy metal than rhythm and blues
Broken strings and blood on my shoes
Now you can say it’s a lie
but I’ll swear it was true on the fingers of my left hand
Last night I played rhythm guitar in the band of Van the man…
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6. |
Pieta In New York
04:06
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Pieta in New York
1-Figures in the stone, The chisel reveals
What his eye has seen, What everybody feels
With glory to Him above It’s a sin to seek fame
The sculptor regrets Signing his name
Mary holds him With a marble arm
How can a mother Keep her child from harm?
Oh Pietà, Exemplar of grief
A gleaming foundation On which to build belief
2-The nations gathered In a meadow park
To demonstrate progress And banish the dark
The venerated icon Conveyed to the world of youth
Parading before me As unprovable truth
3-The statue made the journey Four thousand miles by sea
Michelangelo’s creation In the land of the free
Once he walked on water As a fisher of men
Now in a waterproof tomb He’s sailing home again
Mary holds him With a marble arm
How can a mother Keep her child from harm?
Oh Pietà, Exemplar of grief
A gleaming foundation On which to build belief
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7. |
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8. |
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9. |
Astral Mole
08:26
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10. |
It's A Love Song
05:03
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11. |
At The Roadhouse
03:55
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You might say she’s 2/3 of a devil:
She lives at number 66,
Ubering with daddy’s master card
Usually a Honda, sometimes a Mercedes Benz
Eyes fixed on her Samsung
Photo apps with all the filter tricks
Using the roadhouse wi-fi for her instagram
Unfriending the unfriendliest of friends
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
It ain’t quite heaven or hell
Just a place the devil seems to like
Here comes her future boyfriend or whatever
Mini Cooper crammed with Sam Ash gear
He bristles when he’s called a Clapton-wannabe
There’s 30 years of chops behind that axe
Now if this was a movie they would meet cute
She would whack him with a pool cue, sorry dear
She’d help him from the floor, both seeing birdies
Then nurse his tender bruises with ice packs
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
It ain’t quite heaven or hell
Just a place the devil seems to like
Who says generations cannot get together?
Bartenders see it all the time
You’ll never write the best-seller story of your life
If you stay at home playing with yourself
He will surely give her tips at 8-ball
She’ll inspire his rhythm and his rhyme
The devil’s in the details, in the bottom of a bottle
And no-one here is paying for top shelf
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
At the roadhouse on the turnpike
It ain’t quite heaven or hell
Just a place the devil seems to like
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12. |
Swim Carefully
03:30
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Oh my children hear my tale
Danger lurks in the rivers and lakes
Sparkling lures will dazzle your eyes
What I’ve seen still gives me the shakes
Swim carefully
Don’t take the bait
It will pull you from the water to the fire to the dinner plate
Oh my children, listen to me
Don’t dismiss what they teach you in the school
Sinister lines dangle in the tranquil pool
You’ll be raptured through the surface into an unknown world
Swim carefully
Don’t take the bait
It will pull you from the water to the fire to the dinner plate
Up there, there are monsters of a walkable sort
They call it “fishing,” they call it a sport
Oh my children, if you should disappear
Don’t expect us to wait here by and by
If you’re caught and released,
It’s just because they’re looking for bigger fish to fry
That’s why we swim carefully
We don’t take the bait
It will pull you from the water to the fire to the dinner plate
Swim carefully
Don’t take the bait
It will pull you from the water to the fire to the dinner plate
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13. |
Gasoline Bill (demo)
02:54
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Gasoline Bill
He’s gonna take his fill
Without him you may never get up that hill
Gasoline Bill
“Get a horse!” Said the lady with the boots on her feet
Wading through the horseshit covering the street
“Your evil machine is belching fumes;
It fouls the air that it consumes!”
“My dear lady, your bonnet’s a-buzz
With my beeswax! This vehicle does what it does
In superior fashion to your vaunted beast!
Our city’s commerce shall be much increased!”
Gasoline Bill
He’s gonna take his fill
Without him you may never get up that hill
Gasoline Bill
This character says we’re unsafe at any speed!
Have you been on an airplane? That’s where you’ll need
To strap things down so they don’t fly about,
As all the passengers flail and shout!
Senator if we’re forced to put seat belts in our automobile
Folks won’t feel safe when they’re behind the wheel
It’s an alien conspiracy to stifle liberty
Here, take this packet, it’s a little something from me.
Gasoline Bill
He’s gonna take his fill
Without him you may never get up that hill
Gasoline Bill
We have filled in the marshes and dammed all the streams
It’s the fulfillment of our utopian dreams
Trains followed the rivers and the Indian trails
But highways are less restrictive than rails
I can drive anywhere that I goddamn please
In my all wheel drive I can even climb trees…
I ain’t goin’ electric even if it’s built Ford tough,
“Cause you ain’t got a power cord long enough
Gasoline Bill
He’s gonna take his fill
Without him you may never get up that hill
Gasoline Bill
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14. |
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The Straightened Question (9 July 2021)
My shoegaze shuffle, my muddled mark
My every move a slouching question
While from the rafters like a lark
Exclamation was his suggestion !
CHORUS:A question mark is a crooked exclamation
Like a scarecrow unsure of itself in the field
No-one expects a perfect explanation
Stand up straight, your purpose will be revealed
His finger pointed at the moon
His language was a loving labor
Our singing saints are gone too soon
Why must I miss my distant neighbor?
CHORUS
The cattle stampede through the thorns
We are not cowed by their expression
We take the bull crap by the horns
We are an answer not a question
CHORUS
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15. |
Civic Allure
04:53
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16. |
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17. |
I Confess
02:57
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I confess,
I stole them:
Those beautiful bubble gum cards
With photos of our heroes
In candid shots, or posed
With guitars at the ready,
Those mop top British bards,
I left the five and dime in a rush,
Pirated booty undisclosed.
I confess,
I scotchtaped them
To the Masonite pegboard
That hung above my basement desk
Where homework was done with haste
Before I investigated the usefulness
Of a well-placed 2 chord
They made a marvelous Mondrian mosaic
Alongside the 45 sleeves I defaced
and now the statute of limitations
has long ago passed
and two of our heroes
have also passed
and so i will confess
that I would not be the man I am today
if it had not been for them
It’s been a hard day’s night
here comes the sun
it don’t come easy
but i’ve just seen a face
I can’t forget the times or places in my life
yes it is oh yes
help me believe in yesterday
I feel fine and
and I will confess
I would do it again
I confess
quite easily
I’d take a thing that isn’t mine
and display it in my lair
for it feels like i am part of them
and they are part of me
and when it comes to art and love
everything is fair
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Hank Stone New York
Most excellent songwright. Interpretive singer and guitarist. Harmonica hobbyist.
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