I caught a glimpse behind the counter
So this is where I’ll say I found her
The day we met she didn’t say a word

She looks up and I’m a goner
I feel the heat when I don’t wanna
Losing my grip on thoughts she never heard

You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper
You’re feeling strong 
I need you weaker
Gonna wait right here 
I don’t wanna roam
Till you make me home

Bicycle spoke caught my shoelace
I took a dive riding to her place
She took me in, put some JP on

We lock eyes through a bandage
I feel a spark, I gotta manage
To turn this sprint into a marathon

You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper
You’re feeling strong
I need you weaker
Revvin’ me up from zero to full blown
I found a girl I wanna keep her
I wrote it down - read ‘em and weeper
Like a gentle breeze to a full cyclone
Till you make me home

Let’s take it back behind the counter
We’ll tell our kid of that encounter
Watch her laugh, maybe roll her eyes

Through all the doubt 
And all the damage
Now we emerge with an advantage
We got a love that ain’t a compromise

You say it’s lust - I say it’s deeper
You’re feeling strong
I need you weaker
She gave it good 
Till my mind was blown
I found a girl I wanna keep her
I wrote it down - read ‘em and weeper
Gonna wait right here
I don’t wanna roam
Till you make me home

© 2021 Eric Harrison (BMI)

Till You Make Me Home

It was a scandal - all I could handle
Jennifer was twice my age
She was six when I was three
Bologna and Romper Room were all the rage

Somebody found a basketful of kittens
By the woods at Bicentennial Park
Hold my juicebox - gotta check this out
That's where I got my first kiss on a lark

Hugs and kisses, hits and misses
Gonna make that girl my missus
Cougar Jenny I'll walk the line
My love for you was right on time

“How I spent my summer vacation”
By Jenny Lynn in second grade
I gave some little brat a kiss
He followed me around so then we played

I played the mommy, he played the dog
His bark was really sad
I guess I shoulda never made him fetch that stick
His mom was looking kinda mad

At hugs and kisses, hits and misses
A tetanus shot - Is that what this is?
Little boy you must not whine
My love for you will come in time

Well she became a rebel
Colored way outside the lines
And he ate crayons till it made me scream
At the nurse's office he did hard time 

That was 20 years ago and the rest is history
Cougar Jenny I thank you, Dear
For unraveling the mystery

You still follow me around
Like I got something that you claim
And when this kid hears what we did
He’ll know where to place the blame

On hugs and kisses
Hits and misses
Let’s show ‘em all what wedded bliss is
Cougar Jenny you’re so fine
My love for you was right on time
I guess you’re gonna fall in line
My love for you was right on time

© 2021 Eric Harrison (BMI)

Cougar Jenny (feat. Simi Stone)

Hot teardrops and cold compresses
Fever dream of my baby’s dresses
Thinking of what came before 
Lying here wanting more
Memories that we were making
All the while time is taking
What he needs we’ll only guess
Hot teardrops and cold compresses

I see shouts, I hear flowers
I smell blinding light for hours
All my senses fall away
I’ve got nothing left to say

If I did you wouldn’t hear
I’m so sorry - glad you’re near
Speak to me and hold my hand
Tell me when this ship will land

In hot teardrops and cold compresses
Fever dream of my baby’s dresses
Thinking of what came before 
Lying here wanting more
Memories that we were making
All the while time is taking
What he needs we’ll only guess
Hot teardrops and cold compresses

Socrates and Dave Thoreau
Walden Pond I feel your glow
Zevon said “enjoy each sandwich”
Now I get it, I can manage

Preacher chase me as I climb
Your wisdom ain’t worth a dime
Soon I’ll be across that line
Gonna burn one with John Prine

And hot teardrops and cold compresses
Fever dream of my baby’s dresses
Thinking of what came before 
Lying here wanting more
Memories that we were making
All the while time is taking
What he needs we’ll only guess
Hot teardrops and cold compresses

So everybody’s got their time
And when the Lord decides it’s mine
Don’t grieve over a song unsung
Here it is - my will’s been done

Now I hear shouts
I smell flowers
I feel blinding love it’s ours
And as I pass I’ll hold your hand
Finally this ship will land

In hot teardrops and cold compresses
Fever dream of my baby’s dresses
Thinking of what came before 
Lying here wanting more
Memories that we were making
All the while time is taking
What he needs we’ll only guess
Hot teardrops and cold compresses

© 2021 Eric Harrison (BMI)

Hot Teardrops and Cold Compresses

Undertow

7 - Astor Place MM 9.1

Ah, nostalgia… It just isn't what it used to be!

While Kevin Salem and I slave over the 12 songs we will soon release as an album on vinyl, we are mildly stifled by sonic limitations: Did you know that the audio quality of a side of vinyl begins to diminish after 22 minutes? I had no idea! "King of America" sounded pretty great to me on vinyl and that album was more than 60 minutes long. Chalk that one up to the sorcery of T-Bone Burnett.

Either way, I'm an engaged hobbyist who prides himself on knowing what he doesn't know. I trust the engineers.

We've got 12 songs totaling 52 minutes of new music. That's eight minutes - two songs - we'll have to omit from the long player. (That's what "LP" stands for, kids.)

So . . . this musical minivan has 10 seats. Which two of my 12 beloved song-children shall I kick to the curb?

How about the two loudest and simplest? They're less sensitive than the others and generally don't give a fuck what you think of them.

In other words, they're from New Jersey.

"Diner" and "Sal’s Place" - come on out! While your brothers and sisters fight over who gets the front seat, Daddy will take you down the shore where everything's alright.

