Riot Now!
Riot Now!
An album inspired by loss, frustration, Paz, Pashke, Inherent Vice, David Foster Wallace, Obama, hope, indifference, privacy, comfort, murder
Album Tracks
- Damned Tree
- Cold Steel Grey
- Satellite
- That’s What’s Coming
- Divining For Water
- Tall Man
- Sonic Reactor
- Away With Words
- Maybe This Time
Album Lyrics
Damned Tree
It’s time to cut the damned tree down
Satisfied as I was it’s time to cut it down
It holds no promise of fruit or shade
It’s time to cut the damned tree down
The breeze holds no resistance
Whistles past in contempt
It’s time to forget
It’s time to cut (2x) the damned tree down
It’s time to cut the damned tree down
Make way for ambition
On star-filled nights cut back the losses
Give up the fight
It’s time to cut the damned tree down
Cold Steel Grey
I just met a wave
I spied her at the seashore
I watched her crest
and imagined what the possibilities could bring
I brought her home that day
the neighbors were suspicious
We laughed and cried
our salty tears mingled as I held her in my arms
The days and nights were crazed
I reveled in our secrets
The depths were low
but the surface didn’t matter far below
(Chorus)
So long so fast
the horizon in the past
just fades away
The drifting of the sails
fingers tightened on the rail
and cold steel grey
I became afraid
and put her in a bottle
And set a drip
that left me in a constant state of bliss
She appeared despondent
and longed for shore and sand
So I brought her back
As she receded, as I chased her sure I’d erred
(chorus)
(in homage to Octavio Paz)
Satellite
Dusted bolls of faded light
Fluorescent beacon shines
Scrolling my messages in microwave
From my satellite
Then the line starts to crackle
And distance is all that is clear
The question is open-ended
And the reason slowly disappears
You’re my satellite
Just called to check back one more time
Snowflakes tumble from the sky
I’m always up here for you to find
On my satellite
That’s What’s Coming
In the grip of a fog
like being walked by the dog
Searching for exits off the freeway
But the gears start to slip
and the shapes make a shift
A palpable rift is emerging
Oh, that’s what’s coming
Oh, that’s what’s coming
The old exits are gone
no matter which side you’re on
there’s no right or wrong
But up ahead is a bend
a predictable trend
It’s enough to send you over the edge
Oh, that’s what’s coming
Oh, that’s what’s coming
No use trying to solve the mystery
No use trying to solve anything
Free fall is the best
it’s when you can rest
There’s no test to fail or master
But if you follow the din
it will swallow you in
You won’t know where you’ve been or going
Oh, that’s what’s coming
Oh, that’s what’s coming
Divining For Water
There’s something sad
About America
On a Greyhound bus to oblivion
The smarter you get
The less it seems
That anybody cares about your dreams
The x-ray showed the break
It wasn’t the first mistake
If you don’t try to tell it straight
The point will come too late
I followed your eyes
As they followed the wire
They danced as though they would never tire
But fade they did
And the light became dim
In an empty room with an empty grin
You blinked too many times
To tell a cinematic lie
No way to be transcribed from the by and by
There’s something sad
about America
In a checkout lane watched from above
What’s left behind
Might be enough
But it’s going to take a whole lot more than luck
Tall Man
Tall man’s shadow beats him to the door
Announces his arrival and what he’s there for
“I’m a really tall man and I’ve got tall plans for you.
It’s time to get started on what you’re going to do.”
You can learn a lot if you listen to what he has to say
But you’re going to get burned if you think that it’s the only way
Another tall man’s shadow waits behind
Knows better than to stick his neck out blind
This tall man knows his ceiling is another man’s floor
And how to ask what’s come this way before
You can learn a lot if you listen to what he has to say
But you’re going to get burned if you think that it’s the only way
Tall tall man he’s a tall tall man…
Sonic Reactor
Tie it, tie it down
Tie it, tie it down
Riot, riot now
Riot, right now
You’re a tired old nation 3x
You better tie it down 3x
You gotta riot now!
Away With Words
The culture lies under the broken glass
The lens zooms in on the distant past
You think that it all starts with you
Begins and ends with what you do
The truth lies on the window sill
Blows in and out and leaves a chill
All your science and all your words praise them now
The perfect crime in the perfect storm
Left four cold hands and a barrel warm
The tableaux framed to show true love
Dramatically shot from above
But best laid plans may go awry
With mice and men both left to die
All your science and all your words where are they now?
Maybe This Time
Maybe this time
the stars and the planets will stay aligned
The pitch will hold perfect and bells will chime
Maybe this time
this side up is not upside down
And crying on the inside doesn’t make the clown
Chorus
Feels right to me
But I might be mistaken
To play out this scene
Will tell how luck is breaking
Maybe this time
Maybe this time
the freight train coming stops on the dime
The chalk outline really fits the crime
Maybe this time
screaming in space really makes a sound
And love can be a verb not just a noun
Chorus