Long ago and somewhere far away 
Another time another place 
There came a special man 
A message in his hand 
To save us in the end 
Here he comes again 
As fast as he can 

So baby 
Don't be a fool 
Don't be afraid 
He's come to stay 
Mercury man 

He's breaking the sound barrier, too 
Mercury man 

Across the universe 
A world away 
At the speed of light he came 
Falling from the sky 
Beyond the great divide 
To show us all the way 
Flew in from mercury 
With wings upon his feet 

So baby 
Don't be a fool 
Don't be afraid 
He's come to stay 
Mercury man 

He's breaking the sound barrier, too 
Mercury man 

Deep in the quiet 
The deafening silence 
Floating all alone in space 
See how he's crying 
So tired of trying 
Every time to save the day 

Here he comes again 
As fast as he can 

So baby 
Don't be a fool 
Don't be afraid 
He's come to stay 
Mercury man 

He's breaking the sound barrier, too 
Mercury man 


c. 2016 Butch Young BMI

Mercury Man

Goddess of the underworld 
Mistress of the afterlife 

As Persephone 
Gathered flowers 
Hades intervened 
To drag her downward 

When he opened up the earth 
Persephone was swallowed 
And such remained her curse 
As witnessed by Apollo 

Oh oh oh oh 
Persephone 
Oh oh oh oh 
What's left for 
What's left for me? 

Goddess of the underworld 
Mistress of the afterlife 

Demeter roamed the land 
To find her daughter 
She did not understand 
Where Hades brought her 

And she searched relentlessly 
Till a fountain filled her spirit 
And she cried: "Persephone" 
Who alas, could never hear it 

Oh oh oh oh 
Persephone 
Oh oh oh oh 
What's left for 
What's left for me? 

Goddess of the underworld 
Mistress of the afterlife 

Come Spring she'd be set free 
Winter remanded 
He fed Persephone 
A pomegranate 

Goddess of the underworld 
Mistress of the afterlife 


c. 2016 Butch Young BMI

Persephone

This simple kind of life 
Take not for granted 
You can do with it what you like 
As is your habit 

Sell you soul 
Or trade your wife 
Turn the screw or twist the knife 
Well come on, let's have it 

One foot in, one foot out 
One foot firmly in your mouth 
You talkin' to me? 
I'm talkin' to you 
We can keep talkin' till we're blue 

This silent beam of light 
Is not so magic 
Though only seen at night 
There's one advantage 

Watch the galaxies explode 
Tell the children they'll get old 
That's right, God damn it 

One foot in, one foot out 
One foot firmly in your mouth 
You talkin' to me? 
I'm talkin' to you 
We can keep talkin' till we're blue 

This stupid little life 
Is not so tragic 
Though we'll never get out alive 
It's one rich pageant 

Tell the author of the sun 
To construct another one 
Let's get right to it 

One foot in, one foot out 
One foot firmly in your mouth 
You talkin' to me? 
I'm talkin' to you 
We can keep talkin' till we're blue 


c. Butch Young BMI

One Foot In

Released by Big Stir Digital Singles Series on June 21, 2019 

www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles 

“Let’s (smile and) salute Butch Young’s lighthearted send-up of sourpusses everywhere. Power Pop aficionados will note the affectionate appropriation of a Van Duran album-title. This presumably rhetorical question is periodically posed to our eponymous Captain, a dyspeptic sort we’ve all had the misfortune to encounter (and perhaps on the Wrong Day, to have been).”



Captain Serious 
Is looking sour as a lime or a grape 
His face is dour as some days-old lemonade 
Left to spoil in the rain 

Is something wrong? 
You just do not look happy 

Captain Serious 
As solemn as a Bergman movie 
You’re so austere with us 
Is there anything you find amusing? 
Are you serious? 

Captain Serious 
He stays as sober as a judge or a priest 
He doesn’t laugh or even smile in the least 
As for fun, he’s the thief 

Is something wrong? 
Why don’t you lighten up, son?

Captain Serious 
As sullen as young Brando brooding 
It’s all so queer to us 
Just what do you think 
You are proving? 

Oh, did your mom make you so? 
She never really let you play your rock n’ roll 
Oh, did your Dad come home 
And catch you reading Tolstoy all alone? 
Alone 

Why so glum? 
Here in this world of beauty? 

Captain Serious 
Is solemn as a Bergman movie 
You seem austere to us 
Is there anything 
You find amusing? 
Are you serious? 

Captain Serious 
As sullen as young Brando brooding 
Corporal Curious 
Is wondering what makes you so moody 
Are you serious?

