Lyrics:
You could tell my heart just wasn't in it
When I walked through the door
You could tell my heart just wasn't in it
When I washed up on your shore
On the surface
It seems calm
But underneath
There's a raging sea
Pulling me
Down
Let me swim out to the breakwater, I'll be fine
Every ounce of energy that I conserve
I just flail and I give it away
I just flail
And give it away

I've never met a woman like you before
I'm swimming for my life
(and you know it)
I just keep on writing these sad, sad songs
There just C and D and E
There like taking buried treasure from the sea
Let me swim out to the breakwater
I'll be fine
Every ounce of energy that  I conserve
I just flail and I give it away

My heart just wasn't in it
As you could see
When I washed up from the sea
Swim out to the breakwater
I'll be fine
I've never met a woman like you before
I'm swimming for my life
And you know it
Let me swim out out the breakwater
Breakwater
I'll be fine
Let me swim out to the breakwater of my heart

The Breakwater

An ode to ideas both good and bad
Lyrics:
Crawling up
Out of the primordial ooze
Now we're standing  erect
And walking around
Dreaming of designer shoes
We invent languages
Fire & light
So we can see each other
When we fight on Saturday night (that's right!)
The Caveman he's painting on the cave walls
But, he's not artistically satisfied
He says: there's got to more
Like a great creator
some kind of entity that oversees us all
With rules and dogma
That we all follow

I've got to write this down!
Everything permanent once it's written on a cave wall
I've got to write this down

Don't smile  so much
Because it makes me wonder what your trying to sell me
Adam Smith & Walt Disney
A couple funky capitalists
Based our society around supply & demand
Now the worlds moving at the speed of cash

I've gonna to write this down!
Once it's written in a stock ledger
You know it's real
I'm gonna write this down

I've been creating a little Rock & Roll chop shop
With Frankenstein parts 
From funk, soul and R&B
I've got Woody Guthrie in the box car
It's like skimming from an all cash bar
Les Paul said: Let's amplify those guitars

I need to re-read the Book of Love
You know it's all written down somewhere
I've got an emotional bloody nose
That's how it goes
The Book of Love only available
To those in the know
I don't know what's going happen in the world next
An AI simulation
Or a UFO guest
There going to look back at us
They going to say: We ain't gonna do it like that
They're going to write it down
I need to write this down!

Write This Down

Lyrics:
Sitting outside, after work
In the 90's
I've got Pearl Jam on the Discman
And a Perry Farrell grandmother hat (*)
And then a car pulls up
And the window goes down
It's Morgan Fairchild, the actress
I swear I'm not making this up
She had been in the store where I worked
Earlier that day
She'd left her wallet behind
i set it aside
And I called her up
And now she wants to take me on a 
Black limousine Hollywood ride
A black limousine Hollywood ride

A black limousine Hollywood ride
A black limousine
We'll go real slow
So everyone  can see
Black limousine 

I politely declined
And then I went home and got drunk
And throw up

(*)Seriously, what was with Perry Farrell and those hats he wore in the 90's with the jewels and dangles. It always reminded me of my Grandmother's church hat)

Morgan Fairchild

I have no idea what this is about...

Lyrics:
You want it, you need it
Adrenaline shot to the heart
We're ordering thrills ala carte
I love when the woman
She crinkles the cellophane parts
I've been hibernating like a bear
From my problems 
But now I'm back
I've been hibernating like a big old bear
The Preacher man says:
You've been breathing 
God's free air

I get myself together, I head out
I go and talk to Mark
He's a Mini-Market philosopher
He knows the secrets of the ancients
And he's up on the latest conspiracy theories
Down pat
But when he turns his back
They steal the Potato Chips off the rack
How can I take philosophical advice from a guy like that?
They say: You just breath in
God's free air

Looking good in that seersucker suit
He lives in a Penthouse
On Midnight Row
Or
Sleeping in his Corolla
in a Casino Parking Lot
You're breathing
God's free air

God's Free Air

Sixties inspired soul love song for rainy day people :)
Perfect for awkward late night slow dancing.

From my new album "Friends, they're gonna get your story wrong"
Listen on Soundcloud under album tab
Lyrics:
Out for a walk on a Saturday with my girl
The sunny skies they open up
And down comes the doom and gloom
We hail down a rainy day taxi
We just love to slip into our rainy day groove
A rainy day mood
Rainy day mood

Hey, Mr DJ
I just had to call in
And ask you to make a dedication to my girl
Oh my girl, she loves the rainy days
And she just loves the doom and gloom
Any kind of rain song will do
It could be "Rainy Night in Georgia"
The Temptations "I just can't stand the rain" (*)
But that song wouldn't be true
Because she does
But, who am I to question genius and true beauty?
Sometimes you've just got to take those blue skies
And turn them gray
And revel in the beauty of a cloudy day

A rainy day mood 
Rainy day mood
A rainy day mood
Wouldn't you know it, she shares my love of impending doom!
And she loves the look
Of the gloom
Of a film noir room
Our rainy day moods...


(*)savvy music lovers will point out "I just can't stand the rain" was by Ann Peebles, not the The Temptations. My bad

Rainy Day Mood

A true story from my heavier drinking days
From my new Album "Friends, they're gonna get your story wrong"
Check it out on Soundcloud under album tab

Lyrics: Well, this is was a very delicate and drunken operation
You see, when you have a wasp nest on the side of your house
You have a couple options
One thing I do know is that Man must always control nature
At least that's what my girlfriend said
One: You can get up on a ladder
Tape a bag around it 
That's a dangerous  proposition
Or you can just call someone to take care of it
But, I'm an all American man!
Yes!

Option #2: You get up on a ladder
With a broom, maybe with an extended handle
Poke at it
The run like hell
You know, a wasp nest is nothing but a pest
I'm a drunken mess!
Yes, yes, yes

Option #3: My friend Chuckie, he said he'd come over
You get up on the ladder, I'll hold your beer in the cosy
You smoke a big bong load of weed
Blow it right into the wasp nest
Multiple times
They'll all go to sleep
Extract the Queen
They'll will all die of heartbreak
Yes, yes, yes!

She said: before you begin
Let me call my friend
Were going to get some wine
And watch you from a distance
And see how a real man gets things done
Yes, yes!

Drinking Chronicles #24:Wasps

Come along with Shade Structure on a funky film noir midnight ride
Lyrics:
I'll fire up that gas bag
Drive it down to Sandman Slough
You never know what you're gonna do
Everywhere there's a deadman's curve
I don't know what ya heard
It's probably true

Take it into the night
Take that Coupe De Ville
Drive it into the night
I want nothing but a good time
Take my broken heart
Batter it up
Chicken fried
Liquefied
I have a strange compulsion
To the creatures 
And the features of the night

I was born the Son of a lion tamer
They say: Yeah, you've got a boy child coming
You better read the disclaimer!

Take it into the night
Take that thing tonight
Drive it into the night
I want nothing but a good time
Take my broken heart
Batter it up
Chicken fried
Liquefied
I have a strange compulsion
To the creatures 
And the features of the night

Take what you know
Take it real slow
Take it where the fireworks are
Yeah!
Watch me stagger home
Into the light...
I have a strange compulsion 
To the creatures
And the features
Of the night

When God came back 
It was on a Tuesday afternoon
"I've fulfilled all my heavenly promises to you"
Now it's up to you
To search out the fakes and the frauds
"I'm playing existential funk"
Who would have thunk?
Selling Mexican fireworks from my trunk

I have a strange compulsion
To the Creatures 
And the features
Of the night

Strange Compulsion

Dedicated to all the bad girls in my life.
Lyrics:
Well, i've seen her around 
I've seen her hanging around Downtown
And walking in the halls
At Pomona Junior College
She has a leather jacket
And a Darby Crash T-shirt on
And I find it so attractive
When she tears out on the 
Museum Lawn
She has a Kawasaki death ray smile (2X)
She takes her charm gun
And she sets it to stun
You know she did, you know she did

They say opposites attract
She seems to be a spy for love
But she's actively rooting for it's decline
She set off the fire alarm
Just to see it rain inside
She gave me something for a trip
And now I've lost my scholarship 
She has a Kawasaki death ray smile (2X)
Now she takes her charm gun
And sets it to stun
You know she did, you know she did

She says she a heretic
But in her hair
Underneath her motorcycle helmet
She wears French barrettes
She has a Kawasaki death ray smile (2X)
She takes her charm gun
And set it to stun
You know she did, you know she did

