The title of of this collection derives from a song that ultimately didn’t make the cut for various reasons — though “The Ten Thousand Ways” did a wonderful rendition of “Normal Wear and Tear” years ago at the Lost Church for EGPhest II. Still, I grew rather attached to it as a moniker for this set of songs, each of which has had its own special journey to the point where they were included on this volume (“What happened to Volumes 2 and 3?” I hear you cry… well, you see Mental Maps was for all intents and purposes Volume 2, really, and as for Volume 3…. patience…). Once again East Nashville based producer Kenny Schick, who is always a delight to work with, delivers some wonder atmospheric backdrops for my lyrics and I’m pleased to have Amberly Rosen again adding some fiddle to three of the tracks. Kenny’s wife Sabine also provides some backing vocals and she’s had some especially kind words about this batch of songs.


E.G. Phillips: lead vocals
Kenny Schick: guitars, banjo, keys, bass, drums, backing vocals
Sabine Heusler-Schick: backing Vocals (track 2)
Amberly Rosen: fiddle (tracks 2-4)

Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Kenny Schick - b3pmusic
Vocals recorded at ToneFreq in San Jose

All Written Songs by E.G. Phillips 
(c) 2024 Ducks With Pants Music

Nashville Recordings Vol. 4: Wear and Tear

“Till We Have Faces Again” is one of the rare compositions I wrote during the pandemic that I have some affection for and feel like I’ll still want to play after all of the quarantining and masking are long in the rearview mirror.  The pandemic had the unfortunate effect of making all songs written prior to it feel somewhat alien, like relics from a bygone era when you went places and interacted with people.  At the same time songs about the pandemic felt like they would have a limited shelf life, or at the very least be a bit depressing to revisit.  That, and it was that much harder to write in general.  At some point during the whole ordeal, this one popped out of me and it actually felt like a good entry point into the collection of songs that has become the album “Alien from an Alternate Earth.”

The song title and verses allude to C.S. Lewis’ retelling of the myth Cupid and Psyche — a story I found myself thinking about in the context of the the whole shutdown mishegas.  Psyche’s situation — its strangeness and her isolation — seemed to resonate.  Ultimately, despite somewhat tongue-in-cheek asserting not much has actually changed because of quarantine, it's a hopeful song, confident we will in fact "have faces" again.

— E.G. Phillips 

credits:
vocals - E.G. Phillips
flute - Daniel Casares
flugelhorn - Rich Armstrong
keys - Kevin Seal
guitar - Jeffrey Burr
upright bass - Paul Eastburn
percussion - Chris McGrew

Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C 
​in San Francisco,  Sept 5th-8th, 10th and Oct 3rd 2021
​
Recording Engineers: Desmond Shea, Liam Craddock                        
Mixed by Chris McGrew                                                                        
Mastered by Gary Hobish, A. Hammer Mastering

Produced by Chris McGrew   

​Artwork by Mario M. Noche

Written by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
​(c) 2021 Ducks With Pants Music

lyrics:
Saw you bop’n down the block	       
Winds flirt’n with your skirt
Your naked eyes flashed a smile at me
In a way that’s bound to hurt

Till we have faces again
Till we have faces again

Kidnapped to a castle
High up in the clouds
You only visit when you’re invisible
That’s all the gods will allow

Till we have faces again
Till we have faces again
   
Raucous echoes down below
Guess my neighbors are do’in fine
It’s my bad luck the pandemic struck
With no prospects on the line
Been homebound most my days
Quarantine’s hardly changed my ways
Love’s illusory at the best of times

Snuck into your bedroom
Lit a candle to catch a glimpse
Spilt hot wax by accident
Now you’ve vanished to the wind

Till we have faces again
Till we have faces again
Till we have faces again…

For additional details please see: http://www.duckswithpants.com/facesagain.html

Alien from an Alternate Earth

Till We Have Faces Again (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

" I am honored, cheered, and deeply moved at a song that is at once nimble, clever, and profound.”
— Sy Montgomery, author of "The Soul of an Octopus"

I once had a show scheduled at the Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland California. At the same time a book by the title of “The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery appeared on my radar. I thought it would be fun to have a song I could play to promote the event.  

So I wrote this tune with “You’re Looking at Me” by Nat King Cole in mind as music reference. Anecdotes from Montgomery’s book became the basis for verses, but it was her reference to the Hawaiian Kumulipo that inspired for the chorus. The claim islanders have a myth that octopuses are the only survivors from a previous world made for a wonderful jumping off point — and it might be mistaken as another of my references to Doctor Who. 