Released June 21, 2019 

c. 2019 Butch Young 

Butch Young: vocals, acoustic guitar, piano + virtual (midi) instruments 

Matt Lee; electric guitar + bass 

Jeffrey Martin: drums 

Mixed by Alan Brownstein 

Mastered by George Shilling


All rights reserved

Captain Serious

Released by Big Stir Records Digital Single Series on June 21, 2019 

www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles 

"This languorous and elastic swirl of strings and slide guitar evokes the kind of dream state that’s sure to sweat the sheets. Despite the confounding and troubling contents of this fever dream, our pulchritudinous and unconscious subject is encouraged to “have another wink or two” before springing to life. Night terrors never sounded so sweet." 


Five fingers on a gun 
Staring back at me 
Nine images rerun 
In the dream factory 

Same letters jumbled up again 
That always spell catastrophe 
Still holding on 

Beautiful dreamer 
Have another wink or two 
Before you spring to life 
Until you open up 
Your eyes to see 
The world of wonder 

Five fingers a gun 
Right in back of me 
My legs refuse to run 
Though they’re all after me 

Bad feelings bottled up and then 
An imminent calamity 
Run baby, run 

Beautiful dreamer 
Grab another wink or two 
Before you spring to life 
Until you open up 
Your eyes to leave 
The world of slumber 

I’d better wake you up again 
Or is this how it has to be? 
Still holding on 

Beautiful dreamer 
Have another wink or two 
Before you spring to life 
When will you open up 
Your heart to see 
The spell you’re under?
credits
released June 21, 2019 
c. Butch Young 2019 

Butch Young: vocals + acoustic guitar + virtual (midi) instruments 

Matt Lee; electric guitars + bass 

Anthony Marchisone: drums 

Mixed and mastered by George Shilling

All rights reserved

Beautiful Dreamer

May-born baby Butch Young sprang That First Spring from The Garden State. Though naked and in New Jersey, he felt no shame, willfully biting The Big Apple. By the time he was old enough to spot a made guy, his family forsook Sinatra’s Hoboken for Pleasant Valley Sundays further from The City. Swapping his Sicilian pop’s surname for his Mayflower mom’s maiden moniker, Butch set about confounding The Library of Congress with his incessant copyrights. 
A stone’s throw from the (actual) Fountains of Wayne, Butch and Nick Celeste formed the power-pop combo "In Color". They jangled their self-penned ditties alongside The Monkees' "Porpoise Song" and Phil Seymour's "Precious To Me" in hangs like Hoboken’s Maxwell’s and NYC’s China Club. Upon releasing an EP on Questionmark Records, they became label-mates of perennial pals Dramarama. 
When Celeste grew busier with "In Color" producer Richard Barone's solo act, Butch ventured westward – joining fellow Wayne transplants Dramarama in L.A. Butch contributed backing vocals to their albums Cinema Verite (Questionmark/New Rose/Chameleon) and Hi Fi Sci Fi (Chameleon/Elektra) -- concurrently recording his own material with them at Hollywood’s Music Box Studios. Richard Bosworth (The Knack/Johnny Rivers) and Dramarama’s Chris Carter co-produced a subsequent batch of Butch’s material. Instrumental collaborators included guitarist Berton Averre (The Knack), drummer Phil Jones (Tom Petty), bassist Rick Rosas (Neil Young) with backing vocals from Edan Everly (son of Don) and John Easdale. Butch more recently re-teamed with producer Bosworth and Averre to record another of his songs (“By Invitation”). 
Butch has contributed tracks to several International Pop Overthrow compilations (Omnivore/Not Lame/Pop Geek Heaven). His home-recorded album, Mercury Man was self-released January 15, 2016. It garnered favorable reviews and was included on several “Best Albums of 2016” lists, including Absolute Powerpop, Bash on Pop (International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash), Plastico Elastico (Spain) and Pop That Goes Crunch. 
Shortly afterwards (accompanied by Robbie Rist and Dramarama’s Mark Englert), Butch performed selections from Mercury Man at Big Stir: Power Pop & More, a popular monthly showcase in Los Angeles.
His song “Persephone” was included on the compilation CDs “Big Stir: The First Year” and “Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More - Power Popsicle Brain Freeze” (Sweden). 
Butch contributed the (home recorded) tune "Heartbreak Christmas" to "This Christmas Time Four," a holiday-themed compilation CD from Powerpop Academy/This Time Records in Japan. 
Butch released a (home-recorded) Digital Single through Big Stir Records on June 21, 2019 consisting of: "Captain Serious” b/w “Beautiful Dreamer.”
Both tracks are included on the Big Stir Singles: The Third Wave CD (released September 6, 2019).
"Captain Serious" is among the tracks included on the International Pop Overthrow compilation CD # 22, released in June, 2019.
Butch Young is currently working on a new album, collaborating once again with guitarist/bassist Matt Lee.

Butch Young

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