She has a Kawasaki death ray smile
And there's no more looking back
For this all-American boy

Kawasaki Death Ray Smile

Dedicated to those who chase the creative muse
Lyrics:
You'll know it when you feel it
I'd walk into burning buildings just to see it
Yeah, you know it when you feel it
My muse, she never stays around for long
The paint splatter
The ego destruction
The angle of the light
To try to capture the image
In your mind
Yeah, that's right
That's Robert Johnson there at the table
He knows a guy...
Who knows a guy...
Who gets things done
Because every showman knows
You gotta leave a little bit more
For the back row
You will know it when you feel it
The angels, they've got it all wrong
A beautiful sequence of mistakes
It's a beautiful sequence of mistakes

You'll know it when you feel it
I'll walk into abandoned buildings
Just to see it
She never likes to stay around long
She never likes to hear my love songs

And that's why I don't write love songs anymore...

You'll Know It When You Feel It

From the EP "Short Songs For Tall Minds" Soundcloud 2022
Lyrics:
She demands satisfaction
It's a chemical reaction
We are strangers on the dance floor
But she'll never take you home
The lady she likes to live alone
Lady likes to live alone
The Lady likes to live alone

She lives herself in the light
Yeah, in the zietgeist
She doesn't need anyone
Hogging the remote
Or overestimating their charm
Like little boys
That never ever say their prayers
Leaving their mess around
Both literary and figuratively
The Lady likes to live alone 
 Lady likes to live alone
She don't want to pick up your phone
The Lady likes to live alone

(oh yeah) that Lady she lives alone
She don't need you hanging around her throne
She says: you're an okay lover (all right)
But she tired of talking about it
She tired of waking up in the middle of the night
When your crying in your sleep
The Lady likes to live alone...

The Lady Likes To Live Alone

Reseda Country Club was a rock club venue in the 70 through the early 90's. I saw  Manowar at this venue. At the end of this tale I had to call my girlfriend on a payphone (!) to pick me up.

DAN: Hey Man! 
Do you want to got to the Reseda Country Club?
it's a heavy metal place out in the valley
Out by the Vivid porno studio
By that falafel place you like
But, you can't wear what you're wearing
Just put on black jeans
And a black T-shirt
Because you could get all of our asses kicked there
Those heavy metal guys they don't  like to fuck around

SHADE: (I said)
What's the name of this band? Manowar?
They look like Vikings meet the Hobbit or something
I thought we were gonna see Def Leppard

(Chorus)Let me laugh this off
Watch me do some shit talk

SHADE: I went into this knowing that it was just a bad idea
I drank about 5 Mickey's Big Mouth out in the car
The we went into (Uh) They call it a country club
But It's like this dingy
Nasty nightclub
With this heavy metal band
I say: There's a lot of leather and sweat here tonight
It's very weird!
And then some guy says to me:

HEAVY METAL GUY: Hey asshole!
What are you doing here?
Do you think you're funny?
Is that what you think you are?
Fucker!
Do you think you're funny?
You think your funny do you?
You think your really fucking funny
What would you think If I went out there with you
And kick your ass
Out in the parking lot
Would you think that's fucking funny?
Do you think that would be funny?
(chorus)

SHADE: Walking out to our car
I realized  immediately when he doesn't punch me face
That he means business!
Because if he punched me in the face
That would typically mean that he thought he didn't have an advantage
And he's really angry
HEAVY METAL GUY: Come here asshole!!
So my friend 
My friend Chuck
Punches him in the face
And then he says 
CHUCK: Jump in man!

Let me laugh this off
The rabbit doesn't walk
You know he runs
Because when the going gets rough
I always run
The rabbit always runs

Reseda Country Club

Ranting about the many problems in America. Please America, don't get me wrong. I love you, but you're bumming me out
Lyrics:
We can sleep behind the strip mall
We can live on Dollar Store bubblegum
In this country we don't do anything
About mental illness
We let it gestate
We don't do anything about guns
It just becomes an All-American character trait
Ain't that great?
Can you smell the decline?
American grotesque 

I'm gonna get to the roots of capitalism
I'm gonna open my own franchise store
Called the QANON store
It's got everything you need
It's in that strip mall
Over by that church
And the Mongolian all you can eat
Uh-Huh