Now how about before releasing the album we break off those two Jersey-centric tracks and release them on an EP followed by my four most Jersey-centric songs from prior albums?

I think that’s a great idea! After all,  nobody ever has released a bunch of songs about growing up in New Jersey!

To me these six songs are very Dirty Jerz in that they’re about precisely what they say they’re about. No fancy metaphors here, Mister - if you’re lookin’ fer poetry youse a-gonna have to meet me 'cross the river. Can ya lend me a few bucks?

It’s been a quarter century since I wrote the oldest of these songs -  "88 Jeep" and "Breakfast," recorded by Steve Evetts at Trax East in South River. As time’s winged chariot approaches the Beach Amoco I'm so very thankful there’s some gas left in the tank. And I'm equally thankful that you are listening!

Love, Eric

Breakfast

88 Jeep

1986

Friendly Town

Sal's Place

Diner

The Sweetest Ache

09 - Mercy Road

01 - Static Nat

The honeymoon was over
That’s what I thought since last July
You grew strangely distant
Sometimes you wouldn’t even try

Then walking down a path you should have run
September came around
I thought this love affair is done

But now it’s May and flowers bloom
Somehow soil grew from dirt
I sense a new intensity
And you share how you were hurt

Won’t you please forgive me - hear me cry
I’ll wait for your interpreter with your reply

I can learn to love again
When the Kraken gets a-crackin’ my fears will end
Have and hold you till October when we’ll contend
Then I’ll know I’ve learned to love again

Now nothing will get past you
Least of all an off-speed pitch
Only last Friday night
Eduardo Nunez was your bitch

You picked him off at second
Killed a rally, saved Jay Happ
Laced a single into right
Thanked Dios, tipped your cap

Saturday the sun did shine
I was skimming the box score
Five hombres came to mow my lawn
And they swiftly did the chore

And the one who kinda looks like you
Swaggers up to me
Como se dice “where’s my tip?” he smirked so playfully

670’s a steal this year and then free agency....

Still I can learn to love again 
You’re in sync with Kahnle, Ottovino even Chapman
Though I pray for Severino and a strong bullpen
It’s so clear I’ve learned to love again

I can learn to love again
Though I like Austin Romine he’s just a friend
Your OPS is climbing our joy won’t end

I was wrong
Cashman was right
But Burke still sux tonight

You’re not a sloth
You’re not a slug
Until the next passed ball, you lug

Gary I’ve learned to love again

I Can Learn To Love Again

Our Band

A Home Is Not A Hologram

Cold metal gate in her backyard
That’s where he played his fatal card
And he’s been crawling back to her
Ever since that day
He could call but she’s so far away

Driving to work she plays the part
Smiling hard with a broken heart
And she can’t name her enemy
But she’s angry just the same
Looking for a way out of the game
They’ve got nothing but the past to blame

All the gratitude that you can’t buy
Gonna come again and by and by
We won’t be down down down with all the waiting

All the time we get before we’re dead
Turn around now, honey look ahead
Before you’re down down down with all the waiting

Now we don’t sleep like we once did
A worried world makes a worried kid
And when she gets to Shangri-La
Takes a room and makes a bid
Gotta keep her safe
Wanna keep her hid
Slamming on the brakes only makes her skid

All the hurt you feel and don’t know why
Won’t erase the glimmer in her eye
Before you’re down down down with all the waiting
All the time we get before we’re dead
Turn around now, honey look ahead
Before we’re down down down with all the waiting



Now there’s blood in the water
For the lovers, the sisters and the daughters

The best lack all conviction
Cause the witness has gone cold
The worst are full of passion
For a throne that’s bought and sold

All the gratitude that you can’t buy
Gonna come again and by and by
We won’t be down down down with all the waiting

All the time we get before we’re dead
Turn around now, honey look ahead
Before we’re down down down with all the waiting

Down Down Down (feat. Rachel Potter)

Adrian

Words and Music (c) 2021 Eric Harrison
Produced by Kevin Salem

The Boss just blew a .02
That's a quarter of the legal limit

I wish I could see the full report
I'll bet there's something fishy in it

Now law enforcement hasn't loved our man
Since he sang of the American Skin

But 41 shots are 39 more than he'd had when they arrested him

Now Sandy Hook is a special nook
Under federal control

For a National Park Service cop on a slow Saturday stroll

He saw Bruce hop on his bike
Wrap his legs around her velvet rims

Till a fan's empty Patron bottle made a defendant outta him

If they supply a public defender
I know he's gonna win this case
'Cause a DUI for a .02
Is a Jersey-sized disgrace

Like Silvio said to Tony Soprano
Two hearts are better than one

Feeling like you and Steve sang on New Year's Eve
Held up without a gun

This Jersey lawyer will take your call and defend you in Zoom court

And to Judge Mautone
He will intone this passionate retort:

I'm the Boss's new attorney
Eric Harrison on the case
And a DUI for a .02
Is a Jersey-sized disgrace

Now we can work out a payment plan
I know touring's been kinda slow

Perhaps we could play a couple songs of mine at your first post-COVID show

Either way Chris Christie's calling
Though I know that he means well

As your lawyer I must advise not to buy what he might sell

We'll plead you out to drinking in the park
The rest will be erased

'Cause a DUI for a .02
Is a Jersey-sized disgrace

It's true nobody's above the law
That's why we're gonna put 'em in their place

'Cause a DUI for a .02
Is a Jersey-sized disgrace

A Jersey-Sized Disgrace

Singer-Songwriter and leader of the Crash Chorus

Eric Harrison

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks