Full length album by E.G. Phillips to be released in April of 2022.

"The song is whimsical, endearing, and fun...E.G delivers the song in a spoken word style that has a worldly wise feel..."
— Simply Jazz Talk on "The Octopus Song”


After a foray into country for his EP, Nashville Recordings, Vol.1, San Francisco songwriter E.G Phillips returns to the jazz idiom with his new album Alien from an Alternate Earth.  

As with At Home at Sea and “The Albatross Song,” this collection’s title is derived from the refrain of one of its tracks — “The Octopus Song,” which was inspired by The Soul of an Octopus by naturalist Sy Montgomery and written to promote a show at Oakland’s Octopus Literary Salon.  While the pretext of the song might be cephalopod perceptions and origins, its underlying purpose is much more personal — a meditation on the singer’s current situation and place in the world — a re-emerging theme throughout these songs.

We open with the breezy Bossa Nova “Till We Have Faces Again” (which alludes to the vagaries of the pandemic as well as C.S. Lewis’s retelling of Cupid and Psyche) and then  explore a variety of textures and emotions — from the venomous, knife twisting swagger of “That May Not Be Good Enough” (which is nasty as Dylan ever was) to the ethereal, music box like “Ode to the Wildhorse Cafe.”  The album is capped off with the frenetic encouragement of the big band number called “Brave Heart, Luna!”

This project was the result of a chance encounter with producer Chris McGrew and keyboardist/vocal arranger Kevin Seal (both of punky prog rock Griddle and Seal Party) at a recording session at the famed Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco (where Santana and Herbie Hancock laid down classic tracks).  This led to McGrew assembling an all star cast of local luminaries to provide that old school, 1950s feel Phillips was looking to imbue into these recordings.  Desmond Shea (Division Hi-Fi, Faith No More) was on hand to act as recording engineer (as well as provide his unique insights).  Mastering was done by Gary Hobish, a veteran of Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios and San Francisco’s CD Studios.

Alien from an Alternate Earth is a tight volume of E.G. Phillips songs where his characteristically cinematic and whimsical lyrics are backed by an imaginative ensemble of the Bay Area’s best jazz players who create a sound that is both classic and striking.

Recorded at Wally's HydeOut in San Francisco, Sept 2021.

Produced by Chris McGrew.

Artwork by Mario M. Noche

Alien from an Alternate Earth (album)

Mental Maps (EP)

All song written by E.G. Phillips
© 2023 Ducks With Pants Music

Recorded at Wally's HydeOut, Hyde Street Studio C in San Francisco

Outlaw the Dead

Tracks from the E.G. Phillips album "At Home At Sea"

Featuring some songwriter E.G. Phillips' beloved songs such as "The Albatross Song" and "Lighthouse at the Edge of the World" this genre-tripping collaboration with producer Ben Osheroff and plethora of Bay Area artists is a lovingly crafted sonic menagerie.

At Home At Sea

The notion of a songwriter recording in Nashville is of course a bit cliche and the fact this album’s title has "Volume 1" appended to it either indicates ambition or just cheekiness.  The main purpose of the album was to make sure there were some definitive versions of these songs committed, or perhaps, consigned, to that vast digital cloud.

Nashville Recordings Vol. 1 was actually recorded in East Nashville, which is appropriate because Phillips considers himself "Nashville adjacent" at best (or worst, depending on your point of view) — tolerated by, perhaps even vaguely amusing the locals when he's passed through that way with his "troubadour crooner" stylings

Phillips has a particular fondness for these tunes and other artists have performed them at EGPhest, a little shindig he's put together over the past few years where he invites folks from the local music scene in San Francisco to come perform one of his songs for the occasion of his birthday.

“The Fish Song” of course has already appeared on the full album “Fish from the Sky” but we get a more county-tinged version here to open up the whole affair.  The lyrics covers a wide variety of topics — gastronomy, ecology, theology… ichthyology — but mostly it is about advice — the sort of advice someone who senses you need help in the romance department feels compelled to impart upon you, even though it is neither wholly original nor all that helpful.  This is Phillips' response to said advice.  It is admittedly a rather Swiftian diatribe (Jonathan, not Taylor) so it may not be for the faint of heart.