Yeah, if I was a billionaire
I would give every homeless person an AK47
With unlimited rounds
Wouldn't that make you feel safe and snug in your bed?
So safe and warm in your bed!
And then you know what I'd do?
I'd pull those books from your Kid's School Library
Send them all down to the armory
Where we can burn em
If democracy
Doesn't work out how we like it
Can you smell the decline?
American grotesque

American Grotesque

A song about an old man who feels he's the last rock & roller left from his old band. Dedicated to all musicians still doing it for the love of music.
Lyrics:
I went out to the bars
With some fella's I use to know
From back in the day
Money worries never held us back
You're going to have to roll me away
We were rock and rollers
We never worried about money
Or responsibility
We would just take in everything we'd see
With our young eyes
And now we're here
And we're talking about:
Saving accounts
Home furnishing
And real estate holdings
We end up with 
Shrunken heads and big houses

I say:
Guys, have you given up on the cause?
The cause of rock & roll
Cause I'm still fighting the fight 
Every night
That's right!
But you're worried about:
Your 401K
And can you blame that scratch on the Valet?
They end up with
Shrunken heads and big houses
This suburban life is gonna put me in my grave
Shrunken heads and big houses
They've given up on the cause
For shrunken heads and big houses

Have you given up on the cause?
Of rock & roll
Because I'm still out here fighting the fight every night

Shrunken Heads And Big Houses

Okay MikeTHC5, I'm still coming after your high score.

High scorer
I'm your destroyer
Give me some more quarters
Hyperspace Jump!
Defender

Defender

You're invited to jet set around the globe to the world's coolest night spot destinations with Shade Structure. 
From the new EP "Short Songs For Tall Minds" Soundcloud 2022

Lyrics:
I live for the fireworks of the night
Supersonic
Stereophonic
I'm taking all my meals in flight
I love the music
I love the night life
Gin & Tonic
It's euphonic
That's ironic
It's emotion that I ghostwrite

Chorus
I've got first world problems
And Second Life blues
Let the algorithm choose
I've got first world problems
I've got Second Life blues
Let the algorithm choose
With the algorithm
You know you can't lose
Let the algorithm choose

In The Future All Songs Will Be This Stupid

A relationship from beginning to end presented in impressionistic sketches. 
From the new EP "Short Songs For Tall Minds" on Soundcloud 2022
Lyrics:
You came uninvited
To my birthday party
That's how this unlikely romance got started
I'm the silence
In the spaces
In between the words
That I never said
I'm the ghost hovering around your bed
Competing with TV
For attention inside your head
In matters of the heart
I'm build on contradictory parts
Contradictory parts

You say: if the great creators
If they wanted to call you home
That you would just laugh
And say they don't exist
But not me
I'm willing to compromise
Because they must have much bigger
Bigger fish to fry
In matters of the heart
I'm built upon my contradictory parts
Contradictory parts

You left unexpected
 For the Airport bar
I'm unpacking your luggage from the trunk of my car
You say my problem
My one of many
Is that I think I'm right all the time
But I've never seen truth in the eyes
I always lie

You packed your suitcase with your blues
My love notes
My David Foster Wallace books
Counterfeit Jordan shoes
Mmmmmmmmmmm
In matters of the heart
I'm built upon contradictory parts
Contradictory parts

My Contradictory Parts

So D.LD., can you still say I never write love songs for you?
From my new EP "Short Songs For Tall Minds" 2022 on Soundcloud.
Lyrics:
Take the earth away from me
Let them boil the seas
Don't you ever take your sweetest kisses
Away from me
Cause, Lady
You've got the deepest 
The deepest, the deepest, the deepest
Deep soul
You always fight off the creatures and the demons
Who come to my door

She's a Baroque beauty statue
Covered in animal skin
With the mystery
Still contained within
The secrets of the ancient
Timekeeping
From when time began
Lady
You've got the deepest, the deepest, the deepest
Deep soul
You fight the demons and the creatures
That always come to my door

Lady
You've got the deepest, the deepest, deepest
Deep soul

Deep Soul

A breakup love song or breakup song to the universe? Open for for your interpretation.
From my new EP "Short Songs For Tall Minds" 2022 on Soundcloud.
Lyrics:
Chasing hypnotic cosmic dust
Outside your force field
Your gravitational pull
You don't really like music, do you?
If you don't care
Then I don't care
You just like how the bass
Bruises the air
I just pass my time
On stupid things
Dancing in the dark
Chasing your hypnotic cosmic dust
I just spin around
Chasing your hypnotic cosmic dust