As with "The Albatross Song" and my album “At Home at Sea,” the chorus for this piece became the title of the album on which it will be featured — "Alien from an Alternate Earth" (April 22, 2022) — and like other such songs I have written, “The Fish Song” and “The L.A. Song” the subject matter may ultimately not actually be Octopuses.

A West Coast jazz ballad, with horn interplay reminiscent of Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, might seem incongruous with lyrics that at both contemplate the nature of consciousness and contain the word “squirt" but I dig the end result.

Credits:
vocals - E.G. Phillips
tenor sax - Daniel Casares
muted trumpet - Rich Armstrong
piano - Kevin Seal
guitar - Jeffrey Burr
upright bass - Paul Eastburn
percussion - Chris McGrew
Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C 
​in San Francisco, Sept 5th-8th, 10th & Oct 3rd 2021
​
Recording Engineers: Desmond Shea, Liam Craddock                        
Mixed by Chris McGrew                                                                        
Mastered by Gary Hobish, A. Hammer Mastering
​
Produced by Chris McGrew   

​Artwork by Mario M. Noche

Written by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
​(c) 2021 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:
From your point of view it must be a wonder
I somehow manage to survive
I don’t have suckers and I can’t change color
To instantly don a disguise

Perhaps this ancient is notion not so absurd
You’re not from the ocean
But a much older universe
You slipped through the cracks between worlds
Now you cannot return           
You’re an alien from an alternate Earth

You’re a curious one, you have your moods,
You’ve got real personality
You’ll swim up ’n greet us when we open your tank
Or you’ll squirt at me

Perhaps this ancient is notion not so absurd
You’re not from the ocean
But a much older universe
You slipped through the cracks between worlds
Now you cannot return           
You’re an alien from an alternate Earth

Does consciousness arise from a series of parallel
But independent processes?
Constructed in the moment it’s a useful delusion
If not a disease
One we are cured of once our minds drift off
Into the oblivious sea?

As for sleights of hand and multi-tasking
You’ve got the humans all beat
With one arm you stole the fish bucket
And occupied us with another three

Perhaps this ancient is notion not so absurd
You’re not from the ocean
But a much older universe
You slipped through the cracks between worlds
Now you cannot return           
You’re an alien from an alternate Earth

We’ve built an environment that’s more suited for you
Than it is for us                             
This infinite division of our attention is not something
To which I’ll adjust                                 
If you grind the gems of paradise
They become worthless dust

I once captained a ship now I’m playing for tips
In the lobby of a posh hotel
I’m the wallpaper; I’m the jukebox
I’m also the wishing well

Perhaps this flight of fancy is not so absurd
I’ve gone and slipped through the cracks
From another universe
I’ve slipped through the cracks between worlds
And I cannot return
I’m an alien from an alternate Earth

The Octopus Song (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

The title here is inspired by Doctor Who (a not infrequent influence on the oeuvre).  The fifth Doctor used this phrase when trying to reassure his companion Tegan Jovanka whenever they were up against the Cybermen or Silurians or what have you.  For some reason I decided that it would be an appropriate affirmation for a fellow songwriter friend of mine who occasionally despairs to the world via her Twitter account and thus seems to need some encouragement.

At some point along the way these attempts assuage her fears became a song. 

It’s pace only picked up over the years and it became a fun way to cap off a set, where it seemed to catch the ears of even the most indifferent crowd.  And I really couldn’t imagine it as anything other than a big band number.

Brave Heart, Luna! (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

credits:
vocals - E.G. Phillips
rhodes - Kevin Seal
upright bass - Paul Eastburn
percussion - Chris McGrew

Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C in San Francisco,  Sept 5th-8th, 10th and Oct 3rd 2021
​
Recording Engineers: Desmond Shea, Liam Craddock                             
Mixed by Chris McGrew                                                                        
Mastered by Gary Hobish, A. Hammer Mastering

Produced by Chris McGrew   

​Artwork by Mario M. Noche

All song written by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
(c) 2022 Ducks With Pants Music

lyrics:
At a truck stop diner
Outside King City
She’s sprinkling sparkles
On unicorn lattes
She’s a little bit of magic
In the middle of nowhere
I’m so glad she decided to share

Ahhh… the coconut cream pie
With whipped cream piled high
I am contented
Just to pop by
This little bit of magic
In the middle of nowhere
I’m so glad she decided to share

Is she content just to be that?
Does it ever get a little old hat?
A little old hat…

The background din
Of the daytime TV
Courtrooms, Soap operas,
Jeopardy — and
This little bit of magic
In the middle of nowhere
I’m so glad she decided to share

First got a taste
While getting a lift
From Nina who knows it
From many a trip
This little bit of magic
In the middle of nowhere
So glad she decided to share

Is this trip worth it?  It has it moments
Got me out of the city — I’d call that a bonus
I’d call that a bonus…

I pass her offramp
On the way to a winery
I’ve got a gig tonight
But I’m playing for free
This little bit of magic
In the middle of nowhere
Reminds me why I’m going there

Strolling through SOMA
Found this brand new toy
This tune I’m composing
Brings me such joy
It’s a little bit of magic
That’s come out of nowhere
I’m so glad to be able to share

So glad to be able to share…
So glad to be able to share…

Ode to the Wildhorse Cafe (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

Mental Maps is the title track for the EP of the same name (out Oct 21, 2022)

The notion of the mental map has always intrigued me — that our subjective and fragmentary geographical knowledge effects how we interact with the world.  As my geography professor David Lanegran explained, the reason that people don’t stray from the familiar paths they know when going somewhere is because there are vampires in those unknown areas.

This is song about how our individual mental maps may or may not intersect — and what can happen as a result of world views being too far apart.

In addition to producer Kenny Schick, this rollicking folk rock recording features Peter Colclasure on piano.  Peter is a musician/composer based in San Jose, California who plays piano at the New Ballet School and teaches at Evergreen Studio of Music and the Arts.  The way his piano line builds to a crescendo in the final verse is reason enough to give this track a listen.

Vocals - E.G. Phillips
Piano - Peter Colclasure
All Other Instruments - Kenny Schick

Lyrics:

VERSE 1:				  
Silk road through the roof of the world			
Flowed to the spice lands of the East
A persistent belief 
In a Northwest Passage                             
Tempered fears of the Kraken and 
Other beasts of the deep

That’s the stuff of history books                    
Dreams found in an atlas from the past
Yet still live at the intersection
Of our mental maps

VERSE 2:
We both sketched the city in the dirt
Drew landmarks from our memories  
We clearly referred 
To all the same places        
Yet shared no ground in common 
As far as I could see

We set a course for the morning star
The sky fell and we lost the path
Which direction is the intersection
Of our mental maps?

BRIDGE:
The compass rose is in full bloom
Let’s get the lay of the land	                
You insist we stick to the forged trails
Lest we step into a mess of quicksand

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa

VERSE 3:
Last week you set off on your own
A voyage of discovery, a walkabout
One of those journeys 
Where you delve deep though the self                
And drift as far as you can from
All of your doubts

I had a vision — we arrived at a point
Where space and time had collapsed
And there we met — at the intersection
Of our mental maps

Mental Maps (Mental Maps EP)

Written by E.G. Phillips
Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C in San Francisco
Produced by Chris McGrew   

Featuring:
Grace Renaud — vocals 
Christopher Fortier — guitars, electric bass
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion

Lyrics:
I’m across the Bay, like I’ve been before
Stuck at MacArthur Station at this ridiculous hour
It’s a frigid little purgatory surrounded by the highway
Waiting on this open air platform after missing a connecting train

Once again the one connection on which I’m forced to rely
Is the one I can’t rely on at all
Well, as you know, I always thought we tried
To go A Bridge Too Far


VERSE 2:
My days glide by	 as I knock about
In markets unripe and rotten and a garden of my doubts
Yes, I know my trajectory is not one that will sustain
I may not be right in the head but I don’t need you in my brain

Your solutions are no better than only getting by 
Don't plug holes, just refill the reservoir
Well, as you know, I always thought we tried
To go A Bridge Too Far

VERSE 3:
A mad man rants, my signal’s failed
The whole damn world’s determined to go off the rails
There’s no shelter to be had from the constant traffic stream
If we took part in a Turing test I couldn’t tell you from the machine

We could talk in a language that’s plain and forthright
But that would require us both to disarm
Well, as you know, I always thought we tried
To go A Bridge Too Far

OUTRO:
Well, as you know, I always thought we tried
To go A Bridge Too Far

Well, as you know, I always thought we tried
To go A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far (MacArthur Station)

Written by E.G. Phillips
Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C in San Francisco
Produced by Chris McGrew   

Featuring:
E.G. Phillips — vocals 
Grace Renaud — backing vocals
Christopher Fortier — guitars, electric bass
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion

Lyrics:
They post an eviction notice
On the cemetery gates
Uproot tombstones like they’re weeds
And start unearth’n graves

They pack up the old tenants
And drag their remnants south
They’re build’n a new strip mall
And kick’n the caskets out

CHORUS:
They’ve gone ’n outlawed the dead
They’ve gone ’n outlawed the dead
Those corpses can’t afford here
and they’ve Outlawed the dead
Out - law the dead
Out - law the dead

VERSE 2:
Smash their monuments into paving slabs
And the departed don’t dissent
You’ll find it’s easier with strangers
If you’re looking to repent

It’s a city full of transplants,
Transients, and tents
All those good intentions
I’ll tell you where they went

CHORUS 2:
They’ve gone ’n outlawed the dead
They’ve gone ’n outlawed the dead
You can’t just lie there now they’ve
Outlawed the dead
Out - law the dead
Out - law the dead

BRIDGE:
I’m a shadow lingering
In a moonless breeze	
Cursed to whither
Like a fruitless tree
I’m invisible now 
Can’t you see?   Can’t you see?            
Can’t you see?   Can’t you see?

VERSE 3:
She claims she’s busy work’n
So she can pay her rent
Yet someone takes those photos
And is spare’n no expense

She dresses to draw your eyes
Then writes you off with contempt
She’s desperate for attention
Yet it’s attention she resents

FINAL CHORUS:
You gotta outlaw the dead
You gotta outlaw the dead
There times when you have one choice
And it’s to outlaw the dead
Outlaw the dead
Outlaw the dead

Outlaw the dead and
We are the dead

Outlaw the Dead

Outlaw The Dead

The devastation caused by wildfires that have struck the Bay Area in recent years was the inspiration for this song's imagery. Although the fall is a time of beauty in wine country with the leaves of the vineyards turning their autumnal hues, in more recent years it has become smoke season and the accompanying destruction from the fires can be heartbreaking. But these aren't the only "burning days" being alluded to.

Recorded in East Nashville, featuring searing violin work by Amberly Rosen as well as producer Kenny Schick on acoustic and electric guitars, banjo and organ.

E.G. Phillips: lead vocals
Kenny Schick: guitars, banjo, keys, bass, drums, backing vocals
Amberly Rosen: fiddle

Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Kenny Schick - b3pmusic
(c) 2024 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:
Vineyards vibrant as Van Gogh’s palette
Vineyards vibrant as Van Gogh’s palette
The ashes of Napa are painting the skies          
In ribbons of indigo and scarlet
	
A fire crew wrangles its manic cattle
A fire crew wrangles its manic cattle
The front line resembles a lightning bolt or
The earth’s crust cracked to mantle	

These are burning days
These are burning days
The chaotic winds spur the blaze
Of our burning days
        
The horse broke loose ‘n fled the stable
The horse broke loose ‘n fled the stable
A herd of storms lashes the land
With the rage Cain held for Able

These are burning days
These are burning days
The chaotic winds spur the blaze
Of our burning days

These are burning days
These are burning days
The chaotic winds spur the blaze
Of our burning days

You want me to hold all of your anger
You need me to metabolize your pain
While so much is vying for our eyeballs                    
By trying to hack our brains 

The car’s a corpse of twisted metal
The car’s a corpse of twisted metal
Piles of stones where chimneys once stood
The taste of smoke’s now bitter

Nashville Recordings, Vol. 4: Wear and Tear

These Are Burning Days

The ideas for songs can come from the most unusual places. For instance, I was in an unfinished furniture store one day and the idea of the title “Unfinished Love” came to mind — and thus this creation was born.  It was originally part of a collection of instrumental music I called “Morphology” where I was playing a bit with form — in this case the dramatic shifting of keys from the chorus to verse.

E.G. Phillips: lead vocals
Kenny Schick: guitars, banjo, keys, bass, drums, backing vocals

Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Kenny Schick - b3pmusic

All Written Songs by E.G. Phillips 
(c) 2024 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:
I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
Mmmmm..... mmmmm... 

It’s still a little rough
Just give me some time
Yes, it’s a bit unpolished
But I’m sure it will shine

I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
Ohhhhh..... Ohhhhh...

You can go ahead an’ take it
Have whatever’s left
Don’t let it go to waste or 
Just evaporate

My love is resilient My love will survive 
My love will remain Unfinished 
As long as I’m alive 

I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 

My love is resilient My love will survive 
My love will remain Unfinished 
As long as I’m alive

I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you 
I’ve got some Unfinished Love for you
For you 
For you 
For you 
For you...

Unfinished Love

A young lady I knew once told me “my love’s so hard” when she was describing her relationships and the intensity she put into them.  That phrase just sort of stuck with me until I wrote a song. I sort of intended the “pale moon light” line to be a placeholder line but ultimately decided I liked it.

This song is not about Taylor Swift. I played this song once at an open mic and the songwriter who preceded me (stage name: "Troubadour Fools") performed a song he calls “Taylor Swift” which I can only describe as a blatant attempt to piggyback on Ms. Swift's stardom. This led me to quip that my song was also about Taylor Swift. I have been fighting the rumors ever since. 

Some sweet and romantic violin work by Amberly Rosen on this one, in stark stark contrast to the searing riffs she did on "These Are Burning Days."

E.G. Phillips: lead vocals
Kenny Schick: guitars, keys,  percussion,
Sabine Heusler-Schick: backing vocals
Amberly Rosen: fiddle

Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Kenny Schick - b3pmusic

All Written Songs by E.G. Phillips 
(c) 2024 Ducks With Pants Music

Her Love's So Hard

I am the son of a geographer, and in fact have a degree in geography myself and that comes out in full force in this little country blues ditty. The inspiration in fact comes from something I once read about Simon and Garfunkel’s album “Bookends” — maybe it was Bud Scoppa, who wrote “the record is a meditation on the passage of life and the psychological impact of life's irreversible, ever-accumulating losses" — accumulating losses… accretions, if you would.

Anyway, it has been said that this song “rocks”

Accretion Blues

DOCTOR [on screen]: People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.
SALLY: Started well, that sentence.
DOCTOR: It got away from me, yeah.
SALLY: Okay, that was weird. Like you can hear me.
DOCTOR: Well, I can hear you.
— Doctor Who, Blink

A cinéma vérité examination of modern para-sociality via Tin Pan Alley-esque folk jazz.

One of my guilty pleasures of late has been react content — this where you watch someone watching something else so you can watch how they react to it. Completely ridiculous. And yet someone how quite addicting. 

There is an element of nostalgia to it plus the vicarious thrill of reliving what its like to experience your favorite moments from TV or film for the first time through somebody else’s eyes.  At the same time the best reactors themselves become so involved in the story that they enthusiastically cheer the protagonists on, excoriate the villains, and cry inconsolably when tragedy befalls the heroes. Even their interactions with their viewers through the lens of the camera can ape that of a child with an imaginary friend. The overall series of interactions is a bit of para-social möbius strip.

My gateway drug for react content was Doctor Who. This song is my ode to my favorite YouTube react content steamer.
Credits:

E.G. Phillips: vocals
Chloe Mendola: cello
Sarah Bonomo: clarinet
Felipe Ubeda (Cigarbox Man): guitar
Omree Gal-Oz: piano
Curtis Aikens: upright bass

Recorded at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA
Neil Godbole: recording engineer
Recorded & Mixed by Nahuel Bronzini 
Mastered by Andrés Mayo Mastering

Arranged & Produced by Nahuel Bronzini & Felipe Ubeda 
Written by E.G. Phillips
(c) 2025 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:

She shares gossip, the weather, and laments her split ends
As she talks to the camera like an old friend
Then sums up her thoughts on the ongoing story arch
And she loves it 			
When It Gets Dark

She’s determined to avoid any and all spoilers
As she predicts the plot points of passé pot-boilers
Warms slow to new faces but mourns when they depart
And she loves it 			
When It Gets Dark

If there’s a grisly murder or
Giants rats stalk the sewers
She’s bubbly and effusive
And though answers are elusive
She becomes intrigued… yes…
She becomes intrigued

How she adores those handsome young men on her screen
Their charm, their sweetness, and yes, their physique
Like figures out of myth or the lives of Plutarch
And she loves it 
When It Gets Dark

When It Gets Dark [Tricks of the Light EP]

“Sorry it took me so long to answer, I was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.”

— Tracy Jordan

It is the above quote from one of our most esteemed philosophers that inspired me to write this song, which could be thought of as “romance in miniature, in reverse.” There are the obvious allusions to Slaughterhouse 5 and MacBeth, but the true connoisseurs will appreciate the subtle nod to a classic Doctor Who serial.

This is the second of a half dozen "chamber folk" type recordings I worked on with two time Grammy winner Nahuel Bronzini (Mixing Engineer, Fantastic Negrito) and his musical counterpart Felipe Ubeda (aka Cigarbox Man) who co-arranged and co-produced these tracks. My music is often described as “cinematic” in nature so it only seemed natural to have them scored as such. So in addition to Felipe handling the guitar part, we have a small chamber group consisting of Omree Gal-Oz on piano, Curtis Aikens on upright bass, and Chloe Mendola on cello.

Credits:

E.G. Phillips: vocals
Chloe Mendola: cello
Felipe Ubeda (Cigarbox Man): guitar
Omree Gal-Oz: piano
Curtis Aikens: upright bass

Recorded at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA
Neil Godbole: recording engineer
Recorded & Mixed by Nahuel Bronzini 
Mastered by Andrés Mayo Mastering

Arranged & Produced by Nahuel Bronzini & Felipe Ubeda 
Written by E.G. Phillips
(c) 2025 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:

Watch a movie as it plays in reverse
It all makes its own sort of sense
Broken shards spring up to form a wine glass
Dig a man up from the earth
Then he comes to  life

Entrust an orchid into her care
Return to a discolored wilted nightmare
She shrugs her shoulders and flips back her hair
What is the use in owning in a flower
That doesn’t thrive on its own?

On a planet of feast and famine
Its course so perverse
We subsist on a diet
Of half empty words
The milk of human kindness
And the flesh of birds

Buy her a snow globe as a keepsake
Enjoy her delight as she gives it a shake
See the enchantment slip from her face
Before the whirlwind she’s created
Has even settled at all

She's posing for art classes when we first meet
I sketch out her figure in turquoise and green
My choices perplex her “What does this mean?”
It was an instinct, it was an impulse
Those colors chose me

On a planet of feast and famine
Its course so perverse
We subsist on a diet
Of half eaten words
The milk of human kindness	
And the flesh of birds

Watch a red tail wheel around in the sky
How its wings harness the air to power its flight
Yet the shadow its casts is a menacing sight
An awareness embedded in our subconscious
That allowed our ancestors to survive

On a planet of feast and famine
Its course so perverse
We subsist on a diet
Of half murmured words
The milk of human kindness
And the flesh of birds

The Flesh of Birds

The Flesh Of Birds [Tricks of the Light EP]

"Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck, 'til some idiot killed it."
— Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity

My attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of one our fine feathered friends who has been much maligned by a poem.

I released the original more raucous version of this song as the opening track to my second album “At Home at Sea.” I of course love the madness of that version — its wildness, its unhinged number of choruses.

But it is a song that exists in two forms in my mind. In addition to its mercurial sibling, there is also the more mellow, more contemplative vibe that it closer to its protean state when I first started messing with the chords to an old cowboy song one Thanksgiving day and clearly had birds on the brain.

Credits:

E.G. Phillips: vocals
Chloe Mendola: cello
Daniel Riera: flute
Felipe Ubeda (Cigarbox Man): guitar
Omree Gal-Oz: piano
Curtis Aikens: upright bass

Recorded at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA
Neil Godbole: recording engineer
Recorded & Mixed by Nahuel Bronzini 
Mastered by Andrés Mayo Mastering

Arranged & Produced by Nahuel Bronzini & Felipe Ubeda 
Written by E.G. Phillips
(c) 2025 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:

The bowerbird is quite creative when it comes to decoration
Starlings follow simple rules that dictate their murmurations
But wanton salt marsh sparrows and curious little chickadees 
I know there’s only one companion for me, for…
      
When you’re with an albatross
Don’t you know you can’t get lost
‘Cause you’re never truly lost
When you are at home at 
Sea…

Does your restless spirit wander yet get hopelessly attached?
You’re barely bound to this world, yet you dread it’s bound to collapse?
If Noah sent you from his ark to fetch some branches from a tree
Might you not return?  Just drift perpetually?

Well…
When you’re with an albatross
Don’t you know you can’t get lost
‘Cause you’re never truly lost
When you are at home at 
Sea…


In the straits of Magellan or rounding the Cape of Good Hope
Death and disillusionment will gamble on a ghost ship for your soul
No… No… 

When you’re with an albatross
Don’t you know you can’t get lost
‘Cause you’re never truly lost
When you are at home at 
Sea…

Tricks of the Light

Albatross Song (Mellow Like) [Tricks of the Light EP]

Credits:

E.G. Phillips: vocals
Chloe Mendola: cello
Felipe Ubeda (Cigarbox Man): guitar
Omree Gal-Oz: piano
Curtis Aikens: upright bass

Recorded at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA
Neil Godbole: recording engineer
Recorded & Mixed by Nahuel Bronzini 
Mastered by Andrés Mayo Mastering

Arranged & Produced by Nahuel Bronzini & Felipe Ubeda 
Written by E.G. Phillips
(c) 2025 Ducks With Pants Music

Lyrics:

A hunter spied Artemis
Bathing with nymphs in the forest
She turned him into a stag
Even though it’d been an accident
He found himself charmed and spellbound
Then ripped apart by his own hounds
Or so goes the myth

The mother of Mesuline
Promised to marry a Scottish King
On the condition he never witness
Her bathing their three offspring
When he broke his vow and saw her mermaid form
She left with the children for a distant shore
And her daughter grew up to do the exact same thing 

There’s nature and nurture
There’s volition and reflex — and
There’s what’s hardwired in
To that damn double helix

The Light You Reflect				
Is like a special effect
It defines in my mind		
An image I can not forget
Whether a deliberate attempt to entice	
Or a byproduct of your passing by
My eyes get directed towards you

The light we reflect			
Lets us connect
I’m sad what they said		
Made you so upset
Sometimes when the neurons fire	
It really feels like they’re on fire
And we are subject to our response

The Light You Reflect [Tricks of the Light EP]

Once again, although I grew up in the Midwest, it's San Francisco and its environs that have been infused into my music lyrically.

Maya Hall graces this track with her haunting and ethereal vocals.

Fish from the Sky

The Mystery and Milieu of You

Lady of the Shadows

Vocals, Guitar: E.G. Phillips
Backing Vocals: Louise Nalbandian, Shawn Byron
Bass: Shawn Miller
Accordion, Wurlizter, Percussion: Ben Osheroff

Photo: Luna Taylor

Words and Music:  E.G. Phillips
Produced by Ben Osheroff
Mastered by Matt Boudreau, Working Class Audio

Lyrics:
Waltzing atop the 
Broken stalks of a           
Moonlit field
Glossed with frost
Partnered with a raggedy scarecrow                     

She canters, sun fishes ‘n 
Crow hops about to           
Phantom chords 
Played by a cloud for
Our Lovely Lady of the Shadows

She’s read all about 
Plato’s Cave
Lancelot with his 
Armor aflame
And the “Snows of Kilimanjaro”

Still earthbound shapes are what
Fascinates
All those sketches that 
Street lamps trace for
Our Lovely Lady of the Shadows

Lovely Lady of the Shadows   
Taking Photos of the Sha  -  dows

“You won’t stay caught
‘cause you can’t be owned
All light’s green-broke but 
Barely so
And the dark was born an outlaw”

So she assures the 
Silhouettes that
Cross her path and 
Loom in the lens of
Our Lovely Lady of the Shadows

Lovely Lady of the Shadows   
Taking Photos of the Sha  -  dows

They’ll ride you hard and 
Bed you wet
Just to earn your 
Daily bread
Make you do it all again tomorrow

With greater precision and 
Faster yet, but
Remember as they 
Crack the whip
Our Lovely Lady of the Shadows

Lovely Lady of the Shadows   
Taking Photos of the Sha  -  dows

Lady of the Shadows

"Lifetimes Without You" from the E.G. Phillips album "At Home At Sea"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Ukulele), Eve Fleishman (Backing Vocals), Ben Osheroff (Ukulele, Piano), Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), Ben Visini (Drum Kit)

produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Osheroff
songs and artwork by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
published by Ducks With Pants Music (@duckswithpants)

lyrics:
I’ve been living Lifetimes Without You
Ever since I saw you last
Each moment feels like a lifetime without you
I’m burn’n through lives so fast

I watched them build the pyramids
I saw them sack Rome
I had to do it without you

Wanted to take you to the new jazz center
Find my name on the wall
Explore the bazaars of Istanbul together
Propose at Iguaçu Falls

I have crossed the Bosporus
I have crossed the Rubicon
I had to do it without you

I watch the water drip in my kitchen sink
Watch each drop dangle from its stem
Watch a drop fall, watch a world shatter
Watch it bead up again

I’m Napoleon in exile
I’m Prometheus in chains
I’ve had to do without you

I’ve been living Lifetimes Without You
Lives in the future and the past
Each moment feels like a lifetime without you
Each one I hope will be the last

At Home At Sea

Lifetimes Without You

Lifetimes Without You — At Home At Sea

"An Alternate Route (To Your Heart)" from the album "At Home At Sea"

This track premiered on Glide Magazine which says "It’s easy to hear Phillips’ love of jazz music come through in the quietly whimsical piano and simple, emotive brush stick drumming and standup bass. Phillips has a quiet, loping vocal delivery that feels relaxed and confessional, playing the role of lounge crooner meets street busker. "

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals), Eve Fleishman (Backing Vocals), 
Ben Osheroff (Piano), Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), 
Ben Visini (Drum Kit)

produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Osheroff
mastered by Matt Boudreau, Working Class Audio
songs and artwork by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
published by Ducks With Pants Music (@duckswithpants)

lyrics:
All the signs I can read
    Say the entrance ramp is closed
There’s no way onto the expressway
    From here
It looks like I’ll have to take
    The long way around
I’ll have to find An Alternate Route
To Your Heart

Now I’m parked on the shoulder
    I’m all stalled out
Trying to fix a flat in the dark
    As other cars speed past
Even if I get back on the road
    I’m not sure I can switch gears
So I can take that Alternate Route
To Your Heart

Maybe I’ll get good and lost 
    And lose my way
Maybe it’s a destination 
    I’ll never quite reach
Maybe it’s as elusive as 
    Brigadoon or Shangri-La
Maybe it’s as guarded as 
    The gates of paradise


But I’m sure it’s a place that exists
    In one form or another
And I believe to my bones
    It’s where I’m meant to be
Oh, how do you reach into my being
    So effortlessly?
And yet we’re so distant
    No matter how near we are?

Once I finally get moving again
    I’ll keep plugging away
I don’t care about the mileage
    Or going off map
I’ll follow the stars in the heavens
    Hoping they’ll guide me
Through the Odyssey of an Alternate Route
         To        Your        Heart

An Alternate Route (To Your Heart)

An Alternate Route (To Your Heart) — At Home At Sea

"Til I Wash You Away" from the album "At Home at Sea"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Guitar), Samantha Sipin (Backing Vocals), Jesse Elkin Rubin (Alto Sax, Tenor Sax), Ben Osheroff (Piano), Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), Ben Visini (Drum Kit)

produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Osheroff
mastered by Matt Boudreau, Working Class Audio
songs and artwork by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
published by Ducks With Pants Music (@duckswithpants)

lyrics:
See you at a party, gee you’re looking fine
Hold you only briefly — oh it feels divine
You continue to cling to me throughout the night

‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning

Toss’n and turn’n, my sheets twist like taffy
Try to calm my nerves with a whiff of blue tansy
Still your scent will linger — the perfume and the brandy

‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning

A miasma of memory floating through the air
Lost possibilities resilient as a water bear
But only in my mind
It’s only in my mind

Debris on the beach is swept out with the tide
Garbage trucks are loading, the sea levels rise
The cosmic ash may whither but together here we lie

‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning

Scrubbing underneath the soothing shower head
Your last vestiges, the dirt, and my sweat
All swirling down the drain
All swirling down the drain

A preheated oven, a warmed up slice of pie
Essential oils burning, a freshly laundered sky
Every breath an elixir which elicits a sigh

‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning
‘Till I wash you away in the morning

Til I Wash You Away

Til I Wash You Away (At Home At Sea)

Produced by Kenny Schick

They'll try and cram platitudes in a man
Just jam 'em in — he's a tuna can 
Like "There are many fish in the sea" and 
"God has touched each grain of sand”
Well, it sounds to me like someone has 
Too much time on His hands
And I don't want to have to spend   
All my life as a fisherman

If I catch a fish, should I 
Draw her from her waters?
Watch her flop about my deck 	  
Before I cut and gut her?
Cook her up in olive oil and 	  
Serve her up for supper?
And once I have consumed her, I 
Should have to catch another?

Then soon the seas shall be empty
For all men will go fishing
Until appetites are satisfied and
That's just wishful thinking
They're polluting all our rivers with their
Lines and constant angling
They'll cast a net around the world
That’s as choking as entangling

If you feed a man a fish, you’ll
Fill his belly for a night — but if you
Teach a man to fish, he’s
Famished but he's occupied
I’m so sick of baiting hooks with
Fancy lures and worms and flies, I’d
Rather sail on aimless-like and
Hope that fish fall from the sky

Perhaps I ought to dry my skin
'Til it flakes and scales
Shed my forelimbs for some fins and
Spin myself a tail
Hold my breath till I develop gills or the
Blowhole of a whale
Then I can make some plans to
Join all those fish in the sea

If they'll have me

Fish Song (Nashville Recordings)

Produced by Kenny Schick

Lyrics:
I tend to forget You Are Not Her – it’s an easy mistake to make
You look and act enough alike,
But when you draped your arms over my shoulders
As we parted last night
The shock of remembering threw me for a
I must have looked like I had just been
Accused of murder

VERSE 2:
I tend to forget You Are Not Her – you don’t have the memories 
That she and I have shared
That bizarre hayride with those rowdy Christian boys –
They had us both terrified
Or that one night when we nuzzled on her bed
A stray phone call kept it from
Going any further

BRIDGE:
It’s become so much harder to give my heart away, and
Although they become fewer with every passing day
The temptation is to always put it off until the next tomorrow

VERSE 3:
I tend to forget You Are Not Her – it’s not that I’m suffering 
From that mental disorder
Which causes someone to think that all their loved ones Dm G
Have been replaced by imposters
Sometimes I think I’m damaged far beyond repair
But it may just be I’m a
Pathetically slow learner

You Are Not Her (Nashville Recordings)

Robb Haggle does a bluesy Dylan-esque take on "The L.A. Song" and provides me with a tag line by which I promoted the song.

EGPhest III - 05 - Robb Hagle - The L.A. Song

E.G. Phillips is a songwriter based in San Francisco.  His lyrics are whimsical and cinematic.   He's twice been the "Songwriter In Residence" at Bazaar Cafe and he hosts and annual "EGPhest" event in August where he invites Bay Area performers to come and play his songs for his birthday.

He is the front man for the fake band Ducks With Pants.

E.G. Phillips

Pinned to spotlight

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