Three additional songs round out the EP. “You Are Not Her” deals with deja vu but not of a place or experience, but of a person.  “Mama Make the Red Bird Come Back” concerns one of those stories your parents like to tell about your childhood at inopportune occasions ad nauseam. “Lullaby for the Unloved” is a somewhat, shall we say, “untraditional” lullaby — a lullaby that wraps what starts as a daydream of a road trip and then proceeds to traipse darkly through subsequent reminiscences.  These are songs that are deeply personal and self-reflective that don't ever becoming maudlin.  There are bits of self-deprecation sprinkled amongst earnest quests for succor and surcease of sorrow, all buoyed by friendly indie-folk type musical arrangements.

Featuring:
Amberly Rosen on violin (You Are Not Her, Mama/Redbird)
Sabiné Heusler-Schick (Mama/Redbird)

Produced By Kenny Schick

Nashville Recordings Vol. 1

“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)

This song about a place called Depression.

I wrote the lyrics to this song mostly in one sitting at Pinhole coffee in Bernal Heights.  The place being described is largely derived from my imagination, though I admit the bit about the Volkswagen with a busted back axle was in part inspired by reading about the travails of songwriter Ellisa Sun as she was on an extended year long tour traveling the country by RV.  There’s also a nod to my proclivity to watch history videos and read books like Jared Diamond’s “Collapse.”
​
The 3rd single from my forthcoming album “Alien from an Alternate Earth,” this recording features the incredible Renee Padgett on backing vocals (with an arrangement created by Kevin Seal, who also handles keys).  You can hear her amazing versatility just in the span of this one track. What starts out in the 2nd verse as a simple, subtle backing harmony reminiscent of something out of the 50s transforms into gorgeous gospel-like cadences for the following chorus, lifts us into the heavens for the bridge, and then easily slips into a Bossa Nova vocalese for the final verse as the rhythm switches up.

This Infertile Valley (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

Sometimes you just feel the need to rip into someone and be nasty. 

credits:
vocals - E.G. Phillips
tenor, baritone sax - Daniel Casares
trumpet - Rich Armstrong
piano - Kevin Seal
guitar - Jeffrey Burr
upright bass - Paul Eastburn
percussion - Chris McGrew

That May Not Be Good Enough (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

credits:
vocals - E.G. Phillips
rhodes, piano - 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:
Stand at Fort Mason, take in the collage        
​The bridge, the headlands, the pelican pods        
Container ships, kite surfers, sailboats and yachts
The creek of the moorings floats up from the docks
         
Forty-odd hills topped with light pastel frost    
Petite Queen Annes and Edwardian facades
Fog fingers drift Eastward in a glissade    
Then the window of sun is curtained and lost

The wind picks up, the cold whips by
Sweeping all warmth away
            
Headlights flicker on, dusk settles in
There is no reason to stay
                
Nervous white rabbit looks down at his watch        
Wolf howls at the moon, expects a response
Alexander cuts through the Gordian knot
Think about Ahab on the Pequod
                
Forget for a moment all you’ve been taught
Forget his wife’s vigils on her widow’s walk        
Say what you will, he had resolve
He wasn't only punching the clock

No lotus eating or doldrum dreaming
Amid the superficial and the subsurface
            
I’ve slipped down the ladder, in a holding pattern
So sick of existing just to exist
            
I play close to the vest of an ill fitting suit    
In this game of hearts I can’t help but lose    
Turn offs include cigarettes and tattoos
Though I’ve made an exception or two
            
I think I’ve heard almost every excuse        
Those I make myself are the most obtuse    
I’m no good when it comes to the truth
I’ve fallen out of love with you

Fallen Out Of Love (Alien from an Alternate Earth)

Track from the EP "Mental Maps"

Produced by Kenny Schick
Featuring Renee Padgett on backing vocals

Backing vocals recorded at Hyde Street Studio C by Chris McGrew and arranged by Kevin Seal
Vocals recorded at Ducks With Pants Music studios
All other parts recorded at Basement 3 Productions