Debris Field

Coming clean on my teenage delinquency. A betrayal of a friend. My poor attempt at atonement and forgiveness. I know the song photo is not a Impala, but good photo's of them are hard to find. Those cars be ugly people!
Lyrics:
We were teenage subversives
We pissed our names onto the football field
We just do as we feel
Teenage pirates
Sailing suburbanian malls
We did it all
With Bukowski charm
Before our impending fall
Cause I stole the Chevy 
Parked in front of your house
You know I stole it
I blew that engine out
I stole the Chevy
Uh Huh, Uh Huh
You know I took it
I know I blew our friendship out

You moved away in May
They say
You were diagnosed a schizophrenic
I never went and visited you
At the hospital
Cause things look so much different
When your in it
I regret it to this day
it's funny, the things that stay
I stole the Chevy
Parked in front of your house
You know I stole it
I blew that engine out
I stole Chevy
Uh Huh, Uh Huh
Your Dad knew it
You know I blew that engine out

Your Dad love his Chevy Impala
But I'm famous
For not doing what I oughta

I stole the Chevy
Parked in front of your house
You know I stole it
You know I blew that engine out
Uh Huh, Uh Huh

We had a code among thieves
But I just do as I please
You never told the Cops on me
It's in the code among thieves

1985 Chevy Impala (Uh Huh)

Another track from my EP "Short Songs For Tall People"
Lyrics:
You say your name is society and you think you’re sick?
Sit down, patient, and I’ll examine you!
Uh huh, just what I thought:
That complexion of yours--grey as a flophouse bed sheet.
Your breath--reeking of smog and sewer gas!
Headaches? What do you expect, with nothing but cash registers clanging inside your empty skull?

I'm a beatnik Daddy-O
I've got an electric bongo
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O
I howl, I scowl
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O

Of course your stomach hurts!
You’ve swallowed too many dreams, too many hopes, and turned them into one gigantic ulcer.
Look out—your hands are trembling—any minute now and you may drop a bomb!

I'm a beatnik Daddy-O
Steely Dan's a dildo
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O
I play pinball
I play Pachinko
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O

I’ve got news for you, society—you’re not sick, you’re dead!
Solid Baby!
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O
I've got an electric bongo
I'm a beatnik Daddy-O

And I’m going to bury you and dance the twist on your grave!
Solid Baby!
(Punctuated by finger snaps and applause.)
Audio clip from public domain movie "Big Kick"

Beatnik Daddy-O

I think every home recording musician can relate to this sad lament.
Mixing up some soft rock and hard rock. Also, some flutes (because, they're jazzy cool man!)
Lyrics:
My neighbor
She works all day
She likes to come home
And sleep at night
In the peace and quiet
She tells me to keep my rock & roll down
I'm just trying to make
A little bit of rock & roll history
While I still can
Oh, but she tells me
To keep it real low
Keep it under
30 Db's (30 Db's!)
Oh, please!
I'm walking the walls
Like a church mouse
I'm just a man
And his guitar
Playing into headphones
(playing into headphones!)
When I feel like I need to crank things up
She tells me
"You've got to turn that racket down!"

Ohh I
I'll do everything
I'll play my
Soft marshmallow blues
(marshmallow blues!)
With flutes
I'm just a lonely rocker
Playing guitar
In my headphones
(in my headphones!)

She tells me to keep it down!
To keep it soft!
To keep it low!
To keep it quiet!
That's the way it goes
Now I play my guitar into my headphones
Into my headphones
(In my headphones!)

A Man, His Guitar, Playing Into Headphones

My ego run rampant! Starting my own cult of personality, living in abandoned empty big box stores with my family of followers. No takers so far...
Please play this Captain Beefheart inspired song LOUD!
Lyrics:
Pulling off the highway
In some dusty, sunny suburban town
I'm going to start my own cult
I'm gonna call  it "TheTemple of the Stumpgrinder blues"
It will get you out of that catatonic state
Bloated bursting bellies
C'mon fill your plate
C'mon C'mon
I'm about as subtle as a car crash
You're all invited to my
All night
Day-glo
Ego bash
But, you're gonna have to bow down
Everybody in their life
Has to bow down
Stumpgrinder
Stumgrind

You know what you know
You do what you do
That's how you ended up here
Living in a burned out big box store
There's something missing out there
There's something missing in your life
(Something missing in your life?)
Your gonna bow down
Stumpgrinder
Stumpgrind

Living in a  burned out big box store
It's got everything you need
Fishing tackle and gear
Diamond encrusted wrinkle cream
Budweiser
Red beans and rice
Polyurethane sleeping bags
For 43% more warmth at night
Transistor radio
With a long antenna
Set to an oldie station
Bloated bursting bellies
Of fulfillment
All sales final!

Stumpgrinder

Lyrics:
I tracked down all of my loneliness
I followed it into this place
You were sitting there
How could I not fall in love with that face?
You were getting drunk real fast
You were chasing it
You were trying to make that feeling last
You told me just to let you sit there
And sizzle
(sizzle)
Mmm, when I am gone
I hope you think back on me and smile
And take me where all your good thoughts go
All your good thoughts go
Where your good thoughts go

If you come around town
You'll see me swinging from the trees
When you think back on me
I hope you know
I was pure of heart
I could never follow our plan
I was a bad Buddist
 I was even a worse
Song & dance man
I would always fail
It's like trying to land a 747
Through the mail
When you look back on me
Hope that you smile
Ohh, take me into your frontal lobe
And take me where all those good thoughts go
Take me where all your good thoughts go

Lounge Lizard's Last Song

A country style sad bastard song. A man sitting at home wondering why she left. Refusing to believe his bad behavior caused any of this. 
Lyrics:
Oh well, that's just about enough degradation for one night
Since you've been gone
I've been taking this sad show out into the light
I have ruined myself for the world

We purchased a big home
With seven rooms
Truckloads of affordable art
All throughout
I don't need to see you
I just needed to feel you
In the dark
Why are the nights so much darker in Dallas? (2X)

You said: I never looked happy
I said: That happiness would just be wasted on me
You said: You hated when I tried to manipulate you
and "I'm the spokesmodel for the bored and the sad"
Why are the nights so much darker in Dallas? (2X)
Darker in Dallas...

Why Are The Nights So Much Darker In Dallas?

My Mother warned me to choose my friends wisely.

Lyrics:
My old familiar places
They're filled up with unrecognizable faces
My scene is scattered
Like dandelions in the wind
I've got to find some new friends
But I have 
Very, very poor
Quality control
With those that I bring home
That I get to know
They like to dine on my soul
On the bathroom floor

I met him in a Walmart parking lot
We're gonna get some business done
We're gonna get that "sketch' car
Put some California plates on
Get our San Fernando haze on 
She took me home
And she found me interesting for awhile
While we were discussing all the aspects
Of her slip & fall trial
It's all coming up
Like the bath tub Rum
I looking for something from anything

If you give me a chance, I know that you can break my heart (2X)

Those old familiar places
Filled up
With unfamiliar faces
I've got very, very, very, very
Poor quality control
For those that I get to know
You can end up with a bloody nose
On a Holiday Inn
Ballroom floor

You know I was born with
The blessing of a dirty mind
But I know when to keep my mouth shut
Most of the time
Do you know what the real crime is?
It's being dead while your still alive
 I've got imaginary places
That I've been drunk in
A Tokyo Taxi
If you don't know
Don't ask me
Cause I'm looking for something from anything
And nothing from anything at all
The compliments are free

I'm looking for something from anything (2X)
If I give you a chance
I know you can break my heart

Unexpected Rain (Jazz Sadist Mix)

From the Album "Short Songs For Tall Minds"
A song dedicated to everyone's favorite outdoor chair, the monobloc. So many good times and memories sitting in these things. Functional design meets a simple manufacturing process. Unfortunately, they are made with polypropylene plastic, which will be around for thousands of years. These are like ecological disaster zombies that will never die.  Just look around, they're everywhere. But hey, this is a good time song about them. Thanks for listening!
 Lyrics:
When I come home
When the work is through
I just want to get in my backyard
In the neighborhood
I need some backyard sky
I need some friends of mine
Put out all the drinks
And give it a little time
Get the cable
Run it out from the living room
Out to the backyard
And over by the pool
Plug in the boom box
Over by the slide
Get ready
For the rising tide
Sitting in my Monobloc
My favorite outdoor chair
I am impressionistic for functional design

You know, these chairs
When it comes to history
They'll be around much longer
Than you and me
Alex says you need to go outside
If you want to drink liquor and smoke
Sit in my rich man's plastic throne
Even though I'm broke
(Broke, broke, broke)
Hollow in my Monobloc
My favorite outdoor chair
 Monobloc (Yeah!)
It's lightweight, like this song
And the music in the air
Sitting in my Monobloc
Ubiquitous
And everywhere
In my Monobloc
Monobloc...

MonoBloc

Song recipe: Borrow chords from the CCR Songbook that my Dad gave me for my 12th birthday, play some distorted Elmore James guitar licks, shout some vocals, become a human beatbox, add black magic, press record.

Lyrics:
When John met the Devil
The Devil was in a hole
And the Devil said to John:
Give me your hand and I will give you riches like you've never known
Just give me your hand John
I'll give you riches like you've never known
I'll give you a brand new (to you)
Gently used mobile home
Oh, John don't worry about the bad
Cause the bad sleep well
Every single night
I'll leave you lots of whisky and bones
With meat...
Meat on them bones!
You can have all the love that you want
From these bathing beauties
in this Devil factory
It's like a bad restaurant
That's not very good
But you can have all you want
Understood?
One man's good luck charm
Is another man's burden
One man's suicide tree
Is just another man's shade
John, I can give you guile
Vanquish demons
I can keep you in style
Indulge your Id ego
I'll help you keep it under control
Hey John, Let me out of this hole
Let me out of this hole
Give me your hand John!
Your hand John
Lift me up and out of the hole

John Meets The Devil (Act 1)

Ahhh, the 90's Grateful Dead revival years! I dedicate this to the women that I met during a Grateful Dead concert during the early 90's. Never to be seen again, gone like a ray of light. Having some fun with the band name in the title of this one. Thanks for listening!
 
Lyrics:
I'm not looking at you , she said
I'm looking a those auras spinning around your head
At this music festival
A Ticketmaster time machine
It's not what's real
It's what you believe

(chorus)She has a way
Of getting into your mind
And she likes to stay
To the morning light
Until that sunshines just right
I feel so gratefully fed
Gratefully fed

All these trust fund kids
Dressed like hippies
She does her hippy dance
She spins and twirls with all her beads
She does her hippy dances
In service to capitalism
She works during the week
At Chase Manhattan
"The friendliest bank in town"
They're the friendliest folks around!
(chorus)
Gratefully fed

Gratefully Fed

Lyrics:
I hear your car pull away from the driveway
From my house of dreams, with childhood writing on the wall
You get in your Airplane, and you fly
Will it be our last time?
You never did the things that you should 
You never did the things you could (and how!)
I sat inside the car
While you got drunk at the Almond Tree Bar
You and me
We've got unfinished business
You and me

You took me to a Magic Show when I was 5
We saw the 'Dagger Head Box'
And the 'Indian Rope'
And the 'Healed & Sealed' trick
I learned that love
Is like sleight of hand

You and me
We've got unfinished business
You wave your Magic Wand (Abracadabra)
You're gone
And you're never coming back
To you and Me
You and Me

Unfinished Business (You & Me)

Hi! Check out my Album" Short Songs For Tall Minds" . 

I try to write with rich lyrical details and self-deprecating humor about the human condition. Plus, that unique Shade Structure sound!  It sounds best with headphones. Thanks for any comments, reposts or likes.

Discography: Available under Album tag on my Soundcloud main page. Free Downloads/ Always Free
"Short Songs For Tall Minds" EP (2022)
*Friends, They're Gonna Get Your Story Wrong (2021)
*A Suburban Dadaist With Some Store Bought Beats (2021)
*All Feel and No Technique (2020)
*Night Spells: Stories from the night ( 2019)
*California Songs (2018-2019)
All sounds contained within are home-made/DIY recordings. Most songs are short stories, as I am influenced by Musicians & Writers like Raymond Carver, Warren Zevon, Jim Thompson, Tom Waits, Mark Eitzel,  Randy Newman, Destroyer, Captain Beefheart, Lambchop, Leonard Cohen & The National. Most songs have the lyrics on the song page. Thank you for listening!

Shade Structure

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks