Songs from earlier in my catalog, redone with competently played guitars/bass drums (Matt Rendon is that competent player).

Redux

I have a calendar that's full of empty space
A hot shower fits me better than any clothes I own
Habit is the enemy of my deliberate thought
Caught in the struggle between memory and expectation
da da da da da da
da da da da da da

I know
that I'm just
an ordinary guy
Facing all the things
that everybody faces every day
Every day

I did not sleep alone for most of 40 years
And now I only sleep (when I sleep)
alone and lonely each and every night, it's not right

Now 40 years of family noise has faded away
I can hear the tick tock of my digital clock
I know every house noise and its source
Especially in the dark...

I know
that I'm just
an ordinary guy
Facing all the things
that everybody faces every day
Every day
credits

Every Day V.2

I don't know what's going on
but I know that something's really really wrong
I don't have a plan for it
I don't know what to do at all

It's not easy here for me
To pretend that I'm who I want to be
Once I could be anyone at all

There's no map to shine a light
On where to go or how to sleep at night
No native scouts to guide us
No cover here to hide us now...

It's not easy here for me
To pretend that I'm who I want to be
Once I could be anyone at all

We learned what we did not know
And never guessed where we could never go
I don't have a word for it
Tried one on, but couldn't make it fit

It's not easy here for me
To pretend that I'm who I want to be
Once I could be anyone at all

This was originally released in 2020 on Safe at Home.  Redone recently to clean up some parts that weren't coherent...

Uncharted V.2

Who needs science? Our guy has a hunch!
Who need Facts? Opinions are in big supply!
Who needs truth? Lies are more convenient!

Insist on the truth, and everybody's fine
Dirty tricks and misdirection
These are guys with bad intentions
Insist on the truth, or everybody dies

Who are the adults in the room? Who’s looking after us?
A shepherd, with no remorse, leads his flock to the brink
Groping and staggering forward
While thoughts and prayers produce the usual results...

Insist on the truth

Truth does not compromise
Truth does not temporize
Truth doesn’t vaporize upon inspection


It’s a Kingdom of Lies

Who needs science? We have religion!
Who needs Facts? A miracle is on the way!
Who needs truth? ...unless you want to die


Insist on the truth, and everybody's fine
Dirty Tricks and misdirection
These are guys with bad intentions
Insist on the truth, or everybody dies

Where do we go from here? Who do we listen to?
Who can we trust? Who do we believe in this circus of distraction?
If ignorance is bliss, then it’s wasteful to be wise...
Who cares what’s true when I feel fine?


Truth does not compromise
Truth does not temporize
Truth doesn’t vaporize upon inspection

Kingdom Of Lies V.2

I forgive you now, but still don't understand
How we could be together, yet so far apart
As we learn to play our cards,  learn not to tip our hands
	
Trying to mend this broken, messy heart
Who's watching out for me now? 
(No one's watching out for me now...)
I don't want to be the guy who let you down...

And now I try to figure out just what went wrong
And waste my time to find the moment it turned south
Had the feeling that I was in for disappointment
It was already here --- I just didn't know it then..

You're not happy, I'm not happy even though we co-exist
I find myself wondering where you've gone,
And then I remember I'm not supposed to care anymore

Trying to mend this broken, messy heart
Who's watching out for me now? 
(No one's watching out for me now...)
I don't want to be the guy who let you down

And now I try to figure out just what went wrong
And waste my time to find the moment it turned south
Had the feeling that I was in for disappointment
It was already here --- I just didn't know it then..

Guy Who Let You Down V.2

I'm finding these days
that memories are hard to tell from dreams
And those keep changing every day
Tangled up in history and what once might have been

The things I want to remember, 
I tend to forget
I'm shadowed by the things
I thought I left behind

I just wanna be with you
I just wanna show you how I feel
I just wanna hold you in my arms
Just wanna hold you in my heart

Hard to know if anything's ok
Hard to think of planning past today
Hard to tell what's real anymore
I just have to say

I just wanna be with you
I just wanna show you how I feel
I just wanna hold you in my arms
Just wanna hold you in my heart

I Just Wanna V.2

hoping to connect, meet some friends
I set up instagram about a year ago
it was hard to know then I’d be infested with requests
from a girl I do not know

she sends me links to her pics and videos
i wonder how she found me and what she wants to know
I’m guessing a guy named Ivan juggling several screens
the messages she sends me often verging on obscene

she’s not my girl
my girl treats me right
she’s not my girl
my girl keeps me warm at night

She's not my girl
Probably not even a girl
She's not my girl

that's not my world --- not a place I'd choose to go
this is just a sample of the ignorance I've known
what I don’t know yet I’ll need to learn
when its my turn i hope I get it right

she’s not my girl
my girl treats me right
she’s not my girl
my girl keeps me warm at night

Not My Girl V.2

Lately I get most of my clothes
from bands at shows
My look may be disheveled
But sheveled was never my goal

The rhythm of daily work is gone
I fill my days with drilling holes
In an empty bucket of happiness

If everything communicates
One might conclude that I despair
That's not quite correct ---
I don't really care

I don't have much hair anymore
And it never stays where I meant it
Headphones, beds, hats and wind and more
I never know what it looks like
The mirror's not my friend

If everything communicates
One might conclude that I despair
That's not quite correct ---
I don't really care

There's a new mess on top of my old mess
New dust on top of my old dust
My dust bunnies now have
multi-generational families

Everything Communicates V.2

Here's to all those emails I wrote late at night but never sent
Here's to all the things I wish I'd said but never did
Some things are better left unsaid

I've got a thumb drive full of emails never sent
Full of pain and outrage, replete with disappointment
Some things are better left unsaid

(pre-chorus)
Even with this herd of elephants in the room
I know that I preferred it when no one said the quiet part out loud

Chorus
Some things are better left unsaid
All the cold cruel things I might have otherwise said
Pregnant with those awful words that now will never be born
Things can look so different in the cold light of day

I've been a fool, most each and every day
I think of things I want to say but I turn and walk away
Some things are better left unsaid

All those things set right, if only in my head
All the awful things I wrote, but never sent
Some things are better left unsaid

Even with this herd of elephants in the room
I know that I preferred it when no one said the quiet part out loud

Some things are better left unsaid
All the cold cruel things I might have otherwise said
Pregnant with those awful words that now will never be born
Things can look so different in the cold light of day

Redux

Blunt Objects