Lyrics:
Here comes that feeling that comes with the dusk
I am Hector as he’s dragged around the walls of Troy
It’s a fate the ice giants can't even escape 
It’s a fate the ice giants can't even escape
Helios is riding away with my joy

CHORUS:
For my heart has been chained to the sun
For my heart has been chained to the sun			
My heart has been chained to the sun  
My heart has been chained to the sun
	   
VERSE 2
It’s not that I am ruing that a day is done
Or dreading the onset of evening’s bitter chill
The only warmth I crave is your breath and your embrace
The only warmth I crave is your breath and your embrace
Their absence saps me and puzzles the will

CHORUS:
For my heart has been chained to the sun
For my heart has been chained to the sun			
My heart has been chained to the sun  
My heart has been chained to the sun

BRIDGE 1:
Forged by Hephaestus, it’s binding is relentless
Not a single link’s fabricated weak
Sunny days uplift me, cloudy skies set me drift’n
The constant rattle drives me crazy 
Don’t wanna be play’n host to ancient imprisoned ghosts
Does anyone around here possess the key?

CHORUS:
For my heart has been chained to the sun
For my heart has been chained to the sun			
My heart has been chained to the sun  
My heart has been chained to the sun

BRIDGE 2:
Can’t stand being inside so I decide to go outside
Neighbors walking their dogs barely stop to say “hi”
A pretty girl’s head’n towards me, clearly trying to avoid me
I must accept that I’m suspect in her eyes
I’m just some maladroit en route to Inspiration Point
To marvel at the colors of the sky

VERSE 3:
Were I to chase the light would time come undone
Like a spinning wheel that’s wound in reverse
Pull the threads of your lace and its pattern is erased
Pull the threads of your lace and its pattern is erased
Could I outrun the star to which I have been tethered?

CHORUS:
For my heart has been chained to the sun
For my heart has been chained to the sun			
My heart has been chained to the sun  
My heart has been chained to the sun

Chained To The Sun (Mental Maps EP)

We’d been talking a bit when she said she wanted
To go and get a drink
An invitation or excusing herself?
I didn’t know which to think
So I played it safe and stayed where I stood
While she headed to the bar
Leave it to me to find a way to make everything awkward

The two of us were born in the same town
But many years apart
When we’re conversing I rarely feel
Like I even know where to start
The gulf between us feels so wide
We’re not on the same wavelength
I’ve spent too much time lost in the space time vortex

Outside the course of human events
Outside the flow of it all
Stuck in my pocket universe
No talk ever feels like it’s small
I cling to skin of her world
As if a soap bubble
Attraction and beauty to me are nothing but trouble

She picked up her jacket and slung on her purse
Said she’d be right back
I’m anxious by nature but felt reassured
Seeing she’d left her bags
When she returned it struck me
Particularly my nose
Somehow I’d never pegged her as a smoker

I turn myself back towards the stage
No more or less at ease
And when I left I tried not to read
Too much into that shoulder squeeze

The Space Time Vortex (Mental Maps EP)

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)

She says she can undress a man
In ten seconds flat
I don’t get why a married woman
Is saying things like that
Now I’ve got to go
So I hit you up for a ride
I can tell you want to stay
Yet reluctantly you
Oblige

What you may not realize is I
Pulled you from the fire

It was not my priority still I
Pulled you from the fire

Ya don’t need to know why I just
Pulled you from the fire

She creates chaos and
Expects ya just to deal
You shouldn’t have even been there,
If we’re being real
Maybe you think gett'n singed
Is all good and well
But you gotta watch for the honeypots and
Intentions that pave your way to
Hell

What you may not realize is I
Pulled you from the fire

It was not my priority still I
Pulled you from the fire

Ya don’t need to know why I just
Pulled you from the fire

It’s true this situation is inflaming my old wounds
It’s true that there’s nothing here to win or to lose
I try my best to be mindful and what do I owe you
I am not your keeper — but I’ve also been there too


Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,
I said under my breath
As I slammed that car door shut and
Who knows what you went and did next
If you leapt right back in,
Then that’s not on me
You may be ten years her junior but
You cannot be that
Naive

What you may not realize is I
Pulled you from the fire

It was not my priority still I
Pulled you from the fire

Ya don’t need to know why I just
Pulled you from the fire

The fire…. The fire…. The fire… The fire… Oooh…

Pulled You From The Fire (Mental Maps EP)

The Sunset referred to in this song is not the literal sunset, but rather one of those lesser known, ocean bounded neighborhoods of San Francisco in the western part of the city — certainly not one that draws tourists or even other residents of the city for that matter.

I'm dropping this boppy 50s beach party-esque track ahead of my August 6th mostly annual birthday show where I invite other Bay Area songwriters to cover my songs. This is the 6th edition of this little shindig and this year it will beheld held at Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco's Outer Richmond neighborhood.

The irony of this timing should be readily apparent from the lyrics, which may otherwise hit a bit close to home. Not only is a relatable social anxiety of the singer on full display, but so is a pre-occupation with someone not present, with whom communication and connection prove ever elusive and misconstrued.
lyrics
There’s party in the Sunset
And I don’t want to go
Conversations of obligation
All of which I’ve had before
While you and I communicate
In the language of words unsaid
There’s a party in the Sunset
And I don’t want to go

There’s a party in the Sunset
Inviting you is useless
From the the facts I’ve seen you’re a factory
That only makes excuses
Never once heard you make a sound
That resembles a word like yes
There’s a party in the Sunset
Inviting you is useless

Oh all the social graces
Trying map names to faces
How much longer must I stay after I arrive?
Eat hors devours, blend into walls
Look at all the pictures in the halls
All the while aware you reside so near by

There’s a party in the Sunset
And while I’m there you call
I can’t recall that you’ve ever called
I never hear from you at all
Of all the calls that I’ve missed of late
This is the one I missed the most
There’s a party in the Sunset
And while I’m there you called​

Party In The Sunset (Mental Maps EP)

Demo track.

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’a determined to avoid any and all spoilers
As she predicts the plot points of passe 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 (demo)

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
Ethan Levitt — tenor sax
Christopher Fortier — guitar, electric bass
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion


Lyrics:

The suffocating sky
Won’t yield no light
The hazy hue hides
All sun and shine

It’s been an all day eclipse
With hints of apocalypse       
It’s the last words 
I heard from your lips

It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You
It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You

I was standing up on stage
With so many thanks to say
When I came to your name
I saw you walk away

Was it a slip of my tongue?
Was your praise better unsung?
Something about your departure 
Really stung

It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You
It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You

I tried to apologize
In case you thought it a slight
But it didn’t quite feel right
When you smiled and said good night

A mistake taken as disrespect?
Or case of my benign neglect?
Maybe you didn’t know
You had that kind of effect

It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You
It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You

It Ain't Good To Be In Love With You

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:
Mar Vilaseca —  vocals
Christopher Fortier — guitars, electric bass
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion

Lyrics:
Wish I’d made my escape
With the coming of the plague
It was the perfect opportunity
For me to exit this stage
And quietly slip away — for

I am the one who ghosts
A magician in a puff of smoke
The soldier who abandons his post
I am the one who ghosts

They’d been dating when he was still trying
To break into the local scene
Then he disappears 'til she spots him
On the cover of a magazine
Oh, I know his routine — for

I am the one who ghosts
That fog that burns off on the coast
The substance of our sworn oaths
I am the one who ghosts

As a child I was told I had a high threshold for pain
Emotions — they’ve always been a different thing	
I get drawn into negative space
Can’t have a voice or a face

Stuck on rope bridge
Spanning a pitiless gorge
On one side the earth lies
Bitter and scorched
For the rest I’ve brought my torch — for

I am the one who ghosts
That word the gets lost in your throat
That last little bit of hope
I am the 	one who ghosts

I am the one who ghosts
A magician in a puff of smoke
The soldier who abandons his post
I am the one who ghosts

I Am The One Who Ghosts

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

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
Christopher Fortier — guitars
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion
Paul Eastburn — upright bass

Lyrics:
Another day trudges by in these horse latitudes
A single gust of wind and I'd feel blessed
The rain refused to fall and my thirst cannot be quenched 
By the embarrassment of riches stretched east to west

CHORUS:
Boil the ocean
Boi-oil the ocean
Show the sea no mercy
And boil… boil the ocean

VERSE 2:
The currents out here can sweep you away
Especially if you tend to drift
I have kept afloat but I am sinking now
Now there’s one option left

CHORUS:
Boil the ocean
Boi-oil the ocean
Show the sea no mercy
And boil… boil the ocean

BRIDGE:
Oh my dear, do you know how much water I’ve taken on?
I jettisoned my rudder, shipworms infest my hull       
I can 	 barely        perform 
The simplest of 		tasks
Things you take for granted aren’t even in my forecast

VERSE 3:
I rip a pile of planks from the deck stem to stern
This ship’s become be candle down to its wick
Pages from my captain’s log now kindling for a bonfire
As the Earth roasts slowly on its spit   …and we

CHORUS:
Boil the ocean
Boi-oil the ocean
Show the sea no mercy
And boil… boil the ocean

Boil The Ocean

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
Daniel Cesares — baritone sax 
Christopher Fortier — guitars, electric bass
Kevin Seal — keys
Chris McGrew — percussion

Lyrics:
You ought not to trade on your looks
To which Cleo curtly replies
Ya sell stock when its overvalued
Or did I not hear that part right?

She’s got herself quite the portfolio 
Yeah, she’s well diversified
She calls what she’s doing day trading
Though her transactions tend to happen at night

CHORUS:
I can pay you in bottles of wine
Would that make me worth your time
Cause that’s how the mark-et values mine
These days
These days
These days

VERSE 2:
Yeah I saw all of those empties
Scattered across her bedroom floor
Still I took Jill in though I knew better
It was not something I should have ignored

There are remnants of her in this apartment
Chest in the closet, a blanket that’s stained
And the poison she would try to hide from me
Is now the only currency with which I’m paid

CHORUS:
I can pay you in bottles of wine
Would that make me worth your time
Cause that’s how the mark-et values mine
These days
These days
These days

BRIDGE:
Oh my larder is filling up
I never developed a taste for the stuff
Do you wanna barter?  Do want an exchange?
Do you think anything could be arranged?

VERSE 3:
I’m making my way through Hayes Valley
Gig bag strapped to my back
Crumpled bills stuffed in my pocket
The rest of what I got’s in my sack

There’s a line down the block for ice cream
Diners clog sidewalks sipping Merlot
A shirtless man shuffles by shouting
How he’s gonna slit all of their throats

CHORUS:
I can pay you in bottles of wine
Would that make me worth your time
Cause that’s how the mark-et values mine
These days
These days
These days

(I Can Pay You In) Bottles Of Wine

In lieu of appearing at EGPhest 7, Don Shearer has provided his unique take on the Fish Song which combines elements of folk and hip hop.

The Fish Song (as performed by Don Shearer)

I feel your inexorable pull as we travel in the same circles...

Your Inexorable Pull

There's Always the Hope it's All Just a Dream

Brendan Getzell performs the E.G. Phillips song "The Albatross Song" at E.G. Phest II, August 11 2017, live at the Lost Church

EGPhest II - The Albatross Song - Brendan Getzell

This is a rough demo of a song that was written as part of 5 in 5 Song Challenge hosted Sarah Shepard of SongFancy on Facebook.   There was a list of 10 words,  5 of which I was required to use as part of the song.   See if you can guess what the prompt words were...

The Enchanted Violin

"The Albatross Song" from the E.G. Phillips album "At Home At Sea"

A favorite of this San Francisco singer-songwriter's live performance repertoire, this recording opens with a choral segment captured at The Lost Church of San Francisco.  After brass instruments are gradually weaved into this simple but immediately hummable motif, the song bursts into a raucous, high-energy Americana-style cacophony.  

In addition to the references to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner the titular bird makes somewhat obligatory, there's an entire menagerie of birds name checked or invoked in the opening verses.  But these are merely lead in to a sea-shanty style mantra that gets repeated with increasing fervor. The first song of E.G. Phillips' new album, this high energy romp not only layers on the cinematic imagery, it’s a catchy sing-along and it sets up the overall theme of "attachment" which is examined throughout the entire 11 song set. 

Music blog B-Sides and Badlands premiered the track and its video, describing the song as "wily and bewitching" as well "manically enchanting"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals), Charles Choi (Violin), 
Jesse Elkin Rubin (Trumpet), David Kaiser-Jones (Trombone), 
Rick McKay (Mandolin), Ben Osheroff (Acoustic Guitar), 
Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), Ben Visini (Drum Kit)

Opening ensemble vocal recorded at the Lost Church in 
San Francisco, July 11th 2018

produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Osheroff
mixed at Laughing Tiger Record Studios
mastered by Matt Boudreau, Working Class Audio
songs and artwork by E.G. Phillips (ASCAP)
photo features Twinly (@twinlymusic)
published by Ducks With Pants Music (@duckswithpants)

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…

High above the antarctic circle on a wing and a prayer
Down below it’s all icy flows but don’t you ever despair       
No…			No… 						Because…	

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… 				Oh…
	
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…

Who would tie their savior to a chain around their neck?
What good are relentless reminders of your failings and regrets?
Don’t pile your sins on livestock that you banish despite their pleas
That’s just not right and that’s no way to be free

Oh but…

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…

The Albatross Song

The Albatross Song — At Home At Sea

"Lighthouse at the Edge of the World" from the E.G. Phillips album "At Home at Sea" 

An oft repeated trope in the love some is the protagonist who professes their need, desire, ability to go to the ends of the Earth for their beloved.  This indie-folk Jules Verne-esque ballad goes beyond mere talk, and explores what such a place would be like and what being there would entail.

Inspired by an old Dr. Who comic, the imagery is surreal and at points seemingly impossible, yet at the same time highly evocative and providing distinct textures to this otherworldly landscape.

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Acoustic Guitars), Louise Nalbandian, Samantha Sipin (Backing Vocals), Shawn Tamborini (Steel Guitar), Ben Osheroff (Nylon String Guitar, Percussion), Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), Ben Visini (Drum Kit)

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

lyrics:
I’ll apply to be the keeper
Of the lighthouse at the edge of world
Where the ocean tumbles into the stars
And a foghorn warns ships off the shoals of the void

I can talk with the sea lions
When I’m not busy maintaining the lantern
Or tossing out life preservers
To catch sailors drifting towards Saturn

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

I’ll watch for you on the horizon
While I’m standing out on the gallery
With only the celestial sea spray crash 
And the ticking clockworks to keep me company

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

Because you
Can’t come back, no you can’t come back
You can’t come back    
From over the edge

You can’t come back, you can never come back
Just… trust me		 
Trust me on that

I’ll apply to be the keeper
Of the lighthouse at the edge of world
Where the ocean tumbles into the stars
And a foghorn warns ships off the shoals of the void

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

If all I can do
Is push you away
Then at least I can ensure
You will be safe

Lighthouse at the Edge of the World

Lighthouse At The Edge Of The World — At Home At Sea

"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

Lifetimes Without You

Lifetimes Without You — At Home At Sea

"Ephemera" from the album "At Home At Sea"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Guitar), Claudio Andrés Sepúlveda Cortés (Trumpet), Ben Osheroff (Wurlitzer, Electric and Slide Guitar), 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:
​She handed me one of her flyers
Asked me to come see her show
She was kinda cute so I smiled and said yes
Dropped it after a few blocks
Watched it blow away like a leaf

They say it doesn’t hurt to ask
But what the hell do they know?
The fact is they say a lot of stupid things
Someone ought to call them out
For all their crazy beliefs

I liked you as soon as I met you
But I met you as you were about to go
The only thing I was able to do for you
Was get you a glass of water
When no one else saw you were thirsty

There’s nothing understand — there’s so much to overlook
I heard a few things secondhand — made some choices on the hoof
But doing something bad don’t mean you’re no good

I caught up with her flyer
As I was headed into the metro
Almost bent down to pick it back up
But the wind grabbed it again
And soon it was out of reach

Ephemera

Ephemera — At Home At Sea

"A Finnish Midsummer Midnight" from the album "At Home At Sea"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Charles Choi (Violin), 
Jesse Elkin Rubin (Baritone Sax, Trumpet), 
Ben Osheroff (Electric Guitar, Organ), 
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:
I’m driving through the languid twilight
Of a Finnish mid-summer midnight
There’s absolutely no one in sight
And I intend to keep it that way

As I careen along the undulating country roads
Flecks of willow herb flicker in the headlights
And the lacy yellow bedstraw and meadowsweet glow
Transforming into a latticework of pure moonlight

I’m driving through the languid twilight
Of a Finnish mid-summer midnight
There’s absolutely no one in sight
And I intend to keep it that way

The cat-scratched birch bark interleaves 
Through the naked amber trunks of the spindly pines
Their flying buttress limbs support the inkblot canopy
Their tapered tips define that jagged skyline

Now I’m so far from the festival and its crowds
All those people that make feel so lost and alone
The only time I don’t feel lonely
Is when I’m truly on my own

Pale buttercup farmhouses, brick red barns
Some fog nestles in the fields dappled yellow with rapeseed
I glimpse a pair of twin pursuers my rear view mirror
To elude them in the twists of the road, I increase my speed
​
I’m driving through the languid twilight
Of a Finnish mid-summer midnight
There’s absolutely no one in sight
And I intend to keep it that way

A Finnish Midsummer Midnight

A Finnish Midsummer Midnight — At Home At Sea

"All I Can Share is Photos" from the album "At Home at Sea"

A travelogue through Chile and a song about the vagaries of travel — especially travel with a broken heart,

Premiered Jun 10th on Americana UK where it was described as "singer-songwriter folk shot through with a cocktail jazz sensibility"

https://americana-uk.com/track-premiere-e-g-phillips-all-i-can-share-is-photos

Released as a single June 21st.
personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals), Mario M. Noche (Nylon String Guitar), 
Ben Osheroff (Piano), Sean Silverman (Upright Bass), 
Ben Visini (Drum Kit, Djembe)

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:
Under the custard-colored crescent of an Andean moon
A jazz quartet performs a Harold Arlen tune
In the sculpture garden 
On the other side
Of the constant flow
Of the Rio Mapocho

I carry you wherever I go
In my salt encrusted shoes
But in the end the truth is
All I can share is photos

Visit Laguna Chaxa, don’t disturb the flamingos
Ride funiculars in Valpo, order a pastel de choclo
I keep being awoken
In the dead of night
By barking stray dogs
Out chasing cars

I carry you wherever I go
In my salt encrusted shoes
But in the end the truth is
All I can share is photos

It’s a disorienting feeling to be suddenly back home
Was it just a dream already scattered to places unknown?
Was it even worth 
Coming back?
I see you from afar
And blow you a kiss… 
	
I carry you wherever I go
In my salt encrusted shoes
But in the end the truth is
All I can share is photos

All I Can Share Is Photos

All I Can Share is Photos — At Home At Sea

"You Will Sail With Me" from the album "At Home At Sea"

personnel:
E.G. Phillips (Vocals, Guitar), Louise Nalbandian (Backing Vocals). Ben Osheroff (Electric Guitar), 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:
I will build a sailboat
You will sail with me
We will sail together
You will sail with me

My feet feel the sand rush
As I slowly sink
The waves tug my ankles
As I slowly sink

I know it’s just a dream but
I like it anyway
I know it’s just a dream but
I just can’t
Give it up
Today
Dear

Run up shore then retreat
And crisscross the sea
We could sail forever
And crisscross the sea

I know it’s just a dream but
I like it anyway
I know it’s just a dream but
I just can’t
Give it up
Today
Dear

I will build a sailboat
You will sail with me
We will sail together
You will sail with me

You Will Sail With Me

You Will Sail With Me — At Home At Sea

"Your Inexorable Pull" from the album "At Home At Sea"

voice and guitar:
E.G. Phillips

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:
I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

Maybe one day these concentric rings 
Will meet in an intersection
Can we achieve visual contact?
I’m hoping there’ll be a connection…

I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

I can’t explain all the forces 
Behind this strange attraction
I am flotsam, a derelict vessel 
Fueled only by my imagination…

I don’t really know that much about you
All I know is that I know about you
And that seems to be about enough for
me…

I could launch a miniature spacecraft
On a mission to your doorway
And you could send up a weather balloon
To meet my argonauts half way

I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

I feel your inexorable pull
As we travel in the same circles

Your Inexorable Pull — At Home At Sea

Tracks from the yet to be released EP currently entitled "Nashville Recordings Vol. 1"

Produced by Kenny Schick

Lyrics:

Oh my dear, your are so tired
And in need of rest
Oh my dear, it's time to sail on back
Sail back to where they love you best
 
Whenever I run into Etsu, 
I feel like Persona Non Grata
Maybe it’s time I took 
Another trip down through Baja  
Buy myself a hand made guitar as 
I pass through Ensenada                          
Drive through all that desert, 
Surrounded by a whole lot of nada

I still have that Tupperware container
Filled with Mari’s menagerie of sands
That she had collected 
From all the beaches where we stopped and camped
Oh but these days I only burn
I never tan
So maybe it’s not really 
The best of plans

Such a simple girl — she’s the only one 
That ever really got this poor duffer
When I broke it off with her, 
She knew how much I’d suffer
I miss her company 
I miss her as a lover
I keep trying to find her again
In one form or another

Oh my dear, you are so tired
And you are in distress
Of my dear, it’s time to fly on back
Fly back to where they love you best

Lullaby For The Unloved (Nashville Recordings)

Tracks from the yet to be released EP currently entitled "Nashville Recordings Vol. 1"

Produced by Kenny Schick
Featuring:
Sabine Heusler-Schick (Mama/Red Bird)
Amberly Rosen (You Are Not Her, Mama/Red Bird)

Lyrics:

VERSE 1:
Back when I was all of three years old
I saw a cardinal in our back yard
I watched through the window
When it flew away I cried so hard:

CHORUS:
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back

VERSE 2:
Neighborhood boys once discovered
A dead cardinal in the gutter
They made me cut off its head
And pluck out all its feathers

CHORUS:
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back

BRIDGE:
Mama can’t make that red bird come back
Nobody can
You’ll just have to be patient and hope
It flies this way again

VERSE 3:
I saw Beth at her least confident
And I’ve seen her at her best
And though she'd never believe me
They were one and the same and I felt blest

FINAL CHORUS: 
Mama, Make The Red Bird Come Back
Your mama can’t make it do that
But I want that red bird back
Mamas don’t make red birds come back

Mama Make the Red Bird Come Back (Nashville Recordings)

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)

A demo version of an alternate "mellow" version of "The Albatross Song"

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...

High above the antarctic circle on a wing and a prayer 
Down below it’s all icy flows but don’t you ever despair 
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...

Because...
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!  Oh...

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...

Mellow Albatross (Demo)

A body lies surrounded in an open field
By watchful attendants all dressed in black
I’m bearing witness to a raucous funeral
A murder that scolds me but won’t soon be back

Tool makers, grudge holders
Masters of water displacement
While consciousness may be subjective
This I can say without reticence
I Believe in  Crow  Intelligence


As Saturn meets Jupiter in a great conjunction
A noisy mob gathers for their evening function
They commute in from their own territories
Chatting as they roost in the willow and alder trees

As for matters culinary
Their reputation is unpleasant
With dark shellac and caustic caws 
They tend to lack a songbird’s elegance — but
I Believe in  Crow  Intelligence

[INSTRUMENTAL]

I’ve looked at all the data
I’ve studied all the evidence
For me to tell you otherwise
Would be an act of negligence — Oh
I Believe in  Crow  Intelligence

Crow Intelligence

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

Popular tracks